~~~十三~~~

~~~雪莲银狐~~~

The eyes of the students widened before they all slowly turned to face the one who had treated them so well since their first arrival into the empire. There was a silent smile on her face as she stood with her tails swaying gently behind her, but her eyes were full of rage.

"Lián-mei-"

"That's right," she spoke in a sharp tone, cutting off her sworn brother without looking away from the hunters. Her nails began to dig into her palms from how tight her fists were, but she paid them no mind. "One of my parents was a Silver Fox Beast, but I wasn't even given the chance to find out which one because hunters like these ones killed them and burned down our house."

An intense pressure flooded the entire chamber as she took a single step forward, the energy stemming entirely from the orphaned female. The eight tails whipped wildly behind her as everyone began to choke on the energy she produced. It was thick and heavy, full of qualities that couldn't belong to a human in the first place.

Almost as quickly as it came, the pressure disappeared, retreating back into the female as everyone began gasping for breath. She looked over her shoulder, expression softening at her students before focusing back at the hybrid hunters that stood before her.

"I've just now given you your chance for mercy and you've rejected it," Xuělián stated. Her voice was smooth as she made her declaration, but there was a darker tone to it. "So you can't blame me for being rude now."

There was a small gust of wind as the female disappeared from sight only to reappear in the middle of the crowd of hunters. Her eight tails moved out to impale another ten of them straight through the chest before whipping them off. The flying bodies served to push away those close to her so she had space for her next attack.

'Drawing from the elements of Water and Spirit: Crystal Snow Lotus!'

The ground shook as ice began to form rapidly, starting from beneath the woman's feet. It spread to form a thick pillar that engulfed all of the hunters and rose up. When the ice finally stopped growing upwards, a bud was formed at the top that bloomed open into the shape of a lotus with the mage standing right in the center.

With a satisfied smile on her face, the adopted princess flipped her hair over her shoulder and leapt down from her flower of ice. There was a small tap as her boots made contact with the ground before she reached up to stretch out her spine.

"Well, that was not how I expected this to go!" she chuckled once she made her way back to the students who were still frozen where they stood. There was a smile on her face, but it looked forced and she made an effort not to meet anyone's eyes. "What a mess..."

"So... What that man said was true then," Dàoyì started while looking down at his sworn sister. There was a frown on his face when she didn't even turn to him but he bit back his disappointment. "You're a hybrid as well, Lián-mei?"

A forced chuckle escaped from the woman as she cracked her neck. Her movements were slow as she turned to look up at him with shaky eyes before saying, "This... This isn't how I wanted you to find out about this, but yes." She bit her lip before continuing her explanation. "I'm half Silver Fox Beast and half-human."

She let out a frustrated sigh before pointing her glassy eyes upwards, refusing to let her tears fall in front of anyone, but the blue-haired mage knew better. Even when they were children, it was difficult for the female to express her emotions and even more so when trying to get her to be honest about them.

Without saying another word, Dàoyì reached forward and enveloped her into a hug. The warm gesture pushed her over the edge, shattering her wall of pride, allowing the tears to stream down her face as she buried her face into his chest. They stayed like that for a few minutes with the others silently witnessing the intimate moment in the background before the female pulled away.

"Alright, that's enough of that," she chuckled before wiping her face using the sleeves of her haori. Her eyes were still bloodshot and her nose was a bit stuffed, but she didn't care too much. "If any of you have any questions feel free to ask, but we should really get to finding those kids."

The princess then answered any of their questions about being a hybrid as they wandered the tunnels searching for the stolen children. She, unfortunately, had to figure things out through trial and error since her parents weren't around to teach her, but she explained the best she could.

Just as they were about to enter the last tunnel, Shīmāo adjusted his glasses and asked, "Would I be right in guessing that concealing your spiritual pressure has something to do with you being a hybrid?"

"That is correct," the ravenette chirped as she led the way down the dimly lit tunnel. Her voice echoed a bit off of the stone walls and her eyes seemed to emote a soft purple glow as she easily navigated through the dark. "The spiritual pressure of a hybrid is vastly different to that of a human's so I was taught from a very young age, though I never understood why until I joined an adventurer's guild. I needed to keep it hidden unless I wanted to draw the attention of others."

It was silent for a few moments before the woman paused and turned around with a serious expression before she said, "Which reminds me, I trust that you'll keep this detail to yourselves." Her eyes seemed to pierce right through everyone's being. "Not even the imperial family knows about this and it would spell huge trouble for all of us if word got out. All of those who hold a grudge against me in this empire will try to use it to their advantage to overturn everything I've tried to do and anyone that had anything to do with me."

