Mo Ran looks down at the body on the floor. White clothes and long black hair splay out in a heap.
"Shizun!" He shouts. Because who else would it be? Who is brave enough - no, crazy- to come here? Only someone insane would want to get close enough to the Chu Wanning, the man who wiped a woman trying to come onto him.
Mo Ran gets down, pulling shizun into his arms. He shakes his shoulders, not noticing the way his shoulders are smaller. How light he is, well lighter. Mo Ran moves his hair out of his face, ears ringing, at the sight of his eyes close, face calm. Head tilted resting against his chest. His mind flashes images of a cold, lifeless body lying still.
"What happened?" Xue Meng asks, worried, on his knees next to his cousin. Eyes focus on their teacher.
"We should get him to Tanlang elder." Shi Mei says worried but more level headed. He places a hand in Mo Ran shoulder knocking him out of his daze.
Mo Ran wraps an arm around shizun shoulder, and his other arm slip under his knees. Without another second to waste he stands with their teacher in his arms. Running with Chu Wanning in his arms bridal style, Mo Ran rushes to his aunt who he knows Chu Wanning is more comfortable with.
Lost in thought Mo Ran doesn't register his cousin and Shi Mei chasing after him. His head is too clouded to think about anything other than the man in his arms. How did this happen? Who did it? What happened?
He can't stop remembering cold bodies, blood, and the dread, the hollow feeling of never seeing or talking to Wanning ever again. About never hearing his voice again. He squeezes his hand, holding the man closer. He doesn't know if it's all in his head but why is the man so light? He knows he's grown a lot in the last five years but why does Chu Wanning feel so small in his arms? His shoulders, now that he thinks about it, are no longer broad like he remembers. He doesn't enjoy the change, Chu Wanning is suppose to stay the same. Now and always. It's because of Mo Ran willing blindness that he didn't understand the true intentions behind each action.
Mo Ran bursts into the building, almost body checking anyone who is in the way. Most do get out the way. He burst through the room he last saw his aunt in. She jumps in her spot, snapping her head to him curious. Her eyebrows furrow in worry at his expression.
Auntie opens her mouth to ask him what's wrong but he beats her, "auntie something happened to shizun!" he shouts rushing to her. He falls to his knees roughly, next to her, not minding the throb of his knees. Madam Wang looks down in surprise at the body lying peacefully in the younger man arms.
"What happened?" She asks grabbing hold of slim and small dainty hands. Were his hands always like this? She's checked Chu Wanning occasionally and she doesn't remember his hands ever being like that. She presses her two fingers (index and middle) to the inside of his wrist. Something else that's grown (shrunk in this case) to small and delicate. She feels for his core.
"We went inside the Red Pavilion and I found him like this on the floor." Mo Ran says, ignoring the way his eyes prickle at the corners, or the lump slowly forming in his throat. Not caring how desperate he sounds, he's a threads breath away from breaking down.
"Mom!" Xue Meng shouts coming into the room, heaving for breath.
"M-madam Wang." Shi Mei heaves behind Xue Meng. Both look ready to pass out.
"I can feel nothing wrong with his core. Let's place him in a room." She instructs, getting up. Mo Ran following close behind her.
"What could have caused this?" Mo Ran wonders.
"I-it m-may have been t-this." Shi Mei says holding out his hand with a small wooden box, his other hand holding his knees as he hunch forward, chest rising and falling in quick succession. The wooden box is light in color, and carved with a shiny glaze. It looks like a jewelry box.
Chu Wanning and jewelry? That doesn't sound right. The only accessory Chu Wanning owns are his head pieces, he must only own one, cause they have only ever seen him wear one.
"Put him here." Auntie instructs, opening the door to a room with a bed in the middle. Quickly Mo Ran sets Chu Wanning down but he doesn't want to step away. Eyes glued to the sleeping man's face, hoping, praying they open revealing those phoenix eyes. But nothing.
Madam Wang notices something odd. A slight curve to Chu Wannings chest as it rises and expands. She steps closer, getting a better look at the Yuheng Elder. Something clicks. She looks to see her son and Shi Mei hanging around the door, breaths more even than before. She looks at Mo Ran to see him staring hard.
"All three of you wait outside." She orders. She pushes, as gently as she can, Mo Ran out the door. "Hand that to a disciple to hand it to Tanlang for investigation. Makes sure he starts immediately." She tells them as she pushes Mo Ran out the room. Without another word she closes the door in their face. The three blink owlish.
Why were they kicked out? Shi Mei stops a disciple to hand the wooden box over. Mo Ran and Xue Meng stand at the door like children who got in trouble.
Madam Wang turns back to Chu Wanning. She lets out a breath. She hopes she's wrong but just to be on the safe side, she'd like to save The Yuheng Elder some face. She steps next to where he is lain. "I apologize Yuheng." She bows deeply. With that done she straightens up. She reaches forward with shaky hands, carefully pulling away his outer robes. With the thicker outer robes out of the way she slowly moves the inner robes away. She's not stripping him, just parting the cloth to expose his chest.
She's a bit glad her husband is not here to kick up a fuss about this. Once she gets a look at his chest she pulls the robes back on quickly. Her eyes wide in shock. She can't stop there. She'll need to make sure it's not just his chest that changed. She's going to need to check on Tanlang elder to see what he finds. This is serious, only because it's unexpected. Other than that nothing else has really changed.
He's fine.
It's going to be a storm once he wakes up. When ever that is.