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Chapter Text

It was already nearing dinner time when Lan Zhan entered the tattoo shop. The instant blast of cold air felt heavenly on his sweat drenched skin. Lan Zhan had spent the whole day outside - it was a nasty case of child kidnapping, involving a thrilling car chase - and the sweltering humidity throughout the day had managed to form a tiny fissure of irritability on the ever composed and stoic Lan.    

The reception hall that Lan Zhan entered was tasteful and the decor had a luxurious feel to it. Although not his personal choice of colours, the hues of reds and blacks, accentuated with golden lining, was very artistic in nature and spoke well for the owner of the establishment. Lan Zhan looked around and saw that there was no one at the reception counter. Given the late hour, he supposed all the employees had already left for the day. But it did not matter. Lan Zhan had an appointment with the owner and he was ten minutes early. 

Just as Lan Zhan stood still to collect his thoughts, there was a commotion at the back of the shop and a whirlwind of a man came running through the door. The first thing Lan Zhan noticed was that the man had a bright smile to rival the sun and sparkling silver eyes to shame the moon. He was wearing tight black jeans and a decadent red shirt which was made of silk and Lan Zhan had the sudden urge to check how soft the material was. 

Both of his hands were covered in beautiful ink, a dragon tattoo on one hand and phoenix on the other. Both his ears were adorned with glittering silver jewels, although their shine still seemed dull compared to the silver of the man’s eyes.

He was beautiful - and very seductive, too sexy for his own good, his mind whispered - Lan Zhan thought. There was an instant flare of heat in his body that had nothing to do with the weather and everything related to this unbelievably mesmerising man in front of him. At the same time, Lan Zhan did not fail to notice the burning interest in the other man’s gaze. Wei Ying, his mind supplied the name. 

Earlier in the day, when his uncle, who also happened to be his chief had asked Lan Zhan to invite an expert consultant for the department, he had not imagined his day would turn out to be like this, that it would be so interesting. Anticipation curled in his gut as his mind planned various means to take this man to his bed and keep him there. But his face gave nothing away, remained as calm as ever, except for the slight tinge of red in his ears.   

–

Wei Ying observed the pretty, pretty man in white in front of him. Desire clung to his skin as he saw how the fierce golden eyes of the Lan turned dark with interest and intent. He could almost taste the barely hidden lust in the air, much like the spices he always loved. The unspoken promises, carefully embanked beneath the surface, ready to be unleashed within a moment's notice - even as the man, Lan Zhan, maintained the calm composure - only managed to increase his own growing curiosity about the Lan. He badly wanted to tease and poke at this stoic man, just to see what made him tick, just to see him lose his cool, and finally realise where it would take him, where it would take both of them.  

Getting rid of the intrusive thoughts, Wei Ying greeted the Lan cultivator.

“Hello, I am Wei Ying. You must be my 8 o’ clock appointment. But I am still confused as to why a fine cultivator like you would wander into places like this. You do not seem to be the person who would tattoo his skin.” Wei Ying grinned. 

“Not for a tattoo. I am here for Yiling Laozu.” Lan Zhan said in his calm tone. Suddenly, there was a different kind of tension in the air, something unpleasant as Wei Ying lost his smile. 

“Ah! I should have guessed. Only Chief Lan knows my identity. Given the cloud pattern on your shirt’s collar speaks well of your status in your Lan Clan. You must be a family, a very close blood relative. A capable and trustworthy Lan, I am assuming. Otherwise Lan Qiren would not disclose my identity to you. On the second glance, you do resemble him a bit. You must be his nephew and I have heard he has two of them. You are not the eldest nephew, for I know Zewu-Jun is in politics and would not think to visit such an establishment, even at gunpoint. So, Hanguang-Jun, what do you want from this humble Yiling Laozu?” Wei Ying bowed.  

He knew he was being a bit provocative. He also knew his Lan and Lan Qiren had nothing to do with whatever happened back in the day. But he was still smarting from the way he was treated by his colleagues back then and he could not control the slight bitterness that still clung to his soul. But soon he shook away his thoughts. It was not in his nature to dwell on these negative things and take it on the innocents.  

“You can call me Lan Zhan”. Hanguang-Jun replied politely as if nothing would faze him, as  if no matter the situation, he would always maintain his calm and be steady as a mountain. 

With a sheepish grin, Wei Ying inclined his head in a silent apology, and said, “Lan Zhan. You can call me Wei Ying”. Hanguang-Jun nodded his head, offering his silent forgiveness and that was that. Wei Ying could not help but feel a bit of fondness for the Lan.

–

Lan Zhan continued to observe Wei Ying and there was an awkward silence for a few seconds. Wei Ying started to fidget from where he was standing as if he could not stand the silence. 

“Would you like to have dinner with me?” Wei Ying blurted out suddenly and there was a blush spreading across his cheeks as if he was caught off guard by what he said. Cute, very cute , Lan Zhan thought. 

Lan Zhan blinked and there was a trace of smile in his eyes. 

. 

“...I mean…it is dinner time now. I am hungry. You must be hungry too. I bet you came from your job directly. Since you are here and I am also here, of course I will be here, this is my shop, where else I would be, ha ha…we can discuss why you are here while eating.” Wei Ying babbled on and on, and placed his hand on his neck in a nervous gesture.  

“No talking while eating. Lan rule” Lan Zhan replied. There was a teasing glint in his eyes. 

Wei Ying blinked in astonishment and then started to laugh heartily. “Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, you are so funny…ha ha…” he said, in between his giggles. 

Lan Zhan was pleased with himself and Wei Ying noticed. “I bet there must be a Lan rule somewhere about not being prideful and boastful,” Wei Ying commented dryly. 

“Mn.”

“Lan Zhan, come on. There is a barbeque restaurant nearby and it is very tasty. Let’s go there and celebrate our new friendship.” Wei Ying took hold of Lan Zhan’s arm to lead him to the eatery and Lan Zhan let him.

—

“What you are saying is that cultivators are missing across the country and your chief  suspects that it is similar to what happened in the past?” Wei Ying asked. 

“Mn.” 

Their dinner was very pleasant, albeit a bit silent on Lan Zhan’s part. Even if he maintained the Lan rule of not talking, he did not stop Wei Ying from not maintaining the rule. The entire dinner was a one sided communication from Wei Ying and an occasional “Mn”s from Lan Zhan. But this did not stop Wei Ying from having a great time. What could go wrong? One liked to talk and the other liked to listen. A perfect combination, Wei Ying thought to himself. 

Right now, they were at a cafe for after dinner coffee and Wei Ying had persuaded Lan Zhan to talk as well. “Lan Zhan, the rule says not to talk while eating. It does not mention anything about drinking. We are drinking coffee now and you can speak”, Wei Ying pulled Lan Zhan’s sleeves, blinking at him with his oh-so-innocent eyes. Lan Zhan was charmed and had given in eventually. That had earned him the brightest smile Lan Zhan had ever seen in his life. 

“I do not think your uncle would be involved if it were any random cultivator gone missing. Someone of high status must have been missing. Who is it?” Wei Ying probed. 

“Nie Mingjue” 

“Fuck!” Wei Ying cursed. This is huge. Wei Ying had a feeling that this is only the beginning. 

“Mn”. 

“When did he go missing?” Wei Ying asked.

“It has been ten days.” 

“Chief Lan would have dispatched a few agents already.”

“Yes. After preliminary investigation we found a few more missing cases.” 

“I guess your uncle is keeping this incident under wraps for now. Nothing was on the news at all. Nie Huaisang must have demanded that.” Wei Ying mused. 

“You are very familiar with second master Nie.” Lan Zhan asked. 

“Yes. We were classmates at one point of time. Unlike what people perceive of him, he is very sharp. He must not want everyone to know that his brother, and the CEO of Nie Corporation is missing so as to not affect the stock market.”

“Mn”. There was a sour note of vinegar in the air which tickled Wei Ying a bit. 

“Why does your uncle think cases are similar to the old incident?” Wei Ying asked, coming back to the topic.

“Found traces of resentful energy.” Lan Zhan replied.

“There is already a precedent. Your uncle knows all the details. So, this case should not be a problem for someone of your calibre.” Wei Ying commented.

“Mn”. 

“There is more to it, isn’t it?” Wei Ying said, “there are more than one motive involved, I guess.” Lan Zhan kept silent and Wei Ying took it as acquiesce. 

“Your uncle is luring me back into the department using this case, isn’t he? That old man!” Wei Ying laughed, “he never stopped asking me to come back!”.

“Mn”. 

“Lan Zhan, have you thought that this case might have nothing to do with resentful energy at all?” Wei Ying asked.

“Wei Ying is unknown. But Yiling Laozu is very famous.”  Lan Zhan replied. There was no fluctuation, no insinuation at all in his tone. But Wei Ying heard everything clearly.

“How clever, Hanguang-Jun!” Wei Ying exclaimed in delight, “You are right. Either this case is a repeat of what happened back then. Or someone is luring the great Yiling Laozu into a trap, to expose my identity. They must want something from me. Else, all these conjectures could be true. After all, if at all they needed a cultivator to experiment, any random person would do. They need not go high profile and kidnap the Nie clan leader. How ambitious!”. Wei Ying had that glint in his eyes, the same he would get when presented with an interesting problem. 

“But, there is a slight problem. Say, this case has just begun and I join your team immediately. Don’t you think the timing is too perfect? There are no coincidences. It would be very easy to guess my identity.” Wei Ying mused. 

“You are intrigued.” Lan Zhan observed. 

“How can I not?” Wei Ying replied with a smile, “I have been very bored recently.”

“Mn”. 

Wei Ying leaned into his Lan, “Lan Zhan, the case is not the only thing I am interested in. You must know this.” Wei Ying whispered. 

“Mn”. Up this close Wei Ying could see Lan Zhan’s ears turn red and he let out a satisfied hum.

“I believe your uncle does not have any solution to the problem I just mentioned” Wei Ying asked.

“But Wei Ying has an idea”. Lan Zhan observed. 

“Ah! Hanguang-Jun, you are getting to know me!” Wei Ying let out a delighted laugh. He was very pleased.    

“Mn”. 

“How about Lan Zhan taking this poor old Wei Ying as his lover? Now, that would be the perfect solution isn’t it?” Wei Ying hummed in satisfaction. 

“Lover?” Lan Zhan asked.

“A fake relationship, of course!” Wei Ying replied. 

“Fake dating?” 

“Of course, it could be totally real too! Who knows?” Wei Ying teased. 

“Does Wei Ying want it to be real?” Lan Zhan teased back.

“Ah! Now that is the mystery of it, isn’t it? Only time will give all the answers.” Wei Ying answered with a grin, “Try me and you will find what you need. Are you up for the challenge, Hanguang-Jun? Are you ready to play the rebel and date this misfit? Afterall, this is a chance for the great Hanguang-Jun to conquer this unapologetic and untamed Yiling Laozu.” Wei Ying bared his neck in front of Lan Zhan. It was very distracting to say the least. Lan Zhan could not stop himself from hungrily looking at Wei Ying as if he was a rare delicacy.

Wei Ying shivered as Lan Zhan caressed the exposed skin on his neck with his finger and said, “mark your words.”  

—--

Lan Qiren took a sip of his favourite Chamomile tea as he looked at his nephew. He knew this would happen when his youngest nephew met that gremlin of a man. Lan Zhan thought he hid his nature and preferences perfectly. But Lan Qiren had single handedly raised his two nephews since they were young and knew everything he was supposed to know and things he was not supposed to know as well. He knew Lan Zhan loved soft, furry creatures, especially attracted to rabbits. Now, Lan Qiren might be old and pedantic, but even he knew underneath all the brilliant mind, charming and sophisticated persona, Wei Ying was nothing but a cute little bunny, a deadly combination if ever to exist, exactly something that would attract his nephew. While the intelligence would entice, the quick wit and unruly nature would offer a challenge, and the kindness underneath would bring out the protectiveness, and yes, no doubt Lan Zhan would be intrigued by Wei Ying. 

Although Lan Qiren considered Wei Ying a menace, often reminding him of his friend Cangse, there was a soft spot for him too. No one he knew would face what Wei Ying had faced, did what Wei Ying had to do, and still retained his original intention, his kindness, and his love towards the world itself as Wei Ying did. He just hoped both his nephew and his friend’s son would find their happiness in the end. Of course, he will not comment on the matters of the heart. He is too old and too jaded for all that drama, and wanted no part of any sort of matchmaking. 

“So, have you decided on this fake date thing?” Lan Qiren asked in the end. 

“Mn”. Only the reddish part of Lan Zhan’s ears give away everything. Lan Qiren sighed again, in a boy-you-cannot-lie-but-I-will-let-it-slide-for-my-own-sanity way.

“You want me to play the disapproving elder?” Lan Qiren asked, just to confirm.

“Mn”. 

“And when is the grand opening of this farce?” 

“This weekend. At the Lan charity banquet.” Lan Zhan replied.

“Fine!” Lan Qiren agreed, “nephew, always look beneath the surface. And I am not just talking about this case.” 

“I understand, uncle”. Lan Zhan nodded in agreement. 

—

“Here you go, Lan Zhan. This is my special blend of tea. It is a bit spicy. I hope you will like it”. Wei Ying passed the cup of tea to Lan Zhan and poured himself a glass of wine. 

They were in Wei Ying’s apartment and enjoying a quiet evening on his balcony. The view outside was like a fairy tale setting, with twinkling lights coming to play as the dusk settled in. The breeze was cool that evening, offering comfort after a sweltering afternoon.

The reason Lan Zhan gave to visit Wei Ying at this time was to discuss the plan of action for the upcoming gala. But they both knew it was only a part of it. As to what the real excuse was, Wei Ying did not ask and Lan Zhan did not offer any. 

“Hanguang-Jun, when should I be ready for tomorrow?” Wei Ying asked after taking a sip of his wine. 

“At 7’o clock in the evening. I will pick you up.” Lan Zhan replied.

“Should we practise now? How about I hang on to your arms like this?” Wei Ying held on to Lan Zhan’s biceps to cop a feel and leaned his entire weight on Lan Zhan. Then he looked up to check Lan Zhan's reaction and blinked prettily. Lan Zhan looked at Wei Ying for a few seconds and Wei Ying flushed at the invisible caress of that gaze. 

Satisfied with the result, Lan Zhan removed Wei Ying’s hands from his arms and sneaked his own arm around Wei Ying's waist, and replied, “This is much better.” 

Wei Ying was stunned into silence and all he could do was blink owlishly at the Lan. 

Lan was very much amused and a trace of smile appeared on his lips. Wei Ying would have almost missed it if not for the way he was staring at the Lan cultivator intently.

“Ah!” Wei Ying exclaimed with his hand placed on his chest, “you are not allowed to smile…it is very lethal”, he blurted out and blushed furiously once he realised what he said.

Lan Zhan was utterly charmed. 

“Is that so?” Lan Zhan’s smile became more pronounced.

Wei Ying hid his face on Lan Zhan’s chest, “you are a menace! Everyone thinks you are dull and boring. How come no one noticed how much of a tease you are!” he complained. 

“They were not Wei Ying.” Lan Zhan replied. 

“Ahh! My poor heart! Lan Zhan, you are not allowed to do this!” Wei Ying exclaimed as he looked up to Lan Zhan. 

“Mn”. 

There was a moment of calm and neither of them moved away from each other.

“Wei Ying, how do you want to do this?” Lan Zhan asked after a while.

“You mean, about our fake-yet-might-be-real dating?”

“Mn”.

Wei Ying distanced himself from Lan Zhan and looked him in the eye, “I left home and this so-called high society at sixteen. Since then my only achievement is opening the tattoo parlour. I am just an orphan who did not amount to anything or that is how the world perceives me. And Madam Yu never failed to make sure my mother’s name was dragged into mud with false rumours and incorrect slander, that as a rogue cultivator with no pedigree, she tried to seduce the Jiang sect leader. Jiang matron always said I am the same as my mother. So, Lan Zhan, it is very easy to play into this”, he said.

Lan Zhan looked at him with a silent question. Somehow, he had a feeling that he would not like what Wei Ying would say next.

Wei Ying grinned, his smile somewhat had a tinge of bitterness, “I just have to play up to their expectations. It is that simple. I am just a gold digger who latched on to the esteemed second jade of Lan like a leech. It is very easy to fool the gentry.” Wei Ying gulped the whole glass of wine in one go.

Lan Zhan felt uncomfortable. There was a hint of regret and pity in his eyes and longed to take the other man in his arms. Wei Ying noticed. As recently as he met his Lan, Wei Ying made Lan Zhan his personal puzzle to solve and unravel the mystery of the man. So, he always observed Lan Zhan and had started to understand his many tells. 

“Aw! Feeling sorry for your poor little Wei Ying, Hanguang-Jun.” Wei Ying teased.

“Ridiculous! Don’t make light of this.” Lan Zhan said with a hint of anger.

The entire being of Wei Ying felt soft. It is such a wonder to see someone, especially his Lan being angry on his behalf. What a novelty this is! What a change in the routine! Instead of facing anger and judgement like always, to be protected, Wei Ying wanted to curl up in Lan Zhan’s lap and never leave. He caressed Lan Zhan’s arms in a soothing gesture, “Playing the hero, Lan Zhan. I am fine. It does not bother me anymore”, Wei Ying said in a soft tone. 

“Mn”. Lan Zhan gave into the temptation and held Wei Ying in his arms.

Chapter Text

Party was at its peak when Wei Ying sauntered into the hall, holding Lan Zhan’s arms intimately. No one who looked at them could doubt their relationship.  

The Lans had donated their grand ancestral mansion for the annual charity gala this time and the organising committee had outdid themselves. It was an ancient themed party. Everyone wore their clan and sect robes, with their heads held up high with hubris. It was as if they were trying to hold on to the glory of the bygone era where cultivators ruled the land and trampled over the non-cultivators.  Now the ordinary people had also risen to power. With their modern technology and means, it was not impossible for them to deal with the cultivators. So, the cultivators had to toe their line, never to cross the normal people. This was the biggest thorn in these so-called gentry’s asses. 

“Lan Zhan, have you ever seen such a vulgar display of pride and superior sense of being like this before? There is no need for any alcohol, at all. These people are already drunk on their own lust for power and greed for wealth” Wei Ying whispered. There was a soft smile on his lips as he looked up at Lan Zhan. To the outsiders it looked as if Wei Ying was speaking some sweet nothings in Hanguang-Jun’s ears.

Lan Zhan had an impassive look on his face as he patted Wei Ying’s hand on his arms, and said “Mn.”

“Very eloquent, my dear. Succinctly put!” Wei Ying teased. 

“Mn”. This time Wei Ying knew he was teasing and laughed out loud, which drew the attention of everyone to the pair. 

Hanguang-Jun was wearing his traditional white and blue Lan robes with his forehead ribbons to complete the outfit. The man hanging onto the second jade of Lan was wearing red and black layers of silk robes, with a bright red ribbon on his head. His ponytail swung seductively as he walked. Some people looked at the man in red with appreciation for beauty. Some looked positively revolted. And many people salivated at the charming man with such blatant invitation of sex and seduction. As if Lan Zhan was aware of this interest, he held Wei Ying tightly by his waist as they walked towards the Lan delegation.

At first they did not know who the man in red was. Soon, whispers started floating around the hall.

“I remember him. He was the foster child of the Jiangs a few years back.”

“Oh! Orphan Wei, we used to call him. What is he doing these days?”

“I know. Did you not see his tattoos? He opened a tattoo parlour a couple of years back.”

“Ah! That’s it? I heard he was a child prodigy and Madam Yu was not happy that he outshone her only son”.

“Ha! So, what if he was a prodigy? He is just a street rat, a low class person. A son of a servant. What would he amount to?”

“I think he is the bastard son of Jiang Fengmian and Madam Yu was furious that he took this kid home”.

“I heard he was kicked out of the Jiangs when he was young.”

“No. No. I know the grapevine. He asked the court for full legal rights when he was sixteen and cut off all family ties with Jiangs. I bet something happened and no one knows”.

“Anyway, I guess now he wants to come back to high society.”

“I wonder how he managed to seduce the second jade of Lan of all people!” 

“I want to know too.”

“Yes. Maybe after Hanguang-Jun discards him, we get to have a taste of it. I am looking forward to it”

The gossip went on and on. Lan Zhan could hear everything that was spoken about his companion and seething with anger. They tore up the man Lan Zhan was becoming very attached to. They did not leave dignity for the man Lan Zhan had started to care for. His hold Wei Ying’s waist tightened. Noticing the change in the demeanour of his Lan, Wei Ying looked around and found the cause of the anger.

“Lan Zhan, don’t mind the irrelevant people. And right now this gossip will only help our case.” Wei Ying said in a pleasing tone, “Moreover, what the world says never bothered me. There are only a few people who are close to me and they know who I am. It is enough.” 

Lan Zhan stopped suddenly and looked at Wei Ying probingly. “Does what I think about you matter to Wei Ying?” Lan Zhan asked.

“We are not close, yet .” Wei Ying replied meaningfully.

“Not yet. But soon. ” Lan Zhan agreed. He then took Wei Ying towards where his family was.

Nothing more was to be said about this topic for the rest of the night. They both were intelligent people and they understood what was left unspoken, perfectly. 

—

Lan Qiren heard the whispers before he saw his nephew bring Wei Ying towards the Lan delegation. Being an advanced cultivator, he could very well hear what was being said about Wei Ying. Only the years of leading the department and the Lan etiquette bred into his bones kept his face impassive instead of coming to the boy’s defense. He could see his nephew’s anger from this far. To others Lan Zhan always looked stoic who did not have any emotion. But his uncle and brother could read him very well. 

