Chapter Forty-Four: Young Master Luo

"Help me put these on," the young woman commanded, sitting upright on the chair. Ye Ran frowned, hesitated briefly, then knelt to untie her shoelaces. Disguised as a man, she wore a white long robe and white sneakers. As he removed her shoes, her delicate feet appeared—through her socks, he could see the bright red polish on her toenails, adding a touch of coquettish charm to her appearance.

Ye Ran slid the brand-new canvas shoes onto her feet. As he clapped his hands, ready to rise, the girl wiggled her toes and remarked, "They're a bit too big—not a good fit. Bring me another pair."

A surge of irritation flared in Ye Ran’s chest, but it was his first day at work; losing his temper over such a trivial matter wasn’t worth it. Swallowing his annoyance, he fetched a smaller size.

Zhang Nuo glanced at him with eyes full of sympathy.

Ye Ran knelt down again and padded the new shoes with a thin piece of paper. The girl glanced down at him and laughed softly, "You carry yourself with such rebellious spirit, yet you’re willing to bow your head. That’s rare."

Ye Ran frowned and stayed silent, unsure what her words meant or whether they were praise or criticism.

"These still don't fit. Bring me another pair," she said, after he had fastened the shoes for her.

Without a word, Ye Ran turned back to the storeroom. This time, he brought out every available size, arms full.

Damn it, if you want to keep changing, I'll let you change as much as you please… There are more than enough for you.

The young woman merely smiled, rose from her seat, took a small box and a book from her bosom, and placed them on the table. "Wrap up the second-to-last pair for me. The money is in the box—the book is your tip."

Ye Ran’s brows furrowed again. This girl’s behavior was certainly unpredictable, but at least she was done tormenting him. He packed the canvas shoes and handed them over, never noticing the thin thread that shot from her sleeve, pulling a silk pouch into her hands.

After she had left, waving her fan, Ye Ran opened the box. Inside were three silver coins.

"Those shoes only cost two silver coins—she overpaid. Zhang Nuo, do you know her? I’d like to return the extra," he said, recalling Zhang Nuo’s reaction upon seeing the girl.

He tried to tip the coins out of the box. The first two fell out easily, but the third seemed stuck. Looking closer, he noticed a tiny character written on each side of the box.

"Silk,"
"Pouch,"

"A silk pouch?" Ye Ran reached into his pocket and discovered the pouch Gao Taiqing had given him was gone.

Did that person steal my pouch?

Was that last coin payment for the pouch?

Zhang Nuo waved a hand dismissively. "Better not return it. Young Lord Luo always has his reasons."

"Young Lord Luo?" Ye Ran was taken aback.

The rightful path, Young Lord Luo, Marquis Yu—gain one, and the world is yours. He recalled Gao Taiqing’s prophecy.

But… that strange, unpredictable girl was Young Lord Luo?

"Honestly, I was startled to see her just now. At school, Young Lord Luo is a figure everyone fears," Zhang Nuo said, patting his chest and sticking out his tongue at Ye Ran. "But she seemed to treat you rather well, didn’t she?"

"Feared by everyone?" Ye Ran was puzzled.

He, too, felt a subtle unease. There were few who could steal from him unnoticed.

"But why have I never heard of such a formidable person?" he pressed.

Zhang Nuo smiled. "That's because she prefers to keep a low profile. At Taiding Academy, you won’t find Young Lord Luo on any of the major lists—not the Martial Board, the Hall of Fame, or the Academic Ranking. But everyone who makes those lists is afraid of her."

"Why?" Ye Ran was intrigued.

Zhang Nuo shook his head. "I don’t know exactly. I just know that Tiger Ben, first on the Martial Board, Martial Master of the Hall of Fame, and Scholar Bai Ding of the academic world all defer to her. Her origins are a mystery—only that she came from an island, and her real name is Luo Ning. At Taiding Academy, she’s a riddle many seek to unravel. There’s a saying about her—just eight words."

"What eight words?"

"Mysterious and unfathomable, peerless in cunning," Zhang Nuo intoned.

"How could Jinling be confined to a pond? The dragon resides in the southeast," Zhang Nuo continued.

"The rightful path, Young Lord Luo, Marquis Yu—gain one, and the world is yours." On the pebble-strewn path, Luo Ning glanced at the silken book in her palm, a faint smile gracing her lips.

She tucked the silken book into her pouch and slipped it into her pocket. Then, with a gentle tug, she drew forth a fine thread, at the end of which was a rolled slip of paper.

"Sun, moon, stars—all are celestial dwellers; there is no lack of yin and yang," the note read, penned in elegant script unmistakably by a woman. Below, a line of commentary:

"Poverty cannot sway the will; might cannot force submission. The mantis’s fate; the nine-tailed cat—if not immortal, will one day rise. The white crane from the island, though winged, cannot fly without a branch. Marquis Yu, without fortune, cannot dance with his long sleeves. When the leafed crane returns, the leafed jade will shine forever."

The commentary by the great prophet Gao Taiqing and the prophecy of the grand astrologer Manbaer complemented each other intriguingly.

Luo Ning twirled her folding fan, lowered her head, and made her way to the western library.

The Taiding Academy’s library rose fourteen stories high, housing a vast collection of ancient and modern works. Much effort had once gone into amassing its treasures, but these days, most students idled their time with games and revelry; the library was always nearly deserted.

Luo Ning ascended to the twelfth floor, presented her borrowing card, then selected a book at random and entered a room marked "Occupied—Do Not Disturb" without knocking.

Inside, bright lights illuminated a scholarly youth in gold-rimmed spectacles, meticulously drawing with a ruler and compass. Without looking up, he asked, "You’ve met him?"

The youth, dressed plainly, wore a green jade thumb ring on the middle finger of his right hand.

Luo Ning nodded and pulled out a chair to sit.

This youth had spent all his time here since enrolling.

"Did he disappoint you?" the youth asked.

"A little," Luo Ning replied.

Just two words, but for her, that was already a high compliment.

"Then let it go," the youth said. "So-called prophets and astrologers are merely charlatans cloaked in mystery, never truly predicting history—it’s always history that happens to fit their predictions."

"Such clumsy tricks are hardly amusing," he added, as the lines on his schematic gradually grew clearer—words like 'Cyses,' 'Athena,' and 'Grand Demon' becoming visible.

Luo Ning twirled her fan and said, "Yet here you are, dismissing astrology and prophecy as nonsense, but painstakingly studying 'Fate Theory.' Isn’t that a bit unconvincing?"

"Fate Theory isn't a crude decoding method easily equated with lies or accidents," the youth replied. "Surely, with your intellect, you wouldn't believe in such nonsense."

"Well..." Luo Ning tapped the table lightly with her finger. "That’s not so easy to say..."

...