"Still, nothing more than a mere hanyo..."
Amidst the dense forest, Sesshomaru lay on the ground. His left arm had previously been severed by Tessaiga, and now, gravely wounded once more by Kaze no Kizu, his demonic power was completely exhausted, leaving him on the brink of death and entirely unable to move.
Sesshomaru muttered to himself, "Father, you truly favored that hanyo after all... What 'someone you wish to protect'—I, Sesshomaru, have never needed such things..."
He gathered the tiny shred of demonic power remaining within his body, his gaze as cold and formidable as ever. "How could I, Sesshomaru, ever be brought to such a wretched state..." Gritting his teeth, Sesshomaru bent his right arm and forced himself to inch forward bit by bit, paying no heed to the fresh blood continually seeping from his severed left arm.
Though it was a distance of merely ten paces, the mighty Western Country dog demon now had to expend a tremendous amount of time to cover it. By the time Sesshomaru managed to prop himself somewhat against a tree trunk, even he could not help but breathe slightly shallow breaths. He stared quietly at the sky, yet within his heart, things were far from as cold and calm as his expression suggested. This... was the first time he had truly experienced the taste of pain.
The midsummer sun shone brightly overhead. Eight-year-old Li Xiangyi was bounding through the woods of Yunyin Mountain. Occasionally, with a flick of the slingshot in his hand, a falling leaf carried by the wind would be struck dead center.
Sesshomaru's ears twitched slightly as he caught the sound of someone approaching from afar. Judging by the light, agile footsteps, he couldn't help but wonder if this was an exterminator.
Sesshomaru sensed the depleted demonic power within his body, then glanced at the barrier unfurled by Tenseiga. He sat quietly against the tree, and despite his severe injuries, his arrogant and overbearing posture remained unchanged. He slightly raised his gaze toward the direction from which the sounds were coming.
Xiao Xiangyi had planned to come to the mountain today to hunt wolves; he had mastered all the sword forms taught by his master. His senior martial brother had gone down the mountain, and for now, he still couldn't defeat his master, nor would his master permit him to go down into the mortal world for practical training. Having finished practicing his sword forms today, Xiao Xiangyi had decided to go hunting to hone his swordsmanship, and incidentally catch a few rabbits or the like for his master to cook braised pork...
At the mere thought of the meat cooked by his master, Xiao Xiangyi—who was still at the age where a growing boy could eat a house out of his parents—couldn't help bounding forward with mounting excitement. He ran faster and plunged deeper into the forest until a heavy stench of blood drifted into his nose, causing him to slowly come to a halt.
After a moment of thought, Xiao Xiangyi gripped the iron sword at his waist and cautiously probed in the direction of the bloody odor. Then, looking down from a high tree branch, he laid eyes upon a pair of the most breathtaking eyes he would never be able to forget for the rest of his life—a pair of dazzling, brilliant golden eyes...
When Xiao Xiangyi snapped out of his daze to look closer, he realized that lying below was a handsome adult male with long silver hair, a crescent moon mark on his forehead, red facial markings on both cheeks, a body covered in wounds, and an exotic attire that made him look like a demon god.
Sesshomaru stared unblinkingly at the human in the tree. This was merely a human pup, yet the eyes looking down at him were filled with excitement and awe, entirely devoid of a shred of fear.
A flash of anger suddenly welled up in Sesshomaru's heart. A mere human cub—how dare it not fear him? At this thought, Sesshomaru's golden eyes turned blood-red, his ears stood straight up, and he bared his sharp fangs at the boy below...
Xiao Xiangyi was slightly startled by the baring of fangs, but upon seeing the crimson eyes, sharp teeth, and beast-like ears, the figure certainly did not look human. Yet for some reason, this appearance strangely reminded him of an injured, dying puppy putting up a fierce front by baring its teeth and growling. Besides, the stranger was far too good-looking; Xiangyi had a gut feeling that the "person" before him was not bad at all. He didn't feel afraid in the least; instead, his heart instantly melted. After a brief pause, he jumped down from the tree and slowly walked toward Sesshomaru...
He approached Sesshomaru step by step, stopping at a distance of three paces away. He looked earnestly at the injured "person" before him and asked in a clear voice, "Are you hurt and unable to move?"
Seeing the other party approach, the anger in Sesshomaru's eyes deepened, only to see this pup halt at a distance of three paces and ask a couple of questions. Yet this language was one he could not understand at all. At that moment, he also noticed that the clothing worn by the child was entirely unlike any style of human garb he had ever seen before. For a moment, he couldn't help feeling somewhat bewildered; the blood-red hue in his eyes faded, leaving his expression rather stunned...
