[One month later]
Fang Li wasn't surprised when she heard that she was accepted as a working disciple in the sect a few weeks ago. She had been expecting it from the second she found out her root affinity was nonexistent. The only problem she had with her job was that for her first task she to wake up before sunrise to clean the stables.
The problem with this job isn't working near beasts; she has loved beasts for as long as she could remember, and the feeling seemed to be mutual. Actually, reason she doesn't want to take this job has nothing to do with the stables. What bothered her was how early in the morning she'd have to wake up.
Before you judge her for this, just know she has a good reason. For the past month Feng Li has been waking up in the middle of the night whenever the tries to sleep. It is the same hazy dream of a man smirking slyly at her every night. When she wakes up from the dream everything seems unfamiliar to her for a few seconds; her room, her body, and even her twin brother! It scares her… and whenever she attempts to remember the rest of what happened in the dream she gets a massive headache. She is positive that the that the cause of these dreams has something to do with what happened the night two weeks after the ceremony. Something in her had changed that night, and she wanted to find the answer quickly.
She wished she could reject the job request, but it's her first task as a working disciple, and there is a high chance the sect will kick her out if she declines. It's obvious that the only reason they gave Feng Li a spot in the sect is because of her mother, an inner sect elder, and her genius of a brother, Feng Bao. Don't mistake this as her being ungrateful though, she just wished she had earned this job with her own talent. At least then the job would be secure. Even the other standard working disciples in the sect have root affinities, just not enough to meet the outer sect's standards.
At the moment Feng Li is walking to the sect stables. She ended up having to ask someone nearby for directions. As she was walking a large building was coming into sight. Loud noises coming from the building were becoming more audible the closer she got. Once she had made it to the entrance a loud, high-pitched yelp was heard.
It was followed by the tone of a young man yelling, "Little Xue get back heeeeeeeere!" All of a sudden, the doors to the main stable slammed open. A cute little fox cub that was pure white rushed out and stopped right in front of her. The adorable fox looked a Feng Li with such a pitiful gaze that she couldn't help but pat it on the head to comfort it.
Suddenly a tall kid that looked at few years older than Feng Li walked out of the stable. He had curly brown hair and wore a blue robe with a few white patterns on the sleeves and waist. The robe could be recognized as the inner sect uniform. The white fox suddenly hid behind Feng Li, this time changing it's expression to a frightened one. The young man looked at Feng Li with a shocked gaze on his face.
'W-what is this!?' The young man thought as he struggled to comprehend the fact that the biggest troublemaker in the stables was friendly towards someone for once.
Feng Li was amused by his dumbfounded face, and couldn't help but ask, "Is something the matter?"
"Sorry, I was just shocked at how good your taming skills are. I'm Zhou Hui."
"I'm Feng Li, and what do you mean 'taming skills'?"
Zhou Hui looked at her as if she had been living under a rock. "You don't know what taming skills are?"
"Not that I know of…? I'm just a working disciple" Feng Li responded honesty.
Zhou Hui was shocked that a working disciple had such natural taming talent! He had to get her to help him with the stables, it would make his life so much easier.
"From now you don't have to be a working disciple if you don't want to be. I will make sure that your position in the sect gets changed to a tamer. And before you say your talent sucks you should know that you don't necessarily need cultivation talent to be a tamer, you just need to be able to keep the stable beasts calm and under control."
Feng Li happily accepted his request to start working in the stables. However, there is one thing she had to request.
"Zhou Hui, can you make sure my work hours are a little before or after noon? I'm not really a morning person since I like to stay up late." Feng Li lied, but it's not like she was going to tell a stranger about her situation. He'd probably just think she was hit head really hard.
Zhou Hui agreed to her request and went off to the Flourishing Meadow Sect's Headquarters in order to change her job occupation.
Feng Li then picked up Little Xue and took her back into the stables and told her, "Now, be a good little cub for me, okay?" The cub responded by nodding her head vigorously which made her Li laugh.
Feng Li picked up her cleaning supplies and finished cleaning the massive building's main entrance and clean the three empty beast chambers in around 2 hours as she was requested to do by the sect. She went and found Little Xue's bed near the entrance and sat next to her. Xue's bed was made out of a sheep beast's wool, which surprised her since the wool was extremely soft, most likely high quality stuff. She decided to forget about it and pet the small fox's back, which Little Xue seemed to enjoy.
"That feels nice Aunty Li" Feng Li heard a sweet little voice voice say.
Feng Li stopped petting Little Xue and looked around for where the voice might've came from.
"Auntie Li, why did you stop? Xue loves Auntie's pets!" Little Xue said.
Feng Li then discovered the little voice came from none other than Little Xue.
"I guess Xue talking isn't the weirdest thing that had happened to me this month…" Feng Li murmured as her mind drifted into thought. Well, until she was interrupted by a little someone.
"Huh… Auntie Li can hear Xue talk? This is great! Now Xue can get pats whenever she wants!"
Feng Li felt like she should be freaking out right now, but for some reason talking to Little Xue felt completely normal. It was like she had been able to talk to beasts for her whole life.
Feng Li wanted to chat with Little Xue some more, but she had an ominous feeling… it was almost as if someone was watching her. As Feng Li pondered over what this strange feeling could mean, her thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of the stable doors opening. Zhou Hui was back, and he was carrying a paper. Feng Li pushed her thoughts to the back of her head as she said goodbye to Xue and went to greet Zhou Hui.
"There you are Feng Li! I managed to get you the job, I just need you to sign here." Zhou Hui pointed to the bottom of the paper. After she finished writing her name he told Feng Li that her job requires her to be here at the stables by noon and stay for at least five hours. The sect points she received from her new job were almost 10 times the amount she got from being a working disciple, which was 10 sect points an hour!
She thanked Zhou Hei for giving her this job and after saying goodbye to Little Xue, she headed home.
Once she got home she told her family all about her new job in the sect and all about what had happened this morning. She left out the part when Little Xue started to talk to her. However, her twin brother seemed to notice something was off. He looked at her with that omniscient, all-knowing stare, and she knew right at that moment she was caught.