Chapter 26: One Day Off

"Awww... Look at you, so cute!!", Ai Lie is stroking the bunnies heads.

Ai Lie wake up earlier just to meet her new pets. Today she has no training schedule, and she is prohibited to do the chores. She is very bored at her room, so she talks to the bunnies as if they understand what she said. She is waiting for Jiu Lan to deliver the rabbit's milk for their food. They haven't eat anything yet since yesterday.

"What should I name you? Both of you are similar... Hmm... But this one have black and brown line on its back. Calico, huh? Does that mean that you are a girl...?", She tries to remember a cartoon bunny's name that she ever watched in a kid tv show when she was a child.

"Ah, Lulu! Should I call you Lulu? What about you? You are totally white, just like your mother. Hmm... I wish you both to have a happy life, I'm sorry for what happened to your mother..."

"Happiness... Bunnies usually will binky if they are happy... Why don't I call you Binky? Ah! That's it! Binky and Lulu!"

'Knock Knock!', "Xiao Mei, I have found the rabbit's milk."

"Ah, Jie Jie!", She rushingly opens the door "Thank you Jie Jie, I owe you one!"

"Fortunately, the south east territory has a rabbit farm, they sell this rabbit milk. But this is not really much...", Jiu Lan hands over a small clay pot.

"South east territory? Did Jie Jie traveled to there just to buy this?"

"No... It's too far from here. We have our own way to buy things in another territories."

"Oh I see... What kind of method is that?"

"We used an elephant to travel and to buy things. They are genius creatures, they can remember what we ordered perfectly."

"An elephant?? How can it travel this fast??"

"Of course it's not an ordinary elephant."

"Ah... I see. Why not use teleport magics, Jie Jie?"

"That's possible yet uneffective, Xiao Mei. We can't teleport too far from the point we stand, it will cost so much power to do so."

"Ah... I see. Once again, thank you, Jie Jie! Now it's time for me to feed them!"

"My pleasure, Xiao Mei, tell me if you ever need something."

"Okay!"

Now it's the time for Ai Lie feeding her children. She tries to spooning the milk and show it to their mouths. But they are still babies, it's hard for them to lick the milk. She is confused what to do.

"Ah... I should put it directly to their mouths, but how? Hmm... Do they have a small straw? Ugh! I wish Jie Jie Jiu Lan is still around here!", She immediately comes out from her room.

On her way searching for Jiu Lan, she bumps into Yin Ling, who is recently come out from his bedroom. His bedroom is near from hers, about 3 rooms away.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"Oh Ge Ge! Did you see Jie Jie Jiu Lan? I want to ask her whether she has a small straw or not..."

"A straw?", Yin Ling doesn't seem to have an idea what it is.

"Uhh... You know, a device to help us drink. Like a small pipe.", Her explanation is unclear.

"Hmm... Why do you need it anyway?"

"To feed my bunnies. They can't drink the milk by spoon... I have to put it directly to their mouths..."

"Hmm. Can you show me the picture? I'll try to grant your wish."

"Ge Ge can granting wishes too!? I thought His Majesty is the only one who can do that... "

"I'm also an asura. Don't forget that."

"Oops! Sorry, sorry...."

"Now give me a picture of the thing that you need.", Yin Ling raised his hand above Ai Lie's head. His purple eyes are glowing.

At first, Ai Lie is thinking about a tiny straw that made of plastic. But this world is conventional, of course they don't have plastic materials here. It will be hard for Yin Ling to summon what's in her mind, so she changed it with bamboo straw. A very small bamboo that fits to the bunnies mouths.

'Swoosh!', He summons the tiny bamboo straw that exactly the same as what Ai Lie thought.

"Whoa!! Thank you Ge Ge! I owe you one!"

"No problem. Oh, by the way, did you fight with His Majesty?"

"Huh? No, I didn't. Why?"

"Hmm... Or did something happened between you two?"

'Blush!', Her cheek is boiling red in an instant. Last night improper agreement pops out in her mind, "N-No!! Nothing happened!"

"Really? Your reaction is opposing your words."

"N-No! I-I-I'm being honest."

"Obviously a lie. He must have flirting with you."

"N-No, he is not!!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever..."

"... Did Ge Ge said something to you?"

"Ge Ge!? Did you call him in that way too!?", Yin Ling speaks loudly.

"SHHH!! You are talking too loud!!", Her face grows redder, "I-I'm not calling him that way, I mean, did His Majesty said something to Ge Ge?"

"Tsk tsk tsk....", Yin Ling shooked his head, "Yesterday he said my goddess and now she said Ge Ge... Love is in the air, huh?", Yin Ling murmurs to himself.

"He didn't say anything, but yesterday night he drank so much and fainted in the end. And now, he spends his time for meditating. I thought he was fighting with you."

"H-huh!? Fainted!? Is he sick?", Ai Lie is worried.

