The Rise of the Divine Oracle

Chapter 136 - Hero

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Wuxian was shaking. For the first time in many days, it was not because he was cold. The cruel man who tormented him for the last few hours was relentless. He chopped off chunks of Wuxian's hair and got frustrated when it just grew back. He tore off Wuxian's robes, looking for markings or traces of spells to explain his odd appearance. He even went as far as to slice Wuxian's left wrist to prove that he didn't bleed because he was not human.

Needless to say, the man's failure to prove Wuxian's falsehood was definitely turning into food for Wuxian's future nightmares. The small man was lying on his side with torn up robes, blood still flowing from his wrist and surrounded by chunks of black hair. He bit his lower lip to hold off a sob from escaping over how humiliating and disgusted he felt. He never knew how much he hated strangers touching him without permission. The man was pacing, throwing ideas around with the young boys over what they can try next.

Wuxian kind of tuned them out, trying his best to stay sane and alive until his soul-bond found him or he had enough energy to escape. One of the boys suggested something that got his immediate attention: "Should we try taking out his eyes? If it doesn't work, at least we can make money out of it."

Wuxian felt horror freeze his insides. The idea of not being able to see again lit a fire under his resolve to free himself. When the evil man went closer to straddle him again, Wuxian screamed with all he got: "NO! NO! STOP! NO! PLEASE STOP!"

Something small and fast collided with the man and he found himself on the ground a few paces away, with a dagger aimed at his face. Wuxian's ears were ringing, his vision was blurring out and he could barely breathe. He was freaking out. He hears a familiar voice penetrate the haze of panic and he turns his head to look at the source. Hweiru was on top of the man that was about to stab his eyes out and had her dagger aimed a few millimeters away from his eyeballs. The boys around them had their swords out but were cautious not to go near the threatening girl. Wuxian's voice was stuck in his throat. Where did his precious daughter come from?

Hweiru says in a calm threatening voice: "You hurt my Mama, I hurt you."

The man was shaking under her: "What are you talking about? Get off of me!"

Hweiru moves fast, pulling her dagger back and stabbing the man's hand that's holding the dagger then returning it to his eyeball: "He is bleeding. You're holding the knife. You will pay."

The man was breathing hard, moaning in pain and Wuxian reached a new level of freaking out. His daughter.. His three years old baby just stabbed a man without even flinching..

Wuxian tried to calm down and was able to whisper: "Hweiru, stop.."

She didn't even take her eyes off of the man and said: "He must pay."

The boys around them start moving closer to the girl and Wuxian weakly whispers: "No.. don't.."

The energy he had was depleted and the world around him went hazy. He closes his eyes and tries to regulate his breathing. He must do something to save his daughter before they over power her.

The next thing he knew, a tiny wet hand caressed his cheek and he opened it to see his daughter's worried face, covered in blood. His breath hitches in worry and she smiles at him: "It's ok, Mama. We're safe now."

Wuxian felt his eyes fill with tears, he didn't want to look around. He doesn't want to see what happened to these people. He hated everything about this. All he wanted to do was hold his baby in his arms and protect her. Not the other way around. The door bangs open, Wangji and Wen Ning barge in, swords out and ready to fight. The scene that greeted them was not what they expected. Wangji saw his soul-bond, laying on the ground, sobbing and bound, looking sadly at their daughter as she tried her best to comfort him.

Wangji hastily removed Wuxian's restraints and covered him with his coat, whispering to him to calm down. The moment Wuxian's hands were free, he weakly grabbed his daughter and pulled her into his embrace as he sobbed loudly. Hweiru kept patting him and saying: "It's ok, Mama. I wasn't hurt. Father is here too.."

Wuxian doesn't remember what happened after that. He found himself back in the inn, lying on the bed as Healer Shi worked on bandaging his wrist. Wuxian whispers: "What happened?"

Shi smiles at him: "You passed out from blood loss. You'll be fine after a good meal and some rest. Just don't move this hand a lot for a while so the wound has time to close up."

The door opens and Hweiru bounces in wearing clean white clothes, followed by Wangji. The girl crawls into Wuxian's bed and lays next to him and cuddles close: "Are you feeling better now?"

Wuxian feels his eyes water over the memory of what happened before he passed out. He was too scared to ask so he swallowed hard and forced a smile while rubbing her back: "Aren't you supposed to be in Cloud Recesses?"

Healer Shi finished wrapping his wrist and walked out. Wangji sat next to his bed and took his injured hand and kissed his bandages tenderly: "She ran away and followed us."

Wuxian sighs loudly: "Why?"

Hweiru plays with Wuxian's hair nervously: "I had to protect you, Mama. How can I protect you when you're so far away?"

Wuxian couldn't hold his tears any longer and started sobbing. Hweiru sits up in panic and asks: "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you sad.."

Wuxian sits up and pulls her close and kisses her head, cheeks and tiny hands: "I'm not sad. Thank you for saving me, my little hero."

She beams at him and leans close to rub her cheek on his chest like a cat. Wuxian couldn't stop his tears so he asked: "Can.. can you go get me some food? I'm hungry."

The girl jumps off of the bed and runs to do as he asks.

The moment she is out the door, Wuxian pulls his soul-bond close and asks him desperately: "Tell me she didn't kill them!"

Wangji sighs and pulls the panicking man off of the bed and into his lap, surrounding him with his warm embrace: "She stabbed one of them. The Slayer killed them all."

Wuxian sighs loudly in relief: "I thought.. The blood.. She didn't even flinch when she stabbed the man.. I was so scared for her."

Wangji rubs the sobbing man's back: "She protected you. I will not scold her for doing what I would have done."

Wuxian whimpers in his embrace: "I don't want her to kill anyone.."

Wangji closes his eyes and says in a low voice: "She has killed before."

Wuxian leans back to look into his soul-bond's eyes. He couldn't believe what he was hearing: "When?"

Wangji says sadly: "She confided in Uncle about killing in self-defence. No one asked, but when she made her way back to Cloud Recesses on her own, she was covered in blood.. human blood that was not her own."

Wuxian swallows hard. His brain could not associate his sweet little girl with death. He whispers: "Why didn't you tell me?"

Wangji: "I thought she would open up to us about what happened when she's ready.."

Wuxian felt a shiver run through his body: "What do we do until then?"

Wangji wipes his mate's tears, cups his cheeks tenderly and smiles: "We love her unconditionally and keep her safe. If she's happy, then you're happy.. And that makes me happy."

Wuxian smiles back and leans his head on Wangji's chest: "Alright. We can do that."

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