The Spirit of the Plum Blossom Tree (TSPBT) - 11. Chapter 11

The feeling of weightlessness surrounded him, a cool breeze flowing through his body.

Through his body?

Hong Shen glanced down, his translucent form floating a little ways above Guan Hongye’s body. It was a little unusual, looking down upon the gathered monks, siblings and spectators, all frozen in time. No doubt this was how gods felt, if there were any.

Struck with a sudden curiosity, he studied this new form he had taken for the trial. Guan Hongye was of average height, his white hair stark against the Suan Ni robe, and as he circled around to the front, he saw that his eyes were a mesmerizing gold, a bizarre color. Hong Shen had not bothered to look at his reflection in the last week, but now that he had, he realized Guan Hongye had been quite attractive, almost as attractive as Hong Shen’s actual self.

His attention was drawn back to the vivid Suan Ni robe, and his eyes widened as he realized Suan Ni had vanished from where he had been standing before. Floating closer, he noticed a sort of thin smoke wreathing Guan Hongye’s head, originating from his slightly parted lips in a slow stream. Now that he was close enough to see, his eyes also appeared vacant, but as he watched, they blinked and narrowed, something that shouldn’t have been possible if time had paused. Startled, Hong Shen withdrew, and his instinct told him Suan Ni had taken control of his body, kicking him out in the process, and was now watching him.

The sound of voices echoed not far away, and he tore his attention from Guan Hongye’s body to see a black door, floating to the left of him high in the sky. Willing himself forward, he stopped before the door, which opened as he came closer. Unsettled, he turned to glance behind him, only to see nothing but a blank expanse of white stretching for miles in all directions.

The sight put him on edge, but Hong Shen gnashed his teeth, smacking his head a couple times. How could he be so cowardly? This was unbecoming of a cold blooded killer, how many times had he become frightened lately?

Pushing open the door, the voices grew louder, and he was sucked inside as it slammed shut behind him.

“The poor boy, taken from us so young. The Crown Prince had always been a favorite of the Empire, it’s a pity that the bastard killed him.”

The hushed voices were quiet, but not quiet enough. Hongye glared at the noble women's backs, clothed in mourning robes as they spoke behind fluttering fans. They lie! If Boli had been a favorite of the Empire, why did all the servants and maids scorn him in secret, while nobles and generals smiled to his face but mocked him behind doors? At least no one hid their dislike of himself, daring to openly spit at his feet, now more so than ever.

Even so, he didn’t kill Boli! He would never purposely kill Boli! Right?

Tears burned in his eyes and carved tracks down his cheeks. Hongye waited till the women left before releasing a sob, curling in on himself beneath the shade of the bonsai tree.

After his cries had reduced to ragged hiccups, he focused upon the newly erected gravestone marking the place where Boli was buried. Pushing up to his knees, he grabbed a nearby rock, crawling over to the stone and scratching on it with the sharp edge of the rock. A bird slowly took form, soaring across the grey slate, and for a moment he felt Boli’s presence stronger than ever before.

“Fly, Boli. Be free,” Hongye whispered, his puffy eyes hard with determination.

If the Empire believed he had been the one to kill Boli, so be it. He would become the most hated villain they had ever known, and he would do it with pride. They would all see just how evil he could be, and how much destruction he could cause.

Why should he consider being granted the status of prince chains holding him down? No, the chains would be what he used to drag others down while he climbed them, all the way up to the sky.

Little bastard Hongye was dead. Fourth Prince Guan Hongye took his place.

As Boli’s grave and the bonsai tree dissolved around him, Hong Shen was silent for a long moment, staring off into the blank space.

It seemed he had gotten the wrong impression of Guan Hongye. Originally, he had just been some despised prince who probably just moped around all day, mourning the loss of his favorite brother while allowing others to look down upon him. But now, the hatred he had been fostering had become his armor, and he thrived off the disgusted glances and averted eyes he received, changing for no one as he didn’t need anyone to understand him.

And if he still felt pain at the remembrance of Boli, well, that was likely the only thing that still could.

Justice was right, Hong Shen thought as a cruel smile split his face. We are more similar than I first thought.

