Chapter (12)

Since Wang Xiuying had penetrated her life like a drop of acid, except for bringing her misery and discomfort she did nothing.

What is the task I finished lately?

Asking this in puzzlement, suddenly she recalled her notebook. Formulas' instruction and information about herbs. Her precious knowledge!

Accumulating them was the only task she was toiling on, during day and night.

Crap! I was digging my own grave!

She slumped on the floor, and the only face in her mind was Wang Ah Lam. The world fell into a void, her younger sister was smiling, and she was always gently tending to her. That could not be her, she couldn't believe it.

She stopped the current of memories, letting them cease from further assuassumptions or wrong conclusions. There must be misunderstandings in the middle and she must be wary for now, giving everything a second thought before taking action.

Her eyes rolled at Jia Yi's hand, she was crying and digging the corner of her nails in her sheer apprehension.

Tearing the skin crust at the edge of her nail, she had made it bleed. It sounded painful to witness because soon she would get out of this temper to learn what she did to her fingers. This way she couldn't even hold the chopsticks.

Extending her hand, she blamed her, "You should not hurt yourself."

She stood up and trailed off, "Let me tend to the wound on your back first."

"I feel that I'm devoid of feeling life."

Yu Jia Yi confessed.

Wang Hua's brows creased, she mustn't say that. She was still alive and that was the critical matter.

Wang Hua cleaned the clinging tears on her eyelashes and feigned her mood with a smile.

To become stronger and more ambitious, she must end this pitiful condition.

"Don't worry, we will become powerful enough to avenge all of this. We can't live the rest of our lives as if we are fugitives."

Jia Yi looked up in bewilderment, was this girl truly her lady? She had never talked like this before.

"My Lady, did you hurt your head?"

She came up frankly and Wang Hua itched her head, wearing an indifferent expression.

"What would you do if you had realized that your stepmother wanted your head?"

"..."

Speechless! Jia Yi could not find any suitable answer to her question. She was quite right! Lady Wang had yet to happen and try to kill them again if she noticed they were alive! She wouldn't refrain from any chance coming her way and to protect themselves, they needed to become strong!

Conclusively, it did not matter whether Jia Yi and Wang Hua committed definite mistakes or not, that wicked woman always unloaded her bitterness on them!

Wang Hua cleaned the girl's wound and washed her skin with a wet cloth. Searching for remedies, she applied the cure on the whips' red marks to ensure Yu Jia Yi that they would not leave any speck on her back. She also made sure the girl drank the elixir to maintain her stamina after losing her animal spirit.

After tending to her wretched body, she made her sleep on the bed. This cabin had no room. Only shelves were full of boxes of elixir, a table, two chairs, and a bed. Even the floor was bare.

The kitchen was small, having space for one person to stand and cook. And the bathroom was a wooden tub that was shielded from the rest of the space by a simple rickety sandalwood partition.

And a small lab was attached to the hut from the outside and its door opened from there.

Wang Hua filled the tub with water and took her clothes off.

"My Lady, you are a very different person compared to them!"

Yu Jia Yi stated, she was exhausted but her mind was busy with a parade of thoughts.

"You never bully me, nor did you disrespect me, on the contrary, you pamper me despite your miserable condition."

"Do you remember when your spirit animal shell appeared on your palm and you rushed to me?"

Yu Jia Yi bitterly smiled, "Yes, I was timid about the glowing white glassy ball that suddenly appeared on my seventh birthday, overnight!"

"You looked cute and helpless, that day I realized that I must take good care of you!"

Wang Hua began to wash her body, the mud clung to her skin and her back was already irritated by the dark spiritual spell.

"You rejected me countless times, but the moment Mia broke the shell and came out, you smiled and accepted me. We became good friends."

Wang Hua beamed but soon frowned as the tip of her fingers touched her back.

"Hisss..."

"My Lady...!"

Tears formed in her eyes, but maintained her mood, "Don't worry, it is just a scratch!"

Jia Yi knew that she was lying, her body was riddled with injuries.

"My Lady, what happened exactly to you?"

Wang Hua pressed her eyelids against each other, her lips switched to a thin line as she suppressed her pain. Her spasmed muscles made it hard for her to move her arms with ease.

"I crossed the Spirit Forest's border when I couldn't beat the murderers with my sword!"

The maiden jolted and sprang up.

"What?" she almost shrieked. She should have known that something was amiss when the mercenary talked about wolves of the notorious Forest. He meant Spirit Forest or for the dearth of stamina, she heard it improperly.

Wang Hua unhurriedly told her what happened and the more she expressed, the paler her maiden grew.

"I can't bear this, do you think Lady Wang Ah Lam was aware of this?"

Wang Hua shook her head desperately, that was the fact she couldn't discover and hurt her so much. If she knew, then...

Wang Hua swallowed her lump and stood up, water drops slid down and she dried her body which was veiled by bruises and scars.

Slipping into a man's clothing, she said, "I'll cook some rice. Then I'll go to the village to sell the Crane Flower herb I found earlier."

Shaking her head, Jia Yi quickly refused to let her do this.

"I will go, you should not show up recklessly!"

"No way, I won't let you go alone. We can disguise ourselves and go together! There are three pairs of men's apparel here. They belonged to my father."

Giving it a second thought, Jia Yu nodded.

"Then let's go during the dark. But what about Xiaojiao? You don't have the spiritual core to keep her in your spirit like others. She is always visible to the eyes! You'll be identified quickly."

Wang Hua gazed at her cub which was tearing a piece of leather. The cub's attention ran to the girls who were staring at her, following her human eyes that rolled on a bag.

The cub crouched, she didn't want to be carried in that bag! She let out a desperate buzz and put her muzzle on her paws, innocently glancing up with large pupils.