Phoenix Rise: XieRong

XieRong had gotten used to the pain.

She no longer felt that it was unbearable, in fact, day by day it had reduced.

And soon it was already the fourth day.

XieRong was testing FeiHong on all that she had taught her.

"Hong Hong, how many continents are there?"

"Five; North, South, Middle, East and West. We live in the Northern one known for the Wuzhou mountain range. It’s home to the spirit caves and the godly beast of the North, the White Tiger. It also has a lot of spirit grass and herbs, that’s why there are many cultivation sects at the base of the mountains."

"Good!" XieRong praised her little sister, giving FeiHong and Hui Zhen next to her a berry each.

For every question FeiHong got right, XieRong would give them both a berry.

"How many provinces are there in the Northern continent?"

"Four; North, South, East and West. We’re in the south where the capital is!"

XieRong gave her sister and Hui Zhen another berry, chuckling at the blueness of their fingers.

"Now tell me about the cultivation realms."

"Uh...there are nine cultivation realms out of which the first seven have three stages each, the early, the mid, and the late," FeiHong said stretching her hand for a berry.

"You didn’t name them, Hong Hong."

"Jie," she whined.

"Young miss," Hui Zhen echoed.

"FeiHong, you’ll get the berry if you answer completely and Hui Zhen, don’t encourage FeiHong."

"Fine, The Soul Gathering realm, The Dantian Formation Realm, The Spirit Stabilising Realm, The Spirit Cultivation Realm, The Earth Cultivation Realm..." Fei Hong paused and took a breath.

"Jie, can I not tell ’The’, ’Cultivation’ and ’Realm’?"

XieRong laughed. Even she found it tiring to recite such long names.

"Okay."

"Sky, Heaven, Immortal and God!"

This time XieRong handed over the entire bowl to FeiHong and went over to see if Hui Nuo needed help.

"Need help?"

"How can I let young miss help me?" Hui Nuo reprimanded, washing the vegetables.

"Hui Nuo, how many times do I have to tell you and your sister that you should treat my sister and I like family?"

"It’s inappropriate for a lady to behave this way, Young miss."

Hui Nuo sighed and continued.

"Miss, you are a lady. You promised your mother to start behaving like one, remember."

How could XieRong have forgotten? She remembered like it had happened yesterday.

"Hui Nuo, the way you see a ’lady’ and the way I do are totally different. To me a real ’lady’ would never let a thing such as ’class’ and ’society’ dictate friendship and family. Fa LiHua, who my mother considered family, betrayed her however Auntie Li, who was just a servant stayed and supported my mother by her side during her most difficult times. Now, tell me, who is a ’lady’ Auntie Li or Fa Lihua?"

Hui Nuo looked down in shame. Her Young miss was right. ’Class’ shouldn’t dictate one’s family and friends. She, herself was helped by her wet nurse and sold to the slave merchants instead of the brothel. If it wasn’t for her wet nurse, she wouldn’t have met her Young miss.

"Well said."

"Master. When did you return?" XieRong

"Just in time to see how much you’ve grown up."

The Old lady said handing a rabbit, some fishes, some mushrooms and a variety of vegetables to Hui Nuo.

"FeiHong greets master," FeiHong greeted standing by her Jie’s side.

XieRong, too, quickly said her greetings, embarrassed that her little sister had beaten her to it.

"XieRong, FeiHong, you both have improved both your knowledge and medical skills immensely in these four days. I still have a lot to teach you but you cannot stay here any longer. Tomorrow is the last day of your treatment and the pain will be much worse than what you have experienced till now."

"This disciple understands," both XieRong and FeiHong said together.

"Master, Hui Nuo, Hui Zhen, I want to discuss something with you."

XieRong waited till HuiNuo finished what she was doing and came over.

"I would like to leave Hui Nuo and Hui Zhen under your care after tomorrow’s treatment is over."

Hui Nuo looked hurt. Didn’t her Young miss want her anymore?

"Hui Nuo don’t look so alarmed, it’s only temporary," XieRong assured the girl who looked as if she were about to cry.

"What do you have in mind, child? Speak fully."

"Master, I want you to tutor Hui Nuo and Hui Zhen for six months. I would like to first affirm my position in Guo residence before calling them over. After six months of learning about medicine and poison, they can then come study martial arts with me if I’m accepted into the Guo residence. I want Hui Nuo and Hui Zhen to be able to protect themselves with or without me."

