Author's Notes: So I'm borrowing little bits and pieces of the live action to write this. Which is why you may see something you might not add up. Guangyao being the Nie's former attendant being one of those things too. The chapters might come out a bit later than usual die to me having to do a LOT of research to so please bear with me, and thank you for tuning in to read this.
We make our ways up a dirt path that leads to one of the mountains in the back. There's a stable in one corner that houses Lil' Apple with a bin filled with hay. Dozens of rabbits are frolicking in the autumn sun in every colour, shape and pattern imaginable. Something about this makes me feel like I've wandered into some magical bunny paradise. They seemed to have noticed our presence, but instead of normally fleeing in terror like most animals, they have begun swarming us. There's soon a sea of them sniffing us and nibbling the hems of our robes.
"Would you like to try feeding one of them?" asks Lan Wangji as he hands me a particularly fat and firm looking carrot from a basket beside him.
I sit on the ground carefully and put my cane beside me. Some of the rabbits have begun to hop into my lap, sniffing at me and all looking to take a bite from my hand. The sounds of crunching and noisy nibbling fill the air as they all start pushing each other out of the way to get at the treat in my hand. Bits of carrot go flying everywhere, including on my lap and on the ground around me. Within minutes, they've eaten the entire thing down to the stump. I watch as Wei Wuxian carefully picks up a black rabbit with red eyes and smooth sleek fur and places it on my lap.
"Be gentle with them alright? Though they may be small and cute, they can still bite you if you're too rough with them."
I marvel at how amazingly soft and warm it feels. How have I gone my entire life without ever petting a rabbit at least once? It was like I was petting a cloud! Dozens of other rabbits begin to hop onto my lap demanding my attention as well. Who was I to deny them what they wanted? I watch as Sizhui and Jingyi make small talk while they're each making sure each wild rabbit gets at least one carrot to snack on. They seemed to be gossiping about girls and I occasionally hear Jin Ling's name coming up more than once. I wonder why though. Feeling that I've had enough of sitting on the ground, I try to get up with no avail. Then I feel a pair of hands helping me stand up and brushing bits of dirt and carrot off of my clothes.
"I'm off to go and feed Lil' Apple now. Do you want to try feeding him too?" Says Wei Wuxian as he picks a shiny red apple out of another basket. "I think he's long overdue for a treat."
Lil' Apple brays at us as we approach his stable. Though I've ridden on his back, to actually be this intimate and up close with a donkey was another thing. I've only ever seen them on tv or in books up until now. I didn't know much about donkeys other than the fact that they were notoriously stubborn and temperamental creatures that will quite clearly let you know when they're displeased with you. So now here I was, a tiny and scrawny kid face to face with an 1100lb creature that could probably disembowel me with a kick if it wanted to.
"It's alright, if he tries to do anything, I'll be here to protect you."
I place my cane next to the stable as Wei Wuxian picks me up and sits me on his arm. He places the fruit in my hand, encouraging me to feed it to him gently. Nervously, I extend my hand out towards him, gripping the apple for dear life. Lil' Apple sniffs it for a moment before opening his mouth and devouring the entire thing in one quick motion. I almost scream in shock from the sudden movement but compose myself so as not to scare anyone.
"You can try petting him too if you want, just be gentle with him. He spooks easily and a donkey biting you will hurt a thousand times worse than from a rabbit."
I reach my hand out again and begin to stroke his snout carefully. From faraway, I'd thought that donkey fur would be soft and smooth like velvet, instead it's kinda coarse and textured, like petting a very stiff and old paintbrush. I smile gently as he rubs his head against my hand and closes his eyes with a snort, quite clearly enjoying the attention. Though it might have been my imagination, I could have sworn that he was smiling back at me.
"Thank you for carrying back to the Cloud Recesses yesterday," I say appreciatively as I stroke his mane and run my hand over one of his long ears. "I really appreciated it."
Lil' Apple responds by again snorting and then licking my face several times. I'm covered in donkey slobber within seconds. I guess it's his own way of saying "You're Welcome" to me.
"Aww look at that! I think he likes you!" Wei Wuxian laughs as he pulls a handkerchief out of his sleeve and wipes my face clean with it.
He then looks at Lil' Apple with an expression of mock hurt on his face and his other hand on his hip.
"Oh, so you act all stubborn and defiant with me when I want you to do something, but the moment you see a cute girl, you're suddenly the most obedient and co-operative little donkey there is? You wound me Lil' Apple! What am I to you? Chopped liver?"
