Battle of Fate : Story of Two

The sand and wind blended together in the air, witnessing the two burly men dueling down the canyon. The cliff on either side of the canyon shook as the clanging of the weapons echoed within it. Four boys ranged from two to eight years of age stood not far from the battle. A pregnant woman watched the men fight fearfully as she held one of the boys. The techniques that both men displayed were indeed equally strong and powerful. The sand flew all around them and the stances were exchanged between the two fighters. They had been fighting for over twenty minutes but there were no sign of either of them gaining the upper hand.

Jiang Long briskly retracted his spear and hauled it above him in a chopping motion. He channeled his chi into both his hands and brought it down into the opponent’s head. Zhao Zhihang swept his sword across his head and a loud clanging sound echoed within the desert valley as the two weapons clashed with each other. Zhao Zhihang swirled his sword around, bringing the spear down to his feet. Jiang Long pushed his spear out and moved forward, attacking the opponent’s two feet continuously. Zhao Zhihang was forced to retreat for 20 steps before he could bring his sword to sweep across the spear. Jiang Long then lifted his spear and pushed forward to attack Zhao Zhihang’s upper body, but Zhao Zhihang already leapt up, somersaulting over his head. The sword swooshed to slash his neck but he immediately withdrew his spear to fend it off. Holding the spear with his two hands over his head, his feet dug deep into the soil as he had to support Zhao Zhihang’s body above him.

Zhao Zhihang was in an upside down position, his hands thrusting forward clasping the handle of the sword. The other end of the sword was locked on Jiang Long’s spear shaft. Though the shaft was made of wood, it was indeed the thickest and strongest wood known to man, disabling the sword to pierce through to claim victory over his opponent. Both were equally strong, enabling them to stay still in their current position without budging, nor giving in to each other. The energy that was applied to each weapons were powerful, and none of them were leading the match.

Zhao Zhihang’s family art, Jin Long Jian Fa (Golden Dragon Swordplay), relied on resilient internal energy, and with him practicing it since he knew how to talk helped him cultivate his chi to the fullest. In Zhao family, the first six years when a Zhao could talk and comprehend knowledge, he would be trained under strict supervision in internal energy cultivation using the inherited the Liu Jin Shengjing (6 Golden Scriptures) Manual.

The manual was invented almost two centuries ago by Zhao Zhihang’s ancestors, integrating the art with Xing-I Quan style. It was not the strongest one around, but practicing it with Jin Long swordplay would increase the proficiency of both arts by folds. The progress of the cultivation would then be up to the comprehension and preseverence of the student. The early levels of the Beginner stage were easy to learn, so even a child can be trained in this, but it would usually take six years for him to finish the stage. This was the crucial stage where the internal energy foundation was formed. The Intermediate stage requires patience, determination and intelligence to comprehend the philosophy of combining the art of Jin Long with the Scriptures’ while the Advanced stage was all about the refinement of Intermediate Stage and expanding the internal power. By mastering the Advanced Stage, one should be able to control his internal energy and power that would protect him from any bodily harm. The Expert stage was most difficult to master, requiring solid Advanced stage cultivation and a higher level of mental concentration, enabling the practitioner to control all his body function at his desire. At current state, Zhao Zhihang was at the first level of Advanced stage, and his power already exceeded most Wulin warriors of his generation.

In the other hand, Jiang Long’s family spear style was a truly divine art, in Zhao Zhihang’s heart he could have sworn that it was probably at par with the infamous Xue Spear, and this art was said to be the best spear technique in Jiang Hu. Although he had never sparred with the Xues, he had experiences with reknowned spear wielders in Wulin and the art that Jiang Long was displaying now was indeed above those he had encountered with. Adding to it that Jiang Long’s external energy was powerful; it was quite hard for Zhao Zhihang to overcome the opponent even with his profound internal energy.

Suddenly, Zhao Zhihang broke away from the duel, leaping five feet in the air and landed ten feet away from Jiang Long.

Zhao Zhihang sheathed his sword. Holding the sheathed weapon in his left hand, he clasped his left knuckled in his right palm and bowed with respect, “ Zhao Zhihang dare not fight with Jiang da ge anymore,”

Jiang Long, who was at first startled when his opponent suddenly disappeared from above him, extended his left hand and the eldest boy of the pack took the spear from him. He grunted huskily as he replied Zhao Zhihang’s gaze.

