Long Yin wasted no time gathering Jin Lu into his arms the next morning and fleeing from the campus. Jin Lu had thought that they would need to go through channels to ask for permission to leave, but she should have known that Long Yin wouldn't bother with things like proper procedure. Even after not knowing Long Yin for long, his personality was easy to understand; what he wanted, he got, no matter the consequences.
Jin Lu turned her face from the whistling wind into Long Yin's chest as he zipped down the path to the front gates. Her breath caught in her throat when he leaped, clearing the high wall with room to spare. Jin Lu didn't have time to register when they landed before Long Yin was off again, not stopping until they were in front of the inn they had stayed at only a few days ago.
Long Yin didn't pay any attention to Jin Lu's flushed face or the looks they were getting as he walked into the inn, refusing to put Jin Lu down.
"Welcome back, master! Would you like a room, a meal, or both?" The innkeeper kept his professionalism, not paying any attention to Jin Lu's predicament.
"A meal first, then a room," Long Yin answered.
He followed the man to an open table, setting Jin Lu in the seat where her back was to the wall. Jin Lu watched Long Yin with surprise, wondering if he had noticed her preference or if it was just a coincidence.
"Order whatever you like," Long Yin said, handing Jin Lu a menu.
Looking it over, Jin Lu decided on sukiyaki with a bowl of rice and jasmine tea, requesting a bowl of sugar for the table. Long Yin chuckled softly at her actions while ordering a glass of wine.
"Did you hear about the new student at Kuru Academy? He's supposed to be a dual cultivator."
"No way, they're probably just saying that to get more recruits. I hear that strange things have been happening there for months; beast appearing and students going missing. I wouldn't attend their school if they were the only ones around!"
"A new job's been posted at the Merc guild. A pack of skeeters have been sneaking into the academy again."
"Don't take it. Nothing good ever comes of academy jobs."
Jin Lu listened to the conversations around her while casting speculative gazes at Long Yin. Long Yin ignored her looks, lazily sitting back in his chair and sipping from his glass. Jin Lu pouted for a second, resting her chin in her hands as she took a closer look at the people around her.
Many were in leather armor, their weapons strapped to their bodies or laying on the floor near their feet. A few looked like travelers, their hoods covering their faces as they hunched over their meal. Some locals started coming in, their clothing hinting at their occupation.
Jin Lu's food arrived, the smell of cooked meat and steaming rice making her stomach twitch with longing.
Bless the butcher and all his descendants!
Jin Lu thanked the waiter, a young boy of about nine, as she grabbed her chopsticks and started to devour the feast in front of her.
The corner of Long Yin's lips twitched, and his lashes lowered over his eyes to hide his expression from Jin Lu as he watched the boy attack his meal like a starving man. Though Long Yin understood that Kuru Academy served meals that helped cleanse the body, making cultivation easier, they did nothing to improve the flavor.
"Let us retire," Long Yin said, finishing his wine and standing.
Jin Lu had put the last bite of steaming rice in her mouth, an inner sigh of irritation dampening her enjoyment of the meal. They walked through the tables to ascend the stairs that led to their room. Jin Lu saw the steam rising from behind the screen and turned sharply on her heel to exit the door. Long Yin's hand on her shoulder stopped her.
"You have had a long, hard day; bathe." Long Yin pushed Jin Lu towards the tub before shutting the door firmly behind him. Jin Lu stood still for a moment before she undressed and disappeared behind the screen. Now that the opportunity presented itself, she could feel her skin itching from the dirt and dried sweat that had stayed on her body.
Jin Lu finished her bath, pulling on a clean set of underclothes from her bag. Since Long Yin hadn't come back yet, she sat in the middle of the bed to meditate. The room slowly faded from her consciousness as her mind settled, the welcoming feel of her mindspace surrounding her.
