The Witching Snakes pt 16

Bai Suzhen and Xu Xian talk like lovers. Exchange an umbrella. Greenie dances in the clouds.

Read Part 15

When she was in Napoli for Renaissance, feasting with doomed nobles and plague infested artisans, she often spoke about the young man that stole her heart with his kindness and perfect beauty. She did not inspire sculptors. Painters were too enamored with their patrons. Amateur humanists appreciated her devotion. For centuries, she denied his beauty. All flesh decayed to skin, muscle and blood. What was youth and beauty to an ancient snake woman? Dissolution always came too quick for the lovely ones.

Had Xu Xian known that the woman spying on him was not only falling in love but would spend centuries pondering how she had first adored him, he would have raised an eyebrow, maybe invited her for tea. The fatalistic doubts that had plagued so many simply passed him by. Both women and men gravitated to his innocence. Xu Xian accepted their adoration. He would never be cruel to his admirers. He appreciated their doubt, pain and loneliness. Xu Xien never supported their self-loathing. They could never fully embraced his affection.

Bai Suzhen saw everything and admitted nothing. She marveled at a mortal floating just above the cobblestones. She waved her arms and summoned the rain. The festival goers stumbled away; Xu Xien held his umbrella - his face shone serene as if the rain pleased him as much as sunlight. It certainly did not chill or exhaust him.

At the shore of West Lake, he strolled to the boats; Bai Suzhen finally approached. Greenie's high reedy laugh scared the revelers. They fled the black noon clouds. In Xu Xian, she inspired a curious smile.

"Please sir, may I share your boat," said Bai Suzhen. Xu Xian looked at her with surprise and placed his umbrella over her head until she could take it in her hand. The gesture was unprovoked. She heard him speak but missed his words.