She knew that at some point his behaviour would become more rebellious towards both Liang HaoHan and Ming ZhenYa, and this would bring about the inevitable rift during the Tournament held during the Celestial Meeting. However, she could not have possibly linked it to this event seeing how it had not been narrated. I can’t remember a thing about what happens!

Ming ZhenYa got up quickly and followed him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. His friend also encouraged him to turn back.

“Shi-Ge, why don’t we go to the infirmary? Injuries to the ear bleed a lot.”

“Yes, it is best to stop this, XinNian.”

At those words the dark cloud obscuring his face lifted, and he smiled openly once more.

“Of course Shijie, Gongzi, show the way.” he said, stretching his arm forward. The girl smiled and walked ahead of him together with her Shidi.

The Mistress saw him hesitating but he did not turn back to look for the object. He stood still for a while beneath where she was still floating and bowed his head to then kneel and pick something up to study it. She tried to see what it could be, but seeing the vibrant colour it could not be the earring. The boy had not yet moved, his shoulders had tensed in a straight line and he had been about to raise his head and see her Ming ZhenYa turned around.

“Come on, Shi-Ge!” she called at him waving a hand.

He lowered his gaze once more.

“Coming.” as he said that he walked on to join the other two.

At that, the woman took a deep breath and floated back to the ground to then run to the clearing and fall to her knees. She felt the ground for a while without being able to find anything but then her pipe whizzed past her and stopped to hover a bit further on. She stretched towards it and found, under a light dusting of grass, something cold to the touch. She picked it up and came face to face with the earring speckled with blood. The small sword, which she knew to be silver, had the blade covered in red blood, with just the hilt still clear of it. Her shoulders relaxed as she sighed and she tried cleaning it. Despite rubbing at it with a healthy dose of elbow grease she could not succeed. She was grimacing in disappointment, but then her face opened up in a smile.

“At least I’ve found it.” she said, grateful.

-龙-

+5 points for Empathy!

+5 points for Complexity!

+15 points for Initiative!

Congratulations, you have unlocked the OOC function, you may now direct the plot in a more personal manner and use the hidden object: “Xuelei, the Demon King’s sword”

She froze on the spot.

“It… the sword was the object?”

-龍-

The object to unlock the OOC was also decided upon evaluating your answers, 

as was the character assigned to you.

Make good use of it. Seeing how it holds such sentimental value it will play a rather important role in the future.

And remember, the more time will pass, the more OOC freedom you will have.

We will highlight it should you exceed the current limits.

OOC lv 1, unlocked.

She looked at the window with a rather empty stare.

Level 1? Just level 1? What the heck can I do with that? She sighed. Better than nothing I guess.

She brought her gaze back to the earring which, despite being dirty, reflected the light. The details etched into it were extremely precise, picturing what she thought was the snout of a dragon or a serpent at the tip of the hilt. Miniscule red highlights on it glimmered when hit by sun rays.

“And what am I to do with it?” she asked, tilting her head.

-龍-

The secret story arc you unlocked a while ago is linked to this object. 

You will be assigned a mission when the time is right.

“Is this a novel or a videogame?” she asked critically, but she received no answer.

She took a deep breath and finally decided to get up. What was she going to gain by waiting on that C.S.? She would obtain quicker results if she took up paper and… brush and wrote it by herself.

Her face opened up in a smile regardless, she could go OOC. It had been the one thing she had wanted from the start of that horrible journey. Despite still having to be somewhat aligned with the Original to begin with, she would now be able to help that poor antagonist and even the protagonist better. She left with a spring in her step after having picked up the pipe and having kissed it.

“Thanks, little one.”

The pipe puffed out some smoke making her laugh. It looked so proud of itself.

It was not until that evening that she asked herself a question.

“But what about my sword?”

The world of Cultivation revolved around swords, they were its main mode of expression, but she had never actually noticed that the Original never seemed to use hers.

“C.S.?” she asked in a whisper.

-龍-

Yes?

“If I do not have a sword, what is my spiritual object?”

-龍-

At the moment, your weapon is YuHua, the pipe.

She could not help her smile at discovering its name.

