After the commotion I caused at the park, I decide not to fool around anymore as I head toward the clothing store. Moving quickly now, it will still take me more than an hour to reach it. It would be nice if I had a vehicle to get there faster, but for now my own feet are going to have to do as I race through the streets running significantly faster than any of the carriages travelling alongside me.
Thankfully, Physician Bing’s place is fairly close to the Inner City— the arena we went to earlier being in one of the more affluent areas outside of the Inner City.
Unlike last night, there are more people out and about so several curious onlookers point and gawk at me, but just as I’d determined earlier, cultivators moving at high speeds are not an unknown in this area. A curiosity to be sure, but nothing out of the ordinary.
Miles fly beneath my feet as I aim to make it to the clothing store as quickly as possible. I want to make it to the store and back to Physician Bing’s so I can, hopefully, continue cultivating. Preferably, I would like to continue cultivating, alone, in my cultivation room.
That might not be possible, but I want to figure out what the whole spinning sun, death and rebirth thing was with the fire Dao. And, as I just figured out with the makeshift firework I made, playing around with fire outside of a controlled area isn’t the best of ideas. Sure, I may have known that before I did it, but I was curious.
Besides, no one got harmed and I didn’t cause any property damage so who cares?
***
Roughly an hour and fifteen minutes later, I finally arrive at the clothes store.
It is a nice place; larger than Physician Bing’s compound and the bathhouse I went to earlier combined, it is an interesting combination of the elements I’ve seen so far in the city. It has a wall, much like many places, but where it differs is in the rectangular building that acts as both the entrance-gate to the compound inside as well as a storefront that allows for guests but makes a clear line dividing the home aspect of the compound and the business aspect.
I walk into the building while taking in its decor. The first room I enter is a reception and greeting room. It has a few samples of fabric in it, but it seems as though they only keep a few choice things in here to promote their wares without it becoming a showroom. As a matter of fact, most of the room is taken up by a table in the center of the room with cushions made from what I presume are the store’s fabrics.
Seated behind the table in an old man wearing a very nice brown robe with elegant-looking silvery-blue embroidering that doesn’t seem to have any meaning but shows off the store’s skill.
The man himself has black hair with gray running through it. It isn’t as nice as Physician Bing’s hair, but this man has definitely aged well and his hair goes well with his sharp features. What’s more, he is also a cultivator and the brown qi clouds surrounding him are only weaker than Physician Bing’s and that ‘unimportant’ guy from this morning.
“Are you here to gawk or to purchase my work?” The old man asks me.
“Purchase, hopefully.” I respond. “I was wondering if I could buy several sets of clothing.”
“You look like a cultivator,” he says. “Why would a cultivator be coming to my shop for clothing? We don’t have the materials to create anything that might interest you.”
“If you don’t have the materials to create clothing then how are you a clothing store?” I respond deadpan.
The old man looks at me curiously, his eyes dark brown, and smiles softly— a wolfish thing. “If you want anything that might aid you in a battle, or in saving your life, you have chosen the wrong store. You may as well leave.”
“Fuck, old man! I’m not interested in fighting! I just want some nice clothes to wear!” I growl at him. “I don’t want any of that expensive Oak Silk or whatever it’s called, I just want to look nice and be comfortable with what I’m wearing!”
He continues to regard me for several seconds before responding. “Very well, I will show you the fabrics and coloring that we have. As to whether or not you mean what you say… just know that I won’t tolerate anyone acting up within my store.”
“Not here to act up, old man, just want some clothes.” I scoff at him and he rises.
“We’ll see.”
He then leads me through the door of the room and into an actual showroom. There are dozens of different, high-quality fabrics placed throughout the rooms with the cheapest being closest to the door and the most expensive, and nicest looking, being further into the room.
“What, exactly, are you looking for?” He asks me.
“I want several sets of clothing— everything including underwear if you do that here. I was thinking about buying at least three sets, enough that I don’t have to worry about laundry every other day, but I might like a few more just in case.”