We continue to feed the bunnies until we've run out of carrots and the sun is beginning to dip into the horizon. We pass by a boulder with a wooden sign nailed into it on our way out. Beside it is a staircase leading downstairs surrounded by outcroppings of bamboo growing from the side.
"Over there is Cold Springs. It's named so because of how freezing cold the waters get," Says Lan Wangji. "This is where the men go to heal their wounds and improve their cultivation skills through meditation. The women's side should have their own version of the springs as well."
"If you have springs that can heal you, then why do you need doctors and healers?" I ask Meng Yao
"THE SPRINGS ARE THERE FOR SUPPLEMENTING YOUR BODY'S NATURAL HEALING PROCESSES. YOU OBVIOUSLY WOULDN'T GO IN THERE IF YOU'RE GRAVELY INJURED OR HAVE OPEN WOUNDS ON YOUR BODY. TRANSFERRING SPIRITUAL ENERGY CAN ONLY DO SO MUCH. YOU STILL NEED TO TREAT OPEN WOUNDS AS WELL AS REST AND LET YOUR BODY HEAL NATURALLY. BESIDES, THE COLD SPRINGS CAN ONLY HEAL SUPERFICIAL INJURIES, NOT SERIOUS ONES THAT WOULD REQUIRE IMMEDIATE MEDICAL ATTENTION."
"How do you know all this?"
"I…USED TO BE THE ATTENDANT OF A PROMINENT SECT'S SECOND YOUNG MASTER. I CAME TO THE CLOUD RECESSES LONG AGO WHEN HE WAS STUDYING ABROAD HERE FOR THE A YEAR. THERE WAS ONE DAY WHERE HE AND A COUPLE OF HIS CLASSMATES SNUCK ALCOHOL INTO THE CLOUD RECESSES. THE THREE OF THEM GOT SEVERELY PUNISHED FOR IT AFTERWARDS. I FOUND OUT ABOUT THE COLD SPRINGS FROM AN… ACQUAINTANCE WHO MENTIONED THIS PLACE. THE WOUNDS FROM THE PUNISHMENT HE RECEIVED MANAGED TO HEAL IN JUST A FEW HOURS."
I could only imagine what harsh punishments one could inflict on someone for breaking the rules like that. I was no stranger to the world of corporal punishment, but what he implied about what happens to people that broke the rules said more than enough. We continue walking until we stop in front of an ominous looking tower with heavy oak doors. I have a really bad feeling about this place. It makes my skin prickle with goose pimples and the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
"And this is the Mingshi. You must never go inside here by yourself," Lan Wangji says, continuing his explanation. "We not only summon spirits in here, but also occasionally bring fierce corpses in for investigation and exorcisms. It's no place for someone like you to wander around by yourself."
I balked and shivered at their explanation. They brought those…THINGS in here? If any of those fierce corpses were ever to escape from here, it would have spelled disaster.
"B-but why?" I find myself asking Meng Yao "Isn't it just enough to go out on location to and purify those things on their own?"
"WELL, SOME CASES ARE SO BIG THAT THEY SOMETIMES CAN'T BE SOLVED IN A DAY. THIS IS WHY WE HAVE THIS TOWER HERE; SO THAT WE CAN DO OUR INVESTIGATIONS SAFELY WITHOUT GETTING INNOCENT PEOPLE INVOLVED."
Wei Wuxian then kneels in front of me until he's at eye level with me, a serious expression on his face.
"Promise us and your shixiongs that you won't go in here by yourself until you're older," he says, gaze boring into me.
"O-okay, I promise." I tell him while blinking nervously.
If both my hands weren't currently tied up, I would have made a pinky promise with him. We part ways with Sizhui and Jingyi here as they make their ways back to the dormitories. The sun had mostly dipped into the horizon and the sky was now dyed with vibrant shades of pinks, purples and oranges. Only a small percentage of the sun was still peeking out, with glittering stars that were now starting to paint the sky with their brilliance.
It's nearly dark by the time we make it back to the Jingshi. Wei Wuxian is in the kitchenette today cooking something special while Lan Wangji has me seated on his lap teaching me the basics of writing and calligraphy. To write Chinese characters with a pen or a pencil was one thing, but to do so with a brush was a lot harder than it looked. At least with a pencil, you could erase everything and start over if you made a mistake. With a calligraphy brush and ink, you had to make it count. Otherwise, if you mess up, you'd need to get a new piece of paper and rewrite everything from scratch, no do-overs. And when you're writing such complex characters in tiny letters from top to bottom, it makes things even more complicated. My hand was shaking so much from trying to grasp the brush properly that I think I had more ink on my hands and fingers than I had on the parchment.
"You're close to getting it right, but you're still missing a stroke here and there. Let me show you."
