In his experience as the Flame Ancestor who presided over the entire Three Realms amongst seven others, Shang Xuan… had never encountered a situation as perplexing and confusing as this. The youth half-laid his body on the bed, the pair of azure irises narrowed towards the young girl.
"Na-er, why did we even accept a mission that requires us to take a plane?"
The young girl paused as she activated the safety for the handgun grasped in her hand, her body frozen in the action of socketing the weapon into the suitcase's designated slot. Na-er rubbed at her forehead for a brief moment, before flashing an innocent smile towards the Flame Ancestor.
Seeing the pretty smile and the hazel irises beaming with a brilliant light, Shang Xuan suddenly had a terrible premonition.
"Ahem… I accidentally accepted it when you were busy talking with that Xi Yuhan."
This lass!
The youth rolled his head towards the sky as he bemoaned the carelessness of the young girl, nearly giving into the urge of collapsing onto the bed and covering his eyes with a pillow. Feeling the strength deplete from his body in his exasperation, Shang Xuan directed a piercing glance towards the finished-packing Na-er.
"For you to pack so much, just where are we going?"
"Brest, France!" the reply was instantaneous.
"Ah Xuan, it'll be an amazing trip! Furthermore, we'll be able to witness the natural beauty of the world in its best quality whilst in the Western Hemisphere, and there'll certainly be interesting fashion to search for~!"
As expected, Na-er had accepted the mission to satisfy her craving for fashionable clothing and accessories.
Glancing at the young girl who swayed her head from side to side with closed eyes of bliss, Shang Xuan branded such a conclusion in his heart. As he stood and quickly dressed himself in a pair of casual clothing, the youth couldn't help but direct a few more inquisitive glances.
…since when had Na-er transformed from a loyal and adorable Fire Spirit who was shy about everything, to a young girl who sought after fashionable items like a modern youth of this mortal world?
Once they had stepped out of the room, Na-er turned around to face the smooth bed devoid of its occupant. Raising her fingertip, the young girl channeled the abysmal quantity of spiritual intent within her body, a bizarre symbol inscribing itself on the back of her palm.
The inscription took form of a scarlet rose wreathed in golden flames, and a faint, oppressive aura leaked from the thin lines of gleaming scarlet. At the same time, Na-er's hazel irises were replaced by a bottomless sea of scarlet brilliance.
"Form."
A sea of flames erupted from the young girl's outstretched palm to envelop the entire bed upon her whisper, the hungry tongues of the flames lapping at the air in earnest. The flames were exuberant in vitality and radiated an intense heat, but did not burn any of the surrounding objects.
With Na-er's command, the flames shrunk down until they coiled underneath the blanket, rapidly expanding until it took the form of a human being deeply asleep.
Upon witnessing the scene, the youth couldn't help but allow his lips to twitch.
"Watching you create a spiritual clone is always interesting," Shang Xuan commented in a dry tone.
"But is it worth ogling at its figure so much?"
The Flame Ancestor coughed as he grabbed onto the collar of Na-er's dress from the back, dragging her through the hallway and out of the apartment. Ignoring her glance of resentment upon relinquishing his grip, Shang Xuan carefully navigated through the streets towards which Na-er had hidden the car.
Ahem, he couldn't have his beloved Flame Spirit ogle at the naked form of a spirit clone, even if it was a reflection of his own body.
The car was located in a public parking lot allotted towards a large-scale supermarket, parked directly between a pair of luxury sedans. The young girl had chosen the most discoverable location to hide the inconspicuous car, masking into the sea of vehicles with ease.
Taking advantage of the fact that not a single sane person wished to antagonize a person indoctrinated in the upper echelons of society, the car gifted by Ah Mu was left completely unscathed even if it were lacking in aesthetics or design compared to its neighbors.
And thus, with the silver car departing from the public parking lot and merging into the public highway, Shang Xuan embarked upon his first experience as a bodyguard.
Mm, it was actually rather interesting, compared to its dull appearance…
-
"Attention to all passengers, Airline 305 will be taking off shortly. Will all passengers board the designated flight at Zone C."
The cheerless voice of the automated announcement system of the airport graced Shang Xuan's ears the instant he and Na-er stepped through the sliding doors. The youth clucked his tongue at the tasteless words, whilst Na-er suppressed a light chuckle.
