"Aunt Xuequi! We are so sorry!"Mou Yidan was the twin that began begging his cousin, before his younger twin Mou Zimu followed suit to ask for forgiveness. Yan Xuequi due to the wide gap age-wise between her Aunt"s children, she made them call her niece Aunt rather than the cousin she was to them. The twins were held in a tight hug by their cousins for quite some time before they were let go to remain by her side.
"Are you and Ma angry with us?! Does she still want us back?!"
Yan Xuequi looked at the teary eyes of her cousins and patted each one in the head to say, "Yidan, Zimu. Your mother is very sad because she thinks that she may not find you. When you both get home, I want you to prostrate and tell her that you would never do that again, is that clear?!"
"Yes Aunt Xuequi! We"ll beg Ma!"
"Zimu, you haven"t said a word."
The fox princess looked at the younger twin, whose eyes were downcast and very sad with tears in them.
"I don"t want Ma to abandon me. I didn"t mean to run away."
"If that is what you feel in your heart, then why don"t we all go home and beg your mother. Aunt Hairong may give you and Yidan a beating or two, but as you both know how she is, she"s so quick to forgive. Make sure you give her a hug when you get back, okay?!"
"Yes Aunt Xuequi!"
They both chorused their agreement with following the advise of their cousin to plead with their mother.
It was after this that the fox princess turned to the person that found them, Lin Cheng who watched from afar the emotional reunion.
Holding each twin in one hand, Yan Xuewui walked to where the disciple cultivator stood with a smile on his face.
"Thank you for finding them for me, Lin Cheng of the BaoXu sect. I will forever be grateful."
The fox princess gave a deep bow to Lin Cheng, who was taken aback by her show of grat.i.tude which looked to him to be beyond what a being of her standing who likely do to another that was of a lesser standing, since he was only a disciple from a cultivation sect, while she was a princess of a clan, because a mere simple bow would have sufficed.
"You don"t need to thank me Princess Yan Xuequi. It is within my duty as a disciple to do good and help those in need, I"m happy they were not in any harms way. It"s already getting late, I"ll see you off."
Lin Cheng gave a salute to the fox princess, as three pair of eyes stared back at him in response.
Together the three made it out of the forest, heading into the town and straight for the home of the Mou family. Mou Yaxin the husband of Mou Hairong was an orphan, which meant that the only family the twins had was their parents and those from the fox clan, since they hated visiting the fox clan, they were stuck with just their cousin and parents as their closest family.
"Have you been out long searching for them?"
Lin Cheng looked at the serene face of the fox princess, as he waited on her reply.
"I"ve been searching for them for about an hour, I almost thought they had drown by the river nearby."
The thought that her cousins may have drown, caused a chill to pa.s.s through her body, Lin Cheng noticed the way she shook and went ahead to take off his cloak and drape it across her shoulders.
It was then that they all finally got to see what he wore underneath the cloak he always had on his body. It was the purple robes of the BaoXu sect with an embroidery of the insignia of his sect on them. When he first left his sect on the journey to the mortal realm, Lin Cheng had taken off his forehead ribbon and worn a cloak to hide the ident.i.ty of his sect from others, not wanting to call attention to himself to whomever he might meet on the way, while on the journey for some soul searching and enlightenment.
"It"s really true that you are from a sect!"
"You thought I was lying when I told you that I was?"
The fox princess hadn"t really believed that Lin Cheng was from any of the cultivation sect that he claimed to be, because of all the past warning of how deceptive cultivators were and could not be trusted at all.
"What did you think I was?"
"I don"t know maybe a rogue cultivator because of your sword skill?"
"Huh?!"
Lin Cheng felt unsettled by the way the fox princess saw him, he wondered what the cultivation world could have done to the fox clan for them to despise them to that extent.
"Had some people been going about claiming that they were from a sect to curry favor from the fox clan? Or did the fox clan and the pugilistic world have a fall out?"
He kept thinking those things in his mind, with no answers on sight. One thing that Lin Cheng gained which he wasn"t aware of, was the deep respect that the older twin suddenly had for him, because it was his first time meeting someone that put him in his place without exercising the raw strength that the child could sense coming from him. Of course, Mou Yidan wasn"t going to let his eyes look with admiration at Lin Cheng, it was a secret he was going to guard with his life.
By the time they had walked to the heart of the town, the market was already closing for the day, the four of them walked through the several stall and not too long after they finally got to the humble home of the Mou family, but outside stood villagers bearing torches in their hands and sticks, some had hoes and cutla.s.ses and several farming tools.
"Catch them! Don"t let the demons escape! They also have a man with them!"
The twins hid behind the robes of their cousin, suddenly terrified of the angry crowd. One thing about them was that they could cause trouble and mischief, but they couldn"t handle the aftermath of their deeds.
"Aunt Xuequi?"
It was Mou Yidan calling his Aunt to save them from the furious mobs standing in front of their gate. They probably couldn"t get inside, which was why they stood outside, in a vigil until either someone comes in or goes out of the house.
"It"s alright, let me handle it."
Although it was forbidden to use their powers as cultivators in the mortal realm, this was to prevent disarray in the mortal realm and ensure that the universe would always remain in a state of balance. Lin Cheng knew that there was no way he could uphold the teachings of his sect when others were in trouble, which was why he was willing to break the rules to protect the ones with him.
"How can you them them on?! There are many of them and it"s only one of you!"
"Princess Yan Xuequi, let me protect you and the children, it is my duty to look at for those that are ill-treated by others."
"But...Wait!"
Lin Cheng was already walking towards the mobs, all of a sudden he had to switch to using the flash step technique by concentrating his spiritual energy on his feet and using his arms in a sweeping motion to erase the memories of the towns people.
The twins saw what he did, they could barely make out his figure from the way his body moved through the mobs, avoiding the weapons and fire from their torches. There was no hiding the look of wonder in the eyes of the twins, they were completely dazzled by Lin Cheng"s show of chivalry.
Soon after, the towns people began leaving in a daze, forgetting what they came to do at the home of the Mou family.
"Mister! What is your name?!"
"Yes! Can we know your name?!"
Both Mou Yidan and Mou Zimu asked that Lin Cheng tell them his name, they wanted to know who he really was, because of his fighting style.
"I"m Lin Cheng from the BaoXu sect."
Lin Cheng smiled warmly at the boys whose eyes was sparkling with admiration for him.
"Can you teach us what you did over there?"
"I"m sorry, but it is a secret technique that only those from a particular cultivation sect can practice, that is you have to be a disciple of that sect to be able to perform that technique and it all depends on the level of your spiritual energy."
"Mister, when you say spiritual energy, what is it?"
"Yidan, it means the power that you use to fight, just like how you were able to produce the flames that is covering your body. It is only possible due to spirit energy, it is something that you are born with or may get artificially by eating magical pills."
"Mister Lin Cheng."
"Yes Mou Zimu?"
Although the twins looked too identical, making it difficult to tell one from the other, but their facial expression and cadence of voice was a bit different from each other, only those that have been around them for a long time or are very attentive to details would be able to tell them apart, which was how Lin Cheng knew who was Yidan and who was Zimu from the way each spoke and acted.
"Could you explain what a sect is?"
"A sect is made up of a group of people, some of them could be family members while the rest can be people that don"t share the same blood, together they learn out to fight and are taught the teachings on how to gain immortality and walk the path of goodness, protecting the defenseless and developing various skills along the way."
"Can I join?"
"That would depend on your background Mou Zimu, because your situation is a little unique since you come from a clan that is not involved with the cultivation sect. It depends, some sect would take you in, while others wouldn"t because you may be seen as a threat due to your unique abilities that comes from being born into the fox clan."
"Okay, thanks Mister Lin Cheng."
"Are you thinking of joining a sect?! Don"t even think of it! Your mother and grandfather would lock you up at the fox fortress never to see daylight again! Please take that thought away from your mind!"
The fox princess spoke with pa.s.sion to the youngest of the twin, she knew that the mere mention of the cultivation world would send both her grandfather and Aunt to hysteria, if any of the twins brings up the idea of entering a sect to either of them, Yan Xuequi could already see the havoc that such a suggestion would cause to both the Mou family and the fox clan. Lin Cheng smiled faintly when he saw the way the fox princess reacted to her cousin"s question, if either of them ended up entering into a sect, then they would be the first in the history of the pugilistic world to be a disciple cultivator with the royal bloodline of fox clan.
"Alright! Let"s see if your parents are at home."
Lin Cheng lifted both boys in his arms and took to the air, landing inside the compound of the Mou family house, followed shortly after by Yan Xuequi. They saw the couple holding each other in fear, which soon dissipated to one of open relief on seeing who came into their home.
"Yidan! Zimu!"
"Ma! Pa!"
The twins ran straight into the arms of their parents, who wept with joy on their safe return home. Meanwhile, Lin Cheng and Yan Xuequi silently gazed at each as they entered into a world of their own.