Lan Zhan comes up to him and holds his hands out for Wei Ying to put the spear there. Their eyes meet again, an unspoken pact of unity.
"What do you think?" Wei Ying asks him.
Lan Zhan can smell the fruity scent of adrenaline kucking through his system, and he'll take that any day over the sorrow that was previously there.
"The weapon itself is merely a show piece, not substantial in any way. But whatever it is hiding is something significant, something important to your family." Lan Zhan says, honestly.
"Our family." Wei Ying corrects him. "I feel like my parents would approve of my choice of partner." Shyness overcomes him, and he looks away.
"Then I am honoured to be part of Wei Ying's family." Lan Zhan steps forward into his personal space, lifting his chin up. "And it's fiance." With that, he brings their lips together in a soul-deep kiss that steals Wei Ying's breath, pressing a sweetness straight into his heart.
This is his Soul Mate, and Lan Zhan is going to be with him every step of the way. Wei Ying's fingers clutch at his shirt, bringing them closer together, his eager lips intent on creating a madness in Lan Zhan's body, a need to possess and consume. It is matched in himself as well, and they are panting when they break apart.
"You haven't asked me yet!" Wei Ying states firmly, a mischievous smile on his kiss-bitten lips.
"Wei Ying accepted my ring!" Lan Zhan tells him calmly, a fire raging through his body. The contrast in him is electrifying.
"It was candy!" Wei Ying defends himself, with mock outrage. "You can't keep bringing that up."
"I can, and I will." Lan Zhan grabs a fistful of his shirt and yanks him in for another smooth kiss. "When it comes to Wei Ying, I am perfectly serious." He adds, when Wei Ying is limply clinging onto him.
"You've done it again with your love juju!" Wei Ying leans in to bite his bottom lip. "I'm not gonna let you get away with it! When you propose for real, you better make it good, otherwise me and my children won't accept."
Lan Zhan's eyes glitter dangerously in the dim light.
"Challenge accepted." He says, in such a low voice, it makes Wei Ying shiver with anticipation.
"We're on the clock!" Wei Ying reminds him, not thinking about what Lan Zhan might do, when the time comes. He taps the spear, and Lan Zhan returns his attention to the hollow weapon.
He examines the tip and it's nothing remarkable, not sharp in any way, and there doesn't seem to be any way to open it. There's no join marking the 'lid' to actually get inside it. As he's turning it around, Wei Ying gasps.
"Look! On the base!" He points it out, where another heart shaped shallower hole is carved out, this time complete with the coat of arms.
Wei Ying takes off his necklace again and holds out his finger for Lan Zhan's bite, and once again, it takes a few drops of his blood and then he slots it into place.
A ring of red fire lights up the base around five centimetres up, and instinct makes Lan Zhan start unscrewing both parts. To their amazement, the base starts coming off, and within seconds, Lan Zhan has taken it off.
Wei Ying puts his necklace back on, while Lan Zhan tips the spear upside down.
Two items fall out.
One is a long black tube folded and connected into three parts. There are holes all along one side, and Wei Ying is already unfolding it to form a flute. A dizi, to be exact. His fingers are trembling as he picks up the second item, a sheaf of aged papers tied together with a blood red ribbon.
He takes both ends and pulls it open.
The first sheet is another letter, addressed to him. He reads it out loud.
"Wei Ying, if you have come this far, then I salute you. The following contains a special music score. Commit it to memory and burn the pages. I know you can do it.
"Your grandfather, my father made me memorise his code and I was able to decipher this piece of music from his notes. They are the key to defeating Wen Rouhan. In my father's time, he was working on a way to stop Wen Mao, but he no longer exists. This is somehow connected to the HeartStone, though I have not managed to figure out what that is, yet.
"I know too, that if you are reading this by yourself, then your father and I have passed away, because my visions show only you mostly, and one other...though I do not recognise the golden-eyed stranger. He seems familiar but I cannot place him, and I fear we have run out of time.
"My beloved son, know this: I believe in you.
Mama."
Wei Ying has ended up sitting cross-legged on the floor, folding himself in that position as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Lan Zhan kneels next to him, as he examines the rest of the notes.
It is an ancient tune, a haunting melody as Wei Ying begins to hum it to himself.
"Grandfather kept mentioning feelings, in his notes." He says, finally.
"Mn. I remember. I had no idea he meant this musical tool." Lan Zhan's fingers graze over the name engraved on the side of the black flute.
Chenqing.
"Neither did I." Wei Ying admits. "There must be a reason why it's foldable, right?"
"Mn. Easily concealable in your pocket. And we should make a move soon. You will want to show your grandmother." Lan Zhan says, warmth in his beautiful golden eyes.
"Yeah, you're right." Wei Ying turns back to the papers containing the music score.
"Does Wei Ying know how to play?" Lan Zhan asks him.
"Yep." Wei Ying sounds confident. "I never kept up with it, because you know, not much opportunity for making money in that direction, but I can definitely carry a tune."
"Play something for me, when we go home."
It is a demand, not a request, and Wei Ying finds himself nodding, impossibly turned on by just the deep tone of his voice.
