"Any news?" Anya asked while taking Xin Qiye From Xu Qing who was, as usual, playing with her hair. (Authors note)

Xu Qing who was making funny faces at Xin Qiye suddenly faltered and her expression turned rather concerned.

"Nothing yet. It says he is out of reach. No one else has been able to get in contact with him either," she replied with a shake of her head. Her current dispirited visage was quite unlike her, which made Anya break out into a knowing smile.

She sat down beside her while cradling Xin Qiye who was trying to break free from her embrace.

"So you can look sad huh? Who knew!"

Xu Qing quickly realized what she meant and she lowered her head even more.

"I've known you for a year and this is I think the first time I've seen you so worried. It reminds me of when he and I had just started dating," she said referring to First.

"I would often sit by the door with that same face, waiting for him every few days."

Xu Qing looked up to meet her gaze. Even though she couldn't see with her eyes, the spiritual sense created such a clear image of her surroundings that she could still know what was happening around her.

Gestures like looking at someone when talking were unnecessary for someone like her that didn't actually use her eyes, but they felt much more natural, more human-like.

"Do you not get worried now?"

"Of course I do, even more than before," she said as a matter-of-factly. "But I have this little rascal to keep me busy all day, and I know in my heart that he will be fine," she said while pretending to bite Xin Qiye's hand, making him laugh out loud.

She suddenly had a realization and looked at Xu Qing with a look that said 'I have a great idea!'

"Why don't you guys have a few kids as well? Then you won't even have time to sit there worrying about him like this. They can play with Qiye'er and Ming'er!"

Xu Qing who was looking in her direction in all seriousness, waiting for a piece of expert advice or something along those lines, froze. A red hue slowly spread out from the base of her neck and reached all the way to her forehead.

"That's too far in the future!" she quickly looked away. "And I....don't know if he would even want someone like me," she murmured while playing with her dress.

"Oh my, if he could see you right now he would surely go crazy," Anya nudged her lightly, making her turn even redder.

****

Thousands of miles outside the Mei's territory, in a deep, deep hole somewhere inside a never-ending mountain range was a room filled with a few tired silhouettes.

There were deep holes inside the room and the remnant Qi from a fight that would not go away any time soon.

Ensis was leaning against the wall while using his sword to stay standing. The scorpion King who was always haughty and considered himself to above others was missing half of his tail and several pieces of his armor, looking like a begger.

Black and White were in a deep sleep in Hao Xuan's pockets, while Monk was holding his hand over his abdomen which had turned half black. A yellow light was coming out from his palm and falling on the abdomen below, slowly expelling whisps of foreign Qi. He was also bald right now.

Hao Xuan was sitting with his head between his hands, rubbing his temples as hard as he could.

Bo was the only one in not in pain or a worn-out state as he swam around the purple liquid with a blissful expression, jumping in and out like a dolphin.

"Hahaha, this is a great place master! Are we going to stay here?" he shouted while casually doing a backstroke through the river.

A vein popped on Hao Xuan's forehead as he barked, "Get the f*ck out of that thing! Do you have any idea how much it costs?!"

Just shouting that one line almost made him pass out. He quickly leaned back against the wall and took in a few deep breaths to calm himself down. The pounding headache was getting worse and he was starting to hear a high pitched noise whenever he tilted his head sideways.

Jin Wang limped over from outside and poked his head through the stone doorway first to check everything was fine before coming in.

"That sure took you a while eh?" he spoke while bitting down on a piece of jerky and offering Hao Xuan the rest.

"Thanks for all your help," Hao Xuan replied sarcastically while pushing away the jerky, the stench of which was making him nauseous.

"The f*ck did you want me to do? I'm an injured man already and you wanted me to fight a f*cking dragon? Get real c*nt!"

"You could have HELPED! The f*ck did I even bring you for?"

"Relax relax, you're gonna blow up if you don't calm down," he said while taking a seat next to him.

"At least you got him though, so it's all good."

"Barely. By the skin of my teeth. I had to use so many Qi poisons that I'm almost broke now," Hao Xuan retorted. "And this damn headache! I feel like I'm gonna pass out, throw up and explode at the same time."

Jin Wang frowned, "Does it hurt when you look at a source of light? Loud noises, strong smells, things like that pissing you off? What about the high-pitched whirring?"

Hao Xuan opened his eyes again and looked at Jin Wang in the eyes, "Yeah, almost all of those things. Why? What is it?"

Jin Wang looked hesitant to ask but did anyway, "Your ability, whatever it is, is it related to your soul somehow? Does it affect it in any way?"

Hao Xuan stared back at him with a raised eyebrow for a few seconds before looking away, "Yeah. Why?"

"You idiot. You should have told me that before you tried to capture a god damn dragon! You're lucky it went as well as it did, you would have gone crazy if it was any worse than this."

"The hell are you talking about?"

****

Authors notes:

Anya is First's wife and Xin Qiye is their son, 3 yrs old

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