We set out early in the morning. Lin Hu and I ride on the same horse, a fine ginger stallion with a tuft of white hair on its chest. I have my arms wrapped around Hu in what he says isn’t a romantic gesture but I know totally is. I can’t believe I’m riding alone, with the love of my life! I was so happy when Xia Lei came down from the mountains specifically to ask me to join Lin Hu in visiting his family. Father didn’t really care, and hastily gave his assent so he could be with Chang Ying again. I bet he’s secretly hoping I die in the Fulian Overpass so that he doesn’t have to bother with me anymore, but too bad for him. I’m not scared of any monsters, and I’m sure I can charm or fight off any that appear. The Fulian Overpass isn’t really much of a road, just a trodden-down narrow path through the Heiye forest. Twisting tree branches swing above our heads, making us duck, and the whole forest has a rotten smell. Black vines wind down the trees, entangling them, and there isn’t any other living being in sight. I can see why this path is notoriously dangerous. We ride for some time before Hu breaks the silence.

“Lisu, we’re heading into an especially dangerous area with evil spirits and monsters. So you need to listen to what I say, alright?”

“Don’t worry, if anything happens, I’ll protect you. You don’t need to tell me twice!” I reply enthusiastically, which causes Hu to shake his head. I wonder what he’s shaking his head at. Is it my cuteness?

We continue on riding, and I don’t complain at all even though my legs are numb from being wrapped around the horse for an entire day. Finally, Hu stops the horse at a copse in the woods.

“I need to hunt for food. Just stay next to me and be quiet so I can hear the prey,” he says. 

“Ok, I’ll be super quiet,” I reassure him. Hu grabs his bow and walks around, trying to hear signs of prey. Eventually, he manages to shoot down a pheasant.

“Cool, can I try?” I ask.

“I guess, just be careful,” he replies. “So you nock the arrow like this-”

Before he can finish, I’ve already nocked the arrow perfectly and sent it flying into the air, where it hits two pheasants perching in a nearby tree at the same time, sending them crashing down to the ground. 

“Or you could use your mary sue-ness to cheat,” Hu sighs. 

“Thanks!” I beam. “Should I hunt some more?”

“No, we have enough,” Hu replies, rolling up his sleeves to prepare the birds for cooking.

“Let me help with that,” I say, perfectly defeathering the birds in seconds and handing it back to him. “Actually, I’ll start the fire too. No offense, but I’ll probably start it faster than you.”

Hu rolls his eyes but lets me continue. I rub two sticks together, and after a couple of seconds, sparks begin flying out. I throw the sticks into the fire pit, where it roars into a bonfire. Hu mutters something that sounds like ‘impossible’. After carefully adding more kindling, the fire is ready for cooking. Then we sit around it, waiting for the birds to cook. Hu pointedly avoids looking at me. I decide to break the awkward silence with a story about how I was in a flower-arranging competition with my sisters and I won by a large landslide, but Hu speaks before me. “Do you want to know more about the wugong cultivation system?”

“Okay!” I reply. This must mean he wants to bring me into his life more, which is what I’ve been waiting for the entire ride. 

“Well, there are four main ‘stages’ and nine levels in each stage. The four stages are Early, Middle, Late, and Peak. So far, no one that we know of has reached the Peak stage yet, and the strongest cultivators like Master Xia and my father are only in Level 1 or 2 of the Late stage.”

“Oohh, so how long does it take to reach a level?” I ask. If it’s easy, then maybe I could learn too. I mean, without wugong, I’m already amazing but I could become even more amazing with the power of cultivation. 

“First you have to form a qi core, which takes a long time. Then you have to meditate or fight monsters until you level up, but this also takes a long time and you need to have advanced techniques to rank up quickly. Many soldiers in the Emperor’s army are only Early stage Level 1. Most normal wugong cultivators who have trained for decades are somewhere in the late Early stages or beginning Middle stages. I’m in the Early stage level 6, which is actually pretty advanced for someone my age, although that’s because I started training at a young age with a wugong master.”

“Wow, you’re so cool, but not as cool as me,” I praise him, which for some reason doesn’t make Hu smile. “Also, what happens at the Peak stage?”

“You become a god or goddess,” Hu explains. “There have been legends of wugong cultivators who finally reached the Peak stage and achieved godhood.”

I nod. “Well, since you’re good at wugong, we don’t really have to worry about evil spirits! You must have scared them all away, because I haven’t seen any. Or maybe I scared them all away with my pure brilliance.”

