WangXian Forever 5

Chapter 45 Rivalry

XiChen and Jiang Cheng were sitting at a table in the library, looking as pure as the first snow in winter. If the Lan brothers' ears blazed with colour, no one mentioned a thing.

Wei Ying was still thinking about Lan Zhan when he sat down next to him, hardly paying attention to the others, when XiChen called him again.

"Brother Wei, are you alright?" He asked again, looking worried, at his flushed face.

Jiang Cheng shoved him gently, but still earned a scowl.

"What? Oh, XiChen-Ge, sorry, I was just thinking." Wei Ying flushed again, and Lan Zhan smirked.

So...it was going to be like that, huh? Wei Ying forced himself to concentrate on what his XiChen-Ge was saying, but his hand crept into someone's robe. Lan Zhan stiffened, back ramrod straight. Wei Ying could swear he stopped breathing.

"What did you ask me?" Wei Ying smiled the purest smile he could dredge up, while his fingers explored...down there.

"What did you find out from our guest?" XiChen smiled kindly at him, oblivious to the shenanigans under the table.

Strong fingers intercepted Wei Ying's hand, held under the white robes. Wei Ying blushed.

"So..." Wei Ying cleared his throat, his mind on how to resume his mission. He was not going to lose. "Her name is Zhitiao. Basically, their mission is to save their tree, which because they were born from it, they call it their mother. More literal than we have previously thought, because the tree of life, did give birth to them."

His thumb was still free. So he began to stroke the warm skin.

Lan Zhan choked.

Wei Ying pushed his cup of tea towards him, grinning.

Lan Zhan glared at him.

Inside his robes, another hand clasped his, so no movement was possible.

"Lan Zhan, please could I have some more tea?" Wei Ying pouted, and batted his eyelashes.

Lan Zhan just stared at him, unable to move.

XiChen coughed politely and poured him a cup.

Wei Ying was so disappointed. He wanted Lan Zhan to do it, and because pouring tea would definitely require the use of two hands, his would have been free to...roam again.

Jiang Cheng cleared his throat rather noisily.

"Ah, so as I was saying, the Tree that gave birth to them, well, it's died now, and before it did, it gave them a seed. Which was stolen by the lady who wanted to marry Tiaopi De Long. They're both Li XiWang's real parents." His voice stuttered at that word, but he braved on.

Lan Zhan's fingers stroked his, now trying to comfort him. Wei Ying smiled at him gratefully, competition forgotten momentarily.

"But XiChen-Ge, there is more worrying news. I asked her about how they can raise corpses without any extra help and she said it was because they were originally buried within the earth, so there is no limit to how many they can summon."

Both Lans sucked in a breath.

"That is indeed, rather worrying." XiChen told him. "What else did she say?"

"That's also how they broke the wards of Cloud Recesses. Your wards rely on the mountain spirits and woodland divinities, she said their mother created them in the first place. Your wards won't hold against them."

"I see. Then we should expect more attacks." XiChen started making notes.

"She also gave us the antidote to their weird black poison. It's lemon juice, would you believe?" He added, simultaneously thinking about how to free his hand.