At five hundred ters away from the border, birds soared high in the sky, flapping their wings as if fleeing from chaos.
Beneath them, n dressed in full combat suits walked slowly, their breathing coming in ragged bursts.
"Darian, are you sure it took this path?" Zoe’s voice cut through the cold.
"Yeah... I chased it until it vanished at that spot." Darian pointed a finger at the black-stoned mountain—Basalt Mountain.
Before Zoe could add another question, a howling sound exploded from all sides.
"Guys, be ready." Darian stepped to their front, then drew his sword.
Ewan frowned slightly. "I shouldn’t have co when you called."
"Do you think I care about you?" Darian gave an eerie laugh, then shook his head.
"This isn’t the ti to fight, foolish boys." Kira’s voice cut in like a poisonous dagger. "You can head back ho if you want."
She turned, gave Ewan a wink, then shifted her attention to the moving rocks.
"I think that’s just the dormant volcano making those noises." Kira’s eyes closed for a brief second, dissatisfaction filling her expression.
The wind pushed across the dark stones of the mountain, carrying with it a faint tremor from deep within the ground.
Far away from the border, life moved in a completely different rhythm.
At the front of the Qing’s safe house, leaves drifted beside the wheels of Li i’s wheelchair.
"Mom." Lily moved her left arm forward and touched her mother’s shoulder, while her right hand kept pushing the wheelchair slowly. "We are going to the house brother bought us."
Soft tears fell from Li i’s eyes as Leon’s face flashed before her.
She gripped the new red cloth she had woven, then loosened it the mont the tire of the wheel stopped moving.
"Let help you." Mr. Lee offered a gentle hand, raising Li i and placing her calmly in the back seat of his BMW.
"You can sit in the front if you want." Mr. Lee pointed toward the front door.
Lily’s eyes flared with joy. "Thank you. But I will sit at the back beside my mother."
Mr. Lee opened the door. "Okay."
He folded the wheelchair, moved to the back of the vehicle, then placed it in the boot.
Closing the lid of the boot and standing by the driver’s door, he sighed.
"At last... they are entering their new ho."
He slid into the car, then started the engine.
As if watching the late evening sky, Li i brushed her fingers along the cold window, smiling faintly.
Beside her, Lily kept smiling every ti the vehicle moved past another.
’So... I will have my own room, my own bed, and a swimming pool I can jump in every day?’ she said quietly in her head as they moved past tall buildings.
Leaves followed the BMW as it branched to the left, heading toward Bastion City.
A few kiloters away from the city, a sweet fragrance lanced through the air through the ventilation system of the vehicle.
"Mmm..." Lily’s eyes closed as she inhaled the new air. "Mom, we are entering heaven."
Li i laughed slightly, then brushed the palm of her left hand across her face, clearing the joyous tears dripping from her eyes.
Colorful trees moved past the vehicle as it reached the half-moon arc of the city’s entrance.
Halfway inside the city, Lily’s eyes bulged, almost wanting to pop out of their sockets.
"Wow..." she grinned, her teeth showing, the smile on her face refusing to fade.
After an hour of moving through the mirrored streets of the city, the BMW halted in front of a large gate that had the head of a dragon carved into it.
"Sir." Lily brushed her fingers on the right shoulder of Mr. Lee. "Is this where our new ho is located?"
Lily’s cheeks reddened when she watched Mr. Lee nod slightly through the driver’s mirror.
She turned and placed her head in Li i’s lap.
"Mom, our new ho is bigger than the Qing’s place where we were."
Although Li i could speak, the only thing that kept coming out were the tears she had wished to stop.
Moving through the one-lane street, n and won dressed in training outfits stopped and greeted the BMW.
Inside the vehicle, Lily’s smiling face stilled.
"Are they greeting us?"
Mr. Lee smiled at the girl through the driver’s mirror.
Just as the vehicle halted to a stop in front of one of the buildings on the right side, Mr. Lee killed the engine.
The mont he stepped down, two ladies—one with white hair and the other with grey hair—neared the vehicle.
With one accord, they lowered themselves in greeting.
"Good evening, sir!"
"Good day, Min-seo and Min-ji." Mr. Lee smiled back.
He shifted slightly, then gestured at the back of the vehicle.
"Min-seo..."
"Yes, sir." The grey-white-haired lady answered, then moved a step forward.
"Go and take the wheelchair from the back of the vehicle."
"Okay, sir."
"Wait... press the button."
"Alright, sir."
The lady walked like a queen. She hesitated, then pressed the black button at the center of the boot.
"Hhew..." she sighed, then pulled out the wheelchair.
When Lily got down, she frowned.
"What are you doing at my house?"
With laughter, Mr. Lee stepped forward, then brushed his palms over Lily’s hair.
"Don’t worry. They are here to help you and your mom. When you’re old enough, they will go."
Lily folded her arms across her chest.
"I’m not a kid. I’m old enough to take care of her and myself."
Min-seo laughed, but Min-ji looked at the small girl like she was a nuisance that needed to be wiped out of existence.
"Min-ji, go and prepare the rooms for them."
Before Lily could turn and look at the lady’s face, Min-ji had already turned and entered the mansion.
With the help of Min-seo, Li i got into the wheelchair.
Min-seo bowed slightly to Lily when she ca and held the push handle of the wheelchair.
"Little madam, let help you."
’Little madam?’ Lily frowned, but loosened her grip on the handle and stepped aside.
While Min-seo pushed Li i, Lily walked beside her, throwing thoughtful questions at her.
Mr. Lee watched them enter the building.
"It’s good I brought Min-seo and Min-ji here to be their maids."
The yellow leaves of distant trees waved through the air and landed softly on the ground beside the BMW as Mr. Lee closed it.
anwhile, at the front of Basalt Mountain, new reporters joined the Qing family, capturing them and the Oculus creatures that were lying in pools of blood.
At the front, Darian stood on a large corpse, flaunting as the caran drew their attention to him.
While Darian answered their questions, a new sound and vibration lanced through the air.
At a far distance from them, a convoy with the Agathian flag moved slowly.
In a flash, all the reporters and caran dashed toward the vehicles, flashes of light sparking through the air.
From the front of the first car, two n dressed in full combat outfits alighted, then stood at ease.
Inside the third vehicle, Leon sighed as he saw Darian and Kira standing behind the reporters.
"Seems your friends ca to welco you." Longwei pushed Leon’s shoulder, then laughed.
Hei Yung pushed the door open, then got down.
Like a god among n, all the reporters froze, their cara lights flashing wildly.
"IS THAT THE LEGENDARY GOD OF LIGHTNING?!"
Murmuring sounds lanced through the air.
Behind Darian, Kira looked at Hei Yung with seductive eyes, then moved forward.
Like water splitting apart, the reporters gave way for Kira the mont she stopped behind them and cleared her throat.
"Hello, sir." She bowed while greeting Hei Yung. "Welco to Thule Country."
Hei Yung looked at her without any emotion in his eyes, as if she were invisible.
"Wow, I never knew you had a wife here too." Longwei teased as he joined Hei Yung outside.
Hei Yung brushed his palm across Longwei’s shoulder, then stepped aside.
"Where is he? Won’t he co out?"
Hei Yung looked at Longwei with a confused stare, then turned toward the door of the MRAP.
Inside, Leon sat there, head lowered, staring at the ground.
"Leon." Hei Yung smiled at the boy, then moved away from the MRAP’s entrance.
Before Leon could get down, the reporters moved back, their microphones and caras ready.
Two of the reports stumbled two steps back, the mont Leon stepped out of the MRAP.
’That can’t be possible. Isn’t that the son of the painter?’ the sa thoughts reeled through the two n’s head, their cara’s trembling under their grips.
The first cara man zood in, ’That can’t be possible!’ he scread in his head, shook his head, then blinked twice.
Behind the reporters, Zoe swallowed hard, then focused on the jet-black-haired boy’s face.
For a heartbeat, she thought her eyes were deceiving her. "Is that... Leon?" a fierce shock rushed through her chest, followed by a swelling joy she couldn’t hide.
mories of Leon in the Qing clan flashed through her mind, followed by the last exchange of smile.
When Leon moved forward and stopped between Hei Yung and Longwei, the air itself began to freeze.
Darian’s firm smile cracked. His pupils shrank, as fear flickered through his eyes as if he had just realized the shift of power.
Within minutes, the footage exploded across Thule Country. New networks replayed the mont endlessly: the Painter’s son retuning beside the legendary God of Lightning.
In Bastion City, screens inside cafes, training halls, and streets lit up with the sa headline.
Citizens leaned closer, whispering in disbelief as the image of Leon standing between two legends spread like wildfire.
User Comments
0 comments from readers