196 chapter 19{âSpaces like thatâthey donât work when the initial holder of it is dead,â} Long Ki word echoed in Aotianâs mind. He shook his head in disbelief. âI have to find Xiaâs motherâ¦..I have to find herâ¦â he swiftly jumped to another buildingâs road.
Long Ki followed after him and held onto his shoulders. âXiao Tian, wait and think. This is useless. He might have alreadyâ¦..â
âDonât say it!!! He is not dead, I can feel it. He is still alive. We can find him if we find his mother!â Long Aotian shouted and shrugged his hand away. With his sword, he threw his brother away a few feet and ran frantically.
âAotian!! Stop it!â Long Ki followed after him. His brother swiftly dashed away, jumping from roof to roof. âWhat is this kid doing?â He hastened his steps and reached him. âTian! Listen, we canât find him because he is Dead!â his brotherâs steps faltered for a second. Taking this chance, he tightly gripped onto his hands.
Aotian turned over with tears still streaming down his face. âNO!! He is not dead!! You liar. Let go of me. Even If you donât approve of our relationship you⦠you didnât have to lie so cruelly,â he whispered hoarsely.
âXiao Tian, IâIâm not lying. You know that in your heart. Donât hurt yourself further. âsighâ letâs go back to heaven realm.â Long Ki gently hugged him again. His brotherâs body remained stiff and cold to touch. He patted his back soothingly and wiped his tears away. Aotian softly pushed him away. âTianâ¦â
âWhy wonât you believe me? He is alive. I know it. You donât have to help me. I will find him myself,â Long Aotian whispered firmly. He pulled his hand out of Long Kiâs hold and stepped back. âDonât stop meâ¦or Iâll hate you forever,â
Long Ki painfully closed his eyes. He nodded and walked closer. But before his brother could jump to another roof, he swiftly chopped the back his neck with his sword hilt. Aotian lost consciousness immediately.
He tossed him over his shoulders and glanced down at the ruined kingdom. The streets littered with corpses, houses aflame. âThis was not meant to happen,â he whispered softly.
.....
Long Ki swiftly got to the dropped off Yukiya.
Seeing his arrival, Yukiya who was casually leaning against the shield swiftly got up and glared viciously. âYou bastard, you finally know to how come back, huh? Do you know, that I was stuck here for almost a day! A day that I could have used to look for my son,â she shouted, but then she noticed her loverâs sad eyes. âWâwhatâs wrong? Is your brother hurt?â she gestured to his shoulders.
He shook his head. He handed Long Aotian to the ghoul and closed his eyes in pain. Single tears rolled down his cheeks, but he swiftly wiped it away. âHe just lost his mate,â he whispered.
âWhatâ¦.what do you mean?â the ghoul stuttered.
âHis mate is dead.â Long Ki repeated. He slowly walked over to the stunned-looking Yukiya and deactivated the shield. The egg jubilantly ran into his arms but his lover stood frozen with her mouth agape. A small tear escaped her eyes and rolled down silently down her face.
Long Ki went over and brought her into his embrace. âIt will be okay,â¦â
âWhat is his mateâs name? Tell meâ¦â she whispered, burrowing her head in his chest.
âXia, his name his Xia,â
Yukiya froze in his arms. âhow⦠how did he die?ân/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âWe donât know yet but his space that was co-owned with my brother had been suddenly severed.â Long Ki said slowly. He had yet o figure out why his wife was crying so sadly. He softly coaxed her. âPlease, donât cry dear, I canât bear to see tears in your eyes,â he whispered hugging her trembling shoulders.
Yukiya finally glanced up. âDid you find his body?â
ânoâ¦â
âThen how are you sure he is dead?â Yukiya whispered with her eyes narrowed. She pushed him away an arm distance and lowered her sleeve. The pink lotus imprint was till there, glaring at her with its vivid color. âHe is not dead,â
âWhat do you mean?â
Yukiya took the little egg carefully from his hands and hugged him tight. âXia is not dead, you bastard. He is still alive.â
âBut I know for sure, when the owner of the spirit space dies only then will the co-owner will be denied access to itâ¦..â
âWas Xia the original owner? I never gave him a space like that,â Yukiya denied his claims. She swiftly ran out and pulled Long Aotianâs collars. His face was slightly red and swollen. She pulled out a few needles from her bag and poked in his meridians. The dragon woke up startled. He pushed her sway and jumped up.
