Chapter 26#

Low Swirl and Return#

Yan Wushu fell from the second floor of the inn without making a sound; Xiao Man guessed the fellow had flown away on the wind. He turned back from the window just as Qu Hanxing pushed the door open and entered. Upon looking up, the concern in Qu’s eyes turned into a look of amazement.

Xiao Man’s white skirt trailed on the floor, his dark hair cascading down like a waterfall. His face was clean and simple, but his features possessed a natural, pure beauty. The wind came from outside the window, swirling low and returning, making his sleeves flutter as if he were an immortal descended to earth.

Wei Chuyun walked in after Qu Hanxing. Seeing Xiao Man standing by the window, for a moment, his gaze deepened.

But before he could say anything, Qu Hanxing had already stepped forward, walked a circle around Xiao Man, scrutinized him from head to toe, and gave a thumb-up in praise: “Brother Man, you look beautiful!”

“There’s no need for that.” Xiao Man lowered his eyes, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

“It’s true beauty, words from the bottom of my lungs, from my heart!” Qu Hanxing patted his chest, speaking with total sincerity. “If you were truly a girl, it’s the kind of beauty that would make me want to propose to you!”

Xiao Man: “…”

Xiao Man was quite speechless.

“Actually, even if you weren’t a girl, one could still propose. In the past, many seniors of the same gender have become Dao companions. But Brother Man, I have no improper thoughts toward you! I still like girls.”

Remembering something, Qu Hanxing spoke again, his tone fluctuating. After making a solemn promise, he went to the couch to grab some tea to drink.

There was a teacup on the small table between the couches, with a little tea remaining in it—a trace of Yan Wushu’s stay. Qu Hanxing didn’t know that this “Senior Wu” had visited Xiao Man, and upon seeing it, he asked curiously, “Brother Man, don’t you usually dislike drinking tea?”

“There was no other water here, and I was thirsty earlier, so I drank some.” Xiao Man glanced that way and explained in a low voice.

Qu Hanxing said “Oh” and believed him.

At this moment, Mo Juntian walked in. He had put on the silk skirt in the color of the sky after rain he had chosen earlier. His hair was divided into two sections, each tied into a bun on top of his head.

He was younger than both Xiao Man and Qu Hanxing, only a thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy. Due to his martial arts practice, he was a bit taller than others his age, so Shi Tang’s clothes fit him perfectly.

And because he was only thirteen or fourteen, the lines and angles of his face still appeared youthful. With this dress on, he was very cute and truly looked like a girl.

Mo Juntian observed Xiao Man, and Xiao Man’s attention was also on him. After looking for a bit, he glanced at the mirror and began to look at himself.

With his hair loose, it did indeed look strange.

He intended to ask Mo Juntian whose hands the two buns on his head came from when Shi Tang’s voice drifted in: “Xiao Man, are you finished changing?”

Shi Tang was squatting in the hallway with her back to the door, pretentiously covering her eyes, acting as if she were strictly following the “see no evil, hear no evil” rule.

Xiao Man couldn’t help but want to laugh, but he kept his expression steady and said warmly, “Miss Shi, please come in. There’s a small matter I need Miss Shi’s help with.”

Hearing this, Shi Tang immediately lifted her skirt and stood up, walking in with a face full of joy. Seeing Xiao Man, she sighed again: “It’s a good thing you’re not a girl, otherwise, what would be left for us women?”

After her gaze fell on his clothes, she added, “This isn’t the dress I gave you.”

Xiao Man returned the two dresses on the bed to Shi Tang. “Yours are here. I realized after bringing them back that I couldn’t wear them, so I altered my own.”

“No wonder you were fumbling for so long.” Qu Hanxing realized, then clapped and praised, “But Brother Man, truly excellent skill!”

“Don’t you know magic?” Shi Tang looked amazed.

Xiao Man thought, As expected, and explained to her: “Changing things at will is likely a capability only after ascending to immortality.”

“Is that so?”

“Truly.”

“Ah…” Shi Tang only then realized she had been misled by legends and storybooks, and couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed.

She put the dresses back into that magical artifact, sighed softly, and then asked, “Alright, then what help do you want from me?”

“I don’t know how to style a woman’s hair,” Xiao Man told her truthfully.

“I’m the best at that here; I’m the one who styled Little Mo’s hair!” Shi Tang smiled again. Xiao Man walked with her to the dressing mirror by the window. After sitting down and thinking for a moment, he said to Shi Tang, “I don’t want the bun hairstyle.”

Shi Tang nodded: “Of course I won’t give you that. Little Mo looks cute, that’s why I did it for him. For you, I’ll give you something ethereal!”

Xiao Man said that would be excellent. Shi Tang picked up the comb from the table, gathered Xiao Man’s hair that was loose down his back into her hand, and was about to start combing when she saw the bottles and jars on the table and cried out:

“Rouge from the Unheard Palace of Penglai!”

“The Unheard Palace of Penglai is the best rouge shop in the world. Their rouge and powder are all limited editions. Those who can buy them are either lucky and arrived early, or are either wealthy or noble! Xiao Man… you, you, you, you… actually prepared this long ago?”

“…”

Another trouble left by Yan Wushu.

Xiao Man glanced at the bottles and jars, thinking to himself that he really should have thrown a vase at him earlier. He moved his lips and spent a moment organizing his words: “To prepare for unforeseen needs.”

Qu Hanxing was impressed for quite a while: “Brother Man, I didn’t expect you to have such foresight.”

