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It's been awhile since Wuxian had a nice, peaceful day. Yesterday was his healing session and he spent most of it calming down and answering the million questions Hweiru had after Grandmaster Qiren allegedly explained to her his condition. The old man needs to reevaluate his methods on how to deal with children. It explains why Wangji and Zewu Jun are emotionally stunted.
Wuxian was laying in bed, between the land of dreams and living. He can feel the sun rays kissing his skin and delicately wake him up. He knew Wangji must have taken pity on him and let him sleep longer than usual. What truly motivated him to wake up was the random music chords he was hearing coming from the sitting area.
Wuxian opened his eyes to see the most amazing thing he's ever witnessed. His little girl was sitting on Wangji's lap while he showed her different chords on his zither. Across from them, A-yuan was smiling and adding a few comments now and then. The look on Hweiru's eyes as she tried playing a few strings with the guidance of Wangji's larger hands almost made Wuxian melt into a puddle of happy tears. He felt a little bit guilty over how rushed their decision to adopt her was. But seeing his whole family together, smiling and enjoying the moment made every tear he shed fighting for that little girl worth it.
After watching them for a few minutes and listening to Hweiru giggle in joy over stringing a few notes together, Wuxian sat up to join his family. He stretched his stiff limbs and put on his shoes before standing up. He regretted the fast movement when the world around him morphed into one giant dark cloud and he crashed into the floor.
Wangji never thought he would miss having a child around. Sizhui kept him going during the loneliest years of his life. This time around, he had a partner to help him nurture and guide this young soul. A combination of his discipline and Wuxian's wild nature will make one amazing human being. This little girl, who is currently looking at him like he hung the moon, will be the love he shares with his soulmate. Wangji's thoughts were cut short when they heard a loud thud. They all turned towards the bed to see Wuxian on the floor and screamed at the same time: "Wei Ying!", "MAMA!" and "Father!"
They rushed towards the unconscious man. Wangji gently pulled his soul-bond off the floor and back to bed, commanding Sizhui to go fetch the healer and asking Hweiru to grab a cloth and wet it for him. The kids scrambled to obey his commands while he gently tried to wake up his soul-bond: "Wei Ying.." He moved his thumb over Wuxian's cheek like he usually does to wake the smaller man. Hweiru brought the cloth and stood back, wringing her hands in worry.
Wuxian eyelashes flutter for a second and he opens them: "W.. what?"
Wangji frowns at him, while wiping his neck with the warm cloth: "You passed out."
Wuxian looked confused: "I did?"
Healer Shi rushes in, followed by Sizhui. She bows hastily to Wangji and takes his place sitting next to Wuxian: "Little rabbit, when will I get a day off so I can miss you a little?"
Wuxian rubs his head: "Lan Zhan said I passed out."
Sizhui can feel his little sister cling to his robes in fear. He remembers how jarring it was to see his father pass out for the first time so he places his hands on her shoulders to ground her.
Healer Shi takes his pulse and checks him over before helping him sit up. The moment Hweiru was in Wuxian's eyesight, he motions with his hands for her to come closer. She slowly makes her way towards him and gently sits on the bed, careful not to be in Healer Shi's way. Wuxian smiles over her hesitation and pulls her into his lap, circling his arms around her: "I'm sorry if I scared you."
Hweiru shakes her head, clinging to him: "Are you better now?"
Healer Shi smiles at them and takes out a pouch: "Your blood pressure is low. Eat this." She hands him a small white rock-like candy and when he puts it in his mouth. It tasted like salt. He scrunches his face: "What's this?"
Shi: "They're salt rocks from the sea. It should help you feel better in a few minutes."
Hweiru looks at her pouch with curiosity: "This will make mama better?"
Healer Shi opens the bag to show her what's inside: "This will make him better, don't worry."
Hweiru puts both her hands into the bag and grabs fists full of salt rocks and puts them in front of Wuxian's face: "Mama, eat this!"
Wuxian and Healer Shi chuckle over the girl's dedication and the healer gently takes the salt rocks out of the girls hands: "One salt rock is enough, little girl. He may have more if he feels dizzy later."
Hweiru nods: "May I have some to give mama if he feels dizzy?"
Healer Shi was impressed by the girl's initiative and handed over a few rocks: "Only if he's dizzy, alright?" Hweiru nods enthusiastically.
