Waiting For You (A Wangxian FF)

05) The Dancing Fairy

"Who on earth in their right mind would come here to worship a deity? This place is awfully creepy!" Looking back and forth around the area, Feng Ling complained in a low tone, not daring to raise it even a notch.

"I also heard some gossip about this deity a while ago. The villagers said that the statue up at the mountain is a one made up by nature and has a miraculous power to grant any wish of the worshipper. As long as one would desire, they can go up there and pray for the deity. But after the people around the area lost their souls after coming here, the people also stopped coming up here, afraid that their souls would also be lost if they tried to cross the forest around the area." Hua Xuanyu added thoughtfully, glancing at his mother.

Even though the quiet forest and the gloomy environment made the chills run up through the spines of the three of them, his mother didn't seem like he cared. Despite the disturbance that had been clouding his facial features, he appeared calm and collected nonetheless.

"Soul consumption? That's quite alarming. By the way, who is this deity? Any name?" Shizui chimed in, recalling the long list of deities he had been known for his whole life but failing to pinpoint any who might have a possible association with Defan.

"Don't know actually. The villagers call her the dancing fairy because the statue looks like a dancing wo-"

"Shh! Listen." Disturbing the boy, Tài Zǐ Diànxià suddenly called for their attention while he himself perked his ears to listen carefully.

After a while, he quickened his pace and the boys followed obediently, even though they didn't manage to hear any danger within the area.

Yet, when they reached towards a cave entrance at the top of the mountain, they also heard the sounds of distant chatting.

"Seems like we finally have some company!" Sighing in relief, Feng Ling walked forward and entered the cave, completely forgetting about his uncle's instructions to stay close.

Good thing the people inside were friends instead of foes. Otherwise his uncle would've beaten him before the enemy could have the chance to do so!

"Oh, it's you!" One of the boys within the group of young cultivators exclaimed the moment he saw Feng Ling's figure.

"Yes, it's me! So what?!" Feng Ling snapped arrogantly, showing a side Tài Zǐ Diànxià had never expected to see within his nephew.

"Marvellous! That's all I lacked so far..." He muttered before looking up and muttering a complaint.

"Couldn't you have just injected your qualities into him, shijie? Why did he had to be a mix of that angry lotus and your arrogant peacock?"

"Hey! Stop bickering!! Why did you all come up here? Where is Hanguang Jun?" Like the peace maker he is, Shizui hurried to divert the attention and focus them to talk about the task at hand.

"He is resting at the foot of the mountain and asked us to search the area for clues about 'missing souls'." A boy in a grey and white robes replied, quickly coming forward from behind.

"Are you sure your Hanguang Jun is not possessed? As far as I can remember, he is not the type of man to sit behind and order his disciples to do chores for him." Tài Zǐ Diànxià commented off handedly, coming out of the shadows and standing beside his two sons.

"Hua gongzi, it's a pleasure to meet you again and thank you for the help at Mo residence." The same boy said, bowing down to show his respect with the others following suit.

"Ah, don't mention it! I wouldn't be there if it wasn't for my arrogant kids thinking that it would be a great time to play hero..." The elder chuckled, ignoring the protests and whines of his sons and nephew.

"But you don't have to slander Hanguang Jun that way. He is not like that!" The boy, who bickered with Feng Ling defended, earning an amused look from Hua gongzi.

"You don't have to tell me that, young man. It's just that I never had a situation like this where he would stay behind until his disciples could call for help."

"What are you-"

"That's enough, Jingyi! Don't talk to my mother like that!!" Shizui warned, standing right in front of his mother while glaring down at his disrespectful colleague.

"It's fine, my sweet little child. No harm has been done." Hua gongzi murmured, swiftly embracing his son from behind and placing a kiss on top of his head.

The other boys looked somewhat uncomfortable at the display of pure affection between the 'mother' and son as if they were not used to such interactions or haven't experienced such by themselves.

"But, a-niang he-"

"No buts, baobei. We came here to find some clues. No need to go around threatening your colleagues. Understood?"

"Yes, a-niang..."

"Good. Then let's look around here. Shall we?" After the display, Hua gongzi asked everyone present, showing his most dazzling smile to light up the atmosphere.

Then they start working, searching for clues and finding none as Hua gongzi continues examining the statue of the dancing fairy.

Since it looked like a dancing woman, he approved of using that adjective to describe her but referring to her as a fairy? A deity? He clearly didn't approve that claim.

At any rate, this particular statue looked nothing like a deity. It didn't even possess such aura! On the contrary, it emitted a strong essence of the yin hu fu and screamed of danger. He wondered why these young cultivators didn't feel that aura.

Amidst his trail of thoughts, even though he missed the conversation between the boys, he somehow clearly heard the next few words of his arrogant nephew that caused the start of the next chain of events.

"These rural villagers don't work hard when they face difficulties, but instead pray to the Buddha and other things every day. There are thousands and millions of people in the world, but gods and Buddhas are already hands-full with their own matters, so who would care about them? Let alone a powerless goddess without status, like this one. If it's really that effective, then I'm gonna pray for the soul-consuming creature in Dafan Mountain to appear in front of me right now. Can the statue do it?" Feng Ling humphed arrogantly, oblivious to his uncle's glare.

However, when the others started laughing right after hearing him, the originally quiet temple became bustling with noise, and with the quite large number of the group, the space also seemed more cramped. Hua gongzi silently shook his head, turning around and glancing without any aim. His gaze landed on the features of a compassionately smiling face of the strangely familiar face, as if he had seen it somewhere before this.

But before he had the chance to examine further, a young cultivator who was originally standing behind him had fallen down without any noise. The others were alert with surprise. Feng Ling spoke in a vigilant tone, "What happened to him? Is he-"

Before he finished his sentence, the dark cave abruptly lit up. The cave was suddenly covered in a red light, as if a waterfall of blood was rolling off its walls. The candles on the platform for offerings and in the corners of the cave had ignited on their own.

Hua Gongzi's eyes widened with surprise as he decisively jumped in front of his son, ready to protect him from any kind of harm.

He threw a few talismans towards the now moving statue to hold it back for a while and shouted, "Everyone, go back outside! Be cautious of the soul-consuming goddess on the inside!"

***