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

Once questions of leadership had been resolved, Wu Ling's group progressed as quickly as they could away from the Pilgrim's Road and any signs of civilization. Were the group restricted to the Martial path cultivators among them, they likely would have moved several li further, however, neither Fang Lin nor Yu Jinqi were accustomed to this type of physical exertion.

"I know Brother Fang and I are weak," Yu Jinqi acknowledged when they finally stopped alongside a swift-moving stream to camp for the night. "But Brother Wu isn't a Martial cultivator. How have you kept this pace so well?"

"Never underestimate the legs of a zither player," Wu Ling said with a wry smile as he surveyed the place they'd chosen to rest for the night. "We kneel for hours at a time playing to entertain. Compared to a day of kneeling and playing, a day of walking isn't so bad."

Coming Together