The observation game was over.
It was time for some paid services.
Lin Qingyue raised her hand and gently beckoned to Mia, the catgirl attendant standing nearby.
Mia immediately glided over with light, feline steps, bowing slightly, her smile flawless.
"How may I assist you, guests?"
"Add an hour of conversation service," Lin Qingyue said, pointing directly at her. "Just you, Miss Mia."
"Very well, please wait a moment."
Mia curtsied gracefully and quickly brought over an exquisite hourglass, flipping it over on the table.
Fine golden sand flowed silently through the glass.
"So, what would the guests like to discuss during the hour?"
Mia settled into a nearby armchair, her posture dignified. She looked less like a courtesan and more like a scholar preparing for an interview.
"Inquire about something," Lin Qingyue leaned forward slightly, her voice calm as she uttered two words:
"Fox Merchant."
The moment those words left her lips, Mia's carefully crafted mask of sweetness shattered.
The professional sheen in her beautiful cat eyes vanished, replaced by undisguised contempt and loathing.
Even her nostrils twitched slightly, and the furry tip of her tail lashed irritably against the sofa cushion, as if she had caught a whiff of something rotten.
"Guest, why are you asking about them?" Her tone was sharp with suspicion. "Those guys are nothing but trouble."
"Curiosity," Lin Qingyue replied calmly, as if discussing the weather. "When I entered the city, I encountered one who was overly 'enthusiastic' toward my sister. Later, after hearing more about their affairs, I felt their methods and the atmosphere they create... are very different from what I've seen here."
"Different? More than just different!" Mia's voice suddenly turned shrill, her furry cat ears instantly flattening back into angry "airplane ears."
"They're nothing but liars! Bandits! The festering cancer of Blackrock Stronghold! Vermin!" Her words were sharp and venomous, all traces of her earlier polished demeanor vanished.
This reaction completely confirmed Lin Qingyue's suspicions: the two groups were indeed vastly different.
"Hmph, a bunch of stinking sewer foxes," Lin Xiyue muttered, clenching her fist. Her eyes flashed with disgust as she recalled the woman named Adela. "We should have let Sis skewer her with a bamboo skewer last time!"
"Their methods defy normal business logic. It's more like outright plunder," Su Wan calmly added, her fingertip unconsciously tracing the cold rim of her glass. "Using emotions as bait to hunt for assets—pure profit with no investment."
Xia Lian, visibly uneasy, murmured, "Turning people into... that kind of state is just horrifying."
Their reactions resonated deeply with Mia, her initial wariness dissolving into shared indignation.
Lin Qingyue remained composed, pressing further, "If they're so brazen, why doesn't the guard intervene?"
"Intervene? How could they?" Mia scoffed, her voice dripping with scorn. "They never force anyone. It's all 'consensual.'"
"Those bewitched fools willingly become their slaves. Even if Lord City Lord wanted to intervene, he'd lack any legitimate grounds."
She paused, lowering her voice. "Besides, everyone knows those vixens have powerful backers. They wouldn't be so fearless otherwise."
"Here, some influential figures enjoy making Lord City Lord miserable."
"Their dirty work, done in the shadows, perfectly serves to vex him without staining their own hands."
So they really do have someone pulling the strings, Lin Qingyue thought.
Lin Qingyue confirmed her suspicions inwardly.
"Then why can't we feel the same madness in Tender Village as outside?" Su Wan asked, voicing her most pressing concern.
"The effect of the Echo of the Heart's Abyss seems to be suppressed here," Lin Qingyue observed.
Upon hearing this, Mia's face lit up with unconcealed pride, her back straightening unconsciously.
"You have a remarkably keen perception, guest," she said, straightening her posture further. "Because this is Tender Village, the domain of Lady Lilina."
"Lady Lilina?"
"Yes, our great City Lord Punk's younger sister," Mia replied, her voice brimming with genuine reverence.
"Lady Lilina is the most devout follower of the God of Contracts. The entire Tender Village is enveloped by a Divine Barrier she invoked through her prayers."
"Here, all transactions must adhere to the ancient principle of 'fair exchange.'"
She gestured with a slender finger at the opulent decadence surrounding them.
"Guests spend their money to purchase our time, services, and companionship."
"We offer everything at clearly marked prices. Fair exchange—each gets what they need."
"This 'Contract' itself acts as a restraint, suppressing the Echo of the Heart's Abyss's chaotic amplification of desires to its fullest extent."
She concluded, "So here, desire still exists, but it's caged within the confines of 'trade.'"
"This is the only 'safe zone' in all of Blackrock Stronghold where reason can triumph over desire."
This was the true reason behind Tender Village's immense popularity.
Lin Qingyue held her wine glass, her fingertips gently tracing its icy rim.
Fighting rules with rules...
The essence of Tender Village wasn't about suppressing desire, but rather using the Divine Spell of the God of Contracts to channel it onto the single track of "fair exchange."
Desire still burned fiercely, but its outlets were strictly limited.
Money changed hands, goods were delivered.
Once the transaction was complete and the Contract fulfilled, the desire naturally dissipated like smoke.
It was a brilliant business model, a unique "game of rules."
Mia seemed to have opened the floodgates, continuing resentfully, "And it's because of us that those vixen's businesses are thriving!"
"They lure those fools who can't afford us but crave comfort with the banner of 'free true love.' Their very existence is an insult to the word 'love' itself!"
"Ah, ever since the world turned this way, they've been sprouting like mushrooms after the rain, impossible to guard against."
"The world turned this way?"
Lin Qingyue's keen senses immediately latched onto the word.
"Yes," Mia sighed, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "You must be from out of town, guest. Blackrock Stronghold is a place where desires run rampant and people have lost their moral compass... Hasn't it always been like this? What's so strange about it?"
Mia's matter-of-fact sigh slowly extinguished the smile on Lin Qingyue's lips.
Her hand holding the wine glass paused, and the starlight swirling within seemed to freeze.
Always?
No. It hasn't always been like this!
Whether it was the academically gifted Karula or the maid Mia standing before her, they both spoke of these rules as if they were immutable laws, as if the world had always been this way.
But the truth was, these rules had only suddenly appeared half a year ago!
This was a massive blind spot.
Everyone trapped within this situation had their perceptions "corrected"!
Even the Elven Garrison Commander Iris, who could sense the world's isolation, had never questioned these "rules" that had materialized out of thin air.
This wasn't a case of being too close to see the forest for the trees. It was a deliberate manipulation of memories and perceptions by a higher power!
However, there was no need to discuss this with a maid. First, another mystery needed to be solved.
Lin Qingyue set down her wine glass.
The base clinked lightly against the table, a soft thud.
Though quiet, the sound made Mia, who had been completely focused, flinch slightly.
Mia looked up and met Lin Qingyue's gaze.
In that instant, Mia felt she was no longer facing a relaxed and languid guest.
Lin Qingyue leaned forward slightly, radiating an invisible aura of intense focus that made Mia instinctively straighten her posture, her back tensing.
In those pink eyes, the previous casualness and curiosity had vanished without a trace, replaced by pure analytical scrutiny.
That gaze seemed to peel away her layers of pretense, piercing straight to her deepest secrets.
"I understand. But there's one thing I can't figure out," Lin Qingyue said, her voice calm yet carrying an undeniable weight of authority.
"Why?"
"Why are those Fox Merchants and the two women in the Arena able to freely change partners, becoming 'masters' of desire?"
"And why do the men they choose become completely enslaved, reduced to mere 'slaves' of desire?"