History lesson continued...

MoQiu's father, Fa Jian Feng began talking after his mother.

"What your mother has said, it is but one part of the story. Her ancestors were wise, they were quick and decisive. They were brave, far braver than any of the warrior clans. What she did not know is that a binding rule can only be applied once in the life of a Taoist. It is extremely important the intent of the Taoist be clear, and in harmony with his words. At this point, I must tell you more about Taoists.

Here, in our country, we call them Taoist. However, in other countries, there are different words for the same occupation. Wizard, Mahou, Jadoogar and Towenaar are but few of them. They are not offering worship. They are men who were given energy of the deities themselves. Some say, Angels are immortal, some longed for death, thus raised one of the twelve blessed to be their successor, inheriting all their magic, granting an angel eternal rest. I digress.

The point is words of the Taoist have the same binding power as that of angel, minute sacrifice, lenient binding, life altering sacrifice, eternal binding. Thus every binding on the angel will be bound to the will of the Taoist, forced to conform to the words used. No more, no less. Thus, if a Taoist thinks all people in a nation are sons and daughters of the emperor, a binding by such Taoist to offer blessings only to emperors descendants will make no difference from how things were run now. For, by that Taoist's interpretation, all people in country are emperor's descendants.

Thus, the emperor brought Taoists under his control, by corruption or force. He killed all the old Taoists, and started indoctrinating the young Taoists, each to a different whim of his. In time, they have become the emperor's staunchest supporters. One must know, a Taoist's powers are varied, and their gifts, divine. Some of them can see the truth from lies accurately, some can predict the future, yet others have even more mysterious powers.

With the help of Taoists, the emperor created a governmental branch which identifies the individual as soon as he receives a blessing. A retriever is sent to the newly blessed immediately, killing and retrieving the power they possess, only to return it to the emperor. Rumors say, He takes blessings from his own descendants ruthlessly though no one knows how.

I myself am a runaway from the culling. You can not imagine the terror of early days of culling. The city was closed. The soldiers knock on the doors, day and night, only for the city to hear a particular household is wiped out nine generations. We were afraid of every knock on the door… My own family decided to split up and escape. Even now, I feel a chill in my heart when I think of those days. I had to go through hell and back to wipe my and your mother's tracks. "

MoQiu's father paused here, hesitating for a moment.

"What I am trying to tell you my son, is that your mother and I might die at some point. We do not want you to seek revenge. We do not want you to participate in this battle. It is not yours." his father finished.

'Is it only me or does uncle Fa sound far more sure of the dying part?' Jiushu wondered internally.

This plot, she has seen a lot in novels. A father tells son to run, only for the son to come back at full speed.

"And you Jiushu, I believe you might be a princess." MoQiu's father added without any preamble.

'The f***. How did he figure this out?' Jiushu wondered, trying to show at least some semblance of surprise on her face.

"No need to pretend, girl, you must have remembered your memories." he gave her a knowing look.

MoQiu turned to her sharply. Jiushu shifted guiltily.

"How…?" she asked.

"Why didn't you tell me?" MoQiu said at the same time.

"There's family resemblance." MoQiu's father answered.

"It's not long since I recovered my memories. I only remember my mother, though." she answered.

"How did you become a peasant girl?" MoQiu's father asked curiously.

"We were returning to the annual offering ceremony. Our carriage has an accident." Jiushu answered.

"What happened to the guards and maids. There must have been some with you." aunt Fa asked.

"There was an attack. The driver drove our carriage forward to avoid the attack. The carriage tumbled atop the cliff. I think I was washed away by the river. A peasant family picked me up. I did not remember who I was, so I stayed with them." Jiushu answered.

"That attack might have been premeditated." uncle Fa commented.

JIushu looked at him.

"That child is your brother, isn't he?" he asked lightly.

'Just how freaking good are this uncle's eyes? Aren't they supposed to become half blind by the time they are forty?.' Jiushu commented internally.

"Yes." she answered truthfully.

This uncle's eyes are almost at the level of facial recognition software. No point lying to him.

