Soul Bound

Attention in Yiling

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The tall, pale Childe stood in self-imposed isolation on the porch of the Inn in Yiling. He was there, trying to remain aloof, determined even at the age of 9 to maintain the dignity of the Gusu Lan Sect, to do credit to his clan in Cloud Recesses. He imagined the long-distant, shining peaks of his home and they were his eternal and internal example, remote and uninterested in worldly indulgence. He wished he was back home. He did not do well socially, even at Cloud Recesses. This place was overwhelming him. He hated it immediately Yiling was smaller than other places he was visiting on this progress and it had a seamier side, an underbelly of illicitness that disturbed him as they entered the town. Too many beggars had lined the cobbled street, and fights had erupted with no seeming provocation in front of drinking and gambling establishments. Brightly dressed and heavily made-up ladies had stood on upper balconies and shouted shamelessly; they said things he could not grasp at his uncle, the guardians escorting them, and even at his equally naive and confused older brother. He simply wanted his uncle's business to be quickly ended and to leave this placed behind as they continued their way.

He was about to return to his room when he noticed a furtive movement across the street. His curiosity was piqued, and he turned his attention to a small boy, a little younger than himself. He was sitting crosslegged with a bowl in front of him. The first thing he noticed was that the kid needed a bath. The second thing was he was way too thin. At Cloud Recesses, they were all expected to eat healthily, eschew sweets and indulgences, and stay lean but fit. The Kid across the way was emaciated. The third thing was the way the shaky, slender hand was counting the few coins he had collected in the bowl. He was surreptitiously hiding them in his ragged clothing when he was approached by four teenaged street thugs. The Kid looked up and stood quickly, trying to make a run for it, but the biggest bully grabbed him by the front of his shabby tunic and held him up, a foot from the ground.

"You fucking guttersnipe! Who are you trying to cheat? We get half of everything you take. That's the deal for this corner!"

The kid did not even struggle. "Honest Xue Yang, I was just putting it away so nobody could steal it."

"Low life. Liar!"

He stuck his hand down the front of the Kid's tunic and removed the thin leather pouch,. roughly snapping the thong and taking everything his victim had earned that morning.

"ALL mine now, Wei Ying. Get busy and leave whatever you make in your bowl. I'll divide it myself from now on. And remember, I have eyes all over these streets, Next time you cheat me, they'll find you floating in that public john over there. Just another piece of shit." He slapped him viciously across each cheek and let him drop. As the Kid lay in a heap, Xue Yang turned his back and walked to his minions.

"Kick his rotten little ass. Leave enough to still work, but rough him up enough to make him look twice as pathetic as he is now." They circled the kid and began to punch and kick.

The Childe on the veranda reached over for his walking stick. It was heavy hickory, beautifully carved and polished, with a rounded silver knob on the handle and a silver ferrule at the bottom tip, sharpened to an Inch-long point. He placed one hand on the railing and effortlessly flew over it. The kid watched in wonder as he endured the beating, while the Childe strode over, stuck his walking stick into the top of the Xue creature's foot, and turned his attention towards the other assailants. He flipped the stick over and began to use it like a cudgel. Within seconds a blow hit one between the shoulder blades another sideway in a knee and the third got it fully upwards between the legs.

He turned a lasered glare at the bigger leader who glared back with black hatred. "Any further discussion? No? Then get out."

"What's your name? I want to remember you, asshole."

"It is Lan Zhan." He looked down at the Kid at his feet and held out a hand to help him up. His icy topaz eyes stared into a pair of silver ones. "Wait and I'll get your money back."

"N...N...No. Let him have it. If he doesn't get it, he will come back when you leave this shithole town."

"Mn..." He turned to the leader and snarled, "Go away, or do you want more?" The three who could walk gathered together and limped off, dragging the fourth boy by his collar as he screamed for his mother, cradling his crotch in both hands.

Those amazing eyes stared up at him in hero-worship. "Thank you, Childe Lan Zhan." He whispered and he bowed to the ground in abject gratitude.

"Get up, there is no need." He was strangely embarrassed at the sudden display of gratitude. The Kid, what was his name...yes...Wei Ying... rose quickly and continued to stare. He would be a nice-looking child if he was just a bit...cleaner.

'" Follow me, " he said abruptly. Wei Ying obeyed without question. They walked across and Lan Zhan ordered him to stay as he ran into the Inn.

"Yes, Young Sir?' Asked the Inn Master.

"Is there an outside bath? For Passersby?"

"Yes. But..."

"Will use it. Need towels, soap, and a scrub brush. Hair oil and hairbrush."

The man looked at the pristine boy in front of him. "Are you...sure?"

Lan Zhan nodded impatiently. The Innkeeper shrugged and took several copper coins for the facilities.

The rich were certainly odd ducks, even their brats!

Lan Zhan rejoined Wei Ying.

"Come."

They walked to the back of the Inn and found a lean-to with a steaming bath, with several buckets of rinse water on the side. "Wash hair first. Scrub twice. Rinse twice. Do not put those unclean things on again. Back soon."

"But...but...where are you going?"

"You need clothes."

"Hey wait! You don't have to buy me clothes!"

"A voice came back. "Don't 'Have" to. Want to."

Then there was silence.