Chapter 24 - Learning About Each Other

"I see... What's your name?" I ask as I follow beside the er... kid? Fox? I lightly scratch the side of my head as I try to figure out how to address him. "You can call me Zhen... what is your name human?" Zhen says looking over.

I give him a large smile and say "It's nice to meet you, Zhen, My name is Nova. You're a kid... or an adult?" I give him a polite smile. He comes to a complete stop making me stumble a bit to stop next to him.

"Your name is what!?" Zhen asks with a look of confusion. "Nova... is something wrong?" I ask clearly confused. "Hah... is something wrong? Your name is Nova! What kind of name is that!?" He asks with disbelief. I blink several times before glaring at him and saying "What's wrong with my name huh?"

Zhen sighs and taps his chin as he says "Clearly it's not normal... It may be normal where you're from but here it's just... wrong. You said you're on the run right?" My confusion grows but I nod my head as he says "Well your name is just too uncommon. It'll stick out like a sore thumb... let's see..."

He then starts to walk back in forth with one hand tapping his chin and the other tucked behind his back. I just awkwardly stand to the side and watch him with confusion. Suddenly he comes to a stop and turns to me while saying "I shall call you Liling. From now on this shall be your name okay?"

Confused I say "Why?! Why not a more beautiful name?" He rolls his eyes at me and says "Liling means beautiful jade, just like your eyes... I feel like the name is very fitting." Sighing, I decide to let it go... he can call me whatever he wants to. It's not like I'm gonna stay here forever...

"And to answer your other question, I am no child. I am thousands of years old. I was one of the oldest in my clan... I have this form because I ran into one of the powerful Cultivators when I returned to my clan. We got into a battle and only after three days I was able to kill him but I lost a lot of my power... this is the only human form I can take at the moment."

I nod my head like I understand everything he's saying but if I had to be honest... I didn't understand a lot of it. Thousands of years old? How's that even possible... I'm still trying to believe his earlier words about being a Nine-tailed fox... how is any of this possible?

"In fact... I took a liking to you because of your eyes... My Granddaughter... she had green eyes just like yours. The jade color is extremely rare, even among the Divine Fox Clan. She was my favorite Grandchild... she was special to me..." He says slowly walking.

My heart clenches at the heartbreak heard in his voice... that wasn't fake. That heartbreak.. that pain... it's real. I think back to the first time I saw his eyes... they were so empty. They looked as if they had lost everything... I suddenly feel like kicking myself. How could he be lying about something like that?!

Subconsciously, I reach out and begin stroking his head while I say "I'm incredibly sorry for your loss... I can't imagine what something like that is like... I grew up without a family. I was found in a dumpster as a newborn... authorities found me and I was eventually dropped off at an orphanage after a clean bill of health."

"That's where I grew up... I was adopted as an infant but I was dropped off two years later... every year I grew older, my hope slowly died. No one wants older kids... I worked really hard in school though so I had really good grades... at eighteen I was kicked out of the orphanage. I had to live on the streets for two months until college started. I had a scholarship for my good grades... After that, I kept working hard... now, I'm here." I say looking up to the sky.

Zhen listens to everything with calm eyes but he suddenly says "I'll take you in! From now on, you're part of the Divine Fox Clan!"