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Chapter Text

It is the battle between 李相夷 and 笛飞声. 李相夷 is looking for answers regarding the dissapearance of 山谷道. But admidst the fight, 李相夷 and 笛飞声 both get badly injured. 李相夷 turns himself into a swan to fly away to safety, meanwhile 笛飞声 drowns in the sea.

李相夷's badly injured, unable to turn himself back into a human, but he's found by his friend. However, his friend stabs him, cursing him to be a swan by day and a man by night. Forever cursed to undergo the painful metamorphosis from swan to human and human to swan.

李相夷 limps his way through his city trying to find someone who can cure him but he passes by his home and stops at his door; citizens stand outside banging his door for answers, his mother and fiancé barely holding them off as they apologize profusely.

A passerby sees him, a wounded, now flightless bird, and spits "Poor bird that can't fly, might as well wait for death at this point.". He would've laughed at the irony of that statement and yet all that comes out is a weak squawk as the passerby walks away. And so does he.

He doesn't know where he walks till. "What a beautiful forest to be in. May I return to the soil, never to emerge again." he thinks as he stops at a serene forest, watching as the moon rises.

A crack shatters through his body. Fiery, jolting pain tingles at every orifice of his too small body. His human skin tears through the feathers outside. He crumples to the ground, landing on his palms, "First metamorphosis huh..." he thinks.

"相夷?"

He turns around, locking eyes with his mother's. She stumbles toward him on the grassy terrain, kneeling next to him under the moonlight. She feels along his battered hands, pulling away when sticky blood coats her own. Rapidly healing tracks crawl their way closed, hiding whatever just happened. A pile of strewn feathers lay around them.

"I'm okay, Ma.", he lies as he struggles to stabilize his hands to wipe the tears on her face. Every tear that falls on the ground multiplies into more, a pool of water filling between them. She collapses.

"Ma!", he rushes to catch her as her tears continue to flow. "My deep sorrow has come to take me. I wish I can be stronger for you but- I'm so sorry, 相夷.".

"Let's go, something's wrong here." He barely pulls himself to stand as water pools wider and wider.

"Leave me, 相夷. Don't confine to your curse like I have. Please...". 

He wades back in, the pool deepening. "I apologize for being unfilial but I will never regret.". And so he sits there, holding her hand and catching her tears, till the sun emerged for a new day, and he was a swan once more.

Chapter Text

He awakes with blood trickling into the now fully-formed lake, each trail turning into streams of iridescent mica.

The pain of his second metamorphosis filled with an equal measure of fiery pain as the first. He prayed to drown in this goddamn lake as he writhed and bled and yet, here he was.

The pain in his wings was sure to let him know he was still a flightless bird waiting for death. And so he walked. He's not sure how he ended up at the city centre and yet it made sense; he's not used to swan activities after all.

The city felt different as people towered over him, careless to whether they would step on him. He ducked and swerved in a much clumsier in this body, barely avoiding peels, guts (he dared not find out which animal it came from) and random papers unknowingly thrown his way.

"Ah...a little injured swan. You look like you'd need a good helping. I hope some rice and medicine would do.". He looked up at the old monk staring at him, the kindest pair of eyes that has set sights on him these past 2 days. Next thing he knew, he was scooped up and yet he had no energy to writhe his way out. And he fell into a deep, dark slumber.

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He was back on the Eastern sea. 笛飞声 staring him down before he made his move. "Where is Shan Gu Dao!", holding fiercely onto the hilt of his own sword. 

"I don't know. Leave, or you'll regret forcing my hand.". He drew his sword and they're clashing again. An explosion booms in the distance again. A losing battle again. He lands a blow on 笛飞声 again. His own chest pierced yet again.

"Be careful who you trust." 笛飞声 hisses in his ear as he pulls sword away, pushing him into the ocean. Frigid cold seizes him, his shape shifting powers blocked.

"李相夷.” Who-

"李相夷.” His frozen arms pinned limp at his sides.

"李相夷!"

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"李相夷!" He jolts awake, staring at his human toes, his fingers no longer webbed.

"How long have I been out for?", he thinks.

"Indeed my guess had not been wrong. I hope you're feeling better, 李少侠."

"相夷 will do. Thank you for healing me."

The monk waves an imaginary mist, "I only wish I could do more to reverse the curse you have been afflicted with. It is unfortunate that your metamorphosis will still happen every day and night. Though I hope it will be made less painful.".

He quickly turns away, pretending to wipe some dust away as tears prickle at his eyes. "Thank you for your kindness. It is not something I've earned.", he says as he gives a bow.

"Please, no need to kneel.", the monk stopped him, "It is truly my honour to rescue a noble man like yourself from near death. It is rare to have someone who loves you so deeply, and more painful to have them ripped away from you.".

And indeed it was. His heart was lit aflame, a pain even more fiery, more piercing, than the past 3 metamorphoses he'd gone through. His anger was a pulse that propelled him.

And now it had landed him here. What good had it done for his 师兄?

"Have some tea.", the calming drip of tea into a cup brought him out of his thoughts, "It won't help the pain of recovery. But it could help calm your mind for the next morning.". With a half bow, he took a sip. And indeed, it was fragrant. He wondered if he could enjoy it as a swan.

They sat in silence, sipping tea and staring at the moon, when an idea came to him. "Do you have paper and ink? I'd like to write a letter.".

"That I definitely have. I'll be back with it." and the monk swished away.

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As dawn approached, 李相夷 held his letter in his hand. It was messy, full of blotches and rewrites as he tried putting and ending whatever he could. He looked at the mural next to him; 一念心清净 莲花处处开. Indeed, he'd caused enough suffering for a lifetime. It's time to use this human life for something else.

He approached the monk with his letter in hand, "I'll be leaving now. If you can be kind to a man like me again, would you pass this letter for me?".

The monk kept the letter in his sleeve, "I don't know what you have chosen for yourself or why you would hate yourself so deeply. But may you find peace with your choices one day.".

He gave a last bow, and turned away, walking off to the only home that remains.

Chapter Text

10 years later...

The city was bustling. A riot of drums and er hus, a sea of red swept every door and wall of Tianji Manor.

"方小宝!"

She turned behind, looking for her son in the crowd of ministers, uncles, aunts, and friends.

"方小宝!" she hollered louder. Her voice was still kind but it was nearing its edge. She cleared her throat as she turned back to the officials at her table, "Do excuse me. I'll be back real quick!".

She strode across Tianji Manor, right to his door, knocked once, "方小宝, are you in there?". Her second knock was not so kind, "方多病. Come out now.". No response. She let herself in.

The bed was well made. Everything was well made. All except a crack of a gap between his windows. She strode her way out to the main gate where the security guards stood.

"Excuse me, may I ask *where* is Mr Fang?". The 2 security guards looked furtively between her and each other. "It's okay. You can be honest." she asked again with the sweetest smile she could pull at the moment.

"Mr Fang...he...he went to the city centre." one guard mumbled his way through.

"But his party is here! Why will he need to go to the city centre?"

"He wanted some additional snacks, some 馒头 and 葱油饼, Madam He."

"Ah I see...interesting that he will ask for that since we already have them here.", she muttered to herself. "Thank you very much sirs. I'll go find him!", she said with the gleaming smile on her face and she strode out of Tianji Manor.

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方多病 chewed on his 馒头 as he strolled the streets, random passerbys pauses by him with a "Happy Birthday Mr Fang!" before continuing on with their day. But he wasn't here for their well wishes. The play of The Battle of the Eastern Sea was premiering! And on his birthday! It would've been a waste not to get tickets! And hence he snuck out, away from the crowds of distant relatives and random ministers. It wasn't like his mum would notice, there were way too many people to count! It was the perfect day!

He'd finally reached the theatre, just on time! He pulled out his ticket for the ticketmaster and-

"Mum? How-"

Madam He turned to the ticketmaster, "It must have been a mistake, we didn't buy these tickets.". 方多病 reached out to grab his ticket, but all he caught was Madam He's steely gaze, "Meanwhile, you have a party to attend to, don't you? I even have your favourite 馒头 and 葱油饼!".

"But Mum I paid for th-!"

"Now if you'll excuse us, I'm dearly sorry for this mix up.", she said as she gripped him by the elbow and lugged him away.

It was near yet far enough away from Tianji Manor's entrance before she let go, "Would you like me to close your windows *permanently* ?".

"Heh heh it wouldn't be good for the er...the airflow! Yea the airflow!", 方多病 chuckled as he took a sneaky glance towards the city centre behind him.

"Then why do you keep sneaking out! How many times have I told you not to involve yourself with the martial arts world-", the tirade continued as she pinched 方多病 in the ear.

And of course they've had this conversation numerous times, and maybe 30% of the time he was committed to following that rule. And yet he couldn't, something always pulls him back to those stories.

"They're just stories." he tells himself and yet he can't get himself to believe that fact. After all, 李相夷's story still lives today and he was real! A sigh escapes him, if only he could be here to see him 10 years on. How strong he's become.

Madam He gave a sigh too as she saw the disappointment that crept up her son's face. And yet she could not understand how he could have such admiration for a man like that. Who would throw one brother away for another?

She held his palms close, "Just this once, for your 21st birthday, stay, enjoy the festivities, and after that? I have a surprise for you...", she said with a smirk.

"What surprise?", 方多病 whipped around to hear, "You'll let me explore the world? Find 李相夷?".

"李相夷, 李相夷, all you think about is 李相夷...", she thought to herself. "You'll find out later. For now...", and she locked her elbows with his and strode into Tianji Manor. There were a 1001 ways 方多病 could have wormed out of her grasp like last time. And yet, he chose not to.

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The party was now in full swing as he stepped in. Ministers were swishing in their robes, heady with wine. Belly laughter travelled through the halls of Tianji Manor as people walked up to him, wishing him happy birthday, a long life till a 100 years. It was all pointless anyway; they knew his mum, not him.

Smile and nod. Smile and nod. Finally! It was the gift presentation. He sat himself next to his mum, watching as the officials presented piles of gold, new headpieces, medallions aplenty. Then it was his mum's toast.

"My son. He's rambunctious, sneaky, a warrior at heart!", some ministers chuckled at that, "And yet despite all, he is my 方多病. Like every mother wishes, I wish that you will find a time to settle down, find a wife, and lead a peaceful life."

He couldn't help but turn away from his mother's endearing gaze, "Maybe peace isn't what I want." he thought.

The festivities continued to revel around him, and yet he couldn't find any energy to join them.

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With a flask of wine, a cool breeze, and the light of a foggy moon, it was truly a perfect time to drink alone.

A footstep broke his silence.

"小宝.", he sighed. It was too soon to have this conversation.

"Mum, I'm not ready yet. I need more time, just 1 year! After 1 year, I'll come back-"

A white wrapped package sits before him. "Open it.". They stare at each other for a while.

"Just open it. You mean, you're suspicious that your own mother will curse you?". He rips the package open, unties every string, a sword.

"I told you it was a surprise, didn't I?". A sword. Which means..."Don't even think about joining a martial arts sect! It's for your protection, if you're ever in danger. Even after I'm gone. This will always be here to protect you.". He squeezed her in his embrace, holding back his own tears, "Thank you Mum.".

"Happy birthday my dear." she said while holding her own tears back too.

Chapter Text

It was too good to miss out. A cooling breeze, a gentle sway of the leaves, it was a perfect night to practice martial arts. Straight out of a myth.

And so he wondered deep into the forests outside of the city. A gentle glow caught his gaze, a small sign labelled '莲花泉'. "Such an odd place for a lake to form.", he thought. And yet, he walked nearer, peaking over the human height fences to see...nothing???

A small shed stood near the lake, wood chipping along the walls. Not even a candle holder in sight.

A cry called out through the woods from above. Two birds soaring across the sky, headed his way. 方多病 watched as the birds, no swans, glided towards the lake.

He shielded his eyes, crouching down behind the fence as a blinding light gleamed from the lake itself. As it throbbed and dimmed, he stood up again but not before a dart flew overhead.

方多病 stumbled as he backed away but it didn't take long before a barrel landed at his throat.

The man stared him down, pushing the barrel deeper into his neck, "Leave or there won't be a second reminder.", and walked back to the lake.

"How- How could you be so rude! At least put a no trespassing sign or something if you didn't want people to come in! Hey! I'm talking to you!". The fence slammed closed as he finished.

方多病 barely held in his urge to huff at his fringe and stomped away, unaware of the sword he'd left behind.

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The table shook with a thud. 李莲花 glanced up at the seething man before him, "Can't you be gentler with my table? This cost me $50 to get.".

"First of all, you stole that from a thrift sale. Now look.", 笛飞声 chin-pointed to the sword lying on the table.

李莲花 spared it a glance. It was hardly news that hunting knives and arrows would land outside their premises. After all, hunters still existed. This however was a different thing.

"Officials are now coming after us. Scoop the lake water to another place for all I care. We need to go."

李莲花 shot him a glare that disappeared as quickly as it came. He studied the blade again as a label gleamed under the candlelight of his hut; 天机堂.

"Look at the blade again.", he said while tossing the sword to 笛飞声. "Rest up. We're taking a trip tomorrow."

Chapter Text

"It'll be an easy trip!", he said. "We'll definitely find the sword's owner!", he says. These were the things that 李莲花 had promised. And where had it led them?

"When you said an easy task, being a literal sitting duck was not what I signed up for.", 笛飞声 glared into 李莲花's eyes. 李莲花 frowned as much as a swan could frown, and swam away to another part of the manor. It was a big pond that got them around but it was the audacity that got to 笛飞声.

As 李莲花 paddled and glided his way about, a rock landed next to him with a splash. "That could have been me, how inconsiderate.", he thought as he looked up to find the shoe that fired it and oh-

He still had the same pampered look from his younger days but it was unmistakably 方多病 of Tianji Manor. 李莲花 waddled out of the pond with a pretend limp, squawking for good measure to get 方多病's attention.

"An injured swan? Huh...when did mum get swans for the pond?" he knelt down to 李莲花's eye level. A genuine squawk cried out of 李莲花 as 方多病 stepped on his foot, "I'm so sorry! Did I hurt your foot? Oh no...", 方多病said while coddling him. It was genuinely bizzare to be touched as such. 李莲花 flapped his wings, trying to limp away. Trying to run to 笛飞声 paddling past.

"Wait...did that swan bully you?". 李莲花 sighed internally. Leave it to the imagination of proud, pampered princes to come up with a story like that.

"Let me bring you home to get treated then!", 李莲花 watched as his body was lifted off the ground faster than he could react, "Don't let that swan bulky you again! I'll ask my mum to remove him from our garden!".

And so they sauntered away together. 李莲花 turned back to give 笛飞声 one last, urgent glance, and hoped it was enough.

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Tianji Manor was a complex maze of corridors, sliding doors, and of course, squabbling family members. It was unfortunate that 方多病 took a detour, straight into the crowd of squabbling people.

"Mum! We really should remove that other swan in our pond! It bullied this one and now it's injured!". A lady in blue looked quizzically between 方多病and the 李莲花 in his arm, "Swans? We didn't add any swans to the home?", her expression sharpened, "Don't tell me you brought *wild* animals into the property?".

"It wasn't me! They were truly from our pond!", 方多病 strode up to his mum, pouting like a child as he sat next to her, "Even if it is, you wouldn't want me to leave an injured animal alone like that will you?".

"I never said anything about leaving the swan alone! I'm just saying, bring it to the doctor or something! You never know what illnesses they may be carrying you know..."

Over the past 10 years, 李莲花 had heard this multiple times before. A few times when he tried seeking refuge in the homes of other kind humans. The answer always ended up with being left out on the roadside with an apology. Over time, the lake had become home and he knew where that sentiment came from a place of ignorance. After all, who would know the life of a bird except a bird itself?

It was sudden. They were running, the lady hollering "方小宝！Come back here!". And 李莲花 continued bobbing in this arm sling. What a day this was shaping up to be.

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The afternoon air had now become non-existent, the afternoon heat penetrating every surface. 方多病 used his sleeve to fan his sitting area, then roughly placing 李莲花 down, "Don't move! I'll be back!"

And how could he? He still had to maintain the lame duck image after all. Besides, it was a good opportunity to take a scan of the room. Just posters of martial arts forms and 李相夷, what a fanboy worshipping a dead man.

"I'm back!", 方多病 paused to stare at 李莲花, "Those posters are nice aren't they?". 方多病 scanned about his body once more, finding a small scratch on his foot. As 方多病 cleaned and bandaged, he rattled on about his day and 李莲花 was truly about to fall asleep from his rambling until..."I'll tell you the truth since you're just a swan that can't talk."

"You kind of remind me of my 师兄. You know, 李相夷? The greatest martial artist and the only shape shifter of his time? I know he's a dead man and I should let him go, but I can't. I wont. How can I when he was the only one who genuinely respected me then? Not just for who my family is but as a friend?".

He placed a small tray of sweets before 李莲花. "I'm not sure whether swans can enjoy sweets or not but this? This was his favorite kind. They're okay but 李相夷 loooved them. He always had a tray in his house, and a bag in his pocket and sleeves. Always ready with one whenever someone's feeling down.".

As 方多病 twirled the sweet in his fingers, 李莲花 couldn't help but wonder how long it'd been since he had one.

"李相夷 is honestly horrible at showing care with his words, he's straightforward and he can be brutal sometimes. But it's things like this that showed he cared you know?", 方多病's face dampens, "Yet everyone thinks he's selfish for his one act of avenging his 师兄，my 师兄. Is it that wrong? Is that not what any person would do for the people they loved?".

李莲花 squawked in pain as 方多病 was once again sitting on his foot，"I'm so sorry! Oh geez I've gotta bandage the other one now!".

A flap of wings was all 方多病 heard while turned away, watching as the swan flew out his open window. "Hey! Come back! Your leg isn't done yet and I still haven't gotten back at the other swan for you!", 方多病 shouted out his window, as the sun began to set.

Chapter Text

A crack hit all his joints just as he touched down onto the lake. Pain sizzling across his body as he turned back into a human once more. His joints creaked in their old yet new places as he crawled to the lake, giving a sigh of relief as the healing powers of the lake soothed his pain.

"Scoop the lake water to another place for all I care. We need to go."

