Special Chapter - Princess Bai's Memories 1
2105 Words
"So it is true...He did forget everything."
Bai Shuanyang thought with a worried expression, still staring at Zheng Jin's back as he walks away.
"Just what happened to him?"
She wondered what could have happened to him, that he couldn't even remember her name. She is also puzzled as to why he would not talk about it, or why she hadn't heard rumors about Zheng Jin losing his memory.
Then, a thought came to her mind...
How could he talk to anybody about it? After all, except for being ridiculed and beaten up countless times, she had never heard of him ever talking to anybody at all.
As she thought about these things, her heart couldn't help but feel...guilt.
After all, she was the first person to turn her back on him when that accident had occurred two years ago...
...
...
...
She was alone. As a third princess of the Azure Phoenix Kingdom, she had nothing. Sure, she lived in a castle, ate good food, had countless servants, and had fancy clothes, but even still...she felt...empty.
No matter how many times she tried to get the attention of her father and her siblings, they would never even look in her direction. Not only that, but her mother had also died shortly after her birth, with her not even knowing her what mother looked like.
At a very young age, she started her studies and even her cultivation training. She tried her hardest to make up for her lack of talent, even studying and practicing on her own when no one was looking.
She had been reading books until her eyes hurt, and she had also been practicing swordsmanship until the thin skin on her palms shed off and bled. All for the moment when her family would finally acknowledge her, and treat her as one of their own.
Then one day, she was called upon by her father, the king. Naturally, she was happy, for this is the first time she had been called to the throne room. Her hard work must have paid off, she thought.
She entered the throne room. What caught her sight was not the glittering, gem-laden pillars of the room, nor the beautiful ornaments that were there, making the scenery quite a sight to behold. Instead, what she looked at was of course, her father, sitting in his throne..looking down at her, with what she could only sense as...disdain.
She felt strange. Though he had indeed looked at her, she felt that it was not the look that she wanted from him. Not at all.
"Kneel."
Her father said in a cold, commanding voice.
One word. She hurriedly pushed her thoughts aside, kneeling as her body slightly trembles, afraid that he would be mad at her for not doing so immediately.
After a long bout of silence, she finally heard the king speak.
"You, what have you been doing all this time?"
These words confused her greatly. She then replied in a small voice.
"W-what do you mean, f-father? I-"
"What do I mean? You have been training for years now, and all you've achieved is just a mere 6th Level Mortal Realm. Have you no shame? Your brothers and sisters achieved that with half the time!"
Her mind was on turmoil. She never could have known that after all that hard work, her father would be this mad at her. She could not hold back her emotions and hurriedly replied.
"Father, I-I did my best...I promise! But i-if you want I can train even harder!"
She pleaded with her father, tears on the corner of her eyes. She did not want to see her father looking at her like that, as if she was a worthless thing, only fit for throwing away.
"Enough! I am done wasting resources on you. I am sending you to the Golden Dragon Sect, at the Resplendent Jade Kingdom. Maybe you will see some improvement there. Until then, you are not allowed to set foot to this kingdom. Do not disappoint me again."
"B-but father...please!"
The little girl could no longer hold back, her tears streaming down her face as she begged.
"I said enough! And as for calling me your father...you do not have the right!"
Those words struck her down like lightning, and even though this was a long time ago, these words still hunted the girl to the present.
Days passed as she prepared for her travel to the Golden Dragon Sect. For three days, she did not sleep, nor eat...she only looked outside her room's window with a blank expression on her face.
After a month of traveling, She had finally arrived at the Heavenly Dragon Sect. It is a relatively unknown sect, one of many among the Resplendent Jade Kingdom. Her father must have sent her here to throw her away, she thought.
Rumors have already spread that she was in fact, a princess. Though from which kingdom, even the elders did not know.
With the rumors, many people, including the elders, approached her and treated her as a superior in hopes of currying a favor. She, however, disliked their attitude, seeing it as nothing more than a fake; a facade they put on to please her.
Days passed as she mindlessly trained and studied, nothing but redemption on her mind, and no one to accompany her but the feeling of what she had always been fond of...emptiness.
Until one day, she found a boy training by a riverbank. She gasped as the boy punched a boulder twice his own size, shattering it to pieces. She also saw wisps of black spiritual energy from his fist, which could only mean one thing.
"I-impossible, he is already a late stage Awakened Mortal?"
Her mind raced as she looked at the boy, which she guessed was only around her age. Suddenly, a thought popped in her head, as she called out to the boy in a loud voice.
"Hey, hey you! Come here now."
Her haughty demeanor, that of a princess, became apparent in her tone of voice. After all, she grew up in a palace, where everyone was at her beck and call.
