- Chapter Start -
Fang DuoBing's usual grin is bright enough to rival the sun. Right now, it's almost blinding which doesn't bode well for Li LianHua's peace of mind.
"Well, I couldn't keep an eye on it while searching for you, right? Since I had to bring Hulijing here anyway, I thought… besides, it's valuable! Your house, I mean, not Hulijing. Not that he isn't valuable of course, he is! So I decided to kill two birds with one stone and… here we are!"
Li LianHua has a sudden urge to pull out his hair. Or better yet, Fang DuoBing's.
"So you decided to ask your mother to take care of both? Fang DuoBing, you really have no shame! Where am I going to put my face now?!"
"Hey, I was busy looking for you," Fang DuoBing protests. "I couldn't leave Lotus Tower out in the open to weather the elements! It's not structurally… uhm, what it used to be."
The guilty look he shoots Di FeiSheng suggests he's recalling their past altercations in Li LianHua's admittedly fragile home.
"I was going to do some repairs," Li LianHua mutters. He'd planned to, right after visiting Sigu Sect. He'd wanted to present Fang DuoBing with a sturdy and livable home, one that wouldn't fall to pieces the moment someone threw a punch inside it.
But one thing after another happened and Li LianHua barely had the strength to make it back to Lotus Tower where Fang DuoBing found him coughing up blood. Knowing that his time was near, he'd made his escape instead.
Fat lot of good that did, since these two still managed to find him.
"So you brought Lotus Tower here after you found me missing?" He asks Fang DuoBing.
"No. He entrusted that task to me." Striding towards them is a familiar figure in blue robes with sword in hand.
"Zhan-huwei," Fang DuoBing greets. "Thanks, I owe you one."
"Zhan-ge," Li LianHua greets with a resigned smile. Yet another familiar face he never expected to see again.
"Li LianHua, I'm glad Fang-gongzi found you. Need a hand?" Zhan YunFei extends his own.
"No need," Di FeiSheng replies before Li LianHua can. He dismounts from his horse, forcing Zhan YunFei to take a hasty step, before holding out his own hand to Li LianHua with a smirk.
Li LianHua sighs and grabs his hand. The hard yank forward and the ground rushing up towards him makes him yelp, eyes squeezing shut on instinct. When he opens them again, he's standing on the ground and clutching at Di FeiSheng's shoulders while the latter's hands are clamped around his waist.
"Ah. Thanks." Li LianHua snatches back his hands, but the ones at his waist remain.
"Di-mengzhu, you can let go of me now," he says with a forced smile pasted over gritted teeth.
"Are you sure?" Di FeiSheng asks with an equally fake smile.
"I'm sure. I'm very sure." Li LianHua refuses to look at Zhan YunFei who's frowning while lowering his hand, or at Fang DuoBing who's turning away with a snort.
"Oh. A-niang! Xiaoyee! We're back!"
Alarmed, Li LianHua grabs Di FeiSheng's hands and pulls them away before taking a hurried step back. He bumps into the horse who turns her head and huffs at him.
"Li-shengyi!" Madam He hurries up to them with He XiaoFeng at her heels. "I'm so glad XiaoBao found you."
"He-tangzhu, He-guniang," Li LianHua greets. "Yes, he and Di-mengzhu found me."
"So formal!" Madam He shoots a suspicious look at Di FeiSheng. "I knew he couldn't be best friends with you even though XiaoBao calls him A-Fei."
"Ah, I mean A-Fei, of course," Li LianHua says at once.
She nods, but her eyes remain worried.
"Well, let's not stand on ceremony! Come along, I have a good meal waiting for you all."
Li LianHua smiles at her and looks at Fang DuoBing who quickly clears his throat.
"A-niang, we just got back. Li LianHua would prefer to rest at his home."
"Oh, but you'd be much more comfortable at our home," He XiaoFeng says with a bright smile.
Madam He – so much shrewder than her younger sister - studies Li LianHua's face before nodding.
"Very well. I'll arrange for some food to be brought over. I'm sure Li-shengyi will want a bath too."
"Thank you, He-tangzhu," Li LianHua says gratefully, aware of how grimy he feels.
With another smile, Madam He sweeps away with a reluctant He XiaoFeng and an equally reluctant Zhan YunFei.
- o –
The small tent pitched behind Lotus Tower turns out to be a makeshift bathhouse. There's a wooden bathtub half filled with steaming hot water, pails of more hot water and a bench laid out with soap, towels and clean robes.
Twenty four hours ago, Li LianHua could swear he has no other interest save getting away from everyone to die alone. Now, he can't wait to have a hot bath especially when one is already waiting for him.
"Your mother is a very astute woman," he tells Fang DuoBing who beams with pride.
"She knows you'd feel more comfortable in Lotus Tower. Go on, take a bath." Fang DuoBing makes shooing motions with his hands. "I'll stand guard while A-Fei keeps a lookout for the food."
"I don't need anyone to stand guard," Li LianHua protests.
"Don't forget, my xiaoyee isn't married yet," Fang DuoBing says in an ominous tone.
"I'm sure Zhan YunFei has that covered, or will soon," Li LianHua assures him.
