My name is Long Lei

Deep in the ocean, near the seabed, a huge creature swam leisurely despite the enormous pressure of the ocean. The creature did not seem to care about getting some oxygen as he had been already roaming in this area for the last 2 days.

The creature floated towards an unknown dark corner of the sea and put his scale covered claw in one corner within the rocks. Those beautiful black scales blended perfectly in the darkness, almost making the nearby fishes doubt if it was real. Few stray ones that bumped into the creature got swept away by the long scaly tail.

"Aha…" As the claw came back, the thing it held suddenly made the dark place shine as if it was day! Few nearby fishes scampered away fast. Though after a few meters, the ocean was still as dark as night. The darkness beyond the illuminated looked like a hungry abyss, attracting one to get lost in it.

'Argh.' Long Lei squinted and put the night pearl away. 'I almost got blinded.' After stuffing the night pearl in his space dimension, he continued to swim leisurely.

Long Lei had spent a lot of time collecting various treasures from the deep ocean for his precious mate Bai. He had even emptied the antique treasures from two sunken ships he randomly found.

Though, as the main purpose of the trip, for which he traveled various seas and oceans, he was able to absorb many sources of energy. Long Lei's body was now in its peak form, and he just hoped that this time, his attempt to find his mate would be fruitful.

Lei was planning to investigate the reason behind some recent unusual tremors in the seabed, when he suddenly felt a burning sensation in his mind-link with Bai. Some power was trying to break-off their mind link!

Long Lei froze for a moment as he failed to comprehend how this was happening. For a few moments, Long Lei was doubtful if it could be his mate wanting to cut-off their connection. He will never allow that, and he was not sorry about it. How would one feel if a person they had been waiting for 17 years, whom they thought about everyday, suddenly wanted to cancel their meeting.

He will never take such an important step without talking face-to-face with the other person, and knowing the reason behind it.

Long Lei was just thinking about it, when a sudden wave of distress spread from his head, and washed over his whole body. Those emotions were full of hatred, resentment, anger, helplessness, and… self-destruction. Long Lei's hands trembled as he experienced those emotions with equal intensity. These emotions belonged to Bai…

Among these emotions, Long Lei heard a faint sound. "Lei, don't go!" This voice was so weak, so vulnerable, that Lei felt like a hole was being drilled in his heart. So Bai did not want to let go of him. Long Lei tried his best not to smile, as it was not a time to think about this.

Bai was in distress again. Lei thought to himself- how weak was he, to be nowhere near when his mate was in such dangerous situations. And this happened two times. He, Long Lei, was such a disappointment.

Amongst these negative emotions, Long Lei tried to comprehend the reason behind his mate's words. After seventeen years of hard toil, he had developed a calm attitude unlike his previous overexcited self. Though, the thought of Bai still made his breath short, his heartbeat fastened, and his ears red.

Concentrating his focus between his eyes, Long Lei went deep into his mind towards the thin, but firm mind link that joined him and Bai. Due to some unknown reason, the mind link was being damaged from Bai's side. It was as if there was a bridge between two islands, and now the bridge was suddenly set on fire. A wooden bridge would definitely burn by such a lethal fire element, but, this was a mind link, it could not be damaged at all without both parties' consent.

Rather, as the natural protection whenever one of the mates is in danger, a small, temporary tunnel formed in the midst of the bond, which allowed him to travel to the mate's body, of course, if he got consent. If he carefully exploited this opening, he could not only save Bai, but also ask him about his location!

Long Lei could not directly force his energy into Fang Bai's mind, as it could also cause irreversible damages to Bai's consciousness. Making any rash decisions could seriously harm Bai.

Long Lei opened his eyes and looked around himself, all his surroundings were dark, not to mention he was in water. It would be very dangerous if any powerful sea creature attacked him in the midst of concentration.

He rose out of the ocean and floated in the air in his dragon form. He stretched out his wings and quickly flew towards a small lump of sand nearby in the ocean. On the temporary island, he sat down and focused his whole energy and attention to the mind link between him and Bai.

"I'm here… I'm here… I'm here, Bai…", Long Lei endlessly chanted these words in his mind so that at least one of them could reach Bai and soothe him. Along with this, he directed his energy to heal the mind link that was vibrating as if there was some earthquake.

The 17 years old scene flashed in front of his eyes. And then today's intense, sad emotions. He was determined to never allow anything like that to happen again!

Fang Bai, who was clutching his head tightly, suddenly felt a cool sensation traveling from his chest towards his head, and then to his whole body.

"I'm here", He vaguely heard these words.

This voice was the same as the voice before, but it contained a strange, distinguishing charm that no-one could imitate. Fang Bai thought how stupid he was earlier to believe in the scenes in his nightmares.

The burning pain got lesser and lesser and the familiar presence made Fang Bai's lips curve into a smile.

'Lei didn't leave.'

Fang Bai's body relaxed completely and he laid there completely defenseless, letting Lei take control of the mind link. He did not know where this trust came from, but he just knew that Lei would never harm him.

Long Lei was very surprised when he found out that he could enter Fang Bai's internal mind space. This directly indicated that Bai also trusted him, and was willing to accept him. Long Lei felt both happiness as well as heartache. He was happy that Bai trusted him, but his heart ached when he realized that Bai chose him despite being harmed because of him.

Those words 'Lei, don't leave', the feelings of anxiety, desperation, and the damage to mind link- everything definitely pointed out that whatever the cause of Bai's distress was, he was definitely one of them.

Maybe today he will finally get to talk to Bai and know his location.

Long Lei directed all the energy he had in him into the mind link, and slowly entered Fang Bai's mind space. Unlike the smaller space 17 years ago, this space was vast like the unending space. Though, everything remained dark.

Taking in a deep breath, Long Lei tried to gather words in his mouth, his slippery tongue not helping him at all. His hands fidgeted and he tried to form coherent words in his mind. Time was less, and the words he wanted to speak were too many.

"Bai?" Lei finally spoke, his voice hoarse. He wetted his chapped lips and waited for response. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

"Lei…" This voice was a melody in his ears. He was finally talking to him! Lei didn't know how he should react. He still tried to be confident and assure his mate, who was scared and sad a few moments ago.

He decided to start with the basic conversation, to warm up with the other person.

"Long Lei. My name is Long Lei."

"Long Lei…" Fang Bai chewed the name in his mouth. He did not know what state he was in, but he just consciously followed the course of conversation.

"My name is Fang Bai."

'Fang Bai… my mate.' Long Lei embedded these words into his memory.