At the room downstairs, ZhenPing was finding it hard to be with ChunWah as she fussed over her, over every single thing like how she should not be sitting like that or helping her correcting her ribbon or hair. And talking to her like baby. Insufferable about her treatment she took the chance and slipped away when she told ChunWah that she was thirsty, and the young woman had gone out to get it for her as the teapot in the room was empty.

Now she was wandering around the inn and had gone around the inn and found two boys feeding chickens at the corner of the backyard, next to a woodshed. She got over and tapped one of the boy's shoulders but they both turned around to look at her, and she thought that she was seeing double because both of the boys looked exactly the same.

"Who are you?" asked both the boys.

"They seem younger than her," thought ZhenPing. "I am ZhenPing. I am eight years old. Who are you and what are you two doing?"

"I am Yu WenZhong (Loyalty) and he is Yu WenChen (Trust) and together we are Zhong Chen (Loyalty and Trust). We are five years old and we are just feeding the chickens," said both of them innocently.

"Can I feed them too?" asked ZhenPing. The boys grouped together and whispered to each other, "Yes but you must not scare the chickens because they are easily scared."

"Okay," said ZhenPing and she held her hand out ready to receive some feed from the boys as one of them held the sack while the other took something out from it and placed it upon ZhenPing's hands. There were worms, lots of worms, even though ZhenPing was a brave girl, but the sight of insect scared her, and she can't help but screamed.

This surprised the boys and the chickens too and they flew around the place leaving feathers all around.

Xiao Zhong being the big brother closed ZhenPing's mouth and Xiao Cheng quickly took the worms away. When they were finally gone that Xiao Zhong lifted away his hand from ZhenPing's mouth.

"Brother let's go. Big sister doesn't keep her promise. We shouldn't play with her," said Xiao Cheng.

"Yeah, let's go, before the adults come," said Xiao Zhong.

"Wait, do not leave. Please play with me," said ZhenPing who was lonely.

"No," they both said at the same time and leaving through the back door.

Feeling dejected, ZhenPing wanted to find her brother, but she remembered him saying to behave and stay in the inn, so she got back into the inn and seeing ChunWah's shadow, she quickly ran upstairs and along the corridor until she was in front of JinGe's room.

Suddenly, a door opened and JiuTian came out from the room. She had already changed back into normal clothes lent to her by JinGe. They exchanged glances. JiuTian did not how to react so does ZhenPing.

In ZhenPing's eyes, there was a beautiful girl reflected in her pupils and suddenly an idea got into the little girl's head, a wonderful plan that will drive away ChunWah from her big brother.

She started, "JieJie, I am lost could you take me to my big brother?" asked ZhenPing as sweetly and cutely as she could.

"Oh. You are lost," said JiuTian. Even though, she is JinGe's other half, she does not have all JinGe's memories, only titbits of it. The little girl in front of her was a stranger. She had no recollection.

"Then how about I take you back to your big brother," offered JiuTian.

ZhenPing nodded, her first part of the plan had already been successful as JiuTian offered her hand to ZhenPing and they walked away from the corridor, down the stairs, which ZhenPing was on the lookout for ChunWah, but she was nowhere to be seen, "Maybe she went to the back," thought ZhenPing.

The little girl quickly dragged JiuTian away from the reception area and towards the street," After crossing this street, she will be able to meet brother and just like how mother told me stories about how people fall in love at first sight, maybe big brother will too and then she will love this sister more than ChunWah."

"Meimei (little sister), where are you going?" asked JiuTian.

"Just right up this inn," said ZhenPing and she got into the inn and asked about her big brother's whereabouts. The kind old manager took them to ZhenYu's room, and they knocked at it but they seem to be no one in the room.

"What are we going to do now?" thought JiuTian, seeing that her brother has not returned yet.

She looked at ZhenPing and told her, "MeiMei, let's wait-"

Before she could finish, JiuTian was dragged away again into the streets.

"Wait, MeiMei, where are we going?" asked JiuTian as she walked along the streets and getting away from the inn area. "To the place where it is closest," replied ZhenPing. "Close to where?"

