130 - Dungeon Growth Log

## Chapter 130 ...To hell with your grand ceremony. Xia Ge picked himself up off the ground, tugging at his clothes. With a "rip," a pitch-black piece of fabric was torn away, left embedded three inches deep in the wall by a hairpin that refused to be pulled out. Dusting off his clothes, Xia Ge, dressed in tattered nightwear, gathered the scattered fruit from the floor and placed it on the table with an unyielding expression. "This is a stick-up." Chu Yao, resting her cheek in her palm, had a hint of laughter in her almond-shaped eyes. "Are you robbing me of my money or my virtue?" Xia Ge gave her a look. "I'll take whatever you've got." Chu Yao: "And if I’ve got nothing?" Xia Ge: "..." Chu Yao: "Would you take me away then?" Glancing at the mess of fruit, Xia Ge suddenly slammed the table, grabbed Chu Yao’s collar with boldness, and declared, "Steal!" Half an hour later... Under a clear sky, with a crescent moon, the deep blue of the night was dotted with countless stars. In this soft, deep night, a brightly lit small city was still bustling with voices. People brushed past each other on the streets, forming an unending stream, with street vendors shouting energetically, unfazed by the lateness of the hour. "Get your candied hawthorns..." "Sugar sculptures, sugar sculptures—" Xia Ge, with the hem of his torn nightwear fluttering, stood on a street corner with the somewhat bewildered eldest miss of the Chu family, Chu Yao, who had been abruptly pulled along and was still in her undergarments, not having had time to don her formal attire. The system: "..." Are you deliberately seeking revenge? Yet, despite wearing only her undergarments, Chu Yao remained composed, her hand adorned with a string of colorful stones quietly clasping Xia Ge’s. Strangely, even though she hadn't brought her sword and had been suddenly whisked to this unfamiliar place, she felt no unease. Instead, she felt... safe. Chu Yao looked down at him: "Where is this?" Holding her hand tightly and tying a knot in his torn clothes with the other, Xia Ge tried his best to put on a villainous demeanor: "Don’t speak. I've kidnapped you! Now I'm the bandit, and you're my little captive!" Chu Yao: "...Aren't you a flower thief?" Xia Ge: "..." Stiffening his neck, Xia Ge insisted, "No!" Amusement flickered in Chu Yao’s eyes, and raising her eyebrows, she played along. "Well, little bandit, this lady has nothing to wear." In the dim street corner, shallow lantern light softened the usually sharp angles of the girl's features. Xia Ge: "..." He's not doing this on purpose! It's her fault for tearing his new night clothes! Xia Ge: "...Stay here. I'll go buy clothes." They stood in an unnoticeable shadowy corner of the street. Chu Yao laughed, "I might leave, little bandit." Xia Ge: "You won't, will you?" Chu Yao slightly lifted her gaze, watching the bustling brightness not far away. Here was the City of Eternal Night. In the continent of Fengyue, where guests from all over gathered, in a city where there was never a dawn, nor a silence to be found. It was said that the teleportation stones to reach this place were extremely hard to come by. A slight smile touched Chu Yao’s lips, her normally fierce eyes softening, "If you've taken something important from me, I won't leave." Xia Ge stripped the colorful stone bracelet from Chu Yao's right hand with a raised brow, "No problem, now you can't leave." Her right wrist now empty. The bracelet was just something she wore out of boredom, just like the silver hairpin she’d tossed aside, but at this moment, it seemed to make his hands look even more delicate and small. This kid, looking more and more girlish. "You’ve taken something very important," Chu Yao teased, joining in the play, "so I won't leave." Deliberately complicating matters for him, Chu Yao stated: "But I only wear very expensive clothes." "Can't afford them." Xia Ge retorted like a competent bandit, then put on a ferocious face, "You’ll wear whatever I buy!" The expression the fair-faced boy made was anything but intimidating, more akin to pulling a funny face. Holding back her laughter, Chu Yao tried to mimic the forlorn look of her maid, Little Qing, "Oh." The young man snorted and turned away. Chu Yao watched as the boy clothed in black stepped into the bustling lights of the street, and she stayed in the shadows of the