In another place in the mortal realm, a human and a dragon were locked in a silent staring match. One of them was blinking his big eyes every now and then while the other's eyelids were lowered halfway, hiding the slightly reddened eyes.
"You can look all you want. You still have to go back in the end."
The child blinked his eyes again and then shook his head. "No."
Xin Lan rubbed his eyes and sighed. Whether it was in the mortal or the immortal realms, he was able to beat up everyone but Tian. Who would've thought that his downfall would actually come in the body of a four-year-old mortal child? If this got out, his reputation in the dragon realm would be destroyed.
He lowered his hand again and sat up, staring at the child blankly. He really didn't know what to do anymore. "Xiao Yu, will you go back now?"
"No." The child tightened his grab on Xin Lan's air and looked at him defiantly. He definitely wouldn't leave. His father had already threatened that he would send him away. If he didn't cling to his uncle Xin Lan, they would definitely be separated!
Xin Lan stared at him and contemplated not for the first time in all these years if cutting his hair would really be such a big problem. Anyway, he had never cared about his parents so who cared if it was given by them or not?
On the other hand, he felt that he looked better with his hair long. How was he supposed to find a real lover if he had to change his appearance just to make this child give up? A strong and confident man might be good but being handsome was also a requirement if you wanted to find somebody exquisite.
Seeing that he didn't answer, the child once again tried to climb onto the bed in the hope that Xin Lan had changed his mind. Unfortunately for him, he was picked up by the scruff of his neck and put down on the floor again.
"Don't even try it. You'll have to go to the Jian Yi Sect soon. If you can't sleep on your own, how will you fare over there?"
Hua Lin Yu looked at him with pitiful eyes and pursed his lips. He lightly tugged at Xin Lan's hair and once again tried to appeal to him. "Then come with me? If the Jian Yi Sect is as great as father said, you'll like it."
Xin Lan reached out and nudged the child's forehead. "What do you not understand? I'm not human. I have no business being in a human sect at all. Now, let go. You're almost five. It's time to grow up."
Needless to say, Hua Lin Yu absolutely wasn't happy with that. He tightened his grasp on Xin Lan's hair even more to make sure that he wouldn't be thrown off when he wasn't paying attention. After all, he had already experienced that both his uncle Xin Lan, as well as his family, would use lots of devious methods to separate them if he wasn't careful.
Xin Lan looked at him, almost giving up. He had already suffered through several sleepless nights because of this little brat and it was slowly taking a toll on him. He just wanted to have a few hours of uninterrupted sleep again!
The worst thing was, that this brat never got tired of making a fuss whenever he was told to go to bed and would refuse to let go, coming up with new ways to ensure he wouldn't be sent away every day.
The worst thing was that he couldn't just wait for him to fall asleep either because this evil thing stayed up the whole night only to cling to him in the day and fall asleep in his arms to make up for the hours lost.
But in whose arms was he supposed to sleep? Xin Lan had already wanted to go back to his own dwelling several times but for one, there was still the promise he had given the Xiang Yu in the High Heavens, and then there was also this brat who would be clinging to him and throwing a tantrum, causing the Hua family to beg him to stay a little longer every single time.
So even though that 'mysterious presence' had never turned up again, he was still stuck in the Hua family's home even after several years. It was great for his task but not so much for his own life until Xiang Yu grew up. Ah, he missed the times when he could go out and look for a beautiful man or woman to spend a few hours with. Well, right now, he would prefer being alone for a few hours and sleep but still.
Anyway, it hadn't helped that Hua Ning Shun had recently opened up about the fact that he had long made a secret deal with the Jian Yi Sect's Sect Master Fei Bai Mu. As soon as Hua Lin Yu turned five, he was supposed to be brought over and stay in the Jian Yi Sect until he at least came of age, possibly even longer.
Since the day his father had tried to explain this, the child had refused to leave Xin Lan's side for even a single second because he was always afraid that he would be taken away and carted off to the Jian Yi Sect the next moment.
Well, nothing would change about that just because he was being difficult.
Xin Lan rubbed his eyes again. He really didn't know how he deserved this. If his Master saw … he would probably laugh at him. Well, he probably deserved that. He couldn't even deal with a child.
Xin Lan sighed and picked the child up. "Fine. But you better sleep." He lay down and hugged Xiang Yu's reincarnation, closing his eyes without another word. He really hoped that this approach would work better. Anyway, the family would need to get him out of the house and over to the sect. That wasn't his problem.
Or so he thought.