*Inside the tunnel*
Wei Ying falls silent when they near the exit of the tunnel.
Lan Zhan falls back, letting Wei Ying take the lead.
Due to years of disuse, the tunnel has fallen into ruins. The walls are donned by jagged edges.
Wei Ying motions Lan Zhan to place a silencing charm around them.
Lan Zhan nods signalling that the charm is in effect.
"Lan Zhan, on the other side of this trap door, is my jingshin." Wei Ying says, peeping through the crack in the door.
"No one is here." Wei Ying informs, "Looks like setting foot in my private space, still scares Meng Yao's men." Wei Ying chuckles, and Lan Zhan can't help but smile.
'They are not the only ones scared of entering your jingshin, Wei Ya.. ' Lan Zhan thinks, recalling the past. A small smile graces the light bearer's face. Wei Ying misses it.
"Lan Zhan, let's go." The younger says, and chants a spell that dissolves the door.
The two men cross the threshold and enter into Wei Ying's old jingshin.
"Welcome, Lan Zhan." He says, and excitedly hops towards his husband.
"Hanguang Jun, under better circumstances, I would have asked you to fu.... I mean make love to me right here." Wei Ying says, looking coyly at the light bearer.
"Wei Ying, who is to say that we can't do it now?" Lan Zhan whispers in Wei Ying's ears before placing a kiss on the younger's cheek.
This effectively shuts Wei Ying up and the two starts looking around the jingshin for any signs of entry.
Lan Zhan shows the boundary of the silencing charm to Wei Ying.
"Lan Zhan, can you manipulate the spell to work according to our position." Wei Ying asks.
Lan Zhan nods and chants something under his breath.
"We will have to stick closer, so our boundaries overlap, so we can hear each other but no one can hear us." The light bearer informs.
Wei Ying nods and is about to say something when they hear someone wince.
'A Yuan!' Lan Zhan realizes and follows the sound of the young boy's voice. Wei Ying follows without a second thought. He notices how distressed his husband is looking.
"Lan Zhan, what is the matter?"
"A Yu... SiZhui is in trouble." Lan Zhan says, quickening his pace.
Wei Ying follows closely.
'I have never seen Lan Zhan loose his composure like this. What makes SiZhui so special?' Wei Ying wonders.
Soon the two are almost at the main hall door.
Lan Zhan crouches down next to the closed doors and peeps through the crack.
Wei Ying joins him.
The two witness everything.
Lan Zhan's hand lands on Bichen, "How dare he treat him like this!" Lan Zhan exclaims, when Su She throws alcohol on the young boy's face.
"Lan Zhan, control yourself. We can't afford to blow our cover yet!" Wei Ying says, holding light bearer back from attacking Su She.
Lan Zhan tries to calm himself down. But once again almost looses control when SiZhui starts crying.
"I am here, A Yuan." Lan Zhan mutters under his breath, and tears roll down his cheek.
Wei Ying frowns, 'Why does he care for that boy so much....was Lan Zhan... No, SiZhui is a child... Lan Zhan promised that he has only ever loved me... But then, what is so special about this boy?'
Wei Ying remembers that SiZhui was personally taught by Lan Zhan how to play the enquiry, and jealousy raises it's ugly head once again.
"Lan Zhan!" Wei Ying bites out.
"Mn?" Lan Zhan says, turning towards Wei Ying and wiping his tears.
"Tell me the truth Lan Zhan, why does SiZhui's pain affect you so?"
"He is a Lan." Lan Zhan says, without making eye contact.
"Yet, I have never seen you cry or loose your composure for anyone else." Wei Ying says accusingly.
Lan Zhan remains quiet.
"Lan Zhan," Wei Ying's tone softens, "Is SiZhui special?"
"Mn."
"Do you love him?"
"Mn." Lan Zhan nods, turning to look at SiZhui once more.
Tears run down Wei Ying's cheek, 'So you being with me was you taking pity on me after all... ' Wei Ying thinks, looking at Lan Zhan, who seems to have his eyes glued to where SiZhui is sitting and crying.
'Lan Zhan, if it's SiZhui that you want, then who am I to come between you?' Wei Ying thinks, now looking at how the young disciple is crying after being told of Lan Zhan's disappearance.
'Don't worry, SiZhui, I will clear the misunderstanding. I will make sure that I save you and all the others, and then leave.... The world is big... And I have walked this lonely bridge alone before, I can do it again.' Wei Ying pledges. Wiping his tears, he puts a comforting hand on his husband's shoulder.
"Lan Zhan, don't worry. I will not let anything happen to him." Wei Ying says, smiling towards his husband.
Lan Zhan nods without looking at Wei Ying.
