Half of My Heart

Ripples in Ouyang's Pond.

Ouyang Zhen was not happy with the two employees he had sent to collect the prisoners, they had each helped to release them in their own way. His security cameras were all switched off and the culprit had no memory of doing it, while the other man had shown them the way out before he attempted to destroy all the blood samples. Shen Wei had managed to influence his men while he was in this environment, which was supposed to inhibit Black Robe's power, unless there was a fault somewhere, and he ordered his technicians to check the energy levels in every room, looking for a weak area. Not once did he ever consider that it was Zhao Yunlan who had been the reason for their escape.

Shen Wei was brought back to the lab mainly for conversation and questioning because after it was confirmed that the dark energy levels were stable, Ouyang felt safe and in no danger from an angry Spirit.

"I'm glad you could join us, Shen Wei, how is Black Robe. Is he feeling nauseous?" The old man asked as he turned his chair around to face Wei.

"You look pale, maybe we took too much blood from you but you can blame Black Robe for that. Some of the samples were destroyed earlier and we had to replace them. I'm not going to ask him how he managed to manipulate my men even when he was weak, because I'll find out later when we eventually merge. Let me talk to him."

Wei hadn't realised up until this point that Ouyang didn't know that he was here alone and tried to play a bluff, but it would only be a matter of time before he would find out.

"He's too weak to talk but I can give you his answers."

Ouyang considered this for a moment and thought that it could be possible, he would have used a great deal of power to release the two prisoners and hadn't had much time to recover before he was brought back here.

"Alright, he can hear everything I'm saying anyway. Zhao Yunlan's blood had an unknown element that our doctors didn't recognise, does he know what it is?"

Wei stared off into the distance as if he was listening to someone and then looked back at the old man.

"His ancestor was contaminated with the drug so it left a marker in his cells the Spirit explained to me, it's not harmful."

Wei felt himself becoming lightheaded and he looked around for a seat before he would fall, but Ouyang had noticed and signalled for one to be brought to him.

"I thought the Spirit would have been able to help you with health problems?" he asked Wei when he saw how weak he was.

"Normally he would but you have flooded this place with alien dark energy, and he can't use a lot of his skills. I have to manage my own health problems while I'm here."

Ouyang smiled at Wei in a sickening manner, ready to deliver another blow that he thought would crush the weak man in front of him.

"Talking about health problems, we found out about your brush with death, and it appears to have happened twice. You know what they say, third time lucky. It also means that you might not survive the treatment we have prepared for you. But you will be leaving an unforgettable legacy behind, a truly invisible killer in a pill that can be slipped into anyone's food or drink and make their death look like nature's choice."

Wei stared past the psycho and concentrated on one thought in his mind, a beautiful bright green flame, swaying and flickering in the soft breeze and if he looked hard enough into the rich red heart, he could see Yunlan smiling at him and he smiled back, unaware of the reaction he was causing in the mad old man's mind. He was furious and couldn't understand why the prisoner was happy, and he immediately ordered his men to take him back to his room. When the two henchmen each gripped an arm to lift Wei from the seat, his vision changed and he saw the one on his left, fighting his way through the flames after the lab had been destroyed and helping Neves to get to the nearest exit before turning around and facing the men behind him.