Ch. 14 - A Beautiful Dream

He wanted to know what had happened to his father, how he had died, why he died and by whose hands he died.

He wanted to avenge his father, but he did not know who to take revenge on. It made him feel anxious to the point of not knowing what to do.

"Sorry."

"For what?"

"For everything. You must feel pretty sad now that your only family is gone."

"I have you, right?"

"Yeah, hahaha!"

"Then I'm not alone."

"But I'm not related to you by blood. How can you still trust me this much? They say blood is thicker than water."

"Blood is indeed thicker than water… but not thicker than my trust for father. If he chose to entrust me to you, then he must've believed that you would treat me well."

"… You are right. How come I am less mature than a child, haha?"

"You are not less mature than 'a child'. You are less mature than this child", Xiao Huoyan said and pointed at himself, while smiling.

"What is the difference?"

"I am naturally born smarter than most adults. That is the difference."

They both burst out in laughter. Then they both silently smiled and finished their food. After dinner, Jin Niao took his dear nephew to the third floor.

"Which room do you want?"

"Father lived here, right?"

"Yes."

"Then may I sleep in his old room?"

"Of course! I will get someone to move his stuff right away!"

"No! It is fine."

"Hm?"

"According to the words in the letter that father left me, he wanted all of his belongings to belong to me. He also did not want anyone else to touch anything."

"Oh, then I will just take you there right away!"

"Thank you."

When they finally arrived, Xiao Huoyan was shocked to see the size of the room.

"Is this really just a room?"

"Yes, why? You do not like it?"

"No, I like it! It is just… The size of this room is bigger than twice the size of my old house!"

"Oh, really?"

"Yes."

Now they both just stood right at the door, completely silent. After a few seconds, that felt like an eternity, Jin Niao decided to break the silence.

"Uhm… There is a few sets of clothes in the dresser over there. I did not know what kind of clothes you prefered, so I thought that we could buy some more tomorrow. Towels and other necessities are in the bathroom and in the other dresser over there."

"Okay, thank you. But how did you prepare all of this in such a short time? I mean, I just told you I wanted to sleep here, a few minutes ago."

" I had someone prepare it as soon as you said that you wanted it."

"When did you talk to anyone on our way here?"

"Oh, I did not. I just sent a mental message to the servant closest. Do you need anything else?"

"No, thank you."

"Okay."

"Uhm, wait! Goodnight… uncle Niao."

"Good night nephew."

Xiao Huoyan felt too tired to look through the stuff in the room. He just threw himself straight onto the bed and fell asleep. While sleeping, he dreamt of his mother.

They were sitting in front of their house. His mom played with his hair. She said that he had the same hair as his father. She always smiled while thinking about my father.

Xiao Huoyan remembered that he used to ask his mother about who his father was, but his mother always managed to change the topic. She was never really willing to give him a real answer.

Xiao Huoyan knew that she loved him a lot. He suddenly asked her about how she could still love someone who had left her. She just smiled, and her smile was truly dazzling.

"You can not choose whom to fall in love with. Remember that love can be either a blessing or a curse, and when you have already truly fallen in love, it will not be easy for you to ever stop loving that person", she replied.

"Is yours and father's love a blessing or a curse, then?"

"Can it not be both?"

She always spoke with a soft and calm voice. A single tear made it's way down her rosy left cheek, yet she still smiled. Her smile… her voice… both could cause even the coldest heart to melt.

Then he woke up from his beautiful dream. It was early in the morning. Even the sun had yet to rise.

Xiao Huoyan had decided that he wanted to begin cultivating right away! After dreaming about his mother and hearing her calming voice, he felt as if he had slept for ages. He was not the least bit tired, just full of energy!

He decided to look for 'The Seventh Tower'. According to the letter, left by his father, Jin Long, The Seventh Tower was where kept all his techniques. The key to that tower were something that Jin Long himself had come up with. To get access to The Seventh Tower, one had to possess the two spirit essences, Icy Hurricane and The Golden Dragon.

To be able to pass the barrier that he had made, one just needed to let the aura of both spirit essences, cover one's whole body. While surrounded by the aura, one could just step right through the barrier. That way, no one except for Jin Long himself, would be able to gain acces to the techniques that he had placed inside The Seventh Tower.

Jin Long was truly smart. Even the letter he had left for Xiao Huoyan was special. When others opened the letter, it would look empty. Just like a blank paper. But when Xiao Huoyan opened it, all of the letter's contents would get imprinted into his mind, without really intruding the 'barrier' protecting his mind and memories.