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

<p>Down the street from the Villa that Wu Ling's group occupied, two men sat in a private dining room of a small restaurant, sipping heady wine while they waited for their next round of dishes to arrive. Neither of the men sat comfortably and each of them seemed sunk deeply into their own thoughts as they picked through the remains of their first round of dishes with their chopsticks.</p>

<p>"So," Fang Lin finally said, giving up on finding any more morsels of meat among the excessive amount of onions the restaurant used in their dishes. At home, he couldn't remember ever having been served such mediocre food and even Wu Ling's cooking at camps had been better. Or maybe it was just that he'd come to like it when Hua Qianhu cooked for him, even if the flavors weren't as refined as he was accustomed to. </p>

Words Over Wine