The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, becoming a disciple of Yue Buqun.

As she said this, the courtesan nodded, her eyes reddening as she spoke of their shared plight.

“Xiaoru was only tricked into coming here in the last few months. Many of our sisters were caught here before and forced to work as prostitutes. If they didn’t obey, they would be beaten and verbally abused. Many of our sisters couldn’t bear the pain and committed suicide.”

As she spoke, the courtesan lifted her right arm, revealing a large scar.

“They used torture to force us to submit, branding us with red-hot irons. The sisters who were forced to endure it contracted venereal diseases from prolonged prostitution. If they couldn’t be cured, they would be thrown into coffins and starved to death.”

At this moment, some of the courtesans in the brothel also cautiously approached. After hearing what the courtesan said, they all lifted up their clothes. Some of them had whip marks, and some had brand marks. Each one was more shocking than the last.

"These damned beasts! They are utterly depraved!!"

Seeing the plight of these courtesans, even an honest man like Liang Fa couldn't help but tremble with anger. Du Lanyin and Qiaojun, who were already blushing because this was a brothel, looked extremely ugly.

Where is Wan Deming?

Jiang Ning asked.

"I saw him take Xiaoyu into the innermost room on the third floor."

A prostitute standing nearby pointed towards the third floor and said.

Jiang Ning turned to Liang Fa and said calmly, "Senior Brother Liang, may I borrow your sword?"

He didn't bring his sword with him; it was still at the inn.

Upon hearing his words, Liang Fa, Du Lanyin, and the others couldn't help but look at him.

Jiang Ning's expression was calm, but his eyes held a chilling emotion.

That was rage, rage that would burn away all evil.

Before Liang Fa could speak, Jiang Ning reached out and grabbed his sword hilt, then pulled it out and headed towards the third floor. The sound of the sword rubbing against the scabbard was exceptionally clear.

Jiang Ning walked towards the innermost room on the third floor, and kicked the door open. The sound of the door breaking was very clear, waking up the person who was sleeping inside.

"who are you?"

Two naked people were lying on the bed. One was a burly man with a full beard, who looked to be around forty or fifty years old, and the other was a woman.

"Your name is Wan Deming?"

Jiang Ning came to the bedside, pointed his sword at him, and said.

"That's right, I am Wan Deming. Who are you?"

Wan Deming looked at Jiang Ning with a mixture of shock and anger, while the courtesan next to him hid at the foot of the bed, trembling with fear.

"You forced respectable women into prostitution, beat and verbally abused them, and then threw them into coffins to starve to death after they contracted diseases. Is that true?"

Jiang Ning asked.

Wan Deming sensed something was amiss and quickly retorted, "How could that be? They did it voluntarily. I didn't force them. They came to my Yihua Brothel to sell themselves because they couldn't survive. I have their indentures. How could it be coercion!"

"Even if this matter goes to the authorities, I'm still in the right!"

As they were talking, Wan Deming tried to get up, but Jiang Ning held a sword to his neck, so he had no choice but to sit on the bed and not dare to move.

Jiang Ning glanced at him, then looked at the courtesan beside him and asked, "Were you forced, or did you do it voluntarily?"

"me……"

The courtesan was so frightened by the scene that her voice trembled. She looked at Jiang Ning, who remained calm, and then at Wan Deming, who was being pointed at with a sword. Her expression was one of extreme fear.

Jiang Ning just looked at her, waiting for her answer.

The courtesan seemed lost in thought, but finally burst into tears, saying in a choked voice, "I was forced."

“Master Wan… no, Wan Deming… he beat my parents to death, threatened me with my younger siblings, and forced me to sign a contract of servitude. He said if I didn’t agree to take customers, he would let us all starve to death. I had no choice, I had no choice, I could only agree to him, I could only agree to him…”

"My parents still don't have the money to buy coffins for burial, and their bodies are left to rot in the wilderness outside the city... I'm so sorry to them, I'm so sorry to them... Waaah..."

The prostitute broke down in tears.

Chapter 47: I'm Ready

"You bitch!"

Wan Deming was furious and wanted to slap him, but when he saw Jiang Ning's cold and fierce eyes, his hand froze on the spot.

"Where are their indentures?"

Wan Deming remained silent, his face extremely grim.

Jiang Ning raised his sword and pressed it slightly against Wan Deming's throat. A sharp pain shot through him, and Wan Deming screamed in fright.

"In my clothes, right inside my clothes!"

He pointed to his clothes on the ground as he spoke.

Upon hearing this, the courtesan beside him excitedly climbed off the bed and rummaged through his clothes. Before long, she pulled out a thick stack of papers.

"It's really here!"

A surprised cry rang out from the courtesan.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ning looked at Wan Deming and asked, "Are all the indentures of the women at Yihua Tower here?"

"Yes, they're all here."

Wan Deming nodded hastily.

Jiang Ning turned to the brothel woman and said, "Take out the indentures and return them to the women he forced."

"Thank you, thank you."

The courtesan laughed and cried at the same time, tears streaming down her face. Then she picked up her clothes from the ground and ran out.