“ Zhihang, you shouldn’t have held back. You could have taken me there,” Jiang Long patted Zhang Zhihang’s shoulder with a smile plastered on his face. “ Your Golden Dragon Swordplay is only a few levels to perfection. In ten years time I’m confident that you will rise as the most outstanding swordsman in Wulin,”

“ I dare not be too ambitious, Jiang da ge. My skills are obviously no match for your extraordinary strength and skills,” Zhao Zhihang shook his head humbly.

Jiang Long smiled at his sworn brother’s humbleness and decided to tease him even more, “ Zhihang, your skills are as fierce as a dragon raging the tidal waves, but your heart is as soft as cotton flying in the cold breeze. I know you did not fight me whole-heartedly. We have been sworn brothers for five years. We watched how each other progressed in our family’s art. I can see that you’re much more talented than me. Look at you, only in your early thirties but already possess such extraordinary internal energy surpassing most Wulin warriors. It is indeed my loss that we have to part now and might not be able to see each other again,” Jiang Long sighed regretfully.

“ You speak too highly of me, Jiang da ge. I certainly don’t deserve such respect,” Zhao Zhihang shook his head. “ We’re here to bid you farewell, it is indeed my honour that you would spar with me for the last time,”

Jiang Long laughed heartily. He looked at Zhao Zhihang’s pregnant wife, Feng Rui Zhen and then at his third son aged two years old. He then slipped his right hand into his gown and took out a necklace. He reached out for Rui Zhen’s hand and placed the necklace on her palm, saying, “ My mother gave this necklace to my wife. Now that my wife has passed away, I no longer think that it’s fit for me to keep this, since I don’t have a daughter to pass it down to. Should this child Sister-in-law is carrying be a girl, I shall be honoured to betroth my third son to her. On the year she reaches twenty years of age, I will send a matchmaker to rekindle this bond between our families,”

Zhao Zhihang held Jiang Long’s arm, “ Then should this child be a boy, on his 18th birthday Xiao Long will take him to Chang’an to find you and return the necklace, be it for this necklace that we are reunited again,”

Jiang Long nodded. His heart swelled of contentment and honour. He then stroke Zhao Menglong’s head and smiled, saying, “ Xiao Long, you carry my name in yours. Train hard and make your parents and Uncle Jiang proud,”

Zhao Menglong nodded, “ Xiao Long will not disappoint Uncle Jiang. When the time comes, I will bring di di (younger brother) to find you, and you can test my skills then,”

Jiang Long raised a brow, “ Oh, why are you so sure that it will be a boy?”

Zhao Menglong had always been serious and was known as the boy with few words ever since he knew how to speak. His character reminded Zhao Zhihang of his late father, who was then a well-known martial expert. Zhao Menglong shrugged at Jiang Long’s question and answered flatly, “ It has to be a boy so that I can spar with him,”

All three parents laughed at his answer. Zhao Zhihang said, “ Even if it is a girl, she can still spar with you. Look at your Niang, she is a good fighter herself. You saw how Die and Niang spar every now and then,”

Zhao Menglong did not reply, instead he left the adults and approached Jiang Long’s second son, who was at the same age of him -six years old. Zhao Menglong put a hand on his shoulder and said, “ We will have a duel when we meet again,”

Jiang Long’s second son nodded, a smile slowly crept onto his face, “ Then you mustn’t let me win again,”

***

A boy tiptoed out of the house carefully. He held the sword close to his body as if he was afraid it might fall off his grasp. He went to the backyard and flew up the gate. He looked around before hurling his body to the other side. He crouched down to the ground to lessen the impact but as he stood up, another teenage boy met his eyes.

The older teenage boy pressed his eyes on the younger one. There was no trace of expression on his face, the younger boy couldn’t determine if he was angry of him. He leaned his body against the wall frightfully, but stared straight into the older boy’s eyes daringly.

“ I was just going to go out for a while,” the younger boy involuntarily explained in a very soft voice. Of course his hope to gain the older boy’s sympathy was close to zero.

“ How many times do I have to tell you to tell me before going out?” the older boy asked in a hard tone.

“ I looked for you but you were not in your room,” the younger boy replied innocently. He looked up to the older boy and pleaded, “ You won’t make me go back inside, will you?”

The older boy ignored his plea and said, “ If anything were to happen to you Die will hold me responsible. And when that happens I will never let you off the hook. Mark my word,”

The younger boy narrowed his eyes, trying to look innocent. The older boy just replied coldly, “ That won’t work on me and you know it,”

“ Okay!” the younger boy held the older boy’s arm and said excitedly, “ I promise I will never go out without telling you anymore. Please let me go this time, I want to buy something for Niang’s birthday. Look I promise I won’t sneak out for the rest of the month!”

