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Thirty eight years ago, a prominent cultivator from the Fu Clan was blessed with a baby girl. He named her Fu Suhai. After two years, per traditions, he took his wife and sweet girl to visit a wise man a few villages over to have her fortune told. All Fu Clan members must have a clear vision of their future to choose the right path in cultivation. They might be a small clan but they're proud of the generations of clean cut men and women they've trained and set free into the world. The Fu Clan was in a low-key war against the Koi Clan for many years. It started with a misunderstanding and escalated into planned assassinations and indirect slander.
They've never declared an all out war but everyone knew they despised each other. Suhai's father was carrying his daughter on his back, listening to her sing out of tune when he heard swords clashing from afar. Normally, he would be morally obligated to go check out the conflict and try to help in any way. But with his wife and daughter present, he had no choice but to ignore it and change course to avoid it.
His conscience was burdened with guilt. By the time they reached the nearest village, he decided to leave his wife and daughter at the nearest tea house and travel back to make sure the fighting he heard earlier was over. He ran all the way until he was met with a scene that broke his heart. A family of five were all murdered; a woman, three boys and one girl. The girl was the same age as his daughter and he couldn't help but shed a few tears while caressing her bloody hair. No one deserves this kind of unjust death. If he only stopped to help this poor family, some of them might have survived.
He was distracted with his guilt to notice a man shaking with rage approach him shouting: "YOU EVIL MONSTER! WHAT DID YOU DO!"
He was shocked by the accusation: "It wasn't me! I just stopped by to help!"
The man before him was wearing Koi Clan sigil. He took out his sword shedding tears and yelling: "YOU KILLED MY FAMILY!"
Suhai's father stood, holding his hands up and mumbling his innocence. His pleas fell on deaf ears. The father of the dead family saw blood on his hands and without a second thought used his sword to strike the man dead. His family is gone but now they will rest in peace knowing that they have been avenged.
He sat between the corpses and felt despair consume him. His family are all dead. He has nothing to live for. How could this happen? He was not an evil man. Why would anyone do this?
He heard someone approaching from behind and his reflexes kicked in. He swung his sword, eliminating the threat in one sweep. His ears were ringing from the rush of events and after a few seconds, he heard a child crying. His eyes watered with relief: "Ashi, is that you?"
His daughter was sobbing underneath a strange woman and the father in him wanted nothing more than to hold her and comfort her. He picked up his bloody child and rocked her until she fell asleep. He stroked her hair whispering: "Don't worry. I will protect you. I will keep you safe."
He kept his promise for many years. His daughter, Koi Shi, grew up to become a very strong cultivator. After that day, the man vowed to never let his daughter witness bloodshed again. He encouraged her to pursue a more noble profession; medicine. He sent her to well known doctors around the sect to learn new techniques. Then urged her to travel around from city to city to refine her skills. By the age of 30, she developed a very reputable name as a healer.
One day, Koi Shi asked her father about a physician she wishes to study under. He was a man from the Fu Clan. Her father initially refused because of the animosity between the clans but she snuck out and went to study under the Fu Clan physician using an alias. During her stay there, she felt a deep connection to an old lady that supplies herbs to the clan. The lady would deliver supplies every other day and sit with Shi, telling her stories about the past.
One particular story got stuck in Shi's head. The old lady told her that 28 years ago, a man and his wife took their two year old daughter to get her fortune told and never returned. What was odd about the story is the way the woman described the young girl. She called her; little turtle. Shi asked the old lady: "Why did you call the girl 'little turtle'?"
The old lady laughed and said: "When the girl was born, her parents didn't know what to name her. She had a white mark on her stomach that looked like a turtle shell so we called her little turtle until her parents blessed her with a fitting name. By then it was too late. Everyone kept calling her little turtle."
Shi was in a state of shock. She had a white mark on her stomach that looked like a turtle. Could this be a coincidence? She kept asking the old lady many questions every time they met until Shi was convinced that she's the little turtle from the old ladies tales.
Her head was spinning with so many questions. What happened? She knew for a fact that her father is a well known member of the Koi Clan, so he was not the missing Fu cultivator. This led her to the two possible conclusions: She was kidnapped as a child or she somehow got switched with the real Koi Shi. But.. What happened to the missing man and women from the Fu Clan, her biological parents? How did she end up being raised by an enemy clan?
She was muddled with so many inquiries that she found herself doubting her very existence. She approached the grandmaster healer one day with her story, hoping he could shed some light over what happened. He looked at her with sadness and told her what he assumed was the truth. 28 years ago, Fu Clan Leader delivered six bodies for him to examine before burial. Two women, one man, three boys and a young girl. Fu Clan recognized the man and women as fellow clan members but the rest were identified only by their sigil as Koi Clan members. The healer was asked to keep the matter under wraps and they were all buried in unmarked graves.
