Chapter 44 - Xinyi & Ming

"That is the former Sorceress' gift to her lover before she left this world," Nianshi finished Lifen's sentence.

"What do you mean?" Ming asked.

But Xinyi butted in. "Nianshi, can you tell me all about the former Sorceress?" Xinyi voiced out what was in her mind since young.

However, Nianshi's face became solemn. "I'm sorry, my Lady, but the former Sorceress sealed a part of me to keep me from telling you about her."

"What? Why did she seal it? What's wrong with telling me about her? I only want to know who and what kind of person she was."

"If it's only about who she was, I can tell you but if it's about her power and exploits, these things will only unfold when the right time comes because she didn't want you to compare yourself to her for it could affect your self-confidence. This is what she left in my memories in case you'll ask."

"Why?" Xinyi said with sadness in her heart.

"Please, don't be too concerned. She only wished for you to practice your powers at your own pace while I'm here with the items she left for you to guide you. So you will discover your powers all by yourself and maybe become a better Sorceress than her."

"Fair, I understand what she means or maybe she already knew my weakness to do that. I admit I always have the tendency to react and compare myself to others. Then I feel down if I can't meet people's expectations."

Ming felt bad knowing this. 'No wonder she reacted badly when I mentioned about the etiquette class.'

Nianshi guessed the former Sorceress could have seen her successor's reaction if she knew how great and dubious was her powers and explorations since they almost have the same attitude and behavior.

"Oh, dear. Why do you think like that?" said Lifen as she hugged Xinyi.

"Ma, I don't know. I just felt I'm… I'm not sure why I'm like this...," she stammered and closed her mouth, lowering her head on Lifen's shoulders as the last sentence she thought of saying played in her mind. 'Because I'm afraid people will fear me and my powers. And I'm not sure if I'm good enough for people to love me. I'm also afraid to lose the important people in my life again.'

Xinyi knew she leaves or runs away if people ignore her with the belief that she was not good enough. Also, she thought this was the best way for her not to get hurt than trying to meet the people's expectations.

They didn't push her from saying more. To keep her from going deeper with her emotions, Nianshi opened up the facts they wanted to know. "Since you want to know what kind of person was the former Sorceress and that pendant, let's eat first and I'll share them to you after dinner."

Indeed, after a feast of fish and vegetables cooked by Nianshi and fruits prepared by Xionmao and animals, Nianshi started.

"Actually, your predecessor's name was also named Xinyi."

The namesake covered her mouth with her eyes dilating after hearing this.

"And she was betrothed by her parents to her lover Lei Ming. I think he's your great grandfather, Governor, and the real owner of that pendant. But they never got married due to circ.u.mstances."

Now, it was everyone's turn to get surprised but Ming and Lifen were the main persons who had a hard time swallowing this information.

"Wow! It's true I have the same name with my great grandfather but the Sorceress was the same with my wife too. How coincidental? So this was really from his lover, no wonder he wore it with him the whole time and call it his lucky charm, but... how it got cut into two?" asked Ming looking at his lucky stone, while Xinyi touched her pendant while staring at Ming's half in his palm.

"I don't know what really happened why it became two but a disciple was supposed to give it to your great grandfather when the former Sorceress departed this world as a token of their love and as a thing to remind him of her and to help bring balance to this world after the Cleansing Fire Organization brainwashed the minds of the former human rulers."

The three humans were in deep thoughts, mostly the couple when they heard their names coincided with their predecessors and they were arranged in marriage as well but never married while the current them got married but no love.

"So the real owner was the Sorceress and she asked a disciple to give it to my great grandfather. So the whispers I heard was from the Sorceress for my great grandfather and not for me?" said Ming.

"So, you're hearing whispers from the stone?"

"Yes, every time it glowed. And that is usually when my wife is emotional," he said, pointing his eyes at Xinyi. He said it as a statement and as an information to the hearers, most of all to Xinyi. The wife glanced at him, stunned speechless, for this was the first she heard of it. Then she bit a finger as she realized what he said was true about the timing of the glowing.

"That's news to me, Governor. I have no answer for that since I left her side and sent back to sleep after she decided to offer her life's essence to bring back the partly chaotic magic powers and to bring balance to this world," replied Nianshi.

"She gave her life essence? Then was the balance restored after her sacrifice?" asked Xinyi.

"I'm sorry but I also don't know the answer. As you know, I just woke up from hibernation. I don't know anything more about what happened to this world during my sleep."

This was news to Ming but his interest was on the whispers. Then Lifen's mind aligned with him and asked, "What were the whispers said, Ming?"

"I can't remember everything but based on what I remember it once said 'I love you, Ming 'er' and the latest one was 'Ming, save us'. There was one more but I forgot." Then he looked at Nianshi. "Sir, do you have a way we can hear the whisper without triggering my wife's emotions?"

Hearing it shamed Xinyi but sighed in admittance for her lack of control with her emotions. But no one noticed her sighing because everybody's attention was on Nianshi. The latter blew hot air, unsure what to do. He was in doubt if he had to divulge the principal factor of the stone... but decided nevertheless. "Actually, this stone is also the key to the former Sorceress' time portal which could lead the way to her tomb."

"Do you mean she told her disciples to give it to her love for him to follow her to death?" asked Lifen.

"I don't know. One way to find the answers to your questions is to find a way to attach the two back together. And maybe we can hear the whole message in there if there's one and would lead you to enter the time portal then to her tomb."

"But in what way they could be fused together?" asked Ming, thinking it could be that easy like asking a jeweler.

"That, I don't know because that is made from the stone taken from the deepest mines where we can find that green lady the Hutyuns mentioned… Because she is the mines' guardian and the Gnome's Queen."