"Nope. I slap him until he lost his consciousness."

"S-SLAP!?", Ai Lie widened her eyes.

"Yup. I almost lost my head because of it. Hahahaha.", Yin Ling chuckles as if it is an usual thing he and Xin Suan do.

"How dare you slap him that hard without showing any regret!? You are impudent!" , Her anger triggered when she knows her precious one is being bullied by someone she doesn't really like. Ai Lie blows a fist at his stomach unconsciously.

"Ohhh scary! The princess is defending her knight! Hahahaha!!"

"Y-You!!!", she lands another fist.

"Ugh!!"

'Gasp!', "D-did I hurt you!?"

"Of course..."

"S-sorry..."

"Of course not. Hahahahaha!!!", Yin Ling laughs so hard. He starts to get used to tease Ai Lie, just like his master.

"YOU-"

"Ahem...", Jiu Lan suddenly appears.

"Oh! J-Jie Jie!", Ai Lie immediately stops her attacks.

"...", Yin Ling staring at Jiu Lan without saying a word.

"Xiao Mei, have you done feeding your pets?"

'Gasp!', "I totally forgot! I'm sorry, I have to go now! Good bye Ge Ge and Jie Jie!", She rushingly running back to her bedroom.

"That brat... What you said was true, Jie Jie, the two finally have a feeling towards each other.", Yin Ling lowers his voice.

"Then, let us wish the best for them. I hope nothing bad will be happened."

Yin Ling curled his arm on Jiu Lan's shoulder, "Wish the best for us too! We are more important than those trash!"

"W-What? Please, don't do this, someone will see us!", Jiu Lan immediately avoiding him.

Xin Suan has been meditating in the Shang Mian Temple since dawn . The temple is located not far from the manor, but it is hidden in the middle of the forest, in the highest spot of this mountain, covered by Xin Suan's magic barrier. This temple is where he usually train his spiritual magic. The place is small, quiet, and calm, no one can enter this temple except Xin Suan and Yin Ling.

"...", He is sitting in the middle of the room. He is trying to calm his mind, and emotion.

"ARGHH!! WHAT THE HECK DID I DO!?", He is frustrated, his mind keeps being distracted by last night event.

"If only... If only I never tried to eat her negative emotions... YOU ARE SO STUPID AND PERVERT!!", 'Slap!', He slaps his own cheek.

"Since when... Since when did I start to think to do something disgrace? And why the hell can't I resist the temptation!? She isn't even seducing me, I am the one who seduced her! YOU STUPID SHIT!!!"

"Haa.... It's useless. Meditating for a hundred years too will still be a waste. I can't find my inner peace at all. I'm gonna go home..."

Ai Lie is still struggling to feed her newborn bunnies. She doesn't know how to keep the milk inside the straw without dripping away. Everytime she sipped the milk from the straw, the milk will always entered her mouth.

'Sip!', "UGH THE TASTE IS WEIRD!! BLEH BLEH....", The milk dripping back to the clay pot.

'Sip!', she closed the hole of the straw, "Now what?"

She tried to pour it softly the mouth of each bunnies. They drink the milk happily, biting the bamboo with their small mouths, "Aww they are so cute! Grow up fast so I can play with you both! Hehehe I'm glad I met you two!"

"Hmm... After this I will go away, far from here... Who will take care of you for a whole month?"

'Knock knock!'

"Who's there?"

"It's me.", It's Fang Yin's voice.

"Oh hello Jie Jie! What brings you here?", It's unsual for Fang Yin stops by in Ai Lie's room.

"I need to go to the market to buy some food supplies, but I haven't done cleaning the courtyard yet. Can you help me?"

"Of course! All I need to do is just brooming, right?"

"Yup! Don't touch the pond, okay? Thanks Ai Lie."

"My pleasure!"

Ai Lie starts to do Fang Yin's request. The courtyard seems to be small because of the pond, but it feels bigger when she brooms the dry leaves that scattered on the ground. She collects them at the corner of the courtyard near the front gate.

When she stares at the rusty huge door, it reminds her the first time she came to this realm, to this old fancy manor. Back then, she was terrified, the whole situation was dark, creepy, and there were odd noises that she didn't know where they came from. Now, she has been living here for almost a month, she doesn't feel scared at all even if sometimes she still heard those eerie noises.

'CREAK!', The rusty gate opened suddenly. It was Xin Suan, coming back from the temple where he was meditating for hours with no result. It seems he travelled back by feet.

"Oh-", Ai Lie feels a bit excited, the man that she wanted to see is finally has come back home.

"...", but Xin Suan didn't even look at her or say anything but kept going to the bridge.

".... Is he upset to me?", Ai Lie stares at his back that getting farther and farther away from where she stands.

"... I shouldn't said that. I should've realised that no one will love me, not in my world, not in this world, not him, and not even my family.", Ai Lie starts to gloom, but she keeps collecting the dry leaves with her broom.

