WangXian Forever Book 8

Chapter 99 Rumi

SiZhui, Jin Ling, Li XiWang and Rumi entered the Jingshi, bringing more food with them. Both Lan Zhan and Wei Ying welcomed them warmly and they sat around the little table serving each other.

For Lan Zhan, this was one of the best parts of his day.

During the time that Wei Ying was not around, he was going through the motions without any care. In that time, SiZhui's needs took precedence over his own but if he ate, it was because it was his son's time to eat and so on, the same with sleeping and learning and all other chores to do with staying alive.

In a way, the meditative nature of the routine of living, helped numb his pain because otherwise, he would have sought blessed relief on the edge of Bichen.

But now and ever since Wei Ying was back, his heart brought him a fulfillment of joy even with mundane tasks and Lan Zhan was...happy.

He was happy he could sleep, next to Wei Ying. He was happy he could eat, with Wei Ying along with all the other activities he did, with Wei Ying.

Even now, he made sure that SiZhui and Wei Ying were fed the largest pieces of tofu, and if SiZhui handed his to Li XiWang and Wei Ying gave his to little Rumi, that was their business.

With the recent separation still in everyone's mind, this time of sharing dinner together was even more precious and joyful. Naturally, the rule of silence was observed with a pinch of salt, because Lan Zhan had promised himself that if he ever got to hear Wei Ying talk again, he would never think of silencing his mouth ever.

And, he loved to watch his family eat, watch Wei Ying fussing with the children as they ate.

But once they finished, today would signal a temporary change.

All the dishes were packed away and SiZhui and Jin Ling offered to drop everything back at the kitchens because they intended to visit Jiang Cheng again.

"Is it bad that I sort of prefer him like this?" Jin Ling had said and then blushed harder than a ripe apple. "If you tell him I said that, I'm going to call you a liar!" He pointed to a giggling Wei WuXian. "Just that there's less shouting...it's kind of peaceful."

SiZhui pushed him out of the door before he could give his uncle more ammunition.

"Okay children...we have to talk about something serious now." Wei Ying said, as soon as the door closed behind them.

Lan Zhan was rubbing his back, something both the children noticed.

Li XiWang went immediately into Lan Zhan’s lap, pulling his arm around for safety.

"Are you going away again? Can we come with you?" She asked hopefully. "We don't mind going on holiday, do we Rumi?" She encouraged, giving him a wide grin.

"Well actually...I'm a big believer in listening to people, even if they're children." Wei Ying explained. "You know, as cultivators, we have to go on night hunts regularly...but this is different."

Both Li XiWang and Rumi sat straighter and then Rumi changed his mind and climbed into Wei Ying's lap. Wei Ying hugged him and kissed the top of his head, secretly marvelling at his scales.

"WingAnLaZhan?" He asked, looking from one to the other of his fathers.

"We're going to explain everything as we know it." Wei Ying told him patiently. "But, you have to do your part too...alright, Sweetheart?" And because he couldn’t bear it, he kissed Rumi's head again.

"Father, you can tell us anything, right Rumi?" Li XiWang encouraged him again, and Wei Ying understood that, because Rumi trusted and loved her too, this might be easier to get his point across.

"WingAnLaZhan?" Rumi asked again, a little confused.

"Your part is to trust us, especially when we tell you that we love you both, very much. We want to keep you with us forever, until and if you decide to leave at any point in your lives. But then, and even after that, there will be a place for you both here and here." Wei Ying touched his heart. "If there is anything you don't understand, you can ask us, alright?" He waited until Rumi looked at him again and nodded.

Sign language helped this son when words seemed to confuse him.

"What we are concerned about...it hasn't happened yet." Lan Zhan told them. "We wish to protect you and that's why we are thinking of doing something...which may hurt us a little bit."

"What?" Li XiWang's burgundy eyes grew big and round.

"You know the sleeping sickness Demon...? He's dead now, but he worked for some other Demon. We found out why they wanted to take Rumi away." Wei Ying continued. "His boss knew about Rumi's mother and father...and he thought Rumi's mother has left something for him. They wanted to go somewhere else but they needed a drop of Rumi's blood to activate the array."

"Blood?" Li XiWang was horrified.

Rumi was watching her and feeling scared.

"It won't take much, probably not even a whole drop...but our main worry is how many people have they told about this place and what will happen once they want to find Rumi again?" Wei Ying tapped his nose, thoughtfully. "Rumi...how much do you remember about your parents?"

Rumi thought carefully about what Wei Ying could mean.

He couldn’t really remember anyone before WingAnLaZhan came along. And then he was scared that why couldn’t he remember? What were his parents like? And what had happened to them?

His mind was quite hazy and he wondered what these new parents thought...whether they had some idea of where his parents might be.

"What are you thinking about?" Li XiWang asked them after more than a minute's silence.

"I know this is drastic...but I was wondering if we could try Empathy. On Rumi." Wei Ying said, apologetically.