45 The Monastery in the Bamboo Grove

PingZe had hurried out in the early hours of the morning to search for YueQin with ZhouYan. MingYu was still fast asleep, clutching AhXin in his arms. The boy had cried in the middle of the night, alarming them. Now, he was tossing around leisurely, gnawing at the rabbit jade pendant MingYu had handed him to keep him quiet.

After pulling his clothes on, ZhiYi sat down at the edge of the bed, and in the heat of the moment, reached out and ran his hand over MingYu's hair. Over the few months they had travelled across the continent, some hair had finally grown over the previously cleanly shaved head. The uneven strands gave MingYu's new body a boyish look, and ZhiYi would have been lying if he didn't prefer this much more.

The short strands tickled his palm. To think three lifetimes had passed and still here they were, side by side.

ZhiYi savoured the moment, just him and MingYu, in the stillness of the silence, wondering if this was a blessing in disguise or gods' cruel torture on him. So close, but yet so far. One can reach over and touch it, but never truly hold it.

ZhiYi distractedly swept his eyes over the man, moving his hand to brush over his cheek. MingYu gave a soft sigh. His face was clean-shaven, soft and warm as ZhiYi's knuckles glided over MingYu's left eyebrow. He smiled as MingYu made faint, comfortable noises under his touch.

Wu TianLan was dead, ZhiYi reminded himself as his smile diminished and he reluctantly pulled his hand away. Even though MingYu and TianLan were the same person, his lifetime with Wu TianLan had shaped both of them, for the better or the worst. The TianLan he knew was no longer here. Their string of fate had been cut the moment the blade touched TianLan's neck.

But now he had MingYu, the reason why he was still roaming the mortal realm with PingZe. Feeling his emotions coiling in turmoil, he brushed them aside and turned his full attention on AhXin.

He tried to lift AhXin from MingYu's clutches without disturbing him, but the man woke up as soon as he couldn't feel the little child in his hands. MingYu blinked open his eyes in alert, then seeing ZhiYi, he beamed, "Morning."

ZhiYi nodded and quickly turned his gaze away.

"He isn't crying in your arms anymore," ZhiYi said as he held AhXin, concentrating on getting the boy to let go of the saliva -trenched jade. MingYu leaned over on his elbow and yawned.

"Yeah, he really likes that jade."

After a moment of tug of war, ZhiYi gave up and let AhXin keep the jade. "Your hair has grown out. You need to shave."

MingYu scratched his head lazily. "So it has, but I was thinking of just letting it be. I miss my long hair."

"I can shave it for you. It's no big task." ZhiYi said with more enthusiasm than he had intended, and he grimaced at himself. He kept his back to MingYu to hide his expressions. The whole point of making MingYu shave was to remind him and the entire world that MingYu was in a monk's body, abstaining from all that is carnal. It was also a great reminder for ZhiYi to keep his less than pure thoughts to himself.

MingYu didn't seem to notice anything, he only nodded contently and let his head fall back on the pillow. Before he could drift off to sleep, loud footsteps reached their door and someone kicked it in with a loud slam, startling all three.

"Childe Qiang! Why are you here?" MingYu blurted in surprise as the wolf was pushed - fully clothed -into their room. PingZe closed the door behind him and shoved the wolf to sit down on the bed between the two men. The moment Xie Qiang touched the bed, his face fell and distorted as if he had consumed poison. He jumped back up after he felt ZhiYi's murderous stare on his scalp.

"He is here to tell us where he saw Wei YueQin," PingZe said as he took a seat at the table.

"Why did you bring me here? I could have told you where she is outside!" Xie Qiang whined, looking around in disgust. His eyes fixed on the little bundle in ZhiYi's hands and his stature became a mix of repulsion and intrigue.

"Childe Qiang, if you may speed up and tell us where she is, we are in a hurry," said ZhiYi, as he shifted closer to MingYu, keeping himself between the man and the wolf.

"I saw her among the tall grasses outside Tiang'an, she was bleeding heavily and the Diefa disciplines were trailing her, but I ruined that for them." Xie Qiang looked pleased with himself. "But that is all I know. I saw her early morning when the mist was still abundant and heavy. I can't pinpoint exactly where she went - but why are you so interested in her?"

Both ZhiYi and PingZe jumped up. PingZe took AhXin from ZhiYi and shoved the baby into Xie Qiang's arms. The wolf looked in horror at the squirming creature in his arms.

PingZe said, "Sit still until we come back."

Xie Qiang threw a fit - MingYu threw an even bigger fit.

"What? We are not leaving AhXin in his hands! He probably gets distracted by his own reflection!" MingYu snapped and reached out to take AhXin from the man, but ZhiYi held him back.

"He is right, you know!" Xie Qiang squeaked in a desperate attempt to be rid of the drooling monstrosity squirming on his arms.

ZhiYi pulled MingYu's robes on the monk and fastened them in one fluid motion before he pulled him up and pushed him towards the door. PingZe reached for the pewter staff and let it stand prostrated in the middle of the room.

"Don't worry, brother MingYu, the staff will guard them. Besides, Xie Qiang is a centuries-old demon. If he couldn't care for the baby, who else could?"

The wolf was very flattered by PingZe's words, so he didn't have the time to react when the three disappeared from his sight, pulling the door close after MingYu had screamed,

"If something happens to AhXin, I swear, I will neuter you, wolf!"

Somehow, Xie Qiang had a feeling the man wasn't kidding. Nervously looking around, his eyes fixated on the pewter staff standing by itself, as if held up by an invisible person. Xie Qiang scowled. The staff looked threatening as it was. He didn't need anyone to threaten to cut off his family jewels, too. Looking down at his arms, AhXin was staring at him with wide eyes. Spit-bubbles were trailing down his chin towards the yellow robes, and Xie Qiang nearly fainted at the sight.

---

The Sun was scorching the earth, sitting on its highest peak, as wafts of clouds slid over in a poor attempt to cast shades on the ground. Three figures made their way through the tall grasses outside of Tiang'an.

MingYu was sweating beads. His skin glistened under the relentless heat. There was a sense of urgency and fear in the air. More than that, MingYu was distraught with worry - he wasn't sure who he should be worried about more, Xie Qiang or AhXin.

Meanwhile, ZhouYan flew over them, scanning the area. When he saw a temple far away, hidden within the cluster of trees, he called out and fluttered ahead, while the three followed him from below. They stopped before a looming grove of bamboo trees. They couldn't see the monastery, but the thick black flames enveloped the grove in a dense sinister fire.

PingZe cursed under his breath. Turning to ZhiYi, he said, "We need to contain the negative energy within the temple, or it will alert others."

ZhiYi pulled out a talisman with intricate lines drawn on it and whispering a silent, cryptic litany, the talisman straightened itself like a bamboo slip. Red lines darkened until they resembled blood. Flicking his wrist, the paper sprung into the air, ripping itself into hundreds of tiny pieces before attaching themselves to every tree in the grove. The dark flames retreated with a crackling, windy howl, as if pained and vindictive.

MingYu shuddered. Clinging to ZhiYi instinctively, the two walked into the quiet grove, following in PingZe's steps. The deeper into the grove they wandered, the more the trees seemed to bend out of their straight spines, hovering over them like claws.

The monastery stood in the middle of the grove, alone and forgotten. The dark flames licked and encircled the worn-out, red pillars that once were bright and alluring. The sign over the roof ledge had long faded and hung on only by one of its hinges.

There was blood on the stone steps, smeared over the weeds that now conquered the man-made structure. A bloody hand-print was visible on one of the open doors. Yet, there was no smell of death or destruction present, only the faint scent of copper lingered in the air.