𝐷𝑒́𝑝𝑎𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡「LCF x MDZS」

Chapter 39 - 『Wish You Back』

"Now then, may I ask the direction of where the Burial Mounds is located?" Cale asks, gracefully turning to the people who cheered for him with a small smile in his face.

"It's in the Eastern part of Yiling! You'll know it once you see it since it is filled with resentful energy!" A beginner rogue cultivator says with vigor, full of inspiration and energy when he saw the redhead fight.

Cale sent a smile, "Many thanks, daozhang."

As Cale walks away from the inn, the rogue cultivator almost fainted as some of his companions helped him to stand up properly, swooning at the redhead's smile.

The smile Cale was donning just seconds ago fell into a flat one, his face becoming stoic as he looked around cautiously.

"This place is still the same."

The slums of Yiling is where he grew up for ten years after all, and it's where he first met Wei Ying.

✶⊶⊷⊶⊷❍⊶⊷⊶⊷✶

He continues to run, and run, and run. Sweat starting to gather in his forehead as he heaves labored breathes.

How did it end up like this?

Weren't he just having fun with Jiang Cheng back then? Talking with his beautiful Shijie to flatter her for her delicious pork rib soup, fighting with Xue Yang for their gege's attention, playing with the other disciples in the river and eating lotus seeds.

And most of all, watching the sunset with his older brother. Basking in the redhead's comforting presence and lays his head on the latter's shoulders most of the time.

It was gone in a blink of an eye.

As Wei Ying brings the flute in his lips again, growls of corpses continued to echo around the Burial Mounds.

He played a mush harsher tune but it was filled with melancholy, tears blurring his eyes as he misses the old times.

The corpses stopped like a tamed animal, but Wei Ying couldn't care less for his success.

He misses the times where Madam Yu would berate him but offer sweets in return, Sect Leader Jiang's off-handed remarks that makes him laugh loudly, Jiang Cheng's scowls, and Shijie's soft smiles to comfort him.

And most of all, Gege.

'But he's dead.' A mocking tone reverberated in his mind, resentful energy starting to clog his way of thinking again.

Wei Ying grits his teeth, burrowing the feeling of rage inside him as he looked at corpses he managed to control.

He played his flute once again with renewed vigor, ordering the corpses to tear each other apart.

"How brutal."

Wei Ying immediately throws a talisman to the voice, in which the man simply avoided it as he looks at the disheveled younger.

"Who the hell are you?" Wei Ying asks, readying his flute to call more corpses.

The man tilted his head. And under the veil, he grins.

"Wouldn't you want to know?"

Cale will play around with his younger brother for a while, just like when they were kids.

Wei Ying scowls. And before he could talk, Cale spoke.

"Let's play a game. If you managed to remove my hat in three minutes, you will get a reward."

Wei Ying frowns, but he listened nonetheless.

"And if I don't?" He asks, since he is not that confident to win in such game.

"You will."

That made Wei Ying caught off guard, but he managed to avoid the kick that was about to hit him from behind.

'He's small, and agile even.'

No, Cale is not agile. He was using Sound of the Wind in order for him to move faster.

They moved around the place for a while minute, like they were simply dancing around and playing each other.

As Cale twirls, Wei Ying maged to catch a glimpse of something familiar.

'A ribbon in color black?'

Though such thing is common, Wei Ying saw the design at the tip of the said ribbon.

It was ripped, but it was sewn back to its original condition albeit the ugly stitch.

"Focus."

And now that Wei Ying's mind is slowly being cleared, that voice itself is familiar in its own way.

Wei Ying's breath hitch as he grits his teeth before backing away. He looks at the veiled figure as he made up his mind.

He's removing that hat whether the man likes it or not.

Seeing Wei Ying with a firm look, Cale smiles proudly.

'Now, come here.'

Wei Ying dashed forward as if he read the latter's mind, his eyes starting to well with tears again as he brimmed with hope.

His arms reached forward, but Cale rolls away as he continued to back away while Wei Ying continued to run towards him.

Cale could see Wei Ying grit his teeth in annoyance, making him freeze for a while at how vicious the younger is.

He was then surprised when Wei Ying was immediately standing in front of him, staring at him eye to eye before the raven grins in a lopsided way.

Wei Ying reaches to his hat, grabbing it with force as Cale's black-red hair fell down from its tie.

"Gege."

There was a smile.

"A-Ying."

The raven grabs the ribbon that was unwoven from Cale's hair before hugging the smaller man.

Cale could feel his shoulders get dampened by the younger's tears as Wei Ying wailed like a child, hugging him like there is no tomorrow.

"Did you grow taller?" Cale teases, but he returns the hug nonetheless.

"Mybe it was you who grew smaller, gege." Wei Ying teases back, his head laid on the latter's shoulders.

"It doesn't matter. You're still my little brother."

Wei Ying chuckles, the tension finally starting to disappear, "And you're still my older brother."

Cale hums, agreeing before his eyes became stoic as he continued to pat the younger's back.

'He doesn't have his golden core anymore.'

Say goodbye to the daily updates, people. I'll try my best to update on weekends if I don't have anything to do. Don't get your hopes up though ;-;