448 ESCAPE ROUTE (1/2)

”She will not leave you if you did nothing.” He said with the matter- of- fact tone and Xiao Tianyao hated it when he talked in that way.

”So?” Xiao Jun prodded.

Xiao Tianyao threw his head back as he closed his eyes. ”… I locked her.” He said.

He didn't know it until he said it, but he felt ashamed of his action and Xiao Jun reaction didn't help.

”You… What?” He almost jumped from his couch.

”You heard me Jun.” He said tiredly, without opened his eyes. Xiao Tianyao didn't want to see the judgment in his eyes.

”Tianyao, to lock her up was…” Xiao Jun lost for words and Xiao Tianyao interjected his line of thought.

”I know. I know…” Xiao Tianyao admitted it, whatever Xiao Jun wanted to say, it would be true.

”You are insane…” He slumped again on the couch.

There was a silence between them until Xiao Tianyao decided to respond his brother words.

”I think, I am going to go insane for real now…” Xiao Tianyao mumbled.

”What was in your mind when you did that toward her?” Xiao Jun stared at his brother and arranged his words carefully. ”Is it something that related to your memory?”

Xiao Jun knew when Xiao Tianyao came to Senja, to ask her restored his memory, help him to relive the terrifying memory. He didn't know the detail, but with the way Ye Bai warned him to not let Xiao Tianyao knew about the truth, he had his own guess and it proved right.

There was tacit understanding between all of the people who knew about this to not talking about this sensitive matter, but the way Xiao Tianyao treated Senja afterward wasn't right.

He had been trying to convince his brother to stop ignoring the girl, but he just brushed him away and cut the topic.

To Xiao Jun surprised, Xiao Tianyao answered him as he admitted. ”Yes.”

”Mind to tell me what happened? Maybe I could help here and there?” He asked casually, didn't want his brother to feel pressure

Another silence.

Xiao Jun didn't say anything either, he let Xiao Tianyao have his time. It wasn't easy to talk with him about his feeling. So, the last thing that he should do was to rush him.

After a long silence, finally Xiao Tianyao opened his eyes and looked at the night sky.

”I am afraid something happened to her, like what had happened to Luna.” Xiao Tianyao started and Xiao Jun waited for his next words. ”She came to me last night to talk about this matter, but I am so pathetic to pretending to be asleep so I could avoid her.” He let out a mocking laughed, more to himself.

Xiao Jun widened his eyes, didn't believe that his brother would do something so coward like that. ”So pathetic…” Xiao Jun agreed, his agreement was regarded a menacing glared from Xiao Tianyao that he reciprocated with a smile.

”Anyway, long story short.” Xiao Tianyao straightened his back. ”After some argument, Senja said that she had found Yun whereabouts and she decided to leave. I can't accept that.” He shook his head.

”So you locked her up?” Xiao Jun surmised for him.

”I did.”He said faintly.

”You know it was wrong right?”

Xiao Jun was talking with him with the way an elder brother scolded his younger brother. It had been a long time since they were having this kind of conversation. Xiao Tianyao usually wouldn't listen to him and Xiao Jun didn't have any reason to worry about him either.

Since Luna's death, he was literary back on track.

But, the Xiao Tianyao in front of him now was full with confusion and unsure about everything he did.

Never in million times that Xiao Jun would have thought Xiao Tianyao locked a woman inside his bedroom. If someone told him about this news, he would have laughed at it.

But, it was happening right now and he couldn't find any humor in this matter. His brother mind was haywire.

”Tianyao, if you continue to treat her like that, you will lose her before you actually do.” Xiao Jun said.

”I know…” Xiao Tianyao mumbled. ”I thought if I locked her, she wouldn't go anywhere.”

”But she is gone even after you did it.”

Xiao Tianyao couldn't retort Xiao Jun's words in this matter. He was right.

The night was getting late and Xiao Tianyao wouldn't stop until he found her, so he stood up and waved his hand toward Xiao Jun, indicated he was leaving.

Either Xiao Jun or Xiao Tianyao, both of them were curious where's Senja now? All the guard was on track to find her around the fortress, but no one came back with pleasant news.

That devil little girl really knew how to hide herself well.

Xiao Jun started to think, instead of locked her up inside the room, it would be much better to tie her up in the dungeon and see how she could escape from it…

.....

The sun was up and still there was no any news about Senja's whereabouts.

At first, Xiao Tianyao thought she was sulking and hid herself somewhere because he locked her up, but after all the guards turned all the places in the fortress upside down, they still couldn't find Senja, not even her shadow!

”Where is she?” Xiao Tianyao was pacing back and forth while occasionally grabbed his hair in frustration.

Xiao Tianyao had spent last night looking for her as well, but she was nowhere, literary nowhere inside the fortress.

A hundred people would have chance to miss her hiding place, but thousands of them? What chanced she had?

If Senja was still inside the fortress, someone would have found her by now. But, if no one could find her, then…

She would be outside the fortress…

That the last thing Xiao Tianyao hoped would never happen. She and her purple hair wasn't a good combination to hide from Xiao Zi's spies.