Dance with you

Chapter 8

'Dear Liu-Guniang,

I want to thank you sincerely for your kindness on that evening. I have also found our few meetings very educational and enjoyable.

I am writing you this letter to inform you that I am departing for Qinghe. Therefore our meetings cannot be continued. I hope you will forgive me and that we can still continue our letter exchange.

With high regards

Meng Yao'

Liu Xin smiled as she folded the letter and laid it in a box already filled with more letters. She was happy for Meng Yao. He seemed to have finally found another goal to work towards. If he had to leave Lanling to fulfill said goal then she would do nothing to stop him.

She would miss him. He was such an intelligent and agreeable fellow. They had hardly lacked things to talk about, when they had met and when she had taught him some techniques he was always very focused. If all students had been like him, Liu Xin wouldn't have been so opposed to becoming a teacher in her first life. To be fair, the age gap between Meng Yao and her was very small, given that he was Zixuan's age, which could have made teaching him easier. But she would never want to teach Jin Zixun. He would undoubtedly drive her mad.

A knock sounded and the door to her room was pushed open, by her mother.

"A-Xin, it's already late. Go to bed. You need to rest for the Discussion Conference tomorrow," She reminded Liu Xin.

Liu Xin nodded, glancing at the other letters in the box. Next to Meng Yao's letters lay letters from Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue, the former having exchanged more letters with her. Mingjue always seemed so busy. Especially after his premature ascension to his father's position. Having to care for a sect and a little brother gave him a lot less time to converse with his friends and they understood. Given these circumstances, Liu Xin was very happy about every letter she received from her grumpy friend.

Tomorrow would be the first time the three saw each other after a long time. Lan Xichen had written to her about his little brother in great detail. He was so enamored by Lan Wangji that it was very heartbreaking hearing how much he worried about Lan Wangji being lonely. The second jade of Lan had a reputation of being an ice block. He talked very little and his emotions were all meticulously kept under lock and key.

Liu Xin was keen to meet this legendary jade.

Nie Mingjue was equally as enamored with his little brother, but his way of showing it was very different. He was strict with Nie Huaisang, a young master that was famous for being weak and lazy. His top priorities were fans, painting and birds. To Liu Xin he sounded like a lovely lad. He was likely to make an appearance tomorrow too.

Liu Xin was so nervous she had a hard time sleeping that night. She had witnessed very few Discussion Conferences in her life. She had never been brought along to the other sects, so she only had the ones that were held at Koi Tower. And even at the last one, she had been too young to have any interest in anything other than the food. This year however, she would be participating in the archery event and the fight showcase. Her father and other teachers were always very proud of her achievements although they disapproved of her habit of spending whole days in the city. She was at the top of the Jin disciples, so it was expected of her to participate. She was optimistic about the fight showcase but archery had never been her strong suit.

Liu Xin woke up very early the next day, feeling barely rested. She sighed as she eyed the Jin uniform she was required to wear. She had always preferred dark blues, greens and purples. But this was an official event. If she wore her casual dresses or robes it would be unacceptable.

She tried to enjoy a warm bath to soothe her nerves, before slipping on her uniform. Then she picked up Rushui from its stand and carefully inspected the blade. Rushui was her spiritual weapon, granted to her by her father. Unlike many cultivators, Liu Xin did not carry a sword. Even in early training, her teachers had to force her to use the training swords. She had always felt that something was off when carrying a sword. One day, her father had taken her aside and showed her an assortment of other training weapons and she had immediately been attracted to a training guandao. Her performance had improved almost instantly and she loved 'dancing' with it, as she called it.

Her parents had been supportive of her unconventional choice, since she had always had her own way of doing things.

Liu Xin gently polished the slightly curved blade and marveled at the beautiful craftsmanship with which water droplets and a koi fish were carved into the blade. She also made sure the purple tassel her mother had gifted her was secured safely before putting it back into its sheath.

When Liu Lijun came to check on his daughter he found Liu Xin's room empty. He could only sigh and shake his head. He would have been surprised if his daughter hadn't thrown him a curveball in the very last moments. He made his way to the training grounds. He was still a good distance away when he heard the first notes of his daughter's erhu carried by the wind.

Liu Xin was sitting on a sturdy branch by the edge of the training grounds, lost in her playing and reminiscing of melodies from her last life as well as this life. She was in the middle of 'Evermore' from Beauty and the Beast, when she stopped and ducked down to avoid the stone that was flying her way. It flew over her head and landed back on the ground with a small thud.

Now, normally she was furious when someone disturbed her trance, which was why no one in Koi Tower would dare disturb her when playing out of fear. The only one who still did it was her father. But he only did it when it was important. So she looked down with one eyebrow raised, waiting for him to talk.

"You're at the training grounds but you're not training. At least train a little bit if you already made your way here," Liu Lijun joked, waving his arm at the empty grounds.

Liu Xin rolled her eyes. "We both know that's not why you came here," she said exasperated at the 'joke' he had told many times before, "Is something the matter?"

"I just wanted to make sure you're ready for the Conference. I see you're already dressed the part but please do your hair properly. The guests will arrive in about one shi," he answered.

With no small measure of amusement he watched as his daughter checked the sun hastily before jumping down from her perch and running past him silently cursing herself.

"What would you do without us?" he wistfully asked, knowing she didn't hear him.

Author Note:

Well look who already failed the challenge. I just forgot to write yesterday but I will still try to write even a little bit every day and not let this faze me.

Wish me luck!

Btw, I am getting most of my names with the help of the site 'Behind the Name'

If anyone wonders:
Ru=like, as, if
Shui=water