The early bird gets the worm.
Wun Fan woke up really early on the second day of the New Year. He went shopping at the market with Wun Siu Lan. Apparently, this market had just been renovated. There were a lot of new shops that sold interesting things, which would explain the crowd here. The reason Wun Fan came here was because Wun Siu Lan had basically made him agree to it the night before, as compensation for making her cry.
In truth, Wun Fan had been thinking about why she wouldn’t stop crying for the entirety of yesterday night. The only conclusion he had come to was that women were mysterious.
The Wun Clan’s disciples were still holding several New Year’s celebration events at the mansion, but the activities were always the same every year. So, the two of them had snuck out, hoping to see something different.
There was light snow this morning. Everyone had their big coats on, smiling and wishing New Year’s blessings on everyone they passed by. This made Wun Fan remember Lunar New Year’s from his past life. The days of visiting friends and family in thick winter coats. It seemed like they didn’t have a habit of giving out red envelopes in Heaven’s Martial World.
Wun Siu Lan’s arrival was greeted by the astonishment of the townspeople.
It couldn’t be helped. Wun Siu Lan’s mask was simply too iconic. Almost everyone knew that the fourth young mistress of the Wun Clan always wore a mask. Her identity was naturally revealed at a single glance. What came next was a little annoying. Everyone would recognise her wherever she went, and they would start greeting her.
Moreover, almost everyone would give her a gift, saying it was for good luck in the new year. She couldn’t refuse the gifts no matter how she tried. Wun Fan couldn’t stop laughing at the whole situation.
In doing so, he burned himself. Wun Siu Lan had been looking for an excuse to get Wun Fan to hold the gifts, and he had just delivered it to her on a silver platter.
The two of them continued walking and eventually turned into a small alleyway where very few people were walking by. However, both of their gazes were attracted by a pair of verse lines1 in front of a certain shop. The shop’s decoration looked old, completely unlike the newly renovated market. It didn’t seem like the owner had placed any special care into its appearance, and the whole place reeked of history.
The two verses read as such:
“Faint ink brushes ethereal,
Lone string rests in liminal.”
Wun Fan and Wun Siu Lan nodded in appreciation as they read the couplet. They glanced at the shop’s name—No Hearts Drawn. A very unique name. Snow was piling on the roof, lending the shop a mystical air. They looked at each other and stepped into the shop, but no one was inside. Several paintings were hanging from the walls. The cylinder at the edge of the painting scrolls was dusty. It seemed like no one had been taking care of them in a while.
Wun Fan was a little confused. He caressed a painting lightly. The canvas was of exceptional quality. It wasn’t made out of any ordinary material.
“Is anyone here?”
Wun Fan wondered why the place seem desolated. He placed the gifts in his arms on the ground and felt much lighter. He walked around and examined the shop. Every painting depicted the same girl. The painter had captured every little detail. The girl’s appearance was average, but she seemed like she would leap out of the paper at any moment. Wun Fan felt like he was staring at a real person. The girl was sitting in a high chair in one of the paintings. She had a gentle smile, and the softness in her eyes had an unusually calming effect. Wun Fan was entranced by the painting. He couldn’t stop himself from looking at it, enjoying that sense of gentleness and warmth.
“Something’s wrong.”
A hint of coolness flashed through Wun Fan’s mind. His muddled eyes snapped back into focus. A woman holding a light-purple pipe had suddenly appeared in the previously empty shop. She looked at Wun Fan fondly, like an elder judging a youngling.
“Siu Lan!”
Wun Fan immediately knew something was wrong. He took a few steps back and stepped in front of Wun Siu Lan. Her eyes were empty, stuck in a gaze on a painting. She did not react no matter how Wun Fan shouted her name or pushed her. Wun Fan glared back at the woman angrily.
“Who are you, lady?”
Wun Fan felt no hostility from the woman, but he still unconsciously stepped into a combat stance.
“Haha, don’t worry. The girl is only trapped in the intent of my painting. No harm will come to her.”
The woman casually replied while making a match appear between her fingers. She struck the match and lit her pipe, breathing smoke all over the room.
Wun Fan was on guard now. He didn’t expect to run into someone powerful just by walking into a random painting shop. He felt tremendous pressure from the woman before him. He had never felt such pressure, not even from the great elder or the clan master.
She was an incredibly powerful individual!
Wun Fan’s expression changed at the thought of this, but the woman simply stretched her back and yawned, “Last name Wah, first name Ling Yi. You could say I am the…owner of this shop.”
Wah Ling Yi had an air of casual elegance to her. She had light makeup and alluring eyes, her half-shut eyelids adding to her seductiveness. Her ink-black hair reached all the way to her waist, and her low-cut light-green dress flaunted her excellent figure. She looked to be thirty at most, but her air of elegance and maturity was not something that Wun Siu Lan’s youthful innocence could compare to.
“I am Wun Fan. Pleased to meet you, Ms. Wah.”
Wun Fan put one hand over a fist and greeted Wah Ling Yi, neither subservient nor arrogant. He knew that neither he nor Wun Siu Lan would make it out of this door if she wanted them dead. He was a little nervous. He didn’t mind if he died, but he could not let anything happen to Wun Siu Lan.
“Oh? Wun Fan, is it? You are very excellent, unbefitting of your title as the Wun Clan’s cripple.”
