Chapter 184: Desires

Chapter 184: Desires

When they first met, Huahua was very friendly and let Xirui hold her tail. But after just a little contact, all of Huahua’s warm memories were startled awake by reality, so she immediately shook off the entanglement. Xirui then started the game she had longed for again.

Huahua seemed to lie quietly in Bran’s arms, but her figure would flicker whenever she couldn’t avoid being caught. Even in such a tiny space, as long as Huahua didn’t want to, Bran couldn’t guess who in this World could possibly catch her.

After a lot of fuss, Xirui finally shifted her target and tightly grabbed Bran’s clothes. Bran stared speechlessly at that small hand. What was she trying to do now?

Over a year, Xirui had grown a lot and learned many things, such as testing. After making a fuss for a long time and finding that Fourth Brother was still the same as before, she started making requests. For example, she wanted to learn Bran’s method of gathering Mana within the body, and learn his skill of killing silently. Bran readily agreed to the former but flatly refused the latter. The reason left Xirui speechless: she was still too young, they would talk about it when she grew up.

This was not an excuse. In Bran’s view, control was the key. If Xirui couldn’t control them, it would be a disaster. And making a child learn control seemed ridiculous to Bran. But she could be trained in advance, for example, by teaching her to listen.

Later, Bran felt he had done a stupid thing; he was pestered by his sister. And the people around them very considerately stopped disturbing the siblings.

Family feasts always had to be attended. Although Bran felt apprehensive about such things, he still sat down at the dining table very uncomfortably. Once there, Xirui stopped pestering him and let go of his clothes.

Not long after, Bran experienced the warmth of family.

If this could be called a family feast, Bran decided he would never attend another one. Sitting in the noisy hall, Bran finally remembered that according to the simple interpersonal relationships in the Northlands, practically everyone was family.

Amid the noise, Bran missed home. At home, Danny would quietly accompany him, and people ate their meals quietly. Under his influence, the people at home had grown accustomed to quietness. Only after meals would everyone casually chat about interesting things.

Here, people were chewing and swallowing loudly, with saliva flying. Lily’s hearty laughter occasionally drowned out all other sounds, echoing in Bran’s ears. Fortunately, there was Sister; at least she attracted most of the attention.

Bran sat in silence, his presence growing weaker and weaker, just like when he was a child. Some elders also tried to communicate with him, but when they looked at him, they involuntarily changed their minds. The thought of polite small talk was instantly replaced by the most genuine emotions.

But Mana was not all-powerful. Some children gradually gathered around. Most were curious, and that curiosity grew very strong under a certain stimulation. Children were not beings who could decide their actions by willpower alone, so after shaking off some insincerity, Bran found himself surrounded by genuine enthusiasm.

I brought this on myself! Bran lamented in his heart.

After a family feast, Bran’s prestige among the children soared! His image in the elders’ hearts plummeted! Most of them realized that Bran must have done something. But this kind of thing without evidence was really hard to say out loud.

Most importantly, a sense of wariness grew in their hearts. No one would like a Wizard who could manipulate people’s minds. The area around Bran instantly quieted down, and even those children were warned.

And Bran was also a sensible child; he disappeared from public view.

…

Adam walked towards the Ancient Tree in the courtyard, where Xirui was sitting alone under the tree. This gave him a slight illusion, as if he saw Bran from the Mountain Villa.

They were so alike! Adam sighed. It seemed Lily, Bran, and Xirui were the true siblings. Looking at them individually, it wasn’t obvious, but when the brothers sat together, some common traits of those three became apparent.

After seeing Bran again, Adam felt he had let go. Bran hadn’t changed much, at least in personality. He still preferred being alone, hated bustle and noise. Adam already knew about the rumors here, and some people even came to him for confirmation. This was probably what Bran wanted, to be a quiet person by himself.

Back then, he always wanted to interfere with Bran’s actions, to correct his behavior, not realizing he was disturbing the peace Bran wanted most. He was too young then and didn’t understand many things. Over this past year or more, through constant struggle and reflection, he gradually figured some things out.

Brothers shouldn’t get too entangled with each other, just like when Bran suggested he develop land by the Everspring Riverbank. It was just a suggestion, without any meddling. But besides causing a big stir, he hadn’t taken a step forward. Meanwhile, Bran quietly prepared, acted silently, and moved forward step by step according to his own plan.

If he had been more confident back then, would everything have been different?

He could see Xirui’s ambition. In a few years, his youngest sister would surely go out into the world too.

After reaching the tree, Adam asked softly, “Bran, are you here?”

Xirui opened her eyes and gave her eldest brother a strange look. Fourth Brother Bran wasn’t here. She hadn’t found him these past two days, even Sister was looking for him everywhere, so she didn’t believe her eldest brother could have discovered anything.

Seeing his sister’s look, Adam explained slightly awkwardly, “At home, he always used to sit under a tree. I have some things now, so I came to ask.”

“Yes.” A voice rang out, relieving Adam’s embarrassment.

Xirui jumped up and lunged towards the source of the voice. After crashing into a warm embrace, Bran, holding her, revealed his form.

Bran put his sister down and scratched his head. Now he really had nowhere to hide. The Fairy’s home was also his home. Hiding at home, as long as Sister didn’t come rummaging here, she definitely wouldn’t find him. Only…

Bran gave Adam a slightly resentful look.

Adam spread his hands. “I remembered some things, and was afraid you might leave at any time.”

After a moment’s thought, Adam continued, “I noticed the changes in Xirui, so I wanted to ask if we could too.”

Bran was silent for a while. He let out a long breath before saying, “It’s not that simple, and it can’t be judged based on individual strength. Myself, Lily, and the bodies of those Little Wizards are all undergoing some changes.

What have I even become now?”

Bran pointed at himself, looking troubled and worried, his expression very complex.

“My body has changed too much. I’m not even sure if I’ll be able to have offspring when I grow up. Look at Huahua now, you should think of some things. Has he ever shown any mating behavior?

I don’t believe that after gaining such great power, one doesn’t have to pay any price.”

Bran looked at Adam seriously. “Before there are any results, I cannot, and dare not, let too many people get involved.”

At this point, Bran smiled. “I promise, if everything turns out fine, I will train your child to be a Great Wizard. You need to marry and have children early, so our Bloodline can continue.

We Northlanders are too few, pitifully few! We have the strength to conquer territory, but not the strength to send people to occupy it. In my Northland City, there are only over a dozen Northlanders.

We need people, many, many people. That is the most important task.”