The Faith and Salt

The scene unfolding before him caught David completely off guard.

Wearing nothing but a sheer silk robe, a woman knelt on the wooden floor directly in front of David, who sat stiffly at the edge of the bed.

Translucent silk wrappings tightly hugged her calves, mimicking the tight allure of fine stockings. Small, elegantly embroidered slippers rested on her feet.

With her lips slightly parted, she stared up at him. Her eyes were filled with a raw, almost aggressive hunger.

Deep confusion washed over David. From the outside, this building had looked like nothing more than an elegant, quiet tea pavilion.

The officials had chatted up a beautifully dressed hostess at the door, been welcomed inside with open arms, and then immediately separated into different private rooms.

While entirely overwhelmed, he also felt a strange wave of relief. This was, at the very least, far better than the grim possibilities he had imagined on the way here.

Old Archie was probably thrilled. Even though the wooden walls were well-insulated, David could almost hear the Scot's muffled curses and heavy sighs of approval bleeding through the timber.

David, however, was completely incapable of enjoying the hospitality.

It was not that he had zero interest in women.

But because of Xiao Yan.

He was somehow afraid of that lust, worried that if he indulged this too much, things would get out of hand again.

Seeing this sharp rejection, the woman clearly felt offended, a flash of awkward disappointment crossing her face.

Having no desire to bruise the woman's pride, and even less desire to force himself into the mood, David simply stood up and walked out of the room.

Out in the corridor, one of the officials who had brought them here was whispering with a heavily powdered madam.

When he spotted David stepping out, the official quickly broke into an enthusiastic smile, said something cheerful, and then asked David a few quick questions in Chinese.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from NovelFire. Support the author by reading it there.

Understanding absolutely none of the official's fast Chinese, David had to rely on the only thing he knew:

He had at least learned how to pronounce their word for "no," allowing him to express his most basic boundaries.

"No good, no good," he said, pointing back toward the confused woman standing by the door.

The official looked at the courtesan, then back at David to confirm. "Bu Gou?"

It sounded like no good; maybe it meant the same.

"Bu Gou."

Without another word, the official waved a hand, signaling David to go back inside.

The dismissive gesture looked exactly like ordering a lowly servant around.

Sitting heavily back on the edge of the bed, a familiar sense of unease in his stomach.

He figured he had probably just managed to offend the locals yet again.

Still, the quiet room finally gave him a moment to process the situation. Things were not entirely bad.

Sure, he was failing to teach the Chinese any advanced military technology like Liang Fa had hoped, but he was also not being tortured in a dirty prison cell.

On the contrary, he had to do absolutely nothing. He could sit here and enjoy the peace.

This outcome was far better than anything he had dared to imagine before arriving in the city.

Since it was happening, he decided he should just calm down and accept it.

A few minutes later, a soft knock came at the door.

Pulling it open, David froze in absolute shock.

Standing in the hallway were a bunch of men and women. They wore a thin, loosely tied silk robe that slipped down off one shoulder.

They looked at David with the same inviting eyes.

Featuring delicate brows and narrow noses, they had their lips painted with bright red rouge.

Every movement they made felt highly practiced and politely restrained.

They then flooded into the room, quickly and expertly surrounding David, gently pushing and coaxing him back toward the edge of the bed.

Kneeling on the floor, one of the men kept his back perfectly straight while slightly arching his hips backward.

He began reciting something softly in Chinese, slowly swaying his body to the rhythm.

Meanwhile, the others took charge of feeding David, taking turns offering him small pastries and slices of fresh fruit.

Each of them looked absolutely perfect in their own distinct way.

As they knelt upright, the hems of their silk robes spread wide open across the floor. Following the bare lines of their legs upward.

The sheer physical tension in the room was almost suffocating.

What shocked him even more was the sheer number of them.

So many people all at once, as if this was some kind of special premium treatment designed just to pay back his painfully long journey.

Surrounded by such overwhelming temptation, he felt exactly like he had just stepped into heaven.

Suddenly, a sharp wave of shame hit his chest.

It felt like a direct betrayal of a lot of things.

Isn't it?

To hell with it, no one cares about me anyway,

David thought to himself.

Breaking his train of thought, the man kneeling directly at his feet began gently stroking David's ankle, lowering his face until his lips almost touched the bare skin.

Tonight, he really was going to heaven.

Or more likely to hell.

He sincerely hoped Xiao Yan was out there enjoying himself right now, too.