They were lucky this time that it was 方多病, the harmless son of Tianji Manor. But it doesn't mean someone else won't be creeping up their door, looking for trouble. Some people needed to stay dead and he was one of them. And yet...

His mother's grave marker stood before him. Maybe he's being selfish like how he was 10 years ago, but how could he leave?

A thud of footsteps pulled him out of his thoughts, "So what's the verdict? After leaving me to get carried and thrown out of the house by guards while you were coddled.".

李莲花 gave a sigh, "Look, I am terribly sorry for what happened to you, but please understand that I had to listen to that boy ramble for 5 hours while he kept me in his room.".

笛飞声 continued to glare at him.

李莲花 sighed again, "Of course, these pleasantries don't work for you. The boy is 方多病，the son of Tianji Manor. He has decent martial arts skills but not a great brain to go with it."

笛飞声 removed his robe and joined 李莲花 in the lake, "Makes sense. He didn't fight back when I shot the dart at him.".

"Did he recognize you?"

"Don't think so."

"Still good to keep a lookout on him.". And the less he links about the past, the better, 李莲花 thought.

李莲花 left the lake and donned his robe. "Crk.", a twig cracked behind the fence. "Who's there?", 李莲花 called out.

No response.

李莲花 gave 笛飞声 a look. 笛飞声 reached for his sword but changed to grabbing the nearby flute, as 李莲花 shook his head.

笛飞声 walked out of 莲花泉，leaving the gate open behind him as he scouted his surroundings. No sudden movements, no rustling or crackling-

He stretched out his arm, pointing the flute at the boy's chest, "Tell me who you are, or else.", he pushed once again for good measure.

"I- I'm 方多病! You want to fight? I'll fight back!"

"No need for violence thank you.", 李莲花 stepped out with a white mask covering the lower half of his face, "You're looking for this, aren't you?".

方多病's eyes widened as he saw his sword in 李莲花's hands, "How did you get this? You stole it off me?".

"Stole? We have no business being thieves. Meanwhile...", 笛飞声 caught the sword as 李莲花 tossed it to him, pushing the covered blade against 方多病's neck, "you have some explaining to do."

"I don't need to explain anything! You're the ones being thieves! I was just here to practice some martial arts for the night and I chanced upon your lake. So what? I can't practice martial arts here? Wait till I get my 师傅 to vouch for me here!"

"Ah...no need for all the fuss. I'm worried for my customers who may feel...threatened during their spa.", 李莲花 refuted calmly. "Just practice a little further away next time?", he flicked his hand to the patch of trees further away before landing a gentle pat on 方多病's shoulder.

方多病 looked at him offendedly, "Just give my sword back and I'll leave.".

笛飞声 and 李莲花 shared a look with each other, and 笛飞声 turned the sword handle to 方多病. 方多病 grabbed it off 笛飞声, ensuring the sword hadn't been damaged, before shooting glares to both men and leaving.

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An itch bubbled in 方多病's head as he walked down the forest; how could he have been beaten so easily?

He had trained together with 李相夷, the greatest for 10 years! Sure he'd never won against 李相夷 but it's always been good practice and yet, he'd been so easily beaten today. Just who were these men? How were they so good?

But also, if they were this good, could they who 李相夷 is? Could they know what happened to him, where he is?

"Foolish, he's dead. If he was alive, he'd come back for you by now." The thought shot through his mind.

And yet, he didn't want to believe that. He never did but if these men could help him...who's to say 李相夷 can't be found?

He stopped and pulled out his sword, "What do you think I should do? Should I try asking them?". He tilted his sword watching as it gleamed in the moonlight.

"Wait...", He brought the sword closer to the light, "笛?". He looked back at 莲华泉, looked back at the sword in his hand, and huffed back up the hill he walked down from.

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笛飞声 slammed the sword in his hand on the table, 李莲花 jumping from thud that resounded, "What's the meaning of this?".

李莲花 glared up at 笛飞声 then sighed, "It's your sword-"

笛飞声 tore open the white wrapping, shoving the end to 李莲花's face, " *What* did you do to my sword.".

李莲花 briefly took a closer look, "Oh. I must have passed the wrong one.".

笛飞声 held 李莲花's throat in one hand, " *Where*. is. it. now.".

李莲花 sighed, "Any minute now.".

His wooden door flew across the room, "WHO IS 笛?"

Chapter Text

“李莲花-", but he had vanished from where he was just seated next to 笛飞声.

A sword came past his face, slashing wildly as 笛飞声 glided towards the stove. Blocking each strike with the wooden spoon in his hand as 方多病 struck up, down, left right, between, around-

笛飞声 pushed 方多病 with his palm across the room, "What do you want?"

"You actually dare to trick me! Give my mother's sword back!"

"Go get it then. Mummy's boy."

With a scream, dust rained down from the roof as 方多病 propelled himself across the room towards the sword that laid on the table.

CLNK! CLNK! CLNK!

So. near. and. yet. so. unreachable!

李莲花 watched from the side of the now-fallen main door as 笛飞声 and 方多病 fought the house down. 方多病's swordplay had much to be improved on but he had a good foundation of footwork to maximize his fighting space. His stamina was not shabby either, to hold his own against 笛飞声 for as long as he has.

The wood around him creaked, the rusty nails of his house jutting out ever so slightly as they stomped and slashed.

He stood between them, blocking with his pot lid, "You're about to tear my house down, okay? You can have your swords back now.". The 2 men continued glaring at each other beyond the pot lid.

"If you don't want your swords back, I'll take them-"

"NO!", both shouted in unison. 方多病 stomped to the table, checking the sword thoroughly before placing it in his hilt, 笛飞声's sword thrown on the ground.

"Rude brat.", 笛飞声 muttered to himself as he picked his sword off the floor, thoroughly checking for damages.

A fragrance wafted through the room as 李莲花 placed a pot of chicken soup on the table, "Come eat some chicken soup, fresh off the stove!"

"我才不吃你这老狐狸做的菜!", 方多病 said before stomping out of 莲花泉. 李莲花 looked to 笛飞声.

"你可真是一个老狐狸.", and 笛飞声 sulked away as well.

李莲花 looked at the pot before him, and the 狐狸精 laying at his feet, "I guess there's more for us today.", and ate his share of soup.

Chapter Text

"Mr Fang!", a cheery voice called out as 方多病 was getting ready for another attempt of taking the imperial constabulary exams, "There's a letter for you!"

方多病 flipped it around in his hands; no sender's address written, loosely sealed, only with '方公子' written on the front, "You didn't open it did you?". The girl shook her head, "I found it like that at our front door and brought it straight to you! I swear I didn't open it!".

"And it was already unsealed like this?"

The girl nodded again, "There was no one there either. Weren't you expecting mail from the imperial constabulary?"

And he had been. But he'd received that letter of rejection a while ago, hence him needing to go there today.

"It's probably some spam letter. I'll look at it later but I've gotta go-"

The letter slipped out of its envelope either way, a piece of jerky sliding out together with it.

方多病 took a sniff of the jerky but sharply turned away at the smell, "This is for dogs to eat!". Then opened the letter before him, "莲花与笛声互住相依. 天当鹅，夜当人, 之有一方解病.".

方多病 passed the letter to the girl, "It's a spam letter. It can go with the rest of the other letters to be disposed.". The girl nodded and headed out the door, and 方多病 followed shortly after.

--------------------

狐狸精's barking had been incessant all morning despite being fed, given water, given pets, and anything a dog could want. And yet, she insisted on barking at the door.

笛飞声 was almost prepared to fight her to get her to stop barking. And yet, what would 李莲花 say to that?

"Respect the dog, she is an animal like us after all."

李莲花 is biased and fully aware of his biasness, but what is 笛飞声 to do? He needed the lake and a place to stay, and hence he held the dog with the reverence expected of him. And yet, what does this 狐狸精 do?

He waddled over to 狐狸精 as disapprovingly as a swan could look, and looked down at the floor. A letter?

Living as literal swans for majority of each day for 10 years, they're pretty much animals at this point. So who would send an animal a letter?

Holding it with his beak, he flipped the envelope over; no sender's address or name, loosely sealed, and just...'笛飞声'?

He ran back into the hut with the envelope in beak, flapping up to the table, then toppling the chopstick holder over it, before running out of 莲花泉 to the city square.

--------------------

It was one thing to get pulled around by a swan. It was another thing to be a swan being pulled around by another swan, and not knowing why.

笛飞声 gripped him by the wing and dragged him all the way back to 莲花泉, just as he was about to nab a nice head of cabbage (which would have cost him 5 cents but still, free food is free food), even making effort to locking all 5 locks that held the door closed.

They flapped up to the table together, and 笛飞声 squawked at the the piece of paper that laid under the chopstick holder.

李莲花 gently pulled the envelope out, frowning as the name '笛飞声' came into view. He pulled the letter out, 笛飞声 helping to straighten it across the table from the other side.

'解鹅之病没多妙方，唯一之法守在信中.'

Hurriedly folding and placing it back into the envelope, 李莲花 gave 笛飞声 a look and they ran out of 莲花泉.

--------------------

With a huff, they arrive at Tianji Manor. Following the noise of a gentle commotion, they run to a courtyard.

A man in black sneaks up behind a young girl holding a letter, preparing to strike-

李莲花 rams his way into the girl as 笛飞声 flies up to the man, pecking relentlessly at his face. The girl crawls away together with 李莲花, screaming for help. The man frees from 笛飞声's pecking, placing a cloth over her mouth.

李莲花 and 笛飞声 peck and squawk continuously as the footsteps of guards get louder and closer. The girl passes out, and the man flees just as the guards arrive.

方多病's mother arrives, directing the guards to carry the girl to a physician. "A fight over this rubbish?", she reaches down to pick the letter off the ground.

李莲花 and 笛飞声 peck at her fingers, squawking and crying as she pushes them away. 李莲花 makes a run with the letter in his beak into the house, toppling a jade statue over it just as Madam He comes in.

"YOU DARE BREAK MY JADE STATUE!", she stomps towards them, herding them towards the window, "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! SHOO! SHOO!"

李莲花 and 笛飞声 fly out of the window just as Madam He scolds, "These problematic birds, we've got to out some spike on our walls some time soon!". Their job is complete.

Chapter Text

李莲花 and 笛飞声 touch down on 莲花泉 just as the flaming pain of metamorphosis starts to take place.

"Explain. Now.", 笛飞声 pants while glaring at 李莲花. 李莲花 struggled to catch his own breath, "This way.", and they both crawled into the hut.

After unfolding the letter, 笛飞声 reread it again, "解鹅之病没多妙方，唯一之法守在信中. This doesn't make sense, there's no medicine or physician's name."

"Because it's not a physician or medication.", 李莲花 took a brush and circled the 4th, 6th and 8th words, "Put the words in order of 8th, 6th, then 4th.".

笛飞声 scribbled the words out as mentioned at the bottom of the letter, "方多病？You think he wrote this letter to us?"

李莲花 shook his head, "It isn't 方多病. The fight at Tianji Manor explains it."

The man creeping up behind that young girl, the small fire at the corner of the courtyard, "Someone was trying to remove evidence."

"It could be. But I don't think that girl know what it was. How did you find ours?"

"狐狸精 kept barking at it. It was just a loose letter at the foot of our door. No sender's name or address, loosely sealed, only my name on it."

李莲花 nodded, "If his was received the same way as ours, it makes sense that 方多病 or his mum probably asked that girl to throw it away, thinking it was spam mail."

"Hence why we ran straight to Tianji Manor?"

李莲花 nodded, "Hopefully they kept the letter. Or else, we'd have to pay another swan visit."

笛飞声 shook his head at that suggestion, "But there's another thing. Why would they address it to me instead of our address?"

"Because this person knows you. They would have to be someone from 10 years ago to address you by your real name and to identify you even though you've been hiding here.".

"They could be onto us."

"Indeed. They may not be onto me yet, but you? Definitely. And now wouldn't be a good time to go. Not if there's a possibility of lifting this curse."

笛飞声 hummed in agreement, "Should we pay 方多病 another visit?"

李莲花 shook his head, "Let's hope he knows how to get here by now."

--------------------

"Mum! What happened to Li Er? Is she okay?", 方多病 asked as he walked to Li Er's bedside.

"She's okay now, hopefully she'll wake up soon...". Madam He sighed, "Those silly geese! All the trouble they've caused by toppling over my jade statue!"

"Madam He?", Li Er asked hoarsely

方多病 hugged her tight, "Li Er! You're awake! How are you feeling? Do you need water? What happened?"

"Let her have some water first!", Madam He scolded. "Someone bring some water and the physician over!", she called out.

方多病 and Madam He listened to Li Er as the physician checked Li Er's pulse, "I was walking to burn the extra letters like Mr Fang had asked me to do, and then suddenly this...swan knocked me over!"

"A swan? That must be a very strong swan..."

"It's true! I turned around and there was another one, pecking at the man who tried to attack me!", she looked to Madam He who have a look of skepticism, "Please Madam, those swans truly saved my life! If it weren't for them...I don't know what would have happened to me. I'll pay for the damages that happened on their behalf-"

"Don't be silly, Li Er!", Madam He held her hands in her own, "If what you said is true, then I'm grateful that you're here and safe. They did cause a ruckus but they did save your life too. But my poor statue...and there was this weird piece of paper left under it for you, 小宝!"

方多病 pondered on it and hurriedly ran out, bringing the letter to his room.

Chapter Text

With the study room door closed, and a candle lit, 方多病 laid the letter out flat.

'莲花与笛声互住相依. 天当鹅，夜当人，之有一方解病.'

"笛声? That guy with the sword? Doesn't he stay at 莲花泉?“, he thought.

And yet it didn't make sense, '莲花与笛声互住相依'. If 笛声 was the swordsman, then who was 莲花？Could it be the man in white?

And yet another thing puzzled him; cursed to be swan by day and man by night? As far as he knew, only 李相夷 had been able to shape-shift into a swan...maybe they could truly be of help in finding 李相夷!

He took the jerky and the letter, ran out of Tianji Manor, and headed straight to 莲花泉.

--------------------

狐狸精 barked incessantly again but quieted quickly. "I'll get the door.", 笛飞声 said before bringing his sword out with him.

He watched as 狐狸精 sat in front of the jerky left on the floor, and 方多病 standing at the gate.

"I'm not here to hurt anyone!", 方多病 put his hands up to show the letter in his hand, "I'm just here for some answers. You're 笛声 aren't you?"

笛飞声 gave the command for 狐狸精 to enjoy her snack, then opened the gate to let 方多病 in.

方多病 followed behind him, taking in the place properly this time. The iridescent lake was lit from within, the shed was still shabby but had a homeliness to it now that it was lit with some torches. A small dog house sat at the side of the house, which explains the dog.

The white-veiled man sat at the dining table, pouring 3 cups of tea before giving a greeting, "Hello 方多病，we meet again.".

方多病 sat cautiously at the table, sniffing the tea before he took a sip, "So what's going on?"

"Why not you tell us what you know currently? There's no need to repeat things twice if they've already been mentioned.", 李莲花 coaxed.

方多病 gulped. These men were more tight-lipped than he thought, and he's in their home now. They could easily beat him like the last time if he didn't follow what they wanted.

方多病 placed his letter on the table, "I already know your names. You are 笛声, and you are 莲花.", he says while pointing to 笛飞声 and 李莲花 respectively.

"My name is 李莲花 but yes. Close enough.". The men still remained tight-lipped as 方多病 stared at them, "And I know you've been cursed to be swans by day, and men by night.".

"Do you believe it to be true?", 李莲花 prodded.

"No, I haven't really seen it for myself. But if what my servant said is true, then I'm grateful to both of you, for saving her life.", 方多病 gave a small bow.

"You sound rather mistrusting of us."

"And how could I not be? You've tricked me once before, who knows whether this letter is another prank from you again."

"That was an accident on my part. An old man without good eyes, a genuine mistake.", 李莲花 took his own letter from his sleeve. "Putting grudges aside, you are correct. We both have been cursed to be swans by day and men by night, however it was only today where we received this."

方多病 glanced through their letter, "What does this have to do with me?".

"If you were to take the 4th, 6th and 8th words in this letter, what would that be?"

"病多方?"

"Now reverse the words."

"方多病? So what? There can be tons of other 方多病s out there. Why me?"

"That is true. And yet, the riddle's answer is your name. With all of this happening right after we had a duel last night, I don't think it's a coincidence."

And that was a very valid point. Sure, 方多病 wanted nothing to do with these men, but if they could help him find 李相夷..."So why should I help you?"

"Because we don't wish to continue living as swans anymore.", 笛飞声 stated plainly.

"But,", 李莲花 cut in, "we'll give you a choice. State what you'd like us to do-"

"I want to find 李相夷."

李莲花 looked between himself and 方多病, "I'm not sure that is something I can do...I mean he's dead-"

"He's not dead! He can't be!", 方多病 slammed the table. "I know it's crazy but if everything you're saying is true, I saw this swan the other day...and he reminded me of him.", he sighed as a 10-year-old ache throbbed inside him, "If we could break this curse, maybe it'll free him too.".

方多病 sat back down defeated, "Even if he's truly gone, at least I can find out what happened to him.".

笛飞声 and 李莲花 shared a look; 方多病 finding out his past was too big of a risk but if he was truly the key...

"So,", 李莲花 poured a cup of wine for 方多病, "tell me what you know from 10 years ago."

Chapter Text

"And that's all I know."， 方多病 sighed, "相夷 never told me much about himself to be honest. He always said that he didn't remember much. I didn't really believe him but I just thought maybe it wasn't nice to talk about."

And indeed it had been true. What was there to talk about his childhood when he had no recollection of it? He recalled training with 山谷道 and 方多病，the love his 师傅 and mum showered on them, the cold and hunger of being out on the streets before that, the constant thrum of doing all his duties.

There were good memories for sure, and 10 years ago he revelled in it. But looking back, he couldn't help but wonder; What would my life be like with just me, my mum, 师兄们, and 婉娩?

But back to the topic, "So how about your other 师兄？Anything important about him?"

"山谷道？Nothing much about him to be honest. But he and 相夷 were always together, they were pretty close.".

And indeed they were, 山谷道 had found him back then when he was cold and alone, gave him protection from the neighbourhood bullies when no one else did.

