"Fu qin !! (Father !!)" Once again the child exclaimed when he was held down by a guard.
"Ni fu qin shei ni shuo ? (Who's your father you said?)" The guard barked at him.
"Ta shi !! (He is!!)" The child answered, pointing at Deathstalker.
"Ming Lan !!" Deathstalker suddenly shouted and tried to escape from the guards who were holding him captive.
Not only were the guards shocked by Deathstalker's shout, but Bruno was also taken aback.
"Fu qin !!" With a lot of struggle, the child was finally able to escape from the guard and ran to Deathstalker, but he was blocked by another guard.
"Bu ! Bie shanghai ta !! (No!! Don't hurt him !!)" Deathstalker shouted in desperation when he saw the guard who blocked the child enclosing his face toward the child's neck, as if he were about to bite him.
Fortunately, the guard didn't bite him but sniffed at the child's neck. "Hunxie er (Mulatto)," the guard reported to his leader.
The leader then approached the child. "Shen me mingzhi ni shi? (What is your name?)" he asked.
"Ming Lan !!" Once again, Deathstalker shouted. One of the guards approached him and hit him on the head, "Zhukou!! (Shut up!!)"
"Bie da ta!! (Don't hit him!!)" the child exclaimed, "Ming shi wo ming (My surname is Ming) Ming Lan," the child answered the question. His cheeks were already wet with tears. "Bie da wo fu qin (Don't hit my father)," he pleaded in between his sobs.
The leader sighed before approaching Deathstalker. "Shuo (Talk)," he ordered.
Deathstalker gulped dryly before opening his mouth to speak. "Wo.. shangmian renshi le ta de mama (I met his mother above). Ta de mingzi shi .... (Her name is...)" He glanced at the child. The child mouthed a name. "Lu.. Lu Ying." The child secretly nodded.
"Women bici Xiang ai. (We fell in love with each other). Tā hé wǒ yīqǐ shēnghuóle dàyuē yī nián, zhídào túrán... (She lived with me for around a year until suddenly...)," Deathstalker gulped again before continuing, "You yi tian ta jiu siaoshi le (One day she just disappeared)."
"Ta cun zai ni zhidao zenme? (How can you know about his existence?)" The leader asked, still suspicious.
"Ta gei wo fa xunxi (He sent me a message)," Deathstalker answered, staring at the boy with a mindful gaze.
"Ma... ma qushi le (Mom... mom died)," the child said, then broke down crying. "Likai huo... ren wǒ huā qián qǐng... (After I was left, I paid someone) zhaodao ta... (to find him)... wo xinxi gei ta (and give him my message)."
No one spoke a word after that. The rest of the guards waited for their leader, who was lost in thought.
"Wǒ lái zhèlǐ shì wèile bǎ tā dài dào dìqiú shàng (I came here to bring him to the Earth)," Deathstalker bravely broke the silence.
"Dài tā líkāi zhèlǐ ni bu neng (You cannot bring him out from here)," the leader forbade him instantly. "Zài nàlǐ shēngcún tā bù huì, yīyàng nǐ zài zhèlǐ (He won't survive there, just as you can't survive here). Tā mǔqīn líkāi nǐ jiùsh de yuányīn. Zuìduō women zhǐ néng shíwǔ tiān zài shàngmiàn huó (That was why his mother left you. We may only live for 15 days at most up there)," the leader explained further.
"Wèishéme wǒ bùnéng zài zhèlǐ shēngcún? (Why can't I survive here?)" Deathstalker asked.
Hearing his question, all the guards laughed out loud.
"Wǒ xiǎng hé wǒ érzi zài yīqǐ (I want to be with my son)," Deathstalker urged, ignoring the laughter.
The leader stopped his laughter with a long sigh. He then made a long whistle and called out a name, "Xiong!"
There was a hard wind blow when a gigantic creature flew over them out of nowhere and landed beside the leader. The creature's head resembled a dragon, but it had a lion's body and wings like a bat.
The leader told the guards holding Deathstalker and Bruno to bring them closer to Xiong. They were forced to stretch their arms toward the creature's mouth. Both men struggled to resist but failed.
In a split second, Xiong snapped at both arms, leaving huge bite marks on them while the men cried in pain and the boy screamed hysterically.
"Gàn dé hǎo, Xiong (Nice work, Xiong)," the leader praised the creature while patting its back. "Zou ba! (Now go!)"
The creature went away, once again creating a strong gust of wind. The leader then walked up to the men, instructing his guards to release them.
"Zhèxiē dīngyǎo ràng nǐmen yīti ān mànbù zài zhè piàn tǔdì shàng (These bites will let you walk this land safely for a day). Yītiān zhǐyǒu (Only a day). Yīdàn shāngkǒu yùhé, rénmen jiù huì zhuībǔ nǐ zuòwéi tāmen de wǎncān (Once healed, people will hunt you down for their dinner). Nǐ bù huì huó xiàlái xiāngxìn wǒ (Believe me, you won't survive). Suǒyǐ nǐ zuì hǎo zài zhè piàn tǔdì xiāoshī zhīqián líkāi tā (So you'd better leave before it's too late)," the leader said to the two men.
Deathstalker barely understood the leader's words due to the pain and the discoloration of his arm, turning purple and almost black from the creature's bite. His mind was distracted when he felt someone bump into his back and hug him tightly.
"Nǐ hái hǎo ma? (Are you okay?)" The child, who had bumped and hugged him, asked. Deathstalker nodded in response.
With the child's help, Deathstalker slowly stood up. Bearing the pain, he looked around. When he saw disappointment and anger in the guards' eyes and drool at the corners of their mouths, he understood what the leader had meant.
"Let's go," he whispered to Bruno, helping him stand up.
"Gěi tā yīxiē qián (Give him some money)," the child whispered to him.
Limping, Deathstalker walked to his suitcase, opened it, and grabbed a handful of gold.
"Duō xiē nǐ (Thank you very much)," Deathstalker said to the leader, bowing slightly and handing over the gold.
The leader accepted the gold, turned, and returned to his post, followed by his men.
When the guards were gone, Deathstalker led Bruno and the child away.
"Xiè xiè (Thank you)," Deathstalker said to the child walking beside him.
"Bié kèqì (Don't mention it)," the child replied with a wide grin.
"Xiàn zài gào sù wǒ, nǐ shì shuí a? (Now tell me, who are you?)" Deathstalker interrogated the child.
The child grinned but said nothing. Deathstalker stopped and squatted to look the child in the eyes.
"Wǒ méi yǒu ér zi, chú le rén lèi zhī wài wǒ méi yǒu qīzǐ (I don't have a son or a wife other than humans). Nà me gào sù wǒ…nǐ shì shuí? Nǐ de fùqīn shì shuí? (So tell me… who are you? Who is your father?)"
"Shǒu xiān... (First of all…) nán hái wǒ bù shì (I'm not a boy)," the child said with a smile. The child then hovered their hand over their face. With that movement, their face changed, revealing… a girl.
"What?!" Both Deathstalker and Bruno exclaimed in shock.
The boy, now a girl, smiled widely. "Wǒ shì Líng Líng (I'm Ling Ling). Lá