WangXian Forever Book 10

Chapter 1: New Beginnings

It's close to nine o'clock, and both Rumi and Li XiWang are in bed, watching as their parents sit on either side.

“I'm not sleepy at all!” Li XiWang says with determination.

Wei Ying pats her head gently. “Try anyway, Little Rabbit. Then tomorrow will come even faster!”

“Really?” Her big burgundy eyes turn towards her Father Zhan for confirmation.

“Mn. If you are good, we have a surprise for you.”

“Lan Zhan! You weren't supposed to say anything!” Wei Ying giggles because Lan Zhan is terrible at hiding anything from their children.

“I did not say what it is.”

His ears are so red, though.

“But now she's going to wonder what it is! Little Rabbit, pretend you didn't hear anything!” Wei Ying waggles a finger at her.

She giggles instead. “It's okay. I'm so excited anyway, I feel like I'm already flying! And I'm always good!”

“Time for a story!” Wei Ying says quickly because she's inadvertently too close to the truth, without even trying. “And I have a really great one tonight.”

“What's it about?” Li XiWang yawns, in spite of herself.

“A brave Princess, a hero and a dragon.” Wei Ying laughed at the excitement in her eyes. “Ready to hear it?”

Both children nodded.

“Then, close your eyes and listen carefully.” Wei Ying reached across the bed to take Lan Zhan’s hand, smiling at their connection.

Lan Zhan squeezes it, an unspoken message to tell him to begin.

“It's called the tale of the bird with nine heads. There once was a king and queen who had a beautiful daughter. One day, she was walking in their garden when a powerful storm came and swept her away. The storm was caused by the Great Bird with nine heads, who had stolen the Princess and taken her away to his cave, high up in the mountains.

“The king was very upset and proclaimed throughout the lands, “Whoever brings back the Princess may have her for his bride.”

“A young man had seen the bird carrying the Princess up into his cave, high up on the mountain. The cave was hard to reach, and as he was pondering how to rescue the Princess, so when another young man came there, they decided to lower a basket into the cave. The second man lowered the first into it, and there he saw the Princess tending to a wound on the bird.

“She saw him and motioned to him to hide. When the bird fell asleep, the young man used a sword that was lying on the ground and cut off all nine heads of the beast, saving the Princess. Now, the basket was only big enough for one person, and the Princess wanted to go second, but the young man was kind and made her go up first.

“But before she left, she cut her handkerchief in half and gave it to him, and she broke her golden hair pin in half and also gave that to him. “Look after these gifts well,” she told him as she left. But when she reached safety, the second young man took her away, leaving the real rescuer still in the cave.”

“That's bad! What a bad man!” Li XiWang murmured, snuggling deeper into her pillow.

Wei Ying smiled at the lovely picture they made, with Rumi nestled in her arms, already fast asleep. He purposefully lowered his voice to sound soothing.

“The young man in the cave called out, pleading for someone to save him, but there was no answer, so he decided to explore. There were lots of dead maidens who had been brought here by the bird with the nine heads, and they had died of hunger. On the wall, there was a fish hung with four nails, and when the young man touched it, it turned into a handsome youth who thanked him for saving him.