Part 6

“Duo, you have to go!” Wufei was trying to get Duo out of bed.

            “But I don’t want to!” Duo said as he was set to make himself a dead weight.

            “Remember all the ROCK concerts you dragged me to? Now it’s payback time!” Wufei pulled at him again.

            “No No No.” Duo hid under the pillow.

            … …

            Duo popped his head from underneath of the pillow suspiciously when he didn’t hear anything from Wufei. His boyfriend was not one known to give up easily. He saw Wufei sit beside him on the bed, staring at him.

            “Wufei…?” the moment Duo tried to sit up, Wufei bent down and captured his lips.

“Hum… That’s … good.” Duo struggled to get the words out even as he melted into the kiss. It was never enough. Wufei tasted too good. He sensed the Chinese boy pulling slightly away and he followed, not wanting to let loose of him. Wufei’s hands wrapped around his waist, pulling him closer and into a standing position. Before Duo realizing it, they were kissing passionately and very, very close to the door.

“Yeak!” As sudden as it was, the Chinese boy opened the door and pulled the stunned American out of the house. The door clicked and locked instantly and Duo could groaned all he want but couldn’t get inside. Wufei had the keys!

            “Haha. Very funny.” Duo commented dryly as they walked through the night streets of Beijing. “I can’t believe you use a kiss to lure me out of the house. It’s a dishonor and injustice to trick me that way!”

            “There is nothing dishonorable or unjust using a clever strategy, don’t you agree?” Wufei smiled slightly, “Besides, you will like it, Duo. I am sure of that.”

            “But I don’t understand a single word.” Duo complained.

            “If it is any comfort, I don’t really understand also.” Wufei grinned as Duo groaned once more.

            Bickering with each other, none of them noticed a shadow following them closely behind.

##

            “Geez, I have no idea the tickets are so expensive.” Duo said as they finally sat down in the performance hall. Although he wouldn’t admit it, he was actually getting excited of the show he was about to watch. The ancient architecture and authentic settings around him gave him the feeling of traveling back to the past.

            Wufei smiled, knowing Duo was looking forward to the show. Nobody should visit Beijing without watching a Peking opera. True, they were here on business, but still, like Duo had put it, what’s wrong with enjoying while you work? Besides, that Mr. Li had not given them any news since the meeting 5 days ago.

            “Fei, what’s the title ‘Ba Wan Bie Ji’ means?” Duo asked after going through the program.

            “It means Farewell My Concubine.”

            “Can you tell me a bit about the plot, so that I don’t get lost later?” The program was not doing much help to Duo since it was almost entirely in Chinese.

            “Sure. Around 200 B.C., a great general by the name of XiangYu was losing his battles with another general. His beloved concubine, Yuji, knew that his lost cannot be prevented. Before the last battle, she slit her throat with his sword in front of him to show her love for him. She will never let another man touch her.”

            “That’s a tragic story.” Duo commented.

            “But it’s true. Reality is usually cruel.”

            “I know! If I were her, I will go in disguise to the enemy camp, seduce the enemy general, and killed him in the bed. Then, XiangYu becomes the emperor and I will be the empress!” Duo smiled thinking he could change history.

            “But Duo,” Wufei looked at him, eyes wide, “Yuji is only a woman! She couldn’t do that! Besides, even if she did, XiangYu won’t want her after that.”

            “Why not?” Duo asked, not understanding.

            “Because she has been with another man!”

            “So? She did it to save him! That was just sex between her and the enemy general. Certainly he will be grateful and love her even more!” Duo argued.

            “You will think he would. But I am telling you, he would probably kill her himself upon her return from the enemy’s camp. He would much rather lose the battle, and both commit suicide than enjoy victory with his woman losing herself to another man.”

            “I don’t understand.” Duo was confused by this horrifying idea.

            “A great warrior like XiangYu would never be able to live knowing that his lover was tainted by another man.”

            Duo was quiet for a moment.

            “What is wrong?” Wufei asked, worried that he had somehow upset his boyfriend. What he didn’t know was, he had hurt Duo’s feelings more than he could imagine.

