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After another day off, Wuxian resumed his duties as instructed by Zewu Jun. The older man took his title seriously and planned every visit meticulously to avoid complications before the still unknown timing as to when the procedure will take place.
Zewu Jun took the liberty of requesting the presence of Healer Shi during these sessions so she can examine the ill before being presented to Wuxian. For the less observant, their interaction would look nothing more than professional. But Wuxian is no fool. He sees how his brother leans in when she speaks, how her look lingers when he's not paying her attention or how they both act shyly when they think they're alone. He leans on his hand while sitting on his chair, smirking at the two oblivious love birds. For some reason, he finds himself once again planning another wedding in his head. Maybe he likes weddings more than he wishes to admit.
Suddenly, the world around him starts to change color. He sits up, ready to fight or flee when the whole scene before him shifts completely.
'He's in a village that's bursting with happy occupants. Merchants shouting deals, peddlers running around from one shop to another, mothers sharing afternoon snacks in a tea house while their children are playing outside. A perfect day to a well established community. Wuxian keeps walking. People don't seem to notice his existence. In the middle of the town there is a big well. Decorated with talismans, wish notes, food and coins placed as offerings all around it. Must be a blessed well. He sees a man walking in black clothing, covering his face, approaching the well. Something about this man feels unsettling. The man takes out what appears to be a talisman. Things freeze around Wuxian and he takes the opportunity to move closer to the man. It was not a talisman. The man was holding a black leaf, similar to his golden leaf but burnt to a crisp. The man utters something under his breath, blows on the leaf and tosses it into the well. Wuxian eyes widen when the colors start to fade all around him. People start to disappear one by one until nothing is left but dust and ghosts. The man returns when the deed is done, holding a spirit pouch. He collects what remains and without uttering a single word, leaves.'
"Wei Ying."
Wangji's concerned face was the first thing he saw when the world around him returned to focus. He is still sitting on his chair, blinking at his soul-bond who's kneeling in front of him: "When did you get here?"
Wangji feels that it's safe now to touch Wuxian, so he cups his cheeks and says: "Did you see something?"
Wuxian frowns and nods. His eyes wander around him and sees all the people present kneeling and looking at him with a mixture of shock and wonder. He grabs the hands cupping his face and whispers: "Why is everyone freaking out?"
Wangji: "Your eyes turned fully gold and you were emitting sparks all over the room. When touched by the spark.." Wangji trails off when words fail to explain what he felt.
Wuxian looks worriedly at him: "What? Did I hurt someone?"
Zewu Jun approached them: "It felt magical."
Wuxian stares blankly at his brother: "What's that supposed to mean? Is it a good feeling or a bad feeling?"
Zewu Jun smiles at him: "The most fulfilling feeling I have ever felt."
Wuxian coughs in awkwardness when people keep staring at him with unadulterated admiration: "Um.. how many more people do I have to see for today?"
Lan Ran who snapped out of her daze, stood up and said: "Two more. Healer Shi cleared them. I will go fetch them now."
Wangji stood up and instead of leaving, he stayed by Wuxian's side until he was done. When the last leaf tree withered, he grabbed his soulmate's hand and led him outside, sending his brother a silent request to follow. The news traveled fast. By the time they found Qiren, he already heard of the 'new blessing' that the Divine Oracle has exhibited.
Wuxian sat down and gulped a few cups of water before he said: "It was a vision.. of the future."
Zewu Jun: "How can you be certain?"
Wuxian pets Da Ziran: "She told me."
Qiren stares at the snake: "She told you?"
Wuxian: "When.. the vision ended, she told me that my abilities are now complete. This is what the Earth Deity was talking about when it 'blessed me'."
Wangji: "Seeing the future?"
Wuxian: "Avoiding chaos. The wrongdoings of one individual that will bring the end of many innocent.. I think."
Zewu Jun: "You think?"
Wuxian laughs awkwardly and says: "She didn't say the last part. I just felt it."
Wangji: "What did you see?"
Wuxian tried his best to explain what he saw. There were so many details that were hard to explain with words but he did his best. Zewu Jun: "Do you know when this will happen?"
Wuxian: "No."
Qiren: "Are we supposed to stop it from happening?"
Wuxian scratched his head: "I guess. Why else would I be seeing these visions?"
Zewu Jun: "Do you know where it happened?"
Wuxian closes his eyes, trying to remember if he saw any other distinguished landmarks from his vision: "People were wearing thick clothes. It must be during the winter season. I think I saw Nie Sect flag on the streets. But it's not Qinghe city. I've never been to this particular city before."
Qiren: "We will send Nie Clan Leader a letter requesting a list of cities in his sect with known blessed wells. That should help narrow down the search."
