As if hearing her thoughts, the Grandmaster's cold gaze softened slightly.
Now or never, thought Li Meirong, and launched into her appeal.
"This disciple really doesn't know what sort of power respected Grandmaster speaks of! All I know is that I woke up a few days ago in the Thousand Beasts Forest and ever since then strange things have been happening. Perhaps it is the aura, as you so wisely say, but I did not take it intentionally from anyone, nor do I know how I came by it at all, I swear!" She cried out with all the conviction she could muster. The speech took too much of a toll on her struggling voice, and she broke down in ragged coughs.
The blood was no longer flowing down her face, and honest, desperate tears filled her eyes to the brim instead.
"Cease your pathetic snivelling. It is nauseating to listen to you." The Grandmaster took a step back, clutching the hem of his robe in apparent disgust.
Li Meirong willed her body to stop shaking. Slowly she regained control and calmed herself down, her tears lessened until she only let out the occasional sniffle.
Every day. Every damn day was a struggle for survival in this place. To bend, bow and beg forgiveness for things she had no control over, whether they even had anything to do with her or not!
Was this simply how it was going to be? Was she going to have to keep apologizing for her mere existence to everyone she meets, ever a target for mistreatment and abuse?!
Was there no place for her in this world, where she could feel safe and welcome?
She waited for the Grandmaster to declare her unworthy to be in the sect and cast her out because surely, that was where his decision was headed. But instead, he lifted his finger, pointed it at the senior disciple holding the scroll of arrangements for the new recruits and said, "Xi Lu, send Li Meirong to the Bestiary Coalition."
Suddenly being within the formidable Grandmaster's notice had caused the disciple's hands to shake, nearly dropping the scroll. Everyone was shocked by the unexpected verdict. The attending seniors stood up abruptly, startled and amazed.
It was incredibly difficult to be selected to join the Bestiary Coalition! Recruits were rarely accepted, and if they were, only those possessing dual or single vein attributes. Or at least, that was the case up until now.
Yet here stood the Grandmaster himself, not minutes after having almost destroyed this good for nothing, multiple attributes girl, now personally taking her into his coalition!
One of the senior disciples from the Bestiary Coalition sprinted out of the crowd to the middle of the hall and knelt by Li Meirong's side. She bowed her head respectfully but spoke with confidence.
"Respected Master, your succeeding disciple begs you to revoke the verdict! Li Meirong does not deserve to be a part of the Bestiary Coalition!"
Glancing sideways at her, she recognized the woman immediately. It was No Eyebrows Lady, or as everyone else knew her, Captain Liang. Her lean body and impressive figure set her apart from most women. Li Meirong couldn't pretend to be surprised that it was her speaking out against accepting her into the coalition.
Grandmaster Zhu Zhang turned and slowly walked back to his seat, barely sparing the woman a glance before doing so. He sat down gracefully and soundlessly pressed a hand to his chin, apparently aloof and unperturbed by her outburst.
"And why, pray tell, Little Liang, would you go out of your way to speak against this junior disciple?" He asked, sounding bored as if nothing she could respond to could possibly be of any interest to him.
The temperature in the hall plummeted with his oppressive force, and Captain Liang, the succeeding disciple of the Bestiary division, swallowed audibly before replying.
"Teacher, this Junior Disciple is not only of average attributes but has an unclean body. Your disciple fears the coalition would be tainted by her!"
A collective gasp could be heard across the hall.
She had actually said it aloud!
Rumours regarding the furnace who had joined the sect had been circulating among the seniors, though no one was sure who had started them. It was all speculation, of course, but completely believable under the circumstances. To be so bold as to voice them aloud for everyone to hear, however, was not only scandalous but also the biggest insult one could possibly inflict on the new disciple.
Now the label of a slut would follow her everywhere. Li Meirong would always be first and foremost regarded by all as a bed partner, not as a fellow disciple.
Tarnishing Li Meirong's name was exactly what Captain Liang wanted to do. The fact that this wretched girl had gotten herself accepted into the sect was ridiculous enough, she thought, but the idea of her joining her own division was simply out of the question!
Captain Liang was notorious for being fearless and headstrong, and therefore having no tolerance for dainty, "delicate flower" girls. Her disdain for the slight and beautiful weakling came as no surprise to her peers. Those few words spoken to the entirety of the congregation had sufficed to mar Li Meirong's reputation within the sect, indefinitely.
Li Meirong, still sprawled gracelessly on the floor and breathing in tiny gasps, narrowed her eyes at No Eyebrows Lady.
"What are you talking about?" She asked in a raspy voice.
"Don't play dumb, girl." Captain Liang replied, staring down her nose at her, "Everyone knows you're a furnace and what that entails."
Li Meirong knew what she had meant, of course, thanks to Chou's information, but where had she gotten the idea that she was 'unclean'? What were people saying about her?
"How can you just assume… I've never…" she wanted to defend herself, let everyone know that she wasn't some dirty slut up for grabs. But the pain in her throat, mixed with her intense shame and confusion, would not allow her to form a complete sentence.
What's more, Li Meirong simply couldn't understand why Zhu Zhang and No Eyebrows were so vicious towards her. Was this another side effect to the strange aura she had? Was she to be met with hostility and aversion everywhere she went?
She hung her head down, swallowing hard and hiding her burning cheeks. Fantasies of living a life of solitude in a cabin deep in some forgotten woods danced around in her head. Loneliness was probably preferable to all this ill treatment. But knowing her luck, and how little control she had over her so called 'power', she knew that she needed to stay in this sect, at least until she could become strong enough to make it out on her own.
And so now she would be a junior with a senior disciple who hated her, and under the charge of a Grandmaster who tortured her before even hearing her out.
Zhu Zhang rested his hand back on the armrest, tapping his fingers on the wood in a steady rhythm, thinking things over.
"Taking my succeeding disciple's words into consideration, I shall receive Li Meirong into my division… as an outer sect disciple." He concluded, pausing mid sentence to emphasize that, although he was not willing to fully retract his decision, he was still an attentive and considerate master.
He called the assembly to a close, rose out of his seat and levitated, gracefully gliding out of the hall. The chill that was in the air dissipated with his departure.
The rest of the grandmasters bid each other farewell respectfully and followed Zhou Zhang out. Li Meirong glanced sideways, catching Captain Liang's sneer in the corner of her eye.
Indeed, the "good quiet" days she so wished for must be right around the corner. She thought bitterly to herself. With her hands balled into tight fists and her lips pressed together, Li Meirong swore to herself that she would remember this moment of humiliation. She would sear this into her mind and keep it as a reminder to herself that she must always do whatever she possibly can, to ensure something like this never happens to her again.