Beauty Feng

Main Hall, Li Manor, Phoenix Empire

Feng Huiran, the father of Feng Chusan, eldest lady of first class family Feng, top socialite of the imperial city, of unparalleled beauty and grace, whose hand hundreds of outstanding bachelors constantly sought after; continuously reminded his daughter that marrying a pig head from the Si Lak Mercenaries was absolutely better than marrying the most eligible bachelor in current Phoenix Empire. Feng Chusan had nodded obediently, but her sights were set far too high: the Grand Chief. Being spoilt since young, and having a seriously bloated sense of self, she considered that a lady of her station could only stand next to the peak existence in this world.

Feng Huiran humbly paid his respects to the unmatched powerhouses gathered in the room.

"Esteemed Seniors, this subordinate hereby presents the greatest treasure of my Feng family," and he shifted to the side.

Feng Chusan lowered her head bashfully in the face of the direction of everyone's gazes towards her. Damn, she thought, why were they all masked? Were they really pig headed as her father had said, ashamed to show their faces? But their Grand Chief would be unmatchably handsome, right? Even if he was originally ugly, he would be able to alter his appearance once he reached a certain level of cultivation, right? Just look at the case of Sword Saint Tao He. People who had seen him till six years ago before he joined the Si Lak Mercenaries spread word that he was extremely handsome and dashing! And that Sword Saint was not even a Senior. That meant that there was no way around it: the Grand Chief was absolutely good-looking. Perhaps he had even ordered these subordinates of his to always cover their faces so they wouldn't compete with him.

Yes, it was only such an outstanding man that deserved her. Feng Chusan finally raised her head proudly. Why should she be terrified of these people? They would be her servants in the future! Watch out, everyone who has a feud with Feng Chusan! The Si Lak Mercenaries will come after you with fury!

"Where is the treasure you are speaking of?" Shadow Claw Jun Ru finally broke the silence with a deep growl.

Feng Chusan: !! Did they not see her?!

"This--" Feng Huiran attempted to laugh to clear the air, "my daughter, Feng Chusan," he held her by the shoulders and steered her forward.

"Why the hell is your daughter the treasure of your Feng family?" Tao He swore, "what do we look like to you? Cannibals?"

Feng Chusan: !!! To think she would ever be insulted like this!

"Ah-- heh heh, Esteemed Senior, your joke really frightens this subordinate," Feng Huiran cursed Tao He's ancestors in his heart. Did this damn man expect him to explain everything in detail? Even if the other Seniors knew nothing about this, he had spent at least seventy years in the mortal realm, though?!

"If my humble daughter does not irritate you, I will gladly give her over to your side," Feng Huiran eventually acquiesced, smiling bitterly.

"What, this monkey?" A young grumpy voice from the Weapons Guild sounded, "that's an insult to all our Sisters!"

Feng Chusan: this dwarf did not just call her a monkey, right?!!

"Ha haha, Boar Claw, are you kidding me?" Storm Sword laughed, "children shouldn't interrupt when adults are talking. What do you know about beauty or no beauty?"

Then? Feng Huiran raised his head hopefully. If this Senior took a fancy to his Chusan-- that would be the good luck his Feng family had accumulated for ten centuries! Thinking of this, Feng Huiran started smiling.

"This is good news for my Feng family. I'll have to trouble Esteemed Senior to look after our Chusan in the future," and he bowed.

Silence. All the people from the Si Lak Mercenaries turned to stare at Storm Sword. Feng Huiran paused, confused.

Finally, someone from the Alchemy Guild coughed.

"Senior Storm Sword-- I always thought you had a crush on Senior Red Monkey. Turns out I was wrong. Yet, I didn't expect you to have such strong weird tastes,"

Everyone around the table nodded twice and shook their heads pitifully on Storm Sword's behalf.

Storm Sword: !!!!!

"When did I say something wrong for you all to misunderstand me like this! Hey, Herb Oracle, are you stupid? Hey, Big Sis Red Monkey, don't mind him! Please don't misunderstand me! I don't like this skinny monkey at all, wu wu wu!"

Flaming Spear Xi Yun smirked. Feng Huiran was appalled, but he maintained his composure.

"It is my earnest dream to have my daughter enter the Si Lak Mercenaries --"

"So what do we get in return?" Xi Yun almost yawned; she was so bored. But this was the Grand Chief's orders, so she could only grit her teeth through it.

Feng Huiran choked. This? He was already on the loosing end of the deal, ah! He was the one giving up his daughter!

He started stammering as he tried to explain this. Spider Lily cut him off.

"Enough of this garbage. Take a leaf from the Ji family. They offered us a top grade herb and we took their son in. Stop the yammering that your daughter is some great treasure of the Feng family. If you really mean it, hand her over to our Weapon Guild to be made a war puppet,"

"Yes, give her to me! Give the ugly monkey to me! I want to hear her screams as she goes through my furnace!" Boar Claw eagerly said.