Lan Qiren only hoped his nephew would not throw a temper tantrum. He was very well versed with his nephew’s brand of petulance. The boy could outshine everyone when it comes to sulking. 

Before they came to his side, Lan Qiren mentally prepared himself to play his part. 

“Uncle.” Lan Zhan bowed to him.

“Uncle Lan.” Wei Ying bowed to Lan Qiren. There was a twinkle in his eyes as if he was anticipating what was coming. Menace , Lan Qiren scolded him fondly. 

‘Hmph! What is the meaning of this, A-zhan? How can you bring such..such…person here?” Lan Qiren scolded loudly, looking around to see if everyone heard him clearly. 

“You are overdoing it, old man!” Wei Ying whispered to Lan Qiren and then he jumped into Lan Zhan’s arms, “Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, protect me. Your uncle is so scary…” he screamed.

“Now, who is overdoing it?” Lan Qiren whispered back, and “disgraceful behaviour! You both come to my office, right now!” he shouted at the pair and left the room.

Wei Ying refused to come down from Lan Zhan’s arms. It was very cosy. 

“Shameless!” Lan Zhan said, and happily carried a dramatic Wei Ying in bridal style to his uncle’s office. 

The commotion that followed their departure was unprecedented. The gossip channels were in full swing. Within an hour, all of the gentry class knew that the former black sheep of the Jiangs, the lowly Wei Ying had made a comeback as the lover of the great Hanguang-Jun. 

—-

As they were going towards the office, Wei Ying looked at a cultivator in ostentatious bright gold clothes, probably from the Jin clan and slightly narrowed his eyes. Lan Zhan noticed. 

“Wei Ying.” Lan Zhan called his attention.

“I will tell you later, Lan Zhan”.

“Mn”. 

—

Lan Zhan gently placed Wei Ying on the ground as soon as they entered his uncle’s office. 

“Good evening, Chief.” Wei Ying bowed to Lan Qiren.

“How are you, boy?”, Chief Lan asked.

Wei Ying could hear his concern, “I am doing fine uncle Lan.” 

“You were right.” Lan Qiren replied, asking both of them to sit. Lan Zhan kept silent as took a chair closest to the door while he heard the conversation between his uncle and Wei Ying.

“I am always right, uncle Lan. Which one are you referring to?” Wei Ying smirked.

“Brat!” Lan Qiren scolded and Wei Ying laughed. 

“You were right that the case was not over last time.” Lan Qiren said.

“And?” Wei Ying asked.

“You were right to keep your identity a secret till now.” Lan Qiren added.

“Lan Zhan, mark this touching moment, will you? Finally your uncle admitted to being wrong. I am feeling very emotional right now.” Wei Ying wiped his imaginary tears and Lan Zhan, playing along, patted his shoulder as if to console him. 

“You!” Lan Qiren went red in the face with anger and embarrassment. Before the matter escalated, Lan Zhan intervened smoothly, and said “Wei Ying, elaborate.”   

“Of course, Lan Zhan.” Wei Ying smiled at him, and continued, “You know the case last time. It was huge and the aftermath was terrible. However, I always felt the things were left incomplete. Wen Ruohan was very intelligent, no doubt. But he was just a mad scientist who was only bothered about his experiments. So, where did all the funding for his beloved labs come from? The scale of operation was simply too huge to contain it within just the Wens.”

“You suspect the Jins.” Lan Zhan asked. As the second jade of the Lan, he was very high up in the hierarchy to know some of the shady things the Jins did. But everything was speculation and there was no evidence. So, when Wei Ying mentioned the funding, Lan Zhan could only think of the Jins. 

“Yes and no.” Wei Ying replied.

“Explain.” Lan Zhan asked.

“I do believe in the Jin involvement. But that is not it. Lan Zhan, the case files only mention the cultivators that went missing and then found being experimented on. But, do you know how many ordinary people went missing just before this incident? It always felt fishy to me and I always looked out for the clues. When I was underground with the Wens, I did find a couple of bodies belonging to normal people.”

“They experimented with normal people before they started with cultivators.” Lan Zhan commented.

“Yes. They stopped only because it did not work on the normal people. Only cultivators were able to withstand it. Something about their blood and DNA perhaps. Wen Qing is very interested in researching this and has made considerable progress.” Wei Ying started explaining enthusiastically.

“Wei Ying, back to the topic.” Lan Qiren said loudly.

“Yes, yes, uncle Lan.” Wei Ying grinned, and looked at Lan Zhan, “so, Lan Zhan, tell me this, how come the local police did not involve itself with so many missing cases of ordinary people?”  

“Army”. Lan Zhan said.

“My, my! You are very intelligent, aren’t you, Lan-er-gege?” Wei Ying leaned towards Lan Zhan. Lan Qiren cleared his throat. Wei Ying pouted and Lan Zhan wanted to take a bite of those tantalising lips. 

“Nephew!” Lan Qiren scolded his shameless nephew. How could he not see the inappropriate interest in Lan Zhan’s eyes!   

“Anyway”, Wei Ying continued, “Army, as you said. Which country does not want a powerful army? And how invincible it would be to have absolute control over a group of brainwashed people, puppets if you will,  well versed in the resentful energy cultivation! So, to answer your question, I suspect that the Jin clan were just a mediator between the local army and Wens. Moreover, tell me, Lan Zhan. How can a person like Nie Mingjue, with his numerous bodyguards and protection, be kidnaped without the help of someone much powerful than the Nie corporation?”

“Why did you not continue to investigate further?” Lan Zhan asked. From what he had seen and observed about Wei Ying so far, it did not seem that Wei Ying would leave an investigation incomplete. Wei Ying did have a strong sense of justice. Otherwise, why would he make himself get fired from the department on false accusations and face criticism of the entire department, just so he could create a valid reason to disappear, just so he could become Yiling Laozu, and join the Wens to spy. 

“The higher ups asked us to stop the investigation after the Wen downfall. Many rats escaped the net at that time.” Lan Qiren said bitterly. 

“That is why you are still hidden.” Lan Zhan asked Wei Ying.

“Yes. I knew it was only a matter of time before this happened again. Unless we eliminate the root of it. If not Wen Ruohan, there would be others wanting to experiment. So, I asked your uncle not to clear my charges and reinstate me. I can do more by being hidden. Right now, they may not know that Yiling Laozu was an undercover agent. If he worked for the department, with Nie Mingjue’s kidnapping, the department would bring back Yiling Laozu. If he is not an agent, then, when he would get to know this, he might voluntarily join them again. Either way, they will have access to Yiling Laozu.” Wei Ying replied seriously. 

“You looked at that Jin cultivator just now”. Lan Zhan said.

“Yes. He reeks of resentful energy similar to the ones I found in the lab.” Wei Ying replied.

“You can differentiate between resentful energies.” Lan Zhan asked. 

“Yes. I trained myself to recognise the origin of resentful energies. Now I am an expert. So, I want to interrogate that Jin cultivator we saw earlier and then go from there.” Wei Ying answered.

“Why did Wei Ying not tell me all this before?” Lan Zhan asked. Wei Ying could hear the slight petulance in his tone. 

“Aww! Er-gege, would you believe me if I told you that I was so intoxicated by your beauty that I forgot everything else?” Wei Ying whispered in Lan Zhan’s ears. 

And when he looked up, he could see the darkening eyes of Lan Zhan. Wei Ying always thought he was the hunter going after his prey. But now he had an inkling that the roles were actually reversed. Wei Ying felt the thrill of being a prey, of being hunted. He could not wait till he became a meal. Anticipation curled in his guts as Wei Ying looked at the piercing golden eyes of Lan Zhan. 

Lan Qiren cleared his throat again. Lan Zhan handed him something from his pocket.

“What is this?” Uncle Lan asked.

“Honey candy for your throat. Or better call a doctor. You seem to have developed a throat infection.” Lan Zhan replied dryly.

“Aw! Lan Zhan, you are such a delight!” Wei Ying let out a string of giggles. Wei Ying could not control his laughter for a few minutes. 

“Get lost, you two!” Lan Qiren ordered. He was annoyed with both of them for having lost his face. 

“Okay, okay. Uncle Lan, I know you have agents already working on this case. Please make it big to confuse them, a huge show of searching for Nie Mingjue. Meanwhile Lan Zhan and I will work in the shadows.” Wei Ying requested.

“Fine! Now, go.” Lan Qiren waved his hands.   

Chapter Text

“Lan Zhan, that was epic! Your uncle’s face was priceless! You are too good, Lan-er-gege”, Wei Ying giggled as Lan Zhan took him out of his Lan Qiren’s office by his elbow. 

“Mn”. Lan Zhan felt smug to have elicited those charming sunshine laughter from Wei Ying. 

“But, why did you have those candies in your pocket?” Wei Ying asked. It did not seem like something Lan Zhan would like to eat. 

“Habit. Sometimes meet children in relation to a case”. Lan Zhan replied. 

“Oh!” Wei Ying felt his heart skip a beat with the sudden rush of fondness for his companion, “Er-gege…” Wei Ying hugged Lan Zhan tightly and kissed him on the cheek. They both stilled with what Wei Ying just did. Lan Zhan’s ears turned bright red and Wei Ying found the wall decor of the corridor very very interesting. They could not look each other in the eye. 

After a few seconds, Wei Ying recovered his usual cheery self or at least tried to, and said, “W.well, n.now.. shall we..ahem…shall we continue…”. Lan Zhan looked at him fiercely. Wei Ying realised how what he just said sounded. “I mean with the case, Lan Zhan. What are you thinking huh?”, he wiggled his eyebrows at Lan Zhan with a teasing smirk. 

Lan Zhan let out a huff and pulled Wei Ying towards the party hall. It felt nice to be teased and to tease. 

But very soon his happy mood vanished.  

-–

Lan Zhan had to practically stop himself from carrying Wei Ying from the corridor and make himself known to the two people in front of him. He knew it was their plan. He knew this was all an act. But he still could not help but feel a bit resentful about the scene being played in front of him. 

The Jin cultivator was resting his body against the wall and Wei Ying, his person was leaning into the Jin cultivator, whispering seductive words, charming the pants of him, all in the name of luring the person for interrogation. Lan Zhan did not like this one bit. 

And since when did Lan Zhan consider Wei Ying his, he didn’t know and didn’t care. He only knew the fact that Wei Ying was the man he was going to pursue. He had a hunch that Wei Ying suited his appetite in all aspects very well. They had a moment in his uncle’s office and it seemed that Wei Ying had come to a realisation about their roles in this relationship, something Lan Zhan was glad about.

Lan Zhan hid himself very well near the corridor and the Jin cultivator did not notice him at all. Probably, the man was too busy being lusting after Wei Ying. 

Finally whatever Wei Ying did, worked. Soon, Wei Ying threw a come hither look at the Jin cultivator and sauntered into a nearby empty room. Wei Ying did not forget to wink at the place he knew Lan Zhan was standing. 

—

As soon as the Jin cultivator entered the room, confusing charm and truth seeking talismans were thrown at him in quick succession. Later, Wei Ying would also throw a memory modification talisman that would make the Jin cultivator forget everything that happened in the last two hours. 

Lan Zhan was not unfamiliar with these talismans. These were all part of standard issue kits for all the agents in the force, along with many others. In fact, these talismans were available only for the people in their department. Ordinary cultivators would never get a chance to get their hands on these. Only today that Lan Zhan realised these are all the talismans invented by Wei Ying himself and with the compensation from the department for these patented talismans and gadgets, Wei Ying could lead a very lavish life. 

Looking at Lan Zhan’s questioning looks, “Lan Zhan, my identity is very sensitive. No one knows about my inventions”, Wei Ying answered as he tied the Jin cultivator to a chair with a deity binding rope.

“One day the world will realise Wei Ying’s brilliance.” Lan Zhan spoke with determination, as though he would make sure that happened at all costs. 

Wei Ying went towards Lan Zhan and caressed his face with his fingertips. Looking at the reddening ears of Hanguang-Jun up close, he said, “thank you.” There was a soft smile on Wei Ying’s face as he looked at Lan Zhan, a smile unlike any other smile he had given him before and it turned Lan Zhan’s mind into mush. All he could think about was Wei Ying and Wei Ying especially in a bunny costume. But he quickly cleared away his thoughts. Now they had to focus on their work. Lan Zhan immediately set up a barrier using an array disc and just like that the whole room became sound proof. In order to not arouse any suspicions and allow outsiders to try to enter the room, Wei Ying opened an app in phone and placed it just below the door. 

Lan Zhan looked at Wei Ying incredulously as the phone started making obscene sounds, as if two people were having some wild sex. 

“Ridiculous!” Lan Zhan said with equal parts of shock and horror, with a tinge of amusement creeping in. 

“Aw! Hanguang-Jun, apologies for tainting your saintly ears. But I have used this many times and trust me, this works very well to keep people away, every time.” Wei Ying grinned, “or we can play this ourselves”. He winked at Lan Zhan, “What do you say?”

“Shameless!”. 

A hearty laughter followed Lan Zhan’s exclamation. 

—

“What is your name?” Wei Ying asked as the Jin cultivator looked around. His eyes still held the confused, dazed look.

“Jin Zixun.”

“What is your status?”.

“I am Jin Guangshan’s favourite nephew.” 

“Favourite you said.” Wei Ying highly doubted if that was the case.

“Yes.” There was a prideful grin on Jin Zixun’s face.

“Then, you know everything about your uncle”. 

“Of course.”

“Where did you go in the last 24 hours? Tell me everything”. Wei Ying asked the Jin person, and whispered to Lan Zhan, “the resentful energy is only a day old.” 

“Mn”. Lan Zhan replied and waved his hands asking Wei Ying to continue.

“So, what did you do yesterday and today?” Wei Ying asked again.

“I woke up at 11 AM yesterday, had brunch at home, and then went to my regular club. I spent the whole day there and went home at 2AM. Today I woke up at 12PM and then went to a spa to get ready for the gala. Then I came here. That is it.” Jin Zixun answered. 

“Did anything unusual happen yesterday or today? Did you do anything apart from your regular things?” Wei Ying asked, “think carefully.”

“Oh Yes! Yesterday my uncle asked me to deliver some important documents to his resort.” 

“Where is the resort? At what time did you go there?”

“It is around 20 kms outside the city. You have to take the Jin-Nie highway, towards Qinghe. The resort is on the way. I went there yesterday, during lunch time.” 

“What did you do there?”  

“Nothing. My uncle asked me to go to his house. The housekeeper there gave me a bunch of documents. Then I carried them to the resort and handed them over to the Jin guard there.”

“Did you see anything remarkable or something different?” Wei Ying asked. Lan Zhan did not speak at all and let Wei Ying handle the questioning. 

“No.” 

“Were there any guests at the resort?” Wei Ying asked. 

“There were no guests.” The Jin cultivator answered.  

Wei Ying and Lan Zhan looked at each other. This was a holiday season and any regular resort would be overflowing with vacationers from outside. This was suspicious. 

“What do you know about Wen Ruohan?” Wei Ying asked.

“Isn’t he dead? I heard he was some mad scientist who experimented on cultivators and the Cultivator Protection Bureau caught him eventually.” Jin Zixun said in reply. 

“ Do you know Meng Yao?” Lan Zhan asked suddenly. This was the only question he asked from beginning till the end.

“Who is he? I do not know anyone named Meng Yao.” Jin Zixun looked confused.

“Looks like he knows nothing much. A small fry.” Wei Ying commented. 

“Fool.” Lan Zhan said.

“Of course, Lan Zhan. He looks too stupid and very impulsive to be of much use to them.” Wei Ying agreed.

“Mn.”

Wei Ying activated the memory erase talisman on the Jin cultivator and quickly left the room with Lan Zhan. He did not forget to collect his phone and close the app which was making noise all this while. 

Outside the room, “Who is Meng Yao?” Wei Ying asked. 

“According to what my uncle remembers, he is one of the illegitimate sons of the Jin leader. But died in an accident five years back.” Lan Zhan replied.

“Five years ago, you said?” Wei Ying asked. 

“Mn”.

“Of course, only dead people cannot reveal the secrets. Meng Yao could be the rat that escaped. But it could also be true that his death was really an accident and he had nothing to do with all this. Tell me, Lan Zhan. Do you know anyone else who died in the last five years in the Jin clan?” 

“None that I know of.” They both fell silent for a while. 

“Then, your place or my place?” Wei Ying after a few minutes, placing his palm on Lan Zhan’s arms, batting his eyes at him with a seductive invitation.

“Shameless!” Lan Zhan murmured. He knew he was being teased. Hulijing Lan Zhan thought of Wei Ying, mesmerised with those beautiful sparkly eyes. 

“To go through the old case files, to see if we missed some people. What did you think about inside that pretty head of yours, Hanguang-Jun?” Wei Ying blinked at Lan Zhan innocently.

Lan Zhan let out an annoyed, yet fond huff. 

“You are so fun to tease, my dear”, Wei Ying said. Silence from Lan Zhan was the only reply he got.

“Okay, okay. I will stop teasing,” Wei Ying stopped for a second and said cheekily, “for now”. 

Then he held Lan Zhan’s hand and pulled him towards the party, “Let’s go back to the party quickly, Lan Zhan. Before they start to miss us.” 

“Wait”. Lan Zhan turned Wei Ying towards him. He messed up Wei Ying’s ponytail a bit, messed up his robes here and there, and pinched his cheeks to make it redder. Wei Ying pouted in fake annoyance all the while. 

“Why?” Lan Zhan asked.

“Er-gege, I am about to have a scandalous reputation and I did not get to enjoy any benefit at all. Tell me, how should I take this loss making business?” Wei Ying beat Lan Zhan’s chest.   

“Shameless!” 

“Is this the only word you can use, er-gege?”

“Utterly shameless!” 

“Lan Zhan. You used two words! How magnanimous of you!”

“Mn”

“Aiya! You are terrible…mean of you to tease your Wei Ying.”

“Mn”

— 

Even though Jin Zixun forgot everything that happened with Wei Ying sometime back, it did not stop him from giving covetous looks towards Wei Ying, much to Lan Zhan’s annoyance.

Lan Zhan skillfully maneuvered Wei Ying into a secluded corner, where Wei Ying enjoyed his second glass of wine. No matter how much he disliked the hypocrisy of the high class cultivators, he did enjoy their wine. 

“ Did you like Jin Zixun?” Lan Zhan asked in a waspish tone after a while. That Jin cultivator was still looking for his Wei Ying. 

“Who?” Wei Ying looked up from his glass towards Lan Zhan. His confused tone was real and he was not pretending at all. 

“You were all over him sometime back”, Lan Zhan reminded Wei Ying.

“Ah! I forgot. It is very difficult for me to remember insignificant people”, Wei Ying continued mischievously, “but, Hanguang-Jun on the other hand is very unforgettable!”. He poked his finger at Lan Zhan’s chest, “but if you want a repeat performance, I can go to that Jin-what’s-his-name person and give you a good show. I may not remember his name. But I remember his face very well”. Wei Ying tilted his neck with seduction and invitation . He felt very happy after having teased Lan Zhan so.   

Lan Zhan leaned very close to Wei Ying, leaning on Wei Ying’s neck, their chests almost touching, his breath forming goosebumps against Wei Ying’s exposed skin, and whispered in his ears, softly,  “Wei Ying is being very naughty. Tell me how he should be punished?” 

Hairs on his neck stood up, an instinctive reaction against a predator, as Wei Ying shuddered. Lan Zhan’s tone was as bland as usual, there was no fluctuation at all, like Lan Zhan was just talking about the weather, and yet, his mind was already a mess and Lan Zhan had not even touched him yet. He was too stunned - too hot and bothered - to speak.

“Come. I will drop Wei Ying to his place”, Lan Zhan placed his hands at Wei Ying’s back, and gently pushed him across the hall towards the exit. He took advantage of Wei Ying’s momentary silence and did not give any chance for Wei Ying to make a comeback. Lan Zhan considered himself to be the winner this time, having the last say.  

Soon, they were at Wei Ying’s apartment. 

“Good night then, Lan Zhan”. Wei Ying said, soaking in the beauty of his Lan’s face under the street lights. 

“Good night, Wei Ying.” Lan Zhan carefully touched Wei Ying’s cheek with his finger and left. He did not turn around.

Soon, they fell asleep in their respective homes. Afterall, they had a case to solve and people to seduce. Right now, a visit to a certain resort was on their next schedule. 

Chapter Text

“Lan Zhan, give me 5 minutes. I will come down.” Wei Ying balanced his phone on his shoulder as he talked to his Lan. He was busy getting ready. He did mean to be on time. But he was so busy working on a new talisman that he forgot the time. When he realised, it was already past midnight and Lan Zhan was already waiting downstairs for more than ten minutes. He knew the Lans were always on time and he had a theory that Lan Zhan was especially strict with his adherence to time. 

Wei Ying got flustered. His mind was still running the talisman theory he was referencing all the while he was getting ready. He was also simultaneously busy getting all the things needed for a break-in. With him being so late and making Lan Zhan wait for him, all the good impressions he had managed to build might have already been lost. So, yes. Wei Ying was flustered. He stumbled as he went running down the apartment and into the parking lot.

“Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan….I am sorry…I was meant to be ready on time. But somehow got in my head…I do that a lot…I will not make you wait again…” Wei Ying came running towards Lan Zhan, and rambled on and on in his flustered state.

“Wei Ying”, Lan Zhan placed his solid hand on Wei Ying’s shoulder, “Breath. It is fine.” Wei Ying took a deep breath and collected himself. Finally he had the mind to look at the Lan cultivator.       

Lan Zhan was leaning on an old Ford car, a common car found everywhere and the least eye-catching. He was wearing non-descriptive clothes, in all black, meant for stealth. He took Wei Ying’s breath away. While white and blue looked good on Lan Zhan, almost making look like a celestial, all black outfit gave him a devilish aura. 

