'Okay, I can't lose this round. I have too much on the line!' Ten laps around the courtyard and then five hundred sword swings!

It was as if her senior sister was trying to kill her!

"Are you ready to begin?" Across from her, Ye Lian Hua remained passive as she tapped the flat of her sword against the palm of her hand.

"Yep!" It was all or nothing for her! Yanking her sword out of the ground, Zhu Na Ran readied herself for Ye Lian Hua's attack.

"On three," Master Luo called out.

One.

Two.

Three!"

Immediately, the two charged against one another in a series of quick blows. For an average person, they would merely see a blur of gray; however, under the experienced eyes of Master Luo, he could see every attack exchanged.

"Ah, food and live entertainment is the best way to live," pulling out a bag of roasted chestnuts, he secretly munched on the forbidden snacks since his eldest disciple was distracted.

'Aiyah and the sad part is that this master knows how Zhu Na Ran could win.'

Not that he would tell her that, of course, not after she left him to suffer under her senior sister's hands. 'Hmph, maybe this will teach her a lesson.'

'Ah! Senior Sister seriously doesn't give an inch!' Gritting her teeth, Zhu Na Ran attempted to attack Ye Lian Hua, who would dodge each slash and hit like a leaf fluttering in the wind. 'Can't she at least try to hit me or something! Give me something to work with, Senior Sister!'

While Zhu Na Ran fumed in mild frustration, Ye Lian Hua took this time to analyze Zhu Na Ran's form and technique. 'Hmm, footwork is good, but swings are still lacking. Maybe I should increase the number of sword swings for her.'

Switching to the offensive attacks, Ye Lian Hua began to meet Zhu Na Ran's harsh attacks with her nimble ones, swords clashing each second.

'Ah! No good, at this rate, Senior Sister is going to win!'

Tightening the grip on her sword, she switched to more direct attacks in an attempt to knock Ye Lian Hua's sword out of her hand.

'Please, work, please work,' chanting in her mind, she tunneled her focus into this one goal. This plan has to work! If it doesn't, then she is completely screwed!

Unfortunately, it didn't seem as if luck was on her side today.

"Clank!" Clattering on the floor, her sword laid on the ground a reasonable distance away.

"Sh*t," avoiding her senior sister's oncoming attack, Zhu Na Ran quickly dived and grabbed her fallen sword and booked away from Ye Lian Hua. 'Not today, not today, not today! Please, not today!'

"Where is she going," Ye Lian Hua muttered as she saw her junior sister run away from her. Giving chase, the distance between the two began to shrink as Ye Lian Hua effortlessly gliding behind Zhu Na Ran.

"Sh*t, sh*t, sh*t!" Seeing as she was losing ground by the second, she suddenly swerved in another direction, eventually creating a circle. 'Wu, wu, wu! Let me off this once, Senior Sister! I just want to rest!'

"Ah!" Sharply twisting around, she just barely blocked Ye Lian Hua's attack head-on, her sword trembling as she struggled to hold her own. 'Ah, f*ck it! I guess I gotta play a bit dirty!'

In a last-ditch effort, she swiftly kicked Ye Lian Hua in the stomach. Knocking out her sword and ditching her own, she tackled her senior sister down.

"Oof!"

'Hmm, this is a pretty soft landing,' face buried between Ye Lian Hua's chest, Zhu Na Ran pressed her senior sister down as her arms tightly wrapped around her chest.

"Y-you, you! G-get, get off of me!" Face burning red; Ye Lian Hua struggled to get back up only to get shoved down once more!

"No, not until you admit I've won," tightening her grip, Zhu Na Ran looked up at her senior sister's face. 'Huh, Senior Sister looks kind of red.

Maybe she's reaching her point of exhaustion at this point.'

"Enough, get off me," trying to get a rein on her emotions, Ye Lian Hua pushed Zhu Na Ran's head off her chest.

"Not until you say I've won!" Retraining her grip, she refused to budge even for a second. She had to make sure that her senior sister could this as a hit, or else she's screwed!

"F-fine! You won! Now get off!"

"You mean it?"

"Yes, now let me go!"

Instantly, Zhu Na Ran, let go and started to cheer: "Hurray! Freedom," as she began to dance around a bit. " Did you see that, Master!"

Master Luo pretended that he didn't see his youngest disciple's somewhat dirty tactics. "I never doubted for a second!"

'Yeah, right,' she rolled her eyes; however, victory was still sweet. She finally defeated her senior sister!  "Aight, I'm going to sleep! Good night!"

'Wo ho! No late night training for me, haha!' With a skip to her step, Zhu Na ran rushed back to her room for some well-deserved rest.

