"The Little Things"

The past

Zhao Yunlan really loved the right side corner of his couch. It was a perfect spot to relax, read, drink or simply nap. At this particular moment, it was an excellent observation point. He was sitting with his bare feet up, comfortably spread arms and a dancing lollipop in his mouth. His eyes were fixed on the handsome man who was clearing empty beer and wine bottles from the kitchen.

"There's still one thing I don't get, though." The detective waved his hand.

"Only one thing? Did you drink all this on your own? I just cleaned here two days ago. Zhao Yunlan, when will you start taking care of your health?"

"It was Da Qing," tried Zhao feebly.

"I didn't know cats drank alcohol."

"You don't know Da Qing. That Old Cat-"

"No, but I know you. Stop talking nonsense. What is it that you don't understand?" When the last bottle was stashed in the recycling bag, Shen Wei casually switched to cleaning the surface of the kitchen worktop.

"The thing is," Zhao took the lollipop out of his mouth and pointed it at Shen Wei. You used to be a professor of biological engineering. But now you are an ancient history and literature professor. Don't you feel that something's wrong?"

Shen Wei froze, straightened and thought for a moment. Up until now, he hadn't really thought of it. Now, however, he found it extremely strange too. "I... haven't... Why haven't I thought of that?" he asked, alarmed.

"So... which one are you?" asked Zhao, sitting straighter. "Or do I get to have you twice as smart?"

Shen Wei furrowed his brows and thought for a while. "They are both... I remember everything from... before. But I also seem to have all the recollections of the other... self. Just... you're not there. It's like I never..." He let out a breath of frustration and squeezed his eyes, at the same time touching his aching head. Zhao Yunlan was at his side in a flash.

"Don't think about it. It doesn't matter. Sorry I brought it up."

"How can you say this? This is important. I must-"

"You must let it go." Zhao's hands touched Shen Wei's face tenderly, and he looked into his black eyes, reassuringly. "The only important thing now is that you and I are both here. Whatever happened, whoever made it possible, apparently we're not supposed to know yet. Come on. Stop thinking about it" He gently led Shen Wei to the sofa, and they both sat.

"Your new identity, me appearing after two years, Mount Kunlun... somebody took great effort to reunite us. Let's just be grateful and make the most of it. Who knows..." he trailed off, but Shen Wei's thoughts went exactly the same way.

Who knows how much time we have left.

They sat in silence for a long moment. Shen Wei's lips were pursed, and he was staring up ahead. Yunlan felt restless. He twitched on the sofa, then stood up and went to the kitchen area. He took out two tall glasses and filled them with water. Then he turned around and smiled playfully. "What's on your mind, my Black Lord? Do you want to propose to me or something?" His smile froze halfway and then faded when he got no reaction from the sitting man. So he put both glasses of water on the coffee table and sat down comfortably at his side of the couch. And waited. Whatever it was, Shen Wei needed time to put his thoughts into words.

"I-" The man finally spoke. "I promised I would tell you." His hands twitched as if they wanted to curl into fists, and he stopped them at the last moment. Zhao leaned slightly in, shifting his position on the old couch. "It was about a year after I had lost my brother. I was growing desperate. I searched everywhere, but to no avail... also, my fighting skills weren't that good. I only just discovered my ability, but with the weapon twice my size, it was hard to learn how to fight all by myself. It doesn't mean I didn't try, of course. Whenever I came across someone skilled, I begged them to teach me something. I would also mimic my opponent's movements, but, frankly, it was mostly me against a random tree..." he lowered his head as if in shame. "One day, I stumbled upon a village haunted by a beast. It would come at night and murder the people, two or three, every night. It could break into their houses, hunt them down... I decided to help. That night I waited at the well, and when the beast appeared, I slew it. It wasn't even that hard. Mostly because it hadn't really expected anyone to fight back. My blade went right through it, and I came out fairly unscathed." Zhao really wanted to ask what he meant by 'fairly', but forced himself to stay quiet. He listened with furrowed brows, feeling nothing but sorrow. Shen Wei continued.

"I met him the next day. He was a tall, well-built man. He was wearing a black cloak with a large hood that would hide his face and obscure whatever armour he was wearing underneath. There was a sense of... it felt odd. Like I had met him before. He told me that he had seen me fight and wanted to help me. Back then... I was at the end of my rope. I still believed that I would be able to find Ye Zun..." Shen Wei fell silent and lowered his head, even more, staring at the floor. Zhao moved, put his feet down, shifted sideways so that their bodies were touching. He put his hand around Shen Wei's clenched fist. They sat like this in silence, Zhao waiting, Shen Wei composing himself. Finally, he continued.

"He said that he had come upon a group of men with a boy slightly younger than me in a village two days away. The hope I felt at that moment... But when I got there, I only found ciders of what used to be a village. I..." Shen Wei paused, the emotions of that moment assaulting him anew. "Some of the villagers had managed to run away. When I met them, they confirmed seeing a boy, but they didn't know what had happened to him. I went on. On my way, I met that man the second time. He warned me that there were villages haunted by those Shadow creatures, and he suggested that he was willing to help me fight them. He would never stay long. Usually, he would appear, all of a sudden, teach me a fighting stance or how to use the dark energy, and then he would disappear. I never saw his face nor knew his name. I didn't mind, though. Back then, I believed that he was doing enough as it was. I would learn from him, then, at night, I would face the beasts. They were getting stronger and stronger, but somehow with all my training, so was I. It wasn't until a year after our first encounter that I realized a strange pattern. The things I had learnt became instantly useful against the creatures I fought next. I confronted the man but was met with dismissal. That night, however, I followed him and saw him enter a portal. He could create dark rooms in the darkness. This was how he lived. Or so he had told me. The portal took me to a cave system, and I followed the strange noises I heard. When I turned the corner, I found myself on a rocky shelf overlooking a vast cave. He was talking, and when I looked down... there were at least a hundred shadow beasts. And he was talking to them, commanding them. I had never felt such fear and betrayal. I just ran. But it was already too late. Some of the beasts sensed me, and they gave chase."