"The moon," said ZhenPing with a smile and they rushed off to the highest point in the area, the three-storey restaurant that was famous in the area. They arrived huffing and puffing in front of the restaurant. When she looked around, night had already arrived which made the restaurant even more spectacular with all its lights and lanterns hanging from its eaves on all three-storey.

And from below, ZhenPing caught sight of his brother and once more dragged JiuTian into the restaurant. They were attracting a lot of attention from the customer in the shop. A lone beautiful woman with a child. Surely not a wife since her hair was not in an updo like other married woman.

"Why is there a child with her? Is that her child?"

"Unmarried ladies are usually kept in their homes."

"What is she doing?"

"Without an attendant too."

"She is beautiful but her face. She looks like someone."

"Feels like I have seen her somewhere."

"Like the dead general's daughter."

"Shush, do not speak of it or you might disappear the next day."

People were whispering behind her back. However, ZhenPing being a child did not notice any of those stares and continued to look for her big brother.

While walking up the stairs, ZhenPing kept on complimenting her brother, "He is very caring. He would bring me flowers and he would take me strolling down forest and along rivers and sometimes we would go to the town, and he buys me a lot of cakes and my favorite Tanghulu (candied fruit)."

She went up to the third storey and finally found her big brother at a hidden corner of the open-air restaurant. There was a very worried expression on his face. He had sent all the guards and men to search for her. ZhenYu wanted to go as well, but his men told him to wait for their news.

Distracting himself, the man looked at the moon from the restaurant.

"Big Brother," called out ZhenPing to her brother and ZhenYu hearing a familiar sound calling out to him, turned around. His face beamed with happiness and relief.

"I thought to come here first and later to go and fetch both of you for dinner. Do you know how much I worried when the servants told me you were missing? Naughty girl where did you go? I was worried," said ZhenYu as he carried her in his arms.

"I was exploring the inn," said ZhenPing. "I never left it."

"But you are here now," said ZhenYu.

"But-"

"No, you cannot leave without someone accompanying you. This is not AnShun where everyone knows who you are. Next time bring someone along. Promise me," said ZhenYu at ZhenPing.

She was reluctant.

"Promise me," said ZhenYu sternly.

"Yes, I promise you Big Brother," said ZhenPing finally.

While they reunited, JiuTian was looking at ZhenYu.

Influenced by JinGe's memories, there was always images of him appearing in her dreams, and now, she has finally met the 'ZhenYu' in the flesh, not in dreams but physically in front of her which there was an unexplainable feeling in her, sadness, happiness, grateful, it was a mixture of these three feelings.

ZhenYu looked more mature. He had become more muscular now, and taller too than the one she met in her dreams. His eyes looked the same, the same way they slightly smiled at people.

And she cannot help but say 'thank you' from the bottom of her heart. Maybe it was her words or maybe it was JinGe's, but it does not matter because it came from them together, looking at this person.

"Put me down," she told him.

The little girl ran behind JiuTian and pushed her from behind as she said to her, "JieJie, don't be shy. Let me introduce you to my big brother." She was so close to him there was only two steps of distance between them.

ZhenYu looked at the strange girl. She was beautiful, wearing white clothes and a blue color sash. It was common and simple clothing, but it enhanced her beauty.

JiuTian curtsied in front of ZhenYu and said, "Please to meet you, Young Master Zhen."

ZhenYu returned her curtsied with a bow in respect and thanked her for bringing ZhenPing to him. "She must have caused you a lot of trouble," apologized ZhenYu as he held his little sister's hand.

"Oh no, it was actually very fun. I have an exciting walk," said JiuTian, looking over to ZhenPing as she beamed back with a big smile on her face. She was hoping that the magical 'love at first sight' was already happening between the two.

JiuTian continued looking at the darken sky outside and excused herself, "It's getting late, maybe I should get going." But ZhenPing was unwilling to let go of her or this chance and she pouted her mouth at ZhenYu.

ZhenYu knew what she was planning at but loving his sister a lot. He agreed to her wished and asked JiuTian, "Miss, would you like to have dinner?"

JiuTian turned around to face ZhenYu, "I-". JiuTian was thinking of a way to leave but ZhenYu insisted, "You did help me find and sent ZhenPing safely to me."

"But-"

"I will send you home later. It would be too dangerous for you to go alone when the sky is already dark," said ZhenYu again. His unwillingness to give up made JiuTian stayed and they had dinner with ZhenPing sitting between them while YongKang who came back also joined the dinner later after telling the other guards that the search was over, the little miss has been found.

"Go and fetch Miss ChunWah as well. Tell her to join us for dinner," ordered ZhenYu at YongKang but throughout the night, his fiancée was nowhere to be seen.

"Young master, I think Miss ChunWah will not be joining us. We couldn't find her at the inn. I have already asked the guards to tell the Miss that we are here," stated YongKang as the dishes of food was served.

"Raise your chopsticks, and eat then," said ZhenYu to the guest.

The night passed by quickly, but they had a wonderful time together.

Having drank too much, YongKang excused himself, "Master, I need to go the privy," and left them alone.

ZhenPing finally tired herself out and was dozing off at ZhenYu's side.

There was an awkward silence between them.

Suddenly, ZhenPing almost fall off her chair. They both caught her and looking at each other and giggled slightly. ZhenYu stood up and carried ZhenPing, taking off his robe and draped it over ZhenPing, afraid that she might catch a cold.

"He is very considerate," thought JiuTian. And then suddenly something made her sneezed, and ZhenYu apologized, "Sorry, I do not have another robe or cloak with me."

"It's fine, it's just a bit windy tonight," after saying those words, JiuTian sneezed again. ZhenYu poured a cup of warm wine with his free hand and handed it to her, "This will warm you up." She received the cup from him and took a sip and felt all warmer already.

"Miss, do I know you?" asked ZhenYu. "I do not mean to be rude, but you seem very familiar. Your actions, the way you talk. Different but somehow was very similar to someone I know. She was-." He could not finish his own sentence because the person that he thought was similar, he cannot remember it. Who was it again?

However, JiuTian after exchanging stories with JinGe in her room before, knew the whole situation and understood what he was trying to convey. The girl stood up and walked across to the ledge and slightly leaned against it, looking at the moon once and then turned around to face ZhenYu, "When you look at the moon, what do you want to see?"

The questions that had been asked by a lot of people, ZhenPing, ZhenAn, ChunWah, Old Man Kang, Ah Kang, Madam Wong and those close to him, this girl was asking him too. That question has always befuddled him because in the past five years, he had started to like to look at the moon. It had become a habit.

ZhenYu slightly shook his head and said, "I do not know either."

The girl smiled at him and her head slightly slanted upwards and looked at the moon, "You are longing for a person. I am like that as well. I tend to look at water surfaces because it reminded me of him before-"

She stopped for a while before continued as tears started to well up at the corner of her eyes, as she started reminiscing the past. "He went away," said JiuTian finally. She still held onto the belief that he hadn't die.

"I did not mean to bring up your unhappy memories, Miss-" ZhenYu stopped because he realized that even after the dinner, he had not known her name yet.

"You can call me JiuTian, no need to be so formal," told the girl to ZhenYu.

"Young Master," called out YongKang as he came back from the toilet, but he did not dare to go any closer when he saw how the ZhenYu was chatting happily with the girl.

It had been so long since he saw how he was happily chatting away with another person. They were big laughs and small giggles emitting from there and thus, YongKang sat at the side of the wall, waiting patiently.

However, while waiting he had dozed off, it was not until one hour later, that they decided to leave the restaurant and found YongKang sleeping at the side of the stairs.

ZhenYu carried ZhenPing on his back while JiuTian tapped slightly onto the man's shoulder, waking him up. "Mister, wake up," said JiuTian but YongKang would not even stirred and pushed away JiuTian's hands. "He must be really tired," said JiuTian to ZhenYu.

"We did have a long day," said ZhenYu.

"Me too, I just came to this city today," said JiuTian. "There was this very angry driver, who scolded us, the moment we arrived here."

"We?" asked ZhenYu.

"Yes, my friend and-" she stopped for a while. "My sister." JiuTian was not sure what you could really say about the relation between her and JinGe. They are the same person yet different in every way.

"Anyway, you could let me carry your little sister," said JiuTian, trying to get hold onto ZhenPing.

"No, she's too heavy for you," said ZhenYu politely refusing.

"I can handle her. It's better for me to carry your little sister than your friend here," said JiuTian as she looked over to the where YongKang was sleeping.

ZhenYu finally gave up and nodded. He placed ZhenPing on JiuTian's back. After checking that she was secured, ZhenYu got over to where YongKang was and carried him on his back. They both gotten down the stairs and walked away into the night.

While they were coming back to the inn, ChunWah was looking for them worriedly especially ZhenPing, "How could I lost Brother Yu's little sister. He will be really angry with me," thought ChunWah as she sat there at the reception area, tired and exhausted.

She had accompanied the other guards looking for ZhenPing but their group lost contact with the others and only came back to the inn just now, without receiving the news as the others guards have returned to their rooms for the night, forgetting to leave a note that the young miss was found and the dinner invitation.

"Miss ChunWah you better go back to the room and rest as well," persuaded her maid to the ChunWah but she refused, "No, I will keep looking." She cannot stay still while the thought of ZhenPing being alone outside, maybe kidnapped, was worrying her a lot.

Ignoring her maid's advice, she was ready to go out again. ChunWah took a lantern in her hand and rushed out from the inn as her maid followed to stop her. Outside the inn, she coincidently bumped into ZhenYu and JiuTian carrying YongKang and ZhenPing at the street in front of the inn.

JiuTian looked at the woman. She was wearing white and a light blue outer robe with beautiful ornaments hanging from her raven hair. Although her eyes were a little puffy and she looked a bit pale, but the young woman still looked stunning.

"Brother Yu, oh how glad I am to see you," said ChunWah rushing to ZhenYu's side. "I did not mean to lose your sister. I went to get some water, and she was gone the moment I came back. I do not know where she went. I am so useless." In between her sentences, she was hiccupping as well, and her tears were streaming out again.

"ChunWah, calm down," assured ZhenYu but ChunWah cannot seem to hear him and kept on talking and panicking.

"I told the guards, and they are helping me to look for her. Oh, where did she went? I am so worried," she told him while sobbing.

"ChunWah," said ZhenYu louder to get her to stop talking. It worked, as ChunWah stopped and then stared at him. "ChunWah, listen. ZhenPing is fine. See there," said ZhenYu directing her to look in the direction of JiuTian.

There on her back was a little figure. Little Miss ZhenPing was sleeping comfortably behind her back.

"How? When? Why?" asked ChunWah looking back at ZhenYu.

"This is Miss JiuTian. She found ZhenPing," said ZhenYu.

"Oh, thank you so much, Miss. I am so grateful," said ChunWah. JiuTian nodded and then said, "Mind if we talk later. She is getting heavier."

"Yes, let's go," said ChunWah. "I will show you to her room. Goodnight Brother Yu," greeted ChunWah, before turning away to head back to the Three Happiness Inn.

ZhenYu also replied to the ladies, "We will be leaving then. Good night," turning away and headed back to the Three Delight Inn.

JiuTian thought it was strange that they were going to the different inns but seeing that ZhenPing had dragged her from Three Happiness Inn to Three Delight Inn, where her brother was. Somehow JiuTian could guessed that ZhenPing does not like ChunWah while she carried the little girl back to her room.

After laying her on the bed, JiuTian excused herself, "I will take my leave," However, her words were ignored completely by the woman. It was her maid that thanked her again, wished her goodbye and sent her out of the room.

"How rude," thought JiuTian as she travelled up back to her own room on the second floor to check up on JinGe's condition.

However, when she opened the door when no one answered, she only found an empty bed and a letter. From the looks of it, it was not written by JinGe. The contents of the letter were from JianYu, the master to pupil which wrote:

Student, on the table there is a pill, take it. It will help with your recovery. From your master.

JiuTian looked at the table, and there was an empty box next the set of teacups. She opened it and saw that the box was empty, "JinGe, must have already taken it," thought JiuTian.

She closed it and placed the box on the table. "But where did she go? Although I believe that the pill is better than any pill in the human world, but she is still weak from all the blood loss. She should be resting and not go out. For god's sake, it's already past dark outside," said JiuTian as she peeked out from the inn's window. "She really is reckless and stupid," thought JiuTian.

Singing

JinGe walked along an alley with a bottle of wine in her hand, and with her other hand holding onto a lantern. Her body was still weak, her footsteps were heavy as she dragged herself along it but today was an important date, and she must come by herself to pay the respect she owed to that person.

She walked and walked until she reached an empty desolated temple, a place long forgotten where no one knew of its existence anymore as it is slowly forgotten by the people as time moves along its flow.

JinGe stepped into the place through the opened doors and walked slowly across its threshold and went to the back of the first building where she stepped through another door and saw the small temple with its pond at the side of the tiny building. The building seems so much smaller compared to the pond.

"Everything always seems larger when you are a child," thought JinGe as she looked at the scenery in front of her. How long has it been since they are there?

This was the place, she first met Bai LiQin, her savior.

Although everything had changed but somehow it seems to look even more beautiful than she remembered. "I am back," she said out loud at the empty space. The walls reflected her voice, and they seem to come back to her, "Welcome home," they seem to tell her as her own voice echoed.

JinGe walked slowly towards the pond at the side of the temple building. She looked at the water; it was a little muddy but still clear enough to see the dried leaves and twigs that had fallen into the pond. She crouched down and slightly tapped the surface of the water with her hand. A ripple appeared on the surface, and she remembered the pool of water, that LiQin and she had seen in the past and how she had complimented her blue eyes.

She released her power so her blue eyes would appear, "They do look beautiful," said JinGe out loud just like how she did when she was still a child at that time. JinGe looked at those eyes and tried to smile. "Everything but those eyes belong to herself. If it were not for LiQin she could not still be alive today," and unable to hold on to her tears anymore, droplets of tears began to stream down her face, one after another.

After all these years she was still unable to forgive herself for LiQin's death. JianYu and her grandmother had told her that it wasn't her fault, but she can't help feeling that it was partly due to her that she died.

JinGe walked along to the side of the pond and drank a gulp of the wine before pouring the rest into the pond. She could not make a tomb for her; neither could she mourn so she decided to sing. LiQin had taught her to sing when they were still children at that time. "How did it go again? Ah yes, it was-"

A pleasing melody started, spun by JinGe as her mouth shapes them into beautiful musical notes and her throat gives them movement, up and down they went, spinning around the desolated garden, across walls and until they reached another person's ears.

She hasn't noticed the individual who had climbed onto the stone wall behind her, listening to her song. Until the last note was sung, and the last drop of wine had finally fell into the pond and the man suddenly clapped behind her.

She did not turn around and controlled her power. The girl closed to cut off the power. When she opened it again, her eyes had turned back to its original color.

"Wonderful, but a little wasteful. Why waste a bottle of delicious wine?" said the person sitting on the wall.

His voice was familiar, too familiar to a point where the moment it entered her ears, it pierced into her heart like a knife. It belonged to the man she hated; it was YongSan's.

But she remained calm, it was their first meeting, he would not recognize her. She was not YuQiao but LiQin, a stranger which he had not met.

She turned around to face him. In that moment, she could see that he had grown more mature, his boyish features had long been driven away by the passage of time and were replaced with a manlier look; his skin was slightly tanned as well. But the strangest thing was not his appearance, it was the expression he had on his face. It seems to be of shocked rather than friendly as someone should have when meeting a stranger.

There was a moment of silence, where only the wind was speaking on their behalf, raising strands of her hair, as she looked at him and his hair as he returned her gaze.

YongSan jumped off from the wall and landed on his feet and wasted no time to join her at the pond. He grabbed hold of her hand and drew her into his arms before hugging her tightly.

