Chapter 33 - Jade-like Mister

Chapter 33 - Jade-like Mister

The function of the door was to block the snowstorm and not customers.
The gap between doors widened as a chill breeze cut in the room like a knife. Instead of a person, all they could see first was a foot.
The wind brought chills into the room but the sight of the foot could warm the heart.
Everyone but Shen Lian held their breath.
Another foot stepped in. All they could see was a pair of silky smooth jade-like feet.
Come to think of it, this pair of feet came from the freezing cold outdoors. However, there were neither signs of scars nor frostbites. It is was white as suet, as fair as the palace's porcelain
With a pair of legs like that, as long as she did not look bad, she must be a femme fatale among men.
No one would believe that this pair of legs belonged to a man. Of course, as expected, the person who entered the inn was a woman, a woman of a thousand styles that one can only imagine.
Coming from the snow, this woman wore only a thin red tulle robe with a baggage wrapped in grey cloth.
The baggage seemed long. From the outlook of it, it could be a rod, a sword or even a knife.
The woman may be scantily dressed but she did not reveal too much skin. It was her flawless feet that caught everyone's attention. It was so dangerously beautiful that one just wants it to step oneself to death.
"Brother Lian, that pair of legs...oh my goodness! I can toy with it for a year," said An Renjie, a twenty-year-old youth from the Green Bamboo Sect.
Of course, An Renjie had another identity. He was the only son of the Green Bamboo Sect's leader, Master An Wanli.
It was nothing unusual that Shen Lian became a disciple of the man in green. Even Ling Chongxiao personally admitted that.
However, what was rare was that ever since that encounter with the man in green, many Jianghu experts had been wanting to learn the man in green's teaching from Shen Lian. Most of them unpredictably came to State Capital of Qing once, left the town and never returned for a second round.
Initially, people who came by were careful and tight-lipped. Among them were many reputable people from the Jianghu.
But all of them shared a mutual opinion about Shen Lian. They were satisfied with their defeat against him.
Jianghu practitioners were known to be a generation of lawless people. Very few of them had good things to say about each other, including the ever-wise Ling Chongxiao.
As long as their lives were spared in a duel, they would train for another ten years and return for another lesson.
Shen Lian, on the other hand, was different from the rest. He was still underage and had yet reached the golden age of twenty to thirty years old to practice martial arts. Nevertheless, these Jianghu experts have never once defeated him.
What made it more depressing was that Shen Lian only used a wooden ebony sword and sheer talent to take out these Jianghu experts.
But why did Shen Lian pick an ebony sword? It was half a year ago during spring, Jin Daowang had a rendezvous with Shen Lian at the Qielan temple located out of State Capital.
Jin Daowang had reached an age where he fought for self-improvement, and not for pride and glory.
Wealth, l.u.s.t and power... he had tried it all and had moved on from it. The only thing he could not let go was the discovery of martial arts.
Unfortunately, he was defeated. In fact, it was the first time in his life where he was thrashed to nothing.
This sensational battle rocked Jianghu and was equally epic as Ling Chongxiao's legendary fight against 40 martial art experts that spans across 40 different states.
Shen Lian was far younger and he only used a sword.
Plus, the forty experts may not even defeat one Jin Daowang.
Because of that, Shen Lian's name was carved deeply in the Jianghu. Although he was not actively touring around, he was definitely not someone people want to mess with.
The man in green killed many but yet people still wanted to provoke him.
Shen Lian had never killed and yet people would try to avoid inciting him.
This showed that fierceness was not the only fear-inducing factor.
An Renjie may be born in the Green Bamboo sect but he was a bigger brat than Shen Lian.
When he realized An Inn was more comfortable than home, he stopped going home.
In his own words, he said, "my place feels like a dog's nest compared to the inn's Tian Zhi room". Of course, his father An Wanli was not aware of such statement. He would not be sitting here in peace if his father heard it from his mouth.
If it was not for the hefty cost of one thousand silver per day, Xu Hong might not even leave the inn.
Xu Hong tried to bargain for a fairer price but Shen Lian laughed and insisted to not reduce, as this was a special price for him.
"If I were you, I wouldn't toy with this pair of legs." Shen Lian said with a low voice but it was too late for An Renjie to hear it.
The owner of this pair of legs had spoken. She took slow steps backward and closed the door. Every single movement seems indescribable yet seductive.
She may be beyond thirty years of age but her eyes were crystal clear and she had an air of playfulness to her. Even girls around the age of 16-18 could not match that.
The silk scarf across the women's neck covered her clean bright skin. In this cold winter, her dressing seemed lazy and it reminded people of spring in full bloom.
"Who is the boss here?" She asked with a hint of a smile as if there was a ray of sunrise beaming through her tulle robe.
A woman like that should not appear in such a cold season. She belonged in the spring when it was warm and the flowers were blooming.
"I am the boss here. How can I help you? We are out of rooms but if you don't mind, you can stay in my room." An Renjie swiftly maneuvered around to the woman. He looked like an awkward rabbit, as he was not very skillful with his Qing Gong.
If he were as passionate as that with his martial art training, he would have been stronger than his father An Wanli.
That showed that having sheer talent was not sufficient in personal development.
"You're not the owner".
"How am I not?" An Renjie looked at her bare feet and felt a sudden dash of hunger. That was strange because he just ate.
"Because I knew that the boss here is Mister Yu and not Mister Zhu." Her voice sounded pleasant but it was not soft and gentle like the first glee of a yellow warbler.
It felt more like a stream of water hitting on a rock during spring, crisp and clear.
"Mister Yu" was in fact, Shen Lian. It was a nickname given by the people of Jianghu to describe Shen Lian's jade-like gentleman behavior.
"Girl, you're being funny. My family name is not Zhu neither is there any Mister Yu here." An Renjie who was not well informed of the happenings in Jianghu and thus was not aware of Shen Lian's nickname.
An Wanli knew about Shen Lian's background and that was exactly why he was fine with his son hanging around with him. At least this good-for-nothing son did something right for once.
"I meant 'zhu' as in 'zhu rou', the pork, and not the 'zhu' from 'zhu sha', cinnabar ." the woman said sweetly.
Her voice was not loud but anyone in the lounge with ears would have heard her.
Everyone laughed, Shen Lian too was entertained.