WangXian Forever Book 8

Chapter 44 Gate

Wen Ning found it exhilarating to run with no boundaries or limits. His legs kept going and as he didn't need to breathe, he covered quite a long distance. The obstacles in his way were easily navigated over as Wen Ning learned he could jump over hurdles too, such as flat boulders and shrubbery too thick to walk through. It became second nature and almost an automatic response, so while he ran, he had a good chance to think.

Most of all, he thought about Young Master Wei.

He too had wondered why Young Master Wei's scent had changed, and why it was more similar to his own now.

But mortals often had no explanation for certain things, and Celestials were supposed to provide all the answers.

However, he couldn’t help feeling that this may end up being a shot in the dark. No one up till now had a clue as to what was happening, except that shady Soothsayer, who was suddenly very tight-lipped about everything if he wasn't giving them answers.

Although if Wei Ying was showing dragonish tendencies, perhaps the dragons knew what they were doing. Either way, Wen Ning was going to keep an eye on the cocoon and report back to Hui Gai.

Out of all the people surrounding Young Master Wei, Wen Ning was surprised that he would choose the Demon over Lan XiChen, or even Jiang WanYin.

If he was honest about them, his opinion wasn't very high of either of these two; during the war, one had been curiously absent and the other for many reasons, lacked the maturity to support Young Master Wei.

He did not want to hold anything against these people so he always determined to remain silent when in their company.

He could feel the terrain changing from sparse vegetation to greener plants, and tall thick bamboo trees. These were so tightly packed together that Wen Ning had to reduce his speed.

There was a strange sort of quietness here, as if the forest was watching him, holding its breath. A silence full of possibilities.

And that was when he saw it.

Wen Ning stopped and looked up.

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Jin Ling had to admit, riding a dragon was extremely cool. Way better than travelling by sword. Way better than just about everything!

His steed was particularly careful about not dropping him, and he found that he did not have to hold on that tightly after all, because the dragon was aware of his size and his weight, and adjusted his angle in the sky as they flew.

They were incredibly lucky because a thin layer of clouds spread across the sky and these three dragons flew right above it, while it shielded them from the dragon parents.

Shen Ling and Shen Qing were flying relatively lower, and as they flew over the bamboo forest, a hush fell over them all.

The three dragons and their riders were already quiet, but now they had to be even more so.

SiZhui was glad for the change in scenery and being given the chance to think about something other than their plight.

All of Cloud Recesses held special memories for him with his parents and while he had been trying to make up his mind on whether or not they were going to go, the only things he could see as he looked around was the ghosts of days gone by.

As he had grown up with one of his fathers during his formative years, he saw himself holding one elegant, long finger pale compared to his own skin, as he and his Father Zhan walked side by side when he had somewhat recovered enough from his punishment.

From the training grounds, he could see the moon tree near Uncle Qiren’s living quarters, and the bench underneath where his parents often sat during the evenings in summertime when it was still warm enough to do so.

Cloud Recesses suddenly had become unbearable when it should have been a place of solace.

SiZhui had needed space, and JingYi had given it to him.

Granted, they would probably get into trouble when it was found out that they were missing, but the thought of leaving his parents to go to an unknown place, and staying at Cloud Recesses with all those memories...it had become too much.

His dragon had nuzzled him with his snout, and that had evaporated his doubts.

There was no way he was leaving his fathers.

JingYi loved flying on his babies, and it was so much better than by sword. He unlike his peers, didn't really like danger, or even leaving home, but it was the look on SiZhui's face that decided it for him.

The whole thing was as unplanned as it could be, and he shuddered to think about what their punishment was going to be when they got back...but if they by some miracle from the Universe, managed to bring back their seniors then maybe everyone would be too busy celebrating to actually pay attention to them.

It was a gamble that JingYi was willing to take.

If the elders got too worked up and shouted at them, he would hide behind his friends and weather the storm.

He had learned a lot from his idol, Hanguang-Jun, and through rumours and whatever SiZhui had told him, he had pieced together what had happened to his hero.

Whether he agreed to it or not was something best left unsaid.

And why hash out the past when the result was two super cool parental figures?

Now the bamboo forest became much more dense, and in front of them, they saw a red gate.

This gate towered far too high above the bamboo treetops, enough that the older dragons could fly through it without reducing their speed or their height.

But, the moment they passed through the sturdy beams, on this side SiZhui could no longer see the dragons or his parents.

And before he could shout out a warning, they passed through the gate themselves.