Dai Xuan

“Alright, this has been fun, but I need to leave now. Goodbye.”

Before they can both start bickering over me again, I stand up, dripping as I am, and turn to leave. Try to turn, that is. Both Liu Renqing and Feng Yu grab one of my wrists each and hold me back. I almost topple over back into the water, but with my anger, a force surges up within me that I have never felt before. It seems to emerge from my stomach, hot and insistent, flooding my body, down into my limbs and into my fingertips. With just one quick move, I am able to rip my arms from their grasp, pushing them back by force and surprise. I fling myself off the ground, jumping high up into the air, coming to rest on a branch of the tree above me. It all happens so fast, my brain can’t catch up, while my body seems to know what it’s doing. Dumb luck. I jumped up here like a pro, but now I have to hold onto the tree to not fall over and make this a sad performance. Below, both men have stood up, staring at me. Liu Renqing is scowling, Feng Yu grinning.

“Don’t try to stop me,” I say with more conviction than I feel.

I need to get away for now. First I need to find out when in the story I am. All the scenarios I have in mind remove Murong Zhiyu from the equation quite radically (mostly by killing her off in some tragic accident over which these two can bond) and I may need to replan that.

Definitely need to replan that.

“Then may I ask Murong-xiaojie to accompany me tomorrow?” Feng Yu says, one arm outstretched dramatically.

“You may not,” I reply and hear Liu Renqing snort.

“So mean, Xiaojie,” Feng Yu laments. “I haven’t seen you for several days and this is how you treat me?”

“Murong-shimei needs to change her clothes, you stupid chicken. Let her be,” Liu Renqing says and bows towards me. “I’ll see you at the sect meeting tomorrow.”

Right. Right. They both train under the same master at the local sect. What was its name again? Ah, Huoyun Sect. The red clouds. That’s why my clothes are light blue with red accents. Liu Renqing is Murong Zhiyu’s senior martial arts brother. Something Feng Yu has always envied. Maybe that’s why he’s so pushy to get more opportunities to meet up with her.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Shixiong,” I reply with a nod. (*)

Then, with all the trust I have in the powers my body seems to have, I jump from the tree towards a nearby roof, just like I’ve seen in all those dramas I watched. The roof tiles make a frightening noise as I land on them, but they hold and I take the momentum and run with it. The wind rushes past my face as I do one, two more steps and jump again. This time, I dare to jump so high it feels like flying.

From my vantage point I can see the hills in the distance, where they surround the city. They are mostly naked stone, high cliffs interspersed with deep valleys, in which plants grow, out of the wind and heat. Thick walls surround the city on all sides and to the North, along the hillside, there’s a palace on several terraces, golden decorations glinting in the sunshine.

I touch down on the next roof and jump again, with even more confidence, since my legs seem to carry me however I want. On the next jump I spot the Huoyun Sect buildings on top of one of the cliffs, outside the city boundaries, overlooking all buildings and the plains surrounding the walls. This is my goal. This is where Murong Zhiyu lives and trains—has been training since she was a child, if the story is true. This far away from the two obnoxious men, I can be reasonably sure I’m not being followed, so I drop down to the street to walk the rest of the way like a normal person. Well, a completely soaked, normal person. I draw the occasional stare as I proceed, but no one dares make any verbal comment. Until someone does.

“Shijie! What happened to you?” (**)

A woman around my age calls out to me from a side street. She’s holding several bundles and carries a basket on her back, evidently on her way back to the sect, as she is wearing the same clothes as Murong Zhiyu. They look different to the ones in the drama, but the light blue and red combination is still easily recognisable. She wears her hair completely bound up on her head, fastened simply with a blue piece of cloth. I make a stab in the dark. There’s two women Murong Zhiyu interacts with most in the sect and only one of them has been tasked to take care of the sick sect leader, since she is her daughter.

“Don’t worry, Shimei… I just got caught in the crossfire of two idiots. Nothing serious.” (***)

Dai Xuan frowns as she regards my slowly drying clothes.

“These two need to stop pestering you. I can understand Feng Yu would be a pain, but Liu-shixiong too? He shouldn’t let himself down to that playboy’s level.”

I’m about to agree when I remember that I need both of them to cooperate with me and I can’t have bad blood around them for that. So I swallow my sharp comment and try to smile.

“It’s my fault, really. Without me, they would have nothing to fight over.”

“No, you can’t think like that, Shijie! They started that whole rivalry on their own two years ago! Ah, they should’ve never come to that tournament…”

And just like that, everything slots into place. Two years ago, the sect organised a debut tournament—more of a show, really—for disciples of a certain age. It was referenced as a flashback so often in the drama, how could I forget it? Murong Zhiyu won the martial arts competition, Feng Yu publicly declared his love for her and the otherwise silent Liu Renqing rose up to say that she was already spoken for. Not that anyone asked her. A romantic trope, yes… yet nothing but a headache for Murong Zhiyu.

Two years, huh? That places me squarely in the middle of the drama. Now, it sounds like that isn’t much time, but keep in mind that this particular drama has 47 episodes, which leaves me with some leeway. Though… the first attack may happen quite soon. I groan. Dai Xuan nods empathetically, unaware of my actual predicament.

“I’ll tell the sect leader to make them stop. Especially Liu-shixiong. He should know better, even though he isn’t at the sect that much anymore.”

“Just leave them be. If I ignore them long enough, they’ll take the hint.”

“You’ve been ignoring them for two years…”

“I’ll handle it,” I say, because I can’t have her keep them from me when I need to bring them together.

“If you say so. Oh, my mother has been asking for you. I almost forgot.”

Dai Xuan doesn’t look convinced, but she lets it go, with a big emphasis on ‘for now’. I know she means well. She is Murong Zhiyu’s closest friend in the drama and I can see why. Conversation flows easily as we walk through the city gates and into the valley, from where a series of stacked, snaking stairs lead up the cliff face and into the Huoyun sect compound. If I wasn’t in Murong Zhiyu’s body I would probably die during the climb, but the power surging through me with a mere thought is frightening in its intensity. Not only can it make me jump from rooftop to rooftop, I feel like I could climb a mountain and still continue on to run for hours. I really need to test out what I can do with this power of cultivation that I’ve only ever seen in fiction. But first… Huoyun Sect.

We arrive at the gate, which is wide open as a testament not only to the hospitality of the sect, but also to the safety of the city in general. Even though Xiyang is situated in the northwest of the Empire, at the border of the desert and close to enemy territory, the presence of the local queen and her military, as well as the Huoyun Sect makes it a rather peaceful place to live. Secured by sturdy walls and safeguarded, the people flourish in this border town. I take a good look at the buildings below. No matter this random god’s desire to win his stupid game, if this really isn’t a dream, I can’t let the worst future happen to these people. I have the power to change their lives for the better, to prevent harm… and I will use it.

Even if that power is essentially the power of shipping. 

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(*) shixiong = elder martial arts brother
(**) shijie = elder martial arts sister
(***) shimei = younger martial arts sister