The Mad Ҡìղց

Slumber

"Hello Wang, we meet again," a voice called from behind as Wang bent to lift Xie. He spun around swiftly, only to see someone who looked exactly like Zhan. For a moment, his heart raced, but the unsettling darkness in the eyes told him it wasn't Zhan.

Before Duan Dan and Meng could reach him, the Zhan look-alike stabbed Wang and vanished into thin air.

Meng and Chang screamed.

"Take him inside," Duan Dan ordered with a heavy sigh, lingering outside for a few moments before following them in.

Wang clutched his stomach, blood seeping through his fingers. His head felt light and hollow.

"Zhan... I want to see Zhan," Wang murmured weakly.

Chang cried out, pleading with the gods to take her life instead and spare her grandson.

Sensing Wang's anguish, the unicorn approached and licked the wound while Duan Dan and Meng chanted, trying to stop the bleeding. The bleeding ceased, but the wound remained open, raw, and far from healing.

Wang gasped, his voice trembling. "Please... I want to see Zhan. Please, call him."

Fengmian and Nie Ming Jue, arriving, saw Xie, and hurried with her inside. "What happened?" they asked, but when their eyes landed on Wang, they knew the situation was dire.

"He was stabbed with the jade amulet," Chang cried, pleading desperately. "Please, save him!"

Fengmian sighed deeply. "His Majesty will have our heads."

"We know where one of the sorcerers is," Nie Ming Jue added, his tone grim.

"I sense traces of the magic. I can track its source," Duan Dan added, her voice tinged with anger.

"The unicorn's spit has stopped the bleeding for now, but if it starts again, let the unicorn continue until we return," Duan Dan cautioned.

"Fengmian, stay here. Nie Ming Jue and I will trace the magic and go to the address." With that, Duan Dan and Nie Ming Jue rushed out, leaving Meng to tend to Xie.

"She'll live," Meng reassured herself, stroking Xie's hair. "It was just a blunt blow. And blows don't kill werewolves... do they?"

Her mind raced with fear. Wang had just narrowly escaped death, and now this? "How much more can he endure?" she whispered.

"He's in his mid-20s, still young. But without his magic, the jade amulet will kill him within weeks," Chang sobbed.

"I won't let that happen," Meng said with determination. "I need all the journals on the twin jade amulets."

"There's nothing about it in the journals," Chang replied, her voice choked with grief. "My ancestors only started keeping records after the curse. The jade was passed down through generations, but it was always spoken of as a weapon and as hunters, it belonged to us."

Meanwhile, Zhan lay in bed, a deep unease gnawing at him. His heart ached, and he knew something was terribly wrong with Wang. After the ritual, he had turned off his phone, but now, frantically, he searched for it. The battery was nearly dead, but he plugged it in and quickly dialed Meng's number.

Meng, sitting beside Wang, was crying softly when her phone rang. She rushed to pick it up, hoping it was Duan Dan with good news, but it was Zhan. Tears streamed down her face as she stared at his name on the screen. Fengmian gently took the phone from her and answered.

He explained the situation calmly, and Zhan dropped the phone, sprinting out of the palace.

"My baby..." Wang whimpered through tears. The unicorn nuzzled against him, sorrowful.