#fei lian

~ “Hmmm~ ♫ ”   “ A lone hum rolls across the quiet unutilized path below the large trees surrounding them. They teemed with overgrowth and unswept leaves. He kicked a stray rock around as he walked with his hands in his pockets, his eye caught dimmed windows above, and only a select few lights were still ablaze at this late hour. Yellow eyes watched him from the houses built around those trees. The melody continued to travel as he made his way to the very edge of the village, where everything cleared away, feeling more akin to any other city or town he had visited. The feeling of a stone path was comforting. The wind picked up its pace, causing his red scarf to flutter in the wind, he breathed in the fresh air catching the crisp scent of water and pine nearby. He threw a couple of golden coins toward an offertory box with only a slight glance at an old owl, watching him not from above but at his eye level. The stranger smirked as that old man took in his visage with a mix of wonder and concern, it wasn’t every day you saw such a dapper fellow as himself, draped in gold and red from head to toe but not in a tacky way as the Emperor’s of old he once knew. ‘I have much more style than that.’ He thought with a laugh he could not contain. Why should he? Life was meant to be enjoyed in the moment. The wind howled louder as he approached the main shrine, wooden fixtures clattering loudly with the tree’s branches shifting as he bowed toward the main shrine with a toothy smile. “Ah, I see you are awake, good.” The stranger spoke up with a delighted tone. “I have given your shrine the proper offering and people say I never learned my lesson ehe! Now,” Blazing gold eyes met another pair of yellow within the dark shadows of this decaying shrine. “ Show yourself, ” It was connected to a large tree, one towering above the rest he had seen on his trip here. Even after many decades, this lone tree stood the tallest among this land, hiding away the lights in the distance across the lake. His tail twitched at heavy footfalls and claws scraping against aged wood. Seems as if his friend was not fully awake as he had expected, and by the wind’s course. ‘He seems annoyed uh oh…’ Despite this clear indication for him to leave, the being within the shrine thought this would be enough to make him leave. It made him laugh again. Ding.His laughter stopped and his body stood at a standstill as he noted that the metal bells had not yet ringed. The sound of creaking wood grew closer and in the subtle light of the moon, did he see their shadow. “Fei Lian…” The stranger lifted his head, marveling at how even his old friend seemed enamored with his growing collection of gold trinkets and jewelry across his body. “Your control over the wind never ceases to amaze me, tell me how long has it been now? Two hundred or maybe it was four-”