"I brought some books from the Library Pavilion like you asked, Chun-ge."
Pan Wukun looked over the pile of books Wei Wuxian placed on the ground.
Cultivation history, methods of cultivation, and cultivation artifacts…
Good. Wei Wuxian had managed to gather the books relevant to her quest back home.
Pan Wukun and Wei Wuxian had agreed to meet at a peaceful grove of trees that people didn't frequent. They didn't need anyone questioning why Pan Wukun, who was not a guest disciple at the Cloud Recesses, was reading books from the Library Pavilion without permission.
"While you're studying, Chun-ge, I'll just enjoy myself!" Wei Wuxian pulled out some erotica books.
Pan Wukun snorted in amusement. "Of course, you would be reading that."
As Wei Wuxian flipped open an erotica book, Pan Wukun peeked. He was looking at both het and gay erotica?! She knew that Wei Wuxian showed Lan Wangji gay books as he said so at the guest disciples' party. But for him to be casually reading gay books now…did that mean he was aware of his bisexuality?
"Wei Ying…have you thought that you might hold affections for more than just women?"
Wei Wuxian blinked. His face rapidly turned pink. "Um…um…"
"It's all right. No rush," Pan Wukun said gently.
"Chun-ge…" Wei Wuxian's voice grew quiet. "You mean be like you? Being attracted to both men and women?"
"Don't forget those who aren't men or women either," Pan Wukun added.
Wei Wuxian seemed a little confused by that but he nodded anyway.
"Think about it, Wei Ying. Don't you find Lan-er-gongzi quite handsome?"
"...Yes! I can't deny that! He is one of the Twin Jades and ranked as the second most handsome man in the cultivation world, after all!" Then Wei Wuxian frowned. "But I wish he wasn't such an uptight jerk."
Seeing the disheartened expression on Pan Wukun's face, Wei Wuxian quickly said, "I know. I know. I should give him a chance and get to know his nice side."
Wei Wuxian leaned closer to Pan Wukun and winked. "I also think you're pretty handsome yourself too, Chun-ge!"
Pan Wukun leaned back and turned her face away from Wei Wuxian's. "Oh, stop it! You're just saying that to be nice!"
Pan Wukun didn't think she had anything to worry about. Wei Wuxian was always the teasing type. The one he had a crush on was Lan Wangji, not her!
Wei Wuxian chuckled at Pan Wukun's flustered state. Then his face turned thoughtful. "About whether or not I'm attracted to more than just women…I'm still not too sure myself, Chun-ge."
"That's totally fine, Wei Ying. There's no need to dwell on it too much." Pan Wukun gave Wei Wuxian a serious expression. "Just let yourself have feelings. Don't repress them. Don't feel ashamed about being attracted to whoever you may have affection for."
Wei Wuxian mulled over Pan Wukun's words. He focused his eyes on her and laughed softly. "Yes…I'll make sure to remember that, Chun-ge."
Pan Wukun smiled reassuringly at Wei Wuxian. She hoped he wouldn't have trouble with his feelings for Lan Wangji later.
The two of them continued reading over their books under the shade of the trees in the tranquil peace of each other's company.
Pan Wukun rubbed her eyes. She had been poring over the books for so long that she was starting to feel kind of sleepy. But sleepy enough that she didn't have the energy to walk all the way back to her guest room in the Cloud Recesses.
"I have to take a nap. Keep an eye out, will you, Wei Ying?"
"Hehe! You can count on me, Chun-ge!"
"Thanks." Pan Wukun rested her back against a tree, making herself comfortable.
A gentle breeze rustled through the tree leaves.
Wei Wuxian turned a page in his erotica book.
The sunlight shone over the grove, casting it in a dreamlike state.
A sense of calm came over Pan Wukun.
Her eyes shut closed.
"Bô![1] Mẹ!"[2]
Thanh rushed up to her parents, her mother, Quyên Nghiêm and her father, Minh Huỳnh.
"We went to Little Saigon last weekend!" Thanh's eyes sparkled with curiosity. "So we're going to Chinatown this time, right? I've always heard that those places are huge from my school's history books!"
"Yes, that's right, Thanh!" Quyên smiled, hugging Thanh tightly.
The Huỳnh family got into a car and Minh drove up to the nearest Chinatown.
After walking around the market, the family stopped at a store to get lunch for the day.
Thanh's jaw dropped at the food. "That's the biggest xíu mại[3] I've ever seen!"
Before Thanh could stab her fork into the xíu mại, Quyên took the plate away and cut the xíu mại into small pieces.
Thanh pouted. She wanted to open her mouth as wide as she could and take a big bite out of the xíu mại.
"Small bites, Thanh. And please make sure you chew your food slowly. You always eat your food so quickly it's like you're inhaling it! That's not healthy for you!"
Thanh puffed her cheeks. "Dạ, Mẹ."[4]
Minh chuckled. "Our daughter is still growing. It's no wonder she has such an appetite!"
