Wei Shen slouched in his stall, his mind racing a hundred miles a minute, "What do I do...how does...I've never made it this far..."
His initial thought was to clean, it would help ease his mind. And so he began sweeping the dust that had gathered from the light winds received throughout the night. As the pavilions died down, other vendors began to pack up, so Wei Shen followed. He knew the exact amount of money he had, after hundreds of years of inventory it was easy to keep track.
As he stuffed his merchandise into bamboo laced baskets, he reached, his hand touching an unknown porcelain. It felt soft in his hands as he studied where it had broken. "Easy fix" he thought to himself as he attached the masks ribbon to his waist sache and lightly wrapped the rabbit ear in fabric, setting it softly in his carry-on.
He caught himself smiling sweetly but snapped out of it, picking up a small mirror and adjusting his front hair. He began to make sure his marking hadn't faded like it would before a loop would end, and sure enough, it was still there.
As he closed up his stall he noticed a donkey standing nearby with red fabrics and golden bells adorning its hair "How come i've never seen this?" He walked closer and hollered to the donkey "Hey buddy..?"
As he stepped closer, he held his hand out, almost wincing as the friendly animal sniffed his hand. Once the donkey nuzzled his palm softly he knew, this must be his. "What's your name girl?" He reached to a ribbon with gold font tracking the side "婷婷" Wei Shen laughed heartily "Ting Ting? What a cute name..."
His gaze dropped to an embroidered carrot in the fabric "You like carrots?" In the back of his mind he was wondering why he was talking to a donkey, but that is not the weirdest thing he's done in the past century.
Wei Shen hooked Ting Tings saddle latches to the cart and walked with her slowly, leading her down a lit stone path towards the town of Xiangmu.
As he walked, he passed an older man who had been selling produce near the pavilion. He handed the man a single silver coin and bought 2 bundles of carrots for his little Ting Ting.
With a thanks and a wave, Wei Shen followed the stone path to Xiangmu.
It was one hundred forty five incense before Wei Shen had checked into his room. After feeding Ting Ting and making sure her stall was safe; he began to ponder "So, this boy...Liang Yu I recall...I never said Xilian...I never thought of it."
He looked through the stack of books provided in the room and found an old prussian cover, "The Five Families: Hao, Yu, Lee, Han & Min" The book was straight forward, covering their strengths. "Ah, here is Hao...where this body is from. Experts in hand to hand combat and the producers of most common goods found in the regions"
What caught Wei Shen's eye were the techniques of the Yu clan "Experts in playing with the mind." He read out loud, as if back in highschool when he had to speak in English class.
Wei Shen scoffs, "Legend says, their ancestors believed in ritual taintings that would make some lose their mind before dying due to loss of blood from their eyes...Quite extreme..." Wei Shen closed the book, his mind begging to shut down.
This was new, he hadn't technically slept in over two hundred years, it felt new, yet so familiar.
Before lying down he made sure to change robes and prepare an oak incense to help deepen his slumber and open his mind, and sure enough, he was out within seconds.
Wei Shen stood in the abandoned imperial garden near pavilion 2, his breath slow and frosty in the air. His legs began wandering without his permission. His shoes slowly drudged through the cobbled rocks beneath his feet.
As Wei Shen made his way to a large sliding door, he felt the urge to open it slowly, and as he did, it revealed a pitch black room, and where the moonlight fled in, there layed a coffin, slick and gold.
As Wei Shen approached, his hand reached to feel the cool metal. His fingers fled around the intricate engravings on the casket, many rabbits, clouds and cherry blossoms. Suddenly, his mind wondered what was inside.
After unlatching the casket, he slid the top off, revealing the body of Liang Yu. Wei Shen could not tell if this was reality but something about not remembering where his mind was before sent a shiver down his spine.
Liang Yu's cold, dead lips were parted so slightly, it almost made him seem as though he was in a deep slumber. "When you're not being murdered, you're slightly...amusing.."
Wei Shen reached down to Liang Yu's forehead and softly caressed it, "You are so young.", Wei Shen chuckled softly, "I remember being careless like you, long ago."
Liang Yu's mouth suddenly moved, but his body still laid unconscious "Do you miss it?"
Wei Shen stepped back, suddenly falling, screaming and unable to move. The screams turned sour and then they sounded like a rooster. He sat up, clenching his robes, drenched in a cold sweat.