The Poison master smiled at her disciple with pride. It was a wise decision that she had taken. Her disciple knew that if she wanted to become stronger she would need strong trustworthy allies.

Hui Nuo, on the other hand, was touched. Her Young miss had thought about her and Hui Zhen while taking this decision and here she was thinking that her Young miss didn’t want them anymore.

Over dinner, XieRong asked her Master about the blood bond.

"Master, how does the blood bond between me, Hui Nuo and Hui Zhen work?"

"Silly girl," her master reprimanded,"you formed one without knowing fully what it entailed?"

XieRong stuffed food in her mouth so she wouldn’t have to respond.

She heard FeiHong beside her giggle slightly.

Her master sighed. No matter how wise her disciple had gotten she was still a neglected child. She couldn’t fault XieRong for not knowing what blood bonds were.

"Listen carefully XieRong, a blood bond is a sacred bond between two souls and it can be of four types. What FeiHong has with Bai Yueliang is a bond of equals in which neither party can command another, but can share their thoughts and emotions on an equal level. However, if either of them decides to close the bond to the other, then the other can’t force it open. That is why it is considered as such a great risk to have this kind of bond with a spirit beast without earning its loyalty first, because once a spirit beast gives its loyalty to you, it will never betray you in its lifetime.

"Then there is the master-servant bond, like the one you have with Hui Nuo and Hui Zhen. You can share your thoughts and emotions with them as well as read theirs however they can only share theirs with you and read your mind and thoughts if you allow them to. You can also force them into absolute obedience with the bond by robbing their will.

"The third type is the sisters or brothers bond which doesn’t necessarily have to exist only between siblings. This is like an equal bond in which neither party is allowed to close the bond and it also forms a much more deeper connection between the souls. With this bond you will be able to live your partner’s memories if they share them with you.

"And the fourth type is the rarest and is called the lovers bond, the one you share with your soulmate. No one really uses it as hardly anything is known about it."

XieRong felt a rush of excitement thinking of being able to talk to Hui Nuo and Hui Zhen with only her mind, but her excitement quickly died when she realised that she couldn’t hear Hui Nuo nor Hui Zhen.

"But master, I can’t hear either of them!" XieRong said, trying feel Hui Nuo’s and Hui Zhen’s presence in her mind.

"You may have formed a blood bond but that doesn’t mean you have opened it. Imagine the bond to be like a door. You may have constructed it between your and their minds by performing the ceremony, but it has just been made. You’ll have to open it so that you can see what is on the other side."

XieRong was curious to see how a blood bond worked but a guilty feeling tugged at her heart. She didn’t know she’d asked Hui Nuo and Hui Zhen to give up their wills when she’d asked to form the bond, she didn’t even know if they wanted to know how they felt at all times and she’d even rushed them into making that decision.

"Hui Nuo, Hui Zhen, I’m sorry. I didn’t know making a blood bond was such a huge decision for you, but I still rushed you into making it. I thought it would just make you loyal to me. I’m so very sorry. I promise not to open the bonds until you tell me you’re fine with it."

Hui Nuo and Hui Zhen looked at each other, then at their Young miss and smiled at XieRong.

"Young miss, did you know that me and Hui Zhen share a sister’s bond?"

XieRong’s eyes widened slightly. She hadn’t known.

"It’s fine. We assumed you knew, because we made a master-servant bond. Who knew that you didn’t even know what it was properly until now.

"Young miss, the reason I told you that Hui Zhen and I share a sister bond is because I want to tell you the circumstances under which we formed it.

"You see, young miss, we are from a fallen noble family. Our family had become so poor that it couldn’t afford to keep any daughters. They wanted to sell us to a brothel for a large sum. However, our wet nurse convinced our first mother to sell us to the slave traders instead of the brothel by offering to work the year for free.

" Hui Zhen and I knew we would be separated when were going to be auctioned off so we formed the sister bond in the cage they were transporting us in. We promised each other that if one of us died, the other would follow immediately and if one of us escaped, then she would try to free the one who hadn’t.

"That’s why miss, when you saved us that night, you gave us new hope. A chance to remain sisters. You even surprised us by giving us the chance to choose our own future which we’ve never had, as nobles or as slaves.

" So you don’t need to ask our permission, young miss. We’ve already given our trust and future to you because we know you will treat us well."