Past and Present

Chapter 22- Sword

   Xue Yang was at his new house when he heard voices. He walked to the sound and saw his sons playing with wooden swords, "Don't you want real ones?"
    "Baba?" The two turned around in surprise.
    "Well? Do you?" Xue Yang asked again.
    "Yes!" Yue ran to him while Chenxing picked up the toys and put them up. He walked to his brother and father and nodded.
    "Great," Xue Yang said, "come with me." They walked to a room where they saw a sword and a book, "These two things were your mother's." He took the sword, "This is Shuanghua, YueHua's sword. Your mother treasured this sword, so one of you will take it."
    Yue stepped forward and took the sword in his hands carefully, "It's heavy."
    "Not really, you're just small," Xue Yang teased, "do you like it?"
    "I feel connected to it," Yue admitted.
    "Chenxing, how about you?" Xue Yang took the sword back and gave it to Chenxing who smiled.
     "I think this belongs to a-Yue," he said softly. He passed the sword back to the boy who smiled widely.
     "Thank you!" Yue took the sword and drew it from the sheathe. His jaw dropped, "Woah." The boy moved it around and stabbed forward with it, testing how it felt.
     "Do you like it?" Xue Yang asked.
     "Yes," Yue replied, "I do."
     "Good, because that's your sword from now on," Xue Yang said.
     "Really? Thank you Baba!" Yue threw his arms around his father's waist.
    "No problem, your mother would want this as well," Xue Yang said, softly caressing the boy's head.
"He said he wants a-Yue to keep it and for me to find one at the mountain where he grew up," Chenxing said.
"Did he say who to go to?" Xue Yang asked.
"Baoshan Sanren," Chenxing said.
"Thought so," Xue Yang nodded, "I'll leave Song Lan in charge while we go. Do you want to go now? Or wait until tomorrow?"
    "Whenever you want," Chenxing said walking away, "I don't mind."  
    Yue turned to his father, "He is very strange."
   "No, he is just like his mother and me," Xue Yang smiled, "he acts exactly like YueHua but a little bit like me."
   "How did you stand Mama then? I would be scared because you never know how he is when he's mad," Yue said shuddering.
    "He barely showed any anger," Xue Yang explained, "he suppressed it all very well. And he never showed sadness either, except with me. Once he cried over the fact that someone called him fat because he was pregnant, it was a bit funny honestly."
    "Mama says it isn't," Yue giggled.
    "Sorry darling," Xue Yang smiled, "I can do something for you later."
   "He says you better," Yue laughed.
   "I will, don't worry," Xue Yang said, "I miss you."
   "He misses you too, and he loves you very much," Yue said.
    "I love you too YueHua, and also do we go to Yiling?" Xue Yang asked.
    "He said to go to the Snow White Pavilion and go north for to the mountain," Yue said.
    "Alright, thanks YueHua," Xue Yang said fondly.
    "He says you owe him more now," Yue chuckled.
    "Sure, I'll give you more," Xue Yang laughed, "go get your brother, we should leave soon."
    "Alright," Yue ran off with his new sword and Xue Yang smiled.
    Xue Yang walked away and went to Song Lan's room, he knocked softly, "Song Lan, I need you to take care of things for a while. Me and the boys are going to go find Chenxing a sword from Baoshan Sanren."
    "Alright, be careful!" Song Lan called out.
    "We will," Xue Yang walked outside where he saw his sons standing there. He ruffled their hair, "Come on, let's go."
    They walked away from the building and went in the direction of Snow White Pavilion. Song Lan had taken them there multiple times, and told them stories of how he trained there.
   After almost an hour of walking they arrived, "He said north right?" Xue Yang asked.
   "Yes," Yue nodded. Xue Yang began walking north with his sons behind him, one holding his sword and the other with a hand behind his back.
    "Chenxing, you walk just like your mother. Did you learn from Song Lan?" Xue Yang commented.
    "No, Mama told me to walk properly so I learned from him," Chenxing said calmly.
   Xue Yang snorted, "He would always get onto me for not walking well."
   "I can see why," Yue teased.
    "Hey!" Xue Yang hit the back the of the boy's head, "Don't disrespect your Baba!"
   "Ow! Sorry!" Yue held his head protectively and smiled. Chenxing shook his head softly and continued walking ahead of them.
   He was a couple of feet away when he heard something from the bushes, he slowed down and turned to the sound. He squinted his eyes and walked closer to the bushes, "Baba!"
   "Yes?" Xue Yang called back, rushing over with Yue.
   "Look," Chenxing pointed to the bushes and back away.
    Xue Yang drew his sword, Jiangzai, and stood in front of his sons, "Who's there?"
    "I-it's just me," a voice whispered. A figure stepped out and Xue Yang's eyes narrowed.
"Who are you?" He asked the man.
"I am Wen N-ning," the man stammered, and bowed.
"Wen?" Xue Yang raised his sword, "What are you doing here?"
"I-I am l-looking for Young Ma-master Wei," Wen Ning stuttered.
"Wei Wuxian?" Xue Yang asked, lowering his sword, "You are a friend of his?"
"Yes!" Wen Ning nodded, "Do yo-you know where h-he is?"
"I haven't seen him in years," Xue Yang said, putting his sword back in it's sheathe.
"O-oh," the timid man looked down sadly.
Xue Yang took this time to look at the man fully. He was chained up and his hair was a mess, he had black lines going up his neck to his jaw, "Where you...a puppet?"
"Y-yes, Young Master Wei saved me," Wen Ning said.
"Well, it is nice to see a friend of his," Xue Yang said, "I know a place you can go to, my friend is taking care of my mansion so you can go there to get cleaned up. And you can live there for a while."
"R-really?" Wen Ning asked.
"Of course," Xue Yang said, "go south from her then turn left and go straight. You should find a woman or a man there, ask them who they are. If they say they are Song Lan or Qing, follow them and tell them I sent you."
"Th-thank you!" Wen Ning bowed again before running off.
"He seems like a good kid," Xue Yang muttered to himself.
"Yeah, we should let him become a part of the clan," Yue suggested.
"Maybe," Xue Yang said, "but let's let Song Lan be the judge of that. Now let's go."

  Frostflower- Shuanghua (Xiao Xingchen's sword)
Jiangzai-To bring disaster (Xue Yang's sword)