WangXian Forever 7

Chapter 56 Scouts

"Please don't hurt me!" The man scrunched up his eyes until Wei Ying let him go in disgust.

"Who are you?" He repeated. "And why are you following us?"

"I was scared. And I didn't want to travel alone." He admitted. "My name is Xiao Zei."

"Little Thief?" Wei Ying asked him in disbelief.

"Er...yes. It's more of a nickname. Actually, I'm more of an entertainer these days." He opened one eye and grinned.

Wei Ying got the feeling that everything he had seen so far was an act.

"We don't need to add to our travelling companions." He replied, standing next to Lan Zhan, who was already glaring at the tiny man.

"I've seen your giant." He said, a calculating look in his green eyes.

"And?"

"And I can sing about him all the way from here to wherever you're going...or I can quietly walk with you...I mean, it's not like you can stop me from following anyway." He grinned brightly, trying to win them over.

Lan Zhan unsheathed Bichen. "Want to bet?"

Wei Ying shivered at the implied threat, staring at him and swallowing hard, really liking the image he presented.

Focus, he told himself.

Was there anything really wrong with letting Xioa Zei come? He had arrived by himself, through no instigation on their part, and wasn't Wei Ying himself saying to trust in the Universe? A part of him was scared though, because this wasn't just about them. If they allowed Xiao Zei to travel with them and it came back to bite them in their behinds, could he deal with it? Ten souls depended on him making the right decision.

"He's kind of right though." Wei Ying said, sighing softly.

"Mn?" Lan Zhan did not relax his pose, nor look at him, but all of his attention was on Wei Ying.

"Xiao Zei is right. He could follow us at a distance any way..."

"I'll be good! I'll be on my best behaviour, I swear it!" Xiao Zei bent at the waist in a low bow.

"Why are you scared about travelling alone though?" Wei Ying asked him as they walked further in to find the others.

"Well, you know travelling by oneself is dangerous anyway, especially if one finds himself with the wrong crowd. But to pay for my way, I picked up jobs in inns and taverns. Wine houses are the best."

"Yes, they are..." Wei Ying agreed mournfully, delighting the other.

"Ah...so you must know your way around fine wines....anyway, my point is, you get to hear a lot of stories, and news if you hang around enough, and ask the right questions."

Wei Ying nudged Lan Zhan. "See? I told you so."

"But I have a wandering heart, I cannot stay in one place for too long. And I used to have a friend who lived in the South....I was thinking of visiting him. But there's been a lot of talk about an impending war. It's spoken about in hushed tones and quiet whispers...but I believe it."

Wei Ying envied his freedom in the way he spoke, free to do whatever he wanted. But his envy was not because he wanted to live that nomadic lifestyle, but more because it reminded of himself when he was younger. Like the time he was able to run off and join Lan Zhan on the hunt for the other pieces of the Yin Iron.

Youth full of recklessness and freedom, where one did not have to ask anyone for permission, when Elders were there to ask, to take responsibility instead.

Xiao Zei was quiet now.

"Did you originally come from the South?" Wei Ying asked him.

"Yes. My parents died when I was young, and I went to live with an aunt who didn't really want me. I ran away after a while. Grew up on the streets and learned a few tricks." He shrugged nonchalantly. "It's not a bad life, if you think about it. Just..."

"Just?" Wei Ying was surprised at him.

The parallels between his own life and that of Xiao Zei were too similar, and could have ended up being his life if Jiang Fengmian hadn't found him. And with everything that had happened to him in his previous life as Wei WuXian, and his untimely death, he wondered whether it was a good thing or not that his youth was spent in Lotus Pier.

Still, the past was better left where it was, and there was no point in pursuing what ifs. Wei Ying shook off his melancholy and smiled to greet his children.

"Who's that, father?" Li XiWang asked, uncertainly.

"Let me introduce you. This is Xiao Zei. He will be travelling with us for a while." Wei Ying told them.

Xiao Zei bowed to everyone.

"Dunshi?"

"We found ancient boulders and made a kind of cave for him." Hongse told him, eyeing up the stranger. She was busy making a fire with the dry tinder on the forest floor.

"I hope you don't mind him joining us." Wei Ying said, looking at their new edition.

"No. What's one more mouth to feed? It's fine." She told him. She stood up and wiped her hands on her robes before bowing to greet him.

"Thank you kindly." He bowed back.

Dinner was a simple affair and then they laid down to rest. Xiao Zei pulled out a small pipa and began to play something soothing.

Dashi was particularly affected by his music. He came and sat right next to him, intensely watching his fingers as he played, humming under his breath.

Hongse said she would be taking the first watch, and she settled with a tree trunk at her back while everyone rested.

**********

When night fell, they roused, getting ready to start walking again. Xiao Zei was taken with Dunshi. He had never seen someone so big before, and Dunshi was too curious about him, so he picked up the orange headed short man and perched him on his shoulder.

Wei Ying smiled up at them. He could not hear what they were chatting about, but it seemed as if both had a lot to say.