The young woman from earlier was still staring at her with concern in her eyes. Above her head hovered her name. The light blue writing read: - Ming ZhenYa, disciple of the Xin peak -.

Her eyes widened as it dawned on her who the girl was. She often tagged along with the two main characters and would eventually commit herself to following Liang HaoHan when Shi XinNian would disappear in the Phantom Dimension. She tilted her head while she studied the concerned expression on the other’s face. She had never particularly liked her. It had been obvious the girl had originally had a crush on Shi XinNian, but when things had gotten sticky for the guy, she had abandoned him for a better match. She lifted a hand to her head with a sigh. Remembering the unjustifiably complex relationships that would soon be born she found herself wishing she could re-watch any Spanish soap opera instead. She stood up waving away her novice’s hands. To top it all off she was also one of the best female Cultivators inhabiting the mountain.

“Don’t worry, your Mistress is fine… just too much work… that’s all.” she explained with a grimace.

Only at that point did she notice the delightfully engraved pipe being offered to her. It appeared to be made from sapphires, or at the very least lavishly decorated with them. It shone when sunlight touched it and the wood underneath was almost blindingly white.

“Perhaps it is because in the last few days you have not carried this with you. You must remember not to underestimate your wounds.”

Zhang YueLiang looked at her in confusion while she took the pipe. Wounds? What was she talking about?

“Still holding on to that resentment, Shimei?” asked a male voice behind her.

Turning around she saw the clean-shaven face of a man in his late twenties, but it was hard to determine the age of that kindly and young-looking face. He was sporting a tender and open smile while he fanned himself slowly with a bright blue fan. He was a Cultivator, probably from her own school, considering what he was wearing. She looked up and was surprised to find a delicate gold symbol shining on his forehead, shrouding his soft, dark eyes in even more mystery. Her curiosity piqued, she looked for the ID tag and paled. He was not just any Cultivator. Above his head a silver writing pulsed: - Zhang YouDao, Great Master of the QingLong mountain, Martial Brother to Zhang YueLiang and Sworn Brother to Luo ChongLong, the second out of the five immortals who covered the title of the Ten Celestial Kings -.

He was anything but any old Cultivator, he was the leader of the leaders, one of the most powerful Immortals in the novel. She bowed her head reverently. She was still confused by the words second of the Ten Celestial Kings, she did not remember an honorific of that kind.

“Zhang Da-Ge.” She said, hoping she had not messed up the honorary title. After all, Chinese was not her language. Right, so how can I understand it? She thought in confusion.

Ting.

-龙-

For your convenience you can understand all the idioms spoken in the novel.

Ting.

She just about managed to control her eyeballs that were starting to look up. It would not have been in line with the Original’s behaviour.

The man smiled at her kindly.

“Try not to underestimate the resentment you still carry from your fight. How would I carry on without your wise counsel?”

Zhang YueLiang looked at him thoughtfully. A fight?

Slowly all the information she had on the woman started flooding her mind. She was known as the Exterminator of Resentment, and yet, in spite of her solemn title, she had been wounded during that ancient fight against that powerful Demon. She nodded to herself as she remembered that her spiritual strength was still recovering from the wounds she had suffered and that the medicinal herbs in that pipe were helping her counteract the consequences. As she fished in her pockets for something to light her pipe with, Zhang YouDao smiled at her and snapped his fingers conjuring up a pale blue flame.

“Shimei, please let me.” He said while extending his finger. Zhang YueLiang extended the pipe and breathed in a couple of times. The flavour was pleasant and totally unlike what she had been expecting. She guessed it was a mix of magical herbs that acted on her condition.

Straightening, she started smoking in earnest. To her surprise she started feeling better almost instantly and even the Great Master smiled at the expression on her face.

“Good. I was afraid you would not be able to attend the welcoming of our new students today.”

She choked on the smoke and started coughing, making both Zhang YouDao and Ming ZhenYa worry. She waved them aside as a cold sweat covered her.

“That’s right. Thank you for reminding me Da-Ge, I had almost forgotten.” She replied with a smile.

As soon as those words crossed her mouth, she saw a red flash out of the corner of her eye.

-龍-

You are going out of character. Zhang YueLiang never smiles and rarely thanks anyone, including her Sworn Brother, even though he is technically her adoptive brother. Do not stray from the Original’s behaviour.

She lifted her gaze, but before she could reply she saw Zhang YouDao moving. The man was looking at her in amazement with his arms still extended towards her, then his face opened up in a smile.

“I see you’re in a good mood today, Shimei. Has something pleasant happened?”

Not at all, Great Master! Not at all!

She straightened once more while trying to compose her expression to mimic the cold and icy expression of the horrible person she was meant to be playing.

“Nothing special, Da-Ge.”

Another red flash.

-龍-

Do not overuse the honorific Da-Ge. Zhang YueLiang is not in the habit of pointing out their relationship, especially not around strangers. You should limit yourself to a respectful Xiong-zhang.

Zhang YueLiang sneered, poking her tongue out.