"What is going on?" thought JinGe as she doesn't know how to react to the present situation in front of her. She knew that she would meet him one day, but not like this, not right now.

JinGe was very confused and slapped his hands off her as strongly at him as she could. "LiQin, it's me," said YongSan as JinGe walked back a few steps away from him.

"Who are you? I do not know you," said JinGe but YongSan did not believe her and grabbed onto her hand.

As the two of them struggled, YongSan fell into the water.

JinGe looked at him who was yelling for help in the water, it felt good seeing him helpless and unable to defend himself. The temple was desolated and there were not a lot of people would even pass by this place. She could just leave him there and he would drown to death without even anyone noticing.

"But no," thought JinGe. "The moment I meet him again, it will be the moment I will stab a knife into his heart."

She could forgive him, for his betrayal on her, but on the behalf of her family, she must kill him no matter what, to get her revenge. The memories of her family dying in front of her ignited the flames that were burning in her heart.

JinGe had countless time to kill him, to assassinate him but she waited because she could not find a better chance to get close enough, just like how she died, he wanted to kill him in that exact same way as well. No poison, no tricks but him and her alone and she with her father's dagger, stabbing him.

And thus, she jumped into the pond and saved him from drowning.

YongSan was unconscious so she tried to wake him up by slapping him strongly on the face, but he still was not waking up, so she beat at his chest and repeated this action until he woke up.

The man finally coughed up the water that was clogged up in his lungs. He opened his eyes and saw for a moment instead of LiQin, in a brief moment of haziness he saw the image of YuQiao and unconsciously he called out to her saying weakly, the name 'YuQiao'.

Once when they were a child, YongSan and YuQiao was playing at the riverside, she was more a tomboy, and she did not listen to her mother's advice and played too close to the river and caused YongSan to fell in when she played a trick on him. She who knew how to swim saved his life. And it just like now, she saved him again from drowning and the moment he woke up and saw her and he had thought that she was her and called out her name, 'YuQiao'.

"You got the wrong person," said JinGe while faking a smile at him. "Then I will be going then."

"No, I did not mean to call you that. LiQin sorry," said YongSan but JinGe had done all she had. It was the most she could do to a stranger. No, she would have treated a stranger better than him and she walked away but suddenly she heard YongSan, tried to conceal his groan.

She had noticed that his leg was hurt even without her wolf sight as her nose could smell the blood on his leg.

"Leave him be," thought JinGe but he continued to groan. JinGe who could not stand the sound of it anymore, turned back and then saw that he was hurt. She did not know how he got it, but the wound on his wound on his leg was bleeding. Annoyed, she torn a strand long of cloth from skirt and help him up and then she tore off the cloth around his wound.

The girl took her handkerchief out and placed it onto his wound, intentionally hurting him. "Ouch," said YongSan.

"Bear with it," said JinGe and while she held the handkerchief in place, she tied the strand of cloth around it to secure the wound. "You have to stop the bleeding first," said JinGe. "Or you will die from the blood loss. You already lost a lot in the water just now," as they both looked at the pond, where the lantern from JinGe's lantern shone on the water and the blood was still seen flowing in the water, colouring the water red.

YongSan stayed quietly while she wrapped his wound. When it was done, she got up and wanted to leave but YongSan grabbed onto her hand. "LiQin, I am grateful to you. You have saved me twice," said YongSan. "I do not know what I could do to repay you. My debt just kept on increasing."

JinGe felt repulsive at his touch and tried to shake it off, but he would not let go.

"Let me g-" before she could finish her sentence, he intercepted her and said instead, "Maybe you could help me get back home too? You see, right now. I can't even stand on my own. My home is closer. You need a change of clothes too, right?"

It was hard being with him any moment longer, but he can't leave him here. "Anyway, it's too cold to go back to the inn now. I really need that change of clothes," thought JinGe.

In the end, she helped him and hands on each other shoulder. They walked out from the temple.

What do you think about ZhenPing's little scheme? Adorable?

Do you like how YongSan and JinGe meet again?