Chapter 237 - 237 - Tracking

{"Spaces like that—they don't work when the initial holder of it is dead,"} Long Ki word echoed in Aotian's mind. He shook his head in disbelief. "I have to find Xia's mother…..I have to find her…" he swiftly jumped to another building's road.

Long Ki followed after him and held onto his shoulders. "Xiao Tian, wait and think. This is useless. He might have already….."

"Don't say it!!! He is not dead, I can feel it. He is still alive. We can find him if we find his mother!" Long Aotian shouted and shrugged his hand away. With his sword, he threw his brother away a few feet and ran frantically.

"Aotian!! Stop it!" Long Ki followed after him. His brother swiftly dashed away, jumping from roof to roof. 'What is this kid doing?' He hastened his steps and reached him. "Tian! Listen, we can't find him because he is Dead!" his brother's steps faltered for a second. Taking this chance, he tightly gripped onto his hands.

Aotian turned over with tears still streaming down his face. "NO!! He is not dead!! You liar. Let go of me. Even If you don't approve of our relationship you… you didn't have to lie so cruelly," he whispered hoarsely.

"Xiao Tian, I—I'm not lying. You know that in your heart. Don't hurt yourself further. 'sigh' let's go back to heaven realm." Long Ki gently hugged him again. His brother's body remained stiff and cold to touch. He patted his back soothingly and wiped his tears away. Aotian softly pushed him away. "Tian…"

"Why won't you believe me? He is alive. I know it. You don't have to help me. I will find him myself," Long Aotian whispered firmly. He pulled his hand out of Long Ki's hold and stepped back. "Don't stop me…or I'll hate you forever,"

Long Ki painfully closed his eyes. He nodded and walked closer. But before his brother could jump to another roof, he swiftly chopped the back his neck with his sword hilt. Aotian lost consciousness immediately.

He tossed him over his shoulders and glanced down at the ruined kingdom. The streets littered with corpses, houses aflame. "This was not meant to happen," he whispered softly.

Long Ki swiftly got to the dropped off Yukiya.

Seeing his arrival, Yukiya who was casually leaning against the shield swiftly got up and glared viciously. "You bastard, you finally know to how come back, huh? Do you know, that I was stuck here for almost a day! A day that I could have used to look for my son," she shouted, but then she noticed her lover's sad eyes. "W—what's wrong? Is your brother hurt?" she gestured to his shoulders.

He shook his head. He handed Long Aotian to the ghoul and closed his eyes in pain. Single tears rolled down his cheeks, but he swiftly wiped it away. "He just lost his mate," he whispered.

"What….what do you mean?" the ghoul stuttered.

"His mate is dead." Long Ki repeated. He slowly walked over to the stunned-looking Yukiya and deactivated the shield. The egg jubilantly ran into his arms but his lover stood frozen with her mouth agape. A small tear escaped her eyes and rolled down silently down her face.

Long Ki went over and brought her into his embrace. "It will be okay,…"

"What is his mate's name? Tell me…" she whispered, burrowing her head in his chest.

"Xia, his name his Xia,"

Yukiya froze in his arms. "how… how did he die?"

"We don't know yet but his space that was co-owned with my brother had been suddenly severed." Long Ki said slowly. He had yet o figure out why his wife was crying so sadly. He softly coaxed her. "Please, don't cry dear, I can't bear to see tears in your eyes," he whispered hugging her trembling shoulders.

Yukiya finally glanced up. "Did you find his body?"

"no…"

"Then how are you sure he is dead?" Yukiya whispered with her eyes narrowed. She pushed him away an arm distance and lowered her sleeve. The pink lotus imprint was till there, glaring at her with its vivid color. "He is not dead,"

"What do you mean?"

Yukiya took the little egg carefully from his hands and hugged him tight. "Xia is not dead, you bastard. He is still alive."

"But I know for sure, when the owner of the spirit space dies only then will the co-owner will be denied access to it….."

