Beyond Control

Chapter 2

Wuxian took me to a fairly decent inn. The rooms were decorated with lotus flowers and purple embellishments. His room was nicely cleaned aside from one spot and it looked like he had been here recently. There were scattered papers and talismans on the table, some blank, some finish, and some half finished. There was some black cloth nicely folded at one corner and some other stone-like material on another.

He started cleaning up some of the papers but I stopped him, "No need," I told him, "we can just sit on the bed if you want."

He nodded. We both sat down comfortably and we were quiet for a moment, I waved my hand and placed a privacy barrier around the room.

"What ever you say to me, will not leave this room," I told him.

"I feel like even after promising me not to tell anyone, you'd want to," he said with his head down, "it's not a pleasant story."

"I am open minded and I am here to listen. Just take your time and tell me what you want," I told him, "I will not judge you."

He nodded, "I am a bit ashamed to be honest."

"Please don't say that, and you haven't told me anything. What are you ashamed of?" I asked.

He started crying, "it's my fault that Madam Yu and Sect Leader Jiang had died. It was my fault the Wen Sect burnt down Lotus Pier," he said.

"Why would you blame yourself?" I asked calmly, "they attacked the Nie sect for no reason, and they attacked Cloud Recesses for no reason. Why would they suddenly have a reason to attack Lotus Pier of all places? It was a target to begin with, if they used you as an excuse, that was the reason they got their leverage."

Wuxian settled his breathing as I handed him a handkerchief, "during the indoctrination, I went out of my way to annoy Wen Chao. He called on people to recite the Quintessence of the Wen Clan. He called Jin Zixuan, Lan Zhan, and me. Jin Zixuan and Lan Zhan refused to go so I went. Instead of reciting their words, I..." he hesitated for a moment.

"You what?" I probed.

He cleared his throat and his face turned red, "I recited the Gusu Lan Clan principles instead...only the ones that Wen Chao broke," he explained.

I couldn't help but let out a small laugh, "did you have fun at least?" I asked.

"Wen Chao was so mad, and I heard people laughing behind me...I even caught a glimpse of Lan Zhan smiling," he explained.

My brother...smiling?

I nodded, "so what happened?"

"Wen Chao had Lan Zhan, Jin Zixuan, and I working in the gardens as punishment," he said, "Wen Chao came over when he saw I was about to try and talk with Lan Zhan. Lan Zhan had a broken leg, which was caused by Wen Xu during the Cloud Recesses ambush. He tried to keep them from getting to me but I told Lan Zhan to step aside. I was then taken to the dungeons for one night...and I hated it. Wen Chao got information about my fear of...dogs, and he locked me in a cell with a dire wolf."

"I know dire wolves are scary as it is, but why are you afraid of dogs?" I asked.

"Before Sect Leader Jiang took me in, I lived on the streets for a while after my parents died. I often fought wild hounds for food. I'd get covered in bites and one even took a chunk of skin from my leg. Being a little kid and being chased by viscous dogs, that fear kind of stuck. Even if it's just a small puppy, I freeze on the spot," he explained, "my Shijie and Jiang Cheng would always scare them off for me."

'What a hard childhood you've had A'Xian,' I thought.

"Do you remember Wen Qing and Wen Ning when they came to Cloud Recesses? He asked.

I nodded, "though they are Wens, I saw they had no intent on harming others."

"Wen Ning came at some point and used a couple needles to knock the dire wolf out. He then gave me some pills and herbs to treat my wounds but I did not touch them," he told me.

"Why?" I asked sternly.

"I...meant to give them to Lan Zhan," he told me.

I blinked a few times taking in the information. This boy, even after getting beaten and thrown around by a dire wolf, and getting risks of infections, he did not touch the medicine...he wanted my brother to have it for his leg?

"I appreciate you thinking about my brother but you should have also thought about yourself," I told him.

"I'm used to being injured and not having treatment is normal for me," he explained, "I felt his injuries were more important."

Used to being injured? How often did this boy get hurt? And why keep it untreated? After getting a good looking at him and hearing his tone in his voice, I could tell he was being as honest and as truthful as he could be.

I sighed, "what happened next?" I asked.

"Later the next day, we went to go on a night hunt...despite them confiscating our swords...Wen Chao was looking for something specific but wouldn't tell us what. That was when I found a cave. He was eager to go there so we did. Once inside there was a huge drop. Wen Chao pushed me in to see what would happen...Lan Zhan...even with a broken leg...was the first one to get to me," he explained.

"Did you break anything?" I asked.

He shook his head, "no, it was the first time I saw Lan Zhan worried for me though...it was different," he said.

"He won't admit it but he cares about you," I told him.

"Really?" He asked almost a bit surprised, "how do you know that? I always thought he hated me. Even Jiang Cheng tells me he does."

I shook my head with a gentle smile, "he does not hate you. Why do you think he wants to play music for you? And for you to come to Gusu?"

"To be punished," he said, putting his head down, "your uncle hates people like me, so I figured Lan Zhan would do the same."

I frowned...it was something that my brother lacks...communication. Because of the story of my parents, it would seem to be that case but it was not?

"Not to punish you, but to hide you," I told him.

"What?" He asked, "hide me? As to protect me?...but why?"

I wanted to roll my eyes and smack this boy over the head. Knock some sense into his oblivious mind, "That is something you should ask him," I said.