The boy looked at her and tilted his head, wondering what could she possibly want. After a couple of seconds, he came over to the where the girl was.
"What."
That's it. That all the boy said. The princess furrowed her eyebrows. Is he acting like he doesn't know who she is? She wondered.
"What do you mean- Listen to me... You have to tell me who is your master!"
Though she was annoyed by the boy's lack of words, she was quite excited at the idea of knowing this boy's master. She thought that with this boy's master teaching him, she might finally redeem herself to her father!
"I don't have a master."
The boy replied shortly.
"Then who taught you how to cultivate?"
The girl's thoughts were suddenly stumped as she heard what the boy just said. He had no master? Surely he's not going to say-
"I did."
The girl furrowed her eyebrows once again. Is he showing off to her? After all, there were countless disciples here that tried to do that once it was revealed that she was a princess.
"Stop lying and be serious right now!"
The girl is quite annoyed by this boy. Not only is he very stingy with his words, who knew he was such a braggart!
"I am."
The boy said with a serious look on his face.
After a little while, the girl is slowly starting to realize that what the boy is saying, might be true.
A self-taught genius! Even her brothers and sisters had masters of their own. Who knew that this boy, who was only at her age, would be this great!
"You...you must show me how you managed to be so strong!"
She hurriedly asked the boy in a commanding tone. Her haughtiness, once again, showing in her voice.
"No."
"Well then- W-what? What do you mean no?"
The boy's abrupt reply left her in shock, as if she couldn't believe what she had just heard.
"I won't, please don't bother me again."
The boy replied. He then turned his back and slowly walked away, looking to return to his training.
"W-wait...please. I told you to stop!"
She shouted. The boy, however, did not stop.
At that moment, she remembered her father's rejection of her; his scornful gaze still fresh on her mind. Little by little, her hopes of redeeming herself slowly faded, as the sound of the boy's steps slowly got farther and farther away.
*Sniff *Sob
Just moments after the boy had walked away, the girl covered her eyes with her sleeves, trying to stop her tears from falling.
"P-please, I beg you...don't go..."
She had nowhere else to turn to. She went to every master she could find in the sect, but like those in her kingdom, they were not able to give her results. Her only hope was this boy, but like her father...he just turned his back on her...
"Why?"
"W-what?"
As the girl wiped her tear, she saw the boy had stopped walking. Now, he was staring at her, asking her a question.
"Why do you want to be strong?"
The boy stared at her. What she saw in his face was a look completely foreign to her.
A look of genuine concern and compassion.
He had given her a chance to explain herself, and without further hesitation...she told him everything.
From the times she trained so hard her body almost gave up on her, to the point where his father had heartlessly sent her away from the palace.
All the hurt and emotions she had kept hidden inside had burst out, as she told her story to the boy. She, after all, was only a ten-year-old girl. Although she had managed to keep all of her struggles inside under the premise of "pride" or "being strong", she can't help but let go when she had finally found someone who was willing to finally just listen to her.
...
After some time, she had finally finished telling her story. Her eyes were red, tears still falling down her eyes as she glanced at the boy, waiting for him to speak.
"So you do not need strength after all. What you really want is your father to acknowledge you..."
After a long time of contemplation, the boy finally spoke. Then he added:
"Well, what I would like to advise you is to not try and please him anymore...because to be blunt, he just sounds like a bastard to me."
The girl's eyes widened in surprise to the boy's unusually lengthy words. And another thing, she was shocked by the boy's frankness as she was sure that she told him that her father was the king of the Azure Phoenix Kingdom...but this boy just called him a bastard!
But even still, she had hoped that the boy would train her. Nothing but the thought of redemption was on her mind, and the key to that was this boy in front of him!
"But...even so...I want to..."
The girl said as she tried to swallow back her sobs, afraid that the boy wouldn't train her after all.
"Ahh, alright already. Stop crying will you?"
"Ah! D-do you mean?"
"Yes, yes, okay? I'll teach you how I do my cultivation! Just stop crying already!"
The girl's face suddenly beamed with joy, as she wiped her eyes with her sleeves. With this, she finally had hope.
"Here."
On the boy's outstretched hand, a piece of cloth was seen as he motioned for her to get it.
"You'll get snot on your clothes."
The boy said, with a smirk on his face.
Then, in one swift motion, she swiped the cloth from his hands, then blew her nose on it.
"Agh! What have you done?! That was my last one!"
"Tch, serves you right! You actually dare to make a girl cry!"
She then smiled inside her head. She knew that the boy was just trying to lighten up the mood between them. She just remembered..she still do not know his name.
"Come to think it, I-I still don't know your name."
The boy then looked at her. And with a modest smile on his face, he then replied:
"Just call me Zheng Jin."
- Writer