"-but sometimes he'd give 相夷 this weird look when he'd shape shift, almost like he wants it too. But come on, who wouldn't? It's cool!", 方多病 mentioned passionately

"Wait, say it again?", 笛飞声 interjected. Thank goodness for his sharp ears.

"Yea, he'll give 相夷 this look whenever he shape shifts! Like he's proud of him. He did ask me a few times what I'd do if I could shape-shift or if I knew anything about it, but nothing else really. You don't think he was jealous do you?"

"Hard to say but it's not impossible.", 李莲花's voice was neutral but 笛飞声 saw his wheels turning, "Any idea who would keep records on them today?"

"The Sigu Sect would have some but I can't access those. I have some stuff at home! Though it's mostly memorabilia I didn't give away..."

"We can start there, let's go!", 李莲花 and 笛飞声 stood quickly, walking out the front door.

方多病 chased after them, "Wait wait wait! There'll be guards at the front gate at this time, you can't just saunter in!".

"Ah yes. I forgot about our alibi.", 笛飞声 struck 方多病 at his feet, causing him to trip over.

"Hey! How could you do that!", 笛飞声 piggybacked 方多病 and the 3 men sauntered out of 莲花泉 together.

--------------------

"Madam He, Mister Fang has returned.".

Madam He stormed her way to the front door, "This rascal is always sneaking out, never telling me where's he's going and coming home so late! I bet he went to the constabulary again!", she muttered to herself as the gates opened. "方多病!!! You-"

2 masked men stood at her front door, her son piggybacked on one of them, "Hello sirs, what happened to my son?".

"Hello Madam, it is unfortunate but Mister Fang had tripped on his way through the forest just as myself and my apprentice were walking past.", 李莲花 answered with ease.

方多病 rolled his eyes, muttering something about helping a lying fox.

"Ah...I see...thank you for your kindness. We can bring him in from here!",

"Ah that's great that you have a physician available.", 李莲花 replied.

No! It can't be that they're leaving him here after everything he told them-

"We're just going to bring him tomorrow, the physician went home already!"

"Ah...but why wait when there is already a physician here?", Madam He looked at 李莲花 quizzically, "Ah yes, I forgot to introduce myself. I am 李医生 but the people usually call me 李莲花."

"Oh my gosh! You are 李神医？I've only heard of your name in the night market! Very well known for your kindness to help anyone at your doorstep, even in ungodly hours! What a blessing that you helped our 小宝 today!"

李莲花 waved her compliments away humbly, "I am no miracle. Just a doctor doing his best. But I am willing to treat Mister Fang right now if you'd like?"

"Oh how kind of you! Please, please come in!", and Madam He waved the guards away, sending the trio straight to 方多病's room. "If you have anything you need, just let the maidens know."

"Thank you for your kind hospitality.", and Madam He shut the door behind her.

方多病 continued to stare daggers at 李莲花, "So this is your alibi? Spraining my ankle?"

"And it worked didn't it?", 李莲花 replied nonchalantly.

"You! You really are a 老狐狸!"

"Call him that again and healing your foot will be optional.", 笛飞声 stated.

方多病 gulped down his secondary comment, letting 李莲花 tend to his foot. He closed his eyes expecting a painful reset-

A poke on 2 areas of his leg, a warmth flowing along his foot, next thing he knew it was back to normal. 方多病 stared bug-eyed at him, "How..."

"I'm not a well known doctor for nothing.". 李莲花 sat down, dusting the side of his pant leg before setting it straight. Why was that awfully familiar?

"So, where do we start?"

Chapter Text

As 方多病 pulled out the boxes and boxes of drawings, memorabilia, letters, and old weapons, 李莲花 was starting to regret this choice. How would they sort through all of this nonsense in the next 4 hours?

方多病 huffed as he balanced the last box precariously on the remaining edge of the bed, "And that's all I've got!". He slumped onto a nearby stool, "Most of these stuff I collected before Sigu Sect came to retrieve his things. Didn't want them to burn it all and now look! It's useful evidence! Maybe we can find some hidden secrets here!"

Useful is relative, thought both 李莲花 and 笛飞声. But nonetheless, they started rummaging the boxes closest to them.

It had been about 1 hour in when 方多病 fell asleep, and 3 hours in when 笛飞声 fell asleep. The room felt cold with him alone with his belongings. Everything before him felt like a lifetime ago and yet fresh as day.

He snuck a sweet into his pocket, from the tray that 方多病 still kept. 方多病 had been fully right about his love of these sweets, and yet a hidden story remained with the tray that it sat on.

--------------------

It was the dead of night. A young boy snuck out of his room into the pottery room. This room was strictly for his 师傅 to use, but the itch of curiosity just couldn't be scratched till the boy could try it himself.

Gathering a small lump of clay to his wheel, he began to sculpt. But pottery was far from natural to him, and he destroyed sculpture after sculpture. "Why can't I get it!", he kicked the wheel and the breaking of wood broke his chain of frustration. The pedal had now become slightly dented.

The boy squatted down, bringing his knees to his chest as he tried stopping the tears that were forming in his eyes.

"相夷哥?", the gentle voice of another boy brought him out of his misery. He hurriedly wiped his tears away, "You've been crying? Why?"

"Leave me alone.", 李相夷 turned away from his friend.

"I can't do that if you're crying.", the other boy ran to stand in front of him again, "People need to be comforted when they're sad."

The matter-of-fact manner of that statement almost made 相夷 cry harder but he held his tears in, "I wanted to make a bowl for 师兄 but I just can't get it right."

The boy looked quizzically at him, "Well of course you can't get it right.", 李相夷 looked offendedly at the boy before him, "You've never had someone to teach you before.".

李相夷 looked at the hem of his robe, dismayed. Finding a teacher would mean asking 师傅 to teach him, and revealing all the late nights he'd spent experimenting around the room, and the pedal he'd just broken-

"I don't think it matters though. I think 师兄 would like anything you make!"

"Really?", 李相夷 asked meekly.

The boy nodded fervently, "I'll stay up with you and we can figure it out together!", and the boy took 李相夷's hand, dragging him back to the pottery wheel to start again.

They continued all night, the boy falling asleep beside him as he spun and threw pottery deep into night. But soon he grew tired and fell asleep next to the boy, "Good night, 多病. Thank you for staying up with me."

It would be 2 days later when 李相夷 would have a tray, and 4 days later with it fully glazed. Just in time for his 山谷道's birthday.

"古道哥! I made something for you, happy birthday!".

And 山谷道 would push the tray back at him saying, "I don't need these useless things."

And 李相夷 would think that he was just angry that day after being scolded by 师傅 on his forms. That he'd give it to 方多病 instead for helping him that night.

And the news of 方多病 returning to his family at Tianji Manor would arrive, much too late for 李相夷 to hand to him.

And now as an older man, he'd wonder if 山谷道 had been more than angry that day.

--------------------

Keeping the candy in his pocket, he gently tapped 笛飞声 on the shoulder, "Time to go."

And the 2 men would walk home just in time before their metamorphosis began again.

Chapter Text

方多病 woke up to the morning sun shining on his face, a gentle warmth inviting him out of a late night's sleep, "李莲花 did you find anything?"

No reply. "李莲花?", he scoured around the room, "笛声?". The boxes lay scattered around the room, not a person to be seen, it was him and his memorabilia-

"小宝, are you in there?"

Oh no, 方多病 scrambled to hide the boxes away. His mum would absolutely shred all these momentos- no, evidence away if she found out!

"Give me a moment!" he hollered at his door, he signalled to Li Er who was sweeping his garden as he shoved a box under his bed-

Madam He walked in. The curtain was drawn open, covering part of the room, his bed made up, 方多病 was standing?

"Morning mum!", 方多病 spun on his heel, greeting his mum with a preppy smile.

"How's your leg?", Madam He pointed.

"My leg?", 方多病 looked down at his right foot, "Oh yea, I almost forgot about it. It's okay now!". And indeed 方多病 was surprised by how well his foot felt now.

"What a wonderful doctor 李神医 must be! He healed it so quickly!", Madam He walked towards 方多病, putting a hand on his elbow, "Shall we head for breakfast?"

方多病 looked to the boxes peeking out from under his bed, then locking eyes with Li Er in the garden, "Ah...yea! Let's grab breakfast!", and both of them left for the dining room.

--------------------

The crickets screeched the night's silence away, abruptly quieting as a slam sounded from inside the shed.

李莲花 and 笛飞声 sat at their dining table, panting and clutching their flasks of wine. The pain of their metamorphoses throbbed in their bones, fiery pain crawling on their skin as it patched themselves back together.

笛飞声 gulped a large mouthful of wine as the pain subsided to a reasonable amount, "Someone's manipulating the curse.". 李莲花 nodded, that much was obvious if it was affecting him as well.

--------------------

李相夷 limped and squawked along the coast, scoring around for anyone familiar. His stab wound steadily poured with blood, his powers far too used up to change back to human.

阿娩，Sigu sect, I'm so sorry...

He held that thought as he dragged his way to Sigu sect. If he wanted to apologize, he minimally had to stay alive to do it.

He heard the sound of footsteps coming his way. He hid behind a tree, peeking to see who it was.

云彼丘?

He ran as fast as he could, squawking as loudly as he could. 云彼丘 walked towards him, his gaze cold. He collapsed as his adrenaline gave out.

Help me...please...

云彼丘 drew his sword, tears welling up behind his stony glare as he looked to the sky.

"I curse you to be swan by day, a man by night. A curse only to be undone by the true love of a brother."

He was pierced again in the free spot that was given. He fought to keep his vision from fading.

"云彼丘!", a futile squawk came out of him.

云彼丘 flicked his blood off his sword, walking away from him, never glancing back once.

--------------------

李莲花 swallowed the anger and confusion that reemerged. The riddle had been a sick joke back then; which brother could love him now that they were both gone?

And yet here he is 10 years later with a chance.

"Anything you found from 方多病?", he huffed out.

笛飞声 shook his head, "Some old letters from 山谷道 and 方多病. Did find a copy of 天鹅湖 at the bottom though. Just some old fairy tale."

His heart ached as he recalled his mother reading the story to all 3 of them before bedtime. 山谷道 and 方多病 had never stayed up till the end and yet he always did.

He wished he could be Prince Siegfried, heroically saving the beautiful Odette from Evil Von Rothbart. And maybe one day, when he was strong enough in his martial arts, he would.

Even after he'd learnt to read it on his own, imagining the whole story with his mother's voice, it was never quite the same.

His mother never had much time after separating from his father, raising him and 山谷道 on his own. And then the world of martial arts took over. And then everything else.

And now look at his fate; how ironic life could be.

"天鹅湖？How ironic. The princess cursed to be a swan by day, and a girl by night. Her curse to be broken by the power of true love.", he looked to 笛飞声, "Sounds familiar?"

笛飞声 remained unamused. Maybe the pain really was getting to him. "It doesn't bring us closer to solving this curse and finding out what happened to 山谷道."

"You know, 云彼丘 did tell me back then. The curse can only be broken by the love of a brother."

"You plan to tell 方多病?"

"Not yet. We'll still need to find out more.", he pulled himself to stand even as his joints screamed with the movement, "Ready to go?"

笛飞声 gripped 李莲花's hand, pulling himself to stand, "Do we have a choice?"

Humourous as always, 李莲花 thought as they sauntered out of their shed once again

Chapter Text

"Madam He, we have guests."

"Guests? We aren't expecting anyone at the moment."

"It is 李神医 and his apprentice, Madam."

"李神医?", Madam He seemed to jump up from her chair, racing across Tianji Manor as she called for the maids to set side dishes and tea at the dining hall. With a fling, the main door opened-

"Good evening Madam. It is 李医生, 李莲花. Apologies for my late visit. I wanted to see how Mister Fang was healing after his injury, if you do not mind."

"Oh, how kind of you to come all this way! You truly are a 神医! 小宝's leg has healed so quickly he's already back to running and fighting!", she sighed at that last statement, "Anyway, do come in! You must be hungry after that long trip!"

"Thank you for your hospitality, it would allow me some time to check on Mister Fang as well if he is around."

"Definitely! I'll get him right away!", she walked in with 李莲花 and 笛飞声trailing behind her, walking through the maze of Tianji Manor to the dining hall.

"Do help yourselves, I'll get him right now!", she turned to Li Er who walked past, "Call 方多病 to come greet 李医生 now."

李莲花 poured himself a cup of tea, taking a sniff before sipping.

"Mum?", 方多病 sauntered out, giving a bow to 李莲花 and 笛飞声 when he saw them. Thank goodness his leg had actually healed properly.

"Just in time, 小宝! 李神医travelled all this way to check up on you! Hurry! Take a walk for 李神医-"

"Ah it's okay. It's best for Mister Fang to rest his leg still, fresh injuries tend to get injured again after all."

"Right, right, right! Thank you for caring so much for our 多病!"

"Ah yes, before I forget." 笛飞声 pulled out 2 packages, "Here are some herbs I've bought for Mister Fang and yourself. Some simple ones to boil as soup to help with a speedy recovery and dealing with the blazing heat."

"Oh thank you so much!", Madam He handed the packages to a maid nearby, "We'll enjoy the soup tomorrow."

They continued chatting through the evening, entertaining Madam He's friendly nature. Soon, the moon had risen high above the clouds, the crickets singing.

"Ah...it truly is late. I'm so sorry for holding up your time. Do have a good night's rest!"

"It has been wonderful sharing a meal here, thank you for your hospitality!"

"No worries, come here any time to see us! It's rare to see the famous 李神医 after all!", she turned to 方多病, "I'll head to bed first. Send them to the door, okay?"

Goodbyes and take cares went about the room till Madam He closed the dining hall door behind her.

"So,", 李莲花 stood, looking to 方多病, "are there any items other than the book '天鹅湖'?"

--------------------

"Master, the hall is ready.", a guard walked up, bowing to a black-cloaked figure.

A smirk crept up the man's face, "I'll be there in a minute.".

As the guard walked away, the figure swiped his hand over the fountain he'd been looking at, washing away the reflection of 李莲花 sitting in 方多病's room.

He walked away, calling out to the shadows behind him, "He may not have died back then but soon, he will."

--------------------

"How did you know about that? 天鹅湖 was one of his favorite stories ever since he was a child!", 方多病's amazement quickly turned to a frown, "Are you a friend of his? You know where he is?"

李莲花 gave a light flick on 方多病's forehead, "Mind your distance will you?", he dusted his sleeve, "An ordinary man like me, how could I possibly know 李相夷?"

方多病's face dampened. "It was merely a guess, thanks to 笛声. After all, doesn't that story ring a bell?"

方多病 pondered on it, "Swan lake...wasn't the pirncess cursed to be a swan by day and a girl by night?".

李莲花 nodded, "Sounds familiar doesn't it?"

方多病's face brightened, "The swan figurines!"

They huffed and puffed behind 方多病 who ran back to his room. 方多病 rummaged furiously through the boxes, muttering to himself as he pulled out swan figurine after swan figurine.

李莲花 scratched his nose, trying to control the blush that crept up his cheeks and the wave of relief in his chest.

The slam of book on the table brought him out of his thoughts, "Leave it to 相夷哥 to have a catalogue of his swan figurines! All 20 of them are here!".

李莲花 and 笛飞声 peered over the book. Scraggly writing logged the names of every swan figurine, short descriptions of each figurine's identifier written beside each name. There were-

"方小宝！Do you know how to count? There's 21 on here!"

"You little-!", he took a deep breath, "Well there was supposed to be 21. But when I got there, there were only 20 left.". He pointed to one of the figurine's names, "It should be this one that went missing."

小山谷. It had been one of the last things he'd ever made of clay. He'd made it just in time before his 师兄 left and never returned.

"Whistle and I'll come find you wherever you are."

He never heard that whistle and yet when he arrived. He was dead. It was foolish but he had slept some nights wondering if maybe 山谷道 had whistled and it didn't make a sound.

He scanned the rest of the swan figurines, pushing that foolish thought aside. "Happen to know why 李相夷 would have a bunch of swans aside from being a swan lake fanatic?"

方多病 shrugged, "I only know about the first 3 or 4 he made. Even then, they were mostly decorative. But there's these strange holes in some of them, almost like they're diffusers."

The 3 men picked 1 each, opening the wing lids before taking a sniff, then ticking each one that had been sniffed. They continued that way until-

"Wait a moment.", 笛飞声 sniffed the swan in his hand a little more deeply, "This one has a floral scent."

"Oh yea! 李相夷 liked floral scents."

"Unless 李相夷 came back from the dead, took this one out of the box, and put burn some floral incense in there, it doesn't make sense why there should be such a fresh smell."

李莲花 looked back at the catalogue, "Any particular marks on this swan?"

笛飞声 looked the whole figurine over, "There's none.".

"But that can't be! I haven't opened these boxes since I packed them 10 years ago! And there were 20 when I took them out!"

"Any new staff within the last few days?"

方多病 shook his head, "Aside from that guy in black who hurt Li Er, there hasn't been anyone else. But it's almost impossible to break into Tianji Manor! It's basically a maze and we have hidden traps everywhere!"

"And yet that man did.", 笛飞声 stated factually.

李莲花 continued as 方多病 sulked, "This swan was what he was after since the start. Li Er was merely a side quest to keeping the whole thing quiet. And it wouldn't have been difficult to swap in a fake. After all, no one other than 李相夷 would have thought to check this catalogue and spot check every single one."

李莲花 looked back to the catalogue again; 方没病, unticked. He looked to 方多病，"Whoever made the swap was clever. They took the ones that were named after 山谷道 and you. A little coincidental don't you think?"

"Both 山谷道 and 李相夷 are dead. And now the swan representing me is gone. You don't think..."

"It's not impossible. It could be a sign."，笛飞声added.

Or a trap for the one still alive.

"We'll have to investigate this further. But for now, we have to go.". 李莲花 tapped 方多病 on the shoulder twice, "Get some rest."

方多病 nodded and sent the 2 men off to the main door.

Chapter Text

"Miss Jiao,", 角丽谯 turned around as the cloaked figure walked in, "I have something new to add for tonight."

She turned around with a cunning glint in her eye, frowning at the swan figurine that sat in his palm.

"This swan has a rather peculiar name."

