Dust & Gold

14

Quick note:

Italics — quotes from the original book MDZS

***

"I don't know what I can tell you, I was in town to have some time for myself and I didn't realize I was out past curfew so I just found a bench by the lake and hung out there for a while. I noticed something off about the water so I flew over the lake to get a better look and used a light talisman to help me see. There were dozens of them, maybe hundreds," I explained.

"Hold on, you were going to sleep on that bench, weren't you?" Lan Zhan asked.

"I don't have much money on me. I had enough to buy food and that's it. I don't have enough for a room. I'm used to sleeping outside as I lived on the streets as a child. It's not important right now. Right now, those ghouls are going to cause a problem for those who use Biling as a passageway to transport goods and even other people. It's dangerous for anyone out there who doesn't know how to handle them," I explained.

"Wei Ying, you have your token on you that I gave you?" He asked.

"Ugh, yes," I answered.

"That token allows you to buy things too. It will be put onto a tab for the Sect and it will be under my name. You can use it whenever you need to. And it can also be used to call me, you know that right?" He explained.

I shook my head, "how am I to know these things?" I asked, "all you told me is that it gave me special privileges. You did not specify."

"Sorry," he said.

I sighed, "I don't have time for this," I said and hopped on my sword again and flew back over to Biling Lake.

"Wei Ying!" Lan Zhan called for me, "it is late and we will talk to my brother about this in the morning."

"I am not waiting until morning," I said, "I've dealt with water ghouls before, so go away."

"Why are you pushing me away suddenly?" He asked.

"I am not pushing you away, I just want to get this issue resolved," I said, "you can either help me or you can leave! I am out past curfew anyway so I cannot enter the sect until morning."

"I would allow you to enter," He said.

"And take punishment?" I asked, "no."

"You won't have a punishment," he said.

"Liar," I said and pulled out a blank talisman. I used it to create a couple spirit capturing nets. I had a brown bamboo flute on me and I started to play to lure the ghouls into the nets. It took several minutes but I eventually got them cleared out. Lan Zhan took them to dispose of them. I then went back to my bench near the lake and waiting for morning. I didn't expect Lan Zhan to come back, "what are you doing?"

"Sitting with you," he said, "I don't want you out here alone."

"Lan Zhan, I am used to being alone," I told him.

"You are not alone anymore," he told me.

"You could have fooled me!" I said loudly, "where were you earlier today when I needed you? You walked out and I felt it was a mistake to tell you everything. I sat in my room alone crying because I didn't know where you were. I get you needed space but you didn't come back to see me. If I hadn't come back for help for the water ghouls, you still wouldn't have seen me!"

"I am sorry," Lan Zhan said, "when you shared your story it was like I could vividly see it all. I could see you as a little boy begging for that woman to stop...I wasn't there...I wish we had met sooner so you didn't have to suffer so much."

I scoffed, "whether we met sooner or not, I still would have been abused," I told him, "you said you wanted to protect me from her. How can you? You couldn't handle me talking about it, how can you handle her?"

"I will not walk away like that again," Lan Zhan said, "if I break my promise, you have permission to punish me however you wish."

"I don't want to punish you," I said. I had a jar of Emperor's Smile hidden under the bench still so I took it out to drink.

"Alcohol is forbidden," Lan Zhan said.

"Inside the sect, I am not inside the sect right now, am I," I told him and took a drink, "this tastes better than the wine I created in Yunmeng."

"You made your own wine?" Lan Zhan asked.

"I created wine using Lotus pods and their seeds. Lotus Mist," I answered, "I have a similar recipe that isn't alcoholic so kids can enjoy it."

I don't known what it was about this bond between us and how it works but I knew one thing was for sure that this man was beautiful. He was so beautiful that it just seemed so unreal. From what I can see, beside Lan Zhan's lips the transient glimpse of a soft smile that resembled sunlight reflecting over snow.

"What else can you do that I don't know about?" He asked.

I was taken out of my staring when he asked. I cleared my throat and answered, "Probably a lot of things. I like making charms, talismans, and weapons. I guess I like crafting things in general as my brain works better that way. It's hard for me to sit for several hours in a lecture but if you ask me to sit down and make talismans, I can make dozens within a few minutes...I can make barriers and arrays too. I already found a weakness in your sect's barrier and I am working on improvements for it."

"What weakness?" Lan Zhan asked.

"Want me to show you?" I asked. He nodded. We went back to the main gate of Cloud Recesses, "this is a talisman I created called Devil's scatter or a butterfly talisman. Watch," I tossed the talisman at the barrier and out burst dozens of little Fire butterflies, doing so created a hole within the barrier of the sect, "see, just this simple talisman can make a small hole, just enough for someone to sneak in."

"Looks like aside from the water ghouls, we also have to talk to Xiongzhang about improving our wards," Lan Zhan said, "but I appreciate you showing me this."

I shrugged, "sure."

"Wei Ying, I will allow you to go back to your room and sleep. You don't have to worry about punishment. You are my fiance after all," he said.

"I don't know," I said, "what would I have to do if I were to take a punishment?"

"Write the rules one hundred times," he told me.

"That's it?" I asked, "I thought I'd get whipped or something."

"Flogging and whipping is only for major offenses. Minor offenses are just writing rules. We don't beat our disciples. It's rare that we whip anyone," Lan Zhan said and pulled me into his arms, "and you will never have to worry about a whipping or a flogging again. No one will ever touch you like that again."

I nodded, "if you are allowing me to go, can you walk me back to my room then?" I asked.

"Of course," Lan Zhan said and pecked my lips before taking my hand and walked me through the sect to my room. He kissed me one more time that night. He wasn't all that gentle this time. He shoved me back against the side of the house as he pried my mouth open with his tongue. I moaned upon contact. I could tell that this was his way of telling me that he was serious about being with me. Especially when he bit down on my bottom lip hard enough to draw blood.

"Mnn," I said and managed to pull away, "easy, my lips aren't food."

"Could have fooled me," Lan Zhan said, "they taste sweet."

I huffed out a light laugh, "good night Lan Zhan."

"Good night, I will come get you for breakfast in the morning," he told me.

"I am holding you to that," I said and slipped inside. I leaned against the door as I locked it shut and let out a sigh of relief. This man was definitely going to take some getting used to. I understand that he needed space from what I told him about my past but he should have known to come find me after a little while. He should have come to me and talked. I'm hoping he can keep to his words this time. I am tired of false promises and broken trust from people I thought I could count on.