After the New Year’s Festival was over Chief Chu had called the Du family for a meeting. They sat around a tea table as Chief Chu had a serious look on his face.

“Mr. Du and Mrs. Du, I have something that I have to discuss with you two.” Chief Chu laced his fingers together and placed it on the table.

“What is it?” Yo Mei asked.

“I wish to continue teaching Yu Lin martial arts.” Chief Chu said.

“Of course you can. We are very grateful for your help Chief Chu. Without you, Yu Lin would not be alive.”

“But… I wish to take her somewhere else to train her. Staying here is alright, but to complete the Ten Forms of the Thousand Iron Leg we would need to go somewhere else,” Chief Chu looked down, “and I’m sorry to say that we will be gone for about three years. For the place we are going to go, I’m sorry to say that I can only bring Yu Lin with me.”

“Three years?!” Yo Mei exclaimed. “But… are you sure you can’t just teach Yu Lin here?”

“I can teach her here, but without the environment of the place we are going to go to, I’m sad to say that she won’t be able to go past the fifth form.”

“Then if you go, do you think you can come for visits?”

“I’m sorry to say that, I won’t be able to bring her back for visits. The place we are going to is quite a distance away. It would take even me three days and two nights to go there if I go without rest.”

“Then… I don’t think I can let her go with you. To not be able to see my daughter for three years. How will I be able to do that?” Yo Mei said as she held onto Yu Lin’s hand. Silence filled the room as nobody knew what to say. Even Yu Lin didn’t know how to respond. She understood Chief Chu’s good intentions, but she understood her mother’s love.

“Take her.” Chou suddenly said breaking the silence. “Please take her.”

“Honey !” Yo Mei retaliated as she turned to face Chou. Chou turned and faced Yo Mei. His eyes were soft as he set a hand on her shoulder.

“Yo Mei,” his voice was gentle, “I know that you will miss our daughter very much, but I will too. She’s our only child, but she must go. She must learn how to fight and defend herself. You know how this world will treat her. When she steps out of this village, and even inside this village, there are people who will want to hurt her for what she is. In the future, we may not be there to protect her, so she must learn to protect herself.” Chou said. Tears formed in Yo Mei’s eyes as looked down.

“You are right. You are right… but…” tears streamed down Yo Mei’s face. Chou pulled her into an embrace as he stroked her back. “What if something happens to her again?” Yo Mei sniffled.

“Don’t worry. It’s not like we are sending her out to train with just anyone, we are sending her out to train with the best martial artist in this village.” Chou reassured her. Yu Lin stared at her parents and a small smile formed on her face. She admired the way her parents could love each other so much, just as she had once loved someone. Yo Mei pulled back away from Chou and looked back up at Chief Chu.

“You may… take her. Please take good care of our one and only daughter Chief Chu.” Yo Mei said sincerely as she bowed her head. Chou bowed also. Chief Chu smiled.

“Thank you for allowing me to be your daughter’s mentor.” Chief Chu also bowed back.

Yu Lin returned to her room and sat down at the tea table.

“Just one month left to stay here.” she muttered. Chief Chu had explained earlier that he wanted to leave right after Sen Feng and Ju Hua’s wedding. He will pronounce Sen Feng as the new village chief before leaving. She put her arms together and laid on it.

“Ah!” her head hit something hard and she moved back. She raised her arm and pulled back her sleeve. She saw the metallic bracelet shining back at her. “That’s right… I have you.” she mumbled. She walked over to her door and pulled a wooden bar down, locking it. She closed her eyes and insert her chi energy into the bracelet. The flower on the bracelet lit up, a bright purple as the space inside started to appear inside Yu Lin’s mind.

Inside the space was three books, weapons, and garments. Yu Lin didn’t glanced over the weapons and garments to see they were quite ordinary. She then glanced over the book and frowned. She opened her eyes and flickered her hand. The three books then appeared. She walked back to the tea table and set them down. She placed them separately to observe each.

“They are in the elf writing.” she mumbled to herself. It was a good thing that Yo Mei had taught her elf characters too so she could understand the books. ‘Plants Of The Wild, The Alchemist Organization Chronicles, and… this book has no title.” Yu Lin picked up the book with no title. She flipped the page open only to see on each page an elf character.

