Liu Sheng passed the Hunyuan town and faced wind and frost that could rival those in his heart. He was kicked out. His healer, someone he could trust, his anchor, had kicked him out.
Somewhere back in his mind, Liu Sheng knew that maybe the reason why Wen Jingting was so strict and rude to him was to make him leave, to go to his father. But that didn't ease the pain in his heart at all. He felt abandoned. Because that was exactly what happened.
Everybody was leaving him.
He took a deep breath, but then once again he regretted it. The icy wind was blowing against him and the open basin was just made to kill you.
"Li Hui, let's go quicker," he said and patted his only friend in this cold desert. He wanted to get to the Jule post before nightfall, otherwise he would drop dead.
Thankfully, his horse was the best one and managed to arrive there in time. But the Jule station was just a halfway point. He still had a long way back to Datong.
At the yule post, he had hot noodles, but that didn't help to warm up his body. Well, maybe his body was warm from the fire and warm food, but he felt ice-cold inside. Every once in a while, when he thought of the moments they talked to each other, they were just together, then his eyes welled with tears. And he was a feared warrior. He shouldn't cry. Yet, he felt like everything was falling apart. The brief happiness he had was just fiercely ripped away from him.
"General Liu?" someone said to the right of him, and he immediately turned around. It was one of his soldiers. He forgot his name because his rank wasn't high enough to meet on an everyday basis, but Liu Sheng remembered him from training. He was quite skilled with a bow. He nodded, acknowledging he heard, but said nothing.
"We heard you are safe, but you look as if nothing happened to you! Can I see the scar?!" The soldier was too excited to fit Sheng's mood, but even then, he moved all his layers and showed the underbelly where a visible scar was showing he was supposed to die, but thanks to his healer, he… his body lived.
"Holy Heaven! You were dead!" he exclaimed. Sheng ignored him further, even though he was saying something, Sheng did not pay attention at all.
It wasn't the voice he wanted to hear the most. At one moment, he jerked himself, thinking he heard Jingting, but in the end, it was just him hallucinating. No one was there. Even though he thought he saw a hem of a brown sleeve pass by, it was just his mind playing tricks on him.
Liu Sheng packed himself into a small ball of feeling, hugging his knees by the fire and just stared into it. He couldn't fall asleep. Even though he felt really exhausted once he closed his eyes, he could see the silhouette of a person he missed.
Why were his feelings so deep? Why did he feel like half of him was missing? It was something he did not understand, but accepted. How could he say no to having a soulmate like that. Such a perfect person…
At the end… thinking of Jingting made him fall asleep. Not only thinking but imagining his face, the warmth of his body, his smell. It made him sleep.
In the morning, he woke up still in the corner by the fire, folded into a ball. But at least he was warmer. The entire night, he dreamt of his family and Jingting welcoming him back at home. But he only knew it was a dream. Jingting paid yesterday, so now he only walked out, got Li Hui, and continued his death march. The Beacon towers guiding his way. Until late, when he finally arrived at Datong.
The enormous gray walls greeted you from afar but the closer you got the more insignificant you felt. The towers guarding the wall where his fellow soldiers guarded the strategic point for the empire. The entire dynasty depended on those brave soldiers.
Liu Sheng showed his pass by the gate and was allowed inside, but only the barbican. Now, he had to pass three more gates before being able to enter the city itself. And he had to show his military pass at every gate. The soldiers thoroughly controlled it before saluting him. They knew him, but still they had to control it. They were so nicely trained it made him proud. It was his younger brother who trained those soldiers.
The echoes of the metallic clank of his horse's horseshoes stopped, and Liu Cheng got down. He couldn't ride his horse anymore once he was away from the main road. And even though he was down, he actually gained more attention than he wanted. On his way to the mansion, a few people turned their heads after him, and many whispered, making him uncomfortable. His swift step carried him to the general mansion, and he was glad to find it still bare of white cloth. He wasn't late.
"General!" The steward by the door immediately greeted him and took over Li Hui.
"Is father…?" He couldn't finish it. He just couldn't say it.
"The general is in his chambers. He is waiting," he answered, and Sheng breathed out. A bit of the heaviness from his chest fell down and ran towards his father's quarters. He found him, laying down in his bed, pale, frail. Xuhua and his mother were nearby.
"Father, mother. I'm back," he said, kneeling down before the bed. The sound of him falling down on his knees startled his mother, who now looked older than ever before. And his father started coughing. Xuhua quickly helped him to the side and pressed a cloth to his mouth. Once he stopped coughing, he looked at Liu Sheng and smiled slightly.
"Welcome home, son," father said. His voice was weak, nothing like it was before. Suddenly, Liu Sheng wanted to be yelled at. Even though he hated it before, now he would do anything to be scolded by his father.
"I heard about the healer from Xuhua. I'm glad you both found your soulmates," his voice was almost a whisper. Liu Sheng moved closer to him and grabbed his hand. He bit his lip to not cry, but it was futile.
"Father, don't leave," he said, and couldn't hold it anymore. He burrowed his head into his father's hand and started crying. He was repeating that sentence all over.
Father please don't leave…