“What was that about?” Yan Fang asked.

Juimin looked at him asking, “What?”

“About transmigration,” he said.

“Oh that, it’s just something that’s been on my mind since I’ve read about it,” he answered.

“You’ve been keeping things from us for quite some time now,” Lan Jue mumbled.

Juimin stopped in his steps and looked at his friends, who were a step ahead of him and staring at him.

He sighed, saying, “I don’t mean to keep anything from you and you know I wouldn’t if it was harmful. I’m trying to figure things out and when I have, I’ll tell you everything. Just for now, have some patience.”

They silently agreed to wait, but Qing Heng said, “If you’re thinking about Qin Rucheng, you should stop.”

Juimin rolled his eyes and clenched his jaw, making it visibly tick.

“Oh thank you, someone else who agrees with me,” Rucheng suddenly said, stopping beside Lan Jue.

The five pairs of eyes turned to her and saw that she wore a cheeky smile.

“Wh, what are you doing here?” Yan Fang asked.

Rucheng glanced at him, then looked at the others. She raised a brow, then pointed at them as she called their names. “Zhang Chao Feng, Son Qing Heng, Hur Xuan Shang, Yang Lan Jue and Geum Yan Fang, right?”

“Mn,” Juimin answered.

Rucheng smiled at him, then winked at the others.

She hooked her arm around his and said to the four friends, “I’ve been trying to get your friend here off of my case for so long as well, but who would have guessed he’s worse than a leach.”

Juimin chuckled. He tapped her hand, saying, “That’s not nice of you.”

She nodded her head and tried to remove her arm, but he wouldn’t let her go. She raised a brow, and he mimicked her action.

Rucheng rolled her eyes, then shook her head. She hit his chest with her right hand that was free and said to his group, “You see, he’s the problem.”

“You came looking for me?” He asked.

Looking at him, she shook her head. “No, I’m actually lost. Luckily I found you, but here you five are gossiping about me instead, like a group of women.”

“Why would you be lost here?” He asked, annoyed that she wasn’t here to look for him.

Rucheng smirked, saying, “I’m only kidding. My mother said I should thank you for the treasure you gave me. It helped me a lot over the past week and I’m sure that very soon, I’ll get back what I lost.”

His gaze flicked to her hair and saw that she had the hairpin in. Looking back at her, he said, “You don’t need to repay me. I wanted to help you. I’m glad it’s helping you looked like a corpse the last time I saw you.”

“Haha, very funny Mr Kim,” she said as she yanked her arm free.

When she freed herself, she saw that they had gained an audience. Not happy, she said, “Anyways, don’t let me keep you from gossiping. I need to go find someone, BYE!”

Just as she was about to walk off, Juimin grabbed her wrist, stopping her. She looked back at him, surprised and said as she gritted her teeth, “I don’t know if you forgot this crucial detail, but I’ve lost my cultivation. Are you planning to rip my arm off?”

“I didn’t forget. Who are you looking for?” He said.

“Wol Ryeong,” she said, and his expression immediately dropped. 

He let go of her wrist too and folded his arms. “Why?”

She thought about it, then said, “I need his advice on an item that is found in the black market and sold at auction.”

Juimin pointed his thumb at Lan Jue, who was standing beside him, and said, “Why go bother Wol Ryeong when Lan Jue is in the same business as him?”

She looked at Lan Jue and saw that the other was staring at him with contempt. Her eyes scanned over the others too, then back at Juimin and said, “I’ll take my chances with Wol Ryeong. Your friends look like they want to cut me up and shoved me into a pit of cow shit.”

“Well, that was an accurate description,” Wol Ryeong said, stopping beside Rucheng.

She looked up at him, relieved, then looked at Juimin and said, “That’s my cue to leave. I’ll see you around.”

Juimin turned to his friends and saw that they had an awful look in their eyes and it needed to change.

Feeling his stare, they looked at him and immediately they could tell that he didn’t appreciate what they did.

As the two walked off, Juimin heard, “You really lost your cultivation. How did it happen?”

“It’s a long story that I’m not in the mood to tell. Did you find what I asked for?” She asked him.

“Mn, but it’s not cheap,” he said.

‘Why are you hostile towards her? Have you ever thought that I might actually like her?’ He sent into their private link.

As they turned to him, he turned his back on them, then disappeared.

*

The four friends had looked all over the university for Juimin and even ran into Wol Ryeong and Rucheng while they were busy. Eventually giving up, they went to the army base for their afternoon session and found Juimin damp with sweat, mutilating all the mannequins.

General Kim had been watching him since his arrival and noticed the aggression in his attacks. He had even instructed Juimin to fix his form a few times, but his son wasn’t listening.

When he saw the group, he called them over.

“Good afternoon General,” they bowed.

He pointed at his son, asking, “Did something happen to him?”

They looked at each other, wondering if what they thought was the answer to be true. Lan Jue shook his head, “We’re not sure too. We’ll talk to him.”

An hour went by, then two followed by three, but Juimin was still at it, breaking the practice swords.

When he finally calmed down, the sun was going to sleep while the sky was orange.

The group hadn’t had a chance to practise their formations nor speak to their friend. 

Walking over to them as they were seated watching him, Juimin wondered where the time had gone.

Dropping to the floor by them, he asked, “Why didn’t you guys practise?”

“We’ve been trying to fathom what is going on with you. Why are you so angry? Is it because of us?” Chao Feng asked.

Juimin remained silent. He didn’t want to blame them, but they were to be blamed. He expected his friends to support him, not fight against what he like and even if she was the wrong one for him, he needed to find that out himself.

“I just have a lot on my mind,” he said.

“Are you serious about Rucheng?” Lan Jue asked.

Juimin sat up and looked at them. He had their full attention and said, “Maybe if this was a year ago, I wouldn’t have considered her, but right now I am. You don’t know her as I do. All you know is the Qin Rucheng, from the rumours and past events. Yes, she is a little hard to understand, but if you get to know her, you’ll see what I’ve seen.”

Qing Heng wasn’t happy about this and said the thing that had been at the back of his mind for a long time, “Do you know that she slept with one of the officials of the university to get her position?”

Juimin met his gaze, but then his eyes widened in fright. He stood up as he saw Rucheng and Wol Ryeong standing behind the group.

“When did you arrive?” Juimin asked.