Luo Shao slowly turned around, put his hands behind his back and pondered for a long time before answering Wu Shilang: "I'm thinking about how to climb up gracefully."
Climbing up is not difficult, but climbing it gracefully and charmingly is a skill in itself.
Isoro stared, speechless.
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At the foot of Black Wind Stronghold stood a young man in black robes.
His face was like cold jade, his body like a green pine, and he carried three swords on his shoulders, one gold and two green.
His eyes were somewhat confused as he frowned and looked at the fork in the road not far away.
He stood at the crossroads, thought for a moment, tightened the sword on his back, and walked toward the road leading to the town.
To avoid him, Luo Jinfeng must have been traveling through the night. They're probably already in the next town. If he doesn't speed things up, he might miss her.
Thinking of this, he clutched his chest, trying his best to suppress the dull pain in his chest, and quickened his pace.
Little did he know that the two of them were on the other side of the fork in the road, racking their brains over how to exit the cave gracefully.
Poor Musou, despite chasing after him all the way, no matter how fast he ran, he still missed Wushilang.
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"Igoro, is it alright for you to eat like this?"
After climbing out of the pit, Wu Shilang and Luo Jinfeng were in a state of taking one step and resting two. Wu Shilang, in particular, had his face as hard as a rock in a latrine after being nodded to by Luo Shao and flying up into the pit.
"You won't die from eating that." Isoro glared angrily at Luo Jinfeng, and taking advantage of the wind, bit off a piece of the meat filling from half of the pancake in his hand. "I'm just annoyed!"
"Huh? Why?" Luo Shao asked seriously, bending down and looking up at Wu Shilang, while smiling and saying, "If I don't lend you my head, then we'll have to starve at the bottom of the pit."
Wu Shilang angrily slammed down the flatbread in her hand and said, "Can't you let people have some peace and quiet? After you flew me away, how am I supposed to gamble now!" She held up her hand to show her height, and became even angrier: "I'm only a little over five feet tall now. You flew me away and shattered my dream of being a seven-foot man."
Luo Jinfeng was even happier, and bowed with a grin, apologizing, "Okay, okay, it's my fault." His eyes were smiling, sparkling, and flashing with a strangely happy dark color. "If you want to gamble in the future, you can gamble with me. I will never win a single point from you. I will make sure you are above me for life and earn enough gambling funds."
Isoro's angry expression softened, and he turned his head to look at him with a grin, without saying a word.
Seeing that her mood had improved, Luo Jinfeng was even happier. He pursed his red lips and smiled broadly, revealing two very shallow dimples on his cheeks. "If you blame me for not growing taller, then you can spend your whole life taking revenge on me."
He spoke with extreme sweetness, his eyes and brows revealing an emotion he himself was unaware of.
"Tch," Wu Shilang rolled her eyes at him, crossed her arms, and said, "You wish! I don't have time to waste my whole life with you." Her eyes darted around, and she tapped her nose, saying, "I'm going to roam the martial world with Wushuang in the future. It would be too incongruous to drag you along."
Luo Shao's face immediately turned cold, and he sneered, "You treat him like a treasure, but he treats you like straw. Little Fifty, don't blame me for not reminding you, handsome men are always fickle. If you continue to be so infatuated, you will be heartbroken in the future."
He had no recollection of being one of the three young masters of the martial arts world, and spoke with great indignation, implying that he was utterly hopeless.
“A single straw is nothing to be surprised about. One day, I will let him know that I am just a straw on that vast plain, and in terms of value, I am roughly worth as much as he is.” Wu Shilang smiled sweetly, his heart filled with sweetness as he recalled Leng Wushuang’s cold and indifferent appearance.
She simply loves him, and that fact can never be changed.
"Rotten wood cannot be carved." Luo Jinfeng's eyes were deep and filled with a sinister look. He turned around hatefully, his back to Wu Shilang, and said, "You are my servant, so naturally I will not allow you to debase yourself like this."
He made up his mind to send men to clear the way from southern Anhui to Sichuan, making sure that Wu Shilang and Leng Wushuang would never meet again.
If we don't meet, we probably won't miss each other.
"Young Master Luo, are we just going to take the official road?" Wu Shilang looked at Luo Jinfeng with a puzzled expression. When he was with Leng Wushuang, they always chose shortcuts and usually took rugged and uneven roads. They rarely took the official road as leisurely as they were now.
“That’s right, we’ll take the main road.” Young Master Luo replied with a smile, while straightening his robes. “Taking the side roads doesn’t suit my style. There’s too much dust, too few people, and no big inns. Do you really want to spend your days exposed to the elements, covered in dust and dirt?”
Isoro gave a vague "oh" as if he understood, and although he thought what he said made a lot of sense, he still had a vague feeling that something was wrong deep down.
