Meeting an acquaintance again

A short while later, by a stream alongside the road leading to Ningyang City.

A tall, spirited woman was boldly bathing in the stream.

Her physique, unlike that of most women, exuded a raw sense of power, yet her proportions were undeniably striking, reminiscent of the athletic women from Earth in her previous life.

Her face, however, was undeniably beautiful, though her aura and overall impression were remarkably stern, almost overly masculine, lacking in feminine softness.

Yan Yun stood a short distance away, her back to the bathing woman, diligently keeping watch.

“How utterly daring,” Yan Yun muttered, casting a furtive glance at the woman from the corner of her eye. “We’re barely a dozen meters from the road; if someone were to pass by, wouldn’t they catch a full glimpse of you?”

In truth, the woman before her was undeniably attractive, possessing both a commanding presence and an air of heroic spirit.

Yet, despite her undeniable femininity, she projected an almost masculine aura, so much so that Yan Yun found herself utterly devoid of any illicit thoughts towards her.

It was as if her very presence declared, ‘Even if you were to stand before me completely nude, I would harbor not a shred of interest.’

“Hey! Are you done yet? It’s been half an hour; hurry it up!” Yan Yun called out, her patience wearing thin.

While one of them was desperately fleeing for their life and the other escaping a forced marriage, Xie Yuyan appeared remarkably unconcerned by their predicament.

Upon hearing the summons, Xie Yuyan promptly replied.

“No need to rush,” she chirped. “I’ve been traversing mountains and evading capture, and I’m absolutely filthy from head to toe. If I’m going to clean up, I might as well do it properly.”

Yan Yun let out another helpless sigh.

“Ugh! Honestly,” Yan Yun grumbled, “she’s clearly got such a straightforward personality, yet she’s so utterly dilatory when it comes to getting things done? She’s just like that vain Xie Xuan, what a pain.”

As the words left her lips, however, Yan Yun was suddenly struck by a realization.

‘Wait a moment,’ Yan Yun thought, her heart giving an inexplicable lurch. ‘Why did I just associate this woman with *that* guy?’

Who, then, was this Xie Xuan she spoke of?

He was her closest friend from her previous life, a roommate throughout their four years of university, and later, a housemate for several years as they navigated their post-graduation careers.

He was a man with a perpetually sunny disposition, fond of showing off, outwardly sociable, yet notoriously slow and deliberate in his actions.

‘It couldn’t be, could it?’

The moment this thought surfaced, Yan Yun’s gaze involuntarily sharpened, fixing directly upon Xie Yuyan in the stream.

It wasn’t that Yan Yun was prone to wild speculation; rather, with herself and then Jiang Yao both having been reborn into this alternate world, a pattern was emerging.

Moreover, the wedding ceremony hadn’t only involved her and Jiang Yao; numerous relatives and friends had been present, watching the proceedings.

She couldn’t recall the precise sequence of events, only that everything had transpired with bewildering suddenness.

Consequently, Yan Yun found herself questioning Xie Yuyan’s true identity, even as she grappled with the notion that such a possibility seemed utterly preposterous.

Soon enough, Xie Yuyan finished her bath, dressed, and returned to the carriage, and the two resumed their journey.

This time, however, the tables had turned; it was Yan Yun who kept the other woman locked in a steady, scrutinizing gaze.

Xie Yuyan, feeling increasingly uneasy under Yan Yun’s intense scrutiny, began to bristle.

“Oh? Sister Ziyun, what are you staring at?” Xie Yuyan simpered, covering her face with one hand in a gesture both coy and self-admiring. “If you keep looking at me like that, I’ll get terribly shy.”

The more Yan Yun observed, the stronger her conviction grew that something was amiss with this individual. Her intuition had always been sharp; it was how she had sensed a familiar presence in Jiang Yao and subsequently confirmed her identity.

Now, she felt that same sense of familiarity emanating from Xie Yuyan. Given that the inhabitants of this world would certainly be unaware of her previous life, directly asking a question posed no significant risk.

After a moment of careful consideration, she turned to Xie Yuyan and posed a rather intriguing question.

“Miss Xie, if I may be so bold as to inquire, do you happen to know anyone with the surname Yan?”

The moment this question was uttered, Xie Yuyan’s previously self-absorbed expression instantly froze, her features stiffening.

Her expression slowly grew serious, and with a peculiar gaze, she began to scrutinize Yan Yun from head to toe.

The lively banter that had filled the air between the two abruptly ceased, replaced by a profound silence.

After several minutes of tense silence, Xie Yuyan finally broke the stillness, her voice tentative. “Your surname… it’s Yan?”

Yan Yun offered a soft nod.

Xie Yuyan, however, quickly corrected herself, rephrasing her question.

“I wasn’t referring to this lifetime,” she clarified, “but perhaps… your previous one?”

Yan Yun, maintaining her composure, nodded once more.

Upon receiving Yan Yun’s affirmative nod, Xie Yuyan suddenly pointed a trembling finger at her, exclaiming, “Third Sister?”

Yan Yun offered her a smile, one that felt like a reunion after a long separation.

“Indeed, it’s me,” Yan Yun chuckled, a hint of genuine amusement in her voice. “And here I thought, Second Brother Xie, that you wouldn’t make it to this world. What an incredible coincidence.”

