Oh. My. Fate?! (BL, Volume #1)

Early the next morning, the Zhongsset out toward the capital. It would take them about six weeks toreach there. After all, they would have to cross the plains and passthrough the forest at the foot of the Long mountain range before theywould arrive in the far north.

Legend had it that the dragon thathelped the first emperor in establishing their kingdom had turnedinto stone and that the capital had been built where its head rested.If any tragedy befell the capital, the dragon would open its eyesagain and rise to drive off their foes. Well, there hadn't been anywar that reached the gates of the capital for several millennia sowho could say if it was true or not?

Anyway, the Zhongs still had a longway to go until they would reach the Long mountains. Mister Zhong washopeful though. Wasn't traveling through their Long kingdom a greatpossibility to make his son open up a bit more? He should try hisbest to achieve his goal this time!

For the first few days, Mister Zhongobserved his son closely to figure out if he missed home. To hissurprise, Jing Yi didn't look upset at all and instead stayed calmas if all this had nothing to do with him.

Mister Zhong was reassured andstarted to work on his plan. He pointed out landmarks in thedistance, plants growing at the side of the road and animalsscurrying around in the vicinity. He was sure that one of thesethings would spark his son's interest! Unfortunately for him, hisson didn't react much. He looked over when his father told him tolook but turned back just as fast. Mister Zhong sighed and gave up.This child of his ... It would never love nature.

This conclusion was proved to betrue on the fifth day of their travel. They had reached a small townthe previous evening and halted in an equally small inn. Comemidnight the weather had worsened. Jing Yi woke up, opened his eyesand looked at the ceiling, listening to the pitter-patter of the rainand the howling wind for a while. Then he turned around and fellasleep again. No, it wasn't the bad weather itself that was theproblem. The true problem revealed itself the next morning.

The Zhongs ate breakfast at the inn,thanked the owner and wanted to set off. Mister Zhong opened the doorand stepped outside. The rain had long stopped and only fallen leavesand broken twigs floating on the puddles that dotted the road showedthat there had been a spell of bad weather the previous night.

Zhong Jing Yi took one look outsideof the inn. His eyes went huge and he ran back inside, sitting downat the table again, his whole face screaming in a silent tantrum 'Iwon't go outside!'

Madam Zhong observed her son, thenlooked outside and sighed. "Let's wait awhile."

Her husband stood in front of thedoor and scratched his head. "Why?" Didn't they want tohurry to reach the capital as soon as possible? Six weeks weren'tshort and who knew how fast his cousin needed their help?

Madam Zhong didn't answer and wentback to the owner instead, asking her if they could stay a daylonger. The woman lifted her brows. She also couldn't help butwonder why they decided against it at the last moment.

Madam Zhong motioned to the door."The path isn't that good after the rain. I'm afraid itcould be too much for our son going all the way on such a muddyroad."

The woman didn't think that it wasa problem for a child his age to travel outside after the rain hadsubsided but she didn't voice her thoughts. "Oh. Well, if youwant to ..." It wasn't her loss. If the family stayed a daymore, she'd earn more.

Qiu Ling sat down at another tableand observed Jing Yi with furrowed brows. This wasn't his fault,was it? His gaze wandered to the door and the path on the other side.Those pools of dirty water ... This mud ... Why did it look sofamiliar? It seemed like ... he had used holes filled with this kindof dirty water and mud to trick Jing Yi four years ago? Mn, yes, itseemed the girls from Jing Yi's village had fallen into such holes.

He looked back at the petrifiedchild. Uh ... Had he gone a little overboard back then? The child wasstill afraid of mud. "I never would have thought I could be thisconvincing ..." Unfortunately, he also didn't know how toatone for his sin. For the time being, he could only wait.

Mister Zhong came back in and thefamily of three stayed in the inn until the next morning.

Once again, Mister Zhong opened thedoor and stepped out. It hadn't rained that night and nothing couldbe seen of the muddy holes anymore. Still, Jing Yi went to the doorcautiously, craned his neck and looked around everywhere beforedeciding it was safe. He set one foot outside the inn and paused asif he wanted to make sure he hadn't judged the situation too hasty.

Madam Zhong smiled. "It'salright. Let's go."

Reassured by his mother, Jing Yididn't hesitate any longer and followed his parents down the road.The owner of the inn watched after them and shook her head. "Weirdpeople," she murmured and went back in.

Qiu Ling threw her a glance, thenconcentrated on Jing Yi again. Six weeks outside where it couldn'tbe guaranteed that they would always find an inn and where theweather could change each moment ... If it started to rain again,wouldn't his beloved be suffering?

"Thankfully, I can control theweather! But maybe I should try to find a way to help him get overthis fear."

Qiu Ling didn't dare dwell anylonger on the fact that this wouldn't have been necessary had henot behaved like that four years ago. In fact, had he just lefteverything to fate neither would Jing Yi be afraid of dirt nor wouldhe have been so isolated. But looking at it that way who knew whatwould have happened had Qiu Ling not intervened. For a small child,being afraid of mud was certainly better than losing both hisparents.