Wild Creatures

Chapter 55

Wei Ying tugs on his sleeve.

Then he lifts a hand to Lan Zhan's cheek.

"You're so beautiful, my love."

Lan Zhan gazes at Wei Ying, noting his flushed face and how he keeps blinking because he can't see straight. He wants to whisk him away from here, keep him safe forever... but he knows he has to get answers first.

So he looks back at the woman.

"I repeat, what did you do to him?"

"Nothing he didn't do to himself. He just had a glass of Emperor's Smile. Just one!" She sighs and aims a look at Xiao XingChen.

"Coffee." Then she turns to both Lan Zhan and Wei Ying. "Sit." She gestures to the comfortable looking leather seats, again set in a circular pattern, and moves the decanter and glasses away from where Wei Ying can touch them. "Honestly, I expected any member of my family to hold their own against a few drinks, but he implied not having any at his home because of the child. Or children, as is now the case."

Her clever silver eyes appraise Lan Zhan, noting the way his arms protectively guide Wei Ying to sit opposite her. Xiao XingChen goes to stand by the fireplace, stoking it with the poker.

It's a ruse of sorts; since the fire is merrily crackling by itself. He's within reach, should the need arise. New vampires are not to be trusted, a well learned lesson for both of them.

Lan Zhan watches her back, hackles still risen because how can he trust these strangers? Everything he knows about them is detrimental to a good opinion of them.

They took Wei Ying, and he still has to find out why, and upon finding Wei Ying in a less than great condition, doesn't make this any better.

Her eyes might be similar to Wei Ying, but Lan Zhan cannot see the galaxy of stars in hers. Her eyes do not remind him of the darkening sky just before a storm, of clouds heavy laden and bright with lightning strikes. Her eyes don't make him fall in love again, and again.

Wei Ying is Wei Ying, and that is all there is to this.

Another young lady comes into the room and puts a cup of strong aromatic coffee in front of Wei Ying, and a cup of tea in front of Lan Zhan.

"Thank you, A-Qing." The lady says to her, and it's a dismissal, one that is obeyed. "Make him drink that, and then we can talk."

"Who are you?" Lan Zhan asks her.

He shifts Wei Ying on his lap so it's easier to offer him the cup of black coffee.

"Drink?" Wei Ying asks him, as if he's asking if he has to.

There's so much innocence on his face, his beautiful silver eyes free from ulterior motives. As Lan Zhan nods and helps him consume what is guaranteed to sober him up, Lan Zhan wonders whether it's this quality which draws him towards Wei Ying.

He's so good with children, too. And perhaps it's because they share the same kind of wonder with the nature of the world.

The lady finishes the rest of the wine from the decanter, now looking pensively back at them.

"My name is Baoshan Sanren. And as you've probably guessed, I am Wei WuXian's grandmother," she says quietly. "And this," she picks up Wei Ying's locket, the tarnished heart resting in the centre of her palm while the slender chain spills through her fingers. "It's a key."

"To what?" Lan Zhan asks her.

"We don't know, at least, not exactly," she sighs. "I suppose I should start at the very beginning. A long time ago, not much was known about vampires. Even now, there's so many rumours that the truth gets buried. Which is good, make no mistake." She stands up to pace. "I was a cultivator in ancient China, and I lived in Yiling. There was a place called Burial Mounds, and it was filled with resentment energy. It was not a good place; people tossed their dead in there without a proper burial, so you can imagine how bad it was.