The chilling abyss swallowed Zhao Li as she tried to claw herself free, struggling as she did so. The more she fought, the deeper she sank, leaving her disoriented. Am I drowning? She pondered, fear pounding in her chest Why won’t I stop floating?

After what felt like an eternity, she finally broke to the surface, gasping for air. Her lungs burned with a fire a sensation she was familiar with, but never like this.

As she struggled to stay afloat, a silhouette appeared, sending a shiver down her spine. She tried to swim away, but no matter where she turned, the figure followed, closing in. When it finally knelt, the light revealed a familiar face. Zhao Li’s heart sank.

“It seems you’re still alive little demoness,” Her stepmother said with a sinister smile.

“I’m sorry, Mother Li,” Zhao Li pleaded, but the apology didn’t matter.

Jiang Li grabbed her by the head then shoved her back under the water. The abyss swallowed Zhao Li’s once more.

She kicked, screamed, clawed, but it was to no avail. Zhao Li sunk into the cold abyss once more.

As she stared into the liquid void, she tried to understand why she hadn’t died. She tried to understand why she was still awake but pushed that aside feeling her mind drifting as she grew weaker. Her strength began to wane, her eyes begin to wilt. Save me father, she whispered internally. SAVE ME MOTHER!

“In life…you can only save yourself,” An unknown voice said.

“Who are you?” Zhao Li asked,

“I’m your mother,”

“Where are you!?”

“Here.”

A white appeared in front of her and swallowed her whole. The light dissipated and Zhao Li gasped for air. “Where am I?” She asked, realising she was in a white room filled with light, “Where’s the water mill?!”

“Destroyed by you,” a raspy voice snickered, sending a chill down her spine. Another silhouette appeared. She ducked under the water again, trying to swim away, but her lungs screamed, forcing her to resurface.

The figure loomed above her, grinning, the sinister smile growing broader. It was Tong, the boy who had shunned her instead of teaching her how to play Jianzi. His smirk was even crueler than she remembered.

He reached for her, but with a burst of defiance, Zhao Li tore away and swam as fast as she could. She glanced back periodically, ensuring he wasn’t following, yet she couldn’t shake the feeling he was still there, even though the silhouette had faded.

She swam until exhaustion forced her to stop. Gasping for breath, she smiled briefly, believing she had escaped him. But her relief was short-lived.

“I told you, if you came here by yourself… you’d regret it.”

Fear clutched Zhao Li’s throat. She turned to see the boy from the forest, his eyes weeping tears of blood.

“No,” she begged, “leave me alone!”

She tried to swim away, but he appeared in front of her in a flash. He reached out his hand and clamped it around her throat, shoving her back into the water.

Zhao Li kicked and screamed, trying her best to wrestle free, but the boy’s grip only grew tighter

Suddenly, he released her. Zhao Li scrambled up to the surface, gasping for airs. The air rushed into her burning lungs and relief washed over her.

She blinked profusely, clearly the mist from her eyes, allowing her eyes to clear. Once they cleared, she saw a familiar face.

Her father. Zhao Xing.

The boy was held in a death grip by her father. He tried to kick himself free, but the feint luminescent light that enshrouded her father’s hand made her scared for a moment, but the relief at seeing her father, killed that fear instantly.

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Elation surged through her veins as she reached out, her heart racing with hope. But just as their fingers touched, Zhao Xing vanished.

“FATHERRRRR!!!!” She screamed out.

The fear returned in a flash. Zhao Li’s heart plummeted, terror filling the void as a powerful undertow dragging her back underwater.

After struggling for an hour, Zhao Li finally broke the surface again, a woman stood above her. Her face was unfamiliar, but her skin was dark but not as dark as Zhao Li’s own.

The woman smiled gently and extended a hand toward her, Zhao Li stared up at her hand, scared, but yearning to grab her hand. “Who are you?” She asked.

“Who else could I be?”

As the hesitation welled up within Zhao Li. Three people had already tried to drown her; why would this one save her?

Zhao Li jolted awake, her body soaked in a cold sweat. A draft wafted through the room, the chill almost as unsettling as the nightmare she had just endured.

She huddled closer under the covers and realized she wasn’t alone. A warm body lay next to her. Instinctively, she nestled closer, her drowsy mind recognizing the presence wasn’t her father’s but a woman’s.

“Aunty Lin,” Zhao Li mumbled sleepily.

