WangXian Forever 4

Chapter 42 Malediction

Wei Ying stared at his son.

"What do you mean?"

"I've seen this place before. I know about the temple, and I knew there was a lake here. It looks exactly how I remember it." He replied, still holding his head.

"Are you sure? You grew up with the Wen families in Qishan." Wei Ying told him gently.

"I don't think it was this life." SiZhui whispered.

"Look!" Li Xiwang shouted, but it came out as a loud whisper.

In the lake, a magnificent swan was swimming towards them, it's gaze solely fixed on SiZhui.

"SiZhui-ge, I think it's calling you. Look at it!" Li Xiwang told him.

The swan was indeed nodding it's head in a beckoning motion.

SiZhui stood up shakily.

"Just be careful." Wei Ying supported him as he walked forward.

The swan swam closer. It reached out it's graceful neck so that it's head touched SiZhui's hand.

The swan transformed into a man.

Wei Ying was so surprised, he let go of SiZhui and sat down heavily on the floor. Dazed, he looked between SiZhui and the man, who wasn't one just seconds ago.

The man stared at SiZhui with nothing but love and adoration. He knelt as soon as he became aware of himself and his new body.

"Please, my love, my darling Wen Jun. At last we can be together." He said, bowing deeply.

SiZhui stared back, completely confused.

"Who are you?!" He mumbled, taking a step back.

Lan Zhan came and stood next to him, a towering white presence.

"You don't... don't you remember me?" The man looked bewildered and devastated at the same time.

"No." SiZhui replied, firmly.

Wei Ying stood up and moved next to him. Li Xiwang came to hold his hand.

"Why don't you tell us who you are?" He said, cautiously.

"My name is Ming Delun. And your name is Wen Jun. Princess Jun, if I was to call you by your title."

Li Xiwang stifled a giggle.

"You don't remember me at all, then." Ming Delun said, sadly.

"Should he?" Wei Ying asked. "He's obviously not a princess any more."

"But I thought...I thought that's how the curse was lifted." Ming Delun swayed and Wei Ying, who was the closest, caught him.

They brought him to sit at the bottom of the stairs.

"Why don't you tell us everything?" Wei Ying was trying to be kind, because the youth was still confused.

He kept staring longingly at SiZhui, who tried to ignore the way he was doing it.

"I was the son of the Gardner here. The temple remains, but this was a larger group of buildings. The Royal family used this temple for their private use.

"One day, the Princess came to worship by herself, and I happened to meet her. I was not allowed to talk to anyone from the Royal family, but she had requested a certain type of rose, which only bloomed at night, and she wanted a dozen of those to bring to Buddha's altar.

"Unfortunately, we were only able to harvest nine, and the Princess said, I would have to compensate her for the missing blooms. I-I had to agree, because I was frightened of what my father would say. She made me promise to meet her at night, in the gazebo, in the seventh garden of the Maidens.

"When I reached there, she was waiting for me. She sang one line of a song, and expected me to sing the next. This went in for a whole month, and due to meeting every night, we fell in love. We started meeting here, by the lake.

"Night time and the under the glow of the moon, we kissed and promised each other for ourselves, and the Princess vowed, that if her father did not allow her to marry me, we would run away together."

SiZhui suddenly clutched his head, moaning.

"What's happening to him?" Wei Ying sat down next to him, an arm around his shoulders.

"He's remembering." Ming Delun said, his voice full of sorrow. "The night of her confession came, and her father refused to let her go. And then-"

"And then, when she reached the temple where they had promised to be faithful, she looked for her lover, only to find him in the arms of another." SiZhui finished, bitterly.

"You don't understand! That's not what happened!" Ming Delun sobbed into his hands. "Your sister knew about us, she knew we were going to elope. She came there, and she kissed me. I pushed her away, but you had seen too much, and you wouldn't believe me."

Wei Ying was really caught up in this. "And then?" He asked, excitedly. "What happened next?"

Lan Zhan threw him a disapproving look.

"Whaaat? It's interesting..." He mumbled, defensively.

"Then I cursed him." SiZhui said, flatly.

"You did? What did you say?" Wei Ying forgot about being chastised and continued.

"She cursed me to remain as a swan, to live out my life for a thousand years, one for every tear she shed, and I would suffer the pain of being alone for all that time. But Buddha heard her words, and knowing I was innocent, gave me a way out. His Divine Grace appeared as if in a dream, and He said I would only remain in this form until the Princess was reincarnated." He smiled, shyly. "I did not expect her to...to be a man."

"I am no longer that person. We are not tied in any way." SiZhui said, starting to pace at the bottom of the stairs. "The curse has been lifted, and I don't owe you anything anymore. The same goes for you."

"But...but I love you..." Ming Delun stuttered. "I've been waiting for you! Only you!"

"I'm sorry, but I am unable to love you back. I cannot, because... because I love someone else." He did not hold back.

"What? How is this possible?" Ming Delun went to touch SiZhui's shoulder, but he wrenched away from him.

"Don't!" SiZhui warned him. "I don't feel the same way."

Ming Delun looked crushed. "What shall I do now?" He muttered, sitting on the steps with a thud.

"Can we please go?" SiZhui looked at Lan Zhan.

"Mn." Lan Zhan held out his hand and SiZhui took it.

"Should we go, too?" Li Xiwang had slipped her hand into Wei Ying's, and was looking up at him, a mischievous look in her twinkling eyes.

"We had better, isn't it?" He replied.

But it didn't sit well with him that they were leaving the youth here, all alone.

"Wait here." He told his daughter, and ran back to the man.

Li Xiwang saw him talk quickly, gesturing with his hands as he was prone to do, and pointing at the temple. The man bowed to her father, a slow smile transforming his face, and then he nodded.

Wei Ying came back and took her hand, and then they ran to catch up with the other two.

"What did you tell him, father?" She asked.

"Oh, nothing much. I just told him that he should restore the temple if he had nothing better to do. He liked the idea." Wei Ying grinned at her.

"What a good idea!" Li Xiwang said. "Hey...Princess? Wait up!" She called out, giggling openly now.