.
Wuxian looks into the sleepy eyes of his young daughter as she sways in her seat next to him. It was way past her bedtime but she is refusing to leave him. Wuxian sighs loudly and pulls her into his lap. She instantly leans on his chest, surrendering to sleep by snuggling close to him and grabbing his robes. At a moment like this, he can't tell if his daughter is too mature for her age or a spoiled child. A gentle smile graces his face when he looks at her lax face as she sleeps in his arms and wonders how he ever lived not knowing what it feels like to be needed.
They were meeting late at night to discuss what they can do to stop Biming. Wuxian's wariness was addressed by Zewu Jun: "Brother Wei, if you're being paranoid about Biming taking one of our faces then let's do this.." Zewu Jun told Wuxian to question everyone about something from their past. When they all checkout, they share a secret code word to check in the future. After putting Wuxian's doubts to rest, the fortune teller started the discussion: "Since the faceless man doesn't know what I look like, maybe we can trick him?"
Wuxian nods: "Yuxio and I were thinking the same thing. But how and to what end? If someone else poses as you, they will put their lives in danger especially when they fail to fulfill his request."
Yuxio: "At least we will know what he keeps asking for that everyone so far keeps refusing.."
Wuxian: "That's not a good enough reason to risk someone's life."
Liwei rubs his chin: "I can pose as the fortune teller. I'm the same age and a pretty good actor."
Zewu Jun: "You fit the profile but we have to change your hair color to match Liang's."
Liwei smirks at him: "As a finder, I've learned how to blend in and change my appearance. That's not a challenge for me."
Wuxian shakes his head: "I don't like this.. It's too risky."
Wangji puts his hand on Wuxian's thigh: "Liwei is a good fighter. I trust him."
Wuxian: "It's not an issue of trust. I don't want him to die for information. It's not worth it!"
Zewu Jun: "Tell me, brother Wei, what will ease your mind?"
Wuxian sighs: "I don't know. Something Biming said today is bothering me. I can't put my finger on it.."
Silence washes over them as they all recalled what the faceless man said to try and figure out what was bothering Wuxian. Wen Ning slowly approaches the table and sits behind Wuxian: "Maybe it's what he called what he's doing: A journey to seek justice. The way he's going about it might be wrong but those who seek justice are often helpless or mistreated."
Wuxian thinks for a second and says: "He asks first then gets angry when his request is not met.."
Zewu Jun nods: "I don't think he kills out of pleasure."
Yuxio scoffs: "So he thinks he's a vigilante?"
Wuxian whispers: "More like desperate.."
Zewu Jun looks at Wuxian: "That's a more than enough reason for us to figure out what he's so desperately trying to achieve. If we understand the reason, we can offer better solutions."
Wangji: "I doubt that this line of thinking will change the outcome."
Wuxian shifts Hweiru around to free one of his hands and reaches across the table to drink the potion Healer Shi left a while back: "I still don't like it. If we're going to do this, I want to make sure that Liwei is well protected.."
Zewu Jun: "I don't understand your hesitation, brother Wei."
Wuxian puts the empty cup down and stares at it while speaking: "I've felt his power. Unlike anything else, it makes you feel like you're suffocating. It's not the pain that scares me.. It's not understanding how he's doing it or how to stop it."
Liwei: "We can't run away every time a chance to confront him presents itself. This is a good plan. We should try it out. I will not complain if it goes awry. I know what I'm getting into."
They all looked at Wuxian as he continued to play with his empty cup. Something is not right. Wuxian can feel it in his bones but it won't translate well if he cannot even explain it to himself.
Wuxian sighs: "Give me a few days.. Spread the news that the teller is staying with us here in the inn and get your hair dyed and whatever. I will think of something that's better than throwing you in a room with that monster."
Zewu Jun nods: "You have two days."
Wuxian purses his lips and looks down to smile once again at his daughter's innocence. How is he going to find a workaround in two days?
The city council visited the next day early in the morning to inform them that a lot of people have sent letters asking to join the competition to become Wuxian's disciple. The Oracle did not expect this many people willing to renounce their families just to be his student. The town leader was so happy and wanted to ask Wuxian: "Do you mind if we wait a few days for them to arrive and join the competition? It will be great for our city's economy."
