The Rise of the Divine Oracle

Chapter 150 - Found

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For a big guy, Liang finds himself blending in the background more often than he cares to admit. His polite personality and calm demeanor makes him seem unthreatening. He was standing in the largest room in the inn and watching Lan Clan and Jin Clan royally freakout over how to find a man that has been kidnapped into another dimension that none of them has ever seen and will never be able to cross into.

Just like the rest, he was worried for Wuxian's safety. From the stories he was told about the faceless man and what he's capable of, this bold move to kidnap a prominent figure right from under their noses and in broad daylight was nothing short of a threat: Biming is stronger than them and he is not shy about asserting his dominance.

Liang watches the cultivators around him jump to follow orders and scatter around looking for any clue to find Wuxian. He sighs loudly and shakes his head: 'You cannot find what cannot be seen. All we can do is wait for a sign.'

At the corner of his eye, he saw something crawling its way out the window. Da Ziran was quietly leaving the inn and even though Liang was scared of the giant snake, it somehow caught his interest. She must sense her owner. He hastily grabs his coat and follows her outside.

The moment she's outside of the city bounds, she transforms into a polar bear, which makes Liang actually add more space between them as he follows her. She is aware that he's tailing her because she grunts at his direction as if she wants him to hurry and turns to make sure he is following from time to time. Two hours in and she starts to lag. He warily moves a little bit closer and whispers to her: "You don't have to slow down. I don't tire easily."

She shakes her head and transforms back into a snake and stops in her tracks. Liang was starting to get worried. Da Ziran was clearly tired and couldn't go any further and Wuxian was nowhere in sight. He kneels near the resting snake and asks: "What do we do now?"

Da Ziran lifts her head and points towards the woods. Liang looks at the direction she's pointing at and says: "We go that way?"

She nods. He cautiously picks her up and resumes their walk. A few minutes later, Liang sees something dark and sparkly on the ground a few paces away and runs towards it. Wuxian must have tried to make his way back, but with barely any clothes and no shoes the man couldn't go far.

Liang frantically brushed the snow off of the passed out Wuxian and once he saw his blue lips, He jumps into action. He lifted the smaller man up and ran towards the closest safe place he knows: A small dug up cave that he used to play in with his friends just outside the city. He needed to warm up Wuxian before he froze to death.

After a short trek across the woods, he settles the unconscious man on the ground. Liang takes off most of the clothes he has on and piles it on top of Wuxian and hurriedly puts together a few dry twigs to light a fire. When the flames started to warm up the place, Liang turns his attention to the passed out man and does the only thing he knows that will warm him up fast without causing damage to his heart; he crawls under the cloths covering Wuxian and gently removes the top part of Wuxian's robes to warm him up with his skin.

He kept whispering to Wuxian to wake up, slightly frantic over the fact that the smaller man hadn't even shivered or moved an inch since he found him buried under the snow: "Come on.. Come on.. You have to wake up!"

A slight hitch in Wuxian slow breathing was the first progress he felt in a few minutes.. Followed by slight shivers which evolved into violent shakes after a while. Wuxian weakly cuddled closer to the warm blanket surrounding him and Liang felt his heart swell. He has courted many maidens but never felt his emotions stir as he does with the young oracle. There was something about Wuxian that captivates those around him. Liang felt like a victim and this tender moment, where the man that stole his heart was dependent on him, felt like the most sinful desire one could ever have. It felt wrong and he couldn't stop his lips from smiling over how content and happy he was being so close to Wuxian.

Wuxian whispers through his chattering teeth: "Lan Zhan.." and Liang's dream shatters. His smile dims and he sighs. Even though this beautiful man will never belong to him, at least he got his moment. He was not a greedy man.

Wuxian felt reality return as warmth started to melt the bone crushing coldness that consumed him the last time he was awake. For a second, he actually thought he was going to die again.. alone, cold and without a purpose.

He opened his eyes to see Liang tending to the small fire nearby, wearing nothing but pants. Wuxian whispers: "Aren't you cold?"

Liang turns and smiles at him: "You're finally awake. Are you warm enough?"

Wuxian closes his eyes and wiggles deeper in the clothes he was wrapped in, whispering back: "Yeah.."

Liang chuckles over Wuxian's cute child like nature: "We have to return. Your family is raising hell trying to find you."

Wuxian's eyes pop open and he sits up in a hurry: "HOW LONG WAS I AWAY?"

Liang moves close and puts his hand on Wuxian's shoulder to stop him from getting up: "Relax. It's only been half a day." He points to the sleeping snake next to Wuxian: "Is she ok?"

Wuxian pats Da Ziran's body and says: "She doesn't do well in cold weather and I don't have enough energy to share."

On cue, Wuxian's stomach growls and he chuckles awkwardly at Liang: "Did you, by any chance, bring .. a cow's worth of food with you?"

Liang laughs at him: "No, only water. I'm sure the inn has enough food once we return."

Wuxian slowly gets up and with Liang's help, finds himself wrapped up with two more layers of clothes before they make their way out of the cave and back to where his soul-bond is.

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