[ZHUILING] More Than Enough

Chapter 10

     "JIN LING!" He broke into a cold sweat, scavenging devastatingly around the woods.

     The more he called out for the Young Mistress, the more tears he felt his heart shed. Enough—he thought, but the endless hunt had gone on for ages. He felt his knees giving in, but steadied himself by leaning on a nearby tree trunk. His pair of eyes glistened from his vulnerability to cry.

     "Jin Ling?" A rustle from behind him broke out. Sizhui whipped his head around to look at where the noise had implanted. Right behind me?

     Behind him was a bush. He hurriedly flung himself towards the bush, and called out, "Jin Ling! Are you there?"

     Instead of a wild Young Mistress popping out, an albino white rabbit did. It's white and fluffy ears had patted downwards when it saw a disappointed expression over on Sizhui's face. The rabbit sniffed Sizhui's hands before running away, as if it was to apologize for getting his hopes up.

Sadness was written all over Sizhui. Concern was no longer an option for his sentiments. He knew that he might've lost Jin Ling once and for all-

His depression cured within the snap of two fingers when he heard the sound of a clarity bell in the distance. "Jin Ling?" He snapped his head backwards, getting up from crouching at the ground and his feet began rapidly moving towards the sound. The clarity bell had only rung louder, while Sizhui's steps had paced quicker. His tears that once sprawled over his cheeks had disappeared, his heart lifting higher and higher.

Then, he saw him. "JIN LING!" He called.

Joy had attacked his body in all sides when he saw the familiar vermillion mark, and the nostalgic warm coloured ponytail. And of course, the sparks amidst snow mark plastered over onto the golden robes. "Sizhui?" Jin Ling had turned around, surprised to see the GusuLan disciple behind him.

Out of all his sixteen years alive, Jin Ling never expected himself—a man—to be scooped up in another man's arms like cradling a baby. "Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?" Sizhui asked.

Jin Ling couldn't help but turn his head away to attempt at hiding the large amount of blush rounding up at his cheeks. "No, I'm not hurt. Who do you think I am?"

     "But..." Sizhui frowned. "You have blood on your clothes."

     "Not mine." Jin Ling scoffed.

"I was..." Sizhui's eyes almost watered. "worried about you."

Jin Ling had always thought highly of Sizhui. They were rivals, and Sizhui had such immune strength and such a polite personality. But seeing tears welling up in his eyes had softened Jin Ling's cold face. "I'm fine." Jin Ling began. "See? I'm not hurt anywhere."

Sizhui scanned Jin Ling, and indeed, the Young Mistress wasn't hurt anywhere. His robes were just ripped and slightly burnt from the fire.

"But... there was a fire." Sizhui nudged.

"Yes, there was a fire." A new voice had piped up in the conversation. Jin Ling's face had darkened at the sight of three young cultivators. Jin Chan from the Lanling Jin sect, Ouyang Zizhen from the Bailing Ouyang sect, and Jingyi.

     "Tell me, Jin Ling." Jingyi frowned. "Did you start the fire?"

     "Yeah, I did." Jin Ling deadpanned. "What of it?"

     "Are you kidding me?" Jin Chan scowled, resting a hand on his hip. "You could've killed all of us in the fire, and here you are, resting in some random men's arms."

     "There's nothing wrong with resting in some random men's arms." Wei Ying plopped down from the sky, patting some dust off his robes. He landed right in the middle of their argument circle. "Hey, Jin Ling." Wei Ying's face had darkened. "What happened to Huang Li?"

     "He escaped." Jin Ling frowned. "With some troubles."

     Wei Ying had paused, examining the face of the Young Mistress closely. His face seemed to darken while scrutinizing, stepping closer to Jin Ling than inquired. "I see." Wei Ying smiled.

     "Sizhui, you're going to choke him." Wei Ying laughed.

     It was then Sizhui had realized that he clung rather too harsh to Jin Ling, meanwhile squeezing him tighter by the second. "I... I'm sorry, Jin Ling!" He apologized, clutching onto Jin Ling much lighter than before. The Young Mistress let out a sigh of relief, "it's fine."

But the blush on Jin Ling's cheeks did not fade.