Always by your side

Ch 44 On this shrine, I promise

Past

Lan Zhan PoV

Waking up each day without Wei Ying was not the plan. Yet, there is nothing I can do for now. If I am still alive, we might sleep and wake up together again one day. So I receive the cold of the morning with enthusiasm. I let the chilling air sink in my body, and then I repeat to myself, "Wei Ying's warm body is not here, you want him back. Lan Zhan, if you want your husband back, you need to wake up. Hold on Wei Ying, we are close".

Going to the station and seeing Wen Ning and my uncle helps me keep the act together. Yet there is no news of Wei Ying exactly, and we need to plan his return. So we need to find him soon, and for that, I made a deal with a fiendish man. 

Many things happen in a year, yet there are a few surprising turns. Wen Ruohan became very cooperative when the news of my husband disappearance was spread. Either his lawyer advised him that upsetting the cops was a bad idea, or he didn't take the notice well. His money-laundering deals and art trafficking schemes were quite neat but undone in less than seven months. We have the lead before, but seeing the whole thing explains why infighting happened. One piece in his collection can buy a small army, and another could have created an army. I sigh. We didn't recover half of the items, so we handled the list to another Central Bureau and Interpol team. 

Since then, I have had thoughts about it since this guy has been visiting my office, looking for information. I cannot blame him since he is part of an auctioning house. Yet, I cannot bring myself to chase him out. When he smiles, I remember what I needed to do, and I feel that I owe him more than I can share. So I opted for the next best thing: give him an impossible task—something so hard to achieve that he will be busy for a long, long time. 

Today the sweet clown is here again. I try to act nonchalant, but he pouts and says, "Detective Lan, look at me, we have been apart for so many months, didn't you miss me a little?". 

With one pout, I became undone. I sigh. "What can this official do for you, Mr Mo?" 

He winks and hands me a red tassel saying, "I think it is the other way around, officer."

I press the red tassel in my hand, the energy that blessed it is warm and teasing like the man itself. 

I hid it in my pocket and looked at Mo Xuanyu. He is someone who will attempt the impossible and succeed. 

"Thank you"

He smiles and gives me a piece of paper with a four-digit number "My receipt. detective, and if you need something else, let me know". Then, he leaves without giving me space for a retort.

When I return home, I look for the spell in the tassel. The energy contained seeps through it engulfing me, teasing me to surrender to it. I gave in with a smile. 

He is hot. I smile. Wei Ying, I have missed you a lot. 

Empathy is a powerful spell, but I am willing to let myself be part of these memories. He is driving in the middle of the night with a child and a woman in the back seat. I feel his sadness, but the will to protect the baby in the back seat keeps him forward. 

The city is barely waking up when they arrive. There is a nice park next to the river, so Wei Ying pulls the car and walks down there. So many identical budda statues greet them, he bows and smiles since his head has concocted a plan to catch the man responsible for this.

The number of things you can do with flour, hot water, vinegar, gelatin, milk, and salt is incredible. For example, you can create the glue that lasts for a few days, weeks and months given the suitable additive. Then Wei Ying went to public mailboxes of different places and used the other adhesives to paste the envelope in the top of the mailbox, so it fell at varying times. The illusion that creates is that he was hiding in a particular place that might be tracked down, but he hasn't been there in months. However, a trap would be set in motion if someone went there looking for him or Wen Qing there.  

The next set of scenes comes from another person. So, of course, he will do this. I can see him driving towards a valley full of farms and the river's meanders covered by rice fields. However, the car doesn't stop and starts its way up into the mountains and the forest. When the car does stop, the man in sunglasses makes his way through a path covered by small cobblestones and leaves. The trail leads to a temple where an old pair of monks are having a good time chilling out in a hammock. 

Mo Xuanyu bows to the elders "I have come to visit a friend that I think is here with a woman and a child"

He waits there until the monks let him enter the temple.

"young people," said one monk.

"are always in a hurry," said the other.

The construction is quite simple, yet even though his memories, I can feel the divine energy it has. It takes me time to remember when and where I felt that energy before. I smile. So, they were protecting you all this time?. Behind the temple, there was a garden where three people were working in the field. 

 Both men stare at each other for a moment and smile. 

The memory updates to them drinking wine while chatting "Your husband has had a good time while you were out."

"Really?" asks Wei Ying

"Not really. Lan Zhan keeps mopping Wei Ying this, Wei Ying that, but he managed to make good work of Wen Zhuliu information. The man was quite cooperative when facing the death penalty. We got data on all the transactions of the drug trafficking ring Wen Chao had. The guy sends drugs in many forms, shoes, toys, plastic bags, wigs. Very creative". 

"Anyway, Wen Zhuliu chose a life sentence rather than going to the gallows. So the stress of the trial is now on his shoulders and not on Wen Qing's. There is some chance that she is in danger because she has more details in the human trafficking ring, but they are pretty sure that if she goes to one of those secure rooms where the witness can be interviewed and then flee the country, she will be fine".

Wie Ying pours another coup for him and Mo Xuanyu as he finishes the last.

"Yet, there is another trial in a few months related to the death of Wen Lee and the two officers protecting him. Sanren will testify, but you and Lan Zhan will be needed, and there is the question of what to do with Ah-Yuan. The kid can be put into adoption, but given his past, it might be better if he remains in witness protection". 

"Ah-Yuan is my son. I won't abandon him."

Mo Xuanyu sips his wine. "Lan Zhan said you will say as such, so he prepared these identification cards in advance. Your new name is Wei Wuxian, and his new name is Lan Wangji. This little rascal here is your son Lan Sizhui, and Wen Qing is the mother of this child and your ex-wife. Here is your marriage certificate, your divorce papers, and the adoption papers of this baby as well. Please don't forget to sign the three copies because I will have to motion lots of paperwork and bribe a few people to have all the stuff done".

Wei Ying spits half of his wine glass, and Mo Xuanyu laughs. Then, after he is done rolling on the ground, he says, "He will be waiting for you in the lake. They have a protected room in Caiyi district where Wen Qing will be able to testify and flee".

"Thank you," says Wei Ying

"There is no need. I am a sucker for having couples reunited," answers Xuanyu finishing his cup and gladly pouring another.

The two of them look at the portrait of the god of the temple and both said at the same time "On this shrine, I promise..." the voices are muffled so I can't hear what they say.

A voice is heard. It is one of the monks, except it sounds old, ancient and says to the other. 

"These two," says 

"Used to be one". answer the other

"but there is no need to intervene. They had it worse, and yet gege, I feel thirsty." 

"Me too" 

 With that, the memory dissolves. 

It was already morning when I woke up. The day is clear and cold. I let the air cool my body, yet my heart is burning with desire this time. Soon, Wei Ying, we will meet again.