The remainder of the welcoming ceremony was uneventful. An old bearded man, hunched over and walking with a cane, eventually came on stage and gave us a rambling speech about our glorious potential and the shining future. Motherfucker I’ve heard this ten times now it never gets easier. Old bastard is probably a Nascent Soul cultivator and he spends his time giving two hour speeches. I’m a dumbass for coming back to school but I couldn’t think of anything else to do.

  Yingyue is still on my mind too, it’s making this feel even longer than usual. I know she’s behind me, I know she’s still staring at me, I’m realizing this is going to be an issue in the future.

  “Why me? Why God? Why not leave me alone? Is that so much to ask?” I mutter to myself, hands clasped in prayer.

  This was a huge mistake on my part, as I did not realize the headmaster is in fact a Nascent Soul cultivator.

  “You there, boy, what did you say?!” The headmaster’s squinted old eyes had shot open, glowing with inner light. His hunch disappeared in front of my eyes as if he had never been disabled. “Did you just ask God why I’m talking for so long?!” He grabbed the mic and yelled into it while glaring at me, hair floating in the air. The headmaster was far more imposing when standing up straight.

  I’m not ashamed to admit I am completely frozen in place. I am deeply regretting not meditating last night and even accumulating a little bit of Qi. The pressure is overwhelming on my untrained body. If I don’t squeeze out an excuse I’ll die at this rate, so I force my mouth open.

  “D-dearest headmaster Wo, p-please forgive my transgressions! I was lamenting my urgent need to pee! I asked God to take the urge away, not to take your mic away!” I bowed at a 90 degree angle, holding my arms tight at my sides. My many years of petty villainy have made me fantastic at groveling. A weak villain cannot survive in this world without bowing to the strong, and even then they should expect to lose their head anyway. The world of cultivation is cruel. The headmaster hasn’t spoken since I finished my little speech so I’m feeling optimistic.

  I dare to take a glance at Headmaster Shithead after a ten second bow. His face almost seems to have a shadow over it as he looks down at the ground. He lifts his head slightly right after my eyes met his face, and I can tell I’m fucked.

  The headmaster looks at me, angry veins throbbing on his temples. “My name is Wu, bastard!” He yells without the mic, so loud that my eardrums burst. Ah, my freedom will end so quickly. This small light of hope I finally found has been snuffed out so easily.

  Headmaster Assface points his finger at me, it actually looks a bit childish to see an old man glaring and pointing his finger. What isn’t childish is the sparking, crackling lightning ball that is rapidly forming at the tip of his finger. Everyone around me scatters like rats, running from poor me and the inevitable destruction coming my way. I close my eyes and pray again, apologizing for all of my sins and proclaiming my belief in Jesus.

  The lightning ball shoots without warning, barreling straight towards me with an unseeable speed. At the same moment it shoots, my body is slammed with extreme force from my side. The hit is so hard that my shoulder dislocates. “Wargh!” I scream in pain as my body hits the ground, and another 150 pounds falls on top of me as well.

  “Hey, you were just thinking I weigh 150 pounds, weren’t you?” A voice laced with ice whispered in my ear. A split second later a small explosion demolishes the chair I was sitting in as well as the immediate surroundings. The light from the lightning ball blinds me for a moment, keeping the identity of my savior from me. I’m sure I know that voice though.

  As I blink my eyes rapidly to regain my vision, a saccharine voice floated into my ear from centimeters away. “You’re a fool, Mingyuan. Don’t worry though, your little sister will fix things for you.” I felt the weight of Xuelan lift off of my body. I have no idea how this happened or why my little sister is at the same entrance ceremony as me. As my vision regains, I once again feel Yingyue’s burning gaze on me for a moment. I turn to her to see her hand slightly reaching out, standing at the edge of the explosion meant to kill me. Did she also try to save me?

  As our eyes meet I see that hers are watery, as if ready to cry. She quickly turns from me and walks out to stand next to my sister. I honestly have no clue what is happening right now.

  “Headmaster Wu! I cannot stand for this offense to the Xu family! Can you truly handle our wrath?” Xuelan stands proud, her tall figure looking imposing with her chest held high. Her long black hair is starting to float behind her, indicating some level of Qi mastery. I’m shocked. Frankly, I forgot I could use my family name in times like this! My father never approved of me in my past reincarnations, I was essentially disowned after Wang Ling beat the daylight out of me during the engagement ceremony.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  After Xuelan stated her piece, Yingyue surprisingly stepped forward. “The Liu family stands with the Xu family on this. I will not stand any offense to my fiance.” Yingyue’s cold and harsh gaze hit the headmaster, making his eye twitch just slightly. From my side I watch as Wang Ling hangs just at the edges of the crowd, grinding his teeth as he alternates his gaze from me to Yingyue, eyes filled with fire.