Seeing that there was no reply, and noticing how the bewildered look in those eyes softened his handsome face considerably, Xiao Xiangyi was momentarily struck by such beauty, standing frozen for a long while before finally recovering his wits.
He took a handful of candies from the pouch at his waist, took another two steps closer, crouched down within Sesshomaru's narrowed, warning gaze, and held out his palm filled with candies right in front of Sesshomaru. "You're hurt very badly. I'll go get some gauze and medicine—have some candy first..."
Sesshomaru saw that the human pup was still speaking words he couldn't understand and had come even closer, prompting his brow to furrow deeply. However, Tenseiga did not reject the child's approach, and as a powerful demon, he could also sense the pure goodwill radiating from the human pup before him.
Seeing the concern on the human pup's face and the candies he held out—which he knew were quite precious to humans—Sesshomaru no longer displayed any intent to attack. Instead, he simply turned his head away, closed his eyes, and quietly concentrated on recovering the demonic power within his body.
Seeing that he was ignoring him and had turned his head away in an attitude of complete refusal to communicate, Li Xiangyi was not discouraged. Instead, he put the candies back into his pouch, and then placed the pouch right beside the man's white robes. As he set it down, he caught sight of the missing half of the man's left sleeve... and the severed arm beneath it.
Xiao Xiangyi showed no sign of strangeness. He stood up and departed with a few nimble leaps, returning straight to Yunju Pavilion. Rushing directly into his room, he dragged a wooden box out from under his bed; inside were the burn ointment and gauze that his master had previously prepared for him and his senior brother.
Xiao Xiangyi took a cloth towel, packed up the healing medicine and gauze, and after a moment of thought, went to the kitchen to grab three steamed buns and filled his waterskin with water before carrying everything back out into the mountain forest to search.
By the time Xiao Xiangyi arrived, Sesshomaru hadn't even changed his posture and remained in his original spot.
Sesshomaru's ears twitched, letting him know that the human pup had returned. Remembering how he had never experienced such a wretched moment in the past, his heart swelled with awkwardness...
Xiao Xiangyi uncorked the waterskin and held it out right beside the closed eyes of Sesshomaru, asking in a brisk tone, "Are you thirsty? Have some water..."
Sesshomaru pressed his lips together. Hearing the voice and sensing the object held close to his lips, he opened his eyes. Reflected instantly within those golden orbs was a bright, radiant smile, his eyes as clear and luminous as sparkling, lively stars.
Sesshomaru couldn't help but speak up. "Do not do unnecessary things. Human food does not suit my palate."
Xiao Xiangyi, who was listening to him speak, didn't even have time to feel happy that the man was willing to talk before he was struck by utter confusion upon hearing this completely unfamiliar language. Sesshomaru, too, gathered from the boy's expression that the pup did not share his tongue; he might no longer be in his native realm.
As for where he actually was... Sesshomaru narrowed his golden eyes, recalling the barrier that Tenseiga had automatically activated at that time, and noting the abnormal slowness with which his demonic power was recovering, as well as the complete absence of any demonic aura to be felt in this place. In his heart, he couldn't help forming a few hypotheses...
Seeing the man deep in thought, and realizing that verbal communication was currently very difficult, Xiao Xiangyi sighed inwardly. Noting that Sesshomaru was refusing to drink the water he offered, and understanding the man's guarded nature, Xiao Xiangyi pulled out the medicine and gauze, dampened the cloth towel with the water from his waterskin, and reached out to take Sesshomaru's injured left arm.
Sesshomaru was startled, forcing himself to sit up. Baring his fangs and revealing the sharp claws of his right hand, he placed them directly against Xiao Xiangyi's throat, saying coldly to the human pup, "I require no human pity. Scram, or I will kill you..."
Feeling the man's resistance, and seeing the bared fangs right before him along with the sharp claws at his throat, Xiao Xiangyi sighed like a little adult. "You're bleeding, you know. We need to bind the wound..."
With that, completely ignoring the man's resistance and paying no mind to the sharp claws at his neck, he took the man's left arm with both hands and pulled it forcibly onto his own lap, then began earnestly wiping away the dirt and blood surrounding the severed stump.
Sesshomaru tugged at his left arm, but lacking the strength to pull free, the right claws resting against the human pup's neck involuntarily tightened a fraction. Yet as he watched the boy's earnest, gentle movements, somehow he simply could not bring himself to strike. A moment later, the great Western Country yokai lowered his right hand as if utterly drained of strength, leaned back against the tree trunk, and once again turned his face away.
A slight smile tugged at the corner of Xiao Xiangyi's mouth; he had told himself his intuition wouldn't be wrong...
