04.00am Sunday
As soon as Lan Zhan wakes up, he's aware of two things: his arms and legs are bound, and secondly, he's not alone.
There's another man sitting in front of him, this time wearing modern clothes. It's a simple pair of black trousers and a white shirt. His expression is curious, and unlike Wen Zhong, there is no malice in his eyes. They are a warm brown, like melted chocolate. His hair is short and wavy, and he has an air of importance, perhaps not of himself, but maybe his position?
Lan Zhan can't tell anything else for sure except that he is very much a human. And he seems to be far too relaxed for someone who is meant to be causing him pain, he thinks, picturing those tools he saw before, just ahead of passing out.
"Who are you?" His throat feels dry, but he's not feeling hungry, thanks to Wei Ying's diligent caretaking of his needs.
"My name is Wen Zhuliu." His voice is calm and gentle. "I was curious about you." He gestures towards Lan Zhan's body.
This must be the adopted son of Wen Rouhan, the one that was kept secluded, Lan Zhan surmised, remembering what Baoshan Sanren had told them about the Wens.
Why had he come here to see Lan Zhan? Had he escaped or was he allowed to wander freely?
"Why am I bound now?" Lan Zhan struggles against the leather straps around his wrists and ankles. "How much time has passed?"
"A few hours." He looks at his watch in a bored manner. "It is four in the morning. And they have bound you because the effects of my blood must have worn off by now. It wouldn't do to have their trump card running around loose, would it?"
"Why do they want to drain me?" Lan Zhan recalled what Wen Zhong told him, about what they wanted to do to him, and did a quick inventory of his own body. He is relieved to find it in perfect working condition now. The only thing stopping him from getting up and killing his way out of here is that his hands are tied, literally.
"They have Wen Qing's research. They know about you and the human, that your venom is enhanced. That's why you can walk in the sun, and that's probably why they want to feed from you."
"That's disgusting." Lan Zhan makes a face. He doesn't bother to correct him.
Leave it to the Wens to put two and two together and get ten, because the leap from seeing his test results and his ability to go outdoors in the daytime was a stretch, unless...unless Wen Qing had tampered with the results?
He tried to recall everything she had told them about their compatibility, between himself and Wei Ying, especially when she said that Wei Ying's blood actually welcomed Lan Zhan's venom. Baoshan Sanren had taken it further by explaining how his venom was attacking the cancerous tumour in Wei Ying's head. It felt like his venom was acting as an extension of himself, protecting Wei Ying and keeping him safe, because even it knew that Lan Zhan was as good as dead if Wei Ying wasn't safe, hale and hearty.
"They are well aware of the benefits of experimenting on both blood and venom." He shrugged, as if he was talking about something as inconsequential as the weather.
"But you too, are one of them, no? It is necessary for your survival, and the sooner you stop being squeamish about feeding, the easier it will be for you. Though I should warn you, they will want to keep you, if you prove valuable to them."
"I'm not going to stay here," Lan Zhan tells him, confidently.
"Then you're a bigger fool, if you think you can get away from my family." He laughs quietly, but there is something desolate in the sound.
"They're not your real family. I do not understand this misplaced loyalty." Lan Zhan was never in the habit of lying, and he didn't see why he shouldn't say how he felt to this misguided person.
"Yes, he is. I am a Wen." Wen Zhuliu replies, the last part in an almost robotic voice.
It reminded Lan Zhan of Mrs Lan, when he had accidentally compelled her to start talking. And then, sudden clarity hits him.
That's what the Wens have told him. Someone powerful enough to Compel him, enough to make the thrall last this long, unless it was reinforced every day?
Wen Zhuliu says it like it's a fact, because he's been compelled to believe that, and only that.
"Wen Zhong told me that they killed your family and took you away because your blood was important to them. It has a numbing quality, an ability to nullify our powers. But you already know that, isn't it so?" Lan Zhan wants him to understand this, more than anything else.
"No! You are lying to me. My father said once people understood what I can do, they would try to feed me lies. I am a Wen!" He insisted, standing up. "I must not believe you!"
If he left without listening to Lan Zhan, all would be lost, and Lan Zhan would lose his only means of getting out of here.
