viii

When Lan agreed to let Liwei find a new name for him before they went out, he didn't expect that she'd take it so seriously. He thought she'd choose the two first characters that crossed her mind and be like 'ok, that's perfect !', but no ! She took out a paper and a brush, started to write a lot, and was now proceeding by elimination.

Lan doubted that they would be able to exit the house before nightfall. He went to open the windows, and by looking at how low the sun was in the sky, he estimated that it was about six pm.

"Come back here !" Liwei called from the low table. "What if someone sees you from outside ?"

Lan obediently walked away from the window, "Will a bad person recognize me here too ?"

He sat down across from her, seeing the ink-filled paper in front of her. She looked up at him, her expression a bit complicated.

"That's the problem —I don't know. Even if I have my doubts, it'd be careless to jump on absolute conclusions, so right now I can't tell you much."

"I understand. Then I'll be careful like you told me."

Liwei nodded. "Good."

Lan gave a small smile, before propping his chin in his hands, which were resting on the table. "So, did you find a name ?"

She crossed out another character, before raising her head. "I did ! Tell me what you think about it."

She handed the paper to him. The top was completely messy, crossed out everywhere. His gaze grazed over some still visible characters, such as the one for 'dream' or the one for 'moon'. [1]

On the other hand, the bottom was neat. There were two characters framed in a clumsy rectangle. Lin Xi.

Lan repeated it in his head a few times, trying to see how it sounded. Lin Xi. Lin Xi.

Lin... It was the character for 'forest', but she must have chosen it because it sounded similar to 'Lan'.

Xi... This character could actually be found in a lot of words, such as 'gladness'. Since she mentioned him saving her a couple of times, it must have been the reason it came to her mind. [2] At least that is what came to Lan's mind.

In any case, the name sounded all right. That, but he didn't want to wait another hour for the next suggestion to come to him. Thus, he lifted his head with a small smile.

"I like it. Let's go with this one."

Liwei returned his smile, "Oh. Let's go then."

Lan was overjoyed. He happily got up and started to make his way to the front door.

"Wait !" she called from behind, as she stood up too.

Lan's smile instantly dropped, and he turned around. "What ?"

"I told you you couldn't let anyone see you, have you already forgotten ?"

"Ah right, you did. Then... were you joking and I can't go out ?" he sounded very disappointed.

Liwei sighed, "Couldn't you think of something else ?"

"Like ?"

"Covering your face, maybe ?"

"Oh... that's also a solution." he nodded.

Liwei breathed out a laugh, as she shook her head. "Wait for me here, I'll bring you a veil."

"Okay."

As she left, Lan walked up to the silver mirror hanging on the wall. But when he looked at himself, his eyes widened. He looked the exact same, nothing had changed ! Not even his moles, but... why was his hair so long ? They were tied on top of his head in a messy bun, but he didn't even realize something felt different until now !

After a few seconds, he calmed down. Honestly, he should have expected it. There were a lot of things he didn't think about after he woke up. To his defense, he barely got a second of peace and his mind was already full.

He undid his hair and redid them in another bun. He still didn't know how to use a ribbon to tie hair, so although it looked neater, it still wasn't that good. He couldn't be bothered with it for the time being, so he shrugged it off.

Liwei came back with a black veil. Lan wondered if all of her belongings were either black or red. At least so far, he didn't see her with any other color.

"Here." she handed it to him.

Lan took it, "Thank you."

He was still standing in front of the mirror, so he turned around, placing it accurately, before tying it behind his head. He had already worn a face-mask in his original world, but a veil like this was a first. It looked elegant, and Lan really liked it.

"Should we go ?" Liwei said.

"Yes, let's go."

They walked out, and Liwei guided him to the left.

"Where do you want to go ?" she asked. "You surely don't know a specific place here, but I mean what kind of place do you want to go to ?"

Lan thought about it before answering, "Is there any kind of shop or market around here ?"

"Yes."

"This place... looking at it like that, it looks big and there are a lot of shops and inns and everything. Then why is it still called a village ? It looks to me more like an actual town."

"There used to be only a few houses around here, and you could walk the whole village very quickly ! But it evolved into an actual town these last years. It's still referred to as a village, and some outsiders call it the 'Village Town'." she explained.

"Wouldn't it sound better to outsiders if they actually called it a town ? It would attract more people, wouldn't it ?"

Liwei shrugged, "In a way, yes. But with sayings like 'the biggest village you'll ever see' or 'a village that looks better than a town', it still piques people's interest."

Lan nodded slowly, "I didn't think about it like that. It makes sense."

They arrived at the market. It was bustling with all kinds of people, buying either for themselves or their close ones.

"What are you interested in ?" Liwei inquired.

"I don't know... I've never been to a place like this, so I want to see everything !" he smiled.

Liwei smiled back. Lan hadn't noticed before, but she had dimples too —on each cheek, contrary to him.

"It's fine, we have plenty of time."

Lan beamed when he saw that she was okay with his request. "Great ! Let's not waste any !"

They walked from stall to stall, sometimes asking the owners what a certain item was. They were now at a jewelry stall. Lan had never seen so many gemstones before —from jade, to ruby, to sapphire, and some he couldn't even identify !

"Young man, is there anything you like ?" the old man behind the stall smiled as he asked.

"I don't know... everything looks very nice !" he smiled.

"Then why not go with something useful for you ?"

"Useful ?"

"These are not just any stones ! They're spiritual stones collected at the foot of the Immortal Peak."

"The Immortal Peak ?"

There was only a vague mention of this place in the book, and it wasn't even given any context. It was easy, but Lan still had to guess himself that it was the place where Immortals lived.

He had an Immortal beside him, so he looked at her to see if she had any reaction. She was standing with her arms crossed and had the same blank expression, but one of her eyebrows was raised.

"Where is that ?" Lan asked her.

"How would I know ?" she scoffed.

Lan thought she was really good at pretending —maybe as good as him, and he's been pretending his whole life !

"Oh, right." he chucked and turned back to the man. "Sir, how do you get to the Immortal Peak ?"

"Of course it's not me !" he laughed. "How can an old man such as me go through such a journey ? But my three sons are still young and healthy, so they go instead."

"Is it allowed ? I mean, the Immortals, do they allow it ?"

"Why wouldn't they ? They throw the stones down for us ! The Immortals are really deserving of their power ! If not them, then how would mortals have such an easy life ?"

"What do they do ?"

The man was stunned when he heard this question. It wasn't like it was said in the book. Yes, they were Immortals, but then what ? Nothing ! Lan was an Immortal now, but he had to go out of his way to collect information about his own job ! Fortunately, he had supposedly lost his memory, so no one would question it.

"Well," the man answered, "not mentioning the stones, they protect us from demons and spirits, they offer the rain and sun when we need it. They're very reliable."

"Oh ? They can do that ?"

"Of course ! The Immortals, they're almost at the same levels as the Gods !"

"I see." he turned to look at Liwei and saw that her expression was still the same. He turned back to the man, "Then can you tell me what use they have ?"

"Sure !"

The man talked for ten minutes, explaining the use of a few pieces exposed.

"And if you look at this one," he continued, showing a necklace with a jade pendant in the form of the moon, "it's a soul calming stone. If one wears it well during their life, it'll prevent their soul to turn into a ferocious ghost after their death, and will guide them through the afterlife until reincarnation. This one," he showed a golden bracelet embedded with yellow stones, "it's made with gold and yellow jade. Although some people think it's a piece for women, it's in fact for men !"

"What does it do ?"

"Actually it's very rare ! If you notice, it's the only one I have. What does it do ? Well, it gathers one's internal strength and makes it flow better through the body, so after a hundred days, you'll realize that you're getting physically stronger !"

Liwei sneered, "Really ?"

The man looked at her, "Yes. We all have inner strength, but it usually shows with people that do manual work. For those who don't, then this bracelet is what they need !"

"Oh." she smiled, but it was obvious even for a blind person, that it was fake.

Lan looked at her confusedly. He still couldn't understand what kind of person she was. One second she was very nice, the other she was cold, and then she was sarcastic.

Liwei turned to face him, and her smile changed. This time, it was a true one. Lan returned it and threw his questions in the back of his mind. He had the time to get to know what kind of person she was, so why think about it now ? It was still his first day in this world after all —yes, it had been five months, but he officially decreed this day the first one !

"Young man, is there anything you found useful ?"

Before Lan could even think of whether or not there was something he liked, it hit him —he didn't have money ! He didn't have any financial issues in his original world and didn't need to think twice before buying what he wanted. But what about here ? Not only did he transmigrate without his money, but even if he did, what use would it have here ?

"Uh... first can I have the price ?"

"It varies. For example, this ring is... uh, five gold ingots, but this necklace has two stones and is made with jade so it's seven gold ingots."

Gold ? He didn't even have rocks with him !

It wasn't that much of an issue for him if he didn't buy anything. But after he made the man talk for so long, how could he simply tell him that he never planned on buying ?

"Which one do you want ?"

"Which one..." he helplessly glanced at Liwei.

He wanted her to help him escape ! But once their eyes met, she smiled and reached for her sleeve. She took out a small red money pouch. Lan didn't know how to argue with her about it. Not only the man would realize he didn't have money to begin with, but if she argued back, wouldn't they cause a scene ? Besides, in this traditional world, what would people think if a young lady paid for a young man's jewelry at the market ?

"I knew it." Liwei grabbed his sleeved wrist and stuffed the pouch in his hand. "You never remember that your money is with me !"

Lan was shocked. This money pouch clearly wasn't his !

"What ?"

"You asked me to keep it before we left, didn't you ? Next time, I won't remind you and just keep the money." she pretended to joke.

Lan didn't know how to refute her words. She was trying to save him from the embarrassment of taking a girl's money, he couldn't make her pass for a liar. He clenched the pouch in his hand, mentally promising to pay her back whenever he can.

He plastered a smile on his face, "Then I won't forget next time. Thank you."

Liwei just smiled at him, and he turned back to the man. He looked down at the pouch in his hand and had to take a deep breath before opening it.

You're going to pay her back, you're going to pay her back,..., he repeated this phrase over and over in his head to give himself courage.

But before he could open it, Liwei's voice resounded beside him.

"By the way sir."

"What is it ?" his tone was more hostile when talking to her than to Lan.

"How come your shop is so cheap ? If I knew it before, then I wouldn't have bought this necklace for a hundred gold ingots." she mentioned to a silver necklace with a ruby pendant around her neck.

The man's eyebrows furrowed deeply, "What are you insinuating ?"

Liwei pretended to be surprised, "Eh ? I didn't say anything, I just complained about how expensive it was in other places. Old man, why are you getting angry ?"

As she said that, embarrassment was added to the man's anger, but it just made him even angrier.

"You- you-" he clearly didn't know what to say.

"Old man, could it be that there was really something to insinuate ?"

"There wasn't !" he yelled, his cheek turning red from anger.

"Oh but I think there is. You haven't been a merchant for a long time, have you ?"

"I come from a family of merchants ! I've done this my whole life !"

"Have you ? Then how come you don't know that the prices you gave would be cheap even for non-spiritual jewelry ? I really bought this for a hundred gold ingots, and it's not spiritual at all."

"You're lying !" he pointed at her.

"Then do you want me to ask any woman here how much they buy theirs for ?"

A small crowd had formed around them, and they whispered among themselves.

"It's true I never saw this man before, he never had a stall here !" a man said.

"This lady is right, jewelry is so expensive !" a woman complained. "How can he sell spiritual ones for so cheap ?"

"Right ? Then we could just buy everything from him !" another one answered.

"I used to sell jewelry too, and I never got angry at someone for making comments like that, cause I could prove they were made with real stones." another man added.

"This man... that's why we can't let just anyone establish a stall to sell ! Look how easy it is to scam people !"

"It's a shame."

Liwei smirked, seeing how the man's face was entirely dark red.

"This is all because of you !" the man pointed at Liwei again.

She scoffed, "My fault ? You see old man, I was talking casually, but it's you who yelled and attracted everyone's attention. Besides, if you were honest then it wouldn't have happened either."

Before he could utter anything else, Liwei turned on her heels and disappeared through the crowd. Lan followed closely behind.

"You knew all along that they were fake ?" he asked, once they were a few steps away.

Liwei was walking ahead of him, her arms still crossed on her chest, but once he talked, she stopped and waited for him to catch up.

"Yes."

"How ?"

Since she was an Immortal, she wouldn't have any issue feeling the energy around these stones. But if she could admit that she knew, it probably meant there was another way, which Lan wanted to know.

"First of all, Immortals don't throw spiritual stones for mortals to collect. If they did and everyone could get them, then why are they still so expensive on the market ? Everyone —no matter their kind— is greedy, no matter how righteous they're supposed to be."

Lan nodded as he listened.

She continued, "Besides, I never heard of any stone that can gather your internal strength and make you as strong as someone who does manual work. It simply does not exist, but was clearly made up so young men would buy it."

Lan nodded, "You should be right. Well, I don't even know what stones exist or don't exist."

"You lost a lifetime of memory after all. Until you remember everything, be careful when buying things in the streets. Although this place is more flourishing than it used to be, it hasn't been long and they're not used to luxury yet and have no concept of it —except for a few. That's why they're easy to scam."

"Okay, I'll be more careful." he then extended his arm toward her, revealing her red pouch. "Then you can have this back."

Liwei looked down at it but didn't uncross her arms. After a few seconds, she looked back up at his face.

"You can keep it for now."

"I can't do that !"

"Look at it this way : until things get sorted out, you need money for yourself don't you ? Then what's better ? Keeping a good sum with you and using it whenever you need, or asking me every time you need something ? And don't tell me you won't need anything. That's a first. Secondly, if you ever borrow from me outside, then people won't let you off the hook. Everyone knows everyone here, and your reputation will be that of a man courting women to use them." she made a small pause. "So you just keep it."

After listening to her, Lan felt that she was making sense again. He couldn't argue with anything she said.

"I'll be sure to pay you back whenever I can. But what if I happen to be unable to ?"

"We'll figure it out when the time comes."

Lan retracted his hand, as he nodded. "Then thank you a lot."

"It's fine."

~

[1] character for dream : 梦 (meng), and for moon : 月 (yue).

[2] Lin : 林 means forest ; Xi : 喜 is a character found in other words, like 'happy' or 'to be fond of' as well.