Xin Suan rushingly went to his room. He is still feeling awkward and guilty towards Ai Lie. But he knows he couldn't avoid her too long, tomorrow Ai Lie will have her final test before leaving this old manor, it's his own idea after all.

'Yin Ling, come to my room now.', He connects his mind to Yin Ling's.

"You have come back? What's wrong?", Yin Ling entered his room after a few minutes.

"Who told her to do the chores? I've told those servants to let her take a rest, didn't I?"

"I don't know. Her own will, maybe? You know her better than I do, she is always kind to everyone."

"Haa... She is too kind. I don't deserve her."

"What the hell was actually happened between you two?"

"Haa... Not something so important."

"Hmm, not important, huh? Then why did you drunk for?

"... My mind was complicated. By the way, tell Xiu Zhen not to pick her up. I will deliver her to there by myself."

"Really? Aren't you busy?"

"Not really. With Xiu Zhen's idea, the Jinghua Ritual is not a big matter but time. Waiting a month for Ai Lie's preparation is too long actually, I'm afraid the Qiong will get worse. But I believe Xiu Zhen can handle it."

"Yeah... I hope so. Lord Water is a high priestess anyway, she knows how to do the ritual properly, better than us. Ah, Your Majesty, I got a report from the northern territory, a small group of bandits tried to attack Xianjing Village. But Yu Wen was patrolling around there, so the problem has been cleaned up."

"Cih! Stupid trash. Xianjing is highly secured. Bai Wu will never let anyone to touch her treasure. Are those filthy rats never learn?"

"You know as well as I do. Those lunatics are brainless."

"Haa... I'm getting tired living in this realm. Very well, you may leave."

"Fine."

Xin Suan spends his time by reading a book. The book is old, but the condition is still fine. The poetry is written on each of the paper. It seems this book wasn't belong to him but someone else's.

Like the moon and the stars

That could never meet

But adjoining each other

Prettify the plain black sky

Like the moon and the stars

Our paths have been long divided

By the life and the death of our fate

To reach your hand is now a fairytale

Even if one day we ever meet again

Do you still remember my face?

Do you still remember my name?

Do you still remember who I am?

Do you still remember our stories?

How we met when we were young

How we laughed and cared for each other

And how we said our goodbyes?

Every meeting has its own farewell

The sweet beginning has its own bitter end

Our paths may be crossed once again

Even if it took million years

I will wait for you to come back

And together we will sing our old songs

Until the hymn of the death lulls us to sleep

And thus our songs will be ended once more

The hymn of the death, a poem written by a person who isn't a poet. It represents a couple of lovers forcely separated by the death that can't be avoided. The writer is hoping to meet his beloved once more, even if it's her reincarnation.

This one is Xin Suan's favorite, no matter how much he had read this poem, he will never get tired of re-reading it. For him, the meaning is deep, eventhough the words aren't that poetic. Xin Suan turns from the page to page, to the book to book, until he forgot how long he has been sitting on his chair inside his room.

"Oh the sun is already set.", He suddenly remembered how he tried to avoid Ai Lie this afternoon, "... Should I talk to her?"

In the meantime, Ai Lie starts to gloom inside her own room. She is still young, and immature, just like what Jiu Lan said. She isn't used to have a special relationship with a man. With Xin Suan's cold behavior today, her heart is already crumbling to pieces.

"Ah... I shouldn't said that... I'm stupid. Lulu, Binky, your hooman is stupid, right?", Ai Lie talks to her pets.

"What I said was very improper though... He must have felt disgust towards me, of course, everyone will feel the same way as him... Agh!!! What the hell did I think about!? I'm so crazy!! How can I ask him so shamelessly!? I must apologize tomorrow... Wait, tomorrow? Ah that final test... Tomorrow he will definitely going to kill me."

".... So what if he couldn't move on from his ex? I have lost from the start, why bother to think about stealing someone else's... I don't deserve for anyone, and I don't deserve him. I'm just a poor girl who stuck in the eternal circle of loan."

"... I better go to sleep after this. I need to prepare for tomorrow. Good night, Lulu Binky.", She lands a soft kiss on each of the bunnies's heads.

The only way to settle her complicated emotions is by sleeping. She loves to sleep, not because she is lazy, but because she can take a short escape from the trouble she faced. She knows how easy her positive energies to be drained out by her overthinking behavior. No one knows how to handle her feelings, even herself.

'Knock knock!', "Ai.", Xin Suan stops by her room.

"...", No one replied.

'Creak!', He opened the door, "Ai...?"

Ai Lie is already in her pajamas, wrapping her whole body with the thick white blanket. She is in her deep sleep, Xin Suan voice doesn't seem to wake her consciousness.

"Sleeping...? But it's dinner time. Or has she ate?", Ai Lie is actually skipped her dinner and prefered to take a rest.

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to make a distance between us. I just don't know how to treat you properly..."