12.41pm Sunday
As they ran up the stairs, Wei Ying wondered where this new stamina was coming from. He wasn't unfit by any means, and negotiating the four flights of stairs to his apartment daily multiple times had kept him trim.
But this was a whole new kind of fit.
"I feel really great," Wei Ying says, conversationally, casually.
"Mn?" Lan Zhan is running up the stairs with him, also not breaking a sweat, though Wei Ying thinks it's unfair how he might never sweat any more, and he's missed the chance to lick-
He almost stumbles at the image in his head, of bare pale skin made golden with sunlight under his hands, and Lan Zhan catches him, as they wait for the doctors and Wen Zhuliu to reach them, several flights down.
His worried gaze makes Wei Ying blush and he hides his face in Lan Zhan's chest.
"Distraction will make us lose focus," Lan Zhan chides, but his arms never miss a chance to hold Wei Ying close. "What was Wei Ying thinking about?"
"Omg...I don't want to say," he moans dramatically. "I'll never hear the end of it!"
Lan Zhan thinks he's adorable, the pink blush in his ears giving away what must be the prettiest colour, only darker, on the rest of his face. The heat is astonishingly pretty.
"I shall give you one kiss," Lan Zhan bargains, thinking he has the time, since he can hear three pairs of feet five flights below them.
"That's awfully stingy....I thought my husband-to-be would-"
That's all Wei Ying needs to say for Lan Zhan to lose control.
Lan Zhan takes his lips, swallowing the rest of his words in an eager rush to claim what has always been his.
Wei Ying kisses him back, enjoying this sensual delight.
Kissing Lan Zhan never felt ordinary, normal or run of the mill. It was lighting him up like a firework, and he was right at the centre of it. Colours exploded behind his eyelids, startlingly vivid and vibrant, shocks of wonder travelling up and down his body, igniting his nerve endings. Delicious fires spread through his chest, and Wei Ying wants more, forgetting where they are.
Lan Zhan is just as affected, surrounded by the magic of his fiance. Wei Ying has promised to marry him, and it is one that he will not take lightly.
Wei Ying is as bright as a lit torch seen from the inside, fiery and golden like a live wire and incandescent with beauty. He is like a blow torch, scorching away the memories of Lan Zhan's old life, one that was only half lived because it was missing something so vital.
His soft lips are plump and all the more deliciously enticing, pressing against his in a loving way, sucking on his bottom lip and pouring all that he feels into this single point of contact. The ties of love that bind them only become stronger with each lick of his sweet, sweet tongue, marking him for life.
If Lan Zhan had to spend the rest of his life kissing Wei Ying, it would be a life well lived.
Reluctantly, Wei Ying pulls away with the need to breathe.
"Talk." Lan Zhan says, making sure it's not a command.
"Well, I was just worried about...." What was he worried about, again? Wei Ying is dazed, skin still tingling with wondrous shivers.
"We were climbing up...Wei Ying stumbled." Lan Zhan reminds him, huffing in amusement.
"Oh...right."
He's remembered because Lan Zhan can remember what his blood smells like when he becomes embarrassed. And he's eagerly anticipating what Wei Ying will say.
"It's just, a while back, I was going through your Instagram page, and there were some very interesting pictures." Wei Ying hedged, and at least that part wasn't a lie.
"Mostly nutritional posts." Lan Zhan thinks back to his profile page, wondering what could cause him to feel like this, unless it was Wei Ying's poor eating habits from before Lan Zhan came to live there, with him.
"And a few others. Of you, training. You must have been feeling warm."
Oh no.
One look into those silver shimmering eyes, and Lan Zhan knows Wei Ying has seen THAT picture.
It wasn't even taken by him, but a fellow gym buddy, when Lan Zhan had lifted the bottom of his vest to wipe away the sweat on his face. The gym buddy had called it a thirsty picture, and Lan Zhan had agreed, he was parched. The person had tagged him and put up the link to his page, and that was how Wei Ying must have found out about it.
It's Lan Zhan's turn to be embarrassed, and luckily for him, Wei Ying hasn't finished explaining himself.
"So while we were running up these stairs, I was wondering, because it is exercise, whether you sweat any more, and then I kind-of-imagined-you-on-our-bed," and the rest of the words can only be heard by a dog.
Or a bat.
And Lan Zhan.
"I can think of other food which might taste better," he encourages, pleased that Wei Ying wants to do something like that, and he has to adjust himself at the thought of what it would feel like.
"Like what?" Wei Ying lifts his flaming face up, immediately foregoing his embarrassment, and suddenly very interested.
"We can discuss it later." Lan Zhan nods at the panting doctors and Wen Zhuliu who are out of breath, and the action prevents Wei Ying from letting go of the whining protests which would have surely followed suit.
They take a five minute break so they can recover.
"We're on which floor?" Wei Ying asks, calculating something in his head.
"Eighth." Wen Qing supplies the answer.
"And so far, the Network of Vampires have everything under control. Which is great, but we also know that Wen Zhong and A-Ning aren't there, and that's bad." Wei Ying finishes, thinking hard.
"How many floors are there in this building?"
"Twelve in all." Doctor Afida says, looking to Wen Qing for confirmation.
"What's at the top, then?" Lan Zhan asks, thinking back to when they visited with Wen Qing that first time.
"What do you mean?" Wen Qing says sharply, her head snapping up immediately to look at him.
"In the elevator, sure the numbers only go up to that, but there's a place only accessible with a key. And its placement was above twelve, which makes me think it's higher up." He reasons.
"We can continue going up and finding out." Wei Ying shrugs, because that's the only way.
They've been checking through all the floors they've passed, and up until now, they have met a few of their grandmother's friends at every stop, with a report on its condition, and whether or not there are any vampires to subdue, and so far they've been lucky.
