Soul bonds

Lotus seeds

Lan Xichen lay on his bed, starring unseeingly at the beautiful ceiling delicately carved with nine-petal lotus motif. His mind was racing and his heart was pounding in his chest.

He had not yet said anything to Nie MingJue and was wondering how to break the news to him. For some reasons, he did not want to say anything to Nie MingJue; one of the reasons was Meng Yao. He was not comfortable knowing that he could have been in contact with his Jie. Qin-Jie had died of an unknown disease. He recalled that the warden had mentioned that she had been cremated and her ashes scattered in the lakes; it was feared that she might contaminate others. Meng Shi also said that Qin and Li had their own house in town; then why were Qin and JingYi living at the Cherry Blossom House when Qin was sick? Another question that tormented him was that no one acknowledged the existence of JingYi, not even Meng Shi. There was never any mention that Qin had a son. He wanted to ask Meng Yao about it but his instincts warned him against it. He wondered if it would be worth it to talk to Li-Jie – she could not even speak. He doubted that she would allow him to use empathy on her; in any case, it was highly inappropriate. The poor soul had already suffered a lot. He would need a good reason to visit her. He would have to think about it.

Warm teams rolled down, wetting his pillow.

"Jie, why did you go? I failed to find you... I am sorry I failed you. I was too young back then to protect you. Now, I am too late... I will take care of our JingYi. He is a beautiful child. He looks just like you... He has your eyes... why did you leave Jie? Why didn't you wait?"

His ramblings did not cease during the night. Lan Zhan and Wei Ying were returning to their room from their nightly escapade when they heard his cries of pain and rushed into his room. They found Lan Xichen in a pitiful state, at the feet of his bed.

"Ge... what happened?"

Lan Zhan saw the anguish in his eyes and immediately raised a privacy barrier. Lan Xichen broke into sobs and screams. He moaned; he moaned his broken heart; the death of his love, his soulmate.

Lan Zhan did not say utter a word. His brother was in pain and needed solace. He was there to comfort him.

Wei Ying felt that this moment was a very private moment and wanted to leave the two brothers. Lan Zhan signalled him to stay. He sat down with Lan Xichen and gave him his lap to cry. He summoned the Wangji and started to play to soothe his brother's heart.

Wei Ying removed the Chenqing from his sash, sat next to them and followed Lan Zhan. They started with a heart-wrenching duet; then the notes became softer and softer. The sobs died eventually but the Lan Xichen's tears flowed unstoppably until his eyes were dry; his eyes remained glazed and lifeless as he gazed into emptiness.

Pained seeped out from those eyes which always shone with love and kindness. Lan Zhan had never seen his brother so devastated. Yet he refrained from asking any question. He was too numb to ask anything.

Wei Ying, on the other hand decided to break the ice. He reached out and check Lan Xichen's wrist.

"Elder brother..."

"A-Zhan, A-Ying! Thank you for tonight..."

"You can always count on us Elder Brother! When you are ready, we will be happy to hear what you have to say... in the meantime, you have lost a lot of energy... If you can sit up, I will bring you lotus pods... we just plucked a few tonight... the seeds are tasty!"

"A-Ying, I am sorry..."

Wei Ying glanced at the feet of the bed and found the big bunch of lotus pods they had stolen earlier that night. He picked a fat one and started peeling.