Quyên shook her head. "Eating a lot is no good without chewing your food properly. You don't want an upset stomach, Thanh."
"Dạ, Mẹ."
The Huỳnh family finished eating and continued exploring the area.
Thanh bounced and pointed at one of the stalls, which was selling toys. "Bô! Mẹ! I want that wooden sword!"
Quyên became uneasy. "Are you sure you don't want a doll, Thanh?"
Thanh frowned and shook her head. "No."
How come she had to be a princess just because she was a girl? She didn't want to wait around all day for someone else to save her. She wanted to be the knight or prince, the hero who got the cool sword to beat up bad guys and slay the big bad dragon (Western dragon since her mom explained to her that dragons were not considered villains in Asian culture).
Quyên and Minh were concerned that their daughter showed no interest in dolls and dresses. Her female cousins were all interested in those at this point. They allowed her to cut her hair short and watch that fighting anime Bảy Viên Ngọc Rồng or Dragon Ball. But they could see how Thanh stared at the sword with longing.
And Thanh wanted the sword so, so badly. She had a costume helmet but she didn't even have a toy sword yet.
She had watched the Disney movie Mulan and couldn't stop thinking about it since. That was the first time she had ever seen an Asian woman wield a sword on screen and actually fight with it. After she saw Mulan cut her hair with her father's sword, she waited until her parents weren't home to cut her hair with a pair of scissors. When she stared into the mirror to view her new boyish haircut for the first time, she felt a sense of euphoria.
But being a young and naive child, Thanh didn't think to clean up and hide the strands of hair she cut off. So her parents found out, panicked for a bit, and finally took her out to a hair salon so she didn't poke her eyes out with scissors.
With the haircut incident and their daughter's happiness in mind, Quyên and Minh bought the toy sword, a wooden jian for Thanh.
Thanh pulled the sword out of its wooden scabbard with joy. "Thank you, Bô! Thank you, Mẹ!"
Quyên and Minh looked upon Thanh as she enthusiastically swung the wooden jian around. Their hearts melted. They should indulge her and let her live happily and freely as a child. Surely, she would embrace femininity when she was older.
Quyên leaned her head on Minh's shoulder. "You know, Anh[5]. Our daughter just might be a future heroine straight out of Kim Dung's[6] stories."
Minh nodded. "Hmm…Remember when we were the martial artists from Kim Dung's books?"
Back in Vietnam during the 1960s, when Quyên and Minh were children, they and the other kids pretended to be martial artists from the various martial arts sects in Kim Dung's stories.
Minh was a quiet bookish boy who was often the target of a group of bullies, much to his annoyance.
"Ha! You think you're anything like Lệnh Hồ Xung[7], Four-eyes?" the leader of the bullies would taunt.
"Better than being like you, Nhạc Bất Quần[8]," Minh would retort.
"Why you!"
When the bullies threw their fists at Minh out of anger, Quyên appeared to save the day. "Hey! Leave him alone!" She waved her stick around, scaring the bullies off. She was a fierce little girl when she protected her friends.
That was the start of Minh's budding feelings for Quyên.
As the years passed, they slowly fell in love and eventually married.
But peace did not last.
When civil war erupted in Vietnam, Minh had to flee the country by boat and Quyên by plane.
Neither knew if they were going to live to see each other again.
But they reunited in the United States and their daughter, Thanh was born.
Now, as Quyên and Minh looked upon Thanh happily waving her sword around, they were at peace that she would be safe, that she would never have to experience the horrors of war.
Thanh raised her sword up in the air. "Yes! Now I have a sword just like Mộc Lan[9]! I can become a great sword fighter just like her!"
Quyên smiled playfully. "Thanh, I thought it was Tôn Ngộ Không[10] you admired the most. Didn't you say you wanted to fight with a staff like he does?"
Thanh blinked. Other than Disney's Mulan, she had also grown up watching the Vietnamese dub of the 1986 Journey to the West, or Tây du ký live-action TV series with her mother. So her mother was presenting her with a most troubling dilemma. "Well…well…I like them both! Both Mộc Lan and Tôn Ngộ Không! I-I can't just pick one!" She looked up at her parents with an uncertain expression. "Is it…ok to have both?"
Thanh's parents laughed. "How ambitious! She wants to master both the sword and the staff!"
They huddled close to Thanh and hugged her. "Our little warrior!"
They softly smiled down at her. "Grow up and become a brave, strong woman, Thanh."
Thanh smiled, pulling her parents closer to her.
Here she was, safe and warm in the embrace of her parents' love.
Pan Wukun's eyes fluttered open.
She slowly sat up, collecting her thoughts.
She had just dreamt of her parents, recalling a distant memory from her childhood. That wooden jian they got for her was still hanging on her bedroom wall back home. How was her father doing?...
"Oh! Chun-ge, you're awake!" Wei Wuxian called, breaking Pan Wukun out of her thoughts.
