WangXian Forever Book 8

Chapter 15 Coma

More people were coming out of their homes to watch their little procession as the four men led them to another house.

This one looked much the same as the others, with clear evidence of a young family living here.

XiChen knocked on the door.

A middle aged woman opened it, her eyes frightened when she saw the group of men wanting to come inside. A child was hugging her knees, a little boy.

He reminded Wei Ying of A-Yuan.

Wei Ying pulled out a piece of candy and gave it to him. He looked up at his mother, and she stared at both Wei Ying and then the candy, before reluctantly nodding. The child snatched it up, hungrily tearing into the sweet treat.

"May we come in?" XiChen said, gentler than he would have been if the child wasn't present.

She nodded again and stepped to the side, leaving the door open wider.

"Please, take us to your husband." Jiang Cheng told her.

There was a rank air in her home...not quite of death...but something close.

"How many kids do you have?" Wei Ying asked her conversationally, fishing in his pockets for more candy.

"Three. This is the baby." She said, hoisting it up to sit on her hip.

They found the other two children in the bedroom. Both were girls, one about eighteen and the other around twelve. The eldest one was changing a cloth, dipping it in water and reapplying on her father's head.

"Let us examine him privately." Wei Ying said, giving the candy pieces to the other two.

Once the man's family had left and it was only the cultivators, Wen Ning and Hui Gai left in the room with the sleeping man, Wei Ying closed the door.

XiChen was already checking the man's temperature and his pulse, with a look of concentration upon his face.

Wei Ying turned to Hui Gai, looking quite excited.

"My friend, would you please go in there and see what's up? If you can find out anything helpful at all, that would be great."

For the first time in this trip, Hui Gai mirrored his expression, relishing the thought of being able to flex his powers for once. He came and hugged Wei Ying first though.

"Sure thing, PengYou. Anything for you." And then he vanished.

Hui Gai had learned quite a bit about people's minds in his short time after his release from the dreaded Onyx knife handle. Most of it was via experience which he thought was a great teacher.

The human mind was roughly split in three parts: what had already happened was relegated to the memories part, the present and the future. And right now, they needed to find out what was hidden in his memory.

In this white room, three white doors presented themselves to Hui Gai.

All three looked identical, except for one which possessed a lock.

Hui Gai wasn't sure if that one led to his future, and that was why it was locked, or whether it contained his memories.

But he could sense...something else.

As soon as he had that thought, a fog descended upon him, thick and consuming. The doors were no longer visible even, when they had been right there in front of him just a moment ago.

Hui Gai reached out to Wei Ying.

PengYou...something is trying to stop me from going past his natural defences.

Really, Hui Gai? What does it feel like to you? Is his himself...or something else?

I'm not at all sure. I saw three white doors in front me just a few seconds ago. Only one had a lock.

Past, present and future?

Hui Gai loved that about his quick thinking best friend. He had yet to actually explain anything to Wei Ying to date; the man was smart enough to figure things out and quickly, all by himself.

What do you see now?

Only a thick fog.

Can you blast it away? How much of a hindrance is it?

The real question would be if by doing so, will I be damaging anything? I don't want to cause any kind of permanent affliction.

Well, the way I see it, he's only got one more day left, regardless of what you do or don't do. If he follows that same pattern of the others. What do you think?

I think you're right. If either way he's going to die, then we've got nothing to lose.

Hui Gai was a practical person. Once his decision was made, he went ahead and did exactly what Wei Ying had described.

Just by lifting his finger, the fog dissipated in an instance.

Hui Gai sensed surprise before that emotion disappeared too. He kicked open the door with the lock and found himself in a red room. He saw the man in whose body he currently was inside, lying on the bed.

His eyes were open and he was awake but not conscious.

Hui Gai tried shaking him, shouting in his ears, moving him in all manner of ways, but he neither stirred nor shook himself from the creepy sleep. It was as if he was already in a trance, already in the grip of something else...

....or someone else...?

The instant he had that thought, Hui Gai sensed the presence of something else. He whipped around, and for a split second, he thought he saw something, a shadow...an entity...but it was gone within a blink of his eyes.

He looked around and saw nothing...but then Wei Ying was shouting at him.

Hui Gai...I don't know what you did...but come out!

Hui Gai left immediately, terribly confused.

The room was in an uproar, with Jiang Cheng compressing the man's chest while XiChen kept checking his pulse.

"What happened?" Hui Gai asked a shocked looking Wei Ying.

"We don't know. You were in him, what happened in there?" Wei Ying asked him instead.

"It's too late now," XiChen was saying. "He's dead."