“Water… fire… earth… lightning… poison…” she muttered each word out loud. ‘What is this? Is this it?’ she thought as she placed the book back down. ‘Is that really just it?’ she frowned. She crossed her arms and cocked her head. ‘That witch wouldn’t just give me something as useless as this… what could it be?’ When she thought this her mother’s face suddenly appeared in her mind. ‘No… could it be?’ she stared back down on the paper and remembered her mother’s words from the past. “It’s call dark elf informational chi energy. We are different from the other elves. To protect our spells from getting taken away we have evolved into this method. To learn something you must endure the pain of that magic as it is being casted onto you. After you get the information, it will always stay with you.” Yu Lin Glared at the page. ‘Do I have… to do this?’

Yu Lin placed her finger on the character “fire”. She bit down on her lip before closing her eyes. She released a bit of her chi onto the character. The character began to glow and as if it was being sucked into Yu Lin, the character went into her finger through her chi. At this moment Yu Lin began to feel an excruciating pain and she slapped her hand over her mouth to stop herself from screaming. She fell off the chair onto the ground.

She felt her whole body’s temperature rise. It was as if she was being burned at the stake. The heat was unbearably hot. Sweat trickled down Yu Lin’s face and her nails dug into her face and palm. The pain was almost unbearable as she bit her hand. Blood trickled down her hand as she rolled around trying to endure the pain.

After a full two minutes the pain was finally gone. Yu Lin laid there panting before sitting up. She stared down at the deep bite marks on her hand before quickly healing it. If her mother saw, she was worried what her mother would say.

“What… was that?” she breathed out. She felt as though for some reason she had gone through this before, but she didn’t know where. Yu Lin lifted up her hand. She stared at her palm. ‘Before I could only get fire out through my fingertips… but how come now I feel as if I can get it out through my palm?” she thought. She tried it. Her eyes widened when she saw the ball of fire hovering over her hand.

Just then a flow of knowledge about the fire spell entered her head. Within a matter of seconds she knew how to use the fire spell she had just got to it's fullest potential. Yu Lin looked back at the book to see the fire character had disappeared. She flipped the page and saw another fire character however also saw the number two next to it.

“This… this…” she was speechless. She knew the powers of the book. Pain for power. Pain enough to drive her insane, but power enough to make her so strong no one would be able to defeat. She swallowed hard. She placed her finger on the character and released her chi energy into it. She shut her eyes tight,ready for the pain to come again, however it didn’t. She peeked one eye open to see the character still laid in place. She pulled her finger back. “Could it be, just once a day?” she mumbled to herself. She flipped past all the fire characters to a water character. The results were the same.

She concluded that maybe she could only learn one away and stored the book back into her endless bracelet. Afterwards Yu Lin began flipping through the contents of the other two books. When she was done, she stored them back into her endless bracelet.

“There was nothing much to learn from the two books there.” she said aloud. She stretched as she peered around her room. Her eyes laid upon a blue robe that was hanging on her wall. Part of the design was cut off as one could clearly see a line connecting the robe downwards. Yu Lin let out a laugh as she thought about how He Lan had changed over the past couple of months. She walked up to it and pulled it down.

“He grew… a lot.” she mumbled to herself with a smile. Her eyes widened as she let out a groan. “That’s right… I owe him a birthday present but I won’t be here for the next four years.” Yu Lin frowned. She looked down at her robe and an idea suddenly went off in her head. She set the robe down on the table and headed back towards her closet. After pulling something out she went back to the table. It was a small foldable wood kit. She opened it to reveal some sewing needles, thread, and scissors. She pulled the scissors out and started cutting the robe that laid in front of her. She did not go to sleep until late that night when she completed what she needed to do.

The next day Yu Lin woke up to knock on her door. She opened it to find her mother standing there. Yo Mei smiled at Yu Lin.

“Get dress Yu Lin. We have somewhere to go.” Yo Mei said. Yu Lin nodded and did as she was told.

It was still early in the morning and not many people were out in the village. The two walked in silent, as Yo Mei held tightly onto Yu Lin’s hand. After an hour of walking they finally reached their destination. The corners of Yu Lin’s mouth curled up as her mother opened the door to their house. She smelt the smell of home and she didn’t even know she had missed it.

