Chu Huaixu looked at the spoon that had fallen into the bowl, soaking in the broth amidst the four uneaten wontons.
Han Shuangjiang sat bolt upright, her expression grave, her eyes filled with scrutiny.
The brothel she came from was called [Red Sleeves Beckon], a high-end establishment that ranked among the best in the Mirror Kingdom's imperial capital. From a young age, she was taught by the "Madam" and influenced by her "sisters." In her formative years, she had grown accustomed to seeing her sisters deceive men, and be deceived by men.
Since ancient times, many storybooks have written about love stories that took place in pleasure districts. In the imperial capital, there were indeed sisters who were bought out and left that cage. It was just that some lived well, while others merely went from one cage to another. Generally speaking, for people like them, living a life with a man they liked was an extravagant hope.
The "Madam" had taught everyone plenty: the moment a man says he wants to live with you, you must be on your guard. This was especially true for some sisters who had saved up enough silver to buy their own freedom, only to throw themselves into the arms of their beloved. At times like these, the "Madam" would always try to stop them. If she couldn't, she would just sneer, "You think he's truly fond of you? He just doesn't want to pay to sleep with you!"
—In other words, getting it for free.
In fact, the "Madam" was right about some of them. Once a man's novelty wore off, once he got tired of sleeping with them, he would regain his rationality and despise you for your dirty past. Perhaps this was also a method they used to control the sisters.
But you couldn't deny that there were truly sincere people in this world. Some men were just willing to "privatize the public bus," and they did so with delight. As long as a few such examples existed, it would be enough to make many sisters, their heads dizzy with love, follow one after another down the same path.
Han Shuangjiang never would have thought that one day a man would look at her and say he wanted to live a life with her. More importantly, they had only met for the first time last night. She believed that love at first sight really existed in this world, but overall, she was not a sentimental person.
First [Red Sleeves Beckon], then the [Joyful Sect]—everything that happened in these places served as a constant reminder that a person had to control their own destiny and couldn't hope to find a man to entrust their whole life to.
On the "Borrowing a Sword" forums, some players had joked that the game's four World Protagonists really did cater to the vast majority of people. Han Shuangjiang was the strong female lead, focused entirely on her career—love and romance could get lost! The two protagonists from the Western Continent's Moon Kingdom, a man and a woman, had a romantic storyline, so passionate and sweet that the shipping fans could die for their CP. As for Xu Ziqing... he didn't seem to do much, but just because of his appearance and temperament, he could elicit screams from the fujoshi.
Doesn't matter if you're a bottom or not, in my eyes, you are! The moment you stand next to another man, I refuse to believe it's just brotherly affection!
—The prejudice in a person's heart is a fortress.
After successfully joining the Dao Gate, Han Shuangjiang felt that she was about to start taking control of her life step by step, and that life was becoming more and more promising.
And then, Chu Huaixu pulled a stunt like this.
—Man, listen to what you're saying!
It's only been one meal, you're being too forward, too presumptuous.
But looking at his face in the morning light, she silently removed the word "too" from her thoughts.
The foxy-faced man across from her heard Han Shuangjiang say "I'm not eating anymore" and, seeing her clearly misunderstood expression, said:
"Heh, a puxin nü. Such a turn-off." (T/N: Puxin nü is slang for an ordinary but overconfident woman.)
It was the first time the cold-faced girl had heard these words, and she didn't know what they meant. But the expression on his face and his tone made her very uncomfortable.
Chu Huaixu tapped his fingertips lightly on the tabletop, then leaned his body forward, getting as close to her as possible, and began to speak in a lower voice.
"Get this straight. We were personally brought up the mountain by the Sixth Elder."
Han Shuangjiang frowned. "So what?"
What, does that mean our fates are now tied together by a string?
"Look at all these in-name disciples and outer sect disciples around us. Do you think anyone else gets this kind of treatment?" Chu Huaixu said in a low voice, looking around.
"What exactly are you trying to say?" Han Shuangjiang was starting to listen...
"So, don't you think the most important thing for us is to cultivate? To raise our realms as soon as possible," he stared at her intently.
The cold-faced girl's brow furrowed even deeper. Miraculously, when she put on a serious face, she became even more charming.
The more she showed this expression, the more Chu Huaixu wanted to provoke her. He punctured the illusion directly, "But you don't have much silver, do you?"
Han Shuangjiang bit her silver teeth but could not refute it. Only then did she realize that perhaps, from the moment they met at the cafeteria entrance, he had seen through her predicament with a single glance.
Chu Huaixu stopped looking at her and instead called out, "Senior Brother! The bill!"
