WangXian Forever 7

Chapter 90 Wenxi

Wu Bizi dived into the hot sand and came back with something stuck to his nose. He pulled it off and showed it to Wei Ying and Lan Zhan by putting it in the centre of his palm.

"They grow under the sand. Very tasty." He claimed, grinning proudly. "Wenxi."

Wei Ying doubted it. He looked at it in fascination though, because it was soft and moved when he poked it, but otherwise looked kind of like the skin of a crocodile.

"Here, taste." He handed it to Wei Ying and began searching the ground again, like before.

There were murmurs of joy as other tribe people found more Wenxi, and sound of smacking lips as they ate and hunted more.

Wu Bizi found more and popped it in his mouth. And then he looked at them expectantly.

Wei Ying giggled at Lan Zhan's face, but the Jade was sure there was nothing on it to give away his utter distaste at what he was expected to put in his mouth.

"Never have I been so grateful for inedia." Wei Ying turned to Wu Bizi and smiled brightly. "We're not hungry but you go ahead." He almost felt bad for the tiny squeak he heard as he passed the Wenxi back.

"You said this is near the end of the dessert?" Lan Zhan asked Wu Bizi.

"Yes, you should follow the southern star, it normally comes out there somewhere." He pointed in a random direction and Lan Zhan frowned.

When he wandered away, Wei Ying linked his arm through Lan Zhan's and smiled up at him.

"It's not where he said, is it?"

"No. I fear their mental capacity rivals that of their diet."

Wei Ying spluttered out a laugh. "Savage, my love. Savage."

"Mn."

They watched the Da Bizi continue to dig for the Wenxi, noses to the ground, backsides in the air, and thought things just couldn't get any more weird.

They sauntered back to the cave like building.

Xiao Zei was sitting next to a sleeping Dunshi.

"So what do you make of this lot?" He whispered, jerking his head at the passing members of the tribe.

"Harmless." Wei Ying replied at the same time as Lan Zhan, who said, "simpletons."

Wei Ying glanced in his direction. Lan Zhan was normally quite silent, not wishing to interact with anyone other than their children and Wei Ying, anything else was too much effort and he usually left it up to Wei Ying to be the friendly, chatty type.

But today, he had broken his own protocol twice now, and Wei Ying wondered if anything was wrong.

"Hm, same." Xiao Zei leaned back on his arms, his legs crossed in front of him, at the ankles.

"How did you know about Xiangfa and the others?" Wei Ying asked him. "You said you saw them feeding? What did you mean?"

"Exactly that." Xiao Zei replied. "I dunno what it was about that place...you know? Maybe it was just the easy convenience of everything, I can't explain it. Everything was just too easy. So when Dunshi fell asleep on the second day, I thought I'd take a look around, like. Just to see what I would see, no suspicion then. But I was suddenly in the kitchen area and all the ladies were there, really excited about something. But when I heard a familiar voice, that's when I hid myself."

"Where?" Wei Ying was intrigued, and he was suddenly glad that one of them had thought to be on guard like this.

"Well, they had these huge empty cabinets and I just slipped inside. As you can see, I'm not very big. And I heard them...feasting." he grimaced at the memory.

"How did you escape?" Wei Ying probed.

"I just waited. I mean, they had to leave the kitchen at some point, right? So when it went completely quiet, I opened the door and slid out. The place was a mess, blood everywhere, it was...gory." he shuddered.

"Lucky you didn't get caught."

"Luck, my friend, had nothing to do with it. I'm a firm believer in wishing everyone good will." He insisted.

Lan Zhan snorted under his breath.

Wei Ying glanced at him again, raising a brow. He was definitely going to chat with Lan Zhan soon.

"What? I'm serious." Xiao Zei pushed back. "I might be a thief, but I take care only to relieve those who can afford it, not just anyone. I have my own code of conduct, you know. Professionals have standards."

"So, you're a professional thief, then?" Wei Ying smirked.

"Yes. And another thing, I don't normally travel with anyone, but I had a good feeling about you guys, that's my only reason for tagging along. If I take anything from you, I promise it won't be anything you miss." He grinned back shamelessly.

"You can try." Wei Ying grinned back, fully confident he was going to fail.

"We'll see."

They stopped talking then, as the tribe people were slowly filtering back inside, rubbing their bellies.

When it was dark enough outside, Dunshi woke up naturally.

"Did you try the Wenxi?" Wei Ying asked Hongse, trying to cheer her up.

She tried to smile back, shaking her head.

"Anyone else brave enough?" He looked at the other Flowers of Venus.

Chihong snorted.

Wei Ying thought whatever Lan Zhan had was contagious.

"We're fasting." Hongbaoshi told him firmly.

"Same." Xinghong added before he could ask her. "You?"

"Fasting." He replied with a straight face.

She wasn't fooled for a minute.

They set out and Wu Bizi insisted on accompanying them at least for a little while. Some of his people joined them, and they set off.

There was a peacefulness about them, in the deep silence of the night. Just the sound of the light wind and the shifting sands.

Bare and faded tufts of grass met them soon after and they realized that they had reached the end of the dessert.

Wu Bizi bowed and presented Wei Ying with a sandstone box.

"A gift, for helping us to rid ourselves of the Winged Devils."

They all bowed, in greetings and in surprise, because no one had expected this from them.

"Fare well." He told them before turning around and leaving.