Dark Moon Era

‘Be it a change in face or disguise, they were all women’s specialty. I’m just a passerby in this vast world, stealing some precious experience from them. Even though these things cannot make a real disguise, they are the basis for my art of disguise — The God of Disguise of the Dragon Army, Mr. Thousand Face’

Tang Ling believed the quote deeply.

When Ro Xin pulled out a bunch of items, like a color palette, brushes, pencils, and a tube of red stick plus many bottles in various sizes, Tang Ling’s belief was further solidified. He believed the quote and trusted Ro Xin, but he should have begged her to hold back with her makeover.

Unfortunately, he did not realize how far would she go. When he saw his face with sparkly blue eyes, red succulent lips, and fair pinkish cheeks, he was utterly frightened.

Ro Xin was pleased with her work. She commented as he sized up the makeover while moving his head left and right by gripping his chin, “Perfect!”

“Hmm, the shadow here is decent but a little more can make the eyes pop and your nose bridge will appear taller.

“Don’t move. The contact lenses are antiques left behind by the old civilization. Do you know how lucky must I be to collect them? If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have dyed it blue. Gray is a nice color. Got it?

“Hmm, the lipstick might not be the most valuable in the old civilization, but it’s a natural color that I mixed myself. Damn it! I wished I was born in the old civilization! I would’ve surely been legendary in the makeup world.

“Hmm, this is really great! Your face and skin are already delicate enough. A little more work and you can look even cuter.”

Delicate? Cute? Tang Ling’s fists on his laps were shaking furiously because he was holding back his urge to kill the cuter version of him in the mirror.

“Aren’t you happy with it?” Ro Xin sensed his trembling fists and was upset. She believed that the makeover she had given Tang Ling was definitely her masterpiece.

Oh, he looks so beautiful! With blonde hair, even though his face is a little bit pale, the rouge on the cheeks looks so natural. Plus, the faint pink matches the color of his lips. The contact lenses and the shadows work perfectly. It makes his eyes bigger, his nose bridge taller and his chin sharper.

And it’s a nude look! No one will be able to tell Tang Ling is wearing makeup!

How beautiful! What a successful makeover!

“Thank you, but please return my face to me.” Tang Ling’s veins were popping out on his forehead.

“What? Please respect my work! It’s a masterpiece! Your face? Do you want to die?!” Ro Xin acted like she was severely hurt.

“Yeah, I’d rather die than have a face like this.” The urge to kill himself just increased tenfold.

“Well, I wouldn’t. If you don’t want to look this beautiful, you can do it yourself!” Ro Xin pouted angrily and kept everything back into her drawer while arguing with Tang Ling, but before she could finish, a loud bang came from the door.

A strong and dignified voice echoed in her room, “Ro Xin, look at you! Bringing some strangers into the camp and into your own room? And it’s a man?!” Ro Li seemed very concerned about this, and the way he said it made him sound like a busybody.

The sudden banging startled Tang Ling and Ro Xin, so they turned around to the door.

A man with a mustache, who was as buff as Ro Li, and had black hair and eyes, appeared at the door. Behind him was Ro Li.

“Huh? You are Dumbo? Dumbo is a girl?” Ro Li rubbed his eyes in shock and turned around to the middle-aged man to say apologetically, “Sorry, Dad, I might have misunderstood Ro Xin.”

“Hmm.” The middle-aged man nodded in agreement. Then, he glared at Ro Li. “Look closer before you simply make any report.”

“Yes, Sir!” Ro Li then turned around to Tang Ling with a smile. “I am sorry, Dumbo, uh… Ms. Dumbo. You are a girl, but why are you named Dumbo? You look better with long hair.

“Make yourself at home. Here, have some meat. Look at you. You’re scrawny like a stick. People will mistake you as a boy.

