While Hua Lin Yu was acting shy, Huo Cheng and Huo Hai were once again at a loss of words. Their whole idea of the situation had been based on the fact that they thought Xin Lan was actually their little junior's uncle. Now, it turned out that all of this had just been a misunderstanding.
They … should probably accept him now? Both of them pondered that conjecture and their expressions worsened. No, they still felt uncomfortable with the situation. They might not have a reason yet but there definitely was one! They just refused to believe that that wild man was good enough for their little junior.
"So you're not blood-related."
Hua Lin Yu nodded happily. "Not at all! He's not even human."
The two Huo brothers stared at him, unable to understand what was going on for a moment. He … "What do you mean? He isn't human?"
"Well, he's of the dragon race. Isn't that obvious?" He had known even back then that Xin Lan wasn't human since he had never made a secret out of that and his family had also been pretty open. But even if he hadn't, he had lived in the Jian Yi Sect for the past decade. He had learned a lot not only about cultivation but also about the different immortal and semi-immortal races.
The kind of appearance that Xin Lan had was obviously not that of a human. Even if cultivators would look young even at a higher age as long as they had reached the corresponding stage early on in life or used some pills and potions to revert some aging if that wasn't the case, there was still a difference between them and the other races.
Humans just … looked decidedly human. Xin Lan though … He obviously didn't. That kind of silvery-white hair just didn't appear in the human race. Not to mention that he often didn't bother hiding his claws. Even today, he hadn't actually retracted them when they met. To him, that was only a bother and he might even feel like it was beneath him to hide his race's features around humans.
Hua Lin Yu really couldn't understand why his senior martial brothers were so surprised. Shouldn't they have noticed as well?
Huo Cheng and Huo Hai exchanged a glance, feeling somewhat torn when they heard that. Not being human might generally be a problem but from what their Master told them, dragons tended to be monogamous just like humans and their moral compass was pretty similar as well.
That kind of person would probably be a good fit. But … how could they just give their little junior away? There had to be something wrong with that guy!
Huo Cheng cleared his throat again, trying to find something else that might be a hindrance. "Then how does your family know that … friend? You don't just meet somebody from the dragon race, do you?"
Hua Lin Yu could only shake his head at that. "I don't know. You could ask my brother when we reach my home. You are coming along, aren't you?" Since they knew now that he wasn't his actual uncle, they shouldn't have a problem with that, right?
The two of them sighed but finally nodded. Well, they'd first have to see what the Hua family's attitude toward this was. Anyway, even though they were his senior martial brothers, it wasn't like they could decide for Xiao Yu. He and his family and maybe his Master would have to decide that. The two of them could only watch from the side. And, well, maybe try to influence some decisions. They still needed to be there to do that though.
Huo Cheng sighed again when he realized this. "Well, this seems to be very important to you so naturally, we'll be at your side for it. And anyway, Master told us to make sure you were doing alright while we were out. How could we just abandon you halfway? Who knows if that friend of your family would be able to protect you adequately?"
Hua Lin Yu gave a happy smile and nodded. He didn't doubt that Xin Lan would be able to save him if something happened but it was still nice to see that his senior martial brothers were willing to take a step back and accept him. To be honest, he had thought that they would need a lot longer to do that considering how they had reacted before.
Thinking of this, Hua Lin Yu felt like he should help them along a bit. "Well, it'll take a few days to get there so we'll have to leave soon. Before that, how about we go out together later on and continue to look at the city? I've been walking around a bit close by but I really haven't seen much yet. It would be much nicer if my senior martial brothers were with me anyway."
Having their little junior suggest something like this, made both Huo Cheng and Huo Hai be in a better mood. "Of course! If that's what you want to do, then naturally we will do so. Just tell us what you want to see and we'll definitely take you there!"
Hua Lin Yu continued to smile and then picked up his chopsticks to eat. "That's good then. You can also use the opportunity to get to know Xin Lan better."
Needless to say, the expressions of his two senior martial brothers fell when they realized that this invitation was not exclusively for them. So it turned out that that family friend was also invited. They should've known! There really was no way to keep a junior when a handsome man appeared.
The two could only sigh and then lower their heads to weep into their food. Anyway, at least they weren't completely forgotten and at least allowed to tag along. It probably could've been worse.