            “Nothing!” The cheerful mask was in place within seconds.

            Duo’s face was pale as milk, and his smile appeared to be forced. Just when Wufei was about to press the issue, the show started.

            “Shh! Watch the show! I am fine.” Duo turned his head away, so that the other boy couldn’t see the tears that threatened to fall.

            **He didn’t mean it. He didn’t mean it. He didn’t didn’t didn’t mean it! He was talking about the thinking of a dead man over thousands of years ago, not HIMSELF!** But no matter how hard he tried to convince himself, the sentence ‘A great warrior … would never be able to live knowing that his lover was tainted by another man’ echoed over and over in his mind, and promised haunting dreams later.

            Wufei’s full concentration was on the show. The last time he watched a good Peking Opera was when he was 5 years old. He remembered clearly. It was the same show. He recalled turning his face away from the last scene, where concubine Yuji slit her throat.

            **I am no longer the innocent child I used to be. I caused more deaths that anyone here.** He watched as the actress on stage pulled out the sword. Immediately, Wufei registered something way off. Even from a distance, he could tell that has to be a well-known sword and a real and sharp one. It should be found in a museum, or belong to an antique collector, or even passed from generation to generation within a great family. It should definitely not be in the hand of a Peking opera singer.

            “Look out, Duo!” Wufei shouted as the sword suddenly gained a life of its own, and sprung out of the singer’s grip. It was going after them at high speed. Thanks to Wufei’s quick response,  it missed both of them by inches.

            The sword turned around mid air and struck once again. Wufei dogged and fought to grab the handle. His fingers barely touched it when it jerked out of his hold and attacked once more.

            Duo was shocked beyond words seeing this. A sword was attacking Wufei! That’s nothing new, but nobody was handling the sword!

            “Kisama!” Wufei shouted as he waited for the precise moment to deliver his deadly kick. It landed on the handle of the sword and sent it flying away from him.

            “Ahhhh~” the performance hall fell into chaos as other audience realized something was wrong and started pushing and getting up, running towards the exit.

            Training kicked in, Duo moved behind the chair and pulled out his gun. He had no idea how to attack a flying sword with a gun, but maybe he could shoot the person controlling the sword, which would be the opera singer.

            Wufei on the other hand, was looking for the flying sword that nearly took both their lives just now. He caught a glimpse of the metal as it flied towards the back stage. Wufei immediately jumped to his feet. He hardly moved 3 steps before the terrified crowd blocked him. Everyone was in his way!

            “Move! Move! Let me through!” Nobody was paying him any attention as they were busy screaming and shouting; some cowering in fear, and others fighting their way through, wanting to make it to the door faster.

            Moving through the crowd as fast as he could, Wufei saw the sword was nearly out of the performing hall and stopped there. He could almost reach for it when suddenly a woman jumped on him, and they tumbled together to the ground.

            “Kisama! Onna!” Wufei screamed, trying to push the woman down of him.

            The woman in fear wouldn’t let go. Just as Wufei was about to resolve to more drastic measures, he felt a slight sting on his neck. It was like a mosquito bite. He looked down and saw a needle between the fingers of the woman. A crushing weariness settled over him.

            “What the… hell?” Those were his last words as darkness claimed him. All he remembered was a wicked grin from the young woman before he fell into unconsciousness.

            After some point of time, Duo realized it was meaningless having his gun out. In his crouching position, all he could see was people’s butts as they rushed to the exits. He was not going to have any luck shooting the person that controlled the sword. Surely the person would have retreated by now. He stuck his gun back, counting the minutes, knowing the police and Preventers would be here any moment.

            “Yup, they are here!” He talked to himself as he heard sirens searing through the building. “I wonder if they are going to believe me when I said I saw a flying sword attacking us. Who knows! Wufei might have some explanation to the flying sword, and I am sure those police will believe what we said once Fei gave them a look of ‘no nonsense’.”

            Duo never knew that while he was waiting for the police, somebody was moving his unconscious lover out and away from him.