Lan Jing Forest (3)

After a short while of walking, Zhou Xin could see a wide wooden structure painted in white and green. On its sides, bridges branched out to smaller tree houses. 

The shade of the forest covered the academy, shielding them from the morning sun. Soft golden rays still managed to pierce through, making the building seem peaceful.

Led by the elder, the three children entered the frontmost building.

While they walked, Chen Liang couldn't keep quiet as he kept bothering Zhou Xin. A basket of weed was still in his arms.

"How did you first use magic? How old were you? Hey, have you ever passed out from too much spiritual energy? When did you start practicing sky magic? I heard beginners in sky magic usually get headaches! By the way, did you come all the way here by yourself? Where are you from?"

Zhou Xin didn't think she would ever meet anyone more annoying than Kou.

As she reluctantly tried to answer all the questions, she wondered if she could place Chen Liang and Kou in the same room to let them chatter to each other and have some peace to herself.

On the other side, Tan Ren helplessly tried to make his junior brother stop. 

When he realized his efforts were useless, he could only look sympathetically to Zhou Xin.

"Don't mind him… You can just ignore his questions."

Zhou Xin was anguished.

How can I ignore him? That would be disrespectful. Please don't give up. Make him stop.

Before they were fully indoors, there was a distant sound of chiming from somewhere deep in the forest. 

It was barely noticeable that most would not hear it if they didn't pay attention.

But for some reason, Elder Yan's hearing was sharper than the average person despite his age. The younger lads, Tan Ren and Chen Liang did not hear anything.

"...Hmm?"

Knowing that Kou had set up those bells last night, Zhou Xin felt the urgent need to distract him.

"Elder Yan, are you the head of this sect?" she asked.

The question made Elder Yan paused for a subtle second.

"Unfortunately, no. I'm not the one you need to persuade to let you become a disciple of this academy. Which is why I'm taking you to one. He might accept you if he finds any worth. That is, if there are any elders here who want to take you as their apprentice."

"Will you take me as an apprentice, then?"

Zhou Xin spoke without putting much meaning to it. After all, she had no intentions of actually becoming a disciple of Tan Academy.

Elder Yan laughed.

"Nice try, little one. But my apprentices are the older ones, even more so than Tan Ren and Chen Liang."

Then, Chen Liang spoke, "You should meet our master! I'll introduce you! He accepted me at twelve years old, so a few years younger shouldn't matter. How old are you?"

"...Ten."

"Really? I thought you were eight or nine. I guess that works better!"

Tan Ren was baffled.

"Ten is also still too young!" he exclaimed.

By this time, the doors of the building had been closed, and the sounds of the forest were drowned out. Even the chirping of birds could not be heard anymore.

Zhou Xin was more relieved thinking the sound of those small bells should be too far to be heard within these walls. She hoped there weren't many residents roaming around outdoors.

Elder Yan opened a sliding door to a different compartment where two men wearing similar white and green robes were talking to each other..

One of them stood with a slouch, showing the weight of his years on his back. All of his hair had turned gray, and his wrinkles were more prominent than Elder Yan's.

The other one looked to be in his thirties. He gave an aura of dignity and youth. Aware of the visitors, he gave them a radiant smile.

Elder Yan greeted them.

"Sect leader. Xinyuan."

Xhou Xin didn't expect to meet the head of the sect so soon. She assumed the one that looked older was the sect leader, and the other one was named Xinyuan. He seemed to be another elder in the Tan Academy.

The sect leader merely gave a bow of his head as a greeting. Elder Xinyuan greeted him back.

"Elder Yan, I see you found my disciples. Tan Ren, Chen Liang, are you finished with your-"

His eyes fell on the short little girl that he missed at first glance.

"And who may this be?"

Chen Liang answered, "Her name is Zhou Xin! We met her on the field. Master, this Zhou Xin can use sky magic! Can you take her as your apprentice?"

"Xiao-Liang!" Tan Ren cried out.

The sect leader glanced towards Zhou Xin.

"Ho!"

He seemed interested. Elder Xinyuan was also observing her. 

"Sky magic?"

he gave a look to Elder Yan, which he received a nod as a response. It must be true then.

Crouching down in front of her, he asked softly, "Zhou Xin, is it? Do you want to become a mage?"

Zhou Xin's expression became complicated. She nodded stiffly.

Elder Xinyuan smiled kindly at her. Before he could say anything else, the sect leader behind him spoke in a frail voice.

"How did you know she could use sky magic? Did she use them nearby?"

Chen Liang answered once again, "She did! But, she's okay! Didn't get sick or anything! Elder Yan threw a paper talisman at her and she burned it to ashes. Shs promised not to use magic now."

"It was a low-grade suppressing spell," Elder Yan explained. "She was provoked into using magic. I tried to stop her, but this young maiden was much quicker."

"Counter spells, eh? Heheh," The sect leader chuckled.

Elder Xinyuan shot a smile towards his students. "Chen Liang," he warned.

Chen Liang jumped, "Master! How did you know it was me?"

"Who else if it wasn't you?" 

As the master was reprimanding his disciple, the sect leader stepped closer to Zhou Xin. His eyes were so sharp that Zhou Xin felt he might see through all of her thoughts.

He observed her from a distance of about a few meters, so Zhou Xin couldn't read his expression or what he was thinking about.

After a few seconds, the elder spoke.

"That protective charm you have on you… It is very well made."

Zhou Xin flinched lightly.

Since it wasn't a question, she wasn't sure how to respond. Mentally, she apologized to Chen Liang for finding him irritating and silently hoped he would chime in on his own so she could avoid talking.

Should she say something along the lines of 'thank you, it was from my dad'? Would he fall for that? What if he finds out that something is off? Curse that thief for giving her something that stands out so much.

The stone was slightly too big for a necklace pendant, and the surface was too rough to be put under her robes. Zhou Xin wished she had put it inside her sleeves earlier.

Thankfully, Elder Yan spoke up.

"Sect leader, this young maiden is only ten years of age. However, I believe it would be unwise to waste such young talent."

Zhou Xin took a quick glance at Elder Yan. She found it odd that he was willing to help her get into the academy. Without knowing the exact reason why, Zhou Xin felt it wasn't out of sole kindness.

Elder Yan continued, "Besides, it seems that she had traveled here by herself. It would be shameful for the Tan Sect to turn her away."

"Then, Elder Yan… What do you suggest?"

The sect leader's voice didn't indicate any unwillingness.

Hearing this, Elder Yan had a subtle smile on his face.

"Let her be a waiting apprentice. Up until she is of age to properly learn magic. In the meantime, she could help around in the academy."

"Ho! I see…" the sect leader turned back to Zhou Xin. "Would you like to be a servant in our sect? You'll have access to our library, but you won't be allowed to join any lessons. Furthermore, your magic will be restricted."

Hearing the word 'library', Zhou Xin's ears perk up. Maybe she could read a few before her time to leave with Kou.

With a little more eagerness, Zhou Xin replied, "Yes, please."

Deep in the heart of the forest.

Kou's body sat slumped on the array he drew.

As the memory scene went on, Kou understood a few things.

Firstly, is that Jiajia and Meimei had fallen in love with the same person, Xu Ming. However, Xu Ming was more fond of Meimei than Jiajia.

Jiajia was the older and more responsible one. She worked throughout the day on the farm and went to town at night, often coming home very late. As a result, she didn't have much time for herself or have fun with other people.

Meimei was the younger one, who had a weaker body and was prone to illness. Because of this, she did most of the chores at home, such as cooking and cleaning, but the more taxing ones still fell to Jiajia. In the end, Meimei's tasks weren't much as the two sisters lived only with each other. 

Although they looked identical, Meimei had more time to care for her appearance and often got more praise for it than her sister. She was also more sociable and knew more people around. This was how she met Xu Ming, and introduced him to Jiajia afterwards.

One day, Jiajia had a chance to take a day off.

As the eldest who had to take care of a sickly sister by herself at a young age, never able to live the life of a normal girl, Jiajia rightfully felt a tinge of envy.

So she put on her sister's clothes and did her hair just like sister's.

For one day. Just this once.

Jiajia never intended to show herself like that in front of Xu Ming. For a moment, she had wanted to tell him the truth.

But when he called her sister's name in such an affectionate manner, different from how he called her own, and how he looked at Jiajia the way she wanted him to, Jiajia swallowed her words.

She only wanted to experience it for a day. Truthfully, it hurted her. Jiajia knew all of it was for Meimei and not her. Jiajia didn't want Xu Ming to like her just because she was Meimei.

And she was feeling terrible guilt. That was why her heart was beating painfully hard. It was out of yearning and regret.

The reality had warped into another one.

Kou was sitting on a wooden chair as he felt soft hands tending his long hair. He was still in Jiajia's body. The person brushing his hair was Meimei.

His lips moved on their own again.

"Meimei, you know what? Nevermind this. I should go out as I usually do."

"Nonsense! You should go out pretty on your day off, Jiajia!"

"I-I feel uncomfortable. Remember when I went out as you that day? It didn't end well…"

"What do you mean? Nothing happened! When I met Ming-gege again, he didn't even mention anything. Really, it's fine!"

Meimei was a lot more forgiving than Kou expected. He thought the sisters' relationship might have soured based on how much anxiety Jiajia was feeling.

The two went out together that day. There was a festival in town, so both were dressed in equally finer garments with brighter colors. Both were equally beautiful and attracted a lot of attention. Even more so for Meimei since she knew a lot of people.

"Jiajia, I want to greet my friends over at the plaza! I'll be back soon!"

"Okay, have fun!"

As Meimei left, Jiajia wandered around on her own. She stopped by a few shops in the street, finding out new things she had not encountered before.

When she stood in front of a food stall, someone lightly tapped her shoulder. Jiajia turned around to see Xu Ming.

"Ming-gege!"

Xu Ming laughed, "I just bought this shop's steamed buns a few minutes ago! Here, try them."

He held out a big steamed bun in his hand, offering it to Jiajia.

Overwhelmed with joy, Jiajia asked, "Can I have it?"

"Of course! That's why I'm giving it to you! Take it while it's still warm. It tastes really good."

"Thank you, gege!"

Jiajia took the steamed bun and bit into them. The fluffy texture gently yielded and the savory flavors of meat filled her taste buds.

Great heavens!

As Kou was currently in Jiajia, he was also experiencing the delightful flavors of a freshly cooked steamed bun.

"Right? I can see from your face how much you're enjoying it."

Jiajia nodded frantically.

"This is the best steamed bun I've ever eaten!"

Xu Ming laughed again.

As Jiajia watched him laugh, Kou felt an indescribable feeling inside of him. It was very much pleasant, unlike what he felt when Jiajia was pretending to be Meimei.

However, Kou himself felt repulsed for having such pleasant feelings for a man.

Jiajia had a wide smile on her face as she continued to eat happily.

She then asked him, "Gege, you don't have any lessons today?"

"Well, I do. But I finished them quickly, hahaha. Grandfather doesn't really pay much attention to me anyway."

"Why not?"

"Huh? Meimei, I thought I told you already."

Oh no.

Kou felt his heart drop the moment Xu Ming called that name. Jiajia immediately realized that during their whole conversation, Xu Ming thought she was Meimei. None of them realized this.

"Oh… Gege, I'm not…"

Seeing that her smile fell, Xu Ming looked confused.

"Hmm? Not what?"

"...I'm not Meimei…"

Xu Ming furrowed his brow. Then, something seemed to click in his brain.

"Jiajia?" he asked.

From a not too far distance, Meimei's voice was heard.

"Jiajia! Ming-gege!" 

Xu Ming whipped his head around to see Meimei, his face brightened once again. Jiajia, on the other hand, looked down in shame.

Reality warped once again.