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“Let me try something on you. I learned something new from Ba Ye today.”
The boy across from him groaned. His big brother was once more trying to coax him into another fortune-telling trick. It was early in the afternoon and the two boys were in the library as they usually were at this time of the day. Right now, this boy was only interested in the protagonist of the book he was reading.
“You know I don’t believe in those things,” the younger boy said, flipping another page of his novel. Deep in his heart, he knew that his disinterest in fortune-telling had been fuelled by the fact that he couldn’t practice it himself. Despite being adopted, he had never been treated like an outsider in this family, yet one’s blood never lied. He simply didn’t have the affinity for divination the same way his brothers and sisters did.
He held the book he was reading higher so that it would cover his face. His brother was having none of it as he stole the book and hid it behind him.
“You’re a disgrace to the Qi family,” the older boy said, grabbing the younger boy’s hand and forcing it to lay face-up on the desk. He held onto him tightly that the younger boy wouldn’t be able to refuse even if he tried. After some struggling, the latter finally relented.
The other boy stared at his palm. He took in the details and the lines formed on the surface of the skin. He bore a faraway glance and began calculating with his fingers. The younger boy stared back at him, a ludicrous expression on his face.
“This is surprising.”
“Oh?” The younger boy retorted, clearly unconvinced.
On the other hand, his brother looked very serious.
“Based on my predictions, you won’t meet the love of your life for a long time.”
“That sounds very specific,” the young boy said, his tone glazed with sarcasm. The other boy glared at him.
“He likely hasn’t been born yet so I can’t see things as clearly. But I’m certain that he’s closer than you think.”
“He?”
“Yes, your fated one is a boy.”
The young boy wasn’t at the age to contemplate what preference was yet, so he felt neutral about this detail. He faced the other boy with the same indifferent and disbelieving look in his eyes.
“Anyone can say this. It doesn’t make it real.”
“It’s real.”
“Oh yeah? Tell me his name. Where does he live? Who are his parents?”
The older boy rolled his eyes at him.
“You know I can’t do that. Our practice has never been centered on predicting the future. It’s more about reading the heart. I don’t have the answers. I can only read the signs.”
“And what signs do you see then?” The younger boy challenged.
The older boy considered his question.
“Actually, there is one very clear sign that keeps appearing.”
“What’s that?” The younger boy asked, feigning curiosity.
“Flowers. You’ll know it’s him because of the flowers.”
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Flowers? How many times had he seen flowers in this life? It had never led to anything earth-shattering or life-changing. More importantly, did he even believe in love or fate at this point?
Hei Xiazi had gotten to an age where the butterflies in his stomach and the fluttering in his heart had long died down. He was miles past that. It’s not that he was particularly old. It’s just that he was perfectly jaded at this point. He had experienced too many things that life had lost its charm to an extent, overridden by realities that were much too cruel.
Xiazi contemplated love the way he considered physical and chemical reactions---naturally-occurring and totally for the sake of human survival. There was nothing romantic about it. For a time, he did have some expectations based on his brother’s reading but when nothing substantial transpired, he gave them up.
His brother must have been messing with him back then. He took every opportunity to do just that.
Thinking about it now, he kind of missed his brother’s badgering.
The older boy was long gone and none of his divinations that day had come into fruition. How many lifetimes did he have to wait for this person? That is, if that person even existed.
In Xiazi’s mind, the only answer was that none of it was real. At least not for Hei Xiazi. He looked back on that time. He wasn’t even Hei Xiazi back then yet. His name had been something else. He hadn’t heard that name for a very long time. There was no one left who knew what that name was.
Xiazi had resolved it in himself long ago that maybe his fate just wasn’t written by the stars. Maybe it was crafted by another force entirely. If you were part of the Mystic Nine, this was a truth that you lived with every single day.
Xiazi had grown up surrounded by mysticism and divination. He was part of the Qi family, so it was a basic family tradition to be well-versed in the art of fortune-telling. Or as his brother liked to put it---reading the heart.
Well, he was adopted so he didn’t have the natural ability that the Qi blood possessed. That didn’t change the fact that he was still forced to understand everything about it. He found it all very interesting and had no problem appreciating the concepts in an academic sense. But that was as much appreciation as he could give. He had seen this ‘magic’ in play and had also witnessed its power, but it was always towards other people. There were too many circumstances that could be attributed to mere coincidence. Until he could see it work in his own life, he would remain a skeptic.
He put all of these thoughts aside. He had been a little sentimental today for some reason. Maybe it was the effect of springtime. He often thought of his family during this season. He held many beautiful memories of them in spring. Reading books in the family library with the windows wide open, running around with his brothers in the garden, drinking tea with his sisters outside---He was very fond of these memories.
But that was all they were now. Memories.
The house was still standing, but the people were gone. There was nothing left, but dust and remnants of the past. Xiazi could choose to live in their family home, but it wasn’t much of a home now. This was the reason why he preferred to travel, constantly jumping from place to place.
