The Sorrowful Palms and Number C-XU

Having heard Guo Hao’s words, and recalling the distinct characteristics of the Yang family martial arts, I observed Yang Laoer sparring with Murong Fan below. Each of his movements perfectly embodied the family’s inherited “Sorrowful Palms.”

The force behind his strikes was akin to a storm of wind and thunder, or the subtle roar of a hidden tsunami. This power far surpassed his usual capabilities, appearing instead as a clear indication that he was pushing this palm technique to its absolute zenith. Thus, even though his opponent was Murong Fan, the “Star-Shifting Young Master” and fourth-ranked undergraduate at Tianwu University, I dared not underestimate the formidable might of Yang Laoer’s palm technique.

After watching for a while longer, I breathed a sigh of relief, seeing that Yang Laoer was, for the moment, holding his own. Suddenly, another question sprang to mind, prompting me to quietly ask Guo Hao once more:

“Brother, I understand the principles behind Yang Laoer’s palm technique, but if I recall correctly, just last night, that scoundrel was in high spirits, trying to lift my clothes and tease me. His demeanor then showed no hint of ‘sorrowful palms’ whatsoever.”

“How is it that after only one night apart, he’s become like this? Could it be that he was rejected by another girl in a dream? Otherwise, what kind of sorrow is this, and what kind of soul is he losing?”

Guo Hao seemed a little flustered by my questions, his mind still preoccupied with Yang Laoer’s battle in the arena. He pondered for a moment, leaving my question unanswered.

Beside us, Linghu Ruoxu shot me a meaningful glance, then subtly nodded towards a girl standing quite close to the arena, almost halfway inside the ropes, amidst the crowd.

It was then that I remembered Linghu Ruoxu’s initial words: “The reason for the fight? Well, it’s probably that girl, wouldn’t you say?” At the time, hearing Murong Fan’s name had momentarily distracted me, causing me to overlook such a crucial detail.

Upon closer inspection of the girl, I noticed her gentle and endearing appearance, truly a picture of a demure young lady. Despite it being late October, she still wore a peach-colored dress, making her a beauty of no small measure.

“I believe she is that Xie Yiyi…” Linghu Ruoxu whispered. He paused, then added, “…also known as Number C-XU.”

Only the latter half of his sentence clarified things for me. Number C-XU, or Number 23, to be precise, was the code assigned to the twenty-third girl Yang Laoer had pursued since entering Tianwu University.

Originally, we had used the ten Heavenly Stems to name and abbreviate the numerous women he had chased. However, his formidable pursuit skills and astonishingly high rate of rejection quickly exhausted all ten Heavenly Stems, forcing us to devise a new system.

Linghu Ruoxu initially suggested using the twenty-six letters of the Western alphabet. Yet, considering Yang Laoer’s tenacious romantic endeavors and his tragic history of repeated failures, we estimated that twenty-six numbers might not even last him a single semester.

Furthermore, using foreign characters felt somewhat detrimental to the promotion and development of traditional culture. Consequently, this proposal was immediately discarded. Later, Guo Hao, possessing some knowledge of esoteric arts and the Five Elements, proposed extending the original Ten Heavenly Stems naming convention to the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches.

Both Linghu Ruoxu and I voted in favor, while Yang Laoer’s dissenting vote was dismissed as invalid. This method successfully resolved the issue of duplicate names among Yang Laoer’s ‘pseudo-ex-girlfriends’.

Concurrently, it also embedded our earnest hope for Yang Laoer to swiftly find his true love. Guo Hao even explicitly stated his wish: ‘May Yang Chun not remain a lonely bachelor, a solitary soul, even after an entire sexagenary cycle has run its course.’

Yang Laoer, infuriated by this blatant mockery, could only jump about in frustration, utterly helpless to stop us. In the end, he grudgingly acquiesced to our antics.

Upon realizing the girl’s identity, I immediately recalled the scene from yesterday afternoon when Sister Xiao Ru had taken me to tour the girls’ dormitory. I had personally witnessed Yang Laoer’s daring infiltration of the girls’ building.

I vaguely remembered the name he had cried out, wailing like a ghost, which seemed to be “Yiyi.” And the person who had called out to this girl from an upstairs window also mentioned that “Yiyi” harbored feelings for Senior Murong Fan.

“So, she’s the girl from the Eastern Heretic Peach Blossom Island specialization?” I muttered to myself, a sudden realization dawning on me. Linghu Ruoxu nodded beside me.

This entire affair, in fact, traced back to before I had even transitioned to my current body, roughly three or four days before the long holiday began. Yang Laoer had approached us, his face beaming with delight, claiming he had recently set his sights on a girl from the Peach Blossom Island specialization.

He described her as gentle and adorable, with a virtuous and elegant personality, and he believed she even harbored some interest in him. Of course, we later learned, on the day before the holiday, that her “interest” merely stemmed from an evening in the cafeteria.

Unable to find an empty table with her roommate, the girl had shared a four-person table with Yang Laoer, who had been occupying it alone. This “Yiyi” girl had been sitting across from him, and during their meal, she had smiled at him.

Yang Laoer recounted this encounter with great relish and boundless hope. Meanwhile, Guo Hao, Linghu Ruoxu, and I exchanged glances, our eyes conveying that we all remembered the same detail: the very evening Yang Laoer had met this girl, he had excitedly rushed back to the dorm, gushing about his new ‘prey’ to the three of us.

Clearly, a piece of vibrant green chive had been stuck to his tooth. To avoid crushing his confidence, we had all maintained a collective silence. After all, if he had known what the girl was truly smiling at, his fiercely burning flame of love would have been instantly extinguished.

What transpired next, I couldn’t say, for I subsequently lost my body on Mount Huang… or rather, lost my male body.

However, judging from what I witnessed later at the girls’ dormitory, it seemed his love story, born of a misunderstanding, had once again come to an unceremonious end, as expected.

I had finally managed to piece together the general outline of the incident, though some specific details remained unclear.

“Even if that girl is Brother Yang’s twenty-third, his ruckus at the girls’ dorm yesterday afternoon yielded no results; she wouldn’t even see him. Logically, shouldn’t that matter have been put to rest? Why has it escalated to this point again?” I immediately asked, inadvertently revealing that I had witnessed Yang Laoer’s embarrassment at the girls’ building the day before.

Linghu Ruoxu, however, seemed completely oblivious to my slip. He merely stammered evasively, appearing a little awkward about the whole affair: “You should let Brother tell you about this one; after all, he was the one who added fuel to the fire.”