She was very confused. Her father was Ren Yueliang. He was a hunter who lived in a small mountain village whose existence was so insignificant that it wouldn't even show up as a footnote in any map. It was a poor village that could barely support its small population of 15, but the people lived honestly even with the harsh conditions. There was no caravan willing to go so far in a remote region to bring supplies to a bunch of poor mountain dwellers. Their village along with their very few neighbors didn't even have any contact with the nearby Tian Yanjing Country even though they technically belonged under their jurisdiction considering their location. They were in the wilderness that the government deemed too dangerous and unprofitable to expand into so they allowed pioneers to freely claim and develop it for themselves.

Her father was actually the heir of a Martial Arts family with some root in the Wulin, the martial artist community, but had abandoned his home. As a prodigy from a young age, all manners of expectations and pressures was heaped upon him. Her father couldn't take it anymore and decided to sneak away to join an expedition hometown in search of freedom and adventure. Tempering himself and his skills against the wild beasts and harsh conditions of the forest he had grown quite accomplished as a skillful hunter and a powerful warrior. As he studied his preys and constantly fought his abilities slowly evolved.

As he had renounced his former name, the name Ren Yueliang was one he had given himself on the night he ran away which held a full moon. Although he had left the family, he still decided to honor the family rules and never used the secret arts he was taught. He went back to the basic and made his own style. Taking the strengths of the king of the forest he had refined it into a fighting method fit for the human form.

The great Tiger.

It was a truly brutal and aggressive style, but it's beauty lied in its spirit. The Tiger style wasn't just a set of moves and motions, an arm here, a leg there. Its essence would be lost and the effectiveness nulled if one didn't contain the spirit of a tiger. A proud king amongst beast. The only mortal creature said to be a match for the legendary dragons!

During her training with her father, she had traveled far and seen much of the world. Spending years in the deepest forests, climbing the tallest mountains and swimming the coldest of seas. She had slain mighty beasts, taken down bandits and serial killers. Fought with harden soldiers and trained mercenaries. While other girls were playing with dolls she was learning the art of the blade, when they were eating sweets made by their mothers she was cooking for the two of them, and where they wore dresses and decorated their hairs with pearl pins she was cloaked in her enemies' blood, her body decorated with scars.

All in order to grow her 'Tiger's Soul' the essence of her father's secret arts.

She had lived an eventful life despite her young appearance. Outsiders might've thought hers was a torturous existence, but she thought she was blessed. They would've thought her father a cruel and unfeeling man which deserved only hatred and resentment from his daughter. She didn't resent her father, on the contrary, she loved him dearly. Outsiders wouldn't understand.

They didn't see what she saw.

His sorrow when he comforted her through her first kill and lost of childish innocence. His pain when he had to treat her wounds. His heartfelt apologies when he thought she was asleep in his arms. How could she bring herself to complain about suffering such small hardships when her father was only doing his best to keep her safe? When it was already so hard on him to raise her all by himself?

So she silently endured. Any and every hardship, she would go through it with a grin on her face if only to help ease her father's burdens.

Even men twice her age might not have half the experience she has had.

Yet, she had never met anyone quite like that Long kid. He was very well spoken with a hint of a strange accent she couldn't place. His manners were refined even considering the older and more experienced youngster from the Wen family. His eyes held a gleam far too intelligent for his age.

Was he truly the renowned 'Retard of the Long family'? He didn't hold himself like an abandoned cripple. She was no stranger to bloodshed. She had seen and taken part in many fields of battles. Many returned to the earth, the luck to their family, but others returned in pieces. Whether it be in mind or body, there was no shortage of those who were broken.

ailed by the scenes they had witnessed and the state of their body, they who were once brave and proud men returned. Hunched over with their heads down low. A visible air of depression and despair hung over them like a cloud.

It couldn't be any more different than Qing Shan. His back was straight as a bamboo stalk, his head straight and his gaze clear as the morning skies. There was no hint of defeat within him, his very aura vibrant and was brimming with life and joy as if his lower half was of no consequence to him. In fact, if they weren't weighing him down he might have floated off into the sky! Like a bird free and carefree as if the entire world was his for the taking, there were no limits to his future, only a matter of time and desires. He had shown up when she was in need.

It was for the first time in her life, she had been truly lost. Without her father what was she to do now? Marry? With her blemished body and unladylike manners who would dare to court her? She wasn't fit to be a housewife and she herself knew this very well. Men liked timid and demure women, the gentle kind that would rely on their man for everything, but that just wasn't her. She did wish to continue her father's line and legacy but romance was a foreign subject to her.

Her father, doting and caring as he was, didn't believe in weakness. He took the concept of tough love to a whole new level. In this cruel and harsh world of theirs, only personal strength could be believed in, only your body was truly reliable. Wealth? Fame? They were all illusions, like fleeting clouds, changing with the winds.

He wouldn't be able to protect her forever he told her, and therefore she must learn to fight her own battles. If only she knew that moment would come so soon, she would've cherished every moment they had together all the more, but it was as the saying goes.

'there was no medicine for regrets'

She had only focused single-mindedly on martial arts and helping her father, what time did she have to interact with boys or girls? Friends? She was constantly on the move, she had no social graces and was as blunt as a hammer, no feminine charm to speak of! If it wasn't for her soft facial feature and the developing figure, others would easily believe she was a crude farmer's boy!

No connections, no family, no future prospects, no social skills or charm, what was she to do?

She was close to resorting to robbery to acquire the funds to have a proper funeral for her father and to get by until she could find a solution when the arrogant fool from the Wen family had shown up to harass her with his couple of goons. She had to restrain herself from beating him black and blue in public as she couldn't afford to be chased out of the city. As her temper was reaching its limit Qing Shan showed up. He wasn't a hero who beat up the villains to saved the day, and she was by far a damsel in distress.

He had simply offered her the solution to her problem and left without a care. Given her more money than some would see in a lifetime and went on his way without checking if she was even telling the truth or was going to run off with his money.

A naive and foolish brat, that had been her thought of him when they first met.