After Transmigrating into a Book, I Became Partners with My Mortal Enemy - Chapter 7

You Fuling finally realized that the grace and poise she had associated with Ding Xiandi were entirely products of her own imagination.

Her feelings were comparable to a fan losing interest in an idol on the spot, but because it was too noisy outside, she had no time to process it.

Ding Xiandi picked up her discarded Daoist robe, draped it over herself, and walked toward the small bridge to address the onlookers. “What are you looking at? Haven’t you ever seen a dual cultivation session?”

Inside, You Fuling lowered her head just as Ji Ting rushed past.

Mei Chi picked up her bean cake from the floor, her other hand still gripping the hand of the alchemist.

“How could this be! Is the genius of the Heaven-Refining Sect really that desperate?”

“It’s obvious these two have been having a secret affair for a long time. Isn’t Ding Xiandi from the Star Point Sect? Maybe she’s too poor to have an official status, so she’s using Ming Jing to make her lover jealous?”

“They’re playing a dangerous game.”

“I wouldn’t say it’s that bad. They are still one of the three major sects. A starved camel is still bigger than a horse. Who knows if the Star Point Sect still has some peerless secret techniques hidden away.”

Mei Chi retorted, “Our sect is very powerful. You people are the hicks.”

The Star Point Sect only had three disciples.

The eldest senior sister, Fei Bing, was a plump immortal crane. Even though Ding Xiandi lacked the original owner’s memories, she could see images on the Tianji Command of disciples encountering flying birds. The Eldest Senior Sister led a fleet of mechanical cranes everywhere. The only difference was that this Senior Sister loved to relieve herself wherever she pleased, which wasn’t very “immortal” at all.

Ding Xiandi was the impoverished second-in-command, stingy, gloomy, and friendless.

Mei Chi was also a child picked up by their Master. Before she was even properly raised, she was packed up and sent here to study.

Though both were foundlings, the junior sister’s cultivation far surpassed the second senior sister’s, which only made Ding Xiandi look more like a failure. The junior sister’s kindness lay in the fact that she was simple-minded; she spent her days thinking about eating and playing, never practicing her sword. No one knew how the Sect Master had trained her, but she looked more like Ding Xiandi’s personal bodyguard.

Ding Xiandi gave a brief nod, dismissed the idle crowd, and turned to the thin, curly-haired female cultivator. “Who is this?”

Mei Chi, still holding the bean cake the other woman had given her, introduced her cheerfully. “She is,”

She realized she didn’t actually know. She took a moment to study the person in front of her. “Who are you?”

Ding Xiandi thought: Our sect really is on the brink of collapse.

Zu Jinxi replied, “I’m just a passerby.”

She turned to leave, but Mei Chi grabbed her sleeve and said to Ding Xiandi, “Second Senior Sister, I was frozen by a talisman, and she’s the one who released me. So she followed me here.”

A slightly raspy female voice corrected her, “I live across the hall.”

Those living in the Heaven-grade apartments were either disciples of major sects or wealthy rogue cultivators from prominent families. Ding Xiandi gave her an extra look. “Across the hall?”

Ji Ting, who had just entered, received another message on her Tianji Command. She didn’t forget to glare at Ding Xiandi before leaving.

Ding Xiandi pulled Mei Chi close to her side. To You Fuling, who knew the truth about Ding Xiandi’s soul, such intimacy felt strangely piercing. The alchemist in the emerald robe, caught in the crossfire of this inexplicable hostility, tilted her head with a confused expression.

Zu Jinxi was registered under the Moon-Falling Sect. She was older than this group of prominent figures and had heard elders mention You Fuling of the Heaven-Refining Sect. It was only natural for a genius to be arrogant, so she didn’t feel offended. She simply turned and left.

Mei Chi said through a mouthful of bean cake, “I told you she’s a good person. She was just passing by. These other people are the annoying ones.”

She raised her voice and roared at the disciples lingering nearby, “What are you looking at! Haven’t you ever seen a dual cultivation session?”

The term “dual cultivation” always carried a hint of ambiguity. However, Mei Chi’s voice was gruff, and she looked nothing like a delicate lady. She resembled a butcher more than a cultivator. As soon as she finished speaking, the surrounding area erupted in laughter.

The lineage of sword cultivators was long and storied. In the records of the Liuguang Continent, most famous duels occurred between sword cultivators. Even in folk tales, the requirements for a sword person were quite high: they had to be both heartless and passionate, highly cultivated yet compassionate.

Ding Xiandi used to read such novels and think that such descriptions only applied to protagonists. They were a mass of contradictory expectations; a normal person would likely have a mental breakdown trying to fit the mold.

Ding Xiandi was about to drive the people away when, with a loud thud, the stone door of the apartment slammed shut. If Ding Xiandi and Mei Chi hadn’t retreated quickly, they might have been flattened.

Startled, they both turned to look at the cultivator sitting at the table drinking tea.

Mei Chi was so scared she dropped her bean cake. “Second Senior Sister, I think it’s better if you stick to liking Ming Jing. She doesn’t seem like the type to kill you for no reason.”

Ding Xiandi had transmigrated without memories. So far, she only knew that Mei Chi was an oddball picked up by their Master, wasn’t very bright, and was hungry all day long. She didn’t know how the girl had survived this long with such a lack of social awareness.

She stared at a wet stone on the bridge of her foot, lost in thought. Her “weak and helpless” rival was now highly cultivated. Ding Xiandi couldn’t win against her in a physical fight or anything else.

Ding Xiandi pulled her foot out from under the stone. “Junior Sister, did you forget that Ming Jing rejected me?”

You Fuling, sipping her tea, thought: She’s really committed to the role, calling herself ‘Second Senior Sister’ now. I never knew she was such a good actress.

Mei Chi picked up her bean cake. The cleansing spell that ordinary people used for their clothes had become her tool for cleaning food. Just as the dust-free cake was about to fall again, Ding Xiandi caught it and handed it back.

Mei Chi said, “So what if she rejected you? A persistent man can win over any maiden.”

Ding Xiandi’s lip twitched at the nonsense. “I can’t beat her.”

She was even more afraid of losing her mind for love, only to end up with a sword through her heart and her soul extinguished. The cost was simply too high.

Mei Chi swallowed a bean cake in one gulp and mumbled, “You can’t beat me either.”

You Fuling, sitting nearby, was the first to laugh.

Mei Chi followed the sound and lowered her voice. “Sister, have you really been possessed by a spirit?”

Ding Xiandi felt her heart skip a beat. Is it that obvious?

Unexpectedly, the junior sister, whose cheeks seemed to have infinite space for food, puffed out her face and said, “I just don’t think you would like her.”

Cultivators had keen hearing; they could usually hear whispers unless the speaker was naturally loud. Even though Mei Chi spoke softly, You Fuling heard her. She looked down at the petals floating in her porcelain cup, thinking about the rumors she had heard about Ding Xiandi back at school.

People who shine too brightly are always loved, and their names were always mentioned together. In their school days, some students were attracted to the same sex. When they mentioned Ding Xiandi, they didn’t hide their desires. You Fuling, standing on the rooftop, had heard someone ask who would be a good match for Ding Xiandi.

The requirements were someone good-looking, from a good family, and successful in their own right. After filtering through the options, only the sickly You Fuling remained. The person who suggested it laughed, saying it was absolutely impossible. No one asked why; everyone just agreed.

The two families were like fire and water, and the two girls had been competing since they were children. Even if You Fuling were healthy, she wasn’t the type Ding Xiandi would like. She didn’t expect to hear the same thing after dying.

Ding Xiandi replied, “Then just assume I’ve been possessed.”

She and Mei Chi wore the same style of Daoist robes. The difference was that the copper-patterned cloth tying her hair wasn’t elegant at all; it was more like a scrap. It swayed as she moved her head, giving her a casual, almost reckless look that made her words sound unconvincing.

Mei Chi felt that Ding Xiandi was different, but she couldn’t pinpoint exactly how. This was their third month at the academy and their fourth month since their Master had brought them into the sect. Mei Chi still wasn’t close to her Second Senior Sister.

Compared to her, Mei Chi preferred their sturdy Eldest Senior Sister, who was busy earning extra money with the mechanical cranes and had no time for her. Before their Master went traveling, he specifically told Mei Chi to take good care of Ding Xiandi, which was the only reason she was paying attention.

The junior sister was a mystery with thick skin and a tough body. She could protect Ding Xiandi in basic sword classes, but she understood nothing of love. Mourning over a crush was not part of her job description. Once their Master went traveling, he often went to uninhabited areas where even the Tianji Command couldn’t reach, so Mei Chi could only watch and wait.

As long as her Second Senior Sister remained alive, it was enough. If anyone attacked Ding Xiandi, she would still fight to the death.

Mei Chi watched her intently. The transmigrated Ding Xiandi didn’t feel guilty at all and met her gaze openly. She was bold and unafraid of being exposed.

Mei Chi lived by intuition, while Ding Xiandi relied on keen observation to guess people’s personalities. Combining what she knew, she could conclude that the people of the Star Point Sect weren’t actually close to each other.

She asked, “Do you see anything?”

Mei Chi pulled a candy from her pocket and shook her head. “Master said you are different from others. Do as you please.”

Ding Xiandi had no sister. In this new world, she hooked her arm around Mei Chi’s shoulder and asked, with her back to You Fuling, “How am I different?”

As she asked, she reached into Mei Chi’s sleeve to take a piece of candy, showing no reserve. The girl wasn’t protective of her food and repeated the words of the Sect Master who had brought her back from the West Sea: “You are missing part of your soul. You aren’t smart, but you will eventually get better.”

Ding Xiandi thought: Not a single nice word.

She asked, “And now?”

Mei Chi replied, “Not only are you simple-minded, but you also want to become Dao companions with the second senior sister of the Heaven-Refining Sect. Are you crazy?”

She spoke matter-of-factly, her insults sounding flat.

Ding Xiandi burst into laughter and couldn’t help pinching the girl’s round cheeks. “Then just assume I’m crazy.”

Feeling a piercing gaze from behind, Mei Chi sighed. “Second Senior Sister, we are so poor. How can we afford to support a pampered young lady?”

Ding Xiandi didn’t care. “It’s fine. She’s rich. She can support us.”

Mei Chi whispered, “Master said that ‘soft rice’ (living off a woman) doesn’t taste good.”

Given Ding Xiandi’s family background before she transmigrated, she was usually the one people tried to live off of. She found it amusing and patted Mei Chi’s head. “People without talent can’t even get soft rice to eat. Don’t worry,”

Before she could finish, there was another loud thud. Mei Chi was precisely pushed out of the room. In the blink of an eye, only Ding Xiandi remained, standing by the door.

The girl outside scratched her head. Feeling it would be awkward to stay, she turned and left.

Ding Xiandi walked forward a few steps. The Heaven-grade apartment featured an extraordinary indoor scene of a small bridge over flowing water. She looked at You Fuling from a distance, tilting her head. “What’s the matter?”

You Fuling blew the petals away from her tea to hide her inner turmoil, feigning anger. “How exactly do you plan on living off of me?”

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