“Ms. Dumbo, let me introduce myself. My name is Ro Li. I’m…”

Ro Li was spewing nonsense on his own and Ro Xin responded with a peculiar look. She looked at Tang Ling with a worried gaze and realized that his veins had popped up on his forehead and were twitching.

In the next second, Tang Ling bolted and lunged towards Ro Li at an inconceivable speed. He punched Ro Li in the face, causing his nose to bleed. The blood sprayed on Tang Ling’s thin shirt and wet the piece of ‘Horror Lullaby List’.

Tang Ling punched Ro Li madly and cursed, “Who the hell wants to know what your name is? What the hell are you talking about in front of me?”

The middle-aged man turned around in pity. Did Ro Li anger the little girl with his enthusiasm? Isn’t this little girl’s voice a little too rough? Isn’t she a little too strong? Hmm, is her man-like strength because her voice is rough? Whatever! I like a strong daughter-in-law! 

Ro Xin’s father started to plan for the long term.

Ro Li blocked Tang Ling using his hands. Although he felt humiliated, he could not fight back. Right, Dad always says men should please women, so let’s say something to make her happier.

He managed to shout in a muddled tone despite being punched in the face relentlessly. Would his attempt to please Ms. Dumbo move this violent girl?

Suddenly, Tang Ling stopped beating him up and looked at Ro Li with a strange gaze. “What did you say?”

“I…cough…I can’t speak properly while you are beating me up.” Ro Li laughed in a flattering manner.

“Beautiful, your *ss!” Infuriated, Tang Ling punched him another seven to eight times.

Ro Xin had enough of this little farce, so she shouted, “Tang Ling, are you done?”

Tang Ling?!

Ro Xin realized what she had done out of nervousness, but there was no turning back now.

Tang Ling, on the other hand, stood up brazenly and wiped his face with his sleeve firmly. Half of his makeup was wiped off and he said without being overly concerned, “Nice to meet you, I’m Tang Ling, not Dumbo.”

“I met Ro Xin when she was collecting herbs. I saved her from danger, but she returned the favor shortly after that when she saved me because I’ve been poisoned. Ro Xin wanted to cure my poison, so she brought me back to camp. That’s what happened. If I’m causing trouble, I’ll leave immediately.”

“Tang Ling…” Ro Xin did not expect Tang Ling to spill the truth. As a consequence, she was nervous. She jogged to Tang Ling and stood in front of him, begging the middle-aged man with teary eyes, “Dad…”

She could not find the right words to say. Be it acting like a spoiled child or giving excuses, none of those would work. Her father must know about Tang Ling because he was not a leader who shut himself off from the world.

Ro Xin knew how much trouble she was in and what kind of problems the camp would have to face if the truth got out.

Although Ro Li was punched mercilessly by Tang Ling, he stood up and said, “A man shouldn’t distinguish debt and grudge. Sis, you did well, but even so, he cannot stay in your room!”

It seemed like Ro Li was not on the same page as everyone. He was the one that should have been called Dumbo because he failed to see how serious this matter was to the camp.

The middle-aged man went silent and his gaze was complicated. Tang Ling’s name caused a tidal wave in his heart.

“They…finally met?” His gaze unconsciously moved to Ro Li, who was looking at them stupidly.

Then, a voice came from outside the door, “Chief, the general captain together with the second and third captains request an emergency meeting. It’s about Ms. Ro Xin.”

“Mm-hmm, tell them I will be there in five,” said Ro Xin’s father. He turned around to Ro Xin and said, “Give him a better makeover. Keep the blonde hair and the blue eyes, but don’t let the others see his true face. When I call for you, bring him over. Call him Dumbo and make up whatever story you have about his background.”

“Ro Li, you’ll be with me. Do not say anything later. Tell the others that you made me mad today and I punched you and silenced you for the day.”

“Why, Dad? What did I do wrong?” Ro Li was unhappy, but a glare from his father shut him up.

“Dad, then Tang Ling…” Ro Xin said in concern. If her father was serious, there was no way for her to revert her father’s will, but to neglect Tang Ling’s condition and forgo her promise was not her way either.

