Xia Lan: From Meeting a Martial Arts Girl

Chapter 4 Xia Lan Seal

Extend your left hand and see if there is such a mark in your palm. If so, perhaps the fate of the world will be in your hands.

Lu Siye slumped to the ground, panting heavily.

His right hand was still trembling.

It wasn't out of fear, but because the stinging sensation was too intense.

He looked down at his palm, which was covered in red.

But what stunned him even more was that some patterns were faintly emerging in the middle of that red patch.

He blinked, and the lines faded again, becoming almost invisible.

"Who drew that thing in your hand?"

The curator's voice came from above.

Lu Siye looked up and saw the curator looking down at him with a complicated expression.

Su Nian stood next to the curator, also looking at him.

Her gaze fell on his right hand, and her brows furrowed slightly.

Lu Siye opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but found his mind blank.

Xia Lan.

This word, which he had heard since childhood, suddenly jumped out of the legend and hit him squarely in the face.

"I'm asking you a question," the curator repeated, his tone slightly harsher than before, "Who drew that on your hand?"

Lu Siye came to his senses: "It seems... to be... a fortune teller."

"A fortune teller?"

"In the county town, there was a street vendor," Lu Siye tried hard to recall. "A blind man drew something on my hand, said to wait half an hour before having his fortune told, and then he fell asleep."

The curator was silent for a few seconds, then asked, "What does he look like?"

"Skinny, wearing a gray long gown, and blind," Lu Siye said. "Other than that... I don't remember."

The curator didn't say anything more.

He stared at Lu Siye's right hand for a long time.

Lu Siye felt a little uneasy under his gaze and subconsciously withdrew his hand.

Just then, everything went black before his eyes.

In his last moments of consciousness, he heard Su Nian's voice: "Dad, he..."

And then I knew nothing more.

After an unknown amount of time, Lu Siye was awakened by the chirping of birds.

They chattered away right next to my ear, making my head ache.

He opened his eyes and saw an unfamiliar ceiling.

Made of wood.

It's made of individual wooden strips, from very old wood.

Lu Siye blinked and slowly sat up.

This is a small house.

It's very small, about ten square meters.

The room contained only a bed, a table, and a chair—all in the simplest style.

There was a jar on the table, filled with water.

Where is this?

He looked down at himself and realized that one of his cloth shoes was missing.

He looked around and found the shoe under the bed; he didn't know when it had been kicked off.

The pain in my right palm has subsided.

He turned it over and looked at it; there was nothing there, it was completely clean.

Just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, the door suddenly opened.

A person walked in.

He's a fat man.

She looked about seventeen or eighteen years old, with a round face, round eyes, and a round nose.

She was round and plump, like a freshly steamed bun.

Seeing that Lu Siye was awake, the fat man's eyes lit up, and he grinned, "Oh, you're awake?"

Lu Siye looked at him without saying a word.

The fat man walked in with an air of familiarity and plopped down on the only chair.

He said with a smile, "My name is You Xiaoman, you can just call me Baozi."

Lu Siye remained silent.

Baozi wasn't embarrassed at all, and continued to smile, saying, "You were dizzy for two days and two nights, I thought you'd need to get some more sleep."

"Are you hungry? Thirsty? Do you need to use the restroom?"

Lu Siye finally spoke: "Where is this?"

Jiugongling

Lu Siye was stunned for a moment.

Seeing his expression, Baozi laughed even harder: "Scared? It's okay, I was scared the first time I came too."

"But your reaction was better than mine; I burst into tears."

Lu Siye was silent for two seconds, then threw off the covers and got out of bed.

The moment his feet touched the ground, Baozi stood up and reached out to stop him: "Hey, hey, you can't leave."

Lu Siye looked at his hand, which was white and chubby, and didn't seem very strong. He stepped aside, trying to go around it.

Baozi moved aside and blocked his way again.

Lu Siye yielded again, but Baozi blocked him again.

Lu Siye frowned and reached out to push him away.

