How To Screw Yourself Over

Chapter 1.11: Zhang Jing and Yu Yan

Upon spotting her target, Yu Yan, Ash immediately jumps into action and kicks away the man charging at Yu Yan with ease. She kicked his head hard enough to kill anyone under the fourth stage, so she's not quite sure if he's still alive.

However, Ash has a slight issue. She has no clue what the fuck is going on. Why is Yu Yan being attacked? What's happening?

[I thought you might do this.] The distortion sounds exasperated.

'What? if she died, it'd only expound upon our issues, wouldn't it?'

[Yes, but she wasn't about to die. You just stole Liu Han's scene. When Yu Yan had a disagreement with her partner about the fate of a dying Vermillion Bird they came across, her partner eventually decided to kill her and keep the spoils of their trip to himself. Liu Han was supposed to arrive just as she was on the verge of death, take out Yu Yan's partner, and nurse her back to health. This was supposed to deepen Yu Yan's love for Liu Han, but you just had to—]

A bit irked, Ash interrupts with clear annoyance laced in her words. 'Then what do you want me to do?'

[I-I don't know! Maybe...get close to Yu Yan or something? If you do that, it wouldn't be as strange when you have to save her.]

Ash just had a great idea. She can get close to Yu Yan and piss off 078 with this. The latter is more important to her than the former, so she might end up pushing this a bit too far, but 078's strange fascination with Liu Han picking up women is irritating. Why should she care if her creations just ruined a scene between Liu Han and harem member 2354?

However, Ash was still forced to stop the project she was working on in favor of searching for a way to block out 078's unceasing droning. It was slowly driving her crazy.

"E-Excuse me, miss? Are you alright?" Yu Yan is looking at her a bit too warily. Ash may have spaced out for a bit too long.

"Y-Yesh!" Ash bites on her tongue in her rush to speak.

Yu Yan still seems a bit leery, but this little display seemed to amuse her. Ash's little trick also succeeded in unnerving the distortion. 078 is currently transmitting truckloads of questions about her sanity and well-being. Ash is suddenly very glad she found a way to cut the transmission.

"S-Sorry, I was distracted by your beauty." Pausing to scan Yu Yan for injuries, Ash asks "Did that man hurt you?" Ash feels like she could have phrased this better, but she's not the best at this "lovestruck" thing. More importantly, the way the distortion just jerked away in shock was hilarious.

A bit taken aback by Ash's first comment, Yu Yan shakes her head slowly, and hesitantly replies with "No, I was not." Looking up at Ash, she continues. "Thank you for saving me, miss...?"

"Zhang Jing. What's your name?" Ash just came up with a random name. Ash Harris wouldn't exactly fit in a world resembling Ancient China after all.

"I'm Yu Yan, nice to meet you." Yu Yan seems to overcome most of her hesitance at this point, deeming Ash safe enough to relax her guard a bit.

"Nice to meet you too!" Ash makes sure her smile is bright and eager to please. "Y-Yu Yan," Ash stumbles a bit on her name, "please forgive me if I'm overstepping my boundaries, but could I ask why that man attacked you?"

With a reassuring smile, Yu Yan says "Of course."

Well fuck. Is Yu Yan the dense type? Ash thinks she's already made her intentions quite clear with all the blushing, stuttering, and eagerness, but Yu Yan still doesn't seem to get it.

After taking a deep breath to calm herself, Yu Yan finally starts her explanation. "That man was my partner. We met by chance and since our abilities meshed well, we teamed up. However, this time we encountered a dying Vermillion Bird. My partner wanted to steal its children, but the Vermillion Bird is incredibly strong, so even attempting such a thing would be pointless. Moreover, the only reason we hadn't died despite being this deep in the Southern Mountains was that this is the Vermillion Bird's territory. If we stole her children even after this, wouldn't we be too ungrateful?"