Soul Lock

Hop... Hop... Don't Go Out At Night!

Wen Lan and Ju Xin continued towards Taishan for ten more days without a problem and they were finally in the East as Wen Lan realized it through red ghost fires. During those days, Wen Lan wanted to return the pendant to Ju Xin, but not knowing how to explain it, he kept delaying.

After spending those ten days in nature, the duo ate almost all of their supplies. For Wen Lan, it didn't mean anything, but Ju Xin was kinda human, so Wen Lan had to be sure that he had something to eat. Unfortunately, the East was arid, so it wasn't easy to find something to eat. If they didn't spend all the time together, Wen Lan could bring something at night, pretending he had it before, but as they bought the supplies together from the last village, it wasn't possible.

When they split the last bun Wen Lan had in the morning, there was still no sight of a village or town.

Naturally, that day passed without a second meal, but the next morning, Ju Xin held out a fruit to Wen Lan with an apologetic look.

An orange.

"I know orange is not your favorite fruit, but that's the only thing left on me."

Seriously, how much more could he play with Wen Lan's poor heart? He kept pulling the strings, threatening Wen Lan's sanity.

"Don't think much, come on," Ju Xin said, putting the orange into Wen Lan's hand as he misunderstood his silence.

The Ghost King looked at the fruit in his palm, at least this time it is not rotten, he suddenly thought as if it had a crucial importance. Noticing what he was thinking, Wen Lan let out a chuckle and started to juggle the orange while walking. However, Ju Xin stopped walking beside him. Without a signal, Wen Lan turned around to look at him and caught Ju Xin in the act of peeling a rotten-looking orange.

Their eyes met and Ju Xin hid the orange behind him like a naughty kid who was scared of being reprimanded by his father.

After the initial shock, Wen Lan stood in front of him and forcefully grabbed the orange from his hand. It was indeed half-rotten.

"Why?" he asked with a frown.

Ju Xin wanted to get the orange back, but Wen Lan prevented him. Sighing in defeat, he said "I couldn't give you the rotten one while eating the fresh one, right? Especially after you told me about your past with the rotten orange."

Wen Lan was flabbergasted.

The same hand which threw him a rotten orange was now hiding it so that he could eat the fresh one.

If Wen Lan could cry, he would cry at that moment for sure. But he couldn't, so he could only laugh. "You are too considerate for your own good," he said, trying to sound neutral and passed him the fresh orange. Ju Xin wanted to object, but Wen Lan didn't let him, "I have a thing for half-rotten oranges," he said with a smirk and continued to walk.

Behind him, Ju Xin looked at the orange with loving eyes before following the man who made him feel cherished.

They continued their walking for a long while, but before the sunset, they managed to reach a small village. Strangely, there was no one outside. If the candle lights didn't glimmer through curtain-closed windows, the duo could think it was an abandoned village.

They walked through the village to see if there was a place where they could spend the night, but there seemed to be no place like an inn. Fortunately enough, they saw a man in front of a diner door and Ju Xin called out to the man.

"What are you two doing out?!" The man looked panicked and pulled them inside before closing the door and locking it.

Wen Lan and Ju Xin exchanged a glance and let the man drag them to a table.