“What quality and coloring?” He prods.
“Uh… Can’t really tell you what quality, I don’t know what you’ve got yet. But maybe a darker blue?” I’d prefer black, but I don’t want to look like a space wizard.
“Most of our blues are higher quality… and designed for girls. You don’t want to go with white like most of the young ‘heroes’ of this city?” He asks me, his voice mocking.
“Oh god no!” I exhale. “Only idiots wear white. That’s how you get shit all over your clothes.”
The old man snorts. “Well, at least you know that much. But you wouldn’t prefer brown? Much better for a young man to wear brown, even if it isn’t as elegant or flashy as white.”
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
“Nah, brown doesn’t really work well with me; my hair is too light.”
“Hmph. Never heard of brown not working because of light hair. But very well, I won’t be accepting any returns if you regret your purchase later.”
“That’s fine by me. I like blue, and it looks nice on me, so I’m not about to buy clothes and complain about them later. Besides, even if it is a girl color, as long as I look good wearing it, I’ll be happy with it.”
“Suit yourself,” he replies. “I work with five different fabrics with blue coloring. They are over here.”
He brings me further into the room and shows me a selection of fabrics that really do look nice, though a couple of them are so light and sparkly that even I recognize them as girl colors.
But, thankfully, there is one shade of blue in particular that is slightly darker than sky blue and, therefore, my eyes. I don’t have any particular aversion to wearing something lighter than my eye color, but I do think that colors should travel up; darker colors should be on the bottom while lighter colors should be on top.
I point it out to the old man and ask, “What about this one?”
He glances at the fabric and says, “That is one of our better fabrics, even among our higher-class fabrics. It is a special silk that grows from a type of water silkworm that is raised in ponds among lotus flowers with a blue pigmentation.
It is softer than regular silk and has the characteristic of being like and flowing like water. Women often prefer this particular fabric for when they want a softer dudou.”
“A dudou?” I ask, not sure what a ‘dudou’ is.
“Yes. The fabric is fairly expensive, so rarely do any of my clients ask for anything larger be made of it; but, if you don’t mind wearing something generally purposed for a dudou, then I can use it for your clothing.”
“Yeah, that’s fine by me,” I respond. Seriously though, what the hell is a dudou?
It’s awkward for me to ask again since it seems to be a common sense kind of thing, so now I can’t help but wonder what a ‘dudou’ actually is. I’ll look it up later when it won’t be awkward to space out.
***
Outside of the store, the woman in red stands in the air silent and unseen. She has a pensive look on her face as she uses her spiritual awareness to peer through the walls of the store and examine the fabrics within.
“These fabrics are all very nice. I did not realize that Qiang City had someone capable of working such magnificent materials. Though they may be fairly mundane, the coloring and texture is even greater than what the Inner City’s ‘elite’ textile stores can offer.
How can such a place be unknown? Is there some problem?”
She watches as Lan Jin looks through the fabrics and finally picks out a blue fabric of excellent quality.
“That… to think a young man would be bold enough to wear such a thing…”
The woman raises an eyebrow at Lan Jin and gives him a pitying smile.
“What a poor thing. That boy would do better to find a common woman to marry, and quickly, so he can at least be dressed properly.”
As she looks more closely at the blue fabric she says, “But that fabric… it would certainly be something nice for Yu’er to wear. She has complained about the sensitivity of her breasts of late and that fabric does seem like it would make an excellent dudou for a young girl.
I will bring her later, it’s just— she wouldn’t care if that boy is wearing the same fabric, would she? She certainly isn’t too fond of him…
Maybe there is a better fabric for her? I will let her decide for herself what she likes. And, if she chooses the blue fabric, I simply won’t tell her about this boy deciding to dress so foppishly.
The girl Hong Cuirou also deserves a reward for her part in Yu’er’s play. I’m sure she’ll appreciate a new dress.”
