The youth approaching Xiao Mo had defined features with curved eyebrows, which made him look both steadfast and easy to approach. The white and black of his eyes were clearly distinct, giving his gaze a flash of brilliance while he stared at Xiao Mo.
It should be noted that this young man approaching Xiao Mo looked almost identical to the other youth in the group. If that didn't make it obvious that they were brothers, then they were also wearing similar martial artists' attires that had the surname 'Yan' written on the back.
The only difference was that the young man back at the crowd had sword-like eyebrows and softer features, which made him give off an impression that was completely opposite to his brother, cautious and hard to approach.
"Young Master Xiao Mo, it's nice to meet you. My name is Sung-il, the first Young Master of the Yan family."
Xiao Mo kept his eyes closed and acted like he hadn't heard Sung-il's polite introduction.
Despite the continuing conversations going on in the hall, it was obvious everyone was sparing a bit of their attention to observe what was going on over here.
Sung-il came out of his salute posture and scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"Ah, perhaps Young Master Xiao Mo is tired from the travel. After all, you came straight here without any rest. This is our fault due to our eagerness to welcome you, Young Master Xiao Mo. We should have considered your feelings. On behalf of everyone here, I apologize. However, I hope Young Master Xiao Mo will at least try the food and wine. Our Demonic Cult is well known for its excellent wine and unique pastries. I would recommend…"
Sung-il then went on to list his favorite wines and pastries that Xiao Mo should try.
It seemed Xiao Mo's unwillingness to acknowledge his greeting before was genuinely an inconsequential event that he didn't take to heart.
At first, Xiao Mo was suspicious of this person's motives. But as Sung-il went on and on about his favorite wine and pastries, Xiao Mo came to realize this person truly just wanted to introduce himself.
No scouting the competition. No derisive undertones. No ulterior motives.
He was simply... a complete idiot.
From the reactions of the others in the hall it seems they weren't surprised by Sung-il's chatty behavior. In fact, they seemed to have been anticipating it and wanted to see the outcome.
Sung-il's brother and the cute girl on the other hand showed helpless expressions. His brother especially looked ashamed of Sung-il.
Sung-il soon switched from talking about pastries and wine to talking about the best places to visit in the Demonic Cult hideout.
"Young Master Xiao Mo, when you have time, we should really visit the Red Orchid Garden together!"
The always stoic Mei-Mei couldn't help but show a strange expression.
Xiao Mo's right eyebrow twitched incessantly due to Sung-il's constant jabbering, but he decided he wouldn't open his mouth no matter what. He had a sneaky suspicion that Sung-il was doing this on purpose to get him to engage with him.
Not because of some underlying scheme, but simply because he was too much of an extroverted idiot that couldn't read the room.
However, not a second after Xiao Mo had decided this in his mind, Sung-il's next words entered his ears.
"Young Master Xiao Mo, let me tell you, the female disciples in the Red Orchid Garden are all beautiful and are excellent guqin musicians!"
Suddenly, Xiao Mo's eyes flew open, and he stared directly at Sung-il.
Sung-il was taken aback by this, which caused him to stop talking momentarily.
"Where did you say that garden was?"
Xiao Mo asked as he slowly sat up from Mei-Mei's lap.
When everyone in the hall saw this, sneers appeared at the corner of their lips.
It seemed the rumors about this Young Master of the Han Clan being a lecherer who chases courtesans' skirts were true.
Sung-il on the other hand, after hearing Xiao Mo's question, had his eyes flicker with realization. He quickly concealed it and then responded with a smile.
"Young Master Xiao Mo, the disciples of the Red Orchid Garden aren't always there. They usually visit the garden every two days to practice one of the Four Arts. Also, they don't practice the Four Arts in order so only on rare days do they play the guqin. But with that said, I predict they will play the guqin on their practice day that's coming up tomorrow."
Xiao Mo suddenly stiffened and scrutinized Sung-il who was smiling at him. He realized he might have lowered his guard and made a mistake.
When visiting the Azure Pavilion, what Xiao Mo was doing, was listening to the skillful courtesans play the guqin. He had initially visited the place to cultivate his current persona but ended up becoming obsessed with the guqin. Besides his sword, the guqin was the second most important thing he cared about in this world, and he had always kept both dare to his heart.
Even his father and elder brother didn't know about this, and he hid it by only practicing his guqin skills at the Azure Pavilion.
The only person who knew about his love for the guqin was Mei-Mei, and that was because she was the first courtesan he met at the Azure Pavilion that made him fall in love with the seven-string instrument.
The entire reason why he took Mei-Mei from Azure Pavilion and had his father restore her cultivation base, was because that was the only way he could have her agree to become his guqin teacher.
What others see as him recruiting a talented girl of unknown origins to be his personal maid was in reality, him desperately trying to get her to become his guqin teacher.
However, it now looks like there was a second person who knew about his love for the guqin.
Xiao Mo frowned as he stared at Sung-il, who was beginning to grin at him due to his prolonged silence.
"Young Master Xiao Mo, what do you say about visiting the Red Orchid Garden tomorrow?"
Xiao Mo wanted to refuse, but he bit his lip to stop himself. His heart was now in turmoil because he had read about disciples studying the guqin in the Heavenly Demon Academy and had initially been looking forward to seeing their level of proficiency.
The Emei Sect, one of the Six Great Sects in the Righteous Faction, was known for producing otherworldly maidens skilled in the guqin, but due to his bad reputation, he was banned from visiting their Sect.
They thought his request to visit their all-female Sect was to ravage their disciples, when in reality he just wanted to see their guqin skills.
With the increasing familiarity of the courtesans' guqin skills in the Azure Pavilion, Xiao Mo thirsted for novelty, but he might go mad if he had to go with this jabbering idiot.
Xiao Mo decided he would just refuse Sung-il's offer, then get someone else to guide him to this mysterious garden.
As if reading his mind, Sung-il suddenly said.
"Oh, Young Master Xiao Mo, it's very difficult for one to enter the Red Orchid Garden without a special token issued by the President of the Orchid Garden. However, I'm well-liked by the President and the maidens of the Red Orchid Garden so I have one. It's even the superspecial kind that allows me to take at least two people with me at any given time."
Xiao Mo's heart grew cold, especially when he saw Sung-il's grin become even wider.
However, before he could agree or refuse Sung-il's offer, a loud voice suddenly echoed out in the hall interrupting all conversations.
"The Young Miss has arrived!"