I want to protect you.

Chapter Five

Several weeks passed after their initial plans began to take shape and they were steadily growing closer to putting the final nail in Wen Ruohan's coffin so to speak. They had been pushing back the forces that were opposing them to the point that any time one of them came anywhere near one of the supervisory offices the cultivator's there would turn tail and run as fast as their legs could carry them quickly making their way back to nightless city until almost before they arrived in any of the towns they seemed to be ghost towns for even the ordinary citizens abandoned their homes in order to avoid the conflict that was steadily growing more violent.

One night when everyone had convened to plan their next move knowing that soon enough there would be no more cultivator's within the towns on the way to nightless city and Wei Ying decided it was too much to sit through another war meeting which were becoming rather mundane repeating everything he already knew.

They had decided that it was best to set up cultivator's to patrol their camps so they were not caught unawares by a sudden attack and Wei Ying decided to relieve one of them so he had something else to focus on besides the fact that Lan Zhan had no choice but to be present. It was quiet...almost too quiet for his comfort as he sat in a tree he had found spinning his flute absentmindedly between his finger's steadily growing more bored with how quiet it had been that night when without warning someone stepped into the light of one of the many lanterns that were lit outside the large camp.

He flung himself out of the tree not really thinking about the fact that he didn't have any means to defend himself other than the flute in his hands but he had the element of surprise on his side as he silently maneuvered himself behind the person who was completely covered by a black cloak. Without a sound, he pressed himself into the back of the person and pressed his flute against the person's throat, later he would think about how stupid that move was because what would he be able to do other than possibly hit the person over the head possibly breaking his flute in the process, "Don't move..." He hissed feeling the person go stiff in his grip, "One wrong move and I will end you." He finished with a growl. Of course, it was a pointless threat feeling utterly defenseless the moment he voiced it seeing as he felt like he brought a stick to a sword fight which essentially he did even though he had made his flute into a cultivation weapon it was still only a bamboo flute.

He froze suddenly caught off guard when the person in front of him seemed to stumble over his words, "M...ma...master Wei..."

'Huh...' he thought his mind going blank for a moment before he realized that he only knew one person who stuttered in the face of danger and he questioned in uncertainty, "Wen Ning?"

The person in front of him seemed to breathe a sigh of relief before he answered seeming to relax, "Yes."

Wei Ying removed his flute quickly and with a smooth move he spun him around and pushed the hood of the cloak off of his head gasping upon seeing that it was indeed Wen Ning before he suddenly went stiff in alarm as he admonished, "What are you doing here Wen Ning this is no place for a Wen..."

Wen Ning remained silent for a moment seeming to be struggling to come up with a proper response until he finally drew on his courage and surprisingly mentioned devoid of his normal stutter, "I had no choice...I need your help."

Wei Ying's jaw clenched as he ground out a combination of annoyed at his sudden appearance and not knowing if he would be able to help someone he owed his life to, "You do realize that we are in the middle of a war here."

Wen Ning nodded and once again seemed to be struggling with a decision until finally he decided once more drawing on his courage and slowly he pulled back the side of his cloak which was still covering his body from view. Wei Ying bit back a cry of alarm when he saw a baby nestled in Wen Ning's arm wrapped in a blanket and despite everything sound asleep, "You brought a baby to a battlefield Wen Ning are you insane?" he exclaimed unable to help his growing panic knowing he was probably making enough noise to draw the other's to them.