Chapter 199 - 199 - Not Dead!

Xia stepped closer to the masked man. He gazed up at him with a shocked expression. 'He is my father? Huh?' he thought, trying to find any similarities.

Since most of his face was hidden by the mask, he was not able to make out any features other than his lips. They were thin and slightly arched up all the time. Xia could not believe this fairy like man would be a demonic cultivator.

Hesitantly, he held his hands out to touch his face.

All of a sudden, the demon started sniffing. He peered suspiciously at the spot Xia was standing.

Xia held his breath. 'C—can he see me?' he waved his hands in front of his eyes, but the demon did not have any expression. 'I don't think he can, but he can definitely sense me,' he thought, peering up at the man's green eyes.

"What are you doing? Let's search for my master fast," the handsome man said, snapping the masked man's thoughts. He went over to his companion, all the while glancing back at the spot Xia was standing.

Xia let out the breath he had been holding. 'He really might be my father,' he thought with a sad expression. He did not expect that their long awaited meeting to be after his death. Glancing down at his translucent hands, he sighed. All the emotions he had been bottling up flowed out. Sobs after sobs racked out his body, as he watched his father walk into the distance.

'Why....why did I die before I could meet him? I wanted to punch him and say I hate him? Now it's impossible,' he thought slowly squatting down.

Even though he said that he had hated his father, he could not help but miss him. All his life he had been waiting to meet him, now he did, but his father could not even sense him.

'But...at least I have met him before.' He thought, wiping his transparent tears. He had already encountered his father many times. When he was about to fall off the cliff, his father had helped him up. Even in Suikal, he—he was always close by, watching him from his shadows. 'how long....how long has he been secretly following me?'

There are some questions that he could not find answers to. With blurry eyes, he watched the two and sighed.

All of a sudden his eyesight went white again.

Glancing at his disappearing hands, he whispered, "I think I'm going to my after life," he whispered sadly.

He closed his eyes, accepting whatever fate that waited for him.

"XIA! WAKE UP!!" someone shouted.

'Ah, its Aotian's voice. Why am I hearing it in my afterlife?' he thought, shaking his head slowly.

"Xia baby!! Please wake up!!" Aotian softly begged him. His voice horse and scratchy as he whispered begging words into his ears.

Xia could not help tear up. 'My Aotian, don't cry. Don't cry baby, I will find you in my next life okay,' he whispered in his mind.

But his lovely dragon hugged him tightly and shook his body. "Xia, wake up!"

A small smacking sound was heard in the middle.

"yaa, why are you shaking my master so much. You might scramble his brain," Bao's voice said nonchalantly.

Xia nodded. 'Even Bao is here to send me off to afterlife,' he thought as tears formed in the corner of his eyes.

"Stupid dragon, get up. Master is just sleeping. Why are you creating such a scene?" Bao said and pulled the weight off of Xia's chest.

'Eh, wait...am not dead?' Xia thought slowly blinking awake. Through hazy eyes he saw his dragon silently glaring at the demon fox and Bao smirking willfully at him. 'Really? I'm not dead?"

Bao noticed his blinking eyes and tapped the dragon's forehead. "See, master is wake." He pointed to the dazed-looking Xia.

Long glanced back and was stunned. He jumped right on top of him and hugged him tight. "Xia, you are awake at last. Why didn't you wake up when I called you?" he whispered softly.

Xia nuzzled his head close and breathed in his fiery scent. "I—I thought I died," he whispered.

Long glanced deep into his eyes with a frown. "I thought so too,"

"But you were just sleeping," Bao added from the side. He sat down at the corner of the bed and whispered, "Master, what did you eat? This dragon kept mentioning some poison pearl. I checked your blood there is no poison in your system....."

Xia watched him with his eyes wide open. "I did eat a pearl. But....but I think it's not a pearl, actually. It's a tear drop," he mumbled.

This caught the demon's interest. He leaned closer cautiously. "What tear drop? Whose was it? Where did you find it?"

Xia glanced at him, then at his worried lover. "It's my mother's tear. I—I saw her. She was in the realm of void." He said anxiously. He pulled away the duvet and tried to get out of bed, but his dragon held him down.

"You are not fully recovered. Lie down," long whispered, frowning.

"But I'm not sick..."

Long pouted and shook his head. He hugged him tightly and nuzzled against his neck. "You....you did not move for so long. I really thought you were poisoned." He whispered slowly.

Xia too was distressed. He cupped his lover's face and kissed his slightly red forehead. "Oh, your forehead is red,"

"He smacked me," Long pointed a accusing finger at the demons sitting on the side of the bed.

"Don't be a child. You were crying and shaking my master so much. I had to bring you to your senses," Bao humped. He then slowly held his master's wrist. "Your pulse is normal. Master.....don't eat anything random like that. You might not know this, but sometimes our intense emotions can form into pearls like that."

"That pearl you ate; it might be an intense emotion of your mother. It is quite similar to the red ruby you found in that box,"

"The blood ruby?" Xia questioned carelessly. "Isn't it just Hong Lian's blood?"

Without any answer, Bao stood up. He walked up to the window and glanced out at nostalgically. "It was a ruby formed by my master's intense love for that fool. And.....it was no ordinary blood; it was my master's hart blood,"

Xia was completely stunned. This is the first time he is hearing about a phenomenon like this.

Even without him questioning him further, Bao continued, "master, sometime when we beasts have such intense emotions they manifest in an object. Most of the time they are harmless. But objects formed by intense rage and regret can really hurt your body."

Sighing softly, he glanced at his master, "so please don't put anything in your mouth. And you," he pointed to Long, "take good care of my master. If something like this happens again, I will smack your butt bloody,"

Aotian shot up and glared at him. "I know, I will definitely protect my lover."

"you better," Bao said. He bowed deeply to his master and stepped out the room.

Xia watched this and sighed even deeply. He pulled long back to bed and hugged him close. "Aotian....I saw my mother. She—she was searching for me in that void realm,"

"That's great news. It means she is very close by. She might even come to this world," Long cheerfully whispered.

Xia shook his head. "She....she went back. She went back to our realm,"

"oh," Long softly patted his back to bring comfort to his lover.

Xia softly sighed.

Sensing Xia's sad sigh, Long hugged him tightly. "What else...." he urged him to continue.

After a moment of silence, Xia whispered, "I met my father,"

"What!!!" Long sat up again. "That's great news as well...who is he? How did he look? Did he look like you or ....."

Xia pouted at him. "I could not see his full face," he sighed.

This dampened the dragon's excitement. He plopped back on the fluffy pillow and held his lover to his chest. "How did you meet him?" he whispered in disbelief.

Xia glanced up at him and kissed his chin. "You won't believe it. That pearl, I think it showed a memory that was contained in it. My father was in it too. He was with my mother in that void realm. It looked like he too was searching for me as well." He said with a small smile.

Long silently listened to him.

"Aotian, you have met him too." Xai whispered excitedly.

"Really? Who is it?" Long whispered curiously.

"Guess," Xia playfully punched his chest.

"Oh, come on, you have to give me a hint," Long whined and gripped onto his clenched fists. He brought it over to his mouth and kissed each of his knuckles.

Xia blushed red. "My father....he was wearing green when we met him. Um, what else, oh right. You have met him only once but I've met him twice,"

Long scratched his head and ran through his memory. He could not find anyone memorable in his memory. He sighed and shook his head finally.

Sensing his defeat, Xia smirked.. "He was the masked man we met in Suikal," he whispered.