Chapter 70 Men & Children

Xiao Zhi Ren might have heard each word that came out of Grandmaster Wang’s mouth but there was only a couple of things that he could completely comprehend. The rest of his words seemed too complicated for him to grasp at the moment.

He kept rubbing his thumb over the engraved thunderbolt on the hilt of the dagger with a gaze brimming with disbelief. His feelings were conflicted at the moment since he couldn’t decide whether he was agonized or alarmed.

If his own blood-related family was behind his mother’s death then he really wasn’t sure how to react anymore. Lost in his own thoughts he didn’t see that a certain green-eyed person was leaning against an old tree.

Ru had a cigarette between her lips as she puffed out wisps of white smoke in a languid manner. She seemed content in her own world. As she finally saw Xiao Zhi Ren coming this way, she threw the cigarette butt and extinguished it underneath her handmade leather shoes.

She straightened her posture and called out, "Hey, Zhi!"

Xiao Zhi Ren was so deeply immersed in his thoughts that he didn’t even hear Ru’s voice. She frowned at the side for being ignored like this and paced up to his side. There was a height difference of about half a head or so between both of them and it made it easier for Ru to put her arm around his shoulder catching him by surprise. "Neighbor, are you ignoring this young master?"

Feeling a dangerous edge to her voice, Xiao Zhi Ren reacted almost immediately, "What are you saying? I was lost in my own thoughts." While he spoke, he subtly hid the dagger in his pocket but Ru’s keen eyes had already caught sight of something shiny. She might not know other things but she knew a dagger when she saw one.

How could she not recognize the toys that she played with?

But seeing him acting mysteriously, she didn’t try to pry at all. Instead, she got straight to business. "Why are you so late? I’ve been waiting for you here. And this lor- Ahem! I mean, this young master hate waiting." She tacitly altered her words with a dry cough. ’You really need to get over this habit of calling yourself this lord.’ She nodded her head agreeing with that nagging voice of her conscious.

"You have been waiting? And that too for me?" Xiao Zhi Ren tilted his head to give her look of suspicion. "Why? We are not even friends as Chairman Xie has already cleared up."

’Oh, look... He’s still not over your comment about not being friends.’ Ru rolled her eyes at that pesky voice in her head. But she didn’t want to pursue this not so important topic. "Of course, I was waiting for you. You won the bet. I had to wait for you." Ru stated straightforwardly.

"Oh, right! The bet!" At Xiao Zhi Ren’s reaction, Ru felt unpleasant.

"Aiyoh, I shouldn’t have reminded him about the bet," she muttered to herself as she retracted her hand back from his shoulders. ’As if you could live with an unpaid debt.’ Wasn’t this irksome voice getting too plucky?

Xiao Zhi Ren couldn’t help but curl his lips up in amusement as he said, "I should feel honored that Chairman Xie Rong actually stayed behind to wait for me."

"Yes, you should." With her impassive face, she said, "Now, you have two wishes. Make your wish wisely."

"What are you? A genie? Choose your wish wisely. Hmph!" Xiao Zhi Ren mimicked her earlier expressions as he snorted.

"Consider me a genie for now... Because I can grant you all that you desire except for two things."

"What exceptions are those?" He asked inquisitively.

"Don’t ask me to save a life or take a life," Ru answered keeping her face expressions blank not letting a bit of her emotions display.

Xiao Zhi Ren was surprised by her reply. Never in his wildest dreams, he thought that her answer would be this weird. But then again the young ’man’ before him had never been the predictable type. ’I really should get used to him.’ He reminded himself.

"Are you trying to tell me that you’re an innocent Chairman whose hands are so clean that he won’t take someone’s life?" Xiao Zhi Ren’s ironic remark had little to no effect on Ru.

Ru blinked her eyes as her long lashes fluttered like the butterfly wings. A smile had formed on her face that sent cold chills to run up Xiao Zhi Ren’s spine. He was startled for a second to see such reaction from his own instincts under her alluring and yet cold eyes.

"I am anything but innocent... But then again you are not any different..." Her sly smile didn’t fade as she went on, "In this wild reality of life, innocence has just become a game." Looking in a distance, she added, "We all play this game but we still keep our wild sides."

Not wanting to stay any longer in these woods, Ru turned towards the small road and climbed on her bicycle which was parked under a tree.

"You brought your own ride even here?" Xiao Zhi Ren wanted to give her a look of incredulity but realized that it didn’t matter at all. The young ’man’ before him was really out of this world.

Paddling her bicycle in a circle around him, Ru stated, "Zhi, men are just like children; both are possessive over three things."

"And what are those things?" At this point, Xiao Zhi Ren’s mind had completely been distracted from the topic that upset him.

Seeing him so intrigued by her words, Ru gave a subtle smile in victory. Her mission of distracting him had been accomplished.

By placing one foot on the road, she stopped the bicycle right before him and looked straight at his defined face. "Children are possessive over their candies, toys and their dreams. As for men, we are possessive over..." She lifted one finger and said, "Our money..." Lifting the second finger she added, "Our pride or ego whatever you wanna call it..." Pointing at her bicycle she added, "And our rides."

From Xiao Zhi Ren’s simple question of why she brought her ride to Jingshen, she gave such a detailed answer. Xiao Zhi Ren wasn’t sure whether he was supposed to be in awe at her ability to manipulate words or just punch her in the face for making his mind dizzy.

He took a deep breath burying the urge to really punch that handsome face before his eyes that was grinning widely at the moment. "Aren’t men also possessive about their women?"

"My dear neighbor..." Her already low, and husky voice seemed a bit melodious as she went on, "If their woman is not their pride, do you think they’ll be possessive about her?" Xiao Zhi Ren was stumped for words. "A woman is either a man’s pride or ego. Those are the only possibilities. After all, there is no in between heaven and hell."

Dumbfounded Xiao Zhi Ren stood there trying to let those heavy words sink in his mind. It was one of those moments when Xiao Zhi Ren really had no words to argue with Ru. And oddly, it was such a topic that he didn’t want to argue foolishly as well.

"Do you want a ride?" Xiao Zhi Ren eyed her bicycle weirdly. "Hmm... It’ll be weird for two grown men to ride the same bicycle, right?"

"What do you think?" He retorted.

"Fine... I’ll walk with you." Ru had to relent since there was no traffic on this small path between the woods. Ru got down from her bicycle and walked side-by-side with Xiao Zhi Ren. "Have you thought of a wish?" After walking some distance she asked again.

"What if I really want you to take someone’s life?"

"I don’t like playing with lives for someone else’s sake. I’m the demon who has his own rules. If I’m gonna take someone’s life that too... has to be on my own stakes." Altering back to her jolly persona, she said, "This genie is offering you the world and here you are asking for a petty human life? Think big... If you can’t then think wisely."

This time around Xiao Zhi Ren put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her neck close. "How about being my sworn brother instead?" Ru’s eyes widened and her steps faltered as she almost tripped down but it was a good thing that Xiao Zhi Ren still hand an arm around her neck. Otherwise, she really would have fell face flat on the ground.