37 Back on the Road (2/2)

”My sister... Ling'er... Xiong Ling is her name.”

Nero can't help but be emotional too.

”Was she okay?”

”Everything was fine with her, but...”

Xiong Zhelan continued the story by telling that he had to get in front of the stroke to defend his sister. It was a spear that pierced his Dantian, causing an almost fatal wound. His mother realized what had happened and killed the attacker quickly, but it was too late, and Xiong Zhelan suffered a severe injury that remains today.

When the fight was over, Xiong Zhelan's mother tried everything to heal him, but no one could do anything. She was very sad and felt guilty for not being able to protect her children, so she went looking for a cure for Xiong Zhelan. For five years, she traveled much of the world, and one day came back with a very rare flower.

The flower was a scarce medicine and cured Xiong Zhelan's Dantian by allowing him to return to cultivate. But after reaching the Martial Warrior Realm, he was unable to absorb more Qi. His mother knew it was a side effect of the flower, but it was still hard to accept that her son could not improve his cultivation anymore, so she left home again in search of better resources.

”So, since that day, my sister and I had to live alone trusting only each other.”

”Even though I couldn't absorb more Qi, the Martial Warrior Realm still allows me to have a good life. But my sister inherited our mother's talent and became stronger and stronger.”

Xiong Zhelan said it didn't take long for his household's resources to become irrelevant to Xiong Ling. So they went on to the Black Sword Sect's recruitment, and his sister was easily considered as a great talent that hasn't appeared in thousands of years.

He can also enter the sect's inner court because he was young, but after many years he had to become a simple elder of the outer court. On the contrary, Xiong Ling became stronger and more famous within the sect. She wanted to help her brother with her influence, but Xiong Zhelan is very proud and is okay with having a simpler life.

Today Xiong Ling is one of the most powerful elders, and Xiong Zhelan thinks she is even stronger than the sect master.

Nero asked if Xiong Zhelan knew anything about his mother but he had no more news about her since she left. So Nero continued to ask questions about the Black Sword Sect and Xiong Ling as the group went on the road.

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The group walked for hours until night came. They found no beasts or any problems along the way, so they set up camp in a clean spot not far from the road and close to a stream.

They woke up and proceeded on the road. After some hours, they were almost at a crossroads when Nero smelled something like smoke.

”Wait! I think something happened ahead.”

Xiong Zhelan remembered that region and knew there was an inn at the crossroads a little further on. He didn't doubt Nero's senses, so he prepared for the worst.

”You guys stay here while I will check.”

Xiong Zhelan, as the group's leader, walked towards the crossroads to understand what had happened. He couldn't help but smile when Nero walked beside him. They went on without saying anything because there was no need for one to be polite to the other as they already considered themselves good friends.

While Xun Lan and Zhu Tai hid in the forest, Nero and Xiong Zhelan ran along the road. After running for a mile, they reached the crossroads and saw the inn on fire. Screams for help could still be heard from the flames.

Nero thought that the situation had no solution because the fire had already taken over the entire inn, and there would be no way for them to enter the middle of the flames to save the people who were screaming for help.

But Sarah did not think so and commented about her suspicions to Nero, who become surprised.

”I think his attribute is water, so maybe the situation can be saved.”

While Sarah was talking to Nero, Xiong Zhelan started making strange movements with his hands in the air. After two or three seconds, his hands began to shine, and then drops of water started to appear and formed a circle just like the movements he made.

Nero had no further doubts about the element of Xiong Zhelan being water. After a few more seconds, the water circle grew until it was too big to rotate vertically without hitting the ground.

Then Xiong Zhelan leaned without stopping moving his hands, causing the circle of water to rotate horizontally around him as it continued to grow. In less than five seconds, the circle had grown so large that it looked like a river around Xiong Zhelan. Nero had to move away a few meters, not wanting to get wet.

Xiong Zhelan shouted as he pointed a hand towards the inn, then the circle of water like a river under his command was flying towards the fire.

The noise of water evaporating against the fire was very loud because the fire was very intense. It took almost a minute, but Xiong Zhelan managed to keep the water spinning around one hand and running towards the inn by the other until all the fire is extinguished.

He had to consume almost all of his Qi to canalize such much water from the air, so when the fire ended, he fell on his knees on the ground hard breathing. Nero ran to help Xiong Zhelan, but he didn't want any help.

”I will recover. You have to help people at the inn quickly before everything falls apart!”

Nero didn't think twice and ran towards the inn.