Flowers Bloom from Battlefield

288 Soujin Past: The Lonely Boy

Nanglong Souka did what he had to; he let his son go and begged the emperor to let the rest of them go. The emperor knew that the Nanglong family didn't really do anything wrong and punishing the entire family would make him looked like a tyrant (not that he was not one). It might incite another heavy wave of the rebels.

He chose to pardon them, but Nanglong Souka still felt heavy, especially when he told the matter to his grandson and daughter-in-law.

Qin Shie smiled sadly. "There is indeed nothing we could do."

Qin Shie was indeed a smart woman and she knew very well the situation. When she first came here, she was just a prisoner of war, but gradually everything changed and she fell in love with Nanglong Sei. She also has a son and became a happy mother.

Now, everything will change.

Little Soujin didn't really understand what his grandfather meant, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to meet with his father anymore.

"Grandpa, can't you save father?" Little Soujin pulled the man sleeves.

Nanglong Souka wanted to do it too, but doing so would end up implicating all of them and they would surely live in hardship for the rest of their life. He couldn't do that, especially with such a clear example in front of them.

"Grandpa is sorry."

"Why?" Little Soujin asked with his big eyes.

Nanglong Souka felt that his heart was crushed by the innocent look of his grandson and the fact that he had to let his only son died. There was no way he could explain to this little boy that his father did it, so they can live.

"Grandpa is sorry."

Little Soujin turned around and ran away from the two of them. Nanglong Souka wanted to chase after him, but Qin Shie didn't allow him.

"Let him clear his head a bit. He's a strong boy."

"But…"

Qin Shie smiled in the midst of her tears. "He will come into terms of it."

Little Soujin didn't want to lose his father. He wanted to train more with his father and eventually fight alongside him in the frontline. But, now everything was impossible and he would not get the chance to do it anymore.

The next day, he slipped outside from the residence and headed towards the square. He already studied his own residence and there were some loopholes he exploited. In the square, he tried to find his father, but his short height didn't allow him to see anything.

Looking towards the tree beside him, he climbed up. With some struggles, he finally able to see his father, being tied up on the stage. He saw how the guards eventually killed his father, yet he didn't move. He couldn't do anything.

That was the scene he would never forget in his whole life. Something inside him changed the moment he saw it and he didn't even know how he managed to get home.

"Little Soujin, where did you go?" Qin Shie looked towards the pale face of Little Soujin and became highly worried. The boy disappeared for the entire morning and after she had finished crying, she didn't manage to find him. Only at night did the boy returned.

Little Soujin looked towards his mother. His absent minded face turned clear as he remembered his promise to his father. "Mother, please don't cry, Soujin is fine. Soujin will protect mother in the future."

"Yes, mother knew."

That night, Little Soujin came to Nanglong Souka room.

"What is it, little brat?" Nanglong Souka tried to joke around to erase the heavy atmosphere from the two of them.

"Nanglong family secret force, the assassins, I want to meet with them," Little Soujin said resolutely.

Nanglong Souka eyes almost popped out when that sentence come out from the little boy. There was indeed the secret force of a group of assassins in their Nanglong family, but Soujin shouldn't have known that at such a tender age.

"How can you know that?"

"Grandpa often talks about it with father. I overhear," Little Soujin answered.

Facing the stubborn boy, he could only bring him to the place. There, Little Soujin came to know their training and all. After a while, he looked towards them and said one sentence. "Try to come at me."

The assassins thought the boy was joking, but with Nanglong Souka permission, they tried to attack the boy with the wooden sword. Contrary to their expectation, the 8 year old boy could beat them, and he even grew stronger during their fight.

"The boy is really a talented kid."

Nanglong Souka remembered the word Nanglong Sei told him and he understood that this incident would become a drive for Soujin to grow stronger. However, at the same time, this would make the boy lonelier.

Ever since that day, Little Soujin would practice with the elite force everyday and no matter how bad he got beaten up, he would still show up the next day for another practice. Qin Shie was terribly worried upon seeing the beaten up Little Soujin, but she came to know the reason from Nanglong Souka the next day.

Still, it didn't make her felt any better to see her son wounded every day.

"You should have made a different training for Soujin or looked for a better partner for him. I don't want to see him like this every single day!" Qin Shie complained to Nanglong Souka.

Nanglong Souka could only smile bitterly. Little Soujin didn't have any friends and he was deeply engrossed in training every day. In addition, he didn't want to listen to him because of what happened to his father in the past. What could he tell the boy?

"What about that girl from the Tian family, doesn't she often come here?"

Qin Shie shook her head. "The girl won't come back. The Tian family doesn't want to associate themselves with people that might become the target of emperor wrath anymore. It is useless to talk to them anymore."

Nanglong Souka felt that it was really bad. When the little girl accompanies Little Soujin, at least he would have a friend. Although the two of them rarely talk, which made it really awkward, it was still better with someone to accompany.

Aside from that, he felt that the decision of the Tian family was really annoying, but it was understandable. When you were at the high of your life, there would be a lot of people coming to you, but when you were in danger, only a real friend would stay close with you.

"That is the reality. However, I'm sure that Little Soujin would soon get a true friend," Qin Shie said positively.

Nanglong Souka smiled wryly. The two of them were really positive, but what she predicted came true as not long after that Soujin got into argument with Yan and the two of them became study partner. Though most of the time they would break into fights over and over again.