BOOK 5. This is mainly a love story following the couple through their first meeting and going on to finding out about each other, they survive a few difficult situations and have to deal with other problems along the way. Crime, violence, becaus...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Evening was approaching, the day had flown in, and had been productive in planning out how to solve some of their problems but not all. The contractor who wanted Yunlan dead was still a mystery, which is something they could attack at full strength after Wei's injuries were healed.
Yunlan went for a walk around the library on his own for a couple of reasons, firstly he wanted another chance to look at the painting with the orb and the other reason was to take his time to study the paintings that they ignored on their way out before their coffee break. Wei was glad to see him go, it gave him time and peace to read the book searching for answers without interruption and he pulled Yunlan closer to kiss him lightly before telling him to leave.
The library lights didn't help much after the sun started to drop below the horizon but they gave off enough illumination for safety where Yunlan was walking, and he ran up the spiral staircase to the third floor, hesitating as he passed the Synaesthesia painting, wondering why Da Qing had turned away so quickly. The colour pattern reminded him of older paintings he had seen in a gallery once by Van Gogh, except this one played tricks with your eyes and seemed to move if you stared at it for too long, maybe that's why the cat didn't like it, and he walked past.
He stood in front of the Black Robe image with the golden orb and examined every little detail but couldn't see anything out of place. Shen Wei looked magnificent in his robes and the mask was beyond beautiful but he could see why Da Qing felt intimidated with just one stare.
He looked closer at the orb admiring the gold flakes in the black round marble,. some of which dissolved into the black,.. others were thicker and stronger,.. standing out more,.. distinctive in their pattern,.. making the black more patchy,.. with the shades of grey sneakily hiding behind the thicker branches of gold,... and the darkest of dark visible between the thin twigs,... tiny leaves visible if you looked hard enough or came closer,... until all you could see was the round black shape directly in front,... to the side and behind,... and the voices became slightly louder... and more recognisable,. causing Yunlan to search in their direction.
He was in a busy shopping mall full of people rushing to get home from the supermarkets, the clothes shops, the chemists and Chief Kunlun was hurrying to get to the expensive jewellers shop before it closed, and Yunlan followed him at the same speed. He'd received a call to say that the orb was ready for collection and he wanted to collect it before Wei finished his classes for the day, it was a surprise gift. It was old and in need of repair, Wei was given it as a gift a very long time ago but the glass had a small crack and Kunlun had brought it here, to the jeweller who inserted a holographic image of Yunlan inside, which only worked in Wei's hands.
Yunlan watched as Chief Kunlun approached the shop only to find a hold up situation, someone was trying to rob the shop, holding a female customer hostage while he threatened the staff to hand over the money. The gunman was too nervous and jittery, the gun he was holding could go off too easily, the woman was in danger and the chief couldn't stand back and do nothing. He contacted the mall security team and after identifying himself, they emptied the area of shoppers and radioed the report in to the police. Yunlan followed as the chief approached the shop and acted as if he knew nothing about the hold up, and had walked in inadvertently just to collect something. The manager realised that it was only an act because he personally knew Kunlun/Yunlan.
Through smiles and charisma, he managed to convince the thief to take him as hostage to escape instead of the woman who would slow him down and he swapped, freeing the female customer and moved to exit the shop. One of the mall's security guards came too close and was spotted. Thinking that the chief had set him up, he fired and shot Kunlun twice, turning his back on him as he stood at the door to make his escape and never saw the victim draw his gun before he hit the floor and fire back, killing him instantly.
Yunlan knelt down beside the chief and watched as the jeweller slipped the orb into his inside pocket without payment as Kunlun's eyes slowly closed. Yunlan's vision became a blur of colour, a mixture of noise, and eventually peace, silence except for the steady beep of a monitor and he was in a hospital room with Kunlun and Shen Wei sitting beside his bed. Yunlan had seen enough, he had guessed what was going to happen and he didn't want to be here, he couldn't handle seeing what Wei was facing and this was only once, one occasion, but the orb held him there and he had to stay until it released him. He paced the floor continuously, turned his back and looked away, pretending not to listen.
He watched as Lin Jing entered and couldn't speak, only nodded to Shen Wei and left.
He watched as time froze and the guards appeared in full Black Robe and waited until Wei arose to join them, dressed in black, all kneeling in their last salute and slowly disappeared as Wei retook his seat.
He watched as Kunlun said his last goodbye and Wei left, numb and dead inside.
The hardest thing was when Wei arrived home and entered his bathroom, forever the tidy house and slit his wrists but was stopped by a familiar face from the Enigma Room, saving his life and removing the Black Robe spirit to survive in someone else's body, at the request of the volunteer who wanted his lover to survive, even if it meant forgetting everything, and him.
Now the orb could let him go and he felt the marble floor of the library beneath his feet, where he was standing in front of the painting of Black Robe, the orb was gone as if it had never been captured by the artist.
Yunlan sat down on the cold marble, he didn't know what to think and felt very tired. Wei had lost him many times, he would not ask him to wait and search again, it seemed too cruel, this time if Wei wanted to join him, he would not try to stop him by any kind of persuasion.
He left the library and climbed the stairs to the bedroom. Wei was still reading and watched him enter coming over to sit beside the bed and he put the book down, waiting for Yunlan to speak but he couldn't. Wei tapped the empty space on the bed and Yunlan slid over to his side and lay down cuddled in close, wrapping his arm around him. He was content just to feel the warm body beside him and Wei's fingers running through his hair as he closed his eyes releasing a couple of tears. Shen Wei patted his back in a soothing manner, he knew that the orb had triggered a hidden memory from one of his past lives and which one it was, probably the worst one he was ever likely to see.
Someone else was working in their circle and he didn't know who it was. Wei never put the history book or the whip out in the library, he did write a letter but not the one given to Yunlan. He never put out the watch or knew where it came from but he had sensed something about the painting before and during the memory replay.
Whoever it was, seemed to be revealing things to Yunlan possibly to strengthen him, so far he had not harmed him physically and Wei could not even make a guess at who it could be. He let Yunlan sleep because his next obstacle would be a difficult one to watch. He remembered all to clearly the last two power transfers which involved pain and fear. The key people were in place and all they needed now were Chu's crystals.
He thought seriously about the person with the contract for Yunlan's death. It was someone from his world and they knew of Yunlan. The only ones he could think of were the last of the leaders who had anything to do with the drug manufacture during the war, but that was so long ago. Were they killing every Yunlan because of his ancestor's role in stopping the drug or was it something else and directed at someone else. By killing every Zhao Yunlan who came into the world through time, they were punishing Black Robe emotionally for an eternity. Two possibilities or maybe the one reason and the killing was to punish both, they had to know about Shen Wei therefore they were as old as him.
If he could find when the first murder took place, it might help put a time stamp on the reason.