"And what would it be?"

"方没病."

角丽谯 laughed, "小山谷? 方没病？李相夷, the mighty martial artist, a prodigy of his time.", she scoffed, "But deep down, he's just a naive little boy."

"Indeed,", he unfurled his palm, "wouldn't it be interesting to find out how he'd react to his newfound friend turning into one of these?"

角丽谯's laugh rung in her small bedroom as she put her hand in the cloaked figure's hand, "We better make it quick then!". And the 2 walked to the hall nearby.

--------------------

A thudding in his chest woke 方多病 from his slumber. His body throbbed with every quickening heartbeat, growing warmer with every second.

He fought the dizziness that struck him as he sat up on his bed, his hand reaching out to the flask near him-

He collapsed to the floor as a splintering pain broke his feet. The pain travelling up every orifice of his body, his skin tore itself apart, white feathers floated and stuck onto the increasingly bloody floor, his cries turned to a squawk at its last breath.

The breaking of ceramic brought him back to reality. His viewpoint stopped at the table leg in front of him, blood trickled down his now white wings.

"How?", he thought, he spun about his room, nearly tripping on his new webbed feet. "Li Er-", there was no way Li Er would know it was him.

He looked to the open window behind him, "Please recognize me.". He took a running start, flying out into the dark night.

--------------------

Frantic squawking and persistent knocking on wood woke 李莲花 and 笛飞声 from their short sleep. They shared a look as the squawking and knocking continued.

笛飞声 reached for his sword as he walked to the door, but was quickly intercepted by a pot lid, leaving only the flute. 笛飞声 snatched up the flute, leaving a glare before striding out of the shed. A lone swan flapped and squawked as 笛飞声 opened the door.

"Go away.", 笛飞声 shifted his stance, blocking the swan from sneaking between his legs, "We're trying to sleep."

The swan continued trying, pecking at 笛飞声's shoes for good measure, occasionally flapping to get to his face. But 笛飞声 merely blocked each peck with the flute-

A pot lid intercepted him again, "Let him in."

"李莲花-"

"Just look at him.", 李莲花 chin pointed to the blood-stained swan panting before them, "Don't you feel the least bit sorry?"

方多病's vision swam, his joints throbbing from stomping and banging on the wooden door, his throat parse from the squawking. "Won't a nap be nice...", he thought as he toppled over.

李莲花 caught the swan just before it hit the ground, carrying it gently in his arms as he walked back in. "Close the door behind you. I'll explain more later."

--------------------

笛飞声 tossed the flute onto the floor, taking a seat next to 李莲花, 李莲花 circled his hands over 方多病, the lake glowing as it became infused with 李莲花's energy.

"We're being baited, you know that right?"

"That much was obvious. But what choice do we have? Hopefully that thief or some other person will come back again. After all, he'll want the last piece of this trio."

"But what for? You're already cursed."

"Hence why we need the bait to catch. After all, this isn't the work of one thief who gets beaten by 2 swans."

"You think there's something bigger at play?"

李莲花 nodded, "Any idea how long we've been human for today?"

"Around 6 hours. We still have an hour. Enough time to-"

Both men collapsed on their knees as the splintering pain of their metamorphosis took over. The aches and pain of their previous metamorphosis joining the new fiery pain.

李莲花 crawled to 方多病, barely tugging on his slightly outstretched wing to slide himself into the lake. He tugged 笛飞声 along, both of them plopping in next to 方多病.

Chapter Text

A squeal of pain rose and choked at his throat as he landed on the lake, just as the sun began to set. His metamorphosis rumbled through his body, leaving behind a gentle throb.

"How gentle and kind this is for a wretched man like me.", he thought as he looked at the lake he now sat in front of.

He opened his palm. It'd been a rough day of hollering people and running on webbed feet. His joints ached from all the running and flying he had to do, his ears ringing with the sounds of "Shoo!" and "你这笨鸟，给我滚开！我放这些来拜祖先的！快滚!".

But it was useless to feel sad. After all, what reason did they have to think that he was human? The single joss stick in his palm seemed to laugh at him; wasn't he wanting this same joss stick for the same reasons too?

He crawled up to stand. His calves protested as he walked into the hut. It was a stretch to even be called that; wood chipped off every other inch of the walls, the door creaked at any angle. The inside was empty except for a single knife and a bed of loose feathers. After all, why let all of that go to waste?

He picked up the dagger and walked back out, stabbed a decently deep hole in front of the lake, and stuck the joss stick in.

"你的败家子来了.", he said to the lake before him, while pinching the blackened tip of the Joss stick, "今天是您的百日，都无法为您烧一炷香.".

"过了这百日，我应该是可以庆祝新年的.", he swiped quickly at the tears that escaped, "没了你，没了哥，没了阿娩，又有何意?"

Locks of hair laid lifeless behind him as he pulled the dagger across his pony tail.

"就当作您没有这败家子了."

Stabbing the dagger into the ground, he walked back into the hut, counting the hours till the next sunrise came.

Chapter Text

The smell of ash and the screeching of crickets woke 方多病 up. Everywhere seemed to throb when he sat up, his joints hurting. He looked down to see his bruised shins and forearms but it surprised him; every other part of him had healed perfectly, almost as if nothing happened.

He jolted at the sound of someone talking next to him.

"-tea. It'll help with the pain."

He took the cup in 李莲花's hands, his shoulders relaxing as he took the gentle aroma in, "Why's everything so loud in your house?", he asked, his own volume scaring him.

李莲花 muffled the clearing of his throat with his sleeve, "Sound sensitivity. Just one side effect of being a swan. Hopefully it'll pass."

"Ah...", 方多病 looked back into his cup. How and why him? It made no sense. He barely even knew what was going on and now..."You don't think it'll be permanent, do you?".

李莲花 pondered for a moment, turning away from 方多病, "It's hard to say. But I don't think it will. After all, this happened right after we started investigating the swans. They're trying to keep you quiet, but it means we're a step in the right direction."

方多病 took a sip of tea to calm his nerves, "Let's hope it's the case. But what do we do now?"

李莲花 pulled a swan figurine and the catalogue from his robe pocket and 方多病 rapidly flipped through, scanning the swan for it's specific indicator.

"天夷? But 相夷哥, he's..." he swallowed the wave of pain that hit him, "Why would they want his?"

李莲花 scratched his nose, "Whoever's doing this doesn't believe he's dead. Don't tell me that you do?"

"No!", 方多病 recoiled at the volume of his shout, "It's just...surely he'd come back if he was alive? After all, Sigu sect is still waiting for him. Everyone is."

Leave it to 笛飞声 to come at the right time, "Time to stop being useless. I would like my bed back."

"You-!"

李莲花 stood between them, "Haish...if you want to fight, fight elsewhere. Not here.". He looked to 笛飞声, "What is the matter anyway? You didn't come here to annoy 方多病 did you?"

笛飞声 kept his glare going, smirking as 方多病 tiptoed behind 李莲花，"Of course not. But 方多病 needs to leave. The people of Tianji Manor are searching nearer and nearer here-"

"No! I refuse to go to that bridal selection ceremony! No matter how many times I tell my mum I don't want to be married she still insists! And now that I'm gone she's probably thinking I've eloped away to join the "hooligans and rebels who think they know so much"-!"

李莲花 held a palm to 方多病's tirade, "What party?"

方多病 gulped and sighed, "My mum wants me to get married this year, since I rejected the last one to the princess. So she called girls from all over the place to make this bridal selection party of sorts. She didn't even tell me! I found out because of Li Er, and she's grounded me since then."

方多病 plopped down on the mattress as 李莲花 and 笛飞声 both stared at him, "Not that I mind being married. Just not on that day this year. It would be his 10th death anniversary.". He looked at the swan that sat next to him, "I just wish I could find him soon, clear all this up, and then he can attend it you know?"

笛飞声 watched 李莲花, deciphering the way his wheels turned. Their time as humans grew shorter by the week and it could be useful. But the number of people who'll be there, will they be recognized?

"We'll help you find him back.", 李莲花 replied, "And the party is just the right place."

--------------------

角丽谯 laughed maniacally, her hand wrapped in the masked man's elbow, "If only we knew that all it took was that sickly boy to draw out that fox!"

The cloaked man's smirk folded into a scowl, "It always has been.". He scowled at the 2 swan figurines in his hand, "But now, it will be his downfall."

Chapter Text

方多病 fought to smile as he sat in the middle of his living room. People hustled and chatted around, taking measurements of every inch of his body, animatedly discussing and gesturing along the home walls.

The world had become irreparably noisy after that ordeal. His head perennially buzzed throughout the day, and he couldn't wait every night to cover his pillows over his ears and sleep. He thought about sharing his woes with his mother but that notion was quickly dismissed; it would mean explaining that he turned into a swan, that 李莲花 and 笛声 could turn into swans because of their curse, about 天鹅湖, and ultimately about how 相夷哥 had loved it.

And how everything tied back to him.

He almost hated 李相夷 for a moment; was it worth all this to find out how he died?

He banished that thought as someone approached him again to compare 1 shade of red to another, "Any would do.", he mentioned with a smile. At least he didn't have to fake the lack of care he held for the details of the event.

He had no idea what 李莲花 and 笛声 had in mind, only that his role was too hold onto that swan, and to never mention anything about them or 李相夷. It was 2 simple enough requests to find out what happened to his 师兄, hence he ended up in this situation.

"小宝,", his mother took his hand in hers, "no matter who you choose, I'll support you okay?"

But what if it's not any of them?, he thought.

"Okay.", he agreed with a small smile. And everything else continued around him

--------------------

"You truly plan on using him. I'm surprised.", 笛飞声 mentioned as 李莲花 walked in with a basket of fresh vegetables.

"The opportunity presented itself and I took it. Or do you have any better ideas?"

"I'd rather go with the fighting route. And yet, would you approve?"

李莲花 rolled his eyes and grabbed a bundle of kailan from the basket, "I thought that having a cleaner diet and life would make you less...bloodthirsty. But alas."

"Are we really to be sitting ducks waiting for a strike?"

"I wouldn't call it that if you know what you're waiting for. Besides, 方多病 can hold his own should anyone choose to attack."

"And yet you passed me the real 天夷."

"The less he's involved, the better."

And it was true. A fight is inevitable but once they notice his is a fake, they'd leave him alone and he can enjoy his wedding. He doesn't need to know how the curse gets broken and by who, just that 李相夷 can be there.

He sighed, since when had he become so sentimental? "All you have to do is protect that swan. It's important to us after all.".

--------------------

The cloaked figure sat in the middle of the hall, the silence broken by the jingling of anklets, "I guess you decided to pull all the stops today."

角丽谯's laughter rang across the metallic hall, "It's rare that I get to use my powers after all! After that wretched Sigu Sect banned magic, as if their own martial arts skills don't stem from a similar source.". She caressed the chin of the cloaked figure using her finger, "Remove that cloak, will you?"

The figure swiped her hand away, pulling his cloak down, his pinky a mere stump.

角丽谯 laughed, "Isn't it so fun to finally have this moment!", she briefly touched his stump, "The sacrifice was...unfortunate but it has served us well, hasn't it? Now all we need is another!"

He gripped her wrist, "Know your place. I know that this spell doesn't need blood sacrifices.", he pulled her closer to him, "If anything, it should be yours to pay."

She dusted herself off, holding back the scowl that crept up her face, "I'll get the stuff ready."

山谷道 turned to face the empty throne before him, smirking as the jingling anklets left.

Chapter Text

A day ago:

"What is it!", the potter grumbled. A knock sounded on the potter's door just as he was about to close for the day. 李莲花 and 笛飞声 stepped away from the door as it swung open, "What do you want? I'm closing the shop soon!".

"My apologies for the late request sir. I have a small order but if it's too much work...", 李莲花 pretended to turn away from the door.

"Tell me. What is it?"

He pulled 天夷 from his robe pocket, "If you could replicate this figurine, that would be wonderful. I'd like to gift it to my disciple for his wedding."

The potter flipped it about, opening the wing compartment, "No can do. This figurine can't be replicated."

"What do you mean?", 笛飞声 stepped closer to the man.

The man pricked his finger and smeared his blood over the hinge. The hinge glowed a gentle blue, "This is 云铁. It can't be found anymore."

"Ah...that's unfortunate.", 李莲花 peeked a silver tael from the side of his belt pocket, "But another metal would do, something that looks similar."

"Ah...", the potter looked down to the silver tael that stuck out, "Yes sure! When will you need it?"

李莲花 pushed the silver tael back into his belt pocket, "As soon as possible. Whenever is convenient for you."

"Definitely! I'll get it started tomorrow- no, right now!"

"Thank you very much for your time.", 李莲花 handed the silver tael to the potter along with a small slip, "I'll come by in 2 days and you can put the order under this name."

The pitter nodded, taking all the stuff with him as he re-entered his pottery studio.

--------------------

A week later:

Tianji Manor was once again adorned with red and gold, firecrackers popped at the front door as maidens and guests arrived. A buffet spread was squeezed across 2 tables of Tianji Manor, and wine flowed freely into cups and people's mouths. 

方多病 stood at the dressing area, his fingers rubbing along the smooth, glazed back of 天夷 as he looked out the window facing the main entrance. 

"Mister Fang! It's time!", Li Er said while striding in with a spring in her step. 方多病 took a deep breath, then picked up his robes to face the guests in the living room. 

--------------------

李莲花 and 笛飞声 were once again swimming in Tianji Manor's pond, in a much less-preferred circumstance. It was hard to maintain their sights on 方多病 with the children who'd chase their tails, shooing them away. Where they swam, the children followed, and the ruckus meant hearing almost nothing of what happened inside. 

Both swans gave a metaphorical sigh of relief at the sight of white peeking out of 方多病's hand. The swan was still safe in his hands, and 天夷safely in 笛飞声's mouth. 

李莲花 nudged his neck, beak-pointing to a white-robed man following close behind 方多病. The bait had caught.

--------------------

方多病 sat listlessly amongst the festivities. There wasn't much to do aside from small talk with guests and drinking tea.

He stared longingly at the fight ring situated in front of him, and found himself internally critiquing their stances and choices. If only he could be up there as well. If only. 

A flow of white robes passed from the corner of his eye. A man back-faced him in white robes and a red sash. A sword in his hand, the blade facing up as he tapped in the handle with his index finger. His hair was done up in a practical ponytail.

It couldn't be-

方多病 quickly excused himself and strode after him.

--------------------

"Excuse me! Who-"

山谷道 smirked to himself before turning around, "多病, has it been so long that you can't recognize your own brother?"

方多病 gripped him by his shoulders, scanning about his face, "It really is you...". He pulled 李相夷 in a tight embrace, "I can't believe you came! It's unbelievable! Where have you been?"

山谷道 waved the question away, "I'll explain more another time but I need your help."

"Whatever you need!", 方多病 calmed the soaring in his heart, wiping away the tears that pricked at his eyes "I'm just glad you're back."

"Can't stay long but you don't happen to have any of my belongings do you?"

"Of course I do! Made sure to get everything that Sigu Sect left behind during the search. Clothes? Shoes? Presents-"

"Do you have the swan figurines?"

"I do...but some of them are missing. They were gone before I could claim them. Why do you want them?"

"I rented a new place and it stinks of must! Just wanted to spruce it up with some nice aromas."

"I see, well we can go and look-"

山谷道 put a step on front of 方多病, "How about the one in your hand? I just need 1."

方多病 took a step back, returning to his eased stance. "This? It's a fake. I couldn't find the real one so I asked someone to make a duplicate.", he lied.

山谷道 looked to his left, "Unfortunately I don't want duplicates.". The sword was out of its hilt, heading straight for 方多病.

--------------------

The chase for 方多病 had quickly come to a dead end as he and the white-robed man vanished into the manor. He looked around for another way in, to see a robed official speeding towards them. 

He swam slowly to 笛飞声. The official picked up his pace. 

Run.

The official's hands swooped at them, plucking a feather off 笛飞声. He resisted the urge to cry out, holding tighter onto the swan figurine in his beak. 

A sword swung at them, attempting to trip them over as they swam, flapped, and dodged. A cut struck between both of them, both of them flying in different directions.

笛飞声 gave 李莲花 a look, and 李莲花 ran into Tianji Manor.

笛飞声 kicked and pecked at the official with his feeble swan body. Swooping aside just as the afternoon gleamed into the official's eyes, quickly flying off with a burst of feathers.

李莲花 resisted his instinct to hide under the nearby prayer table, weaving through the crowd that slowly noticed the presence of a swan at their party.

"Get it out!", a guard ordered, pointing at him. 

He made a beeline for the nearest corridor, stomping on his webbed feet as he navigated the twists and turns of Tianji Manor. Guards stomping behind him.

"笛声!", a choked voice called out.

He zipped towards that voice. And with a flying leap, bit his imposter hard enough to draw blood.

Chapter Text

方多病 fell, gasping for air. The sound of porcelain breaking bringing him back to reality. The swan laid shattered, a droplet of blood on its hinge.

He glanced up at 李相夷 who bore down on him, "哥..."

李相夷 turned away, approaching the guards that stomped round the corner. 笛声 tugged his sleeve, squawking as footsteps came nearer and nearer.

方多病 picked himself off the ground, and snuck around the corridors of Tianji Manor, back into the safety of the crowd.

A twist and a turn, the doorway to the back of the kitchen was an arm's reach away, he gripped the handle, swung it open-

A maiden cut 笛声 across his wing.

笛声 fell writhing in a heap as his feathers began to splinter, his squawks turning into human cries of pain, webbed feet and wings turning to limbs,

"笛-"

李莲花 gasped and choked, his body was riddled with bleeding cuts. His skin seemed to crawl on itself as each cut patched anew, all except 1.

A maniacal laughter broke the silence, "What a catch we've got here, isn't it?". Footsteps halted behind them.

方多病 stood over 李莲花, his sword braced for anything more, "Come any closer and I won't hesitate."

李相夷 sauntered towards him, "How cruel of you that you'd even fight your own brother...". He reached up to his face, peeling away skin, a splat as it dropped to the floor.

山谷道's face stared back at him, "How nice it was to have a hug from you. It was so welcoming, I'm glad you invited me."

