Chang Xiuying looked boredly towards the man, unbothered, 'What does it got to do with me?'
She saw how the man looked into her eyes as if he wanted to tear a hole into her soul. She knew that her word earlier must be kind of harsh towards the male but she has no choice, right? She still has her own 'age issue' in her hands. Not until the male started to flinch.
"What's wrong, mister?" She can't help but ask out loud.
"N-nothing… what the heck was that…" He exhaled in exasperation as he got nothing. It's like a huge part of her memory was sealed behind a huge barrier that no one, or nothing, can ever break but herself, is what he concluded.
"What do you mean by 'what the heck was that…' thingy?"
"Don't mind it… really…" He coughed to at least distract the little child from asking more questions, "Nothing matters more than accepting the Legacy as it is my master's wish, *****"
"What? Did you just speak some forbidden language that automatically canceled out its wordings? That's clearly impossible… unless it's a kind of… a factor that defies the natural laws of the universe." She mumbled but was left heard by the confused male in front of her.
"I do not really understand what you're saying in the last part, but the first part, no. It's not a forbidden language… it's… your name." After his words, he tried it over and over again as he got the same result. How begrudging. All about the little girl in front of him are so frustratingly left hidden.
"*****" Eh… it's true. Even Chang Xiuying herself can't say her previous name. Indeed, what the heck was that? To her, it just sounded like a beeped out curse word. Maybe her name was cursed? An idea popped out of her head, what if she used her name to one person and say that it's a profanity?
Her lips curved upwards. Hehehe.
"Damn it all. Xiuying ah, I really do not have much time… you need to accept that legacy and be stronger than any of the being here even by the next planes!"
"I still refused," Power is not really what she lacked. She has a great assistant by her side after all. She will not replace Xue with a stupid legacy, she smugly thought.
"Xiuying ah… you will also gain the wealth that the Lake Immortal collected for thousands of years." He can't help but pick the final straw, bait by wealth.
"I re-… accept." If there's a lot of treasure, maybe she can at least find some useful things for her to fiddle with.
[… Did you just contradict what you thought of me?]
'What the hell are you talking about Xue? I'm just accepting a good will.'
Silence filled her head as if she could tell that Xue was quite offended. Well, she can always make it up to Xue later on, probably.
The man's eyes were filled with endless gratitude towards the little child for giving him his freedom, finally! He raised his right hand as he gently tapped on Chang Xiuying's forehead with a golden glow on the tip of his fingers.
Right then, memories played like she was actually there. She brightened at times, gloomed, disgusted and hopeless. But the last play was so mythical that she wanted it too. It's the scenic play of 7 humongous dragons that blinded the whole universe and she was the one commanding them.
Upon the recognition of the Legacy of its rightful successor, seven different colors entered her body through her chest. It's the techniques and the power of the Lake Immortal. The power was absorbed and the 'white, black, red, blue, green, yellow and the gold' color circling the silver core, shined with brilliance and elegance. It expanded until it was 10 meters wide; it dominated the remaining 3 colors and the silver core. Seven Dragons with their respective colors wrapped themselves in those seven glows. Chang Xiuying revealed an ecstatic expression.
"It's such an honor. I have fulfilled my Master's wish. I fare thee well, I wish you with a lot of great fortune." The male emanated a faint green glow as he closed his eyes, with a small smile visible on his face, his entire figure slowly becoming transparent.
[Host! Touch him, quick! Don't let him get away!]
With just those words, Chang Xiuying's smile widened as she quickly touched the hand of the disappearing male in front of her.
[Caught the guardian of the Lake Immortal's Temple, Qiang Zhihao. Contract established, ready to be deployed.]
'This is not a company… neither a game…'
The man who was ecstatic seconds later was now filled with dread. His hope was crushed in just mere seconds. The hope to gain freedom, the hope to travel the universe with his undying soul, but he hoped wrong. It will never succeed… never.
Why? Why?! WHY AGAIN?!
Chang Xiuying sheepishly scratched her nape in guilt, but not really, "I apologize for that."
Qiang Zhihao dreadfully looked over the young child. He suddenly regretted coming to an agreement to his master's wish and meeting this so-called successor of the legacy. But then, he thought that the little girl in front of him was filled with a seemingly endless limit in her potential to grow stronger.
If you can't beat them, join them. These words from his master finally came to light in this situation, but he thought that it wasn't even the right time to connect it into this frickity of a situation.
"You forgot to give me the treasures." Chang Xiuying rubbed the tip of her toes on the ground as she played with her fingers with a clear pout on her little, adorable face.
"…"
He regretted everything now. Everything.
Qiang Zhihao coughed as he felt a lump rock in his throat, "Follow… me."
"YEAH!"
He sighed heavily as if he felt the world crashed down onto his very being.
…
Through the dark underground cave where the Temple resides, there's a place where it's brimming with gold, jewels, and treasures. It almost occupied the whole cave as if there's no more room for walking around to admire the sparkling image of these treasures.
Chang Xiuying's eyes sparkled with delight. Her fingers trembled together with her quivering lips. She excitedly ran over them, looking for something she can use as a part, completely disregarding all of the treasures that she deemed useless.
Qiang Zhihao looked baffled. "You… you… you…"
"Me multiplied by three?"
"No… why the heck are you even disregarding these national treasures as if they're trash?"
"Because they're useless in my part?"
"No… look, Xiuying ah… these treasures are accumulated from the places my Master collected over great ordeals. You can't just disregard these things that will be useful to you one day. Maybe it can save your life!"
Chang Xiuying held a small pen-like treasure as she meticulously observed it, oblivious to the words that Qiang Zhihao said. Indeed, it only ends up in deaf ears.
She swirled the pen in her short and small fingers before she tucked it inside her storage bag.
Qiang Zhihao looked over to the silent child as she carefully analyzed all of the treasures she deemed interesting. Much to his surprise, it was thrown back into the pile of 'worthless' in the little child's perspective. It made him twitched as he grit his teeth.
"Look here, Xiuying ah, the treasure you just threw was one of the things that can make your lifeline long. It was a treasure that is been hunted for millions of practitioners, fighting over to those that have it. Why can't you see its value?"
"I know it can make my life longer. It just doesn't make sense. Why do I need to make my life longer if I lived with no regrets?"
Qiang Zhihao became speechless towards the kid. He can't find the right words to even retort to it. There is some sense in what she said, he just can't admit to it because that's the very reason why he wanted to live longer back then upon thinking through.
He started to contemplate as he looked over the child with great mystery.
Time flowed fast as Chang Xiuying already got a hold of 50 treasures in her possession. She nodded in satisfaction before going over Qiang Zhihao who is still in a daze.
"I already got anything that I want. Where will we go next?"
Her eyes stayed at Qiang Zhihao as her voice didn't break his stupor. Her eyebrows furrowed as she lightly stepped behind the man, using her fist to slightly push Qiang Zhihao's kneepit.
And that is how Qiang Zhihao fell out of his stupor. He gazed, once again, confused towards the little girl behind him. He was supposed to be strong in body and mental capacity, but how did this little child just bend his knee for him to just pull out of his thinking? Just, how?
As far as his thoughts can take him, the only thing that is clear and defined is this little girl is much more than it meets the eye, much greater than he can think of. There seems to be a big mystery behind her identity that even he can't do anything about it. Tagging along with the girl will be his wisest choice since he also takes pleasure in uncovering the girl's identity right before his eyes.