There was a click behind him, and he turned to see another door, this one painted red. Without any hesitation, he floated towards it, plunging back into the depths of Guan Hongye’s memories as they unlocked themselves for him.

Peering around the wall, Hongye checked to make sure no one was coming before darting through the open door on the other side of the dim hallway. His red hair had been cut short as though it had been hacked off with a knife, the jagged ends barely reaching his shoulders. His hanfu was soaked through with rain and splattered with mud, leaving a trail behind as he shut the door with barely a sound.

“Have you considered my proposal?”

Smoothing back the hair stuck to his forehead, the boy turned, walking further into the circular room. The decorations were sparse, but an altar had been constructed in the center, nine colored swords impaled into its surface. All along the wall, a huge scroll had been hung up, pulsing with a faint glow, and the whole room hummed with magic.

But Hongye didn’t even glance at the scroll, kneeling down before the altar and pressing his head to the ground. “Yes.”

A chuckle came from above. “Come now, raise your head when I speak to you, boy.”

After a beat, Hongye did so, his face already carefully expressionless. He had mastered the art of appearing unbothered only a year after Boli’s death.

Suan Ni was perched upon the edge of the altar, running a finger down the flat of a blade of green steel. “If you wish to form a contract, I will mark you now, and in ten years you will call upon me to complete the ritual entirely. Since you turned 8 today, I will return on your 18th birthday.”

Leaning down, he drew close enough to Hongye that he could smell the scent of incense smoke in his breath. It was oddly comforting, in a way. “Do we have a deal?”

There was not an ounce of uncertainty in the boy’s golden eyes as he spoke. “I am ready.”

“At last,” Suan Ni breathed as Hongye stood and turned around, letting his hanfu fall around his elbows and revealing his bare back to him. Using a single nail, Suan Ni carved the symbol of a dancing flame surrounded by a roaring dragon, ignoring the boy’s flinches and gasps as blood dripped onto the floor.

When he finally finished, a jolt of magic resounded within the entire Empire, the result of the marking of a new Dragon Guard. Hongye’s knees gave out, and he collapsed into Suan Ni’s arms. “Rest well, my little Guard,” he murmured as the door to the room slammed open and people flooded the space. “We’ll meet again soon.”

Similarly to the previous memory, the surroundings splintered apart, dumping Hong Shen back into the white expanse he had come to call the Yu, as it seemed to be the place before all the doors.

“Interesting,” he muttered, twisting his arm behind his back to feel it. “So that’s the mark that’s given me so much crap.” Somehow, it tied him to Suan Ni, in a way not unlike how he was currently tied to Zi Sheng Shou. Jeez, he really needed to stop letting others hold control over his body.

Hong Shen searched around for the next door, but none seemed to be showing up. With a sigh, he turned back one last time, and his gaze caught on a door painted violet. Moving towards it, he extended a hand to open it, but suddenly froze in place, and physically couldn’t move farther.

“Ah ah ah, you cannot go in there yet,” Suan Ni’s voice echoed all around him as heavy black chains began wrapping themselves around the door, locking it with a thick padlock. “It’s not polite to be so nosy, you know.”

“Nosy my ass, you fucker!” Hong Shen swore, still unable to move his arm. “Who was the one who is trying to ‘reside within my mind’ again?!”

“You agreed to form a contract with me, meaning you agreed to share your heart, mind and body with me.” Suan Ni suddenly became serious, and his words took on a dangerous tone. “It was Guan Hongye who made the deal, at least, not you. I have no idea who you are, but everyone seems to believe you are him, so I won’t refute them. For the moment.”

Hong Shen was clearly unnerved, and yet he managed to keep a somewhat decent poker face. “How could you tell?”

Guffaws filled the Yu, echoing from all directions as Suan Ni regained his composure. “Who do you think I am? I have lived for eons; what kind of dragon of wisdom would I be if I couldn’t tell whose soul was whose?”

What dragon of wisdom? More like dragon of dickheads!