Wah Ling Yi couldn’t help but chuckle. Her tantalising laughter would have bewitched most men and even most boys. She truly had never seen someone who was able to resist her charm and break free of the painting’s intent so easily.
“That is unearned praise. I am but a sixth-level Martial Disciple.”
Wun Fan smiled bitterly. He could not live up to the praise. However, he didn’t expect that such a powerful individual would pay attention to town gossip,
Snap!
Wah Ling Yi said nothing. She only raised her hand and snapped her finger. Colour instantly returned to Wun Siu Lan’s eyes as she immediately shouted, “Watch out, Wun Fan!”
However, she immediately realised something was wrong with the atmosphere.
Wah Ling Yi exhaled another cloud of smoke while Wun Fan tried his best not to break out into laughter. Wun Siu Lan saw Wah Ling Yi and asked, “This is…?”
Wun Siu Lan felt the might of the woman instantly. They wouldn’t be able to escape if she had any hostile intentions. Seeing as that was the case, Wun Siu Lan just behaved as usual. After all, her life was no longer in her control.
“I am Wah Ling Yi, the owner of this shop. That little boy lover of yours escaped from my painting’s intent very quickly. You have a good eye for men, girl,” Wah Ling Yi casually remarked as she arranged her paintings, patting off the dust and admiring a few of them. There was pity on her face, but more heartbreak and sorrow.
“You misunderstand, miss2…”
Crimson crept up Wun Siu Lan’s neck when she heard Wah Ling Yi say the word ‘lover’. She blushed as red as a peach. She was just a ten-year-old girl. She couldn’t have stood being teased by Wah Ling Yi like this.
Wun Fan felt a little embarrassed to be referred to as her ‘lover’, but he was a man after all and had much thicker skin. He coughed slightly and asked, “May I ask who exactly you are, miss?”
Wun Fan had never heard of such a powerful woman in Green Sea Town. Seeing as she seemed to have no hostile intentions, he mustered the courage to ask about her.
“Heh, I am but someone who lost to a man.”
Wah Ling Yi mimicked Wun Fan’s tone and words. She toyed with the pipe between her fingers, spinning it on her palm in a practised manner. However, Wun Fan caught a hint of hatred and lingering attachment in her eyes.
“Lost to a man, huh…”
Wun Fan looked at the paintings around him and thought back to what Wah Ling Yi had said, and a ridiculous notion appeared in his mind. If that was the case, given the conservative morals of this world, it would be a doomed love.
“No Hearts Drawn. It’s a good name for the shop, miss. You can draw the skin and the bones of a person, but never the heart. Not that it is impossible, but that you wouldn’t ever dare do it.”
Wun Fan walked around the shop and examined the paintings. He couldn’t help but feel like they were all lacking something, which was why he had spoken up.
The heart of a person?
Wah Ling Yi’s body trembled when she heard what Wun Fan had said.
She let out another smokey breath and walked to the innermost end of the shop. She sat on a carpet and caressed the zither3 in front of her, sorrow and resentment on her face. She suddenly asked, “Would the two of you want to listen to me play?”
Wun Siu Lan scratched Wun Fan’s arm and pulled him slightly toward the door. She sensed no hostility from Wah Ling Yi, but she didn’t want to have too much to do with her. A woman knew another woman best; she herself had had plenty of incomprehensible mood swings. Wun Fan’s waist had been pinched so many times she lost count.
Wun Siu Lan’s tiny action did not escape Wah Ling Yi’s notice. She had a faint smile on her face. She didn’t care. She slowly put on her fingerpicks and pressed a few strings, listening to its sound to tune it.
“Sure, we will be glad to listen.”
Wun Fan boldly found two stools in the shop, one for him and one for Wun Siu Lan.
Are you kidding? Someone this powerful offers to play a song for you and you try to leave? You won’t be leaving on your own two legs, that’s for sure.
Wun Fan and Wun Siu Lan’s reactions were direct opposites. To be honest, even Wun Fan did not know where he found the courage to stay. However, he had a feeling that this was what he should do. Ever since he came to Heaven’s Martial World, Wun Fan realised that his senses had become exceedingly sharp and sensitive, even approaching the legendary sixth sense.
Setting that aside, he could tell that this woman held no ill will towards him. In fact, she seemed to be looking forward to something from him.
But what exactly?
T/N Notes603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFm0XrPAukz
1. I translated this as ‘verse lines’, though the actual name is ‘duilian’. Duilians are ‘Chinese couplets’, or a pair of poetry lines that correspond to each other. They have the same number of syllables and every pair of characters correspond in some way. Chinese people hang these couplets up during Chinese New Year, or as a good luck charm for businesses. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duilian_(poetry))603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9yuWRFiKWc
2. Technically, the word Wun Fan uses here is “前辈”, the equivalent of ‘senpai’ in Japanese for those of you weebs out there. Essentially, it's a title of respect you use to refer to someone who is your senior, usually in terms of age or experience. In this case, even though Wah Ling Yi is described to be quite young, Wun Fan refers to her as his senior with a respectful term largely because of her overwhelming power. I chose to translate this as ‘miss’ as there is no equivalent term for ‘senior’ that doesn’t sound awkward in English, a localization choice mostly trying to convey Wun Fan’s respectful tone.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVkKq6V3hQg
3. Zither is easier to understand for readers, but the more accurate name for the instrument she’s playing is guqin (pronounced goo-tsin, ‘ts’ as in the way you would say tsunami).
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDyxQSbWoVu
