JustJae

Following his father's murder, Wu Ling's mother returned to the life of a courtesan, disguising her young son as a girl to take refuge in the Bamboo Silk House, a women's only sect dedicated to the arts. Now, as his powers awaken, he'll find himself torn between protecting his family and the goals of powerful cultivators who see him as a means to an end. 

"Wu Ling, I've accepted a marriage proposal on your behalf," the bewitching Hall Master of the Bamboo Silk House declared. "When you enter the Inner Sect, you'll enter under the name 'Hua Qianhu', fiancee of a young lord of the Liang family." 

"Hall Master, that's impossible!" Wu Ling protested. "Even if you ignore my relationship with Meifeng, I might have dressed well enough to hide as a mortal woman but I could never..."

"So you truly didn't realize what you were doing," the Hall Master said, a dark smile on her lips. "Little Ling, you're a natural-born Shapeshifter. I'll teach you what you need to know," she said, her features shifting until she looked like a mirror image of the stunned Wu Ling. "As long as you follow my arrangements and learn my techniques, it isn't impossible for you to reunite with Meifeng..." 

"But you should consider Young Lord Liang carefully," the Hall Master added. "His affection for you is genuine. Perhaps, one day, you'll even feel the same for him..."

Unparalleled Artist: Unlikely Hero

The next day, Wu Ling once again dressed up in one of the elegant outfits prepared by Alchemist Huang Yeyan, this time in rich red brocade patterned with flames and accented by the red-tinged golden fur of the Burning Yang Sun Bear.

Looking in a polished bronze mirror at the smokey eye makeup and dark red lip stain he'd applied, Wu Ling tried to see if he could detect the signs of reshaping his face that the Hall Master had spoken of but no matter how hard he looked, nothing stood out as 'different' from his normal face.

Perhaps it was because this was the face he expected to see reflected in the mirror when he dressed up like this, but nothing felt out of place about his appearance. Sweeping his long, dark hair to one side, he set the simple arrangement with a gold and garnet hair comb before smiling darkly at his reflection in the mirror. "Perfect," he said with an even wider grin.

A Chess Player’s Advice (Part One)