Unfortunate Transmigrator

13

Confrontations and Invitations

I

It was already late in the evening, and the sun was setting over the horizon. Hao Zhen stood with Tian Jin outside Duo Lan’s house, right in front of the closed gates.

“What now?” Hao Zhen asked, turning to Tian Jin. He remembered that before Duo Lan had interrupted their conversation, Tian Jin had been about to ask him something, and he was fairly certain he knew what Tian Jin's question was. Not only that, but Tian Jin was probably also curious about why exactly he hadn’t called Duo Lan out on her lies. Hao Zhen was unsure, however, whether Tian Jin wanted to talk about it right now or think it over first.

“There are a couple of questions I’d like to ask you,” Tian Jin said. “Would you mind walking with me to my house?”

Hao Zhen shook his head, and they set out, Tian Jin leading the way.

Neither of them talked at first, and Hao Zhen allowed the silence to drag on. The question Tian Jin probably wanted to ask him was one he didn’t want to answer, so if he ended up giving up on asking it—well, Hao Zhen wasn’t about to stop him from doing so.

Unfortunately, it seemed like Tian Jin had simply been thinking of the best way to phrase it.

“Look,” Tian Jin said, glancing at him, “ever since what happened back in the clearing with Ke Li, you’ve been acting rather… odd. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing—in fact, I think you changed for the better—but I'd like to know just what is going on.”

Hao Zhen had been hoping that since they hadn’t gotten to talk much—or at all, really—before he regained his memories, Tian Jin wouldn’t have been able to tell he was acting differently now, but that clearly wasn’t the case. Then again, considering how meek and awkward he used to be prior to remembering his previous life, it came as no surprise to him that Tian Jin had caught on.

Even if Tian Jin was a poor judge of character, that didn’t mean he wasn’t perceptive. Just naive.

“I…” Hao Zhen hesitated. He could just lie. Indeed, he had already come up with a couple of different excuses in preparation for this question, as he knew it'd probably be asked sooner or later. As he took in Tian Jin’s earnest expression and clear eyes, however, he started having second thoughts. Earlier today, Tian Jin had trusted him with his past and pretty much his biggest secret—something that he clearly hadn’t told anyone else before. Hao Zhen just couldn’t bring himself to lie. But he couldn’t tell Tian Jin the truth, either. Not until he better understood what was going on—or at least until he could trust Tian Jin to keep his secret no matter what.

“I won’t lie to you,” Hao Zhen finally said. Tian Jin gave him a puzzled look, and he sighed. “But I can’t tell you the truth, either. It’s… complicated. Even I don’t fully understand what’s going on.” That was an understatement—he had absolutely no idea what was going on. “And until I better understand the situation, I’m afraid I can’t tell you.”

Tian Jin looked him in the eyes, and Hao Zhen met his gaze. Tian Jin then looked away and nodded his head. “I understand,” he said.

Hao Zhen cringed at the note of betrayal in Tian Jin’s voice. It was very faint, but it was there. Just a little earlier, Tian Jin had pretty much shared his biggest secret with him, and now he had just said he couldn’t share his.

“Like I said, it’s not something I really understand myself,” Hao Zhen said, hoping that by elaborating some more he could make the situation a bit better. “It’s not something that could land us in trouble later on.”

“No, it’s fine,” Tian Jin said, turning back to him and giving him an understanding smile. “Don’t worry. I get it.”

Again Hao Zhen cringed. Now he felt even worse.

“Look, it’s—”

Suddenly, Tian Jin halted, looking toward his left, his eyes narrowed.

“What’s wrong?” Hao Zhen asked, following his gaze.

Walking in their direction was a group of about six outer disciples.

Tian Jin leaned in and whispered, “The one at the lead—that’s Du Qing’s cousin, Du Jian. He’s a second-level redsoul and one of the strongest outer disciples, and Du Qing’s eyes and ears in the Outer Court.”

Hao Zhen took in a deep breath. So Du Qing had sent some lackeys after them, after all.

“Tian Jin,” the young man at the front, Du Jian, said as he approached. He appeared to be in his late teens. “I see you’re back from your mission.” Du Jian glanced at Hao Zhen and frowned, likely not recognizing him, before returning his attention to Tian Jin. “I heard that things didn’t turn out so well.” There was a sneer on Du Jian’s face. The five outer disciples tagging along stood behind Du Jian, doing their best to look menacing as they glared at him and Tian Jin.

This situation was as cliché as it got, and part of Hao Zhen wanted to groan. A bigger part of him, however, felt apprehensive. This wasn’t a scene in some novel he was reading. This was real life, as ridiculous as it was, and a fight could break out at any moment. They were outnumbered three to one, and in the other group was supposedly one of the strongest outer disciples.

If the situation turned ugly, Hao Zhen didn’t think Tian Jin would be in any trouble—to him, these guys were probably just cannon fodder, even if Du Jian might give him some trouble—but the same couldn’t be said about Hao Zhen. He didn’t know the first thing about fighting. The only thing he could really rely on was his spiritual skill, but he didn’t think he’d be able to put it to great use in a fight considering he had no practice using it on another person before.

Hao Zhen took in a deep breath in an attempt to settle his nerves. Hopefully, it wouldn’t come to that. In fact, from what he could remember, situations like this usually didn’t devolve into physical conflicts in cultivation novels. Most of the time, the group of cannon fodder just threw insults at the protagonist before walking away. Still, Hao Zhen started chanting the incantation of his cultivation method in his mind, establishing a connection with his spiritual power so that he could activate his spiritual skill at a moment’s notice. At the same time, he placed his hand inside his pocket, taking hold of the talisman inside it.

