The Rise of the Divine Oracle

Chapter 130 - One/Zero

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Wuxian felt someone breathing close to his face. He slowly opens his eyes to see the smug look on Jingyi's face and shouts, putting his hand on the young man's face to block it: "URG! WHY?"

Jingyi chuckles behind Wuxian's fingers and says: "Did you see it? It worked!"

Wuxian moves Jingyi's face from his line of view to look around the room. Hweiru seems to be feeling better, sitting with Sizhui and eating happily at the table. Jingyi removes Wuxian's hand from his face and bounces excitedly in his spot: "Master Wei, did you see it?"

Wuxian sighs while rubbing his eyes: "Of course I saw! I was there."

Taiho, who was leaning on a wall near Wuxian's bed, says quietly: "The talisman you instructed us to make for Master Wen worked so well."

Wuxian sits up and glares at Taiho: "Why do you sound so surprised?"

Taiho raises his hands, feeling like he somehow offended his teacher: "I'm not! I just.. I've never made a talisman that is activated when one swallows it before."

Wuxian gets up, Jingyi steadies him when he sways a little, and walks towards the water bowl to wash his face: "Creative thinking divides us from those who are simpleminded."

Jingyi follows him, handing him a cloth to wipe his face while smiling from ear to ear. Wuxian frowns over his odd behavior: "Why do you look so smug?"

Jingyi: "Aren't you proud of me?"

Wuxian sighs, patting the boy on the head: "You did good."

Jingyi beams under his praise and turns to poke his tongue out at Hweiru who pokes hers back.

Wuxian goes near his daughter and kneels to her level when she stands up to greet him: "Good morning, Mama! Did you sleep well? Do you feel better?"

Wuxian places his hand on her brow to check her temperature and smiles when he finds it normal. He assesses her closely. She was smiling and her pallor was back to a healthy color. Wuxian adjusts her robes, a few stray hairs and straightens her Lan Clan headband lovingly: "I'm better, if you're better."

Hweiru leans happily and plants a kiss on his forehead: "I love you, Mama."

Wuxian felt his heart almost burst with joy. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he fed off of her clinginess. The feeling of being wanted, needed and appreciated so purely was addicting.

She cups his cheeks with her tiny hands and says: "Father said that you must eat before the meeting."

Wuxian chuckles and nods: "Yes, my Little Princess. Let's all eat together." He gathers her in his arms and they cuddle while eating breakfast. Jingyi would shoot the happy girl in Wuxian's lap scathing looks: 'I get a pat on the head and she gets cuddles. Mini-Goblin stole my thunder.'

Hweiru wiggles her eyebrows at him: 'One point for Little Princess, Zero points for dumb Jingyi.'

Wuxian left his daughter with his son while he made his way to the Orchid room for his meeting. He opened the door and found them all sitting in silence, joined surprisingly by Liwei, and waiting for him while sipping tea. He bowed respectfully and sat next to his soul-bond: "Am I late?"

Zewu Jun shakes his head and pours him a cup of tea: "You are on time, brother."

Wuxian takes a sip and his eyes widen: "This is amazing tea!"

Grandmaster Qiren: "Ouyang Clan Leader brought it as a gift for you. He said it's an apology for his son's odd behavior."

Wuxian chuckles: "Zizhen is a passionate boy. They have nothing to apologize for."

Wangji puts his arm around Wuxian's waist and for the first time, the smaller man did not protest. Wuxian shoots the Finder a questioning look: "Not that I'm complaining, but what are you doing here?"

Liwei leans back and lets out a groan: "I'm bored."

Zewu Jun shakes his head and sighs: "He's hiding."

Wuxian: "From whom?"

Wangji: "His wife."

Wuxian chuckles: "Why? What did you do?"

Liwei throws his hands in the air in frustration: "Nothing! She won't stop nagging me!" He uses a high pitch voice to imitate her: "Liwei, stop lying around like an overfed donkey. Liwei, do this. Liwei, do that. Liwei, be a better human being and stop using up air.."

Wuxian leans closer to Wangji and whispers: "I don't nag you like that, do I?"

Wangji takes a deep breath from Wuxian's comforting scent and whispers back: "No."

Liwei rants on until Grandmaster Qiren places his cup a little harder than necessary on the table: "Silence! If you want to join this meeting, then you will sit properly and speak only when spoken too."

Liwei purses his lips and timidly nods. Wuxian and Zewu Jun smother a laugh over how much he looks like a scolded child.

Zewu Jun takes out the pages they have and hands them to Wuxian. The Oracle looks through them and notices that the last two are in sequence. He reads part of the second page with the third:

"The woman consulted a shaman who told her that the Wraith cannot be touched until the sun casts it's shadows and darkness opens the gates between the realms. They lingered for many years till the sun eclipsed and they finally could hold hands. Many months later, a hybrid son was born. A boy who existed in both realities and none. When the Holy Deities found out what they did, they were furious. The woman was banished for eternity with her chosen mate in his hell while the innocent child was spared. A part of him in our world, another in theirs. They see him but he cannot. They hear him, yet he does not. The son will roam the earth searching for his parents, filled with desperation, seeking answers. His mother's shaman will reveal his past and tell him what to do to save his clan from eternal damnation. He will sacrifice his innocence to anger the Deities but they will forgive him. He will kill, murder and destroy. Yet, they still forgive him. He will create enough chaos to tip the scales of tranquility in the world.."

Wuxian continues to stare at the words before him. After a few silent moments, Liwei comments: "That sounds ominous."

Zewu Jun: "It sounds like his fight is with the Holy Deities."

Wuxian pets Da Ziran: "I don't understand. Why would the Deities banish his parents and keep him here alone?"

The snake whispers to his mind: "He was spared."

The memory of Hweiru desperately seeking him while sick pops into his head. He is filled with sympathy for the child: "If someone takes my daughter away from me, she would suffer. How is this fair?"

The snake: "Where they exist is a worse fate."

Wangji: "Can we find the mother's shaman? He might be able to tell us what he told Biming."

Liwei sighs: "I can try. But there isn't enough information for us to go on."

Qiren glares at Liwei: "You will accompany my son to Jin Sect and collect information about the faceless man. Wangji speaks highly of you. You might be able to see something they will miss when they confront this Biming character."

Liwei opens his mouth to object but sees Zewu Jun shake his head from the corner of his eye. He's already on thin ice after the accidental marriage thing and he shouldn't argue with one of the clan elders. Instead, he bows slightly to Qiren: "As you wish, Grandmaster Qiren."

Wuxian burrows deeper into Wangji's embrace as the reality of what he's about to do dawns on him. The last time he confronted the faceless man was a disaster. Will these bits of information be enough to avoid another bout of sorrow and pain?

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