Savage Wolf, Lotus Heart [Never Let You Go, Again: Book 4]

26: The Enemy's A Demon

"Father?"

"Sizhui?"

"What are we headed for today?"

"We don't know. I'm expecting the beast to come to us this time," Lan Wangji answered, walking on between his two Lan sons.

"Father, is this about that Qiong Qi thingie?"

"Yes, Jingyi. Last night, no green-eyed beast. If we do get it tonight..."

"Ey, then wouldn't that mean it's... got a grudge with Daddy?"

"No, Jingyi, grudge doesn't sound right," Sizhui shook his head. "Maybe it's... afraid of Daddy? But Daddy doesn't know this Qiong Qi..."

"Not the Qiong Qi. Those behind it," Lan Zhan explained.

"Whoever's manipulating it is afraid of Daddy?"

"Mn."

"Oooh, this sounds fun," Lan Jingyi smirked. "We could ask Daddy to give us a list of his haters... but... well..."

Lan Wangji nodded, agreeing with him. "Too many."

"Lesser now, right?" Lan Sizhui pouted.

"Mn."

"Oh, Father!" Sizhui pointed to westwards, and tapped his ear, signalling to them both to listen.

Sure enough, something was approaching them. Though... the problem was... the sound wasn't really footsteps...

"Oh no," Lan Jingyi whispered. "Wings!"

The largest crow they would ever see in all their lives fluttered into the space they stood in, probably about seven feet in height. Just like any other crow, it had black feathers, black beak, all of it complete with flaring red eyes. But almost seven feet tall. Just a tad taller than Lan Wangji himself.

Not to mention, three feet. A three-legged monstrous crow.

"Keep an eye out for the green eyes," Lan Zhan instructed and unsheathed his sword.

"Ca-CAW!" Its cry shook the trees around them, when Bichen slashes right through the lower end of its wings. Jingyi nodded when he saw what Lan Zhan was doing and quickly jumped up onto a tree nearby. While the crow flapped its wings and soared over their heads, Lan Jingyi swung from the branch, hand holding onto the wood, body hanging from it, dangling in the wind the bird's wings kicked up. Lan Zhan sliced at the clawed feet, effectively so far having cut off one limb completely.

That's right... Two-wheeled and wingless should do the trick, Jingyi smirked and let go of the tree branch, lading right in time on the crow's back. As he slid off its feathers, he dug his sword into the right wing, dragging it down forcefully while he fell, landing successfully on his feet beside an amazed Sizhui and a proud Wangji.

"Not bad," Lan Zhan nodded, making him proud as ever.

Right wing torn apart, two out of three legs remaining, the bird was at a loss. Lan Wangji had sneakily cut off one of its front limbs so that when on ground with one front limb and its third extra limb at the back, it wasn't really too well-balanced. The bird flopped onto the ground, the glorious ability of flight gifted by God, a bird's pride, having been stripped away.

The instant it crashed to the ground, weak and worn out with pain, red eyes transformed into the sharpest brightest green. This time, the glare lasted longer, as long as three seconds, giving it the boost it needed.

The three nodded to each other and Lan Wangji sighed. His theory had been confirmed. Lan Sizhui took out Ningjing and swung around to dodge when a flap of the left wing thrust towards him. The bird seemed to have gained enough energy to flap its wing at high speed until an entire storm was brewed, forcing the three Lans to step back.