Hazeon stood on the balcony of his office, looking out over the Radiant Halo sect. The sun was just rising out over the horizon, painting the various gardens, buildings, and landscapes in the distance in myriad shades of red and orange. He was amazed at how vibrant the world felt now that his spirit root was repaired. He could hardly believe he had considered his life up until now as living based on what he now felt.

  He felt a presence appear behind him and spoke.

  “How is she doing? Any improvements?”

  “No sir. She seems to be getting worse. She has nightmares every night and has continued murmuring something about her parents and everyone dying in her sleep. I’m afraid that unless something happens, she may never recover and may even have develop a heart demon.” The person behind him said.

  Hazeon frowned. He owed the girl much, and the tiny advice he had given her in Liusha city in their coincidental encounter was nothing compared to repairing his spirit root. How could he help the girl? He was reluctant to admit that he had little knowledge in healing the mind and thus, unless it had to do with cultivating the body, he wouldn’t be able to help her.

  “Any news from the Rimewood?” He asked.

  “Fairy Bing is concerned for Astra’s mental well being. She was disturbed by the news that Astra is not improving and instead seems to be deteriorating. She has suggested that leaving Astra to wallow would be the worst decision and that you should consider sending her out for a minor mission to hopefully give her some kind of goal to latch onto. Fairy Bing has also suggested that letting Astra visit lady Jia in the Rimewood may help improve her condition. At least she said that would be a good idea, but according to Fairy Bing, lady Jia is encountering the opposite problem while cultivating the Primordial Ice Coffin Body. She is working with lady Jia, but isn’t having success stoking the girl’s emotions.” The young woman, Situ Yin, reported.

  She had been one of his shadows for years as well as his personal liaison to Bing Bing. He had tasked her with taking care of Astra, but she was skilled in assassination and spycraft, so she couldn’t help Astra any more than he could.

  Hazeon sighed and rubbed his face. This wasn’t a good situation. He needed to do something to help the girl. He owed the girl a debt and he wanted to make sure she continued along her path of cultivation. Just then he remembered that Elder Yang brought up that an ancient ruin was recently found within a few hours travel of the sect. She asked if anyone wanted to volunteer any disciples to go investigate with her youngest disciple. He had discarded the idea offhandedly as Astra wasn’t ready to leave the sect, but Bing Bing’s advice wasn’t bad. Perhaps the girl just needs some reason to return to her right state of mind. And perhaps traveling with a girl her age, even one as aimless as Rin, may help soothe the girl’s raging emotions.

  It was decided. Astra would be sent with Rin to investigate the recently discovered ruins.

  ***

  It’s been nearly five years since I became a maid in the Celestial Rimewood sect. I’ve lived in the Rimewood all my life, and was proud to be able to help my family and all of the other people living in the Rimewood by supporting the sect.

  Lately though, I’ve been enjoying my job even more than all my time in the sect so far. Every since lady Jia came to the sect and I began serving her, I’ve felt like all of my work has been worth it. Lady Jia is Fairy Bing’s disciple, and being near her has let me see Fairy Bing on the occasions she came to her student.

  Fairy Bing is the epitome of beauty and the subject of idolization of every young woman in the sect. Everyone loves her, and her kind personality and generosity has convinced everyone that she is the most perfect person on the planet, maybe even in the universe.

  Lady Jia, on the other hand, despite giving me the opportunity to see Fairy Bing, was a solitary raincloud blotting out the radiant sunshine Fairy Bing provided to my life.

  I walked down the solitary hallway to lady Jia’s chambers. My shoes clicked as I walked, an eerie countdown to another encounter with the ice witch, as she had become known. I would never speak my mind aloud, of course, but she perturbed me. I had heard she was a young, promising, cultivator from the eastern continent, but I never expected that the lesser continents could produce someone so… driven, and with such a personality. It made me shiver just to think about it.