So Lan Zhan had to do something, and do it fast. He felt a little sorry for him, this man who had been stolen from his family many years ago. But not enough to forgo playing his own ace card.
"You will wait." Lan Zhan says in his most compelling voice.
It was still as surprising to see him obey, just standing still, waiting.
"Untie me." Lan Zhan commands, hoping this will work. He's once again grateful for his emotionless face, because on an ordinary person, he's positive their jaw would have hit the floor already.
Wen Zhuliu's actions are robotic and precise, his short, stubby fingers sure as he undoes the buckles on the leather straps, one at a time.
"Where are we?" Lan Zhan asks him, patting his pockets looking for his phone, as soon as his hands are freed. Then he remembers that it had been knocked out of his hands when they'd taken him.
"Underground parking facilities at Wen Laboratories," Wen Zhuliu answers him, monotonously.
"How do I get out?" Lan Zhan rubs the raw skin on his ankles, and tries to stand up.
Luckily, apart from the initial shaky feeling, he remains steady.
"Outside, past the guards, turn left and continue onwards until you reach the treasury. Take two rights and follow the corridor to the carpark." Wen Zhuliu remains passive, waiting for the next command.
Guards?
Maybe the Wens weren't as stupid as Lan Zhan thought, but then, how to get past them? There was only one way. Lan Zhan detested every minute of having to bend someone's will to his own, the memory of having it done to himself being the equivalent of Wen Zhong licking the inside of his brain. He shuddered at the feeling and forced himself to concentrate on the present moment.
But, getting out would be impossible without Wen Zhuliu now.
Maybe he could convince him of the truth later.
Lan Zhan still had to get used to his own mind working faster than his previous human brain. Right now, it was blaring one word at him: Treasury.
"Do you know where the HeartStone is?" He asked, urgently.
Wen Zhuliu answered straight away, his warm chocolate eyes now duller, like waxy chocolate, old and out of date.
"Yes."
"Take me there." Lan Zhan said, with absolutely no guilt at all.
He knew without a shred of doubt that Wei Ying was going to come for him, and if there was any way Lan Zhan could help him, then that's what he was going to do.
If circumstances were different, he wouldn't want Wei Ying anywhere near this place, but he had to trust in Wei Ying's grandmother, that she wouldn't let anything happen to her grandson.
Meanwhile, a part of his brain kept reminding him of Wen Zhong's threat: they wanted Lan JingYi for his blood.
A-Yi was only six years old, a baby by any standards, and just the thought of these ruthlessly cruel vampires getting their hands on either of his children made Lan Zhan boil with rage from the inside.
He felt like a volcano, ready to erupt at any time, spew out his hatred and anger with no control to obliterate this new threat.
He wanted to wipe out these monsters from the face of the earth.
By the time he was done, not even a stain would remain of their ever having been around.
He looked about him and found a black robe. Hoping it didn't belong to Wen Zhong, Lan Zhan put it on, using the hood to cover his head fully. There was a piece of rope which he wrapped around his wrists, keeping the ends hidden in his own hands so it looked like he was still tied up.
His only hope of getting out of here was by pretending that Wen Zhuliu was holding him prisoner and taking him elsewhere. They had to be convincing as well, or this could go very wrong.
It wasn't necessary but Lan Zhan took a deep breath and turned to Wen Zhuliu.
"I'm ready, let's go. Take me to the HeartStone."
***************
Baoshan Sanren paused outside the closed door.
A beautiful but ominous melody played faintly from the inside, and she recognised it, or parts of it.
Hundreds of years old, a combination of notes put together by one who loved her as much as she loved him.
Sometimes, it was easier not to let herself think about him. Her husband, her best friend, and in other words, her SoulMate.
But really, if she lied to herself by telling her that, it was only so that she could continue to put one foot in front of the other, to continue this fight that he had begun, all those years ago.
There was not even a half second that went by without her missing him.
She rested her forehead against the cool wood of the door, listening to the melody playing again and again.
Fortifying her thoughts and knowing that there was no way they could delay what was surely going to be another bloodbath. A conflict that had been building ever since her husband was thrown into the Blood Pool and left to die.
Like the meeting of freezing winds and tempestuous clouds, the resulting tornado of war was inevitable and destined.
