But reality really was this cruel. Looking back, Xiao He realized to his surprise that ever since he came to this world, all the elves he saw were male, and not one was female…
Xiao He felt that his view of the world had taken a serious blow. It took him a long time to recover and reflect.
Alright...if they didn’t make distinctions between men and women, then fine. In any case, elves were tree-born. They didn’t need to get pregnant and have children, so they naturally had no use for females.
There was no need to vent. Xiao He optimistically believed that elves were elegant and pure creatures, and definitely wouldn’t think of something like that, so they all didn’t use that thing down there!
It was definitely like this! Xiao He, whose only relationship was with his right hand, encouraged himself. This definitely wasn’t a gay world!
Although he accepted this setting, Xiao He still felt a little uncomfortable. More and more, he wanted to find Fan Shen, finish his task and leave this damnable place.
But no matter how anxious he was, there wasn’t much he could do.
This world was far larger than he had imagined. Finding a single person here was as difficult as washing the waves clean of sand, or fishing up a needle from the bottom of the sea.
Not to mention he was still tied up with Cowen, and had no opportunity to search on his own.
If he really did leave Cowen, Xiao He worried he’d get lost in this world.
Let’s calm down first! After he became a little more familiar with this place, he’d think of a way to break away from Cowen and start his journey.
Xiao He was busy thinking the whole way. Cowen, this extremely capable little elf, had already dragged him out the door and down a good portion of the road.
When Xiao He realized they were going to Starmist Castle, he was immediately anxious.
Fuck, his top priority wasn’t thinking of this and that, but thinking of a way to avoid that scam registration!
Dancing with a man sounded terrible, not to mention he still had to go through rounds of selection. It was way too shameful, alright!
I won’t go even if you beat me to death! Only these ten big words were left in Xiao He’s mind.
But just when Xiao He was going to use both carrot and stick to deal with the little elf Cowen, he suddenly looked up and froze.
They had arrived at a huge, circular plaza, with steps of blue jade and a floor of white crystal. Sunlight spilled from the sky like layer after layer of golden sand, filling the ground with dazzling radiance.
It was so beautiful here it made him feel as if he was standing in the middle of paradise, but what made it so Xiao He couldn’t move his eyes away was the huge statue standing in the middle of the plaza.
It was of an elf whose silver hair seemed like stars fallen from the sky, and whose robe shimmered like a quiet stream. However, the most beautiful of decorations couldn’t attract the eye half as much as his face did. Bathed in sunlight, looking straight ahead, those serene azure eyes seemed to carry the mysterious vicissitudes of ten million years.
Xiao He looked at it unblinkingly, and a small voice murmured in his heart, that’s Fan Shen, the person he’s looking for.
Cowen exclaimed, “No matter how many times you see it, His Majesty’s statue is always so dazzling.”
Xiao He snapped back to himself, and accurately caught on to the key term in his words. His Majesty? The elven king? Ayr?
He didn’t have to put in much effort after all. It turned out Fan Shen was Ayr!
Xiao He’s emotions surged, and he threw out a sentence without even thinking about it: “I want to see him!”
Cowen came back to himself, and tapped him on the forehead. “Alright, don’t keep daydreaming. I know you admire His Majesty a lot, but we’re just little seventh-rank elves, how would we be able to see the god of the elves?”
When he heard this, Xiao He couldn’t help but frown. “What about the Brilliance Ball, can we see him there?”
Cowen froze, and then his eyes lit up. “We can! Little He, as long as you work hard and pass Starmist Castle’s evaluation, you’ll definitely be able to attend the Brilliance Ball. When the time comes...when the time comes…” Cowen clenched his teeth. “You’ll definitely be able to see His Majesty!”
Xiao He heard the hesitation in the little elf’s words. The little fellow clearly couldn’t be sure of whether he could see Ayr. After all, Cowen had never attended that whatever ball either.
Xiao He, however, felt some assurance. This was a way in, after all. He had to at least see Fan Shen before he could talk about treating him.
