"It isn't possible." He Delun muttered to himself. His brown eyes lingered on the back of the tall eight year old's back. Nothing seemed to change, but at the same time, it was as if she was a different person. It had only been a week and a half since he'd last seen her, yet she had changed drastically. He couldn't believe it.
As Aibing entered the study, she was surprised to see another person besides her teacher. He Xiaoli was a tall man, but this stranger put his height to shame. He wore dark colors, that matched his short black hair and black eyes perfectly.
"Ah," the stranger said before being able to see Aibing, "You must be Xiaoli's disciple that he told me so much about." He spoke as he turned around, an expecting smile on his face.
"Ah, hello." Aibing awkwardly replied. She wasn't good with talking to people, probably because everyone other than the He family and her younger sister, either ignored her existence or blatantly avoided her.
"Did you learn the Skill?" He Xiaoli, who was a man to get straight to the point, asked.
Aibing took out an old book after his question. It had been old before, but now it looked even older. It was obvious that the young girl had been diligently looking through it.
"I haven't learned the entire thing." Aibing replied quietly, afraid that she might harm the reputation of her teacher's in front of this strange man. "But! But I know more than half of it. I can show it to you without the book too.-"
"Go ahead then." The stranger spoke instead of her teacher, interrupting her.
Aibing looked at He Xiaoli before complying with the stranger's request. Suddenly, her childish demeanor was replaced with one that was inexplainable. It belonged to neither a child, or adult. It belonged simply to Hua Aibing.
She began to display the contents of the book. She was smooth with her moves, connecting each step as if it was second nature to her. However, there were a few mistakes that went unnoticed by He Xiaoli. But the stranger seemed to notice them.
But she didn't care if he knew of the few minute mistakes. She instead, was trying to remember the last few steps. She didn't even have to think for the first half of the steps, she just moved as her body told her. And as she followed her momentum, she surprisingly finished the entire set of steps.
"I thought you didn't know all of the steps?" The stranger asked.
"I don't." Aibing replied. "I just did what my body told me to." She tried to explain in a simple way. Her careless response, made the stranger smile. He turned back to the clueless He Xiaoli and nodded.
"Kid," the stranger turned back to Aibing, "How would you like to go to the capital?" He asked, a slight smile on his face.
"The capital?" Aibing repeated, no readable emotions forming on her young face. "I don't know."
"Ha," the stranger laughed, losing his carefree smile. "I don't know if your ready to go either. But, I can make you ready." He paused before continuing. "You have to be strong to go to the capital."
Strong. The word meant nothing to the eight year old Aibing. With her emotions mostly sealed off, she couldn't care about face, or be greedy. She was more like a walking doll than a living child. However, she knew that being strong was of some importance. After all, He Xiaoli was respected because he was strong, while she was avoided like the plague, because she wasn't. If she became strong, then maybe, she could lead a normal life.
"Okay." Aibing replied, making both men confused. They didn't know what "okay" meant. Was it, a yes, or a no. Seeing their confusion, Aibing decided to add a few more words. "Please make me strong."
"Ha," the stranger laughed. "I don't know if you're smart, or stupid. But, here you go." He said as he handed her two books. Unlike He Xioali's book, these were of much higher quality. But, nevertheless, they looked almost the same from the outside. "You have two years. Learn both of these in two years, and, if your decision remains the same find me at the New Year party in the next town over."
"How will I know how to find you?"
"Hm. I guess if you don't recognize such a handsome man at first glance it's your fault. But, you can ask around for Xue Yingjie, thats my name, if you really feel the need to."
"I'm Hua Aibing."
"I know." Xue Yingjie responded with a halfhearted smile on his face.
Aibing had no time to ask any more questions, as the man disappeared with a blink of her eyes. In a second, she was alone in the room with He Xiaoli.
"What do you think your doing, slacking off? Lets get started. We already wasted too much precious time today." He Xiaoli snapped at his disciple.
"What're we doing today?" Hua Aibing asked, not expecting an answer. To her surprise, He Xiaoli gave her a response. But, she found herself wishing she hadn't asked.
"I heard that you can heal now." He Xiaoli said, in a sort of daze. His black eyes were carefully thinking of something that was far over Hua Aibing's head. All she knew was that she didn't want to do it. "We're going to put it to the test."
-
Aibing collapsed onto her bed. The days events had used all of her energy. She could barely walk home after He Xiaoli's never-ending training session. Luckily, she hadn't seen his son, He Delun, or else she truly would've been exhausted.
She had made the assumption that He Delun had spied on her while she was with her little sister that day, and he had seen the so-called healing effects that the frost had on her little sister. If she had seen the bastard, Aibing knew she would not have been able to restrain her anger. She would've killed him, which would have resulted in her immediate death. Just thinking about encountering him had her distracted all day.
Too tired to do anything for the rest of the night but sleep, Aibing reached into her bag to look over the two new books she had been gifted today. She now had a total of three books, and she decided she wouldn't start the other two until she completed the other one.
So despite her curiosity, she tucked the books away in a safe place, underneath a loose piece of wood. After hiding them, she finally fell asleep.