An Unexpected Encounter

After a few minutes of driving, they had reached their destination. Ling Hong got out of the car and looked around. The villa was smaller when compared the Hua Family's residence, but it had a unique charm. In the moonlight, the surroundings were illuminated. The villa was very close to the lake and one could see the starry sky on the surface of the lake. Trees were planted in such a way that it created a natural park around the lake and they swayed as a night breeze blew.

An excited smile grew on Ling Hong's face as he took in the scenery. But what excited was not the beauty of the place, but the fact that the spiritual qi in the place was the highest he had come across.

'Is it because of something in the lake?' he wondered.

Usually the areas around water bodies were ideal spots for cultivation as there were many spiritual herbs growing along their sides. One could also find spiritual treasures within these bodies of water but these treasures would be guarded by a spirit beast.

He felt excited at the thought of such treasures, but soon calmed down. He was going to live here anyways, hence there was lot of time for investigating the area. He walked towards the gate of his new house and saw Uncle Sun off.

"Sir has already prepared some things for you to start off in the city. I have also left the contact for a driver among them. He along with the housekeeper will accompany you for familiarizing yourself with the city." Uncle Sun said as he handed over a bag. He then started the car and drove off to the main house.

With the bag in his arms and his backpack swung over his shoulder, Ling Hong passed through the gates and walked to the villa. He was very thankful to Hua Jun for all that he had done, as he never expected anything much from the other party in the first place.

Ling Hong entered the villa and closed the door behind him. He gasped at the exquisite furnishing of the villa and realized that the small residence was actually one of those high-end ones. He felt moved by Hua Jun's gesture.

"Hello, I'm the one who was mentioned to move in here. Is anybody there?" he called out to meet the housekeeper. Muffled sounds were heard as a girl walked into the hall dressed in a maid attire with a smile to welcome him.

"Glad to see you, I'm the housekee-" the girl started to introduce herself but froze immediately after seeing the person in front of her. Similarly Ling Hong was also in shock as he looked at the so-called 'housekeeper' as he had realized he knew the person.

A few moments passed by as both stood still. Finally, the girl opened her lips and asked in a quivering voice with tears forming in her eyes "Br-Brother Ling?? Is that you?"

Opposite to her, Ling Hong also came to his senses as the girl spoke. His eyes were also moist as he looked at the girl and nodded "It's me, little Xinxin."

The girl's figure trembled and in the next moment, shot like a rocket towards Ling Hong before hugging him tightly and bursting into tears. He just stood silently and stroked her head, reminiscing about their past.

The girl was called Li Xin, who was a year younger and had also grown up along him in New Hope Orphanage. When she was still young, some of the older kids started bullying her as she was a newcomer. She endured the pain and cried quietly many times before Ling Hong intervened and beat up the kids teasing her. From then on, the pair of them were always together as if they had been glued to each other.

Li Xin only played with Ling Hong and always chased after him while sweetly calling out 'Brother Ling~~' , and even went as far as only sleeping when he was near her. Years passed and the two grew up - Ling Hong started to know about the boundaries between boys and girls, so he began to reflect on how he behaved with Li Xin. But Li Xin didn't mind at all since he had become irreplaceable in her heart, and though she kept a distance their relationship was still as harmonious as they had been years ago.

When they had entered Junior High, Li Xin had grown up to a beautiful young girl with a nice body. Several people began to chase after her beauty but to no avail, as she was head over hells in love over Ling Hong. She even went far as to propose to him, but he turned her down at the time as he was preparing to finish school and go to college for getting a job.

Ling Hong knew of her feelings and unknowingly had some ambiguous feelings towards her as well. But he decided to put the orphanage's welfare in front of his. This was because he wanted to pay off atleast something to the Mother Ma who has raised him. Even so, Li Xin didn't get discouraged and kept following him. These actions led to Ling Hong started to realize that he had come to a point where only her existence gave his dull life some color.

His aim did not change but became more resolute instead - now he was prepared to go all out for the sake of a good future for Li Xin too. Unfortunately he got into the accident soon after that which destroyed his school career. When all others ridiculed him and even the teachers abandoned him, Li Xin was the only one who stayed by him. This made him happy and sad at the same time.

He was happy because Li Xin would still be with him trying to cheer her up. But he realized that in his condition he could never give her a good future and even ruin her prospects by being near her. Seeing how adamant she was with him, he realized the bitter truth - only if he went away would she become independent and find a good life in the future. Thus he ran away, from both her and the orphanage.

Coming back to the present, Ling Hong held the sobbing Li Xin with complex emotions. It seemed that life was not kind on her these years as she looked skinnier than he remembered. With Hua Family giving some support, he could provide a better life for her. But he was worried about bringing her into danger, as he could come into such situations in the future.

Sighing, he pulled his head away from these thoughts and held her tighter. No matter what, he decided to hold on to her this time around. After all, he had owed her too much. He started coaxing the girl to stop her tears.

Sniffing loudly, she gradually pulled back from Ling Hong's embrace as a shy look spread on her face. She had been so happy that she had lost control of her emotions.

Ling Hong pinched her tear-stricken cheeks with a smile. Looking at her beautiful eyes and soft lips, he felt an inner demon stirring within but suppressed it immediately. He patter her on the head and said "Let's talk in a while, yeah? Go wash your face first."

She nodded and rushed off to clean her face as Ling Hong checked out the villa to see the rooms. He saw that the villa was divided into two - lower floor for recreational activities and upper floor for rest. He walked up the stairs and quickly glanced through the rooms before grabbing his backpack and other stuff to walk to the master bedroom.

He placed down his stuff on top of the small cabinet beside the bed and started changing into casual clothes which were used as nightwear. Just as he finished changing, Li Xin's anxious voice rang out "Brother Ling, Brother Ling where are you?"

She had panicked because after she cleaned up her face and came back to the hall, Ling Hong was nowhere to be seen. When she couldn't see him, she suddenly panicked. He had disappeared once again after he just appeared in front of her all these years. While she was panicking, she once again heard his voice that washed away her doubts of it being a dream.

"Xinxin, I'm upstairs" Ling Hong called out after hearing sounds from downstairs.

Hearing his voice, she didn't think twice before breaking into a sprint as she rushed over to the Master Bedroom. She was panting when she reached the room, but on seeing Ling Hong jumped forward and hugged him tightly, whispering in a coarse voice "Don't go...don't leave me this time.."

When he heard her speak, Ling Hong's heart ached as he realized that he had inflicted a heavy blow to Li Xin when he ran away all those years ago.