WangXian Forever Book 8

Chapter 63 Key

Wen Ning felt a presence.

A prickling on the back of his neck, but when he turned around, there was nothing.

Nothing obvious.

Only a huge gaping black hole, the mouth of a cave. It looked dark and deep and dangerous.

But that didn't mean it was empty.

His instincts were on high alert, making him hyper aware.

Whatever was watching him, was in there.

Wen Ning stepped forward confidently.

Ever since his return as the Ghost General, a title he did not mind so much, but inspired so much fear and irrational hatred that Wei Ying had told him not to use it willy-nilly, he had more confidence in doing things that he would have otherwise stepped back from in his first life.

He was still a teenager then, just starting to find his feet in a rapidly changing world which escalated into full-blown war. Personal growth was pushed to the side in favour of survival which came to the forefront of everyone's lives.

He and Wen Qing had strove for neutrality, curing and helping people regardless of whose side they were on. Their surname invoked respect not earned through the better qualities of mankind, but induced from fear for a long time, even though they had not killed anyone.

But the tables had turned.

In the blink of an eye, suddenly the Wen name was taboo.

Open hatred began allowing for open cruelty and no one stopped it.

Then, barely nineteen, captured with his sister and made to work in a camp, taken on night hunts against his will, and then stabbed with a spirit-trapping flag...that kind of madness would have been unbelievable had he not lived through it himself.

Only one man had bravely stood in the way of injustice and supported the Dafan Wens. Young Master Wei had saved their lives, given them a good few years of happiness before it all came crashing down around them.

In spite of the poverty, the grim days of living out their lives in the Burial Mounds with such hardship, there had been happy times too. Moments when they felt secure enough to drink and pass the time in the evenings telling stories and laughing.

That time had gone, those people were dead, long passed away.

But the memories? They would last forever, as long as he lived.

And the knowledge that he couldn’t actually die, it made him feel so much surer of himself, and his size helped a great deal.

That was why he never hesitated to walk forward now.

If this path was going to take him towards his friend, his Soul-Brother, then Wen Ning knew he would do anything, whatever it took to reach him. He knew that somehow their connection was something dependent on Young Master Wei being alive, though its exact mechanism wasn't understood by him.

He paused at the mouth of the cave, weighing the situation. Once he stepped inside, he had a feeling that he wouldn't be coming out...not from this side at least.

But there was comfort to be had that this body did not need to breathe. It did not suffer the limitations of ordinary human bodies, no need to eat, drink, sleep...nothing.

Wen Ning was powerful without those weaknesses.

The deep blackness enveloped him like a thick blanket, muffling his steps as he entered that dark place.

Wen Ning did not mind the dark. Part of him was made with the dark whispers of resentment energy and he was comfortable in a place that reminded him of his second life, the emerging from the darkness. Wei Ying had extended a hand in that darkness, and pulled him out from its amnesia, reminding him he had a sister who loved him. He had a family, and his best friend...Wei Ying himself.