366 HE COMEBACK

The next day, Senja brought Xiao Mugi to the training ground where she met Sheng days ago.

The little boy was exciting as he almost like jumping along the way. He was always under Qianru's care and Qianru wasn't the type that liked to see something vigorous like that and would be freak out if she saw him injured.

Hence, since Xiao Mugi was always surrounded by female maidservant and Xiao Tianyao wasn't there to take care of him. He was kind of lack of this aspect.

The moment, he knew that Senja wanted to go to the training ground, he insisted to come along with her. But, Qianru's edginess stopped him.

"No, Mugi, they are grown men. How if accidentally you get hurt?" Qianru tried to reasoning with him.

But, Xiao Mugi ran toward Senja and grabbed her hand tightly. "She will take care of me, aunty Qianru."

Senja looked down at Xiao Mugi who was clinging onto her. Actually, she didn't want to involve in this little argument, she had nothing to do with it and just wanted to get out from the house so she could meet Leader Jingguo.

Yet, before she could step out from the threshold this little fellow decided cling onto her.

"Senja has urgent matter Mugi, you can't come with her." Qianru tried to persuade him. "Right Senja?" She said, looking for support from her.

Senja didn't immediately answer. She raised her brows questioningly toward Xiao Mugi, the next second she crouched down in front of the little boy as she spoke in low voice that only both of them could hear.

"So, who is more beautiful now?" Senja asked with mirth dancing in her eyes.

Xiao Mugi looked at her incredulously. "You are childish."

"Yes, I am." Senja quipped. "So?" She wriggled her eyebrows childishly that made Xiao Mugi's annoyed.

"You." He said succinctly.

"Me what?"

"You are beautiful." Finally he said it after a few times taking a deep breath.

Senja elated when she looked at his defeated expression. "Good boy." She said as she tousled his head and stood up. She looked at Qianru with assuring smile as she calm her. "It's okay, I will be on the save side. Moreover, I will just talk for a while with Leader Jingguo."

"But…" Qianru still worried.

"It will be fine, I will look after him."

"It was dangerous there."

Senja chuckled when she heard this. "Qianru, I can promised you that I will not put him in the middle of training ground."

Qianru also smiled when she heard this. Even though she didn't fully convinced and still felt slightly worry, in the end she agreed.

"Okay, let's go now." Senja waved her hand toward Xiao Mugi so the boy would follow her.

Both of them walked hand in hand toward the training ground, once they were near Senja warned him again.

"Don't moving around recklessly. Got it?"

"Got it." Xiao Mugi nodded seriously.

It was the first time Xiao Mugi watching people training swordsmanship. Even though the Crescent Moon had their own training ground, but it was placed in Xiao Tianyao's mansion, while Xiao Mugi lived with Qianru in Xiao Jun's mansion.

Considering that Xiao Jun mostly deal with the problem through discussion or strategy, hence he didn't have his own troops like Xiao Tianyao. So, it was understandable if this was the first time Xiao Mugi saw this kind of training.

His eyes were glistening with excitement as he followed Senja closely. The deafening sounds from clashing sword, seemed interested him.

Senja hold his hand tighter, when she saw Xiao Mugi tried to get closer to the training ground.

**Hhh, like father like son…** Senja thought.

She was standing on the higher ground at the side, scanned the whole field to look for Leader Jingguo. But, failed to find him, instead she saw Yoda jogged from the right side. He waved his hand at Senja.

"Who are you looking for?" Yoda asked when he arrived in front of Senja.

He and the other two guards were injured because of the battle in the border line, but their injuries didn't involve a poison like what Senja had suffered, so they could recover faster than her.

"I am looking for Leader Jingguo. Do you see him?" Senja tried to keep Xiao Mugi on the place, but the boy wanted the otherwise.

"Oh, Leader Jingguo was going out, probably in the village nearby." Yoda replied. "You need something with him?"

"Yes, I have some question. But, if he is not here, then I will come back tomorrow."

"Alright."

"We will go now?" Xiao Mugi chimed in. "We just came." He protested.

"Is he…" Yoda trailed off his words.

"Tianyao's son. Xiao Mugi." Senja finished Yoda sentences.

