"The Little Things"

Back to the present

"With the Elder's help, I managed to seal away that man's powers." Continued Shen Wei. "He vanished, and I thought that he died. The only thing left was a black mask that must have fallen off his face. I kept it. I thought back then that if he aroused so much fear in me, then perhaps... The beasts were unable to invade this world any more, though some shadow snakes remained. I had trouble hunting them down. Unfortunately, the seal came at the cost of the old herbalist's life. I never even asked for his name..." Shen Wei reached for the glass of water and drank from it. Zhao Younlan was still, sitting with his head lowered, slowly digesting the trials his friend went through at such a young age.

"And now that man is back. He will wait until he is powerful enough. But when he strikes, I need to be ready. This is also why, from now on, I won't contact any of you. You would be... What are you doing?!" Shen Wei asked, startled, as Zhao Yunlan twisted his torso and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

"Don't even dare to give me this bullshit!" the detective barked through gritted teeth. "We are family, and we go through this together, you, me, all of our people, and anyone else if necessary. If you dare do something dangerous alone, I will not forgive you. Is that clear?"

"Zhao Yunlan, just listen to yourself!" there was desperation in Shen Wei's voice. "I cannot risk your life because of something that concerns my past."

"And why the hell not?! Shen Wei," Yunlan's voice was vibrating with emotions. "I know that you could die for me in an instant. I get that. But is staying alive for me too damn hard?!" He looked deep into those dark eyes, feeling his own burning. Shen Wei was speechless. Zhao closed his eyes, took a deep breath, exhaled and let go of the shirt. Then he got up and took his glass of water. He emptied it, trying to soothe the burning sensation in his clenched throat.

He felt Shen Wei's hand find him, and he didn't fight the pull that placed him back on the sofa.

"I will do whatever it takes to live for you. But what will happen to me if you get harmed? Have you ever thought of that? Here," Shen Wei took hold of Zhao's other hand as well and gently pried open the fingers which were clutching the empty glass. "You'll break it if you keep squeezing it like that," he added gently.

They looked at each other for a long time, struggling to sort through their own twisted emotions.

"OK," they said at the same time.

"Ok, what?" demanded, instantly, Zhao.

"I..." Shen Wei wasn't really sure what he agreed to.

"Will you let us help?" asked Zhao slowly.

"Yes. I will."

"Will you keep secrets from me?"

Shen Wei lowered his head, fighting inwardly with himself. Yunlan leaned closer, picked Wei by the chin and forced him to look up. He saw a pair of terrified eyes staring back at him. Something was still not right.

"What is it?"

"If he attacks, I may have to chase him alone. Don't interrupt. Just listen to me first." said Shen Wei, seeing anger and apprehension in Yunlan's gaze. "His power is mind control. He forces others to do his bidding. Often for the pure fun of it. That is also how he gains information. He had tried to use it on me. Luckily, I naturally repelled his power, sensing how evil it was. But I am not sure if any of you would be unaffected. Also, when he goes back to wherever it is, he resides, those portals he creates? Only Dixinians can pass through. If any Haxing human tries... I saw it. You don't want to know."

"You, chasing him anywhere is out of the question. We'll find a way to lure him out and seal those portals. You know how to do it, right?"

"We had used a specific incense, ingredients of which I am unable to tell. The fumes from it made it impossible to create any new portals. Without it, it will be extremely challenging to stop that man from escaping or summoning more shadow beasts."

"Luckily for us, I love challenges," Zhao sat back and reached for a lollipop. "I'll ask our computer freak to invent some kind of energy jammer. Now, how exactly did you defeat that dude?"

"We lured him inside a pre-drawn seal, then I used a sigil on my palm to cut him from the powers of the beasts."

"Do you remember how they looked like?" Yunlan leaned closer, putting the lollipop into his mouth.

"Of course," Shen Wei smiled feebly. "I had learned them well."

"Excellent! See?" Zhao moved back, his right fist hitting the palm of his left hand. He grinned wildly, shifting the lollipop in his mouth. "Now that is what I was talking about! I'll be the decoy, get him to the right spot, then you step in, and my people act as support. Teamwork! Now I begin to finally see a plan A in this mess!"

"We are NOT using you as bait." Shen Wei's cold gaze froze Yunlan's expression for a moment.

"It's... Just a thought. Work in progress. Perhaps we won't have to... Ok, ok, We won't. Stop looking at me like that." he surrendered, staring at Shen Wei's pouting lips. "I could..." He suddenly reached out with one hand and hovered it for an indecisive moment near Wei's face. Zhao looked at his companion's startled expression and then lowered his gaze again to now slightly parted lips. He swallowed hard. "Actually, I can..." He moved closer, seized the unsuspecting man's right hand, and the fingers of his other hand grabbed the hair at the back of Shen Wei's head. He leaned in, feeling their two hearts beating madly, breaths getting faster as the air mixed. Their noses touched,  and he ignored a loud meowing coming from outside the closed window. He allowed himself only a slight pause, his eyelids half-lowered. He moved slowly down, making Shen Wei half-lie on the sofa, and he pressed him down with his body. He felt his temperature rising as Shen Wei used his free hand to embrace him.

 And then, the second, very angry meowing, along with a piercing sound made by a paw clawing the window, forced them to abort their actions. Zhao sighed, then got up from the couch, swearing. He opened the window, and an enormously fat black cat marched in, tail moving angrily from side to side.

"Took you long enough," Da Qing commented, offended.

"You're lucky I let you in at all, you Dead Cat. Seriously I could..." he turned to Shen Wei and saw him sitting motionless, extremely pale, wide-eyed, breathing heavily. He returned to the couch and sat, nonchalantly threw his hand around Shen Wei's shoulder and whispered to his ear. "Sorry about that. I promise to make it up to you."

Wei's head suddenly snapped to face him. "After all this is over, you'd better." The professor murmured back. Then he got up, putting one hand on Zhao's knee for support. He scratched Da Qing on the back and went out, leaving stunned Zhao Yunlan behind.