WangXian Forever 5

Chapter 74 Familiar

Lan Zhan reached for his hand, perhaps sensing his agitation. The contact calmed them both.

Wei Ying tried to smile.

"Why don't you tell us what you know? Because right now, it feels like a lot more than either of us. And..." Wei Ying looked directly at Hongse. "You said the term 'witch' was derogatory?"

"It is. Gifted...is better." She replied, a little warily.

"Then please refrain from using it regarding our daughter. She's...she's been through so much, and I...I'd rather not." He added.

Lan Zhan squeezed his fingers gently.

"We don't know too much, but I can tell you this. My Master told us of special cases, ones who were gifted more so than us. Li XiWang shares that trait with her mother, our sister. Zai Shu Xia was exceptionally gifted. I have never seen anyone like her. Her familiar was a sparrow. With the bluest eyes I've ever seen on a bird. Tell me?" Her voice became sharper.

Wei Ying looked at her.

"Did she find this cat herself?"

"Yes...yes, she did." Wei Ying replied, thinking back to that day. "In fact, they seemed to share a bond. Xiao Mao followed her back to our campsite. Sat with her by herself. And," he continued, "they haven't been apart since then."

"Do you know if Bai Hua had a familiar? It's common for the Gifted to want to heal, and she was the best."

Wei Ying tried to sift through all his memories.

"No. I don't think so, but then, Bai Hua is still pretty much a mystery to us."

"It's quite possible, though." Hongse looked thoughtfully at their daughter. "If anyone would know, it will be her killers."

They all stared at the twins.

They looked supremely uncomfortable.

"Ah...maybe it wasn't them..." Wei Ying offered. He looked apologetically at Zhitiao.

"Actually, you are right, Shidi. We were not there...when...when she died." Zhitiao said, looking at her sister.

"And, we don't know exactly. All we were told, was that she had cured the Seventh Dragon King and she needed to be stopped." Yezi blushed, looking down.

Wei Ying stared at both of them. Certainly, Yezi was far more cooperative than before. He had seen her crying too. Was it too much to hope that she might have experienced a change of heart?

"Did Zai Shu Xia have one? A familiar?" He suddenly asked.

"Yes!" Yezi said.

"No! She did not!" Zhitiao scowled at her sister. "Did you see it?"

"I did...actually." Yezi said, softly.

"What was it?" Zhitiao asked, flummoxed.

"A wildcat. Native to our woods. I was with her when she found it."

"I never saw it." Zhitiao declared, adamantly.

"I'm not making it up!" Yezi explained, a little distressed.

"We're not doubting you." Wei Ying told her. "We just want to find out as much as we can. Before we reach her place."

"It liked to hide in the woods. It only came out on special occasions, or if A-Xia asked her to."

"So it was a female?" Wei Ying asked.

Yezi nodded. "And same blue eyes. We all thought it was weird...that your familiars share your blue eyes." She directed that comment to Hongse.

"It might seem that way to you, but if you think that they share a spiritual connection, then it's not that strange." She replied. "The eyes are the windows to our souls, after all."

"So do you all have familiars? And why does Li XiWang's one have two hearts?" Wei Ying asked, curiously.

"They need to bond still." Hongse explained. "It's quite possible that they're the same souls as before. Who can say?"

"But the reason that Xiao Mao has two hearts, is that she can change."

"Change what?" Lan Zhan asked. He was still stroking the child's hair in his lap.

"She can change shape." Hongse added.

"Really?" Wei Ying sounded unconvinced.

"Really. These three days of inedia are proof that she's trying to reconnect. But your daughter hasn't made her peace yet, I think."

"And that's a problem?" Wei Ying sat up.

"You can't connect broken things. Especially in this case." Hongse told them. "There's obviously an issue here. I think Bai Hua has to do stop being...split first. But it's this little one's third day already. If you don't do something soon, I'm afraid the little kitten will die...waiting."

They tried to process what she meant.

"So you're saying we have to force Li XiWang to connect? How is that even possible?" Wei Ying thought hard about how to solve this.

"What was your original plan? When you left your home?" Hongse asked him.

"I wondered about how to go about reconciling Bai Hua with Li XiWang. Up till now, everything points to them being the same. But if I was honest with you, I have no idea how to do it. I would rather not force anything, because it's to do with her mental state. What if it led to her losing control? Or losing her mind? And to what end?" Wei Ying sighed.

"How far north are you going to travel?"

"No idea. We usually do things on the fly, with just the basics of a plan." He replied, sheepishly.

Hongse rolled her eyes.

"What made you take my sister with you?" Yezi asked curiously.

"Two reasons. We thought that her sisters might try to rescue her from our home, and secondly, if she was with us, we could lure the threat away from there." Wei Ying admitted. "Plus Bai Hua kind of told us, in the way of a rhyme."

"Oh? Would you mind repeating it?" Hongse asked, suddenly interested.

"A lone oak tree,
Over land, over lake,
Where we roam free,
Our love, our life,
Is hidden within.

A rainbow at night,
Invisible in daylight,
Concealed to those,
Whose ignorance is pain.

True of heart,
Of mind and deed,
Who lives with grace,
Only he will find peace."

"So we're looking for a lone oak tree?" Hongse asked.

"Yes. My XiChen-Ge said the rainbow at night was quite possibly the Northern lights, and then something to do with Beidou, the big Dipper."

"It will be the full moon in two night's time. Perhaps that is useful, perhaps not. But we would do well to hasten, if it could mean saving that life." Hongse stared at Xiao Mao.