Zewu Jun: "Winter will be here in two months. It will take us a week to reach Qinghe by horse."
Qiren: "Once we receive a reply, I will travel there and solve this problem."
Wuxian shakes his head: "I have to go. It's part of my duty as the Divine Oracle."
Wangji: "Wei Ying, Uncle is more than capable of handling this. You have to rest and receive your treatment."
Wuxian sighs: "I'm not trying to be stubborn. It's my duty. I have no choice."
Qiren frowns: "If we find someone for your treatment before then, your spiritual energy will be sealed. How are you going to be beneficial in capturing the culprit?"
Wuxian feels Da Ziran slide her head under his ear: 'Young oracle, you need not fight. Your duty is to reveal the truth to find justice.'
Wuxian turns to address his father: "I must reveal the truth. Not fight."
Zewu Jun: "That's a vague task."
Wuxian throws his hands up in frustration: "I'm just as confused as you are! Right now I am just a messenger!"
Wangji can feel his soulmate is getting agitated: "Wei Ying, calm down."
Wuxian takes a deep breath then says: "We must travel next month to this city and I must accompany you. It's not something we can control. I'm sorry."
Qiren nods solemnly and says: "No need for an apology. We are just looking out for your health. It seems the Deities have bigger plans for us all. We have no room for doubt at this point. Let me handle the plans for this trip for the time being."
Wuxian bows his thanks to his father and they all left to do their duties. Wuxian walked back to his Treasure room. Minus the vision fiasco, he was actually looking forward to this afternoon. Today is the first lesson he has planned for his kids and unlike most teachers in Cloud Recesses, Wuxian does not deliver dry and boring material.
He steps into what he now called "The Reincarnation Room", which was the designated area for work and experimentation within the Treasure Room. His five students were waiting eagerly for their first class. Wuxian asked them the day before to bring blank talismans without explaining why, so they knew they would be doing something related to wards or summons.
Wuxian asked them: "Which one of you knows how to summon things?"
Taiho: "Like what?"
Wuxian stroked his chin and said: "Let's start with something simple.. a flower?"
They all raised their hands. And he asked them to demonstrate. They all took out their blank talismans and after a few seconds, the room was filled with fresh flowers. Wuxian nods with approval.
Wuxian: "During a fight, one must know the right type of summon to serve the right purpose. Our number one goal is rarely to kill, so a distraction is always a welcomed tactic. During night hunts, spirits and magical beings are viewed as 'evil' when in truth they're deprived of something and are blindly searching for it. An ambitious man would aim to take it down. A smart man would aim to satisfy it's craving."
Wuxian turns to whisper something into Wen Ning's ear and the fierce corpse steps out.
Wuxian looks around and then heads out: "Follow me!"
He led the kids towards the training grounds: "Today will be training in summons while under duress. I want my disciples to think before they kill. Summoning objects and other things most of the time is the simplest solution."
The head disciple sees Wuxian approaching and kneels: "Divine Oracle, I was not expecting you in training today."
Wuxian touches his shoulder in a silent request for him to rise and says: "I needed a bigger space to train my disciples. Do you mind if we borrow part of the training grounds for a few hours?"
The head disciple smiles: "It would be an honor." He moved some of the disciples to the side to create more space for them.
Wuxian stretched his arms while addressing his kids: "The key aspects of this training session are two things: Can you figure out what this creature wants and how fast can you stop it? I will allow each of you only 3 blank talismans to limit your summons and force you to make better judgment."
Wen Ning shows up with an out of breath Lan Ran, who's holding his animal book: "Treasure Wei, you requested my presence?"
Wuxian smiles devilishly at her and says: "You asked to be included with experimenting with Da Ziran. This is your chance." She handed the book to him and he leafed through it to find the animal he was looking for.
Wuxian raised his hand to Wen Ning who promptly placed a rice cake snack on it and stepped behind Wuxian. Ran looks oddly at him. Wuxian: "What? You want me to pass out again?"
Lan Ran frowns and shakes her head. Da Ziran slithers down his leg to the ground. Wuxian closes his eyes while the snake glows, transforming into a white lion with golden mane. She was big, reaching Wuxian's chest in height. Da Ziran roars loudly, exposing her sharp teeth. Disciples all around stopped what they were doing and slowly moved further in fear.
Wuxian almost burst out laughing when he heard Jingyi whimper.
Wuxian pets Da Ziran, who seems to purr at his attention and looks at his young students: "Watch her movement to learn her intentions. Don't slack or she will hurt you. Don't be afraid to defend yourself. She will not be harmed or die. Jingyi, suck it up before you embarrass us in front of the others. Begin!"
Da Ziran ran towards the disciples and the training began.
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