The older boy stared into the younger boy’s eyes as if searching for the truths of his words. The younger boy was wrong to think that he didn’t see his trick. It was only five days until next month, that was why the younger boy didn’t mind saying he wouldn’t go out until then. The younger boy realized his trick did not work when he saw how the older boy looked at him, so he just smirked childishly and nodded his head, still trying to convince the older boy. The older boy walked away from the younger boy, saying, “ I will come to your room for practice at dusk and I expect you to be there,”

The younger boy jumped in excitement and was about to yell “ I love you!” when he realized he might attract more attention to him. He looked to the direction the older boy was going and turned to run to the opposite direction. Within minutes he was already in the streets of Wei, struggling his way through the weekend crowd toward a stall. He had been eyeing for a particular hairpin when he went out the other day. It was a month ago and he hoped no one had bought the hairpin yet.

He successfully pushed his way through and came up to the big stall. There were hundreds of items laid on the red-clothed table. Most of these were ornaments for women clothing. The prices were reasonable, just nice for the boy to spend. His eyes scanned the items one by one hoping to see the hairpin again. He sighed in disappointment when he did not see the item. He was about to leave when a woman suddenly said, “ How much for this hairpin?”

The boy’s attention was drawn back to the table and watched as a young woman bargained for the dragon-shaped hairpin in her hand. It looked ordinary except for the glowing green jade that made the eyes of the dragon. It was the hairpin he had been eyeing for the past month!

“ That is excellent choice. That one costs 10 teals of silver, gu niang,” the street vendor replied with a broad smile. He began telling the story behind the hairpin, “ This hairpin was said to be worn by Emperor Taizong’s daughter Xincheng Gong Zhu. When she was on a way to a temple the hairpin falls off her hair and came into possession of a farmer. After a bad crop year, the farmer sold the hairpin to me. I have kept this hairpin for such a long time to give to my daughter but I am already old and my wife can no longer conceive, still we bore no daughter. I don’t want this hairpin to be kept in the drawer just like that, the beauty is meant to be admired by other people, so I thought perhaps a decent woman would buy it from me and put it in her hair in Xincheng Gong Zhu’s name,”

The woman was in awe of the story. Her hand gingerly held the hairpin as if she was afraid that it might break. The boy listened to the story and wanted the hairpin even more. He jumped to the vendor’s attention and said, “ I will buy the hairpin for 15 taels of silver!”

The woman widened her eyes at the boy angrily. She could barely afford the pin for 10 taels of silver, now this young boy wanted to compete with her for fifteen? How could a kid like this carry a big amount of money? Immediately she thought of him as a liar or might be a thief. But then a thief wouldn’t try to buy things, would they? They could have just stolen it. But then maybe this was another trick they came up with. The vendor seemed to share the same thought as the woman and looked around cautiously for thieves or beggars.

“ How can a boy like you have 15 taels of silver?” the woman looked at him accusingly. She saw that the boy was commonly dressed, he might come from a middle-classed family. But that doesn’t mean he had such big money in his possession.

“ Little boy, go play somewhere else!” the vendor pushed him harshly. But despite his strong push, the boy did not budge a muscle.

The boy’s eyes glistened as he stared at the hairpin in the woman’s hand. He didn’t even feel that his body was being pushed. He then looked at the vendor, “ How about 18 taels of silver?”

“ Boy, go away. I’m trying to do business here I don’t need you to scare off my customers!” the vendor said angrily. He turned to the young woman again and said, “ Are you going to take that hairpin, gu niang?”

The boy was furious that he was ignored like that. He slipped his hand under his garment and pulled out a heavy pouch. He held it in front of the vendor, saying, “ You can count it. It’s all twenty teals of silver,”

Both the vendor and the woman stared at him in surprise. The young woman looked at the boy, amused, and said to the vendor, “ Vendor, how can you ignore this little customer? Would it be too big a thing for you to count his money to confirm his words?”

The vendor took the pouch reluctantly and counted the tokens. When it reached twenty, the young woman put the hairpin in the boy’s hand and said gently, “ You’ve earned your hairpin. Tell me, what are you going to use it for?”