"I-"

The kitchen maiden hit 方多病's accupunture points before he could fight back, holding him at knifepoint. "李莲花！Don't-"

山谷道 glanced momentarily at 方多病 before gripping 李莲花 by his chin, "李莲花? What an interesting name you've given yourself these 10 years.", he pushed 李莲花's head to turn toward 方多病, "It only too unfortunate that your own brother can't recognize you. Won't you agree? 李相夷."

李相夷？李莲花？

He stepped on 李相夷's palm that pressed on the floor for support, "How conniving of you to trick your own brother with a fake.". He stepped harder, "So do tell, where. Is. That. Swan. Figurine."

李莲花 curled in on himself, glancing down at the floor, "I may have told you when we were children.", he gave 方多病 a quick glance, "But not anymore".

He threw a piece of porcelain to 方多病 who quickly ducked away. A shrill scream cried as the kitchen maiden cupped her own face, "李! 相! 夷!".

方多病 served a quick punch to 山谷道's face, dragging 李相夷 by the wrist as the ran through the corridors, and out of Tianji Manor.

-------------------

Crrk!

李相夷 huffed and ached, breathing through the blow of the wooden fence that 方多病 had thrown him into.

The back garden was secluded and far enough away from the chaos inside. The guards quickly seized 山谷道 and his accomplice but they'd vanished into thin air.

He prayed that 笛飞声 got back safely at 莲花泉. It was bad enough that one of them, himself of all people, got exposed.

Flames burned their way through every muscle in his body, the singular cut on his arm throbbing and bleeding through his bruised hand that covered it.

Agony.

It was a price for being human for a little longer. He'd longed for it at first, cut himself dry just to relish being human for those extra hours, bearing through the pain. But it had became too much, a pain that no amount of alcohol could absolve. And so he gave up, swearing to himself to never use it again, and to never let 笛飞声 know about it.

"So what do you have to say for yourself, 李莲花-. Or should I call you 李相夷 instead.", 方多病 hissed his name with venom.

李相夷 averted his eyes away, breathing through his own pain.

“还不敢承认!", 方多病 pushed his sword hilt into 李相夷's collarbone. "我们在身边成长，看着彼此练功，吃，睡，哭，笑. 那一天晚上，你制造的那一盘. 我陪着你熬夜...这次骗我就算了,"

方多病 chuckled wryly, "你竟然骗了我十年."

李相夷 grit his teeth against the pain that struck his heart.

方多病's hands hung loose by his sides as he let go, "我花了十年等你回来，你却不肯和我相认. 用了李莲花，利用了我找出解咒方式,"

方多病 opened his palm with the one piece of porcelain that sat inside it, his voice barely a whisper, "难道我对你什么都不是吗?"

李莲花 blinked away the burning in his eyes, "我承认. 我的确骗了你，利用你. 说的和没说的都一样有害. 但我从未有伤害你的意思."

"又有何用?", 方多病 stared at him coldly, his sword drawn and raised to his face, "你还是快走吧."

李莲花 found himself unable to move.

"走啊!", 方多病 screamed, facing away from him. A strewn coat laid on the ground.

Thunder began to rumble as 李莲花 picked the coat up. He walked off, hiding the limp he had from dragging his hurting body.

方多病 turned back once more to the empty space before him, where rain now fell freely over. With his bare hands, he dug a hole and placed the broken swan in.

May we never have a reason to cross paths again.

And he left the buried swan behind.

Chapter Text

方多病 paced restlessly about Tianji Manor, and yet there was barely anywhere to go. What was a maze became a maze with more booby traps, making it harder to go anywhere without being caught in one. Besides, he was still grounded since his bridal selection festival was now infinitely delayed after such a fiasco.

Investigations on the day's events were underway, and that left no one able to go in nor out. 方多病 contemplated sleeping the day away. After all, he'd been pulling all-nighters every other day for the past few weeks.

And yet, the half-broken swan that sat on his table says otherwise. He should get rid of it, throw it, smash it, turn it into powder, scream at it, hand it to someone else to throw it. But found himself unable to do so whenever he tried, not that imagining it as 李相夷 had anything to do with it. And it was valuable evidence for this crime, not that he could contribute without giving too much away.

方多病 sighed. Here he was caring about their secrecy again. That swan really ought to be one and done. He turned on his heel, made a beeline for his room, snatched the figurine up-

A flash of something caught his eye. 方多病 took a closer look; it was a clay stamp engraving that usually carried the potter's surname. And this potter had the surname 福.

福? Pottery? That name rung a bell but who-

旺福！His old friend lived in a pottery shop downtown, the business run by his uncle since they were children.

方多病 looked out the window to the wall that was not currently patrolled. He wondered what would happen if he tried to...climb over it perhaps?

It would be an hour later when Madam He will be wondering where 方多病 had gone.

--------------------

It was unfortunate that 方多病 only started to think of what he wanted to ask when he reached the storefront. It's not as if he didn't know who requested it and why. Which led him to think; why did I even come here?

But it was too late for him to turn away as the potter stepped out the door and saw him, "Mister Fang! It's been so long since I've seen you!"

方多病 walked casually towards him, "I hope you've been well, Uncle! I received this the other day but...it's already broken."

"Let me take a look.", the potter squinted at the half-broken swan in his hand. "What a shame. 李神医 had come by the other saying that he wanted to make a replica. Something about a wedding gift for his disciple."

"Disciple? Could it be-"

That thought was quickly shaken away as the potter clapped him on the shoulder, "Eh? I didn't know you studied medicine! But truly a great skill to have! Always good to know some basic first-aid for a fighter like you!"

方多病 smiled and gave a gentle bow, "That is too high of a compliment for me."

"Your mum will be very proud to have a multi-talented son like you! In fact, I'll remake this for you as a gift-"

"There's no need really-"

"Nah...do accept this small kindness from our family. We haven't seen each other in a long time after all."

The potter hurriedly invited him into the studio before 方多病 could rebutt further, rushing to get a new ball of clay before sitting at his workstation.

"You know, 小宝,", 方多病 walked to the workstation, "there's a rather unique thing about this swan."

"Oh?"

"This is the only figurine I can never fully replicate."

"But your pottery skills are so great! How could that be?"

"Because it's not about the figurine. It's the hinge."

"The hinge? It's just some regular old metal, isn't it?"

"Oh believe me, it isn't. I could identify it at a glance but I couldn't believe my eyes too when I saw it. It was 云铁!"

"云铁? But that metal is so rare, it hasn't been found anywhere since...", he held his tongue.

"What an unfortunate event that was. The whole family, wiped out in a night. The son had survived it but shortly after?", the potter shook his head, "He was gone too.".

And indeed, that case had been spread and remained on billboards for the longest time all over China. It was a massacre done without a trace in the dead of night. The strangest part? Not a single ingot of 云铁 was ever found.

"Have you seen it before?"

"Of course! And I was definitely tempted to purchase some, but I decided not to."

"Why not?"

The potter sighed, "This...", he motioned for 方多病 to lean closer, "Rumours went about that it was used for blood magic."

"Blood magic?", 方多病 whispered incredulously

"It was just a rumour. Like all rumours it probably wasn't true but it's always had a sad tie to it.".

"Could 山谷道 be using blood magic? But how could it be? He doesn't know any unless...that kitchen maid knows something about blood magic."

方多病 gave the potter a quick bow, "I'm really sorry Uncle, but I'll have to collect it another time."

"Ah? Where-"

方多病 strode out the door, sword in hand, "I'll come back for it later!", and he ran down the busy city streets.

--------------------

笛飞声 returned back to the hut to 李相夷 huddled in a pile of blankets against the wall. His body shivered as it erratically switched from being too hot and too cold, his joints fired with pain in any position. Cold sweat seemed to coat every part of his body and his eyes burned to look at anything.

"I told you to stay in the lake."

李相夷's chuckle fizzed out into a chatter of teeth, "It was too cold. Unless you'd like for me to freeze?"

笛飞声 roughly pulled up 李相夷's sleeve. The cut bled through the bandage, the surrounding skin red and inflamed, "You need better medical care than this. I'm carrying you to Tianji Manor-"

"No!", 李相夷 gripped 笛飞声, hiding the crack in his voice from his parched throat, "Don't bother him. I'm fine."

"And I'm as stupid as 方多病.", 笛飞声 picked him off the ground, blankets and all. "If you can fight me from carrying you there, then fair enough.", and he strode out of 莲花泉.

--------------------

Chapter Text

Rough knocking on Tianji Manor's doors stirred everyone into action. Armed guards rushed to the gate, 方多病 held his sword ready behind Madam He who strode after them.

The knocking continued even as the guards questioned the person behind it. And "Give me 方多病." was all they replied.

"Open the gate."

"But Mister Fang, it's too dangerous!"

"I can hold my own. Protect Madam He.", and he opened a sliver of the gate on his own.

"笛声? What are you doing here?"

"We need a physician. Quick, he's not going to hold out much longer.", 笛声 half-shrugged 李相夷 on his back.

方多病 took a glance at 李相夷, "I have nothing to do with him.". He turned to return back to Tianji Manor-

笛声 stepped in front of him, "I don't know what fight you got into and that's none of my business. Whatever it is, resolve it on your own. He needs medical care. Now."

方多病 sighed, "Look. The physician already left for the day. And it's not for me to decide. My mum will. So find another-".

"小宝, what's going on-", Madam He strode out, catching sight of 李莲花 on 笛声's back, "李神医？What happened to him?"

"His infection isn't healing. He needs a physician. Now."

"Come this way, just nice that the physician is working extra today-"

"Mum! We can't just be letting people in while Tianji Manor is under lockdown!"

"These are your friends isn't it?", she shot at 方多病. She turned to the maids inside the Manor, "Tidy up the guest room for our 2 guests and call the physician."

The maids bowed and scurried away. 方多病 glared at 笛声, who sauntered in with 李相夷.

--------------------

方多病 fought off the tiredness of the day as he stood guard at the guest room door. He had insisted on standing guard, hoping for a chance at interrogating 笛声 when he stopped glaring holes into 李相夷. 1 hour passed, 2 hours passed, he still continued glaring at 李相夷as if his eyeballs could awaken him.

"If you insist on standing guard, at least do a better job of it."

"You-!", 方多病 took a deep breath, "I'm just here to ensure a ruckus doesn't happen again."

"Don't look at me. Weren't you baiting the people who took part in that ruckus?"

"You-!". But it was true. He did bait the people who had tricked them in the end. And he'd agreed to it without hesitation. If he was being honest, he would have agreed again even if they went back in time. But a liar wasn't worth that sentiment.

"So what if you found out he's 李相夷? Is this self-sacrificing idiot really worth your anger?"

And it did puzzle 方多病 why he even got so angry about this. These 10 years, he'd dreamt of that moment where they would reunite and catch up like the old days. Where they would cross all life's milestones together to make up for the ones they'd missed. And yet, a flame seemed to sit in a hollow pit in his heart.

"And so what if I'm 笛飞声? Do you plan on fighting me with those lousy skills of yours?"

"You're what?"

"You really don't put 2 and 2 together. All I had to do was remove 1 part of my name and you truly fell for it."

"That's how you introduced your name-"

"That's what you had assumed my name was from the start.", 笛飞声 turned to glare at 方多病.

"You never said anything?"

"And you never asked." That's what's wrong with you 方多病. You think you know so much when you actually know nothing. You're complacent and naive, and you never loved your brother enough to recognize his face."

"How dare you!", 方多病 rushed 笛飞声, his finger itching to strike the man before him.

笛飞声 sat unflinchingly, ducking away at the last second. 方多病's finger striking 李相夷's neck pulse point. He recoiled away.

"You did that on purpose!"

"I saw an opportunity and I took it."

"But why?"

"No amount of medicine can cure an injury from blood magic. Only a transfer of inner energy can do that.", 笛飞声 glared back at 李相夷, "Something this bastard omitted from telling me."

"Then why don't you do it?"

"Both of you trained together and you don't know that you shared the same inner energy?"

笛飞声 bent down to pick 李相夷 up.

"Wait!", 方多病 called out, "You don't happen to know any blood magicians do you?"

笛飞声 put 李相夷 down, "Took you long enough to be useful."

--------------------

李相夷 awoke to the comfort of a properly padded mattress, his brain a fog with random snippets from momentary moments of consciousness. He wiggled his toes and fingers, glad for the lack of pain that spiked through his body. His body temperature had regulated itself, and a steady thrum of inner energy flowed throughout him. It felt warm, nostalgic, yet new.

Guilt ate at him instantly. He pulled himself up from bed, pressing down on the bedframe as he attempted to stand-

"Sit.", 笛飞声 blocked him, pushing him back down, "Now drink.", and shoved a bowl of medicine into his hands.

"What is this?"

"Ask 方多病."

"Who?", he looked out the window which faced Tianji Manor's pond, "I told you not to."

"Who said I had to listen? Now drink. Before I ask 方多病 to make you."

"You at least sweetened it, did you?", 笛飞声 looked at him impassively, "I guess that's a no.". He forced down 1 mouthful.

"Good for making him drink. People get bitter medicine for lying after all.", 方多病 smiled at 笛飞声 and him. He stood next to 笛飞声.

"So you have information. Do spill for a sickly old man."

"How about no?", 方多病 pointed to the medicine that remained in the bowl.

李相夷 looked to 笛飞声 who chin-pointes to the medicine before him. With a sigh, he forced himself to chug the medicine down, trying not to gag when he set the bowl down after the last mouthful.

"So what have you got?"

--------------------

"I'm not surprised that 角丽谯 would be helping him. She does have a reason to hate Sigu Sect, and she specializes in curses and poisons. Makes sense."

"So you already knew all this?", 方多病 asked.

"I suspected it. Not that I thought 谷道-, 山谷道 would be apart of it. But it makes sense.".

方多病 hid his own heartbreak at the defeat in 李相夷's voice. After all, 山谷道 had taken care of them both when they had no home and nowhere to go. He was lucky that Tianji Manor had found him after their many years of searching, but 李相夷 never had any other family to return to.

"Blood curses can only be broken by another blood curse. It can be formed by anyone but they must have a sacrificial tool that reacts to their blood.", 笛飞声 continued.

"Hence why they would want 云铁 so badly! But something doesn't make sense. Why would they take the whole store of 云铁 that family had? Why not imprison their family to make it for them?", 方多病 asked.

"Because they refused.", 李相夷 set down his cup of tea. "山谷道 and I were the first to the scene that day. The father had been shielding over his son, on the verge of death. His last words begging us to bring his son away to Luoyang. 山谷道 had told me to head back first while he sent the boy off to his family. The next day, the rest of them were dead. They knew what 云铁 had started being used for. They just didn't know 山谷道 was part of it."

"But where would we find anything of 云铁 other than the figurines?"

The group remained silent. After all, 李相夷's 刎颈剑 had long been lost to the sea.

"We'll find a way.", 李相夷 said, then standing up to go, "笛飞声 and I need to go. Goodnight 方多病.

--------------------

Chapter Text

方多病 trekked his way along the forest. His heart thumped and his stomach seemed to squeeze on itself as 莲花泉 slowly came into view. He looked at the letter in his hand, there was no way to back out now; sneaking out, trekking for 30 minutes on uneven terrain. All he had to hand the letter to 笛飞声, and he could hide in a hole afterwards.

He knocked on the gate, "笛声! Anyone there?". The gate creaked open and 李相夷 stood before him. His sickly pallor was evident under the gentle light that gleamed from the lake, his eye bags still a deep brown, "笛声 isn't here?"

"How funny that both of you have become best friends now.", 李相夷 smiled gently at that, "But no. He went out to get vegetables at the night market since he refuses to let me out of this place with my "sickly body". He left not too long ago so I'm not sure when he'll be back."

"Oh..."

"You can come tomorrow night and I'll let him know-"

"It's okay!", 方多病 exclaimed a little more loudly than he intended, hiding his letter behind his back, "Actually...I meant to talk to you."

李相夷 opened the gate wider for the both of them, "Just nice that I have something to tell you too.".

方多病 walked ahead, waiting aside for 李相夷 to lock the gate. The lake's beauty never failed to mesmerize him; its glow was a gentle blue. It shone bright and yet it never hurt his eyes. It gave an ethereal nature to everything, setting this whole hut, this whole place away from the world he lived in.

李相夷 pat the grass next to him on both sides, "I don't think you came here to spend the whole night standing."

"Oh! Thanks!", he set his sword down, and sat down next to 李相夷. A dog trotted along and sat next to him too.

"Do you still remember how 天鹅湖 ends?", 李相夷 broke the silence between them

方多病 chuckled softly, "Of course I do! We read it every night. Though I never understood something,", 李相夷 turned to face him, "your mum bought so many versions of 天鹅湖 and yet you always insisted on reading that 1 version. Why is that?"

"天鹅湖 has 3 different endings. One where they defeated the evil sorcerer and lived happily ever after. One where she died. And one where they both died."

"Oh."

"I never liked the other 2 endings. The princess and prince were the good guys, and good guys never deserve a bad ending. So I refused to read those, like any child would.".

李相夷 gazed out at the lake before him, "When I first turned into a swan, I wished I was the princess who died alone. When my mum died, I wished to be the princess but die in the beginning with her mother. For many days and years after that, I continued wishing to be the princess who died alone."

李相夷 ruffled the fur of the dog next to him, "And then I met her. My 狐狸精.", he chuckled at a memory, "I was out as a swan, stealing scraps off the ground along the riverside. I heard a stick crack behind me and suddenly she pounced in front of me! I flew and ran all the way back to 莲花泉, and she chased me all the way there. My terrified eyes locked with hers right before my metamorphosis took over, 2 hungry strays eyeing one another. I crawled out of the lake back into my hut, my body throbbing in pain. And then I found her waiting at my door. I was waiting for her to bite me but she sat next to me, and nuzzled my face.".

狐狸精 gazed up at him, with her tongue sticking out, "And she's never left since then. Every night, she would drag my coat to me with her teeth. Then she'll scratch at the door asking me to bring her out.", 李相夷 smiled to himself at that, "For the first time in a year, I walked to the night market. Trading the last valuable I had on me for some ingots, and bought myself a bowl of porridge with an extra chicken wing for her."

李相夷 rubbed 狐狸精's forehead as she slowly fell asleep, "Over time, I took some odd jobs. Washing dishes, rolling dough, planted some land, got some proper earnings. And then I bought my first pack of seeds."