The Fengs: !!! The Si Lak Mercenaries were really as cruel and cold blooded as the rumours made them out to be!

"This subordinate has made a grave mistake. In that case, I'll offer Esteemed Seniors the transport creature of my Feng family, the Blueplume Eaglet,"

Feng Chusan did not think this treasure was too much to bring out for the sake of her entering the Si Lak Mercenaries. She even felt that it was proper. After all, she was going to be the Grand Chief's woman. He would look down on her if she didn't have a huge dowry. She drew her head up even further and cast a provocative look at Storm Sword. He would be ashamed now, right?

Unfortunately, Storm Sword did not even look in her direction and only turned, like the others, to Flaming Spear Xi Yun to hear her decision.

"That Blueplume Eaglet of yours isn't tame and is put under restrictive matrices, right? Xi Yun spoke.

"This-- Esteemed Senior is correct!" Sweat dribbled down Feng Huiran's back. There were no cultivators in this generation of his family. How would they tame a ten-pound vicious ferocious transport creature?! The amount of money spent by the Feng family each year to reinforce the restrictive matrices placed on it still made his heart bleed.

"Puppet King, you can have that," Xi Yun finally agreed. Feng Chusan was estactic. This lady was the topmost Senior of the Si Lak Mercenaries . For the time being, she must not be offended. Feng Chusan hoped with all her heart that this lady was not already the Grand Chief's woman. Otherwise, why would she have such a high position? Feng Chusan bit her lip.

"Thanks to Esteemed Senior, thanks to Esteemed Senior," Feng Huiran kept bowing, "hey, Chusan, pay your gratitude,"

"Chusan thanks Esteemed Senior," Feng Chusan finally decided to adopt the attitude of an absolute innocent little sister next door with Xi Yun until she secured the Grand Chief's affection.

"Nalan Yu," Xi Yun called a name, and a beautiful lady appeared next to her. It caught Feng Chusan by surprise! Didn't-- didn't everyone from the Si Lak Mercenaries cover their faces?! This-- this lady was more beautiful than her!!! Was there a person who was more beautiful than her?!!! Was there?!! Was there?!!

"Yes, Senior Master?" Nalan Yu saluted.

"Bring this girl back,"

"Yes!"

Nalan Yu appeared next to Feng Chusan and grabbed her hand. Before the latter could shriek, they were hurtling through a dark void. In the blink of an eye they arrived in a small room with a poster bed, a dressing table and a mirror. Feng Chusan was dragged to sit on the low bench in front of the mirror by Nalan Yu. Before she could come to terms with her new surroundings, Nalan Yu grabbed a scissors from the dressing table, pulled out the hairpins in Feng Chusan's hair, roughly untied the exquisite bun hairstyle, and snip! Snip! Snip, snip, snip, snip!!

"What the hell are you doing?!" Feng Chusan almost ran mad! This devil was cutting her hair! Her hair! Her beautiful hair!

"No! Damn you! Stop! Let go!"

A catfight broke out in the room. Feng Chusan fought back with all her might, scratching for all she was worth. But that didn't deter Nalan Yu from her task.

"You devil! Let go of me! Let go!"

Nalan Yu stopped suddenly, and, through her streaming tears and snot, Feng Chusan looked in the mirror and gazed at herself in the mirror. All her hair was gone. The pieces littered the floor. What was left on Feng Chusan's head was an uneven chopped mess.

"Argghhh! Go to hell, you--!" She swung round to hit Nalan Yu, but she suddenly found out that she couldn't move an inch.

"Damn you! You devil! Wait till the Esteemed Senior hears of this! You were asked to bring me back! You were probably jealous of my beauty, right, that's why you brought me here to ruin me?! I know! The Grand Chief doesn't like your sultry looks! He prefers an untainted beauty like me! It's your envy that took over you, right? Wait till the Esteemed Senior hears of this!"

Nalan Yu was stunned for a moment, then she burst out laughing. That enraged Feng Chusan the more and she started screaming again.

"Shut up! You-- I've never seen a much more brainless girl! But you're not at fault. Let me set you straight. First of all, our Grand Chief," her face shone with an adoring smile, "is not a man, but a woman!"

What?!! Feng Chusan was shocked!

"Look at your stupid face! I guess that's all I have to tell you! Now get up!" Nalan Yu dragged the dazed Feng Chusan up and walked to the door of the room they were in. Nalan Yu pushed it open and they walked along a corridor until they came to another door. It was opened by a matrix Nalan Yu created and Feng Chusan was roughly pushed in. The sight that met her eyes was jarring. There were about thirty girls in here, some seated on the floor, some lying on bunk beds that occupied most of the space in the room. All of the girls had shorn heads.

"Tutor Nalan!" the first girls who noticed the duo that just came in shrieked excitedly, "have you come to select another person?" The joy on their faces was not concealable. Feng Chusan was puzzled.

