01.00am Sunday
The drive back to the Lan Manor was quiet.
Wei Ying's eyes were burning from fatigue, but he couldn't sleep, not when his mind and body were yearning for the comforting presence of his beloved. Wei Ying made a promise to himself that as soon as he had Lan Zhan back, he was going to smother him in kisses, and do an elaborate proposal, the whole works. Something to really knock his socks off.
He thought about a different world, one where he might have met Lan Zhan as an ordinary person, maybe on a bus or in a shop one day, an accidental meeting which would definitely have led to more.
No vampires to spoil anyone's life, no one getting ready to hurt anyone, no kidnappings, no separation at all. Just the four of them, Lan Zhan, A-Yuan and A-Yi, and himself.
Then he let himself get angry.
This wild strength was his and as long as he had it, he was going to finish every single vampire that opposed him, every single vampire that dared to stand in his way. If Wen Rouhan thought that he was going to just give him whatever he wanted, just because he asked for it, he had another thing coming.
Wei Ying was going to obliterate that nest of Vampires until Wen Rouhan's name was just a bad memory, if that.
His fingers curled into fists, the crescents of his nails embedded into the softer, fleshy parts of his hand.
He had one objective, and that was to get Lan Zhan back.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out Lan Zhan's phone. It wasn't much damaged, only a crack or two on the protector screen, and still in perfect working order. He didn't even know what Lan Zhan's pass code was, but he knew it started with a three followed by a one, and since that was a special number for himself, he typed in his date of birth, crowing with delight when it worked.
XiChen glanced at him; they were waiting at a red light.
"I got it right!" Wei Ying explained, showing him Lan Zhan's phone screen. "I don't know Lan Zhan's security code, but it's my date of birth!"
"Hmm. That sounds like my Didi. When we love, we fall hard."
Wei Ying blinked back those stupid tears, feeling suddenly emotional. It wasn't fair. This man had lost his brother, for the second time in just a few months, and this time, Lan Zhan wasn't safe at all.
Wei Ying missed him so much.
It was a deep, dark hole, unfathomable really. The only way to get through this time was to not think about Lan Zhan, because lack of sleep and fatigue were making Wei Ying unreasonably tearful. His thoughts were erratic and drifting, like an uncoordinated bumblebee flitting haphazardly among the summer blooms, unable to concentrate on any single one.
He turned back to the phone, hoping Lan Zhan would forgive him this one time, when he realised how necessary it was.
Wei Ying was shocked at the notifications, too.
Countless unread messages, and ten missed calls.
All from Wen Qing.
Why did Wen Qing want to talk to Lan Zhan? And why hadn't she rung Wei Ying? Hold on, Wei Ying thought, pulling out his phone.
Sure enough, he had just as many missed calls and messages.
Something must be terribly wrong for her to reach out like this, and to both of them, no less.
He opened up the chat with Wen Qing.
The first message had him sitting up straight, suddenly alert.
WQ: Please pick up! You have to watch out! All my notes were copied off my work computer, everything I had on you and Lan WangJi.
WQ: I only discovered it just now, but the time stamp was a few days ago. And I didn't just leave it openly on my desktop, these files were secure. I'm really sorry.
WQ: If anything happens to you, either of you, I'll never forgive myself. I really hope I'm wrong, that's all.
WQ: I know we have lots to talk about, I know I should have been honest with you, but I wrongly thought that the less you knew, the safer you'd be. Look at how great that idea went.
All of these messages were interspersed with attempts to call him.
Wei Ying called her back.
The first two times, it went to voicemail. The third time, it was picked up.
"A-Qing, are you alright?" Wei Ying started to say, and then his gut instincts kicked in, and he shut up...because, what if this wasn't her? Or what if she couldn't talk? What if the bad guys were there?
He refused to listen to that nagging littlest voice that suggested maybe, just maybe what if Wen Qing was one of the bad guys? What then?
