Strange Illnesses

The bamboo leaves swayed gently in the cool midnight breeze, the air crisp and clear. The gentle moonlight shone down onto a clearing, where a man stood still, taking in the quiet of the forest.

He wore a set of vibrant blue robes, its edges embroidered with gold thread, giving off a sense of luxury. A simple jade tassel hung from his waist, its engraving spelling out the character "Xu". Strangely enough, he was barefooted, toes curling due to the cold wind, as though he had just forgotten to wear shoes before coming outside.

Long black hair was neatly tied up into a knotted half bun, revealing his stunning sharp features, which gave him a sense of danger like a sword left unsheathed. However, since his eyes were closed, as though he was in peaceful slumber, the sense of danger was dampened, giving way to a much softer energy.

However, as relaxed as his facial expression would lead to believe he was, his whole body seemed to be tensed. His left hand clutched a sword hilt tightly, as though he expected to be ambushed at any moment, making the air around him seem a little tense. The sword he was so desperately clutching onto glinted in the moonlight, casting reflections on the bamboo around him.

This tensed energy continued on for an hour, before it was broken by the sound of boots stepping on gravel and a cheerful tune.

A little boy came down the path leading to the clearing, happily playing a tune on his flute. His light blue robes danced in the wind, giving him the air of a cheerful fairy who was blessing the world with his presence. The tune floated in the air, spreading throughout the forest and lightening the mood.

Curious eyes looked around the spooky forest, seemingly not afraid of it at all. Instead, there was an air of childish impatience, like he had done this many times before.

Finally, the boy reached the clearing, standing about an arm's length away from the tense man. He looked up at the man with the same childlike impatience as before, the tune stalling on his flute and fading away.

Seeing that the man didn't react to his presence at all, he pursed his little lips and sighed, putting away the flute by sliding it into his sleeves. As he did that, it disappeared like magic, tucked away in some strange manner.

He then proceeded to cup his hands around his mouth, trying his best to amplify his voice so that it reached the man's ears.

"Shizun! Shizun! You're sleepwalking again Shizun! Wake up!" He continuosly shouted as loud as he could at the man, yet did not make any moves to go near him. He just shouted over and over again, hoping that his Shizun would be able to hear him through the dream like state he was in.

Eventually, he gave up, sitting down on the ground, a massive pout appearing on his face. He clutched his legs tightly to his chest and rocked himself. "Shizun won't wake up again... its getting worse, huh."

He stilled his rocking at that sentence and cupped his hand to his mouth, eyes widening. He shook his head quickly, denying the reality that suddenly hit him.

"No, Shizun will wake up, I just have to be patient. Shizun always tells me that I need to be more patient, after all." He muttered to himself, smacking his face a few times. As he stared at the still man, he tapped his chin, pondering. Suddenly, his eyes lit up and he pulled out his flute, positioning it at his mouth at taking a deep breath.

A cheerful melody spilled out of the flute, brightening up the place. The boy concentrated on the melody, changing to a new song over and over again once the previous one has been played to the end. His brows furrowed in concentration, he played until the sun rose, yet no response was heard from the sleeping man who was still tensed, ready to kill.

Still, the boy contiuned to play fervently, each song becoming more and more desperate, the tempo increasing and the melody played sharply, like a sword dancing, trying to fight off the sense of despair.

Eventually, the boy had to stop, having run out of songs to play. Embarrased at this situation, he slumped his shoulders, seemingly at a loss. But he wasn't deterred, gaining back his motivation and placing his flute to his lips again, planning to restart from the first song.

"Xiao Ning, it's time to stop." A voice suddenly spoke from behind him and a hand reached out to pluck the flute from the boy's hands, holding it up high so he couldn't reach it.

The flute plucked from his hands, Xiao Ning seemed at a even bigger loss then before, staring at his hands like they were something foreign. He slowly turned around and looked up, staring straight into the eyes of the man who took the flute away.

He was dressed in pure white robes, hair let down to flow in the breeze. His eyes carried a sense of guilt at stopping the young boy. Still, he didn't give the flute back, instead tucking it away.

Xiao Ning looked back at his Shizun, before staring at the man that took his flute away.

"Shishu, will he ever wake up? Is it possible to wake him up anymore?"

The man looked away uncomfortably, coincidentally looking at the sleeping man, his sword poised at the ready. He continued to look for awhile, before sighing and looking back at Xiao Ning.

"Well, the only way to cure his illness is to find a way to solve it, but to do that you'll have to be able to get close to him. And as you can see..." The man Xiao Ning referred to as Shishu, threw his sword, aiming straight at the sleeping man's head.

The sword that was still tightly clutched in the sleeping man's hand suddenly swept up, blocking the advance, with a neat swing. The offending sword was swept to the ground, clanging against the ground.

"...As of right now, no one has a high enough cultivation to even get close to Xu Yan, your Shizun. You'll have to cultivate for a long, long time to reach his level, and even that will only let you get close to him without getting hurt."

"No one knows what you need to cure him. You can only find it out yourself." The man rubbed Xiao Ning's head gently after seeing the despair in his eyes, trying his best to comfort the grieving boy, who looked as though his whole world got shattered into pieces.

Yu Min, the Shishu, could understand why. Xiao Ning was picked up by Xu Yan, saving him from a lifetime of bending to the will of others.

He raised him to become the smart little boy he was today, giving him everything he needed and more. Because of this, Xiao Ning was unreasonably attached to Xu Yan, treating him like a god who couldn't be injured by anything in the world.

So when Xu Yan fell prey to an unknown illness that caused him to slowly fall into an endless nightmare, Xiao Ning was devastated. He was the one who would constantly wake up Xu Yan when he fell asleep, until he couldn't anymore.

Xu Yan was too far gone into the dream to be woken up, especially when you couldn't get close to him in this state.

Yu Min shook his head, dislodging himself from his memories. He continued to comfort Xiao Ning. "But hey, if you manage to get to Xu Yan's level of cultivation, won't you be able to save him? You're a smart enough boy, I'm sure that you will be able to find a cure to his illness."

Xiao Ning quickly turned to Yu Min as he said those words, eyes sparking with hope. "Really?"

Yu Min cringed slightly, before nodding solemnly. It was better that he believed that he could wake up Xu Yan. A goal would give him something to work towards and who knows? Maybe he will be able to save Xu Yan.

Seeing Yu Min's affirmative nod, Xiao Ning burst into joy. He stood as near to his beloved Shizun as possible and bowed to him, before bowing to Yu Min. "I will leave now, Shishu, thank you for the advice. I will come back here when I'm able to save Shizun, so I'm going to cultivate." With those words, he quickly ran back down the path, forgetting his flute with Yu Min.

Yu Min smiled at the happy boy, before looking at Xu Yan again. Sighing, he sat down near to Xu Yan, taking out a jar of wine and drinking it all in one go.

"Xu Yan... you better wake up soon, or you might miss your disciple's growth."