Finally Ready

4 years later...

*****

Xia Lan's grandfather burst through his granddaughter's door at dawn.

"WAKE UP, SWEETIE, IT'S YOUR 16TH BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!! I ALREADY HAVE EVERYTHING PLANNED OUT!!!!!!!!!!!! WE CAN GO LISTEN TO THE ZITHER AT YOUR FAVORITE RESTAURANT AND THAN GO VISIT THE JADE LAKE AND THEN WE CAN GO SHOPPING!!!!!!!"

"Grandfather," she started as she got up from her bed, "First, I don't have a favorite restaurant. Second, I hate going outside,"

'and remembering that I'm in ancient China.' she thinks.

"And third, IT IS 3 IN THE MORNING, GO BACK TO SLEEP, YOU INSANE GRANDFATHER OF MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"But, you always spend time with your Uncle on your birthdays and have fun with him. You two always leave me out!!!" he whined.

'Have fun? I've been tortured half to death while I spend time with him in order to make my body stronger so I could absorb the Spirit Jade.' she thought. 'I have to go through living hell every day because I didn't absorb the Spirit Jade already and I have my Uncle torturing me.'

"Grandfather, if you don't leave, I'll tell Grandmother that you've been going to the brothel to drink with that pretty girl called Mei." Her grandfather paled and quickly ran out. She sighed and got ready for the day. After she got ready, she went to visit her Uncle. When she entered her Uncle's underground chamber, she saw him look happy.

"Why are you smiling?" she asked.

"After today, your body will finally be strong enough to absorb the Spirit Jade. And then, you'll help me take over the entire Middle Realm and we can get revenge for my older brother."

Xia Lan didn't say anything and just strapped herself to the wall. "Just get on with it. I want to start eating normally after this, not once a week."

"But I need to warn you about something. This will hurt more than any other pain I've inflicted on you. Are you ready?"

'These past 4 years, the pain my Uncle inflicted on me wasn't half as bad as Mr. Nan had done to me in my other life. This won't hurt as bad as the pain I've felt before.' She thought bitterly.

"Yes, I'm ready."

"Eat this," he said and gave her a pill."It'll multiply the pain a billionfold, unlike the other thousandfold pills."

When Xia Lan had eaten the pill, her Uncle had taken a deep breath and took his whip to start whipping his niece. The second the whip had touched her, she felt a very familiar searing pain.

'Wait, this is Mr. Nan's level of pain. MR. NAN!!!!!!!!!'

Xia Lan had started to giggle while she felt the searing pain. She wanted more of it, she wanted to remember the intense pain that Mr. Nan had given her in her past life when she had confessed in their early 20s. He had hurt her every day since then, but she didn't care because she got to stay with him. When she became a psychologist, she decided to give Mr. Nan a psychology session. When her clueless self had finally discovered how broken Mr. Nan was and that he was using her as a tool, she left him. After that, though she missed him terribly, she would stay away from him.

When her Uncle whipped her continuously, for the first time in 4 years of torture, she started sobbing, not from physical pain, but from emotional pain. She loved the searing pain because it reminded her of the toxic relationship she had with Mr. Nan.

Through her sobs, she was also giggling and calling out "Mr. Nan".

Her Uncle, although confused by her antics, continued whipping her.

"You know," she started, "Mr. Nan was the man I loved in my past life. I was completely obsessed with the man, and then I made the stupid decision of telling him how I felt." She was laughing at herself now.

"Everyday after that, he would torture me. And I would let him. It hurt so much, but I forgave it all because I loved him so terribly. the man had also hurt me mentally. When I became a psychologist, he asked if I could have a session with me. I did, and my idiotic self had said yes because it was the first time he ever asked something from me, instead of just taking it forcefully. After I had finished, I discovered that he was using me as a tool." Xia Lan had started to cry harder, and her uncle whipped her while listening to her tragic love story.

"Then I decided to run away since he didn't need me around as much as I needed him. I didn't bother him after that. But three months after, his cronies abducted me and he gave me 2 choices, join him and be part of his gang, or die. I obviously chose death, I would never traffick drugs or harass innocent people. That's how I died, Uncle."

*****

When Xia Lan had finished her story, her Uncle had also finished whipping her.

"Well, it's been 4 years, and your body's finally strong enough to absorb the Spirit Jade"

*****