Fates Parallel Chapter 310 - Familiarity

Jia was on high alert for the entire trip to the border between Baishulin and Qingchuan. Their escorts had sent word ahead, and the plan was to meet up with their new escorts at a designated point on the border to officially pass into the custody of the Spiritual Flowing Purewater Sect.

She didn’t trust that plan one bit, but there was no way to countermand it without losing their claim of legitimacy. Now that they were out in the open, they had no choice but to play by Qin’s rules.

Though Jia didn’t sense anything suspicious from their escort—aside from a general pervasive feeling of hostility—she still maintained her vigilance. After all, failing to notice a problem didn’t mean there wasn’t one. She’d learned from Lushan not to put too much faith in her limited perspective.

As if summoned by her thoughts, Pan Jiaying approached Jia while they walked. Li Meili was conspicuously absent as Jia’s newest disciple fell into step awkwardly behind her. When the silence was too much to bear, Jia sighed.

“Can I help you with something, Miss Pan Jiaying?”

Pan Jiaying flinched.

“No! I mean, I just wanted to talk, M—Miss Yoshika.”

Jia frowned at the mental misstep. Though Pan Jiaying no longer referred to her as ‘Master’ and there was no compulsion for her to do so, she still occasionally slipped up like that. A reminder that though her soul might have fully recovered, it didn’t mean that no harm had been done.

“Just Jia—and don’t worry about honorifics or formality, either. I know we’ve had disagreements, but I’d prefer if we were friends.”

“Sorry! I’m still learning how to tell when you’re you and when you’re...uh...”

While Jiaying struggled to find her words, Jia quickly double-checked their surroundings. The escort was leading, and still showed no signs of anything amiss. Eui was staying close to Jung’s litter, which Narae has also taken to riding. Li Meili was helping to carry the litter, which partially explained why she hadn’t joined Pan Jiaying, and the rest of the group were positioned strategically in order to react to any sudden attacks.

Jia realized that Pan Jiaying had simply trailed off without finishing her sentence and frowned.

“Are you alright? It’s not like you to be so quiet.”

Pan Jiaying furrowed her brows and wrung her hands together.

“It’s weird to hear you talk about what is or isn’t like me. We barely know each other, even if you’re nominally my...teacher. Other than a few shouting matches, we’ve barely spoken.”

“Sorry about that. We haven’t really had time to sit down and properly teach you anything. I’m not going to just ignore you like your old sect, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“No, that’s not it. I just feel like you know me so much better than I know you. It’s uncomfortable.”

Jia scratched her head.

“You probably know me better than you think. I don’t want to start another argument, but Li Meili has everything that makes me who I am and then some.”

“I know you think that—and so does she. We’ve actually talked about it a lot, and it’s not like I haven’t been thinking about it myself this entire time.”

“When you weren’t clinging to Li Meili like a lost child.”

Pan Jiaying blushed.

“I wasn’t in my right mind! I’d thank you not to make fun of me! But even then, I still thought about it.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have teased you.”

“I still think you’re wrong.”

Jia tried to suppress her frustration. She didn’t have time to have this argument again.

“Pan Jiaying, don’t you think we’ve talked about this enough?”

“No! Because there are things that you have that she doesn’t, and things she has that you don’t. You share a past with her, but you aren’t the same person. I’ve had months to get to know Li Meili better, but you only knew me for a single day, and only as her.”

“And?”

Jiaying huffed.

“And you still know more about me than I do about you! I don’t feel any closer to you after getting to know Li Meili, even if she is your avatar.”

Jia cocked her head.

“Really? Has she not told you anything about my past, or Eui’s?”

“She has, but she’s so...detached from it. It’s like she’s telling stories about you, not herself. And she always talks about things you and An Eui did together. Learning about your accomplishments doesn’t really help me get to know you no matter how impressive they are.”

Impressive? Was Li Meili trying to impress Pan Jiaying? In the distance, Eui snickered to herself.

“Uh oh. Looks like our avatar is as terrible at flirting as you are. Poor girl is doomed.”

Jia grimaced.

“Oh, hush! You’re as culpable for her romantic ineptitude as I am!”

“Hah! I guess we’re just a pair of disasters.”

Pan Jiaying leaned forward and looked up at Jia with a worried expression.

“I’m sorry, did I say something wrong?”

Jia shook her head and sighed.

“No, Eui’s just being a brat—don’t worry about it.”

“Oh right, I guess she can hear everything we’re saying. You two really do share everything, huh?”

“Yeah, sorry. We’re so used to it now that we sometimes forget that other people find it offputting.”

Pan Jiaying shrugged.

“I’m pretty used to having my conversations overheard, to be honest. Li Meili always dodges the question, but wouldn’t that get awkward with, you know...partners?”

Jia blinked at her.

“We are partners.”

Pan Jiaying blushed.

“No, sorry, I mean partners. Like, romantic? What if one of you wants to get married. Do you both share a husband...or two? How does it work?”

Jia froze. No wonder Li Meili had been dodging the question.

“Eui, how do I answer this?”

Eui snorted.

“Just tell her. Better to get it over with.”

Jia took a deep breath.

“Yeah, that’s what I meant, too. Eui and I are together. Romantically. If one of us wants to get married, it would be to the other.”

Pan Jiaying’s eyes looked like they were going to bulge out of her head, and her face went so red that she was practically glowing.

“I—that’s—I didn’t realize—oh, by the emperor, I’m sorry!”

