Amon brought up the topic of Madam Lin's desire for fertility, evident from her desire to hunt the five-tailed fox. If she succeeded in bearing her own child, then she would not have paid Amon any attention. Hei Pho assured him that it would not happen because unbeknownst to her, Hei Pho had secretly drugged her through the scent in her room every time she came to visit.
The drug caused her body to be unable to bear a child despite taking many medicines. She would always visit regularly, to get medicine from Hei Pho. Amon did not know the reason, but she always came by herself and never sent anyone to pick the medicine up on her behalf. Amon once took a peek at the so-called medicine, from what he could glean, it was more poison than medicine.
Amon did not ask Hei Pho about what kind of poison she sold to Madam Lin every time she visited. It was enough for him to know that Hei Pho had paved a way for her to use Madam Lin to his benefit. He was not going to turn down a favor. On the contrary, she even asked Hei Pho to teach him how to make this air-borne drug that affected Madam Lin's fertility. Hei Pho did not see a reason why not, she simply took it as Amon's eagerness to learn, so she taught him.
Amon also started to help in cooking meals in the kitchen. Hei Xilia was the one who did most of the cooking. Everyone thought that Amon started helping there as he was rather close with the girl. Amon even commented that someone had to take over the cooking job after Hei Xilia was sent off to marry the young master of the other clan, which was fast approaching.
She chatted a lot with Amon whenever Amon helped in the kitchen. Mostly it was her talking and Amon listening. It was mostly trivial topics. But on some occasions, when she couldn't keep her feeling in, she spilled her heart out. Amon simply listened without commenting. Both of them know that she only needed someone to talk to. In some of those emotional talks, she even expressed her desire to die to escape from all this marriage arrangement. Amon simply listened to her in silence.
The young master had come to the mansion uninvited on several occasions. He brought gifts but his actions completely showed his disregard for the people in this mansion. Other than Hei Gong who had superior cultivation to him, he showed disdain and treated the others poorly. He had even kicked Amon once when Amon passed by.
Hei Xilia who was present quickly berated him for his deed, only to have him laugh back contemptuously. Amon simply gave him a short glance before standing back up and walking away.
After that incident, Amon asked Hei Pho about the relationship between Madam Lin's clan with that young master's clan. Hei Pho explained to him that the Wei clan, which was the young master's clan, was a subordinate of the Lin clan's rival. They were not on good terms, but since the Wei clan was a smaller clan, the Lin clan mostly ignored this clan.
Amon asked why then Hei Pho did not use the Lin clan's influence to free Xilia from the young master's clutch, considering their clan's relationship with the Lin clan was not bad. Hei Pho explained that although Madam Lin looked favorably at them, it was her private matter. The Lin clan had never considered their Hei clan to be under them. Hence, they had no obligation to protect the Hei clan from the Wei clan.
When there were less than two months left from the date promised for the young master, Amon proposed for them to have a gathering dinner. A get-together for all the occupants of the mansion to celebrate their time with Hei Xilia before she had to be sent off.
Hei Xilia thought it was a nice sentiment. Even though it would just remind her of the dreaded day that continued to approach, she didn't mind having a gathering together with her kins before she had to leave. She agreed to it and let Amon pick the date and organized everything. The kid seemed to truly look forward to it so she was glad to just go along with it. Probably because he had never experienced a festivity before, she thought.
As time continued to move forward, the day of the appointed gathering soon arrived. It was around a week before Hei Xilia was married off. She forced herself to smile even though her heart was gloomy as she worked in the kitchen.
"Sister Xilia, go take a rest. You looked tired. I can cook the meals by myself just fine," Amon said when he saw Xilia's depressed expression.
"I'm okay. We have a big meal, you won't be able to do it all by yourself," Xilia said.
Amon gave her a pose that showed his arm's muscle. "Look how strong I am now," he said as he pushed Xilia out of the kitchen. "Go and take a rest. Don't worry about me. Most of the cooking is done anyway, there is just a little bit of dressing to be done. You go take a rest first. You will be the main person at tonight's dinner, it won't do if you look tired during the time, everyone will be disappointed. You will instead ruin everybody's mood. This is our last big dinner together before you go, so you have to show your best self to everyone. Now go, I will finish everything."
Seeing the kid's persistence, Hei Xilia shook her head and smiled. "All right, don't push yourself too hard. Call me if you need anything."
"Don't worry. I will," Amon replied.
*
As the night approached and it was time for dinner. The Hei clan's mansion was rather lively. Everyone gathered in the dining hall. Everyone rarely had the chance to get together these days. The last time they gathered like this was on the day when Amon came to be.
Everyone helped bring the food from the kitchen to the dining hall. Hei Xilia came in wearing her best gown. Everyone was mesmerized by her beauty. After the enthrallment passed, everyone instead turned gloomy. To think that this would be the last dinner celebration where everyone could get together while Hei Xilia was still with them. They started to resent their helplessness for not being able to do anything to turn their fate.
Hei Xilia, who saw their gloomy expressions, immediately put on her widest possible smile to cheer everyone up. She went around greeting and talking to everyone to lift their spirit. She even made them sing a song together. Amon simply watched them in silence.
When it was time to eat, everyone sat at the large dining table. It was several tables put together and covered with a large cloth. There were fifteen people if Amon was included. Seven people sat on the left and the other seven on the right, while at the head of the table was Hei Gong. Hei Pho and Amon sat on the left and right closest to Hei Gong.
Hei Gong stood up as he delivered a simple speech to his clanspeople. When he was done, he let Hei Xilia say some words as well. This gathering was, after all, for her.
Hei Xilia stood up, her face was smiling, but everyone can glean the sorrow in her eyes.
"Everyone, I thank you for all this. Please know that all of you will always be a part of me. You are my only family. No matter where I go, you all will always be my only family… In one week's time, I will have to leave you all… I will have to…"
Her voice started trailing off. She started sobbing, her body trembled as she tried to hold the emotion that overcame her.
"I… I want to die… It's better than to be sent off to that monster… Why aren't I allowed to die…?"
Everyone's head was cast down. No one could say anything to console her.
Hei Gong took a deep breath before saying, "You know why… Xilia, I'm sorry this has to happen to you. But if you take the easy way out, all of us will suffer the consequences. You do know that, right?"
Hei Pho also said in a soothing voice, "For this family, you must endure. Just like how we all endure. Now sit down and calm yourself, please. We are trying to give you a cheerful last dinner that you can remember us by."
Hei Xilia forced herself to calm down after a while and sat. Her tears, however, continued to roll down her cheek.
She was a strong woman, Amon thought. Unfortunately…
"Now, let us dine," Hei Pho said. "Xilia and Hei Mo had spent much time and effort preparing these meals. We should respect them by eating them all. Now, please, everyone. Do not hesitate and treat yourselves."