Rosa: A Wangxian Reincarnation Story

A Clearer View

Meng Yao lay on a bed in a guest room, He tried to relax, but he was terrified, body shaking and waxen. 

Lan Zhan and Lan XiChen entered, and Lan Zhan sat on a straight-backed chair, upright and unyielding. Despite the body of Alain, the attitude was all Sect Leader Lan. Meng was under no illusion that his life was being held precariously, in the hands of someone who despised him. He raised his hand up for a brief moment.

"Do want to change your mind? I will never force another human being against their will."

"No." The whisper was determined. "In my wallet, in the pocket of my hoody, there is a picture. It is of someone who no longer shares memories of our pasts. There is a letter that explains my reasons for approaching your group. If I die during Empathy, read it then and help him. He has only me in this life and is ill. He is an innocent person. Please, I am begging you. Do not let Xue find him."

Lan Zhan nodded, and Meng Yao held out his slender arm. Lan Zan placed his two fingers on the pulse point and began.

Meng closed his eyes and the trembling eased as Lan Zhan entered his stream of consciousness. Keeping his own mind fully closed, Lan Zhan jerked his head toward the discarded sweatshirt. 

"Is that ethical?" Asked XiChen.

"No, but look anyway. There is too much for us to risk."

Lan XiChen removed the wallet, handing the picture of a pleasantly handsome, although gaunt-looking man, to his brother. Expressionless, he looked at it and handed it back. 

"The note says, 'Save him. Xue Yang must never find him. You will know him when you meet him. I dare not say his old name in writing in case it is intercepted.'Take all the sect leaders with you, XiChen, yourself , and Nie Huaisang.'  It has the name of a clinic in Richmond and its location. That is all. So this man has connections to us? Strong enough that he must be hidden? And Meng has been protecting him."

Lan Zhan looked over at the sleeping man. "It appears so. We will soon find out." He opened the connection.

"Meng Yao, I will begin the session with a question.  Are you for us or for Xue Yang?"

"For you. "

Lan Zhan affirmed. "Truth."

"Why?"

"It is a debt that I owe you all. I think it will be the fate of my lifetimes for all eternity."

"Then let me ask another question. Who is the man in the picture? I do not recognize him.

There was a deep sigh. "You looked."

"Of course. We leave nothing to chance anymore."

"He is dear to me. He is unaware of his former identity. He chooses to forget during each reincarnation."

"Do you reincarnate around him each time?"

"Yes."

"What reason?" 

 "At first, as penance. Now, more. He would hate me if he knew the truth, so I hold it in. Since he does not want memories, I retain them all, for him in case he changes his mind. I aid him as I can."

"I promise we will protect him."

Another sigh, this one of relief. "Thank you."

'Meng Yao, before I take you deeper; before I pry as I must, do you trust us enough to tell us his original name? The one we knew him by? "

"You will find it out anyway. I trust you.

His name was Nie Mingjue."

There was a sharp, painful gasp from Lan XiChen. He swayed as he tried to absorb the news. 

"How? Why protect a man who hated you?"

"What I did to him shattered his mind and core. I have chosen to be by his side until he is healed enough; to be his eternal caregiver. I keep him protected. I buffer him against reminders so his lives are productive and happy. And if he recovers enough and chooses to remember, I will beg him to summon Baxia and have him take my head. The right is his and not anyone else may have it."

"I am going to prepare to fully enter your mind. Rest a moment. This will not be pleasant for either of us. It will play out to me like a movie and I will have access to anything I will need."

"So you will see anything you choose. Lan Zhan, my...childhood...It was worse than anyone knows..."

"As was mine. I will treat your memories well."

Lan Zhan disconnected from the sleeping man and turned to his stricken brother. "Lan XiChen. What is your wish? I can stop now."

"I will need to go to him, to Nie Mingjue."

"He has made his own decision to forget. He will not know you. It is better to say nothing for now. Wait until I scan Meng's mind and glean any information possible. Then we will tell Nie Huaisang together. We cannot just barge into a stranger's room and remove him without Meng with us. Like it or not, they have been permanently entwined for many lifetimes."

Lan XiChen laughed bitterly. "I cannot allow Meng to assume that blame alone. I chose to protect him against my sworn brother's anger and caused that rift myself. I should have stepped aside and let Baxia fall as Mingjue wanted it to. It would have saved more lives. It would have prevented the smearing that Wei Ying suffered. I have only myself to blame for this. I will be patient and step back until we can go and get him and bring him to safety. For Mingjue's sake. Not Meng's."

"Then go and meditate. Calm yourself and begin to plan. Richmond is 70 miles from here. We will need to be meticulous on this one."

Meng had been right. Not only was his childhood filled with horrors, but Meng's adolescence had been as well. A different sort of abuse continued when his father began his own special torments. Abandonment, pain, scorn, and suffering were part of his daily existence. And Lan Zhan was sickened. Seeing it as it unfolded was soul-searing and with it , seeds of understanding he did not really want, began to form. Hate is harder to maintain when you do not see a devil, but a young mind and body being slowly and systematically shaped into a weapon for a sick woman's vengeance. 

Empathy was given that name for a reason and it is hard to allow it that reason when you wish to hate the individual whose mind is being searched. \

He forced himself into the last few years and watched as he began to groom Xue Yang as his own weapon, one that was finally defeated with Lan Zhan's own hands. Meng Yao was being truthful. He wanted to become Lan Zhan's weapon this time, and the Sect Leader would use him well. Only this time, Meng would be a willing weapon with a loved one he also needed to protect; his own former enemy, Nie Mingjue.

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