WangXian Forever Book 9: The Flower Demon

Chapter 25 JingLing

Wei Ying picked up the crystal ball, turning it over and over in his hands. He remembered finding it...all those months ago in the sinkhole which had appeared in the ruins of the temple, when they had met Boney.

The crystal orb looked clear at first and Wei Ying remembered that he had rubbed it previously, so with his sleeve, he did that once more, bringing a shine to the outside of it.

Immediately, it released a green smoke and once that cleared away, two familiar blue eyes stared back at Wei Ying.

"Hello!" It said chirpily, sounding different to the first time Wei Ying had heard it speak.

It didn't come out of the crystal this time, and Wei Ying wondered why.

"Hello." Wei Ying replied back, smiling because this being was naturally compelling him to be happy.

It was a gift, most definitely.

Usually magical items were never so...innocent. Nor so joyful either.

"Did you get my noodles for me?" Wei Ying asked it.

"Ahuh...ahuh...." the pink cloud looked like it was nodding.

"And did you sort through everything we took out of the chest for us?" He asked it again.

While Wei Ying listened to it, his mind was putting together all the pieces of the clues they had on working out what Xiannu could possibly want.

"Ahuh....that was meeee!" It shouted, outrageously happy as it giggled to itself. "Are you happy, Gege? Are you? You been sad for so long...I don't like that."

Before Wei Ying could answer, Lan Zhan turned his face towards him.

"Is that true?" He asked in his deep voice, looking troubled now.

Wei Ying lost his words looking into that beautiful face, now pained because of him. He was shaking his head adamantly.

"That's not true. I...do you think he means when we fell asleep? The cocoon thing?"

"Perhaps." But Lan Zhan wasn't convinced. "Wei Ying would say, if he wasn't happy?" He asked, pursuing the matter.

More because they both knew Wei Ying was notoriously bad at saying something when anything bothered him.

"Absolutely. Lan Zhan, my love...I promise. There's nothing bothering me. Except Xiannu. And..." He tapped his nose suddenly. "That's it!" It came out a little louder than he wished, and Wei Ying blushed, smiling.

"Mn?"

"That's it! I don't know why I didn't see it before! JingLing literally means a genie...someone who grants wishes! And didn't we say that if we were Xiannu..." Wei Ying jumped up and started pacing. "That-"

"We would want to be free!" Li XiWang jumped up, finishing his sentence and then high fiving him. "That's what she wants, not the book!"

There was a silence as everyone looked at.

Li XiWang blushed.

For a full minute, she stared back wondering if it was a mistake mentioning the book at all.

Wei Ying recovered first.

"Which book are you referring to?" He sat down next to her.

Lan Zhan was so shocked, he didn't blink. Those amber eyes watched his family, trying to think of when and how his daughter would have found out about that particular book. If it was the one he and Wei Ying suspected...

"The one that predicts the future...the one that keeps changing." Li XiWang said truthfully.

She had never lied to her parents and she wasn't going to start now, not even when it looked like she was going to be in a lot of trouble. The nicest thing about telling the truth was the sense of immediate relief that washed over her.