An Bing Qing's blabbering became less as they approached the Ancient Inn but she mumbled incomprehensible words from time to time. She also rubbed her head near Xue Zi Hui's in her murmurs.
The night was still lively. From the streets and building hung beautiful red candle lamps; some even lit the precious Red Luminous Pearls, this being the most luxurious establishments. But it was obvious to some people that the members of the many clans participating were already at their inns, preparing for the competition. Of course, there will be always plenty of exceptions.
Soon, they came to be ten steps from the inn's gate.
As Xue Zi Hui neared, he caught sight of a thin young man clad in black; it was An Xi Ming who seemed to be in a hurry.
"You, there", Xue Zi Hui said with a frosty tone.
An Xi Ming halted his hurried steps, but it wasn't because he thought someone was calling him as there were other people around but because the sound had directly entered his ears and almost made his heart stop.
He turned his head around and he saw a young man with a head full of white hair right beside him, the cold purple eyes he had were cold and nonchalant. 'He?' If An Xi Ming hadn't met him before, he would have been calling -bad in his heart for more than a couple of times.
Xue Zi Hui didn't pay attention to his reaction and said, "Tell the man who has the same face as this little girl to see me in this inn's backyard".
An Xi Ming was slow at processing his words and after he reached the –this little girl part, he finally noticed that the white-haired young man was carrying someone on his back. He couldn't distinguish the face as there was a purple robe covering it; therefore, he bent forward.
"Young miss!" he exclaimed and unconsciously stretched his hand out but he soon came to a stop when he felt an intense glare. He raised his dark eyes and saw that the pair of purple eyes still had the same expression but he, for some strange reason, felt them threatening.
"Cough", An Xi Ming took back his hand and said while stepping back in the entrance direction, "The backyard, right? I'm going right away". He entered.
Xue Zi Hui's gaze followed him all the way and when he was about to divert it, he saw An Xi Ming poking his head out from the entrance and saying warily, "You don't dare to go or both of us will be killed". He didn't say more and quickly went back.
'Is this family full of bold and silly people?' Xue Zi Hui wondered as he went to the backyard from another entrance.
Shortly after, An Yu Yong arrived at the backyard with some fright. He hadn't noticed his little sister absence as he had been busy. The guards outside her little sister's room hadn't informed him of her going missing, what happened in the end?
The fright and anxiousness he felt disappeared as soon as he spotted the annoying purple-eyed young man carrying his little sister on his back; his mood turned bad.
"Thanks for bringing my little sister back but now put her down". Though he had said thanks, his tone hadn't been polite at all.
Xue Zi Hui, whose mood was already bad as he had noted some saliva on his robes, said with a cold but playful tone, "I'm not holding her. You will need to take her away from me. She is holding me quite tight, you see". He even threw away his lord addressing to express closeness.
An Yu Yong's heart sank; flames of fury could be seen igniting on his pitch black eyes. He refrained himself from saying more; the young man in front of him had quite the tongue.
He went to them and his mood worsened when the flavour of wine assaulted his nose. He gritted his teeth and tried to pull An Bing Qing away from Xue Zi Hui's back.
"Little sister, let go. That thing isn't good to sleep on".
'Thing?' Xue Zi Hui frowned in his heart.
"Hmng". But the light pull of An Yu Yong only made her frown and she snuggled tightly; her face once again was so close to Xue Zi Hui's.
Xue Zi Hui's mouth almost twitch, whenever this happened he would feel goosebumps, making him angry with himself at his loss of composure.
After failed attempts and the secure tightening more, both began to lose their patience.
Just as Xue Zi Hui was about to use some of his energy to shook her off him, An Bing Qing loosened her grasp while her little head rose with closed eyes.
He heard her sniffing something and when he turned around to see what was happening, he saw An Yu Yong shaking a cluster of green grapes; they were Spirit Green Grapes, An Bing Qing's favourite fruit.
'I knew it. It was good that I keep some for emergencies', An Yu Yong thought; the emergencies he was thinking about were when he needed to coax her, of course. He knew she wasn't fully awake; she loved sleep more than eat after all. Still, this was more than enough for him and he was able to pull her away.
The grapes disappeared into his qiankun bag just as he held her on his arms.
'Was I changed for a cluster of grapes?' Xue Zi Hui watched this frozen in place without a change of expression but with an unbelievable feeling.