Fire in the Forest

Chapter 55: Fire in the Forest.

It was first time for Ling Yue to go around a school. She had only visited schools for attending her exams and left immediately after her exam were done. Ling Yue was eager to explore this school and she really liked it. The classrooms, the library and the ground. She looked the bulletin boards and saw few exam results pasted on it. Li Mei was really topping the charts. With her results she can now capable of getting into good engineering colleges.

"You are doing good. Prepare well for the entrance exams and you will get a good seat." Ling Yue commented as she looked at the results. Li Mei obediently nodded her head. Li Wei, who was silently following the girls didn't even know much about his sister's studies these days. Ling Yue seems to have taken care of all her tutoring responsibilities.

Few students were still in the school for sports and different cultural activities and were curious about Ling Yue who can easily outshine their campus belle - Li Mei. Who was she? Is she a transfer student?

And they also saw Li Wei tagging behind the two beauties. What got them interested was that Li Wei was left unprotected by his little sister for the first time and this time Li Mei changed her targets. Unlike before where she would glare at girls, this time she was glaring at boys who were trying to approach Ling Yue. Of course Ling Yue was unaware of this staring-and-glaring happening in background.

After the trip to school, the trio went to a nearby cafeteria to eat and drink something. This was mainly because Li Wei saw Ling Yue slightly sweating as she hadn't completely recovered from her fever yet.

Ling Yue had all kind of questions about school syllabus and their schedules and busy getting her doubts explained by Li Mei. For Ling Yue, everything she studied years ago was like a crash course and she didn't have this kind of segregation. Li Wei didn't interfere. He wanted to hear her speak more. Only this assured him that she was around him, in his life.

Li Mei too explained everything patiently. Had everything in her big sis's life been alright, her big sis would have gone to school like any ordinary student and would have known about all these things. But her Big sis was now already graduated with two degrees from top universities in the world.

"Big sis. How did you study back then?" Li Mei's question meant who helped Ling Yue with her studies and etcetera. Her big sis wasn't this powerful since always right? Someone must have helped her. Ling Yue smiled at this question before answering.

"It was military education. Given my health conditions back then, they made an exception for me and hence my attendance was not very strict. And since I was good at academics, they made me sit for higher grade examinations." Ling Yue clarified and Li Mei looked back at her with astonishment. This explains why her Big sis was ahead in her studies.

Li Wei too carefully heard her explanation. She told him about few military officers helping her in Ji Jing. It must be them who helped her with her education too. He suddenly remembered about the man who took her to her hospital checkups. Was he some military official that his information was kept secret. In that case he should try asking his uncle about that man's whereabouts.

Li Mei pulled her seat closer to Ling Yue and showed photos of hers and Li Wei's school day photos. Ling Yue laughed looking at some funny photos of Li Mei sulking after loosing the running race and five year old Li Wei's dazed face when he unexpectedly won the musical chairs. She laughed heartily looking at those comical yet wonderful moments.

"Lil Xie.."

Ling Yue sighed hearing the very much familiar voice and closed her eyes. This is why she felt Ji Jing was a better place to stay.

Li Mei turned around and looked at Su Rui. She frowned at her arrival. Li Wei too looked at Su Rui with a blank face. He of course know everything about this white lotus and how she bullied Ling Yue when she was little.

"Lil Xie. When are you going to come back home? Please don't be ungrateful and hurt our parents more." Su Rui softly said as she positioned herself nearer to Li Wei. He face reflecting hurt and worry. Li Mei scrunched her face hearing Su Rui. Who was being ungrateful? Who hurt who?

"Sigh. Young Miss Su. You should be careful with what you call me. My temper is very unpredictable. And right now I don't have high tolerance to you." Ling Yue words coupled with her cold eyes, daring smirk and strong oppressive aura left Su Rui tongue tied.

"A-are you studying here?" she still couldn't bring herself to submit to Ling Yue, who was once her entertainment tool. Ling Yue raised her brows. This Su Rui is either too daring or too foolish.

"And who are you to ask me this question?" Ling Yue questioned back. She was in no way obliged to answer her. Su Rui forced out a smile before speaking again.

"Don't be rude. We are family. Siblings. We should be like Li siblings" these words made Ling Yue choke on her breathe and she started coughing. Both Li Mei and Li Wei tended to her by patting her back. Li Wei even filled the glass and brought it to her lips. Ling Yue didn't even lift a finger and fuelled Su Rui's heart with jealousy. Why are THE LI siblings taking care of her like servants?

Ling Yue calmed down and looked at Su Rui. She even laughed out as she recalled what she said. They should be like Li siblings?

"Su Rui. You just cracked the joke of the year. I don't know why you are working hard to put this show. Do you think Li siblings are fools to not understand the dynamics between us? Don't curse their good relationship or else you know I wouldn't think twice before cutting off that useless wagging tongue of yours." Ling Yue voice was low, calm and extremely dangerous that Su Rui shuddered.

