Bai Lian sped up her flight and laughed wildly as she did a flip on Butterfly Wing through a cloud, Qin Yan blinking his eyes as water got in them. They reached the highest place, Eagle Peak, where the disciples of Mu’ren Tianshu¹Sect Grandmaster/leader trained and resided.

Qin Yan was hoping no one would pay attention to him (introvert fears), but that "hope" was instantly shattered into a million tiny bits as Bai Lian fell like a rocket into the central courtyard, her gold-laced boots smacking the ground thunderously. The buildings on Eagle Peak were grandiose, supported by pillars with reliefs of scenes of ancient battles, and banners with golden eagles² were hung, flapping in the wind. It all felt very proper and fancy compared to the vegetable garden Qin Yan usually sat in.

A group of disciples who had previously been going about their business were already staring at the two of them.

“It’s senior sister Bai again!”

“Who did she challenge this time?”

“What’s that she’s carrying? ...it's purple?”

A girl responded, “Ah, that should be senior-brother Song’s sword spirit. Haven’t you heard? It’s actually so cute, and he’s recently dedicated all his time to raise it. Since he’s gone for the martial arts tournament he probably entrusted it to the elder disciples at Moonstone Peak.”

“Hmph!” said Bai Lian, and that group of disciples froze. “Stop with your gossiping. Where’s my dual opponent?”

“…that,” the girl bowed her head nervously. “He’s…”

“You mean me? Of course, I’m present.” The man who spoke stepped out of a nearby pavilion, one hand on a sword at his belt.

Bai Lian said, “Good!” she then pointed at the frightened girl. “You there, be the judge.”

“Y-yes…!”

Qin Yan was placed onto the stone of the courtyard and promptly abandoned. He figured this whole duel thing must be a fairly casual event seeing as no elders were watching over it, sort of like sparring to practice your techniques in a situation mimicking real combat.

The man that was Bai Lian’s opponent (probably a mob character) took a step forward and said, “Sister Bai, you really never tire of stirring up trouble. To think a sweet-looking girl like you likes to be so violent.”

Bai Lian also took a step towards him, drawing out Butterfly Wing. She was tired of plain-looking men who told her just that. Ones who told her to stop being vulgar and outgoing, to be more quiet, sweet, and lovely. She thought they should be 'quiet, sweet, and lovely' if that's what they like so much. 

“I find hypocrites to be the most distasteful. Especially ones like you that talk bad about another Peak’s Lord without reason," she said. "You’re supposed to be Grandmaster Mu’ren’s eleventh disciple, so where’s your decorum? Or do you think I’ll sit back if you insult Dauntless Peak Lord³Dauntless Peak Lord is Sun Daiyu, a character that has only been mentioned briefly, but one who helped SH defeat Wangzi at Phoenix Demonic Sect. She will be introduced later. If you are interested in more character/story lore, I  keep an up-to-date glossary ;)?”

"I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

Bai Lian widened her eyes, looking surprisingly feral. “You should own up to your faults.”

That man appeared a bit unnerved, clenching his sword as he drew it.

Qin Yan thought this dramatic scene was quite entertaining. But...he also realized that the courtyard he stood on was devoid of life. Everyone besides the girl who was judging had evacuated to the very outer edge around the buildings, all in all about twenty spectators standing around like ducks, and he was left stranded. 

SPECIAL MISSION—

"Huh??"

SPECIAL MISSION—Make a fool of yourself as you escape from Bai Lian's dual—

__

__

"..." Qin Yan had a tepid expression. 

The system interface and System S were in direct conflict with each other, he knew this. That was because System S wanted him to gather anger points, but the system interface called the anger points he gained for killing Lin Hui'an a 'penalty' after he first evolved into 'verdant eggplant sword spirit'. On the other hand, the special missions he'd done never seemed to affect anything; they did not add to anger points much at all. Doing this one shouldn't be harmful...

Even if it was something like making a fool of himself.

Qin Yan heard the scraping of metal, then a loud thud and crunch directly next to him made him jump. A crater appeared in the courtyard stones beside him as Bai Lian's foot pressed into the ground, catapulting her back towards her opponent like a shooting star. 

She was using the propulsion from her jumps to generate a stronger force, which required lots of leaping for acceleration...which was why everyone had fled from the courtyard! If a person were to be used as a stepping stone for one of her jumps more than a few ribs would be broken.

Just like Qin Yan who almost became mushed eggplant.

There was another clang and Qin Yan grimaced as he hurried out of the way...oh, he almost forgot! Look like a 'fool'.

...as he ran he stuck one foot in front of the other and tripped himself. 

Then he made a small 'meep' sound as he rolled a meter or so across the ground...

"Oh no!" exclaimed a female disciple, all of her innate maternal instincts coming to life. She flashed out, picking him up, then rushed back to the edge of the courtyard. "Poor little thing, you have to be more careful. Otherwise what if senior sister Bai squashed you flat?"

"Thanks," said Qin Yan.

Several others were also staring at him with a pitying expression. Qin Yan tried to hide his humiliation as he rapidly checked his anger points.

*An         ge   r* 45,937/1,000,000

*H umiliation* 83,889/1,000,000

*Frustration* 128,732/1,000,000

As expected, they hadn't gone up nor did he see a barrage...he knew that because he'd been checking them these past weeks regularly. However, didn't this mean that the special missions accomplished something else? For now he just turned around, watching the blur of movements that was Bai Lian dancing around on the courtyard.

Her metal Qi was bright yellow, and Butterfly Wing reflected it as she bounced the blade of her opponent every direction that he obviously did not intend it to go. The man facing her tried to match her in speed, but failed horribly. As he swung at her stomach in a broach strike, she flipped over his head and kicked him in the butt.

