Alone, Wu LiJing stared at her table for a moment, lost in thought, wondering what to do. Her heart felt a little lost. But just a little. After all, she had been preparing herself to be life partners with him all these years after she accepted the engagement. That was why... the picture of a handsome man dressed in dark red flashed in her mind. Her chest suddenly ached a little and she closed her eyes for a moment before she opened them again and stood up.
Wu LiJing entered her room and after a pause, slowly walked to her side drawer. She took out a paper with four names signed on the bottom, two of them being her parents'. She laid it on the table and her eyes admired the signatures of the names, Zao MingZhu and Wu YangYi. She traced them gently for a moment before she let out a small sigh.
"I'm sorry, mother, father."
She looked towards her door and suddenly wondered if QiaoHua felt the same way towards Mo ShiLan. Because if she did... she would congratulate them.
After a few days, Wu LiJing left the Moon Sect again. But before she left, she checked up on Wu QiaoHua first.
"You're doing well," Wu LiJing said. "But you must remember to practice using your inner chi to enhance your sword to strengthen your attacks. If not, do more exercises to strengthen your body. Also, try to improve your qing qong, even your friends' qing qong is better than this. And never let your guard down, even if your opponent is me." She suddenly felt a little worried. The test for the Moon Sect disciples would be taking place soon.
Wu QiaoHua nodded, feeling sweat drip down her chin after having had a spar with her cousin. Wu QiaoHua looked at Wu LiJing who didn't have one drop of sweat on her face. She suddenly felt a little down. "I'm trying," she said. "It's just hard."
Wu LiJing sheathed her sword. "You can do it if you train."
Wu QiaoHua was just quiet as she sheathed her sword as well.
"The disciples are going to train in the Disappearing Forest in a few days. I heard it can be quite dangerous. Master asked that I join in to make sure everyone gets out safely. Those who show good results will get rare herbs as a reward. Be ready for it."
Wu QiaoHua only nodded silently.
Wu LiJing lifted her hand to pat QiaoHua's head but QiaoHua lowered her head to pull back some hairs and stepped back.
"Is that all?" her younger cousin asked, staring at the ground.
Wu LiJing's hand froze and she took it back. "I asked ChunHua to boil some useful herbs for your cultivation. Consume them before you meditate," she said in a softer tone.
Wu QiaoHua nodded. "Mm." Then she walked back to her room.
Wu LiJing watched until her cousin disappeared then focused her inner chi and spread it throughout her body before she jumped and disappeared into the sky.
She understood that it can be a little suffocating to have someone constantly check up on one's cultivation... she understood best, having only concentrated on cultivation her whole life since she was little. That was why she wanted to make sure QiaoHua was able to do whatever she wanted. But if QiaoHua wasn't cultivating properly or wasn't improving, it was up to her to push her, even if she had to be strict.
Wu LiJing checked up on QiaoHua now whenever she returned from her missions that sometimes took days or even a week. In the past, she didn't have much time and mainly sent herbs to help her cousin's cultivation; but now, Wu LiJing wanted to be more responsible. After all, what if one day the enemy who murdered her parents realized they were in the Moon Sect? She still didn't know who they were. In this world, one can only be more assured if one was strong enough. She knew this reason was behind her father's strict regimen in her training.
Her father was kind, but he was strict and resolute when it came to cultivation. After she turned six, she solely focused on cultivating and learning martial arts. At first, she was excited. She loved seeing her father and mother show off their skills and couldn't wait to start on her own.
So, she felt a little happy from seeing her cultivation improve little by little. But when she had to stop playing with toys... stop having more time to go out and play with friends as she grew one year older, she couldn't help but feel a little dejected.
"Wu LiJing, as rouge cultivators, we have to cultivate harder in order to reach the level of those who are richer, have more connections, and have an abundance of resources," her father would say and pat her head. "Now let's do it again." He would try to motivate her and even if she didn't understand him back then, she did now. Since she was only born with a green core, she had to work harder if she wanted to succeed like a blue or purple core possessor.
Everyone possesses a different potential depending on the core they are born with. Most have red, yellow, and green cores, with red being the weakest rank. Those born with blue and purple rank cores are rarer but usually dominate the top of the cultivation world.
Wu LiJing touched the lower part of her abdomen where her core resided. She was lucky she wasn't born with a red core. Because then, she might not have been able to become a direct disciple of the Moon Sect. Her mother once said to her, "We must live enjoying what we have because if we spend our lives envying others and fighting for things that are not ours, then when we lose what we had, it will be too late to regret."
Even if her father and mother were no longer alive, she remembered the words they said to her by heart. Her thoughts stopped when she reached an inn and decided to rest for the rest of the night before traveling again. When she entered her room, she opened the letter her master gave her to confirm the direction of the village she was to enter. Her eyes lowered and her brows furrowed.
Chestnut Village. Suspicious activity. Look into it.
...
At Chestnut Village.
"P-please let me go! I wasn't even part of the plan! I didn't even know about it!" A man was on his knees, begging and crying like a child with eyes filled with horror. His whole body trembled as he looked up, with his palms together in a begging motion.
There was a woman reflected in his pupils. Her small face contained a smile and shown with a beauty that could not be described in mere words. Even her figure was ethereal as she took a step forward with perfect, bare feet, forcing him to shuffle back. When she took another step, a bell jingled from her ankle and compared to the feeling of joy that used to accompany that sound, he was petrified.
"Please let me go! I beg of you! I'll do anything!"
An alluring laugh echoed from the ethereal beauty and she took off her outer robes of peach, which had splotches of red blood still dripping from the sleeves.
"Didn't you all say you loved me? I'm finally willingly bringing myself to your doorsteps. Why must you run away now?" She sighed and twirled a piece of her dark hair with a blood-stained finger as her cold gaze fixed itself on the man in front of her. "Pathetic men," she muttered.
"AHH!" He ran when she took another step forward and she haunted him with another fit of laughter.
However, his trembling legs were no help when he finally reached outside where the moon shone, because he tripped. Right when he was going to fall forward, the noise of a bell rang and he felt a hand jab into his flesh.
He gasped, feeling as if he was unable to breathe. The pain was excruciating and he looked down to see a whole in his chest.
In front of him was the beauty he had always admired and in her hands was a thumping heart. A jade bracelet hung from her delicate thin wrist, stained with the blood that flowed down her elbow. Her fingers clenched his heart as if she wanted to crush it and he reached for it yet only stumbled and fell over. His vision blurred as he watched her drink his blood from his heart with a devilish smile.
"I still have three more to go," she chuckled, feeling satisfied as she licked her lips. Blood trickled along her slender neck. Her eyes were filled with a crazed sparkle and the man was suddenly glad his turn was over as he bled to death.
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