Huí Guāng Fǎn Zhào - 回光返照

Chapter 6 - Tomb Raiding

Upon closer inspection, both Jiang Yuming and Gao Guiren noticed that there were significant changes to both of them. Jiang Yuming's changes were not too major, but he did feel that he lost a bit of height. He also felt the "borrowed" clothes on him had become a bit looser, and when they found a mirror among the treasures, they realized that Jiang Yuming's body was 17 again.

Gao Guiren's changes were almost astronomical, his face had changed to look like a mix of all his previous lives. After two months traveling, Gao Guiren's original face had become a bit darker under the sun, but now it was even paler than Jiang Yuming's face. On the inner side of his right wrist, there was a faint gold outline of a ginkgo leaf and the sight of it gave him a sense of comfort. The only good thing was that he did not lose much of his height and Jiang Yuming, who was almost eye to eye with him, was now a head shorter than Gao Guiren.

"Ai, life is truly unfair, look how much fat is on my face again." Jiang Yuming whined, after waking up from death, his face had originally lost much of it's baby fat. Adding to his high cheekbones, he looked almost comically silly.

"Eh, you have dimples." Gao Guiren's hands enveloped Jiang Yuming's face, turning it side to side. The dimples had become more pronounced with the addition of baby fat on Jiang Yuming's face.

Jiang Yuming looked at their reflection in the mirror and from his viewpoint, the two of them looked quite ambiguous. Although Jiang Yuming always liked to tease Gao Guiren about their marriage, the two of them had never taken it seriously. Their relationship these last few months had more or less been that of two great friends, but now their ambiguous position brought a flush to Jiang Yuming's face. He turned to knock Gao Guiren's hands away only to see something on his (GGR) wrist.

"Ren-ge, what's that?"

"This...this is the Wu Family inheritance." Gao Guiren said, staring at the gold ginkgo leaf.

Only the main line of the Wu Family would have this mark on their wrist once they came of age. It held the Wu Family Sword Manual [Cascading Ginkgo] and only those with the mark could use all 7 styles efficiently. Although it was not a very intensive sword play, the manual was still considered a top grade Elementary Manual among the mortal realm at the time. Gao Guiren did not think he would ever see this mark again in his lifetime.

Enthralled by the delicate gold leaf, Jiang Yuming turned his face to get a better look, only to find that he turned too quickly and ended up brushing his lips against it. The awkward atmosphere that followed was only interrupted by the burning feeling on Jiang Yuming's own wrist as he let out a hiss of pain.

Gao Guiren could only stare in horror as a faint outline of a gold ginkgo leaf began to show on Jiang Yuming's inner wrist. Each of the people in the main line could share [Cascading Ginkgo] with only one person in their life, and usually it was with their marriage partner. It seemed that [Cascading Ginkgo] had recognized their questionable marriage as a real one and began to imprint itself onto Jiang Yuming.

The two of them separated, with Jiang Yuming clutching at his wrist and letting out a creative string of curses. It felt like a brand, scalding his skin as if bruning all the way to his bones. Tears began to develop at the corner of his eyes as he squeezed his wrist hard to distract from the pain. Jiang Yuming's eyes feel on Xianshi and pulled the sword from its sheath, intending to loop off his wrist.

As soon as Xianshi was pulled, and before Gao Guiren could even tell him to stop, Jiang Yuming felt like something was pouring into his mind. Xianshi felt perfect in his hands and he began to sway and move as the sword play was literally downloaded into his pool of knowledge. Each style, each move, and even the matching internal meditation technique was slowly given to him. Jiang Yuming felt a rush, like a druggie finally getting a hit after years of abstinence, as he moved Xianshi throughout the room.