Ki woke up the next day feeling refreshed and comfortable, a feeling which was quite unfamiliar to herself. 'I need to get used to this but I can also not get too comfortable.'
Years of training had made her extra vigilant and more aware of her environment, the slightest sound or detection of the presence of someone entering her room would immediately wake her up and her body would instinctually be ready for combat.
While this kept her alive she had also developed an overly active mind which was difficult to switch off after her experience of being tortured during her months as a slave then her avoiding the eyes of the public and running from those who wish to harm her.
This kind of issue with her mind was caused by heavy stress and once developed she had no way to remedy this in her early years.
To keep her mind working without working against her from overthinking and having further problems she began to pick up and learn things at a very fast rate in order to make up for the gaps in knowledge or skills to survive to get rid of some of the stress and anxiety.
As she started to develop her own force she encountered the eastern clans and got well acquainted, this was a little before the the war between the central lands martial alliance containing the 4 great noble families, the royal family and the 4 large sects.
There she learned the various mystical techniques and grew interested, after the war broke out she helped secure the younger generation a way to survive, in doing so she provided them shelter and became their master or teacher after she mastered the techniques.
The many clans elders and their main force died during the war but Ki gained many things to help further her research and keep her mind busy.
The poison clan was once one of the 5 great noble families of the central lands who specialised in poison and assassination techniques, they began to lose power and had to do the dirty jobs for the other clans in order to secure their place.
They kidnapped, tortured, cleaned up any inconveniences and even controlled people with poison to make them do as the noble families wished, eventually growing tired of it all the poison clan threw away their family name and settled down in the eastern lands.
After Ki met them she managed to obtain the clans Qi art, martial arts and their one thousand years of accumulation of research on poisonous herbs, medicinal herbs and the art of making traps and other useful tools.
From the blood clan she obtained the complete blood totem ritual and tattoo markings, from the gu clan she obtained the art of raising gu worms and ritual of mystical arts and from the beast clan she learned the art of the rituals and tattoo markings for sacrificing a prey to take their strength as their own or to bond with a beast to share their strength and senses.
Many years of mastering these techniques helped to provide Ki with a focussed and stable mind while the rest of her time was focussed on raising her intelligence network and her martial arts.
Now that she had returned to the past, she did feel moments of comfort and warmth but she could still not shake off her anxiety and the weight off her shoulders.
One or two long nights of sleep in her family home may have been able to let her put her mind at peace and sleep comfortably but it was not enough for her to just sit around and wait for the world to sweep her and her family up in its chaos.
Even if she has returned to the past and changed her birthdays events many unknown variables may happen further changing the past she once knew so she would not let herself relax her guard.
If anything she would only work even harder to build a firm foundation in order to firmly protect what she has.
Ki practiced her 8 basic martial forms and stretched her body to increase her flexibility until she began to feel tired to help focus her mind away from her troubled thoughts and then began to take a short break.
While practicing martial arts in the past she did not focus too much on her flexibility because of practicing blood arts and fixing up her scarred body so most of the martial arts she practiced were simple and crude killing techniques.
Now she has a young body she realised the importance of increasing her flexibility during her younger years along with building a firm foundation, she had witnessed many other female martial artists who practiced more gentle and profound techniques which help to avoid attacks and create advantages against stronger opponents during combat so she wishes to get the most out of her potential before she begins her growth spurt during her teens.
After being stuck at the peak of her realm for many years she could not find where she could make further progress but after returning to the basics she found that she had been wrong all along.
Her foundation was unstable enough, her insights were stuck at a wall because the martial arts did not suit her body and personality perfectly not allowing her to be in harmony both in body and mind.
"If I can't find one that suits me then I will have to make it myself." Ki smiled looking towards the door expectantly.
A knock on the door happened shortly after Ki finished her training and a maid appeared and began to wash and dress up their young miss. "Young miss you look so beautiful today."
As if not used to the others praising her looks, she looked a little awkward then fell into thought again. 'So it's her.'
Regaining her composure she asked the maid. "How long have you been serving the family?"
The woman seemed surprised but answered quickly. "I have been with the family for almost 2 years now young miss."
'2 years or so is too short so there must be something else which I do not know, someone with her meticulousness and skill would not come to work for a family like ours as a maid without their own circumstances.' Ki began to further question her. "What brought you to work here? If you do not mind me asking."
"So the young miss is curious." The maid sighed, she first struggled about deciding to open up but gave in after looking at the young misses serious face. "It's not that interesting of a story to be honest, I grew up in a family that manages several small restaurants within the 3 surrounding cities. After my father passed away I managed everything on my own and eventually married a man from a less wealthier family but with a noble status. Everything was fine at first and I was busy with work and preparing to have a child but my husbands mother wasn't the most supportive. After the child was born things got worse because I did not give birth to a son, arguments started between the family as she grew more harsh and my husband kept telling me to be more understanding but totally ignored my pain. Eventually I grew tired from work and home resulting in decreased energy to complete simple tasks so was stuck at home while my husband took over…"
"It's poison correct?" Ki looked at the maid.
The maid flinched and spoke in a hoarse voice. "How did you know?"
"There are some showing mild symptoms left on your body, you may look healthy but there is still a lingering effect of being poisoned for a long period of time." Ki looked at the maids body inspecting it carefully. "If my guess is right it should create weakness, drowsiness and has short term effects so needs to be regularly ingested into your body."
"So how did you find out and why did you arrive here?" Ki guessed 80% of it but continued to verify the facts of what happened.
'Young miss knows about poisons? Oh never mind, young miss isn't some ignorant child brought up by some regular family.' The maid shook her head. "Rumours began about my husband cheating among the maids and the outside the house, during my weakness I tried to confront my husband about the rumours but instead caught my husband placating his mother with words that everything was going smoothly and I did not notice anything wrong. He mentioned how the poison was keeping me weak and with time I would die, the woman his mother arranged to marry would marry into the family along with his son and inherit the family business. After the initial shock I secretly began to make myself vomit any food or drink from my body which was handed to me by others and began to gain some more strength before escaping with my daughter who had been beaten by her own grandmother in secret. I ran from the city to this village. Your grandmother helped me get back on my feet and offered me a job and provided my daughter with a place to live. She is mine and my daughters saviour, without her I possibly cannot imagine how I would have ended up."
'No wonder… it all makes sense now.' A look of clarity shone in Ki's eyes. "Why didn't you fight and decided to run away considering your families business is still in their hands?"
"Young miss I am not reconciled with having to escape but my daughters life and my own were at risk, if we stayed to fight then by the time I made any progress we both may have died. If they were willing to poison me then there is no way to know how far they would go to keep their hands on the wealth. I could also not bring your family into it because you have already done so much for us."
"You are right but… I think you are worth helping. So long as your husband has not completely ruined your business to the point of burning the buildings down… I believe if we retrieve them and help you divorce your husband then you can rebuild your business again or you could sell it to our family. With both options you get the support of our family to rebuild then you can repay us later or you can sell it to our family and create further opportunities to expand your skills and work with the family with other businesses since you have the experience. I don't think it should be wasted as a maid." Ki finished explaining before pointing to the door. "Go think about it and let me know what your decision is when you have made up your mind."
"Yes Young miss!" The maid left the room with a look of surprise then her eyes turned vengeful. 'Young miss really is to not be underestimated, she really is her granddaughter. I didn't want to trouble the family but I cannot suppress my unwillingness and rage I have in my heart towards what was done to me and my daughter. Perhaps with their help I can get some closure.'
"It's no wonder she was so loyal to the family even until her last breathe in my previous life." Looking at the maids back as she exited the room, Ki fell into a very distant memory.