After Transmigrating into a Book, I Became Partners with My Mortal Enemy - Chapter 19

Mei Chi followed Ding Xiandi outside.

At this hour, the Academy was quieter than during the day, yet there was no shortage of disciples wandering the mountain peaks instead of sleeping. Since mining gas was now plentiful, it perfectly compensated for the fact that modern sword cultivators could no longer fly on their swords after the art of Sword Kinesis was lost to time.

 

Still, some die-hards refused to give up, practicing late into the night in hopes of restoring traditional sword techniques. Combined with the occasional explosions from the Alchemist peak, the nights felt like a perpetual New Year’s celebration, strangely lively.

 

“Second Senior Sister, the roasted flatbread is gone,” Mei Chi said. The young girl kept her head down, her brow furrowing as her fingers habitually picked at a loose thread.

 

Mei Chi didn’t know how to act cute or act spoiled; even her self-frustration was expressed with too much physical force. Ding Xiandi hurriedly grabbed her hand to stop her from picking at a hole in her belt, fearing the fragile fabric would simply disintegrate.

 

“We’ll buy more,” Ding Xiandi said. Even the tattered outer robe couldn’t hide the striking red of the garment beneath as she leaned against the railing, gazing at the starlit sky. “Little Junior Sister, I have something to ask you.”

 

Mei Chi answered immediately: “The bread was a gift from A-Zu. I didn’t entice her.”

 

Ding Xiandi nearly choked on her own saliva. “Don’t pay attention to those people’s nonsense.”

 

“If there’s any seduction going on, it’s that Senior Aunt Zu seeing how cute you are and trying to entice you.”

 

Ding Xiandi was well aware of what the “Leisure Chat” forum had been buzzing about lately. She didn’t care if her terminology was proper, nor did she care about the shocked looks from passing alchemists.

 

Mei Chi’s apartment consisted of two sword cultivators, two alchemists, and that one music cultivator with a Dao companion who seemed too busy with “dual cultivation” to care about Academy rumors. Ding Xiandi’s own apartment was equally a mixed bag.

 

She hadn’t slept well lately. Before transmigrating, she was a wealthy socialite with a high quality of life; now, everything had been downgraded. She had exchanged her luxury for a communal bunk and lost all personal space, not to mention her possessions from the original world. Occasionally, Ding Xiandi would laugh at how poor she had become, which only strengthened her resolve to go home.

 

Seeing Mei Chi stop picking at her belt only to start biting her nails, Ding Xiandi slapped her hand away. “Don’t chew your nails off. Break that bad habit.”

 

“Oh,” Mei Chi muttered.

 

She looked both obedient and strange. Ding Xiandi still couldn’t fathom why their Master, the Sect Leader, would take in a beggar and a dim-wit.

 

“Do you really not feel like I’ve changed a lot?” she asked.

 

Mei Chi let out a yawn. “Sure. You’re more talkative than before.”

 

“And? Don’t you think I’m like a different person entirely?”

 

This was a dangerous question. Ding Xiandi wouldn’t have dared ask anyone but Mei Chi. In this world, even with its “steam-cultivation” vibe, concepts like possession and soul-exiting still existed. Ding Xiandi had browsed popular science magazines on her Tianji Command and seen cases of wandering spirits occupying bodies.

 

Mei Chi was different. Two weeks were enough for Ding Xiandi to firmly associate her with being a simpleton. The junior sister was young, and it seemed her IQ had significant room for improvement.

 

“What’s the big deal?” Mei Chi reached out to tug at Ding Xiandi’s tattered sleeve. Curious about the pattern on the crimson inner robe, she felt the gold thread. “Master said you’re too fragile and can’t handle shocks. She said your personality would change easily and told me to take good care of you.”

 

Ding Xiandi: “…”

 

“Eldest Senior Sister is always playing around, so Second Senior Sister only has me,” Mei Chi continued, her face full of childish sincerity. “Don’t worry. I have thick skin; I’ll protect you.”