Long Yin returned to the room a short while after Jin Lu had closed his eyes. Inwardly shrugging his shoulders, he laid sideways on the foot of the bed. Resting his head in his hand, he watched the lines between Jin Lu's eyebrows appear and disappear. Curious, Long Yin sat up, moving until he was in front of Jin Lu. Placing his right hand carefully against Jin Lu's chest and his left over the pulse in Jin Lu's wrist, Long Yin stealthily entered Jin Lu's consciousness.
The melodies that were always in her mind seemed more organized and corporeal than they had been before she had risen her cultivation level. She let herself drift with the scores towards the black aura in the center of her consciousness. The outline of two daggers was easier to perceive than before, the oppressive feelings coming from them making Jin Lu uneasy.
Light and darkness, happiness and sorrow. Jin Lu was finally able to understand what her powers represented, though she wasn't sure if she would be able to master them both. Just because she understood the concept of balance, didn't mean that she could conquer it in herself. Jin Lu contemplated her inner world for a few more moments before opening her eyes.
Jin Lu jumped a little when she saw Long Yin in front of her, staring at her as though he had found a rare and exciting treasure. She frowned at the hand on her chest, reaching up to remove it. Before she could, Long Yin grabbed her hand and pulled, twisting until Jin Lu lay on top of him.
"Why is your conscious self a woman?" The question made the air in Jin Lu's lungs freeze as her face went pale. Long Yin's arms locked around Jin Lu's back as she tried to get away, looking everywhere but at Long Yin.
"Ah… Uh, um, what? What woman? I don't know what you're talking about." Jin Lu grimaced at the horrid lie and the way her voice broke as she spoke. She felt the chest underneath her shake as Long Yin snorted, chuckling at her foolishness.
"It would make sense; your reactions to my touch, the way you speak, your mannerisms. There are many things that betray your 'woman-ness'," Long Yin said as though he was talking to himself.
Jin Lu sputtered, trying to come up with something, anything, to explain why her spirit was that of a woman while her body was male.
"You're quite pretty."
The quiet statement made Jin Lu go silent, her body stilling its movements. She buried her face in Long Yin's chest and sighed, too exhausted to keep fighting.
"Tell me, Yang… please." Long Yin whispered into Jin Lu's hair, kissing the top of his head gently. It was the first time he had ever said please in his life, but for Jin Lu, there was no hesitation.
"My conscious self looks like a woman because I am a woman," Jin Lu said quietly into Long Yin's chest, her lips brushing against his robes as she spoke.
"Explain." Long Yin rubbed Jin Lu's back comfortingly, wanting the boy to know that he could trust him.
"I died and woke up in this boy's body." Jin Lu pressed her lips together, refusing to say more. She was afraid that revealing that she was from a different world would be too much for anyone, even Long Yin, to believe. With the existence of magic, at least the concept of reincarnation shouldn't be that far-fetched. Soul swapping wasn't that far off, right?
Long Yin had known there was something odd about Jin Lu since they met. He didn't walk or speak like a boy off the streets, and his aura had felt different to Long Yin since he first saw Jin Lu hiding under his bed. Long Yin silently rubbed Jin Lu's back as he came to a decision.
"Many centuries ago, there was a lizard. It was small and powerless, hiding in fear from everything in the world. One day, the lizard met its end in the jaws of a giant snake. Thinking it was going to die, the lizard determined that it wouldn't waste its next life hiding.
When the lizard opened its eyes again, it was in a long, cumbersome body, in a world it did not know, but, remembering its promise to itself, it became one of the strongest creatures to walk the land."
Jin Lu waited for Long Yin to say something more, but instead she felt her body roll sideways. Long Yin kept her wrapped in his arms, pulling the blanket over them both. Jin Lu looked up, her eyes wide in startlement. Long Yin smiled and kissed the tip of her nose, chuckling when she crossed her eyes to watch him.
"Sleep. We will speak more in the morning." With that, Long Yin closed his eyes, pushing her face back into his chest. Jin Lu's emotions were so chaotic, she thought she would be awake for hours. Instead, the steady rise and fall of Long Yin's chest, accompanied by the beat of his heart, lulled her to sleep within moments.