Runes • Rifles • Reincarnation

Hours passed—slowly, excruciatingly so. And after all that time, Jin Shu had only one completed weapon to show for it, out of the dozens of weapons and accessories that still needed inscription.

Wiping sweat from his brow, he took a moment to admire his handiwork before deciding not to hog the forge any longer. The time he'd bought with that single, relatively mundane pellet gun definitely didn't entitle him to monopolize the place for days. Not that he wanted to. He had other things to do—and he'd finish the rest once he had more qi to spare.

After packing everything away, he made for the door. When he opened it, he was surprised to find the three women standing outside, as if waiting for him.

"Uh… did you all wait this entire time?"

Xing Fen, the teenager, was the first to respond.

"We didn't," she said, shaking her head. "We've only been waiting six hours!"

"Ah—sorry I took so long. You must've been waiting to use the forge," he said, bowing slightly.

"No, we were waiting for you."

"Oh…"

Wen Ding let out a sigh and shook her head.

"We weren't just standing around outside your door the whole time," she explained. "We had other things to do. But we needed to ask you something, so we came by once we were done."

"I see." He nodded, relieved. That made more sense. Even if they were fans, waiting for six hours straight would've been a bit much.

"What did you want?"

"An autograph!" Xing Fen said, bouncing forward and thrusting a pre-inked brush and scroll at him excitedly.

He blinked, first at her enthusiasm, then at the scroll. He'd expected it to be blank, but when she unfurled it, there was already a beautifully painted illustration inside. Only… it was strange.

"Is… that me?" he asked, pointing at the painting.

He couldn't be sure. The artwork depicted a beautiful woman standing in the center of a packed stadium, surrounded by a cheering crowd. The setting looked identical to the tournament arena, and the woman bore a seventy-percent resemblance to him… and maybe eighty percent to his mother. If he had a sister, he figured she'd look like the woman in the painting. Which made him suspect it was supposed to be him.

He'd never really gotten a good look at his female disguise. He'd glanced in a mirror once—just enough to confirm he passed—but never studied it in detail.

The three women nodded.

"It's you," Xing Fen confirmed. "We wanted a version of your male appearance, but You Ren only paints women. And since she's the best artist in the sect—aside from the Sect Master—it was our best option."

She shrugged, then gestured toward Zhen Zhu.

"Besides, Zhu likes your female appearance best," she added, lowering her voice and leaning closer with a conspiratorial whisper. "Personally, I like your male appearance best. But I wouldn't mind both."

She winked and pushed the scroll and brush into his hands.

"Uh-huh…" he muttered, nodding slowly as he took a cautious step back, already considering his escape route.

As quickly as possible, he jotted his name in the corner of the painting, shoved it—and the brush—back into Xing Fen's hands, and began to turn away, intent on making his escape.

But she wasn't done with him.

Before he could take a full step, she caught the corner of his sleeve and tugged.

"Um… what does this say?" she asked, holding the painting up so he could see it, now proudly adorned with his signature.

He glanced over his shoulder—and blinked in surprise. He'd been so focused on fleeing that he hadn't even realized he'd signed it in Gold's native language: English.

In this world, the language they used was what Gold called Mandarin, though no one here had ever given it a name. As far as Jin Shu was concerned, it didn't have one. Still, it definitely wasn't what he'd just written in, so it was no wonder she looked confused.

"That's… uh… my own special signature," he said quickly. "No one else can write it but me, which makes it super rare."

"Really?"

"Of course. Why would I lie?" he replied, nodding solemnly while lying through his teeth. "I made it extra special since you three are my very first fans. But if you don't like it, I can change it."

"Oh! No, no, I love it! Thank you!" she said, bowing deeply and clutching the scroll to her chest like it was a sacred artifact.

Then she turned to show it off to the other two, who eagerly huddled around it, oohing and aahing over the "special" signature.

He felt a twinge of guilt—but technically, he hadn't lied. It was unique.

Either way, before they could ask for anything else, he slipped into a ripple and vanished.

As Jin Shu stepped out of the ripple onto his stepmother's mountain, he was not-so-pleasantly surprised to run—literally—into Li Xue.

They collided hard enough that she nearly fell backward. He caught her by the collar on instinct, but the moment he recognized her robes—those of a common disciple—his expression darkened. The memory of that shady alleyway in Phoenix City flashed through his mind like lightning.

"So it was you!" he growled, yanking her collar tighter. "Why did you try to sell something like that?!"

"W-w-what?" she stammered, eyes wide with panic, tears already welling at the corners.

"You heard me!" he snapped. "Why would you do it?! If you needed resources, you could've just asked Mom. But if this was just some sick joke, then I've seriously put my trust in the wrong person."

"You're hurting me!" she cried, her voice cracking as tears streaked down her cheeks. "I don't even know what you're talking about!"

