There was a feeling of stalemate between Fu Hua and his captor. Every time he looked over to the female she seemed busy in her own thoughts. Her fire also reflected her mood much more accurately than her facial expression.
"So, what are you going to do next? What about me? What would you do with me?" That was what Fu Hua wanted to know. All the female had talked about were the flowery words and he had heard nothing of consequence yet.
He had a feeling that she was not letting him know everything right now and he hated this feeling.
"Why, to take revenge of course. What, did you think I was kidding?" well, not really but Fu Hua had thought that the female was going about it all too fast. To him, it felt more like a moment of spur thing than a calculated risk the other was willing to take.
"And what next? What will happen once you burn this world down to its roots. And do you really think the people of the current era would let you? After all, you are neither the only god nor omnipotent" The female's smile did not falter at his words.
In fact, her smile grew in size.
"You caught me~" her sing-song voice rang in Fu Hua's ears, "You see, I need a way back. A bridge that would connect the past and the present but I alone, am unable to achieve it. That's what my end goal is right now - to make things right and to purge the corruption" the female said with a content voice.
But Fu Hua felt his blood run cold. She wanted to do what?
That was a taboo practice outlawed long ago. You could re-live the past as it was but to change it was not allowed. The last one who had done so had messed up the world big times and had to be sealed or doing so.
Did this female even know how big of a deal this was?
"You are insane There is no evidence that it is possible and no clue left of anyone who had ever successfully done so" there was no confirmed evidence anyway, but rumours had their way to turn around.
"Is there really none? I guess we will find out sooner or later" her aura blazed with corruption and it flared at her desire. It was feeding on her anger, her worry and her determination and in turn, it was feeding her in equal measure.
They were both growing in front of his eyes to become a mess that he could not solve.
"This night shall be my last one in this village and it shall burn tonight as it had never before. They will be witnesses to my anger and torment. Then we shall find my other target" then why take Fu Hua with her?
But he did not ask and the other did not answer his unasked question. They just started walking, one after the other. Fu Hua could have run, he could have escaped but there was no way he would be able to get away from Hinoe uma.
So he follower her for now, her steps lighting the path for him. Behind him, the sun had beginning to set down as well and cast a dark shadow onto this earth.
It would be a moonless night for everyone. A tone of fire followed their footsteps and a connection was fostered in their being.
.......
He always had an idea what it was about but it had never seemed important in the grand scheme of things.
"Well, we can think about all this later anyway. We should head back right now and check on the situation" now that the array had been broken, they needed to check up on things.
Not that Xiao Lan and the company found anything useful. They had looked through the Xi family's compound for the texts being mentioned but had come up empty-handed.
The only text they had found they could not read at all. These were sealed specially and would need Fu Hua's blood. They had not found the kept blood at all and it must have been destroyed in the fire as well.
Or someone had taken it away. The room they had found the texts in had looked untouched by the fire and far too clean. But it had also looked as if someone had done it deliberately to not attract attention.
The far too arranged bookshelf was what had clued them in. a room that did not see much usage should not have this clean of spaces and arrangement.
"Hey, have a look here" Detective Song asked them to gather around him. He had a small diagram in his hand that looked vaguely familiar to the naked eye.
"The summoning array. They used Fu Hua's blood to cast it" it was written on the side of the scroll with large words. A necessary requirement to foster the connection.
They should have expected it to happen actually. For such a powerful array to work, there had to be a catalyst that bounded them together. Fu Hua's blood had been sacred in nature and should have fitted the bill.
"So, looks like we are not going to find anything here today. What should we do now?" they had also found the modified talisman and knew exactly what it was made of - Fu Hua's blood.
Since the power source shared the same source as the summoning array, it must have saved those homes from the fire but it would not work forever. Soon the blood will run dry or the Hinoe uma would catch on.
And then it was over for the village.
"For now let's head back. The villagers still think we have a kid with us and we need to check on them as well. It would not be good to stay here for this long" commander Yuhan was right and the party headed back.
There were many people who were walking away with a glazed look to their eyes. The array had affected them as well and quite deeply at that. The more Xiao Lan saw it, the more uncomfortable he felt.
Once they had descended the stairs, the empty eyes of their host couple met their own and they cleared slowly.
"Young master, welcome back. Did you have fun? Of, aren't you missing someone in your group? Is it really safe for them?" the old lady asked, seeing her favourite person missing from the group.
"Ah, he decided to stay back there since he still had family there. He will likely not be back today" Detective Song was the first one to make the excuse. He had seen the situation and he knew he needed to remedy it immediately.
The old lady hummed in agreement but did not question him. She was suspicious now, fearing the safety of the slave but she could not say anything because she feared for her life.
Had these people silenced the slave behind the temple? Should she look into it?
"Ah, you are hurt! Y-you are bleeding" the youngest, the small girl pointed out Xiao Lan's arm which had been grazed by the flames and had started bleeding.
"I fell and hurt myself. Please do not pay attention to me" but the female took his arm in her own hands to examine the wound. Xiao Lan panicked and shoved the other away with more force than intended.
The other fell down, her wide eyes looking at him in betrayal but Xiao Lan did not feel bad at all. It was her own fault she touched him and got hurt. She should not have tried to touch him at all. She was not Fu Hua and she had no right to touch him.
"We're sorry for our young. He's too spoilt to mingle with others without causing problems. We hope you will forgive him" detective Song quickly played the peacemaker while he gave the teen a sharp look.
Could the other stop cause problems for them? They already had enough as it was.
"She touched me without permission. Do you know what could have happened to her if I had a reaction to her touch" seeing as how the other usually reacted, the female had gotten away rather lightly and detective Song knew that.
But the family in front of them did not. The teen boy even looked ready to fight to avenge his sister which was not a bright idea on his part. He would get injured if he tried and Xiao Lan was not looking like he would hold back at all.
"I'm sorry I startled you. It will not happen again" the female was the first one to apologise which Xiao Lan accepted with a small nod.
However, that very second he felt a small presence in the back of his mind and it clicked - Fu Hua, he could feel him now and he was moving. The sun was beginning to set over the horizon and the other seemed to be moving toward the village!
"Hurry, we need to get back to the village" Xiao Lan cried out in warning before flames went up in the distance.