Runes • Rifles • Reincarnation

When Jin Shu stepped onto the fourth floor of the library, he was surprised to see someone he recognized—and had just been thinking about. Feng Lian herself sat at a desk in the corner, reading.

Wondering why she was here instead of sleeping—and because he had questions for her—he headed over. A few steps away, she lifted her head. Her gaze, however, went straight to the tiny chick dozing on his shoulder.

"So that's why it's been so quiet the last few hours," she said. "Apparently, she flew off and found you."

"What's with her anyway? Why's she pretending to be my guide?"

"She's been hearing stories about you all week from my two disciples," Feng Lian chuckled. "Naturally, she got curious. Pretending to be a library guide is apparently her way of getting closer to you."

"I see…" He nodded, though he didn't really understand—and wasn't all that interested. "Speaking of… how's Liu Hua? I haven't seen her since… then."

"She's fine. Training hard, since she felt she was too weak."

"Her? Weak? Does she even know what that word means? She's definitely not weak."

"Not in strength," Feng Lian said solemnly. "In resolve. She cowered before death and had a breakdown. She tries to act tougher than she is, and she wants to fix that part of herself."

Jin Shu recalled her meltdown—how she'd truly believed they were going to die. They had been—or should have been—only he ended up dying that day. At the time, he hadn't thought much of it, but looking back, it was strange. She wasn't the type to fear death, at least in his mind. But moments like that proved you never truly knew someone until they revealed—willingly or otherwise—what was hidden beneath.

"Still, I don't think she's weak mentally either," he said.

"Not true." Feng Lian shook her head. "She has loads of trauma—you should know."

"I do. But I don't think that makes her weak. I think it shows how strong she is, that she could overcome that fear and still care for her sister until you took them in."

Feng Lian smiled. "Good answer."

His brows furrowed. "Was that a test?"

"It was."

He fell silent, uneasy at the strange feeling he'd been getting since they started talking. She didn't seem like her usual drowsy self. Instead, she was focused—entirely on him—in a way he hadn't seen before.

"Are… you really Grand Elder Feng Lian?" he asked. "You seem… different."

Her smile deepened, holding a meaning he couldn't quite grasp.

"Do you know what happens to a spirit when its cultivator reaches the grandmaster realm?" she asked instead of answering.

Blinking, he thought a moment before replying. "It gains true sentience…"

A wild thought hit him, and his eyes widened. "You… no way… are you Feng Lian's spirit?"

"I am… not," she laughed. "I'm her."

It took him a moment to process. When he did, the surprise hit even harder. "Wait—so the one I met before was your spirit?"

She nodded, then shook her head. "Half right. She and I share a single mind, so she is I, and I am her."

He blinked, now thoroughly confused.

"The sage realm," she asked, her tone almost cryptic. "What do you know of it?"

"Sage realm cultivators absorb their spirits—completely integrating them into their bodies."

"Correct. But did you know your spirit changes before that happens?"

"I didn't. Why? Are you saying you've reached the sage realm?"

"No." She shook her head. "But I am half a step into that realm."

He'd always known she was powerful—he just hadn't imagined she was that powerful.

"Oh, by the way," she said casually, "I am indeed her daughter, in case you were wondering."

Jin Shu blinked at the sudden topic change. "The sect founder, Huang Bin?"

"Yes. And the Jade Rabbit matriarch, Tu Zi."

"Uh… how exactly did they—ah, never mind."

He almost asked how that was possible, but halfway through realized it was probably not a question you posed to someone's daughter.

Still, she seemed to know exactly what he was thinking. "Medicine. My mother—Tu Zi, a genius alchemist—created a pill that let women conceive with each other."

"I see." He nodded, surprised that it wasn't what he'd assumed. "Honestly, I thought it might've been that forbidden phoenix technique."

Her brow arched. "What technique would that be?"

"Um… I don't actually know. Stepmom just told me there's a technique that makes women grow a… uh… male appendage."

Her expression went from calm indifference to outright shock and horror. "It does what?!"

Jin Shu shrugged. He was just repeating what he'd been told.

"Hold on," she said sharply. "There's only one phoenix-exclusive technique here."

She flicked her wrist, and a scroll shot off a far shelf into her hand. One smooth motion and it unfurled across the desk.

Jin Shu leaned in to read the title: Fire Spiritization Method.

He skimmed past the cultivation diagrams until his eyes landed on a warning in bold red ink at the bottom:

Warning: Cultivating this technique will cause a penis to grow on your body!

Feng Lian's palm slammed against the desk. A talisman appeared in her hand, which she pressed to her lips.

"Sun Mei'er, come here this instant!"

The shout startled Ji Ji awake. "Wha?! What's happening? I didn't steal the cookies!" she mumbled, still half-asleep.

Jin Shu didn't need to guess. The moment his mother's name came up, he knew—this was her doing. A prank, scrawled into a forbidden technique for… some reason. Then again, he rarely knew why she did anything.

A burst of crimson light heralded Sun Mei'er's arrival. She yawned, stretching like she'd just crawled out of bed.

"Do you need something? You of all people should know it's rude to wake someone from a nap."

