Chapter 109: Side Story 12 – A New Beginning, Shadow Empress’ Dawn

"Life-debt is a concept that carries much importance in Al-Shan culture. Both ethnic groups view it as amongst the most important, and it was highly respected. To show ingratitude to those you owed a life-debt to was considered revolting, and those who reneged on their life-debts were openly ostracized. For what worth does one have when they consider a debt of life so trivial?" - Zhang Guan-Zhu, Al-Shan Scholar.

 

"Do you think I did the right thing?" Xain asked while he pondered on his desk after Ying Xiao had left with general Zhang Hu-Lao. Layla looked at her husband with sympathy and understanding, while Samira eyed her son-in-law and emperor with a more critical eye.

 

"That girl needed a purpose in her life," Samira stared sternly. "One so abused like her, would have had a hard time to find peace in her life had she chosen the easy path. Others would remind her of her shame, and disrespect her for things not her fault."

 

"I saw it in her eyes. That girl craved for a purpose and direction. I can see her desire to stand tall on her own merits," she continued, as both Xain and Layla turned their attention her way. "It is better this way, Xain. When she stand tall and strong, most would not dare disrespect her. And those foolish enough to, she should teach a lesson with her own hands."

 

"It still felt abominable to me," Xain admitted with a sigh. When they were in private he always preferred to drop all formalities like this, excepting times when Halmout was present. "She was but thirteen, Samira. And we sent her to a path of pain and violence."

 

"Life is often unfair, my dear husband," said Layla. She gently hugged Xain from behind and allowed his head to rest on her bosom. "What we could do, is to make the best out of the hand we were dealt."

 

"I know, I know…" said the emperor dejectedly. "I just wished… that things like what happened to her never happened to anyone, ever again, as long as I am emperor."

 

"Yet even that wish is a tall order, is it not?" He asked in a somewhat resigned tone. "We still lack manpower after the war, and to root out all such corruption and depravity would have taken time… time their victims rarely have."

 

"We do, what we can do," Samira said in a serious, somber tone. "Your desire is admirable, and your kindness warmed my heart, yet this sort of matter… is not one that could be rushed."

 

Xain nodded somberly at her words, and hardened his mien. In his heart, the young emperor had steeled his resolve to change the emperor for the better in his lifetime, or die trying.

 

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Zhang Hu-Lao looked at the little girl who walked beside him, and anger clouded his features for a moment when he remembered what the poor girl had been through. Ying, no, her name was Ying Xiao now, was just thirteen, the age of his own second daughter. The girl looked at him somewhat nervously, especially when she noticed his anger.

 

"I offer you my deepest apologies, Ying Xiao," Hu-Lao said after he took a deep breath to calm himself.

 

"This subject feels the esteemed general has nothing to apologize for," said the girl somewhat nervously.

 

"What happened to you… should not have happened," answered Hu-Lao with a sigh. "We had thought that peace would reign when the war ended. That everything would be fine again. But life was never that simple."

 

"Those who were rotten remained rotten, and simply hid themselves better," he continued as the girl kept pace with him. Ying Xiao looked healthier now, with more meat on her bones, but she was a small girl for her age, and barely reached Hu-Lao's chest in height. "We should have found you sooner. For that failure, I apologize."

 

"And just call me Hu-Lao. You wish to serve the empire do you not? On the battlefield, useless formality is the first thing you throw away."

 

"Understood g- sir Hu-Lao."

 

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"Good girl," Hu-Lao said as they reached a building with large double doors. He pulled open the heavy doors with some effort by himself, and led Ying Xiao into the building. "Now, feel free to look around and try them out. Find some that you like."

 

Arranged on the buildings walls and floor were rack after rack of weapons of all varieties. Ying Xiao looked around in wonder for a while, before she timidly approached a rack, picked up a sword, and gave it a few test swings.

 

"If you favor a long weapon, also pick out some shorter ones along with it," Hu-Lao reminded as the girl went around the room, now with some excitement in her gait.

 

A couple hours later they left the weapons hall, and headed towards the training grounds. In Ying Xiao's storage artifact - Xain had given her one before he summoned for Hu-Lao - were the weapons she chose. She had chosen three in the end, as per Hu-Lao's suggestion.

 

Known by the Al-Shan people as a Fang Tian Hua Ji, the main weapon Ying Xiao chose was a long polearm over two meters in length, with a spearhead set between two crescent blades that protruded from just behind the spearhead itself. Mainlanders would have called it a kind of halberd, and she chose it partly because stories of the Blood Demon always depicted her with a similar weapon.

 

Up close, she opted for two different weapons. For her off hand, she chose an unusual dagger, one with two wavy bladed on both ends of the handle, as well as a semi circular hand guard from which a third blade sprouted.

 

She went for a large blade for her main hand. The blade was nearly rectangular in shape, and slightly tapered as it went, while the top part ended in a diagonal section. The blade was sharpened only on one side, and heavy enough most people would have wielded it with both hands, but for her it was quite light.

 

The first thing Xain and Layla had taught her was to control her strength better, and nowadays she realized that she was indeed quite a bit stronger than she had thought possible.

 

"We will focus on reconditioning your physique for the time being," Hu-Lao explained to Ying Xiao when they reached the training grounds. "By winter dame Ambervale should be back, and you will follow her tutelage then."

 

"Understood, sir Hu-Lao," said Ying Xiao.

 

Physical training was very repititive, and tiring. Ying Xiao was made to run laps while she carried heavy weights, and perform other muscle exercises with even more weight piled on her back. By the end of her first day of training, she felt sore all over, and her body ached in placed she never knew could ache. She was so tired that she fell asleep while a masseusse massaged her back in the bath that night.

 

The next morning Hu-Lao found Ying Xiao already at work on the training ground by the time he reached there. The soldiers he asked said that she started her training at the break of dawn, and had not stopped since, other than to take a quick and simple breakfast.

 

Pain and aches from the training, Ying Xiao felt, yet those were nothing compared to what she suffered in her years of torment. If anything, she welcomed the pain, and used it to motivate herself, to improve further, faster, better, so that she would not disappoint the empire.

 

Hu-Lao respected her drive, and as he was quite familiar with Cal, allowed Ying Xiao to push herself to her limit and beyond. Most trainers avoided that in fear of irreversible damage from overexhaustion, but Hu-Lao knew that blood mages needed to be pushed that far to improve.

 

In the rare times where Ying Xiao neither pushed her training to new limits, nor rested, Hu-Lao taught the girl the basics on how to use her weapons, and occasionally sparred with the girl. She was a complete beginner with weapons, but the basics, she grasped fast enough.

 

Two months later, as winter came and the first snow fell on Al-Shan, Ying Xiao stood before the gate that led to Paradise, where she, general Hu-Lao, and the Empress would await the Blood Demon's return. Her heart was filled with excitement as she stepped through the gate.

 

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