The Pieces of You

Where the Heart Lies

Once they exited the room, Ke Xing noticed the broken vase was scattered across the hall and it covered the floor in harmful fragments. Wen Ke Xing frowned and called out to Zhou Zi Shu, causing the man to stop and look back at him questioningly. "Ah Xu, wait." He hurried in front of the male and was careful not to jostle Chengling as he kicked the shards out of the way to create a clear path. There was a small sound behind him, but Ah Xu didn't say anything and trailed after him without complaint. 

The door was open when they arrived, no doubt the result of Gao Xiaolian's hurry, and they stepped over the threshold. Wen Ke Xing was about to set the unconscious boy on the bed when he noticed the covers were damp with sweat. "Ah Xu..."  

Zi Shu glanced at the sheets and then him with concern in his eyes. "Will you be okay?" 

Wen Ke Xing nodded hurriedly and tried to give Zi Shu a reassuring smile. The male began to strip the soiled covers and change them out from the shelf in the corner, all the while peeking at Ke Xing to make sure he was not struggling with the young man. 

Ke Xing didn't notice because he was staring down at the boy in his arms. The blood had stopped spreading on his clothes but his face was pale, and he was groaning in his sleep. For one so young, his heart was already heavy with loss, and it hurt Wen Ke Xing to see something so familiar. 

The doctor entered the room as Zhou Zi Shu finished with the bedding and Ke Xing set Chengling on the bed gently. After arranging his hands at his sides, Wen Ke Xing stepped back and stood beside Zhou Zi Shu with his arms crossed, his brows furrowed in worry. 

Zi Shu seemed to read his mind and reached out in a rare initiation of touch to place a comforting hand on Wen Ke Xing's shoulder. It jostled something free inside of him and he lowered his head to look at the dainty yet strong hand. He knew those hands were usually cold, but the night before they had been hot and trembled on his body. Now they emanated a soothing heat better than any fire and it warmed him from the inside out. 

The doctor finished with the bandages, left some medicine, and departed. Zhou Zi Shu's hand slid off his shoulder and skimmed down his bicep, brushing his fingers as it fell. The touch left behind a smudge of blood on the male's fingers and he grabbed Wen Ke Xing's wrist in alarm. "Lao Wen, are you hurt?" 

The question pulled Ke Xing from the precipice of his thoughts and he glanced down. "Ah...no, it's his." He dropped his hand and continued to dully look at the form on the bed. 

In the space of a exhale, life really would take away what people held so dear. Reality caused an ache to spread in his chest and he swallowed thickly, casting his gaze to the floor. The reappearance of the seal in the cultivation world and the subsequent deaths sat on his shoulders like the weight of a thousand lifetimes. The stark truth of his part in this family's deaths was painful so close to the consequences of his actions. There was blood on his hands and imprinted on his skin from a life of bitterness. He brought his hand up and the golden glow of the lanterns darkened the crimson on his hands. "Ah Xu, am I an evil person?" 

The male beside him sighed and gently put a hand around his raised wrist to coax him forward. Zhou Zi Shu pulled him to the water basin that rested on the bedside table and dipped a fresh cloth in the water. The only sounds in the room was the drip of water from the cloth as Ah Xu wrung it out and the hush of their breaths stirring the air between them. Zi Shu's touch was careful and tender on his hand. "If your heart is kind, you are not evil." 

Over the course of the past night his cold and calculating heart had been slowly thawing. It started slow with a gradual tug and warmth in his chest, but at these words his eyes closed and it spread throughout his veins in an even heat. He was enveloped in a comfort that he had never truly known. Opening his eyes, he gazed at Ah Xu's illuminated profile. The male was concentrating on cleaning Ke Xing's fingers and his eyelashes fanned out elegantly across his fair skin in feathery arches. The light danced off of his features and wispy strands of hair fell over his temples gracefully, further accentuating his beautiful features . He was delicate in so many ways but Wen Ke Xing could see his heart was strong.