"Ma! I want to eat the dragon sugar candy!"

"I want one too! Ma!"

The twin boys pointed with eyes full of antic.i.p.ation at the stall selling candy made from melted sugar of golden brown hanging from a stick, they could barely keep from running there, as many of the town people gathered in front of the stall to buy the sugar candy.

"What would you like Xuequi?"

"Hmm...I'll want one of those tanghulu's."

Mou Hairong tightly held onto the hand of her son, because he looked as though he would breakout from the hold she her on him to fly to the candy stall. The other twin with Yan Xuequi was no different either, he too was about ready to jump on those tempting melted gla.s.s candies.

"Yidan! Stop jumping or else no candy for you!"

The little boy pouted after receiving a reprimand from his mother. All four made their way to the line of people waiting to get the dragon sugar candy. When it finally got to their turn, Mou Hairong pulled out her yellow pouch to give the stall owner some silver coins. As the man handed each her two sticks of candy.

"Here Yidan, you can have one of the dragon sugar candy."

"Thank you Ma!"

"Zimu, here's yours too."

"Thank you Ma!"

The boys squealed in excitement at their new found source of joy, the dragon sugar candy!

After they left the store, the next stop was to get Yan Xuequi her tanghulu, which was a pinkish-red rounded berry fruit that looked like red cherries on stick. Soon after they stopped at a stall that sold street food to get themselves something to eat.

"We'll like four bowls of noodles with vegetables and chicken, along with some moon cake."

"I don't want noodles!"

"I want rice Ma!"

"Yes! Me too!"

The boys looked at their mother with eyes filled with defiance, they didn't want to eat the bowl of noodles that she had ordered for them.

"You want rice?"

"Yes Ma! We want rice!"

"When you grow up and start making money, then you can decide what you want, but until then! You too better eat what I give you!"

"We don't want to Ma! We want rice!"

This time, the two boys threw themselves on the floor rolling from side to side, they knew that their mother did not like them misbehaving especially when they were outside their home, but they just wanted to have their way.

"Yidan! Stop inciting your brother to do outrageous things! The two of you need to stop right now!"

By then, a growing crowd of people had gathered to see the twins behave in a disgraceful way.

"Isn't that their mother?! What is she doing watching her children roll on the ground in dirt!"

"I tell you the standard of training one's child has truly fallen!"

"Which of them is the mother?!"

"Missus! Don't you think you need to call your children to order?!"

"Aunt Hairong, people are starting to talk."

"And so what?! What if they start to talk! Do they know how much they try my patience! At times I wish I never had them!"

"Aunt Hairong! Please don't say that! They would be so unhappy to hear that from you!"

Unfortunately for the mother of the twins, they already heard what their mother said and took to the air in the mist of all the town people gathered at the market.

"Demons! They are demons!"

"Did you see them fly?!"

"We have demons living among us!"

The town people went into a frenzy, after witnessing the children take to the air. The good thing was that they didn't see the flames that surrounded their body.

Within a blink of an eye, the small crowd had become a mob, as they began chanting for them to be stoned.

"Don't let them escape! Kill the demons!"

It was sundown when the unexpected occurrence took place, many had taken up sticks, stones and were ready to beat the women to death.

"Aunt Hairong, we need to go after Yidan and Zimu. It's going to be dark soon, what if something happens to them!"

Mou Hairong looked at her niece, it wasn't that she didn't want to go after her sons, but she wanted them to know that they can't always have their way.

"Aunt Hairong?"

The crowds had already closed in on them and were about to beat them with the sticks in their hand, when Mou Hairong finally gave the command to go after her children.

"Xuequi! Let's go!"

"Yes Aunt Hairong!"

The two took to the air, as the crowd shouted at them in rage, some of them tried to hit them with the weapons in their hands, but they were so far up that none of it could reach the women.

"Aunt Hairong, I fear something may happen to Uncle Mou. Those mobs may go to the house and wait to attack him when he gets home for marrying a demon. Do you want me to look for them, while you go and search for Uncle?"

Mou Hairong was torn between looking for her children and safeguarding her husband, after pondering for some time as to whether or not she should leave her niece to look for her children, she finally gave in and asked her to go after them, while she search for her husband.

"Xuequi, help me find Zimu and Yidan. Please bring them home for me!"

Yan Xuequi knew that although her Aunt presented herself as being a tough parent, she still cared a lot about her children, it was merely some words spoken in a moment of weakness that led to the situation they were in and not because she hated her children.

"I promise to bring them home, Aunt Hairong! Be safe!"

"And you too Xuequi!"

