“Is that…?”

  “Mhm! A spa!”

  Song Ling’s excitement is palpable. I hadn’t the foggiest idea of where she was leading me, but a spa is equally surprising and appreciable. Each time I took the pill, the rush of energy and surge of adrenaline caused me to sweat like I ran ten li as fast as I could, so there is a certain degree of appeal in bathing. Besides, I really dislike feeling dirty, even just a little bit.

  I half-turn and peer back down the path through the women’s quarters. My house is not in view from here, so I never suspected that there was anything further along aside from more houses. It’s not a long walk so it is easy enough to get here if I want to stop by in the future.

  “Shouldn’t we, you know, practice more?”

  Song Ling loops her arm around mine and smiles. “We are, of course! I have wood and water natures, so water qi is my most efficient element. You have all five, so you have no real preference. This is the perfect place to relax and practice our qi gathering at the same time!”

  I narrow my eyes.

  “Don’t look at me like that!” Song Ling chides while tugging me towards the entrance. “Judge me once we’re done being pampered. Maybe they’ll have some big, strong, shirtless men as masseuses!”

  I blink as she leads me inside. “But I thought men couldn’t come over here?”

  Song Ling clicks her tongue. “True… how unfortunate!”

  I feel a sudden relief as a young lady greets us from behind a counter. There are no men in sight, which is good for me because I do not think I am ready for that degree of vulnerability.

  “How may we serve you today?”

  Song Ling drags me to the counter and then releases me to stumble and wobble about next to her. She is excited, but I have mixed feelings.

  “We don’t really have a way to pay,” I mutter.

  “Payment is not an issue. All services here are free for initiates to use as they require.”

  “Oh… that is really convenient.”

  “We’ll take the full service package!”

  “An excellent choice!” the spa attendant appears thrilled by Song Ling’s prompt decision. “Since it is your first time here, I will explain how the spa works. You’ll start down this hall to your left. The first door on the right is the changing room. Leave your clothes in one of the baskets and it will be laundered while you are here. Once ready, pass through the curtains to the washroom. Clean yourself thoroughly with the soaps provided. There are two buckets, each with their own ladle. Please do not mix them. One is for washing, and the other is for rinsing. Any questions so far?”

  We shake our heads.

  “Once you’ve washed up, you may enter the baths. You are free to remain as long as you like, but once you are done, ring the bell. It is near the entrance. An attendant will come and fetch you to take you to the massage parlor. During and after the massage, you will receive the beautification package which includes skincare, nails, hair, and more. Your robes will be returned to you once you’ve finished. If you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to let one of our staff know.”

  “Huh. That is quite a lot o— ack!”

  Song Ling takes hold of my arm and drags me off before I can finish. “Thank you! We’ll figure it out from here!”

  I stumble along after her and try to match her hurried pace despite my longer stride. I finally get my gait sorted out, but just as I do, she releases my arm and slips into the changing room leaving me alone in the hallway.

  She chides me for dallying so I follow with a sigh.

  “Have you ever been to a spa like this before?”

  “No, I can’t say I have. I didn’t get the chance to go out, so I just had to rely on my own bathtub and my maid.”

  “We had a place like this near where I grew up so I spent a lot of time there. I am excited to see how this compares!”

  I acknowledge her with a bob of my head and start tugging at my sash while looking about the room. There’s not a ton of space in the changing since most of it is taken up by wooden cubbies and wicker baskets. They’re all labeled with simple flower tokens that match their cubbies, likely the way they determine which things belong to who.

  I stuff my sash into a basket at random and start shrugging out of my robes. “Are you from the area?”

  “Not really, no. My clan is from the far west of Longzhou — along the border.”

  I haphazardly bundle my robes up and toss them in with my sash before I begin untying my dudou. “Did you travel much? This is my first time away from home.”

  I finish removing the upper undergarment and ball it up while we chat, but before I deposit it with the rest, Song Ling blindsides me with an unexpected comment.

  “You’re bustier than I thought,” she remarks with the same contemplative tone I suspect someone uses when examining a horse before purchasing it.

  “H-huh?” my voice cracks but I still manage to squeak out something.

