Mei Mei's Side Story

Her head leaned against back, a mass of silky beige blond hair kept carefully out of the tub, He Mei was submerged in pink liquid. Eyes clothed, breathing even, she let her pores absorb the water: it felt like thousand of needles stabbing her skin, a swarm of tiny insects devouring her flesh.

And yet, there wasn’t a frown on her face. There wasn’t a grimace. Not because she wasn’t able to express those emotions, for He Mei took expensive measures to make sure her face kept full control of its muscles after she reconstructed it from scratch, but because there wasn’t any need.

If anything, she had to suppress a moan.

He Mei always told people that she wasn’t good with pain and it was merely another lie. She wasn’t just good with it. She embraced it, welcomed it, and loved it.

Because it made her feel. Because in her entire life, it was the only thing that was real.

She had spent years learning how to fake a giggle and a laugh, how to make herself cry and how to force herself to blush. But pain? The feeling of being cut, of being stabbed and bruised? That was impossible to forge – and Heavens only know how hard He Mei longed for something authentic to fill the void inside her.

“Big Sis Mei?” a cuteish, high-pitched voice followed a knock on the door. Immediately, He Mei’s demeanor underwent a change: she sat up, spread her arms, formed a smile.

“Come in,” she said.

The door opened and a girl, because with her short stature, brown twin-tails and eyes full of naivety and trust she was definitely not a woman, walked in. She took in the room, amazed at the unique, garden-y design and then she noticed He Mei, still in a bath with nude body obscured only by a liquid layer of pink. The girl’s cheeks flushed crimson and she turned away in a hurry.

“I’m sorry!” she exclaimed and rushed to the door, but He Mei laughed and told her to stop.

“Shu Shu, why are you running away?”

“I- you – well – you…”

He Mei just laughed again and got out of the tub. As her footsteps rang out across the room, as water droplets fell to the floor, Shu Shu squirmed, embarrassed and full of nerves.

On the other hand, He Mei only shook her head out of Shu Shu’s sight. It was so easybending others to her will: arrogant, strong men liked her bashful and demure; timid women admired her confident and without shame. She had no qualms about being both, and, if needed, could always play another role.

It scared her, sometimes. The more she impersonated someone’s perfection, presented an image others wanted to see, the more lost her true self became.

Who was she?Without masks and pretense, what was she like?

At this point, He Mei couldn’t remember. That was why she felt afraid. Why she turned to pain in search of pleasure.

Because He Mei didn’t exist. Deep inside of her, there was nothing at all. An emptiness, cold and dark, every bit of light snuffed out by decades of anger, hate and despair.

“Big Sis Mei?” the girl called out and broke her out of her trance.

“Apologies. I just thought of an idea for a pill,” He Mei lied, as naturally she breathed air.

“Really?! What is it??” Shu Shu exclaimed, clapped her hands and jumped to turn around.

The girl was sweet, adorable and, as He Mei figured from years of experience, actually sincere. Her excitement was genuine, her curiosity honest. Maybe that’s why her Master had decided to split the position that belonged to her and only fucking herbetween them.

Maybe that’s why other disciples fawned over the common-born villager despite their natural contempt for those without thousands years of heritage.

Maybe that’s why the girl stole her thunder without meaning to. But, frankly speaking, He Mei couldn’t care less about Shu Shu’s natural charm, her bubbly personality or her palpable desire to be friends.

He Mei didn’t see a girl. She saw a problem. An obstacle to be removed. And remove it, she will.

“I’ll tell you later,” He Mei waved off the question, “You’re here for the Beast Repelling Paste, right?”

Shu Shu nodded and swayed back and forth on her feet, hands behind her back.

“Uh-huh. I can’t believe Master allowed me to go to the Bountiful Forest! I’m so excited. But also scared. Have you been there? I heard it’s creepy. Even the trees howl at you, so spooky.”

“Don’t worry,” He Mei chuckled, “As long as you apply the paste properly, no one should bother you and you’ll be able to gather your ingredients in safety. It’s just…”

“What is it, Big Sis Mei?”

He Mei sighed, taking out a vial from her spatial ring.

“I’m actually not supposed to concoct anything so complicated yet. If Master knew that not only I did so, I even gave my creation to you… I’m afraid she would be angry.”

Shu Shu smiled.

“Don’t worry, Big Sis Mei! If anyone asks, I’ll say I bought it from the store!”

“Are you sure? I don’t want you to lie to Master on my behalf… besides, what if my paste is not good enough…”

“I trust you, Sis Mei. You’re the most talented alchemist besides Master I’ve ever seen! And I know just how expensive this paste is, with you giving it to me for free, I have no idea how to repay you.”

“Don’t worry, don’t worry.” Mei Mei replied, “We fellow disciples have to help each other, don’t we? You’ll repay me when you become the Alchemy Elder later on.”

Shu Shu giggled and took the vial.

“Alright, it’s a deal! Thank you again!” she said and bid goodbye.

He Mei watched her, knowing well it was the last time she would ever see her.

Beast Repelling Paste? Hah.

She laced the concoction with so many pheromones designed to attract and drive monsters into a state of craze, she couldn’t even predict what kind of beast would tear the girl to pieces.

He Mei glanced into the window, noting how high the sun had already gotten in the sky. It was soon to be time for her charity event, giving pills and elixirs away to disciples who couldn’t afford to buy the necessities themselves: fucking losers, that’s who they were, but He Mei preferred to have the public and its opinion on her side, so she pushed the matter of the soon-to-be-dead martial sister to the back of her mind and started getting ready.