(Lian Li POV)
A week passed by in the blink of an eye.
Diao Chan managed to fulfill her conditions to be accepted as Master's student.
Although her methods were rather… Dramatic… I still have to admit that the fact it played out so smoothly was testament to her skills.
One of us would keep an eye on her after our lessons with Master, watching her direct that little 'play' of hers she had thought out herself.
Even Eris had given praise to her acting. She had claimed Diao Chan was a natural actor unlike herself who had relied on switching personalities to act.
Though they may look similar on the surface, it was a different matter when it came to the actor's mentality.
Eris crafts her personalities from scratch, fully integrating herself with her other personalities to create an extremely lifelike persona that she occupies.
This allows her to truly believe the character she is playing as is her real self, but it makes switching of characters midway impossible.
That is, until we came along and enlightened her.
Though she has yet to tell us the names of the other personalities of hers, I know for a fact that 'Eris' was also a crafted personality she had made after Master named her.
I do not think her real person has surfaced yet so far, at least, she has yet to show it to us.
On the other hand, Diao Chan seemed to be an expert at donning masks.
She still remains as Diao Chan at heart, but she just dons various different masks for different people and scenes.
"She was groomed to be adept at political intrigue," Manami had stated once after observing her. "Groomed to be nothing but a chess piece within the game that is."
Regardless, throughout that one week, she managed to keep those four idiots out of trouble.
Permanently, that is.
And no one even knew what had happened to them.
Hmmm? What did we do? Nothing much, really.
For the official records, those four pieces of trash just gathered their things and left the Sect one day, apparently having a falling out amongst each other.
Some of us were just out for a stroll and saw some trash lying around, so we cleaned it up, naturally.
Cai Hong did the most thorough cleaning amongst us which she was really proud of, taking a really long nap on Master's lap after she did so.
As for that Feng Xian guy, what everyone else knew was that he had decided to return to his home country, leaving Diao Chan here.
I will admit, none of us was very receptive about Diao Chan at first. But when she became the first one to pass through our Redemption Trial with a smile on her face, we knew we had found another sister.
I had thought she would be especially proud of her flawless skin to see it scratched, but she had taken everything with a smile while chanting Master's holy name.
She would go far as a High Priestess.
Speaking of which, Diao Chan is standing in front of Master within his courtyard's pavilion now.
Master took a sip from the tea that Manami had made for him, the three of us standing behind him while he sat at the table with Cai Hong on his lap.
"Umu, I have heard from Elder Qing that they had chosen to leave the Sect instead of staying and they caused no problems within this one week. Since I didn't say they had to stay, you have completed your punishment, Diao Chan."
Diao Chan twiddled her fingers nervously, "Does… Does that mean?"
Master nodded, "Pack your things and move to my disciples' building tonight. Lessons will start tomorrow."
Diao Chan brightened, immediately getting on her knees, "Disciple Diao Chan greets Master!"
"Umu, you may go first," Master nodded to her.
She got up on her feet, giving Master a perfect bow before scurrying off.
"What do you girls think about her?" Master asked, turning around to face us.
"I think she's ok, Master," I answered. "She did work hard to fulfill Master's expectations."
Manami nodded beside me, her tails swishing in the air, "Fufufu~ I am of the same opinion, Master. She's just a girl who had made a mistake in a moment of panic, she did just arrive from a different country after all."
"I also think she would make a great sister, Master," Eris supplemented.
Cai Hong looked up at Master, "Cai Hong also thinks she is nice…"
"Umu, very well then. Although it's a bit surprising that the other four men had chosen to leave, I think it's a good chance for you girls to mingle with the other students."
"Master, you trouble yourself too much for us," I bowed my head in reverence.
Master reached out to pat my head, "Nonsense, this is nothing. Just be nice to the other students and make some friends ok?"
"Of course, Master," Manami bowed as well.
A low growl emanated from Cai Hong's belly.
"Cai Hong hungry… Papa cook?" Cai Hong asked, looking up at Master with pleading eyes.
Master smiled helplessly, "Alright, alright. Eris, come. I have a new dish to teach you."
"Right away!" Eris answered enthusiastically.
*
(Diao Chan POV)
Master accepted me!
Ahhh~~ I can almost feel the imaginary chain locking itself around my neck now… So good~
During that week of punishment, my sisters had dropped in on me to check on how I was doing and they felt rather pleased at the play I had devised.
For my performance and plans in making Feng Xian's life miserable, they were willing to accept me as their fellow sister.
But they had stated that I still need to go through a Redemption Trial because of my initial disrespect for Master before they accepted me as one of them.
I had accepted to go through the trial without a second thought.
Anything to allow me to stay with Master.
They instructed me to meet them in their room in the middle of the night before Manami teleported us to another dimly lit room.
Within the room, they taught me the words of the Holy Text and enlightened me to the Divine Being that is Master.
After I had comprehended Master's greatness, my trial began.
As a person who had sinned against Master, I had to be punished first.
My sins were great, I had only been the second to anger the most benevolent being that is Master. Such a fact was enough to warrant my death a million times over.
But because of Master's kindness, I just had to pass his Redemption Trial to clear my sins.
First to go were my fingers, then the hand, the lower arm and finally the entire arm.
Then came the whipping and carving, the four of them working together with such efficiency as though this had been performed a hundred times.
I felt more liberated for every mark they made against my body. It felt like my spirit was soaring higher and higher with each time they struck, getting me closer and closer to Master.
No doubt had Master been the one doing this to me, I would have climaxed with his very first strike.
I imagined Master as the one with me, pushing me down and pinning me to the floor with his hand at my neck, choking me.
The pain would be glorious.
Too absorbed I was by my fantasy, that I didn't know the trial was over until Lian Li slipped a pill inside my mouth, making my entire body recover instantly.
She had mentioned it was a pill that only Master could make, a godly divine pill of such capabilities were definitely not of this world and yet she had more. Only Master could be giving it away like they were pieces of candy.
All of them welcomed me as a fellow sister after that.
I can't wait for Master to punish me!