  I turn my head to stare in shock at my friend who has completely disrobed and feel my cheeks burning like the sun. Not only is Song Ling a truly stunning beauty while clothed, she is eminently enviable while completely naked. Even my rigid self-confidence regarding my suddenly lackluster figure is shattered by her comment and my inability to not examine her and compare myself against her. It is made even worse by her half-leaning in my direction and studying me the same way a scholar observes a lost artefact recovered after many years of searching.

  ‘By the spirits… this isn’t even fair!’

  “W-well, n-not compared to you!” I manage to stammer nervously, but without even a single thought behind my words.

  Song Ling places her hands on her particularly wide hips and laughs. “Oh, no, I don’t mean it like that! Would you mind if I took a closer look?”

  I gulp. “W-what?”

  ‘Aren’t you already close enough!?’

  She rolls her eyes and holds her hand out. “The dudou, not your breasts!”

  I blink and hand it over.

  Song Ling holds it up and thoroughly examines every bit of my undergarment. “They’re fantastic by the way. I’ve never seen better, and I’ve seen quite a few.”

  I tip my head and she just nods at me. I gather her meaning after my brain catches up and blush so intensely it spreads beyond just my cheeks.

  ‘She is just saying that to make me feel better,’ I lament while placing my hands to my chest to console my wounded prides.

  “I always say that shape and form is more important than size, and you are incomparable in that regard, but size is a big deal to some, which is why I know you’re from somewhere in Sizhou. Perhaps even Tiansheng!”

  I stare downwards. “Uh… you know that from my breasts?”

  “So I’m right?” Song Ling grins confidently. “Also, no. It’s actually from your dudou. Incense isn’t my only hobby or interest, I am also very keen on fashion! Your dudou is designed to compress your bust and make it look smaller, which is why I was surprised when you took it off. Mine, on the other hand, is for support and comfort.”

  She tosses the undergarment back to me and I stare down at it. “I… didn’t know that.”

  “I’ve heard some people mention that it preserves stomach qi, which is important for health during pregnancy. The first empress of the current emperor died during childbirth, so it became a serious concern, and unlike the current empress, she wasn’t particularly busty, so the trend became a smaller, slimmer figure like yours and an emphasis on health during pregnancy. A lot of fashion in the region comes from the imperial harem, so I have my suspicion that the current empress is just trying to make herself similar to her predecessor, especially since the rumors are he still loves her and barely shows his new wife a shred of attention.”

  I listen, head still reeling from all of my confusion and her spectacular presence, which is still very hard to ignore. I catch myself staring several times just during the little lecture while I remove the last of my clothes.

  “If you don’t find that comfortable on your breasts, I suspect we could get you something like mine. You might prefer it since it helps maximize what you have, though that is less important until we can choose our own clothes… Anyway, let’s move along before I get distracted again!”

  “Distracted?”

  ‘Aren’t I the one being distracted?’ I muse.

  “Yeah, you’re really cute.”

  I nearly trip as my inner chest contorts as if hit by an arrow of shock and embarrassment. I try to say something in return, to question her words or reason for saying such a thing, but the best I can do is babble and follow her.

  We slip through the curtain and move to the next room. The area opens up substantially to support a dozen or so tiled washing areas with seating, buckets of water, and a few useful items like mirrors, brushes, and simple hair ties and pins. Song Ling slides one of the stools closer to another with a nudge of her foot and sits down. She encourages me to sit at her side by patting the stool and smiling over her shoulder.

  My heart is pounding from the stress I endured under Song Ling’s scrutiny, but I sit next to her all the same. There’s maybe enough room for my hand to pass between our hips, but I’d never dare test it under the circumstances.

  ‘Why do we have to sit so close together?’

  “So, you’ve not traveled much?” Song Ling inquires as we begin washing up.

  “No, not at all. Actually, I wasn’t allowed to leave the estate, so this is my first time out of the city, or really anywhere other than home.”

  “How do you like it?”

  “It’s different. I spent most of the time in a carriage, and when I wasn’t, I didn’t have the chance to wander or explore. We did stop in a town, Huiyang. Are you familiar with it?”

  “I know where Huiyang is, but I’ve never been there. How was it?”

  “It was incredible. The town is really beautiful, but… I ran into some trouble?”

  “Trouble?”

  “Yeah, there was some disaster involving ghosts or something. I don’t know many of the details, but it was terrifying. I almost died!”

  Song Ling gasps. “No!”

  “But someone saved me. I think they are also from the Taiyi Sect.”

