Half an hour later, outside the Blackridge Bandits' cave.
"Ah—! The air outside is so much better!" The sun was leaning west, glowing red on the horizon. The little girl hopped and skipped, overflowing with joy.
"Thank goodness I brought the Clear Heart Jade Dew Pill to counter the Cinnabar Palm poison, otherwise things would’ve gotten really messy!" The little girl was absolutely thrilled. "Survived a great disaster, smashed the Blackridge Bandits, rescued the captured women—looks like I’ll be famous in the martial world now! Most importantly, sister, you saved my life. I’ll never forget this debt!"
She’d meant to help her sister, but honestly, from start to finish it was her sister doing all the heavy lifting. The most embarrassing part? If she’d just listened to her sister, nothing would’ve gone wrong. She’d even been warned, and still managed to mess things up.
If her sister hadn’t pulled off a last-minute miracle and turned the tide, their fates would’ve been too grim to even imagine.
Thinking about it, the little girl got super shy, her cheeks blushing bright red.
"Haha, you! Still way too green for the martial world. But since you’re so grateful, why not repay me by becoming my wife—the Peach Bandit’s lady of the stronghold, how about that?" As she spoke, Jack Young reached out and pinched the little girl’s cheek. That chubby cheek was just irresistibly squishy.
"Hmph, sister’s always bullying me." The little girl huffed and rolled her eyes, then grabbed Jack Young’s hand and asked, "Sister, what’s your real name? You always say ‘never change your name or surname,’ but ‘Jack Young’ must be made up, right?"
"Wrong!" Jack Young flicked the girl’s nose. "My name really is Jack Young."
The little girl was surprised. "Yang Qi? Is that the 'Qi' from 'silk brocade'? That's a lovely name!"
"Uh..." I wanted to correct her mistake, but sighed instead—arguing about names with someone in a dream just feels silly, doesn't it? Since this dream body is a girl, why not just pick a new name? "Fine, it's the 'Qi' from 'silk brocade'—Yang Qi!"
Hmm, as soon as I said it, I felt instantly better—no more sore back, no more aches, full of energy. Looks like I picked the right name.
"So..." The little girl hesitated, but finally asked, "Sister Yang, do you know Brother Yang Guo?" There are a lot of people with the surname Yang, so you can't just ask every one of them. But this Sister Yang Qi seemed a bit unusual, so maybe there really was a connection.
"Yang Guo?" Yang Qi (from now on, I'll be Yang Qi when I'm in girl mode) glanced at the little girl in surprise. "Forty-something, one arm, heartbreak king, master of the Black Iron Sword, notorious romantic—is that the Yang Guo you mean?"
"Yes! That's him!" The little girl's eyes lit up with hope. "Do you know him? Are you related?"
"Uh, I have no idea if we're related." Probably not, since he's a fictional character. "But as for the Condor Hero Yang Guo, I'm super familiar!" I mean, I used to sneak-read that novel in middle school and got caught so many times. How could I not know?
"That's amazing!" The little girl literally jumped three feet in the air, more excited than when she'd just been rescued. Watching her, I couldn't help but think my dream girl was pretty entertaining—like a fangirl or something.
"Sister! Good sister!" She suddenly threw herself at me, urgently saying, "Can you tell me where Brother Yang is?"
"Yang Guo, huh..." Wait, isn't this common knowledge? Why does my dream girl not know this stuff? Things I know, she still has to ask me—how funny. "He's at the back of Mount Zhongnan, in the Tomb of the Living Dead. But the tomb is sealed now, so to get in, you have to swim through a pond to find the waterway."
"Thank you, thank you, sister!" The little girl was so excited she could barely talk straight.
After the excitement died down, the little girl reached into her chest, pulled out a sachet from under her collar, and took out a round bead that looked like yellow amber—crystal clear and very pretty.
She handed the bead to Yang Qi with great care. "Sister, my master died saving me, burned by raging flames. This is the relic he left behind. Now I give it to you. No matter what happens, you'll always be my good sister."
Yang Qi accepted the relic, then playfully tapped the girl's nose. "Alright, you're a fun little sis. If anyone bullies you, just say you're under the protection of the Peach Bandit—I've got your back!"
"Hahaha..." The little girl let out a string of silver bell-like giggles. Her laughter was really pleasant to hear.
Soon after, the girl couldn't wait any longer and set off to find Yang Guo. Yang Qi declined her invitation to go together—this dream was ending, and the plot felt finished. The girl figured Yang Qi was skilled enough to be safe, so she said her goodbyes.
As the sun set and a gentle breeze blew, Yang Qi lay on the hillside grass, watching the sunset.
She took out the relic with her right hand and held it up to the sun, noticing golden light seemed to flow inside the bead.
"It really is pretty." Yang Qi held the relic in her palm and suddenly thought, "Oh, I forgot to ask that girl's name. Oh well, it's just a dream—why get hung up on details?" She stretched lazily, feeling sleepy in the sunset glow.
Half-asleep, Yang Qi muttered, "What a shame... just a dream..."
Then Yang Qi drifted off into a deep sleep...
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
"Riiiiiing!!"
The extra-loud phone alarm went off right on time. The person in bed twitched, then smacked the 'snooze for ten minutes' button with deadly precision.
Ten minutes later: "Riiiiiing!!"
Rolled over, smacked the button again.
Another ten minutes later: "Alright, alright, I'm up! Time to wash up and go to work!" This time, before the alarm could go off, the person sat up groggily, reached over to turn off the alarm, and squinted at the clock—Friday, April 4th, 7:30 AM.
"Get up, wash, punch in, work, overtime, go home, shower, sleep—another cycle... Mortals, man, what a drag..." Grumbling sleepily, the person shuffled to the bathroom.
But the voice complaining wasn't quite the usual one. Maybe it was just habit, maybe still half-asleep—anyway, they hadn't noticed the difference yet.
Smeared toothpaste, scrub scrub scrub—done brushing.
Filled a cup with water, took a swig—ahh, bleh, gargle complete.
Years of practice for maximum sleep efficiency—these chores could be done with eyes closed. Splash some water, wash my face... hmm, something's weird with my hair.
Fumbling for the comb, couldn't find it at first. Opened my eyes—the shelf seemed just a bit higher than usual.
Grabbed the comb, tried to run it through my hair—didn't reach the end?
Tried again—still didn't reach the end?
What's going on? Since when is my hair this long?
Finally realizing something was off, Yang Qi opened his eyes and was stunned by the person in the mirror—me, Yang Qi, how did I end up like this?!
In the mirror—it was Yang Qi's female face!
"Holy—crap—!!!"
This was the very first thing Yang Qi said upon arriving in this world.
(Note: Dear readers, the author isn't a gaming nerd and can't afford a PS3. After work, I'm usually too tired to do much besides watch anime and sleep, so I had no idea a new game called 'Beyond: Two Souls' came out! A friend just told me today—total coincidence! Not being pretentious, but I've been planning this book for ages, and from start to finish, the story and ideas have absolutely nothing to do with that game. If there's any similarity, it's pure coincidence. This is definitely NOT a game fanfic, so read on with confidence.)