 

Ding Xiandi didn’t feel like she needed protection from such a young sister. She silently cursed Zu Jinxi for approaching Mei Chi; even if she couldn’t gauge the sickly alchemist’s true intentions, the woman’s status was far from ordinary. A head disciple of the Moon-Falling Sect with a high probability of becoming the next Sect Leader—why would she set her sights on Mei Chi?

 

On the surface, Tianji Academy was just masters and disciples, but the private factions were complex. Noble families could be sect disciples, or they could form their own independent cliques. Members of the three major sects were supposed to look out for each other, given they all originated from the disciples of Taoist Yushan.

 

But the Star Point Sect was an outlier. It was just a bird and two sprouts.

 

Mei Chi didn’t understand Ding Xiandi’s silence. All month she had heard people talking about her Second Senior Sister, but the biggest change she saw was in her eyes. The girl didn’t understand romance, but she cared about food and mood; she had seen Ding Xiandi’s despondency over Ming Jing, and now the clear, soft light in her eyes was likely because of someone else.

 

“If you really like You Fuling, Eldest Senior Sister and I will give you our blessing,” Mei Chi said after a moment’s thought.

 

Ding Xiandi laughed. “So you and Eldest Senior Sister don’t like her?”

 

The round-faced girl cupped her chin, looking at the visible barrier surrounding the Academy. A mechanical crane flew past in the night, but the snowy fat bird was nowhere to be seen. Tianji Academy was located on Wufang Island, and at night, the sound of the waves was constant.

 

Thinking of the waves from her childhood, Mei Chi sighed. “I don’t like her. She came looking for you right after we entered the Academy.”

 

Ding Xiandi hadn’t known about this. “Huh? Why?”

 

Mei Chi spoke slowly, her sleeves apparently hiding an endless supply of snacks as she handed half a crisp fruit to Ding Xiandi. Standing on the apartment corridor overlooking the starlit black sea, Ding Xiandi listened to a tale of You Fuling’s bullying.

 

“Anyway, I don’t like her. She clearly looked down on you before, but now she wants to be your Dao companion.” Mei Chi sighed. “Second Senior Sister, I think she has other motives. Don’t let someone play with your heart and your body.”

 

She looked like she knew nothing, yet in certain moments, it seemed she knew everything.

 

Ding Xiandi bit into the sweet fruit, squinting as she felt the cool night wind. “Only you would think I’m the one being played. Everyone else thinks I’m the one taking advantage.”

 

“I heard the people from the Heaven-Refining Sect mention that You Fuling is in poor health,” Mei Chi said seriously. “Even if she’s a genius, her lifespan is an issue.” She looked at Ding Xiandi pointedly.

 

It seemed she viewed the crimson inner robe as compensation for Ding Xiandi being “drained” for cultivation. “She didn’t use you as a vessel to extend her life, did she?”

 

Ding Xiandi spread her arms, her tattered rags and luxurious silk combining into a look of strange, expensive elegance despite her plain face. “My spiritual energy is almost non-existent. My cultivation level can’t be increased just by taking pills.”

 

The girl let out a long sigh. “Your Second Senior Sister is a pure failure. Isn’t a proper ‘vessel’ supposed to have extraordinary innate spiritual power?”

 

Mei Chi thought for a moment, then looked at Ding Xiandi’s unusually healthy complexion tonight. She asked hesitantly, “Second Senior Sister, did you use You Fuling as a vessel to—”

 

Before she could finish, Ding Xiandi covered her mouth. “Quiet! I’m afraid we’ll both get stuffed in a sack and beaten by the Heaven-Refining Sect if they hear that.”

 

Mei Chi pulled her hand away and attempted to demonstrate her brute force by slapping the railing, causing a thin crack to appear. “They won’t.”

 

“I’ll send them flying before they can even get the sack ready.”

 

Ding Xiandi’s lip twitched. “Let’s stick to ‘harmony is precious’.”

 

Mei Chi puffed out her cheeks and fell into deep thought.

