17: Ye Xinxia

Tom decided to go to Bo City to check if everything went according to canon and also to take the opportunity to greet his old acquaintances and friends again in his true appearance and not as Amaterasu.

When Tom arrived in Bo City, the results of the schools' exams to measure whether one was qualified to enter a magical school and then see about awakening their magic had already been delivered to the students.

He had found out thanks to a few young people and their families shouting with happiness in the streets if others were crying or complaining about not being able to enter the magic school to awaken their magic he would not know, as these were very quiet compared to those celebrating.

On his way to his old residence in Bo City which was near the Mu family, he came across the girls' school that Mo Fan's adopted sister attended, he was surprised to see Ye Xinxia being bothered by several boys in the small square beside the school, if he remembered correctly she used to always be hammocking after school waiting for her brother, he would always see her sitting there when he returned to his residence as a child, it used to be common for the youngsters to tease her or make fun of her for her inability to walk, but her suffering would not last long back then as Mo Fan would always appear to beat up the youngsters who were teasing her.

Mo Fan was very imposing, respected, and known as a boy, both by the young men of his age as well as by those who were a few years older.

Now it seems that his protective brother Mo Fan is not so present, it seems that things like in the canon changed after Mo Fan tried to escape with Mu Ning Xue, not only affecting Mo Fan who ended up being a poor young man more of the many who had thus lost the value he had as a child but also that event affected the people around him, a case of this is his sister who has to endure this treatment without the help of her dear brother as in other times, although that would change once Mo Fan becomes a magician and realized the situation of his sister until then I guess I can give him a hand.

Walking into the small square Tom decided to step in.

"Hello young men, why don't you stop picking on the young lady and we'll all go home happy, what do you say?" commented Tom once he was in front of the young thugs.

"You…who are you?" asked one of the young men as he saw a man arrive and intervene out of nowhere.

"Don't worry about him, just another bastard who thinks he's a hero, after a few hits you'll see how you say you're like many others" said another one of the young men but quite a bit older than the rest, it seems he was the main one.

Ye Xinxia was looking at the young man who came to help her, she had already gone through this situation several times, and knew that by ignoring them for a while they would end up leaving, after all, they are close to the school and would not encourage anything else, but there was always some other guy who wanted to help her and they would always end up being beaten and then never intervene again, she preferred that anyway, she did not like to see others hurt for trying to help her.

But this Man for some reason was very familiar to her, she couldn't say for sure who he was, but she certainly knew him and that intrigued her.

"Mmmm I see, they won't listen, too bad, I'd rather not hurt mere civilians," said Tom.

"You bastard, do you look down on us, you'll find out," said the leader of the group angrily as he prepared to beat up the man who intervened.

Tom just grimaced at this.

"Hellish creepers" he was heard to say.

After saying those words, several plants in the shape of black colored vines came out from Tom's surroundings, scaring everyone present.

"He is a plant-type mage and one with some seed or mutation because of the color he has, who is he? And why does he feel so familiar?" wondered Ye Xinxia to herself as she observed the rare color of the plant element of the man in front of her.

"This..., he's a mage!" shouted one of the young men.

"You....you you are a mage, I... I didn't know anything, sorry, please forgive me" the leader was instantly startled and apologized kneeling down, he didn't stand a chance against a mage, he was just an ordinary bully.

"Mmmm didn't you say he was a Cabron and belittled him, besides I offered them to leave in the beginning and they wouldn't listen to me," Tom said amused at the sudden change in the thugs attitude.

"Oh nono, not at all, my mistake, I'm an idiot, I apologize for offending you, please forgive us, I promise not to bother you or anyone else again." said the supposed leader who was now on his knees and begging.

As the rest of the young thugs with him repeated their actions and also knelt down and begged for forgiveness.

Tom knew it was likely that these idiots would continue to do their worst if he didn't teach them a good lesson, but that didn't mean he would hurt them, his magic had an accompanying effect that burned at the touch, so he preferred not to use it on them who were civilians, he only sought to scare them without using magic on them and apparently it gave a good result.