Xiazi sighed.
Forget the past, more pressing matters were at hand in the present. It was best to keep busy in order to keep these musings and meanderings at bay.
Coincidentally, Xiazi had just received a new assignment. 14 corpses had been discovered in a fire in a building in Beijing. There were many odd details about this case. If it weren’t odd, Hei Xiazi wouldn’t be involved in the first place.
This case came to him through his boss at that time. The latter had been contacted by an old friend. Xiazi guessed that it was likely someone from the Mystic Nine. He just wasn’t sure which one. It made the assignment all the more special. Xiazi knew that he had to give it some preferential treatment.
He just had the basic facts for now. None of the victims that were pulled from that fire actually died from the fire. 13 of those corpses suffered from drowning while 1 burned on the roof of the burned building, where nothing was particularly flammable. He was starting to make conjectures, but he didn’t want to make any definite assumptions until he saw the situation with his own eyes.
Without any time to waste, he set off on his flight and arrived in Beijing a few hours later.
Xiazi packed light for this trip. He was thankful that it was springtime since he didn’t have to bring too many layers of clothing. Spring in Beijing was always lovely, not particularly hot nor cold. The flowers were in full bloom and the trees were lush and green. It was perfect for lounging and doing lazy things.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t here to lounge or laze around. He didn’t make the trip to take in the view of the fullness of life. In fact, what he was bound for was devoid of life. That was what the grave-robbing business was all about.
Xiazi was fully prepared to book a hotel for this assignment, but he was instructed to go to an address instead. The address was located in an opulent area of Beijing where the rich and powerful lived. It was safe and secluded, more so because it was near a military compound. His boss said that these people were more than willing to accommodate him into their own home.
Sure enough, the said house had the capacity to accommodate one more person given its expanse. When he arrived at the address, what stood in front of him was a traditional Chinese mansion. He immediately felt nostalgic. It was very much like the house where he had grown up. As he was led through the gates, he felt a sense of familiarity. These buildings were well-maintained and the grounds were well-kept. It reminded Xiazi exactly of their house when it was springtime. The flowers in the garden were showing off their pretty petals in an array of colors, perfectly capturing the scenery of spring.
The maidservant that had accompanied him from the gates led him to the deeper part of the garden. There was a table set up with an ornate tea set on top. Drinking the tea was an older woman who was dressed luxuriously. Her look matched the things around her---extravagant and lavish. Upon seeing her, Xiazi knew right away whose house this was.
He was in one of the Huo family mansions and in front of him was Huo Xiangu herself.
“Hei-ye, please have a seat.”
Xiazi greeted her cordially. This was the first time they were seeing each other. Until now, they only knew of each other’s names. All these years, Xiazi had been skirting cautiously around matters relating to the Mystic Nine. He was aware that he would encounter the other families at one point or another. He just wasn’t in a rush to meet them.
That day had finally come.
“Please, drink some tea first. We’re just waiting for one more person.”
Xiazi had barely taken the first sip of his tea when the maidservant whispered a few things to Madame Huo. It seemed that the person she was just talking about had finally arrived.
Huo Xiangu stood up as she welcomed the visitor. Xiazi stood up as well, just to err on the side of propriety. To be frank, he never cared for position or authority. It kept people guessing where he stood in this imagined hierarchy. He liked it better that way. He was never fond of bureaucracy.
To his surprise, a young man approached their table.
“Hei-ye, this is the young master of the Xie family, Xie Yuchen,” Huo Xiangu said, gesturing towards the tall and lean boy who had walked to her side. He seemed to be only in his early twenties, but he stood with greater maturity and confidence for his age.
Hei Xiazi was deemed as a blind man, but he wasn’t blind to beauty. The boy in front of him was very easy on the eyes.
“This is Hei Xiazi. He was sent by Chen Pi for the case.”
The boy politely smiled at him. Xiazi was aware of what happened to the Xie family years ago. As far as he knew, this person here was the only male heir left from that clan. He had heard of Xie Jiuye and Xie Lianhuan who were both brilliant and cunning men in their time. Despite that, this boy’s countenance was much different from what he had expected. Still brilliant and cunning, but with much more grace than those old men from the past.
For some reason, Xiazi immediately likened Xie Yuchen’s aura to that of spring. He stood amongst the flowers of the garden as if he belonged there too. He carried himself with a sophisticated air yet seemed to hold a shocking intensity in his eyes.
It took a moment for Xiazi to take all of this in. The boy gazed back at him, appearing to notice his split-second hesitation. Taking initiative, the fair-faced boy held out his hand.
As theirs hands touched, Xiazi felt something in his heart. He didn’t know if it was anticipation or apprehension or even something else entirely, but he somehow knew that their fates would be intertwined from this day forward.
“You can call me Xiao Hua,” the boy said.
Xiao Hua.
Flowers. You’ll know it’s him because of the flowers.