Wuxian rubbed his forehead, clearly not amused: "Few days?"
The leader: "Three days at the most.. I promise we will be done by the end of the week!"
Wuxian stares blankly at the middle aged man. He couldn't care less about the competition or waiting for more people to fight over the position he offered on the spot. Zewu Jun leans closer and whispers: "The longer we stay, the better the chances we have at eliminating the threat. If the competition ends tomorrow we have no good reason to stay. This is a blessing from the deities."
Wuxian sighs: "I wish you guys would stop calling dumb luck a blessing.."
The smaller man waves with his hand at the man kneeling before him and says: "Town Leader, I'm just a guest here. Do as you please and I will try my best to accommodate you."
The man almost bounced on his way out from joy. This city was never known for anything and now it will be the birthing place of a legendary story at the least.
Wuxian had his healing session that afternoon and spent the next few hours sleeping. He heard his daughter hum when he woke up and found her sitting next to him in bed, putting small wood block toys that he bought for her in Gusu City on his chest. She's clearly entertaining herself while waiting for him to wake up. He breathes softly so he doesn't ruin her structure and whispers: "What are we building?"
She stops humming and smiles at him before continuing to add more blocks to her creation: "A castle. You're the sleeping dragon under the castle."
Wuxian holds his laughter so he doesn't disturb her work: "Am I a good dragon or a bad dragon?"
Da Ziran uses her body to steady the blocks when they sway. Hweiru pats the snake's body as a thank you and hands it a block to help: "Mama is a good dragon. Like the one that saves its parents in the story."
Wuxian stares at his daughter as she continues her work with her tongue sticking out from concentration: "What story?"
Hweiru: "My old parents used to tell me a story about a baby dragon that got lost. He kept looking for his family, traveling from one city to the other. Most of the humans that saw him fled in fear or tried to kill him so the dragon defended itself and ended up destroying many towns on its journey to find his family. As the years went by, the dragon got older and he started to believe that his parents must have forgotten him. He didn't want to hurt anyone else so he went into the mountains and slept between them for many years. After a while, the new King built his castle over the dragon not knowing that he was there. The dragon woke up when he smelled his parents nearby but found that many people live on top of him. How can he move and destroy their home just so he can find his parents?"
Wuxian frowns when his daughter gets distracted placing a wobbly piece and asks: "What happened next?"
Hweiru: "The dragon started crying for his parents to come and save him but they didn't hear him. He cried and cried until the king believed that his castle was haunted and ordered his captured dragons to use their holy fire to destroy it before the spirits got out and attacked his kingdom."
Wuxian: "He had captured dragons?"
Hweiru nods: "The king kept them in captivity. It was told that many years ago, dragons and humans lived in harmony but one of them started killing people and they were feared ever since."
Wuxian whispers: "The little dragon that was searching for his parents?"
Hweiru nods: "The dragons were brought and they breathed fire and burnt the castle down only to find their son waiting for them at the bottom."
Wuxian: "He didn't burn?"
Hweiru: "Dragon fire doesn't hurt dragons of the same family."
Da Ziran at this point was using every inch of her body to hold the weird structure Hweiru was building in place.
Hweiru held the last few pieces in her hand, looking around to find a place to put them without ruining her masterpiece: "The son dragon was freed. He broke his parents chains and they escaped."
Wuxian frowned: "That's it?"
Hwieru cocks her head in confusion: ".. and they lived happily ever after?"
Wuxian sighs: "That can't possibly be the end of the story, Hweiru.."
She scratches her head: "That's all I remember.."
Wuxian pinches his nose to hold in a sneeze. He lets go when he feels it pass but it happens suddenly and the blocks go flying everywhere. The room was filled with silence for a few seconds until Wuxian and Hweiru erupt in laughter. He was finally able to sit up and pull his daughter into a crushing hug: "You're a good storyteller. It helped me figure out something I was worried about. Thank you."
Hweiru: "Will you tell me a story now?"
Wuxian kisses her head and smiles when she sighs happily. He sees Wangji smiling while staring at them after just entering the room and smiles back: "I will tell you about the greatest love story since the beginning of time.."
.