corner, feeling inexplicably lonely. A memory from her childhood, kneeling in the ancestral temple, resurfaced. "Your shoulders bear the weight of the Chu family’s honor! You are not like others!" "…" The white garment quietly facing her. The Chu Blade’s ceremonial garb. The strongest armor keeping the Chu family at the head of all clans. Kneeling until midnight, her mother secretly brought her food. She coaxed, "Yao Yao, be good, eat something." She replied, "I won’t eat." Her mother sighed, then she saw the ceremonial garb. A white robe intricately embroidered with gold five-clawed dragons, paired with battle armor. "...Legend has it, every stitch of this garment," her mother spoke softly, "was sewn by the Chu King’s own hands." "And... initially, it wasn’t called the ceremonial garb." Her curiosity piqued, she looked up at her mother. Then, her mother coaxed her to eat. "Eat, and I'll tell you." Her curiosity overcoming her, she ate obediently, filling her belly. Her mother patted her head and smiled, "I don’t know what it was originally called." Chu Yao: "..." Her mother put away the food box, "But it was indeed sewn, stitch by stitch, by the warfare-loving, needlework-hating Chu King, for a certain someone." "Who?" "I don’t know." The young her still naïve: "But why did she sew a garment herself? If she hated it, couldn’t she have someone else do it?" Her mother merely laughed and, after a soft sigh, said: "Yao Yao, those high above are often lonely." Pausing, she added. "Or rather, being high above is just loneliness manifest." She stubbornly asked: "...Does loneliness mean having to sew your own clothes?" "You’ll understand when you grow up, silly child," her mother sighed, the dark ancestral hall flickering by candlelight, "But I hope you don’t become the head of the Chu family..." "Why?" "Being the head means wielding a sword, like the Chu King leading solitary battles, fighting all their life," her mother's voice was gentle, "with no one to accompany... Yao Yao, you are still young, I hope you never regret." Chu Yao: "I won’t regret." "It is recorded that the Chu King once said this very thing," her mother remarked, "‘I would forsake the body of a princess for the name of bravery, to fight on the battlefield, my remains wrapped in horse skin, seeking the peace of rivers clear and seas calm, and peace for all lands.’" "——This life, I shall have no regrets." Chu Yao remembered, at that time, she was not yet rebellious, still greatly admiring the wise and righteous Chu King. "Did she regret?" Her mother said, "I do not know if she regretted." "But the Chu family has a creed." "Every Chu family daughter, upon marrying her beloved, must abandon the sword, seal the blade, to seek longevity and peace." "…What does it mean?" "It means... that a Chu family daughter, after marriage, cannot wield a sword or wear armor, and must peacefully manage the household, seeking old age in safety." "This was the Chu King’s final decree before she took her own life." That night the stars were not as bright as this one. Chu Yao looked up at the starry sky. So, did that solitary, proud ruler ultimately regret? She would not be so pathetic, regretting but not daring to admit it. Because she would have no regrets. As she mused, her eyes were suddenly covered by the softness of a garment, the light fabric brushing against her face, a very soft silk. In an instant, the world became a blur, Xia Ge tensed, yet in the next moment, she relaxed. The familiar scent and voice quietly reached her ears. "Like an autumn star streaming with fire, sleeplessly composing poetry all night;" Xia Ge's voice was crisp, with a hint of laughter, "Under the bright lights of the City of Eternal Night, it’s once again time to say goodbye to the geese." "Little captive stolen by the little bandit, welcome to the City of Eternal Night." The young boy's slightly clear voice seemed to bring a sense of earthly warmth, using the simplest words to shatter the deep-seated loneliness at the heart of darkness. ——To stand high above is to be the embodiment of loneliness. Xia Ge didn’t relish the feeling for long. Abruptly, the garment tossed over Chu Yao’s head was swept aside. His surprise attack from behind had been thwarted as the clothing blindfolded him entirely, and his slender shoulders were firmly pinned. Suddenly, everything spun, leaving him disoriented, finally finding