Heaven's Daughter

Chapter 11 - The Seal

"I don't know how they managed to get their hands on poison but we couldn't save any of them," said Wei Xing.

"Damn it! All of them killed themselves?" Grandmaster Liu slammed his tea cup angrily on the table top. The captured men were their only lead but with all of them dead, Grandmaster Liu had nothing else to go on. Before Zhang Sheng left, he mentioned that the assassins could have been hired by the third prince, Wan Yi but that was merely speculations. Kairi had also mentioned that the assassins could have been hired by the Lan Manor. They had lost their only chance in finding out the real culprit.

"Call Xiao You in," Grandmaster Liu ordered. Wei Xing nodded and left the room only to bring back Kairi. "Leave us." Everyone left the room except Kairi. He sighed and ushered for Kairi to come closer.

"My child. It seems I failed in finding the one who hired those assassins," Grandmaster Liu muttered. Kairi managed a small smile and shook her head in reply.

"It's alright, Gramps. No one expected them to be men of sacrifice," Kairi said. Grandmaster Liu sighed again and patted her head affectionately.

"You were only ten when you came to the village. The people who have hurt you really aren't human beings," he said angrily.

"It's alright, Gramps. Think of it this way, I wouldn't have met you or anyone in the village if it didn't happen," Kairi said with a bright smile. Grandmaster Liu smiled warmly at the little girl kneeling before him. If his son and daughter in law hadn't passed away at such an early age, they would probably also have a child about the same age as her.

"Kairi," he suddenly called out her real name. "I'm afraid you can no longer go into the neighboring town. Not until you've built up your cultivation base or at least formed a contract with a magical beast."

"I understand." He has never seen Kairi act so obedient before.

"Well, it seems that a little danger did you some good," Grandmaster Liu smiled with a hint of mischief.

"I almost cost Fifth Shishu his life. I'm going to train hard so that I won't bring trouble to anyone ever again," Kairi promised. She remembered sitting by his bedside day and night hoping that he would wake up. Even if she knew that it wasn't her fault Zhang Sheng had been internally injured, it was partially her fault that had caused his injuries to worsen leading them to such a dangerous situation. She was sure the assassins were paid by Madam Feng and Feng Jiu but since there were no further proof, she could only obediently stay inside. She wasn't about to let others get injured because of her again.

With that promise made, every so often she would lock herself indoors to cultivate. For two whole years, she spent it on honing her sword skills. She even managed to learn how to fly for a long period of time.

The day she turned fourteen, she decided to go into closed cultivation. She was once again in the space void filled with nothing but the glowing flower petal that was Xiao You's core. Massive energy swirled around her and petal glowed brighter and brighter. The light illuminated the empty space void for a split second and when it finally dissipated, the petal became a beautiful golden flower bud. Kairi opened her eyes and felt that she had gone up a couple of levels. The energy inside her was massive compared to before. She took a deep breath and slowly got up to her feet. Her legs felt numb as she struggled to walk forward.

"How long have I been down here?" she thought as she made her way up the stairs. Upon opening the double doors that led outside, the sun was high up in the air. She could hear people training outside and others reciting books. Sighing, she started for her room and bumped into Jiang Liu.
"Ah! Xiao You! You're finally out of the cultivation room! Look at how much you've grown!" he exclaimed. Kairi smiled at the sight of someone. She did notice that her eye level was a bit higher than before.