Chapter Two - A Breakdown of Barriers

Nie Ruyi

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“Shizun,” Obviously trying to be unobtrusive, the voice was accompanied by a quiet knock. When Lao Minghui called out for them to come in, the door slid open, and several people filed in. Two young women, both with huge stacks of paperwork in their arms, another young woman with a sword strapped to her belt, and a young boy with a serious expression, followed a young man into the room. This young man was dressed in the same colors as Lao Minghui and seemed to be some sort of assistant.

“I’ve brought Tang-Shigu and Song-Shidi as you asked. Also, some business cannot be delayed any longer, I’m afraid.” The young man stepped forward, gesturing the two women behind him to place the paperwork on the low desk. Lao Minghui gave a sigh like the world was ending and nodded.

“Thank you, Xiang Yun. As always, your help is invaluable.” Lao Minghui turned to the two who were still standing in the doorway. “Song Fengling, step forward, please.”

The young boy stepped forward, the grey-and-white of his close-fitted robes impeccable. His forelocks near his ears, the only part of his hair not pulled back into a severe topknot, swayed forward as he dropped into a respectful bow, arms raised before his face and hands cupped together. “Lao-Zhangmen, this disciple greets you.”

“Rise. I have an assignment for you, Song Fengling. This is Nie Ruyi. She’s to be an inner disciple of the sect, so you may refer to her as Nie-Shijie. Due to her circumstances, she will be requiring a lot of help getting used to how we do things here. I want you to be her assistant, her support.”

The boy’s grey eyes looked up at Nie Ruyi and she found herself giving a tentative smile. He seemed curious, almost, but reserved about it. “As you wish, Lao-Zhangmen.”

“Thank you. Tang-Shimei, if you could spare some time, Nie-Shimei needs a crash course in self-defense. She’s been quite sheltered where she came from and knows next to nothing of how to protect herself. A-Jun will be acting as her bodyguard until you deem her fit to protect herself. But until then, I leave her training in your care.”

“This one will do her best, Lao-Shijie.” The one called Tang turned after giving a salute very similar to Song Fengling’s. She gave Nie Ruyi a bright, gentle smile. “This one is Tang Hongmei. Nie-Shimei is in good hands with me.”

“Perfect.” Lao Minghui let out another sigh, her eyes skimming disgustedly over the stacks of paperwork.

“If Tang-Shigu would allow, this disciple will show you all to Nie-Shijie’s quarters.” One of the young ladies (who Nie Ruyi now realized were probably maids, or maybe disciples too) gestured with a genteel bow. Tang Hongmei nodded and turned to follow the maiden out into the hallway. When both Song Fengling and Lao Xiaojun seemed to be staring at her, she realized she was holding them up.

She pushed herself up and this seemed to be the sign for everyone to head for the door. However, the cold and being curled up so long cramped her legs, and just as Lao Xiaojun was passing by her side, her legs threatened to give out. She yelped, throwing out her cloak-covered hands to grab onto the first thing she could steady herself with.

This tornado ut to be Lao Xiaojun. The surprise was written all over his face, but he didn’t throw her off. Instead, he gripped her forearms (and a lot of cloth, the cloak was still covering her entirely), and held her steady. “Are you ill?” He asked, that annoyed expression back on his face.

Nie Ruyi felt heat flare in her cheeks and shook her head, “No! Just… sat too long. My legs…” She pushed herself to stand upright as the pain faded. “Sorry.”

He seemed puzzled by this, but Nie Ruyi didn’t stay to consider it, too embarrassed. She slipped into the hallway, where Song Fengling and Tang Hongmei were now waiting. As they began the walk, Tang Hongmei drifted to her side and spoke up.

“The Sect Leader didn’t have time to inform me too much of your situation. I’d appreciate a bit of information so that I could plan properly on how to train you?”

A polite way of asking who the hell she was, Nie Ruyi supposed. “Ah… I’m-Well, she called me a savior? They summoned me-I guess- from another world. In my world, carrying that,” She pushed her hand out of the cloak to point at Tang Hongmei’s sword, “would get you arrested and thrown in jail. Those who start fights or hurt others are punished, so I never had to learn how to defend myself really. …I was very lucky.”