What else could it be called, if not that?
When Cangse Sanren was a little girl, when she first started telling them about her dreams, they took her seriously while hoping the gift would expire by itself.
To be an oracle of the future was both daunting and an unbearable burden on one so young. They tried their best to support her, too.
They schooled her into not telling everyone she met about pertinent situations involving these people, they tried to convince her that not everyone wanted to know about the future that awaited them.
Cangse Sanren, a beautiful, thoughtful young person, wasn't cruel by nature, and seeing her actions from this point of view, stilled her tongue from revealing everything she saw.
But she began to change slowly, making sure she was always in the right place at the right time, silently saving all those she could. She trusted her parents with things she couldn't handle alone, and they became a quiet team of Cultivators who worked diligently to help as many people as they could, without letting the ones they helped, know.
Sometimes, Baoshan Sanren wondered whether, by interfering with the destiny of so many, Fate simply got tired of her precious daughter and this was why her life was cut short so unexpectedly.
So cruelly.
And yet, Baoshan Sanren had no doubts that her fearless daughter would not have changed a single thing.
Just like her fearless son.
Perhaps putting that label on him now was too great a mantle of responsibility.
Fear was always present, a great motivation for getting things done, especially if one fought against it.
And it was time to face hers.
She steeled herself and opened the door, just as the last note echoed into silence.
Wei Ying was sitting on the couch, looking so small in the expanse of deep blue. Quite the feat for someone who was closer to six feet tall when he was standing.
She went to sit beside him.
He reached for her hand all by himself.
And she let the bubble of joy envelope all of herself in that smallest of actions. They were connected by a beautiful soul who had moved on now, but it was her job to remind him of his mother and to give him strength when his own was flagging.
"How are you holding up?" She asked him, gently.
Wei Ying rested his forehead on her shoulder, pressing his eyes into the much needed softness.
"I can't lose him."
"You won't," she replies, fiercely.
Maybe she couldn't promise it but she was going to do her damndest to get Lan Zhan out of there.
As someone who had lost their confidante so brutally, she was well aware of the pain that followed her like her shadow. There was no way she was letting that happen to her grandson.
"Just this once, if you want to let yourself go, then now's the time to do it," she coaxes.
But he surprises her by shaking his head. His beautiful silver eyes are deep with the pain of separation, but they are dry.
Wei Ying looks at their joined hands and tries to explain how he's feeling.
"I'm not letting myself think about Lan Zhan...not right now. If I do, I know I'll render myself incapable of taking my next breath." He pauses to rub at his chest as if by doing so, he will alleviate some of the building pressure. "I don't like hurting people-"
"You don't have to-"
"Wait, grandmother, hear me out." He smiles ever so sadly, and in that instance, all Baoshan Sanren can see is her daughter in his face.
That bright smile, that crinkle next to his lovely eyes, and those round, rosy cheeks, it takes her back all those years, and she knows she will kill for him, just to keep him safe. To preserve the last remaining pieces of her own daughter.
She can only nod at him, not trusting herself to speak. The well of emotions building inside her will need an outlet, but not yet.
"I know I have to be stronger. I have to be, for Lan Zhan's sake. I'm going to believe that we can get him out of there, no matter what. I will do whatever it takes, even if I have to stop being me for a while. I can lock up the good parts of me, the happy parts that belong to Lan Zhan and A-Yuan, and A-Yi, keeping them safe and untainted.
"When all this is over, I can take those pieces out and learn how to be me again, and hopefully I will be able to forget this part, of who I must become in order to keep my family safe."
"I believe in you," she tells him honestly, when she can speak. "A-Ying, I'm so proud of you! I really am. If your mother was here, she would tell you the same." She takes in a shuddering breath. "We're going there to fight. Let there be no illusions in your mind; it will be bloody, it will be tough. But we can do it."
Wei Ying nods, letting determination fill his body.
"These are the people who killed your mother and father, my only daughter and through her connection, my son. They killed my husband. How long are we going to let that go? The time has come to put an end to this, tonight."
Despite his desire not to cry, a few tears slip past his tight control, and Wei Ying wipes them away, standing up.
They are going to be the last tears he will allow himself to cry tonight.