He's teaching me right now how to write his name as well as Wei Wuxian's names. Being from a mostly English speaking country like Canada, I didn't really get much of an opportunity to write in Chinese except for writing names on gift tags for Christmas. And even then, I had aunts and uncles comparing my writing to chicken scratch. Lan Wangji's penmanship is remarkably very clear and concise. Not a single stroke is out of place, and his hands and sleeves haven't been stained black with ink.
"Wahh, you're so good!" I exclaim. "Your handwriting is so pretty! How did you do all this?"
"I've had years to practice my writing. You only need a small amount of ink to wet your brush. No more, and no less. Do you want to try for yourself?"
He places the brush in my hand before he envelops my hand with his own. His hand feels very callused and rough from years of sword fighting and guqin playing, but they're also remarkably very gentle and soft. I can't help but admire how long and elegant his fingers are. My own small and chubby hands are inferior in comparison to his.
"Don't press down too hard on the paper or else you'll wind up with puddles of ink on your paper, and hold your sleeve back with your hand so that you don't ruin your clothes. Remember to write carefully and not to rush."
He places another hand on my sleeve to keep it from dragging on the parchment as I glide my hand over the surface. I try to remember how he did each brushstroke in my mind and do my best to keep up with him. My writing is still far from perfect, but this time I didn't wind up with ink on my hand again.
"How's our little radish's calligraphy skills coming along?" asks Wei Wuxian as he unties his sleeves and shakes his hair loose from the bandana that's keeping his ponytail tucked behind him.
"There's still more work to be done, but she's starting to get the hang of it." Lan Wangji replies as he rinses out his brush and places it back on the rack beside the inkwell.
"May I interest you two in some dinner then? I bet you're both starving by now." Wei Wuxian says with a grin.
The Jingshi is once more filled with delectable aromas that make my mouth water with excitement. Based on what I've observed of his own eating habits, I was afraid that Wei Wuxian would overload his dishes with so much spice that it'd be considered inedible. Though as I nibbled on a drumstick, my lips tingle from the spices and my eyes widened with delight. It had a kick to it alright, but it wasn't overwhelmingly spicy to the point of being inedible. Before I knew it, I was wolfing down mouthful after mouthful of rice and other dishes like I hadn't eaten for years (which was partially true due to eating bland and tasteless food while on chemotherapy).
"Whoa, slow down there!" Said Wei Wuxian as he watched me. "The food's not going anywhere, and you're going to make yourself sick if you're not careful."
I used a rag to wipe my face clean as well as clean my hands as I place my chopsticks down on the table. There's a small bowl of soup sitting next to my half eaten bowl of rice. Something about the aroma makes me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside, like I'm supposed to be drinking this in front of a fireplace on a cold winter's night. It's a clear broth with slices of lotus root and bits of pork ribs topped off with a generous sprinkling of scallions on the surface. I take a sip and feel warmth and comfort seeping into my chest as I swallow.
"What kind of soup is this?" I ask, wiping the corners of my mouth.
"Lotus root and pork rib soup," replies Wei Wuxian with a grin. "Whenever my Shidi and I would get sad or have a fight, our Shijie would make this for us and it'd make us forget our troubles."
"It's good." I reply with a soft smile as I chew on a slice of lotus root.
To sit down to a normal dinner filled with laughter and happiness seemed like a pipe dream I had so long ago as a child. Dinner often went cold in my house as a child and, as such I never looked forward to meal time until I moved out of that hellish excuse of a home. Then mealtime in my lonely little apartment included either my own mediocre cooking, take out or frozen tv dinners. My sister had her own life with her husband and a baby on the way. I didn't want to intrude on that, and as such I always ate alone. I wish I had taken her up on those offers to eat with her when I still had the chance…
The three of us ate in a comfortable silence, with occasional small talk sprinkled in here and there. After clearing away the dishes from the table came the medication I had to take for my soreness and inflammation. It was another strong smelling and bitter black concoction that I made me gag when I tried to drink it. I didn't know how I managed to do it, but I managed to drink all of it despite my gag reflex protesting. I was thankful for that piece of candy Wen Ning gave me after we left. It did wonders to chase away the lingering bitterness in my mouth.
Lan Wangji had to go grade essays and papers afterwards, so I was left with Wei Wuxian teaching me how to read until bedtime rolled around. By then, my stomach was bogged down with food and my head lolled from side to side from exhaustion. I wish I had cherished simpler and happier times like this and not taken them for granted. In the coming months and weeks that followed after this day were some of the hardest things I'd have to endure. And I'd wish that I'd told them the truth from the start.