The Central Plains' beauty standards weren't significantly different from modern ones.
백수풍흉: White skin, ample breasts.
세요경신: Slender waist, light body.
오발선빈: Black, lustrous, long hair.
명모유반: Clear eyes with distinct black and white.
단순호치: Red lips and white teeth.
Among these, there was a priority: the most important elements were a slender and petite physique, and the bearing that went with it.
In modern terms, it was a fanatical preference for slenderness, specifically for short, slender figures.
However, that did not mean they could have a flat chest.
They had to be well-rounded, full breasts.
But even for this, there was an appropriate size. About two adult male fists.
Anything larger was considered vulgar. Such features were typically sought after in concubines, not main wives. That's why men tended to favor their concubines. It was a society where one couldn't openly praise what they truly liked.
Ultimately, the beauty standards of the Central Plains were similar to modern ones. More accurately, Central Plains beauty standards were a subset of modern beauty standards.
And then, the Most Handsome Man Under Heaven the Jade Qilin, arrived in Luoyang. People who witnessed his graceful, jade-like countenance, as rumored, quickly spread the news, saying, "Did you see him?" "I saw him!"
The Central Plains' most eligible bachelor, descended! The beauties of Luoyang gathered in one place.
And the sight these beauties witnessed was—
A crude, cheap-looking hussy, barely even half-formed, daring to stick herself to the noble Jade Qilin, wagging her tail.
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A-Qing had created her character following the recommendations.
In Murim Life and Death, stats increased by mastering martial arts, and all in-game martial arts could be learned. So, initial stats were meaningless in the late game.
She had dumped all her Appearance points into Stamina and Strength. It was a build designed for an easy early game. That's why A-Qing, when she first appeared in the Murim, was the epitome of ugliness.
Martial arts belonging to the sub-category of "Fairy Arts" increased Appearance stats as they were mastered. The True Yue Maiden's Three Techniques belonged to Fairy Arts, and being purple-grade martial arts, they boosted her stats significantly.
So, now A-Qing wasn't ugly. But she wasn't exactly a beauty either. She was just... passable.
Yet, she was clinging to the Jade Qilin.
It was a complete visual clash. The "Relativity Squid Theory" in action.
Her cheap, cost-effective light armor was the cherry on top.
A barrage of hostile gazes instantly converged on her.
But A-Qing's true self was a single gamer working in production.
Someone who had no major complaints about that life.
At most, she wished all those born "gold spoon" would just drop dead.
A single, production-line gamer. Dating was just tiresome emotional labor. She had the brazenness to casually laugh off the venomous glares from ladies dressed up like flowers.
With enough wealth to live comfortably alone and hobbies to keep herself entertained, marriage was not even a consideration for her in the first place.
As a result, A-Qing paid little attention to the hostile gazes gathered at the gate. She merely whistled, seeing what looked like a sudden, impromptu "Luoyang-wide Most Beautiful Woman Contest."
A-Qing understood why they'd all gathered there—Luoyang wasn't an Amazonian matriarchy, after all. She nudged Peng Daesan in the ribs with her elbow.
"Ooh, San. You're quite the looker, huh?"
"It's just annoying."
"It's juhst ennoying. Ooh, my San, you're so cool! A true man! A cold man! But warm to my woman, right? Aww—!"
A-Qing's words caused a very ambiguous level of contact with Peng Daesan's sore spot. It was like, "Okay, I deflected that." Normally, he would have reacted with a straight face, but for some reason, he wasn't annoyed. Why? Peng Daesan pondered this phenomenon for a moment.
Well, it was because A-Qing's words and actions were the kind of teasing that came from a man's good intentions.
Truth be told, men also like handsome men. They might think, That bastard's so damn good-looking, but deep down, they basically like them.
What men dislike isn't handsome people.
It's more the young early twenties type driving a Mercedes.
Or the rich kid CEO who got his business spoon-fed to him and acts all high and mighty.
"So, if you're in Luoyang, where should you go? Where are those must-see places? The sun's still high, we can't eat dinner yet, right?"
Peng Daesan was about to ask something, but A-Qing's words, which ghost-like threaded into the gap, made him immediately forget. It seemed it wasn't a very important question anyway, so Peng Daesan just let it go.
"…White Horse Temple. Or Longmen Grottoes."
"A temple and a cave? Then a cave might be better, no?"
Peng Daesan didn't hide his look of exasperation.
"What? Why?"
"You're the only person in the world who would call the White Horse Temple and Longmen Grottoes 'a temple and a cave.'"
"So? Isn't it a temple? Isn't it a cave?"
"Don't say things like that in Luoyang. The people here are absolutely insane about their city pride. You'll get yourself stabbed."
Surprisingly, it was true.
"Well, can't be helped then. So, should we go to Longmen Grottoes?"
"…Longmen Grottoes is far."
"How far?"
"A long way past the South Gate."
A-Qing thought that was too far too.
"But I don't think there's much to see at a temple…"
"If there's nothing to see, we'll just leave."
"You gonna be like that? My friend, won't you show some enthusiasm?"
"I never had any to begin with."
"Let's go. White Horse Temple. Ready, San?"
"…"
"Ugh, you never know how to go with the flow, do you? Ov vourse vot. Qvung (of course not. qing)."
A-Qing imitated someone from behind by lowering her voice.
Peng Daesan let out a deep sigh.
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Personal tourism tendencies varied greatly, but they could be divided into several types.
First, there were the planners.
Those who organized every detail of the trip and moved according to a pre-arranged plan.
The slightly lax planners were considered the best travel buddies, overwhelmingly enhancing the satisfaction of the trip.
However, there were instances of planners with superhuman capacities who planned every ten minutes.