Yo Mei led Yu Lin to the back, where there was the storage room. Yo Mei then pulled the rug on the floor off. On the ground there was three holes. One was glowing a faint red, the other was glowing a faint blue, and the last one was not glowing at all.

“What is this mother?” Yu Lin asked. Yo Mei bent down and Yu Lin bent down with her. Yo Mei placed Yu Lin’s small hand on the last whole.

“Insert your chi energy into here Yu Lin.” Yo Mei instructed. Yu Lin nodded and she put her chi energy into the hole. The hole then absorbed it, and afterwards started to glow a faint purple color. The floor then lifted up and there was a staircase leading down. “Let’s go.” Yo Mei said. Yu Lin nodded as she followed her mother down the steps. When they were all the way in, the door above them closed shut.

Yo Mei held a finger up with fire hovering over it. When the had reached the bottom of the steps, she pushed that fireball out and the room suddenly illuminated with light. All the candles hanging on the walls were now on. The whole room was empty except for the a big chest that laid in the center of the room. Yo Mei led Yu Lin to the chest and she placed her hand over it.

“What is this mother?” Yu Lin asked as she stared at the chest.

“This,” Yo Mei stroked the chest gently, “this is mine and your father’s life.” Yo Mei said. Yu Lin frowned.

“Life? What do you mean mother?’ Yo Mei turned around and bent down. She was eye to eye with Yu Lin and she put her hands on Yu Lin’s small shoulders.

“My daughter, my precious daughter… listen to mother carefully,” Yo Mei spoke cautiously, “if… if something ever happens to your father and I then you must come to this box. When you come to this box, all you need to do is insert your chi energy inside. You must remember. Promise mother you will absolutely remember this.” Yo Mei’s voice was shaky and her eyes got teary. Yu Lin was shocked for a second before she nodded.

“I understand and I promise I will remember.” Yu Lin said. Yo Mei smiled as she kissed her daughter on the forehead before pulling her into an embrace.

After a while the two quickly went back upstairs. Yu Lin waited as Yo Mei went inside the master bedroom to grab something. When she came out she handed a bundle to Yu Lin, and swung three other on her back.

“What is this?” Yu Lin asked.

“Clothes. Since mother won’t be able to give them to you because you are going away for four years. I have already made these clothes for you since you were a baby my dear.” Yo Mei said. Afterwards the two then walked back to Chief Chu’s home.

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The weeks passed by fairly quickly while people were preparing for the wedding. There were many elders from the village coming to attend the wedding. Everyone else was cheerful, and to not bring down the mood, Chief Chu and Yu Lin’s family told no one of the departure. Yu Lin also spent a lot more time with her parents.

The night before the wedding, Yu Lin was sitting in her room. She had helped decorated the place and was fairly tired. She was about to head to bed when there came a knock on her door. She opened it to find Tang Tang standing there.

“What young lady had ordered came in today.” Tang Tang handed a small rectangular wooden box to Yu Lin. Yu Lin opened the box and when she saw what was inside she smiled.

“Thank you Tang Tang.” Yu Lin said.

“Anything for the young lady.” Tang Tang bowed. “Now if you’ll excuse me.” Tang Tang gave another bow before leaving. Yu Lin closed the door to her room and placed the wooden box in her endless bracelet just in case she might lose it. Afterwards she headed to bed.

The next morning Yu Lin got up and dressed herself in the robes that her mother had prepared for her. She was wearing a purple robe as she stepped out of the room. She went to the kitchen and began helping the servants set up the tables.

It was noon when the guests started to come inside the Siheyuan. The house was decorated all in red to celebrate the wedding. The guests also brought many gifts with them. Yu Lin and the group of kids helped stored the gifts away in a room. People were waiting around at the entrance chattering away happily. The older members of the Chu and Du family were still discussing with each other in a private room.

“I can help take the gifts.” Yu Lin said to a servant. The servant glared at Yu Lin as he passed the gift to Mei Rong. Yu Lin stood there dumbfounded for a second before she heard a low voice.

“Don’t be rude Shu Ye. Even if they are beasts, they are still here to help out with the wedding.” Yu Lin looked up to meet the beady eyes of Mr. Lu, the father of Wu Ya and Wu Pu. The people chattering around them also stopped to look at the scene. He Lan’s face flushed red as he was going to step up but Yu Lin pulled him back.