"You don't have to worry about that, Your Highness," the common-born female assured as she stepped forward. There was a bright smile on her face as she slung her arm around the shorter woman's shoulders. "Your secret is safe with us!"

With words of agreement from everyone else, the group stepped forward through the tunnel until they came upon a large metal door. It was locked with multiple chains and had an interface magic circle etched into its surface. The runes from the circle were different from the ones the hybrid used, but she was still able to recognize it as a basic seal.

The princess then held out both of her hands to the edges of the circle before allowing energy to flow through them. Her eyes began to glow once more as the symbols and tunes began to turn before the lines connected. They glowed a clean white before disappearing along with all of the locks. As she lowered her hands, the door creaked open to reveal exactly what they were searching for.

The room was dark with only the center of the room visible thanks to a single candle. Crowded towards the back corners were fifteen children of varying ages. The youngest looked to be about three while the oldest looked like they were eleven or twelve, but all of them looked frightened.

"It's alright, Kiddos, you don't have anything to worry about anymore!" exclaimed the user of the Flame Lion. There was a large smile on her face as she stepped forward only for the children to flinch backward. "We already took care of the bad guys."

"Yeah right!" spar one of the older boys. He was positioned towards the front of the cluster and his eyes were hardened into a glare as he held his arms out in front of the others. "You're probably just here to sell us off or cut us up to advance your cultivation!"

The woman flinched at the harsh accusation pinned to her by the child. She stuttered trying to come up with a response, still in shock, but was cut off by the weight of a hand being placed on her shoulder. Orange eyes flicked down to her left to be met with soft purple.

The owner held a sad smile as she shook her head, saying, "It's alright, Tiě." She then looked at the children before stepping forward on her own. "I can take care of this part."

The ravenette continued walking towards the children with a soft smile on her face, ignoring all the snarls and growls being thrown her way. She knew that they were just a defense and that there was no significant way they could fight her given how young they were. When she was about three feet away from the group, she crouched down and held out her right hand.

"You're okay. We're really here to help," the female 'spoke' in a voice that could not be heard by the humans that stood behind her. A soft chuckle came from her upon seeing the wide eyes and sudden smiles of the children who could hear her words. “The ones who hurt you have been taken care of and we're going to bring you home."

"We're going home!" cheered a younger girl as she was the first of a wave of children that ran up to the ravenette. They all knocked over her crouching form, tackling her to the ground into one large hug.

After calming down the kids from their bout of excitement, they then followed Shīmāo and the other females out of the room. Soon enough, the only ones who remained were Dàoyì, Xuělián, and a young boy who didn't move from his spot in the corner.

The woman was careful as she approached the boy, her sworn brother staying close to the door as not to overwhelm him. "Hey, are you alright?" she questioned softly as she leaned forward and placed her hands over her knees. "The others have already gone out."

The boy slowly lifted his head to reveal teary, mismatched eyes that stood out against his jet black hair. They definitely stood out against his pale skin, but it was his next words that struck the pair. "Daddy is dead, that means Mommy is dead too," he said with a hiccup, tears streaming even faster down his face. "I don't have anyone else. I'll be all alone now!"

The adopted royal bit her lip as she immediately reached out to wrap her arms around the child. She let him cry into the crook of her neck as she gently held the back of his head and rubbed circles into his back, humming a Filipino lullaby from her old life.

"I know this all hurts now, Láng-er, but it'll get better. I promise," the female whispered without stopping her actions. It broke her heart to feel the boy shaking in her hold, but she couldn't show that. "You're not alone and you won't be alone."

"That's a lie!" he retorted, his fists clutching the fabric of her haori. "All of my own were killed by those people! How could I not be alone?!"

"You could stay with me if you wanted to. My parents were killed by hybrid hunters as well, so I know how it feels," the woman suggested with a small hum. She made sure to keep her voice light and her actions soft. "I know I'm a fox and not a wolf but I do have experience being a hybrid, or I could try to see if another family of wolves would be willing to take you in. Either way, you're not alone."

Meanwhile, the blue haired mage stood off to the side without saying a word. He watched their interaction with furrowed brows, unable to imagine what kind of things were running through the woman's head.

At the moment, he could only regard her with pure admiration as she did her best to comfort the child. Not having gone through the same kind of loss, the male could only guess how hard it was for her to witness an event so similar to something she had lived. The orphan had known that the female's parents were killed before she arrived in the small orphanage, but it was even worse now that he knew the reasoning behind it.

