“Master, I am hot! I want to go take a bath by the lake.” After running around and getting ink all over herself, the only thing Qiangu want is a bath.

“No, You can’t swim.”

“You can take me and give me a bath.”

“Propriety doesn’t allow for that. You need to learn to bath yourself.”

“Then Hengi can accompany me.”

“It’s a male, it can’t either.”

Speechless, Qiangu pouts and points at the small tub that has full of hot water in it “Then I don’t want this one anymore. I want a bigger tub.” She is not Hengi, how can Master expect her to fit in there!

“No.” He still remembers how she almost drowned after slipping in the tub.

Teary, Qiangu glares at Bai Zihua.

Bending down, Zihua tells Qiangu “How about not taking a bath and I just cast a cleaning spell on you?”

“Xia Gu likes soaking in the water.” Tugging at Bai Zihua’s robe, refusing to let him leave, Qiangu doesn’t understand why mother could help her wash before but Master can’t.

Patting Qiangu gently on the head, Zihua says “Be good, you can do it by yourself.”

However, Zihua apparently spoke too soon since he soon heard a blood-curdling scream. Zihua rushes in to see Qiangu sprawled naked on the floor.

“Damn!” Losing his cool, Bai Zihua promptly picks naked little Qiangu up from the floor and quickly finish washing her in the tub. Skillfully dressing Qiangu, Zihua is starting to have trouble figuring out if he is Qiangu’s master or her dad.

Is not like he has never seen her undeveloped body before but he has always regarded himself as her master so he never thought anything of it. But now that he is aware of his feelings towards her, even if he has no inappropriate thoughts, he still feels awkward and embarrassed.

Her lips in a pout again as she looks up at Zihua’s knitted brows, Qiangu complains silently “It’s not like I fell on purpose. It was Master fault for putting her clothes so far.”

Seemingly able to hear her thoughts, Zihua shakes his head and explains “If I didn’t put it that far, you would’ve got them all wet by now.” Who was the one that almost got sick because she had played with the water instead of taking a bath last time and ended up coming out wearing clothes that were soaked through?

A sleepy Zihua begins to yawn and buries her head in Bai Zihua’s chest as he dry her hair with a towel. Carrying a sleeping Qiangu to her room, Zihua is about to set her down on the bed but looks down to find his lapel is tightly grasped in her little fists. Feeling the gentle pry to release her hold, Qiangu opens her bleary eyes and mutters “No, I want to sleep with you.”

Resigned, Bai Zihua carries Qiangu back to his bed and lays down as well so Qiangu would peacefully go to sleep. A year ago when Qiangu first arrived, she had cried herself to sleep every night. It was only after adjusting to life with him that she finally stopped crying for her mother and wanting to go home. However, she still gets scared at night and refuses to sleep unless he is by her side. Sometimes he would try to put her back into her own bed after she falls asleep but then she would get up in the middle of the night and come climbing into his bed again. Bai Zihua keeps thinking that she is getting older and he can’t allow her to fall into bad habits but then he keeps giving in when her tears start to flow.

Holding Qiangu’s little body in his arms, Zihua can’t help it but remember the past. He keeps trying to force himself to forget but the excruciating pain of having killed her with his own hands and the thirty years of torment hunts him in his dream forcing him to relive the memory. On those nights, he would get woken up by his body’s uncontrollable convulsion and his panic would only abate when he could hold her tightly in his arms.

Peace and tranquility are all just a facade, he is like a volcano that has been temporarily suppressed by her presence but could explode at any time. He is now a being that can’t age, can’t die or hurt but Qiangu is like a fragile flower that could fall into any number of accidents if he looks away for a moment. His heart perpetually a thin thread away from falling into that ever so familiar crushing panic, Bai Zihua is too afraid to let her out of his sight…he won’t survive the pain of losing her again. Unable to sleep on most nights, Zihua often finds himself staring blankly at Qiangu’s sleeping face.

Letting a soft sigh, Zihua pulls Qiangu deeper into his embrace.

Our hero is very conflicted right now because he misses the Qiangu that loved him so much but then the memory of Qiangu’s dying words are also etched into his mind- “If I could do it over again, I don’t want to love you anymore.” I think most of our two leads’ friends assumed that now that our hero finally got Qiangu back he would start living with Qiangu as a couple but Bai Zihua knew better. He knows that Qiangu would eventually recover her memory…which means she could very well stick to what she said and not love him anymore once she remembers everything. My guess is that the reason our hero keeps trying to get Qiangu to sleep in her own bed is that he knows neither of them should get used to sleeping together because Qiangu will eventually choose to live a new life- a life without him…and perhaps with another man. Our poor hero. He can keep everyone away from his precious Qiangu but he knows there is nothing he can or would do if she is the one that ends up taking herself away from him. 

“Master…”

His wondering mind snapping right back to the present when he heard a faint murmur. Eyes still closed, Zihua could feel a small body wiggling on top of him at the crack of dawn.

“Master?”

Hearing the hushed tentative question, Zihua doesn’t respond but he is secretly amused as he wonders how in two lifetimes, a certain someone’s bad habit of ending up sleeping on top of him has remained unchanged.

