"...you can come down now." Jin Ling felt exhausted.
After scaring Wei Wuxian into leaping inside his husband's arms, Jin Ling had to order a disciple to send his dog, Fairy away back to Lanling Jin. Even after the dog left the scene, Wei Wuxian still stayed cooped up in his husband's arms. It was like he didn't know when to stop.
Wei Wuxian's arms tightened around Lan Zhan's body, squeezing like a paranoid child.
Meanwhile, Lan Zhan found himself tightening his hold around his lover.
At Wei Wuxian's frightened appearance, Jin Ling truly felt apologetic. He thought it'd be a good idea to bring Fairy for a walk outside. He never expected to bump into Wei Wuxian, and even worse, scare him. Guilt welled at his chest for a long time.
"The dog's gone, Wei-xiong." Xie Lian comforted.
Wei Wuxian stayed in his husband's arms. Truth be told, he wanted to show off to his nephew a little, so he didn't move from the spot.
"Stop sitting on your high horse and get down here." Luo Binghe spat. His words were cruel, but his meaning was sincere.
Wei Wuxian shook his head. "No way! I want to stay with Lan Zhan!"
Hearing those shameless words of his, the tip of Lan Zhan's ears began to redden.
"If he wants, he can stay up there." Shen Qingqiu huffed. "More importantly," He turned towards the tanghulu shopkeeper, who was dumbfounded on the spot. "You can leave and find your wife now. Try some of the tactics we've... demonstrated to you."
The tanghulu shopkeeper nodded gratefully. He hurried away, with the figure of his back disappearing into the rainy and dissipating horizon.
Who knows whether or not he'll reconcile with his wife tonight.
Slowly, the three couples (and Jin Ling) turned to look at each other. They shrugged, then all joined together to open their mouths and say something-
Suddenly, Shen Qingqiu beat them to it first.
Who knew what he saw, but panic and disconcertment flooded his expression. "Look over there!" He pointed a slender finger at a direction.
The others followed where he pointed. Then, they shared the same expression of panic.
Far away, into the nearby woods was a fire.
However, what was scary about it was... the colour roared of an unconcealed blue. The fire was blue, and possessed a scorching heat to even defy the boundaries of nature! It was raining, but the blue fire did not diminish at any rate. Instead, the blue fire began to spread!
This blue fire definitely wasn't normal! This fire... should be the work of a cultivator! An especially strong cultivator, at that.
A solemn expression played on Wei Wuxian's face. He leaped out from his husband's arms (to Lan Zhan's disappointment).
"It's not too close to Lotus Pier." Wei Wuxian calculated, "However, it is in Yunmeng Jiang." His eyes thinned dangerously. "Lan Zhan and I will check what's going on."
Shen Qingqiu pulled Luo Binghe's arms, "We're going with you."
"Us too." Xie Lian piped in, standing beside Hua Cheng.
Feeling motivated, Jin Ling chirped, "I'm going as well-"
"No, you aren't." Wei Wuxian interrupted. He didn't let Jin Ling participate for one reason—the enemy that they'll be facing is strong. To be able to ignite a blue fire that won't extinguish even in the heavy rain... that amount of strength the enemy possesses... is superb.
Jin Ling frowned. "How come?" He didn't understand the dangers underlying in this case.
Wei Wuxian proposed, "You're in charge of telling Jiang Cheng about this fire. There is an enemy inside Yunmeng Jiang. Jiang Cheng needs to know this as fast as possible. Jin Ling... you're always fast on your feet, so I'll entrust this to you."
Jin Ling fell silent. He was taken aback by the sudden compliment and trust.
His soft expression had hardened. He nodded, "Alright. I'll tell Uncle about this, and let him make the next decisions." Jin Ling left as soon as he was given the mission.
Not even his shadow could be traced.
Wei Wuxian relaxed. He just wanted to get his nephew out of this mess... as quick as possible. He stretched his limbs, then gestured to the remaining couples, "Let's get a move on."
*****
They disguised themselves.
This time, Xie Lian didn't feed them a "changing gender" pill. Instead, they pulled a hood over their heads, hoping to block their faces from the enemy's vision.
The woods rustled to the thick smell of fire. Smoke clogged the couples' sense of smell, and also infiltrated at the back of their throat. The three couples held their breaths, as they sprinted into the forest of blue fire. The six figures were fast and keen. One moment you lay your eyes on them, the next second you blink, they're gone from your sight.
"The enemy mustn't have gone too far." Luo Binghe was for sure of this fact. It had only been a few minutes since the fire was ignited. Within that time lapse, the enemy couldn't have left Yunmeng Jiang's borders.
With that to their advantage, the three couples could search everywhere in Yunmeng Jiang for the culprit.
"The fire's origins seemed to be located a kilometre ahead." Xie Lian pointed out.
The closer they were to the origin, the hotter the temperature was.
Beads of raindrops fell over the three couples' bodies, but it not diminish the heat of the fire. Instead, the temperature of the fire had risen!
Hua Cheng's expression was ugly. He didn't think something like this would've happened.
"We're close." Shen Qingqiu felt around his surroundings. "Approximately 500 more metres." He measured while running by the other couples' sides.