Looking at the dazed look on Wei Ying’s face, Lan Zhan leaned into his ear and whispered, “You are drooling”. 

“Hanguang-Jun, Lan Zhan, Lan-er-gege, you are a menace! How would I even  survive!” Wei Ying crossed his hands on Lan Zhan’s neck and leaned in as well, “take responsibility!” he said softly. 

“Will take care of Wei Ying”, Lan Zhan placed his hands on Wei Ying’s hips and brought him close to his body. 

They looked at each other intently as they moved even more close. There was only a few millimetres of distance between their lips. Their breaths tangled and Wei Ying could almost taste the heat of the moment.  Wei Ying rested his entire weight on Lan Zhan’s body in order to reach those inviting lips, as if he was hypnotised. Lan Zhan stood still, waiting for the prey to fall into his trap. 

Sudden horn at a distance brough them both to their senses. 

Lan Zhan immediately regretted the missed opportunity. He closed and opened his palms again and again, as if to retain the feeling of Wei Ying’s hips. He knew Wei Ying was a powerful cultivator. Otherwise he could not have achieved what he did all these years and he could not have earned his uncle’s respect. But in his arms, Wei Ying felt small, fragile almost, and Lan Zhan liked that feeling. It was a gift from Wei Ying, offered with utmost trust and he felt honoured.  

“Come on, Lan Zhan. Let’s go.” Wei Ying smiled as he  pulled him out of his reverie. 

“Mn”. 

—

“Lan Zhan, we cannot fly on our swords. There is an anti-fly net covering the entire resort. We can only break in like common thieves.” Wei Ying whispered to Lan Zhan. They had left their car two kilometres back and had flown on their swords. They had travelled very close to the ground so that they were not spotted in the air.

“Wei Ying must be an expert in breaking in”. 

“Lan Zhan, I know you are making fun of me. But I am thick skinned and will take it as a compliment.” Wei Ying said. Lan Zhan could hear the pout in Wei Ying’s tone, even if he could not see him properly in the dark. 

“Wei Ying.”

“Okay. Okay. Follow me, young master Lan.” 

“Mn”

Wei Ying took Lan Zhan towards the back of the resort. Luckily, it was a small resort and it did not take much effort.

“There is a loophole here. A small opening. We can only crawl through this bush. On the other side, there are hidden cameras. We need to avoid them. Just follow my footsteps”.

“How do you know this place so well?” Lan Zhan asked.

“I know a hacker from the department. Yesterday I asked him to hack into the resort network and get a blueprint of the entire premises.” Wei Ying boasted. 

“Wen Ning”.

“Yes. Do you know him? Sweet little fellow. He is a very close friend of mine”, Wei Ying asked.

“Not personally. Read your files.” 

“Hanguang-Jun, are you interested in poor little Wei Ying so much that you looked up his information?” Wei Ying teased.

“Yes.” Lan Zhan replied seriously.

“Oh!” Wei Ying was flustered for the second time that night. Warmth spread across his heart in the face of such honest admission. 

“Wei Ying, focus” Lan Zhan called out.

“Yes. Yes, Lan Zhan. I can multitask. Don’t worry. Now come here and follow me”. 

“Mn”.

Wei Ying took Lan Zhan through the mini forest and the grounds at the back of the resort, hiding from the cameras. They entered the main building through the kitchen at the back. 

“According to the Wen-diagram, there is a basement in this building which is unaccounted for in the legal documents.” Wei Ying whispered. 

“Wen diagram?” 

“That is what you are focusing on right now?”

“Mn”

“Fine. It is a play on Venn-diagram. An old joke, actually.” Wei Ying said.

“Cute”, Lan Zhan smiled. 

“Lan Zhan, don’t smile. I am easily distracted in your presence.” Wei Ying hissed and pulled Lan Zhan in search of a way to the basement.

It was almost dark in the building, the only source of light was from the full moon. Being powerful cultivators had advantages and one of them was to see clearly in the dark. They just had to activate a small part of their spiritual energy.

After looking for half an hour, they finally found the way to the underground hall.

—

The underground hall was divided into two sections. On the left side were two huge rooms. On the right side were a series of small rooms meant for imprisoning people. One of the rooms on the left looked horrifying in the dim light of the moon. There were splotches of dark stains on the wall and on the floor. It could only mean blood. There was also a dumbwaiter at the corner, no doubt for the ease of disposing of the dead bodies. Resentful energy clung to every surface of the room. 

“They left in a hurry and forgot to clean the resentful energy. The latest energy is only two days old. They must have vacated this just after that Jin person delivered the documents here.”

“Mn”. 

“I bet it was because of Nie Mingjue”. 

“Because it is too high profile.” Lan Zhan speculated.

“Right. Last time they abducted only lonely cultivators, or people who would not be missed much. They kept a very low profile. Even this time, I bet they want to keep their operations very much hidden after their loss last time. They would be even more cautious in doing things. But abducting the head of the Nie Conglomerate is too eye-catching.  It would draw the attention of higher ups in the department.” 

“Two different factions within the group.”

“Lan Zhan, I could kiss you right now! You are so intelligent…” Wei Ying said excitedly. Never before in his life had he met someone who could follow his thoughts perfectly without having him to explain everything or anything at all, his equal in skills and his mind. 

“Later”. Lan Zhan said.

“Oh! Yes. Yes. Right. So, my guess is that someone acted on an impulse, on a personal agenda when they abducted Nie Mingjue. It went against their cautious nature of doing things and the higher ups in their organisation decided to vacate this property in a hurry.” 

“This personal agenda seems to be you.” Lan Zhan commented.

“It is too early to say, without any clues. But my gut feeling says it is so.” 

“Careful”.

“Of course, Lan Zhan. I will be careful. And Hanguang-Jun, you would protect this fragile and weak Wei Ying, won’t you?” Wei Ying asked.

“Will protect Wei Ying”. Lan Zhan promised in an earnest tone.

“Lan Zhan…you are too much! My poor heart!” Wei Ying whispered to himself. But Lan Zhan heard it anyway. He also noticed the reddening cheeks of his companion. 

They did not find anything in that room. They moved on to the next room. It was clearly a room which had equipment meant for research and experiments. There was an empty shelf next to the left wall. There were traces of containers being stored on the shelf. Wei Ying looked at those traces and said,  “Used to place small boxes. My bet is that they were white jade boxes. There is a very small trace of spiritual energy on this shelf.” 

“White jade preserves the energy of golden cores and keeps them intact” Lan Zhan noted.

“Yes. Wen Ruohan found this out by accident. Instead of destroying the golden cores removed from those experimental subjects, he started to store them in those white jade boxes. He had a personal interest in researching the golden core, very much influenced by a paper his niece, Wen Qing wrote on golden core transfers. He wanted to take this as a side project. But he was dead before he could start”. Wei Ying explained.    

“Nothing much here”. Lan Zhan said.

“Yes. Let’s go to the other side. We might find something there.” 

“Mn”.

There were totally six rooms and they went into each and every room, one after the other. In the first five rooms, all they could find was the residual resentful energy and blood marks on the floor. There were scratch marks on the wall, as if the captives were in great agony. 

They found something different in the sixth room. 

Everything was the same as the last five rooms, except there were some extra marks at the corner wall, almost hidden if not for Wei Ying’s keen eyes. They looked like they were made from blood. They were a mix of dots and dashes. Wei Ying quickly took a lot of photos of these marks.

“Morse code.” Lan Zhan said.

“Yes. Lan Zhan, you take photos of these as well, just to be safe.” Wei Ying asked and quickly sent these photos to a cloud storage in case he lost his phone.

“Mn”.

“Let’s go. We are done here I think.” Wei Ying said after Lan Zhan was done taking photos as well. 

— 

It was nearing dawn when they finished searching the entire resort. Except for the clue they found in the sixth room, they did not get anything substantial. 

They quickly left from the way they entered. 

—

They were quiet as they drove towards the city.

The gentle rays of the morning Sun caressed Wei Ying’s face as he woke up to see his apartment complex in his eyesight. He had fallen asleep soon after they left the resort behind. 

“Wei Ying”. Lan Zhan gently shook Wei Ying’s shoulder.

“I am awake, Lan Zhan”. Wei Ying’s voice was hoarse with sleep still clung to his eyes. 

“I will drop you at your door”. Lan Zhan said. His voice did not allow any further arguments. He gently took Wei Ying’s arm and led him to his house.

“Thanks, Lan Zhan.” Wei Ying said, looking for his keys, his back turned towards Lan Zhan. 

Lan Zhan turned Wei Ying to face him.

“Is it later now?” Lan Zhan asked softly, leaning close to Wei Ying. 

“What?” Wei Ying was still sleepy. 

“ Is it later, now?” Lan Zhan asked with an intent.

Suddenly Wei Ying was wide awake. All his nerves stood in attention, his eyes laser focused on Lan Zhan. He remembered their conversation about the kiss a couple of hours back.

Wei Ying tilted his head, a slight pout adorned his lips in invitation, and whispered, “Yes.” 

Then his mind went blank. 

Lan Zhan pushed Wei Ying against the door and devoured his lips. It was not a gentle meeting of the lips. It was a battle. One conquered and the other surrendered. 

Wei Ying moaned. 

The tension that existed between them from the moment they met, the need which only grew with every second they were in each other’s vicinity, Lan Zhan finally found an outlet for all  that passion that had coiled in his gut. He kissed and kissed and kissed. 

Wei Ying lost his breath.  

Lan Zhan stopped kissing for a second only to look at Wei Ying’s silver eyes shining brightly with desire. Then he dived in again. He bit Wei Ying’s lower lip hard which almost drew blood, and pried open his lips to plunge his tongue inside Wei Ying’s mouth. He sucked on Wei Ying’s tongue, traced the lines of his teeth, tasted that sweet nectar of his cheeks inside. There was no end to the plunder. 

Wei Ying went dizzy, his mind scrambled as he tried to find purchase for his body, his mind, his soul . He held on to Lan Zhan, leaning into Lan Zhan’s body impossible closer. He felt knees go weak. He could only grip Lan Zhan’s broad shoulder tightly so as to not fall. All Wei Ying could think was “ more more more…” . It was not enough. It was not nearly enough. He just wanted and wanted and wanted…he wanted Lan Zhan’s hands all over his body, he wanted Lan Zhan to trace his teeth on his neck, mark his skin…he wanted Lan Zhan inside of him, and even then it would not be enough.  

Wei Ying let go. He laid pliant in Lan Zhan’s arms. His submission only drove Lan Zhan crazier. He held Wei Ying tightly in his arms and increased his efforts to make Wei Ying lose his mind, to ruin Wei Ying for everyone else.

Finally... finally , Wei Ying was released from his suffering .  Lan Zhan carefully released Wei Ying from his hold, and just looked at the alluring sight in front of him. Wei Ying looked wrecked. His eyes held unfulfilled desire, his shiny lips bitten-red and trembling. His entire body leaning into Lan Zhan’s arms, yielding . Lan Zhan could not wait to have Wei Ying under him, looking just as wrecked, tears in his eyes, and screaming his name again and again. 

They looked at each other for a while as they came down from the high, their breaths coming back to normal.

Lan Zhan took out the keys from Wei Ying’s pockets and opened the door. He then gently kissed Wei Ying on his forehead, with all his fondness for the beautiful man. 

Then Lan Zhan left. “Good bye, Wei Ying”. 

“Good bye, Lan Zhan”. Wei Ying’s voice was hoarse. He could not believe all the sounds that came out of his throat. His lips were still throbbing, puffed up and red. He felt a sting on his lips with all the biting he was subjected to. As he recalled that life altering kiss, he realised how safe he had felt in Lan Zhan’s arms, how he was okay with being vulnerable in front of his Lan. 

“Lan Zhan” Wei Ying sighed into an empty apartment. He touched his forehead where it was still warm from Lan Zhan’s lips and smiled. 

Chapter Text

“..ello”, Wei Ying answered his phone. 

“Wei Ying”, Lan Zhan’s voice came through the speaker.

“..an..han..” His words were slurred due to sleep.

“Still sleeping?”

“Hmmm…” 

“Wake up. We have work.”

“Hmmm…”

“I will come there by 1 o’clock. Will bring lunch.” 

“Hmmm…kisses…”

“Be a good boy for me and I will give you as many as you want”

“Hmmm…”

“Goodbye, Wei Ying.”

“Bye bye, darling”, and Wei Ying promptly went back to sleep. 

Next, Wei Ying only woke after an hour when the bell rang. He sleepily opened the door to admit Lan Zhan inside and climbed on his body like a monkey. He was still drowsy and wanted to be carried. Lan Zhan got the memo. 

Spending all the time with Wei Ying all these days, Lan Zhan understood Wei Ying’s temperament very well. Wei Ying was always in control or rather, had to be in control, especially with his childhood and later, with the line of work he did as Yiling Laozu. And being the most intelligent and quick thinking person in any given situation, his mind working faster than anyone else would have only added more responsibility. Wei Ying simply could not afford to let go and be at ease. 

Now that Wei Ying found his person, he chose to relinquish his control. And Lan Zhan found it adorable that Wei Ying secretly wanted to be pampered. So, Lan Zhan carried Wei Ying in one hand, lifting him by his thighs, and sat on the sofa placing Wei Ying on his lap. He kept the lunch box he carried on the other hand on the floor.

Wei Ying nuzzled his nose into Lan Zhan’s neck. He found comfort in the faint sandalwood cologne Lan Zhan always wore and went back to sleep with a sigh.

They sat like that for sometime. With Wei Ying breathing into Lan Zhan’s shoulder and Lan Zhan caressing Wei Ying’s back in a soothing gesture. 

“Lan Zhan” Wei Ying suddenly woke up.

“Mn”.

“You are here”.

“Mn”.

“I am hungry”.

“I have bought lunch.” 

“Hanguang-Jun, you are spoiling me so much! What is your hidden agenda? Hmmm?”  Wei Ying grinned and tickled Lan Zhan’s chin. He was still sitting on Lan Zhan’s lap, as if he always did just that. 

“Behave”. Lan Zhan hit Wei Ying’s ass and Wei Ying squeaked. 

“Lan Zhan! Who is shameless now, huh?” He pouted.   

“I will reheat the lunch”. Lan Zhan lifted Wei Ying from his lap and placed him on the sofa. Wei Ying could hear his heart go “ thud…thud.. ” when he saw the ease with which Lan Zhan lifted him, like he weighed as light as a feather.

—

“Lunch was delicious, Lan Zhan. Thank you”. Wei Ying said while sipping his after lunch coffee.

“Mn”. 

“Here is your tea.” Wei Ying poured the tea from his best porcelain tea cup.

Lan Zhan took a sip of his tea and looked up to Wei Ying in astonishment, “this is Saffron-Ginger tea”. 

“I might have asked your uncle about your favourites”, Wei Ying looked at his coffee mug. His face was flushed slightly. 

“Sweet”. Lan Zhan caressed Wei Ying's cheeks softly. 

“W.we…ahem….n.need to get to the case.” Wei Ying stammered and changed the subject hurriedly. Afterall, for a person who was called shameless by many people, including his sweetheart in front of him, Wei Ying was feeling a bit shy. It was better to bring the topic back to safer grounds, where Wei Ying would surely excel.

“Mn”. Lan Zhan replied as he took pleasure in his tea.

Soon after they moved to Wei Ying’s study. Lan Zhan looked around. Compared to the hall outside, the study was surprisingly larger. Two walls were completely covered in bookshelves, from floor to ceiling. There were a lot of books related to cultivation, talismans, arrays, formations etc. There were also books related to mundane people, like computer technology, information science, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, history etc. Wei Ying had a lot of books that covered different topics and knowledge, including some of the esoteric subjects. There were even some novels, mainly romance and some murder mysteries. 

On the right side wall were two degrees certificates, laminated and put on display. Wei Ying saw Lan Zhan looking at them, and said, “Oh! I am a double graduate with a degree in both Talisman Theory and Computer Science.” 

“Why did you decide on Computer Science?” Lan Zhan was curious. Usually, cultivators do not bother with subjects unrelated to cultivation.

“You know I left home at sixteen. I had very little money. And you know how much our elite cultivation school costs. So, I completed my high school a year ahead and took college examinations the same year. I received a lot of scholarships. I knew I had to earn a lot of money if I had to realise one of my dreams. So, I opted for a Computer Science major and got my degree certificate in two years. Meanwhile I opened a small gaming company, made a few games and sold the company for a hefty amount. With the money problem solved, I took admission for Talisman Theory when I was eighteen. Finished my second degree when I was twenty years old.”

“Wei Ying is very impressive. He is the most intelligent person I have met.” 

“Hanguang-Jun…you got to warn me next time you say such things”. Wei Ying felt bashful. But there was a happiness inside his soul for being perceived and felt known .

“Let’s sit here, Lan Zhan” Wei Ying took Lan Zhan to a corner table, next to a huge window overlooking the city. 

“So, this is the morse code left in the room and this is the translation”. Wei Ying opened the phone gallery, and noted down the code on a blank sheet of paper.

“ ...  - - -  …” 

S OS

“ …  .-  -.-  ..-  .-.  .- / .-.  - - -  .- -..”

SAKURA ROAD

“- -.  .-..  .-  - -.. .”

GLAZE    

“ SOS is clearly a plea for help. “Sakura road” is also easy to understand. It is clearly an address. I am curious about what “Glaze” means. Is it related to the road? Or something else entirely?” Wei Ying pondered.

“Let us search for Sakura road in the city.” Lan Zhan said.

“Of course. I know just the right person” Wei Ying grinned. 

“I will make a fresh pot of tea”. Lan Zhan left the room for the kitchen.

“Wen Ning, my favourite person! How are you?” Wei Ying called his friend as soon as Lan Zhan left. 

“I am good, Wei-Xiong.  What happened? You are all over the gossip page.” Timid voice of Wen Ning came through the speakers. 

“That is a long story. I will explain when we meet. Right now I need your help.” 

“Is it hacking into the department database? Wei-Xiong, let’s not anger Chief Lan again.” Wen Ning pleaded.

Lan Zhan, who came back with two cups of tea, heard the tail end of the conversation and raised his eyebrows at Wei Ying. “ Later ” mouthed Wei Ying. 

“No...no…Wen Ning, you don't trust your brother at all. I am so disappointed.” Wei Ying teased as he took a sip of tea. 

“Wei-Xiong…it is not…you misunderstood…don’t be sad…” Wen Ning stammered in reply. 

“Okay...okay...relax. I am only teasing you.”

“Wei-Xiong, you are being bad. I will tell jie-jie.” Wen Ning threatened.

“No...no…my good brother Wen Ning, I will buy you two weeks worth of chocolates. Don’t tell Qing-jie.” 

“Make it one month and we have a deal”. Wen Ning replied. 

“Fine, you greedy fellow. Now, I do need your help”. Wei Ying got serious. 

“What is it?”

“Find all the locations of Sakura Road in the city. And send me the satellite view of all these roads. And do it in secrecy. No one should know” Wei Ying asked.

“Sure”

“How long will it take?”  

“One hour. I will send it your encrypted email address” 

“You are the best brother, Wen Ning. Say hi to Qing-jie for me. Bye bye..” Wei Ying cut the call. 

“When did you hack our database?” Lan Zhan asked as soon as the call was over.

“Last time I suspected some of our colleagues might be helping Wen Ruohan secretly. So, I asked Wen Ning to dig up all the information from the base.” Wei Ying explained.

“Did you find any?” Lan Zhan asked calmly, as if Wei Ying did not commit five different offences at the same time.

“Yes. There were two people who were corrupt. They were arrested and then investigated thoroughly.” Wei Ying grinned, “but your uncle was very angry though. He suspended Wen Ning and I for a week.” 

“Wei Ying is very brave,” Lan Zhan commented.

“Lan Zhan, I know you are being sarcastic. But I cannot get angry at you. Who made you this pretty?” Wei Ying pointed his finger at Lan Zhan.

Lan Zhan held his finger in his palm and said, “My parents. Wei Ying should know about genetics.” 

Wei Ying started to laugh, clutching his belly. “Lan Zhan, how come no one knows how funny you are. All I had heard about the esteemed Hanguang-Jun was that he was a serious fellow, very boring and pedantic. Or is it only me you are teasing?” Wei Ying teased.

“Mn. Wei Ying is special.” Lan Zhan said.

“You are a menace” Wei Ying tapped on Lan Zhan’s nose with his finger, “now, whatever shall we do for the next one hour?”   

“Do you play chess?” Lan Zhan asked.

“Of course. I was the college champion” Wei Ying boasted.

“Let us play then.” 

“How about we bet on the outcome? I know you Lan’s have a rule against gambling. But this is just for fun. What do you say?” Wei Ying asked.

“Mn.”

“Great! We will go with the best of three games. Winner will buy dinner for the other tonight.” Wei Ying said. 

His Wei Ying was very sly.  Lan Zhan was pleased. No matter who won, they would be on a dinner date today. 

—

“Aha! I won, Lan Zhan. You have to treat me to dinner tonight.” Wei Ying pumped his fist in the air. 

“Where does Wei Ying want to go?” Lan Zhan asked.

“It is your treat. You decide.” Wei Ying replied. 

“Mn’. 

“It is just over an hour now. Wen Ning must be sending the details now”. Just as Wei Ying checked his phone, he received an email notification. He quickly logged on to his laptop and sat next to Lan Zhan so that they both could look at the details.

“There is Old Sakura Road, New Sakura Road, Grand Sakura Road…” Wei Ying read through the list, “there are six different roads with the same name in this city”.

“Check the images”. Lan Zhan asked.