Excited when he sees Zihua seems to be still asleep, Qiangu carefully reaches out a small hand to touch Zihua’s face. She would’ve never dared to do something like this if Master was awake. Master has always been kind to her but he doesn’t spoil her and is strick in teaching her right from wrong. Sometimes Master even gets that icy expression in his eyes…that scares her.

Usually, when she falls asleep Master is still awake and by the time she wakes up Master would be up already. Or, sometimes he would have a nightmare and ends up embracing her too tightly but the moment she makes a noise of discomfort, he would wake up right away.

It is rare for her to be able to see Master asleep with his eyes closed. Master is so beautiful that it is difficult to look away from him. Master’s beauty is different from the pretty sister who used to come by all the time and wanted to play with her. Pretty sister’s beauty makes people feel happy to be around her but Master’s is the sort that makes her heart beat like crazy…filling her with the desire to get close but unable to even meet his gaze.

Jumping on the rare opportunity of finally finding her Master asleep, Qiangu reaches out a hand to trace Zihua’s nose and flick her fingertips across his eyelashes.

Amused, Zihua feels like his heart have been dipped into a warm bath…until a shadow suddenly comes over him and his body trembles as his lips feel a cool pressure.

Her face breaking into a gleeful smile after successfully stealing a kiss, Qiangu jumps with surprise when it looks like Zihua is about to open his eyes and immediately buries her head on his chest. Looking down at Qiangu whose eyes is tightly closed and seemingly trying to make herself more convincing is even letting out a few piggy snorts, Zihua is overwhelmed with a feeling of peace. He has used his own pain, other people’s suffering along with countless people’s blood and bones to build what looks like a blissful life but all this is just a fragile glass that can be shattered at any moment.

Gently patting Qiangu’s back, Zihua says “Xiao Gu, it will be your birthday in another two weeks. I will take you to go visit your parents and siblings then.”

Promptly forgetting that she is pretending to be asleep, Qiangu throws her arms around Zihua’s neck excitedly.

Zihua will usually take Qiangu back to visit her family every six months for two to three days. There is obviously no place for Zihua to stay in the shabby dwelling so after taking Qiangu back, Zihua would make himself invisible and stays quietly a short distance away, sometimes standing in the cold wind a whole night.

In the past, he has spent his life worrying about Changliu and all he ever thought was the welfare of the Six Realms. It was tiring but it was filled with meaning. Now, in his insipid and never-ending existence, there is only Hua Qiangu. He often finds himself wondering if he is already dead or everything is just a dream and the Xiao Gu by his side is just a fragment of his own imagination made up by his mind for his sanity.

The years have done nothing to dull his torment as he relives the moment he killed her with his own hand day and night.  The Xiao Gu who doesn’t have any memory of the past is his temporary drug to dull the pain. He is still unable to figure out how much she must’ve hated him to be so cruel…and what is he going to do when she eventually turns back to herself.

In the blink of an eye, while Zihua lives in indecision, five years have passed. Qiangu is now thirteen years of age and after Zihua’s careful care, her health has improved quite a bit but her comprehension and her ability in every area are still far from what they were in her previous life. Yet, Qiangu is fast turning into a young woman looking exactly like she was before…which makes Zihua happy and scared at the same time.

“Master, Master! I finally got it!” Bursting into Zihua’s study, Qiangu pulls on his sleeves and drags him to the yard.

“What is it?” As gentle as he could, Bai Zihua pulls his hand out of Qiangu’s grasp.

“The Flower Mirror! I will show you!”

Qiangu excitedly begins to jump around wielding her sword. Thoroughly impressed after seeing Zihua wielding The Flower Mirror in the yard, Qiangu begged to learn it. After practicing for two whole years, Qiangu has only learned a small portion of The Flower Mirror but even then, what she is doing only has the form and not the spirit.

Frowning slightly, Bai Zihua worries that as a mortal, Qiangu’s lifetime is fleeting and at the pace she is learning there is no hope that she could become immortal. Is he really going to watch her die again and wait until she is reincarnated?

Sweat dripping from her forehead, Qiangu looks up expectantly at Zihua waiting for his praise. Her lips in a pout when Zihua continues to remain silent, lost in his own thoughts, Qiangu throws herself onto Zihua like she is in the habit of doing.

Feeling the rise and fall of Qiangu’s chest pressed against him, Bai Zihua becomes flustered and quickly pushes her away.

He can’t wait any longer…

Her eyes light up when excitement when she spots the plum blossom soup on the table, Qiangu plops down on the seat and eagerly picks up her spoon. She loves the plum blossom soup Master makes but for some reason, Master would only make it rarely as a reward for her studying hard. Full of smiles, Qiangu congratulates herself silently that she must have done a good job today. Staring at Qiangu’s bright smiling face, a complicated expression appeared on Zihua.

“Master, are you not going to eat?” Qiangu asks as she raises the spoon to her mouth. Reaching out suddenly to grab Qiangu’s hand, Zihua asks “Xiao Gu, Do you want to grow up?”

He had put a special medicine in the soup. The medicine couldn’t really make Qiangu into an immortal but it would make her live forever and not age. In another word, Qiangu’s outer appearance would stay as she was in her previous life. Of course, in her previous life, Qiangu had the power to make herself grow up anytime she wanted, but in this life, going by her current abilities, she could never achieve that level. So, if she takes the medicine now, then it would mean she would stay as a child forever.

All text copyright @ www.Ninja-Reflection.com

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