While Fei Bai Mu, Shen An De, and Hong Ai worried deeply about what would happen with Xiang Yu in the future and whether he’d fly off the rails and indiscriminately attack everyone, the person in question was curiously looking around the estate of the Hua family.

As Hua Lin Yu, he actually hadn’t spent much time here, but then, he still remembered it very well. Now though, there was something that drew his attention even more: As a fallen god, he could remember everything from his trial starting from the moment he had been born. So, naturally, he also remembered how Xin Lan had come to see him at that time already.

He pursed his lips when he suddenly thought of how much that terrible dragon had insulted his looks but seeing how he had still carried him around later on, he also couldn’t hate him for it. Instead, he felt even more longing toward having that kind of relationship again.

Xiang Yu paused when a different thought occurred to him: He wasn’t a baby any longer. Why did he want to be carried around? But then, being carried by Xin Lan while being grown up also wasn’t that bad. Not to mention … he had never been very tall, no matter which life it was. For a man with Xin Lan’s strength, what was carrying such a small person?

Xiang Yu looked down at his own body and then spread his hands. If Xin Lan carried him, he should hold on tight. But either way, he still had to wait. His Master was right. He shouldn’t bother Xin Lan too early. That lover of his had an explosive temper and while he felt that it wasn’t right to lose your temper with the person you loved, grief could make people do weird things. At the very least, his mother had said so in the past.

He shook his head to not think about it any further and then slowly walked through the estate to get to the room where he had lived before. Even if he couldn’t be with Xin Lan right now, he could still indulge himself and go to take a look at the places where they had shared special moments before, couldn’t he? Xiang Yu didn’t think there was anything wrong with this so he happily went and did his own thing.

Originally, as a fallen god, he could come and go without anyone noticing. Even Xin Lan hadn’t been able to detect his movement in the past if he didn’t want him to. But then, this time around, he didn’t think of himself as a fallen god but as Hua Lin Yu who was a member of the Hua family so he didn’t even think about hiding and simply openly walked through the estate.

The servants felt like they were having a heart attack. It wasn’t that they recognized him as a fallen god but just the fact that there was a stranger and one that seemed this powerful made them frightened. Thus, the Hua family members were informed who had just been sitting at the table to eat.

Hua Ming Jun stared at the servant blankly at first, not quite getting what he was saying. Then, it slowly occurred to him. “A stranger? And a powerful one at that?”

The servant hurriedly nodded. “Yes! That means …” His expression changed a bit. “Actually, we couldn’t feel his cultivation level. It’s just that he walked past and if we hadn’t seen him, we wouldn’t have known he was even there.”

Hua Ming Jun’s brows furrowed and he exchanged a glance with his wife. Neither of them had noticed anybody breaking into the estate either so that wasn’t a good sign.

Hua Ning Shun cleared his throat to draw the attention. “Then that stranger, what did he look like?” He couldn’t think of any welcome guest at such a level that the servants wouldn’t know but then, he’d rather be safe than sorry. Maybe it was somebody from the Jian Yi Sect who had come for Xiao Yu but didn’t want to draw any attention?

The servant paused. “Uh, that … he was dressed in all black, looked a bit gloomy at first glance, but I didn’t stay around to get a closer look.”

Hua Ning Shun sighed. So much for that.

Hua Lin Rong looked from his father to his grandfather. “Maybe I should just go and take a look?” Anyway, they wouldn’t get anything more out of the servant so it was better to see for themselves. “The person has only been walking around and hasn’t attacked anyone so it might be nothing.” Thinking for a moment he tilted his head. “Actually, it might be somebody from the dragon race who is here because of Xiao Yu. That would explain the odd entrance.”

Hua Ning Shun and Hua Ming Jun exchanged a glance and nodded. They had also both thought of this having to do with their son or grandson respectively.

“You go and do that then. Maybe it’s really nothing.”

Hua Lin Rong gave a hum and got up, motioning for the servant to lead the way to where he had last seen the person. When he realized that they were on the way to his younger brother’s room, he felt that their previous guesses were right.

“Alright, I see. You can go now.” He waved the servant away, feeling that it wouldn’t be good to have anybody else stay around if this was indeed about his younger brother. Who knew what Xiao Yu had done this time again, after all?

He walked up to the door and then stepped into the room, finding the person the servant had mentioned standing right there in the middle, looking down at a folding fan he had once bought for his younger brother while in the city. Only half the person’s face was exposed but he seemed young, making Hua Lin Rong feel that his curiosity might be explicable. He still cleared his throat to draw the person’s attention, wanting to know what exactly they had come here for.

Xiang Yu immediately turned around, his gloomy expression lighting up. “Big brother!” He flung the fan to the side and then rushed at Hua Lin Rong, jumping right into his arms and stunning the other man silly.

Ah, this feeling of having a family, he had also missed it.

« ToC »