Whatever! In any case, it was a dream. He had to accomplish the task before he could get the money. Dancing with a man was nothing, no one could see it anyway!
Let’s do this! Xiao He rolled up his sleeves. His fighting spirit instantly ignited.
Seeing Xiao He pull himself together, Cowen let out a breath of relief, but there was some worry deep in his eyes.
What if Xiao He was chosen, and he was left behind?
Cowen lowered his head, covered up his feelings, and headed toward Starmist Castle with Xiao He.
Before, Xiao He had desperately been thinking of ways to avoid it, but now, he’d changed to thinking of how to get selected. After imagining shameful kinds of play for the whole way, he finally reached his destination.
Starmist Castle was one of the emblematic buildings of the elven kingdom. It was built from tens of thousands of rare blue gems. These gemstones were all blue, but their hues varied from light to dark and then back again, spread out layer by layer. Seen against the sky, they seemed like a curtain of stars rising from the misty mountains.
Xiao He had ordinary tastes. He thought it was beautiful, but other than that, he just salivated over the gemstones.
But when he thought of how this was a dream, he wilted halfway.
Xiao He looked away and walked into a wide, dark blue hall with Cowen. Before they could take a look around, they were surrounded by a vast crowd of elves.
Cowen was dumbstruck. “They...how come they…”
Xiao He was a bit astonished as well. “How come they all have black hair?!”
Humans loved following trends, was the same true of elves?
They had clearly all had beautiful blond or red hair, how had they all dyed it black overnight?!
And there were all different kinds. Some had smooth, straight hair that reached to their waists, some had soft and fluffy curls, and some had cute, charming ear-length hair...
Xiao He stared at them blankly, and he took a good while to recover himself.
It looked like Lance’s words yesterday had already spread at top speed.
Due to the celebrity effect, this “unique” hair color had turned cliché in minutes.
Cowen’s face turned a little pale. “I...how come I didn’t think of this.”
“It's an advantage that you didn't think of it!” Xiao He interrupted him. “Now that everybody’s got black hair, how could it be called anything special? Your beautiful golden hair has become the most dazzling of all, so relax! You’ll definitely be selected.”
Xiao He spoke from his heart, but Cowen thought he was only comforting him.
But there was nothing else he could do. They didn’t have much time left, so he couldn’t go find a place to dye his hair.
Xiao He felt quite helpless as well. When he didn’t want to attend the selection, he got a great opportunity. When he changed his attitude and wanted to apply, it turned out...that it seemed like he didn’t have a chance.
This was disheartening!
He sighed, cheered himself up again, and registered with Cowen. Afterwards, they were assigned to different groups. It seemed like they would soon be sent to their respective evaluation centers.
Xiao He took Cowen’s hand and encouraged him. “Cheer up! It’ll definitely turn out fine.”
Cowen was still a little worried. “Little He, you won’t leave me behind, right?”
“Right! I won’t!” Xiao He comforted him.
The two parted and left. Xiao He was soon submerged in a flood of black-haired elves, while Cowen could still be clearly seen even after walking far away.
A wisp of gold in a sea of black was certainly eye-catching.
Xiao He took a deep breath and started dealing with the evaluation.
Cowen had given him emergency lessons, so he understood the general course of the evaluation.
After waiting for about half an hour, it was finally his turn. The subject of the evaluation seemed to be etiquette. Xiao He mulled it over for a moment, then walked in alone.
While he was waiting for the exam question to appear, he heard the elf across from him say, “Are you Xiao He?”
Startled, Xiao He nodded and said, “I am.”
“Come,” the elf rose and said, “Lord Lance is waiting for you.”
***
2 hours and 46 minutes for 1,581 words, or 10.5 minutes for every 100 words. An increase in rate by 1.8 minutes ☹️ Blame it on all those wordy descriptions.
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I don't want Cowen to get hurt!!
ReplyDeleteGood luck on that 😏
DeleteI suppose he will turn black after a while
ReplyDeleteOohh... Cowen won't blacken right?
ReplyDelete