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There was blood. And smashed flesh. And, if he looked closely, he would see pieces of bones.
The little boy closed his eyes, tears streaming down his face as blood dirtied his clothes and his hair. He never felt that much pain in his whole life.
He couldn’t understand why this had happened. All he wanted was to eat pastries for once in his life. That man promised him, he trusted him and now… now he was beaten up, bleeding and alone under the moonlight. He did everything right and yet he was rewarded with pain.
He would never understand this.
It had been hours but he still couldn’t move, still no one came to help him. Xue Yang was left in the middle of the street on the same spot where the cart had run over his hand, and yet no one bothered to even look at him. He felt horrible, as if he were less than the trash he ate that morning.
As he laid there, alone, watching his left pinky get a black-ish color from being crushed, he felt something starting to die inside of him. Tears dried on his face at the same time he promised he wouldn’t be so innocent from now own. The blood stopped flowing as he said to himself he’d get revenge from this, no matter how long it would take. The little hope he had inside his small body was almost gone as he got angry at himself for being so naïve to the point of blindly trusting adults. Haven’t his own parents, adults, left him to live on his own as a kid?
He had no strength to sit up, so he just laid there, his hands now numb, his heart being replaced by something tougher, darker, like a stone. He was only seven, but he knew he was on his own.
Wei Wuxian walked down the streets alone, bored. He should accompany uncle Jiang and Jiang Cheng, but he couldn’t be quiet and sit still as they talked to other cultivators, so he decided to walk around and explore the city. It was sad that his shidi couldn’t join him, but he’d make sure to buy him a souvenir with the little money he had.
As he turned left into a dark alley, he immediately felt that something was wrong. There were high buildings on both sides of the streets so the light from the early morning sun failed to illuminate the dark street. But he could still sense something off, even if he couldn’t see anything.
He walked slowly, careful to not make any noises. Then, he was hit by the strong smell of blood and something else, like rotten meat. A shiver went down his spine. He didn’t want to deal with dead animals.
Soon he saw a small figure laying down on the street, facing down in the middle of a pool of dry blood. He shivered again. Was it a dead kid? He didn’t know what to do, Wei Wuxian himself wasn’t that old yet. He got even closer to the little boy and felt relief run through his body as he saw him breathing rapidly, his eyes closed and face contorted. Without making any noises, Wei Wuxian looked him up and down, looking for the source of blood. He saw small bruises, some cuts and purple spots on his small body. Nothing too big. He walked around the kid and then he saw it.
He teared up at the sight of the crushed hands.
Without thinking much, he crouched down beside the little boy and reached out for his hand. Before he could even touch him, the boy opened his eyes, terror all over his face as he sat up and crawled back to rest his back on the opposite side of the street, hugging his mutilated hand close to his chest as he stared at Wei Wuxian, wary and scared.
Wei Wuxian raised both of his hands, as if he had surrendered, and spoke softly: “I know you’re scared, but I won’t hurt you. I promise. I just wanna help.”
The boy was still silent, frozen in place. Wei Wuxian knew how he felt. He probably lived on the streets alone and couldn’t trust someone he had never seen. He tried again.
“I used to live on the streets, just like you probably do, and I can help with your injuries if you let me to. I can get alcohol and bandages to clean you up and I can buy you food. But you must trust me, okay?”
The boy didn’t move, still staring at him frightened. Wei Wuxian sighed. He must show the boy he could trust him or he wouldn’t be able to help him.
Slowly, as he looked at the boy reassuring him, he moved his left hand. The boy’s eyes followed the motion carefully. He pulled out a small money pouch, showing it to the boy. “See? I can buy things at that store at the end of the street and help you.” he spoke calmly, his tone comforting. He tried to use the same tone his shijie used with him, hopeful that it would calm the little boy.
Something in the boy’s eyes changed. Wei Wuxian couldn’t point out what, but he took it as a positive sign. He got up slowly and reached out his hand once again. The boy looked at it as if it was tainted and didn’t move. Wei Wuxian sighed.
“Come, I can’t help you here. I have to take you closer to the store so I can buy stuff and clean you up there. Come on, you can climb on my back and I’ll carry you.” he said, bowing down a little so the boy could reach his hand easily. The kid hesitated for a few seconds but held it, his grip firm. Wei Wuxian smiled sadly. He must have been living like that for a while now to be that strong so young.
He pulled the boy up gently, careful to not hurt him anymore, and put him on his back. He walked slowly, always very careful with the boy’s wounds. With this new closeness he felt something hard on the boy’s clothes. A knife, he figured. His heart sank down.