“Yes. I will open the photos now…I wonder what “Glaze” stands for.” Wei Ying said, “here we go. One is in the business district and one is on the other side of the city. One is right in the middle of the city, where the wealthy live. We can eliminate these three. What we are looking for is something remote, but close to the resort. Since it looked like they left in a hurry, they might not have planned it properly. They would have opted for convenience over a detailed operation. This could very well be a temporary arrangement as it takes some time to set up a new lab” Wei Ying said.

“This one.” Lan Zhan pointed out a road, “Old Sakura Road”.

“Yes. Although this is not the closest one to the resort, it is a bit remote with a lot of gardens and reminiscent of old forests around the area. Let’s see the images of this road and see something clicks.” Wei Ying opened the related photos. It took Wei Ying less than a minute to figure out. 

“Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan…”, Wei Ying pulled Lan Zhan’s sleeves in excitement, “it is the glazed tiled roof. See, look here.”

“Looks like an old bungalow with old school tiles.”

“Yes. They are called glazed tiles, originating in ancient times.”  Wei Ying said, “it seems we need to postpone our dinner date, Lan Zhan. I am sad.” Wei Ying pouted.

“Soon, Wei Ying.” Lan Zhan patted Wei Ying’s head.

“Duty comes first, anyway. Let’s check out this place tonight. If this is the place we are looking for, then we can plan for the next step.” Wei Ying decided.

“Mn”.

“Lan Zhan, I do not think we have much time. At most a couple of days. The person who wrote SOS is definitely in danger. But that person is also confident that they would not be killed soon. Otherwise, why bother leaving a message.“ 

“Yes. We need to hurry” Lan Zhan agreed.. 

“Lan Zhan, it is better to arrange a few agents who are good in stealth to comb all the remaining roads thoroughly in order not to miss anything. Let them work this tonight.”  Wei Ying reminded Lan Zhan.

“I will talk to my uncle.” Lan Zhan replied.

“Meanwhile, why don’t you show off your new lover to everyone and take me out in your Red Mercedes Convertible? I believe you have one in your garage.” Wei Ying asked mischievously

“As Wei Ying wishes.” Lan Zhan replied. 

“Let’s leave in two hours. I need time to get ready.” 

“Mn.”

“Then, how about we start from this.” Wei Ying pointed to an expensive, high-end, very exclusive shopping mall on the map. This mall also happened to be in the close vicinity of Old Sakura Road, the same road they wanted to investigate. The said road also happened to be lined with blooming Sakura trees on either side of the road, a perfect excuse for a romantic late evening drive.

—

And this is how they went on their first date. With Lan Zhan taking Wei Ying in his expensive car to an expensive place to buy expensive things. 

Lan Zhan was wearing a well ironed, blue coloured dress shirt. To suit the occasion, he folded his sleeves to his elbow. He wore a black, ankle length pants with shiny black loafers. He looked very chic. 

On the other hand, Wei Ying wore a black distressed jeans which reached to his ankle, a deep V necked shirt in black which showed a lot of his skin. Over that he wore a patchworked multi-coloured jacket. Silver chains of varying lengths on his neck and diamond earrings on his ears completed his outfit. He looked sinful. 

Lan Zhan almost dragged Wei Ying back to his apartment to keep Wei Ying in his bed, under him, screaming and moaning his name again and again. Only his innate sense of work ethics stopped him from doing so. Even then, Lan Zhan’s intense gaze followed Wei Ying all the way.

And how could Wei Ying not notice the way Lan Zhan looked at him! He felt a smug sense of satisfaction in captivating his Lan Zhan. It was thrilling to have all of Lan Zhan’s attention, his lustful golden eyes on him all the time. 

“Come on, Lan Zhan. Let's go. I hope you have bought your black card. I am an expensive customer today.” Wei Ying circled his hands around Lan Zhan’s arm and moved towards the car. 

“Wei Ying can buy whatever he wants,” Lan Zhan said. He could not hide the tone of indulgence from Wei Ying. 

“So sweet, my Lan Zhan” Wei Ying kissed Lan Zhan on his cheek. 

And that is how Wei Ying became the owner of a lot of high end clothes and accessories. Lan Zhan bought him everything. Wei Ying just had to look at something for more than a few seconds. There was no limit to Lan Zhan’s spoiling of Wei Ying - and no limit of money - apparently. And the worst part was that Wei Ying could not stop him at all because he was playing the part. He could not break the character. Lan Zhan made use of this loophole to the fullest. 

And there was no end to it. After shopping, Lan Zhan took Wei Ying to a posh cafe where a single cup of coffee cost more than someone’s monthly salary. After that it was shopping for perfumes. It was an exclusive perfume store which created custom blends for their customers. Lan Zhan did not ask for Wei Ying’s opinion this time and ordered a perfume with sandalwood tone. 

“Tell me honestly, Hanguang-Jun. Do you want me to smell like you?” Wei Ying had whispered to which Lan Zhan did not reply. 

And then there were watches. After that it was shoes. It was like Lan Zhan enjoyed tormenting Wei Ying. 

In retaliation, Wei Ying performed his role a little too well. He stuck to Lan Zhan’s side throughout. He touched and caressed Lan Zhan’s body at every chance. He whispered sweet nothings in Lan Zhan’s ears. He sucked on Lan Zhan’s fingers when no one was looking. All it did was get both of them hot and bothered, and there was no relief from all that heat.  

Finally, Wei Ying had enough and suggested a drive through the Sakura Road while they were having some ice cream near the mall, to which Lan Zhan agreed. 

—

They drove slowly through the road, as if enjoying a romantic evening amongst the beautiful flowers. It was Lan Zhan who noticed the glazed tiled building first. Fortunately, there was a secluded park near the bungalow and Lan Zhan parked his car there. 

Wei Ying took out his paperman.

“I invented this in high school, as a prank. I did not think it would be useful in my line of work after all these years.”  Wei Ying answered Lan Zhan’s silent question.

“How does this work?” Lan Zhan asked.

“I will transfer my spiritual cognizance into this paperman. It will enter the bungalow and look for clues. I bet the security here is not maintained well since they shifted here in urgency. It would be very easy for the paperman to break-in.” Wei Ying replied.

“Is it harmful to Wei Ying?” 

Wei Ying felt warm all over, “No. Don’t worry, Lan Zhan. I can do this without any harm for two hours”, he caressed Lan Zhan’s arms. 

“Be careful”.

“Of course. Wait for me here.”

They shifted to the back seat of the car, with Wei Ying hiding in Lan Zhan’s arms. To the outsiders, it would look like a lover's tryst. And then the paperman left. 

It was unbearable for Lan Zhan to wait. The worry ate his heart. He knew Wei Ying could handle any situation, he was very powerful. But Wei Ying was also his person and Lan Zhan could not help but feel tense. Luckily he did not have to wait for long. Wei Ying came back within an hour.  

Lan Zhan immediately started his car and left the place. 

“This is the place we are looking for.” Wei Ying said, “the place reeks of the same resentful energy. I saw five people being held captive. The sixth person might have died already. I remember there were signs of six people being imprisoned in the resort. And the person who wrote the morse code is a woman, looking to be in her mid-twenties.” 

“How do you know it was her?” Lan Zhan asked.

“All the captives are being kept in the same room. Only her fingers had marks which indicated recent cuts.” Wei Ying answered. 

Once again Lan Zhan was reminded of how intelligent and observant Wei Ying was. 

“There is another thing. Nie Mingjue is one of the prisoners.” Wei Ying said. 

“Oh!” Lan Zhan was surprised. This was totally unexpected. 

“But we need to hurry and rescue them soon. They all look very close to death and they do not have much time.” Wei Ying said after a few seconds.

“Call uncle Lan. Organise a team” Lan Zhan commanded.

“Right away”. Wei Ying took out his phone to call Chief Lan and explained the situation briefly, “Chief Lan, there are five prisoners. Better keep ambulances handy. There are only ten cultivators guarding the bungalow. I cannot guarantee that this number will remain the same after a while. So, you better hurry.” he said to Lan Qiren. 

They parked their car three kilometres away from the bungalow, hidden in a dark alley. There were no traffic cameras around. Within thirty minutes, Lan Qiren mobilised a troupe of twenty agents and sent them to the rescue. He took his monitoring van near where Lan Zhan’s car was located. This allowed Lan Zhan and Wei Ying to observe the whole operation through the monitoring devices and video cameras attached to the agent’s uniforms.

Everything went smoothly. All ten of the cultivators were arrested. The five prisoners were sent to the hospital where Wen Qing worked. Wei Ying wanted her to look after these patients because he had great confidence in her skills. Also, she would notice details that other doctors would likely miss. Lan Qiren did not have any objection. Now that they were busted, those people would be alert now and might come after these patients. So, he arranged tight security and secrecy of these patients, and only a select few knew their locations. 

Nie Mingjue was in a bad state. He had lost his golden core and there were internal injuries. But his life was not in danger. 

–

It was already past midnight by the time the whole operation was completed. 

Once they came back to Wei Ying’s apartment, “No one can recognise the specific resentful energy or differentiate”, Lan Zhan noted. He always wanted to know more about this. Wei Ying seemed to be the only one who could do this.  

“Well, I trained myself to differentiate between resentful energies while I was underground as Yiling Laozu. It has come in handy many times. I will teach you if you want to learn.” Wei Ying replied. 

“Wei Ying is brilliant”. Lan Zhan praised.

“ Lan Zhan ! Isn’t there a rule about excessive praise or exaggeration in your Lan rules?” Wei Ying complained.

“Yes. Being truthful is also a rule” Lan Zhan replied. There was a mirth in his eyes which gave away the fact that he enjoyed teasing Wei Ying a lot. 

“I just don’t know what to do with you, Hanguang-Jun ” . Wei Ying raised both his hands in the air. 

“But I know what to do with Wei Ying”, Lan Zhan whispered in Wei Ying’s ears. The sudden heat coiled in his gut and Wei Ying almost moaned. Suddenly the air was filled with seduction. 

Not to be outdone, Wei Ying leaned into Lan Zhan, “Oh! Do tell! What would Hanguang-Jun do to this Yiling Laozu?” he licked Lan Zhan’s ear. Whole of Lan Zhan’s body went taut. 

Lan Zhan paused for a moment and attacked Wei Ying’s lips, holding him against the door. He licked, bit, took control of Wei Ying’s lips like a starving person when presented with tasty food. He devoured Wei Ying’s mouth, never letting Wei Ying have any respite. 

The kiss went on for an eternity and Wei Ying went crazy with want and immense need. He was just so greedy for Lan Zhan. Finally, Lan Zhan released Wei Ying from his tight grip. He then kissed Wei Ying on his cheeks with all the affection he had for the man and left Wei Ying at his door, again.

“Sleep well, Wei Ying” 

“Good night, Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying replied and took out his keys.

As soon as he entered the apartment he got a call from Wen Qing.

“Wei Ying, I have some information about the woman sent for treatment today, the one related to the case”. 

“Well, hello to you too”, Wei Ying teased.

“Whatever! Now, here me out. I am very busy.” Wen Qing replied.

“Okay. Tell me, Qing-jie”.

“Coincidentally, we have records of this woman in our database. She was admitted to our hospital when she was ten years old for fire related injuries. Later she was an out patient to treat a hairline fracture on her toe. We have also notified Nie Huaisang and he is taking care of his brother. Unfortunately, we do not know who the other three people are.”

“It is fine, Qing-jie. Do your best” Wei Ying consoled, “by the way, what is her name?”

“First time she came, her name was Su Qing. The next time it was changed to Ouyang Qing.” Wen Qing answered. 

“She might be adopted in between to the Ouyang clan.” Wei Ying mused.

“It is possible. But everyone always used to call her A-Qing. I remember this because of the similarity with my own name” Wen Qing said.

“How is she by the way?” Wei Ying asked.

“She is in a coma right now. It is difficult to say if she will recover completely. She has a lot of internal injuries. We will give her a daily supply of spiritual energy along with regular treatments. Hopefully she will wake up in a couple of days.” Wen Qing replied.

“Well, we will only know more once she wakes up. Keep me posted, Qing-jie. Good night.”

“Will do. Take care, Wei Ying”. Wen Qing cut the call.

He immediately called Lan Zhan to inform of the new development and bid good night. After all the work he did that day, he was very sleepy. Soon he got comfortably on his bed.

“A-Qing. You are very resourceful, aren’t you?” Wei Ying thought just before he fell asleep. He had a hunch that she held an important piece of puzzle. 

Chapter Text

Wei Ying woke up well  after 11 PM. Since he did not have a schedule this morning, and his tattoo parlour temporarily closed, he lazed around for a while in bed while he checked his phones. There were a few cat gifs sent by Wen Ning. Wen Qing had sent the latest report on the patients - no progress as of now. And Lan Zhan has sent him a lot of messages, one every hour. His first message was at 6:30 AM in the morning - who wakes so early anyway - a sweet good morning message. All the subsequent messages were asking about breakfast, whether Wei Ying had woken up, and so on. It was very cute, really. 

Lan Zhan’s last message was about reading through the old case files. It was sent just before Wei Ying woke up. That made Wei Ying get out of the bed. 

He quickly took a shower, had a small breakfast. He then got ready meticulously. He was dressed sexy, ready to seduce his man. The crop top he wore along with tight jeans was very well worth the money. Wei Ying, with the role of dutiful love, decided to carry a lunch box to Lan Zhan’s office.  He could show off their relationship in a high profile manner. He also had the opportunity to visit his old colleagues and make them uncomfortable. He could also have a fun little date with his Lan. Well, his plan did kill three birds at the same time. 

—

Promptly at 1 o’clock, Wei Ying entered the headquarters of Cultivator Protection Bureau, with a huge lunch box in hand. He knew the whole building as the back of his hand. 

“What are you doing here?” A burly cultivator named Han Jing stood in front of him aggressively. 

“Who are you?” Wei Ying asked in fake-confusion. This time he actually knew this person. He just wanted to rile the other up. Han Jing was at the forefront in condemning Wei Ying. Even though Wei Ying was the part of getting discharged with false charges, it still stung a bit when all of his so-called friends in the department gave up on him. None of them offered a positive word for Wei Ying, despite being friends for a few years by then. They all had judged him even before evidence was presented, even before he was tried, even if it was only an accusation at that time. Clearly, they did not think of “innocent until proven guilty”. 

“Han Jing” the cultivator gritted his teeth.    

“Hello, Han Jing, what do you need from me?” 

“You are not welcome here.”

“Well, I am here to meet my boo, my darling, my Lan Zhan. Definitely, you are not Lan Zhan.” Wei Ying batted his eyes. 

“You can get lost. We do not want you here.” Another cultivator said angrily. 

“Yes. Go away. We don’t want your dirty ass here.” 

One by one, many agents stood up from their cubicles and joined the mob. 

Wei Ying had already noted a few civilians here to submit their complaints. There was also a reporter who was here to interview someone in the department. Wei Ying saw that he had switched on the camera as early as Han Jing had stopped Wei Ying from entering. 

Wei Ying dropped to the ground and let out a loud wail. 

“Aiya! Aiya! You are just brutes! Is this how you treat civilians? Do you think you are so powerful?” Wei Ying said dramatically, “Mr. Reporter, you must help me get justice. These people are just being unreasonable. They are playing  villains in my sweet, sweet love story.” Then he shouted loudly, “Hanguang-Jun, these people are being mean to your Wei Ying. They are not letting me see you. Look, how hard I worked to get ready for you and how much trouble I went through to get you lunch. And they are being so cruel to your Wei Ying. Whatever shall happen to your poor poor Wei Ying! Come protect your Wei Ying….”. Wei Ying then started to sob into his hands, his shoulders shaking with grief. 

No doubt the whole incident will become evening news and the video will be shared on the internet. Along with the reporter, there were also a couple of civilians who had recorded the whole thing in their phones. Although Wei Ying does not hate or dislike these people, and never thought of revenge, he would not let go of playing a harmless prank to embarrass them. 

“You! How dare you besmirch Hanguang-Jun’s name! Get up immediately or else I will kick you right now”,  a young boy, a Lan by the looks of it, shouted at Wei Ying.   

“A-Yi, calm down. We cannot do anything arbitrarily.” Another young boy restrained the first one. By the looks of it, both were around twelve years old. 

“Mr. Wei Ying, come with us. We will take you to Hanguang-Jun.” The second boy said and he led a very amused Wei Ying to Lan Zhan’s office. He was being very polite about it too. Wei Ying could see traces of Lan Zhan in him.   

–

Wei Ying was led to a spacious office located on the fifth floor. Two sides of the room were covered in glass walls which offered a beautiful view of the cityscape. There was a table and a huge sofa on the left side. On the right side was the table where Lan Zhan worked. It was equipped with a state-of-the-art laptop. There was a small wardrobe on the wall behind the door, no doubt to store swords and other weapons.  

“Hanguang-Jun, I have missed you a lot….you left Wei Ying alone yesterday night without a second look and it was so lonely ….” Wei Ying stuffed the lunch box into the polite boy’s hands and threw himself on Lan Zhan. 

Lan Zhan caught Wei Ying easily, “Wei Ying”. 

Both the boys blushed when they saw this public display of affection. Ah! So cute! Wei Ying thought. 

“Lan Zhan, who are these radishes?” Wei Ying asked.

“Who do you call radishes?” the hot headed boy shouted.

“Not a radish. You could be a carrot. Look at your face, it is all red right now” Wei Ying teased.

“You!” The boy could not say anything, he was too dumbfounded. 

Wei Ying laughed out loud looking at his reaction.

“Behave” Lan Zhan patted Wei Ying’s butt. It was Wei Ying’s turn to be quiet.

“Introduce yourselves”. Lan Zhan ordered the boys.

“Hello Senior Wei, I am Lan Yuan, Hanguang-Jun’s adoptive brother”, the polite boy introduced himself.

“My father is Hanguang-Jun’s cousin. Lan Jingyi at your service,” his friend followed. .

“Aww…so cute…” Wei Ying pinched both their cheeks with a smile and the boys could only look at their Hanguang-Jun to save them from the evil clutches.

“Wei Ying, you have bought lunch.” Lan Zhan asked.

That shifted Wei Ying’s attention from the kids and they hurriedly left the office while saying goodbyes.

–

Wei Ying had dug a pit for himself, he was sure. 

He had made a careful plan to sweep Lan Zhan off his feet. 

Throughout the lunch, and after, Wei Ying bantered with Lan Zhan, exchanged flirtatious lines, played with his body,  and Lan Zhan indulged him in all of his touching and teasing. Wei Ying could see Lan Zhan getting worked up, with Lan Zhan’s grip on Wei Ying a tad bit tighter, his hands on Wei Ying’s exposed waist longer than necessary. There was a twitch in Lan Zhan’s eyes that showed how hard he was controlling himself. Although Wei Ying succeeded in his mission, he was equally affected. There was a heat in his body, spreading across, craving for Lan Zhan.  

He played with fire and in the end he burned himself. Finally, by evening, he could not help himself. 

“Lan Zhan. Home. Now.” Wei Ying could not even form proper sentences at this time. 

As if Lan Zhan was waiting for Wei Ying’s permission, he closed his laptop, switched off all the lights, collected his things - Lan Zhan took his time. The delay only made Wei Ying more impatient. 

“ Lan Zhan!” he whined. Later Wei Ying would be ashamed of how he behaved, like an animal in heat.  But at that moment, all he could think of was finding a flat surface and let Lan Zhan have his way with him. 

Feeling a bit impatient himself, Lan Zhan quickly led Wei Ying out of the office. The entire office, agents and civilians alike were shocked at the blatant display of the affair. They had never seen Hanguang-Jun letting someone walk so close to him, never seen their esteemed leader hold a man’s waist in such proprietary manner. 

They came out of their thoughts when they saw Wei Ying waving at them cheerfully, being all smug.

—

“This is not the route to my home” Wei Ying noticed after ten minutes of driving.

“We are going to my house”. Lan Zhan replied. 

“Well, take me away to your hideout, then.” Wei Ying waved his hand. The urgent heat from the last few minutes had cooled down in the evening breeze. But the need was still there, simmering just beneath the skin. 

They decided to have an early dinner. Wei Ying thought Lan Zhan would take him to a fine dining restaurant. Instead, he took Wei Ying to a supermarket nearby and carefully selected all the ingredients. 

“Will cook for Wei Ying” Lan Zhan had said when asked.  

— 

Lan Zhan’s house was in a posh locality. Lan Zhan had casually mentioned that he owned the entire apartment complex and he himself lived in a penthouse. 

Before putting away the groceries, Lan Zhan showed him the whole apartment. The hall was huge, with an enormous sofa and a huge TV unit. Just like his office, the hall had glass walls on two adjacent sides. The view from the top was breathtaking. 

“You like glass walls, Lan Zhan?” Wei Ying asked.

“I like mountains. Our ancestral land, Cloud Recesses, is situated at the top of a huge mountain.” Lan Zhan answered.

“The glass walls give you an experience of looking down from top of a mountain”. Wei Ying guessed.

“Mn”.

“You like to be on top, don't you?” Wei Ying asked. He was not asking about the mountains. 

“Yes.” Lan Zhan. He knew it was not about the mountains anymore.

“Well...Hanguang-Jun, this works perfectly!” Wei Ying winked. 

“Mn.” 

After looking at the hall, Lan Zhan showed him the rest of his place. There was only one bedroom, with a huge built-in closet. The other room was converted into a study. Wei Ying explored the study excitedly. “Lan Zhan, you have so many books! I will never leave this place, now that I have seen this. You cannot kick me away” 

“Wei Ying is always welcome”, Lan Zhan said tenderly. 

Wei Ying grinned at Lan Zhan happily, “You are the best, Lan Zhan”. 

There was also a small attic above the hall, which was converted into a personal gym.