The boy smiled cheekily at the woman and answered, “ My mother’s birthday is next week and I want this to be the present,”

The young woman nodded lovingly. “ Your Niang is so fortunate to have such a filial son,” She turned to the vendor and said, “ I will settle for another hairpin with cheaper price,”

The boy walked away from the crowd happily, holding the hairpin in the sun in admiration. He was about to tuck the hairpin into his belt when he heard a sound of clanging weapon at the back of a building. He quickly put the hairpin tightly in his belt and went to check. What he saw was two men fighting with each other. The first man was tall and broad while the other was short and fat. The tall man wielded a saber as he attacked the fat man, but the fat man did not have any weapon on him and only relied on a piece of wood he desperately groped on the ground. The wood broke when the tall man’s saber made contact with it, but the fat man managed to get away from his saber. Throwing away the piece of wood that was in his hand at the tall man’s direction he ran to another corner of the building. The tall man hacked the wood in mid air and leapt to stop the fat man. He raised his saber to chop the fat man’s arm when a sword suddenly slipped between them, stopping his saber in mid-air. He raised his head angrily at the one holding the sword, and was surprised that it was only a boy who looked no more than thirteen years old. Startled, he pulled back his saber immediately.

“ What crime did this man commit for you to kill him in such manner?” the boy asked articulately.

“ This is none of your concern, boy!” the tall man pushed the boy’s shoulder. The boy held his ground and the tall man grit his lips in anger as he pushed harder. It was beyond him how a boy at such a young age could withstand his push.

“ How can you call yourself a man when you attacked another who is unarmed?” the boy asked daringly.

The tall man snarled furiously and raised his saber to hack the boy. The fat man immediately tossed his heavy body at the tall man instinctively. The saber was flung to a corner and the fat man pinned the tall man desperately. He glanced over his shoulder at the boy and shouted, “ Xiao di di (Little brother), quickly get away from here. This doesn’t concern you!”

The boy knew the fat man wouldn’t be able to pin the tall man for long, so he looked around in search for a rope tie the tall man up. Just as he rushed back to the fat man with a string in his hand, the tall man successfully broke free from the fat man. Having to lose his weapon, the tall man did not wasn’t to waste time to fight and hurled himself up to the roof, fleeing the scene. The boy was about to follow suit when the fat man stopped him, “ Xiao di di, don’t trouble yourself,”

The boy furrowed his brows, dissatisfied. But he turned to the fat man and asked, “ Is ge ge all right?”

The fat man coughed a little before standing up to his feet. “ I’m all right. Thank you, xiao di di, for helping me. What is your name?”

The boy grinned sheepishly and answered, “ Junior’s name is Wu Wengqi,”

The fat man nodded and patted Wu Wengqi’s head. “ You’re very brave, your parents must be very proud of you,”

Wu Wengqi beamed wider with pride and asked, “ What is ge ge’s name? What happened between you and that man?”

The fat man sighed and held Wengqi’s hand. “ Lets go get some drink. I’ll tell you all about it there,”

They left the alley and entered an empty restaurant. Wu Wengqi loudly asked for an jug of wine. The fat man eyed him curiously as he put tokens into the waiter’s hand. Wu Wengqi was impatient and asked the fat man to tell his story even before the wine arrived. The fat man complied and said, “ My name is Lu Hui. That man was Chen Ru and he is actually my prisoner,”

Wu Wengqi raised his brow curiously. Lu Hui did not strike him as law enforcer at all. But he didn’t look like he was lying either. “ Your prisoner? How can this be?”

Lu Hui sighed despondently. The jug of wine had just been placed on their table and he poured it into a cup. He stuffed the liquid down his throat before continuing, “ Actually he’s not my prisoner. I was only in charge of him for a short while when the one who was supposed to bring him to our headquarters went to deal with some matter. Now that he has escaped I don’t know what I am going to tell my senior,”

Wu Wengqi touched his hand and said, “ What’s happened, happened, you must not be afraid to tell the truth. But I still don’t understand about this prisoner part,”

Lu Hui was surprised how bright the kid sitting next to him was. Thinking that even a kid could think clearer than him made him even more disappointed of himself and he sighed louder. He poured another cup and drank it. “ My father named me Hui so that I can live in splendor, but the fact was I’m incompetent and useless! That is why I can only be trusted with our ration. But I wanted to serve my country and protect our people. The army will never recruit me that’s why I joined Yi Jing,”

Wu Wengqi listened to him attentively as he cursed himself, but his eyes widened at the mention of Yi Jing. “ You are a Yi Jing’s member?”