He froze the moment his hand touched Baozi's arm.

It can't be pushed.

This chubby little boy looks round and soft, but his arms are incredibly hard.

Lu Siye exerted all his strength, but the steamed bun didn't budge, and he even had a smile on his face.

"I told you you can't leave," Baozi said. "Be good, go back and sit down."

Lu Siye looked at him and slowly withdrew his hand.

Baozi stepped aside, gesturing for him to go back to bed.

Lu Siye sat back down and scratched the back of his head.

It hurts a bit, like I bumped into something.

"What is that thing?" he asked.

Baozi blinked: "What is it?"

"That black one, it moves."

Baozi was silent for a few seconds, then her smile faded slightly: "You saw it."

Lu Siye stared at him.

Baozi sighed and scratched his head: "This... is hard to say."

"Logically, you shouldn't know yet, but now that you've seen it, you can't hide it from me anymore."

He paused, then extended his left hand.

"Look at this."

Lu Siye looked down.

Baozi has a mark on the palm of his left hand.

Lu Siye stared at the mark, and a word suddenly flashed through his mind.

Xia Lan Seal.

The bald old man in the village once said that all the Xia Lan have marks on their hands, which are the source of their power.

He also said that his great-great-grandfather had seen it, on the palm of his left hand.

"You..." Lu Siye's voice was a little dry, "You're a Xia Lan?"

Baozi nodded.

Lu Siye opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything for a moment.

Xia Lan.

The legendary Xia Lan.

He had heard the story from the bald old man countless times when he was a child.

The battle between Xia Lan and Zero was fierce, purple light flashed, and the world changed color.

He always thought of it as just a story, a myth made up by old men when they had nothing better to do.

But now, a living, breathing Xia Lan is sitting right in front of him.

The mark on the palm of my left hand is clearly visible.

I know it's hard for you to accept.

Baozi said.

"I was stunned for a long time when I first found out."

"But it's true, those legends are all true."

"Zero is real, and so is Xia Lan."

Lu Siye remained silent for a long time before asking, "Why are you locking me up here?"

Baozi scratched his head: "Well... I'm not quite sure either, it was Uncle Yi's idea."

"Just ask him yourself when he gets here."

"Uncle Yi?"

"Yi Songjin" Baozi said, "Our current leader is the one you saw at the martial arts school before you fainted, the school master."

Lu Siye was taken aback: "That martial arts school director?"

"right."

"Is Su Nian his daughter?"

"right."

He suddenly felt that many things had an explanation.

The door opened again.

It was a man.

He looked to be in his forties, very tall and thin, wearing a dark gray stand-up collar Zhongshan suit.

His features were strong and his eyes and brows exuded an indescribable aura, making it clear at a glance that he was no ordinary person.

Su Nian followed behind him.

She maintained her indifferent expression, glanced at Lu Siyue as she entered, and then looked away.

Baozi immediately stood up and stepped aside, saying, "Uncle Yi."

Yi Songjin nodded, her gaze falling on Lu Siye.

Lu Siye felt a little uncomfortable under his gaze, but he remained seated and met his gaze.

Yi Songjin walked to the bedside and stood in front of him.

"Hands," he said.

There is only one word.

Lu Siye hesitated for a moment, then extended his right hand.

Yi Songjin grasped his wrist, lowered her head, and carefully examined his palm.

Lu Siye also looked down.

The palms are clean.

The red patch and the faint lines that were there before I fell into a coma have all disappeared.

All that's left is normal skin tone and normal palm lines; you can't see anything else.

But Yi Songjin stared at it for a long time.

As time went on, Lu Siye began to feel uneasy.

"Yesterday," Yi Songjin finally spoke, "you had a mark on your palm."

It's not a question, it's a statement.

Lu Siye nodded.

"What kind?"

Lu Siye tried hard to recall: "Red, and crooked."

Yi Songjin remained silent for a few seconds before releasing his wrist.

He turned around, took two steps around the room, and then stopped.

