Heaven's Daughter

Chapter 18 - A Hero in White

The moment Kairi dug through the finances, she notices many discrepancies in the logs. Not only that, she found that Madam Feng and her daughter spent ten times more on their wants than anything else. So the first thing she did was addressed the discrepancies right away to General Feng. He flared up right away and found that Madam Feng had been secretly spending extra money at a gambling house and gambling it all away. It gave Kairi the excuse to lower Madam Feng's spending expenses along with Feng Jiu's. Then she increased some of the wages of the servants and lowered others. Most of Madam Feng's goons' wages were reduced while few of the loyal servants from Lady Lan's time were increased. The servants who once bothered Kairi and A Lan either steered clear of them or kissed up to them. After that, Kairi spent a bit of money to fix up the Lotus Villa. She also updated the servants quarters so that they'll work harder when they have a better place to return to after working. Everyone found the change quite refreshing and many were smiling more often because Feng Jiu wasn't constantly harassing everyone and Madam Feng stopped berating the servants.

For three months, Kairi grew accustomed to her new surrounding and would even sometimes give Feng Jiu a hard time just because she wanted to. When the servants saw how much Feng Jiu was suffering, everyone quickly found Kairi much more lovable than ever. Since General Feng was on her side, Madam Feng didn't dare make any rash movement thus Kairi's days ended up mostly peaceful. Kairi eventually moved back to the newly renovated Lotus Villa along with A Hua. The reason she gave to return there was because there was more sunshine and that her mother spent the last of her days there. That was partially true. The real reason was because she could keep away from prying eyes and ears.

After hearing from General Feng about her fixed cultivation, she attempted to cultivate one night only to find it impossible. The moment she started absorbing natural energy around her, there was a huge bloating feeling in the pit of her stomach as if her body refuses to absorb the energy and rather store it in the pit of her stomach instead. She couldn't even enter the void to see what was wrong with her core. It was as if a large veil made out of bricks had covered the void. The first night had failed so she assumed that her body will eventually absorb it but after a few weeks later, it was still the same and the energy refuses to go anywhere but stay swirling at the pit of her stomach. She couldn't understand why. She had cultivated just fine before. What she didn't know was that Grandmaster Liu had sealed off her core in order to trap the real Xiao You's soul deep inside of her. Kairi couldn't cultivate anymore unless the seal was broken but the only way to break it completely was to release her soul and the only way to do that was to kill her.

"Maybe if I go see Gramps and talk to him about it... but if I leave, Madam Feng will definitely say that I've abandoned my duties and take back everything I had worked for," Kairi thought miserably. She sighed heavily. It wasn't as if she really needed to cultivate. She was living the high life. Even if she couldn't cultivate, she would still be able to defend herself. Just as she thought this, her eyes darted over to her dressing table and she saw the jade hairpin. She hadn't talked to Zhang Sheng in months. Maybe he knew something about it? She remembered how angry she had gotten months ago when Zhang Sheng stopped answering completely. Still, it was worth a shot. She grabbed it and automatically felt a warmth flow through her hands.

"Zhang Sheng, it's been awhile since we talked. I'm kind of having trouble cultivating and I don't know who else to ask but you. For some reason, the energy from cultivation won't get absorbed into my body. It just sits at the pit of my stomach giving off a bloated feeling. Do you know why?"

Moments went by and there was complete silence. Nothing. Not even a whisper. She glared angrily at the hairpin.

"You jerk! Are you really going to ignore me forever? Say something!" Nothing. Kairi's anger faded rapidly as she stared solemnly at the hairpin. "I thought you said you'd be by my side. Where are you?"