''I can give you whatever you want, just return Li to me'', Stefan pleaded to the leader of the group surrounding him and Li.
By this time, numerous people had surrounded him, but no one was willing to speak out or help him. They all were just watching the play.
Stefan felt cold in his heart. It was one thing, to not speak out for him, but it was another thing to not speak out for Li.
After everything that conspired within fifteen minutes, he has already realized that he is no match for these people.
Don't ask him why he knew that, it was Heli who told him.
It was because, the moment they held Li captive, Heli had already warned him that these people were much more powerful than him.
Just when he was about to spill out the whereabouts of the herb, he heard a cold voice say, ''Return the child to him''.
It was not a question, it was an order. When Stefan turned to look at the person gratefully, he was astonished to find out that, this person was none other than William.
He breathed a sigh of relief.
…
It was impossible for the leader to return Li so easily without knowing the whereabouts of the herb.
''Who are you? Stay away from me. Don't try to become a hero!'', the leader said threateningly, feeling as if his majesty was being challenged by this man.
He was used to acting the way he wanted, and getting whatever he liked since childhood. Obviously, he had someone standing behind him, to act like that.
If Ethan can think of this, naturally William would also think about it, and it would be much deeper than he could think.
When he saw the mark on his arm, William knew that this person, with his low cultivation level, would not act so brazenly, if there wasn't someone supporting him.
William thought about how, from the last five years, any rare or precious herb would disappear, and would only be in the hands of that man.
Although that man was a magician, he didn't know why, whenever he saw him, William would feel extremely disgusted and vengeful. As if that magician has done something heinous.
That is why, he tried his best, to take missions and avoid living in the organization. As, even if that man always stayed inside the organization, he was on equal footing with those senior members.
Somewhere, deep in his mind, he speculated whether this person, one way or another, was connected to that man.
That man was Jason. Although he looked like a kind, middle-aged man. He was already ninety years old. He did not have many years of his life span left.
William thought about how he heard people gossiping, that these days, his temper has been getting worse and worse.
Even the people around him were changed frequently.
It was rumored that Jason was experimenting, with his servants and his fellow people.
They noticed that every five days, there would be new faces serving him.
William's thought process was interrupted, by the loud yell of Stefan.
''No!! Please don't harm him. Please!!'', Stefan shouted in panic.
In front of Stefan, after the leader realizes that he has probably kicked an iron plate, he decides to take a gamble.
He concentrated his magic power and a small ball of fire appeared in his hands. Then he moved his hands toward Li's face and tried to burn it.
The fire was getting closer and closer. Just as the fire was one inch away from Li's face, his fire was extinguished.
The leader, that is Simon, once again gathered a ball of fire and tried to harm Li.
He gradually realized that he was not able to use his magic. The atmosphere around his body was getting colder as time passed.
His body was starting to freeze.
One has to know that, Simon was a fire magician, and ice was the nemesis of fire.
Between William and Simon, it was clear who was stronger than whom.
After realizing that he seems to be on the losing side, he throws Li towards his companion and wants to snatch the herb from Stefan, by killing him with a sneak attack.
As he was nearing Stefan, he gave off a wicked smile and soon imagined the joy of victory.
He felt smug when he thought of how his master would reward him with a rare spell after he gave him the herb he had been searching for the last three years.
Only after his hand started freezing, did he realize that half of his body had already been frozen.
Ethan swiftly and unhurriedly retrieved the child from Simon's gang members, who had been rendered frozen by William's use of ice magic.
Stefan stepped forward to take Aouli from him, while repeatedly thanking him and William.
Ethan replied, ''It doesn't matter much. We were searching for you only''. After a pause, he decided to ask that has been going on his mind for a long time. ''Is this child your brother? Why did I not see him the day before yesterday?''
William did not speak anything, but the way he looked at Stefan, it was clear that he was also very curious about the child.
He was constantly gazing at him as if he wanted to hug Aouli.
Aouli seeing that the big brother who rescued him wanted to hug him, got down from Stefan's embrace and hugged William's thighs.
After seeing the child's enthusiasm towards himself, although William was surprised, he was also moved that the child did not get scared because of his cold face.
He embraced Aouli, while Li immediately hugged his neck and thanked him sweetly.
''Thank you, big brother, for helping Aouli from those bad guys'', he said and rubbed his cheek against William intimately.
Although William had a cold face, his ears quietly got red.
Stefan was amused by this reaction and chuckled.
Meanwhile, Ethan looked enviously at William hugging Li. He also wanted to hug the child and hear him call Big Brother sweetly and cutely.
....
On the other side, after Esha woke up, she looked around. She found herself on a large bed which felt very soft to her. She subconsciously rubbed her face on the soft fabric.
She knew it was not her room. Her room is not like this. The room had dark walls and large windows which reflected the outside scenery.
It was afternoon, and the sun's orange hues spread all over the room, giving it a warm glow. Esha rolled out of the bed and tip-toed out towards the window.