“Any chance you have an even longer title I can use?” she asked sarcastically while she followed Zhang YouDao who was walking ahead.

-龍-

Unfortunately, there aren’t any. However, we are sure you can appreciate the fact the author did not overuse the Chinese names. This way you do not have to remember the personal names, the ones used officially, and the nicknames.

The woman lifted her eyes to the sky.

“I was being sarcastic.” She pointed out in a whisper. She dared to look at the Cultivator still walking ahead of her, she was unsure whether the other characters were aware she was talking to a floating browser window.

-龍-

…

Oh, our apologies, we were not programmed to detect irony. We will make a note for future reference.

After that the window vanished. She was stunned for a few moments, then she shook herself.

“Insufferable.”

“I’m sorry, what was that Shimei?” Zhang YouDao asked her.

She raised the pipe to her lips as she squinted in the way she had always imagined the stiff, famous Mistress did.

“Nothing, Xiong-zhang.” She murmured, as if she were considering the great mysteries of the universe. The man looked amused and stepped next to her.

“Today we have the honour of welcoming the adoptive son of the Liang family, Liang HaoHan. If you have forgotten, as I believe is the case, they are part of the clan of the seventh peak, Wei. They took great care so their child could attend your school, please try and show yourself available.”

“Xiong-zhang, when have I ever dared dishonour your Clan? I will behave as is appropriate for a Mistress of my bearing.” She said, taking another drag from the pipe.

That thing tasted incredibly good. She was grateful she was Immortal or who knew what kind of addiction she would have developed.

Her brother winked kindly in amusement.

“Of course, Shimei, I just wanted to remind you. Furthermore, the young Liag HaoHan will be accompanied by a servant to assist him in his needs.”

She reflexively clenched at her pipe. The servant was Shi XinNian and she knew perfectly well that she would not pass that meeting with flying colours. The two boys, fifteen at the time, had already been accepted into the school a couple of months prior and had already attended the school on the Wei peak for a few years. This was one of the seven mortal branches of the schools located on as many peaks of the QingLong mountain. It was already a teaching without equals in the mortal lands. But the boys, although plagued by misfortune, had had the perfect timing to be welcomed from an early age on the peaks and study following the Immortal rules. This did not happen often, she thought, puffing out a little smoke, seeing how the Cultivators had to climb up the mountains as they made their way through the mortal schools scattered throughout the Middle Realm, that of the humans.

They were the main characters after all, such blatant favouritism was to be expected. Their welcome had been postponed as the boys had had to first pass a test by the other Masters below her. She was already aware she had received a terrible report for Shi XinNian even though the Backstory had not told her.

Ting.

-虎-

We are perfectly aware of that. But we trusted you would remember that. After all, you were matched to the Mistress because of your knowledge of the novel. It was obvious you would remember that detail.

Ting.

That time there hadn’t even been a window open.

That operating system was rather conceited. She wriggled her nose trying to collect her thoughts.

Shi XinNian. This was going to be their first encounter, was it not? She wracked her brain, but since she did not have any other recollections on the matter, she decided that must be the case. Furthermore, this was the reason he hated the Mistress, the cold treatment reserved for Shi XinNian had been obvious from the start and she could not for the life of her understand how the boy could have had faith in her to the point of suffering so much at her betrayal. It was obvious she hated him without reservation. Of course she could also be kind, after all everyone deserves a humane treatment from time to time, but more often than not this happened when Liang HaoHan, still innocent and almost charming, was present, obliging her to act nicely in order to make a good impression.

She was still racking her brain on the subject when they reached the centre of the welcoming pavilion.

Of course, I could take advantage of those moments of kindness to actually be nice to the boy. Afterall I do not care that much about Liang HaoHan, he is the protagonist. What would it matter if he was ignored for a bit? If I could ingratiate myself to Shi, perhaps I might survive. Afterall, my death is still very much a reality in this novel and I would not…

She realised silence was surrounding her while she was still looking for a solution to her dilemma. She looked up to Zhang YouDao in confusion and found him staring at her.

“Shimei?” he asked.

Her heart doubled its speed, but she still tried to maintain a cool and collected manner as she turned her eyes to the two boys kneeling before her. As soon as her gaze landed on the protagonist’s name, she was blinded by a golden light that washed over her.

Darn, he is very obviously the main character.

The name -Liang HaoHan, disciple of the Xin peak­- was shining so brightly it almost made the sun pale in comparison.

“It is an honour meeting you, Mistress Zhang.” He said with conviction in his voice.

Quite daring for the poor and shy orphan the author described…

It was already possible to detect the future beauty of that fifteen-year old’s green body. The hair, surprisingly just plain brown, shimmered with a thousand shades of the colour, and in his hazel eyes you could read that purity that would, supposedly, accompany him throughout the entire novel. She knew well, however, that she should not trust those eyes fully. Underneath that innocence lived an intelligent individual who could sometimes even be cruel. The perfect student for the psychotic Original Zhang YueLiang.