He angrily shouted, “You-!”

Bai Lian giggled. She twirled like a whirlwind and almost caused the man to stab himself.

“Wow…she’s fast. Like one of those biting flies.”

One disciple excitedly said, “I feel bad for elder brother, but it's no wonder they call her the Lethal Butterfly.”

Qin Yan froze. Um, he did not just picture her as a fly.                        

That same disciple leaned towards Qin Yan and whispered, “You’re so lucky. Anyone who’s sister Bai’s friend gets the best treatment, anyone who she doesn’t like has to watch out.”

…what was that supposed to mean?? A pained cry from the courtyard immediately answered Qin Yan’s question.

Bai Lian stood back, two hands behind her back. Butterfly Wing was spotless, but the arm of her opponent was hanging limply, blood dripped onto the ground and a piece of white bone stuck out of his elbow, a few pink tendons clinging to it. It was quite gory. 

“Opps! Looks like this sweet-looking girl accidentally went too far,” said Bai Lian, smiling prettily. “An unfortunate casualty. Anyway, do you admit defeat? I’m very busy.”

Her opponent grimaced and admitted defeat.

“Bai Lian’s victory!” said the girl who was judging. “Quick, bring senior brother to the physician!”

"I don't think the injury is permanent this time," remarked another.

Bai Lian ignored the disciples that flocked around and came back to Qin Yan. She scooped him up and was flying on Butterfly Wing.

“Sorry, hope it didn’t take too long.”

Qin Yan was afraid. “Nope. Not at all.”

When they made it to the garden, Qin Yan let out a breath of relief. The eggplants were green and growing healthily as always, a few flowers forming fruits. Plants were great because you never had to worry about getting on their bad side, they were very amiable. He went to his usual spot in the eggplant row, feeling slightly safer now that he was not in close proximity with Bai Lian.

Bai Lian clapped her hands from the stone path. “All right! I’ll do a little sword practice, take your time, Qin Yan.”

Uh, she was going to hang around?

Qin Yan gave another half-hearted thanks…but was soon disturbed by a pair of eyes on him as he was trying to cultivate. Bai Lian’s eyes. She was not practicing the sword at all but staring at him. Qin Yan believed that nothing he was doing here was interesting or out of the ordinary, so he was always confused why everyone stared at him in the garden. He’s just sitting here? 

Two minutes later, a different voice disrupted Qin Yan's concentration.

“…Sister Bai, you’ve hurt my pride! You ran out early in the morning just to prevent me from getting to Qin Yan first? It was what junior brother Song entrusted both of us to do, it would be unfair if you did all the work.”

It was Cui Luoyang. He was tall and thin, loosely wearing a robe with a few whimsical feathers in his hairpiece. Bai Lian seemed to be aggravated by his very appearance and gave a round kick towards him, but Cui Luoyang took two quick steps in retreat.

He tilted his chin up and drawled, “Why are you being so aggressive?”

“It’s you who wants to tease and bully little Qin! Don’t you have better things to do?”

Cui Luoyang ignored her, then looked over the garden until he saw Qin Yan next to the eggplants. He lifted a red fan to cover his mouth, then both his eyes squinted with amusement.

“Look! He found his family…ahahaha…”

...Qin Yan finally knew why everyone thought it was funny when he cultivated in the garden. He was an eggplant child, sitting in a row of eggplants under the sun. Aaaa, he was not going to bother with these two anymore!

Bai Lian put both hands on her hips and frowned at Cui Luoyang. “Go on! Shoo, shoo, shoo. If you’ve nothing good to add, find another pastime…go off to that one guy you’re seeing!”

“I can't. We split up, so now I’ve nothing to do…”            

Cui Luoyang was fastidious and loose with his money, but rumors floated about that despite all his wits he couldn’t keep one partner for more than a year. Or maybe that was the cause. Bai Lian, for one, was already lifting a fist to beat him.

Cui Luoyang jumped back from the first skull crusher and pulled four short knives out of nowhere.

“Don’t chase me out! I’ll be quiet….see, I’m going to practice hitting targets.”

On cue, four knives cut through the air and thunked into the center of a tree one after another, and an entire pine tree split down the middle before falling to the ground. Several disciples flinched and made sure to work on the side of the garden that was as far as possible from them.

Bai Lian sneered. “It seems that only a fat goose would be hit by your knives. Did you lose another partner because you let them see this shameful excuse of martial arts?”

“At least my knives are better than your ribbon sword. What can it cut besides tofu? It’s probably just a good distraction for your opponents, like a cat chasing a piece of foxtail grass. It’s no surprise you have to rely on your fists for everything, and because of that brutish mannerism, no surprise you’re single…”

"Quiet!" Bai Lian’s voice seemed to grow sweeter with anger, and she still smiled. “Is it so bad I don’t like to sleep with anything that crawls?!”

The two started an all-out brawl. It was destructive!

Several vegetables were obliterated into bursts of green plant matter.

In fact, Moonstone Peak disciples were quite 'special'. Peak Lord Su always spent his time drunk in the library pavilion reading texts like a true hermit, so all his disciples openly bared fangs at each other for supremacy. These two in particular were like oil and water, and with them fighting on and off it goes without saying Qin Yan did not experience peace. He had enough power to turn himself back into an eggplant seedling, so he shifted form, rooting into the ground as he tried to block out the noise, his leaves quaking slightly.

In the end he didn't make much progress in his cultivation, and when he returned to Song Heqing’s residence for the night he anxiously cleaned Starlight on Obsidian with a cotton cloth while hoping that System S wouldn't creepily reappear...

"Song Heqing, please come back. Sooner the better. I miss you, I really do!"

__

Day one since Song Heqing's departure. Eggplant mood: Apprehensive.