"You-you both are my granddaughters?"
The Old General looked overcome with emotions, shock and disbelief being the most predominant ones.
XieRong noticed that everyone had been stunned into silence. She went to her aunt, whom she had come to know over the month.
"Aunt there are too many ears in this room. Me and my sister would like to discuss this privately."
HuiLiang understood immediately. She ordered all the servants to leave the area and closed the doors.
XieRong felt for presences. She had to concentrate a lot to see if there were any hidden ones. She still hadn"t mastered the art of finding hidden presences.
"What about the people hiding in the trees and the one on the rooftop?" She asked, locating a few people who had hidden their presences very well.
She stopped searching when she felt her head start to hurt.
HuiLiang was surprised. How did this little girl know? Even she couldn"t figure out where the shadow guards were hidden.
"You don"t need to worry," the old general Guo replied, when he"d let the realisation settle in,"they are all blood bound to me."
"Now, tell me, where is Fa Hua?"
XieRong sighed. She would be reliving the pain of recalling how her mother died all over again. It was because of the pain during the treatment and nightmares about her mother"s death that XieRong had learned to meditate.
She had long come to terms with the fact that her mother was no more but imagining the pain her mother had gone through that night was terrifying.
Walking over to the old general, XieRong handed him the letters her mother had written for them.
"These are the letters our mother wrote for us. I think with this you will be able to get the gist of what I"m about to tell you."
After the General was done reading both the letters, the first thing he felt was loss and extreme grief. He had parted with his daughter on bad terms and now he couldn"t mend what he"d broken. His wife had been right, his stubbornness had cost him greatly; his relationship with his daughter.
The second thing the old general felt bubbling inside him was rage, mad, seething, unrestrained rage. He wanted to tear Fa Boqin apart with his bare hands.
The third thing the old general felt was disbelief. Hadn"t his investigation said that his daughter had run away with another man? Then how could she have died! She must be alive somewhere, happy with the man she loves.
The Old General let out an immense pressure in the room.
"You dare come here and lie!" he shouted, slamming the wooden table next to him.
XieRong felt her bones grow heavy as though they were made up of iron.
She found it hard to breath.
"Father! Stop it, you"re hurting them," her uncle said, rushing up to her. She saw that her aunt hadn"t moved from her place.
"Fei...Hong," she grit out to her uncle,"pro...tect FeiHong."
XieRong kept standing up with all her might and all the will she possessed. She refused to bow down to the man who had let his daughter down because of his stubbornness. Who refused to believe his daughter had pa.s.sed away just so he had a chance at repentance.
"You"re a stubborn old fool!" XieRong shouted. Her vision had started to grow blurry. And blood dripped down her nose.
"You are in denial of your daughter"s death just so you can hope to gain repentance from her? Your daughter- no, our mother is gone! Don"t make the same mistake with us that you made with her! Don"t make me hate you more than I already do for helping Fa LiHua murder my mother!"
The pressure lifted. XieRong spat out blood and stumbled.
XieRong could see FeiHong and her aunt rush towards her from a distance. The last thing she heard was her sister shouting her name.
"XieRong Jie!"
Then everything faded to black.
XieRong didn"t know where she was or what she was doing wherever she was. It was a small garden of sorts with flowers and herbs and and a small pond.
"XieRong, what made you come here?"
XieRong turned around. She couldn"t believe her eyes.
"Mother, mother is that really you?"
The woman who looked like her mother smiled. It was a warm smile full of love. XieRong knew at once that this woman was her mother.
XieRong ran to the swing her mother sat on and threw her arms around her.
"Mother! Mother," she cried as she buried her face in her mother"s neck like she did when she was a child.
"Shh, XieRong, mother is here."
"Mother, I thought you were gone. I thought you had left me!"
"My little dragon," her mother said, pinching XieRong"s nose,"how could I ever leave you alone. Don"t you know you"ve always carried mother in your heart? Didn"t mother tell you that she will be watching you from above?"
"You"ve been watching me?"
"All the way, and look how much my daughter has grown!" Fa Hua said, cupping her daughter"s face in her hands and kissing her forehead.
XieRong giggled.