The two parted ways, as one left to look for her husband while the other left to look for her cousins. The fox princess kept searching the area that she thought the children could possibly be hiding, but nothing turned up.

"Yidan! Zimu! Where are you?"

Yan Xuequi kept shouted the names of the twins and still there was no answer. The reason why she feared for her cousins was because with darkness came evil creatures that were drawn to anything that contained spiritual energy.

Meanwhile, the twins had flown to the neighboring town of Xuekejiu whose stalls already had the night lamp outside, the two walked hand in hand savoring the candy they bought at one of the stalls from the money stolen from one of the town's people. Taking things without the other person being aware was nothing to an half fox child, their fox fire did the task while the reap the fruit from using their powers.

Neither of them was missing home, as they bought the things they wanted. The second stop was at the food stall that sold street food. They sat at the bench by each other to each the white rice, vegetables and chicken that they ordered. The stall owner was puzzled that two little boys that looked so much alike were alone buying food at night.

"Where are your parents?"

"Over there!"

The boys pointed in the general direction of towns people that were buying merchandise from the other stalls.

"Alright, I'll wait until they get here. It's late, don't go anywhere until they come and get you!"

The boys looked at the elderly man in dark green robes and long grey beards, while nodding at him innocently. Meanwhile, the stall owner did not know that he had trouble in his stall in the form of two innocent boys.

"Zimu, after we finish eating, let's buy some paper dragonflies."

"Okay Yidan."

Yidan was the more mischievous one of the two, while Zimu always went along with whatever he devises.

After a while, the boys were done eating and were about to stand up and leave, when they heard the stall keepers voice.

"Boys! It's late at night, don't walk around on your own! Wait her for your parents!"

Yidan's eyes changed color to that of green, he had a petulant look on his face that showed that he didn't want any adult telling him what to do.

"Yidan?"

Zimu's voice was fearful, as he saw the change in his brother's eyes that, meant he was very angry. The stall keeper on the other hand saw the change in the boy's eyes and was about to scream out in terror, but Yidan was not going to allow the man to call the attention of the town's people. As he was about to raise his hand and blast the man with the flames surrounding his body, that was when someone held him by the arm. It was none other than Lin Cheng!

"I'm sorry for the disturbance shopkeeper, these are my children. Please forgive them for being so ill-mannered."

While Lin Cheng spoke he waved a hand over the face of the man to remove the memory of what he had seen of the half fox child.

"Tell the stall keeper that you are sorry!"

Mou Yidan felt the tight hold on his arm, it was beginning to hurt and no matter how much he tried to break free, he couldn't get out from the man's grip. Lin Cheng left some gold coins on the table of the food stall.

"I'm..sorry."

The stall owner nodded morosely at the boys and the strange man that claimed to be the father of the boys. Although he apologized, it wasn't one of sincerity, while his brother silently looked on from the side.

"Let's go!"

"Farewell shopkeeper."

Lin Cheng held each boy in one hand, as the two left the town of Xuekejiu for Yiting town.

"Can the both of you tell me your names?"

"Mou Zimu."

Lin Cheng waited on the other twin to give out his name, he had his grip on the twin especially tight because he could sense that he was a handful.

"You haven't told me your name."

"Mou..Yidan."

The twin slowly replied with an unhappy look on his face. Looking at them, Lin Cheng saw they were well taken care of from the robes they had on them, it seemed their family wasn't doing to bad. Which made him wonder why they ran away from home in the first place.

"Can you tell me where you live? I can tell you are from Yiting town."

Lin Cheng guessed they were from the town he mentioned, because the aura he felt from them felt strangely familiar to the one he encountered from the fox princess, he recalled her saying that there were people from the fox clan living in Yiting town.

"We don't want to go back home!"

"Why don't you and your brother want to go back to your parents?"

Lin Cheng asked Mou Zimu, who was visibly upset at the thought of going to meet his parents.

"Ma hates us!"

"There is no mother that would hate her child, I'm sure you must have heard her wrong."

"No! She hates us!"

"Did you do something for you to think that she hates you?"

It was then that Mou Yidan couldn't answer Lin Cheng, because he knew that he egged his brother on to make their mother say the things she said at the market.

At the time they had reached the forest that led into Yiting town when they heard a voice that called out to them.

"Yidan! Zimu!"

"Aunt Xuequi!"

The boys broke away from Lin Cheng and ran happily to meet their cousin, whose eyes were filled with tears when she saw them walk into the forest. Lin Cheng didn't need to be told who the parents of the half fox children were, an indescribable feeling that resembled one of delight, came over him as he saw the fox princess.