They stayed that way for a few minutes with the female silently offering comfort until the child pulled back and dried his eyes. She heard his voice but it was muffled by his sleeve so she gave him a questioning hum.

"I want to stay with you Húlí-jiějiě," he repeated before letting out a yawn. This earned a chuckle from the woman before she stood up and held out her hand to him.

"Alright then, you're staying with Húlí-jiějiě!" she chirped with a bright smile. She then leaned down to ruffle the boy's hair once he took hold of her hand before turning over her shoulder to give the older male a smile. "I hope Dào-gē is okay with that."

Dàoyì blinked before rolling his eyes and walking closer. He gave the female a small smirk before ruffling her hair. Before she could complain he said, "Of course, Lián-mei. Whatever you say, goes."

This earned an irritated huff from the boy who proceeded to pull the ravenette back before standing in between the sworn siblings. "Don't touch, Húlí-jiějiě!" he exclaimed while growling at the male. His eyes were narrowed and his teeth were bared, but with his low level of spiritual energy, the display wasn't very intimidating.

"Sorry, Kid, but Lián-mei was mine first," the blue haired mage replied while crouching down to the boy's level. There was a smile on his face as blue eyes flicked back up to the woman who watched with an amused grin. "We made a promise a long time ago."

"No!" Láng-er cried before reaching for her wrist and proceeding to drag her towards the opening to the main tunnel. This earned a chuckle from the older pair before the fox looked over her shoulder and stuck out her tongue just before disappearing out the door.

By the time they finished bringing all of the children back to their homes, the sun had already come up over the horizon. The eldest of the group and the twin sisters were left absolutely exhausted from having to deal with a bunch of excited children for so long while the others were pretty much unbothered. Tiě naturally had a similar energy to the children so she could match them pretty well. The children didn't take much interest in him so Dàoyì didn't have a reason to be worn out.

On the other hand, Xuělián got most of the attention from her fellow mixed blood beings, but she handled them as calmly as she could. She was used to dealing with multiple people with varying energy and excitement levels and could handle them easily. She was still a bit tired, but not completely wiped out like three of her students.

As soon as they finished with the children, the group had to head back to their inn where they would have breakfast before continuing their travels. The students went back up to their rooms while the ravenette brought the child up to her own.

Right when the door opened, the pair were greeted by a hiss, as the Iron-Throated Devil in her smaller form perked up from where she was curled up on the bed. This earned a chuckle from the female while the boy squeezed tighter to her hand, heterochromatic eyes focused on the new creature.

"You're alright, Láng-er. She won't hurt you," the older one cooed in a softer tone. She brought her hand up to pet his head as they got in closer. "Nana is one of my friends. She's very nice as long as you're nice to her."

He gave a slow nod before carefully approaching the serpent who turned towards him. The purebred magical beast tilted her head to the side slightly before turning towards him. She slithered forward slightly, tongue flicking out at him before curling back up comfortably.

"See, she's not so bad," the Seventh Princess chuckled from the table that was set before they arrived. She picked up a second bowl of rice and a pair of chopsticks before patting the seat next to her. "Now let's eat!"

It was quiet once everyone had loaded back into their carriages. Most of the group had decided to make use of their travel by vehicle to catch up on the sleep they lost the previous night. This included everyone who went out except for the one who initiated the rescue.

The ravenette sat to the left of her sworn brother while the six-year-old was in her lap. Her eyes were closed as she rested her head on the older male's shoulder, but sleep refused to take her. Not wanting to disturb her resting companions, she decided to stay still and hum soft lullabies to pass the time.

After about four hours of travel, the caravan stopped and everyone was brought out of their naps so they could come out and stretch their legs as lunch was being prepared. They were still quite groggy so their movements were sluggish, but they still made an effort.

"Morning, Dào-gē," the adopted royal mused as the male stepped out of the carriage. The boy stood close at her left and held onto her left hand while rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes. Did you?" he replied while stretching out his back. His brows furrowed upon being met with silence as he looked back at her to see a nervous smile on her face. "You were able to get some sleep. Right, Lián-mei?"

"Um... no," she answered while leading the child over the nearby stream so he could play around for a bit. The water was clear and not fast moving so she thought it was safe enough for a child. Even if the water was a little more dangerous, a hybrid child his age would have been just fine. "I just have a lot of things to think about. My mind refused to let my body rest."