The two men watch as Su She snaps his fingers and SiZhui falls unconscious once again.
There after, Su She walks out, telling the guards that he will be back after checking the parameter.
The two men wait till Su She walks outside.
"I think he must have already contacted Meng Yao, and let him know that the situation is under control." Wei Ying guesses.
Lan Zhan nods, "The soldiers are relaxed as well. We need the soldiers to leave as well."
Wei Ying nods, "I can draw a talisman, that can make them hallucinate. What if I make them see that the corpses are trying to harm them? After all, Meng Yao as well as Su She are aware that they can't control the undead corpses fully."
"How do we get the talisman on them?" Lan Zhan asks.
"Paper man." Wei Ying answers and adds, "Instead of drawing the talisman, I will recite it to the paper man. It can approach the soldiers unnoticed and whisper it in their ears. Slowly, one by one, they will hear the undead corpses making a racket outside and leave. And that will give us a chance to free the boys."
Lan Zhan agrees and the two men devise a plan to rescue the young boys without giving Su She a chance to alert Meng Yao.
Once the plan is in place, Wei Ying summons the paper man and whispers the spell to him.
The two watch, as the paper man does the task perfectly, and returns to Wei Ying.
The two guards, slowly open their eyes.
"Did you hear that?" One of them asks.
The other nods, and panicking a little, the two men leave the hall.
Lan Zhan runs to SiZhui, and checks his vitals, while Wei Ying runs to Jin Ling.
"They have been sedated using demonic music. It was probably Su She himself, who used the Ying Iron to achieve this."
"Mn." Lan Zhan acknolodges, before adding, "We should get the kids to the tunnel."
Wei Ying nods and takes out Subian. He cuts a small pieces of clothing from each boy's robes and arranges them on the floor hall, where the boys were lying unconscious.
Chanting a spell under his breath, Wei Ying makes the pieces of clothing vibrate, and a few seconds later, the pieces morph into the boys themselves.
Lan Zhan looks at his husband with eyes brimming with pride.
The two men, then carry the boys one by one to Wei Ying's old jingshin.
Wei Ying checks SiZhui's vitals and after Lan Zhan has put a silencing spell over the area once again, Wei Ying takes out Chenqing, and plays an eerie tune.
Slowly SiZhui regains consciousness. He opens his eyes and they fall on Lan Zhan.
"Hanguang Jun." The boy whispers and smiles, but almost immediately he looks to his side.
He finds Wei Ying smiling at him with sad eyes.
The boy, without hesitation throws his arms around Wei Ying's neck and hugs him tight. "Senior Mo... Wei gege!" He exclaims.
"What did you call me?" Wei Ying asks, taken aback by the young disciple's words.
SiZhui breaks the embrace and wipes his tears, "Wei gege, I have missed you... sorry, I couldn't recognize you earlier."
"Mn!?" Wei Ying blinks, and looks at Lan Zhan, "Lan Zhan, I am sorry, but it looks like your boy has suffered a mental breakdown."
Lan Zhan crouches down next to the two people he loves the most, and hugs them.
"Did you get your memories back?" Lan Zhan asks, to a brightly smiling SiZhui.
"Yes, Hanguang Jun. Thank you for bringing Wei gege to me." The boy says, bowing to Lan Zhan.
"Excuse me, but what the fuck are you guys talking about!?" Wei Ying asks, feeling like he has miscalculated certain things.
"Wei Ying, SiZhui is...A Yuan... Wen Yuan. Your...our, A Yuan..." Lan Zhan informs.
{Note :- That's it for this update. And for a change, it's not a cliffhanger 😁
I updated Us and Them a few days ago with the chapter 'Shots of Vinegar' putting it here for those who may have missed it.
I want to thank all of you who nominated The Lonely Bridge, Dusk and Dawn, Us and Them and Mine' to protect and to serve ' in the Readers Choice awards. ❤❤❤❤
Those who want to nominate, but haven't done so, here is the user profile and the nomination procedure.
You can nominate how many ever books you want, but, you can only nominate one book once.
Go to the '2020 Reader's Choice Awards' book
Click on the second chapter, 'Nominations'
Scroll to where the categories are mentioned, and leave an inline comment.
Eg,
Fanfiction category -> an inline comment -> 'The Lonely Bridge by @GandalfofspaceAnli'
Here are the categories in which you can nominate my books:-
The Lonely Bridge in Fanfiction
Dusk and Dawn in Fanfiction
Us and Them in Fanfiction
Mine 'To Protect and to Serve' in Fantasy
The Accidental Pet in Adventure
Snippets from my wandering soul in Poetry
❤Thank you❤
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Thank you for reading.
Have a nice day.}