"Well, I see… you get along well with both father and son." Yoda gave Senja a smirked.

Senja just laughed upon hearing this.

"I wanted to stay." Xiao Mugi insisted, forgetting about their compromised.

"Why don't you stay, we will take a break. Maybe Xiao Mugi can learn something?" Yoda suggested.

The little boy was so eager when he answered Yoda. "Yes, Yes. Can we stay?" He looked up at Senja expectantly.

**Children…** Senja grumbled, but she relented in the end. She didn't have anything to do if they returned now. So, granted Xiao Mugi to stay wasn't a bad idea either.

"Thank you." Xiao Mugi said calmly, but his eyes were dancing in mirth. "So, what you will show me?"

Xiao Mugi released Senja's hand and grabbed Yoda's hand instead while dragging him to the other places and asked many questions to him.

Being ignored, Senja followed behind them while pouting. "Geez, this boy is like a chameleon."

........

Yoda had given Xiao Mugi a wooden sword for him to play with and instructed him a few stance of swordsmanship, thus now, Senja and Yoda was sitting on the bench near the training ground while watching Xiao Mugi playing with his wooden sword.

"So, have you visited Elder Dam?" Yoda asked carefully, since they came to this Greenhill Mountain, Senja had been avoided the topic about him.

"How about your mother and sister? Where did they go?"

Yoda stared at her. "They are fine, thank you. They are supposed to be in the safety place a week after we arrived here." He answered her monotonously. "Have you visited him?"

"The time to get to the safety place is sure take a lot of time…" Senja mumbled to herself.

"Senja…" Yoda sighed by her ignorance. "Until when do you will avoid this topic?"

"Are Hu Feng and his mother in the safety place too?" Senja ignored Yoda's question again.

"Yes they are and you need to visit your grandfather."

"Why they didn't bring them here?"

Yoda's expression was unreadable when he stared at Senja. "Senja you should stop acting like this. Why don't you come into compromise that Elder Dam has no longer with us and visit him. You are kept pretending that any of those things didn't happen. The thing happened Senja and you need to face it."

Yoda stood up and confronted Senja. "Don't act like you are fine when you are from that. If you didn't let that feeling out, it will be killing you from inside."

Senja suddenly stood up, Yoda thought she would speak his ear off because kept talking about the topic that she didn't want to hear. But, it was good thing, it much better if she let out what she felt instead of kept it inside.

However, to Yoda dismay Senja gave him a warm smile while saying. "I think it's time to go back home." She was nodding at the sun that almost set in the horizon. "Qianru will be worry if I stay any longer." She cleaned up her dress from the dust that didn't exist.

Yoda stared at her attitude for long time before he nodded his head. "Yes, I think you should go home."

Senja called Xiao Mugi over and both of them walked back toward their home hand in hand while the little boy kept swinging his wooden sword.

........

"Tomorrow we will come again to the training ground right?" Xiao Mugi asked Senja excitedly.

Both of them were walking down the streets toward their home, Senja urge Xiao Mugi to walk faster, but of course his short leg hardly caught up with her.

There was something burning inside her, something uncomfortable when she heard Yoda question.

She was ignoring him when he talked about visiting Elder Dam, but it didn't mean she wasn't listening and this made Senja clenched her hand into a fist. Tears were threatening to fall on the corner of her eyes.

She didn't cry anymore since the first day she came, since she knew that there was no hope for Elder to return.

Since then, she had tried to numb her feeling with no avail. So, she avoided any topic related to him and the day in the border line or the day she lived in the Black Sword Clan's mansion.

She didn't want to remember anything of it. Some people would get her clue, but some people –like Yoda- couldn't stick with it and kept bothering her with his question.

"Slow down." Xiao Mugi grumbled.

Senja was walking faster than before and Xiao Mugi needed to run or else he would be dragged, because Senja was holding his hand tightly.

"What happened?" Xiao Mugi asked Senja between his panting.

Their house was only a few meter away and Senja could see it already. She released Xiao Mugi's hand as she ran toward the door and literary barged inside the room.

Senja was trying her best to hold back her tears, but with the sight of the man that she had been longing all these days, her tears rolled down her cheek as the warm liquid invited another sob from her lips.

He is here…