It was necessary to be wary of such types; one might end up seeing and doing a lot, but with no memorable experiences left after the trip.
Then, there were the hermits.
For hermits, traveling was just not working and staying somewhere far from home for a few days.
Their satisfaction came from not having to go to work and not being at home, instead of delicious, interesting, or famous things.
Comfort was what hermits seeked.
If they felt even a tiny bit tired, they tended to hole themselves in their room.
They often clashed with the wanderer types, thus arguing.
'Why come here if you're going to do this' 'I came to rest, not to suffer'
Then, there were the wanderers.
They simply loved to roam around.
They meshed well with planners and were best off traveling separately from hermits to avoid ruining friendships.
They ate well and enjoyed everything heartily.
However, once they lost interest, their concentration and motivation would dwindle, thus quickly seeking to leave.
They were the sort who perceived tourism as akin to an arduous journey.
Aside from those, there were the ultimate travel buddies. The silver-spoons. The wealthy ones.
There was a type who one should perhaps not seek companionship with on travels, but since they tended to stick to their own kind, it resulted in little interaction with those outside their group anyway.
A-Qing was one of the wanderer types.
To be more precise, she belonged to the subset of wanderers who loved to eat.
Any time she saw food, she'd shoot longing glances at Peng Daesan.
From Peng Daesan's perspective, it was a paltry sum, barely even pocket change, and surprisingly, there was satisfaction in buying her food because she ate everything so heartily.
Her actual impression of the White Horse Temple was a bit ambiguous. From A-Qing's point of view, the White Horse Temple was just like a red Gyeongbokgung, something familiar. A huge red Bulguksa, but without Seokguram Grotto.
She had no discerning eye or interest in the essence of contemporary Buddhist art, so the only thing worth seeing was the Qiyun Pagoda. Still, she liked the Qiyun Pagoda.
And then, true to her wanderer nature, she quickly lost interest.
When they stepped outside, the time was a bit iffy. After all, it was too early to go straight to dinner.
Peng Daesan grabbed A-Qing, who was about to wander off again, and sat her down in a teahouse.
A characteristic of the gold spoon type was that they solved everything with money and vehemently avoided trouble.
Peng Daesan was already tired after walking around for about an hour.
So, he figured if he sat A-Qing down and kept feeding her, things would get easier.
And it worked.
He ordered a mountain of pastries and sat her at an outer table with a good view, and A-Qing quieted down, absorbed in eating and sightseeing.
Peng Daesan was satisfied and quietly fell into thought.
The escort mission continued to Yongseong, and Mount Hua was about five days' journey from Yongseong. It was Peng Daesan's destination.
Mount Hua's Severing Sword Wall had opened.
Celestial Martial Emperor, the greatest master of the previous era, was respected because he truly loved the Murim. His attack on the Imperial Palace was a warning to the imperial family, who intended to manipulate the Murim for a northern conquest.
He had a particular affection for the Nine Great Sects. Thus, he personally imparted teachings one by one, though, as always, Celestial Martial Emperor's methods were a bit radical.
With a single sword strike, he split a cliff and carved six sword traces. It was a kind of insight left by Celestial Martial Emperor.
Only the Nine Great Sects received the teachings. The Beggars' Sect and the Five Great Families did not.
Celestial Martial Emperor's disdain for the Beggars' Sect was famous.
He called the Beggars' Sect "deficient beggars who were even less than proper beggars."
He simply had no interest in the Five Great Families.
He merely left a single remark that prioritizing family over the greater good wasn't necessarily wrong.
Celestial Martial Emperor's insights were shared only among the Nine Great Sects.
Celestial Martial Emperor was direct and didn't hold back.
If he had wanted his insights to be public, he would have said so, but he didn't.
He meant for them to do as they pleased.
In this situation, a letter arrived at the Five Great Families.
The contents roughly consisted of unity blah blah, great cause blah blah, and leading the next generation of Jianghu, thus offering to make the Severing Sword Wall open to them.
Two things could be inferred from this. First, a mere Peak Realm martial artist would gain little from simply staring at the insights on the Severing Sword Wall.
This could be deduced from the fact that the number of known masters on Mount Hua hadn't changed significantly from past to present.
Second, Mount Hua was in dire need of some major assistance.
There was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. One had to pay a price to glimpse Celestial Martial Emperor's insights.
But what could it be? And if it was an incident that required borrowing help from the Five Great Families, not just the Nine Great Sects and One Alliance…
Peng Daesan was still racking his brain when—
"San. Look at this."
A-Qing only called Peng Daesan "San" when she wanted something. He was gradually understanding her behavioral patterns.
A-Qing tapped a completely empty porcelain plate.
"What is it?"
"Someone said it's rude if the plate is empty."
A-Qing tapped the plate, urging him.
Peng Daesan was reminded of Heukgu (name of the dog which means black dog) kept in his family's manor.
The black dog was a Tibetan Mastiff that reached his waist.
When hungry, it would bring its food bowl and tap it with its paw.
It was a clever dog that always sought out Peng Daesan, even though someone else was specifically in charge of feeding it.
"You're quite brazen, aren't you?"
"Friendship fee."
A-Qing stood tall with a bold posture, puffing out her impressive chest.
Her unnecessarily brazen attitude was also like the black dog's.
It was the attitude of "you naturally owe me food."
"By the way, is illegal trash dumping a trend in Luoyang?"
"Of course not."
"Then why are people throwing things around like that?"
Outside the teahouse, on the main thoroughfare, countless scenes of illegal trash dumping were unfolding. Colorful handkerchiefs, perfumed pouches, and occasionally shoes or even underwear decorated the stone pavement with their various hues. It was, quite literally, pretty trash.
A-Qing was impressed.
Was trash-throwing truly a unique traditional culture of the Chinese people?!