Twenty-Six

The drive to work was a silent one and Li Yuxi was not comfortable with it, especially when he barely looked at her. Especially when she faced Lee Qiang. She had been scared that he would do something while Zhao Ling acted like he was not interested, unlike other times.

Li Yuxi shook her head as she drove into a free parking space. She saw the bus and her colleagues in another parking space and excitement filled her, overtaking her gloomy one. She could no longer let Zhao Ling's attitude affect her love for her work. In the same excitement, she turned off the car and unlocked the door. She opened the door and got out. As she closed the door, she gasped when Zhao Ling appeared beside her. She wanted to reprimand him but held her tongue.

She walked over to the backseat door, opened it, and took out a small overnight bag and work bag before closing the door. She quickly made her way to the bus with Zhao Ling following at a safe distance. When she got to the bus, she greeted her colleagues and went into the bus.

"Li Yuxi?!"

Li Yuxi turned her head here and there, looking for where Lin Wei's voice was coming from. When her eyes glanced at the back seat, she spotted Lin Wei who was waving enthusiastically. She grinned and made her way to him. Once she got to where he was sitting, she eyed the space between Lin Wei and another colleague. The first thing that came to her mind was how Zhao Ling was going to sit. She wondered if he could sit through the man and when she turned to find out how Zhao Ling simply vanished. She eyed the rope and saw that the other end was still visible, except for his form. She had a feeling he only made himself invisible to her eyes.

With a shrug, she sat down beside Lin Wei and exhaled.

"How excited are you for this trip?" Li Yuxi asked.

"Super excited. I found out that we are going to inspect an old village. No one lives there anymore. It's mostly made up of weeds, bushes, and rotting and burnt wooden houses. According to research made by our team, there could be some sort of royal palace at the center of the village."

Li Yuxi visualized his words in her head with a nod of her head.

"Any more information about the village?" She asked and took out a pen and book from her work bag, ready to write.

"According to the history of the village, it is over three hundred years old. Currently, we know it as Shangbao village but many years ago, according to scripts found in the rubbles, it used to bear a name we can't tell. Here's a map of the village."

Lin Wei handed her his phone and Li Yuxi stared at the image on the screen. It was a brown-colored map with a medium-sized land. Her eyes skimmed through the names, hills, and valleys in and outside the land. She squinted her eyes at the bottom of the screen to read a writing that seemed familiar to her but Lin Wei grabbed the phone from her hand, interrupting her.

"There is so much to learn about this village. There are tales of a form of illness that wiped out the last set of people that used to live in Shangbao. That was fifty years ago. The villagers were primitive and knew nothing about the modern-day world."

Li Yuxi was fully interested in the village and could not help but imagine the digging she would do to find artifacts and crafts that would lead to the explanation of what happened to the village and what it used to be.

‡‡‡

"We're going there by boat?" Li Yuxi asked after staring at the expansion of the river before her.

"Yes. It will take us two hours to get there, don't worry."

Li Yuxi looked around the boisterous small crowd, searching for Wang Lifen. When she saw no signs of her, she blinked and stared up at Lin Wei.

"Where's Wang Lifen?"

"Oh. She said important things came up and she would arrive later," Lin Wei replied and adjusted his glasses before pointing at the two boats on the shoreline. "We'll be ten each on the boats."

After that, Lin Wei grabbed her hand and pulled her toward one of the boats. She followed silently while wondering what Zhao Ling was doing since he had not made himself visible since the bus ride. With a roll of her eyes, she focused on climbing the metal steps of the boat, only to trip over her foot, making her fall on the steps.

"Li Yuxi!" Lin Wei yelled in concern and held her arms before cupping her cheeks. "Are you okay?"

Li Yuxi nodded and smiled at the worried look on his face. His doe eyes were wide behind his glasses, which made him look funny. She chuckled and patted his cheek.

"I'm fine, Lin Wei," she said and started to get up with his help.

She hissed when her elbow throbbed from pain. Lin Wei grabbed her arm and turned into his field of vision.

"You're hurt," he said softly and took out a white handkerchief from his pocket.

Li Yuxi stood in awe as he wiped the grains of sand off her elbow and small wound. The concerned expression on his face made her wish Lin Wei was at least a bit older, that way she could look at him in a way of her type. Lin Wei was her only friend that made her laugh and happy at the littlest things.

"You'll be fine," he said and ruffled her hair.

"Hey! Stop it!" Li Yuxi smacked his arm and arranged her disheveled hair.

Lin Wei smirked, which made him look attractive. When he winked, she looked away, feeling flushed. She jumped a bit when he held her hand and helped her up the steps and into the boat. They walked through the short passageway and walked into a small cabin with leather seats.

"Sit down and I'll get our stuff from the bus."

Before she could respond, Lin Wei had left her presence and Li Yuxi pouted. She leaned against the backrest and sighed. She flinched when Zhao Ling appeared beside her in a sitting position. She glanced at him and faced forward the next second.

"You are so desperate," he said, sounding gruff. "How can you feel something for that little boy? Is this what I will be sensing from you every time you are close to a man?"

Li Yuxi gritted her teeth and clenched her hands. She wanted to retort, to shut him up and to clear his mind about viewing her in that manner but there were people in the cabin and she didn't want to act strange.

"Do not pollute my meditation with your list or attraction for any man or I will kill you."

Li Yuxi felt her lips wobble and her eyes sting from the pain of his words. She looked to her left, hiding her face from him. Tears filled her eyes and rolled down her cheeks.

"Forgive me." Was all she said before wiping her cheeks.

‡‡‡

It had been long since Zhao Ling had warned Li Yuxi and ever since then, the woman had not said a word to the little boy or even responded to his words. A twinge in him made him feel odd about what he had said to her. He knew it was unfair but he needed to start acting cold toward her so she would not sabotage or regret his time and decision for being with her.

A part of him hated what he did to her but he could not help it. Her emotions and feelings triggered his tongue to speak faster than his reasoning. He had felt deep sadness after he had spoken to her, which scared him as an unknown feeling hit his chi.

"Are you okay, Li Yuxi? You have been quiet and you're making me worried."

The little boy placed his hand on top of hers and Zhao Ling had the urge to cut his hand off. Something about his hand made him a bit angry. He gritted his teeth when he started to rub circles on the back of her hand and when he glanced at Li Yuxi's face, she was biting her lip hard.

"I'm fine. I'm just thinking," she replied and took her hand out of his.

"Oh… I was just worried. Sorry."

"It's okay. Thank you for caring."

Li Yuxi's words set something off in his chi. He grimaced at the boy, wondering what he did for her to thank him for caring when he was doing a better job at protecting her. He rolled his eyes and looked toward the open window of the boat.

After a long ride on the boat, they finally arrived at their destination and the moment Zhao Ling's feet touched the soil of the place, a flash of memories filled his head.

The first thing he saw was his ship arriving on the same spot, his armed men celebrating and his past self stepping out of his ship. Zhao Ling looked around him, taking in the past images he remembered and when he looked past the tall trees ahead, it was almost as if he traveled at a high speed into the royal palace.

One thing was clear to him at that moment— This was his home.