NOVEL WEB 06: Oooh ~Mysterious~ Association
With Yan Mingqing’s face brightening to a degree where it was comparable to the sun, Lin Songmei sat down beside her, leaning back against the wall and letting out a long sigh. The test really went well... really well.
The sun outside shined through the ceiling, illuminating the hall as Songmei looked around while Mingqing asked for a second to finish reading the article she was reading. People were returning out of the halls as they finished their test, a person would come out every five minutes-ish.
5 minutes?
She had sat there getting her measurements recorded for 5 minutes?
... Those blackout curtains must have worked like magic...
Or, more likely, her nervousness had become a bit of a time machine...
“I won’t pry into how you did, but I hope you did well,” Mingqing murmured from beside her, having put away her own terminal, “What is it like? Is it true that you just press your hand against the ball and that’s it?”
Kicking her legs out flat and sliding a little down the wall into a bit of a hunched position, Songmei took a second, pushing her hair out of her face. “It’s true, yeahhhh... I kinda sat there and that’s it. They have some fancy blackout curtains though, I’d kill for some curtains as nice as those.”
Ah.
Mingqing probably has curtains like that already... or better.
Let’s just... talk about other stuff.
Not giving Mingqing a chance to reply, Songmei sat up again, changing the topic with about as much subtlety as brick being thrown through a window. “A-Anyway, can you tell me more about... uhm... the Cultivators Association? You mentioned a little about it earlier and uhm... I feel like it’d be beneficial to know a little more now.”
Laughing, Mingqing leaned in close, her golden, ruby speckled eyes dancing a little as she whispered, “You did well, didn’t you? You’re not very good at hiding it... Of course I can tell you! Though... you’re much worse at hiding things than I thought based on the first impression you gave off.”
Cough.
“Don’t worry, it's cute!”
COUGH.
Doubling over with a slight pink tinge on her face, Songmei, who was wondering when the bubbly Mingqing got replaced by a demon, poked Mingqing while composing herself. “Just... Just explain please...”
Beginning her explanation, Mingqing pulled out her terminal to find some images to provide some visuals while ignoring some of the murmurs from nearby people about how she, “Had a different side to her” and, “Wasn’t always a bitch after all.” She didn’t care much for the murmurs, she’d heard them before, and, not to be pretentious, the chance that she’d ever see anyone from this auditorium again was slim.
Not even Songmei...
Banishing the sad realization that Songmei was someone she had begun to get attached to but would have a small likelihood of ever talking to outside of unique circumstances such as this, Mingqing pulled up a picture of a shield that had two swords crossed in front of it and a dragon coiling around it. “So, this is the logo of the Cultivator’s Association. It’s honestly a pain in the ass, it’s overly complicated so anything they print it on makes it look tacky. Even if it looks good... it’s super expensive.”
“The association though, is something that most people won’t hear much about so it's understandable if you don’t know much. As you know, since sects are more powerful than nations, national governments just being managerial institutions really... there was a gap, who was going to organize and lead the sects? Or were they just free to do whatever?”
“The solution was the Cultivator’s Association, also yeah we just kinda call it ‘the association’, but it originally was an alliance formed between the largest sects, but now it includes practically every sect in the world.”
Songmei, who was leaning against Mingqing, put her head on Mingqing’s shoulder and let out small murmurs of acknowledgement as Mingqing explained this ‘mysterious association’. At least it wasn’t evil, that was good, it would suck if it was secretly run by a bunch of demons or something...
Furrowing her eyebrows realizing that what she thought of was practically asking for trouble, Songmei scolded herself and shoved the thought aside, refocusing and listening as Mingqing continued her explanation.
“And as you know, there are hunting squads. These hunting squads are pretty famous... I mean... they’re always on television, billboards, interviews, and stuff. So, these squads, as you know, hunt demons and mindless or rampaging spiritual animals, among other things. However, what’s less known is that these all work under the association.”
Her legs splayed out all over the ground like a dead squid, Songmei decided to pull them in, hugging her knees while asking,“Is the Cultivator’s Association just like... the secret boss of everyone then?”
“I mean, yeah? But they’re not really secretive, they just don’t do much notable stuff... And the leaders are all people elected from the big sects. It’s just really boring to be honest.” Mingqing answered before diving into a story about how in recent years the biggest drama in the association was pretty much whether or not to renovate the headquarters more or not.
And from there, Songmei and Mingqing’s conversation continued to devolve back to the random topics they were talking about before. Continuing until Mingqing’s group was called to take their test.
Following that, Songmei sat in silence, passing the time alone with a few activities: laying on the ground, staring off into space, reading some articles, laying on the ground some more, and eating the lunch they passed out.
Boring...
Having read all the articles on her terminal, eaten lunch, and ‘admired the auditorium’ for a while, Songmei laid there, waiting for Mingqing to return. She knew that Mingqing had a later number so it’d be a while but she didn’t think it’d take that long...
She wanted to talk as much as she could after all...
As someone without friends, having only had a few passing friendships that all fizzled out, Songmei wanted to enjoy her time with Mingqing just a little longer. Mingqing had mentioned that her terminal was monitored by her parents so there’d be a slim chance she’d be able to talk after this was over...
Plastered to the ground while stewing in her thoughts like a slow cooker, Songmei the new floor decoration was eventually roused from her stupor by a finger poking her cheek.
“Heeeeey~”
Poke.
Poke. Poke.
“You’re alone too, why don’t we-”
“No need to repeat that all over again...” Songmei grumbled with a small laugh, sitting up while rubbing her cheek, “I hope it went well though.”
Laughing, Mingqing took a seat beside Songmei once more, “Thank you! What were we talking about, though? Hobbies? Want to continue talking about that? That line was so stifling, there was no one to talk to at all...”
Mystified, Songmei couldn’t help but ask, “Why didn’t you approach someone like you approached me?” After all, if a broke as dirt orphan was someone she was willing to talk to, why not anyone else who was more affluent?
“It’s not the same, my gut told me it wouldn’t be,” Mingqing dodged, answering with about as much vagueness as was possible for a human, deciding to not mention how everyone in line around her wasn’t her type. “Anyhow, my hobbies have been mostly just... school. Done some learning with the sword though. But more interestingly, tell me more about that book you were talking about when you gave an example about how reading was your hobby! A cultivation novel but it takes place in ancient times where there wasn’t technology...”
Remembering that novel, Songmei, forgetting all about Mingqing’s vague answer, sat up, revitalized in mere moments, and dove deep into conversation with Mingqing once more.
And so, the pair talked and talked, passing time until announcements were made about the end of the testing day. Dragging their feet, the two talked until they had to part, exchanging heartfelt goodbyes with promises to try and stay in contact.
‘I’ll miss her... Yan Mingqing, Yan Mingqing,’ Songmei recited in her head, back on the bus to the orphanage, trying her best to engrave Mingqing into her memory.
