WangXian Forever 3

Chapter 74 Suanni

Daylight burst through the gaping hole in the roof, casting an eery light over the chaos in what used to be the temple. Rubble and dust from the debris scattered along the ground upon the destroyed array where Wei Ying had fallen.

He could barely open his eyes, pain engulfing his body when he tried to move.

But there was warmth.

He tried to move his hand and found something warm and soft. A laugh rumbled from the body covering him.

He cracked open an eye and saw...fur?

There was a voice in his head.

Immortal one, who are you? I sense...kinship?

It was a deep voice, echoing in his mind. He struggled to think, trying to overcome his discomfort.

"My name is Wei WuXian, birth name, Wei Ying." He mumbled. He had to close his eyes again, the effort of keeping them open was too much.

But why do I...I can smell your blood. It is almost the same as mine. Why are you here? Did you summon me?

"No. Other people called for you. They wanted to sacrifice me-"

A loud roar erupted from his body.

Wei Ying covered his ears, dizziness pinning him to the ground. He groaned, trying to lessen the pain.

Stones and debris shifted next to him. He heard another voice, this one not welcome at all.

"Suanni! You have come!" The man weakly tried to move the rubble on his upper body.

"He summoned you." Wei Ying told whoever was protecting his body.

Is he the one who wanted to kill you? For me?

"Yes."

The body just centimeters away from his expanded to take in a lot of air, and then...hot fiery flames engulfed the room. Shrieks of pain echoed around them until there was only silence.

Dimly, Wei Ying felt himself being picked up gently. He heard the flapping of wings and then another crash as the remainder of the roof fell to the ground, to accommodate this larger body as it left the cave.

******

XiChen tried to pry his brother away from the solid wall of rock, his fingers bleeding with attempt of trying to move the stones. They were wedged in tightly, and no amount of effort was working.

They were the only ones left in this dark tunnel, the only sounds were of Lan Zhan openly crying.

"Didi! Please stop!" XiChen held him back and wrapped strong arms around his trembling form.

"No, Brother! Wei Ying!" Lan Zhan could barely speak, his heart breaking over and over again. How could this happen?

"There must be another way in. Did you see the roof?" XiChen told him urgently, unable to stand his younger brother cry like this.

Lan Zhan thought upon his words. Brother was right!

He pulled away, unsheathing Bichen; his sword cast a pale blue light to show them the way.

The three of them walked as fast as they could, back through the tunnel that seemed impossibly longer now. Daylight fell upon the murky waters, showing them the bottom of the well.

Lan Zhan hurried forward, the other two trailing behind.

Jiang Cheng kept wiping his eyes, but hot tears fell regardless. This whole thing was a set up, a trap and they had walked right in.

And somehow, his brother was always the one to suffer.

"It will be okay, Wanyin." XiChen said quietly. "He's a survivor. We must believe in him."

Jiang Cheng tried, he really did....but he had seen the size of the rocks falling from the roof. He wiped his face and stumbled along, trying to keep up.

Lan Zhan was the first one to emerge, looking all around. It was disorientating, coming out of the darkness into the light, but he made a guess where the temple lay underground and ran towards the place. Just as he reached, a huge creature broke free of the roof, causing the ground to become unstable.

But Lan Zhan only eyes for what the massive beast held in it's talons.

"Stop!" He shouted. Bichen was already in his hand, held aloft to attack.

The beast padded towards him. He seemed to be smiling at Wei Ying, which was strange anyway, but then he looked directly at Lan Zhan.

Is that so?

Lan Zhan looked at him blankly, watching his lay his husband safely on the ground away from the hole.

"Wei Ying!" Lan Zhan didn't care about the beast towering over him; he ran and skidded onto his knees, next to Wei Ying.

Wei Ying patted his hand weakly. "I'm alright, Lan Zhan."

The beast snorted, watching him gather his husband into his arms.

There was the sound of wings, lots of them. Wei Ying tried to open his eyes.

"Shen Ling! You came!"

Lan Zhan looked up to see the family of five dragons landing close by.

"Young Master! What happened? Are we too late?" But then Shen Ling saw the creature.

Recognizing his senior, he bowed deeply, his family following his lead. They stared at each other, having an internal conversation.

Lan Zhan didn't care. His tears fell on Wei Ying's face.

"Lost Wei Ying." He whispered.

Jiang Cheng caught up to them and sat on his other side, holding his hand. He couldn't speak.

"I'm alright. Both of you, calm down." Wei Ying whispered. "I'm just really tired."

That was...close enough to the truth, he thought, closing his eyes again. He wondered if it was possible to sleep for years...

"Young Master, how is it this possible?" Shen Ling came closer.

"What?" He forced himself to speak.

"How did you call our ancestor?" Shen Ling looked puzzled.

"It wasn't me." Wei Ying tugged on Lan Zhan's sleeve. "Please, can you take me home?"

His voice sounded so pitiful, Lan Zhan wiped his face and picked him up immediately.

XiChen came running up to him.

"Brother, we need to go." Lan Zhan told him.

"You can go, Didi. I'll sort everything out here, don't worry."

Lan Zhan thanked him and mounted Bichen. No one else mattered right now. Only his Wei Ying.