11.30 am Sunday
They heard the snarling, savage sounds before they saw them, these feral, violent vampires, half beings not wholly human, and definitely not turned completely, rendering Wei Ying's connection with the HeartStone useless.
Baoshan Sanren quickly pushed the vulnerable humans into the centre of their group and took an offensive stance, on edge.
Both of her swords were out, suspended in the air and ready to kill.
Wei Ying helped Song Lan stand, but even as he went to help him, Song Lan pushed away from him and went to stand next to Xiao XingChen, who side eyed him, before extricating another hidden sword from his back.
"Fuxue!??" Song Lan exclaims in delight, taking it from him.
The sword seems to vibrate with longing and excitement as his two fingers slide across the lethal blade. His gaze is loving and happy.
"You kept it safe all this time?" Song Lan whispers, staring back at Xiao XingChen with a new awareness.
"Always. Always, for you." Xiao XingChen promises.
And that's all the time they can spare to talk, because they are attacked on all sides.
Lan Zhan makes sure Wei Ying is protected before transforming into his ferocious persona. His talons come out, looking sharp and dangerous, his canines are already elongated and primed. His golden eyes are burning for the need to spill Wen Blood.
He rips into the first vampire he lays his hands on, not wasting time by tearing his head off and discarding the remains, kicking away body parts as if they meant nothing. And then, he wonders if he can really make them do anything he wants, and thinks of Wei Ying laughing and suggesting he make them walk like chickens.
The moment he makes eye contact with the next one, he's amazed that it works, because this strange hybrid is out to get him, mid swoop he suddenly squawks and starts flapping his arms like wings.
"Book, book," he says, throwing everyone off, because how do you attack a chicken?
Meanwhile, Baoshan Sanren has her hands full with three hybrids fiercely attacking her, and she can manage two, but the third one is about to succeed in getting a swipe with his extended nails, when Wei Ying yells out, "Grandma? Grandfather wants you to move on! He wants you to find someone else to love!"
Baoshan Sanren dares not take the time to glare at him, but his words spur her to jump up in the air and in a single move, decapitate all three of her attackers.
"Then, the next time you see him, you can tell him to go to hell!" She yells back, outraged that her husband would suggest such a thing.
She's furious and her rage takes over, a killing spree which doesn't even let A-Qing ignite her Chakras of Death, a cooler name that Wei Ying had given to her weapons in his head.
Lan Zhan can hear Wei Ying's hooting laughter, as he makes more of these hybrids into chickens, and soon there's ten of them, clucking like hens and doing the chicken walk, while strutting through limbs and bloody body parts littering the floor.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Baoshan Sanren says to him, and Lan Zhan stares back, coldly unaffected by her admonishment.
"Wei Ying said it would be funny," he replied, stone-faced.
They both half turn back to see Wei Ying clutching his belly, tears of helpless laughter streaming from his eyes every time they land on a chicken-man-thing.
"Take them down to the cells," she tells one of the vampires, who then herds them into the elevator they just exited.
"Let's not waste any more time," she continues, still glaring at Lan Zhan, who remains unaffected, studiously ignoring her.
"Omfg, did you see that, Lan Zhan?" Wei Ying carries on giggling, and Lan Zhan's cold look is instantly replaced by warmth, his golden eyes softening with fond affection.
He can take the Immortal's ire as long as he gets to make Wei Ying happy, like this.
"We need to come up with a plan." Baoshan Sanren says, as they run across the parking lot, now out in the open.
There are a few cars, but the whole place looks bleak in the morning light. The lack of humans is truly disturbing in a place that's usually abuzz with life. There are no security guards, no one wandering around the vehicles, nothing.
Evidence of the chaos created by the Network of Vampires remains in scorched heaps of ashes, piles spread out around them when they created a diversion, in the early hours of this morning. Charred brightly coloured powder taints the ground that they're running on.
"Wen Rouhan is stuck inside the security room." Wei Ying calls out, as he catches up to his grandmother. "But we don't know where Wen Zhong is, or A-Ning. And it's safe to say, he's going to use A-Ning as a human shield if he can."
They slow to a walk, climbing over the jagged pieces of glass on what remains of the double doors of the main building.
"Then, I think we should split up." Baoshan Sanren says, evidently having thought it through.
"No, Grandmo-" Wei Ying tries to stop her, but she interrupts him.
"Listen to me. While I deal with Wen Rouhan with Xiao XingChen and Song Lan, you take A-Qing and the doctors, and go to secure anyone up there liable to attack us." She pulls out her phone, typing so fast, her fingers are a blur.
Then she swears, a string of profanity with some of the words new to all of her listeners.
She jabs at the call button and barks into the phone.
"This is why your gang won't let you fight, foolish child," she barks into the microphone. "When I tell you to do something, do it."
"But I'm trying to tell you, Ayi, vampires don't give off heat! There's no way I can locate Wen Zhong like that!" Mo XuanYu huffs out, frustration dripping from his words.
"But, my dear child," Baoshan Sanren bites out each word, "we think he has Wen Ning with him, and he's still human, isn't he? His heat signature will tell us exactly where the Wen rat is hiding."
There's a mute silence on the other end.
"Sorry, Ayi, I'll listen next time," Mo XuanYu says quietly, chastised enough.
"See that you do," she replies, gentler now. "Call me rather than message. I don't think there's a good signal inside."
"I can help with that," Wen Qing says, giving them all the WiFi password.
They all hurry to connect their devices.
Again, all their phones ping with notifications.
Baoshan Sanren glances at her phone and then her hand clamps around Wen Qing's neck, before anyone can stop her.
"Grandmother!" Wei Ying protests, but Lan Zhan stops him.
"She isn't pressing hard," he says, correctly identifying her move.
So Wei Ying teeters, bouncing on the balls of his feet anxiously, waiting.
"Listen, and listen well." Baoshan Sanren maintains eye contact, stepping even closer to Wen Qing as she enunciates each word, so no doubt remains on her meaning.
Wen Qing is as still as a doe looking at her killer, eyes wide in trepidation.
"I am entrusting my grandson to your care. If so much as a hair on his head is harmed, I will hold you personally accountable. Do I make myself clear?" The threat is apparent even in the spaces in between her words, menacing and utterly sincere.
Baoshan Sanren might be a grandmother, but she is fearsome to behold.
"Absolutely. I'll try my best." Wen Qing promises, unable to look away.
"Not. Good. Enough. Your best is what got us into this mess, in the first place." Baoshan Sanren lets go of her in a pushing motion, making Wen Qing stumble backwards.
Doctor Afida quickly steadies her, not exactly happy with what is going on.
"We have the same objectives, it is detrimental to our cause if we lose the advantage due to in-fighting," she says, facing up to Baoshan Sanren, who isn't intimidated at all.
"Let's keep those objectives in mind," she replies instead. It sounds like a real threat.
The coolness disappears like frost meeting the sun, when she turns to Lan Zhan and Wei Ying.
She gathers them both close, kissing their foreheads.
"Haizi, you better both be careful. Don't make me come there and have to rescue you." She's stern, and decisive when she says those words.
"Well then, Grandmother, the same goes for you. What will it look like if we have to whoop some vampire asses just to save you?" Wei Ying retorts, with a cheeky grin.
Baoshan Sanren pinches his cheek in retaliation, fully aware that this might be the last time she sets her eyes on him, her daughter's flesh and blood.
She watches them move towards the stairwell, since the elevators are out of commission, until the four of them are no longer visible.
Then she turns to the two other vampires, and Song Lan standing rather close to Xiao XingChen.
"So...shall we?" She points to the door marked security, the only barrier left between them and Wen Rouhan.