  “Really? What a coincidence!”

  I let my hair down and run my fingers through the strands to separate them for easier washing. “He was a bit strange.”

  “Was he cute?”

  I furrow my brow and scrunch my nose up when she asks. “Cute? Hm… not the word I’d use. Handsome? No, beautiful? Maybe! Weirdly so, though, like it didn’t feel authentic.”

  Song Ling gestures in my direction and makes a sort of swirling motion with her finger. I give her a confused look. “If you turn a bit I can help you with your hair.”

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  “Oh, okay.”

  I do as she instructs and turn my back to her so she can aid me, which is a task that Jingyi usually takes care of. I admit, it feels very nice having a little help, especially since the massaging sensation on my scalp, even when she tugs through the strands, feels quite relaxing. She’s not as good as Jingyi, though!

  “Is it just me, or is everyone around here really… attractive?”

  Attractive might not be the right word for it, but I have noticed that there isn’t anyone among the Taiyi sect, or even our class of initiates, that I’d consider below average, let alone ugly.

  “It isn’t just you,” Song Ling agrees. “I have some limited knowledge of cultivators from the others in my clan, but from what I know, the more suited someone is to cultivation, the more they resemble their true self. You could say you won’t find an ugly cultivator! Oh, right. As your body purifies and you advance your skills or something, you actually reach a point where you can influence how you look, or change things about yourself somewhat. At least, I think that is how it works.”

  I tip my head slightly and then squint my eyes as she dumps water over my head. “Really? So, do all of the cultivators actually change how they look?”

  Song Ling finishes up with my hair and we spin around so I can return the favor. “Like I said, I’m not entirely sure. I think it is mostly a subconscious thing?”

  “Like it just happens?”

  She shrugs and I get distracted while lathering up her hair. Song Ling is what I consider soft, especially compared to me. I am lithe and narrow, and she is the opposite: full, smooth, and curvaceous. I’m the way I am because of all my training in things like martial arts, but Song Ling looks like a normal girl, sort of like Jingyi. I swallow hard and resist the temptation to just sort of run my fingers along her back.

  ‘This is dangerous!’

  Song Ling tilts her head and I can see her smirking over her shoulder. “So, if there is something you don’t like, you may have a chance to change it later. I know I would change some things.”

  “What? Really? You?!”

  “Mhm. I want longer legs — like you. You have the most beautiful legs I have ever seen. I am truly jealous!”

  She shifts her attention and looks down. Seated as we are, my legs are on either side of her, and she suddenly reaches down and grabs both of my thighs, just behind the knees. The action sends a ticklish jolt up both of my limbs and I let out the most awkward squawk imaginable as I nearly fall off the stool.

  Song Ling cackles.

  I right myself and scowl at her for a moment, but it quickly fades. There is something about how she laughed just then that is different from her usual laughter. It is filled with honest joy, like a true laugh, and not one to just fill space or match the mood.

  I find myself smiling in response.

  “I’m sorry. If I overstepped my bounds, do tell me. I’ve had past friends tell me I do not understand the idea of personal boundaries all that well.”

  I dump water over her head without warning. “Consider that my revenge.”

  She rises from the stool and fixes her hair which is now matted to her face. Her laughter returns full force, dispelling any worry about going too far. I grin, shake my head, and drop the ladle back into the bucket.

  Song Ling holds a hand out to me. “I am glad I met you.”

  I hesitate while gazing up at her. Song Ling is my first true friend that I made on my own. She has no chance of replacing Jingyi as my best friend, but there is something satisfying about this success.

  “And I am glad to have you as my friend.”

  I take her hand and she forcefully tugs me up and off of the stool. I scramble to get my footing and almost topple right into her, but she catches me before we fall.

  “Well, friend, shall we go see what the bath has to offer?”

  We step out of the washroom and enter the bathing area. My expectations were limited, so what we see takes my breath away. It is a large, open-air hot spring and the pool of steaming water ends at what appears to be a cliff overlooking the valleys below. We are the only two here, so we have the place to ourselves for now, possibly because no one else knows about it yet.

  “Consider me impressed!” Song Ling pads forward a few steps and stretches while taking in the view.

  “Seems a little… open, doesn’t it?”

  She waves a hand in a dismissive gesture. “Boys aren’t allowed around here, so don’t worry.”

  “Ah, yeah, that is true, isn’t it?”