This kind of incident could cause a war to ignite between the clans. Fu Clan Leader chose to hide this to keep the illusion of peace going. Mouths were shut and days went by until it was reduced to a story told by an old lady selling herbs.
Shi was livid. She had no one to blame and no one to seek answers from. The healer confirmed her mark and informed Fu Clan Leader about her true identity. The man who raised her was a doting father. He was the kind that led by example and rarely scolded her even when she acted up. He was a peaceful man. When Fu Clan Leader accused him of killing two people and kidnapping her, she stood her ground and defended him. Needless to say, this reached the Koi clan and things escalated fast.
She tried everything to broker peace between the clans. They both claimed that she's part of their clan and ended up picking a prodding each other. Her father was accused of murder and sentenced to death by hanging. Shi was forced to stay with the Fu Clan physician and was banned from seeing her father before his execution. This dreadful atmosphere lasted for seven years until she couldn't take it anymore.
When Grandmaster Qiren arrived to meet with the clan grandmaster healer, he offered her a way out. She was the daughter of two rival clans who neither can accept or trust her. Her father died without having a chance to defend or explain himself to her. She had skills that were buried under politics and mainstream. What she craved the most is freedom and to stop this endless civil war.
Grandmaster Qiren offered her sanctuary in Cloud Recesses. By associating herself with Gusu Lan Clan, one of the largest and most influential cultivator clans known to man, she will gain immunity and means to practice medicine without worrying about betrayal and old grudges.
He brokered a peace between the two clans; naming her the daughter of both and changing her name to fit her past and present. She is now known as Fu Shi.
Wuxian looked at the oddly sober woman with disbelief in his eyes: "That's an epic story."
Fu Shi smiles sadly at him: "That's my epic story."
Wuxian puts down his cup and feels grief wash over him: "I'm sorry you had to go through that."
Shi shook her head: "It's fine. I'm free now.. just like you."
They shared a smile and Wuxian tried again: "I don't see how that would stop you from pursuing Zewu Jun."
She chuckles at him and moves the jar from his reach: "You must be drunk."
Wuxian pouts at her: "I am not drunk.. yet. Give me a good excuse as to why you're not a good match to my brother-in-bond?"
Shi sighs at him and pours herself a cup. She drinks it and says: "I'm the byproduct of lies and murder. The clan that I was born into thinks I'm the enemy and the clan that raised me thinks I'm a spy. I was raised by my father's killer and I still have nothing but love and respect for him. I traded myself to prevent a civil war and I doubt anyone would shed a tear over my absence. I am a woman without roots or purpose. Why would I saddle a man like Zewu Jun knowing well that my reputation will serve nothing but bring shame to his good name."
Wuxian bursts out laughing to the point where his eyes are shedding tears: "Are you being serious right now? Have you met me?"
Shi looked at him like he'd lost his mind: "What about you?"
Wuxian wipes his tears away and smiles at her: "Not to poop on your pity parade but my past makes yours look like peanuts in comparison. And yet.. I'm bonded to the most influential man in Gusu Lan Clan."
Shi frowns at him: "What past?"
Wuxian smirks at her: "Have you heard of Yiling Patriarch?"
Shi sits back and thinks for a second: "The man who controls the army of the dead?"
Wuxian smiles wickedly at her: "That was my title before I joined this clan."
She swallows hard and turns her head to look at Wen Ning. That explains a lot. She whispers to Wuxian while pointing to Ning: "He's not alive, is he?"
Wuxian shakes his head: "He's a conscious fierce corpse that I've created."
It took her a few minutes to digest what she just learned. This soft, delicate man in front of her is the feared Yiling Patriarch she heard the old lady tell horror stories about? Unbelievable.
She stares at Wuxian while he takes out another jar and pours more wine into his cup then strokes Da Ziran's rabbit fur: "You can stare all you want. It won't change my past."
Shi: "I would say you're lying but no one would associate themselves with such a horrific title unless it's true. Are all the stories about you real?"
Wuxian shrugs: "Probably not. People tend to exaggerate."
Shi was baffled: "How are you the Divine Oracle?"
Wuxian: "I don't know. I was chosen. It wasn't voluntary."
Shi took a deep breath and assessed the man before her. He was the definition of beauty with his slender body and glowing features. From what she observed, many fought to protect him, many cherished him and most of all, he was the glue that bonded Gusu Lan Clan together. She knew for a fact that he just recently joined this sect but they moved around him like he has always been the center of their existence. A man with such ability to connect people couldn't be evil or bad.
Shi: "Wei Wuxian, you make no sense to me."
Wuxian smiles at her: "Fu Shi, you make no sense to me either."
They looked at each other for a few seconds and suddenly felt an odd connection forming. Shi smiles back at him and says: "I guess we have a lifetime of friendship to understand one another, little rabbit."
Wuxian toasts his cup to her and says: "Indeed, little turtle."
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