“Another world you say?” Tang Hongmei whistled in awe a little. “How strange. Although with the danger currently, I can see why the Sect Leader might risk it. So, who were you there?”

“I was… Well, I guess you could say I was a people person?” She frowned, knowing that wasn’t the best way of describing it. “I worked for a company that hired people out to other companies. The company that I was hired out to had me talk to upset people, fix their problems, and then send them along so that the company could focus on doing whatever it did.”

“Even stranger.” Tang Hongmei chuckled, “But then again, a different world would need different jobs, I suppose. Did you have any family?”

The past tense of the question hit Nie Ruyi like a train. She swallowed, her hands fisting in the cloth of the cloak to keep them from shaking. “Ah- Y-Yeah. My mother and father. I was an only child.” She could feel the loss welling up in her throat, and she swallowed it down, “I was going to visit them this weekend.”

Tang Hongmei gave her a sympathetic pag on the shoulder. “What else did you do? Besides fixing people’s problems?”

“Hm?” The topic change was something she was grateful for she supposed, so she answered, “I read books. I played games with my friends. That’s how I knew what kind of creature you’re up against. It’s detailed in a book called the Monster Manual back home. I’ve never fought one, but… I know it’s stats, mostly.”

“‘Stats’?” Tang Hongmei quoted, clearly confused by the english word.

“Ah, it’s… strengths and weaknesses, I suppose.”

“That’s impressive!” The swordswoman’s enthusiasm didn’t seem forced and brought heat to Nie Ruyi’s cheeks again. “You might like looking over some of the Bestiaries in the library. Ah, we’ll stop by there tomorrow when you’re more rested. For now, can you tell me a little about what you think you might need help with?”

“Besides defending myself?” Nie Ruyi grumped, “Well… My world has different clothes than yours. I don’t know how I would even begin putting on the type of clothes you’re wearing right now. That, and all I have with me are my clothes and what I’ve got in my purse. I’ve only just learned how your money works, which… is pretty different from my own, and I’m honestly unsure what any of the rules of propriety are here. If they’re anything like the novels I read back home that were set in worlds similar to this, I imagine I’m going to make a lot of faux pas.”

Another strange look, this time because of the french word. Nie Ruyi clarified, “Ah, it means mistakes, basically. The kind that ends up in someone mad at me. Or with me offending someone powerful.”

“Ah, I see. So, etiquette is something you’ll need training on as well. Hm… Let me see your wrist?” Tang Hongmei held out her hand for Nie Ruyi’s wrist, which Nie Ruyi supplied, even as they all turned a corner down a different hallway. She would be so lost come morning.

The woman pressed two calloused fingertips to the center of her wrist. Nie Ruyi felt something odd, a little like the feeling of standing up too fast. A rush through her body, and a blackness crawling at the edge of her eyesight. Then, as soon as it was there, it was gone.

“Why, you’re mortal!” Tang Hongmei breathed, looking confused and a little disconcerted. “Oh dear. We’re going to have to start you with the very basics of Cultivation. Your spirit veins aren’t even open yet. Song-Shizhi?”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

At her call, the young boy (who, now that Nie Ruyi was looking, couldn’t have been older than thirteen) turned back, waiting for them and joining their conversation. “Yes, Tang-Shigu?”

“Do you feel comfortable guiding Nie-Shimei through the basics of meditation and spiritual energy movement? We’ll need to be gentle opening her spiritual veins, considering how old she is.”

Nie Ruyi gasped, al little surprised at the comment about her age. She wasn’t old! Thirty was not old. She would fight anyone who said so.

“Ah, no, I don’t mean that you’re old, but rather that starting Cultivation as late as you are will have an effect on yoru core and abilities.” Tang Hongmei explained. Nie Ruyi realized she probably could have deduced that, based on all of the novels she’d read.

“...So I won’t be as amazing as Son Goku. So long as I can get to the point where I’m forever beautiful, I’m happy.” Nie Ruyi huffed, waving away concern over her future fighting strengths.

“So they had the Journey to the West play where you are from too?” Tang Honmgmei laughed, and Nie Ruyi grinned back. “Well, if beauty is what you’re interested in, I can show you some tips, alright?”

