"The rules of the Mercenaries are thus," said Purple Wind as she deposited the two ladies on stools facing a mirror, "anyone brought in shall forget their past completely. This is signified by cutting off all their hair,"
Silence.
Purple Wind picked up a scissors from the dresser in the room and approached Ren Ziyan first. She shrank back.
"You're -- you're serious?!"
Purple Wind narrowed her eyes.
"Do I look like I'm joking to you?" She asked with a growl.
"But-- but -- my niece didn't say that--!"
"Does our Grand Chief have the time to detail everything you'll face here to you?" The mercenary hissed, "you were warned. This is only the first rule, and you're being disobedient. You can't go back. It's too late. You're here, that means you're here."
"I'm willing," Ren Aiming said instead, "come cut mine,"
"Who said I won't? Whether you're willing or not, you will abide by the rules," but Purple Wind still went over and snip! Within a few minutes, Ren Aiming was shorn. She was crying silently. Her half sister watched in stupefied horror.
"Done," Purple Wind threw the last lock over her shoulder, "now, you?"
Ren Ziyan gulped.
"But--"
"No buts!" Purple Wind growled, "I don't have much time. I have to go back to my duty post," she strode to the other girl and hurriedly also cut off all her hair. The girls were still shocked.
"Now-- I'll be taking you to the hatchery," said Purple Wind, "that's where you'll learn some basic skills. You'll stay there until you are selected into a school. While there, you must obey all orders given by the girl who's in charge,"
"Yes," the two girls replied meekly in a low voice. Ren Ziyan sniffed. Ren Aiming wiped her eyes quickly. They rose up and followed her out of the room. Going along a corridor, it opened up into a wide courtyard. A number of girls were milling about there. Some were cultivating, others were chatting. They all stood up and arranged themselves at the sight of the intruders.
"Hello," Purple Wind raised one hand. All the hatchlings bowed. They didn't know how to address her as she was not a tutor or a Squad Leader.
"Where's the current Big Sister?"
Su Hanlin stepped out of the dormitory room and bowed.
"It's me-- elder?" she wasn't sure how to address this mercenary either. So she used the term she would have used for a moderately ranked person.
"These are new girls joining you," Purple Wind gestured to the sisters, "take charge of them,"
Su Hanlin bowed again.
"Yes, elder,"
The mercenary turned to leave almost immediately, and disappeared after a few steps. The Ren sisters were still looking about them. To their little relief, they realised all the other girls were shorn as well.
"Welcome," said Su Hanlin with a nod; she wasn't overtly friendly or cold, "what are your names?"
"Ren Ziyan,"
"Ren Aiming,"
"You're sisters?" Li Beiyao came up to them at once.
"Yes," said Ren Aiming,
"And I'm the Grand Chief's aunt," Said Ren Ziyan, announcing loudly.
SILENCE.
Gasps.
Su Hanlin frowned at once.
"Weren't you told the first rule of the Si Lak Mercenaries?" She was suddenly very stern, "once you stepped into the grounds, your past identity doesn't matter anymore!"
"What do you mean by past identity?" Ren Ziyan raised her chin proudly, "there's no such thing. I am who I'll always be,"
"Hah; you'll rot here," Feng Chusan laughed. All the hatchlings outside immediately surrounded the duo.
"Let me give you one advice you'll need," said Gu Yuwei, "never ever say that in the ears of a tutor!"
"Especially Tutor Ning," Li Beiyao said with half a smirk in Gu Yuwei's direction.
"Do you hear that?" Su Hanlin frowned at them.
"No!" Ren Ziyan was very annoyed already. She hated being repressed. She always had things go her way. How dare these shorn headed girls speak so rudely to her? She had expected them to all fawn on her at her identity reveal!
Ren Aiming stepped forward and bowed to Su Hanlin.
"Please don't mind her. She's very full of herself. The person that brought us here; Purple Wind-- she told us the rule! But my sister--"
"Shut up!" Finally given an avenue where she could bully Ren Aiming to her heart's content without having to look out for people who would scold her, Ren Ziyan did not hold back. She pushed her sister roughly, "be quiet, now!"
Su Hanlin shook her head gravely. This was bad, very bad.
"Beiyao," Su Hanlin said, "tie her up," she nodded at Ren Ziyan. The latter frowned and tried to counter, but found her hands already tied firmly by an aura belt conjured by Li Beiyao.
"Hey! How dare you!"