To satisfy both Shang Xuan's vanity and being clearly cognizant of the troubles of airplanes and their general lack of space, the young girl had decided to remove her camouflage.
"Na-er, it was Zone X for us, I believe?"
Shang Xuan pulled the large suitcase behind him as they headed towards the farthest sector of the massive airport, his eyes occasionally glancing upon the words displayed on the screens suspended from the ceiling. As they walked forwards, the youth released an invisible aura containing the intimidating qualities of fire, forcing the majority of the civilians within the public airport to unconsciously make way for the two youths.
Nonetheless, there were a sufficient amount of brazen youngsters who dared to ogle at the astonishing beauty of Na-er, though none possessed the courage to step forth and make trouble.
"Ah Xuan, Zone X is this way!"
The young girl extended her hand towards the right of the large lobby of the airport, her left hand gently tugging on Shang Xuan's arm. With a hollow chuckle, the youth reoriented their direction towards the proper path, though his thoughts were certainly not on how he had nearly gotten lost at a public airport.
Qingyang Airport was indeed far too large for his preferences, ah.
"Attention to all passengers, Airline 425 will be taking off shortly. Will all passengers board the designated flight at Zone F."
The automated system dutifully announced the completion of the preflight preparation, urging for its passengers to begin boarding the plane.
Accompanied by a slew of similar announcements readying to deliver hundreds of civilians into the air towards different regions of the country and the world, Shang Xuan found himself standing before the scanning machine of the bag inspection zone.
He was staring at the machine with a mixture of amusement and amazement, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
Ah Hu, Ah Hu… did you really have to make this suitcase invisible to the radars of machines utilizing X-ray and other electromagnetic wavelengths?
The contents of the suitcase as displayed on the screen were not full of the contraband firearms as Shang Xuan had slightly agonized over, nor did it display the menacing foldable sword Na-er had tossed into the corner of the bag after second thought. Instead…
…the display was filled with a mixture of clothing of both genders, with several articles of risqué status…
"Ahem!"
The youth received the suitcase from the airport security employee with an awkward expression on his countenance, of which the employee displayed a knowing smile. Upon such a response, Shang Xuan didn't know whether he should smile back or become angry.
…he decided to be dragged away by the energetic Na-er, who had already procured their tickets.
And thus…
"Attention to all passengers, Airline 583 will be taking off shortly. Will all passengers board the designated flight at Zone X."
Their flight was swiftly called by the operating system of the airport, and the two youths boarded the plane with light sighs escaping their lips. Shang Xuan greeted the hostess with a light nod, before presenting their tickets.
At the end of the day, even Na-er was not willing to sit aimlessly in the airport for over five hours.
"Ah, so it is the Esteemed Customer," the flight attendant bobbed her head with a brilliant smile after scanning the tickets with a handheld device.
"Please, this way."
Under the guidance of the unusually energetic air hostess, the two youths navigated through the large passenger airliner… to stand before a private room. As they mulled in silence and confusion, the flight attendant had already opened the door, and was gesturing for them to enter with a brilliant smile.
"…didn't we order two seats for business class?"
Shang Xuan muttered with a small frown, nudging Na-er on the waist with his hand to obtain her attention. The young girl stared back with an equally perplexed expression.
…they ultimately entered the private room with uncomfortable hearts, only to witness a spectacular scene.
A hanger filled with an assortment of extravagant clothing.
Perfume stand.
A wide array of cosmetic tools that were clearly not for females.
"What… what…"
And a large fan of women dressed in exquisite uniforms, each holding distinctive utilities specializing in grooming the human appearance.
"What…"
Shang Xuan felt the blood coursing through his veins shrivel up and flee in the opposite direction, his vision nearly shrouded white in terror.
The youth directly turned around to flee from the private room of the plane, only to witness Na-er's utterly delighted smile that defeated his palpitating heart. As he was unwillingly dragged into the chair by the group of overly excited women, the Flame Ancestor rained curses upon his three subordinates.
Ah Hu, Ah Mu, Ah Xi, this Ancestor never knew that the three of you could stoop this low in morals!
Not only did you three take advantage of my debt to Meng Po and rope me into your organization as a member, now you're utilizing Na-er's feelings to attack my phobia!?
No, no, no – stop it, these women are too scary!!!!