Wangji steps closer: "Wei Ying, maybe you should stay in bed today?"
Wuxian scoffs: "Don't be silly. I have appointments to attend to. Besides.." He pets the head of the girl in his lap: "I have a new mini guardian to look after me." Hweiru bows slightly to Wangji: "Don't worry, your Excellency. I will make sure mama is ok."
Wangji smiles at his daughter then looks at Healer Shi for confirmation. She nods at him: "He will be fine in a few minutes." He leans in to place a gentle kiss on Wuxian's cheek: "Don't over do it." Wuxian nods sweetly at his soul-bond before he left.
Wuxian had three things on his plate for today. He had a few healing sessions followed by a meeting to discuss the second page they found from the prophecy book and then he will finally be able to sit with Mianmian and look over the items she brought to help her solve her mystery.
After resting for a few minutes, Wuxian made his way to the Treasure Room with his son and daughter. Sizhui promised to teach Hweiru a few characters a day while Wuxian attended to his visitors. The young boy was more than happy to spend time with his new sister and bond with the smart girl.
After Wuxian dealt with the last sick person on the agenda, Zewu Jun and grandmaster Qiren joined him for a cup of tea. Wuxian sat with his daughter in his lap while Zewu Jun told them what Lan Ran and Liwei went through before arriving at Cloud Recesses. Wuxian couldn't hold in the tidal wave of laughter that followed every aspect of this story. Zewu Jun frowns at him: "Brother Wei, this is serious! Why are you laughing?"
Wuxian points at Grandmaster Qiren who was hiding an amused smile behind his cup: "Father thinks it's funny too. I can't believe that such stupidity could come from Lan Clan members. For once, I was not involved in the drama so excuse me for enjoying the show."
Zewu Jun sighs: "You should see them bickering. It's like they're an old married couple who can't stand the sight of one another."
Grandmaster Qiren smirks: "There is a fine line between love and hate."
Wuxian stealthily hands his daughter a cookie and winks at her. She giggles and pulls his arm around her, creating a cocoon of warmth and safety. He was glad that she recovered quickly from his morning health scare.
A disciple walks in carrying the wooden box that contains the second page. Zewu Jun opens it and Grandmaster Qiren takes it out to examine it: "It has the same spiritual energy signature as the one before it. The text on this one is clear which indicates that it was either preserved or freshly torn from the book."
Zewu Jun: "The finder thinks it was left behind as bait. He believes that the man in dark clothing is called Biming. From the description of the people who saw him, or in this case didn't see his face, we can safely assume that's the man we met in Luxia City."
Wuxian tightens his hold on his daughter: "Biming.." The thought of him brings a shiver through Wuxian's body. Qiren hands the page to Wuxian and he reads it's content out loud:
'.. they fell in love. Many believed that these foul creatures cannot comprehend such deep affection but they met, they bonded and they wished to mate. The woman consulted a shaman who told her that..' Wuxian pauses and frowns his brows.
Zewu Jun asks: "Why did you stop?"
Wuxian turns the page to show him something: "I don't know how to read this character. I've never seen it before."
Both older men leaned to see the word and shook their heads. Wuxian continued:
'The woman consulted a shaman who told her that - cannot be touched until the sun casts its shadows and darkness opens the gates between the realms. They lingered for many years till the sun eclipsed and they finally could hold hands. Many months later, a hybrid son was born. A boy who existed in both realities and none. When the holy deities found out..'
Wuxian frowned when the page was cut off at the end. Zewu Jun: "Does that mean that this Biming character is the hybrid?"
Qiren strokes his beard: "It makes sense. He can do things that are naturally impossible."
Wuxian looks at the page once more and thinks out loud: "We need to know what this strange character means. We find out what he truly is, we can figure out what he's after and stop this monster before he hurts anyone else."
Zewu Jun writes down the new character on a piece of paper and says: "I will assemble a group of senior disciples to search the hidden library for this character."
Grandmaster Qiren looks at his son: "I will accompany you to your next appointment. I have a feeling that these events are somehow connected."
Wuxian looks down at his innocent smiling child who's oblivious to the troubles plaguing the men sitting at the table. With the looming disaster pertaining the Shenhua Clan and the unknown future connected to Biming, Wuxain hopes he has enough strength to protect the ones he loves and survive these trying times.
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