With his back to Lu Siye, his voice was devoid of emotion: "Your mark is on your right hand."

Lu Siye was taken aback.

Su Nian's gaze also fell on him, and there was something more about it than before.

"The Xia Lan Seal," Yi Songjin said, "has always been on my left hand."

He turned around and looked at Lu Siyue: "There have never been any exceptions."

Lu Siye understood.

It's always only on the left hand, so the mark on the right hand isn't the Xia Lan mark?

"That thing you used last night," Lu Siye suddenly asked, "was it a move from the Xia Lan sect?"

Yi Songjin looked at him without saying a word.

"I heard you shout," said Lu Siye, the "Primordial Qi Palm" expert.

The room was silent for a few seconds.

Baozi muttered quietly beside her, "Your ears are pretty sharp..."

Yi Songjin ignored Baozi and looked at Lu Siye: "Have you heard of Xia Lan?"

"I've heard of it," Lu Siye said. "There are old people in our village who talk about it every day."

"Then you should know that the Xia Lan Seal is innate," Yi Songjin said. "It's in the palm of your left hand from birth, it won't change, it won't disappear, and it won't be transferred to another hand."

Lu Siye looked down at his clean right hand.

"But the mark on your hand," Yi Songjin paused, "appeared, and then disappeared."

He walked back to Lu Siye, looking down at him: "And it's on the right hand."

Lu Siye met his gaze: "So?"

Yi Songjin looked at him for a few seconds, then suddenly said, "You must stay here until we find out the truth."

Lu Siye frowned: "Why?"

"Because this matter is very important," Yi Songjin said. "If that fortune teller can make someone obtain the Xia Lan Seal out of thin air, you should be able to imagine what that means."

Lu Siye paused for a moment, and a thought suddenly popped into his mind.

If ordinary people could also become Xia Lan...

Looking at his expression, Yi Songjin nodded: "You've got it."

He turned and walked out, pausing at the door before saying without turning back, "You'll be staying here for the time being."

"If you need anything, just ask Baozi. We'll compensate you once we've investigated."

The door closed.

Su Nian's figure disappeared behind the door.

Lu Siye and Baozi were left alone in the room.

Baozi scratched his head and sat back down in the chair.

He looked at Lu Siye and said with a smile, "Don't be afraid, Uncle Yi is a good person, he's just a bit harsh."

"We'll let you go once we've investigated everything. We might even give you some money."

Lu Siye remained silent.

He looked down at his right hand, at his clean palm.

As Yi Songjin just said, the Xia Lan Seal has always been held only in the left hand.

But there were clearly marks on his palms.

Although it's gone now, he saw it with his own eyes.

The fortune teller drew on his hand, and Su Nian and the curator both saw it.

What exactly is it?

"Steamed buns," he suddenly said.

"Um?"

"How many of you Xia Lan are left?"

Baozi paused for a moment, and the smile on her face faded a little.

He was silent for a moment, then scratched his head: "Well... it's okay to tell you, you'll find out sooner or later anyway."

He leaned back in his chair.

"Did you know that Zero was eliminated a thousand years ago?"

Lu Siye nodded.

He had heard this legend: the Xia Lan fought against Zero and won in the end. Zero was gone, and the world was at peace.

"That's true," Baozi said. "A thousand years ago, there really was a great war."

"After that, Zero rarely appeared. When he did, it was usually just one or two small fry, which a few Xia Lan could easily take care of."

He paused.

"But the number of Xia Lan is also decreasing."

Lu Siye looked at him.

Baozi opened his left hand, looking at the mark on his palm: "The Xia Lan Mark is innate; it cannot be passed down to the next generation."

"Some people are born with it, some don't. A thousand years ago, there were hundreds, even thousands of Xia Lan everywhere in the world."

"The number dwindled with each generation that followed."

"Two hundred years ago, the last Xia Lan was old," Baozi said. "At that time, Zero had not appeared for a long time, and everyone felt that this thing was completely gone, so Jiugongling was disbanded."

