Introduction, Development, Turn, Conclusion; Eldest, Second, Third, Youngest

Of course, there's no Silver Thumb here. Rachel Luo could only frown and ask, "What rules?"

"Beautiful scenery, lovely people—don't spoil the mood with talk of rules!" A voice came from above, and before Rachel Luo could look up, four people floated down from the sky. Their robes fluttered and long hair streamed behind them, like immortals descending to earth, landing with a swish on the second-floor terrace. Standing with arms crossed, their heights lined up from shortest to tallest, just like the bars on a cell phone signal icon.

Seeing these four, Jack Young exclaimed in surprise, "The Four Vagabond Knights?"

"Good eye!" The four flamboyant men on the terrace each struck a dramatic pose and, in a kind of idiom relay, shouted one after another: "We are—Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter! Wine, Lust, Wealth, Anger! Beginning, Development, Turn, Conclusion! Eldest, Second, Third, Youngest!" Finally, they all raised their right hands and, in the most over-the-top fashion, declared, one word at a time, "The! Four! Vagabond! Knights!!"

"Aah—!" The whole brothel seemed to come alive. Girls popped out onto every balcony, waving and tossing flowers, shrieking with excitement. The atmosphere instantly turned festive, and even the lights seemed to shine brighter. The four men waved and blew kisses, sending the crowd into a frenzy of screams.

But if you looked closely, you'd see that the Four Vagabond Knights were actually quite handsome. Their wild personalities somehow fit perfectly with the extravagant vibe of the grand brothel, blending together like cream in coffee.

But Fiona Fang was already stunned, Rachel Luo was dumbfounded, and only Jack Young had the presence of mind to quip, "Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter; Wine, Lust, Wealth, Anger; Beginning, Development, Turn, Conclusion; Eldest, Second, Third, Youngest—sixteen characters in total. How do you guys split them up?"

"Great question!" The shortest, probably about 1.65 meters, looked like a fresh-faced pretty boy. He pointed down at Jack Young and said, "Sixteen characters, but they make up our titles. Twelve are our names, four are our nicknames. Can you guess which four are the nicknames?"

Jack Young thought for a moment. "Wine, Lust, Wealth, Anger?"

"Correct!" The second shortest, about 1.75 meters, was a baby-faced young man. "The four of us brothers each have three-character names, and those twelve characters are carefully chosen. 'Eldest, Second, Third, Youngest' sorts us by age; 'Beginning, Development, Turn, Conclusion' sorts us by height. Can you guess how 'East, South, West, North' are arranged?"

Fiona Fang snapped out of her daze and quickly got swept up in the goofy rhythm, her eyes sparkling as she looked up: "What is it, cultivation level?"

"Smart girl!" The second tallest, about 1.85 meters, looked like a manga protagonist. He gestured with his hands in a rural style, eyes cool and aloof: "Whoever's strongest is 'Elder'. Whoever's tallest is 'Beginning'. Actual age only affects the middle character. I'm the current big brother, South Elder Qi. Can you guess the names of the others?"

After he asked, everyone suddenly perked up, as if anticipating something fun.

The two girls were still confused, but Jack Young suddenly burst out laughing, pointing at the tallest guy: "Bro, did your brothers mess with you on purpose?"

"Pfft, hahaha!" The other three immediately cracked up and shouted, "He totally gets it! Smart and sharp!" Only the tallest guy looked annoyed, grinding his teeth: "Damn it, you guys always use me for laughs."

"Master, what are you all laughing at?" Fiona Fang asked curiously.

Jack Young tried to stifle his laughter and explained, "These four brothers, their first name character is arranged by cultivation strength in the order East, South, West, North. The second character is sorted by age: Elder, Second, Uncle, Youngest. The third character is sorted by height: Beginning, Development, Turn, Conclusion. The shortest and youngest, with the weakest skills, is North Youngest Jie. The next tallest, a bit older and stronger, is West Uncle Zhuan."

