Sarah Miller's face turned slightly pale. Only now did she realize that her previous flirting hadn't gone unnoticed. Since the young sect master knew, the sect master surely knew even more. She wondered if this would lead to any negative consequences.

Lily Carter wasn't blaming her, though. Instead, she personally poured her a cup of wine and said, "Senior sister, your behavior has been unusual. It looks like you're eager to climb up the ranks—there must be something on your mind. Can't you really tell me?"

John Smith also sighed inwardly. But he wasn't sighing for Sarah Miller, rather for Lily Carter.

He had now confirmed that this girl was only thirteen years old. In his world, if you start elementary school at eight, thirteen would only be fifth grade. Even if you started at six, thirteen would just be the first year of middle school—still a bunch of innocent kids, the kind who chase after TFBOYS and shout, "Our three little cuties are so handsome!" But Lily Carter had been groomed as the future sect master from who knows what age, bearing a heavy sense of responsibility on her shoulders. Just look at how mature she was, confiding in and solving problems for her subordinates—she could easily pass for twenty-three.

Only when she was eagerly listening to stories could you tell she was still a little girl.

Sarah Miller silently took a sip of wine and finally spoke: "Young sect master, Baihua Courtyard is about to go under."

Actually, John Smith had already noticed that Baihua Courtyard was really in trouble.

Just now, in the main hall downstairs, there really weren't many customers. The space was so empty that a single guest could practice boxing in the middle... This was evening, the peak time for brothel business, and yet it was this deserted.

Lily Carter was taken aback: "I heard there was still profit a couple of months ago. Now it's just a slight loss, right? How can it be about to go under?"

Sarah Miller explained, "The competition in the capital is fierce, with more brothels than any other province. It used to be fine—our sect had the advantage of charm techniques and was considered top-tier. But now..."

Lily Carter asked in confusion, "Don't we still have that advantage now?"

Sarah Miller sighed, "In the end, we don't participate ourselves—we only teach the girls a little bit of the basics. But the disciples of the Hehuan Sect personally take part. Whether it's charm techniques or looks, they're way ahead of us..."

Lily Carter gritted her teeth, "Those sluts from the Hehuan Sect actually go out and sell themselves!"

"They believe in indulging in pleasure and don't care about such things."

"So what are we supposed to do! In other people's eyes, we're lumped together with them! Our reputation has been ruined by them!"

Sarah Miller remained silent.

Lily Carter thought for a moment and said, "But compared to other places, we still have the upper hand, right? Even if Hehuan Sect took some of our business, it shouldn't be enough to bring us down."

Sarah Miller shook her head, "Since we can't pass on the advanced techniques, just relying on those superficial charm skills, others have already figured them out years ago. Of course, other brothels can do them too. We lost our advantage a long time ago."

Lily Carter finally fell silent as well.

Sarah Miller sighed, "What I'm worried about is... will the sect one day make us outer disciples go out there ourselves... From what I've seen of Aunt Qingqing, she seems to be considering it. That's why I want to leave here early, to avoid that day." She gave John Smith an apologetic smile as she spoke. "I did intend to use you, sir, but I meant no harm. I hope you can forgive me."

John Smith smiled to show he understood.

In his heart, he felt a bit of regret. She had a clear and urgent goal, so it would be hard not to sleep with her. If the time and place were right, maybe it really could have happened. What a pity.

Lily Carter said firmly, "Senior sister, you know our sect's principles are different from those Hehuan Sect people! Xingyue Sect would never do such a thing. It's disgusting enough to be mistaken for them—how could we actually do it? I'll talk to Aunt Qingqing about this."

Sarah Miller looked at her steadily. "And what then? The sect master may be invincible, but the sect still needs to eat and have resources. Should we learn from the Hengxing Dao and start robbing and killing for profit? The sect master spent over ten years to finally carve out a place for us in the capital, so we could operate openly. If we really follow the Hengxing Dao, all that effort would be wasted. The sect master would never want to go back to hiding in the shadows. She might actually agree with Aunt Qingqing's proposal. After all... we're just outer disciples..."

At this point, John Smith was finally taken aback.

So, your Xingyue Sect and that Hehuan Sect aren't operating from the shadows, but are openly acting as demonic sects—at least in the capital, it's all out in the open? That really surprised him. The image of the "mysterious demonic sect" in his mind was completely overturned. Normally, since they're labeled as demonic, there should be constant friction with the righteous path, with deep blood feuds on both sides. If the demonic sects openly showed themselves, the righteous sects would surely gang up on them. Even if Emily Smith was invincible, most of their businesses would be destroyed—just like they mentioned earlier about their southern businesses being wiped out...

A demonic sect running businesses should be operating from the shadows, not out in the open. For them to be so unusually public, it must have something to do with the special nature of the capital—at the very least, they must have the court's permission, and the righteous sects can't openly oppose them?

Is the government openly sheltering the underworld, or is the underworld simply being gradually legalized?

But why wasn't this possible before, and now it is? John Smith continued eating while pondering. He didn't believe such a political matter could be due solely to Emily Smith's personal martial strength. Maybe there was something deeper to dig into here...