Martial Saint through Reading

Chapter 58: Chapter 58: Disguise Technique! Can Senior Brother Be Both Gentle and Cool?!

Ning Hao and Liang Yuan first stuck on a layer of artificial skin, then smeared their faces with rouge and powder; Ning Hao’s originally fair face became visibly rough, while Liang Yuan looked even more delicate.

Next, Ning Hao picked up a big bundle and rummaged through it, pulling out fake beards, coarse linen clothes, shoes, and even a sword.

Chu Ming just watched his two senior brothers go through the entire process of disguise.

Half a quarter hour later, the pair looked completely transformed—so much so that he was genuinely stunned.

Now Ning Hao was a rugged man with a scruffy beard, a sword strapped to his waist, thick clothes making him appear intimidating and not someone to mess with.

Liang Yuan, on the other hand, had gone from a junior examinee to the image of a young Confucian scholar.

A burly man and a Confucian scholar—this combo looked just like master and servant wandering the Martial World.

Confucian scholar Liang Yuan held a folding fan, polite as ever: ”Brother Chu, what do you think—should we go for makeup or full disguise?”

Chu Ming clasped his hands, saying, ”Impressive!”

Seeing Chu Ming nod, the fierce-looking Ning Hao suddenly grinned: ”Makeup is simply a minor trick within disguise techniques.”

”Exactly! Makeup is just a side skill. Senior Brother Ning’s disguise technique, though...” Liang Yuan smacked his lips, ”One dress as a woman—could be dashing, weak, or gentle.”

”...Senior Brother Ning’s dressed as a woman before?” Chu Ming’s eyes flickered. Isn’t that just cross-dressing?

”Of course, Senior Brother Ning nearly got caught and dragged to a brothel because of it...”

”Junior Brother Liang!” Not letting Liang Yuan finish, Ning Hao hurriedly cut him off: ”Back to business.”

The fierce look really did a great job boosting his rugged aura.

”Heheh...” Liang Yuan swung his fan across his chest, his face still full of mischief, ”Brother Chu, do you know why we need to disguise ourselves?”

”Is it because we’re going to the painting workshop?” Chu Ming guessed.

”Precisely.” Liang Yuan’s fan stirred a breeze, blowing his elegant hair that hung by his temples. ”On the surface, the Calligraphy and Painting Workshop looks like a place for refined scholars, but actually it’s far from simple.”

”Right,” burly Ning Hao gripped his sword and came up to Chu Ming, his expression serious. ”Inside the painting workshop, it’s a mix of fish and dragons—anything goes.”

”Behind the scenes, there are plenty of profit-chasing merchants, lots of shady deals, with evidence sometimes not even found by the Criminal Defense Bureau.”

”Profit-chasing wealthy merchants—ha, Senior Brother Ning described them perfectly!” Liang Yuan laughed. ”Merchants—anything for silver, nothing is off the table.”

”If we went as Academy junior examinees to sell copies at the workshop, not only would the prices get dropped to rock bottom, we might even attract greedy eyes from some unsavory folks.”

Chu Ming nodded quietly.

Indeed, wherever there’s trade, there’s also grudges and drama.

”Brother Chu, aren’t you going to the workshop to admire Mr. Tang Bai’s originals? It’s getting late. Sit tight, and Senior Brother Ning and I will disguise you.”

”Alright.”

”There’s only one set of clothes for the big brute, but plenty for the scholar, so let’s disguise Brother Chu similar to me.”

Chu Ming sat on a stool, flipping through a book of disguise techniques as Ning Hao and Liang Yuan started working on him.

”Senior Brother Liang, why do you use more powder on the chin?” He read and asked as doubts arose.

”The light hits the chin poorly, so heavier powder makes the jawline pop more.”

”Senior Brother Ning, this bit says adding a stroke to the eyelid makes the eyes more spirited—why?”

”Heh, optical effect—you’ll see when it’s painted.”