“Let’s talk when we solve the matters at hand.” Ro Xin’s father looked her in the eyes deeply. His gaze seemed complicated and he had a tinge of confusion about fate. After that, he departed, leaving the nervous Ro Xin with the confused Tang Ling.

Ro Xin’s father sure had reacted strangely to Tang Ling’s presence.

…

Ro Yan was the current leader of the Ro Drifter Group. Ever since this Drifter group came to be, it had been led by the Ro family. In other words, it was founded by the Ros.

At the dawn of its formation, it was never meant to be a Drifter camp, but it was a bold decision that the Ro ancestors had made to move into the Herrocky Mountain Ridge. The most helpless thing about history was that it could not be changed.

At first, it was just a move to protect the family, but the ancestors did not want to abandon their friends either, so when they decided to move into the Herrocky Mountain Ridge, four other brothers-in-arms followed. Then, the story became a little too long from there. In short, after all these years of development, the Ros remained the leader and was the first to step up against all sorts of danger.

Due to their family’s courage, Ro Yan was the only one left in his generation. Among the people that had died were his grandfather, his parents, his two brothers, and his sister, as a woman who died in the fangs of a vicious beast bravely. Even his younger siblings were dead.

Someone said the Ros should regain the family’s glory in his generation, but it did not happen. The family had diminished, so only he, Ro Li, and Ro Xin still bore the surname Ro within the camp.

On the other hand, the other four families grew a lot stronger.

The Boride family was the strongest and they had grouped up with the other three families, eyeing the position of leader of the camp.

The ideals and beliefs of both sides were in conflict as well.

The Ro Drifter Group had existed for over a hundred years and had been developing since. The camp no longer housed only five lineages, including the Ros. There were also many more Drifters that joined the group and became the majority. If not for them, Ro Yan’s position as a leader would have slipped away a long time ago. However, even though the scattered majority supported him, they failed to become a strong support team and succumbed to temptation and provocation easily.

The signs were showing. Ro Yan could not sleep at night because he was worried that the Ro Drifter Group which his ancestors founded would end in his hands. Truth be told, if the camp ended with him, so be it.

The Ros were never people who longed for power. Otherwise, with the current status of the camp, they could have built a safety village or whatnot. Ro Yan was more worried about his family.

In such a political conflict, if one had no ambitions, one would be killed mercilessly or be enslaved by the opposite party. If he lost, other than death, his son and daughter would have to live under people’s command, giving up their freedom, and live a humiliating life.

Therefore, Ro Yan could not afford to lose! He could give away the entire camp but not the Ro bloodline!

While all that was running in his mind, Ro Yan remained calm and dignified on the outside. He looked at the three men who sat in front of him.

The general captain was Jim Boride while the second and third captains were Colin Danielle and Kazuichi Sanada. These three men were the descendants of the four families and they were outstanding on their own, especially Jim.

Jim was Ro Li’s peer, and at the age of 22, he had broken through his limits and was as powerful as a rank 1 Purple Moon Warrior. His talent would lead him to a bright future in a safety sector, hence the Borides grew stronger by the day. The family seemed to be blessed by the heavens. Many powerful individuals had come from their family in the past two generations.

On the other hand, Ro Xin was definitely talented, and there was a high chance that she could become a doctor which was an occupation that all safety cities sought after.

As for Ro Li, he…

The mixed feelings arose in Ro Yan’s heart once more. He remembered that night 16 years ago and the man that he had met.

His eyes…can he see the future?

Withstanding the mixed feelings in his heart, Ro Yan spoke, “Jim, and the two of you, what is the purpose of this emergency meeting?”

Jim stood and bowed before he voiced his inquiry to Ro Yan, “Chief, my respectful Uncle Ro Yan, I heard Ro Xin is back, but she brought a stranger home with her.”

Just as expected!