"I guess I'll forgive you for this once, but if I see you bothering this young lady again, I can't promise you won't end up being tortured or killed," he said in a cold and sinister voice, making his plants grow and scare the young men even more.

"Now go away before I regret it," said Tom making them all run out of the place full of fear.

Once this was finished, Tom withdrew his magic from the plant element and turned to look at the young Ye Xinxia.

"Are you alright, any discomfort?" asked Tom.

"I...I'm fine, thanks for the help" said Ye Xinxia quietly and timidly, who couldn't help but wonder where she knew him from.

"I'm glad to hear that Xinxia, it's been a long time since we last saw each other, I remember when you were just a tender little girl, I hope you haven't had to put up with these kinds of cretins too much," said with a smile Tom.

Ye Xinxia opened her eyes wide before the mention of her name so lightly by the man along with his subsequent words, now she was sure she knew him as he knew her, but she still couldn't identify who he was.

"This..., it wasn't that bad...mmm," said quietly Ye Xinxia who was embarrassed because she wanted to greet him by his name but didn't know it while he did know hers, which made her feel bad for forgetting the person in front of her, who apparently recognizes her very well.

"Hahaha, you don't seem to remember me huh," Tom said laughing.

"Well, I'm sorry..." Ye Xinxia had red cheeks from embarrassment at this moment, she searched and searched in her head but failed to find out who it was.

"It's okey it's okey, don't worry, it's understandable that you don't remember me, it's been a long time and you were very young at the time, I'm Tom Curi, nice to see you again little Xinxia," Tom said without losing the smile he had.

"This...Tom...Tom Curi?" wondered and repeated Ye Xinxia where the foreign name sounded so familiar.

After thinking about it for a while Ye Xinxia figured it out.

"Big brother Tom!" she automatically exclaimed unconsciously without realizing how embarrassing it was to say that out loud.

Ye Xinxia turned red with embarrassment.

"Hahaha looks like you still didn't quite forget me little Xinxia, come on come on, I'll take you home while we talk about all this time without seeing each other, you can also tell me a little about your brother and his father I haven't seen them for a long time," Tom said as he laughed at the embarrassed Ye Xinxia.

Ye Xinxia just nodded being still a little surprised by the sudden appearance of Tom who she had not seen for years, she let Tom wheel her home while they talked about their lives these years.

The two talked about all kinds of things from the past as well as everything they both experienced since they parted ways, it was an enriching and fun talk for both of them, Ye Xinxia was always very curious since she was a child and loved to know more about other countries and cultures.

"Wow big brother Tom, to think that you are already a middle-level mage, with the earth and plant elements, it's amazing," said euphorically Ye Xinxia who was genuinely impressed, there were few middle-level mages in Bo City and they were all highly respected, for someone like Tom who is only 18 years old to be a middle-level mage was something amazing indeed, quite a genius or rather quite a monster.

"Oh come on, it's nothing if it wasn't for the exaggerated amount of resources I used to advance fast in my cultivation it would be impossible to have such progress," said Tom, after all, it was true that without that immense amount of resources it would have been very difficult for him to reach his level, although most of the cultivation resources were used for his Amaterasu fire element magic, no one could ever know that.

After spending some more time talking about various things and answering various questions they both had, the two finally arrived at Ye Xinxia's house, which Mo Fan's father would sell according to canon to the Mu family in exchange for his son's pass to the magic school.

To Ye Xinxia and Tom Curi's surprise, Mo Fan's father was waiting at the door of the house.

"Ye Xinxia dear, you finally come back, I... I have to tell you, something very important what happened" said Mo Fan's father.

Ye Xinxia was puzzled but nodded the same towards her adoptive father, she respected and loved him very much, he had taken care of her as if she was his own daughter.

Tom on his own, had a faint idea of what the old man might have to say but decided to go with the flow of things.

"Oh, sorry young man, I didn't recognize you, I'm Mo Jiaxing, Ye XinXia's father nice to meet you, are you a friend of my daughter?"