“Greetings Mr. Lu and welcome to the wedding.” Yu Lin bowed. She didn’t want to cause a disturbance.

“Hmph. You call this manners? How about if you get on your knees, then I would consider it a proper greeting, unless you want this matter to be brought up to the bride and groom?” Lu Tou Ling said. He Lan and the rest tried to step up but Yu Lin held out her arms.

“If that is what Mr. Lu wants, then I shall do so… but, is Mr. Lu also going to make the bride and groom get on their knees and bow to you?” Yu Lin asked.

“Yo-” Shu Ye was had his hand on his sword however Lu Tou Ling held out his arm to stop his servant.

“And why do you ask” Mr. Lu’s voice was as sharp as a blade.

“I have learned from Chief Chu that at a wedding everyone must bow the same. The receiver and the receiving must exchange equal bows. This is to show respect and the next step in life for the two couples. If someone changes the bow just a bit, then when doing the bow of unity, the couple must bow the way the bow has been changed. If I get on my knees to bow to you, then the bride and groom will also have to get on their knees to bow to everyone. But, if you still insist for me to bow on my knees then I will for I do not wish to disrespect such a noble elder such as you.” Yu Lin replied. The people around them started to whisper to each other.

“No way Mr. Lu is going to that right?” one of them whispered.

“If he does, then doesn’t that mean this wedding is ruined?”

“The bride and groom will suffer if they have to get on their knees for the bows of unity.”

Mr. Lu glanced around the room before clearing his throat.

“I will accept that lousy of yours today, but next time you must show higher respect for someone who is of more superiority then you are.” Mr. Lu scoffed before walking away.

“I will keep that suggestion in mind Mr. Lu.” Yu Lin said as she narrowed her eyes at the back of Lu Tou Ling.

“Yu Lin, you didn’t need to go through all that disrespectful behavior.” He Lan furiously whispered.

“No,” Yu Lin said, “it okay. As long as we don’t do anything to ruin the wedding, the it’s alright.” Yu Lin smiled. “Now let’s stop being down and continue to work.” Yu Lin said. After that small encounter, the mood was down for a moment but when Sen Feng came out in his red luxurious robes the mood immediately went up.

After that everyone was gathered outside by the garden where the bride and groom did the wedding ceremony. They bowed to each guest personally, and then made vows with each other. Afterwards they cut a long red cloth and then hung it around the other. Yu Lin looked at the couple with a soft expression.

“Ju Hua is glowing more than I have ever seen her.” she muttered to herself as she stared at Ju Hua’s bright smile. All the single men at the wedding were jealous of Sen Feng because of how pretty his bride, no, wife was. Tears came to Yu Lin’s eyes as she suddenly recalled her own special night.

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In a small house was two people who sat facing each other, their knees touching. They wore raggedy robes with a red cloth hanging around each of their necks. The house was cold, with the walls wearing down. On the table sat a plate of plain rice and some boiled vegetable.

Tears streamed down Hu Die’s pale cheek as she look at at the face of her beloved. He smiled at her, honey dripping from his eyes as he wiped her tears away with his thumb.

“Are you… sure about this?” Hu Die asked, her voice trembling. “It’s just me and you here Qi Long. If you want to leave and pretend nothing ever happened then you can. I won’t blame you for anything.” Her beloved just smiled.

“If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be here now would I?” he replied.

“But you’ve lost everything… you’ve lost everything because of me.” Hu Die turned away, ashamed of her own self and worth. Her beloved cupped her cheeks and turned her head back to face him.

“Listen to me carefully Hu Die,” his voice rang throughout her whole body, “if losing everything like my social status, my rank, my family, if losing everything means that I get to be with you for the rest of my life, then I am willing to lose everything. That day I promised to be with you forever. That day I promised to protect you. That day I told you that you can lean on me and I will always accept you no matter what you are. My feelings have not changed.” he reassured her. “Do you understand?”

Hu Die stared into his bright brown eyes. They stared back at her with sincerity, and love. She knew her true feelings. She knew she was in love with this man before her. He was the only one who she could truly share every single thing to. He was the only one she knew would stay by her side forever. She knew, and she knew that she could give up her life for this man, for this man would give his up for hers also. Her lips trembled as she slowly nodded her head.