A dark, boiling rage surged up from somewhere deep within Jin Shu—as deep and primal as the fury he'd felt during the heavenly punishment. The rage whispered in his ears, low and vile: Kill her… kill… kill…

He shoved Li Xue away and clutched his head, trying to drown out the voices. Then, with a scream of frustration, he raised a palm toward her.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Damn it, Li Xue—!"

Before his hand could fall, someone caught his wrist mid-swing.

"Jin Shu! What are you doing?!" Tian Li's voice cut through the madness like a blade. Her grip was firm, her gaze sharp with disappointment.

"I… ask her!" he snarled, jabbing a finger at Li Xue, who was now sitting on the ground, shaken.

Tian Li turned to Li Xue, wordlessly asking for an explanation.

"I was just walking!" Li Xue cried, her voice still trembling. "Then Jin Shu appeared, bumped into me, and started yelling. I don't even know what he's talking about—then he tried to hit me!"

"You do know!" Jin Shu roared, the fury still bubbling inside him. "You were in Phoenix City selling photos and videos of me! I saw you—I chased you down, but lost you in the crowd!"

Li Xue shook her head frantically. "I was in Phoenix City, but not for long—and definitely not to sell anything! Especially not photos of you! Why would I even do that?!"

"Stop lying!"

"I'm not lying! You can ask Biyu—we went down together and came back together!"

"Oh, so you two were in on it?!"

"In on what?!" she shouted back, finally finding some strength in her voice. "Even if I did—which I didn't—it's just some pictures and videos! They're even selling paintings of you now!"

She reached into her robes and whipped out a scroll, unrolling it in one smooth motion. It was the same one he'd autographed just a short time ago.

"It wasn't just any photos," he growled. "I was naked in them."

"Oh…"

That word came in unison from both Li Xue and Tian Li.

Li Xue blinked, then suddenly began rifling through her robes. "Wait… where is it?"

"What are you looking for?" Tian Li asked, wary.

"My storage pouch. It's gone!" Panic rising in her voice, Li Xue began stripping off her outer layers. "Someone must have taken it!"

"Li Xue! What are you doing?!" Tian Li stepped forward, alarmed.

"They're missing!" she shouted. "I had my image storage stones in there… if anyone finds them—!"

To Tian Li's horror and Jin Shu's stunned silence, Li Xue stripped down to her undergarments: a surprisingly modern-looking pink bra and matching panties, entirely unlike the traditional doudou worn by women in this world.

Jin Shu blinked. His rage faltered, confused into silence by the sheer absurdity of what he was seeing.

"…Did you make those?" he asked Tian Li, eyes still fixed on the underwear.

She flushed red and pulled her hand back from his wrist. "…I did."

Tian Li blinked, then turned back to Li Xue.

"Where's the robe I made you—the one that goes with that underwear?" she asked, eyes narrowing.

"Oh, I was actually coming to tell you," Li Xue paused her frantic search to answer. "When I was in the city, a girl spilled food on me. She said she'd clean my robes and bring them back later. Strange girl—she wore this veiled hat, so I couldn't see her face."

Tian Li and Jin Shu stared at her in disbelief.

"Li Xue," Jin Shu said, waving her over with exaggerated calm. "Come here."

"Are you going to hit me again?" she asked, taking a cautious step back.

"I… just come here," he said, neither confirming nor denying.

She hesitated, eyes darting to Tian Li for reassurance. Apparently deciding she was safe with her nearby, she stepped forward slowly.

When she got within reach, Jin Shu moved and slapped the top of her head, not too hard—just enough to sting.

"Ow!" she yelped, clutching her scalp. "You said you weren't going to hit me!"

"I'd smack you senseless—if you had any sense to begin with!" he snapped. "You didn't just give some random girl your robe, you handed her your storage pouch! The one with my nudes! Why did you even have them?!"

"Well… I, um… I use them to… uh… y'know… at night…"

Jin Shu pinched the bridge of his nose. He could already feel the headache setting in. This stupid girl… She used him as her personal fantasy material—then went and lost it all to an obvious con artist.

"How many did you have?"

"Not… not many…"

"How many is 'not many,' Li Xue?" he asked, enunciating each word with slow, building menace.

"Uhh… about… five… or maybe six… of each…" she whispered, her voice barely audible. "It costs a lot to make copies, so I could only make so many…"

She glanced at Tian Li, silently begging for rescue. But Tian Li simply shook her head—clearly saying you're on your own. Instead of helping, she pulled out a notepad and began scribbling something down while muttering.

"Add tracking runes to Li Xue's clothes…"

Jin Shu turned toward her. "You can add runes to clothes?"

Tian Li looked up from her notes and nodded. "I can. It's part of the technique I got from Di Ti after the tournament."

"Interesting," he said, his irritation giving way to thoughts of application. His mind was already turning over the possibilities.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Li Xue trying to quietly sneak away. He briefly considered chasing her down for a proper beating—but what was the point? The damage was already done. Instead, he sighed and made a mental note:

Never let her be in the same room while I'm stripping. Or ever. Just—ever.