  I move up to her side and stand at the edge of the water. It is warm enough outside the pools that I could easily lounge on the smooth stones, and quite humid from a mixture of steam and the summer air. I consider testing the water when I notice her making a show of looking me over.

  I get a coy smirk from her. “Granted, plenty of boys might risk it all to get a chance to peep at you in the bath.”

  I roll my eyes at her teasing and step into the water. It is hot, but not uncomfortable. “They’d never even see me with you nearby.”

  I might be teasing, but I could just stand behind her and no one would know I am there. It’s not quite the same as being ignored because she is nearby, but it paints an amusing image in my mindscape.

  The water isn’t very deep. I wade out towards the center of the pool and even at its deepest it barely reaches the tops of my hips. It is clearly intended for sitting, not standing. However, I continue my trek to the other side, and then sit on the edge of the pool and cross my legs so I can look out over my shoulder at the valley below.

  “That is quite the view.”

  Song Ling sits down in the water next to me and gets comfortable. “Makes me wonder if that is actually part of Longzhou or just another portion of the sect’s weird ability to ignore the size and space of things.”

  “You figured that out too?” I turn back to her and prop myself up by placing my hands on the stones behind me. “Apparently, it is some sort of miniature universe. At least, that is what my roommate told me. I’d have said it is fake, but I am pretty sure I can see parts of Nangao from here.”

  “If you can see parts of the city, then the city can see parts of you,” Song Ling teases.

  I take another timid peek over my shoulder. What I see is definitely part of Nangao, but we are far enough away that any people I might see are just little specks. I shake my head and clear the worries because there is no way anyone can peep from there!

  After a few moments of resting, a trio of girls enter at the other end, so I slide down into the water and sit next to Song Ling.

  “So, getting some training in while you soak?”

  “I am! I don’t know about you, but I can definitely sense the concentration of water qi in here.”

  I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I don’t notice anything different at first, and maybe it is because I am too unfamiliar with baths like these, but after a second breath I can tell. There is definitely something there!

  “I can feel it too,” I announce with pride.

  “I’m not confident I can truly cultivate at this point, but I know I can sense the qi and that seems to be the first big objective. That, and breathing it in, which we can definitely do. Right?”

  “Right,” I agree. “After today’s lesson, I think it is an issue of retaining it, not gathering it.”

  Each breath fills me with water-natured qi, but I can tell that there is a bit of an internal conflict. While it nourishes my wood element root and supplements my water root, it douses my fire root.

  I sigh.

  We sit in a calm, relaxing silence for a time. The other trio seems to be using the bath for the same purpose, so they do not disrupt us at all, but they do leave before us. Once they depart, I rise and return to my seat on the edge of the pool. The heat is starting to get to me, so cooling down with a gentle breeze feels quite refreshing.

  “Song-shijie, you mentioned some things earlier. Does your family cultivate?”

  She leans her head back and opens her eyes to look up at me. “My clan does, yes. The Song clan of Longzhou is well known for producing very promising cultivators. Two of my cousins are here as initiates with us.”

  “Why not invite them?”

  Her grin reveals my error before she even speaks. “They’re both boys. Weren’t you worried about them peeping at you earlier? Now you’re wanting me to invite them!”

  I chuckle at her teasing. “No, no… I think we are fine.”

  Being around other girls is one thing. It doesn’t bother me at all, in fact, I am normally very comfortable in this sort of situation. I consider it a result of my closeness with Jingyi, since we often bathed together while we were younger. My earlier tribulations caused by Song Ling’s presence were an outlier. Song Ling isn’t like most, and while I’d normally be fine, even around her, her teasing caught me off guard.

  Boys are a different story. I feel a storm of nervousness boiling in my belly at the very thought of it. I suspect I’d survive their scrutiny, but the heat from my blushing cheeks would probably cook my brain.

  “I’ll introduce you to them at some point,” Song Ling shifts her weight and then joins me on the edge of the pool. “They’re good people. They look after me, and I think I’d never have made it here without them.”

  “They helped you?”

  “In a way, yes. I wasn’t always going to be a daoist, nor did I have any interest in cultivating. Originally, that is, about three months ago, I was engaged and ready to be married.”

  “What? Married!?”