At last, they went to the kitchen. Lan Zhan served Wei Ying a glass of red wine, with fruits and cheese and made him sit on a high chair next to the kitchen counter, where Wei Ying could see Lan Zhan cook. 

Lan Zhan quickly put away the products they had brought from the market earlier and started cooking. 

Lan Zhan washed some white rice mixed with black rice, and added water to the rice cooker. Then he prepared some corn soup, two vegetable dishes and two meat dishes. 

While everything was cooking, Lan Zhan poured himself some tea, and sat down to chat with Wei Ying. They chatted about mundane things that they never had before. They slowly got to know each other in a normal way, like regular people, instead of high profile cultivators that they were. All in all it was a pleasant evening.

“Lan Zhan, I thought Lans did not eat meat.” Wei Ying commented as they sat at the dining table.  

“There was a rule in ancient times. But now things have changed. We do eat meat sometimes. But, our preferred diet is still vegetarian.” Lan Zhan explained.

“That makes sense.” Wei Ying tasted each and every dish, “Wow! Lan Zhan. This is perfect. I did not imagine you would be this good” Wei Ying took another bite of everything. 

“Will cook for Wei Ying”. Lan Zhan promised.

“I am greedy, Lan Zhan. What if I always want you to cook”. Wei Ying said. 

“Will always cook for Wei Ying”. Lan Zhan said firmly. 

“Oh! Well… I look forward to it, then”. Wei Ying smiled softly.

—

After dinner, Lan Zhan served Wei Ying his favourite Coconut-Pineapple cake and served himself a cup of Chamomile tea. 

“How did you know this is my favourite?” Wei Ying asked in a surprised tone. 

“I asked Wen Ning,” Lan Zhan replied. 

“You sly man! You went behind my back and talked to my friends” Wei Ying pointed his finger at Lan Zhan playfully.

Lan Zhan took hold of his finger and said, “Wei Ying, eat”. 

“Yes, sir.” Wei Ying saluted and started eating cake. 

There was a smudge of cake left on Wei Ying’s lips. Lan Zhan noticed it and carefully put his tea cup on the side table. Instead of wiping the cake with a tissue, Lan Zhan leaned in and licked it off. 

The fire that was put out was ignited once again. 

“Do you want to eat the cake too, Lan Zhan?” Wei Ying whispered as he placed his dessert plate on the table. 

“Mn”

“Well...then...here you go”, Wei Ying took some of the cream from the cake and smeared it on his entire lower lip.

Lan Zhan held Wei Ying’s lip in between his own lips and sucked at it. Wei Ying moaned when Lan Zhan bit his lips. 

“Sweet,” Lan Zhan said. 

“Well…there is still more left”. Wei Ying tugged his top down to expose more skin and carefully spread the cream on his neck and collarbone. Lan Zhan licked and sucked and bruised and left marks everywhere he had access to. Wei Ying’s soul left his body with the pleasure he was feeling. 

“Lan Zhan…Lan Zhan…Lan Zhan… ” he called out in ecstasy, 

“Wei Ying tastes so good.” Lan Zhan murmured into Wei Ying’s skin. 

Wei Ying felt heady. He spread the cream on his waist which was exposed due to the crop top he was wearing. ‘Don’t stop…” he said.

“Never”. Lan Zhan pushed Wei Ying completely on the sofa and bit into his waist. Wei Ying screamed. He clutched Lan Zhan’s hair as he pulled him closer and closer to his body. He wanted more…he wanted Lan Zhan to mark him all over.

Having finished the entire cake in this manner, Lan Zhan took Wei Ying to his bed. He quickly disposed of both of their clothes. 

Laid out in Lan Zhan’s own bed, naked, Wei Ying looked very delectable. Lan Zhan took his time to worship Wei Ying’s body, not a single inch was left alone. Lan Zhan kissed and bit and licked all over. And still he did not feel full. He turned Wei Ying over, laid him on his stomach. He repeated the same treatment. He kissed and bruised Wei Ying’s shoulder and his back, everywhere he could reach. When he had his fill, he turned Wei Yin so that he could lay on his back.

Lan Zhan then laid on top of him and whispered in his ears, “You look so good like this. A meal spread out just for me. Tell me, what should I do, Wei Ying?”

“Lan Zhan can do anything to Wei Ying and he will take it” Wei Ying surrendered. By this time, he was blissed out from all the loving Lan Zhan had showered him with. He had no mind left to think. He could only lay there and let Lan Zhan take control of everything. 

“Good boy”, Wei Ying felt a shiver in his spine. He felt so happy to be praised. He wanted to be good to Lan Zhan, all the time.

Lan Zhan took out the lube and condoms from the side drawer. He spread Wei Ying’s thighs apart crudely and lifted his legs so that his knees touched his shoulders.  

He squeezed a bit of lube into his fingers and slowly massaged the puckered hole. Wei Ying moaned with the sensation. He could not wait for Lan Zhan’s fingers to play him. Slowly, Lan Zhan inserted one finger into Wei Ying and explored around. 

“Lan Zhan, please’ Wei Ying called out, “more….”

Lan Zhan, in answer to Wei Ying’s plea, used one more finger to loosen up the hole. Soon, he was using three fingers. He explored the treasure carefully and methodically, his golden eyes shining with razor sharp focus. Soon, he found the pleasure nerves inside, and Wei Ying almost came from that. By then he was leaking pre-cum so much that his stomach was sticky.  

Wei Ying was delirious. His words slurred, “Lan Zhan…Lan Zhan…stop tormenting…please…” he pleaded.

“What do you want, Wei Ying?” Lan Zhan asked. His voice was so calm and collected, a direct contrast to the way he played with Wei Ying’s hole. The duality of it drove Wei Ying crazy. 

“Lan Zhan…please….please….” Wei Ying was very close to tears. Lan Zhan really was a menace, he thought. 

Slowly and meticulously, Lan Zhan took Wei Ying apart. His fingers never stopped from pleasuring Wei Ying, but never allowed Wei Ying to reach the climax. 

“Lan Zhan…have mercy..” Wei Ying cried out. 

“Shh…You just have to say what you want, Wei Ying. I will give you everything.” Lan Zhan caressed Wei Ying’s torso in a soothing manner.

“You are evil…Lan Zhan…” Wei Ying complained. 

“If you have a mind to complain, then I am not doing a good job”, Lan Zhan mused. While his fingers were still inside Wei Ying, he leaned in and bit into Wei Ying’s neck. The stimulation of it was too much for Wei Ying. He screamed as he arched up from the bed, his hole tightening over Lan Zhan’s fingers. 

“I beg of you…Lan Zhan…please…” 

“Tell me what you want, Wei Ying.” 

“I want you to come inside me….” Wei Ying begged.

“I am inside of you.” Lan Zhan replied in a maddeningly calm tone.

“I want you to put your cock inside me and fuck me hard….” Wei Ying sobbed. His eyes were full of tears. He was being torn apart and he wanted Lan Zhan to put him back together. 

“As you wish”. 

“No….”, Wei Ying cried when Lan Zhan removed his fingers from inside. The emptiness of it felt unbearable. 

“Shhh…I am here..” Lan Zhan caressed Wei Ying’s cheeks.

He then tore open the condom and put it on him. His hands were shaking a bit. He was too out of control himself. 

Soon, he was lining up Wei Ying’s hole and entered his whole cock in one shot. 

Wei Ying screamed. His mind was blissfully blank with pleasure-pain he experienced. It felt like an out of body experience. 

There was a moment of respite as Lan Zhan adjusted his grip on Wei Ying’s hips. And then he let go.

He fucked into Wei Ying again and again and again. Wei Ying almost hit the headboard with the force of it. The bed creaked in unison as Lan Zhan kept his pace up. 

“Lan Zhan…Lan Zhan…where did you learn all this?.....Lan Zhan…slow down…no…no…faster...Lan Zhan…don’t stop...you drive me crazy…Lan Zhan...hard…just like that….Lan Zhan…you are so good to your Wei Ying….Lan Zhan…Lan Zhan…Lan Zhan” Wei Ying babbled in Lan Zhan’s ears as he was being pleasured. It was all too much for Wei Ying. He circled his legs over Lan Zhan’s waist. He gripped Lan Zhan’s shoulder tightly. He scratched Lan Zhan’s back to draw blood. 

In the end, Wei Ying moaned out loud when he came. He could barely hold on to his consciousness after.

Lan Zhan plunged into Wei Ying once….twice…thrice…and then he came inside Wei Ying with a grunt.   

Wei Ying closed his eyes, feeling very much sated. He hugged Lan Zhan, not letting him get up from on top of him, as he came down from the high. 

Lan Zhan peppered kissed all over Wei Ying’s face which made Wei Ying let out giggles. Suddenly the passionate air around them became light and happy. 

Then Lan Zhan got up to clean both of them and took a shower together. 

Soon, they were cuddling inside their blankets. Wei Ying fell asleep immediately, with his arms around Lan Zhan and his face tucked into Lan Zhan’s chest. 

But Lan Zhan could not sleep. His mind was thinking about the person in his arms. Although Lan Zhan had dalliances before, none of them became a long term relationship. They always stayed casual. One of the reasons was the nature of his work. It was so secretive and often had to be absent. So, most of his earlier romance fizzled out in the end. Another reason was that none of them could stimulate much interest in him. Not that there was anything wrong with those people, - Lan Zhan still believed in his judgement - they were quite nice, actually. It was just a matter of compatibility. 

This was the first time he met someone who was his equal in every sense. Although he was attracted to Wei Ying’s beauty at first, later it was his wit, courage, intelligence, resourcefulness - everything worked as an aphrodisiac. Above all, Wei Ying had retained his inherent kindness and his original heart, even after everything he had to face. That itself showed a strong character and remarkable sense of self. He had such confidence about him, the way he held himself, that manifested into being irreverent and whimsical, into being not bothered about others opinions of himself, all of this was a very heady combination for Lan Zhan’s heart. He found himself falling for this man and he welcomed this feeling with open arms. 

Lan Zhan carefully kissed Wei Ying’s forehead so as not to wake him up and went back to sleep himself.  

—

Blaring ringtone of an incoming call woke Wei Ying up. 

“Hello…” Wei Ying took the call, his eyes still closed. His voice had gone hoarse with all the screaming he did last night. 

“ What happened to you?” Wen Qing’s bossy voice came through the speakers.

“Qing-jie, it is too early” 

“It is already 11 AM, you brat!”

“Whatever! I had the best time last night. It was very wild!” Wei Ying replied.

“Is it Hanguang-Jun?” Wen Qing asked. 

“Wen Ning is very gossipy”, Wei Ying commented.

“Is he treating you well?” Wen Qing asked. 

“He is very good to me, Qing-jie”, Wei Ying answered with a slight smile. It felt nice to receive concern from one of his favourite people. 

“Anyway, I called to say that I discovered something.” Wen Qing’s tone got all business. 

“What is it?” Wei Ying got serious as well.

“I did an extensive blood test on Miss A-Qing. I noticed some anomalies. There were traces of some unknown drug in her system.” 

“What about the other four people?” 

“Same result. All of them were drugged with the same potion in the last few days.” 

“This is new. Last time there was no such drug. This could be important. Please try to isolate the drug components and find out what it does.” Wei Ying asked.

“Will do. I will get back to you if there is any progress.” Wen Qing hung up the call. 

“Well, bye…I guess” Wei Ying put his phone down. He felt the area next to him and found it cold. Lan Zhan must have woken up very early. He woke up and took a shower. He opened Lan Zhan’s closet to find something to wear.

There was a mirror inside the walk-in closet and he looked at himself. There were a lot of marks left on his body, on his neck, on his waist, inside of his thighs. He bet there were some on his back as well. He could feel a throbbing sensation wherever the bruises were. He pressed one of the marks and hummed with the pleasant sting he felt. He did not want to treat these bruises using his spiritual energy. He wanted them on his body, to remind him of what they both had shared. 

Wei Ying looked around to find something to wear. Most of Lan Zhan’s wardrobe consisted of formal shirts. But Wei Ying did find a few t-shirts. All of them in different shades of blues and whites, and they were all of the same style too. “ You fuddy-duddy” Wei Ying muttered fondly and took a dark blue t-shirt. It was very loose on him and reached just below his naked butt since Lan Zhan was a lot broader and a few centimetres taller than him.

Wei Ying found his Lan  in the living room, sitting on the sofa, reading something on his laptop.

“Lan Zhan, you left me alone in our conjugal bed. How cruel, er-gege!” Wei Ying plonked on to Lan Zhan’s lap with a dramatic sigh. He sat sideways with his arms around Lan Zhan’s neck for balance.

“Wei Ying ” Lan Zhan held his man by the waist so that he would not fall off and put the laptop on the table.  

“I am hungry.” Wei Ying pulled Lan Zhan’s sleeves. But Lan Zhan did not reply. He was busy caressing Wei Ying’s legs laid out in front of him. Seeing Wei Ying in his shirt, wearing these marks that he had left, something primitive flared inside Lan Zhan’s chest. “ He kept the marks. Did not remove them” his mind whispered and Lan Zhan gripped Wei Ying’s thigh possessively.  

Wei Ying kept silent and observed what Lan Zhan did. He moaned when Lan Zhan hand covered one of the marks on his thigh and held on to it tightly.  Wei Ying surged forward and took Lan Zhan’s lips with his own. 

They kissed for a while, basking in the shared feelings which were too early to name. But they knew they had started something genuine, something truly special , something that they both wanted. 

When the kiss ended, they held each other’s face in their hands and smiled. Or rather, Wei Ying smiled and he could see the traces of happiness in Lan Zhan’s eyes. 

“What were you reading now?” Wei Ying asked. 

“Case files from before”. Lan Zhan replied.

“Good idea. I will help you.” 

“Breakfast first”. Lan Zhan insisted.

“You are quite a mother hen, aren’t you?” Wei Ying teased. Silence was the only answer he got. 

“You are pouting, Hanguang-Jun” Wei Ying tapped his finger on Lan Zhan’s lips.

“ I will reheat the breakfast”, Lan Zhan put Wei Ying on the sofa and went to the kitchen. He did not deem it necessary to answer Wei Ying’s question. He had an image to maintain. 

—

They spent the whole day reading through the old files. They wanted to see if they missed something before. In between Lan Zhan cooked lunch for both of them, with Wei Ying feeling taken care of. 

It was almost evening when Wei Ying closed his eyes in resignation.  “Arghh! I am so tired, Lan Zhan. I am a noodle now”, Wei Ying just laid on the ground, boneless. 

“Spaghetti or rice noodles. Or perhaps Udon?” Lan Zhan teased from where he was sitting on the sofa. Wei Ying kicked Lan Zhan’s legs from the floor, in retaliation. But he was secretly joyful, for this sudden burst of humour at odd times from Lan Zhan was very endearing. 

Compared to Lan Zhan, who preferred reading on his laptop, Wei Ying had spread out physical documents all over the floor. “I have a system”, Wei Ying had insisted primly when Lan Zhan had looked incredulously at the clutter and looked around his spotless and immaculate house meaningfully. 

By then, there were only a couple more files left and they would be done with the old files. 

“Lan Zhan, let’s go out for a cup of coffee after this. I only have to go through the arrest records.” Wei Ying got up from the ground and picked up the last file.

“Mn.”

“Are you done already?” Wei Ying asked.

“Mn.”

“Anything you noticed?” 

“No.”

“Okay, then. Give me some time. I will finish soon”.

“Mn.”

Within a few seconds of reading the last file, Wei Ying noticed something.

“Lan Zhan, there is something wrong”. Wei Ying tapped on Lan Zhan’s knees, silently asking him to sit on the floor. 

“Look, here is the list of people arrested, who had personally worked in the lab, the core group if you will.” Wei Ying pointed out a page as Lan Zhan sat next to him. 

“Mn’.

“Two people are unaccounted for.” Wei Ying said in a grave tone. 

“Explain.”

“You know I was working as a spy under Wen Ruohan under the alias Yiling Laozu.”

“I know. What was missed, Wei Ying?”

“So, as soon as I handed over the evidence and all the details, I left for abroad for safety purposes and to hide my identity. I did not stay for further operations when they dismantled the Wen organisation and arrested all the related people. So, I never noticed something was wrong with the number. The department would have overlooked this since there were hundreds of people arrested at that time and two missing people probably did not alarm anyone. And once I was back, I did not go back to the department and there was no real reason for me to go through the files till now. Unfortunately, these two people are important as they worked very closely with Wen Ruohan.” 

“Who are they?” Lan Zhan asked.

“There were twenty one people who formed the core group, seventeen people were arrested, I left the country, and Wen Ruohan died during the operation. Two people escaped that day and I do not know their real identities. At that time we all used aliases. Except for Wen Ruohan - who was narcissistic enough to use his own name - all of us in the lab used code names. We were also cut off from the internet and outside world then. There were signal jammers everywhere and there was no way for me to check anything without alerting anyone. It was only after everyone was arrested that we dug out their real identities.”

“You have a plan to find out.” Lan Zhan noted.

“Yes. I still remember their faces. I will draw their faces and we can look around based on that.” Wei Ying said.

Lan Zhan quietly went to his study and bought drawing papers and pencils. He kept sharpening the pencils as Wei Ying drew the faces from his memory. He took an hour to draw the faces of those two missing people. 

Wei Ying showed both sketches to Lan Zhan. 

“Wei Ying is very talented” Lan Zhan complimented and looked at the sketches. 

Wei Ying had not only drawn a life-like picture, he had also managed to infuse their essence into the sketch. One person looked to be around late-twenties, around their own age. Although he was smiling, it did not reach his eyes. There was a cruelty in his eyes which was at odds with his handsome face. The other person also had a somewhat beautiful face. But there was a hint of cowardice and malice in his eyes. 

And Lan Zhan knew the second person. 

“This is Meng Yao.” Lan Zhan pointed out the person who looked to be in his thirties. 

“So, it looks like he did not die in an accident.” Wei Ying confirmed, “his own father killed him”. 

“Mn.”    

“Do you have any impression of the other person?” Wei Ying asked.

“No.”

“Me Neither”, Wei Ying replied, “Lan Zhan, will you ask uncle Lan to secretly look for this person?.” 

“Mn’. Lan Zhan took a photo of the unknown person on his mobile and went to his study to make the call. He sent the photo to his uncle.

Once he was done with the work, Wei Ying grabbed Lan Zhan’s hand and said, “Lan Zhan, let’s go out for a coffee. My treat”. 

“Mn”.

—

The cafe was close to Lan Zhan’s apartment and it was a short walk to the palace. The cafe was well lit, with all the pretty lights. The aroma of freshly ground coffee beans permeated the air giving it a cosy feel. 

All through their walk and while they ordered their drinks, Lan Zhan seemed preoccupied and Wei Ying did not disturb him. Wei Ying noticed that Lan Zhan was being a little hesitant and could not stop himself from commenting on that.

“Lan Zhan, ask what you want to ask.” Wei Ying said when Lan Zhan came back from the counter with their coffee and tea orders, “I noticed you were being reluctant for some reason.” he continued.

“Will you tell me about the case?” Lan Zhan asked.

“Lan Zhan, you know all the details. We just went through it.” 

“No. I want to know Wei Ying’s personal experience”, Lan Zhan explained. 

“Oh!” Wei Ying put his drink down, “well..it was not pleasant for sure.” 

“ Mn”. 

“Can we talk about it at home? Right now, I just want to drink this coffee and enjoy your beauty” Wei Ying said with a smile.

“Of course.” Lan Zhan replied as he cupped Wei Ying’s face in hand for a second and let go. 

—

“ Lan Zhan, you were not here during the case last time, I believe. Otherwise, given your skills, Chief Lan would not have kept you away.” Wei Ying asked. 

“Yes.  I was abroad on another high profile case. I was collaborating with the local cultivators there”. Lan Zhan replied, “Wei Ying does not have to share about the case if it makes him uncomfortable”, he added. 

“Er-gege, it is you. Of course there is no discomfort.” Wei Ying kissed Lan Zhan on the cheek and talked about his role in the case. 

“ You have read the file. You know I joined the department when I was twenty years old, after I got my degree in Talisman Theory.” Wei Ying started.

“Mn”.

Lan Zhan and Wei Ying were sitting in Lan Zhan’s balcony attached to his bedroom, overlooking the city. The view was spectacular with all the evening twinkling lights. There was a slight mist in the air making it a bit cold. But with Lan Zhan sitting right next to him, so close, almost touching shoulders, Wei Yin felt very warm. Given how seemingly cold on the outside the person was, since when did Wei Ying start associating Lan Zhan with warmth, Wei Ying never knew. Might be when he first saw this person, so out of place in his tattoo parlour. Wei Ying was so used to seeing people judge him without knowing anything about him, just because of the flamboyant way he behaved and dressed, or just because of his social status.  Of course, it never bothered Wei Ying. That is just how the world works. And Wei Ying knew his worth very well. He did not need any validation or affirmation from others.

He never had a serious lover before. All his exploits lasted less than ten days. Wei Ying never bothered about social status. He never considered himself to be any less compared to the high society people. To put it crudely, a toilet made of gold was still a toilet, used to collect shit. And a lotus was still a lotus, even if it emerged in mud. Not everyone thought so. Couple of his lovers were from the gentry. No matter how much they tried to hide it, Wei Ying could still feel the condescending way they looked at him. He had ended those relationships before it began properly.   

And yet . There was no judgement in Lan Zhan’s eyes. There was curiosity and interest, a hint of desire. It was as if Lan Zhan perceived or wanted to perceive Wei Ying for who he was, instead of all the external trappings. When people look at them, they would probably not think that they belong together. Lan Zhan has this upper class, aristocratic demeanour bred into his bones. And Wei Ying looked like a person who did not amount to much, a person who just got out of his emo hours. 

