Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 695 The Hairdresser

"It's ready!!"

A series of jingling sounds echoed through the street as a young man carrying a shoulder pole strolled leisurely along the alleyways of the market.

A familiar-looking vendor on the street greeted Xiao Ran.

During this period, Xiao Ran has become a regular on this street.

Although Xiao Ran had become a familiar face here, business remained stagnant. This was not surprising, as the profession of hairdressing was similar to that of a barbershop in real life.

They only ever do business with acquaintances.

Generally speaking, unless the barbershop's skills are really unacceptable, most people will only choose one barbershop for a long time, or even several years.

Xiao Ran wasn't in a hurry. He found a reasonably crowded alleyway, put down his carrying pole, set up a stool, took out a bluestone strip for sharpening knives, moistened it with water, and slowly began to sharpen the razor, which was as thin as a willow leaf and whose blade faintly gleamed with a dark blue light.

The rhythmic sound of sharpening knives carrying on the morning breeze was calm and unhurried, with a strange sense of tranquility.

"Hey, I saw you yesterday, and you're still here today."

Xiao Ran looked up and saw a portly man carrying a birdcage, clearly out for a stroll. Seeing the razor in Xiao Ran's hand, he couldn't help but tease, "You haven't had any business for days, aren't you worried at all?"

"If you have a skill, you won't go hungry."

Xiao Ran raised her head and smiled at the person who had come.

"Craftsmanship? What craftsmanship? It's just combing hair and shaving faces, anyone can do that."

The visitor nonchalantly teased the caged bird, which was clearly exceptionally beautiful and intelligent.

Xiao Ran glanced at the bird in the cage and said, "I don't know about others, but my skills are definitely not something everyone can do."

Upon hearing this, the visitor burst into laughter: "What a boastful tone! Tell me, what's different?"

“Combing your hair brings good fortune, shaving your face brings luck.” Xiao Ran raised her head, smiling at the person in front of her. She looked him up and down and said with a smile, “Your complexion hasn’t been good lately, and your financial luck is not good. It’s obvious that you’re experiencing financial losses. You must have lost a lot of money recently.”

Upon hearing Xiao Ran's words, the man's expression instantly changed. He stared intently at Xiao Ran, asking suspiciously, "You can tell that??"

"If you can't even tell the difference in cooking skills, why would I eat this dish?"

Hearing Xiao Ran's confident words, the man was immediately tempted. Just as Xiao Ran said, he had indeed been having a lot of bad luck lately. He had lost a lot of money in business, and he hadn't won a single game at the gambling table.

Seeing how logically Xiao Ran spoke, I decided to give it a try.

"How much?"

"I don't need money, just give me the bird you have."

Xiao Ran pointed to the birdcage the man was holding, and the man immediately became unhappy: "This is my treasure."

"Money is the only treasure. If your luck is bad and you run out of money, it will become someone else's treasure. By then, you will have lost everything. What's the point then?"

Xiao Ran sneered sarcastically.

"You!!!" The man was about to explode in anger, but then he thought that although the words were unpleasant, they also made sense.

He glanced at the bird in the cage again, gritted his teeth, and said, "Fine, I'll give you a try. If you really have the skill, the bird is yours."

"Sit down." Xiao Ran's voice was calm and even as she gestured to the chair beside her.

After the man sat down, Xiao Ran wrapped a white scarf around his neck.

A scalding hot towel was placed on the man's face, the steam rising and seemingly relaxing his tense nerves a little.

"Does this... really work?"

The man lying in the chair still asked with some doubt.

Once the man relaxed, Xiao Ran slowly picked up the razor and said, "People say that fortune and blessings are predetermined, but that's not true. You can tell your fortune by your appearance and your blessings by your head. Shaving your face is about your appearance and your attitude towards life. Shaving your head is not about your hair, but about your concept of transcending the world. If your energy is positive enough, you will not attract evil influences."

As Xiao Ran spoke, her slender fingers lightly brushed across the man's forehead, temples, and nape of his neck, with an extremely subtle rhythm, as if combing through invisible threads.

The thought flashed between Xiao Ran's brows, gradually spreading outwards from Xiao Ran's center, as if merging with the surrounding environment.

Gradually, the aura surrounding the man began to become clearer in Xiao Ran's perception.

Some are lucky, some are unlucky.

When everything became clear, Xiao Ran raised the razor, and the barber's incantation appeared on his arm, merging into the razor.

"brush!"

The razor falling is not simply cutting hair, but more like combing through some tangled energy.

Each slash of the razor was accompanied by an extremely subtle, imperceptible "swoosh," as if individual hairs were being cut. The man initially kept his eyes closed, his body still somewhat stiff. But as Xiao Ran's razor moved through his hair, cheeks, and the back of his neck, his tightly furrowed brows gradually relaxed, and his breathing became long and steady.

The sound of hair being cut one strand at a time on his head initially made him feel uncomfortable, but gradually he began to enjoy hearing it.

Little did they know that Xiao Ran had picked out each and every one of the cut hair strands and neatly arranged them aside.

The hair was completely malnourished; some was grayish-white, some was white, and some was thick or thin and different from others, but anyone with eyes could tell that the hair was in terrible condition.

