Her eyes widened at the realisation that she might have been caught leaving the cave red-handed which might lead to another trouble for her and her sect, she gently pulled away from him and rubbed her palm over her fist as she looked at him nervously with her red eyeball shifting from one side to another.

The look in his eyes was almost indescribable, he seemed like he had just seen an angel or someone that he hasn't seen for years and clearly she doesn't know him, he wanted to open his mouth to say something but the word didn't seem to come out even though he was making an effort. He wasn't even thinking about the fact that she has violated the sects pact that she should remain in the wind sect even though she was right behind the sect.

​​

She noticed the strange look in his eyes as he stared at her so she began to think that he might not actually know who she is since not many of their disciples have seen her except for the ones who lived to tell the story after trying to dispel her powers, so she decided to make the first move.

She slowly took a step away from him and started walking forwards while she hit her lower lips hoping that he won't try to stop her or call her back but just at that moment, he regained his senses and pulled her wrist causing her to stand one inch away from him.

"Where do you think you are going?" He asked with a smile on his lips, she was startled and at the same time stupefied at how beautiful his smile is, it has been over eleven years since she saw a smile that beautiful, her large red eyeball moved from on angle to another as she started examining his face, when he held her before she was too scared to look at his face clearly but now that she is staring right into his face, she realised that he is the most beautiful male that she has ever seen.

"I asked you a question!" He reminded when he realised that she didn't seem to be planning on removing her eyes from his face anytime soon.

"You are really beautiful," she said in a soft voice, he was taken back by her supposed compliment that he quickly released her hand.

"What are you talking about?" He asked with a dumbfounded look on his face, he has heard several compliments about his looks and figure but never has he heard such an insult in form of a compliment being directed at him.

"I have never seen a beautiful male like you in eleven years, can I touch your face?" She said without feeling ashamed or shy, he was hacked at how thick-skinned she was but it increased his interest in her.

The only person he has been interceding for in their sect meeting even though he has only met her once when they were little, it actually surprised him that she was so thick-skinned despite her fragile composure.

He scoffed at the thought!

"Did you just call me beautiful? and you even want to touch my face?" Bohai asked with another smile on her face.

"Yes, haven't you heard others telling you that you are beautiful, that is such a pity...even though I have been locked up for years, many people have told me that I am beautiful," she said then she turned her back at him and walked around him as she continued.

" Back then, my sister and my sect members always told me that I am beautiful and powerful, thinking about it now, it has been long since anyone told me that except for Su Ci, she always tell me that every day but I wish I could hear it from my sister again, I...."

She suddenly turned and turned back at the realisation that she has said too much and exposed herself, she wasn't surprised when she saw the look on his face after she turned back.

He was looking at her with a confused expression on his face and staring intently at her.

"Are you always this talkative?" He asked with a narcissistic expression on his face.

"No no no no, it is just that it has been long since I have seen anyone other than my friend who is not afraid to speak to me or dislikes me" Huo Lan answered with a despondent look in her eyes, his face suddenly turned gently after seeing how saddened she was by her being held as a hostage after the battle.

"Why would they be afraid of you?" Bohai asked, pretending that he was just seeing her for the first time.

"Because....wait...something is not right...if you didn't know me, you would have questioned my appearance but you weren't surprised, you know who I am, don't you?" Huo Lan questioned with a wary look on her face as she took a step back away from him.

"I...it is just a coincidence, I have never seen you before so how is it possible that I know you"

"Liar, you are wearing their sect uniform, the disciples who came to hurt me were also wearing this same clothes," Huo Lan said then she started feeling her blood boil inside her veins.

"No...I am not" he insisted but he didn't know what his lie was doing to her.

"Do you think I am stupid, I might not know much about the world but I know that you can hardly find anyone who has red hair and red eyeballs, I hate you, you are the ones who took me away from my family and continually torture me" Huo Lan raged in anger.

He was surprised at her sudden outburst, he wouldn't have expected her to react this way but something told him that if he doesn't calm her down or do something to appease her anger, there will be trouble.

"Huo Lan!! You need to calm down" she pleaded

"See you even know my name, you are going to tell the others then they will try to harm my family," Huo Lan said with tears dropping out of her eyes.

"You have to calm down, otherwise, you will be discovered!!". she could see that he was concerned about her but she still couldn't calm herself down, it seemed like he had triggered her powers but she still felt rage when she looks at him, she looked away from him in an attempt to calm herself down.

"I am trying but I can't...."

"What do you normally do to stop yourself from blowing up after they try to dispel your powers?" he asked frantically, although not intending to know her secret even though it was what they have always wanted to know.

"I don't know, I always calm down after they leave" She answered

He was still pacing up and down in an attempt to think of a way to stop her from having an outburst before she is discovered but it was too late, he turned back only to see her hair flying and scattering in the air and the colour changing into a deep red colour, even the colour of her eyeball also changed to a deeper red colour and he could feel an increase in her killing intent.