"Seeds?"

"I had to be vegetarian after all. It felt wrong to be meat eating meat. My first 5 plots of land all died. I was ready to give up. And then I remembered that day long ago, when I broke that pottery wheel."

"You remember that?"

"That was the first time I properly failed in my life. And you were there. As I watched my 5th plot die, I remembered you taking my hand,", 李相夷 took 方多病's hand in his, "and bringing me back to that pottery wheel to try again.".

"You never forgot me?"

李相夷 shook his head and chuckled, "How could I? My little cheerleader.", he ruffled 方多病's fringe. "Over time I've come to fail and learn many new things. And yet one thing I always failed at was going to find you.".

李相夷 looked away, "I'll admit. It wasn't even a question whether I should have come to you or not. The answer was no."

"What...why?"

"How could I return as your brother, the best martial artist in the world. When I'm only half a man?"

"But you're not!"

"I am. And I will be for as long as I live with this curse.". He pat 方多病's hand, "But I will always love you as my little brother. Who leaves his things everywhere and forgets where he put them, who eats too fast and chokes on his food, who sleeps spread out like a starfish.", 方多病 smiled against the tears that prickled at the edge of his eyes.

"And my biggest regret will always be abandoning you for 10 years.", 李相夷's own tears falling as he spoke, "I'm so sorry that I left you behind to mourn me alone, to leave you hoping blindly for 10 years that I'll come back for you. But I am so glad that you found your way back to me, and you never stopped believing I was alive even when I didn't want to be.".

方多病 barged into 李相夷 for a hug, sobbing into his shoulder as 10 years of grief came undone.

As the sobs turned to tiny whimpers, 方多病 asked, "You won't leave me again will you?"

李相夷 looked him in the eyes, "I'll promise on the remaining life I have left, that I won't leave you behind again."

His dagger sat aside, glowing a gentle blue with the power of a promise.

Chapter Text

A rustle of leaves caught 李相夷's attention, 狐狸精 had ears stood at attention as she faced to a thicket of trees outside the lake. 方多病 slept soundly next to him, tears tracks still evident on his face under the lake's blue glow.

"Stay here with him.", he said while gesturing for 狐狸精 to lay back down, and took his dagger with him.

He scanned his surroundings, stepping slowly as he walked leisurely about his terrain, "I'm sure you're grateful 笛飞声 isn't around today.", he said to no one in particular. "10 years you spent, snooping around my place like a cat, never showing yourself."

He whipped his head towards the crack of a stick, "Is your shame so strong?".

A black-clad man rushed him, his hair a combination of jet black and white streaks. His attacks were pointless against 李相夷's effective parrying, his dagger quickly strewn on the ground. He laid defeated, eyes widened and panting at 李相夷's knifepoint that now faced him.

"So tell me, 云彼丘. I'm sure you're here for more than absolving your shame."

云彼丘 looked at him stunned, "You're alive."

"No thanks to you."

"No you don't understand! That curse was never meant keep you alive. Every brother you had left you. He made sure of that."

"Call it whatever you will. What do you want?"

"I-", 云彼丘 gulped, "I'm here with information."

"And who says I need it from you."

"He left it behind for you to find. If his death didn't, the curse will. He was sure of it."

李相夷's grip tightened on the handle even as his face remained impassive, "Surely from watching me day and night, you'd know that I already know all this. So,", he pressed the dagger's top onto 云彼丘's neck, "where is he hiding?"

"He's alone.", 云彼丘 states calmly, "It has always been him and 角丽谯.".

"And yet it can't be.", 李相夷 tilts his dagger at an angle, "It would be impossible to act alone disguising people as officials. Simply buying them off wouldn't be enough. But loyalty could be."

Swp!

云彼丘 held in the hitch of his breath as 李相夷 swiftly swiped his dagger, "So tell me. Where is he hiding?"

"Do you have so little care for your 师兄? That you would turn on him at the drop of a goose?"

"I did care. I spent the past 10 years and more caring.", he flicked his dagger casually in 云彼丘's direction, "But enough about me. Where is he hiding?"

"Maybe it's time you found out on your own."

李相夷 twisted, placing his dagger in front of his chest.

A slip was all it took.

The stab was a flame in his chest, sending him back to 10 years ago. 云彼丘 stared stonily as he fell, "Hopefully you'll find your answer before it's too late."

Darkness took over him.

Chapter Text

"李莲花!"

Hollowness answered back as 笛飞声 walked up to the already open gate.

"李莲花?", he scanned about the lake and ran up to 方多病 who laid on the grass, "方多病. 方多病!"

方多病 woke to rigorous shaking and 笛飞声's face looming over him.

"Where's 李莲花?"

方多病 looked beside him, "Isn't he-"

Only 狐狸精 remained panting and walking about anxiously when 方多病 looked at her. "He was just here...", 方多病 muttered to himself.

"You didn't see him either?"

"I did! We were talking and he was telling me about everything that happened these 10 years and then I fell asleep...", 方多病 spun to face 笛飞声, "You don't think anything happened to him do you?"

笛飞声 stood up and walked out of the lake, "李莲花 never left the gate unlocked unless he knew he was coming back."

He continued to scour the surrounding premises. Blood staining a small patch of grass-

He turned towards the sounds of rustling leaves. Stepping towards it just as a headache crumpled him, leaning into 方多病 who had quickly caught up to him. The metamorphosis quickly taking over.

--------------------

The cold of 东海 shocks him awake. His stomach quaked on the inside as his wound throbbed with his increasing heart rate. His body seemed to burn itself from within and yet his joints felt stiff and cold. His limbs hung painfully with the weight of the chains that held them, and his eyes stung as he scanned the room.

A single vent sat at the top of a wall, and a wooden table stood at a corner. A bowl glowing with a familiar blue as it sat on the table.

"Hope you don't mind the treatment you're currently under.", 角丽谯 placed her finger on the needle tip that stick out, "It was suggested by our in-house physician after all.".

李相夷 held back a hiss as 角丽谯 pushed the needle on further. Pain rushed through his body from his wound with maniacal laughter echoing in the chamber.

"It's always interesting to see the effects of 云铁. So magical yet so painful.", she gently placed another on his other arm, "If only you wimps at Sigu Sect knew how to harness it! How powerful you'd be."

李相夷 kept an easy smile on his face, "Power is overrated if you can't have what you actually want.". He looked to her, "After all, 笛飞声 hid at 莲花泉 for 10 years when he easily had a home here."

The smell of wine shot into his nostrils as liquid smacked him across the face.

"He will learn which is better for him when I finally get you out of the equation! Or even better,", cold, wet fingers traced under his chin, "if I had both of you."

"One for blood, and one for love. What a perfect pairing."

Her laughs rung in the chamber again as she sauntered away, "I'll come for your third dose later. Hopefully this second one doesn't hurt as much."

With the clanging of a metal door, his impassive appearance crumpled. Chesty, dry coughs wrecked his body, and his somewhat nimble limbs were now leaden. He had a week at most in addition to his wound before he was fully sapped.

Shaking away the fog in his brain, he fought to collate his inner energy to his vital organs, and fell into a painful slumber.

--------------------

Chapter Text

7 years ago:

"阿飞!", 李相夷 called out as he set the basket fresh produce on the table, "Help me cut the vegetables, will you?"

笛飞声 shot him a look, "I've already cleaned the house. Do it yourself."

"You-". He sighed deeply and turned towards the door, "Then starve.".

笛飞声 rolled his eyes as the door creaked shut behind him. "Spoilt brat.", he thought.

--------------------

It was another day of cutting vegetables.

He looked down at the measly piece of cabbage before him, unevenly cracked and split with ugly ends sticking out. An array of unsheathed knives piled in the sink.

"7 different knives. And neither of them are sharp. Seriously?", 笛飞声 huffed out before bending down to scour the cupboards below. Just 1 working knife please-

He looked up as the door creaked open, "Why are all your knives so blunt? I can't even cut cabbage with these!"

李相夷 jumped up to reach a crook in the roof, pulling out a small cleaver wrapped in fabric, "Here. Careful of your fingers-"

His breath hitched as he glanced at the pile of unsheathed knives in the sink. He pushed the cleaver into 笛飞声's hands, "Sheath those when you're done, and don't take them out again.". He stormed out the door once again.

"The greatest martial artist in the world...is afraid of kitchen knives? Who knew that.", 笛飞声 thought to himself.

-------------------

It was the 8 month mark of living with 李相夷 where 笛飞声 truly contemplated moving out.

The man was a control freak.

Cutting vegetables had become a daily norm after a while. A chore but a necessary one. The man insisted on becoming vegetarian after all. Hence 笛飞声 dedicated his time to it with as much passion as he could muster, pointedly ignoring the perfectly sharp dagger that permanently sat in that man's robe pocket.

Even the insistence on only using that 1 cleaver for everything was fine too. After all, he was the only one using it so there wasn't any competition. And yet, he refused to throw those blunt, useless knives away.

He phrased as kindly as he could, "Those knives just sit in their dusty sheaths. Why not just give them away?"

And the man had the audacity to shoot him a glare, "Don't.", and left the house again.

What a brat really.

But what was perhaps the most annoying was his insistence on keeping all the knives. At specific places. In a specific way.

The blunt knives went in the knife holder.

The cleaver went up in that one crook in the roof.

The sheaths (that were annoyingly tight to slide on) had to go on every single one.

Every knife had to be stored sheath side up.

It didn't matter that 笛飞声 had committed the time one day to clean that knife holder and store all the knives handle side up. Even took that cleaver off the roof to place it in the knife holder.

And what did the man do?

He stormed out of the house again.

And spent the next 5 days baring down on him while he cut the vegetables. The whole way until every knife was sheathed and placed in it's exact place. In it's exact way.

His head hurt thinking about it.

The clanging of metal shook him out his thoughts.

The knife holder was toppled over. Knives spilled all over the floor in a heap. 李相夷 standing over them, motionless.

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!", his voice rung through the house, "I follow all of your silky rules and then you do THIS?"

李相夷 squatted down and sighed into his hands.

"CLEAN IT UP YOURSELF.". And 笛飞声 stormed out.

--------------------

李相夷 sighed shakily as he stared at the pile of knives before him.

"CLEAN IT UP YOURSELF!"

It was a simple enough task.

Place the knife holder back on table.

Pick up each knife by the handle.

Place them handle side down.

Walk away.

It should have been a simple enough task. And yet, he dared not move.

He dug his nails into his palms as his arms and fingers burned with temptation. He would usually leave to sit by the lake in this instance, but it was impossible to escape without running into 笛飞声.

He stared at the knives and they started back at him.

He couldn't help but laugh hollowly at the situation. Everything he so carefully constructed around these knives crumbled just like that. Leaving him quaking on his own house floor.

He pulled himself to stand, and side-stepped on shaky feet to the door.

--------------------

Soft creaking disrupted the quiet breeze that blew around him, almost enough to calm the flame in his chest.

笛飞声 turned around to see 李相夷 walking towards him. A huff of anger quickly escaped him as 李相夷 came nearer.

"I don't know how to explain this. But I promise you. I will.", a pale-faced 李相夷 stood hunched before him, "Just please, help me with those knives.".

笛飞声 stared him down then stood to walk back to the house.

--------------------

The clinking of ceramics was all that remained as they ate their dinner. 笛飞声 staring daggers as 李相夷 gently swept rice from the bowl to his mouth.

"Thank you. I won't drop them again."

笛飞声 grunted in reply, before handing the small pot of chilli oil to 李相夷's outstretched hand. A clean white line on his forearm catching his eye, "What happened with your wrist?"

李相夷 tugged his sleeve over the mark, "Kitchen accident.", he rushed out.

"Seems like a pretty specific place to get cut with a kitchen knife."，笛飞声 commented as he continued eating.

李相夷 gulped and continued his meal.

--------------------

"Leave the dog at home. We're going shopping."

"I'm sorry, what?", 李相夷 asked.

"Shopping. Leave the dog at home.", 笛飞声 replied and stepped out of the lake with loud splashes. 李相夷 shrugged and gently followed behind him.

The night market was buzzing more than usual.

Night puppet shows were on to make their bucks from the many renditions of the Battle of the Eastern Sea. Red-dyed snacks and candies lined every food store's front, blacksmiths boasting the quality of their swords and armour to match that of 李相夷's 刎颈剑, and lanterns with red sashes lined the main street they now walked on.

李相夷 massaged his ears, "Surely you didn't drag me out on 李相夷's birthday to give me the ruckus of the night market as a present?"

"This way.", 笛飞声 gripped his wrist. Dragging him forwards and past the crowds of couples and families.

They swerved and dodged before abruptly stopping at a hand-made jewelry shop.

"Hello young sirs! Buying something for a special someone? How about our red and white butterfly hair bodkins! Lightweight and stylish for today's celebration!"

李相夷 looked between 笛飞声 and the shopkeeper, "I-"

"Do you have any red bracelets?", 笛飞声 cut in.

"Of course!", the shopkeeper pulled out 2 trays of red bracelets, "All newly made just in time for the festival! Have your pick! I'll even give you a discount for getting 2!"

笛飞声 glared at him, "Choose one."

"I truly don't need one-"

"The vegetable store is closing soon."

李相夷 sighed, "Guess I better hurry then.".

He picked the first 2 on the pile and handed them to the shopkeeper, "I'll get these-"

A green bracelet caught his eye; it was jade green with a simple braiding and a small lotus charm attached at the centre.

"How much is that one?", 笛飞声 chin-pointed to it.

"That one? That's from old stock! Such a pity that it couldn't sell.", the shopkeeper reached to grab an empty sachet, "Tell you what though! I'll sell all 3 at 20, as thanks for clearing my stock!"

李相夷 moved to place the green bracelet down, "There's no need-"

"Here you go.", 笛飞声 popped $20 in the shopkeeper's hand, snatching the green bracelet into the sachet before dragging 李相夷 away.

The dragging led them to a quieter alley, away from the crowd.

"Wear it on.", 笛飞声 commanded as he massaged his ears

"Surely this can wait. We have stuff to carry-"

笛飞声 grabbed the basket of vegetables off 李相夷, "Wear it now. Left side."

李相夷 frowned as he fumbled to tie it on, "Getting demanding now huh, 阿飞."

"Hurry up.", 笛飞声 replied curtly.

李相夷 stretched his now-adorned hand to 笛飞声, "Done. Happy now?"

笛飞声 gave a quick nod and passed the basket back to 李相夷, "Let's go. And don't you dare think of taking it off."

李相夷 sighed as 笛飞声 walked ahead of him, "So demanding.". And yet, a smirk crept up his face as he stared at the lotus that now sat over his scar.

Chapter Text

方多病 stared at the candlelight before him, fighting off the urge to enter dream land. The sun had long set and yet, 笛飞声 still remained in his swan form.

He shook his head as his eyes threatened to close and yet his tiredness continued weighing his eyelids closed-

A gleam of light woke him up, squawks slowly turning into cries of pain as 笛飞声's metamorphosis took over. 方多病 rushed to grab a warm flask of wine and some towels, as 笛飞声 dragged himself to sit on the stool.

He snatched the flask off 方多病's hands, chugging multiple mouthfuls before setting it on the table harshly, "Found anything about that person outside?"

方多病 nodded, hastily pulling out an amulet from his robe pocket, "It's old but clearly from Sigu Sect! Other than that, I couldn't find anything.". He rubbed the space between his brows, "He'll be okay right? I mean, he has to be. He's 李相夷. He won't be beaten so easily."

笛飞声 couldn't help but admire the faith 方多病 had in 李相夷. The belief he carried of how strong he was. They were separated for 10 years. And maybe it was a blessing that he never had to see the effort 李相夷 had made to get past those initial days.

"He'll live. He's gone through worse and come out the other side. Still we're running short on time."

"Your metamorphoses, I thought they only started during sunset and sunrise. It was so late today..."

"It's been gradually happening over the last few weeks. Our hours as humans dwindle with each week.". He took a closer inspection of the amulet, "It is the real thing. And yet, who from Sigu Sect would identify themselves this way? Any ideas?"

方多病 shook his head, "I'm honestly confused why Sigu Sect would even be involved. They've long thought 李相夷 was dead. Seems like a weird time to realize he's still alive."

Unless they knew all along.

"We need a way into Sigu sect. Know anyone there?"

方多病 shook his head again, "Not directly. Though, there's this.", he pulled a piece of paper from his robe pocket and placed it on the table.

笛飞声 pulled it closer and unfolded it, "Sigu's Tea Party reopening."

"I am invited but it feels wrong to go when it's not him leading it, you know? But if it's the way in, I don't see why not."

笛飞声 scanned the brochure for further details, "It's in 2 days time but it'll have to do.". A flash of something caught his attention outside the window, "You should leave, get some rest."

--------------------

2 days later:

The city is once again a buzz of red and gold. Members of the public stood pressed up against the red ribbon that blocked the entrance of Sigu Sect, and the leading members stood before it.

方多病 chewed his lip nervously as the crowd chattered excitedly around him. A smack on his shoulder made him jump.

"Stop moving. You're drawing attention."

"Are you sure the mask is enough?", 方多病 whispered

"It'll have to be, people are awfully complacent that they'd recognize people they know.", 笛飞声 momentarily glanced to a black-robed man at the end of the line of leading members, "Besides, anyone who's looking for us will already recognize me even with this mask on.".

"How comforting.", 方多病 gulped as he looked back in front. The ribbon-cutting was about to begin.

"For too long, Sigu Sect has kept its doors closed, holding reverence for 李相夷 and 山谷道 who've left us too soon. It's been a tough 10 years. But today, I would like to present,", 2 white clothes that covered 2 statues at the sides of the gate were pulled down, "our memorial statues of 李相夷 and 山谷道!"

As a child, 方多病 would have joined the public in their raucous applause. But somehow it felt wrong; why pray to a statue of a man as if you can't believe in the chance that he may still be alive?

"Let Sigu Sect open its doors once again! And let us, drink to our hearts delight!", the speaker served a toast to the public outside his door.

The public screamed "LONG LIVE SIGU SECT!" as the ribbons at the entrance were cut, rushing through the doors in a wave

A smack on his shoulder caught his attention again, "Let's go."

