WangXian Forever 5

Chapter 23 White

They were silent, on their way to the Cave. Wei Ying was still feeling jittery with nerves, a state he shared with his daughter.

They'd had to force her to eat breakfast, with the threat of cancelling this whole endeavour, until she relented. In the end, it was only a few mouthfuls of rice, but she was going to need the energy.

"I didn't know you could end up in the secret Cave this way." Wei Ying grinned cheekily at Lan Zhan. "This is far more comfortable than how we got in that first time."

"Why? How did you do it then?" Li XiWang asked curiously.

"We fell in. And got married in there, didn't we Lan Zhan?" Wei Ying beamed at the red ears.

"Shameless."

Wei Ying heard him mutter, but it only made him smile brighter. "Of course, I did not know that's what it meant. But he did!"

Both children stared at their silent father, whose only indication of what he felt at that were scarlet ears.

"What's it like in there?" Li XiWang asked, nerves tingeing  her words.

"You have to use your core to warm your body. It's very cold." Wei Ying told her.

The wards were released so they could enter, and then reinforced behind them. XiChen and Jiang Cheng were going to wait outside for them, so it was just the four of them.

Cold air kissed their faces the closer they got, until stone walls were replaced with ice. They shivered until their cores activated.

Gravel crunched under their boots, becoming wetter with the water from the pool. Stalactites hung from the ceiling, stalagmites rose up from the ground, icy and emanating freezing air. The whole Cave was bathed in a white light, reflected by the waters, which now reached their calves.

Wei Ying thought of Hui Gai.

He appeared and grinned a greeting, before staying on the other side of Li XiWang, as far away from Lan Zhan that he could.

"I wondered if the wards could stop you." Wei told him proudly.

Hui Gai just smiled enigmatically.

Wei Ying didn't want to push for answers, in case it put them in a compromising position. So he just patted him on the back and looked around.

The Cave had not changed from the twenty odd years since their return.

Wei Ying watched his breath cloud over, smelling the freezing air. It hurt his nose and he twitched it, and found Lan Zhan looking at him fondly. On one side, Lan Yi's guqin still rested upon the flat boulder, waiting for its master.

I wish I could see you again, he thought. And then, as if by magic, one by one, Lan ancestors appeared, lining the walls of the Cave.

Wei Ying gasped.

Lan Zhan was by his side in an instance, grabbing him.

"What is it?" He asked urgently.

"You don't see them?" Wei Ying blinked up at him, confused.

"See who?"

"All these people?" He waved at the walls.

Lan Zhan glanced away but then returned his gaze, now worried.

"No."

"Do...does anyone else see them?" He whispered.

All of them said no, except for Hui Gai.

He came to stand just a little behind Wei Ying.

"I can." He replied, quietly.

They both bowed to them.

"Who is it, father?" SiZhui asked, looking around.

"Um, they're your ancestors. Including Lan Yi."

A bluish glow appeared in front of Lan Zhan, and now he could make out a vague outline of her body. He bowed in greeting. SiZhui and Li XiWang both bowed to them.

"We have come to honour the Healer of the Heavens. That you have chosen your home to be in the Cloud Recesses, that is our privilege." Lan Yi bowed again.

Li XiWang put her small hand into Wei Ying's. He squeezed it, making sure she wasn't frightened.

"One problem at a time, right?" She whispered.

"That's right, little rabbit. You don't have to worry." He reassured her.

She nodded and bravely faced the people who were strangers to her.

"We will do our best to strengthen the wards from here, on the inside. However, many of us have reached the end of our spiritual energy, but we will try our best. You should try to accomplish your task under the waters." She told them.

Wei Ying took off his outer robes and flung it in the corner, grinning at Lan Zhan, who found it difficult to look anywhere else.

"Wei Ying is not cold?" He came closer to rub his shoulders.

Wei Ying shivered, not from the cold.

"No, I'm not cold at all." Surprise coloured his words. "I thought I would be, but this new core is amazing."

Lan Zhan's whole face became soft, and he leaned in to kiss his forehead.

"Good."

Wei Ying unfurled his beautiful wings, earning a collective gasp, and whispering from the ancestors. He blushed.

"Are you ready?" Lan Zhan asked him.

He nodded, and looked to the children.

"Yes fathers, I am ready." Li XiWang replied.

SiZhui also nodded.

Wei Ying went to Hui Gai who has resumed his position next to Li XiWang.

"No matter what happens, Hui Gai, you have to keep her safe. Please." Wei Ying couldn't help the desperation in his voice.

Up until this last minute, he had not allowed himself to dwell on what could happen.

"Take her out of here if you can." Wei Ying waited until the demon looked at him, those red eyes unblinking.

The plan was that the three of them, Wei Ying, Hui Gai and Li XiWang would open the pouch under the water. Lan Zhan would stay above, ready with Wangji to deflect any power surges away from them. SiZhui stood with his sword ready.

The water levels in the middle of the pool were deeper, coming up to their shoulder. All three of them could breathe underwater, so Wei Ying found a patch of even ground, where they could sit. He nodded at Li XiWang.

She pulled out the pouch.

She reached inside and took out the ring.

Nothing happened.

Next, the abalone shell.

Nothing happened then, either.

Wei Ying wondered if that first surge under the ocean had dissipated whatever accumulation of energy was contained within these artifacts.

He was just about to say something along those lines, when Li XiWang pulled out the clawed Pearl.

There was not even a second of warning before the shock wave of powerful energy pulsed out, exploding from their epicentre. Wei Ying caught Hui Gai's eye and watched him vanish with his daughter, even as his body was propelled out of the water like a cannon.

He had no control as his body hurtled, slamming into the stalactites above, as he tried to wrap his wings around his body.

"WEI YING!" Was the last thing he heard, before pain overwhelmed him and he blacked out.