1 They Were Dead

It was a dark, stormy night. She was there at their tombstones. She was shedding tears for them. Her only family had died. They had been killed. Who? She did not know. When? She also did not know. Where? She did not know either. Why? Because of their clan name. How? She did not know at all.

For what purpose did it serve to have killed them, she did not know. She was too young. Too young to realize these adult affairs.

She could only remember that she was sleeping. Now, she was here at their tombstones. There was no funeral held. There was no ceremony held. What wrong had her family done to deserve this?

As she continued crying there, there was only one person who stood by her side.

He was in a black suit with an umbrella, holding it over her head. As she cried, he stared at her. His eyes were unreadable. If one tried to look at his eyes, they would only see the darkness deep within. Despite not knowing what secrets he held, they would still show freight. And with those eyes, he looked at her deeply.

"Xiao Hua, let's go," he emotionlessly said.

"Ge, do you not feel sad? Sad that mommy and daddy died," Xiao Hua asked.

"What's the use in feeling sad, Xiao Hua? They won't come back even if you cry," he told her.

"Ge, they still raised you from child to now. You should at least feel a little pain. How can you be so cold? I've always known that you were cold, but I've never thought that you will be so heartless," she said, seeing his emotionless face.

In this world, it seemed that only she was left to mourn for these two people. In her family, there were no blood relations. Her brother was adopted, so was her. A long time ago, the doctors told her mother and father that they could not get pregnant.

Despite feeling sad that she would never be able to give birth to a child, her mother still was someone that wanted a child. So, the couple adopted her elder brother. After her brother had reached twenty-one years old, they met her.

She was found on the streets of a rural town. When the couple first met her, she had clothes that were ruined and ripped to shreds. She was a silent girl that never spoke, too. In fact, everyone thought she was a mute.

However, when she met her elder brother, she finally spoke, though little.

In the orphanage where every child was suffering in some way or form, he came to her with a smile. He asked her with the warmest smile she ever saw, "Xiao Hua, do you want a warm home?"

At the age of six, the only thing she wanted, was a family. Someone to talk to in comfort. Someone to rely on when she was struggling.

When she heard "a warm home", the first word that came out of her mouth was, "No."

Why did she say no to something she wanted so much? Because she was careful.

Her experiences in life at a young age were harsh. Something that no other child should have gone through. She did not know why her biological parents gave birth to her, for she hated her life. At just the age of six, she was already suicidal.

As though to win her over, her elder brother did not take her rejection heavily but instead visited her every day. He gave her new clothing. He brought food to her every day.

However, there was a catch. She was like a snake that was always hiding in its hole. Despite being so young, she was much smarter than others.

Maybe it was this fact that made him more invested in trying to win her over.

In the end, though, his persistence gradually won her and she chose to be adopted by the Qiao Clan.

Clans were supposed to be non-existent in their time, but somehow, in the martial world, clans existed.

The Qiao Clan was the biggest clan not in size but in reputation. They were not only rich but also skilled at fighting. There were no branches to the Qiao Clan and the only people who were in the clan were her dad.

Her adopted mother was not accepted after finding out that she was unable to get pregnant. As for the two of them adopted kids. How could their name go into the Qiao Clan ancestral book when they shared no blood?

At least that was what her brother told her.

Right now, she was tired. It has been nine years since she was adopted, and she has learned so much.

Despite learning that her brother was bipolar, she still trusted him. After all, they were a family with the same last name.

She has learned how to fight. She has learned how to read and write. She has learned what the children of the Li Clan learn. But, her biggest lesson was the coldness of the world.

That no matter how hard she worked, she was never going to be accepted by the Qiao Clan elders. That in order to survive, she could not put her trust in everyone.

In this world, the only person she trusted was her brother. He had been by her side since young, and whenever she was struggling to fit into the world of the Qiao Clan.

Today... Today was the first time she had ever gotten mad at him. She could not remember if there was ever a time that she had gotten mad at him. In her nine years of living with the Qiao Family, she could not remember a time in which she ever got angry.

Since young, she was calm, always calm. Being calm was a survival technique she learned after two years of being adopted at the age of four.

Whilst living with the Qiao Family, she had never raised her voice, nor had she ever fought with anyone. She also never showed her fighting skills. Fighting was something that she learned along with her adopted father. Many of the jungle survival she learned was taught to her by her adopted father.

Whereas her mother taught her the many "feminine" jobs. Such things like cooking, cleaning, and housewife chores. However, her mother also taught her the properties of chemicals and how to be an alchemist.

Both of them would always tell her, "A little impatience will spoil great plans."

She was patient as a young child, but her parents made her even more patient. In fact, she also wanted to brag that she was a very smart child with many skills that fit the roles of a wife and of a skillful fighter. But, she did not.

Right now, she was very mad at her brother. She wanted to yell at him, scream at him, and tell him to be a little bit more humane. But once again, she did not do such violent actions.

Instead, she told him calmly, "Ge, let's go."

Leaving the isolated hill that had nothing but one plum blossom tree, she made sure to leave a mark. A mark that would never be seen, but would always be there.

In her mind, she prayed, "Mom, Dad, I hope that in the next life, you guys can be my biological parents. Let's meet in the happiest ways we can in the next life."

----------

Today was her birthday, but she was not happy. She was turning seventeen. Just one more year and she would be eighteen.

She did not care about her seventeenth birthday, but she cared that it was just one day after her parent's death. Every year, they would throw a small party for her. Sometimes her brother would be there, and sometimes he would.

However, he was always there when she was going through a tough time. He would come to the birthday party that only had her and her parents and bring her joy with the gift that he would bring.

Their parents just died not too long without a funeral, and yet he was not here.

Right now, she was instead alone in the living room of their big mansion with a birthday cake made by the chef. The chef was a nice, kind old woman that was retiring soon. The old lady had made her a cheesecake instead of a normal birthday cake, knowing that she disliked those kinds of cakes.

There was a cake, the candles, and the nightlight that illuminated the huge living room. But, there was only her. Her alone on her birthday.

Sitting on the supposedly comfortable couch, she muttered a sigh, "How depressing."

Grabbing her phone, she dialed the number that she had memorized since she was seven years old.

After a few seconds of the phone ringing, the automated voice robotically said, "Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice message system. 010-6552-9988 is not available."

On this night, she was struggling. Struggling to deal with the emotional conflicts within her, and who she was to trust in this world in which there were a few limited left for her.

However, if only she knew what he was doing tonight, then her life would have changed. The person who once promised to protect her and be her shield would now be the person that hurt her most.