Blood Emperor's Lazy Doctor [Under Revision]

Chapter 10: A Web of Truths and Lies (I)

Before she chose silence and now? Should she choose to speak up? She didn't know.

But perhaps her logic had been wrong all along and it was time to see if it were true. To test the waters she was far too afraid to step into. After all, it would do no harm. This was just a dream after all. No matter how accurate it may seem to life, none of this was real.

Hong Luo drops her sight further, her hair curtains her expression while she twiddles her fingers in deep thought. Piecing together what she was about to say as best she could, trying her best to recall.

Only after a deep sigh did she look up. "Uncle Achak, Uncle Istaqa. You should probably take a seat. This may take awhile."

All eyes looked at one another, a sigh of relief dropped their shoulders.

Dyani who had come in with some more seats and a tray of tea got everyone settled down.

Still both men remained standing. Only when their wives gave them a side eye did they sit down.

• • • •

The beginning of the end was a memory she'd never forget. Though it was eight years to them, for her several decades had already gone by.

Living at the center inside the Nahele forest, the day could not be any ordinary then this one was. The autumn sun was peeking through the trees. Carrying their nuts and bramble, the squirrels hopped from branch to branch. Disturbed by the ruckus, small acorns and prickly gumballs pitter pattered against the ground.

'Luo wants to go outside.' She remembered groaning inwardly.

Her seven year old self laid inside sick with fever. Her small face was flushed, her dark brown sticking to her damp face, her tiny body laid engulfed in blankets, situated atop the elm wood Lohan bed. Just beyond the open lattice window, her parents were engaged in casual conversation. Enthralled, she listened closely, squinting her eyes in enjoyment.

Her father's deep voice commanded, "Ah Yue, pass me the hammer and two nails... darling? Ah Yue," He playfully teased, "don't look at me like that with Luo'er present. Otherwise I won't be able to contain myself."

Although her father felt himself crafty, her valiant mother just laughed. Her strong tone challenged. "You do something and it won't just be your thumb that gets hit by the hammer."

Followed by clicking footsteps of sandals popping against the heels, her father's tone immediately changed into panic. "Put the hammer down, put it down! I'm teasing, I'm teasing! Darling, have mercy on your poor husband!"

Followed by her father's aggrieved groan, a soft smack and a playful ear tug bubbled laughter between the two. One was obviously enjoying herself whilst the other sounded between tears.

'Foolish daddy.' Hong Luo pursed her lips to suppress a laugh. Her tiny hands twiddled with the blanket, her fidgeting singing out how jittery she felt. Her father could never win against her mother but he never learns. 'No one can win against Mommy.'

Today, their crazed banter did not last long. The voices softly returned to their usual cadence.

In curiosity, she peaked past the mountain of blankets. There in the shadow of the curtain her mother handed her father the hammer.

The two laughed, they chatted about crooked boards, bent nails, and then about raking the leaves. They both decided the leaf work would be put off until the morrow. Today her father was determined to finish up the walls for his workshop. He'd been crafting his weapons out in the open for long enough and just wanted an inclosed space for his furnace. Of course there would be a chimney, but that had already been built, just waiting for installment.