"Fluffy flower! white man awsome!!" Excited Wàng Wùjī sang while touching the flower at Làncǎi's hand.
"You like it? It is yours?" Làncǎi asked as he fully formed the rose—a little oversized and gave it fully at Wàng Wùjī's little hands.
'He is happy...finally.'
Lìngxiāo exhaled softly. The more he watched the scene, the more it grew beautiful. The way Wàng Wùjī is ajwardly bit sweetly singing, visibly still vibrating, handling the rose like it would get hurt—it almost physically felt tender.
'Maybe shù fù is teaching me..about how to be responsible..? I just know..I might be already being.'
The scene continued like a page of novel silently being read.
"But it is white. Is your robe white?" Làncǎi said with gentle amazement as he showed Wàng Wùjī his robe a bit from his sleeve.
Wàng Wùjī blinked, thoughtful as he took a bit of his small robe too, copimg him. "Nou white.."
"What color is it? Will you teach me? My one is all white." Làncǎi wrapped his arms softly around Wàng Wùjī's little body, covering him half into his white long sleeves.
Wàng Wùjī kept blinking at the flower, their robe colors. He looked like the only violet drop over the white by the gentle coverage.
"Pàpà.. said Violet" Wàng Wùjī mumbled, "Nou whuite..no match.."
'So sweet.. He is trying..like this rose to bloom. Thank goodness he is fine now.' Lìngxiāo's excitement cooled down into gentle composure, grounding him. 'Too much expectations on the tiny little soul..'
"Oh no, how will you match it with your violet robe then?" Làncǎi softly pouted, playfully sad, but seemed planning something sweeter.
"Pàpà..angery..no match.." Wàng Wùjī a little sadly returned the rose to Làncǎi.
'Poor boy..cannot even like something which would not fully match with outfits. Clan is strict about keeping everything between silvery white and violet. Just do not complain if..hair or eye does not match.'
Làncǎi felt a little cold inside by the sight of Wùjī returning the rose. He wished if he could say it still matches with him because his heart is pure as this rose. He felt the man is mostly keeping proper eye on him but also letting him understand when he might be overstepping.
"Why are they..this strick while he did not even learned to speak? It is..cruel.." Lìngxiāo asked wuitely to the man. His voice reflected sadness.
"So intelligent. You noticed, did you?" The man lowered his tone to stranger tender like baby talking to Lìngxiāo too, "so this is the first point—clans control your whole life. You do get those.."
he spreaded his one hand around the room, towards the expensive things a little bitterly like reflecting the exact bitterness of the fact, "Yu get those but they steal your independence..no matter what you wish or ever wished.."
He shook head with the softer note, "At the end, you have the bloodline—Hàngwō seal and you are good at everything, you become their wish fulfiller even if you are getting thin out of the weight of your duty."
Lìngxiāo blinked with the blow and wight of the words as if it was too much all at once for him though the exorcism books were more thick then those few words. His chest pressed tight over his robes, bones of the throat felt too sharp then before. But he can't look away nor stop listening. Because every words hit too close to home.
It reminded him about that boy Chóng Fēi too—the closest one he saw burning for a little bit if freedom. What he didn't did? But at the end, just by one sharp glance of his father, he had no voice to speak with.
He swallowed hard, looked at Wàng Wùjī who is still looking at the rose at Làncǎi's palm.
The man tracked his attention, satisfied silently as he exhaled hoplelessly, finished his first large piece of lectures "But at the day, you are the one who regret for not being enough.."
When Lìngxiāo finally got back his voice, he asked hesitated, his voice getting stuck at places, eyes narrowed "Even..me?..but..I'm not the..son of present Patriarch. Are we not..different? By the laws, I can afford only the disciple position."
"Ah, Little lantern..look at you, do you actually wish to be locked into golden cage while being such a beautiful song bird who does not need someone to feed..while I am here to raise you without my doomed life? The man said while pushed back Lìngxiāo's few locks of hair tenderly, or perhaps for his proper discipline.
"Remember that day you accidentally fought too well? You are not pure cultivator nor exorcist." His eyes softened which was too rare mainly.
paused to land the words before adding with silent wonder into his voice, "I have been watching you carefully those years for the strange mark of your soul—which can be misused if any good or bad clan get it. You are not mix of two. It is...atleast four abilities: pure hyper-aware exorcism, close to even Hàngwō's signature seven minutes before death—perhaps will show up when you keep practicing..but dangerous to let anyone know. Then is healing..the last.."
He tiled head while thinking a bit. "Perhaps nine tail fox..because this soft golden hue like the light of lanturn..it is rare. Mostly it is deep golden, yellow or orange. But not this balanced golden which looks gentle but.." He smiled like a smirk, "unpredictable.."
"Not..I.. four..how..me..?"
Lìngxiāo breathed, too much thoughts all at once to understand what to think and what is overtginkung.
looked at Làncǎi, watched him talk to Wàng Wùjī, hugging but for now, he only saw mouth moving, heard nothing. Only the words rang into ears and the sound of his massive hope of being a part of Hàngwō trimbling at it's base like an earthquake only into his heart.
Also a strange matching pattern as Làncǎi which he was unconsciously searching more then the way the man's smile looked identical to himself — like his older self just in gentle white. The eyes had a narrow sharply gentle touch which he didn't had. He had was a tiny—almost mistaken drop of birth mark at the corner of his lower lip which can be barely seen.
'Is that mean..we both are not fully cultivator? He is..healer..but can work more with spiritual powers then any other healers.'
' I could..heal too by needles—found out this ability that day.. when I tried to save zhù fu—while this is not the way exirsists heal.'