"It's good to see you again too Mr. Mo, I brought Xinxia from the escort to keep her company on the tour, we also hadn't talked for a long time, so there was a lot to say to each other, just like her at first it seems you don't quite remember me either, I am Tom Curi sir, some years ago you met me at the Mu residence, I also used to play with your children from time to time," said Tom.

"Mmmm Tom Curi I see, yes I remember you, that charming foreign boy, long time no see, forgive this old man, my memory is not what it used to be, it's nice to have you back in Bo City young man and thank you for bringing Ye Xinxia from school, do you want to come in for a drink?" said politely and kindly Mo Fan's father.

"A claimant is a nice person," thought Tom.

"Sure I would love to, there are many things we still have to tell each other" Tom accepted the kind invitation.

Once inside the house, Ye Xinxia prepared tea and snacks with her father, Tom wanted to help but was rejected by both with the argument that he was the guest and they would take care of it.

After eating and drinking tea together, they chatted for quite a while and laughed at different stories told by Tom that were happening to him as a magician, once they were already finishing the chat, Mo Fan's father put on a slightly more downcast face and it seemed that what he was going to say next was costing him wholeheartedly.

"This cough cough, well my dear Ye Xinxia, as I wanted to tell you before, Mo Fan failed his school exam and will not be able to go to magic school to awaken his magic unless an absurd amount of money is paid for him to pass as a special case, he told me that he wishes with all his heart to be a magician and I know that is so, that's why I reached an agreement with one of the members of the Mu family to pay this sum of money and convince the director of the school to let him enter despite his grades, the thing is that they asked me this house as payment and well. ... I.... sorry my child, but I accepted, I know you have been seeing this house for a long time, I apologize for the inconvenience but I will have to ask you to come and live with me and Mo Fan from now on," said a little depressed the poor man.

"I'm fine with that father, no need to be depressed, it's just a house, family is the most important thing," Ye Xinxia said warmly trying to snap the poor man out of his depression.

Despite what Ye Xinxia said, the man still felt a little bad about having to make his beloved little girl move in with them at this point, but he was a little touched by how good and understanding his young daughter was.

"Oh, so little brother Mo Fan failed his exams, rare for him, he always did so well in everything as a child. I have some contacts who for some money would let Mo Fan in without any problem, but whether or not he manages to awaken his magic is up to him", Tom quickly intervened in the conversation, he didn't want to see the good man so depressed, he didn't deserve such treatment.

"This..., thank you very much for the intention young man, but I couldn't ask you to do that, it's too much," said Mo Jiaxing.

"Please Mr. Mo, don't worry about it, I assure you it's no problem at all, as a middle-level magician it's a simple thing to take out that amount of money, you don't have to worry about it, take it as a thank you for the hospitality they gave me today and in the past, they were always a very kind family, so please don't refuse, it's my pleasure to be of help," said Tom smiling.

Mo Jiaxing likes the good man he was wanted to keep refusing but ended up accepting as he thanked him with teary eyes and a very genuine smile.

"You are really a good boy, thank you, really thank you, this is great news for the family, this... if you need anything in the future just let me know yes..., I promise to help you with whatever I can, even if it's not much I have I am a man of my word" said Mo Jiaxing.

"You're welcome, like I said, take it as thanks, we always had a good relationship in the past, now that I can lend a hand I am more than happy to do so," said Tom.

Mo Fan's father thanked him again several times and then went home to probably tell his son Mo Fan the good news.

"I thank you too big brother, Tom, it seems you haven't changed, I am very happy to know that you are still like the boy I used to talk to back then despite what happened at your farewell," said Ye Xinxia a little surprised and thankful to Tom for not holding a grudge after what happened, she would feel pretty bad in that situation if it had happened to her, but she was too young back then to understand and do something about it, now that she is more mature and thinks about what happened, she can only say that it is admirable that Tom took things so well, despite how much it must have hurt him, it certainly must not have been easy.

"Oh, there's nothing to be thankful for, besides the past is the past, it was just a kid thing at the time, I never held a grudge against your family for it, don't worry, and to clarify little Xinxia, it's not a compliment to tell someone they're like a kid" Tom teased her.