WangXian Forever 4

Chapter 45 Fountain

After the hustle and bustle of the busy town, Wei Ying was glad for the quieter roads. There was a peacefulness that slowly made itself known in the hush of the wind in the tall grasses, in the lull of inactivity soothing their tired minds.

Wei Ying hardly ever suffered from hangovers, but unfortunately, the great Hanguang-Jun did. He never made a fuss about how he felt, but Wei Ying could see it in the tightness around his eyes, the paler skin, if that was possible, and the slightest sheen of sweat beading on his beautiful forehead.

So their pace was slower on purpose, an excuse to enjoy the sound of the little animals scurrying in the undergrowth.

Wei Ying was listening intently, when he heard the sound of something that shouldn't be there. He stopped walking, tugging on Lan Zhan's hand to stop him going onwards.

"Listen. Can you hear that?" They both cocked their heads, concentrating.

The sounds came again, louder this time.

"Frog." Lan Zhan said.

Wei Ying wiped his forehead and gave him a kiss to make him feel better, ever conscious of the way he was feeling.

"Exactly. Why would we hear that, here?"

The children came back, when they noticed that their parents were no longer with them.

"SiZhui, why can we hear frogs, when there doesn't seem to be any water source?" Wei Ying asked, eyes sparkling with curiosity.

"I'm not sure," he replied, walking to where the noise seemed to be getting louder.

Li Xiwang held his hand, running forward to catch up. Soon, it was all they could hear. They followed the sound and came to a clearing.

Hundreds of frogs were singing, if you could call it that. The little green amphibians hopped all over the ground, over their feet and seemed to be converging at one place.

Li Xiwang knelt down and let one climb onto her hand.

"He's so cute. Xiao Qingwa*, will you be my friend?" She giggled when it ribbited.

SiZhui edged forward. He pointed to where the frogs had gathered.

"There's the water." He said.

It must have been a beautiful fountain whenever it was first made. Now the stagnant water was filled with algae and dried leaves. Little tadpoles swam under the surface. The whole structure was carved from stone, crumbling with age.

In the middle, a figure rose out of the murky waters. The statue was of a woman holding a jug of water. Had the fountain been working, water would have poured from the jug into the wide basin.

Li Xiwang put her friend on the side, and started gathering the algae that had formed on the top, to the ground in an effort to clean it somewhat.

Wei Ying stopped her getting her hand dirty, and showed her a talisman.

He muttered something under his breath and threw it at the fountain. The jug started pouring water, slowly at first only a trickle, but as the talisman powered up, a steady downpour erupted, clearing the algae and the leaves overflowed out of the main body of water.

Soon, the fountain shined with clear water.

Li XiWang clapped her hands joyfully, with Wei Ying encouraging her to wash them in the clean water.

But the moment she touched the clean water, the statue came to life.

Li XiWang stumbled back and luckily, Wei Ying caught her just in time.

"Oh my!" She spluttered.

The statue bowed with one hand, and in a deep voice began speaking. She was directing her speech towards Li XiWang and Wei Ying.

"Immortal one, welcome. I must thank you for your benevolence, in return, I must warn you, for danger lies ahead."

"Who are you?" Wei Ying asked her, shielding Li XiWang from her gaze.

"I am Shui Rouchong*, guardian of the water city." She bowed again.

"Water city?" Wei Ying asked her, looking around.

"Yes, this fountain lay at the gates of our city, but decades of neglect have rendered it into ruins. Now, only the foundations of our way of life remains."

"What danger?" Lan Zhan asked.

"Jiaoren. They will not understand. Too much bad blood." She reached down and picked up something from the bottom of the basin, handing it to the little girl.

Li XiWang examined the coin; it was not made from any metal but it shone like abalone, catching multitude of colours in the light. There was the faintest outline of what looked like a dragon.

"This will help you."

Wei Ying looked at her when she stopped speaking and realized that she had turned into stone again.

"That's so strange." Wei Ying murmured.

"Mn." Lan Zhan looked at the coin before giving it back to Li XiWang, who put it in her pouch with the conch shell.

Li XiWang waved at her friend as they left.

"Father? Could it be a mistake, looking for the Jiaoren?" She asked.

Wei Ying was already wondering this very question. Originally, he thought that they had to find the Jiaoren, that possibly, they held the link to explaining who Li XiWang was.

And, what if they didn't want to be found?

Of course, she was his daughter, first and foremost. But he knew better than anyone what it was like not to have roots, to know where your existence began, to have something definite to hold onto.

"Li XiWang, let me tell you something." Wei Ying crouched down so he could look into her eyes.

He knew Lan Zhan would wait for them, but this was more important.

"We will always be your parents. Nothing is going to change that. I just thought it would be good to find out more about your roots. Nothing else. If you want to go back home, right now, I will support you. There is no reason to go forward, if you don't want to know more." He smiled at her kindly. "You are mine and Lan Zhan's daughter, forever. We will support whatever you decide."

"Okay." Li Xiwang put her arms around his neck. "I trust you, father. I want to know too, but I'm scared."

Wei Ying hugged her back tightly.

"We are here with you, little rabbit. There's nothing to be frightened about. You have three great cultivators to defend you, and already, you are a strong fighter by yourself. Remember? You even beat Uncle Cheng."

"Yeah, I did." Her voice already sounded stronger.

She stood back from him but held onto his hand.

"I want to find out. I feel as if we've come so far, and if we go back home now, I'll never find out. I kind of want to know more about them."

"Sure? It's never too late to change your mind, you know that, right?"

"I'm sure." Her voice was firm now.

"Then let's go."

A/N

*Xiao Qingwa means little frog

*Shui Rouchong means water nymph