Lu Hui nodded and then spoke angrily, “ That bastard Chen Ru is a traitor to our people. Elder Liu told us to capture him before he goes to Chang’an and that’s exactly what we did. But unfortunately Senior Yao entrusted me with the bastard when he was caught up with some other matter, and I failed him,”

Wu Wengqi looked at him with sympathy. “ Don’t worry Hui gege. I’m sure they will get that Chen Ru back. Wait, we have to inform your Senior at once or Chen Ru would be out of reach by nightfall,”

Lu Hui was hesitant, “ I don’t know how to explain to them,”

Wu Wengqi smiled. “ I’ll go with you for support. Eh, do you think there’s a place for another member?”

Lu Hui widened his eyes. He saw how the boy stood his ground against Chen Ru. Chen Ru might not be a good fighter, but for a boy to be brave enough to confront an armed man was still astounding. He asked, “ Do you want to join us?”

Wu Wengqi nodded, “ Why not? Is there an age limit to it?”

Lu Hui shook his head excitedly, “ No, not at all. Well, at least not that I know of. If Senior sees what you can do, he will definitely agree to take you in. But we’ll have to ask for the Elders’ permission first. But nevermind, I’m sure they will want your skill and bravery in our movement. Come, let’s go see Senior Yao and tell him what happened,”

Wu Wengqi nodded in agreement and they left the restaurant to look for Senior Yao.

***
Present day,

“ So, what are we going to do now?” a teenage girl asked her brother. They had been riding their horses for seven days from their hometown to the Capital. They rode past the big front gate and now they were tearing their way through crowded road.

“ We will stay in the inn first. Try settling in and look around town. We must know how to get around in this city,” he said. “ We’ll pay He Jing Sheng a visit tonight,”

They found an inn situated at the heart of the city and asked for two rooms for a week. They got into their rooms and went to clean themselves.

A few hours later, the brother came over and went to knock on the door of his sister’s room. However, he stopped. A memory suddenly flashed into his mind right that moment.

*FLASHBACK*

“ Xiao Long, take care of your sister,” a sick middle-aged man told his son. He was only in his late forties but lying there on the bed a week being sick, it made him looked like more than fifty years old.

“ Die (father), don’t leave me, please. Niang had just left two days ago, you can’t do this to me,” his daughter wailed, sitting on the edge of the bed holding his hand.

“ Wen Zhu, take good care of yourself, my daughter,” the man touched his daughter’s cheek intently. He then looked at his son who was standing behind his daughter, “ Now, be a good girl, I want to have a word with your brother alone,”

Wen Zhu shook her head vigorously. “ No! I can’t leave you at a time like this. I want to be with you,”

“ Xiao Long,” the man glanced at his son.

The one called Xiao Long nodded. He bent down and touched his sister’s shoulders gently. “ Wen Zhu, do as Die says. You can’t disobey him now,”

Wen Zhu stared at her father intently. She kissed her father’s cheek and slowly stood up. She then obediently exited the room with two other maids, leaving the father and son to talk.

Xiao Long sat on the edge of the bed, gripping his father’s hand. He waited patiently for his father’s last words.

“ Xiao Long, you have grown big,” the dying man looked at his son with pride. “ You’re no longer the little dragon that we used to call. Your given name is Menglong, do you know what these mean, son?”

Xiao Long nodded in reply, “ Meng is fierce and strong, Long is dragon. My name means to be fierce and strong as a dragon,”

“ You’re named as such so that you can carry the legacy of our Zhao’s Jin Long swordplay,” the man explained, nodding in satisfaction. “ You’re well aware that even your sister is very good in martial art and is very rebellious, she is in fact a very gentle and sensitive at heart. Nothing must hurt her and please, after his day, take care of Wen Zhu for Die and Niang,” he said, choking a couple of times in his sentences.

“ Yes, Die,” Xiao Long nodded. “ I certainly will,”

The man sighed regretfully, looking into space, “ I have been busy for the past years, but that doesn’t make up for me thinking too highly of myself. I failed to shine my 6 Golden Scriptures training, and this is what I get for my ignorance. Although only one of our ancestors finished up to Expert level, if I were to train continuously maybe I would reach to Expert, and I wouldn’t be lying here defenseless against this poison. I wouldn’t be leaving you and Wen Zhu,”

Xiao Long narrowed his eyes at his father, “ Die, please don’t blame yourself. Everything is meant to be,”

“ Yes, yes indeed,” the man nodded, but what he son said still did not ease the regret he suffered, “ That’s why Xiao Long, you must never let ignorance and arrogance run your life. This art symbolizes our family, this is what made us now, Xiao Long, and it has fallen into your hands to continue the legacy. As long this art lives, Zhao family lives,”

Xiao Long nodded. “ Yes, Die. I will remember this,”

“ Listen to me now, son!” despite the suffering of his insides being eaten out, the man could still reach out for his son and pull him close to his face.