"Look here! Look here! I've got something for you!" A cloud charm dangled from Wei Wuxian's hand.
Pan Wukun was surprised that Wei Wuxian actually bought her a gift. "For me? But why?"
Wei Wuxian winked. "It's to properly repay you for rescuing me at Biling Lake! Besides, you also deserve a reward for managing to become the arm-wrestling champion!"
He placed the cloud charm into Pan Wukun's hands.
Pan Wukun had to admit. The cloud charm was quite cute. It was a yellow cloud with a royal blue tassel attached to it.
"Where did you get this, Wei Ying?"
"I went back to Caiyi Town a while ago and bought some gifts to give to my fellow guest disciples. But I couldn't find anything that was suitable for you. Luckily, I did some exploring around Gusu City and found that cloud spiritual charm!"
Wei Wuxian pointed at Yuyun. "Your sword is named after a nimbus cloud yet there's not a single cloud in its design! No spiritual charms or tassels attached to its pommel either!" He grinned. "Soooo…I thought the cloud charm would make the perfect addition to complement Yuyun."
Pan Wukun attached the cloud spiritual charm to the end of Yuyun's pommel. Wei Wuxian was right. The spiritual charm did add to Yuyun's look. "It's beautiful… Thank you, Wei Ying."
The brightest smile appeared on Wei Wuxian's face. "I'm happy you like it, Chun-ge!"
Wei Wuxian looked at Pan Wukun's pile of books. "Find anything interesting in those books, Chun-ge?"
"Not yet. Just some things about the origins of the cultivation clans and the uses of cultivation tools. Fascinating but not exactly anything noteworthy."
What Wei Wuxian brought Pan Wukun was only a fraction of the Library Pavilion's collection. She knew not to expect to find anything about travel to other worlds this soon. But that didn't make her any less frustrated.
Wei Wuxian picked up one of the books and quickly flipped through it. "Hmmm…yes, you're right. Nothing but the stuff that Lan-xiansheng keeps forcing us to study."
A mischievous smile appeared on Wei Wuxian's face. He adopted a pompous facial expression, put some strands of his hair across his face to make a fake mustache, and made a stroking motion under his chin as if he had a long goatee. "Hmph! I am Lan Qiren, the most uptight stick-in-the-mud! My precious Wangji is the perfect student! Don't you dare corrupt him, Wei Ying!"
Pan Wukun couldn't help but laugh.
Wei Wuxian grinned at Pan Wukun, happy to see her relax.
Then Wei Wuxian's smile dropped. He froze and went quiet.
"What is it, Wei Ying?" Pan Wukun chuckled. "It's not like you to stop talking so much-..." Her voice trailed off as she turned her head to see what Wei Wuxian was looking at.
There, Lan Wangji stood, mouth set in a tight line, fists clenched, and eyes full of anger.
Glossary
1. Bô: "Dad" in the northern Vietnamese dialect.
2. Mẹ: "Mom" in the northern Vietnamese dialect.
3. xíu mại: "shumai" in Vietnamese. A type of traditional Chinese dumpling that's usually served in dim sum.
4. Dạ, Mẹ: "Yes, Mother." - "Dạ" is usually used to say "yes" to your elder or work superior, like your parents, grandparents, or military commander.
5. Anh: Vietnamese term of address with multiple uses depending on who you're talking to. 1. men around your age or older than you (around the age of an older brother). 2. literally in addressing your older brother. 3. male lover older than you or around your age. 4. husband
6. Kim Dung: Jin Yong's name in Vietnamese. Jin Yong is a famous wuxia author.
7. Lệnh Hồ Xung: Linghu Chong's name in Vietnamese. Linghu Chong is the main protagonist of Jin Yong's novel, Smiling, Proud Wanderer.
8. Nhạc Bất Quần: Yue Buqun's name in Vietnamese. He is the leader of the Huashan Sect from Smiling, Proud Wanderer. Apparently, Vietnamese politicians insulted each other using Yue Buqun's name, according to Jin Yong in an afterword.
9. Mộc Lan: Mulan's name in Vietnamese.
10. Tôn Ngộ Không: Sun Wukong's name in Vietnamese.
A/N:
In Vietnamese, the Wuxia genre is called Võ hiệp (Martial Arts Heroes). The Vietnamese also use the term Kiếm hiệp (Sword Heroes).
"Hiệp" is also a male Sino-Vietnamese origin name derived from ( 俠 ) meaning "chivalrous, knight, or hero."
Don't spoil Smiling, Proud Wanderer (Tiếu ngạo giang hồ in Vietnamese) for me! I'm still not finished reading it!
My dad's been a great Jin Yong novel-reading discussion partner. He has read a ton of Jin Yong's books ever since he was a teenager in Vietnam.
I wonder if Wei Wuxian's character was partially inspired by Linghu Chong 'cause uh…there are a lot of similarities, characterwise and storywise.
My dad and Wen Ning have the same birthday and I'm not sure how to feel about this knowledge.