Volume 10 Chapter 54

Squashed between two dazzling girls, Su Xiao didn't dare to utter a word as they traversed the busy streets. The only other time he had heard such a profound discussion, where everything exchanged had underlying meanings, was the time he visited Cold Mountain Temple and knocked every monk out with his cooking.

"How about we g-"

Luo Mingzhu: "Sure, let's go."

Ye Luo: "No, let's not!"

Every time one of them opined, the other would disagree. There were stalls lined up all along the streets, yet they refused to stop even once until Ye Luo spotted a rouge store and picked up a container.

"This container looks nice. Help me choose one, Xiao."

"Sure. Let's see... Hmm... This colour matches you. You like to wear black, so the chestnut-plum colour will fit with your attire. If you wear a warrior robe, dab a little bit of it on, and you'll steal everyone's hearts."

Cheeks rosy, Ye Luo rhetorically asked, "Why would you go out of your way to say that? Are you trying to cheer me up?"

"Not at all. You're always pretty," Su Xiao sincerely replied.

Feeling her embarrassment sear through her cheeks, Ye Luo spun around to the hawker. "I'll take ten boxes of this!"

"Ho, it does look pretty good," dimpling, Luo Mingzhu finished, "for old women."

Ye Luo, acting as if her body was lagging, looked over her shoulder: "What was that? Explain yourself."

Although Ye Luo was only eighteen this year, she was older than sixteen year old Luo Mingzhu and fifteen year old Su Xiao. Whether Luo Mingzhu knew it or not, she hit Ye Luo's sore spot.

Luo Mingzhu's eyes wandered up to the ceiling, much to Ye Luo's chagrin. Ye Luo had issues with Luo Mingzhu ever since the latter started fawning over Su Xiao back at Luo Sword Manor, and Luo Mingzhu's pedigree fuelled Ye Luo's frustration even more. Thanks to her concern, however, Su Xiao's status in her mind elevated itself because he didn't swoon over Luo Mingzhu despite Luo Mingzhu's pedigree. Based on today's events, Su Xiao's status didn't get an upgrade in Ye Luo's books alone.

At a fabric store, Luo Mingzhu found a collection that impelled her to pull it over. "Young Master Su, I think this one is quite nice."

Luo Mingzhu didn't speak that softly - not remotely. Her only motivation for foregoing her unreasonable and snobby attitude was two words: Su Xiao.

Seeing Su Xiao space out, Luo Mingzhu stated, "It is understandable for men to not know about girls' things. Mingzhu apologises for not considering that."

Su Xiao ignored Luo Mingzhu, who reached out for the fabric. "The colour is called light fragrance. It is dyed first and then scented multiple times to mellow out the scent as well as to generate the autumn-leaves colour. I've seen a premium quality 'yellow decayed leaf' before. Its scent was similar but nowhere close to the elegant scent of this. They say that real light fragrance can only be found in Nanjiang. I must say I'm lucky to have already found one."

The hawker praised, "Impressive. Not many people know much about fragrances anymore. If you like, this old one can give it to you for half price."

"Thank you, Mister." Su Xiao gazed at the fabric as though it was his lover. "Miss Luo, you have good taste. Not everyone can discern what makes this fabric so great. I see your upbringing is fantastic."

"I-I only know a little. I saw my mother wear clothing made from this fabric when I was a kid. You know far more than me. - I usually only play with weapons; I honestly am not very educated. Please pardon me for my unsightly behaviour..." While Luo Mingzhu's face continued to glow a brighter and brighter shade of red, her voice softened with each word.

"Don't say that. It's good that you practice martial arts; it'll be handy when you need to protect yourself, and you can even punish evildoers if you want, just like Wutong Jin Yuxuan's disciples. I look up to you since you're better than me."

Noticing Luo Mingzhu looking ready to throw herself into Su Xiao's arms, Ye Luo decided to cool the latter down. "How about this one?" Ye Luo checked out the light fragrance fabric and commented, "It resembles the cloth we use to wipe our feet. Miss Luo, you need handkerchiefs for your feet? Are you implying you have not washed your feet for a month?"

Despite the green lines showing on her forehead, Luo Mingzhu fronted with a smile: "... I wash my feet daily - and twice daily, for that matter. This is for clothing."

"I see. I see. Using a foot towel for clothing sure is innovative."

Su Xiao hurriedly tried to defuse the situation: "Exc-excuse m-"

"All right, let's fight it out, you wench!"

Ye Luo displayed two different joint lock styles in five exchanges, while Luo Mingzhu used her fingers as substitutes for a sword, inciting a rambunctious crowd.

In terms of training, Luo Mingzhu learnt more advanced skills from her clan. Ye Luo, on the other hand, leveraged her wealth of experience in real combat from her job and age to put Luo Mingzhu on the back foot.

Since you want to fight so bad, I'll give it to you!

Cold energy emanated from Luo Mingzhu's fingertips as she drew a circle with her attacking hand, creating a visible trail of ice qi.

Glossary

Luo Mingzhu's speech style - The word choices themselves can't be replicated in English, so I'm going to do my best to capture it. She switched out pronouns, verbs and so forth, as well as referring to herself in third person, for ones that women would use when trying to sound graceful. Another way it's done is via taking a roundabout way of speaking. You can come off as curt if you cut to the chase (context dependent), so she cushions what the she wants to say.