Are You Scared?

Malleus frowned, "Did she?"

Hearing this, Little Jun sighed in disappointment, "Please don't act like this around big sis master or eldest brother brother back there. They've faced so many shady people in the past, they would misinterpret your words as you being disrespectful towards them. It's scary once they become mad!"

"She has faced many before?" Malleus looked to him with a look of surprise, "But I thought the princess always remained at her palace?"

"Apparently, she had at times." Little jun shook his head, "But she also traveled outside often and takes on labor in the districts of Briar Valley kingdom."

"Hearing you say this makes me realize how little I know of the princess…" Malleus grumbled in dismay.

"Are you really upset at not knowing?" Little Jun raised a brow, "I mean, you didn't seem upset when you talked with Big sis master about how you never knew she was talking stuff with the queen?"

"I was." Malleus grumbled.

"Then I guess you're not very good at expressing yourself through facial expressions. Who would know that you'd get mad over something trivial. You know that it would be your downfall if you don't train yourself in that."

"Why would that be?" He raised a brow.

"You claim loongs aren't dragons, so I'll just say that dragons and loongs are really common in terms of emotions and controlling their power." Little Jun explained.

"How did you know this? I recall hearing that you are a child? To know something as complicated as this…" Malleus noted curiously.

"Well…" Little Jun hesitated, "You could say it belongs to one of the perks of being a Qilin."

"I recall the Vermillion bird become less hostile when it saw you. Is your race one of the reason?"

"It's very likely." He replied, "From our side, humans regarded the dragons or loongs as gods instead of rulers. They bring rain during drought to help the people and bring flood out of anger or punishment. In human society, the first emperor of those society were rumored to be the son of these creatures and those only they are able to utilize the image of loongs. It's really no different from copyrighting the image. Those who utilize it or create a forgery of it is punishable by death as the emperor must be the only one allowed to utilize the image. All those would require his permission. The relationships between the emperor and loongs following that era slowly became withdrawn. Now the image only represents power and absolute authority."

He glanced over to him and continued, "That is where the qilin are said to have come in. In the past, as the old emperor nears the end of their life span, the loongs would select another descendant in its place. The message would then be sent through the qilins and since then they have been revered as messengers of the dragons. That being said, that history was a very long time ago. Even though the images and traditions are still practiced in this way by others, those strong beliefs are no longer as important as their own survival. Now, our images are symbols of great power or authorities. But really, they're just stones or pictures of us with no real physical power."

"But what is a qilin, such as yourself, doing in these parts?" Malleus looked to him in confusion.

"Big Sister saved me." He replied, "My mother was captured by human assassins and they tried to use her to hurt people. Big sis couldn't stop them without hurting my mom."

"Human caught a qilin?" Malleus looked to him in disbelief, "But aren't they powerful?"

"My mother was pregnant with me. So she had to hold back her strength to avoid hurting me inside her." Little Jun responded dejected, "Big sis said she hadn't even realized my mom was pregnant until she give birth to me during her last breath."

"I see…" Malleus muttered hesitantly, "My apologies… I made you share something painful."

"It's not too bad, so it's okay." Little akin replied, "My mom's death had many other factors into it as well, but I don't mind talking about it as much now. Since I was born, Big sis and everyone here took me into their family and raised me for the past few months now."

"A few months?" Malleus hummed in deep thought, "So you came into this world recently. However, the princess had school during that time."

"I was born in the mirror of Heartslabyul." Little Jun replied, "That's why Big Sister named me Little Jun."

"There's a connection?"

"Jun in our language is only referred to emperors and rulers. Because I was born in a place that idolized and modeled after the queen of hearts, big sis named me Little Jun."

To think that had occurred there! Malleus was shocked! He had expected the creature was born on school grounds but he had never thought it was within a dorm mirror! So this means that there were assassins hiding in the school dorms where their students were relaxing or doing their own business! No, this is too dangerous. He frowned, "To think those human assassins did this… Ah, by the way, is there still more assassins?"

