Xin Lan and the child entered a staring contest. In the end, it was the dragon that looked away. This thing wasn't playing fair. Those eyes weren't anything such a small child should have. Instead, they looked a lot like the ones of the fallen god he had originally been.
He sighed and patted the child's head. "Don't be like this. Didn't you agree to let me do other things first and only accompany you when you became an adult? You're still many years off so don't complain now. Something has happened and my Master's recluse is in danger. I'll have to go and take care of the people bothering him."
The child continued to stare.
Xin Lan's brows twitched. "A beauty shouldn't be harassed." He glanced at the child. "Anyway, didn't your brother come back from his mission yesterday? Why don't you go and annoy him?"
The child didn't bother about answering him. Anyway, it couldn't speak yet.
Xin Lan sighed, got up and picked up the child. He hated children. This one … it wasn't quite as bad but it was still annoying. Especially since it didn't seem to be a normal child.
Whatever Tian had done to have this fallen god experience his trial, Xin Lan felt that this so-called 'highest god' had fucked up pretty bad this time. Obviously, this thing had retained some awareness from its previous life. By now, he was quite sure that no memories were left though. Otherwise, this guy would be behaving differently.
Xin Lan carried him over to the chambers where the older brother lived and carefully looked around. When he first arrived, the people of this Hua family had been all over this child, their brain cells apparently reduced by half. By now … well, they were still all over the child but their heads were right again which made this whole thing troublesome.
They would notice when he came too close. Being in the same room was completely impossible. Even being on the other side of the estate could prove difficult if he wasn't extremely careful. In fact, when he had used that transmission stone just now, that had been dangerous. But he couldn't care less. If his Master was in danger, he had to know immediately. Everything else was secondary.
They reached the door to Hua Lin Rong's chambers and Xin Lan bent down. He looked at the child that earnestly held onto his sleeve and pointed at the door. "Go and bother your brother. I'll be back in a while."
The child … continued to hold onto his sleeve.
"Xiang Yu!" Xin Lan furrowed his brows and grabbed his sleeve, trying to wrest it out of the child's hands. Just when he managed to pry one of his hands off, the little one pulled the sleeve closer with the other hand and bit down on the fabric. Then he blinked his eyes. Xin Lan looked at him in defeat. Sure enough, a shameless person couldn't be beaten with ordinary means.
He sighed, took out a dagger and then cut off the corner of his sleeve. "Take that and let me leave already! Your brother is inside. Go and bother him." With that, he got up and turned around while putting away the dagger. Then he left without a gaze back.
The child reached out, trying to reach the hem of his robe but his arms were too short and he couldn't grasp it. He held onto the piece of fabric in his hands and then his eyes welled up in tears. His face scrunched up, he sniffed and then wails sounded in the Hua household, alarming all the family members and servants.
"Hua Lin Yu!" The first one to rush out was his older brother. He almost stumbled over the little one sitting in front of his door and just barely managed to hold onto the door frame. He looked at his little brother incredulously but then scooped down, pulling him into his arms. "Xiao Yu, what happened, huh? Why are you here? Who made you cry?" He peered into his face but the child just continued to cry while holding onto that piece of fabric.
Hua Lin Rong furrowed his brows and then gently tried to pry the fabric away from his brother. Hua Lin Yu, in return, only started to cry louder. As if he had burned himself, Hua Lin Rong let go and patted his brother's back. "Ah, I'm sorry, Xiao Yu! Don't worry. I won't take it away from you. Big brother just wanted to have a look at what you have there. It looked really pretty."
The crying quieted down slightly but the child still didn't stop. Hua Lin Rong felt distressed. His poor brother! Just what had happened to distress him so much?
Finally, their parents also arrived, bending over their youngest child to see what was wrong. Seeing his lovely face all scrunched up, they looked at their older son with worry. "Just what happened?"
"I don't know. He's been clinging to that piece of fabric the whole time and didn't want to let go. Other than that …" Hua Lin Rong could only shrug his shoulders.
The parents shared a look but also couldn't figure out what was happening. Since he was clinging to it, it should have something to do with that piece of fabric.
Hua Ning Shun looked at his wife. "Don't you think it looks as if it was cut off from something? It's fraying at the side."
Fa Min Juan nodded. "You're right. And there seems to be an embroidery on the other edge?"
The two men looked and couldn't help but agree. It was a little hard to find out anything more though. After all, the little one still didn't want to let go. Once again, the Hua family was faced with a mystery concerning their youngest child.