Listening to this, Lu Siye suddenly asked, "And now?"

Baozi glanced at him, then shook her head with a wry smile.

Not long after the group disbanded, Zero reappeared.

Lu Siye was taken aback.

"And it's stronger than before," Baozi said. "When it first appeared, the government didn't know what it was, so they sent troops to fight it."

"We won the battle, but we can't kill them all; they'll just pop up again after a while."

"And then?"

"Later, the government found those Xia Lan who had already retired and asked them to help," Baozi said. "Later still, the descendants of those Xia Lan who had Xia Lan seals also gathered together, and that's how it is now."

Lu Siye thought for a moment: "How many people are there now?"

Baozi was silent for a few seconds, then stretched out a hand.

Five fingers.

Lu Siye was stunned.

"Five people?" he asked.

Baozi nodded: "Uncle Yi, Sister Su Nian, me, and two others are elsewhere, so there are five of us who have joined so far."

Lu Siye was at a loss for words.

The legendary Xia Lan, who could fight against the Zero army a thousand years ago, now only have five left?

Baozi looked at his expression and smiled, "Scared? It's okay, I was scared too."

"When I first came here three years ago, I thought I would meet dozens of experts, but it turned out to be just these few people."

He scratched his head and said, "But Uncle Yi said it doesn't matter if there are few people, as long as Zero doesn't cause trouble."

"In the past twenty years, Zero has appeared seven or eight times, and we've solved it every time. Although we're few in number, it's effective."

Lu Siye remained silent.

Has such a monster appeared seven or eight times in the last twenty years?

"Then..." he hesitated, choosing his words carefully, "is it enough for you?"

Baozi paused for a moment, then smiled.

"That's a good question," he said. "Is it enough? To be honest, it's not enough."

"Uncle Yi is always exhausted after each fight, and Sister Su Nian is becoming less and less talkative. Of course, she's never been a talkative person to begin with; it's just that she's under a lot of pressure."

He paused, looking at Lu Siyue: "So you know why Uncle Yi locked you up, right?"

Lu Siye thought for a moment: "Because of the mark on my hand?"

"That's right," Baozi said. "The Xia Lan Seal is innate; no one has ever acquired it later in life."

"But the mark on your hand, although it didn't actually take shape, did appear. If there really were a way to turn an ordinary person into a Xia Lan..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but his meaning was clear.

Lu Siye looked down at his right hand.

If that mark really does mean something...

"Baozi," he suddenly asked, "can you find that fortune teller?"

Baozi shook his head: "Uncle Yi has already sent people to that county to look for him, but the place where he set up his stall has been empty for a long time. We asked the people around, and they all said they had seen him, but they didn't know where he came from or where he went."

Lu Siye remained silent.

The old blind man drew the symbol for him, told him to wait half an hour, then fell asleep and slept for an hour. When he woke up, he said "love, hate, passion, and grudges," and then went back to sleep.

"Don't overthink it," Baozi stood up and patted his shoulder. "Since you're here, make the best of it. Stay here for a few days and treat it as a vacation. Jiugongling has beautiful scenery; I'll take you there later."

Lu Siye looked at him and suddenly asked, "You just said you came three years ago?"

Baozi nodded.

"You were...born that way too?"

Baozi paused for a moment, then smiled.

He stretched out his left hand, showing the blue mark to Lu Siye: "It was born that way. My parents are ordinary people, but I'm not. Three years ago, Uncle Yi found me and said I was a Xia Lan. I thought I had met a fraudster."

He withdrew his hand, smiled, and said, "Later, he showed me a real zero, and I stopped doubting it."

Lu Siye looked at his left hand, then at his own right hand.

Innate, acquired, vanished marks, and emerging monsters.

These thoughts kept swirling in his mind, giving him a headache.

He lay back down on the bed and closed his eyes.

Baozi said from the side, "You rest first, I'll bring you food in a bit," and then the door opened and closed, and the footsteps gradually faded away.

The room fell silent.