Severing Time & Space

Over Train, Part I

Wu Jian wiped the sweat from his body with a wet rag, put on a new training gi, and met up with Wu Meiying at the dining hall. They ignored the noise of the crowd and ate quickly while chatting about their new companion.

Wu Jian was honestly impressed with Hou Jingshu’s stubbornness. Despite how obvious it was that she had never exercised a day in her life, she doggedly stuck with their training program and completed it. She might have been left unable to move afterward, and she might have only done the beginner exercises they started with four years ago, but he hadn’t expected so much effort from a pampered princess. The girl had grit.

“She’ll be very important to you in the future,” Wu Meiying said.

“She will?” Wu Jian was nonplussed. “I mean, she’s gonna be my wife, so yeah, I guess she will.”

Wu Meiying shook her head. “That isn’t what I meant. In the future, she will become an irreplaceable existence to you, someone you cannot live without, and she will aid you when I cannot. Be sure to treat her with kindness, love, and respect.”

“Did you have another vision?”

“Maybe.”

“I see.”

When Wu Meiying acted coy like this, it meant she probably hadn’t seen anything of the future, but she still had a sharp intuition. She was likely basing her words on what she had observed from Hou Jingshu so far. Even if these words didn’t come because she had seen the future, Wu Jian still took them seriously.

“Don’t worry. I will treat her the same way I treat you,” he said.

“That would be for the best,” Wu Meiying admitted, then paused. “Though I hope you won’t replace me with her. I’m still your favorite, right?”

“That goes without saying. You’re gonna be my first wife, after all.”

While he might have spoken like he was joking at the end, Wu Jian was quite serious. He was going to do everything he could to love and respect Hou Jingshu. Even so, there wasn’t a soul on this continent who could replace Wu Meiying in his heart. They had been inseparable for as long as he could remember. Wu Jian was not complete without her.

She was his everything.

It did make him worry a little. He didn’t know if he would be able to love Hou Jingshu as he promised, but he would at least give it his all. Wu Jian did not want to be the kind of man who would neglect a girl’s feelings.

Breakfast soon ended and it was time for everyone to head to the martial hall. Wu Jian and Wu Meiying arrived with the others. Wu Lan was there, as always. He stood in the center of the martial hall, hands behind his back, shoulders straight, and posture steady. He reminded Wu Jian of a giant tree.

“Line up, everyone!” Wu Lan called out.

Everyone quickly lined up in order from oldest to youngest, which meant Wu Jian and Wu Meiying were firmly in the middle since the students who attended the martial hall were between the ages of six and fifteen.

“You know the drill,” Wu Lan began. “Start off with some basic stretches.”

“Yes, teacher!”

Wu Jian and Wu Meiying joined the others in doing their stretches. They had already done these earlier today, but it never hurt to limber up some more. They soon finished and joined their peers, once again lined up in a row.

“You’ll be breaking into pairs and sparring again today. Make sure you aren’t partnered with the same person you sparred with yesterday,” Instructor Lan said.

“Yes, teacher!” the students replied.

Everyone was about to break up into pairs, but then someone entered the martial hall, causing the students and Instructor Lan to turn in the direction of the door. The person who entered was Hou Jingshu. She froze upon seeing everyone looking at her. It looked like she had been trying to slip in undetected, but now that she had been caught, her cheeks flushed bright red.

“Princess Jingshu, welcome to the martial hall. Have you come here to watch the students spar?” asked Instructor Lan in a kind voice.

“Um… no. I… I actually wanted… to spar too,” Hou Jingshu said in a halting voice. Wu Jian had the feeling she expected to be rejected and told to sit out.

But that wasn’t what happened.

“I see. Well, you can’t join us in our normal spars right now since you probably don’t know how to fight. Right. Would one of you be willing to start teaching Princess Jingshu the basics of combat?”

Instructor Lan turned to the group of students. No one spoke at first. Several students looked at each other with uncertainty, while a few others elbowed their friends, egging them on to help the princess. Wu Jian could hear some of their conversations, and a few of them made him sick.

“Come on. Why don’t you go teach her? I’m sure you can use this as an excuse to, ahem, cop a feel.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. My strike zone doesn’t go that low, but isn’t she right up your alley, Khan?”

“Ha! That’s a good joke! Well, she is very pretty. I’m sure she’ll blossom into a lovely flower when she grows up, but right now she’s just a bud.”

After listening to everyone talk, Wu Jian was prepared to step forward and offer to help her. That was his duty as her future husband. And yet, just before he could do so, Wu Meiying stepped forward, smiling gently as she looked at Hou Jingshu.

“If you don’t mind, instructor, I would like to be the one who teaches Hou Jingshu the basics,” she said.

While Wu Jian thought it was his duty to teach Hou Jingshu, he considered that maybe Wu Meiying would be better suited than him. They were both girls. That gave them some common ground. He also didn’t know if he would be a good teacher. On the other hand, he knew for a fact that Wu Meiying was talented at pretty much everything she did.

Instructor Lan nodded. “Feel free. You’re one of the best students in my class, so I know you’ll do a good job.” Wu Meiying nodded and walked over to Hou Jingshu. While she began speaking with the Shang Kingdom’s princess, Instructor Lan looked at the rest of them. “Now that that has been taken care of, the rest of you, pair up and get to sparring.”