Twenty-Nine

Li Yuxi eyed his straight face, tracing his features with her eyes widened from the shock of his passionate words. She wanted to desperately believe him but after his change of attitude, she did not want to feel flustered by his words but her body and heart always betrayed her.

"You also need to warn that little boy," he said, pointing over his shoulder. "And that woman because I have to keep you safe. You will not like what I do to anyone who touches you all in the name of caring for you."

Li Yuxi bit her lip and watched his eyes flicker to her mouth. She released her lip and hesitantly nodded before looking aside, too flustered to look into his eyes.

"What are we going to do about Lui Mei? She said she wanted to have my head." Li Yuxi paused to will her mind to calm down. "She wants me dead. Wasn't it already revealed that I am not your savior? So, why is she trying to attack me?"

Zhao Ling's silence after her question did not make her worry lessen. All she wanted was to not be a target for people to haunt her. First the beast, now Lui Mei.

"I am also confused by that. You are not supposed to be in the position that you are but I believe it is because they think you are my savior," he said and rose to his feet. "What's more important is that you've seen why I am like this."

That made her remember that this was his home from the past. Li Yuxi could not help but feel bad for him, seeing how fate wanted him around the things that affected his death.

"Is it okay if you show me around? I know there's nothing much to show but I'm sure you can show me around the palace."

"If you insist," Zhao Ling replied and Li Yuxi happily got up.

"I can't wait to find out more about your people," she said and grabbed a small purse. "Let's go."

As soon as she left her tent, Lin Wei called out to her from his tent on the other side before jogging up to her.

"Where are you going?" Lin Wei asked, scanning her body up and down.

"I just want to be away for a few minutes. I want to collect my thoughts."

"But you aren't well. I don't want you stressing yourself over anything. You need to rest."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Zhao Ling's hand positioned in a threatening manner. Quickly, she turned Lin Wei away and pushed him slightly.

"I'm fine. I'll be back!"

"Good." That was all Zhao Ling said.

At the back of her mind, she tagged Zhao Ling as a stubborn and jealous ghost, which brought a small smile to her face.

‡‡‡

"Things have changed. Zhaotian used to look like heaven on earth. Beautiful plants, healthy farms that provided food for our people, beautiful houses, and happy people," Zhao Ling said the moment they stopped at the center of the village square.

"Zhaotian?" Li Yuxi murmured in confusion. "Is that the name of this place?"

"Hm. Zhaotian used to be a beautiful kingdom of over ten thousand people. We were one of the most influential kingdoms back then which led to us getting into wars to protect ourselves. It is saddening what it has now become."

Li Yuxi looked around the village square. Worn-out wooden houses, destroyed carts, and broken bricks were littered everywhere. There were no signs of life, which made the place feel eerie and gloomy.

"What were your people like?"

"They were happy as long as they knew they were protected by the almighty army. We fought wars to keep our borders safe against bandits and warlords obsessed with obtaining our lands, minerals, and vegetation. But everything changed when my brother embraced the enemies because of greed. I was seen as a criminal in the eyes of the people of Zhaotian. I hate them for that."

Li Yuxi shook her head and stood in front of him. She hesitantly held his arm and smiled wryly.

"No, don't say that about them. They only perceived you like that because of the rumors about you. I am sure they felt disappointed and some may have even had doubts. I am certain that they knew the truth the moment your brother destroyed his home."

Li Yuxi could see the contemplating expression on his face before he met her eyes. His eyes were soft but with a hint of anger still in them.

"I can understand what you mean, Li Yuxi but it is hard for me to simply accept what they did to me. I saw the hate in their eyes. They celebrated my death. I was broken during my stay in the pit. I can only feel satisfied that they turned out like this when they should have maybe fought against injustice instead of celebrating."

Li Yuxi dropped her hand and sighed, knowing there was no way she could make him think otherwise.

"Enough about the depressing talks. Let me take you to the places I used to love, that is if it is still as serene as I remembered."

Li Yuxi nodded and walked through the village square, past some houses, and through a short pathway that led to a tall rock formation within a grassy mud-like wall.

"The entrance still looks the same but blocked." Zhao Ling took a step back and stretched his right hand out. "Stay behind me."

Quickly, she did as she was told and peeped past his back to see what he was going to do. She gasped when a blast of dark and red-like smoke hit the rocks, causing them to begin to crack and dust to fill the air. Li Yuxi began to cough and pressed her face on his back to avoid the clouds of dust. After a few seconds, the cracking and tumbling of rocks stopped. She stepped away from him and was in awe at the sight before her.

Without waiting for him, Li Yuxi walked toward the entrance of the place, which was curved with flowers and plants covering the walls of the place. There was a short tree in the center of a round-shaped moving body of water with a waterfall behind the tree. The sun rays shining through, from the open top of the place glistened the water and bounced off the heavy flow of water.

"Wow," Li Yuxi said in a low voice as she stepped into the place. The floor was made of concrete, which had flowers and plants growing out of the small cracks. "This place is so beautiful."

"I am surprised it is still the same but I have always suspected this place was magical," Zhao Ling said, coming to a stand beside her. "The waters were so soothing whenever I came here to meditate or take a swim. It calmed me and I always felt like it healed my mental struggles after every war I came back from."

Li Yuxi smiled and approached the pool and knelt on the rock edge. She scooped up some water and beamed at how cold it felt on her hand.

"No one knew about this place. I took it as a sanctuary that only I deserved to have."

Li Yuxi turned to look at him. "But why are you showing this to me? In fact, why are you doing this?"

She rose to her feet and walked up to him. She stopped, leaving a small gap between them, and tilted her head to look at him.

"Just yesterday, you spoke to me in the coldest tone ever. You made me feel the way Lee Qiang always made me feel; worthless. Now, you are being kind to me and showing me this. Zhao Ling, I understand that you have to protect me but if you are going to be changing attitudes every minute, I don't want any of this."

The silence afterward was heavy. The flowing of water and chirping of birds was the only thing filling the place as they stared at each other.

"I am not still trying to be friendly with you. I am still going to keep my distance but I can't keep myself occupied with shutting you out. It's draining. I apologize for being the way I was to you. I was only angry and I regretted it after Lui Mei appeared to you. I felt like I failed to protect you."

Lui Mei chuckled. "You are such a funny man. But I can understand. You are a man who has lived for hundreds of years, wallowing in his grudge. Well, since your mission doesn't exist in this generation, I think it's time you lighten up. I want you to be a better version of yourself while you're here. I don't want to see you brooding, it bothers me. Have fun, you old man."

The furrowing of his eyebrows made her giggle.

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

Li Yuxi bit her lip and lowered her gaze to his chest before meeting his eyes.

"Swim in the pond with me," she said and shock masked his face.