"Five minutes in the hatcheries you're already causing trouble," Su Hamlin shook her head again. "I can assert that you're not going to enjoy your time here. I'm being very liberal. If it was the tutors," she chuckled drily, "it'd be worse. There's no need for all this. We can all get along. The rules are simple: your past identity doesn't matter anymore; never speak about it. No bullying. No lying. Obey the Big Sister. Obey the tutors. Do your share of work with honesty and humility. Don't complain. Is that too much?"
Struggling against the ropes, Ren Ziyan wanted to retort to a number of the rules she didn't agree to. But everyone was now watching her like a puppet show. She gritted her teeth.
"Fine!"
"Good," Su Hanlin nodded, "to learn your lesson; your hands will remain tied until I say otherwise,"
"What?! You-- you can't do that!"
"I can," Su Hanlin was getting very irritated already, "don't make me more annoyed." She turned her back, "Haobei, give the two separate beds no where near each other,"
"Yes, Big Sister!" Ye Haobei clapped her hands, "come with me!"
She led the two inside the dormitory.
"You, go over there," she pointed Ren Ziyan to the furthest bunk against the wall on one side, "and you, over there, " and Ren Aiming in the opposite direction. She also supplied them with blankets and pieces of chalk. Ren Ziyan couldn't collect hers as her hands were tied, so Ye Haobei called the girl who was to be her bunkmate to help her.
Ren Aiming, bent on carving a stellar impression of herself, meekly accepted her own arrangements, greeted her bunkmate with an humble bow and a smile, and shyly asked where the bathroom was.
The two girls settled in. A couple of minutes later, Ye Haobei approached Ren Aiming, who she felt was more cool-headed.
"So," she said, "Sister Yuwei had allocated you to kitchen duty, so you'll work under me,"
"It's my honour," Ren Aiming looked eager, "I do know how to make a few dishes,"
"Oh-- interesting," said Ye Haobei eagerly, for as yet in the hatchery no girl was a chef, and their meals were ordinary and boring.
"I-- I don't know your name yet, sister?" Ren Aiming murmured.
"Ah. Yes. I'm Haobei of family Ye,"
"Nice to meet you, Sister Haobei," Ren Aiming beamed. The girl was taken aback. Here in the hatchery, no one called her so respectfully. All some did was even laugh and make fun of her. This...
"Anyway," Ye Haobei rubbed her nose in embarrassment, "that's it! I'll-- I'll tell you when I need you. We're having lessons in a bit, so get ready. Sister Yuwei also asked me to allocate your sister to toilet duty--" she bustled away.
Ren Aiming smiled triumphantly. If she was not wrong, she had this fat bumpkin under her palm already...
Sal Qian strode into the hatchery, her hanfu flowing after her. The girls all converged in the courtyard. The sun was quite high in the sky, so the cultivation instructor led them instead to the clearing in the small forest not far from the hatchery within the boundary. The girls all day cross-legged in front of her, and she herself conjured a boulder which she climbed up and sat on so everyone could see her.
"I've brought you guys something," Sal Qian said with a mysterious cheeky smile. The girls all tittered excitedly. If they were not wrong, it was cultivation enhancing pills! The instructor had been lobbying for these pills at the alchemy guild for some time now. Perhaps she had finally gotten it!
"Three cheers for Tutor Sal!" Cried out Su Hanlin as Sal Qian retrieved a whole box of porcelain bottles from her spatial space.
"Yay! Yay! Yay!" The girls clapped and hooted. They were very excited. Cultivation enhancing pills! Once they used this to level up their cultivation, the chances of them getting out of the hatchery would increase!
"Alright," Sal Qian waved her hand and the cheers seized, "finally, I got these pills for you. You mustn't disappoint me!"
"We won't!" The girls chorused. Sal Qian beckoned to Su Hanlin and Gu Yuwei and they got up and went over to her.
"Listen up. We'll give preference to less endowed hatchlings. Five pills for those that haven't started cultivating at all, so they can catch up. Three pills for Martial Practitioners; two for Skills, and one for a Martial Master,"
"Yes, tutor,"
Thus the two girls divided the pills among the others. When it got to Chu Gumei's turn, she frowned.
"Hey, hey hey! Don't think I didn't see you give your girls five pills! Why am I getting just one?"
"Yes, why?" Asked Fan Yurou, who got two. Gu Wenwen, who also got one, added her voice as well.
"You think you can get away with this, Hanlin? The tutor's right here!"