"I'm going to hang onto these, just until I can play the tune perfectly." Wei Ying says, folding them carefully and tucking them into his jeans pocket, next to the USB stick containing his mother's pictures.
Lan Zhan stands up first and holds his hand out for Wei Ying to take, hauling him up gently with the hidden strength that comes so easily to him.
Wei Ying pauses.
There's something in the way that Lan Zhan always handles him with so much care, and even now while Wei Ying is drowning in his liquid golden orbs, he feels cherished, and loved. The depth of feeling is incomparable, crashing through his system with the force of a tidal wave. A tsunami of love that leaves him shaking.
Lan Zhan instinctively pulls him closer.
Maybe it was the spike in his blood alerting Lan Zhan of his feelings, or perhaps it was the look in those gorgeous silver eyes, a burning need just to be hugged.
"You are no longer alone." Lan Zhan tells him, straight into his ear. "Wei Ying never has to be alone, again."
Wei Ying kisses his cheek warmly, trying to pull himself together.
"Mn?"
"Yeah...I'm okay." Wei Ying laughs awkwardly, feeling embarrassed at his own vulnerability.
"No." Lan Zhan takes his hand, leading him to the bench.
"No?"
"Mn. No. Wei Ying is not simply 'okay'. Wei Ying is hot." His attempt at making Wei Ying feel better works, and this time the laugh that comes out of him isn't forced.
Wei Ying picks up the book with his mother's writing on it.
And then Lan Zhan surprises him further by producing a tote bag out of his pocket, and Wei Ying laughs at the name advertised on it.
"The Untamed? I didn't know you were a fan," he teases.
"I can't stop watching it," Lan Zhan admits, his turn to be shy.
Wei Ying raises a brow.
"Only when I get time, which isn't much. But whenever I need to escape."
It feels like Lan Zhan is entrusting him with a great secret, by telling him this.
Lan Zhan covers his shyness by putting the book inside it. Wei Ying goes back to the spear and restores its base. They are both unconsciously packing up and tidying the place after they have disturbed its contents.
"Anything else?" Lan Zhan asks him, when they're ready to leave.
Wei Ying scans the room.
"The Xue Yang box can stay, until we know what to do with it. We have my mother's book...I don't think there's anything else." His gaze pauses at the armour and then flits away quickly, as if he's dismissing an idea in his head.
"Mn?" Lan Zhan refuses to budge until Wei Ying explains himself.
"Well, you know, I just thought, my grandma might want to see one of the armour pieces. Since she really likes that kind of thing. But it might be too heavy to take with us."
Lan Zhan hands him the tote bag and goes to the glass case. It isn't locked and the door swings open, effortlessly. He picks it up as if it weighs nothing, a remarkable piece of defensive clothing.
"It's lightweight." Lan Zhan confirms.
"Then, yes please. Let's show her! She'll get a kick out of it, for sure."
Lan Zhan cannot help smiling at the naked enthusiasm on Wei Ying's face. He puts the armour into the tote bag with the book.
One last look around that mysterious room and then they step outside. They haven't even set foot on the first step to climb out, when the lights go off behind them, and the door rolls closed. Wei Ying tests it just to make sure, and it stays shut, not moving at all.
"It seems they thought of everything," Wei Ying says, a little bit of melancholy slipping into his words.
"Cangse Sanren and Wei Changze were both geniuses." Lan Zhan says, as they start climbing up the twenty steps.
"Yeah, I think they really were. I would like to have worked with them, when they were alive." His tone is wistful.
"Me, too."
Wei Ying smiles at that; if anyone could understand how he's feeling, it would be Lan Zhan.
Out in the open air, he takes deep breaths of cleansing fresh air, only noticing how damp and musty the air in that subterranean room was after breathing in something infinitely better.
Da Tuzi is pacing, phone in hand and looking anxious.
His relief when he spots them is tangible and real.
He watches as Wei Ying is lifted to replace the spear in the hands of the wizard on the fountain, and then he turns to go and switch the water on, once the secret opening to the staircase closes by itself.
"Will you be coming inside?" He inquires politely, though Wei Ying can see many questions sitting in his dark eyes.
"No. We have to go see grandmother." Wei Ying informs him.
A look of familiarity passes over his face, and he nods.
"Then I shall fetch the box with Madam Lan's things in it." He disappears immediately.
Wei Ying feels a little bit ashamed now.
"Mn?" As ever, Lan Zhan is highly attuned to his mood swings.
"Um...well, I was so caught up in my own reunion with my mother, that I completely forgot about yours. If you want, should we return home and look through it now? We can go see grandma later." Wei Ying wraps an arm around his waist, pressing himself closer in a side hug.
Lan Zhan thinks about it, and shakes his head.
"This morning, I did not know of its existence. We can look tonight."
"Sweetheart, -"
Lan Zhan kisses his forehead to remove the sting of interrupting him.
"It will not bring my mother back."
There wasn't much Wei Ying could say to that, but then those words brought the lump back into his throat, and he couldn't speak, even if he wanted to.
Da Tuzi brings them the box, and walks with them back to their car.
"Fare well," he says, quietly.
"Mn." Lan Zhan simply nods in his direction, and gets into his car.
Perhaps one day he can be normal with Da Tuzi, but it is not today.