“Thanks!” Nie Ruyi returned gratefully, just as the maid stopped in front of a door, sliding it open.

“This is Maiden Nie’s roomset. The Hallmaster for this area is Hu Mengying. A bath and heating talismans have been supplied, as well as fresh clothing. We’ve also pulled out hygiene items appropriate for Maiden Nie’s age and gender, which we have left in the bathing area. Song-Shizhi’s things have been moved to the adjoining room. If you need anything, Hu-Shijie will be happy to help you.” With that, the maid bowed respectfully, her hands raised in that cupped salute, before she walked away.

Nie Ruyi looked through the open door and found herself a little overwhelmed. Luckily, Tang Hongmei pulled her forward and through the door, taking a look around. “Ah, it’s one of the Senior Disciple roomsets. Lovely! So this is your sitting room, for entertaining guests,” She gestured to a room with a desk, a table, and a few old fashioned looking chairs.

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After being introduced to the near apartment sized rooms she was apparently to live in, Nie Ruyi was left alone. After being introduced to the near apartment-sized rooms she was apparently to live in, Nie Ruyi was left alone. Of course, the young boy, Song Fengling, was living just on the other side of one of the doors in her room, so she wasn't completely alone. But the silence, more encompassing than anything she'd experienced in her life to date, filled the room where people had once been.

The bath was small, a wooden, iron-bound tub filled with cold water. She'd been told to press one of the long, thin red papers against the side to heat it up, and test it every so often. While doing so, she realized that the paper must work by heating the water on the inside of the tub more the longer it was pressed against it. Magic, indeed.

Getting the water to the temperature she wanted took a few minutes, and setting her purse down next to the tub, she slid inside once it was bearable enough. Leaving the talisman on the side, she leaned over the side, picking up the jars that had been left. They'd been labeled, thank goodness. Hair oil, soap for hair, bath bean, which she assumed was for the body. How simple.

She made sure to shake each one up, because who knew how long they'd been sitting there. They smelled strange. Floral, and green. She applied the hair soap first, running her fingers through her curled hair, the shampoo clearing out all the hairspray and other products she'd used. Dipping her head under required an acrobatic twist of her back that nearly dumped her overboard, but she managed. After she came back up and cleared the water from her face, she realized they'd left her a small bowl, which she repurposed now to rinse the rest of the shampoo out of her hair.

Applying the hair oil, she worked it through her deep-brown hair. Wet like this, one could almost pretend she had the sleek black hair of the perfect Chinese maiden. She knew that her face fit that description, although her eyes were an odd mossy green. Her mother and father both had been from China, leaving her a pureblooded Chinese girl, born in America, which led to a lot of jackie chan questions as a kid. A finger brushed along the edge of her eyelids, as she remembered her mother's soft voice, bathing her as a child. "Phoenix eyes, beauty beyond compare. Only the most beautiful women have these eyes."

She huffed out a scoff even now, as she searched for a cloth. She found one, a rough, but serviceable washcloth, that she poured some of the body-wash-substitute onto, and began cleaning herself up. Then, clean and fresh, she took the wooden comb left on the tray near the bath, and combed through her slick, wet hair. When it was combed, she twisted it into a braid, and picked up the ribbon left on the tray as well, tying it around the end as tight as she could. She hoped it would hold, even as her mind swept toward how amazingly thoughtful the people preparing her room had been.

Getting out of the bath, she dried off with another long bit of cloth that looked like it was supposed to be a towel. Oddly, there were two of them, but she only used the one. She might need the other for tomorrow, after all. She took off the heating talisman, towel around her neck, and set it next to the pile of unused talismans. Then, walking from behind the screen, she picked up her purse from by the door, where she'd left it.

Nie Ruyi walked to the bed, tossing her purse onto it, which caused some of the contents to spill over the side and onto the quilt. She eyed the robes, and pulled them on, belting them tightly around her waist with the silken belt left behind. She was pretty sure she hadn't tied it right because it kept slipping down her shoulders, but it was good enough. Sitting down, she poured her purse onto the quilt, sorting through what was left of her world.

