Lixue let out a sigh of exhaustion. His face gave of the expression total confusion as he reflected on everything that had occurred in the past year.
He didn't even know what was wrong with him or what he wanted. He first wanted to stay with his family and friends,then he didn't and now he wanted to be with them again despite the danger he knew he would be putting them in.
He didn't know what to think of that. If he even was to go back what would he tell them about his freakish disappear?
How would he explain to them.... to Tangsan,if he was even there, that he disappeared for their own safety?
All these questions and more ran through his already confused mind while still looking at the outside view of the forest,all from the comfort of his treehouse.
"What am I going to do?" He asked himself still looking at outside.
Hmmm...... He seemed to be doing that lately, just sitting down and looking outside the window of his treehouse like some sort of old man.
He didn't really want to cultivate because he had already reached level forty-six and that alone was astonishing due to his age and Gui Mie didn't really tell him much even though the shadow man seemed to know much more than he let on.
The man just disappearing in a very bad state and reappearing to check up on him in a worsened state than before,all because he was hiding Lixue from a woman who wanted to kill the boy.
This was something that made Lixue very confused about also. Why was this man doing all of this for him and why was he also keeping so many secrets.
Lixue was also getting really annoyed with that and the fact that some lady very powerful fooled him by disguising herself as Tang Hao made him very uneasy.
This woman already knew that he was the last billion year soul beast and yet when she had him in her reach, where she could have easily killed him and absorbed his soul ring, she didn't.
That thought alone sent shivers down his spine. Who exactly was that woman? Why did she impersonate Tang Hao? How did she even know about Tang Hao and Him to begin with and most of all why did she not kill him?
All these questions he asked Gui Mie who just got into a bad mood saying that she was dangerous and that Lixue should stay as far away from her as possible.
This reply from the shadow man confused Lixue greatly since he first of didn't know what the women looked like or where she lived but he kept that part to himself.
He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't notice when a small bird landed on the edge of the window. This bird just like most of the creatures in the forest were very unique and interesting.
This said bird tilted it's beautiful sea green coloured feathered decorated head in curiosity, it's big black pulps staying fixed on the white haired boy who had yet to notice it.
"What are you doing lazing around for kid?" To any ordinary person that would sound like just any normal bird chirping to it's hearts content but that wasn't the case for Lixue.
He understood every single word,no chirp that the bird had muttered. The white haired boy"s head snapped to the direction where he heard the familiar voice and smiled.
"Lu yi! You're here and out of your nest,but what about your little unhatched hatchlings." The bird let out a sound that sounded like a chuckle her head now in the right position as she flew and landed on the boy's shoulder.
Lu yi was a Arisprite, a kind of soul beast from the bird family with the unique abilities of healing any and all wounds be it physical or mental. Lu yi was at 11,540 years old but most would notice this fact because of her size and very fragile nature.
The two had met two months after Gui Mie had brought him into this place and he also stopped trying to run away.
The two at first didn't get along since Lu yi thought it was distasteful of Lixue assume human from considering that he was a very powerful soul beast that would eventually get killed by the very selfish and cruel humans that he had turned into.
Lixue was at first baffled by the little bird hostile attitude but later found out that she had lost all her family due to them being hunted and killed for their soul rings. The story was so sad and it showed Lixue just how unfair the world could actually really be.
Lixue, after hearing her story, also to tell Lu yi a little about himself and how he was a soul beast born in human from and the fact that he didn't really know about any of it till just recently.
Things kicked off in a better direction after that and they both became really close friends since then.
"As you said, they are not hatched yet so they will be fine. I was just getting some grub and heading back to my little ones in the nest but then saw you and since I had some time on my *wings* I decided to come see you and I find you looking like you have the whole world's burden on your shoulders. What's wrong?" Lixue didn't know how to answer that. He was already confused to the point where he didn't know what he wanted or how to answer Lu yi's question.
"Em.... umm..... I........ I don't know." He stumbled before coming to a conclusion and told the bird the truth. He really didn't know what was wrong with him.
At one hand he wanted to protect the people he cared about and so he decided to leave..... well technically he was abducted, twice! on the same night,but who was really counting?
Then on the other, now he just so badly wanted to meet everyone again. He wanted to be in Tangsan embrace and share kisses like they used to. He missed them so much and just wanted so badly to see them all again.
"I just don't know." He repeated although this time his words where not above a whisper to which Lu yi raised an eyebrow.... if you could call whatever it was doing that,then yeah it was raising it's eyebrow.
"Listen kid, I may not know what it is that you're currently going through, but you look like you want to let it out. What's bugging you." Lixue always thought the way in which Lu yi spoke was a tad odd but he still liked it and the way she always mothered him like he was her hatchling.
He gave out a huge sigh before moving from the window side and sat on the make shift bed he has been sleeping on for the past year.
