Chapter 11

"So much has changed since then" Yuki mutters as she reads about the various events that have transpired in the past. The current world she has woken up to is quite different than the one she had in mind. For example, the Ajivika sect which was one of the most powerful organizations back then has been wiped out.

'I wonder how did that happen?' Yuki is curious as well as perplexed because the Ajivika sect had contributed tremendously to the war effort. And for such a sect to be wiped out is something strange.

Ajivika isn't the only one, there have been plenty of older sects, unions, organizations, etc which have either been wiped out or have disappeared completely without any knowledge.

There have also been other changes in the fields of travel, communication, etc. For example, it is much easier for people to travel to distant places now. Back then, people would have to ride their carriages on bumpy roads for days or fly big birds in order to do that. And even after that, there was no guarantee that they'd be able to reach their destination. But now, it is a different story, there are portals that have been constructed that allow people to move very far places in a short time. But the downside is that it requires a lot of money. Other than that, the roads have been made much better, and there are organizations that commercially-run carriages and other services for people to move from one place to another.

This new plethora of knowledge evokes her curiosity and Yuki gets engrossed in reading which makes her lose her sense of time.

"What are you reading?" someone asks

These words break Yuki from her trance and she looks up to see who is speaking, and to her surprise, it is Ling Jian.

"What are you doing here, little Ling?" Yuki gets surprised as she instantly asks Ling Jian.

Ling Jian is dumbfounded as well as angered by Yuki's question. "What am I doing here?" Ling Jian angrily retorts "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

Yuki doesn't have anything with her to know the time, so she looks outside. To her surprise, the blue sky outside the window has gone dark.

'ahh, it's dark already' But before Yuki could speak anything, Ling Jian goes on a rant

"Do you know how long have I been waiting? Do you know I had to cancel some of my meetings because of that? At best, I thought you'd take the whole noon and be back by evening, but you didn't come back by evening, so I decided to wait a few more hours. And when you didn't come back even by then, I had to come to look for you myself."

Ling Jian is fuming but her anger is understandable, if anyone else had to wait for so long they'd be angry too. Yuki understands this 'I made her wait for so long, no wonder she's so angry'

Yuki stands up from her chair, walks in front of Ling Jian, and apologizes "I am sorry, I was so engrossed in reading that I forgot I had to come and see you. Please forgive me, Little Ling" Her voice carries a conviction that is hard to overlook.

Ling Jian can tell just by looking in Yuki's eyes that she's sorry and she truly means it. But Ling Jian's mind is caught by something else at the moment. Yuki's face is pretty close to her face and as such, she can literally feel Yuki's breath, her nose is getting assailed by a sweet fragrance and the beautiful face in front of her is almost hypnotizing, making her hard to look away. She can feel her heart pounding in her chest.

"Sect master, elder sister" someone speaks

As soon as Ling Jian hears it, she breaks from that trance and instantly turns her face away from Yuki and takes a step backward. Her face has gone completely red, she looks like a ripe tomato. And the best of all, all her anger from before has vanished into thin air.

'Why wasn't I looking away? why is my heart beating so fast? and why am I getting embarrassed? There is nothing to be embarrassed about. Calm down, take a deep breath.'

Meanwhile, Yuki, who is completely oblivious to all these, turns towards the source of the voice, only to find elder Ya standing.

"What are you doing here, little Ya?" Yuki asks

"I came to find sect master and saw you here" elder Ya replies

Yuki makes a hmm sound and looks towards Ling Jian only to find her face completely flushed.

'Is little Ling sick?' elder Ya also notices it and starts wondering. But before elder Ya could speak anything, Yuki asks

"Little Ling, are you okay?"

"Y.yes" Ling Jian answers while stammering. Yuki squints her eyes at Ling Jian but keeps quiet.

"Sect Master, are you really okay?" elder Ya asks to confirm

Ling Jian composes herself, takes a deep breath, and resolutely answers this time "yes, I am fine". Both elder Ya and Yuki decide to let it go.

"elder sister Ya, why were you looking for me?"

"It's already time for dinner, so I came to take you with me"

"It's already dinner time!" Yuki exclaims as she completely understands now why Ling Jian was fuming earlier. Yuki came to the library when it's only been a few hours since the sun had risen, and now it's already night, which means she's been reading for at least 10 hours.

Ling Jian rolls her eyes while elder Ya smiles. Ling Jian eventually sighs and says "let's go to eat." Though her words are meant for elder Ya, her eyes are looking at Yuki. She notices it as well.

"What about getting my sword and clothes?" so Yuki decides to ask

"It's already night time, we'll do it tomorrow." Ling Jian replies

"Okay," Yuki smiles. 'looks like little Ling has forgiven me'. It will be more accurate to say that a mix of embarrassment and something made Ling Jian's anger vanish.

Yuki keeps the book back in the bookshelf and goes out with them. The three of them then move out of the library to eat.