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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 19: Lan Ruoxuan, Azure Drift, and the Girl
At this moment.
The Azure Pavilion is located on the edge of Central Square in Chang'an City, in one of the most bustling areas. It is a place known for its beauty and charm, where the enchanting women are all skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, painting, dance, and song, but they only sell their talents, not their bodies.
The Azure Pavilion has nine floors in total. The first to sixth floors are for entertaining guests, while the seventh and eighth floors serve as the private quarters for many members of the establishment. The top floor was once the domain of the Leader and Vice Master.
However, more than ten years ago, after Leader Lan Ruoxuan suddenly went missing, this place became the exclusive territory of Vice Master Azure Drift and a young girl.
On this day, in the main compartment of the ninth floor of the Azure Pavilion, a woman who appeared to be no more than thirty years old, with an ethereal beauty yet exuding a certain charm, was wearily flipping through a stack of intelligence reports.
She occasionally sighed deeply. If a young man full of vigor were to see her, he would undoubtedly rush to embrace her and offer comfort.
Yet the person present was merely a girl who looked about seven or eight years old, with a petite figure that was both delicate and charming.
The girl had big eyes, a straight nose, and a mouth adorned with two long braids that made her look incredibly adorable. However, her appearance was somewhat perplexing.
Firstly, there was a one-point-two-meter iron rod strapped to her back and a short spear nearly one-point-five meters long that was almost taller than she was. It seemed that a long spear had been split into two halves. In one hand, she held a basket filled with chunks of meat, while in the other hand she clutched a chicken leg, taking big bites out of it.
The Cute Girl entered the loft and saw the woman’s face filled with sorrow and longing. Unable to help herself, she said with concern, “Master, are you thinking about that Leader again?”
Her voice still carried a childlike lilt that was quite endearing.
“All you do is eat. Even with all that meat you consume, you’re not growing any taller—just gaining two lumps of fat,” the woman teased with a smile.
“Exactly! These two lumps are so annoying; they bounce around when I fight!” The Cute Girl complained without any decorum as she playfully poked at her chest in frustration.
In truth, the Cute Girl’s chest wasn’t extraordinarily large; she simply had a petite frame that made it appear somewhat plump. However, seeing her act so unrefined and lacking any semblance of ladylike behavior left the woman feeling exasperated.
The girl was completely carefree, showing no interest in music, chess, calligraphy, or painting. She didn't practice dance or singing either, and instead, she acted like a wild boy, getting into fights everywhere. There was truly no trace of femininity about her.
This left the Dignified and Virtuous Woman feeling quite helpless.
Noticing the anger in the woman's eyes, the Cute Girl puffed up her cheeks and ran over to her side, nonchalantly saying, "Master, I heard from Thirty-One Beginner Village that some strong fighters have emerged recently."
"Really? I wonder if it could be my sister."
"Is that possible? If it were the Former Sect Leader, why wouldn't she come back?"
"Knowing my sister's personality, she might have gone to find her enemies first."
"You always say that." The Cute Girl felt a mix of anger and heartache. Every time she heard such news, her master would be filled with hope only to be disappointed again and again.
Perhaps the Former Sect Leader was suffering somewhere, but her own master wasn't necessarily living any better.
Understanding that her disciple was worried about her, the woman smiled kindly and changed the subject. "Xin'er, have there been any interesting happenings in the city lately? Tell me about it."
At this, the Cute Girl immediately perked up and began to chatter excitedly.
In truth, the woman knew that her disciple wasn't really one for gossip; she preferred fighting. The only reason she gossiped was to engage with her master and amuse herself.
Listening to her disciple's animated storytelling, the woman occasionally covered her mouth with laughter. It wasn't so much the stories that amused her but rather the Cute Girl's quirky expressions.
Seeing her master laugh only encouraged the Cute Girl to perform even more energetically, putting extra effort into her gestures and expressions.
This warmed the woman's heart while also causing her a bit of concern.
“Qing Piao Ling, what is going on with your disciple?”
A somewhat indifferent voice rang out, causing both the smiling master and her disciple to freeze in place, their laughter abruptly cut off.
Then, the Cute Girl turned her head in confusion. The woman stood up suddenly, joyfully spinning around to face the speaker. In an instant, she could no longer contain her emotions and threw herself into the speaker's arms, bursting into tears. “Sister, sister, you’re back! Qing Piao Ling has missed you so much!”
The woman, who was actually in her forties or fifties, cried like a child at that moment.
However, the newcomer seemed somewhat unfeeling and irritated. “Crying like this is quite unbecoming.”
“Who are you? What kind of attitude is that when speaking to my master?” The Cute Girl was furious. Although she had guessed the identity of the newcomer, she glared at her without a hint of fear.
Azure Drift quickly pulled away from the newcomer’s embrace and hurriedly said to the Cute Girl, “Xin'er must not be rude. Come greet your Master Lan.”
“Sister, it’s my fault for not teaching my disciple properly. Please forgive me.”
“Hmph~~”
“Hmph~~”
Both of them snorted coldly at the same time, seemingly ungrateful.
However, Azure Drift was not embarrassed by this; instead, she chuckled softly. “They really are similar. When I first saw Xin'er, I thought her personality resembled yours so much that I wanted to keep her until you returned to take her as your disciple. I never expected you to be gone for so many years. Not wanting to let this girl waste her youth, I took Xin'er as my disciple first.”
“Hmph~~ She doesn’t resemble me at all! Besides, I would never take her as my master!”
“Xin'er must not be rude!” Azure Drift was becoming angry.
The cute girl felt a sudden sense of grievance, yet stubbornly held her head high, showing no sign of admitting her fault.
At this moment, Lan Ruoxuan's attitude had improved somewhat as she asked again, "What exactly is going on with this child?"
"Well! According to Xin'er, she ate a strange fruit, and since then her body and appearance have not changed. If she had been fixed at the age of eighteen or nineteen, it would have been a fortunate thing, as she would remain youthful forever. But being stuck at the age of four or five is rather pitiful."
"Four or five years old? For over ten years? Seven or eight years?"
Lan Ruoxuan asked three questions in a row, indicating that she was deeply confused.
Azure Drift was momentarily taken aback but quickly explained, "According to Xin'er herself, she grew up particularly fast; by the age of four or five, she already looked like this. Now Xin'er is only about sixteen or seventeen."
Lan Ruoxuan looked at the adorable girl with some surprise, while the cute girl widened her eyes and glared back, still seemingly angry at the other party for not acknowledging her master's kindness earlier.
Lan Ruoxuan didn’t pay much attention to that and asked again, "What is this child's strength like?"
Upon hearing this, Azure Drift immediately felt a sense of pride and said, "This girl may not have grown taller, but her strength has improved remarkably. Currently, her combat power is comparable to an ordinary Monarch, and with a servant on par with a Demon Emperor, her abilities are quite reassuring."
(End of Chapter)
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