WangXian Forever 2

Chapter 42 Pearls

Eight days left.

Jiang Cheng walked ahead of Ling Shang Po, thinking about why Min Qi Xue wanted to see them.

Luckily, after they had finished the construction of the bridge, work was slow. They went from house to house, asking for work and mostly relaxing when there was none. His friends included him in what little work they did get, and Jiang Cheng was grateful for the distraction from his real job.

Min Qi Xue opened the door of the second house and let them in. He led them straight to the kitchen where Jiang Cheng saw he had already been busy.

The golden pearls they had been collecting for the past few weeks were in a jar, next to a mortar and pestle. Jiang Cheng watched as Min Qi Xue placed a few pearls inside the vessel and took out a flask from inside his robes. He poured a drop of silvery liquid on top and began to grind the pearls into a powder. Then he began transferring that powder into separate little parcels until he'd used them all up.

He kept releasing little gasping laughs now and then, his excitement uncontainable. Jiang Cheng was reminded of a few nights ago, when the leader had made them fight imaginary dragons for 'training' purposes. He had thought it was a pointless exercise, but did not refute it. He had already been cautioned not to ask questions, so he stood and watched.

When Min Qi Xue was ready, he walked out of the house and they followed. They were taken to the now familiar place deep into the woods, past the rubble of the dragon catching machine. Jiang Cheng smothered a laugh, looking at it.

Min Qi Xue handed out the tiny parcels of powder.

Jiang Cheng raised a brow, hoping somebody else would ask the obvious question. But there was no need.

"Spread this powder everywhere and see what magic happens." Min Qi Xue said, opening one.

The glittering dust sparkled as he flung it everywhere. It landed on the leaves and branches or the surrounding trees, on the leaf covered ground, on the bushes nearby.

"Spread out," he ordered.

Jiang Cheng dutifully walked away, and did as he had seen.

The forest, in the pale light of a half moon, shimmered like a dream world of fairies and mythical creatures. It was beautiful. Jiang Cheng wished there was a way he could have shown XiChen this sight.

Aside from being a visual delight, he wondered what the purpose of this powder was. Min Qi Xue had looked unworried at the destruction of his dragon catching machine, so obviously, this powder was connected. He only had to wait for a few minutes, before he realized what was happening.

He felt the breeze first, and heard the flapping wings next. With gradual horror, he saw dragons swooping down around him, oblivious to the danger surrounding them.

They looked dazed and blissfully happy, attracted to wherever the powder had fallen. Big dragons, small dragons and even babies came flying into the forest, all different colours. Some had two wings, others, four, some had horns like those of Shen Ling and some had none. But all of them wore that slightly crazy look, a helpless attraction to this place, misguided by their sense of smell.

Jiang Cheng felt his efforts to meddle in catching these beautiful creatures had all been in vain. His heart sank as he watched the spiritual nets cast by his colleagues, watched by Min Qi Xue, a strange smile on his face.

He walked away, out of sight and tried to frighten the descending dragons away, waving his arms and shouting as loudly as he could without drawing unwanted attention, but it was all futile.

Perhaps, he thought, this was necessary. They would need help to transport the dragons, and then, maybe he would be able to find out where they were being kept. In that case, his mood brightened, his mission would be over. It was basically the only thing he had come to learn and then he could go back. He could return to XiChen, mission accomplished.

So he tried not to mind as he walked back towards the main group, past the blissful dragons caught in the nets, and hoped he was right.

They carried the dragons away, two men to each one, and laid them on carts. When the carts were loaded, they began pulling them further up the mountain.

Jiang Cheng discovered that this mountain rose high next to it's twin. It became harder to breathe because of the high altitude, coupled with the exertion of pulling the heavy carts, but Min Qi Xue did not let them rest. Higher and higher they climbed until they reached a dark tunnel. Faint light was visible at the other end.

Their footsteps echoed amid the sound of running water, but Jiang Cheng couldn't even see his own hand in the darkness of the tunnel.

His eyes hurt with the brightness when they finally emerged. They were on a wide ledge. In front of them was the bridge.

Jiang Cheng was simultaneously disgusted, horrified and amazed at this morbid, macabre creation. Huge fangs lined the bridge, wooden planks to be walked on and supporting the structure. The teeth were large and small, of various shapes, gruesome in what they depicted. How many dragons had died to make this? Jiang Cheng wondered.

The bridge was not strong enough to allow more than one cart at a time, so he waited and looked around. On the other side, two caves were visible. The larger of the two was where these carts were being taken.

The ledge on the other side was far wider and broader than this side. Green grasses with burnt patches scattered around it, and a long wooden pole was staked into the ground.

This place looked like Wei Ying's vision, he realized.

He did not have time to think about it more because it was his turn to cross the bridge.

He kept his eyes forward, a strict reminder in his head not to look left or right. The bridge swayed with the weight of him and the cart with the dragons, but he bravely ignored everything. He did not look down into the valley either.

The larger cave loomed huge and ominous. It's size was greater the closer he came, until the blackness surrounded him like a blanket. He followed the noise of the trumbling carts in front of him until he was stopped. They unloaded and he was guided out again. He looked around, trying to memorize the place.

Min Qi Xue clapped his back.

"Well done." He led him to the adjacent cave, to a table where two cups were placed next to a jar of wine.

"Let's celebrate a job done well." Min Qi Xue poured a good amount into each. He touched his cup to Jiang Cheng's.

Jiang Cheng swallowed first but then, he realised too late, that Min Qi Xue had yet to drink. He watched the leader, who let out a chilling laugh, while he poured his wine onto the ground.

Jiang Cheng felt his world tip dizzily, and his knees gave out.

"Surprised, Bao LiJie? Or should I call you Sect Leader Jiang Wanyin?"