Her

“Madam, please, don’t do it. Please don’t kill me!”

Hua Xin just looked at the scenario in front of him and his colleague. The man is kneeling on the ground while a woman with her face covered with a weird outfit just holding an unfamiliar weapon to his stomach.

“You know what sir, this weapon from my world is mainly used for stabbing. With only a stab, the victim will bleed until death comes to him or her. So, do you want to become its next victim?”

Hua Xin is surprised. This is the first time he met a person from another world except from his teacher back in the sect and his estranged mother. For all his sixteen years of life, most of his time is only spent in his sect area and the nearest town down the mountain. He also was  raised differently from his other friends, following his mother's religion, which was one of her requests when she was forced to leave the sect, aside from taking his ailing grandfather with her. This is the first time for him to join the adventures and missions outside the area. And for the first time, he found a serial killer begging for his life to be spared.

The kneeling man was hunted by many sects and governments due to his crime. Murder, rape, embezzling, kidnapping,...basically just everything. They managed to follow him on the run when they managed to save the family of a merchant he tried to kill at their house. Reaching this secluded road in the forest, the man starts fighting them before the woman arrives. The man was suspected to be a former cultivator and good martial artist, making him a challenge for them as newbies. During the fight, his friend A-Yi saw somebody wearing black walking down the road, straight to the fight. The bad man saw her too and changed his course to her, tried to trap her in order to blackmail them. However, the lady fastly took the cloth that covers her head cover and chokes the man and removes and hits his hand to remove the sword before kicking it out of sight.

Now, with the cloth still around his neck and a weapon at his stomach, the man is stuck between death and punishment. Ignoring them, the woman still set the focus on the man.

“Trial or death, which one is your choice? Choose now.” 

Feeling like a few moments passed, the man tightened the cloth until they heard the sound of the broken neck. He chose death, which he was honestly grateful for. However, he can hear sighs from his friends, especially A-Yi.

“A-Xin, how are we going to report this to the Grand Elder, it will be a long report!”

He just shook his head slowly, preparing himself for the worst when presenting that future report.

“Do all of you have a place to stay tonight? I know you are prepared to stay outdoors during your mission, but it is still better to have a roof on you when you are sleeping. Do you want to come to my home?” The lady’s question shocked them.

Hua Xin asked,” Is it okay for you to prepare a place for six of us? We hope that we are not intruding.”

The lady just smiled behind the veil, “Don’t worry, there is enough place for all of you. It is up to you to accept my offer or not.”

They looked at each other noiselessly, and decided to follow her.

After around two hour of walking, they reached a much more secluded area in the forest’s valley. Their surroundings may look like a normal forest, but Hua Xin can feel something different about their area. Something like a barrier or camouflage, protecting something from them. 

The lady in front of them just stood until she said something that shook them.

“Everyone, I have brought Hua babies tonight after their mission. We still have some places for travelers to stay, right?”

How does she know that they come from Hua Sect? They never managed to tell her from which sect they are coming from after the fight, and it didn't cross their minds to introduce themselves during the journey. Oh dear, how rude are they?

They kept on waiting until they felt the land rumbling below their feet. What is actually happening right now?! In front of them, the forest scenery has changed. From the trees they see before, now, there is a quite large building in front of them with a design unfamiliar to them. But they can see that it looks like a large house with multiple levels. Wait, there are more than two levels? Plus, the building is not just lit using the lanterns, they saw some lights coming from something on the ceiling. How do they do that?

They saw a man leave the house walking towards them, wearing light green hanfu like them. His shoulder-length hair was tied with a green ribbon, nearly the same shade as his robe. Wait a minute, this is suspicious. The man has arrived in front of them. His stomach dropped. He knows that face. One of the faces from photographs given to him (courtesy of his teacher) that are taken using a device from the other world, named camera or something. The man greets the lady, smiling,

“Welcome home, daughter-in-law.”

He took a look at them for a while before talking to the lady again.

”Are you ready to introduce yourself?”

The lady nodded and now turned, facing them. Removing off her veil, she smiled at them but he can feel that the smile has a special target. Oh no. It’s him because he knows her too. Trembling, he steadied his posture,

“Hua Xin greets Mother and Grandfather.”

He can hear the others said,

“We greet the Elder and Madam Hua.”

His mother and grandfather just smiled at all of them. His grandfather gestured to them to enter the compound,

“Welcome to our humble abode.”

*****

All of them are currently sitting down in a sort of common area, having tea prepared by their elder (oh dear, his Grandpa) before they go to sleep while his mother and several other occupants of the building prepare their places for the night. He can feel his friends tensing in this current situation. The awkwardness is all-times high. Grandpa just smiles brightly at them and said,

“I know that all of you have a lot of questions about us but all of you must rest tonight. We will clearly introduce ourselves in the morning. Please follow me and my daughter-in-law to your rooms.”

His mother already waits for them at the bottom of the stairs. 

“Father-in-law, please lead the way.”

Each of them are paired, with two people in each room. A-Yi is his roommate for tonight. His mother shows what’s in the room.

There is a bed for each of you. The small door leads to the bathroom for you to relieve and clean yourself. There is a bathtub there, and if you want to use water, just use this stick and faucet to get it. After showing them how to use the thing, they go back to the door to send his mother for the night.

“Thank you Madam Hua for your help and kindness.”

His mother smile and said,

“You’re welcome, and A-Xin, please do your prayer before sleep, okay?. See both of you tomorrow morning.”

“Yes, Madam.”

“Yes, Mother. See you tomorrow.”

He’s both excited and nervous for tomorrow. However, he wants to clean himself and pray first before going to bed.”

“A-Xin, can I have the bath first?”

“No problem.”

Tomorrow will be interesting.