Walker Of The Worlds

Chapter 3389: Meng Bai’s Embarrassment

Lin Mu opened his eyes as the morning sunlight filtered through the thin curtains and sounds came from the main room outside.

He stood and stepped out.

The moment he did, he stopped.

Daoist Chu sat on a couch with his hair a bit messy, clothes slightly crooked, and smelling faintly of perfume. Meng Bai sat next to him, looking half alive and entirely miserable. His eyes were bloodshot, his face pale, and he smelled just as strongly of perfume as Daoist Chu.

Cattaleya was leaning back with her arms crossed, wearing an expression that was a mix of amusement and smug superiority.

Little Shrubby trotted behind Lin Mu, sniffing the air. ”It smells strange. Sweet. Sharp. Alcohol mixed with sadness.”

Lin Mu stared at the duo. ”Did you two go to a pleasure pavilion?”

Daoist Chu coughed loudly and looked away. Meng Bai covered his face with both hands.

Before Lin Mu could ask anything more, Cattaleya grinned from ear to ear.

”Lin Mu, you have to hear this story.”

Meng Bai shook his head vigorously. ”No you do not. Absolutely not.”

Cattaleya ignored him completely.

”So last night,” she began, already laughing, ”Daoist Chu decided to take Meng Bai to see the local entertainment scene. The man wanted to widen the kid’s perspectives. Fair enough. They picked a very respectable courtesan house. Professional staff. Lovely music. Beautiful attendants. Nothing overly wild.”

Daoist Chu groaned softly.

Lin Mu raised an eyebrow. ”So far it seems fine.”

”Oh it was,” Cattaleya said while biting back laughter. ”At least for the first ten minutes.”

She pointed at Meng Bai, whose head dropped lower.

”They were seated at a private table. Daoist Chu ordered some light wine. Very mild stuff. Just to relax. And Meng Bai said he wanted to match him cup for cup.”

Lin Mu blinked. ”Meng Bai. Really?”

Meng Bai’s voice came out muffled behind his hands. ”I thought I could handle it.”

Cattaleya burst into laughter.

”And then, the most amazing thing happened. Meng Bai took one sip. One sip. A single mouthful. And he went from completely fine to absolutely drunk in the time it takes to blink.”

Meng Bai whimpered, covering more of his face.

Cattaleya continued.

”Do you know what he did first?” she said dramatically. ”He stood up, pointed at a flower vase on the table, and declared it was the most beautiful woman in the entire establishment.”

Daoist Chu groaned again. ”He started flirting with the vase.”

”Oh no,” Cattaleya said, ”he did not flirt. He confessed his love to it.”

Lin Mu felt his lips twitch.

Little Shrubby mewed and Lin Mu translated. ”Did the vase respond?”

”No,” Cattaleya said, ”but he caressed it lovingly. Then he apologized to the real courtesans for choosing a vase over them.”

Meng Bai let out a distressed noise.

Daoist Chu shook his head. ”And then he challenged a musician to a duel because he thought the man looked at the vase with jealousy.”

Lin Mu covered his mouth to hide a smile.

Cattaleya slapped her thigh laughing. ”He even tried to hug a pillar, thinking it was a long lost friend.”

Little Shrubby tilted his head. ”Meng Bai hugs trees sometimes, but pillars are stiff. That seems uncomfortable.”

Daoist Chu sighed deeply. ”We left after that. I carried him out before he started a fight with the chandelier.”

Lin Mu could not hold it anymore and let out a small chuckle. ”Meng Bai.”

Meng Bai raised his head, face as red as a ripe fruit. ”I do not want to talk about this ever again.”

Cattaleya leaned forward with a wicked grin. ”Too late. I already signed you up for one of the tournaments. Maybe that will toughen you up.”

Meng Bai choked. ”You did what?!”

”And I signed up for all of them,” she added proudly.

Lin Mu blinked. ”All of them?”

She nodded. ”I am not wasting a single opportunity to fight on a world where fists are worshiped.”

Meng Bai mumbled something that sounded like a prayer for patience.

Lin Mu simply sighed, amused despite himself.

The day had only just begun, but he could already tell it would be an eventful one.

Lin Mu stared at Cattaleya, who still had that bright, dangerous spark in her eyes. The kind of spark that meant she fully intended to throw herself into every fight possible until she either collapsed from enthusiasm or leveled the continent.

”So,” Lin Mu said slowly, ”just how many tournaments does this world actually host? I heard there are a lot.”

Cattaleya’s grin widened. ”A lot? Lin Mu, this world practically worships combat. Of course there are a lot.” She counted on her fingers. ”There are tournaments divided by cultivation level. That means one category for those below the immortal realm and another for the immortal realm. Then each of those gets split into sub divisions. Early stage. Middle stage. Peak stage. You name it.”

”So First to Third Tribulation for Early, Third to Fifth For Middle and Fifth to Seventh For Peak stages?” Lin Mu guessed.

”You got it.” Cattaleya nodded.

But Meng Bai shivered immediately. ”Please tell me you did not put me into something dangerous.”

Cattaleya smacked him on the back hard enough to make him cough. ”Relax. You are still below the immortal realm, so I put you in the bracket for the Dao Treading realm. You will not be fighting people in the immortal realm.”

Meng Bai tried to take a breath, but coughed again. ”At least I will not die by accident then.”

”You will be fine,” Cattaleya said, as if that settled everything. ”If you do not slack off.”

Then she continued, eyes sparkling. ”There are also tournaments specifically for martial combat. These focus on pure physical techniques. Then there are ones for qi based techniques. Some for exclusively body cultivators. Some for qi cultivators who fight with both physical and qi skills. And then a few combined tournaments that judge everything together.”

Lin Mu nodded. He had expected something like this.