The two had barely reached the counter when the female cultivator asked quietly, without even raising her head, "What color clothes are you here to collect?"
"Junior Brother Li, just tell her what color you want!" Lin Xuandao said, lowering his head toward Li Xiaoya.
"Uh...! Sister, what kinds of clothes look nice?" Although Li Xiaoya was not picky about clothes, he did not want to go out looking like an ugly freak either. Since they were free anyway, he might as well choose something nice.
"What kinds? We only have the sect's regulation uniforms here! Are you a new disciple? Why is your magical power so weak?" At his words, the female cultivator put down what she was holding-a somewhat battered book-and raised her head, revealing a face that could shock the soul. She glanced at Li Xiaoya and spoke in surprise.
"Ah!! I... I... I... I originally wanted red, no... pink... actually, gray will do!" Startled by her appearance, Li Xiaoya stumbled back several steps and stammered. Her face was as broad as a basin, her yellow skin covered in purple fleshy growths, with a few red and pink ones mixed in. Her thick black eyebrows resembled two brooms. She was as ugly as ugly could be.
"Hmph! A pink set, then!" Clearly sensing that her appearance had frightened Li Xiaoya, the female cultivator snorted coldly, her face darkening. She jabbed a finger forcefully toward the cabinet behind her, and a set of pink clothes appeared hanging on it. The style looked like something he had seen people wearing outside and was actually quite nice, but in pink, it looked as awkward as could be.
"Ah... I don't want pink! You got it wrong!" Li Xiaoya hurriedly waved his hands. He had merely been startled by the growths on the ugly woman's face and blurted out the colors of her skin.
"You clearly said you wanted pink just now. Are you saying I heard wrong?" The ugly female cultivator suddenly stood up and glared viciously at him. She was already ugly, and that fierce expression made her look even more hideous.
"You... you...!" Frightened by her ferocious expression, Li Xiaoya hastily retreated several steps and hid behind Lin Xuandao, peeking at the ugly woman without daring to speak.
"Ah! It's... it's... Senior Sister Donggu?! This is entirely our fault! Grand Supreme Ancestor Daoling asked me to bring Junior Brother Li here to collect his clothes!" Beside him, Lin Xuandao also seemed badly startled at the sight of the ugly woman. He hurriedly apologized, even invoking Heavenly Venerable Daoling's name. He seemed extremely wary of her.
"What Grand Supreme Ancestor Daoling? I don't know him!" Senior Sister Donggu snapped furiously.
"Please calm down, Senior Sister Donggu, calm down! It was Grand Supreme Ancestor Heavenly Venerable Daoling, one of our Heavenly Dao Sect's Three Immortals of the Heavenly Dao, who told me to bring Junior Brother Li here. Look!" Lin Xuandao spoke with an appeasing smile as he took the jade token from his chest and handed it to her.
Senior Sister Donggu stared at the jade token for a moment. Noticing that some nearby cultivators had begun watching, she snorted. "So it really is the Heavenly Capital Jade Token. Who knows where you stole it from!" Despite her words, her tone had noticeably softened.
"Hehe! You must be joking, Senior Sister Donggu. No matter how capable I might be, I could never steal the Heavenly Capital Jade Token from Grand Supreme Ancestor Daoling!" Lin Xuandao was not offended and continued speaking respectfully with an appeasing smile.
"Hmph! For the Heavenly Capital Jade Token's sake, take your clothes and get lost!" Senior Sister Donggu sat down and spoke coldly.
"Hehe! Thank you for your magnanimity, Senior Sister Donggu. Junior Brother, take the clothes and let's go!" Lin Xuandao cupped his hands toward her for the first sentence, then directed the second at Li Xiaoya beside him.
"Ah!! I don't want pink!" Li Xiaoya looked at the pink clothes and grew petulant. He would rather stay bare-chested as he was now than wear something like that.
"Well..." Lin Xuandao inwardly lamented his misery, hesitating without knowing what to say. He stole a glance at Senior Sister Donggu and saw that she had picked up her battered book again and resumed reading, as though she could not care less whether they took the clothes.
"Um, Senior Sister Donggu, according to sect regulations, every new disciple can collect two sets of sect uniforms. Perhaps..." Gritting his teeth, Lin Xuandao finally spoke cautiously.
Senior Sister Donggu said nothing, looking utterly engrossed in her book and barely acknowledging them. Even a fool could tell she was pretending.
Seeing this, Li Xiaoya's eyes darted about. He stepped forward twice and said with a grin, "Hehe! Senior Sister Donggu, it was my fault. Look, I'm just a poor kid. Even now, I can't afford a shirt and have to wander around bare-chested, and my trousers are torn too. Someone as great as you shouldn't hold a small fellow's faults against him. Please forgive me this once. If I keep walking around the sect bare-chested, it'll damage our Heavenly Dao Sect's reputation. If people from other sects see me, they'll think our Heavenly Dao Sect is too poor to afford clothes. Even if no one from another sect sees, it wouldn't be good for our elders to see me either-Daoist Daoling, for instance, or Sister Fairy Qingxia. It just wouldn't look good. People might think you were lining your own pockets and refusing to hand out clothes to new disciples. Ah! I nearly forgot until I mentioned it-we still have to go see Daoist Daoling after collecting our clothes..."
"Hmph! Take it!" Whether Senior Sister Donggu had grown tired of Li Xiaoya's long-winded speech or felt uneasy about what he said, she suddenly snorted. With a flick of her finger behind her, another set of clothes, this one gray, appeared in the cabinet. She flicked her finger again and hurled it hard at Li Xiaoya, cutting off his endless chatter.
"Oof!~" Caught off guard, Li Xiaoya was struck squarely by the clothes and fumbled to pull them off himself. Lin Xuandao hurried forward to help.
"Uh! Hehehe! Thank you, Senior Sister Donggu!" Li Xiaoya thanked her delightedly, seemingly having forgotten all the barbed remarks he had just made.
"Get lost!" Senior Sister Donggu kept her head lowered over her book and uttered the words in a low voice.
"Uh! Senior Sister Donggu, please exchange this pink set for another color! Look, I came to the Heavenly Dao Sect empty-handed, without a penny on me. How am I supposed to wash and change my clothes with only one set? Please, swap it for another color!" Li Xiaoya spoke shamelessly while putting on his clothes off to the side without a care. He had truly grown tired of the strange looks the other cultivators were giving him, unaware that dressing in public was just as conspicuous.
"Get lost!" Senior Sister Donggu still had her head lowered over her book, but her voice rose considerably. Beside him, Lin Xuandao noticed the veins bulging on her book-holding hand as it trembled slightly. She was clearly struggling to restrain herself.
(We've reached three hundred bookmarks. Thank you all for your support! Senior Sister Donggu has been specially dispatched to keep you company!)
In response to requests from our many readers, an ad-free feature is now available for VIP members.
Click to view