Hu frowns. “This part of the forest is dangerous, not because of evil spirits, but because of animals.”

“Animals? Like bears? They seem less dangerous than evil spirits.”

“No, animals or plants called yao that have achieved sentience and cultivate to achieve godhood, just like humans. However, many of the yao around here are evil and try to kill travelers in order to further their cultivation process.”

“Oh,” I say. “So there's probably an evil rabbit around here that wants to become a god and kill me?”

“Yeah, basically.”

I nod, understanding. The fire crackles, and we look down to see that the pheasant has roasted to a crispy brown color. Hu divides the pheasant between us, and we wolf down our dinner before setting out our bedspreads for the night.

“I know you’re not used to sleeping in the wild, so if you’re scared, just tell me,” Hu says. “Although I think you won’t be.”

“Of course I won’t! I’m fine with sleeping in the wilderness, I’m not like Liling!” I say, indignant. Hu shrugs, and we lay down to sleep.

—

After a breakfast of leftover pheasant, we continue on through the forest until we reach the town of Luoyang. At first sight, it’s slightly bigger than Fulian, but by a slim margin. However, Luoyang is surrounded by a guard wall, with guards that swing the big doors open and closed. 

One guard peers down at Lin Hu as we arrive. “It’s Lin Jian’s son. Open the doors!”

The doors creak open slowly, revealing a bustling city full of life. Luoyang may only be as big as Fulian, but it's much livelier. Merchants line the streets, shouting out advertisements for steamed baozi and dumplings. People, on foot and in carriages, rush around the streets, chattering excitedly. Workmen pull wagons full of produce through the busy streets. It reminds me of the hustle and bustle of the capitol, where I used to live, a stark contrast from the empty streets of Fulian. For a moment, I feel a pang of homesickness, but I brush it away because someone as awesome as me shouldn’t feel sad having to live in hard times. Hu waves to a group of people standing in the middle of the street, which must be his family. There is a middle-aged man wearing guard gear, along with a girl a few years younger than me and a young man.  

“Second Brother! You’re back!” the girl tackles Hu to the ground before he can speak.

“You’re crushing me,” Hu says, but he’s smiling. I wish he could smile at me like that too. But trust comes in time, and I know he’s slowly, but surely, warming up to me. 

The girl notices me and looks up. “Who are you?”

“This is Ma Lisu, daughter of Ma Fu. Father, you and Brother met her long ago. Her family just moved to Fulian,” Hu explains. “Lisu, this is my younger sister, Lin Yan.”

“Wow, Lisu, you’re so pretty!” Yan says. “I wish I could be as beautiful as you when I grow up. You are so cool, I wish I could’ve met you back when Second Brother did.”

“And then it begins,” Hu groans to himself. I don’t know what he’s talking about, but then again, I never really understand his thoughts. 

“Hey, is she your girlfriend?” the young man, who I now remember to be Long, asks.

“No,” Hu says at the same time I say “Yes.”

Long narrows his eyes. “That’s such an amazing girl you have a chance with, and you’re throwing it away?”

Hu rolls his eyes. “I barely know Lisu.”

“Well, I’ve only met her once and we were running for our lives back then, yet I’m still in love with her,” Long tells him. “Anyways, if you decide you don’t like my brother, I’d be happy to be your confidant. I’m going to pass the imperial examinations and become a court official, which is much better than my lame brother who’s spending his days with a weirdo on a secluded mountain.”

“Master Xia is not weird,” Hu says firmly. “He just has a different way of thinking. It’s not polite to call people who are neurodivergent a ‘weirdo’.”

“What does neurodivergent even mean? You keep spouting out random English words, it’s like your native language is English and not Chinese.”

“Oh!” Yan interrupts. “I’ve been telling your story about an Anglian to all the village children, and they love it!”

“Which one?” Hu asks. 

“The one about the girl named Bella Swan who falls in love with a vampire!”

Hu looks like he’s about to laugh. “I’m not sure that’s appropriate for five-year-olds.”

“And I told them the story about that girl who has to fight in a death match.”

“Yeah, that one’s not appropriate either.”

Yan turns towards me. “I bet you have really good stories, too! Second Brother’s stories are fun, but they’re all about Anglians for some reason.”

I’m about to answer with an absolutely entertaining story, when Hu’s father breaks in. “Let’s go back to the house to talk, since it’s so cold today. You must be tired after traveling so long.”