âAnd,â Chu Ran turned his head to the girl, âyou should know there will always be stronger masters out there than your old man I. Who knows when your pa here will leave you forever one day so my hope now is that you will listen to Bai Yanâs words. Though that one has a bad temper, butâ¦. aside from your brother and you, she is the other person in this world I trust the most. You wonât suffer by follow her instructions.â
Chu Yi Yiâs heart trembled at those heartfelt words. In all the years sheâs been living, sheâs always been playing and playing, but now, for the first time in her short lifespan, thereâs a strong impulseâ¦.. a impulse to get stronger. Back then she could always rely on her brother and pa to hold up the heavens for herself, and then Bai Yan came along to be the third, thatâs why she never feared anything in life. But now, she wants to do it herself!
âPa, I understand.â
I must be stronger, only by being stronger than everyone else will I be able to protect the Holy Land in Paâs stead.
Perhaps Chu Ran didnât realize it at the time but this invasion by a foreign power has caused the mentality in this girl to change, and that twinkling light those eyes were evident of Yi Yiâs perseverance.
â¦â¦
Fairy City.
When Bai Yan first stepped through the ruins of the Wang familyâs estate, her heart literally sank at the tragedy that has fallen this household. Itâs a devastating scene. Thereâs blood everywhere and countless bodies piled across the courtyard.
Just like his mother, Bai Xiachenâs reaction was just as bad but more exaggerated due to his tender age. Running inside with a panicking face: âWang Xiaopeng (chubby), Wang Xiaotong (sister), Uncle Wang!â He searched and searched. Sadly, the kid found no traces of the pair of siblings that he so dearly wishes to see.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âMother.â Clinging onto the womanâs dress after failing to find anyone, the little steambunâs tear-stricken face looked pale and horrified. âXiaopeng and Xiaotong are both gone, I canât find them or Uncle Wang anywhere. Did they face an accident like the rest here?â
Giving her son a comforting rub on the head: âThink positive, itâs good that you didnât find them yet. It proves they are still alive.â
âReally?â Thereâs a pinch of hope in the kidâs face,?Mother must be right. If I canât find their bodies then that can only mean they either ran away or hid somewhere.
Then from out of the blue, a slight rustling sound from another spot of the manor had caught their attention. Before the boy only searched the main rooms and guest rooms, not the wooden shack housing the firewood near the kitchen. Therefore, Bai Yanâs gaze almost immediately turned towards that direction without a second thought after picking up the movement.
âThere must be someone inside the firewood shack in that direction.â Lowering her voice in a hush tone, she leads the boy and little missy over in tittering steps. âCome, we will go see.â
It didnât take much walking to reach their destination, only a few turns around the corner. Using her hand, Bai Yan pushes the door open following a creaking sound of rusted metal and old wood. There, she could see the young girl holding a kitchen knife. Sheâs only around eight to nine years old, but that terrified face and crying tears told the other side she mustâve experienced something horrible.
âXiaotong?â Startled at first, Bai Xiachenâs face immediately turned from surprise to great joy.
Maybe itâs the familiar voice of the boy, or its her name being called out, but the young girl dropped that kitchen knife and literally threw herself at the other side. She wailed and cried wholeheartedly at that moment like sheâs pouring out those pent-up emotions.
âMy brother⦠my brother was taken by those evil people, and my father is also gone. Uooohhhh, Iâm so scared, Iâm scaredâ¦.â