WangXian Forever 7

Chapter 11 Guest

Night fell and the children amused themselves playing tic tac toe (also known as noughts and crosses) in the sand.

The Flowers of Venus began the process of lighting the fire and cooking, while others sat around in small groups.

Wei Ying was still lying on the sand, still warm from the sun, Lan Zhan sitting next to him, playing with his hair. His red ribbon was tangled in long, elegant fingers, Lan Zhan's thumb caressing its silkiness.

"Isn't it lovely how they come out a few at a time?" Wei Ying said, watching the stars as they twinkled in the velvet sky.

"Mn."

"You're not even looking. How do you know what I'm talking about?" Wei Ying giggled, a little annoyed.

"I am looking at something more beautiful."

Only the gradual darkness hid Wei Ying's flaming face, and he hid it behind his hands, whining.

"That's so embarrassing."

"I have not been looking anywhere else." Lan Zhan told him, honestly.

"Lan Zhaaan!"

He was answered by a light laugh.

It was nice to be like this, no worries on their minds, just relaxing here with friends and family. Wei Ying was not ignorant of this being something special, and he sat up. Lan Zhan manoeuvred him to sit in front of him, while he smoothed out the tangles and brushed away the sand from Wei Ying's hair, before wrapping it up into a neat ponytail.

Tiaopi De Long and Zai Shu Xia approached them.

Wei Ying shifted closer to Lan Zhan when they sat down. Lan Zhan wrapped an arm around his waist and they presented themselves as a single unit towards the couple.

"Thank you for bringing us here." The Seventh Sea Dragon said, taking his wife's hand in his.

He seemed to want to say something else, but wasn't sure how to.

Before he could say anything though, a strong wind blew, upsetting the utensils above the fire and Hongse quickly took control, protecting it with an air ball.

Sand flew in all directions and then they gasped, for they had an unexpected visitor.

The sky was lit up with a fiery bird, orange, red and gold, burning stronger than a midday sun, his seven fiery feathers in a pluming tail surrounding him like a peacock. He was huge, his talons each the size of two men, and possibly on that beach, only Suanni could have taken him down. A white halo of light surrounded him, lighting up the whole beach.

Wei Ying looked towards their friend and expected him to be ready to fight at least, but Suanni was...bowing?

Bichen was already out, Lan Zhan standing in front of Wei Ying, ready to protect him.

Wei Ying leaned up to whisper in his ear, "you look so hot right now, I'm definitely going to remember this. But, I think he's a friend. Look."

Sure enough, all around them were bowing to the magnificent bird.

Jiang Cheng caught his eye and raised a brow, to which Wei Ying shrugged and bowed along with everyone else.

"Welcome our father." Daden Yaonu said.

Of course then, everything clicked into place.

This was the Great Celestial Phoenix, father to the seven Sirens of the Sea.

The massive bird bowed in reverence to Suanni, before looking for someone there, amongst them. His sharp red eyes glowed when they landed on Wei Ying and Lan Zhan. They stood straight and strong as the phoenix approached.