I opened my eyes to find myself in a grassy field.
Before I could figure out where I was, I blinked on seeing a curved scimitar-like blade hovering over me.
Said blade was projecting out of a helm shaped like the head of an Oriental dragon, that forming the end of a very thick polearm.
As a forgotten lesson in Chinese history came back to me, I realised this was a
guandao or
yanyuèdao, the naginata-like weapon that had once been welded by one of the most famous warriors in history, Guan Yu.
I then looked up at the person holding said blade.
I was expecting a man my age with a long flowing beard, dressed in rather plain clothing for rural China in the early Third Century C.E.
I certainly did NOT expect to see a teenage
girl of all things with black hair tied in a long, stringy ponytail over the left ear.
And I certainly did NOT expect this person to be dressed in something that looked like a perverted mix of Chinese robes and Japanese girl's high school uniform.
Complete with thigh-high nylons and mary janes!
I could even see her
panties, for Heaven's sakes!
What — the — HECK…?!
"Mas-…?" I stopped myself just in time before asking, "Mistress Guan?"
She perked at that, and then she smiled. Clearly, she was relieved about something. As to what, I figured I was going to find out pretty soon.
She didn't disappoint me.
"You obviously must be the Messenger from Heaven that has been prophecised to bring peace to the land," she said as she withdrew her weapon away from me, then offered her hand to help me to my feet. Well, I wasn't going to refuse that, so I allowed her to pull me up, which allowed me to learn quick that despite her being a teenage girl, she was quite strong.
"Thank you," I said, bowing to her.
She returned my bow. "My name is Guan. My style name is Yúncháng." She then blushed. "My given name is Àisha. I give my name to you, Master."
Blinking, I nodded my head.
Well, when in Rome…!
"My name is Sangnoir. My style name is Looney Toons, though I also accept Loon. My given name is Doug. And I give my name to you, Àisha."
And I would
swear to my dying day that Àisha's cheeks became as red as cherries on her hearing me tell her that.
This was going to be one of
those stops…
**** **** ****
(Note that in this series, all the names are given with the Japanese
on'yomi readings, so I switched them back to proper Mandarin pronunciation)