A Maiden's Heart (1/3)

[A Long Time Ago...]

[Xiao Li POV]

"Xiao, stand straight!" my master continued instructing me to stop wiggling on the logs, despite his actions themselves causing me to move.

"Grandpa, I can't." I pleaded again, for the nth time today, despite knowing full well it would be of no use.

'Please, I'm so tired.' I was at least smart enough to hide the rest of my thoughts in my head, having learned from experience that they would do more harm than good.

'Just, one more minute, just hold on for just one more minute, please.' I continued to beg my legs to not give out on me, not again, hoping to God for this situation to end early for once.

However, neither God nor my supposed 'guardian' would acknowledge my plight.

"Excuses, Xiao, excuses." was all my grandfather said before continuing to wind up his whip.

"I can't." I knew better than to falter without asking for permission first, having learned from countless past experiences.

Thankfully, my grandpa could see that I was at my limit, hearing my knees crack and preparing to break at any moment.

"Disappointing" was my master's only response to my request, however, I considered them as having attained his blessing to finally rest.

I collapsed onto the ground, about to fall into the pit of spikes below me, too tired to even move and protect myself from the fall.

However, it seems my grandpa still had a heart, after the training was over at least. He caught me before I could fall to my death, knowing full well that a corpse wouldn't be able to fulfill his dream.

"Xiao, truly disappointing," my master's final words echoing in my ears before I closed my eyes and finally blacked out.

'Finally.'

I woke up in my bed, like always, covered with medicines and wrapped in bandages by my now caring grandfather.

"You're finally awake, Xiao, that's 2 minutes faster than yesterday." my master was by my bedside, reading a book while waiting for me to recover.

"Good," was all he said before leaving my room, having determined my injuries to be not life-threatening and making sure that I hadn't suffered any brain damage from the concussions to my head during training.

'It's ok, Xiao, you can do it.' I encouraged myself again, my words having long lost their meaning to me, just having become part of my routine after so long.

'You can do it.'

[1 Week Later]

"Xiao Li, I want you to meet your new brother in training, Shobun Ron." I was surprised at seeing my Grandpa so excited about his new student, only giving us a quick introduction before dragging Shobun to the training room.

I had followed them there, despite having already completed my training for today.

I wanted to be there for my new brother after his first day in training, wanting to support him through it, wanting for him not to have to suffer through it alone.

'It's gonna be ok.' I wanted to give him the same words that had helped me get through training time and time again, even at the cost of lying to him. I wanted to give him my support.

But, he didn't need my help.

Unlike me, he never argued, he never complained, he never pleaded, he never so much as let out a whimper.

Unlike me, he was strong.

He made it seem so easy. Every day I could see him getting stronger. Every day I could see him achieving greater heights. Every day I could see him receiving more and more acknowledgments from my master for his progress.

Until one day, far too quickly, he surpassed me.

He was never mean to me or abused his strength, no, he did something far worse.

He chose to never acknowledge my presence, treating me as if I didn't even exist.

It was infuriating.

For the next month, I made progress unlike anything before, pushing myself farther and farther every day, wanting to get back at him, wanting to get some revenge.

But it wasn't enough.

He was far too talented, and improving far too quickly for me to so much as catch up to him. The gap between us continued to grow farther and farther until one day, I snapped.

It was during training with my master.

"Come on, Xiao, you can get down your training is over for today, it's Shobun's turn." my master had only continued to grow less concerned about the outcome of my training, not even reprimanding me for my mistakes for the past week.

However, I wasn't going to give up.

'You can do it, Xiao, just hold on, one more second, please.'

However, not all prayers are answered, as I once again collapsed falling into the pit, again waking up in my bedroom with my grandpa by my side reading his book.

He noticed me waking up right away, however this time, with a frown on his face.

'Why?' I asked myself, not wanting to hear the answer.

"Come to my office after you've recovered," was all my grandpa said before leaving my side.

'NO!'

I jumped out of my bed despite the deep injuries I had sustained, despite my stitches opening up from my actions, despite my body writhing in pain all over, I ran to his office and barged in, not even bothering to knock first.

I found myself standing face to face with my master, despite the blood on my face, waiting for him to explain.

"Xiao Li, you don't have to come to the training room tomorrow." my master spoke in a soft tone of voice while taking a small sip of tea.

"NO!" I shouted, even surprising myself with my outburst.

"Xiao Li,"

"NO, NO, NO, NO-"

"SHUT UP, Xiao!" my master finally raised his voice at me, for the first time outside of training, cutting off my pleadings.

"Please-"

"It's fine, Xiao," my grandpa said while patting me on the head, trying to stop me from continuing to cry.

"You don't have to suffer anymore, Shobun will be the one to become the next Supreme Kaiou of China." every one of his words stabbed into me despite his attempt to console me.

'Why?' I asked myself while trying to come to grips with reality, "I have waited for him to say those words to me forever, to not worry, that 'it's fine,' but why is it now that he's finally said it,"

'Why does it hurt so much?'