Her hands immediately began the rote movements of cleaning her purse, removing trash, gum rappers, receipts, and the like from the inside. She looked around for a place to put them. Seeing no signs of a waste basket or anything similar, she found a large, empty vase, and stuffed them in there. Returning to her bed, she brought the vase with her, just in case. Setting it next to her ankles, she returned to cleaning up her purse.

Setting aside her wallet and the tiny flip-knife her dad insisted she carry, she pulled the books from it's confines. Her planner and a small paperback about homesteading. She'd always thought it fascinating, providing one's own living. Now, she would be living that fascination, she supposed, setting the two aside. She set aside her little pillminder, too; separated out in sections with small amounts of her tylenol, midol, generic allergy medicine, and motion sickness medicine.

Another bag came out, and she examined it's contents. A nail file, glass, that she'd been given for Christmas, and her basic makeup kit. Liquid eyeliner, a small pot of deep purple eyeshadow, lipgloss, a stick of chapstick, a small spritzer of her favorite perfume, she'd even managed to stuff a small mirror-brush combo in there. The kind that pops open. A travel sized bottle of lotion came out next, and she set it to the side. She'd need to use it.

Another little bag, this one full of feminine products and another little bottle of midol, and she set this one aside too. A third bag, this one a mix of things. A small first aid kit she'd curated under her mother's careful eye, and a sewing kit that her mother had given her as a birthday gift. They'd spent three hours, teaching her to sew a small patch, and a button onto fabric. Her hand convulsed, tightening around the needles and string wrapped in plastic. She took a sharp breath, and abandoned that bag too.

Hairbands, a screen-cleaner wipe, a stray lighter that she'd never given back to the guy she'd borrowed it from, a handful of loose change she'd never get to use again, and last but not least, her cell phone. Its charger was a coiled viper waiting to strike in her bag, and she pulled the phone from its nest and clicked the home button.

The screen flared to life like a firework, and with a shaking thumb, she put in her passcode. The screen lit up to a meaningless picture, some fanart for some novel she'd enjoyed months ago that she hadn't had a chance to change. Without thinking, she pulled up the dialer. Her fingers paused over her mother's contact, as she saw the signal. No little bars leading up in a little hill. Flat nothingness. She moved her thumb, swiping away from the contacts. She pulled up the pictures, sliding left on one that was just a selfie of herself from that morning. The next was a picture of a computer error she'd been having at work, with stickers of question marks all over it. She'd uploaded that to social media, and gotten a few likes.

The third picture made her pause. Her eyes stung, as she brushed a fingertip over the familiar face, her best friend Jeremy smiling up at her with his charming crooked teeth. She'd seen him just this morning, and now... she'd never see him again. In the picture, the two of them were holding up peace signs at the camera, grinning brightly in front of a movie theater.

Her heart ached, as she remembered that night. They'd had so much fun at the midnight showing of their newest obsession. She couldn't even remember the movie. She just remembered Jeremy gleefully tearing it apart with her at 2 am in a breakfast themed restaurant.

She swiped away from his face, hoping not to cry, only to land on a picture her mother had sent her a few weeks ago. A picture of her mom and dad smiling together next to each other on the couch. The sob she'd been holding back escaped, and she closed her eyes right to fight against the burn of tears.

"Ahma... Baba...." She sobbed, opening her eyes against the flooding tears, trying to catch sight of their faces again. Only for their smiles to be replaced with a battery, crossed out and empty.

"No-" She cried, pressing the power button again and again, and then, when the screen went black, she cried, "No, no no!"

She searched her bag desperately, but she must have left her battery-pack on the counter at home, charging, because it wasn't in her purse. She groaned, dropping her face into the quilt, and choking out another sob. Frustration built up and she slammed a fist down on the too-hard bed, causing the wood to creak.

Nie Ruyi was never going to see them again. She was lost in a world not her own... and she was alone. Her heart broke as her mind cycled through all the things she was never going to see or do again. Her family, her friend, her life, it was gone, gone gone.

She curled up, the cold air driving her to wiggle the blanket out from under her mess and pull it up over her head. There, under the blanket, she broke down, crying her heart out over the loss of everything she held dear. Part of her wondered what she looked like, surrounded by a mess and crying like a child for home. The other part of her was too busy mourning.https://i.imgur.com/xzisjky.png [https://i.imgur.com/xzisjky.png]