Arbor

III. Bailu

III. Bailu

The bubble tea kid — Yanqing — fell off a roof. Bailu was shocked to see him in the clinic, but after a lunch break, she arrived to see the boy sprawled in a cot, bruised and bloodied.

Bailu rubbed ointment on his wounds and left the clinic for the night. When she got back the next morning, his eyes were still shut tight, as if he was having a nightmare. Bailu sighed as tears came out of the boy's eyes. This kid cried a lot. He muttered Jing Yuan's name as he suddenly tensed in his sleep, and sat up, eyes wide.

"No!" He shouted, sitting up. By the way he winced, Bailu could tell that something was seriously hurting him, but he shakily stood up and stumbled towards the door.

"Have to..." He sobbed, tears streaming from his eyes, "Have to...save...him..."

"Who?" Bailu asked, curious.

Yanqing turned.

"Where's Jing Yuan?" He asked.

"Huh? He brought you here. He's outside. Why?"

"U-uuhh..." Yanqing sighed. "Nevermind."

"What happened?" Bailu asked. "Jing Yuan said he found you on the ground, crying."

"I was hallucinating. I saw...horrible things..." Yanqing sat down on his cot.

Bailu's eyebrows furrowed like fuzzy caterpillars. "Are you getting enough sleep on a daily basis? How much do you eat?"

"I eat enough. I sleep enough. I don't think...I mean — I think that my visions were caused by someone. Or something."

"Hmm..." Bailu muttered as she poured liquid on his wounds and bandaged him. She was perplexed. "Well, what do you see?"

Yanqing shuddered. "I see the Abundance destroying the person I care for most. Jing Yuan."

Bailu looked at her feet. This was unlike anything she had heard before, and with her recent mishap...

"I don't know what to do. Stay away from the Arbor."

Yanqing sighed. "What is it with that giant demon tree?"

Bailu smiled, for the first time in their appointment.

Yanqing stood up, feeling rested.

"Ready to leave? Oh — here, take this." Bailu asked. Yanqing had been treated physically, but he would need a little help with his visions from someone else...

She wrote a name down on a card. Azara Windhollow, magic-caster. She gave it to Yanqing. "Visit this person for me, okay?"

"I... Okay." Yanqing nodded.

"The door is that way." Bailu pointed at a door.

Yanqing left Bailu to care for the other patients. He walked out the door.