Resolving My Ex-Fiance's Obsessions

Arc 2.6

There were five groups of three, all laughing and pulling each other in jest but at the edge of the class stood a dark-skinned youth alone like he was not a part of their word. His hair covered his face like a curtain, making people unable to see his expression.

Shen Jiyu was not happy and the whole class could feel it. Haldir was the youngest acolyte and was not much older than the students. Even though he was not extremely friends with the students, he did not take a strict front with them. Haldir having such an expression was something that they were not used to.

How should he deal with this situation? What bothered Shen Jiyu was that these were children and that he had indeed asked them to group in threes. He could not force them to regroup right now. He went through the entire information in his head before he asked them.

"How did Lady Elvina ask us to treat our neighbour?"

"With love and respect." The whole class intoned, the elves in Elvina lived and died by the laws that Elvina had left behind.

Shen Jiyu suddenly felt like he was one of those sages that preached in heaven. He had always had a thing against them after Su Ming had taken an oath into one of their orders, to think one day he would be teaching people just like they did.

Making sure that the timber of his voice matched theirs, he began to preach to them. "To love your neighbour is to accept those around us, it is to tolerate everyone. You can't discriminate against someone because of what they love like and where they are from and yet claim to be following the Law of Lady Elvina."'

Seeing the confused and hesitant expressions on some of their faces, he continued, "Look at it this way, do you love your friends?" After hearing a scattered row of 'yes' and some giggles, he asked, "Would you pluck the feathers on their wings, would you insult them or make them feel bad? If you do that it means you hate them and you are disobeying Lady Elvina's law on loving your neighbour, you would not want to disobey Lady Elvina, would you?"

This time the 'no' was more decisive and louder. Shen Jiyu nodded, "From tomorrow, all of the groups will be selected randomly. For today, Since Basil does not have any partner, I would pair with him for the field assignment."

The students looked at each other, various expressions were scattered on their faces. One of the students raised his hand, it was a tall and lanky youth with cream-coloured pupils and wings, "But you got the highest score in Herbology. If that..." Seeing the look on Shen Jiyu's face, he changed his words, "If Basil pairs up with you, then wouldn't his score be higher than ours? It isn't fair."

Shen Jiyu grinned, "It is his luck then. Next time, I would pair the person with any partner."

His words caused the student's eyes to light up. Shen Jiyu looked again but Basil's head was still low as if he was not part of the discussion.

"That was amazing!" Xiao Shu praised Shen Jiyu, his voice filled with delight. 

Shen Jiyu could feel his wings flapping with pride, "Of course, as long as I want to do something, I would do it extremely well."

Xiao Shu had a major concern, "But when they get home and tell their elders what you said, wouldn't that cause some trouble?"

"I did not lie, that was the law she left behind. They would never doubt her words, she is a god to them."

Shen Jiyu flapped his wings and jumped off the large open windows and the rest of the class followed as well.

Elvina was beautiful. Even the floating buildings had an aesthetic that was pleasing to the eye, it was partially the way the elves were raised, Elvina was a gift from their goddess so they took care of it in a way that they believed would please her.

The Forest of Ecuador was extremely large and vast to the point it seemed almost boundless. As he looked down, the ground was like a sea of trees that rose up and down, filling one's eyes with verdant green. He did not fly deep, just stopping at the outskirts of the forest. 

They landed in a small clearing surrounded by lone, pine trees. Shen Jiyu pulled on the wooden flower in his body and formed five wooden birds that danced around each individual group.

"Wow! So cool. Haldir teach us!" The child who had complained about how unfair everything was earlier said.

"Later. Don't go too far in. If anything happens, the bird will tell me."

Their eyes glittered as they laughed, moving away.

They were so easily pleased. Shen Jiyu thought as he looked at the youth who was now left in the clearing with him.

When he had created the birds, Basil's face had turned towards him for a second before he looked away. Shen Jiyu tried to analyse the non-existent emotion that he was receiving from Basil. He had given each group its one bird. Was he feeling left out?

"Should I make one for you?" Shen Jiyu asked and Basil shook his head. He walked to the forest and Shen Jiyu followed behind him. Basil bent down to examine a herb that he found on the way and Shen Jiyu bent down next to him. Like this, they continued for more than one hour.

"You do not need to follow me." Basil's hoarse voice sounded in the quiet forest.

Shen Jiyu's eyes glowed. This was the first time Basil was talking to him of his own accord, besides the silence was killing him. If Basil had taken another minute, he might have started singing on the spot.

"I don't mind. If you have any questions about any herb, ask me. You can use this chance to get the highest score on the test." Shen Jiyu teased.

"You do not need to follow me." The hoarse voice sounded again like a broken record, "I would not do anything evil."

The grin on Shen Jiyu's face suddenly froze and there was an unnatural tone in his normally carefree voice when he asked him, "Why would you think that? Why would you think that you would do something evil?"

"Oh!" The hoarse voice had a flippant tone that was hard to detect, "Because I am an evil spawn. My mother is a dark elf so I had her evil blood and evil tendencies."

Shen Jiyu heard his words and felt as if something was penetrating his bones and piercing his heart.

Just a short while ago, he had said, 'My family's sins are mine to bear'. A short memory flashed in Shen Jiyu's head and he suddenly recalled. That day when both of them had visited Melan and witnessed the sentence of Zhong Niu, that madman. Feng Mian had acted a little off that day and later, he had asked him what he thought about the case.

What had he said again, "Zhong Nui's outcome is not a surprise, he inherited the sin of his father and he became the monster he was born from. The Zhong Clan should have killed him the moment they found out that Zhong Ming had a son"

Shen Jiyu felt a little faint and he leaned against the tree. He felt as if his heart was being twisted by knives.

What had he done?