At this revelation, Xie Yuyan’s composure utterly shattered.

“Ah! My heavens, Third Sister Yan, it truly is you!” Xie Yuyan exclaimed, suddenly embracing Yan Yun with overwhelming excitement. “Your big brother has missed you terribly!”

Indeed, the person before her was none other than Xie Xuan, one of Yan Yun’s closest confidants from her previous life, affectionately known as Second Brother Xie.

Now, Yan Yun could definitively confirm that it was highly probable everyone present at their wedding ceremony had also been transported to this world.

She herself was one example, Jiang Yao another, and now, Xie Yuyan stood as yet another testament to this strange phenomenon.

The only twist was that these two ‘brothers in misfortune’ had both been reborn as women.

“Ugh! You’re utterly repulsive!” Yan Yun exclaimed, though without any real force. “Ever since you latched onto me in the carriage, I’ve felt this persistent, dreadful chill. I’d been wondering where this inexplicable sense of revulsion originated, and now I realize it emanates entirely from you.”

“Nonsense!” Xie Yuyan retorted, tears of excitement welling in her eyes. “I haven’t even had a chance to scold *you*! Your indifferent, aloof personality hasn’t changed one bit!”

In truth, Yan Yun was equally thrilled, yet one simply didn’t express excitement towards a sworn brother in the same manner one would a lover.

After their initial burst of emotion, Xie Yuyan took a fresh look at Yan Yun, then pointed at her and burst into hearty laughter.

“Hahahaha, Third Sister, you’ve turned into a girl too!” Xie Yuyan roared with laughter. “It seems I’m not the only one who got unlucky. Not bad, not bad at all—you’re exactly big brother’s type. Come here, little beauty, give your big brother a smile.” With a playful gesture, Xie Yuyan extended a finger and hooked it under Yan Yun’s chin, teasing her.

“Smack!” Yan Yun promptly slapped Xie Yuyan’s hand away.

“Get lost, you oaf! I’m far better off than you are. This is clearly heaven’s punishment for you. In our previous life, I constantly told you to be more reserved, but no, you simply loved to chase after girls. Well, look at you now; karma has finally caught up! You’ve become a girl yourself, but the real question is, why can’t you ever shake off your old habits?” Yan Yun retorted with a sneer.

For Xie Yuyan, these words landed like a devastating blow.

Her face instantly crumpled into a tragic mask.

“Alas! Say no more; your big brother’s heart is filled with sorrow.”

“Oh, right,” Xie Yuyan suddenly interjected, her tone shifting to one of doubt. “You said both of us ended up in this world. Does that mean First Brother, Fourth Brother, and even your wife… they might have come here too?”

Yan Yun nodded.

“Most likely. I’ve already reunited with my wife.”

This statement instantly soured Xie Yuyan’s mood.

“What?! You two despicable lovebirds have already reunited?” Xie Yuyan cried out, beating her chest and stamping her feet as if the very heavens had collapsed. “Good heavens, where is the justice in this world?”

Yan Yun offered a triumphant smirk.

“Heh heh, don’t be envious,” she taunted. “Whose fault is it that you kept cycling through girlfriends? Otherwise, you’d have been married ages ago, sparing yourself this unfortunate predicament.”

Xie Yuyan glanced down at her current attire.

“This is humiliating, utterly humiliating!” she lamented. “You, you absolute brute! Since you’d already figured out my identity, why expose me at precisely this moment? Even if we were to acknowledge each other, shouldn’t you have waited until I’d changed into proper clothes? Your emotional intelligence is truly abysmal!”

“I’m warning you,” Xie Yuyan growled, shaking a fist at Yan Yun in a menacing gesture, “you are not to breathe a word of this to anyone. Otherwise, you know the consequences.”

Yan Yun, with a perfectly straight face, agreed.

Subsequently, the two began to recount their individual experiences. Xie Yuyan’s narrative, however, proved significantly more intriguing than Yan Yun’s, for she had been born a woman in this life, a natural from birth.

The Xie family, much like the Yan family, was a cultivation clan, though they also held the status of a gentry family. Xie Yuyan’s father currently served as a border general, stationed by Jiang Country along the Xiang Country frontier.

As the daughter of a martial general’s lineage, Xie Yuyan had naturally cultivated from a tender age, spending prolonged periods immersed in military camps. Consequently, her personality remained remarkably similar to her previous life.

Just days prior, her own father had drugged and incapacitated her, precipitating the very escape from marriage that had brought her to this point.

Upon hearing this, Yan Yun completely lost her composure and burst into uproarious laughter.

The coachman, driving the carriage ahead, was utterly bewildered, unable to comprehend a single word of their conversation.

As for Yan Yun’s own story, Xie Yuyan found nothing humorous in it. While being married into a family might be considered somewhat shameful, if the spouse was her former wife, what was there to be ashamed of? It was Xie Yuyan’s situation that was truly embarrassing.

The only aspect worth mocking was Yan Yun’s transformation into a woman due to her poison cultivation technique.

Nevertheless, their reunion in this alternate world was, by far, the greatest blessing amidst their misfortunes.