  Students in the crowd around us immediately start whispering after hearing what Yingyue said.

  “Didn’t she get dumped?”

  “I thought she was with that uneducated looking man…”

  “Is she desperate?”

  I feel a different sort of gaze on me this time, one with a heavy darkness behind it. I turn quickly and get it over with. Wang Ling’s brutal gaze meets my rather languid look. His hand grips his sword hilt with ever increasing pressure as he mouths, “I’ll kill you, fucker” to me. I turn back around and ignore the headache that's coming on.

  I watch Yingyue’s face turn from pink to red as a blush covers her face. I have to give her props for keeping her posture while the peanut gallery gossiped.

  Wait, did she call me her fiance?

  “Hmph, I will let it go this time. The Xu and Liu families can have their face.” The headmaster huffs before looking at me. “Boy, disrespect me again and I will have your head.” I froze in fear again before instinctively going for a bow of apology. A hand grabs my shoulder and stops my bow.

  The headmaster turns around and walks away, not even bothering to finish his welcome speech. The teaching staff look around confused for a moment before one decides to stand and take the mic. He is a tall man with a large gut but otherwise muscular body. He has shaggy brown hair and a full beard.

  “Em, ahem, sorry for the commotion students! The headmaster is not feeling well, so I will take over from here! I’m the history teacher, Zhang Wei! I hope you all have a great time learning in our facilities, go to the table along the east wall for your dorm assignments! Dismissed!”

  “You do not need to bow while around me, Mingyuan. Sis will take care of everything from now on.” Xuelan kept her hand on my shoulder while smiling charmingly. I never spent much time with my sister in my past reincarnations since she was often hanging around Wang Ling. This 180 in personality is scaring me so bad I’m on pins and needles. Her hand is very strong on my untrained shoulder, but I can see the affection in her gaze. This situation is well beyond my control, it has me reevaluating my future plans at lightspeed.

  “Xuelan, sister, I’m really glad you saved my life. I can’t thank you enough, I owe you for this. Could you please remove your hand? It’s starting to hurt.” I stiffly and politely express gratitude to Xuelan. I really never talk to her so this is far more awkward than it should be. I do see her as my sister after thirty years of playing family but that doesn’t mean I’m good at talking to her.

  “Ah, sorry Mingyuan. I didn’t realize you have no Qi.” Xuelan makes a surprised face while quickly taking her hand away. “I was just worried about you, are you feeling okay?” Xuelan’s concerned face came closer to mine. The tone of her voice makes my skin crawl, and her worry is making me more nervous than relieved. Xuelan never really hurt me in past lives when she was with Wang Ling, but her disgusted eyes often just watched as I suffered. I can’t reconcile years of abuse by association with one life saving grace.

  “This Mingyuan is completely fine!” I fake a smile and guffaw loudly, hitting my chest with gusto, to avoid further conversation. My sister frowns slightly at that before her smile returns.

  “Well, as long as you’re safe I’m happy. Mingyuan, why don’t we just stay in your condo outside of the school? That way I can keep you safe more easily.” Xuelan suddenly grabs my arm, moving closer to me while trying to coax me into cohabitation. I don’t know why she’s so pushy, but having someone significantly stronger than me constantly touching me is nerve wracking. She could break my arm with a squeeze right now, Qi can’t be underestimated.

  I gulp heavily before opening my mouth. “I would love to Xuelan, but this school requires freshmen to live in the dorms. Unfortunately I have no choice.” My heart beats faster, after all I know this explanation is flimsy. Our family is powerful enough to get an exception.

  Xuelan furrows her brow, her face still intimately close to mine. She pouts before letting go of my body. I sigh in relief, this interaction has been far too stressful for me. As I’m thinking that, I suddenly feel a peck on my cheek.

  “Xuelan, what the hell are you doing? Have we ever been this close? Why are you acting like this suddenly?” I finally snap from the accumulated pressure around me. This is supposed to be my free life, why am I still being led around like a dog at the hands of fate?

  In the same moment my anger began to rise, a loud slap rang in my ears. All of the students in line for the dormitory assignments went silent at the noise. I simply watch as Xuelan rubs her reddened cheek, glaring daggers at Yingyue.

  “You bitch, what are you doing to my fiance?!” Yingyue burst out in a rage, hands clenching at her side while her hair began to rise. I once again feel the urgent need to cultivate Qi.

  “Look who’s talking, fiance?! Ha! Mingyuan dumped you, bitch! Get it through your head! And what’s wrong with showing my brother affection? We’re family!” Xuelan snarled back, the temperature of the air dropping around her perceptibly.

  I grimace, the reality of the situation slowly hitting me. These women, they aren’t going to leave me alone in this life, are they?