Nie Ruyi
It was a few moments before Nie Ruyi was able to escape Disciple Do’s explanation of the various elders in the sect, and her head was reeling. She waved him off, and the children too, as they left to go attend some other Feng Shui based gardening. She herself turned to head towards the Sect Library. The stone paths were labyrinthine, and she often had to pause and ask a passing servant or disciple for directions. It felt almost like one of those missions in video games where you have to introduce yourself to everyone, and she was starting to get tired.
Eventually, she found the library, an imposing building with stairs leading up to it, that honestly looked like a pagoda, halfway through being built. There were still construction workers at the top levels, hammering and cutting wood. Once inside, she was greeted with a librarian’s desk and rows of straight bookshelves. As she stepped through, she wondered if she imagined the shift in the air she felt. Instead of considering it too hard, she went to the librarian’s desk. She stood in line behind what appeared to be three outer disciples, two teenagers, and a young man, all of whom seemed a bit separate.
“But Shu-Shixiong said that it would be here!” One of the little ones crowed, frowning up at the librarian, who looked as all librarians must, overworked, underpaid and entirely done with this. A cranky librarian made for difficult borrowing, Nie Ruyi knew. The man had graying hair at his temples, and sharp, downturned brows, like swords darting towards his nose. His face had lines that showed for certain he was aged.
“Your Shu-Shixiong isn’t wrong. Veils of the Mystical is here, however, Shizhi do not have the clearance to read it, much less check it out. Shizhi should come back after they’ve become Inner disciples at the very least.” With a waving motion, the librarian dismissed the three kids who honestly looked no older than ten each. Nie Ruyi couldn’t help but watch with amusement as the three trundled away, clearly dissatisfied with this answer.
The next patron, the young man, stepped forward, and in a quiet voice requested something Nie Ruyi couldn’t quite make out behind the rambunctious sounds of the two teenagers. They seemed to be arguing over some sort of theory that involved… string, of some sort? But it didn’t sound like science, honestly, it sounded like they were debating the merits of two different types of string.
The librarian nodded sharply to whatever the young man said, and then held out a hand. The young man showed a token that shimmered in the dim lantern light of the library, and the Librarian nodded, turning and writing something down with a brush and ink. He handed it to the young man, who went off into the stacks.
The teenagers took their turn, asking for reference books regarding (of all things) Seals and the uses of string in them. They went on their way with another note written with the Libarian’s steady brushwork. Then, it was Nie Ruyi’s turn and she stepped up, only for the librarian’s scowl to worsen. She stumbled over her words, unsure what she’d done to make the man upset.
“I-I was hoping you could help me learn how to check out books?” She questioned.
“And this Shimei’s name is?” He asked, as he reached over and opened a thick tome she honestly couldn’t believe was bound with sewn binding. It thumped open onto the table, dust sliding off it’s cover and into the air.
“Nie Ruyi. I’m… relatively new to the sect.” She explained.
“Ah, yes. This librarian sees here that Nie-Shimei has the clearance of an Inner Disciple…hm.” He perused the characters in such a focus that Nie Ruyi lifted her chin to try and read the words, even as upside down as they were. But he slapped a hand down on the book and glowered at her.
“Ahem, uh… Yep, thats me.” She laughed nervously, wringing her hands as the quiet shuffle of paper that always filled libraries and bookstores drifted between them in this awkward moment.
“Since it is Shimei’s first time here, this Libarian will explain the rules. One, Shimei may only take one book with her when she leaves. Two, Shimei may only remove three books at a time from the library shelves. Three, Shimei must touch the shelf with her token when she removes a book from said shelf. If she does so and the book does not leave the shelf, then she is not authorized to view it.”
She blinked, “...What if, somehow, I remove the book anyway?”
He sniffed, lifting his chin to look down his nose at her. “Nie-Shimei won’t be able to. But if she somehow does, she’ll be considered in direct disregard for the Sect’s rules and be punished. Depending on the severity, she may be killed, dispelled from the sect, or imprisoned.”
Her eyes widened, and she nodded, “Understood.”
“If Nie-Shimei are looking for something she cannot find, come and ask this librarian or whomever else is at this desk for assistance. There are seven librarians, so do not be alarmed if someone else is behind this desk.” He lifts up a small pendant that wasn’t there before, and pushes it across the desk towards her. “This is Nie-Shimei’s pendant. She should wear it on herr belt when she wishes to enter the library pavilion.”
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She nodded, looping it through the belt that held up her
He wrinkled his nose. “Why would this librarian have something like that?”
She deflated, her hands bunching the silk of her skirt. “Ah, I see. Where would I be able to get something like that?” She asked, feeling very much like a high school freshman trying to figure out how to get a hold of her class list.
“No such thing exists. The teachers post their individual schedules in the Halls, and expect their students to attend or not as they see fit. Shimei will need to go there to find them.” He muttered, frowning.
“I see, and is there a specific section regarding self-defense martial arts?”
“...Defensive techniques or close-quarters-combat techniques?” He asked, and Nie Ruyi considered.
“Both, I suppose.”
