Every Lifetime I Fall {COMPLETED but undergoing revisions}

Chapter 86: Fourth Life - Strangers to Friendship

"Miss Ming Yan, I brought you some congee." I shuffled my feet across the smooth floor and set the tray with the bowl of hot congee onto the table.

Ming Yan looked up at me. She was sitting on the bed, deep in thought. I was sure she was concerned about her grand uncle, Sect Leader Qie.

I should try to be extra nice to her.

"I heard you eat a vegetarian palate, so I prepared the congee with vegetable stock and added some mushrooms for flavor."

"Thank you, you're too kind," she muttered. I could tell her heart and mind was missing. She was deeply troubled and didn't pay any attention to anything happening right in front of her.

"I'll help you sit at the table here." I walked over to her side. She raised a hand, and I lifted her up. Slowly making her way to the table, I set her down gently onto the stool.

She sighed heavily, staring at the congee without any intentions to eat. I stood beside her with clasped hands. Her wounds were healing but she had not been eating as much to supply her body with nutrients. I was worried her wounds would take longer to heal if she did not eat.

Sitting down in the stool next to her, I said, "Miss Ming Yan, I see you're already full."

She turned to look at me with confused eyes. Her pretty eyebrows creased together, almost meeting in the middle.

"I think you have a lot right now on the inside of your body and that's why you can't intake anything more," I went on. "So the only way to fix that is if you cleanse it all out."

"Cleanse? How do I do that?" She asked.

"By talking. Just talking about what's going inside your mind, your heart and guts."

"Talking..."

"Mm. You know, I'm a great listener. Back in my village, I was able to cure my sister's poor appetite by listening to all the things she held inside in her heart."

"You have a sister? Back home?"

"Uh, yeah. Both my parents and sister live in Pingfan village."

"You have a family, so why did you follow Yang Zi Huo here to Bleak Night?" Ming Yan's aura of dismal turned into curiosity. At least now she wasn't so absentminded.

"Well... it was because Master saved my life. The situation back home... wasn't really best for me to stay. I followed Master here, and..."

"You love him." Ming Yan said it before I could.

"Uh..."

Is it awkward that she's aware of my feelings for Master? Is she at all envious?

"I can tell from your eyes."

Everyone can see that it seems.

"I have someone like that. Someone I look at the way you look at Sect Leader Yang."

Listening to her speak, I leaned in with receptive ears.

"Song Wei Long." She said his name with the utmost sorrow in her voice. The pain of yearning but also restraint was apparent.

"He's no longer the man I once knew. After the battle with Bleak Night, he's secluded himself from me. He's struggling, and I don't know how to help. And I know I'm hurting him by seeking out Sect Leader Yang's help, but Tuan Jie Sect cannot win against Wicked Mist. Not after the loss of going up against Bleak Night."

She's worried about Tuan Jie Sect's leader Song Wei Long. Her childhood friend, I remember. So she loves him.

"I blamed Yang Zi Huo for hurting Wei Long. But I know this is a matter that I cannot solve by making them forget the past. This hatred is too deeply rooted in the years before our time. And now my grand uncle has been implicated because I involved myself with Bleak Night. Wicked Mist is another threat that I cannot fight against."