âI have to find Xiaâs mother,â he said and glared at Long Ki.
Before he could dash, Yukiya stood in front of him with her hands outstretched.
âWhat are you doing? Get out if my wayâ he growled loudly with his fiery sword in hand.
âI have a few questions,â she said, wiping her eyes clean. âThis space you speak of, who is the original owner of it?â
âI donât have time for this,â Aotian said and walked past her.
Yukiya pulled him back by his collar and glared. âAnswer me! Was the space owner by Xia?â
Aotian paused. âIâI donât know,â
âThen he is alive,â she glanced at Long Ki unblinking. âSo donât say that he is dead. And you,â she pointed to Aotian, âare you going to search for him?â
âYes, to track him we need to find his motherâ¦.â Long Aotian once again glared at Long Ki. âIf not for him, I would have already started for Nevada,â he growled loudly and charged at Long Ki.
Yukiya pulled him back and threw him to the ground. âThere is no need. I am here. You wonât find anyone in Nevada,â Yukiya said and pulled him close. âNow tell me, how are you going to track MY SON with MY HELP,â
âYour son?â Long Ki shouted from the side, but Yukiya ignored him. She peered into Aotianâs eyes and whispered again, âtell me, how are you going to track him,â
Aotianâs eyes went wide of a second, but he recovered fast. He gently pulled her hand away from his collar and stood straight. âWith your lotus mark. My brother can track him using that,â
Hearing this, Yukiya frowned even more. She turned to towards Long Ki and pulled him down to her height. âWhy didnât you track him beforehand using my mark? Did you deliberately hide this from me? Long Ki answer me,â
Long Ki frowned. âI did not intestinally hide it. It is possible to track your son with your mark, but it needs a lot of spiritual energy. With Aotian here it is possible now,â he said softly. He tried holding her hand, but she flung him away and walked over to Aotian.
Yukiya held out her hand to them, showing the pink lotus mark. âThen what are you waiting for,â
Long Ki did not delay it further. He took her little hand and softly caressed the mark. His spiritual energy hovered over it. âTian, introduce your energy slowly,â
Aotian nodded. He let his energy flow out like a stream onto her wrist. His spiritual energy slowly but surely combined with his brotherâs.
âGood, itâs working,â Long Ki whispered with a smile. With his free hand he drew a tracking enchantment right on her lotus mark. At fist the enchantment did not stick. It viscously moved away. âTian, concentrate your energy. Donât get distractedâ he growled loudly.
Long Aotian growled as well. He increased his energy output and placed it in her hand. Slowly, the enchantment that was moving around clung to the lotus mark. It grew spider-like legs and started prying at the mark.
âIs it working?â Yukiya whispered hopefully.
âIt is. The tracking enchantment is lifting your enchantment.â Long Ki said. His eyes were solely concentrated on the tracking enchantment. Its legs went about and grabbed the mark on her wrist firmly. It tugged at her skin slightly so long Ki stooped in fear. âDoes it hurt?â he whispered throwing worried glanced at her.
âNo, itâs not, continue,â Yukiya said firmly.
Slowly but surely, the new enchantment removed the lotus mark off of her wrist. After which it floated around, changing its body little by little. The lotus mark became its stomach and the other markings became eight legs. The little spider crawled over to Long Kiâs hand obediently. It raised one of its spider feet and pointed to the west.
âIs it this way?â Long Aotian anxiously whispered.
The spider nodded. It jumped down and hurriedly scurried over many dead bodies.
Yukiya, Long Ki, Aotian and the ghoul followed after it. On the way they met Raijin and Felia, who were still searching around. They too joined their search party and followed behind the spider.
âWhy are we following a spider?â Felia whispered softly to Raijin. He shook his head in reply. âWerenât we searching for Xia? Is it leading us to it? Why isnât anyone answering?â she threw multiple questions to the group.
ââ¦.â
âCome on guys, donât ignore me.â