Close Combat Mage

Chapter 284 – Tagan Desert Pt. 2

While Suo Jia was growing concerned, Nicole seemed to have realized this problem too. She chuckled and added, “Men don’t rely on their faces to earn money for food. As long as they’re skilled, it doesn’t matter how they look! You have to be courageous enough about your own deficiencies!” Nicole reached out and comfortingly patted Xiang Yun’s shoulder.

Seeing Nicole’s cute actions, the corners of Xiang Yun’s mouth twitched upwards, and he said awkwardly, “That…a long time ago, when I was young, my mom had always taken care of me. Now that I’m traveling alone, I had forgotten about things like washing clothes and fixing my hair that I don’t have any experience in because I was too focused on my objective.”

Xiang Yun reached up to split apart the long hair covering his forehead. In that moment…a handsome face appeared before Suo Jia and Nicole.

Strictly speaking, Xiang Yun definitely counted as a handsome person. He had a tall and straight nose, resolute mouth, and eyes bright and full with expression. There weren’t any defects on his face like Suo Jia and Nicole had been worrying about.

However, from Suo Jia’s and Nicole’s points of view, while Xiang Yun couldn’t be called ugly, he wasn’t that handsome either. While looking at Xiang Yun’s face, Suo Jia suddenly realized that they weren’t even the same race.

Suo Jia’s eyes were azure like sapphires, and his hair was also a light blue color. Nicole had golden hair and eyes, her skin as white as milk. However, Xiang Yun had shiny, jet-black hair, and large, bright eyes that seemed to glitter like black gems.

Xiang Yun’s skin was a healthy copper color. However Nicole’s was as white as snow, like a piece of paper. Suo Jia’s, on the other hand, was definitely not white; it appeared to be a very pale yellow. However, compared to Xiang Yun, Suo Jia was definitely still very pale.

After staring at Xiang Yun for a long time, Suo Jia finally asked, “Xiang Yun, don’t you find your long hair suffocating? And it must be annoying to wash as well. Plus, doesn’t your long hair get in the way of your eyes when you fight?”

“That…” Xiang Yun subconsciously touched his hair and replied in embarrassment, “I also have no desire to keep it this long. But since coming here, I haven’t been able to find any barber shop. Truthfully speaking, it’s already been over three months since I last cut my hair!”

“Cutting your hair!” Nicole’s eyes suddenly lit up, and she quickly stood up. “Cutting hair is very simple; I can do it. How about it? Want the awesome me to help you?”

Xiang Yun awkwardly looked at Nicole for a bit before hesitantly replying, “That’s not the best, right? Since males and females are different, they shouldn’t have direct contact between each other. Although I really want to get my hair cut, I have a fiancee whom I really love.”

“Seriously…” Nicole closed her eyes in exasperation and groaned, “You, seriously, what goes through your brain? I’m just helping you cut your hair, not like we’re doing anything else. Moreover, what do you mean by no direct contact between males and females? You’re really such a strange person.”

Nicole stood up and walked to Xiang Yun’s side. After circling around him once, she pulled out a dagger and chuckled, “Alright, just obediently sit there and let me fix your hair. Don’t worry, my skills are amazing!”

Nicole quickly lifted up Xiang Yun’s hair. She brandished the sharp dagger in her hand, and the shiny strands of the jet-black hair fell to the ground one after another.

“Successfully accomplished!” Nicole excitedly declared to Xiang Yun, who was stiffly sitting there like a rod, and she proudly dusted off her hands and re-sheathed the dagger at her waist.

“That…” Nicole had completely messed up Xiang Yun’s hair, it was now a horrible sight. When Suo Jia finally realized this, he said, “Nicole, how come when I look at his hair, the left side is longer and the right side is shorter!”

“Oh! Really?” Nicole turned around to face Xiang Yun face-to-face in confusion. After closer inspection, she cried out in shock, “Aiya…how did it end up like this! Let me trim it again, it’ll be fixed immediately!”

Half an hour later…

After Nicole had trimmed it for the eighth time, she finally clapped the tool in her hand and looked at Suo Jia to say with a provoking tone, “How about it? You can’t say anything about it now. Let me tell you, I’ve walked all over the world, and I’ve never seen anyone as good at handling things as I am!”

“Tch…” Suo Jia snorted in disdain and said in a low voice, “What is that! Only 1 inch of the hair is left. Any shorter, and he’d be bald. That’s something anyone can do!”

Suo Jia looked over at Xiang Yun. To be honest, now that his previously long black hair had been pulled upright on his head, it looked both sharp and full of vitality. He looked much more valiant than before!

Xiang Yun finally relaxed his body after Nicole had finally left. This was something that really only he could do. If it were Suo Jia, sitting completely motionless for over 30 minutes would’ve long since made his entire body sore. However, there wasn’t a single bead of sweat to be seen on him!

Nicole didn’t seem to have gotten tired of it yet. She slyly looked at Suo Jia and smiled, “Um…Young Master Suo Jia, your hair looks like it should be cut soon too. Isn’t keeping such long hair annoying? Just washing it sounds like a difficult task.”

“I’m good!” Suo Jia tentatively raised his hands and said with a forced smile, “I don’t need to get my hair cut. I like long hair, and washing it isn’t annoying. Don’t forget, I’m a water mage. How could I not even be able to wash hair? It seems to me that there’s no reason to inconvenience you anymore, you should just rest.”

“Oh…” Nicole gloomily pouted could only obediently sit back on her chair. Seeing this, Suo Jia finally let out a breath of relief. At the same time, Xiang Yun was looking at a mirror on the opposite wall, satisfyingly inspecting his new hair.

“Mmmm…” Xiang Yun sighed in praise, “This style is really awesome. It’s both sharp and full of vitality. Moreover, it won’t get in the way when fighting. Why hadn’t I thought of this before? This kind of hairstyle is something I can do myself too!”

Xiang Yun returned to his seat and sincerely thanked Nicole, making her so happy that she couldn’t suppress her wide smile. Afterwards…the banquet continued up until they were completely full, leaning lazily back into their chairs. They then began to discuss their next step.

Seeing how Nicole was starting to get sleepy from the food, Suo Jia sternly said, “Alright, now that we’ve finished eating and drunk enough wine, we need to discuss our next course of action!”

Struggling to gather her concentration, Nicole stood ramrod-straight in her chair and said, “Next, we’ll leave Banja and head south. After passing through four countries, we’ll reach Falan Empire. We can replenish supplies there, then continue onwards south to arrive at Tagan Desert. If we find Loze Oasis, we’ll have reached the entrance of the Greater Trade Routes!”

“Heavens!” Xiang Yun cried out in astonishment, “There’s still such a long journey ahead?! This is really too shocking. If one didn’t have a guide, where are they supposed to go search? But really, entering Tagan Desert and finding the Loze Oasis within it isn’t something that amateurs could do. They probably wouldn’t even know how they died.”

“Hehe…” Nicole smugly made a V sign with her fingers and proudly stated, “Correct. In reality, there isn’t a single adventure group that can pass through the Greater Trade Routes without guidance. They can’t even possibly know where the Greater Trade Routes are located.”

“Ok!” Suo Jia stood up and declared in a serious tone, “We don’t have any time to waste. Since we’ve already decided on our trajectory, we should go and prepare in advance. Tomorrow morning, we’ll officially head out. The objective is the Greater Trade Routes’ starting point: Loze Oasis!”

Suo Jia left the room first. Since they were traveling for a long distance, there were many things that needed to be prepared, like food, water, sleeping tents, and everyday items. Once they left the city, who knew when the next time they would be able to encounter another city. After all…their goal was the Greater Trade Routes!