Separate Lives (VIII)

A dangerous pursuit,

Where everyone was coming right,

The pain of the soul that fits,

In a riskier wheel of life.

***

THE YEAR 1904, a century away from the present time.

"Althea Xi's soul embedded the body of Fang Ying Yue, the destined Queen of the Qing Empire and the daughter of the Fang Clan. You know them very well, right?" Qing Long asked as Mei was surprised by that. She swallowed as she asked Qing Long to repeat the family of the clan he said.

"It was Fang Clan, you are one of their ancestors, Mei," Qing Long said that made her took a step back.

The Zhaochong Empire was run by none other than Wang Qing Long at that time, with only his loyal servants, court ladies, head eunuchs, and even scholars and ministers who helped him stood by his principles. But the only thing that comprised and argued of differences in taxes, even salaries, was the Fang Clan. They were greedy, wanted to be at the top of all decisions, not knowing that they had a king to oblige.

He had argued with their head several times, but his order will only be the one who could get stamped on to be a law of their empire. The Fang Clan always do something stubborn in the Empire, but due to Wang Qing Long's persistence, they never turn the tables around with their fickle and feeble-mindedness. They were withdrawing everything their family did every time a new rule or even a law comes out without them even knowing, and Wang Qing Long never knew why.

That's why Mei, the only trusted knight that he had been with, broke off her relationship with her own bloodline. She had been stripped off from her family's privilege, and she started to unravel her family's secrets to Wang Qing Long a thousand years ago.

The Fang Clan wanted to stay hidden as much as possible. The Fang Clan never wanted to sit on the throne, they just wanted to throw dirt on a clean swamp even though it's prohibited.

The Fang Clan never wanted to soar high, but they act like a crab in a barrel, they will drag you down no matter what.

Wang Qing Long knew she would be astounded to found it out. Mei had been disturbed by the fact that she was sharing the same genes with that killers. Mei doesn't want to intertwine herself once again with her family, but what can she do?

Mei looked at the other side as she said, "That's why the First and the Last Healer have the same bloodline."

Qing Long sighed as he answered, "Your family had been dead in a while. Why not... say to the Last Healer that you had the same blood...?"

Mei huffed a large amount of air from her mouth as she said, "It was never easy if you had a duel with your family a thousand years ago. Even now... I still remember the people who are innocent and were killed with that sword. I was the only one who wanted to break off that... but due to their selfish minds, the generation that had passed never broke off the rule."

They have rules, they have values to follow. The Fang Clan was never easy to beat. That's why even the Qing Empire was controlled by them. Wang Qing Long thought that they were a family of hiding their murderous assassinations. But he never thought that... the Last Healer, Althea Xi, would embed the body of Fang Ying Yue, the youngest daughter and newest part of the Clan, an archer, and the destined Queen of the Qing Empire.

"So that's why Ying Yue became the destined Queen, eh?" Mei asked as Qing Long observed the lanterns that were floating above the Yangtze River. Qing Long nodded as he knew the ill-fated relationship and he will never remove it even in the slightest mood.

"They might want to take over the dynasty and end it all at once. This Qing Dynasty might be the last one," Qing Long said as he sighed and looked at Mei with a disturbed look on his eyes. He puffed his cheeks as someone lit upon his head.

It's Lunar New Year, the Nian beast had calmed down once again, hibernating to attack itself unexpectedly, and Qing Long thinks this would be a good idea to talk to Althea. He held onto the leaves that were on his abdomen and straightened his robes. Mei was alarmed by his sudden bolt and she asked, "You will go to her?"

Qing Long replied with a 'Hmm' and secured the Jian swords on his sleeves. He walked outside of his house without turning back and slammed the door shut. The whole area of the empire and the village itself was still alive, unlike any other days, when it was nightfall, all of them were behind the doors and sleeping silently.

Wang Qing Long hid in the corner and retrieved a piece of cloth from her pockets. He adjusted his headdress, tied the cloth around his nose and lips, and left a space underneath his chin for him to breathe normally. After securing the knot, he closed his eyes and whispered in his somnambulant subconscious.

Meanwhile, Lei Jie put his hands on the nape of her neck as Althea placed her arms on his shoulders. She was gently pushed down on the bed while they were both deepening the kiss. Althea closed her eyes after a bit and arched her back to meet his lips. She pulled him closer to her as the whole area was filled with defeating silence, the chamber was stilled, and only the sounds of their lips squishing each other could be heard.

Lei Jie started to slip in his hand through her legs, and she was not surprised by that touch. In fact, Althea was thinking Qing Long all the time, but the body was acting on its own. Lei Jie continued to skip her kisses as he placed his hand on the ribbon that was securing her satin robes.