WangXian: Reunited ✔

Chapter 9: A Bark In The Dark

"Either way," he said solemnly, "We need to check this out."

They had been traversing the dense undergrowth of the forest for a while now when Wei Ying suddenly heard a yelp. It sounded like a hound. His heart raced as memories of his time on the streets resurfaced, filling him with an indescribable sense of terror. 

"AHHH HELP ME LAN ZHAN!" Wei Ying screeched before leaping into Lan Zhan's waiting arms. The former was terrified, while the latter smirked, delighted at the chance to finally hold Wei Ying in his arms. Lan Zhan comforted the panic-stricken Wei Ying, "Don't be scared, it's just a bark." 

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'JUST A BARK?!' THAT BARK BELONGS TO ONE OF THOSE FEROCIOUS LITTLE CANINES! DON'T BE FOOLED BY THEIR LOOKS LAN ZHAN- I'M TELLING YOU, THOSE THINGS ARE DEADLY! IF THEY FIND ME, I'M A GONER!" Wei Ying sobbed into Lan Zhan's chest, "AHH HELP ME, I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE! WAHHH" 

"Calm down," Lan Zhan reassured him, "There's no dog."  

Hearing this, Wei Ying calmed slightly. He blushed a bright red, when he saw the precarious position they were in. Reluctantly getting hopping out of Lan Zhan's arms he muttered, "Oh." Then frowned. "Wait, why would a dog be barking? And why did that sound like Jin Ling's dog?" 

Lan Zhan furrowed his brow, "It sounds quite desperate." 

Wei Ying gasped, 'What if Jin Ling was in danger? Wei Ying had to save him! If anything happened to Jin Ling, his Shijie would never forgive him!'

With that in mind, he seized Lan Zhan's hand and started racing towards the barks. 'Ah shit.'  He thought as he ran, 'I shouldn't have grabbed Lan Zhan's hand.'  It had been a spur of the moment decision, and Wei Ying had instinctively snatched the hand beside him, craving more of the warmth that seemed to radiate from Lan Zhan's body. 

'Oh well. It's not like this means anything. I just don't want him to get hurt,'  he reassured himself.

"RUFF, RUFF!" The barks had gotten louder and more clear, as they neared the area. "Look Lan Zhan! Isn't that the Man-Eating Ridge?" Wei Ying groaned. 'Jin Ling couldn't have been so dumb as to wander here, could he?' 

Then he saw the man sized hole on the side of the wall and realized what happened. "THAT BRAT!" he exclaimed, pissed at Jin Ling for being so reckless. "Jiang Cheng is going to break his legs! Serves him right," he harrumphed. 

Lan Zhan shot him an amused glance and pulled Wei Ying inside. 

The Man- Eating Ridge was surprisingly cramped inside. Wei Ying had originally thought that it would be this giant, vast space- made to induce terror in the hearts of its victims. Instead, it was a bunch of coffins cramped next to each other. 

He tsked, "Well this is underwhelming," he sighed, as he grabbed one end of the coffin and heaved. The lid fell off, and Wei Ying frowned slightly. The coffin held no body. All that it contained was a blade. A saber. 

'Why would someone hide a saber in a coffin, and set up so many precautions to scare away any visitors?'

The more he thought about it, the more it didn't make any sense. Most cultivators prefered the grace of a sword, rather than the strength of a saber. Only Qinghe Nie Sect used sabers. And only the Qinghe Nie Sect would be able to construct a tomb filled with blades. But it didn't make sense... why would one of the four great sects put so much effort into hiding these sabers? It wasn't like they didn't have enough money to buy spiritual weapons... so why spread the rumors? Why build the tomb? Why kill the thieves? What exactly were they trying to hide?

"Wei Ying," Lan Zhan said softly, breaking him out of his trance. "I have reached a soul." 

It looked like that while Wei Ying spaced out, lost in his thoughts- Lan Zhan, being the productive one, had played Inquiry in hopes of wrangling some information out a soul. 

"Oh." Wei Ying replied blankly, still dazed from all the thoughts clouding his brain. 

Lan Zhan sighed, "It's going to help us find Jin Ling." 

Wei Ying immediately perked up, "Really? Well, what did it say?" he asked, mood brightening. 

"Turn in the southeast direction and every time a string is plucked, take one step forward." 

Wei Ying nodded, listening to the sounds of the guqin. He stopped right before a wall. "This is where Jin Ling is?" he asked, disbelief evident in his tone. 

"It seems so," Lan Zhan replied, using Bichen to smash a hole in the wall. 

There, buried under a layer of dirt and sand, was Jin Ling. 

Wei Ying gulped and started to dig, 'That brat isn't dead is he? We rushed here as soon as we heard the barks... there's no way he could've suffocated this quickly right?' he thought, heart pounding as he dug. 

At last, the rubble was cleared and Jin Ling's pompous face appeared before them. Although Jin Ling's face was grimy, and his clothes were torn and stained- Wei Ying had never felt happier to see him. "Jin Ling!" he cried and threw himself onto the boy. 

"W-W-What are you doing?" Jin Ling spluttered in disbelief. 'Why was this lunatic hugging him? Had he done something wrong?' Jin Ling had never been hugged by anyone- not even his uncle before, so the sudden contact shocked him so much, that he froze on the spot. 

Wei Ying wiped tears of relief from his eyes, and gazed at his nephew tenderly, "Nothing, I just felt like doing that." 

Jin Ling was speechless, "W-Well I'm not a cut sleeve," he warned, getting uncomfortable with the way Wei Ying looked at him. 

Wei Ying laughed, "Don't worry, I'm not interested," he chuckled. 

Jin Ling was relieved, and tried to get out of Wei Ying's embrace, as the latter was still hugging him. Suddenly, he felt a pain shoot up through his leg. "OUCH!" he yelled. 

Concern immediately flashed on Wei Ying's face, "What's wrong?" he asked, worried. 

"My leg..." Jin Ling replied, face scrunching up in pain. 

Wei Ying gently put his arm around him and ignored Jin Ling's shouts of protest. "You're hurt, and this place is dangerous," he said sternly before carrying the limping Jin Ling outside. 

Suddenly, Jin Ling's dog started barking, "Fairy!" he called before wincing at the agony shooting up his leg. 

"Lan Zhan!" Wei Ying squealed, terrified by the barks. 

"Don't worry," Lan Zhan replied softly putting a reassuring hand on Wei Ying's arm. "I'll deal with it," he said before rushing towards the howls. 

Wei Ying grunted and pulled Jin Ling further into the forest. Once they were a safe distance away, he gently set Jin Ling on the ground and rolled up his pant leg. "That's a curse mark..." he murmured, seeing the revolting sores of pus that had started to form on Jin Ling's leg. "Ah shit," Wei Ying muttered. A curse mark was difficult to deal with. It would take quite a while for Wei Ying to treat it, and time was a luxury he couldn't afford. 

"Fuck it..." he declared, transferring the curse to his own leg. Wei Ying might not be able to completely cure it, but he could make sure that Jin Ling wouldn't end up victim to the hex. 

"What are you doing?!" Jin Ling cried realizing what Wei Ying was doing. 

"I'm helping you..." Wei Ying grimaced, "I'm more experienced than you, I'll be able to deal with the curse when it comes." 

Jin Ling was shocked. No one had ever put his safely before their own. No one had ever cared about him before, much less protected him. 'Just who was this Mo Xuanyu?'  he thought, and was just about to open his mouth to ask, when he was suddenly interrupted by the furious voice of Han-Guang Jun. 

"What do you think you are doing?"