Seeing that Yinri stopped questioning her, Xia Lian breathed out a sigh of relief.
"Are you taking your brother with you?" After a few moments of silence, Yinri voiced out her doubts.
"Yes, I am. I'm not leaving him behind."
"Isn't it dangerous? I can take care of him." Yinri suggested. She was truly worried that it is dangerous for a kid to venture out in this world, specially a kid of Xia Ming's age. And with Xia Ming to look after, can Xia Lian concentrate on her welfare. She would most probably use her life to defend and save him. She would even take an arrow to her heart without second thoughts.
Though she had not been long by Xia Lian's side in this world, she could never mistake the deep bond between the brother and sister. No matter in what way she thought, it would be beneficial for both of them to stay separated.
"No, he is going with me." There was no hesitation in Xia Lian's tone, with clouded eyes she spoke " I promised that I will take care of him. I don't want to take any chances with him. If it is me, I will save him using my life as a wager. If I leave him with you, he will be an additional burden for you lot. The tasks which I gave you are not easy, so, concentrate on it."
The resoluteness in her voice left no room for any doubt or further questioning.
Yinri could only swallow her grievances as she knew that her commander would not appreciate any further suggestions from her. Xia Lian has made up her mind and no one could change her decisions. Knowing her commander the best, Yinri wisely did not push further. But, she was curious about one thing.
"Who did you promise?"
"His mother and the soul of this body, his true sister." Xia Lian sighed.
...
Far away in the Qilin empire, Xuan Li Wei felt a sharp throbbing in his head.
"It's the seventh time in these two days."Massaging the area between his brows, he wondered out loud.
Xuan Li Wei did not understand the reason behind his tormenting headache. He was physically sound and his mind was not ill either. He did not stress about anything except about the well being of Xia Lian. Bao Su, his well trained bodyguard was with her and, he was not worrying about her to the point of getting sick, well not yet.
"What's wrong with me?" A frown appeared between his brows as he thought of the palace doctor's words the previous day.
'Your Highness, there's nothing wrong with your body. A little rest is all you need.' that was what the old geezer had said. Following the old man's instructions, he had been resting since yesterday. But, there were no signs of improvement. The headaches started to attack him at regular intervals. The pain usually receded very quickly, making him wonder if the pain was there in the first place or not.
Now, it was different. An incense stick of time had passed, but the intensity of the pain only seemed to increase with time. The pain in his head shot up making his consciousness go into a blur. Blinking hard, Xuan Li Wei tried to keep himself awake.
His efforts were rendered futile as darkness embraced his vision, his body went limp as his upper body hit the table with a thud.
As he blacked out, Xuan Li Wei felt a scene playing out in his mind.
'Grandfather is truly infuriating! How dare he orders me around. I'm not a kid anymore.' A voice laced with anger echoed in the silent surroundings.
With a scowl etched on his face, the owner of the voice spread his wings and disappeared from his home. The cool air dashed against his face, but it did nothing to calm his turbulent emotions and chaotic thoughts. An angry roar escaped from his lips as he continued to fly around.
As the conversation between him and his grandfather played in his mind, a desire to destroy something gave birth in his heart, the feeling was so strong that he felt that he would die if he did not do something about it.
He needed to burn something!
He needed to destroy something!
Only then, he can calm his heart.
As the thought solidified in his mind, his eyes surveyed the land below.
All the land was barren within a few miles of radius. Even so, he was not heartbroken. His eyes still continued to search for any potential target.
Very soon he found one.
Spread over at least a hundred miles was a flower garden, interwoven in a myriad of colors the place seemed as if it's a heaven in the rather bland God's realm. As he neared the garden, he found that the garden contained orchids, only orchids of different colors.
So, the owner of this garden had a penchant towards orchids, he thought as he hovered in the air.
The garden was truly beautiful and something so beautiful acted as a thorn in his eyes. The garden was so peaceful that it formed a contradiction to his chaotic life. In all ways, the garden formed the prefect place for him to vent out his anger.
With a single flick of his finger, a sea of flames spread out in the garden destroying everything in it's path. As the raging flames carried out it's massacre, he landed in the middle, his eyes taking pleasure in the ongoing destruction.
Just when he thought everything was going on well, he was startled by a voice behind him.
'You shrimp! How dare you set a fire in my garden! You are going to pay for this!'
Feeling a murderous gaze on his back, he turned around, startled.
He did not even get the chance to see the owner of the voice because he felt a pair of fingers hitting the area between his brows. A warm energy spread from the fingers to him igniting a burning trail in his body. The burning sensation increased and slowly he fell onto the ground following which his body began to twitch.