Chapter 179 Shadows in the Dark (2/2)

”You are afraid of him? He does not seem as strong as the rumors go! He did not even notice the mark left by the spotter!”

”No! We must not alert him to our presence! Go now! At once!”

The aura of the two strangers slowly diminished as they slipped away. Xiao Chen grinned to himself. The strangers were merely vermin to him. Yet they, having failed to fully comprehend his strength, were so close to foolishly take things into their own hands. It was only because Xiao Chen did not want to rouse Xian'er from her peaceful slumber that he spared the two strangers. Nevertheless, he was also interested to know the identities of the party that pursued him.

At dawn, Xiao Chen requested for a basin of hot water from the management of the inn. Murong Xian'er woke up that morning with bleary eyes, apparently still exhausted. ”What's wrong? A bad night?”

”I just had a bad dream,” she muttered sleepily.

Xiao Chen smiled. He wet a clean towel with warm water and wiped her face. ”It's okay. It's just a dream,” he said softly to her. But Murong Xian'er shook her head. ”No. The dream was so real to me,” she said, ”There were a beautiful lady, half-woman and half-snake, and an old man who was carrying a basket of herbs with another person that looked like a deity with a zither... They were trying to catch me...”

She stopped and broke into tears, throwing herself into Xiao Chen's arms. ”But I don't want to go back, I don't want to leave you, Big Brother...”

Even to this day, Xiao Chen could not understand why she was so attached to him. He patted her lightly on her back. ”Everything's okay. It's all okay,” he spoke softly to her, ”Big Brother will never let anyone take you away.”

They cleaned themselves and went downstairs for breakfast. Xiao Chen instructed one of the waiters to get him a large map which he then pored over in great detail. The journey to the Middle Continent on horses would take at least half a month.

He held the map in his hands, and noticed something: the five continents together, and the shapes of the terrain and rivers, seemed to form a pattern that resembled a magical circle not only ancient, but also forbidden in his time thousands of years ago. Murong Xian'er joined him, curiously looking at the map. ”That is a magical formation, Big Brother,” she remarked happily.

The casual remark caught Xiao Chen off guard. Xian'er could see that it was a magical formation with only one glance, he gasped with shock. But there was nothing to be surprised of. Ever since they met, Xian'er had repeatedly displayed her superior aptitude in the knowledge of magical formations. But was it true that the five continents really form a magical formation? Was there even such an entity so powerful that he could freely move mountains and continents to his will?

”Xian'er,” he asked, ”Can you tell me what magical formation is this?”

”Urm...” Murong Xian'er raked through her mind for a few minutes, only to shake her head in the end. ”I don't know,” she said, before giving a silly giggle, ”Where are we going to play today, Big Brother?”

Xiao Chen furled the map and put it away. ”You rascal,” he chided with a smile. He noticed that she had not eaten any food from the table, save for a few mandarin oranges. ”You ate so little,” he said, ”Won't you be hungry later?”

”But I'm not hungry!”

Xiao Chen merely nodded. He called for the bill and paid before they went out, with Xian'er still energetic and cheerful as before as if the morning episode about her bad dream had never taken place. Many middle-aged women were charmed by her pretty and endearing demeanor that some even exclaimed, ”Look at the girl! She's just so adorable!”

Some even wanted to hug her, although they quickly had second thoughts when they noticed a slightly-annoyed Xiao Chen just behind her. ”Who is this?” Some of the ladies asked Xian'er, gesturing towards Xiao Chen.

”He's my Big Brother!” She would reply with glee, and everyone nodded to Xiao Chen gently, smiling to him out of respect.

But Xiao Chen was scowling to himself behind, did he looked so much like a kidnapper?