She clenched her hand into a fist to stop herself but it was no use even though her fingernails dug into her palm and her palm started bleeding, he was already becoming terrified of her, she could recognise the look in his eyes in an instant, that was the same look other people apart from the people from her sect always gave her when they saw her even with her normal appearance, tears started falling from her eyes again.

She was just excited to see someone who was afraid of her and that was why she ended up telling him too much but the look in his eyes had changed, even he wasn't aware that he was terrified, his heart was just beating too fast seeing her come closer to him with every step she took.

He knew that he had to find a way to stop her before she barbeques him, then a thought came into his head....he summoned his Qi and conjured a blue aura in his hand then she waved his hands in the air, gathering the wind and was about to direct it at her in order to cool her down but before he could, she had already turned back to normal which surprised him.

"You...how did you?" he was too confused at that moment, just like how they were all confused by the fact that despite the outburst she always had when they tried to dispel her power, she hasn't died from the overload.

"Don't say anymore, you had the same look in your eye just now?" she said with a sorrowful look in her eyes as she fixed her gaze on him.

"What..."

"You looked at me in the same way they looked at me when they called me a monster, everyone is the same...." Huo Lan said then she ran off before he even had the chance to say anything.

"I....stop...wait, you will be discovered if you go that way" Bohai shouted then he hesitated for a while before running after her, but before he could catch up with her, she was already gone.

He looked around frantically while trying to catch his breath, he was worried that she might not have fully returned to normal so if she has an outburst somewhere else, it would be too much of a problem to handle and if it is discovered that she actually left the sect, even though he doesn't even know how she managed to do that, then it would be even more of a problem for her and the flame sect.

Just as he was looking around, some of the disciples arrived at the back of the sect, after noticing their presence, he quickly composed himself and acted like everything was fine before their arrival.

"Young master!" they greeted in unison

"what are you all doing here, don't you have to train?" he asked with an authoritative tone which is not a usual thing for him to do.

"The sect leader detected an abnormal change in the direction of the wind so he asked us to check it out," One of the disciples answered with his head lowered.

"There is nothing here, you may leave" he confirmed following a dismissal wave.

"But...."

"I said there is nothing here, or do you think I am lying, I was practising here so that was why there was a change in the wind direction, you may leave," Bohai said in a resolute manner which made the disciples scurry away without further questions.

"That was close, where did she go and how did she even manage to leave the sect?" he asked rhetorically then he started walking towards the sect with lots of thought in his mind.

There is no way she could have left the sect without being spotted and she didn't escape or go back to her sect so where did she go, moreover I detected another presence when she began to change if I am right then this presence must be the reason why she hasn't blown up over the years...

He thought to himself!

Meanwhile, Su Ci was still pacing back and forth the cave, hoping that no one will come to check on them even though that has never happened unless they want to hurt Huo Lan, she bit her nails nervously as she prayed in her mind that wherever she went to, she didn't get caught otherwise, she wouldn't know what to do.

Just as she was about to turn her back, she heard a footstep approaching so she quickly hid behind one of the rocks, she took a peep to see who it was but it turned out to be the person that she has been worried about for hours.

"Huo Lan!!" Su Ci screamed then she ran towards her and quickly threw her arms around her neck, she heaved a sigh of relief and finally pulled herself away from her when she noticed that her hug wasn't reciprocated and the person she was hugging seemed to be standing like a log of wood.

"What is wrong and where did you go?" Su Ci asked with a worried motherly look on her face, as she closely examined her.

"Su Ci, I once asked my mother if I am a monster but she told me that monsters don't like beautiful things, but everyone looks at me like I am a monster...I...I just want to...to be like everyone else, like you but....." the tears in her eyes were already entering her mouth and the saltiness of her tears made her sadder, for years, she had never spoken to anyone apart from Su Ci who has been locked up with her for years and the first person she actually got to speak to was afraid of her,

who wouldn't be despaired knowing that!

"You are not a monster Huo Lan, sect madam is right, monsters always want to destroy everything they see and they hate beautiful things but you don't so you are not a monster" Su Ci replied then she wrapped her hand around her neck and pulled her neck to her shoulder with her hands patting her back.

After spending years with someone whose heart is damaged and is always afraid of herself, she has already gotten used to being a mother figure to Huo Lan, to Huo Lan, she was everything she needed even though it won't change the fact that they both belong to a sect and a family.

She held her hand and walked her into the cave, she sat her down on a stone and walked off to pick some herbs after noticing the crescent-shaped wounds on her palms, after she returned with the herbs, she grounded them and squatted in front of her to apply the herbs.

"Where did you go?" Su Ci inquired with her eyes fixed on the palm she was applying the herbs on.

"Inside my necklace" Huo Lan answered concisely, Su Ci squinted her eyes at the straight answer then she raised her head to see if she was actually kidding her or being serious but her eyes drifted to the necklace on her neck.