The mining lamp flickered inside the lantern, swaying in the wind. In the pulsing light, the loneliness in Ding Xiandi’s expression deepened as she gazed into the distance, longing for something unknown.

Mei Chi, mistakenly assuming Ding Xiandi was troubled by the vast gap in status between her and You Fuling, spoke up: “Second Senior Sister, I heard there are three ways to become Dao companions. If yours is just a relationship of ‘mutual replenishment’ (Cai Bu), then don’t make a Heavenly Vow.”

 

Ding Xiandi had assumed her little junior sister, who always dozed off in class, understood nothing. She now realized the girl had absorbed more than she let on about the weight of such a union.

 

“Our relationship isn’t just… like that.” The term Cai Bu was even more explicit than “hooking up” in her original world; Ding Xiandi found it hard to imagine herself and You Fuling in such a transactional light.

 

Yet, the arrow was already on the string. It was a fact that their bodies were compatible—their single kiss had proven that much.

 

But what if we actually became Dao companions and practiced dual cultivation?

 

Ding Xiandi struggled to picture a future with You Fuling, yet that kiss had been anything but ordinary. She self-consciously pressed her lips together, recalling the face beneath the veil—more striking now than ever. “Don’t you find such a relationship… contemptible?” she asked softly.

 

The junior sister popped another candy into her mouth, her voice muffled. “If it’s good for you, Second Senior Sister, then I think it’s good.”

 

“Did Master say that too?”

 

Mei Chi nodded. “Master said you were born dull-witted. Unless you’re struck by lightning, your cultivation will be pathetic for the rest of your life. But she said a good marriage might be a way to defy heaven and change your fate.”

 

Ding Xiandi felt a surge of curiosity toward this Master she had never met. “And what did she say about you?”

 

Mei Chi glanced at her and let out a heavy sigh. “Second Senior Sister, have you really forgotten where I came from?”

 

“I guess so. I’m not exactly the same person I was before.”

 

Ding Xiandi’s tone was light, and Mei Chi didn’t overthink it. “Truly, love is a poison. I’ll never become a Dao companion; it makes people lose their memories in the prime of their lives.”

 

Ding Xiandi hadn’t expected the “idiot” to be so articulate in her insults. She coughed. “So? Go on.”

 

Mei Chi pointed toward the distant horizon beyond the railing. “I came from a fishing village on the edge of the West Sea. If Master hadn’t bought me, I would have been thrown into the ocean.”

 

Wufang Island was surrounded by restrictions; once you entered Tianji Academy, you weren’t allowed to leave unless absolutely necessary. Since this was the last remaining spirit vein in Liuguang, many didn’t want to leave even after graduation. Every year, the number of disciples expelled was quite substantial.

 

“Master said she only bought me because she saw I had ‘extraordinary bones’,” Mei Chi continued. “I’m a Bait Human. My bones are naturally very hard; I was never meant to be ordinary.”

 

As Mei Chi spoke, Ding Xiandi pulled up a map on her Tianji Command. The West Sea was on the opposite end of Wufang Island, belonging to the region of Tingzhou. The masters of those waters were the Great White Sharks.

 

The sharks ate humans, so the fishermen bred “Bait Humans” to be devoured, praying for good weather and bountiful harvests.

 

Ding Xiandi pinched Mei Chi’s cheek. “Other than having a bit of strength, what’s so ‘extraordinary’ about your bones? You’re no genius.”

 

Mei Chi slapped her hand away. “Master said there were no records of a Bait Human ever practicing cultivation, so she thought I was special and stole me.”

 

“Stole you? You just said she bought you.”

 

Mei Chi nodded. “She told me to say she bought me to save her some face.”

 

Great, Ding Xiandi thought, not a single person in this sect is normal.

 

“Master took me away that year,” Mei Chi mused. “I wonder how my parents are doing.”

 

Ding Xiandi had seen Mei Chi every day, but the girl had never mentioned her parents or being homesick. At seventeen, Ding Xiandi had just told You Fuling she wanted to go home; she felt a pang of shame compared to the girl beside her. “Did Master never look back?”