When no answer came, she glanced around, then brightened. "Oh, hi, Jin Shu! Cute little golden sparrow you've got there. So, what's going on?"

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Jin Shu silently pointed at the open scroll.

She leaned over, read the bottom, and burst out laughing. "Oh, I completely forgot about that! That was ages ago, back when I was still an inner sect disciple. Brings back memories."

She paused briefly to reminisce.

"Y'know, Lu Cha once bet me a high-tier qi stone that I wouldn't mess with a forbidden technique. I did it, of course, but she refused to pay up—so I beat her and took twelve mid-tier stones instead."

Feng Lian listened without a word. But the growing pressure in the air, thick and suffocating, betrayed her rising fury.

Sun Mei'er stopped mid-story and glanced at her. "You aren't that mad, are you?"

No answer came, just more oppressive qi.

She turned back to Jin Shu. "Run!"

Before he could react, she grabbed his shoulder and teleported them away—only for them to reappear, suspended in the air above the exact same spot they'd started.

"Grand master aunt, it was just a harmless prank. No need to get so upset, right?" Sun Mei'er gave a nervous laugh.

"A harmless prank?" Feng Lian repeated through gritted teeth. "Not only did you deface my property—you defaced the property of my ancestors!"

She stood and slammed her palm down on the desk, shattering it into hundreds of splinters.

"Hic!" Ji Ji hiccuped from fear on Jin Shu's shoulder. "A-auntie, I don't know them, so… could I please go?"

Feng Lian flicked her hand. Jin Shu dropped onto his butt with a painful thud, while Ji Ji floated down gently to land back on his shoulder.

"Go," she said, dismissing them.

Jin Shu's gaze drifted to the scroll lying atop the wreckage. It might hold answers about his own condition, with his qi and blood fused.

"Uh… could I take that scroll with me?" he asked sheepishly.

Another flick of her hand, and the scroll appeared in his grip. He nodded, thanking her quickly, and started for the exit.

"Wait! Jin Shu, sweetie, don't leave mommy here alone. Please?" Sun Mei'er begged, still suspended in the air.

He glanced up at her, then at Feng Lian's flushed, furious face. Then back to his mother. He blinked. Shook his head.

"I'm good. I'd rather live a few more days," he said, waving. "Anyway, have fun."

As he walked away, the sound of Feng Lian cracking her knuckles followed him, along with Sun Mei'er's desperate pleas—cut short by the sharp thwack of fists on flesh. Her cries dwindled to pitiful whimpers, then… silence.

"Do you think she died?" Ji Ji whispered, shivering.

Jin Shu shook his head. "No. It'd take more than a few punches to kill someone as shameless as her."

"Does being shameless make you harder to kill?"

He wasn't sure how to answer that. After a moment's thought, he nodded. "It probably does."

"Then should I be shameless?"

He shrugged. "That's up to you. But if you're too shameless, it's hard to make friends. Trust me—my mom has no friends, and as far as I know, only a few lovers."

"So you must be even more shameless," Ji Ji said matter-of-factly.

Jin Shu nearly tripped over the edge of the fourth-floor balcony. "What does that mean?"

"Well, Big Sis Hua said that when she and Big Sis Ying marry you, you'll have five wives. But she never said anything about you having friends. Oh! And she said you have a daughter. I want to meet her too!"

"I have friends!"

"You do? Who?" Ji Ji asked, genuinely curious.

"Uhh… well… my cousin…"

"So one friend? But do relatives count?"

Jin Shu had no answer for that.

"Anyway, there's a reading nook over there. Let's sit so I can look over this scroll," he said, smoothly changing the subject.

He sat at a small desk tucked into the corner, unrolling the scroll. Ji Ji hopped down from his shoulder, padding closer with wide, curious eyes. She tapped the bright red text at the bottom with a tiny claw.

"What's that say?"

"That you'll grow a pe—" He froze, catching himself mid-word.

"Grow a pe? What's that?"

"It's… uh… something really bad."

"How bad?"

"Pretty bad."

"Bad like, you'll get sick? Or bad like, you'll explode?"

"Uh… neither."

"Then what?"

"It's… complicated."

She tilted her head sharply to one side, feathers puffing just a bit. "So… it's complicated and bad? Is it poisonous?"

"No, it's… not poison."

"Then what is it?!"

He rubbed his temples. "Trust me—you don't want to know."

"I do!" she insisted, hopping from one claw to the other in excitement. "I really, really do! Please tell me! I promise I won't tell anyone."

"You'd tell everyone," he said flatly.

"I might tell everyone," she corrected. "But only if it's really funny. Is it really funny?"

"No."

It kinda was, but he wasn't going to tell her that.

Her feathers smoothed back down in disappointment. "Oh… so it's boring?"

"…Sure. Boring."

"Then why did you stop talking halfway through?"

He sighed, turning back to the scroll. "Because reading this is more important than explaining anatomy to a baby bird."

"I'm not a baby! I'm eight!" she protested, hopping up and spreading her wings for emphasis. "And I know about anatomy—see, I have wings!"

"That's… not the same thing."

"It's close!"

"Not even remotely."

She ruffled her feathers with a huff, muttering under her breath, "Fine. I'll just ask your mom later."

He nearly choked. "No! You will not."