Xing'er frowns with her arms crossed on her flat chest and her legs swinging interchangingly from the railing she is sitting on.

  It has been a few weeks since Tianling went into seclusion. In the first week, a new member of the sect arrived claiming that Tianling accepted her, not as a disciple but as the one who would watch over them.

  Xing'er tried to be open-minded about it, telling herself that her master did this because of the mortals he had taken in. But it soon became clear that the new young woman had made more arrangements with her master.

  Bai Yu hired workers who repaired almost all the buildings in the Wang courtyard, creating a lavish room for the sect leader close to hers.

  This further irritated Xing'er, who was starting to feel as if Bai Yu was trying to take her master away from her.

  Her insecurities have only grown stronger over the weeks Tianling has been in seclusion.

  The large gates creak as they open, pulling Xing'er's frowning eyes from the small pool in front of her to the group returning from their daily charity work on the streets.

  Thanks to Bai Yu's wealth, they have been able to afford feeding the homeless humans on the streets according to Tianling's arrangements.

  As he promised Xing'er when they arrived here, he would come up with a full plan on how to help those people who had been abandoned by the city.

  Bai Yu and the children spot Xing'er. A smile forms on her red lips but Xing'er ignores her and looks away.

  "This child is more difficult than the suckling ones. Why does she hate me?"

  "Sister Yu, Xing'er is a lovely girl. She must be missing Boss," Lu'er defends, struggling to carry the box full of the bowls they were using to serve the beggars. "When Boss comes out, she will definitely-" Lu'er fails to look where he is walking and he accidentally steps on a small rock that disrupts his balance.

  He cries out as he falls, the box slipping from his hands. But before he or the plates can hit the ground, an energy is wrapped around both.

  It helps him back on his feet while taking the box away to set it on the porch of the main house.

  "Are you okay?" Bai Yu asks while she sets down her box. "You could have gotten hurt badly."

  Lu'er smiles. "But I didn't, Xing'er saved me."

  Bai Yu casts Xing'er a glance just as she is lowering her hand to redirect her qi back into her Dantian.

  When they make eye contact, Xing'er snorts jumping off the railing and walking away. Bai can only laugh. "Why didn't she stay in her room if she didn't want to see me? One might even think I'm her adoptive mother."

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  Bai Yu and Fei'er escort Lu'er to the house while Chen'er and Wei'er head to the kitchen to drop their luggage.

  "You're back early today," the cook, who is a demon, comments with his four hands busy chopping and peeling the vegetables needed for the food they are making for the sect.

  Ever since they were bought from the auction, they have been living with the children in perfect harmony, in fear of being sold in harsher conditions. The grudge between them and the humans was forcibly cast aside, for the humans they found here did not have any hatred for them. But it does not mean that all the demons wholeheartedly accept this new reality; they just have to bear it until they can leave the human realm.

  "Yes!" Wei'er answers. "The people there are cooperating better than when we started."

  "Where is Miss You?"

  "She will be here. They are checking on brother Lu'er. He almost had an accident."

  "What? Is he alright?"

  "Yes. Xing'er saved him."

  "Ooh, that's good to hear... You two should go in and rest. You have worked hard today as always."

  Wei'er nods with a faint smile.

  To him, demons are not the worst beings in the world, but the humans who killed his whole clan for their selfishness. He does not dare talk about the racial differences for he already has pledged loyalty to Tianling and Heilian.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  After leaving the kitchen, Wei'er grabs Chen'er's hand and drags him to the back of the main house where the training ground used to be before the clan fell.

  He has been using it every day with the wooden sword and the wooden target made for him by one of the demons.

  "Join me today."

  Chen'er shrugs Wei'er's hand from his wrist as he frowns.

  This has become an irritating habit. He just doesn't understand why Wei'er won't stop bothering him about training. Can't he sympathize with his condition even as a fellow child?

  Wei'er, however, doesn't care. Since he can feel the intentions of Chen'er, he knows that deep inside of him, he misses wielding a sword and practicing. But due to his crashed Dantian, Chen'er cannot gain the courage to pick up the wooden sword Wei'er generously throws at him every single day.

  "Boring," Chen'er mutters walking away.

  "Wait!" yells Wei'er with his sword pointed at Chen'er's back. "If Shifu sees you like this, he will be angry. Why don't you train with me as we wait for him to come out?"

  Chen'er casts him a sidelong glare. "I will wait until the day he repairs my Dantian as he said he would. Until then, I'm just a servant for your sect."

  Wei'er frowns furiously. He steps forward and pokes Chen'er on his waist. "Shifu said even servants should be as good as the disciples. He meant that there is no difference between servants and disciples."

  "Stop saying that! He brought me here because I was pitiful."

  "And so?" Wei'er lowers his sword. "Shifu's pity is better than the fake smiles of those evil people. Do you want to go back where they abandoned you? Stop being selfish and be grateful to Shifu. You don't know how hard it is on the streets with no one to look after you. You wake up every day without knowing where the next meal will come from.

  "The winters are extremely cold. People die on the streets. I'm sure we would be dead if we didn't have the cave. So stop acting as if you're the only one who lost something important!" Wei'er's yell is accompanied by bitter tears for the people he lost.

  His sword falls on the ground between their feet as he tries to get rid of the tears so as not to appear weak, but they won't stop flowing.

  The more he wipes, the more they keep coming out.

  Chen'er bends over. He picks up the sword and stops to stare at it while his mind races back to his previous sect.

  There was no warmth there. You had to get stronger on your own two feet to stay in the sect.

  When his Dantian was crashed in a duel, he was certain that his life was over. But then, these people appeared. They not only opened their arms to him, but their hearts as well.

  His stay here in the last six weeks has made him lower his walls s little. The demons he was taught to slay since he was a child now live with him in the same courtyard without harming him.

  Why?

  He was taught that they're all evil and should be killed without hesitation.

  His father sold him to his former sect because he had five open meridians by the age of six. A nearly impossible feat.

  Since then, he has never heard from them again.

  "Here."

  He takes Wei'er's hand and pushes the hilt of the sword into it. "I...I'll try to...to...to train with you tomorrow," he mumble the last part, but Wei'er clearly catches it.

  "Really?"

  "But..." The embarrassment crossing Chen'er's face makes him turn away. "But I'm not doing this for anyone. I just feel like my bones are growing stiff."

  Wei'er smiles brightly, and tears of cheer fall in place of the sad ones.

  ****Btw, I made a mistake in the last chapter but no one noticed. Before I fix it, does anyone know what mistake it is? Get it right and I'll give you the power to introduce a character in the novel along with what role you want them to play.****