Meng's Revenge: Vol.4 of Life Among Clouds WangXian Series

Seeking The Talisman

Lan Zhan lay on a soft bed. On one side Qing already held Lan Zhan's wrist in her right hand and Wei Ying's wrist in her left. Wei held on to Qinyang's wrist, all connected in a chain of awareness to the Empathizer. Wei was ready for the first clear images of the Talisman. Lan XiChen was on the other side, and he held on to his brother's hand sending a light pulse of energy, enough to calm him, but not strong enough to interfere. This was going to be tricky. They had no idea whether this form of empathy would even be successful, or if it could cause more harm than good to Lan Zhan. Another concern was whether Wei Ying would be able to be untainted by memories of the punishment hall.

Lan Zhan was already in a deep state of meditation before it even started. His emotional state was somewhat fragile considering he was being asked to relive not one but two levels of his lifetime. He was also being asked to share these with three separate people instead of the usual two and one of those people was the dearest one to him in his entire life. His worry about harming Wei Ying had been extreme for days.

Qing and Wei Ying had talked privately beforehand. Her worries were high with fear of the possibility of Wei glimpsing exactly what Lan Zhan wanted to avoid. Wei's reaction was predictable.

"Do what you must. Whatever it takes. He must be cured, and this is the only way. I will handle whatever comes and we will do our best to avoid that. But if something does breakthrough he will never know."

"I hope we can do this Wei Wuxian. This has not been tempted in our lifetime. And we can only do our best. I have spoken to Lan XiChen and to Qinyang and we are all in agreement with you. If it should breakthrough none of us will divulge it to Lan Zhan."

"I know that you will not. My only worry is Lan Zhan. He has an extremely intuitive nature but I think if we are all in agreement we may be able to fool him." And that became their solemn pact.

Qing leaned over Lan Zhan now, her voice low and calming. "Lan Zhan, we are going to start. Are you sure you are ready to undertake Empathy at this time?"

"I am ready."

Qing spoke. "I will now open this to the two other people in the chain. Wei Ying and Qinyang, are you ready?"

The two nodded assent to the question. And it began. All could see what Lan Zhan could see. All could feel what Lan Zhan's hands could feel. All could imagine what Lan Zhan had imagined. And it began with him chained to the wall in the keep. As he twisted around to observe his surroundings, they got glimpses of part of the room. The Talisman behind him loomed large yet the way he could twist and try to see it was difficult He could catch certain edges and certain figures painted in red but that is all he could see with his arms bound behind his back.

It was the first time that anyone other than Lan Zhan had seen Meng Shi. Her resemblance to her son was astonishing; the dark eyes, the dimples, the black hair, the extremely pale skin. Wei Ying was struck by something odd though. The carefully preserved and preternatural beauty of Meng Shi appeared to be enhanced, possibly from some sort of beauty spell. It was preserved at a point somewhere in her early 30s and had never aged since. This was something of note. It could also, very well, be a weapon to be used against her with a spell of his own in the future.

Her voice, so sweet and ladened with venom, sent shivers up and down their spines. Their minds had only allowed them to imagine how terrifying the woman was. Through empathy they were now able to fix a face upon their enemy. It helped clarify but it also increased their hatred immensely. It made it real.

There was a collective gasp from all of them as she dared to reach out and put her hands on him. Wei Ying went pale and felt nauseous as she caressed the Wen burn scar on his chest and then touched her mouth. His fury began to grow, and he forced himself to squash it down. And then without warning as she spoke the words about Lan Zhan and the discipline whip there was a flash, unavoidable, of Lan Zhan in the Punishment Hall.