Before they knew it, quite a few people had stopped to watch around Xiao Ran's stall.

As everyone watched the hairs being picked out one by one, they marveled.

"This is incredible! I've seen many hair-cutting techniques. Old Yang at the city gate tower specializes in hair-cutting for high-ranking officials and nobles. His skills are unparalleled, but none of them are as skillful as this."

"Yes, yes, this craft relies entirely on experience. You can't do it without more than ten years of accumulation. This young man is so young, yet his skills are so remarkable. He must be an apprentice of a master."

"Then have you ever seen anyone else with such craftsmanship?"

"This one……"

The crowd whispered amongst themselves, commenting on Xiao Ran's techniques, becoming increasingly engrossed in watching.

At this moment, Xiao Ran suddenly swung the razor in her hand.

The blade didn't strike directly at the hair, but rather made a sweeping motion in the air three inches above the man's head. The movement was as fast as lightning, producing a faint yet chilling sound as it cut through the air. The eerie blue light on the blade suddenly shone brightly, and the barber's professional skill, Spirit Blade, was attached to the blade before disappearing again.

"Hiss... hiss..."

To onlookers, all they saw was Xiao Ran's razor deftly gliding through the man's hair, like a butterfly flitting among flowers, her movements fluid and graceful, a sight to behold.

Only Xiao Ran herself could clearly perceive that wherever the blade passed, the few strands of gray and mottled "bad luck threads" that were bound to the man's Baihui acupoint on his head and the life lamps on his shoulders were like insects that had been branded with a red-hot iron, emitting a silent "sizzling" sound, and instantly broke and withered!
These "impurities of fortune" that are difficult for ordinary people to discern with the naked eye are the root cause of the man's recent misfortunes and loss of wealth.

"Um…"

The man felt an indescribable warm current surge into his head through the Baihui acupoint, instantly flowing through his limbs and bones. The fatigue, frustration, and anxiety of the past few days receded like a tide, as if a heavy burden had been lifted. He felt an indescribable sense of comfort and ease, and couldn't help but let out a pleasant groan.

"Hey! Amazing!" A sharp-eyed peddler in the crowd couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice, "Look at Fatty Sun's complexion! It was ashen just now, but it's rosy in no time!"

"Yes, yes! That's strange, how can a haircut cause coloring?" The old man selling steamed buns next to him rubbed his eyes, his face full of disbelief. They couldn't understand the mystery involved, but they could clearly see the significant changes in the man's physical condition.

Finally, Xiao Ran flicked his wrist, and the razor came to a steady stop with a clear hum. He picked up a warm towel from the side, deftly wiped the man's face, and then removed the apron.

"All right."

The man suddenly opened his eyes, the previous suspicion and irritation gone, replaced by deep shock and an indescribable sense of relief. He touched his cheek; it was smooth and taut, as if he had become several years younger.

"That feels so good, it's like my head has suddenly become several pounds lighter," the man exclaimed, touching his head.

Xiao Ran, however, had already walked to the birdcage and reached out to take it down from the branch: "So, can I take this bird now?"

"This..." The man glanced at the birdcage in Xiao Ran's hand. Given his usual tendency to make trouble even when he was in the wrong, he would never have been willing to hand over his precious birdcage in the past.

But after touching his head, the man hesitated for a while before finally nodding in agreement.

Seeing this, Xiao Ran smiled and patted the man's shoulder: "That's right. The bad luck has been broken, and good luck will come naturally. If you don't even admit it yourself, even if I help you, you won't have good luck."

The man paused for a moment upon hearing this, then seemed to understand something and grinned, laughing loudly: "Yes, yes, that makes sense, hahahahaha."

Xiao Ran opened the birdcage and gently took out the lark inside. He could tell at a glance that although the bird looked beautiful, it was actually an inanimate object, but the soul of an eight-year-old girl was trapped inside its body.

This vicious method is similar to the way people sew human heads into dogs' bellies, except that the perpetrator used this technique on an eight-year-old girl. The perpetrator is utterly devoid of conscience.

Xiao Ran asked, "Where did you buy this bird?"

"Oh, the bird shop in the east of the city, birds like these are top-quality, they cost at least 30...gold coins."

Before the man could finish speaking, Xiao Ran flicked her finger and snapped the bird's neck, which broke the man's heart.

30 ghost money.

But considering it already belonged to someone else, the man, with a mix of heartache and relief, disappeared into the crowd, muttering to himself, "What a pity, what a pity, 30 ghost coins."

At that moment, the smile on Xiao Ran's face vanished instantly. He casually tossed the broken-necked "lark" into an inconspicuous pit, and pressed his palm down almost imperceptibly. A faint yet powerful spiritual force penetrated deep into the soil, completely shattering the bird's corpse and the remaining imprisonment within its body into dust, freeing the girl's soul trapped inside the bird's corpse.

After finishing this task, Xiao Ran turned around and waved to the crowd that had surged forward to greet her.

"Everyone, please be patient and come one at a time. Prices remain the same: three coins for haircuts and two coins for facials."

Xiao Ran's voice was gentle, carrying a strange calming power that instantly quieted the restless crowd, who spontaneously formed a queue...

(End of this chapter)