--------------------

方多病 prayed his memory didn't fail him as they walked briskly through the main hall towards a smaller alley.

"This way.", he directed to the left-

云彼丘 stood at the library's door, "Follow me. I don't have much time."

--------------------

The clanging of metal shocked him out of his slumber, his surroundings now a series of blurred dots.

"To direct all your inner energy to your vitals...what a desperate way to stay alive.", the echo of metal hitting metal pierced his ears from his left side, "My brother giving up his sight for his life? That's not what I expected from you."

He gave a huff, "You must be very bored to come talk to me. After all, don't you have other matters more important than a harmless physician?"

"If only you are as harmless as you say you are.", his body tingled with the pierce of another needle, "So tell me. Where is that figurine?"

李相夷 steadied his breathing, perking his eyebrows up, "Still looking for that I see. That explains 云彼丘 stalking outside my door.", he took a deep and shaky breath in, "I'll be honest, I don't know where it is."

"Liar.", 山谷道 spat at him, "As if you'd hand it over to that good-for-nothing boy."

李相夷 swallowed the burst of offense that spurred through him.

"Save that comment for yourself."

A vice grip caught his neck, squeezing the air out and away from him. His body met metal all around him as he tried to writhe away, "A rotten cactus is what you are. Hanging on for life and yet unable to die. Feels great, doesn't it?".

Spots clouded his vision as 山谷道 pushed harder, hissing into his ear, "If only you knew what Mum had exchanged for your life to have lasted as long as it did."

Warm energy flowed and exploded out of him. Needles and metal clanging to the ground as he fell to a heap. Blood splattering across the floor as raucous coughs overtook him.

He breathed through the tightness in his chest as the sounds of footsteps approached. He felt around the floor, pushing metal fragments about-

Clang!

He crawled towards the sound, pressing sideways along the wall as he continued to crawl about. Rough granite pressed into his palms along with the fragment that sat in his palm.

Sudden fresh air caressed his cheeks. He reached an arm out nearly losing his balance as nothing caught him. He squinted below him to a blur of green.

"Hurry! Find him!". The footsteps grew nearer.

He took a deep breath, let his other hand off the wall, placing it over his chest.

And rolled into the unknown.

Chapter Text

"云彼丘, where are you bringing us?", 方多病 asked as 云彼丘 sped ahead of him and 笛飞声, walking and winding down the increasingly dark alleys of Sigu Sect.

"Identify yourselves!", a guard called out as they stopped before an ornately decorated door.

云彼丘 held up his amulet, striking the guards at their necks as they turned to open the door.

"彼丘哥，What-", 方多病 questioned as 笛飞声 dragged him backwards. Black clad men stalked out of the alleys they'd just passed, cornering them in.

"You'll find your answers soon.". The men rushed towards them, swords drawn and slashing.

"Get him! I'll hold them off!", 笛飞声 blocked an attack as 云彼丘 disappeared behind the ornately decorated doors that were now open.

Artifacts of all sorts greeted 方多病 as he rushed in. 云彼丘 stood at the end of the room, holding a slip of paper as he reached for a candle-

方多病 drew his sword, cutting at the space between 云彼丘 and the candle holder, "Where is my brother!"

云彼丘 swerved about to another candle holder, "You won't get to him on time. He's already in 万圣道's hands."

"Not if I get to you first."

方多病 races towards the candle, tipping it towards 云彼丘, striking between his eyes, striking a palm to his stomach.

方多病 held 云彼丘 at knifepoint as footsteps rumbled into the room, "Stand down or he gets it!"

The men halted behind 笛飞声, speeding away as 方多病 pressed the knife deeper into 云彼丘's neck.

笛飞声 placed his sword point towards 云彼丘's liver.

"Out with it. Where is 万圣道?"

"I don't know.". 笛飞声 pushed a little deeper, "Near the Eastern sea!"

笛飞声 pulled his sword back out. "They've always been there. He won't live much longer. It's already been 3 days with 云铁 needles inside him."

"We'll make our own judgement of that. I believe this is yours as well.". 笛飞声 hammered 云彼丘 on the back of his neck, throwing the old amulet on the ground, "Let's go. We don't have time."

--------------------

Cold shocked him awake along with desperate mumbling. His head pounded and throbbed as he turned about, his vision still a blur of green and white.

"Luckily you weren't dead! What a problem that would be!"

The features of an middle-aged man barely came into view as he squinted through the sun and blindness, "Where am I?", he croaked.

"Nowhere good! I'll carry you!"

"I-", his body fired with pain as he was lifted off the floor, his head spinning.

"I'm sorry but it'll have to do. Hold on!"

There wasn't much choice since 李相夷 could barely hold his own body weight and was practically dragged.

It didn't take long for them to reach a dilapidated wooden hut, "Doctor Guan! This man needs help!"

A young man walked out of the hut, "Who did you find again? I told you-". He stopped in his tracks, "Bring him in. Now."

李相夷 shifted uncomfortably on the mattress he was placed on as Doctor Guan examined him. Sandpaper seemed to rub it's way around his body as Doctor Guan tugged his sleeves upwards, "What happened to you?"

李相夷 fought to stabilize his breathing as the familiar pains of metamorphosis started, "Got kidnapped."

"They must have hated you then. To leave a full needle under your skin. I'm taking it out-"

"No!", a cry escaped 李相夷 as he gripped Doctor Guan's wrist, "Not yet. I need to go.".

"At least heal the surface wounds. Your inner energy is all messed up-"

"No. I'm sorry, I need to go-"

Fire burned every fiber of his being as he collapsed to the ground, his skin and bones breaking and morphing as the metamorphosis took over. A squawk of pain crying out as a swan flew out the window.

--------------------

笛飞声 panted and braced against the wall, sweat coating coldly over every part of his body under the afternoon sun, "Stop."

"We don't have time-", 方多病 looked behind him, catching 笛飞声 by the arm as he slid against the wall onto the ground. A small spray of blood splattered across the floor.

"The metamorphosis."

"But it's only noon-"

"Doesn't matter. 山谷道's controlling it.", a grunt escaped 笛飞声 as a hand turned to a wing. The sounds of patrol guards seemed to approach, "Carry me and run. They're after us."

"You need the lake-"

"There's no time for that. We need to go. Now.", a cry of pain escaped 笛飞声 as he crumpled to a feathery heap in 方多病's arms.

方多病 stiffened as he caught the wave of a hand in the distance. "I'm sorry.", he carried 笛飞声 up and ran.

Chapter Text

"Find him! Search every corner and leave no stone unturned!"

"Yes sir!"

The sounds of footsteps turn from rumbles to soft thuds, insignias of 万圣道 leaving 方多病's field of vision as he sat at the base of the tree he was now at.

He looked down at the swan that slept uneasily in his hands. Adrenaline still dare not leave them both even though they were days away from the city. News had quickly spread of trespassers in Sigu Sect leading to the attack on the artifact room and a missing record. Posters of his face were quickly plastered on every wall, and soon it had been too risky to stay within any residential areas.

笛飞声's metamorphoses were also growing more erratic and painful with every day. They happened at any time of the day, and no amount of wine or inner energy transfers could properly alleviate his pain. If 方多病 were to give an estimate, 笛飞声 only spent close to 2 hours a day as a human.

"你在哪啊，相夷哥? 你应该很痛苦吧.", he thought to himself. He looked up to the slowly darkening sky, holding back the tears that threatened to fall.

His sobs became disturbingly loud amongst the forest that turned from a calm green to darkness, as images of splattering blood and crippling pain flashed across his mind. He pulled the broken half swan from his robe pocket, whispering through his sobs, "我只要你们平安的回来就好. 可以吗?"

The creaking of crickets was all that answered him.

--------------------

15 years ago:

"相夷哥!", a cheery voice called out to a boy who sat at his balcony. The crickets were singing their song amidst a gentle breeze that made the willow trees in their training yard sway. The sky was clear, dark blue, with 3 stars shining in the sky, "你有熬夜了！如果师傅找到你，他又要唠叨了."

"都不用他唠叨我了，有你就好!"

"You!"

"跟你开玩笑!", 李相夷 pat an empty space next to him, "过来坐一会儿吧!"

方多病 huffed his offense away before sitting next to 李相夷, and the sky quickly enraptured his attention, "Wow..."

"今晚实在太好了，刚好有三颗星星!"

"你要用星星做什么啊? 为什么要三颗啊?"

"许愿！你，我，和谷道哥，一人许一个!"

李相夷 closed his eyes and placed his palms together as he thought of a wish, then blowing quickly into his closed palms when he was done, "现在到你了!"

方多病 did the same. It was easy to think of one. After all, what could he want more than staying with his brothers like this for the rest of their lives?

"我也好了!", he pointed to a star in that sky, "那最后一颗星星该怎么办呢? 谷道哥不再呢."

李相夷 looked off to the side as he pondered, "我们就替他许一个吧!"

They closed their eyes, with their palms together again, blowing into their closed palms quickly when they were done. Laughter bubbled out of both of them when they were done, not a sliver of doubt of what they each wished for.

"你真的认为我们能当一辈子的兄弟吗?", 方多病 asked

李相夷 nodded, looking back up at the sky before him, "当然啦！我们一起练功，成为江湖里最正直的英雄!"

--------------------

方多病 still remembered the look of determination in 李相夷's eyes that night, the way 李相夷 had made him feel equally invincible that night, the certainty he had that they could take on the world's injustices and make them right.

Even throughout the years after 方多病 had returned to living at Tianji Manor, even on the day where Sigu Sect was founded, and every day after that, the fiery determination in his eyes never changed.

It made 李相夷，李相夷.

And then 10 years ago had happened. And then that night at 莲花泉 had happened. And his eyes no longer held that flame in them.

Maybe those 3 wishes had been a hoax. After all, how could everything have gone wrong after that one night?

方多病 shook that sentiment away, "李相夷 would never want me to think that way.".

Maybe he was foolish for insisting that 李相夷 wouldn't change in that way. But either way, he looked up to the single shining star in the sky and made a wish once more.

With a deep breath, he looked back to the blue glow behind him. A metamorphosis began again.

Chapter Text

Cries of pain turned to raucous coughs as 李相夷 landed harshly. The contrast of his pitch-black vision and the intense smells of petrichor and decay assaulted his senses, but pulled himself to keep crawling towards the gentle wafts of salt in the air. The Eastern sea is close.

His shoulders and knees hurt to have weight placed on them, and blood streamed in small tracks down his limbs. The 云铁 needle stuck inside him prevented his body from healing itself and yet it was necessary.

Muffled shouting came not too far away from him. He forced himself to crawl faster on the uphill slope he was on, even as his skin burned from scratching on dirt and rocks.

A cold breeze greeted him as reached the plateau of the slope, the sounds of crashing waves surrounded him in an aura as he knelt there.

"I truly admire your persistence to live, 李相夷.", he turned towards the sounds of footsteps coming from behind him, "It's unfortunate that it gets in the way of my plans."

A loose chuckle turned into wet coughs that shook 李相夷's shivering frame, "Took you long enough to find me. It can't have been that difficult to find a dying man and yet, it took you 4 days."

"Enough of your nonsense!", 山谷道's voice cut harshly into his ears, "Where is the figurine!"

李相夷 sighed, "Believe whatever you'd like but I truly don't know where it is. Though I am curious,", he forced a deep breath in as he pulled himself to stand, "you already have your dagger back. Wouldn't that be enough? Or are mine, mum's, and 笛飞声's suffering not enough for you?"

山谷道 laughed haughtily, "Indeed it isn't. That useless brat shall follow suit."

李相夷 shook his head with a hollow chuckle, "You truly are a monster. And to think we called you our brother."

"And did you treat me as such? All you've done was take 师傅's respect away from me! To reject all the ways I could have made Sigu Sect better, stronger! Without you in the picture, everything would have been mine!"

"相夷哥!"，方多病's voice cut in. 2 hands holding him steady footsteps placed themselves in front of him, "Come any closer and I won't hesitate."

山谷道 sneered, "Now you've even turned my own brother against me. What a parasite.", he stepped nearer to the unwavering 方多病, "But I guess that's a befitting end for you with that needle in your arm."

A tug roughly pulled 李相夷's sleeves upwards and a red, swollen lump stared back at 笛飞声 and 方多病.

"Just nice that the whole party has arrived! I'll even give an exchange!", 山谷道 stated boldly, "Hand me the figurine, and I'll spare 李相夷 his life. So who will it be, 方多病? The figurine or him?"

"There's no point playing games with a man like you.", 李相夷 gently pushed 笛飞声's hands away, and took a step backwards "We'll play on our terms."

"So 方多病，what will it be?"

李相夷 looked towards what he hoped was 方多病's eyes, "Never give it to him."

"NO!"

Blood splattered across the floor as 李相夷 cut across his palm, tipping over the cliff.

Metal clashed as 方多病 and 笛飞声 blocked 山谷道 and 角丽谯 from chasing after him.

A flurry of slashes and steps pushed 山谷道 in a retreat as 方多病 spun into action with a war cry. 笛飞声 and 方多病 flowed around each other as they attacked seamlessly.

The world fell silent as 2 swords sunk into flesh. 山谷道 and 角丽谯 crumpled to the ground in a heap, sputtering blood along with their final breaths.

方多病 stabbed his sword into the ground, crumpling to a kneel as a guttural cry pried its way out of him, echoing to the sea.

笛飞声 shielded his eyes as the sun began to rise above them.

方多病 looked up to 笛飞声's human form that remained before him, shuffling backwards on unsteady feet as he pulled himself to stand. His gaze seemed to see nothing, "你说你不会再丢下我一个人. 我也不会丢下你的."

"方多病!"

He turned swiftly on his heel and sped off the cliff, falling as 笛飞声's hand missed his sleeve by a hair.

Chapter Text

"相夷哥!"

The silent sea breeze answered him. Wet sand soaked and rubbed against his shoes, as he landed and ran along the shore of the Eastern Sea.

"相夷哥! 相夷-!".

He spotted him laying on the shore, the metal fragment still held in his hand. His green robe tattered and riddled with holes.

He ran over. Kneeling on the wet sand as he turned 李相夷 to face him. "夷哥, 是多病. 你快醒来，不用装死了."

方多病's voice cracked as he shook him harder, "夷哥！夷哥！醒来啊！你说好不丢下我了，怎么可以返回啊!"

A cry scratched at him from the inside as he screamed into the wind, his chest breaking and tearing itself apart as he leaned on 李相夷, "笛飞声的咒解了，狐狸精在等你吃饭，我都来找你了! 我们都在等你啊!"

He looked to the sun above, "我真的没有别的请求了, 就让我师兄回来好不好?"

Sobs wracked him as he laid there next to 李相夷. The adrenaline gushing away from his as the waves lapped and pulled next to them. He placed his hand in 李相夷's cold one, "我就陪你走最后一程吧.", and closed his eyes.

--------------------

Soreness and cold forced him awake. The crash of waves shocking him into pulling himself off the sandy ground.

He lifted his hands, feeling a weight in his left side. He felt along it, trailing up to a feverishly warm face. He scooted himself nearer and felt around for more. Hair caressed his fingers, ruffling and moving in a familiar way as he patted it.

"方多病?"

He felt around for his cheeks, tapping them a few times, "多病. 方多病，快起来啊.", 方多病 remained unmoving, his body burning up to a dangerous degree.

He pushed himself to squat on the sand, his legs wobbling with misuse when he held onto 方多病's forearms while standing up.

He stumbled along the shore, trying to move away from the lapping waves, "承多一会儿，方多病."

Sand turned to mud, which turned to dirt and leaves, as 李相夷 tried trekking back the way he came.

It was a miracle he walked far enough to the sounds of people and flat footpaths.

"附近有医-", people breezed past him even before he could finish.

He kept walking. Asking and begging even as his own body screamed to let 方多病 go.

"谢谢啊，关医生!"

Doctor Guan? He sped towards the voice, "关医生-"

方多病 toppled away from him as he fell to the ground. A man tsked at him, "怎么不看路啊！是瞎子吗? 真是-"

He felt along the ground, tears pricking at his eyes as he looked for 方多病 again. The sound of shoes sliding on gravel stopped him, "你们还是快进来吧. 你们俩死了会很难看的.". A hand pulled him up and led him through the door.

Chapter Text

Bright sun and the dryness in his throat woke 方多病 from his slumber. His muscles still felt shaky from deep inside as he pulled the thin blanket off his body. He pushed himself to sit and scanned about the dilapidated wooden hut he was now in. A man stood in the middle of the room, mixing medicine with a mortar and pestle.

"I thought 孟母 was a woman?", he croaked out.

The man glared at him, walked over, and flicked him on the forehead, "I didn't save you from hypothermia just to call me 孟母."

"Okay.", 方多病 looked about some more as the man continued mumbling about irresponsibly sleeping at the beach on a cold night

"相夷哥? Where's my brother? Did you see him-"

The man sighed and rubbed his eyebrows as he placed a hand over 方多病's mouth, "That other headache. Refused to cut that needle out of him when he was last dragged here by my dad. And then what does he have now? Metal poisoning.".

The man took his hand away and went back to mixing medication, "Fought tooth and nail even as he walked on the line between dead and alive to carry you here."

"Then what happened to him? Is he okay-"

"He'll live. He seriously damaged his eyesight and inner energy so that's going to take a while to recover. So till then, best he not think about leaving."

方多病 nodded and took in several deep breaths, "That's good.".

He was alive. They were alive.

"Can I see him?"

"Go ahead. Bring your medicine and drink it while you wait for him to wake up. It's there on the table.", the man chin-pointed to a lone bowl that sat on the table.

方多病 walked and picked up his bowl, pulling a chair with him as he walked to the other room.

He had a ghostly pallor. Needles stuck out at random places along with bandages wrapped around his arms and legs. Raw cuff marks stood out on his wrists and ankles along with a dark bruise around his neck.

It was a horrifying sight but his chest continued to rise and fall as he laid there without furrowed brows. He was barely alive. But he was still alive. And that was all that mattered.

李相夷 slowly stirred awake, squinting in his direction before having a gentle smile, "You're awake."

"And so are you."

Silence seemed to weigh them as they looked at each other. A deadline turned into a lifetime of past and present to uncover.

