Back when he was still alive on 21st century Earth, Wen Zhihao had worked in a small dim room that was too hot in summer and too cold in winter.

As a remote worker, he was expected to be “on-call” 24 hours a day and work hard to earn money for the boss in hopes that he could climb the corporate ladder. His window faced the monotonous façade of nearby housing buildings. It was a most uninspiring view that he saw every day as he worked overtime and didn’t get paid for it. He was almost ready to die of overwork when he submitted the tenth revision of the latest big project.

On the first trip outside in ages down bird-poop-filled streets, he was too tired to stop-look-listen-and-think before crossing the road...

...

Death was fine. He didn’t care either way.

Wen Zhihao’s initial reaction to being transmigrated to this world was hell no.

But once he escaped the clamour of the competition, he felt better.

His eyes feasted on the vibrant flowers and luscious greenery of the Golden Sun Sect. He listened to the gentle rustling leaves and he breathed in the floral and grassy scents of the gardens.

This! With each inward breath, outward breath, he felt as though his meridians were being cleared, as though his muscles were being infused with energy.

Could he set camp here? Roll out some bedding to nap here under the warm sun?

All those disciples training so hard to thrash each other did not appreciate the beauty of their surroundings.

“You….give...stupid…”

Indistinct words broke up Wen Zhihao’s tranquillity. He immediately frowned. He tried to ignore the chatter, but instead, it made him more and more frustrated.

“...Please, let me go…”

“I saw you looking at me like that...you need to pay…”

Wen Zhihao: ...

Fuck this! He felt like a cranky old man in his twenty-something-years of age. Anyway, the original owner was also a teenager, so the combination of their ages made him thirty-plus years old in total, right?

With a dark face, Wen Zhihao strode towards the dastard disturbance in the gardens. 

In a corner of the garden, against the wall of a storage building, were a number of dull-yellow robed outer-sect disciples crowding around another disciple.

“Oh, come on, fight me, why are you so scared today?” The strongest of the junior cultivators, a young woman named Wu Qingqing, smirked. Her eyes flashed with malicious glee as she toyed with her victim. Her hand rested easily on the sword hanging by her waist, and her robes rustled in a breeze created by her circulating qi.

The young male cultivator looked up at her, heavily suppressed anger not showing in his light-brown eyes. “I need to go, shijie¹senior martial sister,” he said, dipping his head.

“Ahh, come on, Sun Fuyu!” one of the other cultivators cajoled. “Wu-shijie is taking the time out to help you!”

“Forget it, just check his pockets, I know he has some spiritual stones. Wu-shijie would put them to better use.”

Sun Fuyu’s eyes flashed in panic when the other cultivators pushed him against the wall. “I earned them fairly!”

A blood vessel pulsed in Wen Zhihao’s forehead. These bloody kids! (They were teenagers.) What the hell is with this typical xianxia bullying scene?

“What are you children doing?” Wen Zhihao scowled. He had completely forgotten that his current body was only two or three years older than the other outer sect disciples gathered here.

Wu Qingqing bristled. “Do you want to fight? Seeing you here...you must have lost to Wang-shixiong²senior martial brother again, heh?”

That’s right, Wu Qingqing knew the original ‘Wen Zhihao’, and she knew he was extremely untalented and easily provoked.

“You dare disturb the peace of the gardens? You dare draw your sword here?” Wen Zhihao stared down the ‘little children’. Annoyance whirled up in his chest. He wanted to snap at them but remembered just in time that he shouldn’t speak so harshly to young children, because it was bad for their upbringing. Sigh!

Softening his voice, he said, “Why don’t we all just part ways? A fight is a waste of both our time.”

Wu Qingqing’s eyes narrowed. She felt a thread of wariness at Wen Zhihao’s cool and calm demeanour. In the past, Wen Zhihao would be bursting to fight, his qi chaotic and messy. He would lose to her every time. But right now, Wen Zhihao’s qi was like waves on the beach. Too calm and too steady.

Wu Qingqing was not stupid enough to charge into a fight. Wen Zhihao must have acquired a magical artefact and was purposefully goading her to fight in a battle of trickery.

Wu Qingqing sneered. “Of course, I will be magnanimous and save you from losing face³reputation, image again.” With a careless toss of her head, she addressed her friends. “Martial brothers and sisters, let’s go do something fun.”

With that, she and her group departed.

Wen Zhihao rolled his eyes. Kids these days. He nodded politely at junior disciple Sun Fuyu and turned back to the greenery of the garden. His eyes brightened again when he heard the tweets of birds.

Peace and quiet again!

Luckily Wu Qingqing didn’t want to fight, because Wen Zhihao had no idea whether or not his body had the combat memory of the original ‘Wen Zhihao’!

bafflinghaze: I guess I’ll just switch between using chinese terms (like shijie) and english ones (martial sister) whenever I feel like it... (unless somehow has a Really Strong Opinion?)

Also, interested in BL~? There is a new Boys Love Newsletter  💙