WangXian Forever 7

Chapter 123 Deal

Bichen was out before Wei Ying finished blinking up at the tall, tall giant, menacing and broad, with his club raised as if to hit them into next week.

Wei Ying was shoved behind Hui Gai as if he and Lan Zhan were in cahoots to protect Wei Ying first and foremost, defence being the second part of their initiative.

"Wait!" Wei Ying shuffled forward and then he grinned, tugging on Lan Zhan’s big white sleeve. "Look up there!" His sharp silver eyes had caught sight of something...

"Is that a-" Lan Zhan squinted upwards where Wei Ying was pointing.

"A nest?" Hui Gai finished, bewilderment on his face. He licked his red lips.

Wei Ying giggled at both of them.

"Yes...that's a nest...in his ear. He's no longer alive...unfortunately." It was a sobering thought.

Lan Zhan poked the giant with Bichen, and only when the sword vibrated with a clang, was he satisfied enough to put it away. Hui Gai was already at the giant's feet, his palms splayed upon his calves.

"Stone? He's been turned into stone? Or was he carved out of one to give visitors a heart attack?" He said, his red eyes shrewdly trying to make sense of what he was seeing.

Wei Ying tapped his nose thoughtfully.

"You know...all this time, I've been wondering why Dunshi has been scared of the daylight. I didn't want to ask because I wasn't sure if whatever it was, affected solely him, and I didn't want to inadvertently make him feel bad...but what if they all have this condition? What if exposure to daylight...does that?" He pointed to the giant, immortalised in stone.

Green and orange lichen was growing on his back, his shoulders braced for a show of strength, and the fiercest scowl, one to rival Jiang Cheng's worst one, was so perfectly captured upon his face, that he looked real.

His deep set eyes were hooded, but wide with anger and passion, his nose scrunched up, while his huge teeth would have glinted in the morning light had they remained calcific. His mouth was open, and his tongue was animated, as if he was in the middle of a shout before his unfortunate predicament.

He had long ears, with round lobes, and even the hairs that grew inside them had turned into stone, and those were what the birds had used as a base to build their nest.

Two little bluebirds chirped at the visitors as they walked around the base of this statue.

"I wonder what caught him unawares?" Wei Ying remarked.

"I would have thought, if this....condition applied to all them, they'd have an in built alarm system in their heads, to warn them of impending daylight. Evolution being what it is..." Hui Gai said, rapping with his knuckles on the hard surface. As tall as he was, Hui Gai could only reach up to the giant's ankle, the knot huge and knobbly.

"Well, if that's correct, then it's easy to assume that something stopped him from getting to shelter. He's facing the direction we came in..." Wei Ying leaned against the giant's foot, and then decided to simply sit down on his big toe.

"Another giant?" Lan Zhan came and stood next to him, Wei Ying's seemingly casual action having not gone unnoticed as he would have preferred.

"Maybe. We can ask Dunshi when he wakes up." Wei Ying stifled a yawn, hoping Lan Zhan wasn't looking.

But now that Lan Zhan suspected something was wrong with him, nothing could escape his eagle-eyed attention towards Wei Ying.

He offered his arm as soon as it looked as if Wei Ying was ready to stand.