“You are very poetic, aren’t you? - she asked, looking at the pipe on the table. In response, it vibrated slightly. - It is so powerful, it is almost sentient…” she whispered as she ran her hands lightly over it. It puffed slightly.

-龍-

YuHua has been with you since you were young, it was a gift from your father.

Do you remember it was him who led you towards the path of Cultivation against your mother’s wishes?

She nodded distractedly.

“Something along those lines… but what about my sword? Is it not dishonour for a Cultivator not to carry their sword?” she asked.

-龍-

…

You do have a sword.

And with that it disappeared.

“Hey, hey?!” she exclaimed indignantly.

She grumbled and stared at her desk. Only then did she notice out of the corner of her eye a scabbard, brilliant blue with some white decorations. It was on the floor, deserted behind a cupboard, almost disregarded. She suddenly launched into movement, rushing towards it to grab at it. The hilt that protruded from it was wonderfully decorated with aquamarine stones and what seemed to be sapphires on a white background. Just like her pipe. It ended with an ornament that reminded her of a flower bud. She swallowed, feeling a peculiar shiver run through her. It was a cocktail of excitement and fear, with a bittersweet aftertaste at the back of her tongue. She pulled at it as she took a deep breath, extracting the blade that was as immaculate as a pearl. And yet, she noticed in dismay, it was interrupted, as though brutally broken. Her heart stopped.

The Broken Blade she thought.

What a fool she had been. She was the Broken Blade. Certain Immortals and even some mortals called her that because they did not like her, thus highlighting her biggest failure which happened at the same time of her much celebrated triumph.

During the great battle with the Demon who had once been JiShan, her sword - which she had obtained only a year prior - had broken due to a hesitation on her part. However, the details of such a tragic event were unknown.

She felt a knot form in her throat as she felt what was only a whisper of spiritual power in the weapon. Then, her eyes fell below the cross-guard where the letters of its name were etched, slightly bigger than the others around it.

“Wufan.” her voice barely a whisper. A soft glow enveloped the blade, but it was hardly visible.

The story arc she had unlocked revealed her origin story.

“C.S.?” she asked.

The window burst to light.

“When will the story arc become available?” she asked softly.

-龍-

At the right time.

She closed her eyes as she took a slow breath in and sheathed the blade once more.

“I am sorry, Wufan, I had forgotten about you.” she said, caressing the scabbard. She knew it had broken in four pieces, only one of which had been found. It was totally unusable and the Original had refused to look for a solution.

Of all the stupid things that happened in that novel, that story had hit her differently and deeply because full of an unusual melancholy for a character who was mostly an asshole. After that loss, and probably after the loss of JiShan too, she had refused to use another blade, limiting her capacities greatly. Considering she was a martial Immortal and not a civil one, fighting ran through her veins. And yet she had taken up YuHua and never held a sword again.

She did remember though that the sword projected by YuHua during the demonstration had been Wufan.

She sighed and put the sword on the table reverently before turning around and freezing on the spot.

Shi XinNian looked at her with his beaten up face and a big bandage soaked in blood wrapped around his left ear, but his eyes were pools of astonishment and confusion.

Did he see Wufan? She took a step back. The sadness on my face?

Was that not a massive OOC moment? Even if it were allowed, would it not be too much?

And yet, there was no glaring light and no voice announcing point deductions. 

She lowered her gaze and saw he held a plate with some cut up leaves. The boy bowed quickly and spoke with a tone that gave her chills.

“I just wanted to bring you more leaves. This morning I did not notice you had run out, Shizun. Forgive me.” he whispered.

She bit her lip as she recalled Yuhua to her. It comforted her having the pipe nearby, and it emanated a welcoming warmth as she stroked it.

“You may leave them there.”

The boy bent his head and quickly approached the table. He stood up once more but did not immediately step away. As he nibbled on his lip he clenched his fingers against his stomach.

“Are you well? Do you need anything?” he asked gently.

OOC! OOC! OOC! She repeated it to herself as if it were a mantra.

She should not give in to those kind and worried eyes. Although she had won some creative freedoms, her ten points for Coherence wavered above her head like Damocles’ sword.

“Of course.” was all she said.

Neither moved. Him, because he could not unless he was dismissed, and she could not help but stare at that terribly wrapped bandage. Who had put it there? Did she have to teach Ming ZhenYa or Liang HaoHan first aid?

