After Transmigrating into a Book, I Became Partners with My Mortal Enemy - Chapter 20.1

After Ding Xiandi left, You Fuling slept soundly through the night. The next morning, she forgot to check the urgent messages on Ji Ting’s Tianji Command and, assuming she still had classes, hurried off.

By the time she reached the Law Department classroom, she found Juan Yuanjia sitting in the back row, who greeted her: “You missed the good show.”

Juan Yuanjia was a sword cultivator, looking entirely out of place in a classroom filled almost exclusively with Law disciples. This was part of her punishment, she had drawn a lot to clean certain department teaching areas, and she had somehow ended up crashing this lecture.

You Fuling asked coldly, “What does that have to do with me?”

“Your Eldest Senior Sister faced off against Ding Xiandi in the last sword class,” Juan Yuanjia replied. “The two of them are in the Medical Hall right now.”

She was about to add that it was just a normal spar, but You Fuling vanished instantly.

The You Fuling who left was a far cry from the girl who usually looked like she would faint after walking a few extra steps. The swordswoman in the purple crown clicked her tongue. “Everyone says You Fuling is physically weak. I bet it’s a front.”

She seemed about to say more, but a feather was suddenly plucked from her fan. Ming Jing, sitting to the side, warned her expressionlessly, “Stop making a fool of yourself.”

Ming Jing wouldn’t have had to go to the Sword Tomb if Juan Yuanjia hadn’t been caught red-handed by the Law Enforcement Cranes and then tried to appeal the verdict. Ming Jing’s perfect Academy record now had a smudge; she had to serve time in the Sword Tomb and clean classrooms alongside Juan Yuanjia.

“I was just being helpful by reminding her,” Juan Yuanjia grumbled.

Ming Jing’s purpose at the Academy was akin to getting a pedigree; she only hoped to secure the true inheritance of the Ming family and wake her sleeping mother. “After the Sword Tomb service, please stay away from me. Our engagement can wait for the elders to discuss its cancellation. There’s no need to cause such a mess.”

Juan Yuanjia froze as she tried to stick the feather back in. Her face was usually full of expression, but she gave an ambiguous smile. “A mess?”

“You should know that if you ascend to the position of family head, you must marry into my Juan family.”

Ming Jing ignored the gritted teeth behind her words. Among the three great clans, the Gong family reigned supreme and had allied with the mining guilds. If the remaining two families didn’t work harder, they would likely be swallowed whole.

Ming Jing didn’t look up. “Weren’t you planning on breaking the engagement anyway? Then don’t take the succession.”

The female cultivators in the Academy varied in appearance. Ming Jing’s looks were dignified and grand, though she lacked the delicate refinement of You Fuling. She shared a similar aura with Ji Ting, but with an added sense of “no turning back” from someone who had climbed out of a quagmire.

As the saying goes, “the rigid is easily broken,” but she was a rigid spirit that only grew tougher. Despite being mocked for her “impure bloodline,” she had fought her way out of a branch family of the Mings to secure a candidacy.

Juan Yuanjia was different. Her older sister had eloped, and the engagement had fallen into her lap. Ming Jing was her counterpart—two unlucky souls pushed together. Even though the formal engagement hadn’t been publicized, the clan elders promised that if either failed to become the head, the deal was off.

Both knew the position had to be theirs, or their families would be at risk. Tianji Academy wasn’t as peaceful as it seemed; other scions from the great clans were lurking, waiting to claim their share.

Juan Yuanjia usually wore a smile, appearing approachable despite her noble status. But when she didn’t smile, her face was naturally cold, like a winter frost. Replacing the feather in her fan, she hid half her face and laughed. “Do you really think this marriage is easy to back out of? If we want to be rid of each other, one of us has to stop coveting that seat.”

Ming Jing’s spiritual energy flowed through her brush, but the final stroke was cut off. The talisman was ruined. She finally looked up, her usually gentle facade replaced by a dark intensity. “I will not give up an opportunity that is within my grasp.”

As long as she received the highest seal of the Academy, she would be the victor in the battle for succession, even if it meant striking down her own kin.

“Juan Yuanjia, you and I are the same kind of person.”

The sword cultivator, having fixed her fan, didn’t reply. She simply gazed toward where You Fuling had gone. “That seal isn’t easy to get. I heard the Academy will release the ‘Divine Invitation List’ early. You can’t finish the tasks alone; you must find someone with an extraordinary destiny to ensure victory.”

Ming Jing recalled the girl’s recent fawning and sneered. “Someone from the Heaven-Refining Sect has an extraordinary destiny?”

“Hasn’t someone already caught one?” Juan Yuanjia closed her fan with a flourish. “As long as we win over those two fools from the Star Point Sect, won’t You Fuling be easy bait? They’d better hurry up and become Dao companions.”

Ming Jing sneered. “Are you a matchmaker now? You sure poke your nose into a lot of business.”

“Are you jealous? Being dumped by Ding Xiandi, you, who are inferior to You Fuling—”

“I think you’re the one who’s jealous,” Ming Jing cut her off and changed seats.

Juan Yuanjia toyed with the white plumes of her fan, as if mulling over that sentence. “Am I?”

When You Fuling reached the Medical Hall, she ran into Mei Chi coming out. Mei Chi didn’t look at her with much kindness. You Fuling remembered Ding Xiandi’s preference for Mei Chi, so she ignored the girl and walked straight in.

“Hey!” Mei Chi shouted.

You Fuling didn’t look back. Mei Chi chased after her, blocking her path. “I won’t let you see Second Senior Sister!”

She had only just come to terms with things last night, but seeing Ding Xiandi get stabbed like that by Ji Ting today had changed her mind. “You and your sister are both bad people!”

