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30 - Research

When we entered the library, Wei Ying seemed...almost lost. It was as if he didn't know which sections of the library to look through.

"I have a confession," he said, "I am usually hardly ever allowed in here...or it used to be that way...Madam Yu thought I was too smart for my own good and only allowed me to learn the basica from the instructors. Uncle Jiang would sneak me some books here and there, even some of my teachers...I always avoided coming her because I would fear getting punished by Madam Yu. I was only in here one other time and she punished me pretty badly. I never even told anybody about what she did."

"What did she do?" I asked.

"She..." Wei Ying showed me his hands and rolled up his sleeves. There were old scars on his hands and wrists, "she would give me paper cuts, and she would use a blade too. I don't know how I managed to hide it from everyone else, but I did."

Xiongzhang was walking by when Wei Ying explained to me. He was mortified by what he heard and even looked at his hands as well, "why not say something?" Brother asked.

"She threatened my life," Wei Ying said, "I was also young so I didn't know any better."

"She will never be able to hurt you again," I assured him, "and it is okay if you don't know your way around. We will still look."

"What are you looking for?" Brother asked.

"We wanted to look into finding a way to use the Yin Iron against Wen Ruohan, or find something that could give us some leverage," Wei Ying said, "I think we have some music scores here, though I don't think they will have the same effect as they would in Gusu. It was just an idea to come look here and see what we have here in our sect. I was telling Lan Zhan that I was not able to come in here much so I will have a harder time finding what you would potentially want."

Brother nodded, "why don't I help you."

"Really?" He asked.

"Of course, it is an idea to try to find something to help us out," brother said.

"I have to ask, that sword from Xuanwu's cave?" Wei Ying asked.

"Destroyed," I answered, "resentful energy was too powerful for it to be kept around. It was properly destroyed by Sect Leader Nie, Jiang, and my brother."

"Oh," Wei Ying said.

I couldn't quite tell, but he seemed, slightly upset that it was destroyed, "you do not seem happy about it," I pointed out.

Wei Ying looked at me and Xiongzhang, "it's fine, but it is just that I wanted to look into it, mostly because I wanted to know why resentment effects me so much."

My brother grew concerned, "what do you mean?" He asked.

"I started noticing when I first lived on the streets, that resentment...helped me somehow. After I was attacked by a group of dogs, resentful energy suddenly started appearing around me and it helped keep anything dangerous from getting to me. When I was in Biling Lake, it helped me again, and I could...manipulate it somehow. It almost seemed natural but it never effected my body as I had Wen Qing check me over. I admire her medical skills and she said that I was fine. She also said whatever resentment is stored in my body is docile until I am threatened to an extreme extent. It's kind of frightening me because if anyone else knew, they would think badly of me. I don't want to be bad."

"Have you tried to get cleansed?" Brother asked.

"I played Cleansing after we fought Xuanwu. Wei Ying had a fever so I tried to help keep him comfortable and calm. I thought he was fine," I said.

Wei Ying suddenly knelt down in front of me, "please do not hate me!" He said bowing, "I don't want to be this way, but it's just how it is. I'm sorry."

Brother and I immediately helped him up, "Wei Ying, please do not cry," I said, "I do not think any different of you. If you want more information on why the resentment acts kindly to you, we can try to find answers but please do not feel the need to apologize to me, especially when this is something that is beyond your control."

"Wangji is correct, and he and I will not discuss this with anyone else. We will help you if you let us," Brother said, "we can spend a few days here in the library doing some research on what we can do to fight against Wen Ruohan and also look for ways to help you, okay."

Wei Ying nodded, "okay."

I pulled Wei Ying into a hug, "I Love you, I hope you know that."

"I love you too," he said.

I caught my brother smiling out of the corner of my eye, "Ge?!" I warned.

"What, I am happy for you," he said, "I'm going to go look around."

Wei Ying giggled before going to a section and started looking. I then went to do some research as well. I brother had found some books on music scores so I decided to try and find something that would possibly help Wei Ying. I first looked over at Wei Ying and saw that he had a few books out so I decided to go see what he found. It ended up being books on charms, talismans, and spells. I started to look in this section as well and found a couple books on different cultivation methods.

As I looked through them, I noticed the books had marked pages. Checking the first marked page, it intrigued me. It was on preserving the Qi and golden core and keeping them protected from harmful energy. I saw that it was a type of spell, and it seemed like it could have been used. Was this something important?

"Xiongzhang, Wei Ying, I think I found something important," I said.

The two came over to me and looked at the page, "Qi and golden core protection. It's as if it is to keep resentment from harming the body," Brother said.

I looked at Wei Ying, "may I check something?"

He handed me his arm. I channeled some energy through him and felt it. He was protected. If he has resentment stored in his body, it cannot hurt him because of this charm.

"He has the charm mentioned in the book," I said, "is this why he isn't effected?"

"If Jiang Fengmian knew of this he would have potentially helped keep him safe from it, unless there is something else that we do not know," Brother said.

"That is true, Zewu June, there is a lot about my adopted son that I think is time to come to light. But I ask to keep it between us," Jiang Fengmian said as he entered the library.

"Of course," he said.

Whatever Jiang Fengmian knew, meant that there was something way more to Wei Ying then we could ever possibly know, and we were about to find out what that is.