---

Seated in a large window, a young maiden in red sat in a darkened room as moonlight illuminated her figure, making it appear as if she were a celestial maiden from a painting.

Sighing quietly, she caressed a small red jade pendant as her thumb rhythmically rubbed against the pendant's warm, smooth surface. "... Xiao Ran, where could you've of gone…"

"Knock, knock. Second Young Miss, it's me," a young girl's voice called out from the other side of the paper door.

"Come in," not bothering to turn to the door; the young maiden continued to look out into the night sky in thought.

Opening the door, a young maid stepped in and set down a tray of food on the table that sat in the middle of the small room. "Second Young Miss, why do you insist on staying in this room? The side room in your Wen Ting courtyard is much better than this place," the young maid could barely hide her disdain for the shabby looking room.

Simple furniture with a small courtyard, this place was comparable to the servant's quarters. She couldn't understand why her mistress liked this place so much. Her mistress was the honorable second miss of the Fei family, Fei Fu Qu.

Letting her stay in such a place was beneath her status, a shining pearl amongst dust and rocks!

"It was hers," the Fei Fu Qu sighed once more before slipping the pendent into her sleeve. "You're dismissed."

At this, the young maid shut her mouth from speaking anymore. It was pointless to argue with her mistress whenever the conversation was about that girl. "Yes," bowing young maid swiftly exited the room and shut the door behind her.

Standing up from her window seat, she sat down at the small table as she began to eat her dinner alone. Though the dishes served were rather luxurious, they tasted bland as they slowly slid down her throat.

Unable to eat more than a few bites, Fei Fu Qu set down her chopsticks and returned to the window. "Do you remember, Xiao Ran? The night we met was exactly like this one."

Ten years ago…

"Good work, little sister," patting her back, Fei Fu Qu's older sister, Fei Fu Xi, beamed down at the freshly hunted game. "You got a big one." Killed by a single arrow to the throat, the level three spirit beast laid dead on the forest floor.

"Thanks, Eldest Sister," smiling at her prize, Fei Fu Qu was excited to show off the beast to the rest of their family.

"Are you ready to head back," Fei Fu Xi asked as she began to bag up the pair's total game. "It's already pretty late and should be dawn soon."

"Uh, hold on. I thought I saw another small beast earlier."

"Emkay, holler if you need anything."

"Eh." Slowly creeping across the moonlight forest floor, Fei Fu Qu scanned her eyes for the game she spotted earlier. "Huh. Where did it run off to?"

Sha sha sha…

Perking up at the noise, Fei Fu Qu turned to the source when she was suddenly jumped! "Hey, get off me!"

Peeking her eyes open, she saw that her assailant was a little kid. A slightly dirty one at that, as their clothes were soiled and face covered in dirt.

"Growl…" a small grunt came from the little kid's mouth as well as a few foreign-sounding words.

"Hey! What are you trying to do!" Fei Fu Qu tried to wrestle the wild child off of her, but they proved to be stronger than expected.

The kid tugged harshly on her waistband, and if she didn't know better, she would've assumed the kid was trying to take advantage of her.

"Snap!" Victoriously holding an embroidered pouch in their hands, the kid quickly opened it and pulled out a small cake.

Did they fight her for her snack bag?

Cautiously backing away from her, the child took a big bite of the cake. Instantaneously, the hostile attitude dropped as their eyes lit up as they chewed gleefully.

She had to admit that it was kind of cute.

"Do, do you want more?" Taking out another cake from her interspatial bag, she placed it on a clean handkerchief before backing away. "Here, you can have it."

Looking at her with narrowed eyes, the child slowly approached the cake and swiftly swiped it into their hands. However, they didn't eat it right away as they looked between the half-eaten cake and the one she had just gifted.

Holding out the uneaten cake, they offered it back up to her.

"Uh, no. You can eat it," Fei Fu Qu shook her head and smiled, she gestured that they could keep it. However, it didn't appear they understood as the child titled their head to the side.

'Ah, what to do,' sighing, she gave in, took the cake offered to her. The child nodded for her to eat, before devouring the cake in their hands in another large bite.

"Do you want more?" Holding out the cake again, she waited for the kid to grab it. The child looked like they wanted more, but didn't make any moves to grab it. "For you."

Slowly, the small hand grabbed the cake and started to eat it in smaller nibbled. The kid stopped eating for a second. "...thank…you…"

"You understand Chinese?" If so, it would make it a lot easier to communicate with the child than charades.

"Uh… little…"

"I see," she smiled. "What's your name?"

"...I'm....called… Naran…"

"Na Ran?"

The child nodded before taking another bite of food, making their cheeks puff up like a chipmunk.

"Nice to meet you, Na Ran. My name is Fei Fu Qu."