To Run Towards You

Chapter 6

At first there is nothing, not even a leaf stirs in the shadows of the park. The mosaic area is empty, the benches lining the pretty stonework are devoid of life but Shen Wei has long been a patient hunter.

He is also at a disadvantage and he feel every inch of the chains his position had put him into. He is the Black Cloak Envoy and so his jurisdiction is entirely that of Dixing and only stretches into Haixing, as the lives of his people follow that of the sun. Any crime committed to or by a Dixingian citizen is his purview. This however is a Yashou suspect and the only one with any say on what happens, is the Lord Guardian.

If this tsai-lang Yashou makes good on this threat and attempts to hurt or kill Zhao Yunlan...well, he will die and Shen Wei will face any consequence no matter how dire, if it means the owner of his heart lives. Zhao Yunlan must live and Shen Wei will happily die making sure of it.

The only other way he can intervene is if a Dixingian citizen is at risk. That is his right as much as it is theirs to ask for his protection. The law is the law.

So he doesn't react hidden as he is in the shadows when a young man appears. He is wearing a wine red jacket over a black tunic shirt and there is a diamond stud glittering in his ear. Shen Wei doesn't recognize him or rather in his current outfit cannot place him. This he presumes is one of the last two students Chu Shuzhi had mentioned and this boy is either Yashou or he is Dixingian.

Now he is here, Shen Wei reaches out with his power and confirms that Zhao Yunlan is near. All he can do is wait.

There is a rustle of leaves and another figure appears, violently shoving the first man to the ground. The lights placed around the mosaic allow him to see that it is Tao Jin. His fists are clenched and he looms over the first man who sits up quickly, "What was that for!" The man demands.

Shen Wei doesn't recognize the voice either, but tenses ready to intervene in this fight.

"Did you kill Qin?" Tao Jin demands loudly, almost blending in with shadows in his grey t-shirt and black jeans. "You were the last person to see him. You hit him!"

The young man gets up warily watching Tao Jin. "Yeah I hit him, but I didn't kill him."

"Is that why you called me here? To ask about Hou Boqin?"

Tao Jin glares at him. "I didn't call you Wang Xizhi. I followed you. Who are you going to hurt now? I won't let you do this!" The last word ends in a shout, which rings across the quiet space and Shen Wei thinks to himself that this is a strange place for a confrontation.

Someone claps and both of them turn around. A lanky man at least ten years older than either of them steps into the circle of colored tiles. "I didn't expect you." He says to Tao Jin almost spitefully. "You shouldn't have come."

Tao Jin turns to face him fully with the courage of youth. 'And you are?'

The first man, Wang Xizhi looks from Tao Jin to the man opposite him and backs away, clearly fearing for his life. "What is this? Why was I called here?"

"This is supposed be where he murders you."

The words carry through the area drawing all eyes to the man leaning against a young tree as he watches the three men turn.The small spotlight positioned to illuminate the tree, throws golden light on those beautiful chiseled features, deepening the shadows in those perfect river stone eyes.

As if drawn by a magnet, Shen Wei moves closer, his heart sighing at the danger Zhao Yunlan had put himself into. Wondering too if Zhao Yunlan has any back-up and what he plans to do. The man just sneers, "Guardian."