What do we do when we Fall?

The stone door slowly slid open to reveal an emaciated Hong Wu. Spending a month with nothing to eat but a single Fasting Pill was devastating to her health.

Hong Wu spent the first week trying to recover from her flogging. Unable to move, she laid by a pool of stale water as her only sustenance desperately clinging to life. She eventually mustered up the strength to crawl over to the Fasting Pill and consume it. Regaining some of her strength, Hong Wu attempted to use the time locked away on cultivation. To her dismay, the spiritual qi was thin inside the cave and she was unable to make much progress. By the time the month was up, she did not even have the strength to sit up, let alone cultivate.

During her torturous isolation in the cave Hong Wu thought about her mother often. She would pray for her mother to save her at first. As time passed, asking to be saved changed to asking for a release from pain, and eventually, cursing her mother for even being born. Hong Wu felt extremely guilty for these thoughts, but could not help from having them.

Hong Wu felt a small change in herself. Hong Wu could not be said to have been a hateful person before. One could even say she was quite pure; at least, as pure as one could be coming out of a whorehouse. Now, anger tainted her soul. It spread like a drop of blood falling into a bowl of crystal clear water, slowly diffusing, permeating her being.

Hong Wu's appearance was vastly different from before. The wounds on her back had only started to heal, leaving horrid scarring all across her back that made the lightning scar seem pleasant. Her starvation had left her a husk of her former self. Her body had atrophied to almost nothing but bones, her skin cracked and peeled.

Unable to leave the cave on her own power, she was carried out by an inner sect disciple, given a Fasting Pill and a new set of robes, and left outside the cave to fend for herself.

Consuming the pill and gingerly removing the bloodied robe stuck to her scabs, Hong Wu collected what strength she had and began to circulate her spiritual qi. Using this energy, she slowly stood and made her way back down the mountain.

Limping her way forward in a daze, Hong Wu eventually arrived back in the Drifting Clouds Quarters. Girls that saw her quickly ran to spread the news that Hong Wu was back. Stumbling into her house Hong Wu wanted nothing more than to make something to eat to recover her strength, but before she could do that she noticed something incredibly important was missing. 'My black stone!'

In place of where the large spirit stone used to be was a shallow pit of dirt. Seeing this, Hong Wu's face turned ugly. 'Cang Rong! One day, I will kill you. Wash your neck and wait for me.'

The two had become irreconcilable. Hong Wu wished for nothing more than to personally tear Cang Rong limb from limb. Going to her stash of harvested sweet potatoes, Hong Wu hungrily bit into one raw. After filling her stomach with the first few bites, Hong Wu decided that without the black stone, there was nothing left for her in the Drifting Clouds Quarters. Gathering what little belongings she had, Hong Wu left her house to go find Yan.

As she left, she noticed Cang Rong arrogantly standing off to the side, a smile plastered on her face wider than the ocean. Trying to restrain herself from coughing up blood in anger, Hong Wu bowed her head in shame and once again vowed to avenge herself.

Swallowing her bitterness, Hong Wu followed the familiar path into the woods to Yan's camp. Walking through the woods in Hong Wu's condition was incredibly dangerous. She often tripped over tree roots, rocks, and hidden divots in the path. Luckily, Hong Wu did not run into any more wild animals, safely making it to the campsite.

Hong Wu arrived to see Yan sitting on her rock cultivating. Hong Wu stepped on a twig, alerting Yan to someone's presence. Turning to face her new opponent with a fierce expression, Yan's countenance quickly cycled through joy, shock, worry, and finally malice. Jumping off the large black rock, Yan ran to support Hong Wu and walk her to sit by the fire and offer her food and drink. As she prepared Hong Wu's meal Yan began to explain the events during her absence.

"After three weeks of not seeing ya come back to the forest, I went to go find that Hu Huan ya mentioned. He told me about your fight with the fat one, and that ya were locked up. I wanted to go and get ya, but he stopped me. Said I'd be a better help if I didn cause any more trouble for ya. He gave me some medicine sayin ya'd need it."

Hong Wu sat by the fire soullessly nibbling on a leg of rabbit. Yan had noticed the blood seeping through the Hong Wu's new set off robes. Showing an anxious look, Yan murmured, "Can I … can I see your back?"

Hong Wu wordlessly undressed to reveal her frail, mutilated frame. Yan inhaled sharply, then slowly reached towards Hong Wu to comfort her with a hand on the shoulder. Seeing Hong Wu's lack of reaction and vacant expression, Yan retracted her hand. She then took a glob of green paste that Hu Huan had given her and gently smeared it over Hong Wu's wounds. Yan's hands carefully caressed the deep gashes on Hong Wu's back, trying not to add to Hong Wu's pain. The ointment stung when applied, followed by a cooling, itchy sensation. Yan silently worked on applying the medicine while Hong Wu wordlessly stared into the flames.

Hong Wu broke the silence, "My black rock is gone."

Yan tried to assure Hong Wu, "We'll get it back."

"My cultivation has fallen behind everyone else," Hong Wu lamented.

"You'll catch up," Yan comforted, trying to sound cheerful.

Hong Wu sighed, "It will take me too long to recover my strength. By the time I do I'll-"

This time Yan interrupted Hong Wu. "So that's it? She wins and ya are done tryin to fight back? Gonna jus curl up in a big ball and die are ya?" Yan gibed.

Rage sparked in Hong Wu's eyes, "No."

"Then quit feelin sorry for yaself. Ya want to get revenge, then ya gotta get stronger. There is no other way about it."

"But how? I-"

"No buts, do ya wanna get stronger?"

"Yes!"

"Then leave the how to me," Yan vowed as she finished applying the medicine.

Hong Wu donned her robe again and looked to Yan with gratitude. "Ya just sit on that rock and cultivate; Imma go. I'll be back soon."

With that, Yan grabbed a few things and quickly headed out of the camp. Hong Wu's drive rekindled, she mover herself to the black rock to continue cultivating. 'How foolish! I tell myself I want revenge, but what do I do? Mope and cower! I will never allow myself to be so weak ever again. The only thing is to get stronger. I must get stronger!'

Closing her mind to outside distractions, Hong Wu fell into a trance of deep meditation with a newly tempered resolve.