Unparalleled Artist: Unlikely Hero
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..."
Entering The Pit
The noise in the alehouse quieted, dice clattered to a stop and people paused their card games to watch the drama unfolding. A clash like this wasn't a rare sight in Bufa City but it wasn't common either. Many of the gangs who did business in the city had grievances with each other which could only be settled in the Pit and it looked like this might be one of them.
"Tell me. Where. She is," San growled. "Or fight me. If you tell. I won't kill you."
For a moment, Su Xiang said nothing as she stared down the furious man. San had grown even larger and more intimidating than he'd been when he first cornered her and Wu Ling on their way to shop at her aunt's store in Silver Sword City. The cruelty, rage, and malice that emanated from the man's smoldering gaze was unlike anything she'd seen from him then. She didn't have to be an artist to know that his hatred of Wu Ling was something he would never put down.