Spring Winds

'Ah, when is it going to be my turn again.' Watching the stage with trepidation, Zhu Na Ran was trembling from the aspect of beat- fighting someone else other than her senior sister. 'At least it won't constantly be a one-sided victory.'

She could finally utilize all of the skills she learned from her training and dueling her senior sister. 'Ah, with all these new skills I learned, I can't wait to apply them on others!'

"The winner of this round goes to Quan Gu Mei!"

"Wah, she's so good," Zhu Na Ran cheered as she clapped for the young girl who stood proudly on the stage. 'Ah, it's so nice to see girls competing in competitions like these!'

(＾－＾)

"Ah, as expected of the young miss of Huang He Hall!"

"Of course, she wouldn't be the Ru Shan regions' reigning champion if she lost in a small city contest like this!"

'Eh? So she's a young miss of a great hall, huh.' She looked up at the young girl on stage with mixed feelings. 'On one hand, I want to fight her since she's such a great fighter! Especially for her age, I doubt I was as good as her when I was her age!

But on the other hand, on the off chance that I do win: I could be offending a large party.

Ah, what to do?' (◕ˉ◕✿)

'Eh, it's all just for fun anyways! If she loses that's one her!'

"Contestants 203 and 205, it's your turn!"

'Ah! It's my turn!' (≧∇≦)/

Climbing onto the stage, Zhu Na Ran felt a bit jittery as she felt all eyes on her. 'Ah, how long has it been since I fought in front of a crowd?

You guys are making this girl nervous, ah.' (/ω＼)

After a few seconds, her opponent, contestant 205, climbed onto the stage.

Her opponent had a tall and lean physique covered entirely in dark clothes with a silver mask covering half his face.

The audience had a collective hush as they took in this mysterious opponent's aura.

"Oh gods, that's him! That's the Masked Fighter!"

"The Masked Fighter?!? You mean the one who hasn't lost once since he joined?"

"Aiyah, the poor fool who has to fight this big lord. They don't stand a chance."

The poor fool: "..."

'Why do I feel a sense of resentment all of a sudden?

Huh, he's figure looks a bit familiar.'

The Masked Fighter silently basked in his glory as he crossed the stage with his head bowed. He managed to uphold his mysterious and cold facade until his eyes landed on her. "Hah, it's you!"

"Ah?" Zhu Na Ran couldn't believe her luck. "Haha, hi… it's um nice to see you again, haha."

Her opponent didn't say anything, but his body language told her that this wasn't going to end well, as his fists slowly curled into tight balls.

"Haha," she nervously chuckled as she used her hand to shield her face. 'Aiyah, why couldn't I've bumped into this guy later, ah?'

The night before…

"Aiyah, you've done it again, Naran," plopping down onto the ground, Zhu Na Ran rubbed her brows as she sat under a tree with the moon's white light shining through the leaves. "You've gotten yourself lost again."

'Ah, why is my luck so bad,' she moped as she leaned against the tree. 'To think all of your navigation skills would disappear as soon as you stepped out of Yun Cai Peak.

Aiyah, I'm sorry, Bai Yin. It looks like all of our practice navigating around Yun Cai would be proven useless here in the outside world.'

While contemplating her next move, in the distance, Zhu Na Ran could hear the sound of water splashing.

But it wasn't the usual babble of a creek or river, but instead that of a person!

"Ah, maybe someone is bathing nearby! Perhaps, I could ask them for directions!"

Sha sha sha…

Silently creeping along the forest floor, Zhu Na Ran was mindful not to step on the fallen leaves on the ground, less they gave her away. After all, she wasn't sure of who was up against, so it's best to be safe for now.

Once she got close enough to the noise, she carefully pushed aside the leaves to peer through.

She wasn't trying to be a peeping tom, but she had to know who she's fighting. ╮(╯▽╰)╭

Peering through the gap of leaves, she failed to spot anyone around. 'Ah, where could they have run off to?'

Looking around some more, she spotted a neatly folded set of clothes just as arm's length away from her. They appeared to be of good quality as she could see the anti-dust enchantment weaved into the cloth, similar to the coat that her senior sister wears.

'Hmm, to take or not to take is the question.'

She slowly extended her hand towards the set of clothes before jerking her hand back. 'No, no, I can't. If Senior Sister ever found out, then I would get a scolding of a lifetime.

No, it's best just to wait until they finish-

Huh, is that a path over there?'

Now, Zhu Na Ran found herself with a new moral dilemma. On the one hand, she could just leave and take the pathway she just spotted, but on the other hand, she is in desperate need of some new clothes.

Not wanting to get her sect uniform dirty, Zhe Na Ran changed into the clothes that she wore when she first joined.

This idea later proved to be a bad one, as she forgot how poor quality her clothes were and the numerous tears resulting from her setting off traps during her entrance exam.

'Aiyah, what should I do?'

It's not like she could go out in public looking like a deranged hermit cultivator. Also, she didn't want to waste her meager allowance on a new set of clothes.

'Ah, I'm sorry, benefactor. I'll be sure to pay you back when I see you again.'

With nimble fingers, she quickly snatched the set of clothes. However, before she could escape, long white fingers grabbed onto the cloth as a figure emerged from the water.

"What are you doing?" Shocked to see a pervert staring at him with wide eyes as well as their hands on his clothes, the young man felt a strange mortification come over him. "Hey, those are mine!"

"I'm sorry," Zhu Na Ran yelled before with a harsh yank, grabbed the set of clothes, and dashed off into the darkness.

"Y-you!" The young man tried to get out of the water, however realizing his nakedness, he chose to stay in place. "Anybody!"

Suddenly, a shadow guard appeared in front of him. "Yes, my lord."

"Go after that thief! They have the Yong Li Seal with them!"

"Yes," the shadow guard bowed before disappearing in a flash.

Meanwhile, Zhu Na Ran recklessly ran through the darkness as she felt someone chase after her. "Ah, just let me be! I'll pay you back later!"

The shadow guard behind her attempted to shorten the distance between the two. However, they failed to catch up to her. 'Just who is this thief?'

Finally, a ray of hope flashed in Zhu Na Ran's eye as she spotted the lights of a city. 'Finally! I can escape these dark woods!

If only this guy would let me off!'

Remembering the emergency talismans that Master Luo had given her before she left, Zhu Na Ran tucked the garments under her arm as she quickly fumbled for the sheets of paper. 'Haha, freedom, baby!'

Realizing what she was attempting to do, the shadow guard tried to grab at her, but instead only got a fistful of smoke.

"Apologies, my lord. This slave failed to catch the thief and retrieve the Yong Li Seal," kneeling in front of the young man, who was now clothed, the shadow guard awaited their punishment.

"Sigh, no matter," the young man groaned as he rubbed his brows. "Tell all of the other shadow guards to be on the lookout for Yong Li Seal. We don't know if this thief works for Imperial Uncle or not, but we can't let the Yong Li Seal fall into the wrong hands."

"Yes," the shadow guard nodded before disappearing in a flash.

"Hah, when I find you…"

"Achoo!" Rubbing her nose, Zhu Na Ran looked around, confused. "Is someone cursing me? Ah, it must be my allergies or something."

'No matter! Hehe,' holding up the newly acquired set of clothes, Zhu Na Ran quickly put them on. They were a bit big on her, but after some adjustments and rolling up the sleeves, they were a perfect fit.

"Haha, wow," she giggled as she looked at her reflection in a palm-sized bronze mirror. "They do say clothes make the man. Hehe!"

'Ah, I do feel a tad bit bad about the poor guy. I'll return his stuff to him later when I see him again.' (◔◡◔✿)