***
While I’m considering my plans to look up a dudou later, the old man smacks me on various parts of my body with a stick. I barely even have time to react before stinging spots are covering my body.
“Ow!” I hiss. “What was that for?”
“Do you want your clothes to fit or not?” He smirks at me, daring me to say otherwise.
“You know old man, you’re a bit of a pain in the ass. Anyone ever tell you that?”
“Hmph!” He grumbles. “My job is to make clothes and I do it damned well. I don’t need you to like me.”
“Well that’s good, because I don’t. I’m really hoping this whole trip was worth it.” It better be. The Omega Browser hasn’t let me down yet, but if I screwed up with the search then I’m obviously not going to enjoy the results.
I don’t know how I screwed up ‘best clothing stores in Qiang City’, but wouldn’t be the first time I fucked up with something simple.
“I just took your measurements, boy. Little girls complain less about more pain on their wedding nights; stop whining.”
Their wedding nights? Are girls here expected to stay virgins until marriage? That’s so outdated!
“Yeah, yeah,” I respond. “Whatever.”
Dealing with this old guy is honestly a pain. I’m pretty sure it will be worth it in the end, but the process to reaching that point is god awful.
“How many sets do you want, boy?” He asks me while I’m thinking.
“I’ll go with three for now. If they’re good, I might buy more.”
“Three sets; you want a robe, sash, pants, and underwear, correct?”
“Yeah.” At least he’s clarifying my order.
“Your total will be two small gold coins, one large silver. I expect half of the payment now. The other half will be due tomorrow after I’ve finished your order.” The old man addresses me, his gaze firm as he demands his payment.
I hand him one small gold coin and say, “I don’t have any silver. Break that and I’ll pay half today. If not, I’ll only pay you the one small gold coin today.”
“Hmph.” The old man looks annoyed, and I’m happy to have screwed him over in whatever small way I can. Besides, it isn’t a lie so there’s nothing I can do about it.
Instead of giving me anymore sass, he smiles and tosses me one hundred small silver coins in a very loose pile.
For an instant, I freak out because I don’t want to be crawling around the store picking all of these up. Consequently, I reach out to the metal qi in my body and throw it forward making a net of golden energy that wraps up all of the coins and pulls them into my hand.
“Dick,” I say to the old man with a grin on my face.
“Had to be a damned metal cultivator,” he grumbles with a sneer on his face.
I divide out five of the small silver coins and throw them back at the old man, along with a small gold coin, in a similarly loose pile. Unfortunately, the results are much the same as he just makes all of the money disappear. Presumably, he has a spatial ring.
This time I am scowling while he grins at me.
“Little shit.” He chuckles darkly and then says, “You can leave now. Your clothing won’t be done until tomorrow at noon.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I respond while turning around and walking out the door. This has got to be one of the weirdest shopping trips I’ve ever had.
***
Outside of the clothing store the woman in red stares at Lan Jin with her lips lightly parted and her hand held in front of her face.
“That boy has a variant dantian and can control both fire and metal? How is his cultivation base stable with competing elements? Is it his method of cultivation, or is it something else? Is this why the old geezer took him in at this time?”
Many thoughts run through the woman’s head as she watches Lan Jin, the least of which is how he can manage to control two elements at what looks to be the Mortal Foundation Realm.
“His control over metal seemed to be vastly different from the control he has over fire. Yet both seem flawless in their execution even if their uses seem to differ. Could he have some soul technique that lets him fluidly control his energy, or is it a rare cultivation practice that allows him such fine control?”
She stands still in the air for a short period of time before shaking her head and saying, “If it is a soul technique, I must speak with the geezer and get him to pass it over. Yu’er’s energy is already becoming unbalanced— it would not do if she were to advance further through the Mortal Foundation Realm and be stuck at its peak due to instability.”
She sighs and says, “With that ridiculous date coming up soon, I must find a way to secure her future so as to not rely on outsiders for her longevity.”