Chapter 2: Chapter I: Wei Lan I

"I, am inevitable." said the young boy towering over Wèi Lan, his sharp grin more in tune with an adult Bronze Crowned Bear than a small human child.

 

"You're a dumbass." she retorted back, amused at the hurt in his eyes.

 

"Hey! Don't you know it's rude to call a lord that! If my heart wasn't already set on beating you up, that surely would have done it!" he chided her as he brandished his fists, eager to show her her proper place.

 

Not one to dare risk the full ire of Qián Ru upon her lowly self, Wèi Lan capitulated, wondering what her mark's next step would be.

 

"I surrender!" she called out, raising her arms in submission, yet the grin on her face told Qián Ru this was nothing more than another one of her tests. Or at least he hoped it was, because he really did want to brawl it out.

 

"I… I do not accept your surrender! You have been judged guilty of… of…"

 

"Larceny?"

 

"Yeah!"

 

"Well, I suppose it was inevitable. I mean, just look at me. You never really stood a chance."

 

"Yeah! Wait. No! Umm, Ms Lan, what is larceny?"

 

"Larceny is theft, Ru. It means you accused me of stealing something from you."

 

At the grave offense Qián Ru turned sheepish, scared he had insulted her by levying such a dangerous accusation at her, only to realize she was the one that had offered him said word in the first place. Then he looked askance at Wèi Lan, his previous shame fast turning into anger as he fought with himself not to punch her, eager to get to the bottom of things before he dealt his just punishment.

 

"But what did you steal from me?" he asked her, confused.

 

"Your heart, of course." was all she said, in such an assured manner that Qián Ru clutched a hand to his chest, only calming down when he felt his heartbeat there.

 

"But it's still there! Ms Lan, is this another one of your tests?"

 

"No, silly. Stealing someone's heart means to cause that person to fall in love with you. It's an idiom. It doesn't mean it literally. At least, I didn't mean it literally." she amended, wincing at the thought.

 

"Oh. I get it. Umm, Ms Lan, what's an idiom?"

 

"Gods, you really are stupid."

 