They push through the double doors marked with a fire exit sign, and enter straight into the middle of a fight.
Lan Zhan immediately transforms into his true vampire persona, taking out three vicious looking beasts straight away, as they are targeted on sight.
Wei Ying's attention is caught by the ferocity of the attacks and he quickly realises that he can help.
These are feral vampires.
Chenqing comes out, and as soon as the flute touches his lips, the notes ring out sure and true.
These vampires are even more savage than the ones in the basement, and the music doesn't seem to help because if anything, they're becoming increasingly violent.
"They're wearing ear plugs!" Wen Qing yells, as another wave attacks.
The fighting is fast and fierce, and Lan Zhan cuts an impressive figure as he annihilates six vampires in quick succession. His talons drip with a mix of venom and blood, teeth stained with his latest victims, and a low growl in his chest that sounds constant.
A few of the vampires from the original team that knew Baoshan Sanren rally around them, and for a few minutes, it looks like they're equally matched.
Chenqing isn't helping and as Wei Ying puts it down, he sees a discarded rapier and a fencing mask. He picks the sword up and skewers the second vampire trying to attack Lan Zhan, who finishes him off quickly.
"This is so cool," Wei Ying says, handling the weight of the weapon in his hand and parrying to get a feel for the sword. "I bet if we were fencing partners, we'd be really good at it." He stabs another feral monster, whirling out of range as Lan Zhan follows him.
Multiple swords attack them and Lan Zhan manages to ward off the assault with a spear taken from his latest victim.
"Why does Wei Ying think so?" He asks, dispatching another creature.
"Oh, come on? Us two? Playing with our swords? It'd be fun," Wei Ying giggles, lunging at another vampire. "We could totally spar, you know, lots of thrusting, plunging, and all that..." he wiggles his eyebrows suggestively, lopping the arm off another attacker. "And then," his voice becomes infinitely deeper, "we could spend an unlimited amount of time in the locker room, all sweaty and dirty. If you know what I mean."
Lan Zhan growled, annoyed at being forced to fight these relentless creatures when he just wanted to push Wei Ying against a wall and punish him for putting images in his head, ones he could in no way act upon right now.
The fighting is fierce and wild, a survival of the fittest, but they are too few to make it count, no matter that their skills are unsurpassed.
Most of the vampires attacking them are crazed, mad with bloodthirsty intent, and the sounds they are making alone would drive others to run away in fear. Snapping of teeth, dripping saliva and growling jaws are driving them back.
All around them is the smell of blood and death.
Wei Ying hates this, feeling useless and having to stand by and do too little, like a damsel in distress. It isn't fair and then just as he's thinking this, he gets a brilliant idea.
"Lan Zhan? Compel them to remove their plugs!" He shouts, lifting his flute to his lips once more. "Empty their ears!"
Using Chenqing is the only way to defeat this many vampires.
And that way, he can really help.
As Lan Zhan uses his gift to get inside their heads, Wei Ying begins to control these undead once more, playing faster and faster. His eyes burn a bright red, matching the centre of the HeartStone with their brilliance as the haunting melody works its magic.
No matter their prowess, it's only a matter of time before they become tired. Fighting is hugely taxing on both their energy and thinking capacity, and Wei Ying wants to put an end to this as soon as possible.
But just as Lan Zhan is distracted by another three rabid vampires throwing chairs at him, another sly vampire rakes his nails across Wei Ying's forearm, forcing him to drop Chenqing and causing the music to stop.
Doctor Afida grabs a chair and smashes it over the vampire that managed to breach their defences and that alerts Lan Zhan that something is wrong.
He can smell Wei Ying's blood, having become familiar with the taste and scent of it.
Almost immediately, his skin knits itself back together as if the cut had never happened at all, and Wei Ying has no choice except to whistle the notes he had learned so diligently before, taking a chance that it was going to work.
His notes ring out, not as loud as with the flute, but nevertheless effective.
In that instance, Wei Ying learns that it is the tune which is more important, than the conduit, because in the end, that's all Chenqing is, despite having a wider range and thus making it more efficient. But it's not strictly speaking necessary.
Only the succession of notes, complete with the HeartStone and the Locket key, can control these beasts. His grandfather was a genius.
All those compelled to take out the barriers in their ears are motionless in the most creepy way, and like a macabre Pied Piper, Wei Ying leads them to a secure laboratory, taking them past the extensive safety precautions into the inner working place.
It doesn't take long for them to secure the rest of the space soon after, and once that's done, Wen Qing finds and hands him Chenqing again.
"That was amazing!" One of the vampires on their side says in admiration, staring at Wei Ying. "You arrived just in time, otherwise we would have lost."
Lan Zhan is already standing in his line of sight, too worried about WeiYing. He takes his arm and examines it, ignoring everyone else.
"Does it hurt?" His voice is careful, soft.
Wei Ying can only shake his head, mute in the face of such obvious care. Those long and pale fingers trace the place on his skin where Lan Zhan thinks Wei Ying was hurt, stroking it better and wishing it had never happened in the first place.
His phone rings, jarring him out of his trance of looking at his beloved fiance, a thrill racing through his body every time he thinks of Lan Zhan like that.
"It's Mo XuanYu," he says, answering it. And then he goes pale, swaying. "What do you mean, she's been stabbed?"
************
A/N
Dear Beautiful Readers,
How are we holding up so far?
Parts of this chapter have to be dedicated to @Lilyan8530 because they sent me pictures a long time ago, January, I think, requesting a story about Wei Ying and Lan Zhan fighting multiple fencers and then making out in the locker room.
If I didn't add it now, I don't know when I'll be able to get around to it, and I thought, this is my chance! I haven't forgotten about it!!
Next chapter, I promise we'll get to Grandmother!!
Charlie