The man let out a sigh as he stood next to the ravenette and took her left hand. As purple irises gazed up to meet his own, he said, "You should have said something." He was quick to notice how her eyes flicked back to the water where the boy played. "Talking through it might have let you sleep."

"It's fine, the topic wasn't worth talking about anyway," the female retorted while sinking down to the ground while taking her hand back. Small bits of gravel were digging into her skin but she didn't seem to notice as her eyes remained on the boy who pranced around in the water. "We would have just woken everyone up by talking."

"Lián-mei, we both promised that we would take care of ourselves," the blue haired male said as he sat down next to her. There was a warning tone in his voice, but he was just worried. "That includes getting enough rest."

"I know that, Dào-gē, but if my mind chooses not to shut up, then I can't do anything about it," she groaned while cracking her neck. There was a frown on her face as memories of sleepless nights from her previous life surfaced in her mind. "If I try to confront that at the moment then it just gets worse. This doesn't happen when I try to sleep at night, so don't even worry about it."

Dàoyì let out a sigh, remaining silent for a few moments before pulling the woman closer. He made sure that her head was resting on his shoulder before taking her hand once more. He intertwined their fingers together before saying, "Try to take a nap when we get back in the carriages. Okay?" She shifted slightly, getting more comfortable and resting more weight on the male. "I'll help you."

The ravenette let out a small chuckle, but as she opened her mouth to reply a yelp came out instead of words. She instinctively jumped away from the older mage as he was splashed by a large wave of water.

"Don't touch, Húlí-jiějiě!" the young boy exclaimed as he ran back out from the stream to place himself in between the older two. Sitting on top of his head was a pair of fluffy ears in a translucent grey as a matching tail that sprouted from his tailbone was wagging. It was puffed up as a way to make him look larger than he actually was and moving slower than it would for a happy tail wag.

The male sat in silence, blue eyes blinking up at the child as he was still comprehending what had just happened. Meanwhile, the female stood up, calling out to the young boy with a small frown before taking a deep breath and relaxing her features.

"Láng-er, that wasn't very nice," she said, taking on a firm but still friendly tone of voice. The woman knew that screaming at a child would result in a troubled adult later on in life. She was the result of that style of parenting after all and didn't want to make the same mistakes. "Please apologize to Dào-gē."

"No," the boy huffed, baring his teeth at the man's slightest movement. Both mages knew that trying to further provoke a wolf would only make things worse, so they stayed still. "He touched Húlí-jiějiě."

"That's true, but I was letting him," Xuělián explained, relaxing a bit when she saw the boy's ear twitch. When he turned to her with an utterly baffled expression she continued, "If he had been touching me when I didn't want him to touch me, then what you just did would be the right thing; but in this case, he did nothing wrong."

The realization sunk in pretty quickly and the woman could see that in how his posture relaxed and his ears drooped a little bit. When he had calmed down completely she placed a hand on his shoulder and asked, "So what should you say to Dào-gē right now?"

With a pout, the boy turned around to face the older male. His animalistic appendages disappeared back into his body as he walked over and said, "I'm sorry, Dàoyì." He didn't look up to meet the other's eyes, but it wasn't hard to tell that he did feel guilty. "I was wrong."

"That's alright, Láng-er, just be careful next time. Okay?" the human male mused. He then gave a small chuckle as he flicked some of the water from his hands.

The child gave a nod before he was ushered back to where the servants had set up some blankets on the ground by the older hybrid. She then turned back to her childhood companion with a small snicker. Before he could complain about her blatant amusement, she snapped her fingers, and a sudden gust of warm air spiraled around him.

'Drawing from the elements of Fire and Air: Midsummer's Wind!'

Once the magic died down, the air slowed back down and the male was completely dry with his hair sticking up at various angles. This earned a chuckle from the ravenette as she reached up to fix it before her hands ceased their movements by cupping his cheeks.

"There we go!" she chirped with a bright smile as she rubbed small circles into his skin with her thumbs. There was a slight shimmer in her eyes from the angle at which the light hit them, causing them to shift into another shade of purple. "All dry."

"Thank you, Lián-mei," the man chuckled as he brought his hand up to hold one of her own at his cheek. The smiles they gave each other were soft and both of them felt warm, connected in a way that neither of them felt with anyone else.

Their moment was quickly interrupted by the blue haired nobleman calling them over to say that lunch was ready. The female jolted in response as the older mage let out a sigh. He didn't let her pull away just yet, keeping a gentle grip on her hand as they walked back to the rest of the group.