"Ms Lan!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

~~~~~

It had been an exhausting evening for Wèi Lan, one that had only ended after she had managed to convince Qián Ru that sleep was a particularly effective way to make his Qi grow, but at long last it had ended. Qián Ai would soon be returning home and Lan was thankful she remembered said ruse, inwardly snickering as she recalled it being used on her.

 

Her aunt, Wèi Ling, had been the one to do it, an especially chatty six-year old Lan her motivation, and Lan would never admit it, not even to herself, but she had believed her tale far past her childhood years.

 

It is why some Aunts still called her "Sleepy Lan", the nickname having stuck with her well past her youth.

 

Remembering said nickname caused the smile gracing her face to grow brittle, Wèi Lan recalling the lengths she had to go to to prove her worth to her mother.

 

All because of the dishonor one stupid, childish moniker had brought along with it.

 

Sighing, well aware it would not do to prod at the open wound here and now, Wèi Lan glanced over at the sleeping boy beside her, her smile returning at the sound of his snoring.

 

Heh. Cute.

 

It had been a very unorthodox introduction that saw her meet him. An argument had broken out in an open stall in the marketplace, one that wouldn't have drawn even a glance from her if it weren't for the male voice she heard screaming. His.

 

Curiosity and no small amount of chivalrous anger saw her move towards the ensuing fight, the scene before her one she would never have imagined in a million years.

 

Qián Ru was chomping on an apple with all the lust of a starving child as the vendor of the food stall held him up high in the air, her arm raised as she moved to hit him.

 

Wèi Lan would later note she never remembered feeling such stupefying rage before, nor did she remember her Qi rising at such a fast pace, but at that moment all she could remember seeing was red.

 

She became violence incarnate.

 

Fortunately, Qián Ru was too focused on eating he didn't even notice the broken remains of the woman who held him lying next to him, and his mother appeared just then, a hollowed husk that looked not even fit for carrion feeders.

 

She took him then, gaze fearful as she eyed Wèi Lan, as if asking for her permission, and Wèi Lan had wordlessly granted it, unwilling for such trauma to be engraved in one so young.

 

It also helped that she could see the lengths the woman had gone to to feed her son, for while the boy was no doubt starving, the woman was no more than skin and bones.

 

It would be a little less than a week later before Wèi Lan would find them again.

 

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"Wèi Lan!" Qián Ai quietly greeted her as she entered the small apartment, consequently interrupting her from her thoughts. "Thank you! You do not know what this means to me."

 

It was the first time Wèi Lan had babysat for her, and if Wèi Lan were to be asked, this was nothing less than a tremendous success. Qián Ru had very few people he was comfortable with. Two, to be exact, and learning of that honor had been a very gratifying experience for Wèi Lan.

 

It more than made up for the punishment she suffered at her aunts' hands, the Elders of the Wèi Sect less than eager to see her wasting her time on such frivolities.

 

"It was no problem at all. Please, I'm more than happy to help." she said, glad to note she actually meant it.

 

In the past few weeks alone Wèi Lan had visited the Qiàn home more than she had visited the Wèi meditation rooms, once the only safe harbor she had from her mother.

 

Interestingly enough, the Matriarch of the Wèi Sect had not seemed to care that her daughter was wasting her time in the city instead of learning to better herself. Lan had merely seen it as another sign her mother had given up on her, and surprisingly enough, she found she did not mind it at all, far too bothered with Qiàn Ru and his antics to care what went on inside her mother's head.

 

"Are you… Are you sure? Forgive me, Young Mistress, I would not ask it of you if I had any other choice, but you know how Ru gets..."

 

"Speak your mind."

 

"I… it's just that Mistress Ting had assigned me as a servant in the Armoury, and what with the long hours of the blacksmiths and crafters, I am needed far more than before."

 

Interesting. Ting had chosen to obey her.

 

"I… Ah, it is not that I am complaining, of course, Young Mistress. Don't get me wrong, this lowly one is very thankful to you for having granted the opportunity to provide for my son, it's just that with the long hours I fear leaving Qián Ru by himself. If there was any other option…"

 

"Consider it done." Wèi Lan said, boasting a gracious smile, much to Qián Ai quiet sigh of relief.

 

"Thank you! Thank you! I'll never forget this, Young Mistress, and I'll make sure Ru doesn't as well." Qián Ai feverishly announced, smiling tired yet satisfied.

 

Only for her to jump in place at Wèi Lan's utterance.

 

"Don't!"

 

"Young Mistress?"

 

"Excuse me, I need to go, but I advise you say nothing to Qián Ru. At least not yet. Far be it from us to judge what an all-encompassing dependence can do to a mind so vulnerable, and I do not wish to see it come to harm because of us. Qián Ai, I hope it need not be said, but what you have in your hands is a treasure many would do anything to get their hands on. It was wise of you to clothe him in girl's clothing before you met me, but if I was capable of discerning him as a boy, many others can do so as well. I am actually surprised–"

 

I am actually surprised my mother hadn't noticed him yet, was what she was about to say, but something suddenly clicked in place and Wèi Lan realized her mother hadn't been ignoring her at all.

 

She knew.

 

There was no explanation why Lan thought her mother knew of Qián Ru, but nonetheless an instinctual part of her told her that her mother knew of the boy's existence and perhaps had even set her up for it. It was after all on Ting's orders she had been in the marketplace in the first place that day.

 

Ting, who had no control over her other than that she was sometimes used as a spokesperson by her mother.

 

The realization was damning, there was no way about it, and it made Wèi Lan want to reconsider the offer she had been about to extend to Qián Ai.

 

But seemingly incapable of denying her mother, and herself, the opportunity, Wèi Lan found herself continuing despite herself, a strange premonition coming over her, one that did not tell her whether what she was about to do was right or wrong, good or bad, only that it held significance to not just herself, but her entire Sect as well.

 

"Young Mistress?"

 

"Forgive me. I just realized something... Anyhow, I wanted to say that now that you know me, Qián Ru's safety doesn't have to depend on whether or not someone notices he's a boy under that flimsy dress. You don't have to leave your son inside the house, blinds closed and door locked, fearful of the day he will be taken from you, any longer. I do not mean to sound arrogant, but the Wèi Sect is the most powerful Sect in the city for a reason. My mother is a cultivator in the Emperor Realm, a feat no more than a hundred have reached in the entire Jade Serpent Empire. It is good that you have taken the mantle of a servant in our House, but it is no more than a step in the right direction. Please, for Ru's safety, I ask that you consider housing him with us."

 

"Ru living in the Wèi Sect!?" Qián Ai hissed, balking at the mere thought.

 

"Yes." Wèi Lan nodded. "At first. But it won't be long before he will join the Outer Disciples and learn to properly cultivate. He has it within him to rise high, or so I believe."

 

"Ru is a cultivator!?!?" Qián Ai hissed, this time her tone verging on the incredulous.

 

It would have been profoundly funny had it not been so serious, the kind of joke the Gods loved to play on humanity without a doubt.

 

Qián Ai's body held no Qi, her meridians crushed in a display Wèi Lan knew was associated with an outcast, a punishment so cruel it was given only to those who have committed the worst sins humanity could think of.

 

Wèi Lan had forced herself not to pry the first time she had seen it, and hadn't found the opportunity to broach such a difficult subject since.

 

"Yes." was all she said, content to tilt her head to the side when she noticed Ai's tears.

 

"And you promise Ru can really get all that you said earlier? The house and the training? The protection? Gods know I can't help him with that last part." Ai chuckled, a sob caught in her throat as tears traversed her cheeks.

 

A child could kill Qián Ai and no one would bat an eye or move a single finger in protest. That is simply what it meant to be an outcast. Voiceless. Defenseless.

 

Before Wèi Lan could swear an oath of fealty to her, a knock was heard at the door and with it a presence Wèi Lan knew all too well.

 

Her mother had come to visit.

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