And yet . They did belong to each other. No matter the outside casing, on the inside they were the same people. They had the same outlook, same principles of doing things, same kindness, and an innate sense of doing what is right. This much, Wei Ying could understand after spending all this time with Lan Zhan.

“Wei Ying” Lan Zhan brought his attention back. 

“Lan Zhan. Sorry, there were too many thoughts in my head” Wei Ying grinned sheepishly. 

“Take your time, Wei Ying. I am here”. 

“So sweet, Lan Zhan.” Wei Ying nuzzled Lan Zhan’s shoulders with his nose. He then looked up at Lan Zhan who was waiting patiently for Wei Ying to continue his story. 

So, Wei Ying shared his experience.

“The first case we got was from an anonymous call. It was post dinner time, a bit late in the evening, when we received a call from a public telephone booth. They reported what looked like a kidnapping scene, although they were not sure. They said they were walking down an almost empty street and saw two people pushing one person into a car. I was in the graveyard shift then. Everyone thought this to be a prank call. Since I was a rookie at that time, they assigned this case to me and later it turned out to be a genuine case. And that was the beginning.” Wei Ying paused. 

He took a sip of tea Lan Zhan had offered to wet his throat. 

“What happened next?” 

“Then I noticed that there were many missing person cases across the city. They were reported across many department branches. But none of our agents took it seriously. Who cares for some low level cultivators, right?” Wei Ying asked bitterly.

“Wei Ying.” Lan Zhan sounded worried.

“I am fine, Lan Zhan.” Wei Ying smiled at him and continued, “Although the Wens were careful in selecting loners, they could not be hundred percent foolproof. Some of them slipped the net and resulted in missing persons reports. Out of all the people who were kidnapped, only ten percent of them were reported. Even then it was cause of concern. I talked to your uncle and he created a task force. I was a key member. Soon, we found a person who was alive, but completely blank. He did not talk, did not move without any instruction. He behaved like a puppet to be exact. His golden core was surgically removed and he was reeking of resentful energy.  That is when I started learning about resentful energy cultivation. If one person was found, second and third and so on was only a matter of time. We found five more such people and most of them were reported to be missing. That is how we connected these puppets to the missing cultivators.” 

“Wei Ying, take a break.” Lan Zhan asked.

“I want to eat ice cream” Wei Ying batted his eyes at Lan Zhan. 

“I will get some. There are Vanilla, Mango, and Coconut flavours in the fridge. Which one do you want?”

“Lan Zhan, I told you. I am a greedy person. I want all of them” Wei Ying replied. 

“Mn”.

Soon, Wei Ying had a big bowl of ice cream in his lap. He alternatively ate a spoon of ice cream and fed some to Lan Zhan.

“Step by step, we pieced the whole puzzle together. Finally, I found a person, Ming Yu, who had a friendship with one of the core lab technicians. Through him I got a lot of details about Wen Ruohan and the lab. I wanted to infiltrate the lab using this person and my extensive research on resentful energy. I suggested Lan Qiren dismiss me from the department in a high profile manner, under false bribery charges. I worked on Ming Yu for a few months, gained his trust, and then under his recommendation, I joined the lab. Slowly, I worked my way up and I became a close personnel of Wen Ruohan. They were experimenting with resentful energy, planning to build an army of powerful puppets. They would first remove their golden core because cores would hinder the flow of resentful energy. Then subjected those prisoners with experimenting with resentful energy cultivation. I collected a lot of evidence meanwhile. It took six months. And yet, there was some evidence missing to bring down the whole organisation, information about some key people. So, I stuck around.”

Wei Ying paused at this. There melancholy in his brows and his silver eyes dimmed with immense guilt and sadness. 

“Wei Ying” Lan Zhan was alarmed and pulled him into his arms. 

Inside the safety of Lan Zhan’s arms, Wei Ying continued his story, his voice thick with unshed tears.  

“I spent almost six months in that hellhole. I experimented with resentful energy so that those people find a way to survive, so that they can be alive till we manage to bring down the whole thing. Since Wen Ruohan wanted to keep these people alive as well - only, he wanted puppets - I had to work with him to cover my actual intentions. Even then there were some losses. Some became puppets who would not follow instructions and were killed because they were of no use. And some died with too much resentful energy in their veins.  But I did manage to save a few lives. But then…”, Wei Ying choked.

“It is fine. Take your time.” Lan Zhan stroked Wei Ying’s back. 

“Then they started experimenting with children, who had just started their cultivation and not yet formed their golden core. They hoped that their untrained bodies would receive resentful energy better. It was a failed experiment, anyway. Experimenting on children did not yield any results”, Wei Ying’s entire body shook remembering those nightmarish memories. “Fortunately, before something awful happened, before they could harm those children permanently, I worked hard to collect the final evidence and we managed to shut the whole thing down.” 

“There is more,” Lan Zhan said.

“Nothing can get past you, Hanguang-Jun”, Wei Ying laughed. But it lacked his usual cheer.

“In the last week of my stay in the lab, they bought a girl, A-Ren, she was called. She was so vivacious. Only ten years old at that time. She would talk a lot with me at night, while she was inside the cage and I had to guard the lab during night. She would share her dreams. She wanted to go to the best college and be the best cultivator ever. Until the end, she did not lose her hope and determination”, Wei Ying let out a shuddering breath ,”I could not save her”. He sobbed into Lan Zhan’s chest, his tears soaking Lan Zhan’s shirt.

Lan Zhan pulled Wei Ying onto his lap and hugged him tightly, “Wei Ying has suffered”, as he caressed Wei Ying’s back, letting him cry to his heart’s content. Grief should be expressed. Not buried deep inside one’s soul. 

“Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying said. His voice was rough with all the crying. 

“I am here”, Lan Zhan murmured into Wei Ying’s hair.

After a while, Wei Ying composed himself. But he did not get up from Lan Zhan’s lap. He buried his nose into Lan Zhan’s neck, his sandalwood scent felt very soothing. For the first time in his life he felt at home and there was a tremble in his heart with that realisation. He was so, so tempted. Last instance when he experienced this was when his parents were still alive. 

They stayed like that for a long time. 

Much later, while they were having dinner, Lan Zhan asked, “Then how did you meet Wen Qing and Wen Ning?” 

“Oh! You are asking because of their relationship with Wen Ruohan. No, they were not related to the case. In fact, Wen Ning had already joined the department as a hacker, with my recommendation and Wen Qing assisted our agents with medical expertise. I had met them long back, when I was sixteen years old. I was admitted to the hospital because Madam Yu had whipped me for some minor issue and their father was my attending physician. They had come to meet their father after school and we were fast friends after that. Their parents have settled abroad a few years back.”  

Lan Zhan did not ask about Madam Yu and her abuse of Wei Ying. Being a part of high society, it was inevitable that he would hear rumours about the Jiangs and their relationship with Wei Ying. But at this time, his Wei Ying looked so sad that he did not have the heart to dig up more unpleasant memories. He would ask when the opportunity arises. For now, he would do his utmost to bring a genuine smile on his beloved’s lips, a smile that would brighten up the whole city. So, he flirted with Wei Ying, piled dishes on his plate, made him hot chocolate and so on. And his efforts were rewarded in the end.

Lan Zhan was happy to see Wei Ying turn into his usual, cheerful self by the time they finished dinner. He listened as he shared anecdotes about his friendship with the Wen siblings and mischiefs they had managed to get into.

By the time they went to bed, Wei Ying was back to being completely normal and Lan Zhan was gratified. 

Just before they could sleep, Wei Ying received a message from Wen Qing.

“A-Qing is awake”. 

Chapter Text

“Lan Zhan, help me walk….ahh…my head hurts… it is so bright here…” Wei Ying squinted his eyes at the ceiling lights in the hospital. He was leaning on Lan Zhan, holding on to his arms, resting his entire weight on him. From time to time, he would let out a wail of discomfort and clutch his head as if he was suffering from a severe headache. There was a faint smell of alcohol around him. Since he wore a deep necked t-shirt, hickeys from two days ago were clearly visible to the world to see. All in all, Wei Ying looked like he spent his previous night entirely in debauchery. It seemed that he had drunk excess alcohol and had come to the hospital for a hangover cure.  

The people in the hallway looked disapprovingly at them.

“Hanguang-Jun, your image is completely destroyed by this rogue, low class, Wei Ying. Whatever shall you do, hmmm?” Wei Ying looked at Lan Zhan.  Although Wei Ying seemed like he was joking, Lan Zhan somehow felt that he was also being serious.  

Lan Zhan looked him in the eyes, and said “It is a privilege to be with Wei Ying. I am honoured by your regard.” Wei Ying saw the truth in Lan Zhan’s words. 

“Wei Ying is happy to be with Lan Zhan too” He replied with a gentle smile. 

“Mn”. 

“Let’s go, er-gege. We have a mission to finish.”

“Mn”.

—

Lan Zhan, being the dutiful lover that he was, took Wei Ying to a doctor, who happened to be Wen Qing.  

“What the hell!” Wen Qing exclaimed when she saw Wei Ying like this, “couldn’t you find a better way?” 

Lan Zhan closed the consultation door quickly.

“Aw! Qing-Jie, this is the best plan.” Wei Ying now looked bright and clear, with no effect of alcohol at all. 

“And this is…” She looked at Lan Zhan.

“Qing-Jie, this is Hanguang-Jun, my Lan Zhan. Er-gege, this is Wen Qing, my favourite sister.” 

Wen Qing snorted, “I am your only sister”. Wen Qing shook hands with Lan Zhan, “I believe you were the one responsible for all this artwork” She pointed out the marks visible on Wei Ying’s neck and collarbone.  Wei Ying blushed bright red. In all the excitement of playing a role, he had forgotten about this and the fact that he would meet his close friend. 

Lan Zhan realised that he is actually in front of a serious in-law, so to speak and flushed slightly. Only his ears turned red and fortunately no one noticed.

Wei Ying cleared his throat to ward away his awkward state. “Now that the introductions are out of the way… “ Wei Ying said, “Now, tell us about A-Qing”.

“She will live.” Wen Qing said.

“But…there is always a but…” Wei Ying asked.

“She is mute. Results of those damned experiments. She has a lot of internal injuries. It will take almost a year to recover from this and that is just physical recovery. She cannot recover her voice. And, of course, psychological scars are difficult to heal.” Wen Qing replied.

“Oh!” Wei Ying and Lan Zhan looked at each other. A-Qing is the main clue for their investigations. But, she cannot talk. And she was too weak to write anything. After all her ordeal, it was too cruel for them to ask her to exert energy of any sort.

“And, she had some infection in her ears and she cannot hear anything right now. But fortunately, her ears will fully recover in time. Her ear injury is the most recent one, just a couple of days old, and so it is treatable.” Wen Qing added.

“Then only we can only use Soul Searching” . Wei Ying mused.

“Wei Ying.” Lan Zhan said.

“Well, this is a more sophisticated form of Empathy used in ancient times. It would not harm both the parties and is very safe. I invented it.” Wei Ying answered Lan Zhan’s unspoken question.   He then turned to Wen Qing, “Qing-Jie, please admit me to the hospital on the grounds of mild alcohol poisoning and I need to be under observation. Better if you can add one or two drips.  We will meet A-Qing at night.” 

“Fine. I will do that now.” Wen Qing wrote her diagnosis and instructed her head nurse, “what about him?” She pointed out to Lan Zhan.

“Being a very sweet person, Lan-er-gege will spend the whole 24 hours by his beloved’s bed. He is very worried about his darling.” Wei Ying tickled Lan Zhan’s chin.

“Mn”. 

“What about the other three people?” Lan Zhan asked the doctor. 

“All are in a coma for now. But two people are in medically induced healing coma and will make full recovery with time. But the fate of the third person is uncertain. We do not have any records in our hospital. They might have come to this city from other places and became unlucky. I have mentioned this to Chief Lan and he is looking for their identities” She replied. 

“Thank you.” Lan Zhan said. 

“Of course,” Wen Qing replied. 

—

A-Qing was awake when the trio went in. At first she was very scared, after all it was close to midnight and except for the nurse who would come to check on her sometimes, no one with good intention would visit her at night. The last few months had taught her to always be on the alert. However, she did not feel any malice from these three people and one of them was her doctor. So, she calmed down quickly. Even then there was a bit of distrust. Soon, Lan Zhan showed his ID card and she settled down completely. 

Wei Ying appreciated her courage and staying calm in all the situations. She was indeed a remarkable woman. He wrote down his own name in five different languages on a blank sheet of A4 sized paper and being an intelligent person, A-Qing understood the assignment quickly. She pointed out the language she was comfortable with. 

Soon, Wei Ying wrote everything, from finding her code till her rescue. It took two pages to finish the story. He handed over the pages to A-Qing to read. Everyone waited patiently till she finished reading.

Meanwhile Wei Ying set up a silencing array around the room which would make the area soundproof and sent Wen Qing for the look out. All this while Lan Zhan stood next to Wei Ying, like a silent sentry.

Once A-Qing finished reading, she looked up to Wei Ying. Somehow, she felt more comfortable with Wei Ying, who had a gentle and cheerful face, than Lan Zhan who looked quite stern. 

Wei Ying wrote down why they came, that their involvement in the investigation is a secret, that they could not inform her family members about her whereabouts till the case is over for all of their safety, and that they wanted to use Soul Searching on her to get the details. 

A-Qing agreed to everything. She did want her captives to pay the price for their crimes.

With her permission, Wei Ying set up the formation.

“Well, Take my hand. We can both get into her memories.” Wei Ying held out his hand towards Lan Zhan.

“Empathy allows only one person.” Lan Zhan said.

“Yes. But I changed it to two people while I was developing this technique. It is always good to have two different perspectives compared to only one.” Wei Ying explained, “Now hurry, and take my hand”. As soon as Lan Zhan took his hand, Wei Ying activated the technique. Then they entered her soul and a series of memories from her birth till then appeared in front of them. They ignored the irrelevant memories and focused only on the important ones. Since it was A-Qing’s soul and she had been through a trauma, the experiences related to her ordeal were in the forefront and it helped Wei Ying and Lan Zhan to understand the key points.  

—---

A-Qing looked up to arch as she entered the premises. 

“Hope Trust Foundation” was written on the archway, in big bold letters. This would be her home from now on. 

A-Qing was ten years old when she lost her family to a fire. She was the only survivor. The local authority had sent her to  this orphanage. 

She had to share her room with five other girls. It was a tight fit. The resources were limited. As early as she entered the establishment, A-Qing had learned to fight for basic necessities like food, clothes, and even books. It was given that these children would fight everyday just to survive and no one would bat an eye, even if fights broke out between the kids.

And one day she met three boys who would change her life forever.

—

“Da-ge, A-Yang wants candy now. Otherwise I will not talk to you.” 

“A-Yang, how old are you to be acting like a spoiled kid? And what is this da-ge nonsense. We are both ten years old.” 

A-Qing was hiding in the branches of a big banyan tree when she saw three boys sitting under the tree. They looked a bit tired. Maybe they just finished the chores assigned by the orphanage and decided to rest under the shade. This was the first time she saw boys in the establishment and realised that the area the tree was in must be close to the boys dormitories. The boy who asked for the candy missed a pinky finger in his hand and looked a bit gloomy. A-Qing felt instant distrust. 

“No. Da-ge, you are six months older than me. You are my da-ge.” The boy with the missing finger, A-Yang, insisted.

“A-Chen, just give in. You will not win against A-Yang. Should I also call you da-ge. After all, I am also four months younger than you”, the third boy spoke up.

“Aish! A-Lan, don’t you start. A-Yang, here you go. Take this candy and stop this nonsense immediately.” Boy named A-Chen handed a piece of sugar candy to A-Yang.

“Who is up there? Why are you hiding? Come down.” A-Lan called out. 

While A-Qing was looking at these three boys, she must have made some noise. She came down from the tree and smiled sheepishly at the boys.

“I am A-Qing.” 

“Oh! This is Xue Yang and the one on my left is Song Lan. I am Xiao Xing Chen”, the boy A-Chen introduced his companions to A-Qing.

“I do not remember seeing you here. Are you new?” Song Lan asked.

“Yes. I just arrived six months back”, A-Qing nodded her head.

“Why were you sitting on the branch?” Xiao Xing Chen asked. For some reason Xue Yang did not speak to the girl at all and from the look of it, was a bit hostile towards A-Qing. “ Feeling is mutual brat ”, A-Qing thought in her mind.

“Oh! I am hiding from roommates.” she answered to Song Lan. They did not ask anything after that. They all knew how the system worked in the orphanage. Everyone had faced the same difficulties. Everyone had to hide from someone else once or twice in their stay there. No need to dig up pleasant things when one cannot change anything anyway.

From that day onwards A-Qing became part of their group.

—

Two years passed in a blink of an eye. Their bond grew closer and closer. However the animosity between A-Qing and Xue Yang grew with time. No matter how much Xiao Xing Chen tried to mediate between the two, they were always at odds with each other. After multiple failures, Xiao Xing Chen stopped his efforts and tried to maintain friendship with both of them.

When they were twelve years old, A-Qing started to notice the unusual possessiveness Xue Yang felt towards Xiao Xing Chen. She was not a child. She knew there were men who liked men romantically. But this did not feel like a romantic interest at all. It was like a child wanting to hold onto his favourite toy and did not want to share it with others. A-Qing tried to warn Xiao Xing Chen about this, but he always refused to believe her, thinking that her thoughts stemmed from her dislike of Xue Yang. But there was a distance between Xiao Xing Chen and Xue Yang, which he did not notice at all. But Xue Yang knew what A-Qing had done. 

–

Every three years the orphanage would test all the kids to see if anyone had a talent for cultivation. Then, if any clans and sects were interested, they would take away these young cultivators into their own. The children of these clans would have started to learn cultivation at a young age and compared to them, sometimes it was already very late for the kids at the orphanage to start learning cultivation. Even then, it was still considered a blessing to be able to get into these clans at all. Who would want to be mundane when they can reach the sky with their swords? 

When these four friends were twelve, it was time for these tests. All four of them had qualified. Soon, Song Lan was taken into Baixue Temple, a small sect located at a very remote place. Xiao Xing Chen was taken by Baoshan Sanren and hidden away on an island for many years. A-Qing was adopted into the Ouyang family. Leader of the Ouyang clan did not have children for many years and decided to adopt A-Qing as his daughter and she became Ouyang Qing legally.  Later, after many years, the couple did have a son called Ouyang Zizhen. 

—

A-Qing met Xue Yang again, after many years, when she was 27 years old. She was tied to a chair, being experimented on in a lab. 

In the first week of her captivity, the golden core was forcibly removed from her body. She lost all her cultivation.

In the second week, she was injected with resentful energy in her meridians.   

In the third and fourth week, she was constantly made to circulate the resentful energy in her body. 

In the first month of being captive, she lost sensation in her limbs. 

In the second month she lost her voice. 

In the third month she lost her neighbour, a female rogue cultivator in the next cell to death. 

In the fourth month she had a new neighbour. 

One day Xue Yang visited A-Qing. 

“You should know by now that you are a failed experiment. Do you know why I have kept you alive?”

She knew the question was rhetoric. Because Xue Yang very well knew that she was mute.   

“I want to torture you to my heart’s content. My A-Chen kept away from me because of you.” He sneered. From then on, he would visit her occasionally, as if to reminisce about their childhood, only to force her to cultivate resentful energy which was very painful for her.  

Although she had become a captive, who could not move around, her hearing senses had become sharper.  She could hear the conversations in the next cell to some extent. 

She was shocked to know that her neighbour was once her good friend, Song Lan. Apparently, his entire clan was burned down in a fire and the local authorities had deemed it to be an accident. But the conversation she heard made her think otherwise.

—

There was a thud in the next room as if someone was hit with such a force that the person fell on the ground. 

“A-Lan, A-Lan, do you know who was responsible for the fire?”

“A-Yang, did you set the fire? Did you kill my whole family?” There was rustling of clothes and painful grunts as if Song Lan was trying to get up and rush towards Xue Yang.

“But, of course. How do you feel?”

“You beast! How dare you! Why did you do it?

“Just because. I enjoyed it. Now you are alone just like me. Ha ha…” And then the prison door closed with a bang.

—

“A-Lan, Why did A-Chen seek you out? Why did he not come to me?” 

“...” 

“Speak up!” There was a sound of slap.

“...”

“Do you know how long I waited for A-Chen? But he did not think of me at all. As soon as he left the island, he went to find you.” Another slap.

“Why should he come to you when you are like this? You do not deserve his friendship”.

“Ha! Whatever! He abandoned me when he left with his master. But he wanted to pair up with you. How can I allow it to happen? Now that you are here, I get to be with A-Chen all the time. He will only belong to me!”

“You psycho! You are completely mad! I will kill you!” 

“A-Lan, A-Lan, look at you now? Without powers, all your cultivation lost, how can you kill me? I am so delighted to see you struggle so much! Maybe I will keep you alive for some more time.”

—

“You know, I met A-Chen today. What magic did you cast on him that he is so obsessed with you? Do you know he never stopped looking for you all this time?  He refused my invitation to stay with me.” 

“It is called love, A-Yang.” 

“But I love him too.”

“What you feel is just an obsession, a need to keep him captive in a cage. You treat him like your possession, a toy. This is not love.”

“I DON'T CARE! HE IS MINE! HE IS MINE! HA HA HA….” 

—-

“A-Lan, Look at this pendant. Do you recognise this?” 

“This is …. You! Xue Yang, where did you get this?” 

“Calm down. Calm down. The owner is very safe with me.”

“Tell me where he is? Take me to him right away!”

“Ah! Ah! I am not a matchmaker. Why would I help reunite the lovers?”

“Xue Yang! You will not end well!”

“Who cares! As long as A-Chen is with me! We will live together and die together”.

