My Little Ghost

Volume 1.0.2 — The Transition

“What’s going on?” their uncle Bai Hao Ran asks, unconsciously walking towards his husband.

“Looking good, brother-in-law. Since you’re here, you might want to bond with Xiao Jie and Ah Zhang for a bit while I go busy myself with the visitors. You,” Wei Mingmei turns to look at her youngest son, “You’re coming with me for a walk.”

As the mother and son walk out of the kitchen, Bai Zhang Wei catches up with them and blocks their path in the hallway. “Wait. Mom, is Xiao Bing in trouble?”

“Of course, he is. He put a transfiguration charm in your drinks, Ah Zhang. You’ll be living in a woman’s body for the next couple of days,” Wei Mingmei replies with an absolute tone.

“I mean...” Bai Zhang Wei says, looking a bit worried. “Is he in trouble? Again? Like... trouble.”

Wei Mingmei glances at her youngest son to see him already unbothered by the question. She doesn’t want her children to normalize the feeling of being unsafe because of their talents in cultivation but the people around them keep making trouble for their family out of greed. She sighs and turns to look back at Bai Zhang Wei. “Yes. Your father said that the Rong clan’s already at it again. That’s probably why your uncle Qing Yuan made the excuse of the academic year’s start to gather cultivators into a get-together tonight. So that he can send us the weapons as gifts without looking suspicious.”

“Uncle must be in so much pain going against his own family like this,” Bai Zhang Wei breathes out with a deep frown.

“Your uncle Qing Yuan’s family is your uncle Hao Ran. And your uncle Hao Ran is part of our family. That makes your uncle Qing Yuan a part of our family, too, just like what your father said when they got married. We protect everyone in our family, whatever happens, remember? So don’t look so down. Uncle Qing Yuan is safe here with us. And with the Rong clan desperately trying to harm our Xiao Bing for the sake of his magic core, being sorry for your uncle Qing Yuan because he’s been kicked out of that horrible family makes no sense at all.”

Hearing this, Bai Zhang Wei is finally convinced that a clan war is about to break out all because the Rong clan has chosen to let their power get into their heads. At this, he’s more at ease to see these people as their clan’s enemies instead of being civilized with them because they are his uncle Qing Yuan’s original clan.

“Not to be careless, but honestly, they are no match to our family when it comes to power,” Bai Bing Wen tells them. “It’s just that... there are so many of them, I wouldn’t be surprised if the younger generation in their clan makes up half of their school’s population. Must be difficult to be a rogue cultivator in Central University.”

Bai Zhang Wei gives him another scowl. “I know. Forget about the punishment for now and listen to whatever mom has to say first. It must be really urgent if she has chosen to take you away instead of staying and having long conversations with Xiao Jie and uncle Hao Ran.” He reaches a hand out to ruffle his younger brother’s soft locks. “Be a good kid and don’t get in too much trouble.”

“I understand,” Bai Bing Wen says, giving his older brother a warm, dimpled smile. “Don’t worry too much, gege. I’m a licensed cultivator now and I can fight back if they choose to hurt me outside the house. It’s not going to be easy for them to harm me, though.”

Chuckling, Bai Zhang Wei walks back to the kitchen where his uncle Hao Ran is probably fawning over Bai Li Jie, again. After all, those two are mostly mistaken as brothers for their shocking similarities. For now, he would let his parents deal with the Rong clan and focus on entertaining his uncles who are probably in an awkward situation right now because of these conflicts.

When Wei Mingmei and Bai Bing Wen finally reach the lake outside their house, the walkway lights up with red and orange sparkles. Wei Mingmei locks an arm with her son’s, humming to herself as they walk farther from the main family’s house.

“Mom, is it that serious that you can’t talk to me about it right away?”

Wei Mingmei stops her humming and clears her throat. “Xiao Bing, have you ever heard of Core Color Tournament?”

Bai Bing Wen pauses in his steps, making both of them stop in the middle of the walkway. “I have. What about it?”

“Wei clan has more than enough connections for me to get a chance to meet someone from the Bai clan when I was younger. As a young lady, I have been raised to know only how to cultivate my power to its highest peak because I have the most potential amongst the natural cultivators born in the Wei clan. But I resented the idea of having my family arrange a marriage for me through connections just for the sake of power. Fortunately for me, I met your father in an unorthodox way.”

Wei Mingmei waves her hand with a red glowing talisman, setting a muffling charm around the two of them.

“It was during the Core Color Tournament which our university has never joined once. Qing Yuan, my best friend at that time, has heard about the interschool competition happening between the most prestigious schools in Central country. Since we’re both the most talented cultivators in both of our clans, seeing a competition of power through tournaments was something enticing... exciting, for us. For the first time in my life that I have been raised with proper decorum, I was convinced to charm two students from one of the schools that were part of the tournament. We snuck into the tournament using the identities of these students, but we were caught by the assigned student governing the whole event.”

“I’ve heard you telling Jie-gege about this story before,” Bai Bing Wen says. “Uncle Hao Ran used to be the student overlooking the school events and dad, despite his rebellious nature, always had his back whenever someone tried to bully uncle Hao Ran because he was a bit of a pushover.”

“Exactly like how your Jie-gege is in school, don’t you think?”

Bai Bing Wen chuckles lightly. “No one dares to bully Jie-gege with me and Zhang-gege around.”

“Just like how your father protected your uncle Hao Ran.”

“Zhang-gege and I have never taken after dad’s rebellious nature, though.”

“Not so much but you’re just as stubborn as your dad. To think that you look so much like me. And here you are, acting so much like your dad. I feel a little upset, you know.”

“Mom,” Bai Bing Wen gently calls out. “What’s going on? Really? Why are you telling me about this?”

