The Untamed Oneshots / CQL / WangXian

Mafia's Mistake (Vol. 5)

The fifth instalment of the Mafia's Mistake series.

Slender fingers coaxed an onyx dizi into a song as a story erupted from the chamber. It spoke of a lonesome soul wandering the world. He asked the Taoist priest and the scholars and the emperor the same question; where could he find his soulmate? Were there traces of him there? None had the answer so he wandered further more. Seasons changed. Buds turned to petals turned to dust. Brushing shoulders, he found no solace until the gentians were in bloom once more. Barely one day of separation, yet three Autumns had already passed.

The female that birthed this song, a lovely woman both inside and out, continued playing from one song to another, a never ending musical theatre so lovely it could melt hearts made of ice and protected by stone. Cangse Sanren had her eyes closed, absorbed in the music she created, playful imps tugging at the corners of her lips. From her seat on the window perch, a halo of gold enveloped her in a warm glow as the sun began to set, specks of stars beginning to pop up in the sky.

Pudgy little fingers guided a brush over paper, leaving colourful streaks in its wake. A toddler sat at the table in the cottage, the tip of his tongue peeking out of the corner of his mouth from concentration.

"A-Ying, can Baba see?"

Wei Ying put his brush down and proudly showed his painting of his mother to his a-Die. "A-Niang is pwetty," the little one babbled, his fluffy hair falling ever so slightly over his eyes.

Baba wrapped him in a side hug and looked at his wife, catching her eye for the briefest of seconds as they shared a fond, loving glance. "She most certainly is, a-Ying."

At that moment, Cangse Sanren stopped playing her flute and walked over to her husband and son. "What are my two boys up to?" She asked, eyes glinting with the same amount of mischief her little boy had sparkling in his chocolate orbs.

Wei Ying quickly grabbed the painting from his father and added a few characters in the corner of the paper before giving it to his mother.

She observed the painting, done by the talented hand of a youth, one that showed her playing her flute at dusk, before reading the message.

'A-Ying loves a-Niang.'

Smiling softly, she walked around the table and hugged the two most precious people in her life. "I love you too, dear one." She placed a kiss on the crown of his head.

A loud crash sounded through the cottage. Wei Changze and Cangse Sanren exchanged confused looks as they saw the vase she'd gotten as an anniversary gift lying in pieces on the floor...a vase that was on the other side of the room.

"What on earth," Cangse Sanren began as she walked closer before a shot ran out. She collapsed to her knees, hand tightly pressed against the wound on her stomach as more shots rang out.

Wei Ying was in tears, hiding underneath the table as he clutched his mother's flute and the painting against his chest. "A-Niang...Mama~" The toddler wailed, terrified when she coughed and blood splattered on the floor.

Wei Changze ran to his wife, supporting her and shielding her from the occasional gunshots that entered through their open window or pierced through the wood. He dared a glance outside and caught sight of various people, some in blue and others in maroon, battling against each other. They weren't the targets then, Wei Changze figured. They were just the unlucky victims caught in the crossfire of what could be nothing other than a mafia shootout.

In that moment of observing, a bullet pierced through his chest, nicking his lung.

Bloody and terrified, the two parents dragged themselves to their trembling son. Mustering all the energy she had left, Cangse Sanren lifted the rug underneath the table and opened the secret door. She wiped a few of her baby's tears with her thumb before giving him a stern look. "A-Ying, listen to me. Remember what Baba and I always said? If you have to go down this tunnel, you run as fast as you can all the way to the end. The other side will be at Granny Wen's house. Tell her what happened and that Mama needs you to stay there. Can you do that for me?"