Part 4
Beijing, China.
“Hurray~ This is more fun than I imagined! Don’t you agree, Wufei?” Duo was running and cheering down the busy streets.
“Duo, we were here to work, not play.” Wufei followed closely, looking at the address of the contact person they were supposed to meet.
“Work, play, makes no difference.” Duo shrugged, and seeing the look Wufei was giving him, quickly added, “I know, I know. But can anyone really blame us if we want to spend some of our spare time visiting attractions and do some tourist stuff?” He flashed Wufei a radiant, violet eye smile. This assignment was fun! Adventure in a foreign land, together with the love of his life, and all the delicious mouth-watering Chinese food that he got to enjoy!
Wufei only smiled. He could not describe his feelings at this moment. This was the first time he visited China; his root and origin. Now that there was no more L5, this was the only place left where he could claim to be his origin and felt he belonged here. After all, residents of L5 migrated from China.
Duo looked at Wufei, knowing what was going through the Chinese boy’s mind, though not really understanding. This was part of Wufei that he gladly accepted without true insight. Wufei came from a culture that had more than 5 thousands years of history, and he was the last descendant of a great clan. It must feel something like ‘the last emperor’ or ‘last of the dragon’. Duo knew that despite their love for each other, the other boy still feel lonely sometimes. It was as if there was an invisible wall between them. Duo made a mental note to learn more about Chinese history and their ways of life.
“Here it is.” Wufei suddenly stopped in front of a huge mansion. It was protected by high walls, making it impossible to peer inside as well as added to its mysterious atmosphere.
“Wow~ This is a big house! And old!” Duo looked around, “And there is no door bell! How are we going to notify them of our arrival?”
After a moment’s thought, a small smile appeared on Wufei’s face. “Here.” He pulled three times at a silver string at the side of the door. Duo simply shrugged, unable to figure out how Wufei had managed to discover the string hiding behind some plants.
The door slowly opened minutes later and a man in traditional outfit appeared. He bowed deeply to Wufei and led them into the house, never saying one word.
“Follow closely, Duo. This house was build according to the great intelligence of General ZhuGe Lian(1). In short, full of traps. Miss one step and you might end up seeing your maker.” Wufei whispered.
**ZhuGe Lian? Who the hack is he?** Duo thought, but bit back his question. The last thing he wanted was looking stupid in front of his very scholar-like boyfriend.
They passed a large garden with the strangest species of flowers and a small man made lake before entering the main house.
“Xin hui(2), Mr. Chang.” A man in his 40’s was waiting for them. He greeted Wufei with a traditional gesture.
“Mr. Li. Si wo de rong xin.(3)” Wufei returned the gesture politely, “This is Duo Maxwell.”
“Maxwell.” Li took a glance at the American boy.
“Nice to meet you.” Duo imitated Wufei’s gesture. Li only gave a slight node, before he returned his concentration on Wufei. Almost immediately, Duo disliked this man, but he kept his opinion to himself. The two started chatting away in Chinese.
**Why the hell am I here, if I don’t understand a single word?!** Duo thought as he played with the cup made of jade in his hand. Li had apologized for not knowing English. At first, Wufei did try to translate for Duo. However, as they got carried away in the discussion, Wufei did not pay any attention to Duo. Feeling rather unnerving at being ignored, Duo walked around the room and occupied himself with the display on the wall.
“AH~” Duo suddenly shouted and jumped back a few steps. He knocked over the shelf and everything on it fell to the floor; vases from Tang Dynasty, cloisonné bowls used by royal families, Song Dynasty’s potteries… These priceless antiques shattered into pieces.
“DUO, What happened?” Both Wufei and Li were shocked.
Duo pointed towards the wall. “Eyes, they were staring at me!” Taking a deep breath, Duo said with a calmer voice, “On the wall, there were 3 big round eyes, staring at me. They even rolled!”
Wufei turned to the side of the wall. What he saw was a plain white wall. He put his hand on it, and it didn’t feel any different. He glanced up at Duo strangely.
“I swear! It was there!” Duo didn’t like the expression on Wufei’s face.
Wufei stared at him a moment longer and then simply turned and started saying something to the owner of those invaluable antiques. Even though Duo didn’t understand a word, he was certain Wufei was apologizing for his clumsiness. He blew his banks in frustration. Why won’t Wufei believed him!
They left shortly after the unpleasant incident.
“I think you can make your presence now.” Li said, while looking over the pile of ruins.
A man emerged from the shadow, and stood beside him quietly.
Li smiled, “It went well, don’t you think, Gao?”
“Most certainly.” Gao replied, “The trick with the eyes definitely scared the hell out of that American boy. I wish I have a camera!”
“Oh yes~ It made him look like a fool. And for someone as chatty as him, it must be killing him not understanding the conversation between Wufei and I.”
“It’s going to create some tensions between the love birds, I am afraid.” Gao sighed with sympathy, as if he felt sorry for them.
“What a shame! Haha~” Li laughed in amusement, “Let’s see how long they will last with a Great Wall building between them!”
“…… I really did see the eyes staring at me, and I don’t like the way he looked at you as if he wanted you for something and I don’t trust this Li as far as I can throw him because this Li is creepy.” Duo finished his long speech with that closing line.
Wufei had listened patiently to whatever Duo had to say. “Alright, we will find out about it.”
“Are you angry with me?” Duo asked unhappily. **I felt so useless and foolish back there…What will Wufei think of me!**
He was surprised when he received a light kiss on his lips, instead of the scolding he was expecting.
“You looked so cute when you jumped and squealed like a girl seeing a mouse!” Wufei was actually laughing.
“Hey hey~ That’s an insult! I don’t squeal!! Comparing me, the Great Shinigami, to a girl, huh?” Duo started laughing as well, “I will show you who is the manly man here!”
If Li and Gao knew that they didn’t achieve their goal of creating disputes between the pair, they will at least have demanded Duo to pay for what he broke!
##
"Look Duo! This is it! It's the symbol of Qin Dynasty!" Wufei exclaimed, pointing to a fragile, ancient looking book.
"What's what?" Duo was currently engaging in his second favorite activity; sleep.
"The logo of the organization is the same with the symbol of the royal seal of Qin Dynasty."
"Qin...Dynasty...wha..z...thad..?" Duo asked in his sleep, apparently he had decided against waking up.
Wufei sighed and put down his book. No point talking to the sleeping beauty. Might as well joined in. He carefully lay down beside Duo, **not that jumping onto the mattress will wake Duo up!** He smiled, Duo looked adorable when he was asleep. All his mischievous gone, making him look every bit angelic. **I love you.** He murmured, flipping lightly at Duo's banks.
A hand snatched out and pulled him closer. Wufei gladly gave in, enjoying the heat and comfort that was offered before drifting off to sleep.
But his sleep was not peaceful. Haunting whispers filled his dreams.
“Come to me…Chang…”
**Who are you? Who is
calling me?**
**Free?**
“Yes! Come free
me…together we were great… now it’s time to be great again……”
The voices only left his dreams when the dawn was approaching.
Side notes:
(1) ZhuGe Lian – From “The Three Kingdoms”. He is often recognized as the most intelligent man.
(1) xin hui - honor to meet you.
(2) Si wo de rong xin – the honor is mine.
