Furball 2

"Damn it, move away, dummy!" He cursed and reached out his hand, wanting to pull her away before the mist could touch her. Yet suddenly he found his legs immobilized. The shadows of that woman has sneakily concealed herself and locked his shadows so that he couldn't move an inch.

His pupils dilated as he could only see the mist that kept on getting closer helplessly. At the same time, the woman's shrill cry that was so sharp akin to broken glass reverberated through his ears.

His blood froze as he saw the image of Ouyang Xueqing overlapped with Ling Xiaochen.

No! Nobody could take her away from him!

His heartbeat thundered against his ears, his blood rushed to his head and he could felt something was slowly awaken inside him. Something dark, evil, and cold-blooded.

His sight was dominated by black dots for a mere second as he kept struggling desperately against the bind on his body. He could do nothing at all but watched as the mist slowly enveloped Ling Xiaochen's entire being and yanked her away.

She was merely an arm away from him. It was close…so close, but now, he had lost her.

His eyes bulged out, shoulder trembled. Slowly, he clutched his head tightly as a howl filled with frustration and despair spilled out from his lips. "NOO!!!"

"Ling Xiaochen!" He didn't know what he was doing. He clawed desperately at the shadows binding him. Eventually, he succeeded. Staggering, he dashed toward the source of the black mist with crazed look in his eyes.

But before he could enter, suddenly the black mist dispersed and a figure emerged.

It was Ling Xiaochen.

An Zhengnan stopped in his track as he stared dumbfoundedly at the girl that was completely fine and dandy. "Ling…Xiaochen?" He called carefully as he was afraid that it was all merely an illusion he created because he was slowly going insane.

But it was not. The girl beamed brightly at him. "Zhengnan, look!" She stepped aside, and there, the figure of a small and petite girl stood.

An Zhengnan's pupils shook heavily as he drank in the sight of the girl greedily as if he was a dying traveler that finally chanced upon an oasis. She was standing right in front of him, grinning cheekily as she always did. Albeit a little messy with her robes bloodied and torn, she was fine.

She was still alive…

He felt his entire world died down and the only thing he could see was her. His feet unknowingly brought him forward, and before his brain could process his line of thought, his body had acted first. He reached out to her and pulled her into his embrace. His arms wrapped around her small figure, so hard as if he was trying to blend them into one.

"You're back." His voice were trembling, so did his entire body. "This is you, right?"

He didn't need an answer as the bundle of warmth in his arms were enough as an anchor that kept him steady. The suffocating in his heart vanished instantly as the breath of life slowly returned to him.

The laugh that entered his ears was melodious and light. He felt his entire fibers grew alive at that. Suddenly, he found that he was missing her. He missed her so much that he almost went insane. "Sorry I'm late," she said.

"No," He snuggled closer to her. "You are right on time."

Ouyang Xueqing nodded as she slowly relished herself of the warmth he offered. Being highly on guard plus the event that took place where she almost turned was enough to drain her dry. She was scared, anxious, and tired. Finally…finally she felt safe and secured.

Blinking, he slightly loosened his embrace and scanned her thoroughly from head to toe. "You're okay, right? What happened to—" His words died down in his throat at the sight of dried up blood on the skin near her neck.

He ran his fingers there without caring for her struggles to find that it was indeed her blood. The skin was tender and pink, the sign that it was newly recovering. His jaw tightened, even his voice lowered a few notes. "You're injured? Let me see."

"No, it's okay!" She pushed his face away. "I have recovered!"

"What happened?" He didn't take no for an answer as he demanded closely.

Ouyang Xueqing groaned inwardly as she eyed Ling Xiaochen who was just standing and watching them from the sideline quietly. The girl raised an eyebrow and turned her face away, pretending she didn't understand her call for help.

You traitor! I saved you just now! Are you still my friend?! She fumed.

Indeed, it was because of her timely arrival that Ling Xiaochen could safely escaped while they got rid of the woman simultaneously. But it was all Furball's job. She merely took credits from it shamelessly.

She sighed and answered helplessly. "I'm indeed injured."

An Zhengnan panicked. "The blood we saw then, the black liquid—"

"Yeah, the ghost qi attacked me, but it was different than the one just then." She cut him off before he started having a panic attack. "I almost lost my mind just like Ren Yupei does, but then Furball saved me." She grinned sheepishly. "Actually, he was the one that saved Ling Xiaochen too."

An Zhengnan blinked. "Furball?"

"Furball!" She brought the bundle of fur that An Zhengnan had always thought as a mere dust and pushed it right in front of his face. "This is Furball, my new friend."

"This..." He pointed at the thing that had the same size as his fist dubiously. "is the thing that saved you?"

"Yes!" She beamed brightly.

An Zhengnan eyed her suspiciously as he pondered whether she had truly gone insane.

But suddenly, the bundle of fur trembled and a pair of short and hairy arm sprang out from its side. An Zhengnan jumped in shock, moreover when the thing started to cuss and bumped on his cheeks repeatedly. "You son of a bitch! You don't believe me, dontcha?! Imma show you my prowess!"

The man was thoroughly dumbfounded at the ticklish feeling on his cheeks and the angry childish voice. Not only did his doubt diminished, it was doubled instead.

Ling Xiaochen squealed. "What a cute little thing you are!" She cupped him and rubbed him on her cheeks excitedly. "What is your name?"

"Furball." Ouyang Xueqing answered.

The poor furball was dizzy by the crazy girl's antic. "Yes, right. It's Furball." He snapped. "No, wait! I am not Furball! I don't want it!!"

"Aww, Furball it is." Ling Xiaochen stroked his fur and bobbed his cute pinky nose. "Nice to meet you, I'm Ling Xiaochen, but you can just call me Xiaochen."

Furball felt as if he was just struck by lightning. In one day, not only does he have to take care of the beast that had invaded his territory, but he also had to endure their harassment.

His round eyes welled up in tears. "My nose…the virginity of my nose..."