Su Hanlin sneered and passed by her. Hi Wenwen immediately pulled her back.
"I'm taking to you!"
"What's the matter? What's happening?" Sal Qian called out. Su Hanlin snatched back her sleeve and turned to the tutor.
"Based on your instructions, Tutor Sal, I've distributed the pills. However, Chu Gumei and Gu Wenwen seem to be dissatisfied with your arrangement," she smirked. The girls frowned in confusion. Was it... Was it the tutor that ordered this?
"Chu Gumei, Gu Wenwen!" Sal Qian called angrily, "since you look down on the pills I spent so much energy and time to get, hand them over!"
"We-- tutor-- no!"
"They-- they didn't tell us if was your order!"
Eventually, even Fan Yurou was stripped of her own two pills. Fuming, they glared daggers at Su Hanlin and Gu Yuwei, who were in extremely good spirits.
"Who are these ones?" After giving an extra pill to the Big Sister and her assistant, Sal Qian still had two pills on hand. She noticed the Ren sisters who had surreptitiously sat together. Ren Ziyan's hands were still tied.
"Oh, they're new hatchlings someone called Purple Wind brought back," said Gu Yuwei, who paid great attention to detail and had remembered the name of the mercenary.
"You, how dare you call her name so casually!" Sal Qian tapped Gu Yuwei on the head with a finger.
"Ah? Who is she?" Gu Yuwei rubbed her forehead but she was very interested in knowing.
"That's Vanguard Purple Wind, the fourth vanguard. She not far behind Vanguard Shadow Claw in terms of strength," said Sal Qian with a nod, "have you heard of Vanguard Shadow Claw?"
The girls shook their heads.
"That's a very important person," Sal Qian said with a small fangirly smile, "he's the next most authoritative person after the Four Seniors. Some even call him the Fifth, but he's not a senior. I've had the honour to receive his teaching before," she smiled again.
"Ohh," the girls cooed, "wow! Tell us more, Tutor Sal!"
Sal Qian looked surprised at their expectant faces. She sighed.
"Fine. At least you'll be able to show proper respect if you come across them. I've heard a rumour. Instead of picking one by one as all the Schools have always done; I heard there'll be a mass selection,"
"A mass selection!" The girls were thrilled.
"Yes. It's said that a representative will come from each School and Squad. There will be a series of tests they'll each set. And, you, Hanlin, make sure you do well. Don't keep relying on Guardian Yi Hei. He's in serious trouble as we speak; in the Boilers,"
"In the Boilers!" Some of the girls shouted. Gu Yuwei glanced worriedly at Su Hanlin.
"What is she now to do, tutor?" Gu Yuwei shook her head, "Hanlin, you should have just gone with the Senior that day!"
Su Hanlin shook her head.
"Everything is for a reason. Besides, what about Yuefeng? Yuefeng saved us; she deserved to be selected as the Top Senior's disciple,"
"Listen to me," said Sal Qian, "I've provided you all with what can be considered a cheat code now. What remains is your own passion to be a great person. Let's cultivate!"
Su Hanlin and Gu Yuwei hurried to sit down. Sal Qian gave the extra two pills in her hand to the Ren sisters to their surprise and delight.
"All together now; a pill at a time: consume! Enter the cultivation mode!" Sal Qian ordered.
Ren Aiming, alongside the others, threw one pills into her mouth and swallowed it. She then closed her eyes as her meridians were activated under supervision by the tutor and started to absorb the cultivation essence in the surroundings. It was as if her senses were heightened; no, that another sense which she didn't know she had was suddenly activated. She could now sense cultivation essence, auras, and the flow paths in her body! She could feel as the essence seeped through her pores and dispersed all around her system! She could sense that the pill she consumed was what made the essence rush wildly towards her and her body quickly assimilated it! Wow! It was thrilling! So this was what it meant to cultivate!
"Time up!" All too soon, Sal Qian's voice sounded in her ears. She opened her eyes, her face flushed. She could feel a wild raging power in her system. Was this her own unique prowess?
"Newbies, don't consume anymore pills. Those of you that have been cultivating for a while, you can go ahead and keep on consuming the pills until!" Sal Qian's gaze turned sharp, "until you feel the first; the very first pang that says you can't take it anymore. Please don't overwork yourselves; take it easy, alright?"
"Yes, tutor,"
"By the way," Sal Qian frowned, "where's Meng Yue?"