Chu Ming held still, and before his eyes, a panel appeared with new characters:

[Disguise (Entry-level): Change some facial and bodily features using props to achieve a changed appearance]

[Progress: 33/100]

As he read and queried his senior brothers, his disguise progress bar rapidly rose—jumping ahead.

From ’33’ to ’45’, then ’45’ to ’57’...

By the time Ning Hao and Liang Yuan were halfway done disguising him, Chu Ming had finished the whole book.

”Brother Chu, stop reading. Disguise technique isn’t so easy—you can’t just flip, flip, flip and master it.”

Liang Yuan rummaged through the bundle for robes as he spoke.

”Senior Brother Ning and I spent three whole taels of silver buying these rouges and powders, this artificial skin—we tried hundreds of times over several months before we got it right.”

Ning Hao, still sporting his rugged look, nodded gently as he held rouge powder. ”Junior Brother Liang’s right. Disguise technique may only take up a few pages, but flipping through like that, you probably missed half the words and diagrams—you won’t learn much.”

He worked carefully, speaking sincerely: ”Brother Chu, rest assured—leave disguise to me and Junior Brother Liang, it’ll be spot-on.”

Burly man, rouge box, earnest effort...

Chu Ming watched, feeling oddly out of place. It was just... off somehow.

”Yeah, Brother Chu, flipping through like you did, only one kind of person can pull that off.”

Liang Yuan dug out a set of white robes, plus a folding fan similar to his own.

”What kind of person?” Ning Hao asked sincerely.

”Those ten-lines-at-a-glance prodigies.” Liang Yuan tried the robe against Chu Ming. ”Just right—want to try it, Brother Chu?”

”Ten-lines-at-a-glance prodigy?” Ning Hao chuckled softly. ”I can manage three lines at a time.”

”I do two and a half.”

”...”

”Um, Senior Brothers, could I try finishing the last bit of the makeup myself?”

Chu Ming saw his disguise progress bar reach ’92’ and really wanted to give it a shot.

”Brother Chu, it’s not that we won’t let you, but the last layer of powder is crucial.”

”Too thick and it doesn’t look like real skin, way too fake. Too thin, and the disguise effect is dramatically weaker. If it isn’t even, it’ll look like theater makeup—technique matters a lot.”

Ning Hao looked dead serious: ”Brother Chu, better try next time.”

This sounded an awful lot like he was talking about makeup...

Chu Ming took the outfit Liang Yuan had picked and put it on—it genuinely fit.

He looked to Ning Hao: ”Senior Brother Ning’s makeup skills are top-notch—even if I mess it up, you can fix it, right?”

Liang Yuan shot Ning Hao a look and smiled, ”Senior Brother Ning, let Brother Chu have a go.”

Ning Hao got the hint.

Disguise and makeup are tough to do. More often than not, their previous attempts ended with face paint disasters and lots of jokes.

Liang Yuan cottoned on quickly—if Chu Ming wanted to try, wasn’t that perfect? They could see how ugly Brother Chu gets when he messes up.

By now, his face was barely holding back a mischievous grin.

Even Ning Hao, who’d been keeping up the rugged act, was starting to crack; as Chu Ming botched the powder again and steered right towards clown-face territory, his own evil grin only grew wider.

If it was just a smudged face, it wouldn’t be that funny.

The real entertainment was watching their gifted Junior Brother Chu earnestly painting a clown-face without a clue.

”Brother Chu... heh... yeah, keep painting like that... right, right here, a bit thicker,” Liang Yuan seized the chance to direct. ”What do you think, Senior Brother Ning?”

”Yep, right there, add extra red... heh...” Ning Hao felt his face stiffen and hurriedly turned away.

Chu Ming glanced once at their expressions and instantly knew what nasty thoughts his senior brothers were holding back.

But...

He tried his hand at disguise while keeping an eye on the panel.

The progress bar for [Disguise] stopped at ’99’. As he worked through the next step per the technique, the panel updated:

[Disguise (Skilled): Use technique to quickly alter facial and bodily traits, achieving a full change of appearance]

[Progress: 1/100]

...