Feng Huan swung open the doors of the greenhouse, Xinya still clinging onto his arm like her life depended on it.
"Feng Huan, hello. Are you back from your playtime?" Sister Rong asked, walking out of her small workshop.
"Hello honey, I've noticed that you've done some rearranging in here," Feng Huan said, walking over to the pots that Brother Feng had moved.
"Oh, yes. I happened to run into Xinya's son and I asked if he would help me," Sister Rong said, smiling as she caressed a petal.
"I thought I told you to stay away from my son," Xinya said coldly.
"I didn't seek him out, I coincidentally met him in the orchard," Sister Rong explained. Feng Huan rubbed Xinya's arm, smiling at her.
"I'm sure that my Rong means no harm to your son," Feng Huan reassured.
"I only asked Little Hui to move some pots, nothing that someone like him couldn't handle," Sister Rong said dismissively. Xinya huffed, crossing her arms.
"'Little Hui?' Who said that you could call my son so familiarly?" Xinya complained, stomping her foot. Sister Rong stepped forward, taking her husband's arm and staring at Xinya with calculative eyes.
"Your son gave me permission to call him 'Little Hui.' Maybe if you weren't so focused on sucking up to Feng Huan, you would notice what your son is feeling," Sister Rong replied just as coldly.
"I am his mother. Who, other than myself, would know how he feels?" Xinya asked. Sister Rong scoffed, clutching her husband's arm tighter.
"You know how he feels? Then tell me, did you know that Little Hui feels inferior to his siblings? He thinks that Feng Huan favors his siblings over him. Did you know that? Did you know that he feels hurt whenever you ask him about Brother Ye? He's told me that it drove a wedge in their friendship!" Sister Rong said, each word hitting like a hammer. Xinya stumbled back from each statement, each question sucking her lungs of air. She stumbled back to the doors, her arms flinging out to grab onto something.
"I-I must go, I'm sorry honey," Xinya said, swinging open the doors and rushing outside to the main house. Sister Rong watched as she ran, a sneer on her face and judgment in her eyes.
"Honey, I think you were being too harsh on Xinya," Feng Huan said, taking his arm out of her hands. Sister Rong reached out to grab his arm again before stopping, letting her arms drop to her side.
"How can I just stand back and hold my tongue? You also were a problem with this. Little Hui thought that you favored his siblings because of how much you bring up Brother Ye. Brother Ye is one of Little Hui's closest friends, but you just had to ruin it!" Sister Rong shouted, her voice becoming more heated with every word. She snapped out of her rage, blinking as her husband stared at her with a surprised face.
"Sorry, I lost control of myself and-" Sister Rong was cut off by the joyful laugh of Feng Huan. She looked at him confused and red.
"What's so funny?" Sister Rong asked.
"Nothing, it's just, I haven't seen you this heated since you insisted for me to take another wife," Feng Huan said. He walked towards the circular arrangement of the pots, admiring them.
"You truly do have an affinity for growing plants," Feng Huan complimented. Sister Rong smiled and reached into her pocket, taking out the sachet. She walked in front of her husband and tied the sachet to a small loop on his robes.
"Is this a gift from my precious wife?" Feng Huan teased, holding the sachet and examining it.
"It's just a small gift as our anniversary is coming soon. It just smells good, nothing else. The perfume is quite strong," Sister Rong said. Feng Huan smiled and kissed her cheek, walking around and admiring the plants.
"Sir, Madam, dinner is ready to be served," a servant said, coming into the greenhouse. Feng Huan moved away from Sister Rong, nodding toward the servant.
"Of course, we'll go there right away," Feng Huan said. The servant bowed and left the couple alone. Feng Huan offered his arm to Sister Rong who gracefully took it, the pair walking towards the main house.
"Honey, I wanted to talk to you about something," Feng Huan said. Sister Rong felt her heart thud against her chest as she glanced at him wearily.
"What did you want to talk about?" Sister Rong asked hesitantly. She knew what was coming. He would say that he had plans to marry the girl he brought back. She would be the one to help the mistress get settled into her position as a wife and plan the wedding, having to listen to the obnoxiously happy conversations between the two to-be-weds.
"You know about the mistress that I recently brought into our home, correct?" Feng Huan asked. Sister Rong pursed her lips, her eyes burning holes into the ground.
'Here it comes,'
"I do not think I will marry her," Feng Huan said. Sister Rong's head snapped up as she stared at her husband.
"Are you serious?" she asked. Feng Huan chuckled at the look on her face.
"Are you that happy that I am not taking on another wife?" Feng Huan teased. Sister Rong blushed and turned away.
"But, why aren't you marrying her?" Sister Rong asked.