“What do you want?” Tian Jin said, stepping forward, not bothering to mince any words as he glared straight at Du Jian.

“Just looking out for my junior brother.” Du Jian shrugged, a nasty smile on his face. “You see, I heard that some misfortune befell the inner disciple leading your mission. He was eaten by a monster, is that right?”

“It’s none of your business,” Tian Jin said firmly.

“You wound me, junior brother,” Du Jian said, placing a hand over his heart in a look of mock distress. “As I previously said, I really only want to make sure you were all right.”

Hao Zhen had to admit—Du Jian had the slimy villain act down pat. It would have been impressive if Du Jian weren’t actually serious about it.

“Well, as you can clearly see, I’m perfectly fine.” Tian Jin took squared his shoulders. “Now be on your way, Du Jian.”

“Hmmm? Yes. Yes, you are. Too fine, in fact.” Du Jian turned to Hao Zhen. “And who’s this other junior brother? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before.” Du Jian's eyes narrowed. “Are you perhaps the one called Hao Zhen?”

“Leave him alone, Du Jian,” Tian Jin said before Hao Zhen could say anything. “He’s got nothing to do with this.”

Crap. Hao Zhen had to hold himself back from cursing. He knew Tian Jin meant well, but he had just painted a massive target on his back. There was no doubt about it. If Du Qing was only considering going after him before, now he was definitely going to do it.

Sure enough, Du Jian’s expression turned calculating. He smiled a greasy smile. “Protective of him, aren’t you? How interesting.”

Tian Jin took another step forward. “Du Jian…” he said, his voice now outright threatening. Hao Zhen couldn’t see Tian Jin’s face right now, but judging by his voice, he reckoned it should be nothing short of menacing.

“Now, now, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, junior brother,” Du Jian said, putting up his hands in the air, and even though he still sounded mocking, Hao Zhen had a feeling that some of the apprehension in his face was real. “I was just curious about your friend here.”

You know what they say about curiosity, Hao Zhen wanted to say, but he held his tongue, partially because he didn’t know whether that expression even existed in this world, partially because he didn’t want to draw any more attention to himself.

“Leave,” Tian Jin said, and from his tone, it was clear that he wouldn’t be asking this question another time.

Du Jian snorted. “Fine. Have it your way.” He turned around and started walking back in the direction he had come from, his lackeys silently following. After taking a few steps, however, Du Jian halted and glanced back. “Just one last piece of advice: I’d watch my back in the future if I were you.” Without waiting for a reply, Du Jian turned back around and resumed walking.

Hao Zhen and Tian Jin stayed put, watching Du Jian and his followers walk away. Once they were out of sight, Tian Jin turned to Hao Zhen, his face serious.

“The situation is worse than I thought,” Tian Jin said. “I think that they’ll be targeting you after all, and soon.”

Yeah. Thanks for that, by the way, Hao Zhen thought. But he wasn't mad at him. Tian Jin didn't know any better and had just been looking out for him. He probably didn’t even realize that if he had just acted like Hao Zhen wasn’t anyone important, or at least someone he didn’t care about, there was a good chance Du Qing would have decided to ignore him.

Hao Zhen sighed. “So what now?”

He had known from the start that Du Qing could target him, but he had thought that if that happened, it’d be because of the matter with the mission, and he had been betting on Du Qing first trying to ascertain whether he knew anything before actually trying to silence him. That was no longer the case now. Du Jian would report to Du Qing the way Tian Jin had reacted, and Du Qing would come to the conclusion that he was someone Tian Jin cared about, and that'd give Du Qin a much better reason to target him.

Tian Jin furrowed his brow, clearly thinking hard, before saying, “You can stay at my place.”

Hao Zhen blinked, surprised. “What?”

“You can stay at my place,” Tian Jin repeated, his face still serious. “I’ll be able to look out for you there. And I have plenty of rooms. Not to mention there are some warding schemas in it that will alert me of intruders. I doubt your house has any.”

“You…” Without a shadow of a doubt, this was the best-case scenario for Hao Zhen. Not only would living with Tian Jin be much safer for him, but it’d also allow him to get closer to Tian Jin—and that would tie in nicely with his plan to stick around Tian Jin in hopes that the supposed protagonist would lead him to the answers he was seeking.

Still, it’d feel odd to just outright accept Tian Jin’s invitation just like that, so Hao Zhen opened to politely decline, knowing that Tian Jin would insist, and then he'd eventually pretend to give in. When he saw the earnest, serious look on Tian Jin’s face, however, he stopped himself.

Right. This was Tian Jin—someone who felt responsible for getting him into this mess even though the one really at fault was Du Qing, someone who trusted him with his biggest secret even though they had only known each other for a couple of days.

Tian Jin was honest to a fault, and he deserved better than some fake, hypocritical nonsense, no matter what social norms dictated.

“All right,” Hao Zhen said, matching Tian Jin’s earnestness. “Thank you.”

Tian Jin simply nodded his head. “Is there anything you need to get in your place?” he asked, straight to business.

Hao Zhen thought about it for a moment. It felt like it had been ages since he had been to his house. Then again, between the last time he had been there and now, he had assimilated sixteen years’ worth of memories. After a moment, he said, “Some robes.”

“Nothing really important, then?”

“No.”

“Then I’ll go with you there tomorrow. Today, I’ll just lend you some of mine.”

Hao Zhen nodded his head. Then he remembered: Duo Lan. “I think we should tell Duo Lan what just happened.”

“Right.” Tian Jin’s spatial ring flashed, and his sound-transmission token appeared in his hand. Tian Jin then sent Duo Lan a sound transmission detailing what had just happened.

With that, they resumed their walk to Tian Jin's place, except the situation was completely different compared to when they had set out from Duo Lan’s residence.