“I… understand.” Hu Die breathed out. Her beloved smiled a sweet smile, and he glowed in her eyes. He was the most beautiful, most precious, most important person in her life. She knew she could never let him go after that day. She reached her hand up and ran her fingers across his forehead, then down his cheeks, then down his jaw, and they lay rested on his shoulder her eyes following the movement of her hand. When she looked back up at his face, he was no longer smiling. His eyes showed something much more subtle. His hand traveled to her jaw and he lifted her face up. He leaned down and planted his lips on her soft ones. Hu Die eyes widened in shock for a moment before she closed them. When she opened them again he had pulled back. He looked at her with gentle and careful eyes.

“I love you Hu Die.” his voice made her heart beat faster. He was like a magnet, drawing her in closer and closer. She knew what was going to happen. She was a bit scared, but she knew she could trust him. She knew he wouldn’t hurt her. She knew he wouldn’t force her to do anything she didn’t want to do.

“I love you too Qi Long.” she whispered before pulling herself forward and planting her lips onto his.

That night she shared all of herself with him, and he shared all of himself with her. That night was the night their fire grew and triumphed over any obstacles in their way. That night, was the one of the most precious nights in her life.

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Yu Lin knuckles made impact with the wooden door three times.

“Who is it?” Ju Hua turned back to look. When she saw Yu Lin a big smile appeared on her face.

“May I come in?” Yu Lin asked. Ju Hua nodded as she motioned her over. Yu Lin walked in and stopped right in front of Ju Hua.

“What are you here to do?” Ju Hua asked. Yu Lin pulled her other hand out from behind her and handed the wooden box Tang Tang had given her the night before over.

“Congratulations on your wedding! This is my gift to you.” Yu Lin smiled. Ju Hua’s face grew ecstatic as she took the box and opened it.

“You didn’t… have… to…” Ju Hua’s voice faded when she saw the gift. It was a hairpin with two birds sculpted onto it. One bird had red jewels on it and the other had white jewels. “This…”

“It’s a Choori bird with a Sazu bird. The Choori bird is white and represents love and loyalty, while the Sazu bird is red and it represents passion and freedom.” Yu Lin said. “I thought that these were the things that would represent you best aunt Ju Hua, so I had someone make it.” Ju Hua looked at the hairpin with sad eyes.

“Oh… I see…” she said. Yu Lin frowned.

“Do you not like it?” Yu Lin asked carefully. Ju Hua snapped out of it and smiled.

“No! I really like!” she quickly said. Yu Lin looked at her relieved.

“That’s good. Anyways, I am a bit tired so I will head to bed first. You’re groom is probably going to come back pretty soon too.” Yu Lin bowed.

“Yea. I will see you tomorrow then.” Ju Hua bowed back. She watched to make sure that Yu Lin had gone far away before she reached inside her robe. She pulled out a pin that looked almost identical to the hairpin that laid before her. The only difference was that the hairpin she pulled out was made of gold, while the one that laid before her was made of silver.

----

The old female servant pulled something out from the chest of her robe. It was a small rectangular box that she slid over the table to Ju Hua.

“What is this?” Ju Hua asked as she opened the box.

“Lady Hu Die wanted to give this to you on your wedding day. She had it prepared a long time ago and told me to hold on to it in case anything ever happened. I know that today is not your wedding day… but I am afraid I do not much time to live.” she replied. Ju Hua’s eyes got watery as she picked the hairpin out from the box. She ran her fingers over the two birds.

“What does it mean?” she asked.

“It’s a Choori bird with a Sazu bird. The Choori bird is white and represents love and loyalty, while the Sazu bird is red and it represents passion and freedom. Lady said that those two birds are what she thought represented you the most.” the old lady replied. Ju Hua placed the hairpin over her heart as her whole body began to tremble.

“Hu Die… Hu Die…” she cried out. The old servant could only slide over a handkerchief before looking away, tears also streaming down her eyes.

---

“They are… really similar.” Ju Hua quietly muttered to herself. She continued to stare at the two hairpins in silence, thinking, and yet not thinking at the same time.