"Young hero, please let me go. I have already returned the indenture to them. Please spare my life."

Wan Deming begged Jiang Ning for mercy.

Jiang Ning didn't speak, just stared at him, her gaze growing colder and colder.

Feeling increasingly uneasy, Wan Deming screamed in terror.

You can't kill me!

"I admit that some of them were forced by me, but some weren't! Some of them were there voluntarily. I didn't force them. I've already returned the contracts of indenture to those who were forced, and I've also returned the contracts to those who were there voluntarily. What more do you want?!"

"It's not just my brothel that's like this; all brothels in the world are like this. Why are you holding onto me like this, insisting on killing me? In our line of work, who doesn't have some shady methods? If we don't exploit them, if we don't force them, where do we get the money for food, drink, and entertainment? Where do we get the money to bribe officials?"

"The government hasn't done anything to us. At worst, I'll just give them more money later, right? I'll compensate the families of those who died, a huge sum of money that they could never earn in their entire lives. Is that alright?"

Upon hearing these words, Jiang Ning spoke up.

“Some of them may have done it voluntarily, and that’s none of my business, but those who were forced, or whose families were destroyed, I have to take care of.”

Wan Deming exclaimed in shock and anger, "All brothels in the world are like this. How can you possibly manage them all?"

Jiang Ning calmly said, "If I can manage it, I will manage it; if I can't manage it, I will still manage it. If there is one brothel in the world that forces women into prostitution like you, I will manage one; if there are two, I will manage two. I will manage them one by one. You say I can't manage them? I want to see if I can manage them."

Wan Deming looked at Jiang Ning with trembling eyes. He could tell that what the other party said was true.

"Madman! Madman!"

Wan Deming shouted.

Jiang Ning said no more, and with a single thrust of his sword, ended Wan Deming's life.

When Jiang Ning came out of the room, the outside was already full of brothel women.

At this moment, each of these brothel women held a piece of paper in her hand; those were their contracts of servitude.

"Thank you, benefactor! Thank you, benefactor! We are so grateful to you for saving us from this sea of ​​suffering!"

The courtesans knelt down before Jiang Ning, weeping as they spoke, while many others burst into loud sobs.

They overheard Jiang Ning's words from outside the room. They never imagined that someone would actually save them, people so insignificant they were practically dust.

Yi Hua Lou and the government colluded. Some of the women were indeed there voluntarily, but that was because they could no longer survive outside. If they weren't desperate, who would be willing to sell their looks and flesh to please others and live a wretched life?

Many of them were forced into it. Some resisted, while others resigned themselves to their fate, thinking that their final destiny would be to contract genital diseases and be thrown into a coffin to starve to death.

But Jiang Ning's appearance was like a ray of light piercing through the darkness, shining upon them and allowing them to see the sun in the mire.

Looking at these courtesans who were breaking down and crying, Liang Fa and Du Lanyin, who were standing outside, felt something trembling in their hearts. The Huashan disciple who had said that these courtesans had given themselves to others, were servile and had no self-respect, now felt as if there was a knife in his heart, cutting him piece by piece.

“Some of you are here voluntarily, and some are forced.”

Jiang Ning looked at them and spoke slowly.

Upon hearing Jiang Ning speak, the women stopped crying and looked up at him.

"But this is not your fault. It is the world that makes it impossible for you to survive, that makes you oppressed, forced, and persecuted."

"But as I said inside, this is not your fault. As long as I encounter it, I will take care of it. Didn't that person say that all brothels in the world are like this and I can't manage them all? I want to see if I can manage it and if the Huashan Sect can manage it."

Jiang Ning spoke these words calmly, and although his tone was understated, everyone present could see his determination.

The women kneeling on the ground stared blankly at Jiang Ning. Suddenly, one of them covered her face and burst into tears. The other women did the same. Although their emotions were not as intense as before, they made Liang Fa, Du Lanyin and the others feel even more heartbroken.

"Junior brother, now that we've rescued all these girls, let's go."

At this moment, a disciple of Mount Hua said to Jiang Ning.

"My benefactor."

But at this moment, a woman looked up at Jiang Ning and said, "Benefactor, could you please save the other sisters as well? Most of the brothels on this street are like Yi Hua Lou, and they are just like us. Please, benefactor, save them."

After saying this, the woman kept kowtowing to Jiang Ning.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ning narrowed his eyes and then stepped outside.

"Junior brother, where are you going?"

Seeing his appearance, Liang Fa couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

"Since she says that all the brothels on this street are like Yi Hua Lou, then I'll go and take a look, ask around, and see if that's true."

Upon hearing this, Liang Fa's face showed worry.

Jiang Ning said that before entering Yihualou, and now we've seen it for ourselves.

It wasn't that Liang Fa disagreed, but there were more than a dozen brothels on this street, forming an entire industry chain. Such a huge money-making industry chain must be controlled by a powerful force. Jiang Ning had already shut down one of the brothels, and if things continued like this, the person behind that force would definitely come to stop them.