WangXian Forever 5

Chapter 28 Sprinkles

Three days had passed since Wei Ying had told the story of Zhi Nu the celestial weaver girl, and Niu Lang the buffalo herder.

Li XiWang seemed a bit down, and Wei Ying wanted to do something special for her.

When it came to inventing talismans, Wei Ying was a 'throw it all in the pot and see what happens' kind of guy. This was because, most of the time, writing a talisman wasn't an exact science. One stroke slightly elongated could mean the difference between life and death, so it was nothing to joke about.

But fun stuff, that was his speciality.

And his daughter needed this far more right now than anything else. He couldn't help but giggle at the wondrous inspiration that had come to him, when he remembered that day that Lan Zhan had laughed.

So as usual, he waited until Lan Zhan had left their home before getting anything ready. One visit to the kitchen ensured he had everything ready.

Then, he locked the door behind him, and got ready. Halfway through, he realised he needed more sugar. A lot more sugar, and now, time was running out.

If you have ever cooked with sugar, you will know that once you start, you cannot stop. Otherwise you will be left with either a hard, unbreakable residue that no one can break except their teeth, or you have to be really fast.

Wei Ying bolted out of the Jingshi, paying he would be fast enough, and collided with an already irate Jiang Cheng.

"Oh, it's you! Good, come and help me! It's an emergency!" Wei Ying dragged him to the kitchen and then they ran back to the Jingshi where the multicoloured mixture was threatening to overflow.

Wei Ying threw in the leftover sugar, added some water and closed the lid. He waited, counting to ten, and then slid in the magic ingredient.

"What was that?" Jiang Cheng asked, looking around.

It was thirsty work, this...whatever it was his brother was doing. He grabbed the glass of liquid that honestly looked like water to him and downed it in one go.

"Um, Jiang Cheng, er...that was the left over ingredients..." Wei Ying tried to warn him, but it was too late.

Jiang Cheng clutched his throat, and then to his horror, Zidian began sparking, first a little bit and then suddenly out of control. Purple sparks shot out, hitting Wei Ying's arm, even as he tried to move back, but then the pot on the makeshift stove started bubbling dangerously higher, the lid clattering against the rim.

Wei Ying panicked and grabbed Jiang Cheng, then had second thoughts about leaving the scary pot inside; after all, the Jingshi had been renovated really recently. Jiang Cheng wanted to help him, honestly he did, but right then, Zidian let out a stream of electricity before it wriggled.

Jiang Cheng was too busy staring at his wrist, and then he screamed, which resulted in a frightened Wei Ying dropping the frothing pot on the ground.

It exploded, shooting a rainbow coloured stream into the air, as Wei Ying landed on his backside, watching a hysterical Jiang Cheng try to remove his spiritual weapon, because it had turned into a snake.

Lan Zhan had heard the explosion and knew it would have something inevitably to do with his husband.

People all around Cloud Recesses stopped to see the curious stream of liquid shooting up into the sky, some of them even pulling out umbrellas to protect themselves. Others ran for cover, knowing just how unpredictable Master Wei's inventions were.

But it was the screaming Jiang Cheng, now hoarsely shouting, that got the attention of the two Jades. Lan Zhan ran to pick Wei Ying up, examining him for injuries first before pulling him close. His body was shaking and Lan Zhan thought he was upset, but even as he felt the tears, he knew Wei Ying was laughing.

Really hard.

He pointed at Jiang Cheng.

"Did you hear him, Lan Zhan?"

Meanwhile, XiChen came along and seeing what a state his husband was in, plus an uncontrollable Wei Ying, clutching his sides and gasping for breath, and he didn't know what to think.

The snake decided to leave Jiang Cheng. It rose up high to take a good look at XiChen.

Lan Zhan unsheathed Bichen, ready for whatever came next, but Wei Ying tapped his arm, shaking his head.

"Zidian will never harm either."

"Brother?" Lan Zhan asked, doubtfully. In his experience, snakes were far from harmless.

"Nope. Zidian knows how important XiChen is to Jiang Cheng. There's no way." Wei Ying finally calmed down, but the grin didn't leave his face.

Zidian the snake version, watched as XiChen held out his hand to its snout. It sniffed his hand appreciatingly, and then glided onto his arm. It whispered something in his ear, and XiChen giggled.

Wei Ying did a double take.

"Zidian thinks I'm cute," he explained.

The pot, now completely empty, clattered to the ground, exhausted.

Wei Ying looked up at the sky, counting.

"Five, four, three, two and one." He held his palm out.

From the bright blue sky, rain began to fall, but this wasn't tiny drops of water. This was rainbow sprinkles.

Wei Ying opened his mouth to catch the sugary goodness, and Jiang Cheng watched as Zidian whispered something else in XiChen's ear, resulting in pink blush.

"No, you're the cute one," he was saying, tickling the snake under its head.

The snake began to purr, writhing in ecstacy as it wound around him more, leaving Jiang Cheng with his mouth open in shock.

Li XiWang had run outside from her room, saw what Wei Ying was doing and copied him. Wei Ying took her hands and they danced with their mouths open. Lan Zhan watched them playing, a soft smile on his lips.

SiZhui had decided to return that very second, hauling a reluctant Jin Ling with him, reluctant because he knew he was in trouble by upsetting his Uncle Wei, and in turn, his Uncle Cheng. They had seen the rainbow shooting into the sky from far, so they'd gotten off their swords to run past the gates.

Nobody was wearing white clothes any more; everything was a tie and dye mix of multicoloured splashes on what used to be white canvases.

Outside the Jingshi, chaos reigned.

Jiang Cheng no longer had a voice, having lost it due to screaming too much. Wei Ying and Li XiWang were lying on the ground, clutching their stomachs and blissed out from the sugar crash.

Uncle XiChen was talking to a snake. And giggling.

Lan Zhan was the only normal one, having snagged an umbrella from a passerby. His robes were still impeccably white.

"I don't care what you say, SiZhui." Jin Ling told him. "At least it's not boring here."

*****

A/N

This one is for all the people who might be feeling bad, especially for my other Soul Sister, RovenaNatasha

I hope you feel better soon.