"You must be stopping at the Taoist temple before?" MoQiu's father asked.

"Yes. At least I think so." Jiushu answered.

"The man atop the cliff with your brother, he is second prince Mo Xing Long. he might have been trying to prevent you from getting to Taoist temple at all." he finished.

Jiushu wondered…

"However, we were here almost six months before." Jiushu answered.

"The emperor prefers his Taoists to be this age." uncle Fa answered.

'What .. ? her father's a pedophile?' Jiushu wondered. However, all of that does not matter.

"It doesn't matter. All the priests in Black Dragon temple are dead." Jiushu answered.

Uncle Fa is shocked to hear that.

Aunt Fa inhaled sharply.

Jiushu looked at them in askance.

"He killed a temple full of priests just to cover up.. " uncle Fa lamented in shock.

"I think he came to your house too." Jiushu added.

All of the Fa's looked up at her sharply.

"He burnt down your house." Jiushu answered.

Uncle and aunt Fa looked troubled, while MoQiu looked shocked and a little sad.

Being a victim really feels like shit.

One fine day a mad man on power trip burnt down your very pretty house. How good can you feel about that?

MoQiu and his father were whispering to each other in soft tones.

"It is too late, let's have dinner." Aunt Fa announced suddenly.

Jiushu left with her. She helped cook, at the same time asking a lot of questions. She has suffered a lot because of her own mediocre cooking skills. While she may never be as good as aunt Fa, she could at least avoid various stages of uncooked and overcooked rice.

They ate rice with stir fried wild vegetables. It's the most Jiushu has eaten after coming here. Aunt fa has some serious talent for cooking. After she has eaten, Jiushu coaxed xiao xing to eat some porridge. Her little brother clung to MoQiu's mother as soon as she picked him up and refused to let go. With no other option, Jiushu let aunt Fa take care of him for the night.

MoQiu is to be the first watch, while uncle Fa second.

Jiushu closed her eyes and tried to sleep. Sleep proved to be elusive, for her head is too full of thoughts. She has given up sleeping tonight, woke up to sit the first watch with MoQiu.

"Too much action?" Mo Qiu asked her conversationally.

Jiushu nodded her head.

"Can I ask you a question?" MoQiu asked after some time.

"You are asking one right now." Jiushu quipped.

MoQiu smiled tightly in response.

"Yes, you may ask a question." she answered.

"Why did you not tell me the little one is your brother?" he asked.

Jiushu thought for a while.

"No offense to you, but you are a stranger. We have known each other for all of a day, it is too short a time to trust someone with your little brother." she answered honestly.

MoQiu looked at her in shock.

"Not because I did not rescue you?" he asked after some time.

Jiushu looked at him. MoQiu was staring ahead, however, she could tell he was tense by the tick in his jaw. Jiushu answered honestly this time.

"You are not my brother, father or lover. More than that, you are not a public officer. You have no duty to rescue me." Jiushu answered.

….

She could tell MoQiu is hurt somehow, but she could not find any fault in her words. What's his deal?

"Just say it." Jiushu snapped after some time.

"I thought we were friends." MoQiu said, his voice full of grievances.

Jiushu looked at him in shock.

"Please don't make that expression with your face. You are going to break far too many of my fantasies. Ughh… . What's with that dialogue? What are you? A victim of outsider bullying?"

Jiushu was a normal girl in her university. MoQiu might be a little too young for her, but he has a face that's amalgamation of all her favorite stars, and on top of that, he has an eight pack. A fourteen year old with an eight-pack. For the first time in her life, Jiushu had a little crush. Her anti-type is the cute retro guys, and the expression MoQiu had on his face, like a wronged daughter in law, made revulsion well-up from the bottom most of her shallow heart.

….

There was no response… seriously.. Isn't he supposed to brag that he is the most popular guy in school or some such.. Slowly, oh so very slowly, realization dawned on Jiushu.. She refused to look to the side and verify that realization… Finally, despite her heart's command, her head turned..

"You couldn't be a victim of outsider bullying...correct?" her damn mouth spewed out without her permission.

The answering silence couldn't be clearer.