  I walked for minutes until finally arriving in front of the large pair of icy blue doors built into the side of one of the gigantic Rimewood trees populating the deepest area in the Rimewood. I knocked, waited the appropriate amount of time, and then opened the doors, knowing what I would, or rather wouldn’t, find inside. Lady Jia’s room was barely furnished, upon her own request. The only pieces of furniture inside were a small wardrobe, and a bed big enough only for herself. She rarely spent time in her chambers, but it would be presumptuous of me to seek her out where I knew her to be without checking her chambers first.

  I closed the doors to her bedroom and walked further into the complex, to where lady Jia spent nearly all of her time within the sect. I opened the smaller set of doors deep within the center of one of the massive trees and immediately felt a rush of cold air assault me. My hair fluttered and escaped from the tight bun I usually kept it in, and I pushed it out of my face with a puff of air as I watched Lady Jia.

  Despite my confusion about her personality, lady Jia was, much like Fairy Bing, quite the beautiful woman. She exuded a frigid kind of grace, and when she looked at you it seemed like she was looking right through you. Her long black hair transformed into bright white locks halfway down its length. The change abrupt rather than gradual. I could have sworn the white line was lower the last time I served her, but it was certain it was growing. When she had arrived her hair was pure black, not yet marred by the pure, icy white. She wore the traditional white training clothes of the sect which complimented the white ring around her eyes. She was moving through the forms of the swordplay Fairy Bing was teaching her and the accumulation of sweat darkening her clothes and on her face and neck testified to the amount of training she had undergone today despite it being so early in the morning.

  Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

  “Lady Jia, your breakfast has been prepared, would you like me to bring it to your chambers or would you prefer to eat in the dining hall?” I asked. Lady Jia, seeming to not have heard me, continued her dance with her white blade for a minute longer until, with a final slash of the blade accompanied by another rush of cold air, she dropped into a relaxed pose and sheathed her weapon. I remained silent, knowing that she wouldn’t respond until she had finished her training. She turned to me and stared deeply into my eyes as if she was analyzing me. I felt a chill run down my spine as I stared into the ring of white around her pupils.

  “Please bring the food here. I will continue training today. I have yet to improve enough.” She said, a placid tone to her voice. Little emotion creeping into it. There was something off about her voice though. It sounded too calm, almost eerily so.

  I sighed internally. It was improper for a lady to eat in a training room, but Fairy Bing had told me to do as lady Jia asked, within reason, so I nodded and bowed.

  “Very well my lady. I will bring your food immediately.” I said. Before turning and walking out of the room. I walked back down the hallway, the clinking sound of my footsteps starting a new countdown until my next encounter with lady Jia.

  ***

  The drapes covering my window were flung open and I squinted my eyes, shying away from the offending rays. Situ Yin, my personal attendant, torturer more like, hung up the drapes with purposeful grace and poise. She didn’t move like a mortal, but I couldn’t feel how powerful she was.

  I rolled over, doing my best to escape from the evil sunlight, but to no avail. Situ Yin yanked the covers out from my grasp with an eerie ease and looked down at me with the same placid face she always wore.

  “Miss Astra, you must get up.” She said, the words grating against me. I just wanted to go back to sleep. My rest was always fitful nowadays, and what was the point in going out anyway? It’d be best for me to just stay inside so I wouldn’t hurt anyone.

  I stayed silent and rolled away from her. She’d eventually go away and leave me alone, just like always. I listened for the sparse sounds of her walking away absentmindedly as I recalled the nightmare from last night. It was the same nightmare I had been having for months. The day Mom and Dad…

  The sound of the door closing let me know I had regained my solitude. Then, without warning, I was torn from the soft embrace of my bed and forced to stand in front of the open, fully furnished wardrobe. Situ Yin pulled out various outfits, holding them in front of me and looking into the mirror. I blushed a little at the cold stare she was giving my whole body as she scrutinized the various clothes I could be wearing. Finally she pulled out a simple, but elegant set of robes matching the color scheme of the Radiant Halo sect. Platinum white with rainbow stitching and a similar rainbow pattern on the cuffs of the sleeves. The fabric meant to tie off and keep the robes closed was a deep onyx so dark as to swallow the light, which contrasted the bright colors of the robe nicely.

