The Blue Bear tribe has sworn their loyalty to the new king and the Iron Leopard has become enemies with the Golden Croc.  Thanks to the double whammy of Zhi Wei and Helian, in an instant, the situation has now leaned favorably towards the new king. Judging by the current circumstance, not only do they no longer have any hope of exiling Helian but with the fierce Blue Bear tribe by his side, Helian now has the means to contend with Hong Jile.  

After calming down a sobbing Hutu, Helian stands up and surveys the cowering tribe leaders all averting his gaze in unison…including a certain someone who is attempting to hide every inch of himself in the shadows. 

“I say Kuercha, what are you hiding for?” Helian asks loudly with a chilling smile.

The elderly man turns around stiffly. 

“Kuercha, my father’s most beloved sibling, most trusted brother, the one closest to him.” His grin turning more and more menacing with each step he takes towards his uncle, Helian continues “To repay the so-called “loyalty”, my father became the first king of the wild grassland to ever give up his seat as the leader of his own tribe. He gave his beloved brother the best land, the most beautiful women, the most precious treasures. Even when there were gifts from the Emperor, he would let his brother pick what he wanted first.” His gaze as fierce as an eagle following its prey “Then, how did his brother repay him? His brother first colluded with the outside enemies to kill him, then after he is dead, his brother bowed himself in front of the killer to exile his own nephew!” 

Forced to the corner of the tent with nowhere else to escape, Kuerch suddenly puffed up his chest and yells “You can just kill me!” 

“Why would I kill you?” Helian laughs and turns away, “That would just dirty my hands.” 

“Everyone.” Not looking at Kuerch at all, Helian announces, “As the king, I hereby proclaim that Kuerch’s position as the Golden Lion’s tribe leader is taken away from him and he will be immediately exiled out of the tribe. As who among you is willing to take this useless mongrel…help yourself.” 

 Kuercha screamed “No! No! You can’t! I am Golden Lion’s tribe leader! You have no right to take my tribe leader title away!” 

“From now on, I am the tribe leader!” Helian yelled, his violet eyes dark and cold “It’s pointless to raise a greedy wolf as a pet. From now on, Golden Lion no longer needs two masters!” 

“Now.” Paying no more attention to the tribe leaders, Helian slowly turns to look at the pale faced Hong Jile “It’s time to take care of our matters.” 

“You can’t kill him!” A sudden high pitched voice came as a red shadow suddenly burst into the tent arms wide heading for Helian “Helian! That’s your father-in-law, your child’s grandfather!” 

“What @#@$! Father-in-law!” Helian gave the red figure a slap before he even could tell who it was. Catching himself mid-sentence, Helian jumps back “What father-in-law! Nata, when did I ever sleep with you? Get lost!” 

Standing in front of Hong Jile with her arms wide open, Nata screams “The child belongs to who it belongs to! It’s yours, it’s yours!”

“When did I sleep with you!” 

“Ganzhou province!”

“….where in Ganzhou?”

“Thousand Flower Tower.” (Judging by its name, that’s a brothel) 

“…what day?”

“In August, it was raining that day, you said it was hot so the moment I came into the room you told me to take off my clothes…”

“Rubbish…I said that to the song girl…” 

“I was the song girl…I went in with a disguise.” 

“…………”

Zhi Wei gave Helian a side glance– from the point the girl said “Ganzhou province”, this King’s voice had become quieter and guiltier sounding with each subsequent question… Glancing over at Nata, the girl is quite pretty with freckles on her face that add to her cuteness. 

“Helian,” Seeing that Helian is finally out of questions, Nata promptly switched from a yelling madwoman to a gentle lady as she tenderly caresses her protruding belly “We are a perfect match for each other.” 

“Who wants to be a perfect match with you,” Losing all the cleaver bravado that he had when he was dealing with the tribe leaders, Helian yells loudly “The Han woman I married is the one I am a perfect match with. Who knows where you got the kid from that you are trying to foist on me!” 

The tent fell into an awkward silence as Helian stood with a stony face. The tribe leaders looked at each other blankly, unsure what to say. 

Taking in everyone’s expression, Zhi Wei sighs silently in her heart. Judging by the current circumstance, it is no longer possible to kill Hong Jile. Helian might have won this round but things over at the royal court are still unstable. If he insists on going against the tribe leaders’ opposition and kills Hong Jile then things might get even more complicated. 

What’s certain is that things are at a standstill right now. After Helian’s vow in front of the royal army to kill Hong Jile to avenge his father, he really can’t answer his men if he doesn’t carry out his promise. However, it is also certain that this is not a good time to fight to the death with the Gold Roc tribe either. 

So…it looks like it is time for this elderly aunt to come shoulder the burden. 

———————————————————-

The pen stayed unmoving for so long that the ink on the tip of the pen formed a droplet and promptly fell. 

*plop*

The black ink spreads on the paper, forming what looks like a black sun. Ning Yi stared blankly at the ink stain. Ah, each day is like one endless night…ever since she left. It should’ve been a simple separation but it suddenly became one that is filled with life, death, mountains and oceans. He had thought she would be waiting for him to return joyfully back to the Capital. He wanted to ask if she received the letterbox, did she like the reed and the coral, wanted to ask if she would be willing to go see that reed field on their way back. He wanted to see after separating for so many months, did she gain or lose weight? Did she get more tanned from traveling on the boat? It has been so long since he has been able to see her, so long. But when he finally can see, he can no longer see her. 

“Wait for me.”

“I have to wait for you to return back to the Capital anyway.”

“I remember the feel of your face now, if I find out later that you have lost weight then I am not going to let you off easily.”

“How are you not going to let me off?” 

“I will kill you and be sworn enemies.” 

Joking words back then have come true now. On that crossroad in the south sea, there will never be that familiar figure waiting for him again. She won’t be going with him to see the reed field. The reed field will flower every year but it will only be seen in his dreams. She will not be checking to see if his face has thinned or not, no matter how frail he becomes. She will never forgive him– the two lives that mattered the most to her is now forever the chilling obstacles between him and her. She will from now on stand on the opposite side of him– Princess Sheng Ying, Queen Shunyi left so resolutely. She wouldn’t even wait for a bit to confront him face to face– she had already decided, there was no more need to talk…he knows. That day, he paced around the Capital gate for a long time until he finally turned back in silence. He couldn’t catch up to her nor should he try. What could he say if he caught up to her? Say that he wasn’t the one that made the order? Say that Xin Ziyan went against his wishes and did it on his own? Or say that he has never wanted to get rid of her? All these explanations, she wouldn’t believe it, even he himself wouldn’t believe it.

All text copyright @ www.Ninja-Reflection.com

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