Unable to sit still after the snow has finally melted, Qiangu begins to grumble that she wants to leave the mountain to travel on her own.

“Master, you promised, you promised….”

Unable to bring himself to meet the eyes that have become brighter and clearer lately, Zihua could only agree “Alright, be careful while you are on your own.”

Thanks to a spell Zihua has cast on her, Qiangu’s face is disguised from ordinary people and no one would be able to remember her either. Full of excitement, Qiangu grabs her bag and promptly runs off the mountain. Qiangu still couldn’t cast spells or control her sword in the air, but after all the hard work this last bit, she has gotten pretty good at flying.

Keeping a close eye on Qiangu, Zihua could hardly find the words to describe the feeling in his heart as he thinks back to the days when the two of them used to travel all over together. He was worried at first that like the first time she was out on her own, this time she would also be afraid of strangers or ended up getting tricked, but none of that has happened. Instead, Qiangu is acting like a seasoned traveler, she even seems to know all the best eateries and the most popular attractions. When she encountered thugs she also knew exactly what to do, rendering him completely useless.

Which is why after three days of freedom and glee, the poor child is once again dragged back to Cloud Mountain.

His expression ice cold, Bai Zihua throws down a paper charm in front of Qiangu. “What’s this.”

Already tormented by feelings of guilt for having lied to her Master all this time, Qiangu doesn’t try to protest and instead whispers “A friend gave it to me.”

His eyes narrowing, Zihua demands “Who?”

“Dongfang.”

“….”

Stumbling back a step, a look of defeat comes over Zihua. Even though he had already guessed since Dongfeng was the only one who could do something like this but he still harbored a small hope that Sha Qianmo was the one that gave the charm to her. All these years, the one that he is most wary of has always been Dongfang. He had let down his guard this time because it has already been eleven years since Dongfang told him where to find Sha Qianmo. Dongfang was about twenty at that time so there really was little chance he could still be alive by now. Someone like Dongfang could never escape Heaven’s punishment and it would be impossible for him to extend his life again as he did before so Zihua didn’t think Dongfang could be the reason for Qiangu’s changes. Who would’ve guessed, he has shown up again…still unwilling to stop hurting them.

His hand tightened into a fist, promptly turning the paper charm into ashes. “I forbid you to see him again!”

“Master!” An upset Qiangu stomps her foot.

“You have even learned to start lying to me. Go to your room and don’t leave it for a month!”

Feeling wronged, Qiangu protests “Dongfang is a good person, he is my friend, why won’t you let me see him?!”

“Can you tell a bad person from a good person just with your eyes? Why can you never fix your habit of easily trusting others?”

“I didn’t…” Qiangu’s eyes reddening as Zihua storms away. Why does he always treat her like a fool when he was the one who never tells her anything, his whole heart hung up on the past Hua Qiangu so everything she does is wrong!

After being stuck in her room for a few days, Qiangu becomes increasingly uneasy. Is Master really angry? Other than the food that shows up on her table at set times, Master hasn’t even been willing to come see her. She knows if she would just go find Master and admit that she was wrong like all the times before, then Master would forgive her. But after thinking it over, she has obviously done no wrong so why should she be the one to apologize? Before, she didn’t know better and had thought that staying with Master on Cloud Mountain is pretty good. But after meeting Dongfeng, she found out the world out there is immense but her world is tied to Master’s side as if other than Master there is no one else that exists. She wants to explore the big world, she wants friends, she wants freedom!

But then once she remembers everything Master has done to teach and rear her, she can’t sit still anymore. He must be so sad that she would go against his wishes and talk back to him. Her attitude softening, Qiangu decides that she will just be obedient and go tell Master that she is sorry BUT there is no way she will stop seeing Dongfang. After all, she still wants to marry Dongfang!

Unable to find Zihua after searching high and low, Qiangu suddenly remembers a place. Running towards the bamboo garden, Qiangu is rewarded to see lights peaking out of a half closed door. Pushing the door open, Qiangu walks in to see the room in total disarray with Bai Zihua slumped in the corner.

“Master!” Almost in tears, a panicked Qiangu rushes over to Zihua. His eyes shut tightly, Zihua is drenched in sweat as he holds his left arm, his expression filled with agony. Briefly glancing at the paper strawed about around Zihua, Qiangu could tell they are the drawings of Bai Zihua she had saw last time.

“Xiao Gu…” His brows furrowed tightly, Zihua mutters in a low voice.

“Master! I am here! I am here! What’s wrong?” Using all of her strength, Qiangu tries to pull Zihua up.

“How could you…”

“Master, Xiao Gu know I was wrong, don’t scare me like this!” With tears in her voice, Qiangu wraps her arms around Zihua tightly.

His mind in a jumble, his whole body spasming from the pain, Zihua pushes away the person in front of him. Clutching the painting tightly to his chest as if a thousand year of pain is threatening to burst out of him, Zihua yells in a low voice “Don’t leave me…”

Standing up, Qiangu slowly takes two steps back before running out of the door, tears streaming down her face.

In Master’s eyes, she will forever be a substitute. Dongfang is the only person in this world who truly cares about her!

All text copyright @ www.Ninja-Reflection.com

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