"Mother, where am I? Have I joined you in Heaven? If I have, then I have to go fight the G.o.ds to sent me back. FeiHong needs me."
Her mother laughed. It was a sweet tinkling sound that left XieRong surprised. She had never seen or heard her mother laugh before.
"My sweet XieRong, you don"t have to go fight the G.o.ds. They"ve only sent you to me temporarily, then they will return you to where you belong. It"s not your time to come here yet XieRong, and it won"t be for a very long time. The G.o.ds have big plans for both my beautiful daughters.
"XieRong, I know mother told you to protect FeiHong, but what mother meant was to teach her how to protect herself. The knowledge you impart to FeiHong is the best protection you can give her, and mother knows you have been teaching her, but you must let her face the trials and tribulations of life so she knows how to use what she has been taught. XieRong, there"s more to FeiHong than what meets the eye. She is not the same child she was when mother left you."
"Mother, what do you mean by "there"s more to FeiHong than what meets the eye"?"
"XieRong, do you remember the time when you were leaving through the forest to buy provisions from the capital."
"Yes..."
"Do you remember your offer to make a sisters bond with Fei Hong?"
XieRong nodded.
"Yes, but FeiHong refused."
"Do you remember what she said after she refused to make the bond?"
"She said that were some matters that she couldn"t tell me about yet, that even if she did, I wouldn"t believe her because it was too unreal. She said that when she was ready to tell me, she would form the sisters bond with me. Are these "matters" that she mentioned what make her different?"
"Yes, and when she feels that you are ready to accept her for everything she was and is, then she will tell you."
"Mother, is this why the G.o.ds brought me here? So that you could tell me to stop pampering Fei Hong?"
Fa Hua smiled.
"No, the G.o.ds brought you to me because they know something has been bothering you. Something that only I can resolve, so tell me what made you come here?"
"Mother, I"ve been thinking as to why you gave up, why you didn"t escape, why you didn"t live for us who loved you but instead chose to die for the ones who betrayed you?"
Fa Hua patted her daughter"s head.
"It"s the opposite of what you said, XieRong. I chose to die for the people I love, and if I would have lived, I would have lived for the people who betrayed me. If I had lived I would have been so consumed by my hatred and thirst for revenge that I would have pulled you into my plans."
"I don"t understand."
"XieRong, when you decided to grow stronger to protect the ones you love and seek revenge did you do it because mother asked you to?"
XieRong thought about it.
"No, I do want revenge for mother but it"s not because mother told me to. I decided that I wanted to."
"Now, if mother were alive and told you not to take revenge, would you disobey me?"
"No."
"You see, if I lived I would have forced you to take revenge whether you wanted it or not. I didn"t want you and FeiHong to become my puppets so I chose to die and let you carve your own paths."
XieRong understood her mother"s decision. If her mother had been there she would not be where or how she was now. It could only be them or her and her mother had chosen them. However, she couldn"t completely agree with it.
"Why did the G.o.ds give you such a terrible decision to make mother?"
"Don"t blame the G.o.ds, XieRong. They gave mother plenty of chances. I had just become too blind to see them. The decision to choose between you and me came up because of my mistakes and bad choices. When I think about it now, perhaps there had been more paths that I could have chosen, but I had lost belief in myself so those were the only choices I could see."
XieRong knew her mother was right. She sighed.
"Mother knows there"s something else troubling you, XieRong. You can ask. I won"t be angry."
"Mother, don"t you hate grandpa? His stubbornness to not contact you or come see you just aided Fa LiHua and Fa Boqin"s plans."
"Everyone has flaws XieRong, my father"s was his stubbornness and pride. He never knew how much harm his stubbornness could cause him until he lost me, but I know my father loves me, XieRong, he always did and always will, despite what he says and does so I will try my best to forgive him if he tries to change for the better. Does this answer your question?"
XieRong nodded. She too would try to forgive her grandfather as long as he tried to change himself.
XieRong could feel herself grow drowsy.
"Mother, I"m sleepy."
Fa Hua pulled her daughter"s head into her lap gently and kissed her forehead.
"XieRong, mother loves you and is proud of you, now go to sleep."