When they got to the store, Wei Wuxian put the boy down slowly, attentive not to open his wounds, and made him sit down. The boy still hadn’t said anything, and Wei Wuxian couldn’t blame him.
“Stay here for a while. I’ll come back as soon as I get everything I need.” He said before getting up and turning his back to the boy, getting inside the store.
Xue Yang was startled. He didn’t imagine he would get help from anyone, much less from a teenager. He was being very careful, not completely trusting the other. His knife was in an easily accessible pocket and he wasn’t afraid of using it, even with both of his hands hurt and several of his fingers broken.
He waited, and waited, and waited. He was ready to get up and go away, feeling betrayed and abandoned, when he spotted the black robes coming back. The teenager smiled brightly at him with both of his hands full.
The boy crouched down in front of him, still smiling, and handed him a brown package. Xue Yang stared at him, not moving even a little. He could sense the warmth from the package and a scent that made his stomach growl. The boy in front of him giggled and he looked up with furrowed brows.
“It’s mantou. Eat, you need it. You can eat it as I clean you up.” the teenager said, and Xue Yang felt his stomach tightening. He had never eaten fresh mantou and it had been more than one day since he last ate anything at all. The boy pushed the warm package into his right hand. “Eat.”
He couldn’t hold back any longer. As the starving animal he was, he quickly teared the package open and started to eat. He finished the mantou in a few minutes, barely giving time to the other boy to get the clean bandages and soak them with alcohol to clean the wounds.
“This is gonna be painful” the boy said, his tone serious; the previous smile long gone “but it’s the only way you won’t get an infection.”
“I’m used to pain” Xue Yang murmured, his voice low and his tone cold. He saw the teenager shivering.
They didn’t say anything as Wei Wuxian grabbed his left hand and started to slowly clean the injuries. Xue Yang wanted to scream and cry, but he wouldn’t. Instead, he bit down his dirty clothes and endured the pain.
It went on for what it seemed to be hours, Wei WuXian carefully cleaning every single spot and making sure everything was alright. When he got on to the left hand’s pinky, he sighed deeply, his face showing all the concern he felt.
“The flesh here is rotten, and the bones were crushed to a point they can’t be recovered” he said, his voice full of sadness and concern. “I have to cut it out.”
The boy’s eyes darkened a bit, something Wei Wuxian couldn’t notice, and he pulled his hand back. With his left hand, now covered in white bandages, he reached for the knife on his pocket. When Wei WuXian tried to grab the knife, the boy shook his head, holding it out of his reach.
“I’ll do it myself.” he said, his voice full of determination. “You can clean it after, but I’ll do it.”
Wei Wuxian knew he wouldn’t change his mind, so he let him do it. The boy looked up at him once before turning his back to him, facing the wall. He wanted some privacy, as it seemed. Wei WuXian gave it to him, taking a sip of the liquor he had bought to clean the boy as he got up.
Xue Yang placed his left hand firmly on the ground staring at the blackened flesh that once was a finger. He felt anger, hate, sadness and so many other emotions he couldn’t even name. He held his knife tightly with his right hand, determined to cut out no only his finger, but his innocence and his past as well. A part of him died when that cart ran over his hand and now he knew it. Even if he had accepted help from a stranger, he wasn’t as naïve as before; he was ready to fight if necessary, and he wasn’t scared of hurting the other. He might still be a kid, but he is strong and he knew it.
With a final deep breath, he pressed the knife down, cutting the flesh and bones. He felt his eyes tearing up and his throat tightening but he didn’t cry. He didn’t make a sound either. Xue Yang wouldn’t let his pain show on his face never again.
Once he finished it a few minutes later, he didn’t feel the pain anymore. Even if he was bleeding again, all he felt was numbness and a determination to get his pay back from whoever did this to him. He slowly turned around. “I’m done.”
The teenager looked down at him and smiled, trying to hide the worry in his eyes. He crouched down again and began to clean his hand, not saying a word. They stayed in silence as he finished his job.
When he was done, he got up and collected the dirty bandages to throw it away. Xue Yang was ready to say goodbye and never see the other again, but Wei Wuxian had other plans.
“I have to go now, but if you stay around here I’ll come back later to give you food, okay?” he said, his voice hopeful. The kid didn’t say a word, looking at him like he didn’t believe him. The teenager held out his hand. “My name is Wei Wuxian, by the way” he said, smiling softly.
“Xue Yang” the boy said, his face serious. He knows he shouldn’t say his name like that, but he couldn’t control his own mouth. He saw the boy’s – Wei Wuxian’s – smile get bigger.