What was he going to do then?
"I thought you would try to call my cousin." The voice on the other side said, chillingly polite.
"Who is this?" Wei Ying demanded. "Where's Wen Qing? Let me talk to her!"
"She is... otherwise indisposed. And don't you have something else to worry about? Something far more important?" The voice continued, calmly and coldly, as if Wei Ying hadn't spoken in between. "I suggest you get on with that, because as we both know, your time is running out."
The line went dead.
Wei Ying shivered, feeling terribly cold all of a sudden.
He couldn't tell who had just spoken to him.
"A-Xian?" XiChen was looking at him worriedly.
Wei Ying looked around, a little disorientated, and then he recognised the old stone brickwork of the Lan Manor.
His thoughts were racing, jumbled up and colliding with each other.
"I think something has happened to Wen Qing? I don't know..." he rubbed his eyes with fatigue.
That was the problem, wasn't it? He just didn't know.
"Didi told me you're close to her." XiChen weighs his words as he thinks about how to voice his concerns. "It really depends on whose side she is on," he decides to say.
"But that's the problem. I can't fucking tell. Sorry..." he'd seen XiChen's face when he'd sworn.
XiChen waves it away, unconcerned.
"My mother used to say, when in doubt about what a person is like, watch their actions. There's so much wisdom in old adages, long lost sayings that we forget until we need them. But this indecision about Wen Qing has to end tonight. I fear, one way or another, her true colours will shine through, and you A-Xian, you will have to accept it." XiChen opened his door and got out.
Wei Ying watches him go to greet MingJue and PoPo, guiding them towards the front door.
****************
They got PoPo settled in one of the guest rooms.
Wei Ying went to check on the children and when he couldn't find them, he bumped into Da Tuzi, who was coming to find him.
"Ah, you must forgive me. I should have mentioned it, but Senior Lan has taken them under his wing. He didn't want to make them sleep by themselves in an unfamiliar place." Da Tuzi smiles openly.
"So...where are they?" On another day, Wei Ying probably could have a lit more patience.
Probably.
Da Tuzi holds a finger to his own lips and guides Wei Ying to the northern wing of this large house, somewhere Wei Ying wouldn't have found by himself if he tried.
The layout is similar to Lan Zhan's suite, but somehow larger and more refined. In this dim light, Wei Ying cannot see very much, but Da Tuzi can, and he leads him to a closed door on the right.
There, upon opening it, the most adorable sight meets Wei Ying.
Uncle Qiren is lying in the middle of a really large bed, flat on his back with his arms around the two children curled into his body on each side.
It's really cute!
Wei Ying turns on his night camera and takes a picture without the flash.
"Lan Zhan will never believe me," he murmurs.
They sneak back out into the massive corridor, after Da Tuzi closes the doors after them.
"Aren't you going to ask me where he is?" Wei Ying feels really shitty, especially about this.
Da Tuzi shakes his head.
"My Benefactor called me. I am aware of the situation," he replies, a small smile on his face in response to the blatant shock in Wei Ying's expression. "And I have instructions to fulfil." He takes Wei Ying into the kitchen where XiChen and MingJue are already sitting down by the hearty crackling fire, alight even at this time of night.
Da Tuzi pours a glass of milk for Wei Ying and hands him a plate of cookies.
"Whether you feel up to it or not, nourishment helps thinking. There is much to do, and little time to do it. I would ask you to please listen to me while you eat, because this might be the last time you can rest tonight. Well, technically, it's morning." He finishes with a wry smile.
XiChen and MingJue sit up straighter, having never heard him speak so authoritatively, before. Wei Ying is definitely interested.
And the cookies look good, smell even greater, and he decides he's quite hungry, after all.
"My Benefactor, not Senior Lan," he clarifies, "has instructed me to tell you something of their plans for tonight. It is in everyone's best interests to, in their words, "not fuck it up"." He winces at the language.