The rain fell over their hoods, weighing their clothing down slightly.
The three couples continued running. Even if the fumes of the smoke were too much to handle, they didn't stop. Their shoes left footprints in the soaked and sinking ground.
The pressure of the air grew at a rapid pace.
The three couples' chests felt uncomfortable to the point of being stifled. Finally, they arrived at the origin of the blue fire.
Surrounded by the thick depths of blue fire... was a cave.
Of course! Caves were known for resisting and immunizing heat. Which meant... anyone nearby could hide inside a cave and wait for the fire to extinguish!
Wei Wuxian gestured to the group. Everyone understood from the look in his eyes.
In the woods, there was only the sound of a roaring fire.
Soon... came the sound of rushing footsteps. The sound of footsteps were so quick and light that it was similar to a wild tiger dashing across the savanna. Six figures went sprinting at the cave, each person ran at a different angle. The three couples all had their hoods covering their face.
They all drew their weapon.
Wei Wuxian held the scabbard of Suibian, as he tightened his grip onto the hilt of the blade with immense concentration. A few steps away from him, Lan Zhan unsheathed Bichen. A frosty glow showered its blade.
Luo Binghe drew Zhengyang, with the blade reflecting all his past misfortunes and yet pleasant memories. Just a few feet away, Shen Qingqiu readied countless spiritual-energy-filled leaves, which were sharp and ready to attack at the target. He also drew his sword, Xiuya.
Hua Cheng's face was of indifference. He took out E-Ming, whose single crimson eye rolled violently at the sight of his favourite person—Xie Lian.
Xie Lian had no weapons. Naturally, he prepared Ruoye, the silk bandage in advance.
"Go." Wei Wuxian whispered.
He was the first to arrive at the entrance of the cave. His footsteps gradually came to a stop, stopping before the cave. Wei Wuxian leaned to the cave, listening for any movements...
Abruptly, a slash cut through the air.
Wei Wuxian dodged the incoming dagger, flipping his way to the left.
The thrown dagger pierced at the trunk of a tree, with the tip stuck within the wood.
Wei Wuxian frowned. Suddenly, he found even more daggers thrown at his direction! He quickly backflipped away, dodging the attack by merely inches away. The thrown daggers had all collapsed at the ground, piercing a small hole into the dirt.
Wei Wuxian analyzed the attack. Whoever threw those daggers... they had good strength in their wrists. They were able to throw the dagger into digging at least... half of its blade into the ground.
It was too dark inside the cave. He couldn't see the figure of the person who threw those daggers.
Besides... the air outside in the woods was intoxicating. The blue fire caused smoke to flood the atmosphere, which sullied the oxygen that they breathed.
The three couples could barely breathe.
Wei Wuxian gestured to Luo Binghe, who nodded in response.
Without stopping, Luo Binghe dashed inside the cave.
Before he could enter, another batch of daggers were thrown in his way! Instead of dodging and avoiding the attack, a flurry of green leaves lashed out. The leaves had collided against the daggers, deflecting it to fall onto the ground and miss their target; Luo Binghe.
The leaves were enriched in Shen Qingqiu's spiritual energy, who had thrown them at the nick of time to help Luo Binghe in avoiding the daggers.
Luo Binghe didn't stop. He finally ran inside of the cave—
What greeted him was the shine of a sword's blade.
Luo Binghe blocked the attack with his own sword, Zhengyang. Metal sparks flickered as the blades collided against one another. Luo Binghe gritted his teeth, and his demonic red mark glowed within the darkness.
He could barely predict where his opponent stood.
However, he still struck left.
Zhengyang clashed against the sword again, with more sparks flickering from the impact. In that instant, sparks lit up the scenery inside the cave.
Luo Binghe caught a glimpse of his opponent.
The figure belonged to a slender young man, who had a composure of elegance, like the purity of graceful snowflakes lighting up the skies. This young man had a cloak hooded over his body, blocking his face from Luo Binghe. The same could be said for the Demon Lord as well.
Both had their faces cloaked in hoods. Both couldn't figure out who the other is.
Luo Binghe gritted his teeth. He swung Zhengyang to the right, bending the motion into a swift curve.
The young man didn't expect this move. He hurriedly blocked the blow by clashing his sword, avoiding the hit. Instead, he was knocked out of the cave.
Outside of the cave, Wei Wuxian, Lan Zhan, Shen Qingqiu, Xie Lian, and Hua Cheng had watched with anticipation at their opponent.
Lan Zhan gestured for himself to move first.
He ran with abnormal speed. In an instant, he was already before the young man's face. The young man was caught off-guard, and raised his sword to guard.
Suddenly, Lan Zhan halted to a stop.
Wind rushed past his figure, blowing and brushing his robes within the atmosphere. The young man was surprised, then met with the silver eyes of melting frost...
The young man was hit with astonishment. He blurted, "Wangji!?!"
Author's Little Theatre:
Wei Wuxian: We're going to check out the fire!
Jin Ling: Let me come with you!
Wei Wuxian: Kids aren't allowed on the expedition!
Jin Ling: sad puppy noises
Wei Wuxian:（‐＾▽＾‐）For once, I find that dogs are quite cute