I couldn't figure out what was wrong, no matter how hard I tried.
However, if you have a large inn to stay in and meat to eat at every meal, this problem can be ignored.
PART 45
Leng Wushuang had been traveling along the narrow path for three or four days.
Although it was late autumn, his hair was still damp and stuck to his forehead because he had been traveling non-stop. He didn't dare to rest for a moment and traveled through three towns before slowing down.
"Young master, would you like a quick bite or a meal?"
Leng Wushuang pondered for a moment, then asked, "Have you seen two young masters, one of whom is short and dressed in black?"
He frowned, unsure whether Giro was still wearing black like him.
The waiter frowned and said, "Young master, there are plenty of customers dressed in black. Does he have any other physical characteristics?"
Leng Wushuang lowered her head and thought carefully for a long time. Then she looked up, frowned, and recounted as she recalled, "She wasn't very tall, roughly reaching my armpit. She had big eyes and a small mouth, and when she smiled..."
What does she look like when she smiles? Leng Wushuang suddenly recalled the first time she saw Wushilang. At that time, her lips were bright red, and she smiled timidly, like a frightened kitten. Suddenly, her chest warmed, and her eyes smiled slightly. She continued, "When she smiles, she is very cute, like a mischievous kitten."
The waiter stared in disbelief as he recounted his memories, suddenly realizing that the more vivid his narration, the more elusive it all seemed.
“She likes to act spoiled, grabbing other people’s sleeves…” He paused, then suddenly remembered that the person with Wu Shilang now was Luo Jinfeng. The image of Wu Shilang grabbing Luo Jinfeng and laughing with a wrinkled nose flashed through his mind, and an unfamiliar sting immediately rose in his heart.
“She…” Leng Wushuang could no longer find any words to describe her. All this time, it was always Wushilang who kept calling out to him. He had never taken the initiative to talk to her or even look at her. Now, looking back, apart from her smiling face, he couldn’t describe Wushilang’s characteristics at all.
“Young master,” the waiter rubbed his hands, looking quite troubled, “I’m in a difficult position because of what you’ve said. Nine out of ten young masters here are dressed in black.” He pointed casually, and sure enough, the table was full of black robes and black clothes, with all of them having long, flowing hair. They looked like countless imitations of the peerless young master, with all kinds of heights, weights, and builds.
"Why are so many people dressed in black?" Wushuang asked with a rare curiosity and a cold face.
"Because I am dressed in black."
On the other side of the table, a handsome young man strolled over slowly. He wore a flowing black robe, had eyes like flowing water, and hair like black satin. He lifted a golden crown with two dragons spitting pearls on it. His red lips were slightly curved, and as soon as his eyes moved slightly, countless gasps came. Two small jade swords were hanging at his waist. With a slight movement, the two swords clashed and jingled, exuding an indescribable romantic charm.
It turned out to be the eldest son of the Duan family, Narcissus.
"Boring." Leng Wushuang's eyes were like cold stars as she coldly shot him over, without even the slightest feigned response. She turned to the waiter and said, "Let's go forward."
The waiter immediately bowed and scraped, and walked ahead.
“If you leave now, you’ll regret it.” Duan Shuixian leaned against the window and saw Leng Wushuang walk away quickly without turning her head. She calmly said, “Because I know where Wushilang is now.”
Leng Wushuang stopped abruptly, standing there coldly.
“If you travel with me, I will tell you where Isoro is.”
Leng Wushuang remained unmoved, merely turning her face slightly to the side without replying to Duan Shuixian's words.
“I know she’s with Luo Jinfeng,” Young Master Duan said, pulling a gold-flecked fan from his sleeve and fanning himself with an air of elegance. “Moreover, Luo has clearly taken a fancy to Wushilang. I’ve heard that Luoxia Manor has many beautiful women hidden away, all of whom he has collected from various places as his personal collection.”
He had originally intended to provoke Leng Wushuang with a lie, but as he spoke, he became angry first. In his anger, he fanned himself faster, causing a few strands of his hair to sway gently, which only made him appear more elegant and graceful.
"Why are you telling me all this?" Leng Wushuang asked coldly, turning around with icy eyes. Duan Shuixian's words reminded him of Luo Jinfeng's attitude towards Wushilang at Black Wind Stronghold.
My heart skipped a beat.
“The longer you hesitate, the more time we will waste,” Duan Shuixian said with a smile, fanning herself with a dashing air. “At that time, Luo Shaoran and Wushilang will be alone together. I can’t guarantee that nothing will go wrong.”
Leng Wushuang clenched her fists repeatedly before slowly walking towards Duan Shuixian and coldly stating, "Conditions."
Duan Shuixian was taken aback for a moment, then smiled broadly and said, "There are no other conditions, but you can travel with me when you are looking for Wushilang."