Ding Xiandi had transmigrated and fallen into a completely different world. Before, she had everything she wanted, nearly perfect and radiant. In the Academy, the mockery was blatant; she accepted her weak constitution with a grin, and You Fuling didn’t know if she was hiding her sadness.

“I didn’t realize you owned this Medical Hall,” You Fuling said coldly.

Mei Chi was momentarily speechless. The veiled girl stepped around her. Mei Chi blocked her again. “Your sister used an excuse to hurt my sister. Are you telling me you have nothing to do with it?”

Nearby were several alchemists who had arrived due to a furnace explosion. Zu Jinxi was currently escorting a fellow junior sister and caught sight of Mei Chi arguing. She offered a smile. Most alchemists could heal themselves, unless their entire mountain peak had been blown to bits. This explosion had been massive; many had singed hair and ruined robes, and some had even lost fingers. Wails of pain echoed nearby.

The alchemist supported by Zu Jinxi was also from the Moon-Falling Sect but didn’t know this senior sister very well. Zu Jinxi was gentle but a loner. Had it not been for the fact that she would have exceeded the age limit for the Academy and couldn’t be promoted to elder otherwise, she likely would have stayed in the sect forever. Seeing her “unapproachable” senior sister smiling like that made the injured alchemist’s skin crawl.

She followed Zu Jinxi’s gaze. Even the most shut-in alchemist knew of the recent “Leisure Chat” celebrities. The Star Point Sect was the most famous of all. They were known for having a crane, a beggar, and a monster. The girl confronting You Fuling was clearly the monster who could eat fifty buns in one sitting.

The alchemist looked at her senior sister, then at the “monster” who had rolled up her sleeves to fight You Fuling but was being held off effortlessly. Zu Jinxi let go of her arm.

“Can you make it the rest of the way on your own?” the curly-haired alchemist asked, her voice raspy.

The junior sister didn’t dare refuse. “Of course. Thank you, Senior Sister.”

The Medical Hall was lively today. Mei Chi, who had been frozen by Ji Ting before, was once again stuck in place. People passed by, but no one helped. A familiar figure appeared, and the speechless Mei Chi looked at Zu Jinxi with joy.

Zu Jinxi released the spell You Fuling had cast and patted the girl’s soft hair. “You don’t even know how to break such a simple curse?”

Mei Chi nodded matter-of-factly. “I’m an idiot. I only know how to use brute force.”

Before Zu Jinxi could even sigh, she was dragged away by Mei Chi. “A-Zu, come with me. No one helps us in the Star Point Sect. We’re being bullied to death by those mean women from the Heaven-Refining Sect.”

The Medical Hall was divided into many curtained rooms. You Fuling walked past several before she heard Ding Xiandi’s voice.

“It hurts!”

“Of course I didn’t do it to myself! I might be dead last in the Sword Department, but I’m not stupid enough to stab myself like this.”

“I told you it wasn’t on purpose!” Ji Ting’s voice rose.

“So can I say you did it intentionally? Senior Sister Ji, you wanted to cut my head off the first time we met. This time you only stabbed me through—I suppose that counts as being merciful.”

“You’re being unreasonable. I told you, it was an accident!”

“Right, right. It was my own fault. I just happened to turn and walk straight into your unsheathed sword. Such a flexible blade!”

Before even entering, You Fuling heard that signature tone of Ding Xiandi’s. Ji Ting was completely outmatched in a war of words. A crowd of curious disciples had gathered outside, some even standing on the roof to peer in from the side.

“Who stabs someone like that without a personal grudge?” “Aren’t sword spars supposed to be non-lethal? How can an unsharpened blade even sink in?” “It’s the grudge between Heaven-Refining and Star Point. If my beautiful junior sister were being bewitched by a plain beggar into becoming Dao companions, I’d probably do worse.” “I thought the three sects were on good terms.” “That was ten thousand years ago under Taoist Yushan. There’s a difference between family and relatives, let alone a hundred generations of legacy.”

As You Fuling approached, the crowd automatically parted. She pulled back the curtain and ran straight into the master. The Sword Department master was a woman with a wooden hairpin who looked like she had a massive headache. The injured party was currently enjoying the afternoon sun while arguing with Ji Ting for entertainment.

“You aren’t a Law disciple… oh, you’re You Fuling,” the master said.

The two arguing women looked over. Behind the screen, Ding Xiandi’s robe was half-undone, gauze wrapped from her left shoulder to her collarbone. Blood was seeping through the bandage again, likely because she had been waving her arms around. An alchemist sister helping out gave her a sharp pat.

Ding Xiandi didn’t seem to care. She looked at You Fuling naturally, her tone intimate. “Just woke up?”

Ji Ting coughed. Having seen the mark on Ding Xiandi’s lip earlier, she knew exactly what had happened. She tried to explain to You Fuling: “Sister, it’s not what you think.”

“It is exactly what you think,” Ding Xiandi interjected.

“How do you know what my sister is thinking?” Ji Ting snapped. “I think that mouth of yours would be better off if I—”

Ding Xiandi complained shamelessly: “A-Shan, your sister still wants to kill me.”

Ji Ting’s hard-won composure shattered again. “You really love to twist the truth! I really want to kill you right now!”

You Fuling stepped forward to inspect the wound. A training sword from the sword class had sunk in, nearly piercing through. Despite her grinning, Ding Xiandi was deathly pale, and her voice was shaking.

As You Fuling watched intently, Ji Ting tried to explain: “At the time…” She lowered her voice. Mei Chi, thinking Ji Ting was making excuses, was about to speak but was pulled back by Ding Xiandi.

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