The request to hurry is hardly necessary; Di Feisheng will likely hear the sound of movement before he's even finished speaking it.
"I'll be there," Fang Duobing confirms, then disconnects the call and stashes the device so that he can focus everything he has on running. The scenery passes by in a blur that mirrors his thoughts at the moment, moving too fast to catch notice of anything in particular. He only knows the pound of his feet against the stone path, his eyes seeking out in the dim evening that hole in the wall leading to those strangely blue sands. And as he draws closer to the beach and to the man he's been searching after for three months, he only feels more and more aware of how ill-prepared he is for this meeting.
He'd imagined it many times before. Coming upon Li Lianhua in whatever place he'd managed to hide himself in--maybe not well, but alive and within Fang Duobing's power to assist. He would have Huli Jing with him to appeal to him; he would invoke all of the people who cared for Li Lianhua; he would convince him to return to Lotus Tower or Tianji Manor or anywhere that allowed him to care for his friend and find a cure for his illness. His logic and his connections were laid out like a surgeon's tools, carefully presented for the quickest and most potent effect.
But here? He has nothing, save for his desperate feeling of wanting to save Li Lianhua... A feeling which had already proven inadequate in reaching his friend in every other instance. What did he hope to accomplish now when his argument was all conjecture and no evidence, so weak as to be laughable? A threat of defeat creeps in on the edges of his thoughts, curling like poison in his own veins; and it takes all his will to push it back and keep his focus steady.
It doesn't matter. If all he has is how much he cares about his friend's well-being, then he will just have to make that be enough. If he has to wear the man down like water eroding a stone, then he will be the river that cuts through a mountain. No matter what, he can't watch Li Lianhua disappear in front of him again.
Past the broken wall, he breaks from forest out onto sand and comes to an unsteady halt. His muscles burn in protest from pushing so hard and his chest heaves for air as he scans up and down the treeline for discernible figures. With what light is left to him, he barely catches sight of two people lingering by the forest edge and makes a line straight for them.
The scene that he comes upon is... informative. The annoyance in Di Feisheng's tone suddenly makes perfect sense with the way he's got a hold of Li Lianhua's collar. He'd clearly caught the man trying to escape in some manner, and that piques a little ire in Fang Duobing's own heart. Wasn't their task hard enough without this sort of evasion? He can't understand the need for it, but that annoyance barely registers with Li Lianhua standing right here in front of him. Real. Alive. Looking... not well at all, but he'll take what he can get.
Action takes over quicker than thought; as soon as he's stopped in front of them, he takes a hold of Li Lianhua's elbow and looks him over with deep concern. It might seem like yet another restraint--or maybe even a concern for support if one is being generous, but in this moment Fang Duobing needs the grounding just as much. His heart feels lodged in his throat somewhere, tight and uncomfortable and blocking the ten thousand things he thought he would say when his search was finally over. It's not often that he's at a loss for words... He does manage to spare a glance to Di Feisheng and a nod of gratitude. He can let go if he likes.
"Is this where you've been all this time?" Fang Duobing finally finds his voice, as he turns his gaze back to meet Li Lianhua's (if he'll even allow it). Does he sound angry? He doesn't mean to yet. In the torrent of his emotions, he feels more disbelief than anger in this moment; but all the questions he's built up in the past three months threaten to shake loose into an avalanche with just that one. It's all he can do to limit them to just a few, hurt bleeding into his voice and stinging at his eyes despite his best intentions to remain composed.
"You run off while our backs are turned, and this is where we find you? You couldn't have picked an easier place to hide?"
no subject
"I'll be there," Fang Duobing confirms, then disconnects the call and stashes the device so that he can focus everything he has on running. The scenery passes by in a blur that mirrors his thoughts at the moment, moving too fast to catch notice of anything in particular. He only knows the pound of his feet against the stone path, his eyes seeking out in the dim evening that hole in the wall leading to those strangely blue sands. And as he draws closer to the beach and to the man he's been searching after for three months, he only feels more and more aware of how ill-prepared he is for this meeting.
He'd imagined it many times before. Coming upon Li Lianhua in whatever place he'd managed to hide himself in--maybe not well, but alive and within Fang Duobing's power to assist. He would have Huli Jing with him to appeal to him; he would invoke all of the people who cared for Li Lianhua; he would convince him to return to Lotus Tower or Tianji Manor or anywhere that allowed him to care for his friend and find a cure for his illness. His logic and his connections were laid out like a surgeon's tools, carefully presented for the quickest and most potent effect.
But here? He has nothing, save for his desperate feeling of wanting to save Li Lianhua... A feeling which had already proven inadequate in reaching his friend in every other instance. What did he hope to accomplish now when his argument was all conjecture and no evidence, so weak as to be laughable? A threat of defeat creeps in on the edges of his thoughts, curling like poison in his own veins; and it takes all his will to push it back and keep his focus steady.
It doesn't matter. If all he has is how much he cares about his friend's well-being, then he will just have to make that be enough. If he has to wear the man down like water eroding a stone, then he will be the river that cuts through a mountain. No matter what, he can't watch Li Lianhua disappear in front of him again.
Past the broken wall, he breaks from forest out onto sand and comes to an unsteady halt. His muscles burn in protest from pushing so hard and his chest heaves for air as he scans up and down the treeline for discernible figures. With what light is left to him, he barely catches sight of two people lingering by the forest edge and makes a line straight for them.
The scene that he comes upon is... informative. The annoyance in Di Feisheng's tone suddenly makes perfect sense with the way he's got a hold of Li Lianhua's collar. He'd clearly caught the man trying to escape in some manner, and that piques a little ire in Fang Duobing's own heart. Wasn't their task hard enough without this sort of evasion? He can't understand the need for it, but that annoyance barely registers with Li Lianhua standing right here in front of him. Real. Alive. Looking... not well at all, but he'll take what he can get.
Action takes over quicker than thought; as soon as he's stopped in front of them, he takes a hold of Li Lianhua's elbow and looks him over with deep concern. It might seem like yet another restraint--or maybe even a concern for support if one is being generous, but in this moment Fang Duobing needs the grounding just as much. His heart feels lodged in his throat somewhere, tight and uncomfortable and blocking the ten thousand things he thought he would say when his search was finally over. It's not often that he's at a loss for words... He does manage to spare a glance to Di Feisheng and a nod of gratitude. He can let go if he likes.
"Is this where you've been all this time?" Fang Duobing finally finds his voice, as he turns his gaze back to meet Li Lianhua's (if he'll even allow it). Does he sound angry? He doesn't mean to yet. In the torrent of his emotions, he feels more disbelief than anger in this moment; but all the questions he's built up in the past three months threaten to shake loose into an avalanche with just that one. It's all he can do to limit them to just a few, hurt bleeding into his voice and stinging at his eyes despite his best intentions to remain composed.
"You run off while our backs are turned, and this is where we find you? You couldn't have picked an easier place to hide?"