He took out the 100-tael silver note from his robes and placed it on the table, displaying his wealth.
The man, who also wore an in-name disciple's token, walked over. "Whoa! Junior Brother, you don't have any loose change?"
"Unfortunately, no. Sorry to trouble you, Senior Brother."
"No problem."
After paying the bill, Chu Huaixu looked at her again and said:
"To be honest, I only have this hundred taels on me. Oh, now it's less than a hundred."
"My idea is that during this period, we don't worry about anything else. We just focus on cultivating and learning, and see if we can break through the aperture-opening stage before the hundred taels run out."
"Once we reach the first realm, there will be more things we can do."
Han Shuangjiang was confused and asked, "But, why do you want to pull me in with you?"
Of course Chu Huaixu wouldn't tell her, Because I want to freeload off you.
Only by living together and cultivating together would there be a greater chance of obtaining the Dao Ancestor's legacy together.
In fact, the courtesan-in-training from the brothel had a wealth of theoretical knowledge on How to Deceive Men. However, she was no match for the male model across from her, who had a wealth of practical experience in How to Deceive Women.
"As I said before, we are different from all the other disciples in the outer sect."
"We are two of a kind."
"In the entire outer sect, we might be the only two of our kind."
He looked around, as if he didn't fit in with anything around him.
Han Shuangjiang lowered her eyes slightly. She had this feeling too.
Chu Huaixu looked at her and thought, "Duh, that's because we just got here!"
We're the new transfer students~
"The Sixth Elder brought us up the mountain together, and Deacon Niu even arranged for our residences to be next to each other. Do I need to say more?" the foxy-faced man said again.
Han Shuangjiang continued to respond with silence. She once again remembered her "Madam's" admonitions to the sisters.
"You think men will spend their silver on you for no reason?"
"All they want is to get a key in exchange, and then... thrust it viciously into your copper lock."
The "Madam" was always like that, her words crude but her reasoning sound.
Some sisters had their methods and wouldn't give them the key on the first try. But some sisters would also get carried away. After their lock was opened a few times, what opened up was their heart. Still other sisters were not clear-headed. After being opened by a golden key a few times, they got a taste of that heady gold dust and really thought they were a golden lock, looking down on ordinary people.
Han Shuangjiang had just been mocked by Chu Huaixu, so she was no longer thinking along the lines of romance. But she also knew that there was no such thing as a free gift, nor unprompted kindness. She was not a stupid person, so she took the initiative to speak, attempting to define the situation, "You want me to owe you a favor?"
Chu Huaixu shrugged, looking completely nonchalant. "If you want to put it that way, that works too."
"In any case, what I want isn't for you to pay me back the silver in the future. As long as we both understand the arrangement, that's enough," he said truthfully.
After speaking, he also began to justify his position. "I also know it's not much money, so time is tight. We need to break through to the next realm as soon as possible."
Hearing this, under Chu Huaixu's gaze, Han Shuangjiang finally nodded.
Immediately after, he watched as she, with a clear conscience, picked up the spoon that had fallen into the bowl and ate the remaining four small wontons.
"It's too expensive to waste," the still-hungry girl said.
...
...
The morning light shone
on the path home. Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang walked side by side.
Along the way, the two barely spoke.
He was thinking about where the Dao Ancestor's legacy was hidden.
The more pragmatic she was thinking about whether it would be better to start a fire, buy groceries, and cook for herself. The prices here were truly too high, even higher than in the capital. Han Shuangjiang was already calculating a budget in her head and regretting not eating one more soup dumpling.
"So expensive, really so expensive," the sound of a pauper echoed repeatedly in her mind.
When they reached an open area, Chu Huaixu looked up and saw the cloud-shrouded Asking the Dao Peak. He didn't know where the Dao Ancestor's legacy was, but he vaguely remembered the locations of a few legacies that had been discovered by Dao Gate players, having seen them on the forums. But he only remembered a few, not all of them.
"Damn it, my memory still isn't good enough. Why didn't I get a cheat when I transmigrated that would let me remember every single detail of my past as if it were branded in my brain!" Chu Huaixu complained inwardly.
Looking at Asking the Dao Peak, his thoughts began to wander again.
As fellow World Protagonists, why does Han Shuangjiang get two of the Dao Ancestor's legacies all to herself, while Xu Ziqing, whose script I took, gets none?
The reason was very simple.
"Don't forget, the Dao Ancestor also left behind a sword."
After the Dao Ancestor passed into immortality, the strongest in the entire Xuanhuang Realm was never a single person.
After all these years, it had always been that sword.