28 Ghost Forest City
An Bing Qing's smile didn't vanish as she waited for an answer that she knew it won't come.
Breaths of time passed and she shook her head while passing by them, saying, "Are both of you going to stay seated there? Aren't you coming, then?"
An Yu Yong and Xue Zi Hui woke up from their thoughts, standing together at the same time.
They couldn't help but look at each other with this. Xue Zi Hui looked down to his left while An Yu Yong looked up to his right. The former was taller than the later after all; Xue Zi Hui was more than a head taller.
Xue Zi Hui cold face remained the same but An Yu Yong frowned; both quickly withdrew their gazes, looking towards An Bing Qing who was now walking towards them.
She stopped between them and turned around; she stretched her fair hands to hold onto her eldest brother's arm.
An Yu Yong frown loose but his charming face became grim as he saw his little sister turning her face to her right and taking one of her little hands from his arm to reach for Xue Zi Hui's.
He didn't think twice and with a swift move, he placed An Bing Qing to his left, leaving himself in the middle.
An Bing Qing didn't have time to react with such a quick move; she was astounded.
She looked up to him, waiting for an explanation.
He rubbed her head and said joking around, "I hate cheaters, you only need your eldest brother", and he nodded his head.
An Bing Qing rolled her eyes, saying, "Eldest brother, if you are going to keep your nonsense, at least give me some tasty food to eat".
An Yu Yong lips upturned and a plate of small pink-coloured pears appeared out of thin air.
"Sweet Coral Pears, I love them!" she exclaimed aloud before adding, "Not as Spirit Green Grapes though".
An Yu Yong suppressed his laughter at her change of tone, he said, "Tsk, your eldest brother isn't that rich".
"Hmph, you are like this but you still ask me to not cheat on you", she mumbled as she took the plate.
An Yu Yong smirked and was about to reply but a loud flapping sounded beside them.
The brother and sister duo turned their heads at the same time.
Xue Zi Hui was walking away towards the ship's exit; he couldn't listen more of this nonsensical words.
An Bing Qing was surprised, she gave a cry while following after him, "Zi Hui, wait. Sweet Coral Pears are delicious, you have some".
And Yu Yong furrowed his brows and quickly kept with them.
Outside, there was a field full of trees and all were waiting for the trio to come out.
The third and fifth Elders had serious faces while the Great Elder had his eyes closed with a placid face. Some younglings imitated the Great Elder while the older ones were minding their own business. The guards were divided in three teams; each one was divided accordingly to protect one of the three carriages that were lined up in front of the spacecraft.
An Bing Qing was now next to Xue Zi Xui; she was pestering him about him giving a try to the pears but he was indifferent to her. She didn't give up during all the way out; she completely disregarded the unpleased face An Yu Yong had.
As they were about to step outside, An Bing Qing stopped her words and kept the left pears into her qiankun bag. She knew the Elders could ignore this kind of behaviour if the other person was her eldest brother but if she acted in such a way with Xue Zi Hui, they will be bound to have some misgivings, though they probably wouldn't point it out.
She was just a step from the exit when she felt something being placed on her head and a thin white fabric blurred her sight for a brief moment; it was a veiled bamboo hat. She automatically looked up, blurting out, "Eldest brother, what is the meaning of this? I..."
An Yu Yong didn't let her end, saying, "Your face doesn't look pretty today. You will scare everyone".
She pouted her pinkish mouth behind the white veil and rebuked, "I did a great job hiding my panda eyes. How can I not be pretty?"
His lips drew into a line and he said, "Hoh, what was my little sister doing to have panda eyes?"
She didn't reply instantly; at length, she said, "Reading and meditating about the cultivation path".
"Uhu", he didn't eat her words. He shook his head and didn't ask more.
Their soles finally landed on the greenery outside and all of the clansmen took their respective positions at their sight, greeting them.
The Great Elder went up to them and when he was before An Yu Yong, he waved his hand to take away the ship.
"Eldest young master, we shall depart. Although is still early and our resting place is already set, we are late in comparison with other families as the competition starts tomorrow morning".
An Yu Yong nodded, saying, "All right, there are arrangements that hasn't been done yet". Then, he took An Bing Qing's hand who seemed in an inner debate, pulling her towards the carriage in the middle; it was black with simple but elegant silver lotuses carved which was the biggest of the three.
He whispered to An Bing Qing, "It's all right; you don't need to apologize for this little delay".
"Eh?" She turned her head to look at him, thinking, 'How did he know I was thinking about this?' She was actually conflicted with this issue but with An Yu Yong's words, she drifted her wonder to where her eldest brother was dragging her.
They were the same three carriages from her previous life but they weren't being pulled by Wind Black Horses like before; but by Armoured White Panthers, there were only ten in the family but her father had left six with them.
'What is he thinking?' She pondered. They were the best mounts of the family; many cultivators will crave for having them as contracted beasts and not mounts.
She helplessly shook her head, 'I hope he hadn't taken my comment to seriously'. Her thinking was expected but wrong. Since she had suffered an accident because a bigger carriage had clashed with hers, and because he wasn't all assured, An Hong had taken out mounts with better speed, time reaction and combat ability.
Xue Zi Hui has been following the pair of siblings and as usual, he was amazed at how the little girl was like an open book, he maintained the same cold looks though.
They reached the carriage; and as An Bing Qing was about to enter with An Yu Yong's help, she turned her head back and saw an unreadable Xue Zi Hui. He was five steps apart from the carriage, as though he didn't have the intention of riding the carriage with them.
"Zi Hui, what are you doing dilly-dallying there? You also come and help me up", and she extended her free hand.
Xue Zi Hui unconsciously stepped forward but he quickly came back to earth, halting his steps and rising hand.
Too late, he was close enough to her. She reached for his hand, supporting herself up.
After she had her feet properly placed on the carriage, she pulled with her the two unprepared handsome young men.
They almost fall on her but they were able to stabilize themselves before reaching that undesirable situation.
An Bing Qing was the first to take seat near a window, saying, "How much time are you planning to be standing? You both sit down for us to depart". It had only been a few breaths though, in which she also had been scolding in her heart, 'Ups, you acted impulsive again. Oh, Bing Qing, until when are you going to learn?'
An Yu Yong's inner shock was displayed on his charming face, he could only give a heavy sigh and a sharp glare before taking seat beside her.
Xue Zi Hui wasn't feeling better than him; he felt he had been toyed around. He didn't want to ride with them, though it was the best thing for him. He turned around, wanting to go out; but the Great Elder climbed into the carriage at this time, blocking his path and closing the carriage's exit.
His cold gaze intensified, frosting the atmosphere; at long last, he turned back, sitting before her.
The Great Elder, who saw this, didn't know what to say and just took seat at Xue Zi Hui's opposite corner.
An Bing Qing thought about smoothing the mood to shatter the solemnity the surroundings were immersed in but she wasn't able to come up with something good and she remained quiet.
The people outside were taken aback; but because they have a tight schedule, they climbed their respective carriages at the Elders' call. They also weren't able to comment about it once inside them, as one Elder was in each carriage.
Soon, the sound of wheels and air streaming was heard.
It took them a quarter of an hour to leave the little forest and not before long the tall walls of Ghost Forest City came to their eyes.
