Chapter 101

"Truth!" exclaimed Xiao Feng.

"They're right, sir! Doing this can be very dangerous!" spoke Zeng Uo.

"I don't think this is the best option to resolve this issue." said Chen Fang.

Seeing that all four rose from their chairs as well as increased the volumes of their voices. The old man sighed, and questioned them "Could it be dangerous? True, I agree with that. Because it's not even guaranteed that we'll make it back from there alive, and then worry about whether the beasts would invade or not. But by any chance, do any of you have any other ideas, what we could do?"

He got up, and walked slowly to the other side of the table, as he passed behind the leaders who were on his right. "All the people in the city are scared. Do you by any chance know anything we could say to them, to calm them down? No, isn't it? After all, look at yourselves. Most of you say you're just worried about the city. But we all know that in reality they are just afraid of not being able to sustain their own lives if we go into that forest."

As he placed one of his hands on the table, the old man looked at each of the leaders present there, said "However, because this is really an idea, somewhat risky, I will give it to you until the day after tomorrow. So that they gather the best they have, and try to think of some way to calm the people down, so we don't have to go in there. But in case you can't think of anything, know that in three days, we'll go to that place. So then, we find out what happened that day."

As he turned around, and walked towards the door, the old man smiled, and said, "Oh, and you better not call so many people like that. After all, the dispute is about to happen. And I don't think it would be any good, for their families. If several of its best members disappeared into that forest."

After the old man left the room, and closed the door. Chen Fang, slapped the table with the heel of his hand while saying "That bastard! He knows damn well that we're going to have to send only the best of each family to that damned forest. If not people all over town would say that we'd rather win this bloody dispute than keep them safe."

"And that's not even the worst. Because in case we lost all our members in that place, who would we put to participate in the dispute? We would only take the worst, and we would obviously lose because of it. And in the same way, people would start talking about us…" said Zeng Uo.

Tired of listening to those people, Arthur turned around as he sighed and thought, 'Dispute? You're too preoccupied with something, that you don't even know if you're really going to be able to participate… But… Is she already awake?

Watching Arthur walk away, Chen Fang smiled and said, "Good thing some of us don't have to worry about that. Even because they would lose anyway, right?"

And while smiling, the other two agreed "Ha! There is! There is! There is! Really! There is! There is! There is!…"

Arthur smiled 'Idiots…'

*********

By pushing aside, and opening the doors to a room, where he had a white pillow that Sophia was sitting on, right next to a low table. Arthur looked around, and realized that everything there was the same as when he was there for the first time. Just the table, the pillow, and some red curtains that covered the windows behind Sophia.

"Come on, we're going home."

"Serious?" she stood up "But what did you decide at the meeting?"

"This isn't something you should be worried about, is it?"

"No but…"

"Come on. I want to go home, and see your mom, ASAP."

Upon hearing her father's words, Sophia sad. She lowered her head, and muttered "...But she hasn't..."

"Huh? Did you say something?"

Walking past him, she turned and smiled, "No. It was nothing."

As he slowly closed the door, Arthur thought, 'I really hope you've recovered these last few days…'

And going down the hallway, which was just a long red carpet that went to the door on the other side. And some thin columns, which served as support for the tiles, that followed until the end of the small balcony that there was in that place.

Head down, Sophia looked at the beautiful white flowers beyond the porch. And when she closed her eyes for a moment, she sighed. As she walked on, towards the door.

**************

And as he walked through the door, and looked at the smiles of those three, Noah found himself thinking '…Are we really alike?' ?"

"No, but I was about to do that..."

"Huh? Is it over there? Who she?" asked the little girl.

"It's really you." replied Noah.

"Huh? Me? But what is it, brother?"

Xiao Yun knelt down in front of her sister, and smiling said "Close your eyes…" She didn't understand why that was, but she still did what they asked him "Now you can open them again."

"Brother, so you…" when you open your eyes, and see that pill in Xiao Yun's palm. Yang Se, she was almost hypnotized by the glow, that the pill conveyed "… How beautiful…"

Xiao Yun closed his hand "So, did you like it? The girl nodded "Here, now she's yours." he handed the pill into her hands.

After taking the pill, confused Yang wondered "Mine? But what am I supposed to do with her?"

"You must eat it." Ting answered her.

"Eat?" she looked at her brother "But…" and seeing him smiling and waving, she closed her eyes, and even reluctantly, the little girl put the pill in her mouth. And she swallowed it.