WangXian Forever 5

Chapter 70 Better

Wei Ying was staring at the fire when he felt himself being pulled closer. Lan Zhan kissed the top of his head.

"What is Wei Ying thinking about?"

"Those two."

They both looked over to where one sister sat meditating, while the other was still prone and unmoving, lying next to her.

"Zhitiao has changed, hasn't she?"

"Mn."

"But it's going to difficult getting her sister to change, too."

"Mn."

"Do you think I should go talk to her?"

"Mn."

"Okay." Wei Ying stood up to leave, but he bent and kissed his cheek. "I lo-"

Lan Zhan turned his face and caught his lips, kissing him in a way that made him forget his own name. When he was released, Wei Ying blinked, still dazed.

"What was that for?" He mumbled.

"Wei Ying is loved." But Lan Zhan was smiling smugly.

"I'm sure I love you more."

"Impossible."

"Wanna bet?" Wei Ying grinned back, delighted.

"Stakes?"

"Oh my! My husband is a gambler!"

Lan Zhan went to grab him, but he twisted away, laughing.

"Wait till I tell Uncle about you!"

Lan Zhan watched him run towards Zhitiao, his face softer and filled with more than love.

Wei Ying skipped to the circle of red bodies.

"Isn't it time to go to sleep?" Hongse asked him, with a teasing look in her eyes.

"Isn't it time to meditate?" Wei Ying answered back with a cheeky grin.

"Yes for both questions...so why are you here?" Her tone became serious.

"I need to talk to her." Wei Ying was looking at Zhitiao.

"Good luck with that. Besides, it's not her you need to worry about." Hongse was staring at the other, unconscious woman.

"Trust me, I know." Wei Ying squared his shoulders and walked past the red circle.

Zhitiao opened her eyes, when he sat down next to her.

"You haven't told me everything, have you?" Wei Ying said, but this time, he was being sincere in his kindness.

"What do you mean?" She asked him, openly.

"Well, two weeks ago, you'd have happily killed me, with a smile on your face. I think I deserve to know what caused you to change your mind."

She looked up at him, sharply.

"I was an idiot. I see that now. It is only by the grace of our Mother, that she allowed me to stop. To stop when I did, and not commit another crime. A worse one." Zhitiao stared at her own hands, the shackles crackling blue. "Even by not doing anything special, just by living your life the way you do, it's important. You have taught me that there is another way, that I can change my life. And hers."

"You love her very much." Wei Ying observed.

"I would die for her." When she looked up, she had tears in her eyes. "My sister is so much more innocent than me. But we've been through so much together, even when we were sent on separate missions, we'd find each other as soon as we could. But...I'm scared."

"Of what?" Wei Ying took one of her hands in his.

The simplest touch, yet she found it so comforting.

"I don't know if she'll listen to me. She was always impressionable, not like me. I did as I was told, but Yezi...Yezi believed it. Do you...do you think it's possible?"

Wei Ying felt his heart melt at her trust. So he tried his best to help her.

"Until a person realises, actually realises by themselves, that they are on the wrong path, nothing can be done. Change comes from within, and it can only happen when that person has regret."

"What do you mean?" Zhitiao looked confused.

Wei Ying thought of Lan Zhan. When he had confessed about his regret at not being able to support Wei Ying more fully. Nightless City was a painful part of their past.

"Regret happens when the chance to be able to change anything is taken away by force. When there is no room for anything else but regret, and then they are left with the burden of guilt. If your sister can't change, or won't change, it's not your fault. People's paths sometimes veer off into the unknown...and all we can do in the end, is our best." Wei Ying stood up to leave.

"Please help me to stand?"

"Of course."

"Thank you. You have given me the courage to tell her some truths she probably won't want to hear, but I shall do my best." She smiled, for the first time that night.

"There must be a reason why you both were born together. You must trust in that, trust in the Universe." Wei Ying hugged her again. "I meant what I said. Despite our age difference, I feel as if you are an older version of Li XiWang. It doesn't matter to me that you've seen more sunrises, passed through centuries more than myself."

"Then, what should I call you? I have never had a male relative before...and it feels wrong to call you father." She asked, shyly.

"How about Shidi?" Wei Ying said, after thinking about it for a while.

Zhitiao brightened immediately. "That's so much better. How did you come up with that?"

"It's because we're both learning." Wei Ying beamed at her. "I've always been the elder one, so it gives me a chance now, to be your fellow disciple on this journey of ours. Where we can learn together."

Zhitiao smiled back, much happier. "I...thank you."

Wei Ying nodded, feeling the gaze of his other half, becoming heavier.

"I better go, or someone else will want to join this party."

"He is very special to you." Zhitiao said, looking over at Lan Zhan, who was preparing to come over.

"Yes, he is." Wei Ying wondered at his simple words. Just three, and really, only the first one said it all. He waved and scampered back to Lan Zhan, who visibly relaxed then.

Zhitiao looked at them for a moment. Whatever the stars had in store for her, she was grateful especially for this one gift, this chance.

There were no coincidences in life, this is what she firmly believed. Their arrival into hers signified change, and Zhitiao was going to do everything in her power to embrace it.