He heaved a sigh, and that brush began swishing across a piece of rough paper, before it was thrust into her hand. “There. Now there’s a line forming, so Shimei should be on her way.”
Sure enough, six more disciples had joined the line behind her, and she bobbed her head in a little bow before heading off to look for the books he’d suggested. It was difficult finding them, as there seemed little to no organization, or at least not one she recognised. The books weren’t shelved in order of name by either title or author, that she could tell.
The logic frustrated her, and she took another deep breath to calm herself down. She decided on a tried and true method. Read every title until she found what she was looking for. At least that’d give her an idea of what books were available?
After almost fifty of the most obscure, poorly-descriptive titles one could imagine, she realized this wasn’t going to be an option either. Incensed and frustrated, she turned to the nearest person, a young man who barely looked a day over twenty and asked him, “Excuse me, could you help me find these books?”
The young man blinked up at her, his inkwell black eyes taking her in. His hair was pulled back from his face sharply, and fell in a high ponytail behind him, forehead locked off by a cloth headband with woven patterns in it. His robes were shades of hay-yellow and deep orange. “What?”
She smiled, “I was hoping you could help me find these books. I’m having trouble understanding the organisation of the shelves, and so I’m having trouble locating them. You look like you’re here often,” She gestured to the stack of two books in his hand and the third he has cracked open. “So I thought you might know.”
The young man, perplexed, closed the book he was looking at and set it in his stack, and then reached otu to take her list, peering over it curiously. Then, he nodded, and took off towards another section of shelf entirely. “Shijie is in the wrong section. These are low-tier Body grade techniques, and Shijie is in the Middle tier Mind grade techniques. Not only that, but this section is for attack-techniques specifically, and these two here are in the defense technique section.”
“Oh, so it’s divided by what type of technique, not by what the title or author is?”
The young man shook his head, as if confused why someone might order something that way. “No. It goes ‘grade, tier, technique-type’.” He pointed to signs above the shelves. The one she was looking at had “M*L*A” on it. She nodded, even though that seemed counterproductive to her.
“What about books that aren’t martial arts techniques?” She asked, “Like histories, or bestiaries?”
He tilted his head, “Why would those be found in the sect library? Shijie can find those in the Halls.”
She nodded, readjusting her thought process. Perhaps the Sect Library was for the collection of the sect’s martial techniques, whereas the Halls were for other knowledge, specific to what the hall specialized in?
“Anyway, here’s the first one.” He said, tapping the book where it sat on the shelf. “Broken Jade Planter School. This is a pretty good one for lady’s self-defense, but be aware it’s pretty easy to counter if one knows about it in advance.”
She nodded, reaching out and tapping the shelf beneath the book, where a red dot was, with her pendant. The book popped out like it was on a spring, and she pulled it off, settling it in the crook of her arm.
“Thank you for that advice. Do you know of a better option?” She asked, tilting her head.
“...This one’s elder sister practices Glowing Fragrance Chill Earth school of defense arts. Hmmm…” He turned to the bookshelf, and scanned through them, before pointing to one on the shelf. It had a soft eggshell blue binding, and sure enough, the title was the same. She scanned through it for a few moments, seeing the diagrams. Then, she opened up the Broken Jade Planter and looked through it, and compared the two. The Glowing Fragrance Chill Earth seemed to have more pictures, which would at least be useful for her. She nodded, and put the Broken Jade Planter one back. She could always come get it later.
She held out her hand for the list, and the young man deposited it back in her waiting palm.
“Thank you. I think I’ll check this out and go from there. You’ve been a big help.”
“Of course. If Shijie needs anything else, just let this one know.” He dipped his head in a bow, before heading off into the stacks.
Mini Character List -
Nie Ruyi - Our protagonist. 34 year old american woman - Maybe learning more about the world will help with her goals? She's already learned about a self-defense style she can take! Things seem to be working.
Lao Xiaojun - Lao Minghui's little brother and Sect Heir. Mr. Does-Not-Appear-In-This-Chapter
Cai Bingtian - Disciple of Severing Firefly Sect. Still Mr. Does-Not-Appear-In-This-Chapter
Song Fengling - Nie Ruyi's little assistant. also not appearing in this chapter
Missy - Worried, although it does not know how to express that.
The Green Egg - Not forgotten. Currently lives wrapped in blankets on Nie Ruyi's bedside table.
Goober & Izzy - Sedimentary Sludge Hounds who now live in Nie Ruyi's canopy of her bed. Following Nie Ruyi on her walk. They waited outside like good puppies. This of course, scared the SHIT out of anyone who left the library while she was in there.
Sun Xirong - Nie Ruyi's maid, a fifteen year old mortal girl. This particular flower is giving her trouble... maybe if she folds this this way?
Disciple Do - A very strict outer disciple. Another name for him is Mr. Exposition. We may or may not ever meet him again.
Nameless Disciple - A mysterious and unnamed young man who helped Nie Ruyi. Has an older sister. Will we meet him again?
Welcome to the first chapter of 2025! Happy New Year!
Behold, A Ruqun: