156 Chapter 156: You'sre here

The foxes encircled Wei Yi Yi tightly. When she tried to climb up, one of them snarled at her. They aggressively stepped closer much to her discomfort.

"Oi! Oi! Oi! Guys! A hand please!" Wei Yi Yi cried out.

I'm just a fragile, glass-like, small pitiful girl! Spare me!

In their eyes, Wei Yi Yi is a prey within their gasps.

"Empress!"

Tang Mei almost jumped down but Jiang Liu stopped her. Flustered, the twins snatched the bow from Tang Mei and prepares to shoot.

Only that... they weren't fast enough...

With her back flat on the trunk of the tree, there's nowhere else to go for Wei Yi Yi. She shut her eyes closed and the last thing she saw is a fox lunging towards her.

'It's alright! This is an accident! If I die, my 'brothers' cannot scold me for giving up living!'

She then cussed endlessly in her head.

Continues growls echoed inside the forest but a second pass, then another, however, the pain didn't come her way.

Slowly opening her eyes, what greeted her is a broad and proud back that belongs to a man.

With a straight back and a good gripping posture, he shoots down all foxes that are brave enough to step an ounce closer.

A supporting arrow came raining as well but Wei Yi Yi did not notice as she stares unblinking towards the man.

"... He Lian," Wei Yi Yi called out and grabbed the back of his clothes.

Instead of his usual smart casual clothes that must always have a collar, the guy in front of her is donning a clean scholarly robe with wide sleeves.

Light in color and soft to the touch, it's something that someone should never wear in the wild but He Lian always did.

His clean and well-groomed hair in Wei Yi Yi's memories were replaced with long silky hair that reached to his buttocks. Despite this, his clean looks didn't change. It's still a face and bearing that Wei Yi Yi could never mistaken.

"You're here!" Wei Yi Yi angrily declared.

Bai Huo and Bai Shui took advantage of the opening given by their new companion and started shooting as well. Once they started their support, the third person shooting the arrows concealed himself back in the shadows of the trees.

At first, the foxes snarled angrily after being retaliated against by their preys. But as more and more of their comrade gets injured, they started backing away.

As their final warning, a strong arrow shoots at the middle of their ranks and penetrates deep into the ground. The one nearest yelp instinctively which scared the whole pack.

Knowing that it's no longer a prey served in a silver platter, the foxes scattered away.

The man Wei Yi Yi called He Lian put down his bow.

"Empress---"

Wei Yi Yi's grip on his robes tightened. She interrupted, "You're here."

Confusion surface on the man's calm face. "Yes? This subject is here indeed..?"

"You're here and yet you didn't come to see me. You're here but you left me alone. Slow! So slow! Were you planning to leave me to die?!" The empress tone is fuming and full of wrath. When she raised her face, she appears to suffer a great grievance.

"I came right away---"

Explaining to a mad Wei Yi Yi is known to be impossible. The Empress shook him silly. "I thought we're brothers! Liar! You liar, where were you!"

"Yi Yi, calm down," he pacifies with patience only known to Wei Yi Yi.

Biting her lips, Wei Yi Yi started hitting.

For anger, to familiarization, then longing. She cannot help but burst out crying.

Everyone was startled and forgot to climb down.

Wei Yi Yi immediately felt embarrassed with people witnessing how ugly she's brawling out her eyes. Unable to stop herself, she cried even more with a red face.

"Were you scared?"

She heard him asking but instead of answering, Wei Yi Yi pulled him closer and hide on his chest as she proceeds to cry even more.

Wei Yi Yi felt him stiffening when she started sniffing.

You clean freak! You deserve that! Go drown on my tears and mucus!

When you suddenly woke up to a place you're unfamiliar with; realizing you lost everything and not knowing if death could give it back; how do you expect someone to keep on living?

Everything turned into bubbles and disappear yet people are expected to move forward. Even if it means dragging your feet painfully to the concrete floor.

And I did.

You see brother, Yi Yi did her best. I lived well. Think only for myself. I persist and didn't break down.

In the palace where everyone awaits for your fall, Wei Yi Yi pretended not to hear the murmurs that wish for her death. When everyone looks at her with hidden motives and see her thru filtered view, Wei Yi Yi told herself not to care and acted like she didn't see.

As you guys said, I should be the last one to give up on myself. It would be sad otherwise, right?

That selfishness is an act of love as well.

Suddenly, she felt a familiar hand patting her back. A voice she's well used to whisper, "Our Yi Yi still have things she's scared of."

The sadness and anger of being abandoned spread to her chest. There's a lot she wanted to complain about. A lot of sorrow she wanted to blame into someone. When the recurring dreams, which acted as her last hold to her past, disappeared as well-- no one knows how scary that was for her.

Yet at this moment, none of those matters anymore. She chose to cry like a child and pour out her tears.