Yanhuo Town was quite remote, so heading to the nearest city took them a full three days. They arrived at the city gates just as the sun was setting, with the sky ablaze with evening colors. Lu Yaoyao peeked ahead and saw two words on the gate: Moxuan City.
They had bypassed this city in their rush to Yanhuo Town, so this was their first time here. The city gates were bustling with cultivators and ordinary people alike, and the coming and going of the crowd gave the place a lively atmosphere.
“Yaoyao—” Before Wen Zixing finished, Lu Yaoyao hurriedly shushed him. Then she solemnly announced, “From now on, when we’re out traveling, I’m going to use an alias. I won’t be called Lu Yaoyao.”
Du Qianshan responded positively, “Using an alias while traveling sounds really cool. Should we change out of our robes, too?”
“I think we should. Our sect uniforms are quite recognizable.”
Wen Zixing tossed his head, pretending to flick his bangs, and sighed, “Fame comes with its own troubles. Have we really reached the point where we need to hide our identities while traveling?”
“…” Suppressing the urge to give Wen Zixing a side-eye, Lu Yaoyao sincerely responded. “Yes, we absolutely do. We all need to use aliases.”
Yan Zihui laughed so hard he doubled over. These silly kids and their ideas!!
And so, they each chose an alias for themselves.
Du Qianshan declared, “I’ll be Du Shan. If you hear that name looking for you, don’t pretend you don’t know me.”
Wen Zixing hesitated, “Should I be called Long Aotian or Long Zaitian?”1
Lu Yaoyao clapped her hands, “You should just be called Wen Xingxing.”
Wen Zixing protested, “That name isn’t cool at all!”
In the end, Wen Zixing could only settle for “Wen Xing.”
Chao Muxue thought for a moment and said, “Both my master and senior brother have the surname Lu, so I’ll take the surname Lu as well.”
“Lu Muxue?” Lu Yaoyao tried saying it aloud, but the name felt a bit awkward.
After pondering for a bit, Chao Muxue asked tentatively, “How about Lu Chongxue?”
Lu Yaoyao clapped her hands, “That’s a great name!”
Yan Zihui decided to join in the fun, “In that case, I’ll take an alias too. I’ll be called Yan Lang.”
Then they all looked at Lu Yaoyao, who had suggested the idea but hadn’t yet chosen a name.
Lu Yaoyao already had a name in mind. She proudly declared, “I’ll go by Yao Yushu. It’s a name Father gave me!”
“So Lu Yaoyao was given to you by your daddy?”
“…” Lu Yaoyao paused. Her eyes suddenly became distant. “Actually, I chose it myself.”
Wen Zixing burst out laughing, “You could talk as soon as you were born and even picked your own name?”
Lu Yaoyao’s face grew serious, “You don’t understand.” The bitterness she had to endure as a mere baby, stuck between a father and a daddy who couldn’t get along, was beyond anyone’s understanding!
“Let’s not sweat the details. From now on, I’ll go by Yao Yushu whenever we are out.”
“Alright, alright.” The others had no objections, but in the end, it was only Lu Yaoyao who actually started using her alias. The others, despite choosing aliases, just set them aside and didn’t use them.
“Shushu? Yushu? Xiao Shu?” Wen Zixing said teasingly, “No matter what I call you, I feel like you’re trying to take advantage of me.”
Lu Yaoyao rolled her eyes. Hmph, she isn’t interested in that!
Du Qianshan suggested, “How about Xiao Yu?”
Lu Yaoyao hesitated, but eventually agreed. It did sound a bit unfamiliar, though.
“Why not just stick with Yaoyao?” Chao Muxue interjected. “We can pretend it’s a nickname taken from her surname. From now on, when introducing Yaoyao’s full name, we’ll just say it’s Yao Yushu.”2
Yao Yushu… Yao… Yaoyao… Lu Yaoyao clapped her hands in approval, “That’s perfect!” She decided to keep using that name.
After settling on their names, the group quickly paid the entrance fee to enter the city. Moxuan City wasn’t as bustling as Luotian City, being a medium-sized city. The climate here seemed drier, and while the clothing style wasn’t as revealing or exotic as in Yanhuo Town, it still had its own unique charm.
Lu Yaoyao had been wanting to say that she really liked the clothes here, so she urged, “Muxue, Muxue, let’s buy some of these clothes to wear!”
Chao Muxue immediately nodded, “Sure!”
The two of them quickly hit it off and happily ran off to the nearest clothing shop.
“…” The three boys who were left behind exchanged glances and hurriedly followed.
Lu Yaoyao’s eyes lit up when she saw the section with clothes specifically for female cultivators. “So pretty!” she exclaimed. There were dozens of outfits in different shades—orange, red, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet—each made from fabric woven with silk spun by spiritual silkworms, emitting a faint spiritual aura.
The little dumpling immediately spotted a red dress for a child and eagerly called the shop assistant, “Excuse me, Sister, I’d like to try this one!”
“Of course, miss. Please wait a moment,” the shop assistant said with a smile as she took down the dress that Lu Yaoyao had chosen.
“Can I try it on?” She asked.
The shop assistant’s smile was sweet, “Of course. You can try it over there.”
Lu Yaoyao excitedly ran off to try on the dress.
Chao Muxue preferred light-colored clothing, so she chose a flowing white gauze dress and went to try it on as well.
Lu Yaoyao came out wearing her new outfit, beaming with joy. The clothes fit her perfectly as if they were tailored just for her. A pair of red knee-high boots that came with the set were embroidered with cute, round mythical creatures, and the semi-transparent gauze skirt revealed her thighs in a subtle way. The top was equally well-designed, showing off her delicate collarbones.
Lu Yaoyao happily twirled around, feeling that she looked absolutely beautiful.
Chao Muxue emerged in her white gauze dress. Her style was similar to Lu Yaoyao’s, though the design was quite different. The long boots she wore accentuated her straight and slender legs, and the flowing skirt gave her a graceful, ethereal touch, especially when coupled with a matching top that revealed her slender shoulders.
“Muxue, you look so beautiful!”
“Yaoyao, you look amazing too!”
Lu Yaoyao and Chao Muxue admired each other and showered each other with compliments, while Wen Zixing, Yan Zihui, and Du Qianshan finally caught up with them, “You two ran so fast, we almost lost you!”
“Oh, this outfit is nice!” Wen Zixing praised.
“Isn’t it?” Lu Yaoyao beamed, “I think so too.”
Then, she and Chao Muxue continued to pick out more clothes, giving each other advice and chatting excitedly.
The three boys who were left out: “…”
Wen Zixing protested, “This is so unfair!”
Du Qianshan, gripping at his sword, agreed, “Exactly! Why do they get to buy so many new outfits, and we get nothing?”
Wen Zixing and Yan Zihui turned to look at him simultaneously.
Du Qianshan blinked, “Did I say something wrong?”
Wen Zixing and Yan Zihui replied in unison, “No, you’re absolutely right!”
Yan Zihui draped an arm over each of his junior brothers’ shoulders, “Come on, let’s go buy some new clothes too!”
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- Long Aotian is a term used in Chinese internet culture, particularly in the context of web novels, anime, and manga, to describe a specific type of overpowered (OP) male protagonist.
- The Yao in Yao Yushu (姚玉姝) and Lu Yaoyao (陆夭夭) are written in different Chinese characters, pronounced a bit differently, and also have different meanings.