  “It didn’t work out. The groom’s family got caught up in some scandal and all of them were executed as traitors to the empire,” her expression darkens. “I was lucky I didn’t get involved or I might have been part of it — worse, it could have spread to my family!”

  I reach out and place my hand over hers.

  “After that, no one really wanted the traitor’s wife. We weren’t married, and I didn’t even meet him, but… the damage was done. My value as a wife diminished substantially. So, free from my obligations as a daughter, I chose to come here and my cousins supported me. They taught me enough to get through admissions.”

  “That’s… that must have been traumatic.”

  She shrugs and pulls her hand out from beneath mine so she can stand. “It is! It was, but it is behind me! Let’s move along and find out what else this place has in store for us.”

  We wade back across the pool and ring the bell.

  Another young lady appears seconds later, hands us some small cotton towels to dry off with, and gestures for us to follow her. She leads us to a nearby room with two beds of sorts and instructs us to lie down and get comfortable. I climb atop it and lie down, pillowing my head on my arms.

  Song Ling smiles at me from the other table. “Ever had a massage before?”

  “No, this will be the first time for me.”

  Two more ladies arrive and introduce themselves. They are our masseuses and will be taking care of us for the next two hours, some of which will be the massage. As they begin, I find myself drowning in bliss. Her fingers work magic on my weary muscles, but just as I feel ready to transcend and enter Nirvana, everything changes.

  I soon empathize with a dirty dish towel and no longer feel like a valued guest. She rings me out for everything I am worth, and then some more. I protest where I can, but she is suspiciously strong and just forces me back into place. The only consolation I have is that Song Ling is going through the same thing. Unfortunately, she spends most of it laughing at me.

  Eventually, it is over and I am lying on the table, staring up at the ceiling, feeling as if every fiber of my being has been reforged. Considering what I endured, I should feel uncomfortable, or even in pain, but my experience is quite the opposite. I feel incredible!

  We get a bit of a break as the attendants fuss with our nails, so I look over at Song Ling again. “I forgot about the cups.”

  “Cups?”

  “From the lesson. The cups and pots thing. How are we supposed to figure that out? What does it mean?”

  “I have no idea. I completely forgot about it! I’ll think of something by tomorrow. Maybe having an answer is more important than having the right one?”

  “Maybe…”

  The masseuse steps up beside me and taps a small box held under the crook of her arm. “We’re almost done, ladies. We will be providing the final service which is hair removal. We can do as much or as little as you want, but our process is quick and effective. It is also much safer than depilatory creams and less tedious than threading.”

  I check with Song Ling in the hope that she has useful insight. “What do you think, Song-shijie?”

  She considers momentarily. “So long as they are offering, we might as well take advantage and go all-in, right?”

  “All-in it is!” I agree with zero confidence.

  “Alright. I’ll ask that you relax. We’ll start the process and then apply oils once it is over to refresh the skin.”

  She sets the box on a side table and opens it up. There’s a few vials of oils and fragrances, but the most curious things are the stacks of paper with simple painted designs in bright red ink on one face. She takes one out and separates it from the others.

  “This may tingle a bit.”

  She applies the leaf of paper to my leg, just above my foot, and begins layering them up my limb and across my body wherever she feels it is necessary. Soon enough, they are pretty much everywhere below my neck, and she was not lying to me: It tingles, though it isn’t a bad sensation. It is warm, yet a little numbing.

  The masseuse rolls up her sleeves and fixes me with a stern expression.

  I blink in confusion.

  ‘Something feels off!’

  She takes hold of the tag near my ankle and then pulls.

  I grit my teeth and hold back a scream as I bolt upright, take hold of her wrist, and stare into her eyes. I can barely express my deepening despair as I realize that these things are everywhere on me.

  “M-Ma’am… I am not your enemy…”

  She yanks with all her might.

  My return home is anything but graceful.

  I throw the door aside and hobble inside like an old lady with bowed legs. Admittedly, I am exaggerating my level of discomfort after having the majority of my body hair forcefully removed by a remorseless woman, but it does the job of drawing attention to me. Both Jingyi and Lingfei look up from their discussion at my entrance.

  “Are you alright?” Jingyi inquires with genuine concern.

  Lingfei sips her tea but otherwise ignores me while I set my shoes aside and walk over to her desk. I take hold of my robes, kick my right leg up nice and high, and then plop it down on the smooth wooden surface with a smug grin plastered all over my face.