My grandfather's words that day caused me more hurt, more deeper pain than any of his training regimes ever could.

I felt abandoned.

Empty.

My grandpa had always been there, even without having parents, even through all the pain, he had always been there, waiting for me to wake up after my training.

Waiting to see if I was alright.

'I can't lose him.' I refused to give in, I refused to have the one happiness in my life taken away from me.

'If I can't beat him in a fight, I'll just beat him in something else.'

I knew I couldn't match Shobun without my master's guidance. So, I chose a different route. I would show them I'm not useless.

I broke into my master's office and trained in the ninjitsu arts, learning the same assassination techniques that my master had previously refused to teach me, calling them for the weak.

But I needed them.

Because I was weak.

I spent the rest of my days training in the arts, while at the same time building and expanding my underground network.

I wanted to show them, both my master and my brother, that I wasn't weak. Perhaps if I did that, I could even convince myself that I was no longer weak.

And it worked.

Partially at least. My effort had paid off, as I was finally able to convince my grandfather to teach me again after Shobun had long left.

However, I was still unsatisfied. I don't know when I had started feeling this way, but as I grew up, I had started to hate them, both of them for what they put me through.

I couldn't do anything to my master; he was the only family I had left, and I understood his actions, not that I forgave him for them. I understood his passion for his goal, his drive for accomplishing it at any means necessary.

'Maybe he wouldn't have even chosen to pick me up after my parent's passing if he didn't think I was worth training.'

Regardless, I couldn't do anything to him due to the contradictory feelings in my heart, but I didn't have any of the same sentiments towards my fellow disciple.

'I'll make you pay.' I wasn't gonna let him walk away scot-free.

And then I found it, the perfect way to get back at both of them.

I would make sure Shobun would never be able to fulfill my master's dream. I would find a man that would make him feel the same way as he did to me.

'I'll break him.'

Thus, with my new goal in life, I began my long and difficult search to find a fighter that would become my champion in my crusade against my so-called 'brother'.

And boy was it long and difficult, no matter how long I searched I wasn't able to find the fighter that I was looking for, a man with so much talent that he would even make my brother fall into despair, someone who would show him the meaning of "there's always a bigger fish in the sea".

I had even convinced my master to travel all across Taiwan, and even to China, under the premise of building my network of connections.

To be fair, this was also partially true, as I had heard talks that there would be a very influential figure in the underground circuit visiting Heilong-Jiang. Someone by the name of 'Miss Amber' due to her long distinctive red hair, the only thing that was known about her even to most information brokers in the criminal underworld.

More importantly, however, I had also heard rumors of masters of martial arts that had completely mastered the art of Chinese Kenpo in Heilong-Jiang who were currently residing in Balin Temple.

I was excited by the coincidence, thinking that I would be able to knock off two birds with one stone, however, I was once again out of luck.

All I was able to find there were old geezers, who despite being strong, wouldn't be able to accomplish my goal. I didn't just need to beat my brother, I needed to convince him of his defeat at the hands of someone more skilled than him, despite being younger.

Plus, it didn't help that all of the masters at the Temple were apparently good friends with my grandpa and had some history together. Thus, I could not rely on them for support, as even the disciples of the Temple respected him.

I was once again defeated.

However, I would not stop. I wouldn't let this defeat get the better of me just like all the ones I had overcome before. I would find the man who would accomplish my dreams, who would fulfill my desire for revenge, who would extinguish my hatred.

So that I could finally die in peace.

I was just about to take my search to Japan, as I had again heard rumors of the 'strongest teenager alive,' the son of the supposed strongest man in the world, who even my master deeply respected and even feared.

I was just about to close shop and leave to continue my search when he arrived outside my door, asking me for some funny information.

"The location of Master Shikai Bun. I heard the rumor that he was nearby."

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The votes are in, and it's safe to say that Xiao Li Won, HOWEVER it's NOT OVER YET.

Read my Author's Thought's for more information, but the bottom line is because some reader's are rightfully upset that it wasn't really a 'fair' vote since they never really had a choice, I am going to run ANOTHER VOTE to decide the "final" love interest after I release all of my chapters for today. Again read the Author's Thought's for more info if you are mad that I'm not "counting this vote" or your vote didn't "matter", as no, it did matter, I am counting the last vote, for the next 30 chapters or so Xiao Li is the main love interest and will have more chapters dedicated to her.

But to be fair to the readers who are unhappy with my bias, and to be fair to them, it was kind of biased as I didn't really have a plan for Diana going in, unlike I did for Xiao Li from day one of starting this novel. However, now that I do, I promise that the last chapter I will release today will provide enough background and story for Diana for her to have a good "shot" at winning, since now you would have chapters with both characters introduced. Please don't make up your minds before the Princess Diana chapter as (spoiler in the Author's Thought's...).

Thanks for voting everyone and I really appreciate the continued support of my readers.

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