"No. This girl is joining you," Nalan Yu pushed Feng Chusan forward again, and she tripped and fell. One of the girls jumped up and caught her, but Feng Chusan pushed her away angrily.

Slap! It resounded in the room. Feng Chusan was dazed. This-- this ugly girl slapped her! She--!

"Good," Nalan Yu praised unexpectedly, "I'm sure you girls will teach her the proper way of life of a Si Lak Mercenary in no time,"

Did-- did she hear wrongly? They-- they wanted to train her to become a mercenary

?! No! That was not what her father intended! She was supposed to marry someone powerful! Maybe not the Grand Chief now, but a Senior!

"Leave her to us, Tutor Nalan," the girl that slapped Feng Chusan grinned, "have a safe trip back," Nalan Yu nodded to the girl and left the room, locking it behind her.

Have a safe trip back?! That meant that, yes, she was already in the Si Lak Mercenaries camp, yay! But that also meant that this place was some back of beyond which was no where near where the Grand Chief or any higher-ups resided! How was she supposed to find a powerful man now?!!

Feng Chusan is online, asking for pointers...!

"You damn girl, what gave you the courage to push me? Tutor Nalan pushed you, and I caught you due to the overflowing kindness of my heart. But you had to push me away?! How cheeky! Who the hell do you think you are? I thought Tutor Nalan had talked some sense into you. I suppose not. Tsk, tsk, look at your hair. You're so ugly--"

"You're equally ugly!" Feng Chusan yelled, "you're bald!"

"Yes, I'm bald," the girl replied proudly, "meaning I was still and obedient. But you must have resisted, and that's why you look like a mad woman,"

"You're the mad woman! Your whole family are mad women!" Feng Chusan lunged at the girl. How she so wished to scratch this girl's spotless face! She was! She was more beautiful than her!

"Arggg! Go to hell!"

Who expected the girl to kick Feng Chusan's stomach, causing her to fly backwards and hit the wall?

"Aaarghh!" Feng Chusan screamed.

"Yue Li, can you keep it down a little," all the other girls had ignored them once Nalan Yu left, and were now doing their own things. The girl that spoke was sitting on one of the upper beds, knitting what looked like a head scarf.

"Sorry, Sister Meng Yue. I'm just teaching this damn girl a lesson," Yue Li acquiesced at once. It seemed that there was an hierarchy among the girls.

Meng Yue was not bald, but her hair was very short. It seemed that it had been growing again, meaning that she had been here quite some time.

"New girl, what is your name?" Meng Yue asked from her perch. It irritated Feng Chusan, who had always been the one looking down on people. She gritted her teeth.

She was calming down and assessing the situation. It was true. How would she find a powerful and rich husband with just her looks, in a cultivation world? She needed to be powerful too! That would bring her more prestige, and people would line up for her hand as they had done before. But now, they would respect her as well. She would be a Si Lak Mercenary!

"I am Feng Chusan," she raised her head.

"I'm Meng Yue. I'm everyone's Big Sister. I've been here one hundred and twenty days," she pointed to the wall next to her bed, where there were chalk marks for everyday she'd spent here. Feng Chusan noticed that similar chalk marks were next to all the other girls' beds as well, but they were not as much as Meng Yue's.

"All of us here, were brought into the Si Lak Mercenaries in one way or the other. It doesn't matter anymore. Our backgrounds also don't matter anymore. Whether you were a princess, a socialite, a noble lady, a entertainer, a commoner, or a slave, all doesn't matter anymore. If you get in trouble, your identity can't help you. As you are here now, from now on, you are a Si Lak Mercenary."

It never occurred to Feng Chusan that she could join the ranks of people who stood at the peak of the continent -- she had thought the best she could was to stand next to one of them as his wife and bask in the admiration and jealousy of all her peers. But no. Her goal had changed. Sweet though it might be to ask the Grand Chief to help her get revenge on her enemies....she wanted to do it herself.

"Gu Wenwen, give Feng Chusan a piece of chalk," Meng Yue said to the girl in the bunk beneath hers. The girl got up and picked a black chalk from a box on the floor and handed it to Feng Chusan, scowling at her.

"Find and empty bed and be quiet. You'll settle in soon," Meng Yue waved her away.

Feng Chusan got up from the floor and sought out an empty bed. A young girl of about eleven years called to her. The bed above hers was empty.

"Welcome," the girl smiled shyly, showing small white teeth. Even she was beautiful!

"I'm Han Yuefeng," Feng Chusan glanced at her wall. There were only six marks there.

Feng Chusan climbed up the ladder and arranged the bed. She found an old piece of cloth with which she rubbed off the forty five marks which the former occupant had etched on the wall. This person was a true Mercenary already. A resolute look came to her face. She would work hard to become an ace mercenary too!