Perhaps I was imagining it, but when I moved away, Zhan looked a little disappointed, a little hurt, for just a second.

I don't like that look. Even if I did imagine it, I don't like it. I needed to fix it. "Nature calls." I blurt out and immediately regret it.

Why the fuck you have to say that, YiJuan!?

Zhan smiles; I wince on the inside. "Please, excuse me," I add and make a run for it like I am being chased by angry dogs. Once I have put a good hundred or so meters between us, I look around and whisper, "Weredra, are you there?"

"Yes, lad." Comes the reply from right behind me. Once again, I yelp (in a hot sort of manly way) and turn around to find the small girl smirking at me.

"Weredra, my lady, is there a way to turn me back to a woman?" I ask the creature as politely as possible. I even bow a little just to butter her up some more.

"What do you mean, lad?" She asks, looking truly confused.

I sigh, "I was a woman before you granted my wishes."

She keeps staring at me.

"Can you change me back to a woman, please? The thing down there, I don't know how to deal with it. It keeps coming in the way."

Weredra looks at me sympathetically.

 Maybe, she has a kind heart after all. Hopefully, she will change me back.

She walks closer and taps my tummy gently, "A deal is a deal. I am sorry."

"But you said you can do whatever the fuck you want once the deal is made." I try to reason with her.

She nods, "Yes, that is indeed what is written in the fine print."

"Then why can't you change me back?" I whine.

She smirks, "Because I don't want to. I like how things are at the moment. And there is another reason."

"Which is......?" I try to coax her to continue.

She turns away, "I don't want to tell you."

'What the fuck!?' I don't understand this creature. I feel like she is taking pleasure in my pain. Well, not exactly pain. I am definitely not in pain... Yet. But if things continue like this, I might be in pain very soon. 

 "At least tell me how to deal with this?" I point at my crotch.

"How am I supposed to know, I already told you, despite how I lo..."

I interrupt her, "Yes, I know you are a female."

"But you could ask that gorgeous piece of meat you saved from drowning." She says, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Shameless!"

I realize that I am not going to get any answers from her. I try to remember what LiFen had taught me about the workings of the human body, more specifically, the male reproductive system.

I immediately start thinking about my uncle and aunt. And like magic, things start getting back to normal.

Once again, I thank LiFen. I make my way back to where Zhan is waiting for me. I clear my throat, trying to drag him back from his daydreams.

He yelps a little before looking at me and smiling, "You are back." He looks away from my face, "I thought you left me."

My heart starts beating as if I had just run a marathon; I take a deep breath, "I can't do that. After all, I saved you. You are mine."

"Mn!?" Zhan's eyebrows disappear into his hairline.

"Haha, I mean, you are my responsibility." I try to salvage the situation. He looks at me as if he doesn't believe me at all. I look away and take the compass out. "Do you know how to use it?"

He nods and smiles brightly. "I have excellent directional sense." He takes the compass from me, "Where are we going?"

'We, he said, "We"' I can feel myself smiling, and I want to stop acting like a girl experiencing her first infatuation, but find that I am incapable of doing so.

"What is making you smile like that?" Zhan asks.

I stop smiling and stand up, "Can you help me get to Dezhutang?"

Zhan nods confidently. Then, he looks around and then back at the compass. "I seem to know this area well. Dezhutang lies to the due south."

I realize that I was running in the wrong direction. But it's all the same now. I nod, "I think if we hurry, we can be there in an hour or less."

Zhan nods.

'He looks fine. Luckily he didn't get injured when he fell into the river.' I tell myself as we walk in comfortable silence. He keeps looking at the compass occasionally as we make our way towards my kingdom, my home. 

You must be wondering why I had chosen to return to a place that I wanted to leave behind all this time.

 Simple, now that I was in the new body, I had decided to do what I had wanted to do since I had first heard of the atrocities committed by my adoptive parents.

My kingdom, once known for its happy subjects and prosperous lifestyle, has fallen from grace. Uncle has single-handedly turned the fate of my kingdom around. He has used his power and status to spoil the good name and reputation that the late king, my father, had accumulated by devoting his life to serving his people.

When I was still a girl, confined and powerless, the best thing I could think of doing was to save myself. For what could a girl caged in her home do on her own. 

But that was not the case now; circumstances had made a man out of me, quite literally. 

With my wish being granted, I was sure that I could help my people. But that is not the only thing. Zhan seemed to have done something against the law. He was in danger. If I were to go to Dezhutang, the soldiers would not follow him there. They would have no jurisdiction there. So, I would be killing two birds with one stone, on the one hand, I will be able to protect my people, and on the other, I will be able to save my man... I mean the man. Of course, Sheng Zhan is not my man... at least, not yet.

I smile, thinking of all the things that were going in my favor, and for a moment, I want to believe that maybe someone is indeed looking out for me. It is at this precise moment that I hear the now familiar chuckle.

It looks like I have spoken too soon.

I stop dead in my tracks and turn. 

 Zhan keeps walking as if he has heard nothing. I look back at Zhan before glancing at Weredra; she closes the gap and pulls on my robes, making me crouch down. 

 She whispers in my ear, "He can't hear me, lad. But don't worry, I am not a figment of your imagination. I will be right here every step of the way, guiding you, helping you."

I stare at the girl with a 'Are you kidding me right now!?' look on my face.

She chuckles again, "We are going to be the best of friends, lad. I will make sure that your wishes are satisfactorily granted."

I sigh. By now, I was already aware that I had no control over the creature. I nod, accepting my fate. 

 Little did I know how true the creature's words were going to turn out to be at the time. 

Zhan finally realizes that I was not walking next to him. He turns and looks at me questioningly.

"Nature calls." I blurt out once again.

 Fuck! what the hell, YiJuan! 

As I curse my inability to come up with dignified excuses, Zhan walks towards me with a concerned look on his face and puts his soft, warm hand on my forehead.

"What are you doing?" I ask, stepping back; I don't want the thing down there to start acting up again.

Zhan nods and steps away, wiping his hand, the same hand he had touched my forehead with, on his robes as if he wanted to get my forehead's feel, off of his hand. But when he looks at me, his eyes hold concern, and so does his tone, "Are you feeling well?"

My usually smart brain shuts down completely, and all my brain cells commit suicide by jumping into Zhan's beautiful black orbs that are looking at me with an expression that is making things hard again. I stare at him, unblinking. I want to do something cliche, like profess my undying love to him. God knows I was well on the way to do just that when a gurgling noise interrupts me.

'Who the hell is spoiling this beautiful moment?' I wonder when I hear it again. 'Damn it.' I think looking at the source of the now identified embarrassing sound, it's my tummy.

{Word count: 1503}