241 QI XUNYI edited

Xiao Tianyao was caught out off guard by Senja's sudden gesture. As much as he was surprised, he didn't utter a word when she buried her face in his chest. He stroked her hair and calmed her down. It was then that he discovered her slightly bleeding left ear.His brows, automatically, scrunched.

"What happened to your ear?" He asked in a low voice.

"Ah?" Senja slightly raised her messy face inquiringly. She hadn't heard him clearly.

"Your ear is bleeding."

"This…" Instinctively, Senja reached out to her ear, but Xiao Tianyao caught her hand.

"Don't touch." He said grumpily.

"That man shot me with an arrow. Fortunately, it only scratched my ear and not my face."

Yes, Senja still cared about her face. She was a woman after all and having a scar on her face wasn't acceptable.

"Prince Xiao Tianyao, don't you think that a man and woman hugging each other is quite inappropriate?" The guillotine of a man spoke in a teasing tone.

Senja peeked out from Xiao Tianyao arms, but refused to loosen her grip around his waist.

"Who is he?" Senja mumbled. He wasn't a Crescent Moon Member, Senja's pretty sure about this. "Is he your friend?" Senja looked at Xiao Tianyao questioningly.

"Oh! Purple hair!" The man exclaimed when he saw Senja's purple hair.

"I thought the rumor was wrong when they said you have purple hair! But now I see it with my own eyes! It's purple!" He blurted out while walking excitedly towards Senja to take a better look.

"Back off." Xiao Tianyao pointed his sword at him abruptly halting him in his tracks.

"No need to be overprotective. I am not an enemy." The man said leisurely. He didn't seem intimidated by Xiao Tianyao's strong reaction. "I am Qi Xunyi. Don't you remember me?"

"I don't know you." He replied curtly but didn't put his sword down.

At first, Senja had thought that Qi Xunyi was his friend. However, looking at Xiao Tianyao's reaction it didn't seem like he was.

Qi Xunyi shrugged. "Well, I guess you can't remember it." He mumbled, after that he directed his gaze to Senja. "You are Elder Dam's granddaughter, right? Nice to meet you."

Senja didn't answer him but nodded ever so slightly. Since she didn't know him add to it that he wasn't Xiao Tianyao's friend, she didn't want to get close to him as well.

Xiao Tianyao the sheathed his sword into the scabbard on his waist as he grabbed Senja's right hand and led the way back while Senja pulled the little boy with her free hand.

Qi Xunyi followed them closely. He didn't say anything and only fixed his eyes on Senja's hair. Senja could feel his fascination stalking her but chose to ignore instead.

Senja had indeed walked too deep into the forest because, with Senja and the little boy's pace it took quite a while to get back.

When they got back, they saw that the situation there was very tense. All the carriages that were filled with kids had opened and all the children were gathered together at the side. Many people who weren't Crescent Moon Members were tending to them.

The swords on their waists told Senja that they weren't ordinary men while the Crescent Moon Members stood at the side treating each other's wounds.

Senja wanted to ask who they were but Xiao Tianyao looked like he wasn't in the mood to talk. He sat Senja on the doorstep of the empty carriage and Lee silently followed beside her. At the same time Yang Yu brought a bottle of alcohol and cotton to him.