“I bought it by mistake before, thinking it might be useful someday, so I didn’t throw it away,” Xiao Man had to add.

“It is useful; rouge that’s so hard to buy can be given to a girl!” Qu Hanxing said with conviction.

“I just took it out to look; I don’t intend to put it on my face.” Xiao Man expressionlessly put the items into his Qiankun Ring. “In any case, with the talismans, there’s no need for these things.”

“You don’t need these things to adorn you,” Wei Chuyun said.

Shi Tang began to style Xiao Man’s hair. In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, she had styled it into the hairstyle of an unmarried young woman. Xiao Man’s dark hair was like sandalwood, shining brightly. Shi Tang separated a few strands to fall by the sides of his face and shoulders, tied some up, and let the rest hang down his back, which further highlighted his porcelain-white skin.

His looks were not effeminate, let alone feminine; it was a beauty that transcended gender. With no makeup on his face, a white skirt, and dark eyes, he was pure and light, ethereal and exceptionally beautiful.

“Finished!” Shi Tang put down her hands with satisfaction.

Qu Hanxing immediately burst into a flurry of praise, while Mo Juntian nodded in agreement beside him.

Wei Chuyun put the talismans into a brocade pouch. These were high-level talismans that could confuse people’s minds, and they were quite expensive to produce. He didn’t say anything and handed them separately to Xiao Man and the other two.

“Junior Brother Qu and I will keep a close eye on Wuxiu Hui’s movements,” Wei Chuyun said, returning the string of Buddhist beads Xiao Man had given him when they parted earlier.

He had carried the beads with him, so they inevitably carried some warmth. Xiao Man didn’t think anything was wrong with that, put them back on his wrist, and thanked Wei Chuyun. “We will be careful.”

“The Shenjing festival is just around the corner, let’s set off,” Wei Chuyun smiled.

Xiao Man gave an “Mm,” grabbed Mo Juntian’s arm with one hand and took Shi Tang with the other, stepped into the air, and left through the window.

As the plain white hem of his skirt flew far away, Wei Chuyun stepped forward a few paces to see them off, only withdrawing his gaze after a moment.

Inside Wuxiu Hui, it was very lively.

In the hall and on the stage, the sound of pipes and strings filled the air. Girls dressed in gauze skirts with silver bells on their feet whirled on the spot to the music, their long sleeves swinging outward, blooming like delicate spring flowers in a dazzling array of colors.

The proprietress looked on from below, but no matter how beautiful the girls were, she couldn’t bring herself to be happy.

For the past half year, Wuxiu Hui had pulled its staff and closed most of its business to rehearse this dance, naturally to shine at the festival and attract all sorts of wealthy guests to come and appreciate the music and scenery at Wuxiu Hui. But curse those three disappointing ones for actually getting injured at this critical moment.

She had revised the dance over and over through the night, but with three missing, it still lacked flavor. She had looked everywhere for people, but there were no good candidates recommended—either their dance skills were excellent but their looks weren’t good enough, or their looks were enough but they had only their figures, making her so frustrated she couldn’t eat.

The proprietress stopped looking at the stage and drank a cup of cold tea to suppress her anger.

At this moment, an older woman walked over quickly and whispered in her ear: “Sister Qin, three girls have come outside saying they can dance ‘Beneath the Lotus Tower’.”

“Who recommended them?” Sister Qin asked.

“No one recommended them, but they danced a segment, and I think they’ll do,” the woman said.

Sister Qin raised an eyebrow, seemingly skeptical: “Truly?”

The woman nodded, her expression firm: “Absolutely.”

“Your eye has always been sharp. Since you’re so certain, let’s go take a look.” Sister Qin put down her teacup and rose.

In the backyard of Wuxiu Hui, many servants and maids put down their work and gathered to watch the excitement.

In the middle of the crowd, Shi Tang stood on her tiptoes, whirled on the spot, and began to dance. She had a bell hanging from her hand, and with her movements, a crisp sound rang out, very light and brisk.

She danced extremely well. Her slender hands rose and fell, her wrists turned, and her fingers shifted heights, dancing out different flowers with different poses. Her waist moved and swayed with agility, her feet moved as if stepping on lotuses. Turning sideways, returning, leaning her waist, and lifting her feet—it wasn’t just the movements, even her eyes were perfectly expressive.

Everyone was entranced.

As for Xiao Man and Mo Juntian, the two stood behind Shi Tang, motionless. Rather than being there to try out for the dance, they looked more like spectators.

But with the talismans on them, the onlookers’ minds were interfered with and they didn’t notice at all. When Shi Tang finished a segment and stopped to rest, thunderous applause broke out, and people kept cheering for the three.

The proprietress, Sister Qin, watched from the hallway for a while and asked aloud, “How many years have you been dancing?”

“Ten years!” Shi Tang answered, tilting her head.

Xiao Man and Mo Juntian followed her gaze.

The proprietress nodded, her gaze scanning each of them, finally stopping on Xiao Man’s face. Her eyes gradually widened, the worry on her face vanished, and a look of pleasant surprise appeared.

“…Truly, when heaven closes a door, it opens a window.”

She murmured, her eyes shining. She took two steps at a time to Xiao Man, grabbed his hand, and said: “Good, very good. With just this face of yours, we have hope of winning!”

The author has something to say: Sister Qin: How old are you, miss? Where do you reside? Are you interested in coming to my Wuxiu Hui? I guarantee you’ll be this year’s Oiran! Xiao Man: . Yan Wushu: ???