himself pinned against a wall with a resounding "thud." With her breath calm and tinged with laughter, Chu Yao held him there. "Who's the bandit, hmm?" Xia Ge: "..." Xia Ge stiffened his neck, "I am! You’re the captive! You can’t..." With one hand holding him and the other lifting his chin, Chu Yao teased, "If I don’t teach you some manners, you’ll never know who’s the boss, little captive." Xia Ge: "..." Struggling for a while, Xia Ge found that under Chu Yao's seemingly casual yet subtly controlling grip, his body, usually invigorated by dragon’s blood, was entirely powerless, like being seized by the lifeline, he couldn’t move at all. After holding out for a while, Xia Ge admitted, "...This isn’t how the script goes, you’re cheating!" Chu Yao: "Oh? What script?" Xia Ge changed the subject: "I’m the bandit, and I’ve taken you away, alright?" "…You said you had nothing before, which is why I took you. Of course, you have to be the captive." Chu Yao: "Why?" Xia Ge looked up at her, "If you had nothing, being taken by me means you get all the good food and drinks." The system: "…" It's more realistic to say she'll starve with you. Chu Yao: "If I said I had everything, would you still take me?" Xia Ge: "…I would." There was a pause, then Xia Ge earnestly added, "That way, I could enjoy all the good food and drinks with you." The system: "…" Xia Ge: "Hey, that’s not important. What's important is following the script!" Chu Yao: "What’s the script?" Xia Ge blurted out, "The domineering bandit and his beautiful little captive." The system: "…" You really dare say that. Chu Yao: "???" Xia Ge coughed, "Anyway, it doesn’t matter if you understand or not… Just remember, whether you have everything or nothing, I'm the bandit and you’re the captive!" Chu Yao said, "I've never seen a bandit who can recite poetry." Chu Yao, still in her undergarments, had the clothes Xia Ge bought draped over her head. After holding back for a while, Xia Ge retorted, "…I’ve never seen a bandit without clothes!" Conveniently burying the fact that he had deliberately transported her away while she was still in her undergarments. Chu Yao simply said, "Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean it doesn't exist." Xia Ge: "…" Unable to win the argument, Xia Ge could only wail, "You're cheating! Cheating!" Chu Yao, in good spirits, said, "No, I'm not." After a pause, she reached out and uncovered the clothes Xia Ge bought, and in the moment Xia Ge's eyes adjusted to the brightness, she was greeted with the sight of Chu Yao's small canine teeth showing. "We're just switching roles, little captive." Before Xia Ge could say anything in response, she felt a slight coolness on her wrist. The colorful stone bracelet that had been tucked away had somehow ended up back in Chu Yao's possession, now adorning Xia Ge’s right wrist. Xia Ge was slightly startled, but the bandit who had pinned her down had already changed into the clothes he bought. Interlacing soft pastel blue and white silk, tied into a bow at the waist, with geta shoes hidden under the skirt’s hem showing no sign of its wearer, the soft black hair carelessly tied back with a light blue ribbon softened Chu Yao’s usually proud features. Under the dim lantern light, the once untamed girl appeared to have a touch of gentleness. Xia Ge thought, of course, Chu Yao looks great; no wonder he spent so many spirit stones made from selling all those pills for these clothes. …Although repairing the roof tiles she had kicked down in the council hall likely cost more than these clothes. Truly broke now. Chu Yao, flashing her small teeth in a smile, took Xia Ge’s right hand, now adorned with the bracelet, "Let's go, little captive." Xia Ge: "I’m the bandit!!" Chu Yao gave her a sideways glance, brown almond-shaped eyes hinting at a subtle threat. Xia Ge: "…the little captive." Gentle, my foot—it’s all a facade. The sky of the City of Eternal Night was a deep blue with hints of black, stars twinkling, and the crescent moon appearing gentle. The crowd bustled. With a sugar sculpture purchased by Chu Yao in her mouth, Xia Ge mused. …Alright, little captive it is. After all, whoever has the money decides. Originally, he was planning to treat… hmm. A win-win situation. "Cough, bandit lord, I’d like to try that tavern’s wine…" "Which one?" "That one!" Author’s Note: Xia Ge: Integrity? Never heard of it.