"You are not my sister."
The voice was calm and non-judgmental. Not a trace of anger or hatred or rejection could be found in that statement. Yes.....it was not a question, but a statement.
Little An and Little Siyu stared at Su Caiwei in surprise, then turned to glance at Rihanna in embarrassment. Both of them had been rather immersed in their happy meet-up after such a long time. Their life was truly much better than it had been back in the city. The food was good, and even their payment was better. And recently, Ye Luo had been silently taking care of them. And they knew they owed it all to this little girl who had forcefully dragged them along, opening up the world before them.
Rihanna was shocked, but her face remained impassive. She stood silently at the threshold of the room, waiting for her nerves to calm down, before she entered the room and took a seat next to small bed. A light smile remained on her face at all times. Being able to remain unnerved in all situations.....this was what Beibei had gifted to her. At this moment, Rihanna felt even more indebted to Beibei.
She turned and softly blinked at Little Siyu, gesturing them to leave them alone for a while. The brother and sister smiled and slowly left the room, even considerately pulling the door closed behind them.
"Why do you believe that I am not your sister?"
"She would never come back to the Su Clan and save me."
Rihanna paused. How was she supposed to answer this? Did she make a mistake in her understanding of the relationship between the two? But she had clearly felt the discomfort and anxiety in this body when she came to know that Su Caiwei was being tortured in her stead!
"Don't get me wrong. My sister loved me. At least she loved me as much as it was allowed. But she never could have loved me enough to come and save me. She did not have that kind of courage."
"Sometimes dire situations can make people change their priorities. And love can even make a person change their personalities. There is little a person might not do when they desire to save a loved one."
Su Caiwei stared at Rihanna for a long while. She stared for so long that Rihanna started feeling uncomfortable under those blank eyes. She was surprised to see such blankness in the eyes of an 8 year old kid. Rihanna felt worried.....were these the early signs of depression?!
"It seems you don't come from these lands. You are rather naïve and do not understand the way relations and clans work in this country."
Rihanna frowned. She would never ever have expected to being lectured on the working of this society by an eight year old! However, she couldn't reject her attempts. She could feel a desolation and darkness emanating from this girl. She had had to face the world alone for a long time. Probably even her sister had never had the courage to stand up for her. And it led to her having to pay the price of her sisters rebellion. How could such a girl maintain any positive expectations from this world.
"In a Clan, there are no relations. Children born to the members of a Clan, belong to the Clan, not to the parents. As soon as a child with cultivation can start sensing energy, they will be thrown into the inner regions of the Clan to be trained till they are qualified to go to a Sect for further learning. Cultivators spend a large portion of their lives learning, since there are so many subjects and fields. Also, they can spend up to many months or even many years in seclusion, trying to break through their levels. Many of them become cut off from society and people. And even if they keep some attachment, relations become very lose and empty shells."
"You seem to know a lot about cultivators though you are not one of them."
"Have to. Got to live. Commoners are the dust in front of these cultivators. We have no rights, we cannot complain, we have to follow every order given to us by these cultivators. We even have to happily become their test subjects whenever they need us. It is very rare for a commoner to stand up for another commoner.
Probably because we have all become used to being treated like the dust, we have accepted that we are dust. And in order to avoid being punished or even standing out too much from the rest of the people, we have to keep a close eye on the cultivators. Know what they want, their likes and dislikes, understanding their temperament every minute of every day. That's how we can get to live longer."
Rihanna paused, silently mulling over her words. She was wise beyond her words. Which was strangely disheartening for Rihanna. If it was before, she would have felt angered by such situations existing in this world. Her experiences in the dimension had made her more calm and non-reactive. Yes, this world was like this.
"Su Matsao was truly worried about you."
"I know."
Rihanna raised an eyebrow and turned to glance at the little girl sitting calmly on the little bed. She looked so composed, like a little adult. But it couldn't evoke any smile on Rihanna's face. Looking at her face, Su Caiwei gave a tiny smile for the first time.
