Soul bonds

Living memories

Lan Xichen rang the bells, slowly, diligently, at a constant rhythm.

His nose and fingers were bleeding and he had already spat blood several times. He had never thought that ringing those tiny bells would be so draining. He felt dazed. He felt a thousand needles pricking his lungs. Yet, he did not falter. He kept on ringing the bells.

Then he saw her... Dressed in the traditional Lan dress, as regal as a queen – Lady Lan Yi. She smiled at him as she sat down, summoned her zither and stated to play. It was a melody he knew by heart – the Song of Clarity.

He felt a surge of energy flowing from the zither towards him. It rose and enveloped him. He focussed on her soft smile and kept on ringing the bells.

Everything changed around him. He found himself in an icy cold cavern with Lady Lan Yi. He kept his hands steady as a thousand of pictures unfurled on the cavern walls. Moments from the past were being displayed at a frantic speed. They were probably the memories of Lady Lan Yi. It was just too much for him to process.

He watched without watching, knowing with a guilty heart that he was not doing justice to the gift of Lady Lan Yi.

He tried to speak but he felt too weak to articulate a word. It was as if every fragment of his Qi energy had been sucked by the Spirit bells. He could not feel his feet or his body. His hand just moved as a reflex and his brain was muddled up.

He heard a soft voice within himself,

"Xichen! Still yourself and absorb whatever I am giving you. Don't fight to understand now... These are important parts of my memories; I hope they will guide you as the leader of the Lan Sect. To Wangji, I will leave this zither... It is only in spiritual form here. He will have to find it in the Black Mountain caves... I don't know if we will meet again but it gives me great joy to see that this generation is bolder; I wish I was part of your world... but I am already almost gone... And yes... I also have a something for CangSe's son... though I can't tell if it is a gift or a curse... Ask Wangji to bring him when he comes to get the zither..."

The voice was so soothing; it lulled him in a sort of dreamlike state where he found himself all alone sitting under a tree in a vast plain under a clear blue sky with grassy patches stretching up to the horizon on all sides. His only anchor were the spirit bells in his hand which his was ringing constantly. His mind was blank and he felt nothing.

...

Long after QingHeng Jun was gone, Lan QiRen sat at his table, trying to sort out his thoughts. The tea had long run cold.

The emptiness in his heart was too painful.

As he listened to the chiming of the bells, he thought about his father, the former Lan Sect Leader.

He always saw his parents as a perfect couple. His mother and father had a very strong marriage. Lan QiRen had no doubt that they loved and respected each other deeply although they was no romantic love between the two. This was a union planned between their parents before their births. They had been betrothed since childhood; they grew up together and studied at the same school; each knew what was expected of the other. It was an alliance between sects and they acted their parts impeccably. There was no emotional drama that he often saw between those who were romantically engaged, nor the great tragedies that were so famous among the Lans who dared to love too much. Although their life as the leaders of the Sect was very eventful, their marriage was peaceful and fulfilling.

After a night hunt in the Central Plain, the former Sect Leader Lan had returned with a very strange ailment – the ability to move his feet was almost gone. It was with his sheer cultivation power that he had been able to walk independently using two walking sticks. Mother Lan always made sure that there were two Lan disciples wherever her husband went in case the latter needed support.