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..."
Early in the morning, before the sun had risen above the hills, Wu Ling and Su Xiang walked through the forest until they could no longer see the camp through the trees.
"Hou," Wu Ling called, summoning the eager crow. "Go take a look around, find us a nice clearing to practice in today."
As soon as Wu Ling turned back to Su Xiang, however, her hand struck with the speed of a striking snake, slapping Wu Ling's face with enough force to send him sprawling to the ground.
"What happened to you Ling?" Su Xiang said, frustrated tears forming in the corners of her sapphire eyes. "Since when do you go sneaking out in the middle of the night to murder people without telling me what you're doing? In five days, did you change so much that you don't trust your elder sister anymore?"