"Was Xia the original owner? I never gave him a space like that," Yukiya denied his claims. She swiftly ran out and pulled Long Aotian's collars. His face was slightly red and swollen. She pulled out a few needles from her bag and poked in his meridians. The dragon woke up startled. He pushed her sway and jumped up.

"I have to find Xia's mother," he said and glared at Long Ki.

Before he could dash, Yukiya stood in front of him with her hands outstretched.

"What are you doing? Get out if my way" he growled loudly with his fiery sword in hand.

"I have a few questions," she said, wiping her eyes clean. "This space you speak of, who is the original owner of it?"

"I don't have time for this," Aotian said and walked past her.

Yukiya pulled him back by his collar and glared. "Answer me! Was the space owner by Xia?"

Aotian paused. "I—I don't know,"

"Then he is alive," she glanced at Long Ki unblinking. "So don't say that he is dead. And you," she pointed to Aotian, "are you going to search for him?"

"Yes, to track him we need to find his mother…." Long Aotian once again glared at Long Ki. "If not for him, I would have already started for Nevada," he growled loudly and charged at Long Ki.

Yukiya pulled him back and threw him to the ground. "There is no need. I am here. You won't find anyone in Nevada," Yukiya said and pulled him close. "Now tell me, how are you going to track MY SON with MY HELP,"

"Your son?" Long Ki shouted from the side, but Yukiya ignored him. She peered into Aotian's eyes and whispered again, "tell me, how are you going to track him,"

Aotian's eyes went wide of a second, but he recovered fast. He gently pulled her hand away from his collar and stood straight. "With your lotus mark. My brother can track him using that,"

Hearing this, Yukiya frowned even more. She turned to towards Long Ki and pulled him down to her height. "Why didn't you track him beforehand using my mark? Did you deliberately hide this from me? Long Ki answer me,"

Long Ki frowned. "I did not intestinally hide it. It is possible to track your son with your mark, but it needs a lot of spiritual energy. With Aotian here it is possible now," he said softly. He tried holding her hand, but she flung him away and walked over to Aotian.

Yukiya held out her hand to them, showing the pink lotus mark. "Then what are you waiting for,"

Long Ki did not delay it further. He took her little hand and softly caressed the mark. His spiritual energy hovered over it. "Tian, introduce your energy slowly,"

Aotian nodded. He let his energy flow out like a stream onto her wrist. His spiritual energy slowly but surely combined with his brother's.

"Good, it's working," Long Ki whispered with a smile. With his free hand he drew a tracking enchantment right on her lotus mark. At fist the enchantment did not stick. It viscously moved away. "Tian, concentrate your energy. Don't get distracted" he growled loudly.

Long Aotian growled as well. He increased his energy output and placed it in her hand. Slowly, the enchantment that was moving around clung to the lotus mark. It grew spider-like legs and started prying at the mark.

"Is it working?" Yukiya whispered hopefully.

"It is. The tracking enchantment is lifting your enchantment." Long Ki said. His eyes were solely concentrated on the tracking enchantment. Its legs went about and grabbed the mark on her wrist firmly. It tugged at her skin slightly so long Ki stooped in fear. "Does it hurt?" he whispered throwing worried glanced at her.

"No, it's not, continue," Yukiya said firmly.

Slowly but surely, the new enchantment removed the lotus mark off of her wrist. After which it floated around, changing its body little by little. The lotus mark became its stomach and the other markings became eight legs. The little spider crawled over to Long Ki's hand obediently. It raised one of its spider feet and pointed to the west.

"Is it this way?" Long Aotian anxiously whispered.

The spider nodded. It jumped down and hurriedly scurried over many dead bodies.

Yukiya, Long Ki, Aotian and the ghoul followed after it. On the way they met Raijin and Felia, who were still searching around. They too joined their search party and followed behind the spider.

"Why are we following a spider?" Felia whispered softly to Raijin. He shook his head in reply. "Weren't we searching for Xia? Is it leading us to it? Why isn't anyone answering?" she threw multiple questions to the group.

"…."

"Come on guys, don't ignore me."