Huo Ling was preoccupied with Mu Li earlier so he didn't notice that Xiao Hualing wasn't here. Yi Bing also didn't notice, since he doesn't care about her.
"Oh, she…" Hao Baiyun muttered when he remembered.
The door opened at this time, and Xiao Hualing entered.
"Hm?" Xiao Hualing muttered when she noticed that they are all looking at her. She smiled. "Everyone! Look who I found!" she said and pulled the person hiding behind her to the front.
It was a beautiful and obedient-looking young man with fair skin and round, bright eyes. One would like him in just a glance.
"Zhuo Xia!" Hao Baiyun and his subordinates exclaimed as they went to him.
"C – Chairman… chairman Hao!" Zhuo Xia cried as his eyes reddened when he saw Hao Baiyun. "Everyone… everyone's gone!" he told him.
Hao Baiyun's eyes widened. "What?!" he exclaimed, then he looked at Xiao Hualing whose smile faded.
She shook her head. "When I arrived, he was being chased." She told them. "I asked the people who chased him, but they refused to answer. Then, they killed themselves." She explained. "Judging by their bloody clothes, they might have…" she looked at Zhuo Xia who is trembling in fear and his face is pale.
Hao Baiyun sighed as he pulled Zhuo Xia to his embrace. "I am sorry." He apologized.
"What is going on?" Yi Bing asked.
"The other clans are also being targeted, not just the Golden-Haired Monkey clan." Lan Tian answered. "His clan… the Sunflower Clan, is one." He explained.
Yi Bing's face became serious.
"Humans' and yao's cases are mixed… I can't distinguish which case is of the humans' and which case is of the yao's…" Gu Xingfeng sighed.
"The crime rate became higher?" Huo Ling was surprised.
"En." Gu Xingfeng nodded.
"Have you seen the culprits?" Hao Baiyun asked Zhuo Xia.
Zhuo Xia shook his head. "They look hideous… I was scared." He answered.
Everyone. "…" well, most yao really are good-looking compared to the hideous monsters of the West… they thought.
"So there are also other problems in the yao… hmm?" Huo Ling muttered after he turned and saw Mu Li stood beside him in a daze. "Mu Li? What's wrong?" he asked him. Then, he followed where he is looking at, only to see Zhuo Xia who is still being comforted by Hao Baiyun and the others.
"The exorcist? What's wrong?" Lan Tian asked when he also saw Mu Li is staring at Zhuo Xia.
The others turned to look at Mu Li, too.
But, Mu Li ignored them and just resumed looking at Zhuo Xia. "You…" he said as he looked at Zhuo Xia in the eyes. "You said… your name is 'Zhuo Xia'?" he asked.
"Huh?" Zhuo Xia muttered and blinked as he blankly looked at Mu Li.
"… they know each other?" Hao Baiyun whispered to his subordinates.
"Yes…" Zhuo Xia answered. "You know me?" he asked Mu Li.
Mu Li's whole being froze after he heard what Zhuo Xia said. "You… don't remember?" he asked as he looked at Zhuo Xia with widened eyes.
Zhuo Xia's brows knitted. "What should I remember?" he asked him, puzzled.
The others are also puzzled.
"I am your… friend." Mu Li answered as his voice trembled, and also his body. He lowered his head. "We met each other… when we were kids. But, you…" he said as he looked at Zhuo Xia. "You… died…" he took a deep breath.
The others also gasped in shock. "What did you say?!" Lan Tian asked.
Fei Xuli's brows knitted. "That's impossible. The Sunflower Clan would have told us if Zhuo Xia died." He said.
"Why?" Huo Ling asked.
"Because Zhuo Xia's healing ability is very strong." Zi Chen answered. "He is called 'the child of the Sun', because his healing power, as well as life force, is coming from the Sun. Thus, he can't die, or else we will know that something happened to Sun." he explained.
"I see…" Huo Ling finally understood.
"That can't be!" Mu Li said as he turned to them. "He is my best friend! We supported each other as orphans, begged together in the streets. Until that winter, his body can't hold on any longer…" his eyes turned red as he suppressed his tears. "I also almost died, but then I survived… then, my master found me." He said.