"Who's your benefactor?" XiChen asks him, brow furrowed with confusion.
He's had a really long day, notwithstanding staying awake long after his nine o'clock bedtime.
"He's not allowed to say." Wei Ying says around a mouthful of cookies. "Trust me, we've tried asking him. But I might have an idea who it could be." He winks at Da Tuzi, an assurance of keeping his secret. "What do they want us to do?"
"The humans are to stay safe here," his gaze flickers towards XiChen and MingJue. "I am to drive you to your grandmother as soon as you've finished eating. May we take Second Master Lan's car?"
XiChen nods, but when it looks like he's about to argue, Wei Ying steps in.
"XiChen-Ge. I know you want to help. But this isn't your fight." He finishes his milk and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.
"That's my baby brother they've got. How can I just sit here and do nothing?" XiChen dashes away the tears that pool in his eyes, as MingJue wraps an arm around his shoulders, bringing him closer.
Wei Ying reaches out to cover his hand.
"The best thing you can do for Lan Zhan is to be safe. He loves you very much, and what would happen to him if he thought you were hurt in any way? I know it's hard, but you staying here is not doing nothing. You're giving our sons a sense of normalcy, and that is better than anything else. When they wake up, they're gonna ask you about us...and I would really appreciate it if you could lie." Wei Ying takes a moment to calm himself, hating the way his throat seems to close up on him. He pats XiChen's hand one more time before sliding away from the table, and forcing himself to smile. "You were right. I feel so much better," he says to Da Tuzi.
It seems, not only XiChen has to lie today.
**************
Just before they get into the car, Da Tuzi hands him a bag, with extra care.
Wei Ying looks inside it to find bizarre fortune cookie type pastries, and he goes to eat one before Da Tuzi quickly stops him.
"They're not for eating, exactly." He's grinning.
Wei Ying places the bag carefully on the bonnet of Lan Zhan's car and then, he throws himself into Da Tuzi's arms, hugging him tightly.
"Master Wei?" He's nonplussed about this show of affection.
"I dunno. I just felt like I might not get another chance to do that." Wei Ying explains, suddenly feeling silly. "So, what are they, then?" He grabs the bag rather roughly, enjoying Da Tuzi's wince.
Nothing breaks inside, though.
"The outer shell is delicate. It's a special kind of pastry, containing holy water blessed by the Great One. It used to be especially effective when dealing with Jiangshi." Da Tuzi winks and opens the driver's door.
"Hang on, I'm driving," Wei Ying tells him, the keys suddenly produced dangling from his fingertips.
"How did you do that??" Da Tuzi is honestly in awe.
"A skill I picked up," Wei Ying tells him, handing him the bag, which Da Tuzi cradles to his chest carefully, like he would a newborn baby.
They get in the car and Wei Ying thrills at the feeling of the powerful engine under his body. Did Lan Zhan feel the same way every time he started it?
The pang in his heart pierces every happy thought he had. To distract himself, he says, "what am I supposed to do?"
"Aim and throw?" Suggests Da Tuzi, with a sad smile.
They both knew Wei Ying hadn't been talking about these holy water grenades in the plastic bag.
"That, I can do." Wei Ying forces the smile on his face, and puts the car into gear. "Time to get this show on the road."
With that, he reverses out of the spot, drives around the fountain for good luck and peals away, leaving the scent of burning rubber in the air.
*************
A/N
Woohoo! We are done with chapter 80 (omg!! Internal panicking on a major scale, because what the hell? This wasn't supposed to be longer than five, twelve tops, and damn!).
And thank you so much for your support!
We're up to 50K in readership, and nearly 300K in word count, and I really can't believe it!
I've discovered vegan refreshers and they are SO. GOOD!!! Sweets from my childhood, along with Drumsticks, fruit Salad and Opal Fruits. Every time I say that, I can hear their jingle in my head!
Happy Tuesday everyone!
Charlie.