"Miss Su. You should either go find yourself a table or simply leave. You wouldn't like me calling security to drag you out, right?" hearing Li Wei's cold voice Su Rui gulped and left immediately. She thought Li Wei wouldn't support Ling Yue's brazen behaviour. She understood she was going down the wrong path and needed to change her strategy. This Ling Yue seemed to fear nothing.

"Why is she here?" Ling Yue asked. Why would they find here in all of the places. Was she following them?

"Big sis. Don't you know? She is a business management student in the university near by." Li Mei answered. Didn't Ling Yue investigate about her?

"Ohh.. It is useless to look into her matters." Ling Yue replied as she sipped on her tea. They didn't bring up this topic again. Everyone felt that Su Rui didn't worth their time.

"Big sis. How about you try this cold drink?" Li Mei pointed out a special on the menu and showed it to Ling Yue. Ling Yue shook her head before explaining.

"Caffeine and cold drinks are not too favourable for me. Just keep them aside." Ling Yue said as she scrolled through Li Wei's tab to find a good movie on netflix to watch tonight. Li Mei had been begging her to have a movie night. While she said this, she missed how Li Wei noted down all her likes and dislikes. Never did his gaze leave her. He was completely smitten by her.

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"Hahaha.. Hunt as much as you want." Jade instructed his pet - Black as he looked around the dark woods of Ji Jing. The darkness of the night and the eeriness of the forest didn't scare him. Hearing his master approve, the predator dashed into the woods to get it's prey.

Jade ventured into the forest and there was something he felt familiar, a sense of danger and also a strong urge to conquer which he was very familiar with. He furrowed his brows in confusion not understanding what exactly he wanted to do here.

Walking further, he stopped near a lake and then moved towards the darker part of forest. His destination was aimless and he was clueless about where he was going. He was simply following his instincts. All the while his pet kept close to him.

Soon he found himself at the foot of the tallest hill in Ji Jing. He had no intention on climbing up this mountain but something drew him closer. He couldn't stop the urge and moved closer and stepped on to the hill.

ROOAARRRRRR...

Jade stumbled on his feet and feel to ground hearing the sudden loud roaring. He turned around to check which animal can actually roar like this. Behind him his pet too got startled and became attentive of it's surroundings.

ROOAARRRRRRR.....

Jade stood rooted in his place trying to guess the direction of the sound source but couldn't figure it out. He looked up into the sky and saw flocks of birds fleeing away from their nests. The wind blew fiercer and soon hot currents hit his face. The previous darkness of the night was now conquered by the savage flames of fire which were awakened out of nowhere.

Seeing that the fire was growing downhill Jade retreated his steps and left the forest with his pet. Though he felt something fishy and suspicious he convinced himself that it was a small forest fire and the roar belonged to some wild life caught in that fire.

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Li Wei's eyes flew open in the middle of the night and he was in disbelief at what she just saw. He was sure that it was Jade Nicholas who stepped into Ji Jing and the roar belonged to the dragon. It was the dragon who set the forest on fire again. He exhaled a breathe as he thought of what he saw just now.

Seems like the dragon spirit is still residing in Ji Jing, protecting Ling Yue. He remembered the energy ball collapsing into him when Xenxi died. This might be the reason why he was able to see the dragon's doing. Li Wei sighed thinking of how Jade was so close to Ling Yue's place.

He smiled as he found Ling Yue hugging his waist and sleeping in his embrace. The three of them were having a movie marathon when Ling Yue dozed off first followed by Li Mei. Ling Yue found a comfortable position in Li Wei's embrace after dozing off and was now peacefully resting on his chest.

Her sleepy self was so unlike her normal self. She would get clingy and her aura would be soothing and harmless. He caressed her right cheek with his palm and she snuggled deeper. Chuckling at her reaction he pinched her cheek gently and she pouted in response. Removing her arm from his waist, Ling Yue brought it to his heart and moved up to bury her face in the crook of his neck. Li Wei's breathe hitched, his eyes turned darker and his hands encircled her waist.

He was about to turn their positions when he felt someone watching them and shifted his gaze from Ling Yue to Li Mei, who had one eye open and been peeking under the blankets. Li Mei immediately shut her eyes but it was already late. She was caught and now she could feel her brother's frosty glare on her.

Li Wei looked at his sister with disapproval. This shameless girl just disrupted the romantic atmosphere he was experiencing. And just look at her galls. She was still pretending to be asleep after being caught.

There was silence for few minutes and Li Mei couldn't take it any longer and opened her eyes only to find her brother seriously looking at her. She gulped and took her pillow before dashing out of the room. It's not like she knew this would happen okay? She somehow woke up and found her brother playing with her Big sis's cheek and hair. She somewhat got excited looking at that. And more over it was her room. Hmph..