Severing Time & Space

We Kiss All the Time

Sweat drenched Wu Jian’s back, chest, face, arms, and legs as he balanced most of his body on his arms, which were bent at a forty-five-degree angle. Meanwhile, he had tightened his core and spread his legs wide to form a triangle as he pressed his feet flat against the ground. This had the effect of working both his triceps, chest, and core muscles. Every time he lowered his body, his arms and chest felt like they were on fire, and the constant need to keep his stomach muscles tight caused an intense burning sensation to spread through his torso.

“Eighty-nine… ninety… ninety-one…”

One month had passed since Elder Wu Wei tried to force Wu Meiying into using her power. While the snake had been able to use his silver tongue and authority to get out of trouble, Father and Mother were wary of his antics and told Wu Meiying that she could refuse anyone’s request if they did not bear the family head’s official seal.

Wu Jian was also on the lookout for Wu Fei. Since he was the grandson of Elder Wu Wei, there was a good chance he was in collusion with the elder. Thinking on it, Wu Jian had always thought it odd that his half-brother had become so cruel toward him. It had not started until after he began spending time with Wu Fei. Perhaps it was a coincidence, but he believed that his half-brother had changed because of something Wu Fei might have done or said.

Of course, Wu Fei had not acted any differently since the elder tried to corner Wu Meiying, so perhaps he was just being paranoid.

“… One hundred.”

After doing one hundred of this kind of push-up, Wu Jian lifted his legs above his head, doing a complete handstand, and began doing push-ups again.

“Hah!”

“Hup!”

“Hyaaa!”

While he was doing handstand push-ups, Wu Jian was able to watch Wu Meiying and Hou Jingshu spar, albeit, upside down. It was something they had only begun recently.

After she got the hang of falling and taking hits, Hou Jingshu had tackled actual combat with the kind of enthusiasm he never would have expected from a princess before meeting her. Even now, she wasn’t giving ground against Wu Meiying despite being clearly outmatched.

“Four. Five. Six…” Wu Jian grunted as he counted out loud. At the same time, he heard Wu Meiying talking as she sparred with Hou Jingshu.

“You’ll have to do more than just defend yourself if you want to defeat me!”

Wu Meiying threw another punch. It seemed like a simple straight, but as her first thunked against Hou Jingshu’s forearm, she grabbed the surprised girl and pulled her into a shoulder throw. Hou Jingshu screamed in surprise as she went down. Her scream was soon swallowed up, however, when her back hit the ground and all the air rushed from her lungs.

“Huff… huff…”

Despite the harsh fall, Hou Jingshu proved she had truly learned her lessons by managing to roll across the ground and land on her forearms and feet. She still had trouble standing up, however, and ended up sitting down on her rump when she tried, body slouching forward.

“Twenty-two. Twenty-three. Twenty-four,” Wu Jian continued to count.

Straightening as Hou Jingshu breathed heavily, Wu Meiying smiled and waited for the other girl to get her breath back under control. She extended a hand as her partner leaned back and closed her eyes.

“Are you okay? Think you can keep going?”

Hou Jingshu looked up at the hand, then at the face beyond it. With a wince and a wry smile, she took the hand, allowing Wu Meiying to pull her up.

“No… I don’t think I can continue fighting right now… I think you might have broken my hip bone.”

“Surely you jest. I’d never break something during a simple spar, but I’m sure your backside will be a little sore tomorrow, considering how often you land on it.”

“And whose fault do you think that is?”

“Yours, for not being strong enough to stop me.”

“Grrrr. I really dislike it when you use circular logic like that.”

“Ara? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I’m sure you don’t.”

Wu Meiying had begun teasing Hou Jingshu a lot more as the days passed, which went to show Wu Jian that they were becoming closer. He believed this was a good thing. Not only was Hou Jingshu his fiancée, but he also planned on marrying Wu Meiying, so he felt it was important that the two have a good rapport with each other.

“Eighty-seven. Eighty-eight. Eighty-nine.”

Of course, he also just wanted them to get along. Wu Meiying never had a girl friend her own age. The only woman she was close to was Mother, and she was a lot older, which made it hard for them to relate. Having a friend that was the same gender and age gave her someone she could really connect with.

“One hundred…”

Taking a deep breath, Wu Jian lowered his feet back onto solid ground and stood up. The cool morning breeze caressed his sweaty back and sent goosebumps down his spine. It felt nice. He closed his eyes and allowed the gentle wind blowing through the clearing to cool down his burning body.

“Are you staring at Jian’s bare chest? That’s quite scandalous of you. I didn’t know princesses could be so bold,” Wu Meiying said, hand to her mouth as though to hide a mischievous smile.

“Eeep!” Hou Jingshu turned away from Wu Jian, her cheeks bright red. “I-it’s not like I’m staring at him. I was just… um… admiring his strength…”

“Admiring his strength, huh?” Wu Meiying giggled behind her hand. “You would be a lot more convincing if you weren’t blushing.” Hou Jingshu’s blush deepened as the other girl continued teasing her. “Don’t worry. I don’t blame you. I ogle Jian all the time.”

“M-Meiying!” Hou Jingshu shrieked.

“What? He doesn’t mind. Right, Jian?”

Having been put on the spot like this, all Wu Jian could do was shrug. “I don’t particularly mind…”

It wasn’t like Wu Jian didn’t understand where either of them was coming from. Perhaps it was because he had reached the age when puberty began really going into overdrive, or maybe it was because his mother had given him “the talk” not long ago, but he had caught himself staring at the girls several times during their training. If the feelings were mutual, he would feel a lot better about it.

“A-anyway, now that you are done exercising, perhaps you should spar with Wu Meiying?” Hou Jingshu suggested after coughing into her hand.

“I think we have time for a single match,” Wu Meiying said. She smiled at the thought of sparring with him. “What do you think? Are you up for a match against me?”

“Yeah. Sure. Do you want to place any stakes on this match?” asked Wu Jian.

“Stakes?” Hou Jingshu tilted her head.

“We like to bet something whenever we spar. It helps motivate us,” Wu Jian explained.

“Ah.” Hou Jingshu nodded.

Wu Meiying tapped her lower lip in thought. “Hmmm. I know! How about the loser has to kiss the winner?”

“What kind of stakes are those?!” shouted Hou Jingshu.

“Pass. We kiss all the time anyway,” Wu Jian said.

“What?!”

“Hmmm. Then how about if I win, you have to let me feel your body. And if you win… I’ll let you do whatever you want to me? Does that sound good?”

“That doesn’t sound good at all, you two! We are far too young to indulge in such inappropriate behavior!”

“I’m pretty sure you would let me do whatever I want to you anyway, so there’s no benefit on my side. And you know I’d let you touch me if you asked.”

“Wu Jian!!”

“I guess you bring up a good point. Honestly, I only mentioned those stakes because I wanted to see Jingshu blush,” Wu Meiying admitted.

Wu Jian crossed his arms and nodded. “I don’t blame you. She’s very cute when she’s embarrassed.”

“Right?”

“You two are horrible!” Hou Jingshu shouted, her cheeks glowing brighter than a paper lantern after the candle inside had been lit.