Wu Xie
Giving the fact that Zhang Qiling was unwilling to part with Wu Xie just yet, even when he was unconscious and running a fever, Wu Xie stayed with him for a few more hours, taking care of him, when trying to reduce his fever until Xiaoge relaxed enough for him to leave him for a short while.
When he went out, both Pan Zi and Pangzi were having something to eat and as soon as Pan Zi saw him, he offer Wu Xie a bowl of herbal soup that will replenish the nutrients he lost on the desert. He sat by them, slightly nodding his head into Madam Dolma and her grandson Tashi, close to the camp fire and had a taste of his food. It was a bit bitter, but if he help him be back to health, he didn't mind it, because he needed to take care of Xiaoge as well.
"Tianzhen... we had been talking... you know, about your uncle..." Pangzi begin the painful subject.
"Where is him? Did you parted ways so soon, Pan Zi?" Wu Xie asked to the man sat at the other side of the fire and didn't fail to notice the distress reflected on Pan Zi face.
"You found him, right? Did he went back with Xiao Hua?" Wu Xie asked again, ignoring the possibility of his 'uncle' still been lost.
"Tianzhen... neither Pan Zi, nor Xiao Hua find him when they went back and they looked for him all the way from the Queen Mother's palace to the desert." Pangzi answer for Wu Xie first.
"There was no sign of him no matter how hard we try it... but there was no body either and no signs that he was taken by the snakes. He was not alone when Master Hua went down to find us and the man that Mop left with him was not found either... I believe that Master San is still alive... I have worked with him for decades and know he will not be taken down by snakes..." Pan Zi said, in a way trying to also convince himself of it as well.
"Chen Wenjin said there was a force they had called It and that she feared it was among us too... what if they took him?" Wu Xie asked and all of them freeze at the implication none of them had thought before.
"No... Master San will not be taken so easily. I'm sure he got out of that hell all on his own..." Pan Zi said while he panic.
"Yeah, Tianzhen, it's not the time to think in such possibilities. Master San had also know about this It, which is probably the reason why your real Wu San Xing uncle and Xie Lian Huan had exchanged places. He is not going to let them take him as easy as that after so many years of... whatever they were planning." Pangzi reasoned.
"That's right, Master Xiao San... as soon as we go back, I will head to Changsha and watch the stock market for him. I'm sure he will contact me at some point... Master San will return for sure..." Pan Zi said with visible anxiety and Wu Xie force all his insecurities in, so not to distress the man even more.
"Okay... Once back I will book you a flight ticket to Changsha. If you hear anything from him, no matter the day or hour, please let me know." Wu Xie conceded.
"Of course." Pan Zi said with conviction.
"Then I will leave my uncle's business to you. It will not be in better hands than yours." Wu Xie whisper back as he look at Pan Zi with gratitude, which make Pan Zi smile slightly at Wu Xie in return.
"Yeah... it's better like that, you had your own problems to take care off. Right now, Xiaoge don't remember anything at all and it's like he had lose his soul or something... Oh, right, Madam Dolma! Xiaoge seems to have lost his soul in the Queen Mother's Palace... do you know of a way to bring it back to him?" Pangzi asked to the old woman that was also sat by the fire, along with her grandson, which translated the word to her and respond back.
"She said that he had not lose his soul, he is hiding it out of his own will, to protect it. He is not ready to face whatever he found back in the Palace or it's not yet the right time..." The young man translated for his grandma.
"Not time yet? That can't be... the only thing he said to us clearly it was that we were running out of time." Wu Xie disagree with her.
"Out of time for what?" The young man asked in turn.
"I don't know... he was so out of it, so scare and in pain that his mind was not exactly making sense." Wu Xie said sadly and all of it was translated to Madam Dolma who was watching him quite attentively.
"He is a Zhang by blood... a name that had been connected to important tombs since the glorious days of the Mystic Nine. Try to find his origin and his memories may turn back as well as his sense of time." Tashi translated back.
"Then does she know about the Zhang's?" Wu Xie asked next.
"Not much other than what is commonly known about Zhang Qi Shan, better known as Fo Ye. He was known to be involve in tomb raiding as well, thus the reputation of the Zhang's... but you will have to look for information somewhere else, because there was more than one Zhang branch family and Fo Ye was only the leader of the southern one." Tashi translated for them.
"Don't worry Tianzhen... we will find the clues, even if one by one." Pangzi said and Wu Xie smiled at him in gratitude.
"Maybe because he hide his soul, he is out of time. He needs to find it again before it is too late." Tashi said as he translated what his grandmother added.