Gu Xingfeng's brows knitted, thinking that either this is a coincidence, or suspicious. So, when he saw that his husband is silent, he knows that it is the latter. If this is a coincidence, then this is too much of a coincidence, for there are two people with the same name and face. This is more than just a case of a doppelganger.
So, this case should be suspicious.
"Zhuo Xia…" Mu Li called as he approached Zhuo Xia, who immediately took a step back. Mu Li froze on his feet as his face paled.
"Mu Li…" Huo Ling called.
"… sunflower…" Mu Li muttered as he took a deep breath. "You said that he is from the Sunflower Clan?" he asked them.
"Yes." Jing Yu nodded.
"Then, was he 'born' on the twenty-first of June – " Mu Li said as he turned to them, particularly at Hao Baiyun who has been silent since earlier. " – seventeen years ago, and at mount – " he said and whispered the name of a mountain. Even though he whispered, but everyone naturally can hear it.
They all gasped in surprise, and they looked at Hao Baiyun.
"Yes." Hao Baiyun finally spoke.
"Are you still going to deny that he is my best friend?!" Mu Li asked.
Zhuo Xia looked at them in confusion.
"Xiao Yun?" Gu Xingfeng called as he held Hao Baiyun's hand.
"I know his master, and he told me that their fate is cut off by life and death." Hao Baiyun said as he looked at Mu Li. "You master didn't tell you that Zhuo Xia's fate can't be a mortal's. You should know whether I am lying or not, since you know your master's ability in fortune-telling." He told him.
Mu Li didn't speak.
"He didn't tell you about this, since he knows that you can't let go of Zhuo Xia." Hao Baiyun continued. "And that, you also hate the yao, because it was due to them that Zhuo Xia died." He said.
They were shocked. "What?! Zhuo Xia died because of a yao?!" they asked. "But, didn't he say that Zhuo Xia died because of…?" they looked at Zhuo Xia, then at Mu Li whose fists are clenched tight.
Mu Li lowered his head. "He saved me." He said. "We are orphans, so whether we die or become missing, no one would care about us. So, we were targeted by a yao." He looked at them. "But, we didn't know that it was a yao at first. It looked like a human…" he gnashed his teeth.
Their faces turned serious. Yao can turn into a human when they reached a certain level in cultivation.
"The both of us were very grateful because there were still kind people in this world… it was very generous to us to the point that it said that it wanted to adopt us." Mu Li said. "But, Zhuo Xia held me back… he told me not to trust too much, since it was very suspicious for it was too generous to us. I… didn't listen to him." he said and closed his eyes tight. "I yearned for a comfortable life, and I want to take Zhuo Xia with me, so I… I – I went to look for it." He said and took a deep breath.
They heaved a sigh of pity. They can guess what happened.
"I found the place where it told us to go find him. I wanted to show Zhuo Xia that it is a kind 'person', so, in a rush, I – " Mu Li bit his lip. " – I opened the door… I didn't know that it was the door to hell for me." He bitterly laughed.
They didn't speak.
"If Heaven can fall, then Hell can rise… it is Hell on earth." Mu Li continued as his eyes became bloodshot. "There are many, many of them…" his breathing turned rugged, as if he was still in that scene. "Blood spilled and became a pool, covering the whole floor, and reflected their hideous faces… limbs were thrown, intestines were strewn, and heads rolled… I can still remember the shocked and horrified look of that boy the same age as us…" his tears fell. "His eyes stared at me, and I saw in his pupils my face who had a similar shocked and horrified expression as him whose head rolled on my feet…" he said.
"Stop…" Huo Ling said as he clenched his fists.
"My mouth fell open, but there was no scream…" Mu Li continued. "I took a step back, which was the biggest mistake of my life." He said. "They turned to me… they noticed me, as well as Zhuo Xia behind me who was actually pulling me since earlier to escape." He bitterly smiled. "But how can I notice it? My whole body won't listen to me… I can't move.." He told them.
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