Solstice Souls Book 2: Black Fire, White Flame

A Time of Need

Lan Zhan's POV

Fierce corpses? Here?

Those two words together snapped Lan Zhan's mind into alert mode, and he immediately pulled Wei Ying up with himself, fixing their clothes into tightly packed robes, finger brushing Wei Ying's hair into a high ponytail as before. His own was easier to do now, because of earlier when he'd tried for the first time.

Wei Ying waves a hand at the barrier of his own making and Lan Zhan is again, in awe at his skill with manipulating Resentment energy and his casual use of it, like it was nothing.

They race outside and see the villagers running for their lives, pursued by at least ten fierce corpses.

They are truly terrifying to look at.

Their knotted hair clings to their faces, baring their teeth as all manner of animalistic noises leave their rotting mouths, and the air is full of that particular musty smell that comes with decay.

They are fast, too, and Wei Ying pushes the last of the men in danger behind him, and pulls out Chenqing. When Lan Zhan summons Bichen, Wei Ying shakes his head at him.

"No, my love. WangJi will be better."

He doesn't have time to say anything else because the fierce corpses are almost upon them, so he lifts his black flute to his lips and begins to play.

Lan Zhan nods. It's easy enough to swap them out, and as soon as WangJi is in front of him, his fingers begin releasing blue energy beams, one after another, pulsating power designed to overcome the negative energy radiating from these relentless creatures.

But this time, something is different.

His blue energy begins to turn white the further away it moves, and it hovers in the air as if harnessing the sound waves from Wei Ying's Chenqing. And then as if it's bolstered with that increase of power, it attacks, a hundred times more powerful than Lan Zhan has ever seen before.

His fingers continue to strum out the waves of blue beams, and he's done it enough times to let himself look at Wei Ying.

Tall, proud, and like a dark sorcerer, Wei Ying stands like a column of righteous power, emanating raw strength that comes straight from his core. It waits for Lan Zhan's white energy beams and then twisting together, their united power crashes into each corpse simultaneously, extinguishing whatever energy was keeping them upright, and turning them into ash.

Seconds later, Wei Ying stops playing.

Lan Zhan can only stare back in wonder.

He's so beautiful.

Wei Ying is lovely in the way that makes something hurt inside his chest at his gorgeous countenance. A soft breeze plays with the ends of his hair, flapping the tails of his robes, black and red together. His silver starlight eyes shine with an ethereal glint, and the most playful smile dances on his kiss-bitten lips.

Cheers erupt around them and Lan Zhan is forced to look away, as the villagers congratulate them on this small victory.

He is a patient man, and there will be ample time to show Wei Ying later, how much he appreciated this experience.

There aren't many hours of daylight left, and it's in a collective agreement to continue working as much as they can, while they can still see properly.

Lan Zhan smiles as Wei Ying is carried away by his fellow disciples and the relieved villagers, who had been so frightened before. There's an apologetic smile on his face as Wei Ying waves at him, a temporary goodbye.