Arran found Jiang Fei in the flower patch next to her cottage, sitting on a small spot of grass and studying a thick book.
She turned her head as she heard him approach, and when she saw him, a frown instantly appeared on her face.
"Shouldn't you be resting?" she asked. Raising an eyebrow, she added, "And why are your clothes wet?"
Arran flushed with embarrassment. His training with Lord Jiang had left him soaked with sweat, and in his rush to tell Jiang Fei the news, he had not thought to change his clothes.
"I've been training with Lord Jiang," he said, deciding to divert her attention right away.
"You've been training? But you haven't fully recovered yet! You should be—" Suddenly, her face went pale. "You've been training with Uncle Bear?!"
Arran nodded. "He's teaching me a Body Refinement technique."
Jiang Fei looked like she had just seen a ghost. "How?!" she blurted out. "How did you get him to teach you?!"
Seeing Jiang Fei's stunned expression, Arran found it hard to keep from laughing. She looked as if he just pulled a dragon from his sleeve and told it to dance a jig.
"That's not all," Arran said, grinning eagerly as he anticipated her reaction to what he would say next. "He also agreed to teach you."
The excited reaction he had hoped for didn't come. Instead, her face went blank, and she stared at him with cold eyes.
"That isn't funny." Her expression was dead serious now.
Arran was nonplussed. "But it's true!" he said, surprised by Jiang Fei's reaction.
"You can't say things like that," she said with a cold voice. "I know you don't understand the Jiang Clan, but this is something you can't joke about."
"I'm telling you the truth!" Arran insisted. He had expected to surprise her, but he had not thought she would refuse to believe him.
"Stop it!" An angry look appeared on her face. "Don't make fun of me!"
She stood up and turned toward the cottage. It looked as if she was about to go inside.
Arran decided he'd had enough. She wouldn't believe that Lord Jiang would train her? Fine. Then she would just have to see for herself.
"What are you doing?! Put me down!" Jiang Fei cried out in shock as Arran picked her up, slinging her over his shoulder like a bag of rice.
For all her magical skill, she was still a foot shorter than him, and barely half his width. With her Wind Realm sealed, picking her up was as easy as lifting a child.
"If you won't believe me, I'll just have to show you," he said.
He left at a jog, a yelling Jiang Fei slung over his shoulder. Carrying her was surprisingly easy no matter how much she struggled — apart from the occasional elbow to the face, at least.
When Arran finally put Jiang Fei down, he was slightly winded from running while carrying her. Immediately, she slapped his face.
"What the hell are you thinking?!" she yelled, face red with anger.
"I told you to bring her here," a voice sounded from behind Jiang Fei. "But I did not expect it would be quite as dangerous a mission as this."
Instantly, Jiang Fei's eyes went wide as cups, and she spun around. Behind her was Lord Jiang, sitting on the grass. The look on his face suggested he could only barely contain his laughter.
"Uncle Bear!" Jiang Fei said, immediately bowing deeply. "He said… I didn't…"
"I told you it was the truth," Arran said, rubbing the cheek that Jiang Fei had just slapped. He half expected to find a red handprint on his face the next time he looked in a mirror.
"But… Uncle Bear…" Jiang Fei was so shaken that she failed to even form a complete sentence.
"Arran convinced me that I should train you," Lord Jiang said to Jiang Fei. "I doubt he fully understands the meaning of what he asked, but the offer stands if you wish to take it."
"I do!" Jiang Fei blurted out. "Of course I do!"
Lord Jiang chuckled. "Then study this," he said, handing her a scroll. "Once you learn the technique it contains, you can join us in training."
"Thank you, Uncle Bear!" Jiang Fei said the words with a smile so wide it looked like her head could pop in two at any moment.
"Thank your friend for convincing me," Lord Jiang said, winking at Arran. "Now, off with you both. I have things to do. And you—" He turned to Arran. "We will resume our training tomorrow morning, at the break of dawn."
Jiang Fei thanked Lord Jiang several more times before they finally departed, Arran still rubbing his sore cheek.
The moment they were out of Lord Jiang's sight, Jiang Fei thrust her hand toward Arran, and he was hit by an invisible force that sent him tumbling to the ground.
"That's for embarrassing me in front of Uncle Bear!" Jiang Fei scowled at Arran. "Why didn't you tell me you were telling the truth?!"
"You… you've unsealed your Wind Realm?!" Arran asked, getting back on his feet. He wisely neglected to mention that he had, in fact, told her. And several times, at that.
"I broke the seal yesterday," Jiang Fei said with a glare.
A chill ran down Arran's spine. He understood that with Jiang Fei's Wind Realm open, picking her up and carrying her to Lord Jiang could have ended very badly for him. Had she wanted to, she could have snapped him like a twig.
"Then why didn't you—" Arran began.
"I didn't want to hurt you," Jiang Fei interrupted him.
Suddenly she stepped toward Arran and got up on her toes. Before he could respond, she kissed the cheek that she had slapped only a few moments earlier.
"And that," she said, blushing slightly, "is for what you did for me. You might not know how big a gift it was, but it's more than anyone has ever done for me."
For a moment, Arran was speechless at her fickleness. One moment she assaulted him with a blast of Wind Essence, and the next, she suddenly kissed him.
"But now, I have to go study," Jiang Fei said, her right hand tightly gripping the scroll Lord Jiang had given her. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Before Arran could find the words to respond she was gone, leaving him behind in a state of utter bewilderment.
He sighed loudly. The girl was clearly insane, he thought.