Following his father's murder, Wu Ling's mother returned to the life of a courtesan, disguising her young son as a girl to take refuge in the Bamboo Silk House, a women's only sect dedicated to the arts. Now, as his powers awaken, he'll find himself torn between protecting his family and the goals of powerful cultivators who see him as a means to an end. "Wu Ling, I've accepted a marriage proposal on your behalf," the bewitching Hall Master of the Bamboo Silk House declared. "When you enter the Inner Sect, you'll enter under the name 'Hua Qianhu', fiancee of a young lord of the Liang family." "Hall Master, that's impossible!" Wu Ling protested. "Even if you ignore my relationship with Meifeng, I might have dressed well enough to hide as a mortal woman but I could never..." "So you truly didn't realize what you were doing," the Hall Master said, a dark smile on her lips. "Little Ling, you're a natural-born Shapeshifter. I'll teach you what you need to know," she said, her features shifting until she looked like a mirror image of the stunned Wu Ling. "As long as you follow my arrangements and learn my techniques, it isn't impossible for you to reunite with Meifeng..." "But you should consider Young Lord Liang carefully," the Hall Master added. "His affection for you is genuine. Perhaps, one day, you'll even feel the same for him..."
Deep in the Sanguine Saber Sect's Eastern Branch, Xiong Dahuo stood outside the entrance to a courtyard with his eyes closed and every ounce of willpower he could manifest attempting to slow his racing heart. Sweat had already soaked his back in the ten minutes it had taken him to convince the outer gate guard to allow him to deliver this cursed package and now that he stood before the door it took every ounce of courage he had to stop himself from turning around and coming back tomorrow to try again. Or the day after. Or never.
The only thing that had stopped him from throwing the cursed scroll into the river was the notion that the intended recipient might be even more furious with him for failing to bring it to her than she would be at receiving the delivery!