The second she entered she felt like she was on trial.
The older boys were all sitting in Mo Jian's study watching.
"Sit." Mo Jian gestured towards the empty chair seated across from him.
The boys did not leave, Qing Anna didn't know why she found their presence so unnerving. The room felt empty but she could feel their stares boring into her.
"Qing Anna was it?"
"Yes sir?"
"You've been lying to me haven't you?"
"Pardon?"
He laid a piece of cloth from the table, as well as a jade pendant and the gold coins.
"Everyone tried their best to get the mud stains out, a wandering orphan couldn't possibly gain possession of such an expensive cloth like this."
She had nearly forgotten about her belongings.
She pursed her lips.
"Everyone's been watching you. You're too self-conscious to be an orphan, and your slow movements and delicate hands show you must've come from a household that pampered you."
"Are you saying only commoners can be orphans Sir?" Qing Anna remained calm and asked him.
"Hah!" In the back one of the boys laughed.
"Listen here, enough with the lying. You've been caught."Ji Zha spoke up from behind.
Qing Anna didn't turn around and continued facing Mo Jian.
"I'm not lying. I am an orphan. I don't think it's fair to judge me based on my status Sir Mo."
Mo Jian squinted at her.
"You really refuse to admit the truth?"
"What truth ?" She looked genuinely confused. Until Qing Anna knew what he knew she wouldn't admit to anything.
Mo Jian wasn't buying it. He leaned back in his seat, his gaze narrowing. She found those hawk-like eyes of his incredibly disturbing, so she could never stare at him for long. So though he said nothing it was enough to unnerve Qing Anna. She stood.
"I understand. If you don't want me here, I'll leave."
"Don't be ridiculous. Where would you go?" (Mo Jian)
"I don't see how that's any of Sir's concern."
"Such insolence! You dare to refuse the Master's kindness!" (Ji Zha)
"Kindness? What Kindness?"
"Master is willing to help you." (Xu Cui- ^ - ^)
"Help me? Can Master Mo bring the dead back to life? Even if he could that would solve nothing. You can not help me. No one can help me." It was her new reality, the only way in which she knew how to confront was to hide and pretend she was someone else.
"That's true, it's up to you to help yourself." Mo Jian folded his arms and nodded in agreement leaving Qing Anna puzzled.
"I don't... understand?"
"Ms. Qing, are you willing to become a part of the Jiang?" he asked her.
"..." Anna's smiling expression came to a standstill.
A part of the Jiang? Hadn't everyone already started addressing her as "Sister"? How long had she been living here? A couple of months? She had spent so much time with the children but to this old man, she was still an outsider?
True she hadn't spoken much with him, Jia had always been the one to communicate between the two. Still, she couldn't help it.
From the way he spoke, it sounds like Jia and the others had been reporting to him about her. True she lied to them about her family background but it was to protect herself, she didn't fake her newfound attachment, her feelings were sincere.
Why did they welcome her if they had no intention of accepting her? Qing Anna felt as though she had been silently rejected in secret. It was an unpleasant feeling. She couldn't help recalling her years of high school, listening to people badmouth her, and her older sister behind her back. She got along well with everyone that was what she had thought up till then.
"You hate it that much, do you?" Mo Jian seemed intrigued by the new sourness shimmering in her eyes.
"What can we do? I've already made up my mind. As of today, Ms. Qing will become a child of the Jiang."
This declaration took everyone in the room aback.
"I did not say I was willing!"
"And I am no longer asking."
"I said I'll leave! I'll leave okay?"
Mo Yang and Yun He blocked her path to the exit.
"Sorry." Mo Yang's smile was apologetic.
"No hard feelings." Yun He's gaze looked elsewhere as he adjusted his glasses.
The following days were unbearable.
She was drilled to run for days at a time in the surrounding forest.
Drilled to repeat the same motions in the backyard for hours at dawn. She felt she had suddenly entered a manhua. The protagonists overcame the harsh training with their strong fighting spirit but she wasn't one of those obnoxious protagonists. She was just a pretender.
She had always thought she was healthier compared to her childhood but nothing could make her feel any smaller than pushing her body's limits to the brink under Mo Jian's way of teaching.
She had gotten so tired from running she collapsed.
"Is this all you amount to?" Mo Jian shook his head and walked away. She couldn't help thinking along the lines "If Big Sis were here,"- only to catch herself.
~
"Is that what you aspire to be, just another pretty face destined to rot in a brothel?" Whenever she was on the verge of giving up, he would always sense it like a hawk and circle around her.
She felt sore every day.
If Song Lina wasn't her older sister and she was by herself she would have definitely been sold off by her Uncle. Wouldn't she? Like the protagonist of a story, she would just be a static mob character. Dependent on the MC for change.
~
"Again!"
Wasn't there anything she could do on her own? She relied on her sister so much that whenever something serious happened she could never think for herself. Even now she couldn't help wishing her Sister was here, she wouldn't allow her to be mistreated like this. Mistreatment. Even though in his own way Mo Jian intended to help her, she found it hard to consider this huge bitter pill as medicine.
~
She thought she had gotten wiser with Song Lina away, she was wrong.
"Again!"
~
She thought she had grown up but it was only a little.
"Even a child can hit harder than you!"
~
But she realized that inside she was still just a weak child waiting and hoping her sister would come back to take her hand and tell her what to do.
Every time she tripped and fell, or got knocked off her feet from an attack she would notice the Children of the Jiang watching on from their posts like vultures gathering over roadkill in the concrete jungle.
And the shame would rise up from the pits of her stomach to her throat in the form of bile. In their eyes, she must be weak, an anomaly.
The children would stare and point as she got back up again to carry on with the exercise. She would always cry silently whenever Mo Jian yelled at her, her body would tremble but she never talked back. It would solve nothing. Swallow it.
"Are you alright? Master may have gone a bit too far this-
Anna walked past Jia. These days Jia could never get a word in.
When it was all over she would always go to the kitchen then head straight back to the dorm and sleep on the floor. By Morning Juju and Jia would wake to find her gone.
Every child of the Jiang had to go through this training at some point. That said for ladies it was always different.
The Master had always been easy on the girls up till now.
The People of this world were powerful because they were bodybuilding extremists that knew how to utilize their Qi in different sorts of ways.
Just like in her strange dreams, Anna managed to materialize the bubble-like shield she had deployed once in the midst of training, startling Mo Jian.
"A weakling like you is the defense type?" He seemed surprised but not by her ability just that she was capable of doing it.
Odd, in this world something like this was normal? Up till this point, she had only learned how to run and get beat, but not only that it was also normal to use magic?
Qing Anna didn't have the wherewithal to waste too much time processing what this could mean. She braced herself for the next attack.
He would later come to realize that there was a lot more she could do with her bubbles. Trapping her opponents inside, or running them over with it. Qing Anna was too weak, though she grew stronger with each passing day. Her bubbles were the opposite. Strong, and she had felt the more stubborn when it came to sparring the stronger her bubbles became. Afterward, she'd become lethargic.
In the end, Mo Jian concluded she would have to learn more about her bubbles from a witch, they moved away from sparring to weapon handling. The swords and spears were the most challenging to use, but the bow came easy for her.
"Of course a weakling like you would be suited to combat styles with little confrontation." Mo Jian complained.
"..." She showed no reaction only pursed her lips when she missed the center mark slightly. She felt unsatisfied. She could do better than this, her soul urged her on. She looked to the old man. "Should I try again?"