 

Mei Chi shook her head. Ding Xiandi tried to comfort her: “Don’t worry, we can look for them on the Tianji Command…”

 

Tingzhou was the poorest province in Liuguang. Its spiritual energy had been the first to deplete, causing it to regress almost to ancient times. With no mining resources and surrounded by high mountains and toxic miasma, cultivators avoided it lest they vanish into the peaks.

 

Ding Xiandi fell silent.

 

Mei Chi, in turn, tried to comfort her, but her slap of encouragement was so strong it nearly made Ding Xiandi cough up blood. After a fit of coughing, Ding Xiandi gasped, “We’ll go back and visit after graduation. Seriously, our Master must be something else… the records say those mountains are impassable…”

 

“Master fell into our village,” Mei Chi corrected.

 

“What?”

 

“Her airship broke and crashed right into the Bait Humans’ quarters. Everyone in my village thought she was an immortal.”

 

Ding Xiandi couldn’t imagine how backward that place must be if they used the Tianji Command here while Tingzhou remained so primitive. In her original world, Ding Xiandi rarely left home; whether for vacation or international competitions, one of her parents always came along. She had never truly felt the pain of a departure that couldn’t be undone.

 

This was the longest she had ever been away from home, yet Mei Chi’s distance was even greater—a literal world of mountains and water away. But at least Mei Chi’s parents were still in this world. “We’ll go home with you one day,” Ding Xiandi said naturally.

 

Mei Chi puffed out her cheeks and looked at her. “Forget it, Second Senior Sister. The miasma of my homeland is hard to cross even for a Golden Core cultivator. It’s treated as a place of exile; you’d die there.”

 

Ding Xiandi thought she was used to being mocked at the Academy, but hearing it from Mei Chi stung. “Your Second Senior Sister won’t be a failure forever! Just wait until my cultivation skyrockets and I ascend directly.”

 

Mei Chi cupped her face and sighed. “Second Senior Sister, you’d better worry about the Sword Cultivation exam first. If you fail this round, you’ll have to face punishment.”

 

Tianji Academy didn’t keep idlers or failures. Ding Xiandi was a walking precedent for someone who had gotten in through the back door; she was so weak it made the masters’ heads spin. Being at the bottom of the class for the first time, Ding Xiandi felt a sense of helplessness.

 

She stared at the full moon for a moment, recalling the strange flow of spiritual energy after she kissed You Fuling. Suddenly, she grinned. “There might be another way.”

 

“What way?” Mei Chi asked.

 

“You don’t need to know.”

 

She was still focused on the plan to go back with You Fuling, but hearing about Mei Chi’s home, she tucked the thought away in her heart. As she walked Mei Chi back to her apartment, she didn’t forget to say: “Little Junior Sister, I’ll find your family for you.”

 

Mei Chi didn’t take it to heart. She reminded Ding Xiandi they had to go to the library tomorrow; they still had work to finish to earn spirit stones for their living expenses.

 

The Second Senior Sister waved her sleeve crimson silk peeking from hemp robes her silhouette looking strangely carefree.

 

Before Mei Chi could turn around, her sleeve was tugged. Her music cultivator roommate asked, “Mei Chi, did your Second Senior Sister really draw this talisman?”

 

Mei Chi knew nothing of talismans; she only saw the surface. The high-quality yellow paper with gold flecks and the ink with a blueish tint… such quality meant that even with average cultivation, as long as the strokes were correct, the effect would be far superior to ordinary paper and ink.

 

“Yes.” Mei Chi remembered Ding Xiandi pulling it out, and it did indeed have her sister’s spiritual residue. Few people possessed such beautiful golden spiritual energy. “Why?”

 

The smiling music cultivator leaned in, only to be pushed back by Mei Chi. “You have a Dao companion, stay away from me.”

 

The other woman was easy-going. “This is a Supreme-grade Soul-Exiting Talisman. You can’t even buy these with money. My companion happens to need this for her cultivation. If your sister has more, the price is negotiable!”