During the Zhou Qi Era, the illustrious Fengyi Sect—home to countless talents—had two unwritten taboos.
The first was Elder Ye, Ye Qingzhou—powerful, unhinged, and ruthless in the kill. Do *not* provoke her.
The other taboo—Elder Ye’s own greatest taboo—was her late Senior Sister, Luo Jiao. Do *not* mention her.
“Heaven knows what went wrong a hundred years ago, but Elder Ye absolutely despises that Senior Sister of hers.”
“Last time someone brought up that Luo-whatsit in front of the Elder, she cleaved his head open with a sword qi strike. Turned him into an idiot.”
So said the young attendant leading the way at the mountain gate.
At that very moment, Luo Jiao herself—reborn as an utterly ordinary fisher girl, squeezed into the crowd: *…*
Luo Jiao’s inner monologue: A hundred years ago we were senior and junior sisters who supported each other… and a hundred years later, my Junior Sister says she HATES me?! [sobbing cat.jpg]
***
A month or so later, at Fengyi Sect, Luo Jiao—having made a name for herself in the Sword Pavilion Trial—was cornered by Ye Qingzhou around a corner.
Ye Qingzhou fixed her with a hard stare. “Your sword forms resemble hers.”
Luo Jiao wiped her sweat. “Haha, really? I just make it up as I go.”
Ye Qingzhou: “I never said who.”
Luo Jiao: *…*
Luo Jiao: “Elder Ye, no matter who you’re talking about—it isn’t me.”
On the surface, Ye Qingzhou’s eyes were cold enough to kill, and she spat out a gritted “Hmph.”
Behind the scenes:
Ye Qingzhou’s inner monologue: Senior Sister won’t acknowledge me. Senior Sister doesn’t like me anymore!! [sobbing cat.jpg]
***
★ The Serious Version:
A hundred years ago, at the Battle of Qianli Slope.
Luo Jiao and Ye Qingzhou—the only two personal disciples of the Daoist of Sanqing—fought side by side against the enemy, only to meet a fate of one dead and one wounded.
The dead passed on; yet the living changed beyond recognition.
Ye Qingzhou, once the open-hearted bearer of the Everlasting Sword, became a moody, hypocritical, arrogant madwoman.
The world resented her, hated her, seethed in silence. Ye Qingzhou did not care.
The only person she cared about was gone. So nothing mattered anymore.
Yet every time she dreamed of that empty mountain, she woke with her pillow soaked through.
In the dream, the girl was dashing and bright, her sword tracing a flourish.
“Ah Zhou,” that person would call her—
Her, Senior Sister.
***
Tags: Original, Yuri, Alternate History, Romance, Devoted Love, Rebirth, Strong Female Lead, Eastern Fantasy