Leng Wushuang's brow twitched. She subtly moved ten steps away from him and coldly asked, "Why?"
Duan Shuixian remained silent, slowly turned around, gazed into the distance for a long time, and then turned back to Leng Wushuang with a melancholy tone: "I want to surpass Luo Chao Leng and take the title of the most handsome man in the martial arts world!" As he spoke, he sighed, "Only when you are always by my side, wearing black robes alongside me, will the writers who write martial arts chronicles realize that my talent and looks are actually superior to yours, and how undeserving your title of number one is."
He became more and more cheerful as he spoke, opened his arms, looked up at the sky, and exclaimed, "The world is drunk and in a state of chaos. Only facts can prove my talent and good looks."
Completely absorbed in the moment, he even took the bronze mirror from the other side of his waist and secretly looked at himself while speaking.
A slight distortion finally appeared on Leng Wushuang's usually cold and expressionless face. She remained silent for a long while, then said with utter helplessness, "If you like this title, feel free to take it."
It's unbelievable that anyone would care so much about that ranking.
"Are you insulting me?!" Duan Shuixian suddenly turned around and said angrily, "What fun is there in winning first place without a fight?"
Leng Wushuang's eyebrows twitched again, then she silently turned around and walked towards the stairs without looking back.
"You mean you're tacitly agreeing?"
Leng Wushuang slowed her pace, then strode away and disappeared in no time.
"Hmm, no answer means tacit consent." Duan Shuixian sat down by the window with a smile, pointed to the dishes on the table, and said, "Waiter, remove them all and bring them back."
Then, after a pause, he added, "Take it away, reheat it, and send it to that young master Leng's room. Tell him it's on me."
He stirred the cold dishes on the table with his chopsticks, then put them down, waved his hand, and watched the waiter run off with a smile.
The guard in blue behind him asked in bewilderment, "Young Master, why did you invite Young Master Leng to have so many dishes?"
In the ten years he had followed Young Master Duan, he had rarely seen him do such a losing business. This time, he was spending so much money to entertain him, it was unprecedented.
"Yes, because he's lost a lot of weight recently, and his complexion is affecting his appearance." Duan Shuixian rested her chin on her hands and said sullenly, "If I were to win against him like this, it wouldn't be a fair victory."
The guard in blue stood silently, head bowed and stiff.
“Oh, right, I forgot you ate something when you weren’t saying anything,” Duan Shuixian said, taking out a miniature abacus from her pocket and typing away. “We’ll split the food 50/50, consider it your contribution to me.”
The guard in blue remained even more silent.
Sure enough, since the young master is treating, you can't eat too much food.
"So, would you like to sit down and have some more?" After paying the bill, Young Master Duan put the abacus in his pocket and asked kindly, pointing to the dishes on the newly laid-out table.
The guard in blue immediately shook his head vigorously.
If it's split 50/50 again, all my earnings for this month will be gone.
Actually, the eldest son of the Duan family didn't come out this time just to compete in beauty.
"Young master, I found out that the shipment contained fifty powdered powder." The guard in blue said in a low voice.
Duan Shuixian frowned and asked in confusion, "At Pinxianglou, all the food is cooked by our own chefs. Why are there fifty pieces of rice in the food box sent to Lujiazhuang?"
For some time now, all the pastries and drinks sent to the major manors have been mixed with fifty powder. If it weren't for the maid in our own manor sneaking a taste and becoming addicted after eating it a few times, the matter probably wouldn't have been exposed.
"Young master, it is said that this kind of thing is not entirely fifty pieces," the guard in blue replied cautiously.
"Oh?" Duan Shuixian was inwardly surprised, but her face remained calm. "How so?"
"Doctor Qiu has conducted several experiments with this medicine and found that it is more harmful to those with martial arts skills," the guard in blue frowned and asked with great doubt. "It seems that if you take it for a long time, your martial arts skills will gradually be lost, but if you can replenish this medicine in time, your martial arts skills will be stronger than before."
"How could this be?" Duan Shuixian sighed and pondered for a long time before saying, "During the martial arts tournament in October, our Duan family will stop supplying pastries and food. This time, we will withdraw from the competition to supply them."
“Young Master, that would be a huge income.” The guard in blue immediately exclaimed in a low voice, “In the past, we made a fortune every time we invested, why are we withdrawing this year?”
Duan Shuixian smiled slightly and said calmly, "If you want to protect the Duan family, then you will definitely have to suffer a loss once."
Between the Duan family and the money, the former is more important.
The guard in blue seemed to understand but not quite, nodding blankly in agreement. In any case, what the young master said was right. Through countless waves, the fact had proven that the rise of the Duan family was inseparable from Duan Shuixian.