According to the doctors, Hong Nian Niang’s life was no longer in danger. However, Senior Researcher Mo cautioned Anji before she visited their most difficult patient.
"She’s struggling to repair the broken ridians," he divulged. "We suspect it could be a heart demon."
Heart demons... Anji had heard of them before. For every cultivator, a heart demon was worse than facing a formidable foe. Oftentis, cultivators facing a difficult stage of breakthrough will encounter their heart demon at least once in their lives. Yet, not everyone will encounter a heart demon. Like her father, Anji had never t one. Bai Dajin was another person who had never experienced a heart demon in his life either.
"The loss of her child and the toll of war is enough catalyst for a heart demon to appear," Senior Researcher Mo explained. "If she does not want to et with you, I hope you don’t take it personally. Nobody has been able to talk to her. It’s a relief she is still taking elixirs and dicine."
Anji nodded in understanding. Although she had no idea if she could absolve Hong Nian Niang’s grief, Anji wanted to provide comfort at least. Although she did not have much interaction with the lady in red, Anji thought Hong Nian Niang had been rather fond of her. In so ways, she reminded Anji of her own mother. The Vermillion Bird Sect Leader was fiercely passionate and loved with as much ferocity as she slayed her enemies. The loss of her unborn child while protecting one of her husbands must have been a devastating loss for not just her but the harem as well.
Ard with tonics and snacks, Anji made her way to the top floor of the Hidden Palace. Hong Nian Niang alone resided on this floor. It was a needless luxury when resources were limited. However, nobody faulted the Mystical Qilin Sect for providing exceptions. If Hong Nian Niang ever experienced an energy deviation while facing off with her heart demon, she could easily demolish the building and not just one floor. Despite their best efforts, the researchers could only enhance containnt seals to contain the damage to one floor, even if Hong Nian Niang remained confined to one room.
Inside the room that slled heavily of dicinal incense ant to help soothe the mind, Hong Nian Niang sensed soone standing outside her door despite the sensory sealing talisman spells. Unlike others, the aura of the new visitor reminded her of a gentle morning sun and freshly stead pork buns.
Curious, the Vermillion Bird Sect Leader paused her ditation and opened the door to the awaiting visitor, curious to know who it was.
Anji was still thinking about what she should say when the doors in front of her swung open.
"Little Anji?" the surprise in Hong Nian Niang’s voice was reflected similarly on Anji’s face.
On instinct, Anji shoved the basket in her arms towards the lady dressed in white patient garbs instead of her usual skimpy red ones.
"For you!" Anji blurted, then blushed belatedly. That was not what she had ant to say, but the sudden appearance startled her so badly. She was expecting to be turned away at least a few tis. To think that Hong Nian Niang would open these doors herself, could Senior Researcher Mo be wrong?
Instead of taking the basket from Anji’s arms, Hong Nian Niang froze on the spot. The child had grown so much since the last ti she saw her. Children tend to grow up quickly. Thankfully, she looked healthier and stronger than she did the first ti she t. It only made Anji lovelier in Hong Nian Niang’s eyes. If her child had survived, would Anji be willing to beco its sworn sister?
As the basket was heavy, Anji’s arms started to tremble a little. Hong Nian Niang was frozen in place, and Anji had no idea what to do when she was being stared at. There was a complicated look in Hong Nian Niang’s eyes that Anji could not completely understand.
"Um..." Anji smiled awkwardly. "Can I co in? The basket is a little heavy."
Snapping out from the spiralling dark thoughts, Hong Nian Niang looked at the shaking arms and quickly took it from Anji, stepping to the side so Anji could co inside. The room slled too strongly of stale incense, and it was not good for children, so the Vermillion Bird Leader opened all the windows for the first ti since her arrival at the Mystical Qilin Sect.
While Hong Nian Niang tidied the room to make it more comfortable for her young guest, Anji subtly studied it. Senior Researcher Mo was right. Heart demons loved feeding on negative emotions. Many cultivators who bottle those feelings up often end up battling against their worst fears. If not resolved soon, there was a very real chance Hong Nian Niang might fall prey to her own heart demons.
With more sunshine and fresh air in the room, the scenery transford from one of gloomy depression into sothing a little lighter. Although the heaviness was still in the atmosphere, it was almost imdiately a better environnt that allowed healing.
Anji waited until Hong Nian Niang brewed tea to make light conversation. It was considered a huge progress for the grieving woman to open those doors and let soone in. Anji understood that she was given a special chance by Hong Nian Niang and did not want to lose it. She was here not because Hong Nian Niang needed a doctor. Anji was allowed inside because Hong Nian Niang saw her as soone precious and trusted.
"I heard that you erged from isolation training recently," Hong Nian Niang smiled, even with traces of exhaustion and struggle. "Should you really be running around already? It was your first isolated training, right?"
Anji smiled. Instead of talking about her struggles, she was asking about Anji’s progress. As expected, Hong Nian Niang had a very kind heart. It was both the Vermillion Bird Sect Leader’s greatest strength and weakness.
"It was difficult," Anji admitted. "But it was not more difficult learning how the Mystical Qilin Sect had been turned into a dical camp with more injured than healthy people when I exited isolation. I tried to ask shifu what was happening, but for a while, nobody would tell anything or let do anything."
It was not a lie. However, Anji needed Hong Nian Niang to understand how she was not the only person suffering from helplessness. It was a bitter pill to swallow, and nobody knew it better than Anji, who had to swallow it very recently. However, she also knew how this temporary feeling of defeat and pain could be forged into a stronger resolve.
The first ti Hong Nian Niang saw Anji, she was still the child who clung to Zhao Wanting’s legs and complained in her arms. In only five years, Zhao Anji had grown into a capable young leader befitting her title of the Mystical Qilin Sect’s successor. Her wisdom was far beyond her age, and the mysterious hint of gold in those warm obsidian orbs reminded Hong Nian Niang of the sun rising from the horizon.
"I assu you’re here because you heard what happened from soone," Hong Nian Niang smiled sadly, dropping the act in Anji’s presence. There was no use acting in front of soone who already knew the truth.
Anji did not confirm it. Neither did she deny it. She rely sipped the tea in a neutral silence. Her behaviour was so strikingly similar to Yan Ping’s steady presence that it made Hong Nian Niang curious.
What was it that warranted Anji’s visit?
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