"Well, I think that I am already too old to keep on thinking about marriage. I have more than a dozen wives and more children than I can count. I have certainly been blessed for this lifetime. I will now focus on strengthening the Mountain Base Sect," Feng Huan said. Sister Rong nodded her steps gaining some pep.
The pair stepped into the dining hall, taking their seats. The servants served the food, the aroma mixing into the air.
"Let's eat!" Feng Huan said. The large family dug into the food, the room filling with the sound of metal clanging against porcelain and happy chatter.
"So, Feng Hui, how are your studies going?" A woman asked. Feng Hui paused, looking up.
"My studies have been going well auntie," Feng Hui said gingerly, stuffing his face with meat. The woman nodded and turned away from him, continuing the conversation with another person.
"Younger brother, how strong are you now?" a boy asked. Feng Hui put down his fork, looking at the person who asked the question.
"I am at the bottleneck of Human peak rank 3," Feng Hui responded.
"Really? Weren't you at Human late-stage rank 3 nearly half a year ago? How come you are growing so slowly?" the person asked. Feng Hui stiffened, glaring at the table.
"How is that other sect member, Brother Ye. How strong is he?" a girl asked.
"I don't know, older sister," Feng Hui said through gritted teeth.
"I bet he's strong. Half a year ago, he was Human early-stage rank 5 half a year ago, I bet he's at least Human rank 7," another auntie said.
"Please, Little Hui and Brother Ye are good friends. There's no reason for you to compare them," Sister Rong interrupted, smiling at the family. The group looked at each other and nodded, continuing their conversation. None of them made any more attempts to talk to Feng Hui.
Feng Hui glared at the happy family, putting his cutlery down.
"If I may excuse myself," Feng Hui said coldly, pushing himself away from the table and stalking out. Xinya watched him and glared at her sister's and their children, getting up to chase after him.
"Feng Hui!" Xinya called behind him. Feng Huan watched them leave and sighed, rubbing his temple. Sister Rong got up and planted a kiss on her husband's cheek.
"I'll go make sure he's okay," Sister Rong said and exited the dining room.
"Feng Hui!" Xinya called out. The decoration in the twisting hallways become a repeating mess.
'I'm lost,' Xinya realized, stopping in the middle of the hallway.
Crash!
"Feng Hui?" Xinya turned to the sound of the loud crash.
Thud!
"Feng Hui, is that you?" Xinya asked, opening the door. Her hands flew to her mouth as she stared in horror at the sight in front of her.
"Sister Rong?" Xinya asked, her bottom lip quivering. Sister Rong turned to her, her eyes cold and dead. She looked at her hands that were stained red, blood underneath her nails. She moved her foot to shake the body in front of her. Xinya fell when she recognized who it was.
The body was a mangled mess, the neck rotated 180 degrees as it stared at her with cloudy eyes. Xinya's heart shook as she tried to crawl back, flailing her hand at the handle.
"H-Help! Help!" Xinya shrill scream filled the room. Her scream was muffled by Sister Rong who had appeared in front of Xinya, covering her mouth with her hand. Xinya looked in fear at Sister Rong, her skin crawling at the feel of the warm, sticky blood getting on her face.
"She won't be missed. Feng Huan wasn't going to marry her, so you don't need to worry," Sister Rong whispered into Xinya's ear. Xinya tried to move away from Sister Rong, but her legs wouldn't cooperate, paralyzed with dread.
"You know, I was going to save you for later, but you've seen too much. What a shame, you showing up here nearly ruined my plans," Sister Rong said, a wicked smile on her face. Xinya started screaming again, clawing at Sister Rong's hand.
"Now, now, stop struggling and I might bury your body properly instead of leaving it for the beasts to eat," Sister Rong said. He squeezed hard, her fingers digging into Xinya's cheeks. Xinya screamed as the pressure increased on her head. Sister Rong smiled sadistically and crushed Xinya's jaw, blood spilling everywhere. Xinya rolled around on the ground, pain searing into her mind. Sister Rong stepped on her chest, blinking slowly as Xinya stared up at her with horrified eyes.
"Don't worry, your son will be in good hands," Sister Rong reassured, slamming her foot down onto Xinya's throat. A sickening crack came from under her foot as Xinya's head slumped to the side, the light dying from her eyes.
Sister Rong stepped back and looked at the two fresh bodies on the floor.
"What a mess," she sighed, rolling up both of the bodies in a carpet. She picked it up and opened the large window, jumping out and racing into the forest. She dumped the mistress's body next to a body of water, ripping the garments off the body.
"Now for you," she picked up Xinya's body and stuff a waterproof container into the robes, dumping the body in the river.
Sister Rong stripped off her own robes, stepping into the river. She washed off the blood on her hands and the blood off her clothes, scooping water over her hair. She stared up at the evening sky, water dripping off of her naked figure.
'Almost there. After so many years, I am nearly done with my mission,'