“You are mad! A-Chen, A-Chen…”

“No matter how many times you call, he will not hear…in fact, he will not even recognize you.” 

“You beast! You madman! You should die”.

“Ha ha ha….Shout! Shout loudly! I am so happy today”.

—

“A-Lan, do you know why I cut off your tongue? I will not tell you…”

“....”

—

“A-Lan, how do you like my gift? I am very generous, aren’t I? I have bought your lover one last time for you to look at, before you die.”

There was the sound of beating, each hit felt very painful. 

“Do not struggle. It is of no use. You cannot escape your fate today”

Painful cries of a mute person echoed in the room. 

“A-Chen, this is the person I hate the most. Kill him”. 

With each beating, the cry became fainter and fainter. And then it stopped. 

Then there was a thud, as if a person fell down the ground.

“A-Chen, A-Chen, what happened? Why did you faint? Did I do something wrong? I followed all the steps from the Old Wen’s notes! There is so much resentful energy coming out of you! I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO! A-Chen, A-Chen….”

—

After many days, there was a conversation which aroused A-Qing’s curiosity. 

“Doctor Xue, I have a message” There was a sound of someone running down the corridor.

“Liu rong, how many times I have told you not to disturb me when I am here”  

“Sorry, Doctor Xue. But this is urgent.”  

“Doctor Xue, we need to vacate the premises! Major. Hou Ran is asking us to hurry. He got to know that we kidnapped Nie Mingjue and he is very angry. This is a high profile case and the bureau has put forth most of its force behind this case. He does not want to use this facility anymore, just in case”. 

“But where is the new location?” 

“Major said the new lab is being built. It will take some time. Meanwhile we are asked to move to a temporary location”.

“Where is it?”

“In Old Sakura road”

“You mean that old bungalow with a glazed tile roof?” 

“Yes.”

“DAMN IT!  Liu Rong, you will personally take away A-Chen with you and hide him. Don’t let him be taken to the new building. You have to do it right, otherwise you know the consequences” Xue Yang threatened.

“Yes, Doctor Xue. I will handle this matter to your satisfaction” 

“Then hurry. Let’s go” 

—

A-Qing quickly cut open her finger and wrote the address in morse code. 

—     

Then she was cuffed in chains and taken out. She was stuffed into the back of the van with other prisoners and taken into the new location. 

—

Her latest memory was when she woke up from her coma in the hospital bed.

—

Wei Ying and Lan Zhan were pulled out of A-Qing soul. It was quite revealing. Having seen the images of Xue Yang in her past, no doubt he was the last missing person. 

“Thank you, for your cooperation. This is very helpful.” Lan Zhan wrote on the paper and showed it to A-Qing. 

“Yes, yes. You are very brave. Hang in there. Life is long. You will get better. We will notify your family once you get better.” Wei Ying wrote in front of her and patted her hand. 

As if a huge burden was taken off, she let out a beautiful smile. It was filled with hope. 

—

For the next few days Wei Ying and Lan Zhan were busy tracking Xue Yang. Couple of clues they had managed to find did not yield any result. They talked to the people at the orphanage to see if they could find anything. He had left the orphanage when he was eighteen years old and never came back. They did not know what happened to him after that. 

After a week or so, Wei Ying received a call from Wen Qing. He was on a date with Lan Zhan that day, they were just resting on the sofa after a marathon of sex. It was as though Lan Zhan wanted to fuck Wei Ying in every part of his penthouse.  

He put the call on speaker so that Lan Zhan could hear it too. 

“I found more about the potion, “ she said without any preamble, “Isolated at least ten different ingredients, some chemicals and some plant based. I will send you the details later.” she said. 

“What is the drug used for?” Lan Zhan asked.

“Well, based on the preliminary results, it blocks the spiritual energy temporarily. Cultivators would not be able to do anything and they would be very weak.” Wen Qing said.

“How long does the effect last?” We Ying asked.

“It is effective for about 15-30 minutes.” The doctor replied. 

“Looks like they have upgraded. With this drug, they can expand the area of their operations and they can easily kidnap more people. It is not easy to capture an adult cultivator who has a full set of his powers. All they could do is ask them to seal their powers. But, there would be commotion. No one would submit easily. Well, this drug would come in handy for them.” Wei Ying mused. 

“That is why we only got to know they had started the experiments again only when Nie Mingjue was kidnapped”, Lan Zhan said.

“Yes, you are right, er-gege,” Wei Ying said, and “Qing-Jie, can you please develop an antidote for this? We may need it in the future.” Wei Ying requested.

“Okay.  I will work on it. Now that I know the ingredients, it is easy to make an antidote”. Wen Qing agreed.

“Thank you, Qing-Jie. Please send me the details soon”, Wei Ying said and then bid goodbye to her.

“Lan Zhan, I have an idea”. Wei Ying looked at Lan Zhan excitedly.

“Will help Wei Ying”. Lan Zhan replied. His eyes held infinite tenderness. 

“You are the best, er-gege”, Wei Ying’s smile got brighter. 

Wei Ying, then talked to his friend. After regular greetings, “Wen Ning, send me the list of all the kidnapping cases in the last five years. Also send me the location from where they went missing or the location where they were last seen.”     

Chapter Text

Wen Ning was not surprised when Wei-Xiong called him to his apartment. They would sometimes hangout at Wei-Xiong’s place. He, and even Wen Qing, had their toiletteries and a few of their clothes at the house. Sometimes Wei-Xiong would call him for some good old hacking, sometimes for fun, and sometimes for work like now. But what surprised this time was the looming presence of Hanguang-Jun, the legend of the department. Often, he had heard people gossip about him, about his cold personality, his inability to tolerate fools and so on. Apparently, a lot of people in the department were very afraid of Hanguang-Jun. 

When he had first gotten to know that Wei-Xiong and Hanguang-Jun were working together, he was shocked. But then, it was only a matter of time before two geniuses worked with each other, he had thought. Now, by the looks of it, work was not necessarily what they were doing just before he arrived. He saw a giant hickey on Wei-Xiong’s neck and Hanguang-Jun’s propriety hand on his waist. That, and Wen Ning saw that there was a different glow of happiness in Wei-Xiong’s face, something he had never seen, a kind of contentment settled into his body.

“WEN NING! You are here. Come inside.” Wei Ying pulled him into his house.

“Wen Ning, this is Hanguang-Jun, Lan Zhan”, and “Lan-er-gege, this is Wen Ning.” Wei Ying beamed at both of them as he introduced each other. Two-thirds of his favourite people were there and he was happy and content. 

“Would you prefer tea or coffee?” Lan Zhan asked Wen Ning as they all went to Wei Ying’s study and took their choice of chairs. 

“ Isn’t this Wei-Xiong’s house? Who is the actual host here?” Wen Ning was bewildered, but recovered quickly, “I would like tea, please”, he requested.

“ Tea for me too, darling,” Wei Ying added.

“Mn”.

Soon they were immersed in their investigation.

–

“Wei-Xiong, these are the list of kidnappings. And here is the map of the city. I have marked all the origin locations.” Wen Ning opened his laptop and connected to the projector in the study, which was much more convenient than all three of them huddling together to see a small laptop screen. Wei Ying had purposefully kept one entire wall empty, painted white, for this purpose.

“Thank you, Wen Ning. There are six key areas where the dots are congested. We can ignore the sixth area for now because it is the Jin resort that was abandoned. Let’s start with the first area”, Wei Ying instructed, “Look, Just as I thought. The dots almost form a circle around a huge centre” .

“All those key areas have the same feature”. Lan Zhan said.

“Yes. That means the lab must be somewhere in the centre of these areas”, Wei Ying whistled, “They have a lot of courage to open as many as six labs. Last time it was only two.”  

“Traffic”. Lan Zhan said. 

“You are brilliant, er-gege. I could kiss you right now.” Wei Ying leaped into Lan Zhan’s lap and smooched on his lips. 

“Later”. Lan Zhan promised. But he did not release Wei Ying from his arms.

 “Can you show me the average traffic throughout the day in this area?” Wei Ying turned to Wen Ning.

Wen Ning, who was fed with unexpected dog food, looked dazed. It seemed as if his world view was shattered. He expected Wei-Xiong to be shameless, for that was his nature to be unrestrained. But Wen Ning never expected that Hanguang-Jun, who was famous for his icy demeanour, would indulge Wei-Xiong so much. 

After a few seconds, a newly enlightened Wen Ning answered. “Sure, Wei-Xiong”, he then opened another map which had traffic details.” 

Lan Zhan kept silent. He was still holding Wei Ying. He had no reason to release him. The esteemed Hanguang-Jun stubbornly refused to acknowledge the third wheel.  

“Let’s see, based on this data - and most of the kidnappings were done late evening or at night - the traffic seems to be quite high at this time, in this region. So, the average speed of the vehicles would be around 30-40 Kilometres per hour. And the drug works for at most 30 minutes. That means their vehicles would travel at most 15-20 kilometres. Based on this, we can roughly calculate the location of the lab.” Wei Ying analysed. 

Wen Ning punched some keys and zoomed in on the map and there was a circle surrounding a small location, in the middle of the first area they were analysing. “This is a rough calculation. The lab could be within this circle.” Wen Ning said.

“Great! Now let’s see all the buildings in this area.” Wei Ying clapped. 

“Sure”, Wen Ning zoomed into the circle and there were headers for all the buildings within the location. 

“Wen Ning, do you have access to traffic cameras in this area”. Wei Ying asked. 

“Yes. What do you want me to do?” Wen Ning asked.

“Check if there were any vans or vehicles big enough to carry more than five people coming in and out of any of these buildings. Based on your list, there are around 20 people kidnapped in the first area, the last one was done a month back. Check the traffic for the day of this kidnapping.” Wei Ying said, “compare it with all these buildings inside the circle. You can rule out the apartment complexes, malls, and supermarkets, for now. Once you find the connection between buildings and the vehicles, trace the vehicles back and see if they connect to the kidnapping locations. This way, we can shortlist the potential lab locations and canvas each of these buildings later to confirm”   

“It will take at least a few days to get the list of labs, Wei-Xiong. To look through all the traffic cameras takes a lot of effort and time, even with three of us working.”, Wen Ning said.

“No issues. Take your time. Meanwhile, let's have lunch”. Wei Ying patted Wen Ning’s shoulder, “I mean, Lan Zhan here will cook and I will just sit there uselessly”, Wei Ying said cheekily.  

“Wei Ying is not useless. He is the part of aesthetics, in charge of being pretty”, Lan Zhan replied. 

“ Lan Zhan! ” Wei Ying hissed, his face turned vermillion, “You got to warn me when you say such things. My heart cannot take it!” 

“Wei Ying will survive.” Lan Zhan kissed Wei Ying on the forehead as Wei Ying grumbled some more.

“What do you want to eat?” Wei Ying asked Wen Ning.  

“ I am already very full with your dog food” Wen Ning complained in his heart, but said, “anything is fine”, out loud. 

The pair left the study to the kitchen and Wen Ning let out a sigh. Only Wei-Xiong’s life would resemble dramas jiejie and Wei-Xiong liked to watch, a sweet romance with all the kidnappings and murders.

—

It took four days for Wen Ning and Wei Ying to come up with the list of places which could be the labs they were looking for. Lan Zhan had to go to the office as he could not take leave, so that others would not suspect anything.

Amongst the five clusters, they came up with thirty different buildings. Some areas were easy to monitor because they were a bit remote and they had to scan less than ten buildings. But most of them were in the middle of the city - one of them being a business district and the other a residential area - and it was difficult to look through the traffic cameras. 

Soon, there was a grapevine of gossip that the second jade of Lan took his lover on a city tour. Everyday, they would drive through a couple of areas and locations around the city. Apparently, Wei Ying, the former ward of the Jiangs and current hanger-on of Hanguang-Jun threw a tantrum because someone actually proposed to the cold statue that is Lan Zhan in front of Wei Ying. In order to appease his lover, Hanguang-Jun took Wei Ying on a spending spree. Everyday, Lan Zhan would spend lavishly on his lover. There was even a rumour that he bought an expensive penthouse for Wei Ying. 

This went on for a few days. 

With this, Wei Ying was able to find out the buildings which had resentful energy from the lab. They narrowed down the list to ten buildings. It took three more days for them to determine five buildings that could be the lab. For that, they personally had to infiltrate and check. With this they got the location of five labs across the city.

—

They met Lan Qiren in Lan Mansion. Apparently, Lan Qiren was angry at the way his nephew spent a fortune on the lowly Wei Ying and called them for a reprimand.

After dinner, they started making plans to invade the labs. 

“We have to coordinate and raid all the labs simultaneously, so that they do not have time to communicate with each other.” Lan Zhan said.

“Yes. So intelligent, Er-gege”, Wei Ying poked Lan Zhan’s nose to which Lan Zhan’s ears turned red. 

“Wei Ying is more brilliant”, Lan Zhan replied seriously. 

“OKAY! Spare this old man from all this romance.” Lan Qiren gritted his teeth. He thought he would lose all of his teeth because of the two people in front of him instead of the old age. Or maybe he would lose his sanity first.

“Sorry, uncle Lan”.

“Apologies”. 

They both said simultaneously.

Wei Ying cleared his throat, “First step is to monitor these buildings and check all the entry and exit points, number of cultivators present, number of guards present, their shifts etc. Wen Ning will get the general layout of these labs soon”.

“Form five teams, with five leaders coordinating with uncle.” Lan Zhan added. 

“Yes. We will not personally participate in this. We will be at the background available in case something goes wrong.“ Wei Ying said.

“Anything else?” Lan Qiren asked.

“I know an NGO who would help rehabilitate the victims, in case we do not find their family or in case they do not have one.” Wei Ying said.

“How good is this NGO?” Lan Qiren asked.

“Well, it is quite good. I founded it six years back in order to help crime victims. There is also another one which looks after the orphans.” Wei Ying said. His face felt warm when he noticed appreciation from both uncle and nephew. 

“No one knows about this?” Lan Zhan, 

“Ah! Lan-er-gege, my reputation is not the best. It is better if my name is not attached to these organisations lest it has a negative impact.” Wei Ying said awkwardly.

“Wei Ying!” Lan Zhan. Wei Ying knew his Lan felt bad for him and hugged him to soothe his worries, “I am fine Lan Zhan. It is what it is”. 

“Ahem…focus.” Lan Qiren said.

“Okay. Okay”, Wei Ying said, “We cannot take risks, Chief Lan. Last time there were moles in our department. And for such a large scale of operation, we are bound to miss a couple of people and we do not want them to expose our plans. Why not call the team for an emergency drill, a test, or some kind of training? As soon as they report in, confiscate their mobile and other communication devices. Let them stay in our  dorm for a few days. Conduct a few drills for a day or two and try to see if any one is contacting their family or someone outside. They need not be a spy, but it is still better to remove them from the operation. Make sure they cannot use any communication talismans or any other means. I have a Communication Blocking Array that I invented last year . We can set it up. Only then tell them the plan and then execute it. Till the operation is over, they cannot go back. What do you think?” Wei Ying asked.

“Perfect”, Lan Zhan said even before Lan Qiren could say anything. Chief Lan cursed his love-brained nephew in his heart, but did not show it in face. After all, Wei boy is a genius and his plans almost always work.   

—

Operation went as well as they had planned. Wei Ying and Lan Zhan did not have to intervene at all. They managed to destroy the lab and capture almost everyone. They managed to save over fifty people and they were all admitted for medical treatment at Wen Qing’s hospital.

They managed to find a lot of evidence of the Jin involvement. They also got enough documents about the involvement of the local army as well. 

The only glitch was that Xue Yang and a few of his followers escaped and Xiao Xing Chen was still missing.

—

“Bye bye, er-gege. Have a nice day”, Wei Ying hugged Lan Zhan outside his apartment, and “muah…”, sent an air kiss. 

It was the day after the operation and Lan Zhan had to go to his office. So, Wei Ying got himself up early with great difficulty just to send his lover to work. The domesticity of it sent a thrill of happiness inside his soul. He wished to spend his whole life doing this, sending his Lan Zhan to office - or being sent to his office, technicalities of it did not matter -  and then spending a quiet evening together  and repeating the whole process everyday. Not to forget the mind blowing sex they would have! Oh, yes! They would have a ridiculous amount of sex, after all everyday means everyday. They would be super sticky too, spreading sweetness to people in their vicinity and getting teased by everyone.  Wei Ying could not wait for the rest of their life to start. But, they still needed to finish this case as soon as possible. 

Chief Lan and his team would sort out all the evidence collected in their raid and take it further. He was still skeptical about the fact that it was so easy to collect the evidence on the Jin involvement and the army. They were unable to do so last time. He was missing a link in all of this. He had a hunch that finding Xue Yang would give him all the answers. Their next step is to catch the rats that escaped the net.

Wei Ying spent his morning tinkering with his arrays and formations. He took a nap in the afternoon. He spent the evening sitting in Lan Zhan’s balcony, sipping his evening cup of coffee, and contemplating. He had not forgotten the name “Liu Rong” from A-Qing’s memories. Although it seemed like it was not significant, the surname Liu did mean something. 

The Liu clan was one of the closest confidants of the Jins. So, he closed his eyes and thought about everything related to the case, from five years back till now. Finally he got some clues. When he was working in the lab, it seemed that Meng Yao and Xue Yang had a couple of interactions and it looked like they were acquaintances. At that time Wei Ying had not thought about it much. Liu Rong was someone he trusted to handle Xiao Xing Chen’s matter. There were also few of the interactions between Xue Yang and some of the Jin people in Wei Ying’s memory. One or two instances might be coincident, everything put together gives a different meaning. 

Moreover,  the sixth lab, the one in the Jin resort, seemed to be a personal lab set by Xue Yang and was not related to the other five labs. Song Lan, A-Qing, Xiao Xing Chen, Nie Mingjue, all of these had a personal connection with Xue Yang. The first three were his past and Nie leader was included in his personal agenda. Based on A-Qing’s memories, Wei Ying did not miss the fact that Nie Mingjue was kidnaped after Xiao Xing Chen went into a coma. That means he wanted to find Yiling Laozu for Xiao Xing Chen. And the other three people - Chang Yu, Hua Ran, and Li Dong - who were held captive at the Jin resort were also related to Xue Yang. With thorough investigations, it was determined that these three people had rejected Xue Yang for adoption at the orphanage.  

In any case, all these points to the fact that  Xue Yang was always closely associated with the Jins. 

Lan Zhan came back from office as Wei Ying was left analysing the case. 

“Lan Zhan…Lan Zhan…” Wei Ying came running from the balcony and hugged him tightly, “Welcome home, darling” he said with relish. This was another domestic scene he wanted to enact. 

“Wei Ying”. Lan Zhan hugged him back. 

After a few seconds Lan Zhan went to get himself refreshed and Wei Ying made a pot of tea for them to enjoy. He took their tea to the balcony. It was a nice evening, with cool evening breeze, and a bit of mist. A perfect place to sit, even if they would probably be discussing the case.

As they enjoyed their cup of tea, Wei Ying explained his thoughts on Xue Yang and the Jin clan. 

“Wait.” Lan Zhan asked Wei Ying and left the place before he could say anything. After a few seconds, Lan Zhan came with a gold plated invitation in his hand. 

“Why do you have an invitation to the Jin gala this weekend? Why is there no sense of crisis amongst them?” Wei Ying asked, “Unless they do not know that we have the evidence. That means someone else is playing them. Someone else gave away the Jin secret.” 

“Xue Yang”. Both Wei Ying and Lan Zhan said simultaneously, “He is the only one so far that has deviated from their process. While the army wants to keep this matter hidden, he made it big. He has the guts to go against them. He probably wanted to destroy both the Jins and Army.” Wei Ying continued, “only we do not know whether he always had this idea of handing over the evidence or was there a dissent recently?”  

“Not rational”.

“Yes. From what we have gathered about him, he seems to be a very level headed individual. But only when it comes to Xiao Xing Chen, he acts crazy. In that case there was a fight between them recently. Everything he does must be related to his obsession with Xiao Xing Chen. Do you remember A-Qing’s memories?”

“Yes.”

“Xiao Xing Chen went into a coma for inexplicable reasons. Maybe he could not find the cure. Who better than Yiling Laozu, the foremost expert in everything related to resentful energy to give him a solution? That is why he abducted Nie Mingjue to draw attention. And now giving out all the evidence must be related to Xiao Xing Chen too” Wei Ying said.

“If it is Xue Yang who hid the evidence in the lab.” Lan Zhan said.

“Yes. We still need to investigate further. But my intuition says it is him. And now that Nie Mingjue has been recovered, he will go for the next plan”. 

“Mn”.

“Let’s attend this Jin gala, er-gege. Maybe we can discover something”. Wei Ying, “the invitation says Guest + one, so I can be your date. What do you say, Hanguang-Jun? Ready to shock the gentry?” Wei Ying wiggled his eyebrows. 

“Mn”. 

—

There was gold everywhere. The chandeliers reflected from the shine of all the gold in the hall added sparkles. It was quite shocking to be honest. For the first time Wei Ying realised that the person could face gold-blindness just like snow-blindness. And yet , all this brightness could not be compared - would pale in comparison -  to the vast brilliance of his Er-gege’s golden eyes. 

Just as they were planning to circuit the people to see if there are any resentful energy leaks, their way was blocked by the Jin leader himself. He was smiling and yet, it did not reach his eyes. Wei Ying could see a lot of calculation and speculation, with a hint of lust which made Wei Ying’s skin crawl. He realised that the Jin leader was interested in him. 

 “Wei Ying, how are you? I was so saddened when I heard you were thrown out of the Jiangs. I was abroad at that time. If I knew, I would have taken you to my home.” Jin Guangshan said.  He sounded as an elder concerned about a younger generation. But both Wei Ying and Lan Zhan noticed the hidden desire and the sleaziness. They observed the way he said “ my home” and Wei Ying shuddered at the thought.