"I'm sorry I couldn't fulfill my promise to you."

"That's okay. You have time now."

"Indeed. It feels so strange. I said that I wanted to spend my remaining life with you and now it's become so much longer."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"It is. But where would we even start?"

"Depends what you'd want to do I guess. After all, you have 10 years of life to catch up on."

李相夷 pondered on that statement, "And yet I can't think of a single thing I'd like to do. I did have things in mind during the first 2 to 3 years but over time, they just didn't matter. I could eat, I could plant my vegetables, I could cook, I could live."

"It can just be that then. If it makes you happy, it can just be that. Planting vegetables and taking care of 狐狸精 at 莲花泉. Doesn't sound like a bad idea."

李相夷 nodded. "So what about you?"

"I'll probably head home first. Then maybe, I'll invite you and 笛飞声 for a proper meal! The previous one wasn't the best. After that...I don't know."

李相夷 nodded again, "It's a place to start. We might not know what the future will have. But it's a place for the future to grow."

"That it is."

Chapter Text

3 months later:

李莲花 arrived back at 莲花泉 to the sounds of squabbling.

"Put the sheaths back on."

"But they're so hard to slide on-"

"Put it on!"

"Why?"

"Just put it on!"

"Okay! Why?"

"Just put it on! Don't ask so many-"

"Surely there's no need to squabble over knife sheaths.", 李莲花 walked in leisurely, placing the basket of vegetables on the table, "Also shouldn't you be at home?"

"李莲花, how could you go back on your word just because he's here-"

"I came here to help you cook! How could you chase me away-"

"Ah lalalalala enough enough. So hot-tempered.", the 2 men quietened.

He looked at the unsheathed knives that laid around the sink, "It is unsafe to leave the knives like that but I think it's time for a change."

He looked down at the new red bracelet on his wrist, the fabric as shiny as the day he bought it with a silver sword charm sitting on the inside of his wrist. "Some habits need to change after 10 years.", he looked to 笛飞声, "You can be my witness to that."

"Are you sure?"

李莲花 nodded, "I've spent 10 years living as half a life. It's time to live a full one.". He pointed to the knives and sheaths that laid about, "I'll clear the knives today. Just this once.", and walked to the sink.

-------------------

He took a deep breath as scanned the sink,

Pick up each knife by the handle.

It was a simple enough task, and he got to work. But not without 笛飞声 baring down on him, "Do you plan on watching me until I'm done?"

"You don't have anything to prove."

"Indeed I don't."

"So why the change?"

李莲花 paused with a knife in his hand, "It is something I wanted for a long time. For many years I tried and there were times it got too close to my skin and I had to step away. Today feels different. Besides,", he turned to face 笛飞声, "You've never let me slip back into it and I know you never will."

"Will you ever explain it to him?"

李莲花 pondered again, looking down at the scar barely hidden behind the sword charm, "Someday I will have to. But for now,", he looked out to 方多病 playing with 狐狸精, "it can wait. And if you could be so kind, I'd like you there for that day too."

笛飞声 turned to look at 方多病, "We'll see if I'm on vegetable duty.".

--------------------

9 months later:

李莲花 entered the gate with an additional package accompanying his vegetable basket.

Setting his basket on the dining table, he walked back out again to the same hole that had been carved many years ago.

"Hello Ma, you son is back.", he lit 3 sticks of incense, gently blowing out the tips after they caught, "Do you still remember that day you told me not to confine myself to my curse? For 9 years, I built my life around hiding it. On the 10th year, I built my life on breaking it. And now it's the 11th year. It still defines me and every experience that has changed me, but it no longer has the power to tear me down that way."

He took a pause and gulped as tears started to burn behind his eyes, "The only regret I hold is not knowing sooner. Not knowing the exchange of your life for 10 years of mine. Of wasting 9 of those 10 years on just surviving. For letting this story we both love so much turn into my largest nightmare.".

He swiped the tears off his face, "And I'm so sorry I left you behind for so long with no one to remember or care for you, because I was so caught up on how horrible I felt.". He took a shaky breath, "I can never make up for the lost years, but maybe we can share a story once more like you used to do."

He pulled the tattered, yellowed version of 天鹅湖 onto his lap, flipping to the first page, "Once upon a time, there lived a princess named Odette...". He read till the sun began to set, stopping at times when it got too painful but did what he set out to do; read from start till end.

He flipped the book closed, smiling through the tears that fell.

"相夷哥! Dinner's ready!", 方多病 called from inside the house.

He stroked the wooden tablet once more, wiping the tears from his eyes, "Coming!", and walked back into the house with the book in hand.

His life was truly like a story, but unlike Swan Lake that had an end, his life had just newly begun.

Chapter Text

1 year later:

Chk, chk, chk. Sweep. Chk chk chk. Sweep.

"李莲花!"

Oil sizzled in the air along with the smells of garlic, and dried shrimp as 李莲花 caught the bowl with 1 hand and poured the chopped cabbage into the wok.

"Not rusty at all 阿飞. Even after 12 years, your skills remain at it's peak."

"It would take a lot more than being a swan to take my 武功 away from me.", 笛飞声 dropped the cleaver into the knife holder, "You aren't too shabby yourself. Not many get metal poisoning and live to tell the tale."

李莲花 gave a small smile as he poured his dish onto a plate, "I have Doctor Guan to thank for that. After all, he made the choice to save me twice."

李莲花 set the dish alongside braised tofu, steamed eggs, and rice that were already waiting at the table. 李莲花 sighed as he took a glance to his front door, "This boy has become tardy. Dinner is ready and yet, he's nowhere to be seen-"

"相夷哥！I'm here!", 方多病 called as he set an overflowing bag of vegetables at the kitchen, "Sorry I'm late! I thought I'd grab some vegetables from that stall before they closed! They're closing earlier and earlier these days!"

李莲花 set his cup of tea down with a small smile that barely escaped, "I won't be surprised. Their most regular customers aren't coming at midnight anymore. So why go through the hassle?"

He gestured to the food before him before 方多病 could contemplate it any further, "Either way, you must be hungry. Let's eat!"

The cicadas' ringing turned to cricket chirping as the men ate and sipped tea into the night.

"I'll be heading up." 笛飞声 mentioned curtly, dropping a glance to 李莲花 before clearing his plate and heading to the rooftop.

李莲花 took a last sip of his tea before he passed by his cabinet, "方小宝，shall we enjoy the lake?"

方多病 gave a quick nod and took a last gulp of his tea, "Of course!", and trailed behind 李莲花.

The lake glowed a gentle blue under the moonlight as the men sat and enjoyed the soft breeze.

"This would be much nicer up on the rooftop with cooler wind up there! If only 阿飞 didn't hog that spot first."

"I'm good here on the ground. After all, I'm getting old. My back can't take the hard tiles anymore."

方多病 looked to him incredulously, "What do you mean old? You and 阿飞 are the same age!".

Their chuckles changed to the sounds of cricket trills as the night grew deeper.

"I have something to ask of you.", 李莲花 presented a dagger on his palms, a red bracelet with a swan charm attached at the hilt's end. "It's made out of 云铁. The last of its kind. I want you to destroy it." 李莲花 mentioned as 方多病 inspected the blade.

方多病 pushed the dagger back to 李莲花, "Destroy it? I- I don't think I can do that. I don't know how! And it's the last thing 谷道哥- I mean 山谷道 gave you. I can't do it!"

李莲花 looked at the dagger that now sat between them, "What if I told you that this blade took everything from a boy. Everything except his life."

方多病 frowned, "I don't understand."

李莲花 held the dagger in his palms, staring into its core as his story began.

----------------------------------------

The door creaked open as a boy staggered into shed. He dropped a small lump of feathers and crumpled himself down to the floor. His arms and legs were marked with trails of mica as his skin folded and patched itself together. Pain throbbed throughout his body as he laid under the moonlight.

The glow was so gentle compared to his pain, it almost made him wonder if his pain was real. How could it be? On such a wonderful night where the moon was at its fullest.

It didn't take the boy long to realize that it was the Mid-Autumn Festival. The celebration of love and longing as families and lovers sat under the moonlight to enjoy the sweetness of a moon cake.

'How cruel life can be.', the boy thought as he scanned the shed he now laid in. He had lost his brother and brewed a war on his behalf, lost his fiance to his own shame, and left his mother to turn into a lake.

The boy chuckled bitterly as he looked at the bloody feathers strewn around him. How many people had seen him as a gift to the world? The one to serve justice for decades and be revered for centuries to come? What lies those were. This was who he really was; a boy who left pain wherever he went. So be it then. Let pain be his companion this year.

His pain continued throbbing through the night. Weakening just enough for the boy to enter a short, dreamless sleep before rudely awakening him to signal the approach of a new day.

'How unfair this is!', the boy thought to himself as his bones began to ache. The boy gritted his teeth with all his might to fight through it without a sound, then gripped his dagger till his knuckles turned white when that wasn't enough. Tears streamed and evaporated off his face when it began to burn with premonition of a metamorphosis.

The boy held the dagger that was now unsheathed to his face. Crazed, tearing eyes looked back at him, shame flamed in his chest knowing that those were his own.

'If only everything could just stop!', the boy screamed in his head.

Feathers began to sprout across his arms. He slashed his blade wildly at them, chopping them down like weeds. As they grew faster, he chopped wilder. Nearer and nearer to his skin as they continued to overtake him-

A flash of red caught his eye. The pain slowed to a stop. Feathers fell away as the sun rose behind him. He was still a boy. He couldn't believe it!

He stood up and travelled the market for the first time in weeks. He was still a boy.

He walked along the lake. He was still a boy.

He ate his fill and had his first drink. He was still a boy.

He looked down at the cut on his left arm that already healed. Just one cut was all it needed for him to be normal again.

'What a small sacrifice! I've been hurt before. This is nothing.'

And so the boy carried that thought night after night, leaving a mark on that same arm. At first, his life was a normal as it could be. Then his muscles began fatigue earlier in the day. But that was okay, he would rest with a nap and be right as rain. But he never woke up feeling the same.

Then came chills that would come over him as night began to approach. But that was okay, winter was probably approaching. He would layer more clothes and be ready for the cold. 2 became 3 which became 4 and 5. And yet he could never get warm.

Coughs and fever started to overtake his days, leaving him parched and weak. But that was okay, it was just a flu. He'll get himself some medicine and he'll heal. He drank whatever he bought, bled more whenever he could, but coughs still wrecked his frame everytime he walked.

He collapsed onto the ground one afternoon. His body burned with the afternoon heat and choked him as he coughed into his palm. He picked up his dagger with a shaky hand but dropped it before it could touch anything. Feathers began to sprout on his arms.

"No. No! NO!" he cried hoarsely as feathers overtook him, burning him from the inside with two times more ferocity than his first metamorphosis. It happened regardless of how much he wished it away. And he was powerless to stop it.

----------------------------------------

方多病 watched the tears that now streamed down 李莲花's face. His eyes squeezed shut from a pain that only he would know so intimately.

方多病 picked up the dagger, "This dagger has seen so much pain. Stained with so much blood from a boy who was desperate to have his life back.". He dared a glance at his 师兄's back, "But it is not the fault of this blade for the boy's pain."

李莲花 looked at him through a curtain of tears.

"It is the fault of the people who preyed on that boy's loss. Who preyed on that boy to long to have his life back. The people who preyed on you, who never expected that the brother you love most would make you suffer when all you gave him was love!"

方多病 unsheathed the dagger from its shaft, "The pain you've carried digs at my core and I appreciate that you would hand this responsibility to me. But it wouldn't be right.".

李莲花 jumped back as 方多病 placed the dagger into his palms.

"I will not carry your pain nor will I end it for you. I will not and I cannot. You'll need to do this on your own, 师兄. I'm sorry."

李莲花 watched as 方多病 gave him a bow and walked away.

------------------------------------
笛飞声 frowned in 方多病's direction as his footsteps rattled the roof tiles, "That must have went horribly."

方多病 buried his face in his hands and groaned, "What was I thinking! I'm a horrible 师兄. It was just a simple request! Why did I have to ask so many questions and dig out whatever happened 12 years ago and ARGH!"

方多病 laid on the roof and stared at the moon overhead, "I'm horrible, aren't I?"

"Yep."

"You're supposed to comfort me!"

"Who said I had to? Both of you are just pushing the responsibility around but who said it had to be one person's job?"

"What?"

"Look. I don't exactly like working with people or living with people. And before you barged in, I was quite happy being alone here."

方多病 fiddled with his fingers.

"But how else do you think I got through 10 years of this curse? Sure I had to follow his dumb rules at the time which made me want to move out, but I had a roof over my head. And guess whose roof it was? His."

方多病 looked at him quizzically, "I don't get it."

笛飞声 breathed his annoyance in, "Sometimes the worst parts of your life are only survivable because someone else is there with you. I would have been roasted swan if not for him and he would have drove himself nuts alone.".

'This is absolutely what I did not want to do today.' 笛飞声 thought as he huffed out a breath. "Whether he is 李相夷 or 李莲花, he's always been stuck in his own head. Your job now is to drag him out of that stupid brain of his since he's decided to swim in it himself."

方多病 gaped.

"Now if you'll excuse me. I'm actually going to bed.", and 笛飞声 stormed away down to his bed.

------------------------------------
Tok tok! Tok tok!

"Coming!", 李莲花 sighed as he strode to his door. He wasn't expecting any visitors and with last night's events...

He shook those thoughts away before they could catch up to him and opened the door to 方多病 standing before him.

"I want to bring you somewhere!"

"方小宝, surely this can wait for another time? I was getting lunch ready!"

"Nope! We're doing it today! 狐狸精 and 阿飞 are coming too!"

李莲花 turned to 笛飞声 who stared stonily and shrugged.

"Hurry! We won't have time! Come 狐狸精!", and 方多病 strode away with 狐狸精 trailing behind him.

"You heard the boy.", 笛飞声 said before parting from the doorframe to follow behind them.

"相夷哥，you should hurry if not we're leaving you behind! And bring the dagger with you!", 方多病 shouted before he stepped out the gate.

'What could this boy be up to now?', 李莲花 thought as he took the dagger with him and locked up the house and gate.

------------------------------------
The heat changed from gentle warmth to an intense bake as 方多病，狐狸精，笛飞声 and 李莲花 continued to trek to seemingly nowhere.

李莲花 had repeatedly asked 方多病 where they were going and 方多病 replied him noncommittally every single time, keeping his eyes forward and upward. The trek turned into a climb with one uphill slope after another, and 李莲花 was grateful that his physique had not gotten too weak after all these years.

"We're here!"，方多病 called out from the top of yet another slope before ducking under a tree.

If 李莲花 was confused before, he was only slightly less confused by the sight before him. The cliff only gave the view of another mountain and none of the city. The space only big enough for all of them to stand before they would be greeted by the cliff's edge.

"方小宝 are you sure you brought us to the right place? There's nothing to see here-"

"It's not for viewing."

方多病 held the dagger in 李莲花's hand, "I know I said that I couldn't end your pain for you. And I mean that.", he gulped nervously, "But I hope this space will be enough for you. No one knows about this place aside from the 4 of us so you can do whatever you need to. 阿飞 and I will wait there.". 方多病 commanded 狐狸精 to stay, and ducked under the tree again with 笛飞声 to following behind him.

------------------------------------
李莲花 looked to 狐狸精 and the sun that shined high and bright above him, "Are you sure you want to stay here?".

狐狸精 looked at him the same way she always did, and smiled while panting from the rigour of the morning.

"Very well then.", he looked behind him to ensure the leaves stopped rustling, "It's just you, me, and this blade."

He drew the blade quickly from its shaft and struck into his first form; a basic one his 师傅 taught him long ago. He could almost imagine the ring of his 刎颈剑 as his dagger swiped sharply through the air. He continued through to the next form even as bittersweetness stirred in his heart.

Memories of his childhood came and went as he flowed from one form to the next, giving him a clarity he had not had since 12 years ago-

An ache struck him on his left arm as that moonlit night flashed through his hand. The dagger clattered to the ground along with him.

方多病 dug his feet to the floor and shut his eyes even though his heart twinged with the urge to charge in there and bring his 师兄 away from his own pain.

"I'm okay 狐狸精. I'm okay.". And for 李莲花, he knew he would be in that moment with the dirt grating beneath his feet, and soft fur between his fingers.

方多病 gave a sigh of relief, and leaned his back against a tree.

李莲花 picked the dagger off the ground and continued onto the next form, moving the way he's always known as memories continued to flow. Some dashed at him, but his blade was ready to meet them.

'You are my past but you are not my present.'

And those memories were gently cut away.

He ended his forms just as the evening breeze began to blow. The sky painted with blends of pink, blue, and orange.

He looked the blade in his hand, "You are an honourable blade. You always and would have been."

He saw the scared boy that once looked at it with desperation, and the grown man who now looked at it with quiet sorrow.

"I used you back then I hopes that you could carve my pain out for me. But there was no way you could do that. There is no way for any blade to do that. I have not honoured the family that made you in the way I've treated you and for that I am sorry."

The warmth of 扬州慢 pulsed in the area as metal clattered to the ground in pieces, "The past does not need to define us anymore. I'll set you free.".

李莲花 turned and ducked under the tree with 狐狸精 following behind him.

------------------------------------
The trek back home was only filled with the chirping of crickets, and yet it did not feel silent. It didn't take long before they reached the gate and 方多病 was getting ready to send them off.

"Do stay and rest your feet before the trek home.", 李莲花 said while leaving the gate open for 方多病 to walk through.

方多病 stepped through the gate and headed to the lake with him. The lake seemed to glow brighter as the 2 men settled down.

"I wanted to apologize that I laid that expectation on you.", 李莲花 turned to face 方多病, "I treated that dagger as a cure-all to my resentment. And I thought of you as a cure-all to my pain. No one item or person can be a cure-all to anything. No medicine works single-handedly and no person can live through all their troubles in life alone. I had 阿飞 for a good chunk of it and then you came along. 阿飞 reminded me to live and you have now reminded me to be free.", 李莲花 neatened 方多病's fringe, "Thank you."

方多病 pulled him into a tight embrace and the sticky sweat and humidity seemed to suggest for him to pull away. And yet 李莲花 found himself hugging back.