Song of Adolescence

Chapter 144 A Young Lady’s Temperament

A path on the mountain.

A swordsman who looked like a hedgehog was slowly riding a horse along the road. There were three swords on his back, two swords at his waist, and two daggers hidden by his legs. These seven swords were the heavy sword Hopeless, the light sword Farewell, the long sword Phoenix, the twin swords Goumang and Catastrophe and the three-inch swords Prajña and One Glance. They were newly forged by the Sword Heart Tombmaster Li Suwang and bestowed to Luo Mingxuan, who was researching the Immortal Six Gambles match. However, after receiving the swords, Luo Mingxuan was not happy at all, because he gained an extra companion while on his way back to the city——

Sikong Qianluo.

There were only three people in Snow Moon City who Luo Mingxuan was afraid of. One was naturally his master, Yin Luoxia. Yin Luoxia was a very reasonable master. If Luo Mingxuan was dissatisfied with anything, he could gamble it out with her except whenever the two of them gambled, Luo Mingxuan never won a single bet. The second person was Tang Lian. As the eldest martial brother of Snow Moon City, Tang Lian drew a clear distinction between merits and punishments, and he was a stickler for rules. Compared to First Citymaster Baili Dongjun who was impossible to track down, Second Citymaster Li Hanyi who was dedicated to cultivating swordsmanship, and Third Citymaster Sikong Changfeng who was easy-going and mild, Tang Lian was more like the citymaster than any of them. Luo Mingxuan was always full of smiles for everyone, except when he faced Tang Lian, he was always out of his depth. The third and last person was undoubtedly Sikong Qianluo. Among the three citymasters, only Sikong Changfeng had such a daughter, so one could say that Sikong Qianluo grew up beloved and spoiled by the entire Snow Moon City. Whether it was the three citymasters or the elders in the city, they were all wrapped around the fingers of both her hands. Hence, Sikong Qianluo slowly grew into a tyrant in Snow Moon City, and her hobby was using her spear to thrash people everywhere. Before meeting Xiao Se, the disciples in the city of her generation all grew up getting trashed by her, which of course, included Luo Mingxuan.

Luo Mingxuan was anxious to return to Snow Moon City to relay the message. He should be whipping his horse to rush back, but he just had to “escort” Sikong Qianluo back to the city, who was dallying in no big hurry. She waved her horse whip slowly, didn’t look like she was in a rush and looked more like she was taking a stroll to relax.

"Shijie, how about if we go faster…" Luo Mingxuan whispered.

Sikong Qianluo whipped her head around and shot him a spiteful glare.

"Whatever shijie says, we do whatever shijie wants!" Luo Mingxuan nodded and bowed immediately.

Sikong Qianluo turned her head and lightly kicked her horse\'s flank. The horse reluctantly galloped a few steps forward. Sikong Qianluo murmured, "Mingxuan, what do you say? What kind of relationship does Ye Ruoyi and Xiao Se have?"

"Well…" Luo Mingxuan thought for a while and said, "That would depend on Xiao Se\'s status. Ye Ruoyi is the daughter of the General-in-chief. Xiao Se said they met in Heavenly Revelations. I guess they must have met at the General\'s residence. But look at him wandering about the martial world, he couldn’t be the son of some Heavenly Revelations aristocracy. It’s more likely that he was a soldier in the General’s residence, or the son of the house steward, so he could meet Ye Ruoyi more than ten years ago."

"Soldier in the General’s residence? Steward’s son?" Sikong Qianluo was taken aback.

"Don\'t look at that Xiao Se who’s always putting on his cold and noble airs. Actually, I think that miserly habit of his must have come from a poor family. The children of poor families have to look after the house from an early age. Xiao Se’s accounting skills are so fastidious, he must have been very poor in the past!" Luo Mingxuan said all this with assertion, but he was actually talking nonsense. He’d been watching Sikong Qianluo and Xiao Se confront each other all day long, and concluded that they must hate each other, so he quickly made up something demeaning towards Xiao Se to fit the story. Who knew, the response he got from Sikong Qianluo was her rolling her eyes.

"They must have been childhood sweethearts," Sikong Qianluo said to herself, and suddenly she blurted out, "Then who do you think is more beautiful, Ye Ruoyi or I?"

Luo Mingxuan thought that his answer would greatly impact whether or not he could successfully bring Sikong Qianluo back to the city, so after a lot of consideration, he replied, "Miss Ye is physically weak and has a kind of morbid beauty. The kind of beauty that used to be praised by scholars of past dynasties. But for us disciples of the martial world, our tastes are different. We naturally like those……"

"Those?" Sikong Qianluo raised her voice.

"Those…" Luo Mingxuan didn’t really know how to continue. He couldn’t well say they like those ruthless and tyrannical tigress types like her, could he? The more he thought about it, the more anxious he got, and his sweat drops the size of beans were falling one by one. Finally, he slapped his thigh heavily and pronounced, "Anyway, shijie is beautiful, that’s that! Ye Ruoyi has a worldly beauty, but shijie, you are a beauty of the martial world, very… very special!"

"Ride!" Sikong Qianluo finally ignored him, waved her whip vigorously, turned the horse\'s head around and rode back.

"Qianluo-shijie!" Luo Mingxuan wanted to catch up, but was forced back by Sikong Qianluo’s spear. He reined in his horse hurriedly, stood in place and deliberated with himself again and again, until he felt that his task of reporting the message was more urgent, sighed and smacked his whip to continue riding in the direction of Snow Moon City. Da-shixiong ah, it’s not that I don’t want to listen to you. It’s just that you gave me two orders, but I can only solve the more important one first!

"Why is she a beauty of women, but I’m a beauty of the martial world? Who cares about the beauty of the martial world!" Sikong Qianluo was feeling indignant and she galloped wildly on her horse. She didn’t feel any enmity towards Ye Ruoyi, and she even liked this kind and gentle guest. She also didn’t feel concerned about the fact that Ye Ruoyi knew Xiao Se from when they were young. But, she didn’t understand why the two of them had known each other since a long time ago, yet when they met each other so many times in Snow Moon City, they didn’t recognise each other. There must be a hidden reason behind this.

Sikong Qianluo just couldn\'t understand it no matter how hard she thought about it. She’d also realised that everything about Xiao Se before he became the innkeeper of Fallen Snow Villa was a complete blank. They had vaguely heard him say that he used to live in Heavenly Revelations City. As she was thinking about this, she suddenly saw that familiar set of blue robes in the distance, and couldn’t help but feel a sense of joy. However, on closer look, there was something odd about it. There was no sign at all of Lei Wujie and the others, only that set of blue robes lying motionless under a tree.

"Xiao Se!" Sikong Qianluo yelled, but there was no response. She took another few steps forward, only to realise that the blue robes lying on the ground were stained with a lot of blood. Sikong Qianluo was shocked and she jumped off the horse in one step. She held her Silver Moon spear ready and swept over to his side. Finally, she could see everything clearly, and her heart clenched with horror. Xiao Se was covered in blood, his robes torn, as he lay unconscious on the ground.

"Xiao Se, Xiao Se! What\'s wrong with you!" Sikong Qianluo leaned down hurriedly, and reached out a hand to check Xiao Se\'s breath. There was still a trace. She exhaled in relief. "Why are you alone? Where’re the others?"

Xiao Se heard her voice, his hands twitched slightly, and he opened his eyes with some difficulty. He breathed thinly and said, "We were ambushed by the Hidden River. The rest… they’re all dead."