The morning sun hung low over the Su estate. It cast long shadows across the stone courtyards. Su Chen stood by the main gate, feeling the weight of his new life. His white hair was neatly tied up today.
It felt like a target on the back of his head. He adjusted the collar of his light blue robes. They were high quality, but they felt like a uniform for a prisoner.
A few feet away, Su Meiling was talking to the carriage driver. She looked radiant in the morning light. Her pink silk robes were slightly translucent near the sleeves. They shifted with every movement she made.
She turned back to Su Chen and flashed a bright smile. It was the kind of smile that made the nearby guards look away in envy. Su Chen just felt his stomach do a nervous flip.
"Are you ready, brother?" she asked. She walked over and immediately took hold of his arm. She didn't just hold it. She hugged it against her side. Su Chen could feel the soft pressure of her chest against his bicep. She leaned her head on his shoulder, looking up at him with those big, innocent eyes.
"We need to get you some new meditation mats. And maybe some spirit tea. You've been so restless lately. I think a trip to the town will do you some good."
Su Chen forced a nod. "Yeah. I could use the fresh air."
'And a way to escape your 24/7 surveillance,' he thought.
They began their walk toward the city center. The Su estate was located on a hill overlooking the bustling market district. As they descended, the quiet of the clan grounds was replaced by the roar of the city.
People were everywhere. Merchants shouted about their wares. Cultivators on low-level flying swords zipped through the air like oversized dragonflies. The air smelled of grilled meat, expensive incense, and the faint metallic tang of spirit stones.
Meiling didn't let go of his arm for a single second. In fact, as the crowd grew thicker, she pulled him closer. She used her body to navigate him through the throngs of people.
Every time a male cultivator looked in their direction, her grip tightened. Her expression would shift from sweet to freezing cold in a heartbeat.
"Don't look at them, Chen," she whispered. Her voice was right against his ear. "They have nothing you need. Only I can provide what's best for you."
Su Chen shivered. He looked straight ahead. He was scanning the faces in the crowd. He was looking for one person in particular. In the messy memories of the original Su Chen, there was a man named Zhang Hao.
He was a rogue cultivator who dealt in "grey market" goods. If anyone had a manual that Meiling hadn't tampered with, it was him.
They stopped at a stall selling jade ornaments. Meiling picked up a hair pin. She held it up to Su Chen's white hair, checking the color. As she did, she leaned forward.
Her chest pressed firmly against his chest. She was so close he could smell the jasmine on her skin.
"Does this look good on me, brother? Or do you prefer the one I wore yesterday?"
She shifted her hips, brushing against him as she reached for another pin. She was clearly enjoying his discomfort.
She knew he was a young man with a healthy pulse. She was using that against him. Every time he tried to create a little space, she found a reason to close it.
"It looks fine, Meiling," Su Chen said. His voice was a bit strained. "Actually, I think I see a tea shop over there. Why don't you go look at the silks? I'll go grab us a table."
Meiling stopped moving. She looked at him with a slow, wide grin. It wasn't a happy grin. It was the look of a cat watching a mouse try to climb a glass wall.
"And leave you all by yourself? Anything could happen. A stray spirit beast could attack. Or worse... some shameless woman might try to talk to you."
She leaned in and whispered. "I'd have to kill her, Chen. You wouldn't want me to get blood on my new robes, would you?"
Su Chen felt a cold sweat break out on his forehead. "Right. Forget I said anything."
They kept walking. Finally, Su Chen spotted a man sitting by a fountain. He was wearing tattered brown robes and had a crooked nose. It was Zhang Hao. The man was lazily tossing spirit stones into the water. Su Chen knew this was the signal. Zhang had something for him.
'I have to get to him. But how?'
He looked at Meiling. She was currently distracted by a street performer. A man was breathing fire in the shape of a phoenix. For a split second, her eyes were on the flames.
Su Chen saw his chance. He pretended to trip on a loose cobblestone. He stumbled forward, pulling his arm out of her grasp.
"Whoops!" he shouted. He lurched toward the fountain.
Meiling reached for him instantly. "Brother!"
Su Chen managed to collide with Zhang Hao. It was a messy, uncoordinated bump. Zhang Hao grunted and pushed him off. In that one second of contact, Su Chen felt a small, hard object slip into his sleeve. It was a jade slip.
"Watch where you're going, pretty boy!" Zhang Hao growled. He acted like he didn't know him. It was a perfect performance.
Before Su Chen could even say sorry, a hand clamped onto his shoulder. The grip was like iron. He was spun around to face Meiling. Her face was pale. Her eyes were wide and swirling with a dark intensity.
"Are you hurt?" she asked. Her voice was low and trembling. She ignored Zhang Hao entirely. She began patting Su Chen down. Her hands moved over his chest, his waist, and his legs. She was checking for injuries, but it felt more like she was marking her territory.
"I'm fine, Meiling! Just a trip," Su Chen stammered. He kept his arm stiff, making sure the jade slip didn't slide out of his sleeve.
She looked at the fountain, then back at him. Her eyes narrowed. She leaned in, her nose almost touching his. She took a deep breath, smelling him.
"You smell like... cheap earth Qi," she spat. She glared at Zhang Hao. The rogue cultivator suddenly turned pale and scrambled away into the crowd. He knew a predator when he saw one.
Meiling turned back to Su Chen. Her expression softened instantly. She reached out and smoothed his robes. She ran her hand down his arm, lingering near the sleeve where the slip was hidden. Su Chen's heart stopped.
"You're so clumsy without me," she said. She giggled, but it sounded like glass breaking. She stepped into his personal space, her body pressing against his. She reached up and adjusted his bun. Her fingers grazed the back of his neck.
"From now on, I'm holding your hand. No more walking on your own. You clearly can't handle the big, bad world."
She grabbed his hand and laced her fingers with his. She squeezed so hard it almost hurt. Su Chen felt like he was walking to his execution. He had got the manual, but he was now physically tethered to the most dangerous person in the city.
'I got it,' he thought, trying to calm his racing heart. 'Now I just have to figure out how to read it without her seeing. If she finds this, I'm dead. Or worse.'
They spent the next three hours shopping. Meiling bought him everything. New robes, expensive hair oils, and enough spirit tea to drown a horse.
Each time he tried to carry a bag, she insisted on doing it for him. She wanted him to have nothing to do but focus on her.
As they walked back toward the estate, she leaned into him. The sun was setting, painting the sky in shades of orange and violet.
"Today was fun, wasn't it?" she asked. She rubbed her cheek against his shoulder. "Just the two of us. No distractions. No other people. Just my dear brother and me."
Su Chen looked at the horizon. He could feel the weight of the jade slip against his skin. He felt like a man carrying a bomb through a minefield.
"Yeah," he said quietly. "Lots of fun."
He was genuinely terrified. He realized that she didn't just love him. She wanted to consume his entire existence. Every breath he took felt like it was being monitored. He needed to get stronger. He needed to get to the next stage of cultivation.
But as they entered the gates of the Su estate, he saw the guards closing the heavy doors behind them. The locks clicked into place. The sound echoed through the courtyard.
'Are we fucking serious,' he thought. 'Locking the door to?'