“What do you want?” Hong Shen hated admitting defeat, but he couldn’t seem to win against the ancient dragon. The Hell Lords had never said he would be recognized as a different person than the previous host, but then again, Justice gave him the vaguest of warnings. Most likely they were all laughing at him as they watched from hell or wherever they were.

“What I want, you will learn in time. For now, it is time for you to awaken as my first Dragon Guard in centuries. You should be honored…”

His voice faded as the Yu began to contract inward, forcing Hong Shen into unconsciousness at the jarring sensation of feeling his heart beating once more.

⭑･ﾟﾟ･*:༅｡.｡༅:*ﾟ:*:✼✿　　✿✼:*ﾟ:༅｡.｡༅:*･ﾟﾟ･⭑

When he opened his eyes, only the light of a torch burning on a nearby wall could be seen. As his eyes focused, he could make out the ceiling of his own room, as well as a figure pacing back and forth beside his sleeping pallet.

Hong Shen attempted to move his arm, but his body was heavy with lethargy, keeping his limbs still. He released a groan, and the figure stopped, stepping closer and taking the shape of Zi Sheng Shou with his double colored robes.

“Your Highness, can you understand me?” His fingers were cool upon his forehead, brushing across in a fleeting touch to feel his temperature.

“...yes.” Even his tongue felt like lead.

“Which one are you now?” At Hong Shen’s stare, Zi Sheng Shou released a sigh. “As in, are you the dragon, or are you the prince?”

What? Did Suan Ni do something with his body while he had been strolling through Guan Hongye’s memory lane?

“..the prince.” It was getting a little easier to speak the more he worked his jaw.

The look on Zi Sheng Shou’s face was complicated, and he opened and closed his mouth a few times as though he couldn’t decide whether or not to say something. At last, massaged his temples with another sigh as he spoke.

“Why did you tell Suan Ni that there was no way to break the Incantation?”

He felt a slight surprise at the question, but it was quickly replaced by annoyance. Now that he thought about it, he wasn’t sure if he had done it subconsciously or not. All he knew was that he didn’t want that creepy dragon anywhere near him, and if making him think the Incantation was unbreakable and that he couldn’t turn his veins to molten lava again was the answer, so be it.

“Tch. You wouldn’t tell me how to break it, so I said there wasn’t a way.” And he would never tell the doctor that he would prefer sharing a heart with him than sharing a body and mind with the dragon.

Come to think of it, where was Suan Ni? Hopefully if he truly was in his mind, he was meditating or sleeping, and he would not do anything reckless or controlling again.

As he thought about it, he realized there were many things about this time period that he did not understand, especially dragons. He had been so caught up in the whirlwind of events that he hadn’t even had time to focus on getting a woman to complete his trial!

While he came to his revelation, Zi Sheng Shou had gathered up the rags and various other medical supplies he had brought with him, pricking his finger on a needle in the process. Hong Shen winced at the resulting sting in his own finger, and he glowered at Zi Sheng Shou, who seemed oblivious to it all. How strange… Was it possible he was just naturally clumsy?

No, no. With the doctor's wit, he was most definitely doing it on purpose!

As the feeling returned to his limbs, Hong Shen pushed himself to a sitting position just as Er-ge walked in. His brow rose at the sight of Zi Sheng Shou, who bowed respectfully and left without another word.

“Has Fourth Brother recovered at last?” Er-ge’s soft voice grated on his nerves, and he recalled the last things he had said to this elder brother of Guan Hongye’s. It certainly wasn’t very nice, and yet he was clearly unaffected, with the same calm and cool demeanor that faintly reminded him of a snake.

“Why are you here?” Hong Shen growled, swinging his legs over the side of the sleeping pallet, dangling them for a moment to get the blood pumping.

Er-ge sat on the stool Zi Sheng Shou had left behind, scooting it closer before whipping out his trademark fan, snapping it open. “Isn’t it amusing that we only seem to talk when you are lying injured or otherwise?”

“It would be more amusing if you would just drop dead, but that may be too much to ask.” Cracking his knuckles, the corner of his lip turned up when he saw Er-ge shift a little, and he decided it was time to get some answers.

“Tell me about the dragons.”