"How's he now?"

Zi Yan asked after Li Ming had completed her diagnosis of her brother.

Though he was continuously assuring her for the past few days that he's feeling good and completely fit but her heart couldn't believe his words that had became a constant lie in the past few years.

"Looks like you have no faith in me. I already told you that your brother will be as good as a perfectly fit teenage boy after my treatment but even after a week you are questioning me." Li Ming said with a sigh which was accompanied by a slight shake of her head.

"Master, you know that it's not true. If not for you, I've almost lost him that night." Zi Yan said with her voice full of gratitude and courtesy.

"Sister is right, Master. You are not only mine but both of ours savior. We will always be grateful to you for the rest of our lives." Yuan said as he stood beside his sister.

Both siblings looked at Li Ming with eyes full of respect and admiration.

"What's with both of you today? Stop being so dramatic and let's head to the front garden. We have tons of work to complete in the coming days." Li Ming said as she lightly flicked both of their heads before heading downstairs.

The two siblings followed behind her, both rubbing their heads lightly.

Zi Yan was the same girl who had entered the Godly Maple Tree, which was now known as Xiao Tiantang and fought with little Marshmallow.

Li Ming had sent her to the Black Jade Inn that night after casting a sleeping spell on her. The next day, when she questioned the girl about her reason for entering into Xiao Tiantang, she found that the girl only wanted some water from the spiritual pond rather than the white pearl stone.

Yuan was Zi Yan's twin brother and both of the siblings were nineteen years old. Her brother was suffering from a chronic disease and after years of medical treatment, the doctors were still unable to cure him.

After years of searching around, Zi Yan had come across a rumor that the water from the Spiritual pond of the Godly Maple Tree had the ability to cure diseases when mixed with some specific spiritual herbs.

Though it was only a rumor but at that moment she had no other options. Her brother was her only family in the entire mainland and she was ready to do anything to protect him.

At first, it was hard to believe her words but Li Ming could read her thoughts even though the girl had a strong barrier around her mind.

When Li Ming finally met Yuan, who was staying in an inn, she knew that Zi Yan wasn't lying.

Yuan was indeed suffering from a chronic disease but it wasn't incurable.

Li Ming did some magical experiments on the water of the spiritual pond of Xiao Tiantang and found that the water was actually helpful as medicine if used properly.

It took Li Ming only two days to cure Yuan but she still kept him under observation for a few days. She decided to let the siblings go after she had cured Yuan but the siblings refused to leave and asked for her permission to stay with her.

Zi Yan and Yuan were originally from a town of the Northeast Han Empire. Their father was a part of the troops that were stationed on the northeast border of the Empire. Their mother had died due to illness when both of them were barely two years old. After that, both the siblings stayed with their father in the military camps, until he too died in a fight against a high-level desert spirit beast.

Their father made sure to train both his children in martial arts and Li Ming could tell that both the siblings had a strong internal force due to their good base in martial arts.

Keeping the two siblings with her only worked in her favor that's why Li Ming didn't refuse their request and let them stay in the orphanage with the other children.

Li Ming had returned back to the orphanage directly from the Herb Market. Her instincts were telling her that something was waiting for her to come out of her mansion and for the first time in her life she felt like a prey.

She didn't return to the Black Jade Inn because she wasn't ready to face Ruoshan yet but she knew that she had to face him sooner or later.

She spent a few hours of the early morning in the fields with the villagers as they discussed about the vegetables and crops that they were currently farming.

She also formed a group of villagers and tasked them to clear an entire area of the village that was left empty due to some unknown reason.

The orphanage was no more enough for all the children and as the days were passing the number was only increasing. Rather than making changes in the orphanage every time new people joined it, she decided to build another place big enough for everyone.

She was tired after all the work and decided to take a short rest before visiting Zhang Yong. She had a proposal for him which could work in both their favors.

She was currently resting in the front garden of the mansion. The sound of the flowing water of the fountain soothed her hectic thoughts that were refusing from leaving her mind alone for a single minute.

She was about to drift into a sleep when she felt the slight disturbance in the air. It was so soft and light that it was almost unnoticeable.

Li Ming felt the presence behind her even before she saw the person.

"Did you miss me Winter aka Miss Li?" The person asked with an icy touch in their voice.

Li Ming scoffed as she stood up from her chair and walked to stand directly in front of the person.

But soon a frown appeared on her face as she realized that in her current form she's an entire foot shorter than the person standing in front of her.

"This is so frustrating. What are you even doing out here? Is your kitty parties over or your psycho friends refused to accompany you anymore?" Li Ming asked with an irritated tone as she settled back on her seat.

"You don't need to worry about my kitty parties sweetheart. They are going on as perfectly as before. I'm just here because I wanted to make sure that you are fine and not in need of my help." The person said in a chirpy tone.

Li Ming almost cringed at the voice that entered into her ears. The instincts of covering her ears were too strong but she somehow controlled her hands, not wanting to offend her uninvited guest.

"You have not worried about my well being in the past five years. I'm surprised that you still remember about my existence." Li Ming said with a scoff.

"You are so mean Win win. How can you be so impolite towards me?" The person said with a dramatic sad tone.

"Me and being impolite towards you? Hah! You should consider yourself lucky since I've not kicked you out of the mansion yet. Now don't waste my time and tell me why are you here." Li Ming said in a serious tone, stopping whatever whining comment was about to leave the mouth of her guest.

"Whatever! I'm just here to inform you that a big part of those thoughts, or to be honest the doubts, are right in most manner." The person told her.

"Wait, what do you mean?" Suddenly Li Ming's entire attention was focused on her uninvited guest.

"The familiarity that you felt about the black mist of the Northern Demon Province, your dreams that you are having for the past few days, and the soft whispers that you assumed you were overhearing in the Demon realm, all of them are connected in more than one way. And no, it's not just a doubt of yours." The person said with a serious tone.

The pink glow in their eyes was proof that the person wasn't playing with her but actually telling the truth.

"Can you tell me more about it?" Li Ming asked even though she already knew the answer.

The person only shook their head with a slight glimpse of a sad smile on their face which disappeared the very next moment.

"Also, stop running from what you have already realized is the truth of your life. It will only create problems Win-win. I can only tell you one thing that you are in for a very sweet surprise. Grace it as it comes. Don't fight it nor question it. It's a present, just accept it with an open heart."

The eyes of that person were no longer shining pink rather they were shining bright gold with a little touch of pink in them.

Li Ming's heart was beating so fast as she stared at the slowly fading silhouette of her uninvited guest which disappeared completely after a few seconds.