“What happened to you? And who wrapped that bandage?” In the end she decided to ask. She sat at the small table.

I have one OOC level, right? So I can do this, right? Right? She thought, praying no red lights would start blaring. To her immense relief, they did not.

The boy however had stiffened.

“Do not worry, Shizun, this disciple slipped. I… I wrapped the bandage myself.”

She stared at him in surprise. It was hard to take care of that kind of injury on one’s own. She sighed, mentally cursing herself in all the languages she knew - minus the new one, she already had enough.

“Come here.” she encouraged him, patting the cushion next to hers.

Shi XinNian hesitated for a second, but then quickly proceeded to do as he was asked. Zhang YueLiang spent some time looking for the bandages she knew were in one of her cupboards. Once she found them she also took out a pouch of herbs that was nearby. She knew that many had soothing effects on infections, so they were perfect for an injury such as his. Plus she remembered a few notes from the novel itself about how things like this were dealt with; once or twice the protagonist had done so to help his companions.

She put some in her mouth and started chewing to create a paste. In the meanwhile she had turned back to him and had started slowly unwrapping the bloodied bandages to reveal the ear that was still bleeding. She used all her might not to be sick, and a great feat it was considering how bitter those herbs were. She squinted a bit and started wiping away the blood from the boy’s ear with a clean cloth she had dipped in a bowl of water.

Shi XinNian was as still as a statue, every muscle in his body was tense and quivering all at once.

What was Shizun doing? Was she really nursing him? Was it truly Zhang YueLiang? The same woman who had seen him whipped and simply walked on? He was so shocked he hardly felt the pain of the injury. His heart was beating double time, and he had to force himself not to show the tremor of his hands.

Not even Liang HaoHan’s adoptive parents had had so much care for him, and he thought of them as the kindest people. But he had always taken care of his own injuries. When the woman’s hand went over a particularly sensitive area he was overtaken by excruciating pain, but he clenched his hands and suppressed the whimper of pain; she was already doing so much for him, he would only be insulting her by bothering her with his weakness.

Zhang YueLiang stopped what she had been doing when she noticed the boy’s shoulders go rigid, with a frown she tried to lighten her touch.

He could just tell me if I am hurting him! 

Then she grimaced looking at the lacerated ear lobe, it would never heal properly and he’d have to keep it like that, split. She breathed deeply through her nose as she spit out the paste she had made and she tried to apply it to his ear without hurting the boy. She then wrapped his head almost entirely to protect the wound.

“You will have to change the bandages and salve every day. Ask Ming or Liang to help you. Or you can go to the infirmary and tell them I sent you.make sure you check it regularly and it will heal eventually.” she said in a practical tone as she tied off the bandages. She lowered her hands and only then noticed he had not turned in her direction once. She tilted her head and waved a hand in front of his face.

“Hey?” she asked.

Not receiving a response, she bit her lip and looked around. And yet, nothing was happening. She was overwhelmed by doubts, how could she not have gone OOC? She shook her head with a tentative breath and turned towards him once more. 

The boy was clenching his hands and biting down on his lip. He got up suddenly, almost scaring her to death, and closed his eyes, but the tears he was trying to hide glittered on his eyelashes.

“Of course, Shizun. This disciple thanks you greatly. You… you shouldn’t have bothered. But I will take care to look after myself as Shizun desires.” and without waiting for an answer he ran out of the room.

Zhang YueLiang still had her hand lifted mid air, almost about to call him back, but she was so surprised by his behaviour that she was still unable to move. Then she smiled and took up her pipe.

“I hope you’ll remember this when you’re ripping out my heart.” she said, shaking her head.

-龙-

+5 points for Empathy!

+10 points for Complexity!

She squinted at the window. She could understand complexity, but where were the empathy points coming from?

Maybe the wound? So it was not OOC, but rather a merit now?

She raised her gaze and looked at the door through which Shi XinNian had made his escape and remembered his worried expression. She really wished she could share her complicated feelings with someone. She knew it was not hers, but it felt so real she was forgetting all other details, either due to her incompetence as a reader. Or, probably, the writer’s.