Fiona Fang still didn't get the joke, but Rachel Luo caught on and shook her head, laughing, "So people in this world know that word too, huh?"

"Come on, Second Brother, say your name loud and proud!" The three jokers cupped their ears, waiting. The tallest one hesitated, then finally, with a grumble, said, "South Elder Qi..." He got annoyed again: "Damn it, how many times are you guys going to tease me? Ask one of the girls here—it's easy for me, not hard at all!"

Everyone laughed, and the girls nearly fell over giggling—they'd all been waiting for this moment. No matter how many times they saw it, it never got old. For a man, not being able to "rise" is the hardest thing. If your name literally means "Qi" and you can't "rise," that's enough to drive anyone mad.

But these four jokers seemed to have a rock-solid bond, able to handle this level of teasing.

"Second Brother, you have no idea—we schemed for ages to get you stuck with this name. Fourth Bro and I deliberately slacked off, while Big Bro trained like crazy. We finally pulled it off!" The baby-faced guy added fuel to the fire: "Just for your name, Fourth Bro and I can slack off forever, and help Big Bro find all kinds of secret techniques and miracle pills. You just enjoy being South Elder Qi!"

The youngest chimed in to the three below: "That's why today is a day for the Four Vagabond Knights to celebrate forever—we booked out the whole pavilion for this!"

"Ooooh—!" The girls started making a racket, and the whole scene turned into a farce.

Jack Young and his two disciples finally understood—they'd walked right into a jokers' party. Throwing a bash in a grand brothel was no less wild than any fancy ocean gala. These four jokers might be silly, but their cultivation was no joke, and judging by their gold-trimmed, jade-studded, fur-lined outfits, they were loaded too.

Madam Dai came down to the first floor and sat in a grand armchair, leaning forward with her elbows on the table. Even without showing cleavage, her ample assets were seriously tempting. They were so full, you worried her clothes might burst—especially when her arms pressed them into a slightly different shape.

This chapter isn't over yet ^.^, please click next page to continue reading!

She still covered the lower half of her face with a folding fan and gave a light snort: "Ignore them. The so-called Four Vagabond Knights? All bluff. The real Four Vagabond Knights are like dragons soaring beyond the clouds. These four? More like the Four Flirtatious Rogues." She tapped the table with her slender fingers and looked at the three: "My Grand Brothel never hosts outsiders, only VIPs holding a World Token. These four all have Silver Thumb Tokens and paid to book the whole place for ten days, so we're closed to the public. If you want to stay, as I said: you have to follow their rules."

Rachel Luo asked, "What rules?" Realizing this place wasn't as sleazy as she'd imagined, she regained her usual confidence.

The four men exchanged glances and started chuckling. One of the girls answered for them: "The four masters' rule is simple—whoever can beat them gets everything!"

"Beat them?" Rachel Luo frowned. "You mean, a fight?"

"Of course not! The four masters have standards—it's a contest of Wine, Lust, Wealth, and Anger. If you beat them, they'll give you everything. But if you lose, you'll walk out of here with nothing but your bare butt. In the last three days, more than twenty people have left here naked. Honestly, you shouldn't even try—there's no way you'll win." The girl was clearly confident in the Four Flirtatious Rogues.

"But if you beat us, we'll give you everything we've got," the leader, South Elder Qi (from now on, just 'the young man'), looked down at Jack Young. "All the money, techniques, treasures, and even the whole Grand Brothel—it's yours. And from start to finish, we won't use our cultivation to cheat. So, want to try?"

All four looked at Jack Young. When they got serious, even though their attitudes were still wild and unrestrained, their presence was intimidating. They were all young, but each was a real master. Not just showy martial artists, but true experts. Their skills might not quite match Lady Wan's, but if it came to a real fight, you could easily imagine Lady Wan getting bloodied by these four.

Looking at the four, some sitting, some standing on the terrace, Jack Young felt a surge of excitement, a wild grin spreading across his face: "Alright."