"I will stand guard," Di FeiSheng announces in a voice which brooks no argument, crossing his arms over his chest.
"No peeking," Fang DuoBing says with a suspicious frown.
"Don't worry," Li LianHua tells him. "Di-mengzhu doesn't do something as base as peeking."
"Unless you need help washing your hair or scrubbing your back," Di FeiSheng says agreeably which only serves to deepen Fang DuoBing's suspicious frown.
"It's fine, XiaoBao," Li LianHua tells him. "Go see if the food is here, hm?"
With a final look at Di FeiSheng, Fang DuoBing nods and trots off.
"Do you?"
Lifting the tent flap, Li LianHua looks over his shoulder.
"Do I what?"
"Need help."
"With what?" Li LianHua wonders if Di FeiSheng actually believes Fang DuoBing's warning about having to fight off He XiaoFeng.
"Washing your hair. Scrubbing your back."
"Oh!" Li LianHua's face suddenly feels hot, likely from the steamy air inside the tent. "No. No, thank you. I can manage."
"If you're sure," Di FeiSheng repeats his words from earlier, but there's no amusement on his face this time. He looks very serious.
"I'm sure. I'm very sure," Li LianHua says and slips inside the tent before Di FeiSheng can ask anything else.
- o –
The hot water and fragrant soap feel heavenly.
Excited by the prospect of getting clean with a hot meal to follow, Li LianHua washes his hair and rinses it well… only to find that his energy was in short supply, and that he's used up all of it. Weakened hands falling back in the soapy water, he leans back and closes his eyes, panting softly as he tries to gather more energy to finish his bath.
That's when the sheer irony of his situation comes crashing down on him. That even after getting a whole night's sleep and a few naps on the way here, he still only has strength enough for one small task. But even more telling - that even though he only has a couple of days left at most, he still wants to be clean and he still looks forward to a good meal.
Somehow, despite ten years of reconciling himself with his inescapable fate, a small part of him is still greedy enough to want something more of life before it ends.
How pathetic.
Not power or glory or status, but mundane creature comforts like being clean and warm and full. And if he's utterly truthful with himself, not being alone.
How very pathetic.
Something ticklish runs down his face. A tear, he realises and starts chuckling in surprise, sitting in a tub of hot water with frozen insides.
"Li LianHua?"
A few more tears well up and spill over. Li LianHua slips a little lower in the tub, not knowing if he's laughing or crying, only that he's unable to stop. Maybe this is how he will die. Drowned in a bathtub and only half clean.
"Li LianHua, answer me!"
There's a waft of cooler air followed by a shape crouching beside him. Li LianHua hiccups and blinks until the concerned visage of Di FeiSheng comes into focus.
"I thought Di-mengzhu doesn't peek."
"A-Fei."
"Oh. A-Fei would?"
Di FeiSheng's frown deepens.
"You didn't answer when I called."
A calloused thumb brushes across his cheek.
"Is this water or...?"
Li LianHua raises his hand to check, but it trembles and falls back in the soapy water. He shakes his head.
"I want to finish my bath, but I can't."
"Why not?"
"I've run out of Yangzhouman, I've run out of Qi and I've apparently run out of energy." Li LianHua starts laughing again. It's either that or cry.
"Do you need my… help?"
Li LianHua blinks and stares at him. That question sounds like it was phrased with care. He chooses the safer option.
"Yes. A little more of your Beifong Baiyang, please."
Something like disappointment flickers in those compelling eyes, but Di FeiSheng nods. Sweeping Li LianHua's wet hair out of the way, he presses a warm palm to his shoulder.
The initial pump of powerful energy makes Li LianHua's body jerk, a groan escaping his lips.
"Relax."
Li LianHua does, breathing in deep and slow. Already, he can feel a little warmth. Then he hears hasty footsteps, followed by Di FeiSheng's annoyed 'tsk'.
"Li LianHua! Are you alright? What happened?" Fang DuoBing appears beside Di FeiSheng, eyes round with worry.
"Do you need more energy? Why didn't you say so?" Reaching over, he clasps Li LianHua's other shoulder and begins streaming Qi into him.
Yangzhouman and Beifong Baiyang, two of the world's purest energy. So different yet strangely harmonious, one complementing the other.
Li LianHua squeezes his eyes shut, but two more tears still escape. A wave of welcome heat is flowing through his body, banishing the familiar, cold numbness. Sitting up straight, he lifts his hands which no longer feel like dead weight and begins redirecting the energy through his meridians and spiritual pathways.
After a few minutes, he opens his eyes and smiles at his donors.
"Enough for now. Thank you."
The flow of Qi stops almost at once, but the two hands remain, reluctant to break contact.
"Are you sure – hey!" Fang DuoBing breaks off when Di FeiSheng grabs his arm and rises to his feet, pulling him up as well.
"Finish your bath," Di FeiSheng says. "The water is getting cold."
"Yeah. We'll be right outside," Fang DuoBing says, not to be outdone.
Li LianHua waits until they exit the tent before dropping his face in his hands.
Is this going to be his fate from now on?
How long can he bear to leech off his two best friends like this?
- Chapter End –