Sesshomaru felt layer after layer of powder being sprinkled onto the stump of his arm. A cool sensation washed over the wound; the bleeding stopped, and the pain diminished significantly.
Xiangyi dusted the healing powder over it, and seeing that the wound had stopped bleeding, he sprinkled another layer of medicinal powder on top to prevent the gauze from sticking to the wound when bandaged.
Once he finished binding the severed arm, Xiangyi carefully appraised the "person" before him. He saw that the man was dressed in white attire adorned with hexagonal plum blossoms, wore lightweight armor underneath, and was enveloped head-to-toe in white fur. Amidst his flowing silver-white hair were long, pointed beast ears, and a sword hung at his waist. Despite being covered in injuries, it did nothing to detract from his graceful nobility and overwhelming aura...
This "person"—truly, he was breathtaking! Both immensely powerful and exquisitely beautiful...
Xiangyi was struck by his beauty yet again. Recovering his wits once more, he sat down right next to the "person" and muttered with a tinge of melancholy, "Are you an immortal or a demon? I've been curious since I was little whether immortals and demons truly exist in this world... Seeing you, I've finally confirmed that they do. But are you the only one, or are there many more? Ah, if only you could understand what I'm saying. But it doesn't matter—I'll help you nurse your injuries first, and then we can be friends. Once we're friends, you can tell me all about it..."
The mountain was chilly and desolate, and with his senior martial brother down the mountain and his master prone to nagging—which he usually didn't care much to listen to—Xiao Xiangyi was immensely excited upon seeing Sesshomaru. Even though the man didn't understand a single word he said and completely ignored him, just looking at him gave Xiao Xiangyi an overwhelming urge to talk. Ignoring Sesshomaru's cold expression, he chattered away to him with all the familiarity of an old friend...
Sesshomaru blocked out the noisy chatter of the human pup ringing in his ears, absorbing only the trace amounts of spiritual energy present in the air to convert them into his own demonic power.
After talking until he was tired, Xiao Xiangyi looked at the immovable, unresponsive figure before him. An idea struck him, and he looked cheerfully at Sesshomaru, saying, "I still have all my primers for studying—the Sanzi Jing, Qianziwen, and Baijiaxing. I can teach you our language so we can communicate then..."
His happiness lasted merely a moment before Xiao Xiangyi grew somewhat dejected. "Though I don't know if you'll leave as soon as your injuries heal... and I don't know if you're even willing to learn our language."
He quickly perked up again, however. Looking at the sky, a trace of worry crossed his face. "It might rain tonight... Here's what we'll do—I'll take you back to Yunju Pavilion! Don't worry, my master is very kind and won't hurt you..."
With that, Xiao Xiangyi channeled his inner energy and stepped forward, intending to hoist Sesshomaru onto his back, only to be pushed away by a gentle force as he drew near.
Sesshomaru opened his eyes and looked at the human with a probing gaze, feeling the barrier unfurled slightly by Tenseiga.
Xiao Xiangyi was somewhat astonished. He tentatively reached out toward Sesshomaru again, and this time he clearly felt an invisible layer blocking him. Meeting Sesshomaru's probing gaze, he thought for a moment, then gestured and asked, "Do you not want to leave this place? But there are wild beasts here, and no shelter from the rain or sun. You really need to come back with me so you can recover properly..."
Seeing the boy's wild gesticulating, Sesshomaru understood that the child wanted to take him to where he lived and harbored no malicious intent. He therefore closed his eyes once more to resume recovering his demonic power.
Seeing him close his eyes again, Xiao Xiangyi couldn't help sighing. "Alright then, you stay here, and I'll come see you every day... But my master will be back soon, so I have to head back now."
With that, Xiao Xiangyi placed the cloth bundle containing the steamed buns next to the pouch and the waterskin. He tentatively reached out to touch Sesshomaru once more, and finding that he was no longer blocked, he gently poked Sesshomaru's shoulder. As the man opened his eyes, Xiao Xiangyi broke into a bright smile and said in a brisk tone, "Since you got hurt, you definitely need to eat." He pointed to the pouch, the waterskin, and the cloth bundle, gesturing as he spoke, "There's water in the waterskin, the candies in the pouch are a gift for you, and make sure you eat the buns. You'll heal much faster if you eat!"
Sesshomaru quietly watched him. Seeing the boy wave goodbye and turn to leave after finishing his words, Sesshomaru pressed his lips together. For the first time, he truly looked at the human child before him, seeing that the gaze directed at him was devoid of fear from beginning to end—filled only with care and warmth. Finally, he spoke softly, his voice considerably gentler: "Human, my name... is Sesshomaru!"