  “Look at how smooth my skin is!” I gesticulate like an auctioneer attempting to sell a choice cut off meat — which I definitely am. “Feel it! You’ve never felt anything this amazing.”

  Jingyi doesn’t hesitate for a moment and promptly runs her fingers along my shin. It tickles, but she is certainly impressed.

  “Someone really did an amazing job. This would normally take me hours to achieve!”

  “A lady at the spa up the way did it for me. I’m not sure I recommend it, though. She’s a bit rough.”

  I keep an eye on Lingfei who is making a good show of being disinterested, but keeps eyeing my fabulous limb. The subtle shift in color in her cheeks and the aversion of her gaze tells me all I need to know. She’s too much of a proper lady to give in to curiosity.

  “Come on,” I urge her with a playful tone. “It is worth it.”

  “It is,” Jingyi agrees. “I am truly impressed.”

  Lingfei sets her teacup aside. “Please, remove your leg from my desk.”

  I make my disappointment evident, but do as she requests. At least, I attempt to. The relationship between the lacquered wood and my particularly sensitive skin has become much closer than I expected, and as I try to pull away, my leg sticks a bit. The sensation causes me to wince.

  “I think I’m stuck...”

  Lingfei is not impressed. She puts her hand under my ankle and forces my leg upwards, peeling me away from her desk without mercy. I whimper and gingerly rub the back of my leg while hopping about on one foot to ensure that I wasn’t just peeled like a banana. I discover nothing amiss, so I proceed with dragging another chair across the floor and sit down with them.

  “So, ladies… I have a question. Well, mostly for Bai-shijie. Do you know what cups and pots have to do with the dao? Elder Cai told us we need to have an answer for tomorrow, and I can’t think of anything on my own, at least, nothing that makes sense.”

  They both look at me with no shortage of confusion.

  “Uh…” I borrow Jingyi’s empty cup and set it in front of me as an example. “She shows a cup, a second cup, and then a pot, and then another really big cup and said that it helps give insight into the dao. What uhm… what does it mean?”

  Jingyi doesn’t even bother trying to answer, she just fills the poached cup with hot tea so I can sip at it. Lingfei, however, chuckles.

  “I see what you’re asking. It is an incredibly crude analogy, but for someone who knows next to nothing about the dao, it is a good starting point. Listen closely, because I do not enjoy repeating myself.”

  Character & Setting Guide

  Taiyi Sect (Tàiyì — 太意) — One of Longzhou’s Five Great Sects and Zhou Ran’s sect

  Tiansheng — Capital city of Da Xi'an

  Longzhou — Province where the Taiyi Sect headquarters is located

  Zhou Ran (Zhōu Rán — 周然) — The main character; initiate #427 of the Taiyi Sect

  Xiang Jingyi (Xiāng Jìngyī — 相婧祎) — Zhou Ran’s best friend and Dao Attendant

  Song Ling (Sòng Líng – 宋玲) — Zhou Ran’s suspiciously gorgeous friend

  Bai Lingfei (Bái Língfēi — 白凌菲) — #3 initiate of the Taiyi Sect and Zhou Ran’s roommate

  Old-timey Hair Removal

  So, back in ye olden days people didn’t have all the fancy hair removal techniques and tools that we do today, but they still had them! Young girls, women, and anyone else in China during the height of Confucianism didn’t really cut their hair, since it was considered non-filial. It was a gift from your parents, after all! However, other hair might not have been considered the same.

  One technique used by both men and women may have been threading. I don’t have any real good sources for this, so I am not sure when or where it originated, but it is a clever method. Essentially, two cotton threads were rolled along the skin and by doing so, entwined the hair and yanked it from the follicles. Basically, a clever way to replicate modern day tweezers!

  The other method was depilatory creams, or a chemical hair remover. These have existed in numerous civilizations across the world and throughout history, and while they did work, they aren’t always pleasant. People ran the risk of chemical burns and who knows what other issues!

  So, young ladies like Zhou Ran and Song Ling likely use these techniques regularly, especially on their faces. Zhou Ran, from Tiansheng, regularly wore full-length skirts and undergarments, but Song Ling didn’t. Based on beauty trends of smooth, clear, soft skin, they both likely used hair removal regularly, but Zhou Ran wouldn’t have been as likely to remove hair from her limbs and such. Song Ling would have.