Little Jun hesitated, "Why do you want to know? Big Sis would not be happy that I shared private information with students or strangers."

Seeing that he was a student, he had reached a dead end. He would have to wait for another opportunity then. As the exit the courtyard, he opened his mouth, "The Vermillion Bird mentioned a poison back then. Your master was poisoned?"

"Ah… that's…" Little Jun hesitated.

"So that's where you are!"

They halted in their steps and looked up to see a small fairy like creature with no wings yet had a brown robe and a braided ponytail behind. The figure floated in midair as it dashed over to the qilin with a look of surprise, "Ying'er!"

"She seems to be alright…" Little Jun responded, "Can you still check on her though?"

Little Jun nodded before glancing over at Malleus with a hesitant look.

"Can I take Master's friend to tour the mansion?" Little Jun questioned quickly seeing the suspicions, "Just after I put Big Sister Ying back into her room."

Xiao Li sighed in disdain, but nodded. Little Jun brought the small fairy into another room before leading Malleus out. Seeing that the other small fairy did not follow suit, Malleus turned to him in confusion, "Everyone here is friendly."

"Big brother Xiao is not worried." Little Jun replied, "As the spirit of this artifact, he can see everything that occurs inside as he wishes. Now that we have a guest, he probably has kept a third eye opened right now."

"That is an interesting feat." He noted in surprise, "Does he trust you because you are a qilin? Does qilins have so much talents? For a young infant, you speak very fluently."

Little jun shook his head, "I am that way because my lineage is special. You see, the qilin of old hardly exist in great numbers as it now does. Now, there are a number of branches stemming from the original. You can even say that they are the branch family and not the main branch. However, once every thousand years, someone born with the main branch genes and traits would often appear from the smaller branches. And that's would be me. Aside from power and traits, what separates me from the others is that I inherit the memories of my main branch predecessors as I grow older."

"You inherit the memories of your predecessors?" Malleus looked to him in surprise.

Little Jun nodded, "The stronger I become the more memories I will recall. There are other traits but that's too many to talk about right now."

"But… is it not scary?" Malleus pointed out, "Won't you also recall their deaths."

"Haha…" Little Jun chuckled bitterly as they walked into the north east courtyard and he sat down on the stones, "That's true. But, I'm not scared anymore."

Anymore?

Little Jun looked to the vast garden next to the wall and began, "What do you think about the garden?"

Malleus looked around curiously as he pondered the reason for this question. The garden was neat and tidy. The stones and stone paths were structured precisely with the flowering trees and plants sticking out. The sight of a vast Lotus pond and a bridge could be seen from their perspective. Seeing this, he realized that the mansion was actually much larger than he had thought. Probably the lengths of five mansions together!

"It's big, serene, and beautiful. A very different beauty from the garden back in Briar Valley." He replied honestly, "It even makes silence sound welcoming in a good way."

"I agree." Little jun nodded, "It's amazing. Just being here also makes me forget the previous troubles of the predecessors. Sometimes, I enjoy just sitting here and stare at the garden after training. It makes me wonder over the new development and life on this garden and chatting with you makes me even more fun! I can just chat away with everyone for the next few weeks or years!"

"Is it possible?" Malleus pondered curiously.

"Not really." Little Jun muttered disappointed before pointing to the beautiful white wall afar, "Do you know? Behind the wall is a beautiful orchard of many different fruit trees and herbs and beyond that is a field of flowers and a beautiful lake as far as the eye can see. Behind that mountain you can see from here is a salt water lake. Nothing much loves in there right now, but just seeing the sight of it is very relaxing."

"That sounds like a very breathtaking view." Malleus pondered curiously as he is now intrigued by the thought of the beautiful sight.

"Do you want to come see?"

"Huh?" Malleus looked to him in surprise.

"If you stay here all day, you won't be able to see the sights outside. Now that you are here, do you want to see?"

Malleus pondered hesitantly before he muttered sheepishly, "Actually, I wanted to see the gargoyles on the roof…."

"Gargoyles? Okay." Little Jun tilted his head curiously.