Mo Da Zhu Shi : One Shots (Wangxian)

1. Captured

Lan Zhan lived up to his presence amid the chaos. A pair in black and white like day and night was famous across all sects and regions.

Tonight, they were visiting a humble home in the outskirts of Gusu. The pair came upon an uneven rocky path that held a gravestone.

"Burial Site?" The word came out as a question. Wei Ying looked at the confusion in Lan Zhan eyes.

"What is the matter?"

"Not Gusu burial site."

Since the land was still in the Gusu region and all burial sites were communal to help contain the sprits and the energies, this was uncommon.

"Let's check it out first." Wei Ying pulled out a talisman paper and sent a message to the visiting family of the lateness.

The rocky path soon turned uphill and entered an undiscovered ridge between mountains. In the dying rays of the sun, the greenery cast a mysterious shadow about them. The mountains dissolved those shadows as they entered further.

"Have you ever been here?" Lan Zhan shook his head once.

The atmosphere was getting foggy and eerie under the quite setting sun. They exchange a look to acknowledge the quiet. In a landscape so obscure and vast, no insects, animals or birds broke the silence. Wei Ying stepped over a branch only to let his shoes crunch on another.

It happened fast. The fog rushed to them like whirlwind, filled their lungs, making it hard to breathe.

"Hold you.. your breath." Lan Zhan pushed out the words with some effort. There was no air in them, holding their breath was hard. Wei Ying started to sway a little before he felt familiar large hands on his waist and hear melt into his back. his view blurred but the small drop in his stomach and the feeling of weightlessness let him know that they were climbed on Bichen.

As they broke through the cloud of fog, cold, fresh mountain air rushing past his face and he took a deep breath.

"Breathe. It's clean." Lan Zhan's chest expanded into his back in a slow large lungful of air. They were circling above the mountain which was still covered in a thin layer of mist. They were higher than normal. Wei Ying looked down.

"The crack, the ridge isn't visible from here. Let's go lower." he held his breath as did Lan Zhan before they hovered above the peak. Still no sign of the crack, they had flown up through. Wei Ying stepped off Bichen and landed neatly on the grass. As if on cue, the earth under his feet started to slip away.

Before he could stumble, Lan Zhan gripped him by the shoulder and with pure arm strength pulled him up.

"I really forget about your arm strength sometimes." Wei Ying rubbed the rippling muscles just below the shoulder, letting his hands slowly slip under those muscles. 

"Don't tease." Lan Zhan breathed into his ear, making his body strung and taut. Yet, he laughed, louder and louder it went. Lan Zhan simple went in circles, lowered them to places he suspected until Wei Ying stopped giggling.

"Let's go back to the entrance." he declared after having calmed down.

As they lowered to the ground, Wei Ying snaked his arms around Lan Zhan's waist and held him tightly. Even though he was flirting with his hands roaming Lan Zhan's back, his voice was all business.

"Don't. Let's ride to the end of the path." As they neared the obscure area, there was no path.

"Hmm." They understood and finally let their feet his the ground. As suspected, the greenery gave way. Silently, hand on hand, they followed it to the end, careful never to raise any alarm. The day had come to an end but there was no moonlight filtering in. Lan Zhan and Wei Ying lit talismans alternatively, so as not to exhaust their supplies. Though the fog hung lifeless, any movement they made was alert with anticipation.