WangXian Forever 3

Chapter 30 Beast

The Jingshi was empty when Lan Zhan pulled Wei Ying inside. Lan Zhan thanked his lucky stars and pounced.

Wei Ying was speechless but of course, happy to comply.

Later, when they were getting dressed, Lan Zhan embraced him for a long time.

"What's wrong?" Wei Ying whispered, all too aware that something was, but no idea what.

"Worried about Wei Ying." The Jade admitted.

"You're always worried about me." Wei Ying smiled, a little sad. Somehow, he always managed to find trouble, even when he wasn't looking for it. "But what exactly are you worried about?"

"Wei Ying can't sleep. Wei Ying's back. Don't want you to go on the Night Hunt." Lan Zhan kissed his forehead and held him tighter.

"But Lan Zhan, I already promised XiChen-Ge that I would go. And who's to say he isn't right? What if I actually can tire myself out? Wouldn't it be great to be able to sleep properly tonight? For once?" Wei Ying kissed his jaw. "What if I promise to be safe? I'll be extra careful?"

"Extra extra careful. No injury." Lan Zhan bit his neck.

"Ow! Alright, I promise."

Lan Zhan walked him down to the gates where the children were waiting. Jin Ling had also turned up to accompany the other two Lans.

"Where's Li XiWang?" Wei Ying asked SiZhui the moment he saw him.

"Uncle Cheng took her to the training grounds. Uncle XiChen said it was okay." SiZhui took Wei Ying's arm, as they walked away from Cloud Recesses, waving a hand to his father.

"What's he going to do there?" Wei Ying wondered out loud.

"She asked to see Zidian in action." SiZhui laughed. "I think my sister is a bit of a handful."

"Are you happy? About having her with us?" Wei Ying was dying to ask, but the opportunity hadn't arose until now.

SiZhui thought for a moment. "Yes, father. I think I am. She's smart, but she's also kind, and talented. This may sound strange, but I am seeing the world through her eyes, and I'm noticing things that I never thought about. The smallest things make her happy, but..." He tried to find better words.

"But, what?" Wei Ying watched Jin Ling and JingYi carry on walking ahead of them and purposely slowed down so they could talk freely.

"I...I'm not sure, but I feel as if she's keeping something from us. It's just a feeling, though." He tried to reassure him.

"I know what you mean." Wei Ying replied. "I thought I was imagining it, but now that you have also noticed it, I'm inclined to agree. Maybe she will tell us on her own? I don't want to force her to tell us what's on her mind, because she's just started to trust us."

"Then we shouldn't give her a reason to feel unsafe." SiZhui patted his arm, and ran off to join the other two.

They met with the village leader who had originally made a complaint to XiChen about small animals disappearing from the local farms, reporting that feathers and gore were traced back into the forest. It was a minor problem, and Wei Ying knew the children could handle it. He was basically here in a role of the babysitter.

But if he was honest with himself, his restlessness had grown, to the point where he was itching, both figuratively and literally, to leave the confines of Cloud Recesses, just for a little while. He needed something to occupy his mind, and what was better than a night hunt? Even if he was only supervising, it would be a great distraction.

Sure enough, when they got to the edge of the forest, blood stained feathers and bones led a gory trail deep into the forest. Wei Ying let the youngsters lead the way, happy to follow a bit behind and watch how they would deal with this creature.

He twirled Chenqing nonchalantly, and if anyone were to see him, they would have assumed he was out for a stroll.

A roar out of nowhere, had them all separating, ducking for cover until their prey came out into the open.

It certainly was larger than Wei Ying had expected, and the fact that its victims were little animals, he had thought it was much smaller than the beast in front of them. In height, it stood at least four times the size of Wei Ying, and its breadth was at least three of him.

It's body was a mixture of large cat, but somehow scaly, with tiny wings and the face of a reptile. A chimera of sorts, but Wei Ying had never seen something like this before.

"Oh Lord! Why is it so ugly?" JingYi whispered, hiding behind SiZhui.

"That's not a kind thing to say." He reprimanded him.

The beast seemed to agree, because it increased its ferocity by lunging wildly at them. Jin Ling retreated immediately, but SiZhui pulled out his sword and began to attack. JingYi mustered up a tiny bit of courage to help, before Jin Ling also decided to join the fray. He attacked from above, shooting one arrow after another.

The beast's skin was impervious to these attacks, in fact, every attempt to subdue it made it angrier than ever.

SiZhui summoned his guqin and began playing a melody, but the rage of the creature made it single him out. Wei Ying called for them all to think of something else, as this plan wasn't working.

Jin Ling dropped his sword, instead focusing on increasing the speed of his attack, but JingYi picked up the unsheathed blade and started fighting it with two swords. The beast slowly drove them back and then suddenly, it attacked.

Wei Ying pulled the children out of the way and turned his back to the beast, fully prepared to feel those vicious claws rake his back...but nothing happened.

He felt the whisper of a breath around his neck, his top robes fell away from his body...and then nothing.