The pair sat on the same blanket as Láng-er which was situated with the best view of the water. He had already gotten them some plates of food and was eagerly waiting for their return... or the female's return anyway.

The young boy still remained wary of all of the humans that surrounded him despite apologizing to the mage with the Azure Dragon Vine as his Astral Spirit. The only one he trusted completely was the fox hybrid that had led the charge to rescue him in the first place. He didn't know what it was, but the energy she gave off reminded him of his mother.

It was strange because the Spirit Wolf had to be at least twice the age of the ravenette currently sitting in front of him. She was very young compared to other magical beasts but it still felt like she knew more than she let on. She was understanding of others and had more patience than others the boy had come across. The woman seemed to act like the wise and caring spirits his mother once told him that he could become.

Magical beasts were known to the modern world as the first ones who could use and cultivate their spiritual energy. Since hybrids were part magical beast, they had an easier time cultivating compared to normal humans and could reach immortality much faster.

While it could take normal humans at least one million years of cultivation to reach immortality, magical beasts only needed to cultivate for a Century Millennium. Alternatively, their spiritual power needed to reach an equivalent to a Century Millennium ranking. For a being that was part human and part magical beast, there were some extra steps.

Hybrids could cultivate faster than humans and just a little bit slower than their pure beast counterparts; however, they had to become full beasts in order to reach immortality. From birth, they are only able to take on a human form with some, usually nonvisible traits, from their beast side. The only way another could tell the difference would be through spiritual pressure. Once a hybrid cultivated their spiritual energy to the hundredth level, they changed fully into magical beasts while still retaining their human forms if they so desired. From then on, they could cultivate as normal to reach immortality.

While some of the concepts were difficult for him to understand, Láng-er was lucky enough to have his mother around long enough for it to be explained to him. Xuělián on the other hand had to find the base information out from a third party and conduct further research on her own.

The ravenette only learned that she was a hybrid through her training at the no longer existing adventurer’s guild. She had accidentally let out her spiritual pressure out of frustration and it was immediately picked up on by a member who was part Death Raven. The member had then explained to the ten-year-old child what exactly she was and the basics of how she needed to properly cultivate.

After the fall of the guild and being brought to the Yín Empire, the girl was given more access to information about magical beasts, Astral Spirits, and hybrids than she knew what to do with. However, she still learned best through experience so she used what little standing in the empire she had to get it.

The emperor eventually took notice of the hard work the guest brought to them by his second daughter and began to keep a close eye on her. Once six months had passed, he organized a group of assassins to test the child’s strength. He had heard that she was talented, but he never had the opportunity to witness it firsthand until that night.

All of the assassins he hired were around her level at the time, and she beat all of them with relative ease. The most surprising part was that she barely exposed any of her magic to pull it off. It was her display that night that got her to be crowned the Seventh Princess of the Yín Empire.

Specifics of her background and sudden appearance were kept hidden from the eye of the public. This was especially relevant to the fact that she was born in the Jin Empire and taken in by the Second Princess. At the time, anyone from the empire of gold was seen as an enemy and if it spread that they adopted one of their children, then it would have tarnished the Yín family’s legacy. The public only knew that she was found injured and did not come from royal or even noble lineage. She was the daughter of normal, middle class craftsmen.

Thanks to her new access to education, training, and other things, Xuělián advanced to level eighty in only two and a half years. With her advancements came more responsibilities as she took on the role of Soul Maiden and became tied to the Yín Elite Academy in the capital city. She no longer had any time to cultivate as much as she had in the past which made the already slow process of trying to break through in higher levels even slower.

The woman rose to her own power in the empire, gaining many supporters as well as many opposers as she made her marks. Many of those in the higher rankings of the empire despised her for her ability to deflect their actions that would help them rise to power and corrupt the government. Meanwhile, those with less fortunate backgrounds came to admire her as she did her best to protect them from such officials unlike the other women of the imperial family. She also garnered a lot of respect from the lower classes because of her background of similar standing to their own.

They knew that the female understood their suffering and actively did her part to help them. Even if her actions were slow and took some time to take effect, they did work and many were thankful for her influence.

“Húlí-jiějiě, are you okay?” the wolf boy questioned as his blue and gold eyes looked up at her. His hands were clutching onto the sleeve of her black haori as her hands were rested in her lap. “You haven’t said anything in a long time.”

“I’m alright,” she chuckled in return, reaching out to ruffle the boy’s hair. Her eyes then flicked over to her left to meet concerned blue irises. “I’m completely fine.”

~~~Fin. Chapter 13~~~