He looked at Lu yi with teary eyes before speaking. "I miss my family so much... "
"Soooo......" Lu yi pushed on knowing that there was more to the story than what the boy was telling her and quiet frankly she was also very curious about the boy's past, she wanted to know more.
Sure he had told her about some parts of his life like how he never knew he was a soul beast or that he had two fathers instead of the normal mother and father scenario and the fact he was kidnapped and brought here, which was a forest by the way with many dangerous and deadly soul beast who wouldn't give a second thought before tearing him apart, against his will for his own safety.
Yeah it sounded stupid to her too.
Why bring the boy into a forest of all places to keep him safe, wouldn't that endanger him more. she was the bird yet even she could see just how stupid that decision was.
"....... And I want to be with them but I'm afraid that I'll be putting them in danger and I'm just really confused. I don't know what I want anymore. Do I want to be with them, with him or do I try to forget about everything that I went through with them and just leave them all behind. My father,my sister,my big brother, Mu Bai, Zhu Zhu Qing, Rong Rong, Oscar, Fatty, Uncle Micax and Uncle Qin, Dean Frander, my teachers.... and.... and Tangsan. Can I be that heartless and just leave them all behind or is this selfishness." He spoke,his voice breaking as he reached the end and he was also crying.
All these while the bird in his hand stayed still listening attentively to every single word that the white haired boy uttered.
Sure she didn't know half the names that the crying boy had mentioned but there was one that she would recognize in a heartbeat.
Tangsan.
She had heard this name countless times from the boy. Whenever Lixue uttered that name she could see the love that showed in his eyes,how they sparkled and the brightness of his smile rivaling the sun.
She knew what it was and any other person with an ounce of brain cell could also depict the meaning.
Lixue was in love, and if she was feeling it right then it was true. Lixue love for this Tangsan guy was true love, the type of love that not everyone could find.
This one person could make Lixue smile and frown at any moment. He could make Lixue stronger or vulnerable and Lu yi was sure it worked vice versa as well.
Lu yi looked at Lixue with a serious expression on her face...... well no one could really tell that but that's besides the point. She knew one or two things about losing a family and she wasn't going to let him go through the same pain that she did.
"Kid, I have lived long enough to know that family is the most important thing and that you have to cherish every moment you spend with them. You also have to be able to protect them from harms way." Lixue looked at the bird in an even more confused state.
Was he to leave them all behind to protect them or should he meet them and forget that all of this ever happened. What was he to do?
"What are you trying to tell me. That I should go back to them despite the danger that I will be putting them in." Lu yi looked at the boy as if he had stated the obvious or maybe she was just looking at something else. It was really difficult to know the facial expressions of a bird.
"Kid that's for you to decide. You can either run away from all your problems or you can face everything head on like the strong last surviving billion year soul beast that I know. For the last ten months that I have known you I can tell that you are not happy here and you really do miss them especially the Tangsan that you always can't shut up about. But like I said before, the choice is yours. Okay then see ya. I have to be getting back to my nest and you have to be getting to deciding on what it is that you are actually going to be doing." And just as suddenly as she had come she was gone, leaving Lixue in the most confused state he had been that day.
The boy let out a sigh laying on his bed deep in thoughts. What was he going to do? He stayed like that for awhile, thinking about his options and what exactly the consequences would be if he chose either one of this said options.
Then it just clicked in his head. No confusion or doubt attached. He suddenly knew what he had to do. He knew what he wanted and that was to be with Tangsan and the rest of his family.
He was a soul beast and could protect all of them when the time came for that to happen. He just wanted to be with them and spend every single time that he could with everyone, especially Tangsan.
After he came to that conclusion he didn't wait and setted off to find his friends and leaving a note for Gui Mie explaining his reasons for leaving and thanking the shadow man for everything he had done for him
(You know even though Gui Mie actually captured him. And doesn't anyone else think that what Gui Mie did was pointless if Lixue was just going to run away sooner or later. And why keep him in a forest?.... Yeah I'm never letting him leave that down.)
So that is how Lixue found himself back in Shrek School after getting some help from animals as he moved out of the forest.
"Hi guys. Guess who is back?" He said in a small voice when he alone with his uncle Micax had gotten into the room to find a bunch of people in a group hug and Tangsan standing a few feet from them.
The white haired boy's nearly passed out when everyone's attention snapped to him faster than the speed of sound.
He swallowed heavily as he tried his best to stay level headed when Tangsan crushed into him. His heart skipped a beat at the sudden contact..... a contact that he had craved for so long but was afraid that he would soon lose.
Lixue began to have second thoughts about his decision but quickly stopped that thought from growing in his head.
He had much bigger fish to fry.... like what the heck was he was going to tell everyone and his disappearance for a whole year.
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'Unedited.'