BOOK 10. There are two tales at the beginning. Zhao Yunlan is searching for a lost artefact while Black Robe is searching for the same thing in a different world. One story is partly an illusion, while the other is very real and when they merge...
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Yunlan felt comfortable but he had Shen Wei cleaning and dressing his shoulder which was strange. He treated him with kindness and was gentle in his movements. Yunlan thought that maybe a servant or a medic would have been looking after him, not Black Robe, the prince, Shen Wei.
"You're a complicated man your majesty. Is this work not beneath your status, looking after some injured person?"
"I'm going to ignore that last remark Zhao Yunlan, because the drug we gave you doesn't treat sarcasm," and Wei continued to dress the wound unaffected by his words.
He was almost finished when a guard entered the room behind him, asking if he required anything. Wei kept his back turned towards him because he had removed his mask which was visibly lying at the bottom of the bed. The guard knew that the prince would not turn around and had no feeling of insult when he asked for some water for Yunlan to drink.
"Yes My Lord, and anything for you?"
"Maybe some tea please, I will be sitting here for a short while. Thank you."
The guard dropped to one knee in respect before he left. Yunlan could see how out of place his last remark had been and he couldn't think of a way to apologise, so he kept quiet instead. Shen Wei's tea arrived but he put it aside to help Yunlan drink first, before he could relax and talk to him.
"How long have you been a policeman Yunlan?"
"It feels like a long time sometimes, but I've had luck on my side. I'm told you only met Black Robe two years ago, how did that happen?" Yunlan asked the prince.
"The last host died unexpectedly, he'd already had a stroke previously and there was nothing they could do when it happened again. I was the next descendant. They said that afterwards his partner took ill and went into a coma, so he was taken to one of the private hospitals to be cared for until he awakens or dies, and that was two years ago. Two of the host's previous medical staff volunteered to look after him, two ladies. One is called Gelan and the other is Ava."
Yunlan never asked the name of the partner or his age because he felt as if it would be an intrusion into someone's private life which was ironic in the circumstances. He studied the young man in front of him wearing the dark robes, he looked as if he was younger, possibly about twenty five and wondered how old was the previous host when he died, but Shen Wei answered when he saw the questioning look on Yunlan's face.
"You wanted to know about ages, and yes I can read minds but your expression told me. Black Robe's previous host was old but he looked as if he was thirty. His partner was almost fifty when he was admitted to hospital and as far as I know, he's still there in a coma and no, I've never been to see him, but I will when all this is over." He promised Yunlan as he looked at him sadly, and watched as Zhao Yunlan disappeared again and he knew where he would be going. He didn't fully understand how he could come and go as he slept, but knew that he would return to help him.
