Chapter 17: Yang Xiaoyun

Chapter 17: Yang Xiaoyun

Though she is a woman, when she speaks, it is entirely in the manner of Iron Blood Dragon Spear Yang Yizhi.

Her gaze flows with a touch of gentleness, but more than that, there is an air of grandeur that emanates from within her bones.

The corner of Su Mo's mouth twitched; he felt as if he had truly hit rock bottom today.

Why did he have to encounter this woman...

Her name is Yang Xiaoyun.

She is two years older than Su Mo.

When they first met, Iron Blood Escort Agency had not yet reached its current state, and Ziyang Escort Agency was not as diminished as it is now.

Yang Yizhi and Su Mo's father were sworn brothers.

As the saying goes, they were close relatives by marriage.

So, Su Mo has had a fiancée since childhood—none other than this very Yang Xiaoyun.

However... regarding this arranged marriage, whether before or after his transmigration, Su Mo has been quite resistant.

Mainly because Yang Xiaoyun lacks the usual gentleness and consideration of a typical woman; she prefers martial arts over embroidery.

She knows nothing about needlework and hardly displays any gentleness.

At the mention of weapons, her eyes light up.

From a young age, she was the leader of the neighborhood children, and her small white fists made many kids submit, ‘willingly’ offering their candied haws.

Then Yang Xiaoyun and Su Mo would share them, indulging themselves heartily.

Of course, their relationship wasn't always so harmonious.

Because she is two years older and his future wife, Yang Xiaoyun always felt it was her duty to manage her incompetent future husband.

Therefore, from a young age, she was more concerned about making sure he practiced his skills than even his parents were.

Whenever Su Mo disobeyed, Yang Xiaoyun would really hit him...

This made Su Mo fear her greatly, to the point where he would flee at the mere sight of her.

Later on, when the Su family fell into decline, with his father dying tragically and his mother passing away from sorrow, the escort agency disintegrated.

Naturally, this arranged marriage faced significant changes.

Moreover, the previous Su Mo was a complete wastrel, a thoroughly ungrateful son who, despite his family's circumstances, chose to indulge in debauchery, squandering the family fortune.

Yang Yizhi didn’t want his daughter associating with such a worthless boy.

This suited the original Su Mo just fine, as he spent his days enjoying himself amidst the flowers.

But when the iron lady heard about it, she stormed into the brothel, dragged him out, and beat him up on the street.

This incident caused quite a stir.

Everyone in Sunset City knew about the iron lady’s fury and how she beat up her fiancé, turning the city’s atmosphere sour for a while, becoming a topic of ridicule that still circulates.

And Su Mo became infamous, though not in a good way.

It was said that Yang Xiaoyun was also scolded by Yang Yizhi for this, leading to their first major argument.

The details are unknown even to Su Mo, but after that, they rarely saw each other.

Since his transmigration, Su Mo has kept a low profile, having little interaction with her.

Yet, here they were meeting again.

Being asked in public if he had returned to the brothels... Su Mo felt embarrassed and unsure how to respond.

Just as he was struggling, Yang Xiaoyun sat down and looked up at him. "Sit."

"..."

Su Mo complied and occasionally glanced at the other escort masters from Iron Blood Escort Agency.

They all nodded at him.

While respect might be due to his father, there was no evident disdain, as showing it would only upset the young mistress.

Those who have survived this long, even if their martial skills are average, are not naive. They know better than to show their emotions openly, often leading to early deaths in the martial world.

"How have you been recently?"

After sitting down, Yang Xiaoyun looked at Su Mo, her tone softer and her expression full of concern.

"Fine, fine."

"Good, that's good."

Yang Xiaoyun nodded, then adopted a maternal-like expression and said, "I haven't been home much these days. In recent years, my father has entrusted me with many responsibilities at the escort agency. I've been busy running around, so I may have neglected you. Don't hold it against me."

"No, no!"

Su Mo shook his head firmly.

"Um..."

Yang Xiaoyun paused for a moment, seemingly at a loss for words, then slapped the table. "Waiter, bring us some tea!"

The waiter at the teahouse had been prepared and quickly brought over trays of large bowls filled with tea.

Taking advantage of this moment, Yang Xiaoyun seemed to have thought of something and smiled as she said, "I heard recently that you've changed a lot lately. You've been avoiding the red-light districts and focusing more on your martial arts training. That's good. The Jianghu is full of trials and hardships, and you will inevitably have to carry the banner of the Ziyang Escort Agency in the future. It's important to gain more experience and practice diligently."

"Your family has a rich tradition, and the martial arts of the Purple Sun Sect are formidable. Although few disciples have ventured into the Jianghu in recent years, it remains a prestigious name."

"Now that it's in your hands, don't let its reputation be tarnished."

Although their conversation felt somewhat odd, these words were valuable advice. Su Mo was not one to ignore good counsel and nodded solemnly:

"That's true."

This surprised Yang Xiaoyun, and her gaze towards Su Mo changed, as if a glimmer of light had emerged from the darkness.

Her lips curved upwards slightly, and she smiled gently. "You really have changed. I always said that Uncle Su is a hero, and you, Su Mo, are not someone who would remain in obscurity."

"Hmm, if you have time, you should come visit my home."

"When Uncle Su was still around, our families used to interact frequently. Somehow, overnight, many things changed."

"The people are still the same, the city is still the same, but everything seems different yet the same."

"I believe that if you visit more often, my father would be pleased."

Su Mo found himself somewhat amused and perplexed. He remembered Yang Yizhi well.

A man of few words, he had only appeared once at the memorial hall after the Su family's incident and never set foot in the Su residence again.

People speculated that Yang Yizhi wanted nothing to do with the Su family anymore.

He even restricted Yang Xiaoyun's interactions with Su Mo.

Some matchmakers even started coming to propose marriage for Yang Xiaoyun...

Strangely, Yang Yizhi rejected all of them.

And he never mentioned the engagement between Su Mo and Yang Xiaoyun.

This left many people puzzled.

Hearing Yang Xiaoyun's words now, Su Mo didn't know how to respond and could only say, "When I have free time, I'll definitely come by."

"Then it's settled. I won't be going out for a while. When you come to the escort agency, I'll personally oversee your martial arts training."

"..."