Wei Mingmei stares ahead, taking a deep, steadying breath. “Remember when you were a kid and your brothers would tell you stories about the Core Color Tournament? And you would get excited, thinking there was something more to look forward to once you start going to school.”

“I don’t really remember much of those stories anymore because they stopped talking about it all of a sudden.”

“Your dad asked them to. It broke our hearts to see you get excited for nothing. We both knew that your school would stop going to Core Color Tournaments as soon as you step foot into the school’s realm and you would never get a chance to experience it yourself.”

A little confused, Bai Bing Wen frowns. “I don’t understand.”

“The Immortals Association for Cultivating Youth could only handle so much trouble for the school. In a confidential agreement, they let the whole academy stay out of anything that would require the students to interact with people from different schools because we’re trying to protect you. You know about the result of your elemental tests and power meter when you were merely a little boy, right? I’ve always told you about it. I’m not saying it’s troublesome, but the school didn’t want to put you in danger by exposing you to other cultivators when you weren’t strong enough to defend yourself yet. And in return, the headmaster agreed to join interschool activities once you get your license to cultivate outside the school realm.”

Bai Bing Wen stares at his mother, a bit dumbfounded, before a few quiet words escape his lips. “So what do I do...”

“Schools joining the Core Color Tournament would be open to all students participating in it, which means anyone from Central University and other schools can have access to yours, too. The only exception for schools not to join is when one of the students would be at risk of losing his or her magic core because they aren’t strong enough to defeat other cultivators. They only get to this extent when a student’s potential cultivation is terrifyingly high. It was why Central University wasn’t joining before, too. They were protecting someone but that cultivator has finished school years ago and has long been licensed to practice outside. It was why Cultivation Academy withdrew their participation in the last few years—for your safety. But your case is different now. You’ve got your license a couple of years earlier than your graduation. The school no longer has an excuse to skip this year’s tournament.”

“What are you so afraid of, mom? I can protect myself even more so now that I have my license. I have the right to kill if they pose as a threat to my magic core.”

“But will you be able to? Really? What if there are so many of them? What if they’re hiding someone with a much higher cultivation level than you do and sneak in to get to you? Your uncle Qing Yuan and I were merely students back then and we were able to get into the realm of the tournament. Imagine what a more powerful cultivator could do.”

“Because like you said, you two were the most powerful cultivators from your clans.”

“That’s not the point.”

“What are you suggesting, mother?”

 “It would really put the whole clan at ease... if you could stay out of school for this year to make sure you don’t come across the wrong people with too much power in their hands. Or at least, only until we’re prepared enough to protect you even in other realms where you might be accidentally sent to.”

Bai Bing Wen takes a deep breath, giving his mother a worried look. “Do you really think they would plan on causing trouble even within the tournament’s realm?”

“I do.”

“Then I will do as you say, mom. I would rather stay behind of my studies for a few years than put the whole clan in danger.”

Wei Mingmei breathes out a sigh of relief before she hears the rest of what Bai Bing Wen has to say.

“But then again, how are we so sure that they will not cause any trouble even with me out of school? What if they cause trouble somewhere else unexpected because they can’t get a hold of me?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m saying that... wouldn’t it be easier for us to know exactly where and when they will strike, instead of playing guessing games or hide-and-seek? If I go to school—”

“Bai Bing Wen,” his mother cuts him off. She looks around before setting her glowing golden eyes back at her son. “I cannot risk your safety just to lure these enemies out.”

“Hear me out, mom,” he gently tells her, placing his hands on his mother’s shoulders to ease her up a little. “We have until tomorrow to overthink when and where they’re going to strike. It’s not just the Rong clan. There are a bunch of other clans wanting to make trouble for us because we have the most talented cultivators in our family and on our side. But do you think these cultivators won’t take advantage of our situation once we’re already in conflict with so many clans?”

Wei Mingmei keeps quiet, listening to her son.

“Mom. The second that the younger generation of each clan gets into the safe spaces of their school’s realms, then there would be no stopping the elders from causing troubles. They care about the younger ones in their family just as much as we do. But if they found out that I stayed behind, there would be more risk for our family in here than it would be for me in there.”

“What do you have in mind, Xiao Bing?”

“I’ll go to school, like how I normally do. But I would keep my guards up and make sure I don’t get involved with the tournament and other interschool activities.”

“That’s easier said than done.”

“Mom, what do you expect me to do? Ever since I had my sixth level breakthrough, more and more people believe that my magic core is capable of reaching immortality. I’m already used to it. If I don’t take the danger with me somewhere else, what’s going to happen to our family? And who’s going to look after Jie-gege? What if they go after him and use him to get to me?”

Wei Mingmei takes a few seconds, gathering her wits. She knows that her son is not being unreasonable. Being in school means having the protection of both the academy and the association if anything goes south. The more immortal cultivators protect her Xiao Bing, the safer it would be for all of them. While from the outside, the Bai clan will do anything in their power to make sure these people don’t get access to the interconnecting realm of schools.

But it’s always easier to protect something that’s within their reach. With Bai Bing Wen sending himself to a place that used to be the safest for him now turning into a realm of the unknown, it would be more difficult to see what’s happening inside.

“You’re right,” his mother agrees. “I keep forgetting what you’re capable of, Xiao Bing.” She takes another shaky breath before taking a small pair of earrings out of her storage ring. “Wear these. All the time. This is to make sure you stay connected with us when you’re inside the school’s realm.”

“That’s not allowed, mom. Communication devices connected to the outside within the school’s realm are—”

“I know. Your great-grandfather can let this small thing slip if it’s for your safety. Your professors are only at the seventh level so unless they are on the eighth or higher, they would never detect that this one is enchanted. Let alone, a communication device. Now, give me a drop of your blood.”