A young girl stood at the edge of a cliff staring at the huge three headed monster underneath—its mouths opened, teeth sharp like claws, saliva drooling.
"Mother, this is..."
"Xuefei, you must beat this monster."
Little Shao Fei, who was still a child just started to retain memories, blinked her large eyes innocently, not understanding what her mother just asked of her.
"Your older siblings did not dare. Ah Chang could care less, only frequenting the gambling dens with his friends. When he saw this scene, he scrambled away, screaming he was fine not being part of this family. As for Yulin and Xueli, your older sisters were too timid and fainted." Shao Luhui sighed. "Qiang and Hualing are still young."
Just a few moments ago, she was sitting in class with her two younger sisters. She was only one year older than Ah Qiang. Little Shao Fei thought for a moment. Quietly, she said, "Mother, I'm young too..."
Shao Luhui's pupils trembled. "What a bunch of useless children! How will any of you take over my duties one day?"
Seeing her mother angry, Little Shao Fei's heart dropped. She grabbed her mother's hand desperately, wanting to make her mother smile no matter what. "Please don't get mad, mother. Xuefei... will do it."
"Very well..." Shao Luhui's face relaxed. She took out a dagger from her sleeves, about to hand it to the child, then tucked it away. "Xuefei, jump into the monster's mouth and kill it directly."
Jump into the monster's mouth? The three headed monsters' three mouths opened wide, roaring like thunder and shaking the ground she stood on. The rows of endless teeth seemed sharper than the dagger her mother hid away. Little Shao Fei trembled in fear.
"What, are you scared too?"
Her mother hated those who were fearful the most. From behind the small hands covering her eyes to cover the frightening scene underneath the abyss, Little Shao Fei mustered all her courage to ask, "Mother, what is killing?"
"To kill is to hurt it such that it dies."
Little Shao Fei, who had never seen a being killed, never wielded any weapons, and never hurt another, was filled with confusion. She had heard adults talked of death as dying from illness and old age. She did not know one could die from being killed. "Mother, can I ask why the monster should die?"
Shao Luhui's icy gaze turned into slits, "Must there be a reason?"
How could someone be killed without reason? This made sense to her, was it a foolish thought? Little Shao Fei kept quiet.
"Xuefei, remember this. Countless demons and mortals alike are killed everyday without reasons. Death can't be determined, it can happen any moment whether or not one has done wrong."
Little Shao Fei shook her head, "Mother, I think it's going to hurt. I don't want to do it."
"Have I been too nice? Did you think you had a choice?" Shao Luhui bent down, her face almost touching the child's.
Her mother's piercing eyes stabbed right through her. The next moments were a blur. She heard her mother's laugh, freezing hands pushing her, her grasping for help, air rushing past her back, her mother's expressionless face on the cliff fading farther and farther... then came complete darkness.
She, a young child, had been thrown into the three headed monster's open mouth by her mother. What remained in her tightly clasped hands desperately grasping for help was nothing but air.
Early in the morning, Shao Fei's figure that was asleep just a moment ago sat up straight. On the hammock tied to two trees by the cliff overlooking the ice valleys, she sat with her eyes still closed after the nightmare. Dreaming of the past was something she disliked greatly.
A small paper bird fluttered to her side. Fox Tavern. Urgent.
Shao Fei jumped off the hammock straight into the ice valleys. For a moment, her body plummeted through the cold morning air, heading straight toward the sharp icicles underneath.
"Huoxin," she whispered in the dark.
The white sword with gold etchings carried on her back flew out and grew in size until it was as big as a bed before positioning right underneath her body. Her head was inches away from being pierced by a large icicle. She laid on her sword, basking her back in the soft rays of the rising sun.
Fox Tavern was in fact, not opened in the mornings. Shao Fei jumped off her sword and ran up the stairs. With a wave of her hands, the large gilded doors opened instantly, allowing her to stroll in freely.
"Fei, if I didn't know any better, I would've thought you were the owner of this place," Wu Huan said, his mouth full of buns. He was a bit bitter, why did he have to wait an hour for someone to wake up and open the doors when she just entered easier than walking into her home?
Shao Fei dropped on the chair next to him, catching the bun he just threw to her. "And what if I am?"
Wu Huan choked. "Are you really?!"
Qin Yuanchao smoothly sauntered in with a large tray full of various dishes appropriate for breakfast. He could not hide the smile on his face, "The princess bought this place four years ago and officially became our boss."
Wu Huan, who accompanied the princess everyday in Sanhe City was in disbelief. This happened right under his nose, yet he was not aware of it. "Shao Fei, you don't only get entertained by these three top beauties, you also own them?"
"Let me correct you there, I don't own them. It's a mutual contract that can be dissolved at any time." Shao Fei accepted the bunch of grapes from Li Shenxing, mouthing her thanks before plucking off one.
Li Shenxing, who came down as soon as he heard the boss was here, occasionally handed various fruits to the boss. There were two things the boss liked the most, meat and fruits.
"Ever since boss took over, the old rules were vanquished. Sexual favors were banned, forced contracts were dissolved, and only those who truly wanted to stay are still here. We really just provide food, drinks, dance and music here," Qin Yuanchao explained proudly. He would forever be prideful for being the first one to choose to stay. Nowadays, he played music occasionally in the evenings and was mainly involved in training new recruits.
Fang Wu, who was checking out the stage design for the night performance, walked over with his money pouch. "We get paid too, the best rates are here."
Shao Fei patted Wu Huan's head, seeing the bunny huff in annoyance for having been kept in the dark. She whispered so only he could hear, "Aren't you still the best at gathering information?"
In a split second, Wu Huan was no longer down. He beamed pridefully. "Of course, I have something to share. Last night, I was walking eating buns on the eastside of town and overheard two merchants talking about encountering other demons at the kingdom gates. It seems like members of the Flower Clans are here to sell herbs."
"Did the demons have memorable features?"
"It seems to be important figures, the leaders were a pair of siblings claiming to both be top physicians."
Shao Fei threw a lychee into her mouth. "Those were not claims."
"Princess, are you saying they were really top physicians?" Wu Huan pulled out his notebook and quickly corrected his notes.
"Not only that, they are the Flower Clan's prince and princess." Shao Fei spit out the lychee seed.
Qin Yuanchao, Fu Wang, and Li Shenxing's mouths dropped. Their boss was able to guess the guests' identities so casually.
"For royals like them, it should be no problem to enter seamlessly. It's as if the royals of the Flower Clan want to be discovered with making such a high profile move."
Wu Huan was finishing his notes when Shao Fei stood up, her sword in hand. "Wu Huan, we have somewhere to go."
"We're returning already?"
Shao Fei took out an cheap looking pouch made of rice bag fabric and something that looked similar to a rag... Then, she placed her hand into the rice bag pouch and pulled out a star moth. Star moths had golden spirals on their wings which glowed like fireflies in the dark, but their specialty was tracking demons. She drew out a rune towards the star moth and it started moving right away.
Wu Huan was pulled onto Huoxin with a confused expression. "Sanhe City?"
"Not returning, we have people to find."
"Who are we looking for? Who's lost?"
Shao Fei ushered Huoxin to quicken. She was fully focused ahead, following the star moth with high concentration. With one second to spare, she glanced back, her expression half amused and half annoyed. "I suddenly had a wild guess."
Wu Huan choked. All this rush for a wild guess...? "What's your bet?"
They shot on toward without missing a beat, soon disappearing into the clouds. It was not until a moment later that he heard her answer.
"Lei Ye has nothing else better to do and wants to play a game of hide-and-seek."