"No matter what, I will make sure he finds his soul in time and even if he can't I will not leave Xiaoge on his own, I will stay by his side." Wu Xie said and Madam Dolma smiled at him, then said a few more words to him.
"She said that your devotion will make it happen. You both are bonded." Tashi translated.
"They sure are... Oh, well... let's just go back to the city and take Xiaoge to the nearest hospital for now. When he gets better, we will help him search for his memories." Pangzi offer and it was decided that in the morning they will head back and hit the hospital first.
Madam Dolma could not take them all the way to the city, so they walked a short distance to the nearest road and waited for someone to pass... but it turns out that the road was pretty much deserted for miles and the heat of the sun makes them sat at a side in resignation to their fate.
Wu Xie keep Xiaoge close to him and try his best to protect him from the scorching sun rays, at the very least over his face, because everything else was already cover in black. Then he prayed for someone to show up on the road before all of them could faint on dehydration and almost like in answering for his desperate inner prayer, Pan Zi spotted a car in the distance and stood up to take its attention.
As the car approached, Wu Xie sighed in relief, because they finally could leave that hell behind and start anew. Then when the car stopped, Wu Xie helped Xiaoge to get in the back and sat by his side. Pangzi claimed the other side of Xiaoge and told Wu Xie he was going to take care of his brother while they travel, so he could take a breath from all that had happen.
Wu Xie let Pangzi honor his words, because as he looked at the growing distance, when on his way out of there, he felt like breaking down on the spot. He had lost so much, oh so very much while in that journey. Ah Ning, his uncle San... his lover, that even if he was still physically with him, he was now an stranger... a man that had forget that he was loved and that he loved back...
"Promise me you will tell me, I will want to know." Those words now echoes inside his tired mind and he looked away, so Pangzi will not see the tears that threatened with run down his cheeks.
His Zhang Qiling wanted for him to tell him about their relationship and he had agree... but was that really the best for this new version of him? Yes, he seems to care for him, to seek him even when he was lost and unconscious, but that didn't mean that he had the same feelings still. God knows he had talk to Xiaoge so much while on their journey back, that Xiaoge now felt a sense of familiarity, a sense of security in the tales of someone who had known him from before he lose his memories, a man that gave him back his name, even when he had forget it...
Xiaoge could rely on not only he, but Pangzi as well, because he knew they mean no harm and were the only two persons that could give him some answers and help. It was like making family ties... Xiaoge let both Pangzi and him guide him, carry him, talk to him and help him perhaps because it felt like traveling with longtime friends that had already crossed into the bonds of brotherhood... not love... not love for now...
Wu Xie was back to square one at that point and not for the first time, he feel lost. He loved Xiaoge now that he was vulnerable the very same way he loved him before, but could he just simply tell a man that was struggling to remember who he was that they were more than brothers? That their tie and bond was beyond of that of family? Was Xiaoge ready to hear from him that there was more to them that he showed? What if Xiaoge no longer feel the same? Will he feel pressured? Will he give in, just to have his help? Self forced in exchange of memories?
No, he will never force himself into Xiaoge... he rather stay in inner pain for the rest of his life than give Xioage something more to worry about. To give Xiaoge a reason to fear him, to doubt him to have double intentions, to take advantage of his vulnerability and to make him disappear, as he used to do so often before.
"Tianzhen... it will be alright, somehow... just don't think too much out of it... both your uncle and Xiaoge will come around eventually." Pangzi whisper to Wu Xie after seen him cry in silence while looking at the horizon, like he too had lost his soul.
Wu Xie then clean his tears with his hands and smirked at Pangzi despite his heartbreak.
"Eventually..." Wu Xie repeated and extended his arms for Xiaoge to come back into his embrace, which Pangzi granted, passing Xiaoge to him. As he watched Wu Xie hug his lover, Pangzi also felt pain in his heart. Wu Xie was a true brother and so was Xiaoge, which only make it more painful to see them suffer like that.
"Ah... you know what? We are the Iron Triangle from now on... nothing will tear down our bond." Pangzi said and Wu Xie smiled.
"I like that... thanks." Wu Xie whisper and then closed his eyes, as he reclined his head over Xiaoge's warm black hood. Yes, brotherhood or love... nothing will tear them apart, no matter what.
AN: Thanks for reading, this time is a bit more bonding of the Iron Triangle and don't worry, there will be Pingxie sooner than Wu Xie believed. The San Xing taken by It theory, belongs to dear @WayWooXian, so thank you. We may never know if it is true, but it can be a possibility. Until next time, please take care. ❤👍