The woman stirred and wrapped her arms around Zhao Li, pulling her closer, offering comfort. Zhao Li nuzzled into her, but something wasn’t right. The scent was different, the warmth unfamiliar.

This isn’t Aunty Lin, Zhao Li realised, panic blossoming in her chest.

She looked up slowly, seeing the woman’s face. It was diamond-shaped, her cheeks high, lips full, and her nose pointed. Her brown eyes gleamed warmly. Her hair was tied in a tight bun, and she smelled of flowers.

It was the woman from her dream.

“Who are you?” Zhao Li asked, her voice small and uncertain.

The woman laughed softly, a soothing sound that felt strangely familiar.

“I am whoever you want me to be,” she said gently.

Zhao Li paused, the weight of the woman’s words settling on her mind. After a moment, she found the courage to ask the question that had haunted her since the dream.

“Mother?”

The woman’s smile was warm, reassuring.

“I’m hoping to be, my dear,” she said softly. “I’m hoping to be.”

----------------------------------------

Three days passed since Ban Susu arrival at the Purple Mist Sect, tension rippling through the atmosphere. The students were unaccustomed to her presence.

Zhao Xing had expected Susu two years ago, but as usual, his expectations fell short. Of all his martial siblings, Susu needed the most reprieve—and the most love. Damn that Shi Qiu.

A few minutes passed, before his infuriation rose again. What enraged him the most was that when she finally appeared, she was holding a half-drowned Zhao Li in her arms.

That sight tore his soul apart.

It was a harsh reminder of his failings as a parent. She won’t even let me see her, Zhao Xing thought bitterly.

It tore him apart on the inside.

Susu was the last person who should have seen my failure as a father, He mused bitterly.

As Zhao Li lay in the infirmary, he listened to the soft chime of the bells swaying in the wind. The sound was soothing at first, but soon grated on him. “I’m a poor excuse for a father,” He muttered, staring at the wooden ceiling above.

The haunting image of Zhao Li limp in Susu’s arms was more terrifying than anything he had ever faced, even more than seeing his master’s lifeless body all those years ago.

The regret gnawed at him, like a wolf on a dried bone.

Zhao Xing hadn’t failed Zhao Li not once, twice or thrice…but many times. He had given her to the Jiang’s, hoping they would care for her, not torment her. “I was too focused on training my disciples, trying to make them into something Master would have been proud of,” He whispered.

That sight tore him apart in the inside. Susu is the worst person to expose my failings as a father, He thought bitterly. She won’t even let me see Li’er.

She’s right.

What infuriated him though, was that when she showed up, she was holding a half-drowned Zhao Li. That tore him up inside. Susu was the worst person to his pathetic parenting. She won’t even allow me to see her, Zhao Xing moaned to himself.

“I’ve been consumed with leading the Sect to even head down the mountain. She suffered in silence. I wasn't there when she needed me the most. When her lungs were filling with water, she was fighting for her life. I was sitting on the veranda, watching the rain splatter across the courtyard!”

He let his words linger in his mind but was only successful in forming balls of anxiety within his stomach, chest and throat.

The sect was supposed to protect her, give her friends her own age. But he’d misjudged everything. None of the girls had lasted more than three months in the training, and that bothered him. “The culture…” Bo Ying had told him a few weeks back.

It never crossed his mind, but he understood immediately. Whenever he stumbled across a remote area within Huaxia, the people treated him differently. There were times he was venerated and then they were times he was treated with contempt.

“I’ve wronged Li’er…I must fix this,” he said softly.

“You have,” Bo Ying said firmly, “What’s your plan on how to make it up to her?”

Zhao Xing resisted the urge to snap his head to the right, knowing the acupuncture needles littered across body would make such a move painful. He calmed himself, reflecting on Bo Ying’s words. Finally, he sighed. “I don’t know.”

“You’d better come up with something. Knowing Su’er, she’ll take her from the valley if she sees how the villagers treat her.”

A fierce anger bloomed within Zhao Xing’s chest. It wasn’t directed at Bo Ying or Susu but at himself. He knew the repercussions of his failings and the reality didn’t sit well with him to his daughter.

As the truth settled in, the ire slowly drained from his body, leaving a weary emptiness in its wake. His mind lost in his thoughts and close teetering on the precipice of despair. “You’re right, Su’er will surely take her from the valley. I need to make things right!”