“Hello, Xue Yang. Nice to meet you” he pulled his hand back, seeing the boy wouldn’t hold it. “Wait for me.” was the last thing he said before turning his back to the kid.
Xue Yang waited. He waited until the sun was high up in the middle of the sky. He waited until it went down behind the hills. He waited until the moon was shining over his head, a cold breeze waving his hair slightly.
He felt stupid.
Of course Wei Wuxian wouldn’t come back. Was it even his real name anyways? Stupid.
Xue Yang was getting up ready to go when he heard steps. He froze in place, listening carefully.
“Xue Yang?” a voice called out. It was Wei Wuxian, Xue Yang noticed. He stayed silent. “I have something for you” he added.
The boy took two steps forward, going where the moonlight could reflect on his bruised skin, and finally saw the other boy. Wei WuXian smiled at him, his hands full again.
“Hello, kid. I brought you something” he said, his voice sweet and still painful. Xue Yang was confused. Could someone be happy and sad at the same time?
Wei Wuxian soon got to him, sitting down, his back resting on the same wall Xue Yang used earlier when he was scared. He could see and smell the blood there. He motioned to the boy to sit by his side. He complied, his right hand going inside his pocket – to hold the knife, ready to fight. Wei Wuxian smiled again, sad.
“I bought you some porridge” he started, handing the bowl to the boy. He took it and looked inside, like he was expecting something bad from it. There was nothing wrong. He started to eat it. “Slow down, I don’t want you to puke” Wei Wuxian joked. The boy glared at him, making the teen laugh.
“I’ll give you some money so you can spend a few days without stealing or eating rotten food” he continued as the boy ate, his voice soft but his tone serious. “I know what it is to live on the streets, kid. I can’t do much, but…” he sighed, his heart tightening. He looked away from the boy, the curious eyes were suddenly too much for him. “I wish I could take you to YunmengJiang with me” he murmured, more to himself than to the boy.
He actually tried. He talked to his shidi and his uncle, but both of them were against it. Taking him in was okay because Jiang FengMian knew the boy’s parents and he felt like he should take care of him after they died. Taking a completely unknown boy who was already hurt and probably wouldn’t be able to become a cultivator was something completely different. He couldn’t do it.
Wei Wuxian thought it were mere excuses, but he didn’t say anything. Instead he decided to help the little boy one last time.
“I have also found a little cavern outside the city” he continued. “It’s not that far from here and you could still come and go whenever you needed. It’s not the best place to live, but it’s better than sleeping on the cold” he rambled, noticing the boy had finished his porridge. Wei Wuxian smiled at him, getting the bowl back. He handed him the money pouch and a small brown package. “Don’t waste all this money recklessly and don’t eat it all in one go. Save it for later, always.” His voice was caring, and Xue Yang’s eyes softened a little as he opened the bag.
Candies.
It was full of candies, those that he had always wanted but could never have because people don’t throw candies away. He wanted to cry.
But he didn’t.
Instead, he closed the package and put it inside his pocket alongside the money pouch. “Thank you” he murmured, his eyes fixed on his own hands.
“No problem” Wei Wuxian said, smiling big. He was looking at the stars, his mind back on the days he had lived like that, forgotten by the world. He couldn’t give this boy the same opportunity he once had had, but he could try to do some good.
They stayed in silence for a while, both watching the moon moving slowly across the night sky. Then Wei Wuxian remembered the last gift he had for the boy.
He reached inside his robes to get that last package, the sudden motion startling Xue Yang and made him get up, ready to attack. Wei Wuxian stared at him and smiled, reassuring. Xue Yang was still tense.
Once he got what he needed Wei Wuxian also got up, towering over the little boy.
“One last thing I got for you. To make you look cool”
He handed the boy the object, but Xue Yang couldn’t see it clearly. He grabbed it and held it close to his eyes, curious. Finally, he could see what it was. He smiled for the first time.
Wei Wuxian patted his head as the boy tried on the fingerless black gloves. It was a little too big to his small hand, but he managed to tighten it enough to fit his hands, his mutilated pinky now hidden by the dark cloth.
He looked up at the boy in front of him before bowing his head, grateful. Wei Wuxian bowed too, smiling.
“I have to go now, kid” he said, his tone light. “Take care. Hopefully, we will meet again in better conditions, right?”
Xue Yang nodded, mute. They stayed in silence for a few seconds before Wei Wuxian turned his back and walked away. Xue Yang started at him, watching him go.
May we meet again, Wei Xiong.