"I was her only living family, so of course she cared for me. If we lived on the outside, not under the Clan, then she probably wouldn't have been scared to show her affections for me. But she was also a typical commoner. As am I. Right from the time we are born, our lives are in the hand of the Clan. And we are taught from childhood to be loyal to the Clan, be obedient to the Clan, to follow every order of the Clan no matter what it is. "
Rihanna was not surprised. This was like systematic brainwashing from a young age, to make the entire mass of commoners to be wholly afraid of the cultivators, and also to be mindlessly loyal and subservient to them. A means for the more powerful to have complete control over the less powerful. It almost felt like the cultivators were breeding these commoners like livestock!
"So she was always afraid of the cultivators in the Clan. Especially Su Maihiya, since she worked under her. She could never raise her eyes to even look into her eyes, let alone go against her orders. So, no matter how much she loved me, if she was ordered to even kill me, she would probably have to do it. It's like there is something in our system which forces us to obey them."
Su Caiwei stopped, taking deep breaths to calm herself. Though Rihanna had taken out a large amount of the poison, her body was still afflicted with enough poison to keep her weak and tied to the bed. Even now, talking for too long or becoming emotionally excited took a toll on her weak body, making it hard for her to breathe.
She opened her mouth again after a while of rest and continued.
"That my sister ran away and jumped down the cliff was something unbelievable for the entire Clan. Do you think they put me into the testing room to avenge their humiliation?! He-he.....as I said....you are too naïve. They put me in the testing room, along with other test subjects, to create fear in the hearts of the other commoners. They don't want to lose control over the commoners who are serving them every day. They don't want these useful and cheap slaves to rebel and become dangerous. Putting me in the testing room was a way for them to tell the others what would happen if they tried to disobey their masters."
The last thought in her mind became more and more prominent. 'Breeding them like livestock's'....Where had she read this before?.....Wasn't this a book by H G Wells?...Where a group of highly evolved group breeds another lesser evolves group, and both had developed from the same species!......Rihanna shook her head. She couldn't come to conclusions this randomly.
"Ahem...so who do you think I am?"
Su Caiwei turned her full focus towards Rihanna, staring at her intensely from top to toe.
"You look exactly like my sister. But you can't be someone in disguise. Who would want to disguise as a commoner. And you clearly do not know much about how things work in our country. Too naïve! Hmmm.....but you have memories, and you also know what my sister though before she died...but you can cultivate. Don't deny! I already heard from Brother An how you cleared my poison and let me live. Then.....are you a ghost?"
"You thought for so long.....and came up with this?!"
Su Caiwei pouted lightly, huffing in annoyance. A flicker of smile flashed through Rihanna's eyes. For the first time she felt as if this girl was behaving as an 8 year old child should.....cutely huffy!
"What would you say if I told you that I am a soul from a different world?"
Su Caiwei stared at her with her mouth hanging open. For a long while she only looked her up and down, excitement and fear both swaying in her large eyes.
"What?...Afraid?"
Su Caiwei closed her hanging mouth instantly, shaking her head rapidly to deny her allegations. Then she turned her eyes away, looking a bit embarrassed.
"Not scared. I don't know who you are...but I can tell that you are nice. You are not my sister, and you didn't need to help me. But you still did. I will always be loyal to you, and obey you unconditionally."
Rihanna silently kept sitting on the chair for a long while, staring at the little girl. No one could say what was going on inside her mind as her eyes remained impassive. Finally she stood up and walked over, slowly putting her palm over Caiwei's head. She rubbed her head gently.
"Fine. If you wish to be loyal to me, to obey me.....then I will not reject your wishes. But I have no use for little girls who look like they will be blown away by the first gust of wind. I need people who are strong...physically and mentally. Who are bold and courageous. And who do not back down from even going against me, when I do something wrong. So first, grow up.....and then you can be loyal to me."
Giving her a final pat on the head, Rihanna turned and started walking towards the door.
"Are you leaving?"
Rihanna stopped, an slightly tuned to glance at those large eyes awash with tears, staring at her intently and full of yearning. Rihanna could feel her heart softening, and she took a deep breath to calm her emotions.
"Hmmm...stay on here at the Sect. Little An and Little Siyu will be with you. Take care of yourself and your health. I will try to find out methods to clear the rest of your poison. I'll come again. Take good care till then....okay?"
Su Caiwei pursed her lips tightly, then nodded heavily. Rihanna gave her a tiny smile, before turning and leaving.