Secret & Lies (the forsaken #1) [WangXian FF]

13

"Where have you been? Did you get the artifact? I have been looking for you since last night, we're supposed to meet here. Were you hurt? Did anyone find out about what we were looking for?"

As soon as Wei Wuxian entered the safe house, where he and Jiang Cheng were supposed to rendezvous last night, he was bombarded by Jiang Cheng's question.

"I'm fine. Hit a bit of a snag, but everything turned out peachy." He put the box with the incense burner inside. "Here's the artifact, secure it and let's head back."

"What about Bai Shenlong? Did you see him?" Jiang Cheng took the box and peeked inside before he put it away in a secure safebox.

Wei Wuxian did not want to answer that question, instead he chose to go outside again to clear his head.

"I need to do something, call me when you finish the prep, we should be able to fly out tonight."

The streets of Monaco were bustling with mostly tourists, and there were lots of them, walking, shopping, taking pictures, eating and doing tourist-y things.

Wei Wuxian sat in one of the cafes, thinking, and watching people, his favorite pastime when he saw that little girl about five with long silver hair near the fountain. 

She was sitting with such glee, holding ice cream in one hand and a red balloon on her other hand. Her twin ponytails were swinging as she moved her legs. She looked like one of the rich trust fund babies, she was supposed to have hordes of nannies and bodyguards. And yet, she was alone.

Not a minute later, Wei Wuxian saw two men approaching the girl and they didn't look… respectable. He could see from a mile away that the men had a bad intention toward the little girl, so he decided to step in. He stood up and walked toward the girl. She looked left and right, like she was looking for something, or someone, her red balloon had long gone.

Then her eyes stopped at Wei Wuxian.

There's a flash of recognition in her eyes before she suddenly threw the rest of her ice cream and it landed on one of the men, who shouted something and she ran toward Wei Wuxian, jumped into his embrace, burying her face into his neck.

Wei Wuxian was surprised by the little girl's action, but he decided to play along.

"Gege! Where have you been? Yuanyuan was waiting for you when those uncles came and said that they were here to take me to papa, is that true gege?"

Her golden eyes were full of tears and Wei Wuxian suddenly felt some kind of familiarity toward this beautiful little girl.

"I'm sorry I'm late baobei." He wiped the tears carefully. "Let me take you to your papa right now." He ignored the murderous gaze from the two thugs that were now considering whether to follow the girl or not. 

Wei Wuxian decided to do something before they approached the girl again, and he walked away from the crowds, toward an empty alley. 

Sure enough the two men followed him.

"Gege, those uncles were not nice, are you planning to do something to them?" The little girl whispered to Wei Wuxian, and he could feel the… excitement? Strange, she didn't even show any fear. Sure she cried, but he was pretty sure that the tears were fake.

"Well, gege needs to make sure that they won't do this thing again to other people. What do you think?"

"I think, my papa and uncle will surely make them regret that they dare to even think about kidnapping me." She was so smug it made Wei Wuxian smile.

"In that case, gege will do what your papa and uncle would."

"Great! May I watch?"

Wei Wuxian looked at her in amazement.

"You're not afraid that I worked with them?"

She rolled her eyes and giggled. 

"You smell nice and familiar. I'm pretty sure you're a nice person, ge, if not… well, my papa and uncle will definitely make you regret for sure."

This… this little girl is scary.

But Wei Wuxian needed to do something fast because he could hear the footsteps approaching.

"Baobei, you hide here while gege…"

"Kill them?" She asked with so-called innocent eyes.

"What? No, gege will not kill them, only… make them wish they're dead." He ruffled the familiar silver hair, which earned him a swat from the little hand.

"You ruined my hair, ge." She pouted.

Wei Wuxian now wondered about this girl. Who was she, exactly? But he needed to take care of the two pests first.

He put the girl away, in a safe spot, on higher ground, then he waited.

It took him approximately a total of five minutes from subduing the two thugs and doing what he had to do to them. When he finished, he turned around to look for the little girl, only to find her gone.

He was panicked at first, but when he thought of the bizarre incident, he was not sure anymore.

Wei Wuxian let out a long sigh, and he walked back to find Jiang Cheng. These last two days had been too much of an excitement for him, he needed to go home, to recuperate, and think about what happened.

Meanwhile, back at the hotel.

Lan Wangji was sitting on the chair, working on some stuff when he heard the suite's door open with a bang and a little girl with silver hair entered.

Lan Wangji sighed and closed his laptop to face the little girl.

"Xiao Bai, where have you been? Did you cause any trouble?"

"Uncle, I told you to call me Yuanyuan, and no, I did not cause any trouble… yet." She threw herself on the couch. "Although I met our mutual acquaintance, and strangely, I smell you on him. Is there anything I should know?"

"It's none of your business, Xiao Bai. You should behave or I will not take you out anymore."

"You're such a meanie, I will tell papa that you bullied me." She pouted.

"Go on, and I will tell him that you escape alone. House arrest will sound like heaven given your papa's temper." Lan Wangji took the room phone and dialed room service. "Are you hungry? I'm going to order some food."

"Mm, yeah. I want steak, bloody, as usual." She yawned. "I'm so sleepy, uncle. Wake me up when the steak arrives, please."

"You shouldn't exert yourself. You have to train harder if you wish to go out alone."

"Fine. Wake me up later?" She already took her place on the bed. "Mm, this bed smells like gege…" she moved under the blanket and went asleep in less than three seconds.

Lan Wangji chuckled and continued to order the food while letting the girl sleep after her adventure outside.