“ Die!” Xiao Long’s eyes sparkled as he stared into his father’s. He was forced to bend over when his father grabbed his neck.

The man slipped two small jade medallions in a shape of five-pointed stars into his son’s palms and said, “ You’re Yi Jing’s leader now. These two medallions are symbols of leadership, it is your identification, and I bestow them to you and your sister now. They used to belong to your mother and I, but now it is time to pass our leadership. Take Wen Zhu into our movement and teach her what we really do for our nation. Your Niang was right; this time we should let her get involved. Your Niang and I founded this movement so that we can help our country to fend off these rebels. We wanted to look out for our own people. But unfortunately there are traitors amongst our own people who want to see we fall for his own benefit. Because of this, we can’t let just anyone take control of Yi Jing, we can’t trust anyone! Both of you are our last hope to render the invading Tujue (Western Turks) defenseless, once and for all,”

Xiao Long nodded. He understood that his father was talking about the raids on the borders. “ I will accept the responsibility, Die. For our people, and for our family,”

The man coughed and later released Xiao Long’s neck. Xiao Long rubbed his father’s chest gently to ease his cough. When the cough subsided, the man continued, “ You’re well aware that Die and Niang have been poisoned. The one is within our own trusted people, it’s your duty to nail this person or he would damage our chance of ridding the Tujues. But, Er Zi (son), don’t let Wen Zhu know about this. She mustn’t know, promise me, Menglong!”

“ Yes, Die,” Xiao Long lowered his head, hearing his father calling him by his given name suddenly made him feel strong and indestructible.

He knew that Wen Zhu was a very impulsive girl. If she were to know that her parents were poisoned and that the traitor was within the movement, she would stop at nothing to nail this person. That kind of distraction was certainly not in good in such fragile state they were in. The survival of the movement must be put first priority. He stared at into his father’s eyes meaningfully. He had never cried before, and even in a situation like this, he still couldn’t bring himself to cry. “ I will not involve her in this vengeance,”

“ I don’t have much time, Menglong. I have……written my instructions in a scroll. It is in my pillow,” the man paused, trying to catch his breath. “ Now…call…Wen Zhu in,”

*END OF FLASHBACK*

Zhao Menglong heaved a soft sigh as he remembered this. It was only eleven days since their parents died and now they were already crawling in some unknown big city carrying out a mission. It was not his safety that he was worried about, but Wen Zhu’s. She had not even celebrated her eighteenth birthday but now she was with him carrying out a dangerous mission. If it were up to him, he wouldn’t have brought her along, but they were tied by their responsibility as the movement’s chiefs. Furthermore it was their father’s last request that he bring Wen Zhu into the movement. He knew their father only believed no one but his own blood, that was why he entrusted the mission to them and not the other elders who were obviously more qualified than them.

He knocked. Three knocks went by unanswered. On the forth, the door swung open. His sister’s cute face greeted him. “ Ge ge, are we going now? I haven’t put away my things yet,”

He shook his head, his lips crooked slightly to form a faint smile but it looked more like a pained curve more than a soothing smirk. “ I told you we’re going in two hours,”

“ How should I know people here like to bathe in the afternoons? The women restroom was crowded when I got in, you know,” she explained, her eyes were wide open with expression. Yes, they had a very opposite character. Zhao Wen Zhu was bubbly and full with excitement; she expressed herself well in situations, while Zhao Menglong was very cold and expressionless and hardly smiles in his life. And with their parents’ death and the mission at hand, he grew more serious than before. However when he was around Wen Zhu he would soften a bit and tried to be warmer.

She puckered her lips, “ Why don’t you go first? I’ll catch up with you later,”

She went to close the door but Zhao Menglong immediately held it open. His words sounded worried, but his voice was stiff as usual. “ You’ve never been out alone before,”

She pursed her lips even more. “ Ge, you are definitely not insulting me. I can take care of myself, ge ge, I’m a big girl now. You’ve never worried about Wengqi, why would you be worried of Wen Zhu?”

“ Are you sure you’re all right?” Zhao Menglong asked again. Somehow he couldn’t get over Wen Zhu’s previous breakdown.