She stopped and bowed at a ninety degree angle. Jia giggled at the overreaction and shook her head.

“It’s fine. I know it can be a sensitive subject here. I hope that it doesn’t bother you.”

“N-no! I’m just, uh, not really used to it. Does...does that mean that Li Meili...?”

Jia shrugged and laughed.

“That’s for her to know, isn’t it? We’re different people.”

Pan Jiaying scowled.

“Oh now you’re different people?! How convenient!”

“I guess you’ve convinced me. After all, I was willing to say what she wasn’t.”

“I—you—argh!”

She threw her arms up in frustration and stomped off. Jia watched her go, nonplussed, and reached out to Eui through their mental link.

“You’re probably better at this stuff than I am, was that a good or a bad reaction?”

“Eh, she didn’t seem upset about it, just frustrated that you didn’t answer her question. Li Meili’s chances aren’t dead yet.”

Jia crossed her arms.

“And how do you feel about Li Meili trying to pursue her crush?”

“I’m all for it. If she’s going to be her own person, then we should let her do whatever she wants. We should stop thinking of her as our avatar or as an extension of us. She has the freedom to choose her own life.”

“Her own life that’s still completely dependent on us.”

Eui frowned. Li Meili could persist almost indefinitely without them as long as she never spent any essence, but otherwise her physical form would gradually degrade—and that wasn’t even considering Li Meili’s stated mental dependence on them.

“Yeah. I guess we’ll have to work on that part.”

“Yeah...”

Jia was definitely starting to understand why Ienaga had been upset with them now. They had their work cut out for them.

—-

“It’s been hours! How long do you expect us to wait here?”

The leader of the escort group looked up from his meditation and frowned at Eui.

“We’ll wait until your new escort arrives. We probably got here first due to the swift pace.”

Eui scowled at the man, who’s name she’d not bothered to learn. The meeting place was an old unused checkpoint, and there had been nobody in sight when they arrived. The wait was stressing Jia out—which meant it was stressing Eui out, since she could feel Jia’s emotions as if they were her own.

“How do we even know they’re coming? Or that they’ll really be who you claim they are?”

The man jumped to his feet in outrage.

“How dare you?! The Labyrinthine Forest of Unbreakable Threads would never debase themselves with such treachery! I demand you rescind your accusation!”

Before Eui could retort, a third voice interrupted.

“Now, now—the young lady wasn’t making any accusations, simply being prudent. My apologies for being so late.”

Eui eyed the newcomer suspiciously—she hadn’t sensed his approach, but on closer inspection that was because his regular aura was being suppressed. The man was clearly a cultivator, however—wearing robes of blue and silver and shone in the afternoon sun. He bowed once he’d reached a more polite distance for conversation.

“I am Meng Ying, of the Spiritual Flowing Purewater Sect, here to escort our guests to the Xin clan’s headquarters at Purewater Peak.”

The Bai escort narrowed his eyes.

“Where are the rest of you?”

“Drawn away by other matters, unfortunately.”

“How can one man expect to be an adequate escort?!”

Meng Ying shrugged carelessly, and there was something strangely familiar about the gesture.

“As well as the four of you, really. Our guests are only in your custody out of respect—or did you think that you really had two of the most powerful foreign cultivators on the continent under your authority?”

The Labyrinthine Forest cultivator gritted his teeth.

“Fine! But Clan Bai will hear of this—be sure to uphold your duty properly!”

Meng Ying put a hand on his hip and gave the man a condescending smirk.

“Only naturally. Go on, then—I’ll take it from here.”

Eui narrowed her eyes at Meng Ying as he made a shooing gesture at the red-faced cultivator. It was as though he was trying to bait them into starting trouble. More than that, his condescending attitude, unusually feminine posture, and strangely suppressed aura were all painting a familiar picture.

“We won’t forget these insults, Meng Ying! Such rudeness will never stand!”

‘Meng Ying’ snorted derisively.

“If you say so! Be sure to tell your masters what Meng Ying thinks of them!”

By now, Jia and the others had been drawn over by the commotion, and the Labyrinthine Forest cultivators—sick of being embarrassed—took their leave. Meng Ying bowed to greet the rest of the group.

“My apologies for all that, just friendly rivalries between sects, you know how it is.”

Jia and Eui exchanged glances—they didn’t even need to communicate telepathically to know that they were on the same page. Eui crossed her arms and frowned.

“I hope that poor bastard deserves it.”

Meng Ying grinned.

“Oh, I can promise you that the Bai clan deserves every insult I give them.”

Jia rolled her eyes.

“Not them. Yue, who’s body is that?”

He doubled over and laughed.

“Hah! Oh, I did miss you. As I said, I’m Meng Ying, your humble guide through Qingchuan and leader of your assigned escort. Unfortunately, I was also a double-agent planning to sell you out to the Awakening Dragon Sect and blame it on the Xin clan as part of an ongoing conspiracy to undermine the Spiritual Flowing Purewater. I deserve whatever retribution the Bai and Yan clans send my way and then some for my treachery.”

Pan Jiaying looked around with utter confusion written on her face.

“Uh...what is this? What’s happening right now?”

In response, Meng Ying collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut, leaving a ghostly image of Yan Yue in his place. She covered the lower half of her face with a folding fan and bowed.

“Please forgive this little deception! For those that I haven’t met before, my name is Yan Yue, of the Great Awakening Dragon Sect. For the rest of you...”

Yue snapped the fan shut and smiled warmly.

“It’s good to see you again!”