  Situ Yin nodded, the most expression I had seen the girl make, and quickly dressed me in the outfit, much to my surprise. The woman ignored my squeaking protests, my level of cultivation not enough to let me resist the woman’s ministrations, and after she finished, I looked at myself in the mirror. I was still flush from the embarrassment of having the older girl dress me. I had deep bags below my eyes, and my hair was a mess. I looked like I hadn’t gone outside in months, which, I hadn’t. I was noticeably thinner than when I had last checked. I had been skipping meals but I didn’t think I had been eating that little. Situ Yin closed the wardrobe and led me to the desk where my glove and other supplies were.

  “Gather your supplies. Elder Hazeon has a mission for you.” She said. I couldn’t think of a good enough reason to give to go against what Elder Hazeon wanted. I owed him for helping to save Jia’s life, and needed ot pay him back for it. I sighed and resigned myself to my fate, grabbing all of my items and following Situ Yin out of my home. Before we made it far from my front door, Situ Yin turned around again.

  “I know that you are not mentally well, but you have neglected lady Shimmer for too long. I would suggest that you summon her, and not dismiss her again without good reason.

  I froze at her suggestion. Feeling the tug of emotion flowing from deep within my soul. Shimmer didn’t need to be summoned to feel what I felt and send her feelings back to me, but I’d been doing my best to ignore her for the last month. I felt guilty about it, but I couldn’t accept the unconditional love she wanted to shower me with. I didn’t deserve it.

  Situ Yin didn’t move, and after a few more seconds, I relented and summoned Shimmer.

  The knee-high fox with eight bushy tails immediately sat down and yawned after appearing next to me. I looked down at her and I felt a wave of irritation and a gentle...hugging? feeling coming from the fox who rubbed herself against my legs a few times. Situ Yin turned around and resumed leading me to Elder Hazeon’s office, not looking back to ensure I was following. I looked around as we walked, but nothing really piqued my interest. There were trees, waterfalls, buildings. It was all just another sect, just like all the others. And the irritating, ever-present, halo shining above everything in the sect was just as garish as always. After a few more minutes of walking, we arrived at the Elder’s office, and I walked in to find Elder Hazeon and two women I didn’t know. I ignored the women, I hadn’t met them yet, and wasn’t really in the mood to interact with people. I just wanted to get my mission and complete it so I could go back to bed.

  Hazeon noticed me then and smiled brightly. My stomach churned at the sight and I held myself back from grimacing.

  “Ah, Astra! Just the girl we’ve been waiting for.” He said, gesturing at the pair of women who were now inspecting me. The older woman was wearing robes for elders in the standard of the sect with her black hair pulled up into a severe sphere barely visible from where I was standing. The younger girl, someone I could tell was a little older than me, was wearing a simple white set of robes much like mine. The rainbow stitching of her clothes contrasted her olive skin nicely, and her fiery red hair looked well taken care, but not styled. It was like she had just rolled out of bed but not a single hair was out of place.

  “This is Elder Yang and her disciple, Rin. You and Rin are going to be tasked with investigating some nearby discovered ruins. Though we call it an investigation, all that’s been found is a strange door in the back of a crevice in one of the nearby mountains.” He said.

  My heart skipped a beat at the mention of a hidden door. Thinking back to both the underwater prison, and the hidden alcove behind the waterfall near Liusha.

  “You two should spend some time strategizing and then head off immediately. Though you should be careful, we’ve received reports of inferno scorpion sect disciples in the vicinity of the mountain range.” Elder Hazeon finished. My eyes opened wider before I caught myself. My fingers felt numb from how hard I was squeezing them and my breathing quickened.

  I didn’t want to go back to my room anymore.