Chapter 4

Fan Xiang found it interesting, sensing that she honestly did believe she could survive without his help. He quirked a lip and stepped closer towards her. He bent down so that they were level with each other and looked directly into her eyes. "Do you know what kind of things live in this forest?" He asked. He had a cold tenor in his voice, almost threatening.

"I imagine that nothing in this forest is as dangerous as young master, and yet he stands right here, and I'm still alive." She stated the words so bluntly and seriously that Fan Xiang once again couldn't help but laugh. He had wanted to scare her a little, maybe get her to beg a little for his help, but hearing her response, he could only nod his head. He had several men hidden in the depths of the forest and wasn't worried about how long it would take. Currently, he was taking his time to learn about the different nations.

"This young master is willing to help you," he said, standing up.

Above him, a hawk let out a screech and circled several times before swooping down in his direction. Laing Lai Jiao watched as the bird landed on his shoulder, its claws were the size of her own fingers. She was mesmerized by the beauty of it, and without thought, she lifted her fingers towards its downy feathers. Surprisingly and against his expectations, the bird allowed her to come closer. The hawk and Lia Jiao's eyes were locked onto one another, and even Fan Xiang could sense a strange connection. Even he had never been able to freely pet this bird, yet this dangerous creature allowed the tiny delicate jade-like fingers brush against its feathers. She touched its head and stroked under its beak. She noticed a slip of paper wrapped around one of his legs and realized what she was doing. She quickly stepped back and glanced towards Fan Xiang.

"I'm sorry, I've never seen a bird like this so closely. I didn't mean to offend." She took a step back, and the hawk seemed to bristle with discontent, standing then sitting again, it's head turned left to right assessing her with interest.

"No matter," he said, grabbing the note. He looked it over for a moment. It mentioned the death of the Liang family and the reasons behind it. He had spies everywhere, news like this was received all the time.

He assessed the young girl again, instinctively knowing that she belonged to that household. He wasn't sure if she was a Master or servant, though he speculated the former based on her clothes. He also didn't know how she ended up here, and who had helped her. He weighed his options. If he interfered with this child, it might bring trouble to him in the future.

As he was thinking it over, she was watching the hawk. It suddenly flew up, and her eyes watched with wonder as it soared above before quickly swooping down and returning. In its mouth was a rabbit still twitching with life. It dropped it in front of her feet then landed back on Fan Xiang's shoulder.

Liang Lai Jiao was surprised and impressed. "Young Master is amazing! You even trained him to bring you food." Her eyes were brilliant, with the joy of what she had witnessed.

Fan Xiang was equally surprised because he had never trained this bird to do any such thing. In fact, it had never brought him food before.

"I wonder if young Master would be willing to share this meal with me? I'm hungry." She looked at Fan Xiang with those big eyes, and he felt like he was being sucked into them instantly, wanting to give in. Surely her husband would suffer in the future. He shook his head, not bothering to tell her that it wasn't his to start with.

"Let's leave this place first. We can cook deeper into the forest." He lifted the bird off his shoulder and tossed it up, allowing it to fly as it pleased. It wasn't long before it was out of sight, though he knew it would return if he blew his whistle.

Liang Lai Jiao picked up the rabbit, its blood dripped to the floor, suddenly reminding her of everything that had happened to her family. Her fingers squeezed against the fur turning white with the force. Her teeth clenched together, panic and dread washed over her face like a wave. Fan Xiang was able to discern what made her feel that way but chose to ignore it.

"Scared of a little rabbit," he said teasingly. He reached out gently, took it from her tightened grasp. He brought it a few feet away and quickly gutted and cleaned it. He pulled a thick cloth from his satchel and wrapped it inside, putting it away. He returned to her, noticing that her face was regaining some of its color he felt relieved. "Let's go." He didn't have any siblings, but he imagined this is what it must feel like.