Call On Me

15

Now that we got two ingredients, Lan Zhan and I only have one more to go. We were already on the road. Lan Zhan flew me on his sword until we reached the mountain we need to be at. This mountain felt very enchanted and Lan Zhan and I were prepared to face anything. The tree was located at the top of the mountain so we had to do some climbing.

"Wei Ying, we can rest and I can fly us up there tomorrow," Lan Zhan said.

"Lan Zhan, the peaches will only work if we work our way up the mountain. We need to go through the challenges the mountain has in order to prove ourselves worthy of a peach," I said.

"How do you know this?" He asked.

I sighed and pulled out the book for the elixir. I then showed him the pages about the peaches, "it's read here. Since when do you shy away from chaos?"

"Since you could get hurt very easily," Lan Zhan said, "but if this is what we need to do, I will still follow you."

"Lan Zhan, I am not entirely fragile. I can still fight and I can still defend myself. There are just some things that is limited to me now," I said.

He nodded, "we should still wait until morning to start climbing. There is no telling what kind of creatures we will encounter."

I nodded, "I brought my bow and I saw some pheasants not far from here. Did you want to start a fire? Prepare camp a bit?"

"Alright," Lan Zhan said.

I went back a few miles and hunted a couple pheasants. I brought them back to camp and saw that Lan Zhan had already started a fire. He set up two stumps for us to sit on and then we started to pluck and clean the pheasants to cook. We then started to cook them over the fire.

"Wei Ying, I want you to know I am here for you," Lan Zhan said.

I looked at him, "what is this about?"

"I..." he paused.

He looked nervous, scared even. I looked into his eyes and there was just something there. I moved over to sit closer to him, "you what?" He looked back into my eyes. He set our food to the side and pushed me back onto the ground, "Lan Zhan, What—?!"

I've only known Lan Zhan to be more of a man of action than words. His lips suddenly fell upon mine. He was trembling, he pinned my hands on either side of my head. He was trembling, and his tongue breaching my mouth as his kissed me. Lan Zhan was kissing me. I have never kissed anyone before, I even thought I wouldn't do so in this lifetime. As we kissed, I did panic at first because I was taken by surprised, but I soon relaxed and started to enjoy it all. I think he could sense that because he let go of my hands. When he did, I wrapped my arms around his neck.

I started to really understand now. Lan Zhan likes me, he has been hinting that to me since he found me. He mentioned that he realized some things lately and this was it. I suddenly realized why I was always so attracted to him. To be near him, wanting to tease him, getting reactions from him, I liked him too. As we kissed, my lungs started to ache a bit from the lack of air but this pain was worth it. Lan Zhan suddenly bit down on my bottom lip before pulling away. He rested his forehead to mine as we were catching our breath.

"I—I think I—understand," I said.

"Be mine," he said.

"I am not meant for anyone else, just you," I assured him, "you took my first kiss, after all."

"It was mine too," Lan Zhan said.

"So you want to be together?" I asked, "even if after this trip the elixir does nothing?"

"Even if that is the case, I will be here for you," Lan Zhan said.

I nodded. As we laid there, we suddenly heard a sudden twig snap and leaves ruffling. We sat up and saw someone standing on the other side of the campfire, "Who are you?" I asked.

"I'd like to ask you the same, you are at the bottom of my mountain," the person said. It was a woman. Long dark hair, and looked to be in her forties maybe. Her robes were black and white, and she had a longsword at her waist. The sword was a nice silver and had exquisite red rubies and gold as a finishing touch.

"We didn't know this mountain belonged to anyone, we were here just to retrieve something from the top to help me," I told her.

"What do you need?" She asked.

"A peach," I answered.

"Why?" She asked.

"It's for an elixir," I answered, "it is to help me cultivate again."

"It is said once someone loses their cultivation, they cannot cultivate again," the woman said.

"If they gave it up to save someone as a sacrifice?" I questioned.

"In what way?" The woman asked.

"Someone lost their golden core due to someone by Wen Zhuliu who can crush a golden core. To help him, and as a promise I made to his family, I found a solution. I gave my golden core to him. There is a war going on now and I run a small sect of healers. I am just trying to find a way to gain strength again to help those people who need it," I replied.

"No one has ever given someone else their golden core," the woman said, "it can be done but the way to do it is extremely painful...my peaches are for those who have made sacrifices, bit sacrifices. You have."

"I have two other ingredients that can help me and they can be mixed with the peach to make an elixir so I can cultivate again," I said.

"Because you came all the way, I am willing to help you, but I need your names," the woman said.

I stood up and bowed, "I am Wei Ying, sect leader of San Bao, and this is my cultivation partner, Lan Zhan from the Gusu Lan sect."

"Well, I'll be," the woman said and walked over to us, "my best friend's grandson and my grandson are cultivation partners. What a small world."

"Grandson?" I asked and took a good look at her, "you are Baoshan Sanren?"

"I am, and now that I know you of blood, I am willing to help you even more," she said, "lets get you up to the mountain to rest and we can talk more in the morning."

"Okay, thank you," I said, a bit shocked. Of course these peaches would be guarded by her. It makes a lot of sense.