Plum Blossom Crisis

As the door to his room opened, Mingyu looked up. This was the person that had to accompany him from now on. He was both excited and nervous. What should he do? Maybe introduce himself? But that person probably already knew who he was. There were so many people beside him, too! What if he made a fool of himself? Wouldn't that be just horrible?! His hands balled to fists under the cover of his long, emerald robes.

Suddenly, a pair of amber eyes met his own. They made Mingyu's chaotic thoughts come to an abrupt halt. He observed them in fascination, mesmerized by their vividness. Never had he seen eyes like these before. His siblings' and father's eyes were of a deep black, which was also very common in huaxia. Sure, some westerners in his world had blue, grey, or green eyes, he knew that, but Mingyu had never actually met anyone like that. And seeing them on the screen of his smartphone just couldn't compare at all. The pair of intriguing eyes belonged to a handsome young man. He was tall, athletic, and exuded confidence.

'Crimson robes with tiger embroidery... this person should be some kind of warrior then?' he pondered. Well, it would only be natural for a bodyguard to be a martial artist.

In the end, the first to speak was his father. Mingyu turned his attention to Ling He.

"Ah Yu, this is Qi Juan. He will keep you out of harms way. You can rest assured that he is very capable at doing his job. If you have any questions about the things you have forgotten, I am sure he won't mind answering some of them."

As he spoke, Qi Juan nodded his head in confirmation. Ling He continued:

"You can always come to your family, too, of course. Don't worry, just take it slow. Even if you end up not regaining your memories, you can just relearn everything step by step, alright?"

His father gazed at him with an indulgent look on his face.

"Alright." Mingyu confirmed in a small voice.

Though, based on what he had felt while holding his jian, recovering his memories was not impossible. It would probably be best for him to revisit the places his body's old master had spent most of his time in. Well, this was only his guess. Besides that, now that he could freely move around without having to fear affecting others with his physique, he was quite eager to explore.

"Uhm... Bolin, are you free right now?" he said, looking at his brother, who seemed to be scrutinizing Qi Juan with a poorly hidden look of distrust.

Ling Bolin focused his attention back at him. "Of course! What can I do for you?"

"Can you show me some places we used to frequent? I want to try and remember..." Mingyu said hesitantly.

"Naturally! This is actually a great idea, why didn't I think of that?" Bolin exclaimed excitedly.

Ling Suyin perked up at that. "I want to come, too!"

Qi Juan, still standing at the doorway, could barely keep the corners of his mouth from turning downwards. Ling He's sharp eyes seem to have noticed this. He quickly intervened:

"Ah Yin, you can't forget about your studies. Yesterday, you were allowed leave because of a family emergency, but you should really not stay any longer."

Ling Suyin shot her father a proud look. "I don't wanna! Why do I have to be the only one who doesn't get to stay?! Tsk, I'm already way ahead of the others, even if I didn't study for a week, I'd still be the most capable!"

The corner of Mingyu's mouth turned upwards ever so slightly. Watching his sister like this, she seemed to be like an angry little lion, pridefully roaring while trying to show of her grandeur. Ling He wasn't moved, though.

"Come, I will walk you to Fu Yun Peak. I already promised you that if you do well, your mother and I would take you to the foot of the mountain to look at the shops there, didn't I?"

Ling Suyin looked back and forth between Mingyu and their father. Her brother just looked towards Ling He, seemingly unwilling to lend a helping hand.

"Well... I- I guess, but..."

Knowing he almost had her convinced, Ling He went in for the kill. He stood up from the bed and walked to the door, where he turned towards her. Qi Juan moved aside to make space for him.

"What are you waiting for? Didn't you want to tell me all about the things you were going to buy? Come on, let's go."

Ling Suyin was utterly defeated. She sighed and took one last look at her older siblings before following her father out of the room.

Qi Juan glanced towards the shutting door, not hiding the relief on his face. Ling Bolin scowled at him.

"What are you looking so happy for?" he asked, obviously annoyed.

Qi Juan raised an eyebrow. His smooth voice was tinged with slight discontent as well.

"I think you know why."

After analyzing the other's words for a second, Bolin's face turned red as a tomato. "You! How could you be so rude?!"

Only he was allowed to be mean to his sister! This was truly unacceptable! At this moment, even without knowing Bolin's thoughts, one could easily see the resemblance between him and Ling Suyin.

Qi Juan's answer was merely sarcastic snort.

Just like that, the two men's relationship was already beginning to deteriorate.

'This won't do... I should do something to build goodwill between them. Hmm, speaking of goodwill...' While deliberating, Mingyu suddenly remembered the plum blossom charm the deity had given him.

He wanted to feel around to see where it had gone after transmigrating. However, with these two people so close to him, it would not be wise to do so. How would he explain finding a charm like that? His new bodyguard could be convinced easily, but what about that brother of his? For someone who had lived closely together with him, wouldn't this be really suspicious? Additionally, his father had said that they should not accept gifts from strangers, so wouldn't Bolin just take it away, thinking it was for his own good?! With the charm gone, everything would just revert back to how it used to be! He could not let that happen! He had to act now.

Mingyu cleared his throat to get the two people's attention. This was something he had picked up from a certain peculiar heavenly official. To his surprise, it actually worked! The young men, who had started to sarcastically exchange words, paused.

"I would like to get ready so we can go out." he said calmly.

Bolin immediately forgot all about his fight with Qi Juan. "Oh, sure! Let me help you!" he said sweetly as he eagerly walked towards his younger brother.

Mingyu quickly intervened. "It's alright, really. I can do it by myself. Uhm...does our guest have anywhere to stay? Will he be staying in here tonight?"

He was referring to Qi Juan. As expected, Ling Bolin drew his eyebrows together, scowling. "Definitely not!"

Qi Juan grinned when he heard that. He replied in a gleeful tone: "Oh? Why not? I have to be by his side at all times, remember? What if something were to happen after nightfall? You two should be at the foundation stage as well, no? Neither of us really needs sleep. It would be better for the young master and I to be close. At. All. Times."

He looked into Ling Bolin's narrowed, black eyes, deliberately emphasizing the last part of his sentence. The other gnashed his teeth agrily.

"You! Come with me! I will show you to your quarters!" he exclaimed while walking towards the door briskly, grabbing a hold of Qi Juan's arm and dragging him out of the room.

Finally, Mingyu was all by himself. He inspected the bed below him and started feeling around. Then, he felt the familiar coldness of the plum blossom charm underneath his pillow. When he pulled it out, he was shocked! Why did it look much more rugged and beat up than before? It was as if it had aged exponentially since he last saw it. The inscriptions on the charm's surface could barely be read anymore! What was going on here?!