“Who said they kicked me out, Mr.Jin. I asked the court to release me from their clutches. I thought you would have known this since you are a well informed man after all. In any case, now I have found my home. Lan Zhan takes the best care of me. He provides me with all the luxury. I am very happy with our arrangement.” Wei Ying said conspirationally. The Jin leader did not have any doubt about the kind of relationship the pair had and he smirked. 

Lan Zhan cooperated perfectly and held Wei Ying by the waist and looked arrogantly at the Jin leader, as if to say Wei Ying belonged to him and Jin Guangshan did not have any chance. 

Message received - also, the Jin sect leader did not want to provoke the second jade of Lan and the Lan clan - Jin Guangshan said, “Well, have fun you two. I will move on. I have to welcome the new arrivals”. And then he left quickly. 

–

“What a waste of time, er-gege”, Wei Ying said dejectedly. They had made a full round of the hall and they did not detect anyone suspicious. There was no unexplained resentful energy. They did manage to interrogate a few Jin cultivators secretly but they did not find anything. 

“It is fine. We will find something soon” Lan Zhan consoled. 

“Well, this party is so boring and I am getting colour blind with all this gold. How about we escape from here and make out somewhere? Wouldn’t that be fun?” Wei Ying enticed Lan Zhan.

“Tempting” Lan Zhan pulled Wei Ying towards a deserted corridor. Just before they could kiss, there was an interruption.  

“HOW DARE YOU COME HERE! Who let you in?” The loud voice of Jiang Cheng reverberated through the corridor. “Disgusting” he said after seeing Wei Ying and Lan Zhan sticking together in an intimate way. Lan Zhan’s face hardened. 

“Mr. Jiang, behave”. Lan Zhan said in anger. But the Jiang sect leader ignored him.

“ You are an ungrateful, unfilial bastard. You would have starved to death if not for my parents and you betrayed them.” Jiang Cheng roared at Wei Ying. What followed was a slew of curses aimed at Wei Ying. 

Wei Ying could feel Lan Zhan’s body vibrating with anger, his eyes so fierce that it would burn the whole world. This was the first time Wei Ying had seen Lan Zhan truly angry. He patted his arms, and took a step forward toward Jiang Cheng.

“Mr. Jiang, please hire a scriptwriter or a dialogue writer. Look at you swearing like a shrew. Not at all sophisticated! Is this what the world has come to now? An esteemed leader of a major sect, CEO of a huge company, a major figure in the gentry class, reduced to using curse words that would put even the worst goon to shame.” Wei Ying wiped his imaginary tears.

“YOU! YOU!” Jiang Cheng could not speak properly. His face was red and his neck was bulging with anger. 

“See, you need someone to write your lines.” Wei Ying pointed out.

“You are such a disgrace. What now? You could not succeed in life. Now you are hanging out with the second jade of Lan?” The Jiang sect leader said. 

“Do you want to talk about disgrace? Well, there is a person, a sect heir of a huge gentry clan. With all the privileges, he could not surpass their family ward. Instead of being motivated and working hard to improve, he only used jealousy and malice to suppress his competitor. He took over the leadership after his father’s death. His only achievement is that his clan is in decline and his company is barely making profit. Now, that is a true disgrace”, Wei Ying said. He looked at Lan Zhan with twinkling eyes and asked,”Er-gege, do you know such a person?”

“I know”. Lan Zhan pinched Wei Ying’s hips secretly for his cheekiness. 

“And do you know such a person, Mr. Jiang?” Wei Ying asked Jiang Cheng who was seething with rage. 

“HA! The real nasty person is you, for associating with another man like this. You have brought ruin to Hanguang-Jun and the Lan sect.” Jiang Cheng replied with a sneer.

Wei Ying lost his smile. “Do not talk about Lan Zhan with your filthy mouth. This is my last warning”, he said.

“Or else, what? You will beat me? Come on then.” The Jiang leader came forward to hit Wei Ying, but before he could come close to Wei Ying, Lan Zhan punched him in the face. 

“Lan Zhan! Did you hurt your hand?” Wei Ying looked at Lan Zhan’s knuckles and there was only a slight reddening of the skin. Apparently Lan Zhan did not use much force. Even then Jiang leader was no match for Hanguang-Jun. Well, he was never a match for Wei Ying as well. 

Wei Ying kissed Lan Zhan’s hand and said, “My hero” with a soft smile. “It was very hot. You were so sexy just now. Think about the rewards you might get tonight,” he whispered in Lan Zhan’s ears.

“ Wei Ying!” Lan Zhan replied with clenched teeth. It took a tremendous amount of self control so as not to fuck Wei Ying against the wall then and there.

Wei Ying looked at Jiang Cheng seriously. There was no ever present cheer in his eyes. He looked a bit scary. Jiang Cheng was sprawled across the floor in an inelegant heap. There was a reddish bruise forming on his chin. Wei Ying lifted Jiang Cheng up using his shirt collar and slammed him into the wall. His grip was so strong that Jiang Change could not even move an inch. 

“Are you done with your drama, Mr. Jiang? Now it is my turn to talk”, Wei Ying said calmly, “You said I would have starved to death without your parents. But, you see, you are wrong. There are a lot of good orphanages who take care of orphans. At most, I would have had to fight with my peers for the food and other resources. But I would not have starved. So, this is a moot point. In fact, my life would be much better without you Jiangs, which leads to my second point. I have my medical diagnosis and reports from the whippings and beatings from your mother, from the age of eight till sixteen. Do you want to read them? I was in constant danger of my life at the Jiangs compared to any orphanage. It is only inevitable that I would want to protect myself and get away from child abuse. Ah…ah…” Wei Ying pointed his finger at Jiang Cheng when he tried to open his mouth, “I am still not done. It is so funny. You all, especially your mother, keep scolding me, punishing me unjustly, beating me all the time. Your excuse was that I am the bastard child of your father. But, Mr.Jiang, this is not ancient times. Ordinary people are also very intelligent. They invented this thing called a DNA test. I wonder why your mother never tested my DNA. That would have shown that I am the son of my parents, Wei Changze and Cangse Sanren. But she did not. Do you know why? Because the truth never mattered to her. With these rumours, she is only beating a bastard, disciplining an illegitimate child. With the actual truth in the open, she is just a bitter old woman, stewed in her jealousy over a dead woman who did not let go of the dead woman’s child. With those rumours, she might have a moral high ground, but with a concrete truth, she is just a child abuser.”  

Wei Ying took a pause to calm his anger, and continued, “So, tell me Mr Jiang, on what grounds do you call me being ungrateful? Should I be grateful for the abuse I was subjected to? Should I be filial to your parents when they were never mine? They allowed my parent’s name to be dragged down into the mud. Your mother constantly slut shamed my mother, called her a whore. Mr. Jiang, if I am filial to your worthless parents, then I would commit the sin of being unfilial to my own birth parents. Do not come in front of me for moral kidnapping. You have no grounds and it only shows your hypocrisy.” Wei Ying turned to leave, and then turned back and said, “I am not sure if your parents ever mentioned it to you, I have already repaid all the monies they had spent on me for nine years. And oh! Back then, I just asked for legal separation from your family. I never sued your parents for child abuse. That was my gratitude.” 

“A-Ying, A-Cheng is your brother. You know how he is. He is always like that. But, you know he loves you.” Jiang Yanli’s feeble voice sounded from Wei Ying’s back. She tried to bridge the gap between Jiang Cheng and Wei Ying like always. But it did not work like before. Wei Ying had little to no contact with the Jiangs after he left their house and their words had stopped affecting him by now.

He looked back at her and said, “Ms.Jiang, or should I say, Mrs.Jin, None of us are children. Life is not a  Disney movie you liked to watch earlier. Adults have to take accountability for their actions and deeds. I have no words to say but I feel incredulous that an adult man of twenty seven years has to be excused for his unjust words and violent anger. And, Mrs.Jin, we are not kids anymore to play this so-called Yunmeng Jiang Trio. There are no Two Prides of the Yunmeng. I suggest you wake up to the fact that we were never siblings and we will neve be siblings. No loving brother I know verbally abuses his brother and no loving sister would side with the abuser instead of the victim.”  

Jiang Yanli was on the verge of tears. Although Wei Ying felt some regret, he did not try to appease her like in the past. Some harsh truth had to be said. He took a deep breath, “Take care Mrs.Jin. Goodbye,” said to Jiang Yanli. 

“Come, er-gege, let’s go. I am hungry.” Wei Ying took Lan Zhan’s arms and led him towards the buffet. Lan Zhan did not spare any look at the Jiang siblings. 

Chapter Text

“Any progress in finding Xue Yang? Xiao Xing Chen needs to be found too.” Lan Qiren asked.

“No. But I have a feeling that Xue Yang has not stopped looking for Yiling Laozu. So, he will come to me. Chief Lan, what is the plan of action to handle all the evidence you have collected?”, Wei Ying said. 

They were at Lan mansion. Lan Qiren had called Wei Ying and Lan Zhan for another “berating” session. At present they were having a pre-dinner tea in Lan Qiren’s private study. Wei Ying was also informed of the fact that the elder jade, Lan Xichen would join them that day. He had come back from a series of political conferences and leadership seminars that took place for more than a month.  

“Wei Ying, You were right. The Jins and the army do not know that we have ample evidence against them. We have leverage here. But we still need to act quickly. I am not worried about handling the Jins. It is an internal matter and the government will not interfere with cultivator affairs. The trials for the arrested Jin people  can be held at the cultivator courts. But we do not have a reach over the local army.” Chief Lan said. 

“I do not trust that the government will take any action against the army. There could also be a tactical approval for what the army was doing, even if they cannot do this openly. They would probably not want to publish this matter to protect the image of the army.” Wei Ying mused. 

“I agree.” Lan Zhan said.

“Then, do you have any plan of action?” Lan Qiren asked. 

Wei Ying thought for a while. His fingers played a  rhythm on the armrest of his chair. The local army needed to be held accountable. There was no doubt about it. But this was a bit tricky if the government wanted to keep this matter hidden, but not impossible.

“I heard Lan Xichen is planning to run for mayor elections next year.” Wei Ying asked Lan Zhan.

“Yes. A major political achievement would help brother a lot”. Lan Zhan understood Wei Ying’s plan immediately. 

“Perfect. What better way to show that esteemed Lan cultivator, Lan Xichen fights for both cultivators and mundane people, than this”. Wei Ying grinned.

“Good!” Lan Qiren added, “let us wait for Xichen to come home”.  

—

When Lan Xichen came back from his month-long trip, he never thought his younger brother would have fallen in love. Although the Lan sect does not believe in rumours and gossip, it was impossible not to hear anything about the alleged affair between Wei Ying and his brother. Because of the circle he belongs to, he had heard a lot of things about Wei Ying and none of them were good. No matter how much you did not want to think about the rumours, it was human nature to be swayed by them to some extent. Lan Xichen met Wei Ying with this mindset. As an elder brother he did not want his younger brother to be entangled with such a person. 

So, Lan Xichen was cold when he was introduced to Wei Ying. Fortunately Lan Zhan was not there to witness this scene. He was busy preparing Wei Ying’s favourite desert to be eaten after dinner.

“I want to talk to Wei Ying alone.” Lan Xichen announced as soon as the introductions were over. 

“Xichen! Wei Ying is a guest.” Lan Qiren was shocked. He did not raise his nephew to be this rude.

“I just want to have a nice chat, uncle.” Lan Xichen said.

Wei Ying narrowed his eyes. Is this the legendary scene from the dramas between the mother of the male protagonist and the female protagonist? Well, it was a bit funny, but also a bit sad. 

“By all means, Zewu-Jun, let’s talk.” Wei Ying placed the wine glass he was holding on the table next to him and followed Lan Xichen to a balcony.

For a moment neither of them spoke. Wei Ying would never start this conversation and help Lan Xichen. If there was anything that needed to be said, Lan Xichen had to do it himself. 

“I do not want someone like you to be associated with my brother.” Lan Xichen said.

“Someone like me. What does Zewu-Jun mean?” Wei Ying asked. There was a sarcastic lilt in his voice. 

“Your reputation would harm my brother. He has a great career ahead and I do not want it to be destroyed by you.” Lan Xichan explained. 

“My reputation is indeed very bad.” Wei Ying agreed, “but is the worry about the reputation only for the sake of your brother or is it for your sake?” he asked. 

“Does it matter? If it is important to know, consider it as both.  Now, what does it take for Mr.Wei to leave my brother? How much money do you need?” Lan Xichen asked.

“Ah! Zewu-Jun, you cannot afford me! By the way, did you ask your brother what he wants? Did you think about how your brother would feel when you did this?” Wei Ying asked. 

“No need. He has never behaved this way before. I am sure this is just an exception. I believe you to be my brother’s only mistake”. Lan Xichen replied. 

“In that case Zewu-Jun, please talk to your brother about this. If he wants me to leave, I will do so. I will never make unilateral decisions. I respect Lan Zhan too much for that. I believe your uncle and your brother want to talk to you about something. Please go ahead. I would like to take a walk in your lovely garden for now.” Wei Ying bowed and left the balcony. 

He really needed to be alone for a while to sort out his thoughts. Although Lan Xichen’s words stung a bit, Wei Ying never usually clung to negativity. Maybe because he always had trust in himself. Other’s opinions never bothered him at all. Even now, he chose to forgive Lan Xichen for harsh words because he was Lan Zhan’s brother and Wei Ying knew how much Lan Zhan loved and respected his brother. But, just because of Lan Xichen’s disapproval, he would not stay away from his Lan Zhan. Hanguang-Jun was an intelligent man and he always knew what he was doing.  Based on others' opinions, even if it was a brother, Wei Ying would not make decisions for Lan Zhan. It would be an insult to Lan Zhan otherwise. He trusted and believed in Lan Zhan and that was that.

–

“Wei Ying”. 

Lan Zhan's voice came through the evening breeze. After roaming the Lan garden  - it was very beautiful and well maintained -  Wei Ying took refuge in a pretty gazebo next to a well decorated pond. There were flowers of all colours around the pond and there were even a couple of ducks in the water. 

“Lan Zhan. Is it time for dinner already?” Wei Ying welcomed Lan Zhan with a wide smile and a hug. He made Lan Zhan sit on the bench and sat on his lap without shame. 

“Wei Ying is troubled”. Lan Zhan could tell his beloved was worried about something, in spite of the bright smile he had put on earlier. 

“Er-gege, nothing can be hidden from you.” Wei Ying sighed as he leaned on Lan Zhan’s shoulder. This was very close to becoming Wei Ying’s favourite place. Nothing else in this world felt as safe as Lan Zhan’s lap and nothing in this world offered him comfort like his er-gege’s broad shoulder. Although he could take care of himself - which he had done since he lost his parents - it felt good to be taken care of once in a while. And he knew  Lan Zhan was a bit possessive and loved to pamper Wei Ying. What a perfect match! Wei Ying thought. 

“Lan Zhan, there is something in my mind.” 

“Wei Ying can share it with me.” Lan Zhan caressed Wei Ying’s back. He had an inkling that it was about his brother. No matter how much he loved his brother, Wei Ying came first and he should not feel burdened about anything.

“How important is truth to you?” Wei Ying asked. 

“Very much”.

“What if it is about someone close to you?”

“Truth matters”.

“What if it changes your perception of that person? What if truth hurts both parties?”

“I will still choose the truth.” Lan Zhan was firm. 

There was a moment of silence as Wei Ying came to a conclusion. He would not lie. Lying by omission was still lying and was not acceptable. He loved Lan Zhan - loved! He was in love! He was in love with Hanguang-Jun, Lan Zhan, second jade of Lan, Lan-er-gege! - he loved his er-gege too much to keep something from him.   

Wei Ying stood up from Lan Zhan’s lap and gave him his mobile phone. 

“Lan Zhan, it is about your brother. You can choose either to listen to the recording here or not. It is up to you. No matter what you decide, I will support you. Please remember that all of this does not affect me anyway. I am not upset. I just do not want to hide anything.” 

Wei Ying kissed Lan Zhan on the forehead and left the place in order to make it easier for Lan Zhan to decide. 

—

Lan Zhan sat on the bench for a few minutes. He respected Wei Ying’s wishes, and really did think about it. He suspected that whatever he would hear on the phone would alter his relationship with his brother to some extent. But he believed in Wei Ying. While he loved his brother, he was not blind to his brother’s flaws. His brother was always a bit class conscious and now that he had a career in politics, it had only increased. 

He decided to go with the truth. Even if their relationship was altered somehow, Lan Zhan believed that time would mend it. He trusted his brother’s inherent character - he was kind, a bit naive, idealist even - and his brother's flaws would not hinder their relationship in the long run. 

He opened the recording app on Wei Ying’s phone. 

—

Lan Zhan stopped his brother outside Lan Qiren’s study. No doubt his uncle would have had few words with Lan Xichen about his treatment of Wei Ying. 

“A-Zhan, do you think I did something wrong too?” Lan Xichen asked. 

“Yes. You treated someone I hold very dear with dislike and disrespect.” Lan Zhan was very direct. 

“I was only trying to protect my brother.” Lan Xichen.

“Even then, you should have talked to me first.” Lan Zhan insisted.

“But, his reputation outside, A-Zhan, is very bad.” Lan Xichen worriedly. 

“Lan rules. Do not gossip. Do not believe in rumours. If you cannot trust Wei Ying, you should have trusted your own brother. If you had any doubts, you should have asked me directly or talked to our uncle. But you chose to insult the man I love, the man I cherish. You called Wei Ying my mistake. No. It is untrue. Meeting Wei Ying is the best thing that happened in my life.” 

“I never heard you speak so much at once in my life”, Lan Xichen smiled wryly, “he does have a lot of impact on you”, he said. 

“Love Wei Ying.” Lan Zhan said, a simple and straightforward declaration. There was no hesitation, no doubt whatsoever. 

“I understand, A-Zhan. I will apologise.” Lan Xichen could only compromise. He saw how his brother glowed while speaking about Wei Ying. He could see the changes in his brother, there was an air of happiness around him, he felt lighter as if something had settled. He would keep an eye on things and as long as Wei Ying could keep his brother happy, he would not interfere. 

—

Lan Xichen apologised to Wei Ying after dinner.  It only left a better impression of the eldest Lan brother on Wei Ying. It took courage to accept his mistake and apologise for that.

“Apology accepted. But only if you share some of Lan Zhan’s childhood pictures. I bet he was a cute little child, with all chubby cheeks and a stubborn nose.” Wei Ying grinned.

Lan Xichen did not think that it would be this easy. 

“Of course. Give me your number. I will send them to you immediately”. Lan Xichen answered. 

“Xichen, Wei Ying, come to my study. We have too much to discuss and we have too little time”, Lan Qiren called out.

“Yes, Chief Lan” Wei Ying answered. 

Chief Lan? Lan Xichen slowly began to notice certain anomalies, like his uncle who was usually very strict, would not associate himself with an ill repute person like Wei Ying. And yet, he was a welcome guest and even liked by his uncle. Now it seemed there was something more than meets the eyes. He followed Wei Ying into his uncle’s study where his brother was already waiting. 

Lan Xichen’s suspicions got confirmed as there were revelations after revelations made inside the study, after all the discussion that they had, after all the planning they did. And the main person involved in all of this was not his uncle, but the lover of his brother he had just insulted a few hours back. Lan Xichen felt like an idiot. He should have trusted his brother’s judgement.

The meeting went on for a long time. They decide to take action from the next day onwards. The first step would be to arrest everyone from the Jin clan related to the case. And soon after they would take action on the local army base. 

—

“Mr. Lan, what is the reason for the press conference?” 

“Is it related to the commotion in the Jin clan?”

“Is it true that the Jin leader was handcuffed and taken into your department straight from his office today?”

“Why were so many of the Jin cultivators arrested?

“Mr. Lan….”

“Mr. Lan….”

There were many reporters clamouring to interview Lan Xichen. They were inside a field within the park next to the Police Headquarters. He remembered what Wei Ying had told them yesterday. “Zewu-Jun, please involve NGOs and human rights activists. Call all your regular reporters. Make it a problem of the entire humanity and not just the cultivators. You stand on the side of both mundane and cultivators alike. There were a lot of normal people abducted five years back before they started kidnapping cultivators. And all of them have died. You highlight this again and again.”

Today’s press conference was the result of this. He had already talked to the relevant NGOs and human rights people and they were waiting outside the venue to go with him to the police, right after the press conference was over.

“Calm down. Calm down, everyone. Let Candidate Lan speak. You can ask questions after his speech is over”, an assistant to Lan Xichen spoke into the microphone. And all the reports stopped talking. 

“Hello everyone. Thank you for coming here today. As you have guessed, it is related to what happened with the Jin clan today.” Lan Xichen started.

Except for the sounds of nature and traffic outside, there was no other noise. 

“Everything started five years back. You might have all known about Wen Ruohan and his disastrous experiments with the cultivators. He wanted to create an army of puppets. We managed to stop him last time and saved a lot of cultivators. The same case reappeared in the last few months and we got to know that there were another set of people, especially the Jin clan who continued these experiments. That is why they were arrested. However, unfortunately, that is not all. We got to know through new evidence that it was not just the cultivators who were harmed. Things have come to our notice that even the normal people of this city were kidnapped and murdered five years back. And we have unearthed new conclusions that the local army base was involved in this since the last few years.”

There were loud exclamations and discussions erupted within the audience. Even people who were at home and offices, watching the live broadcast were shocked. 

Lan Xichen held his hand to stop people from talking to themselves and everyone once again fell quiet to listen further.

“At first they experimented on the normal people and when they died, they moved to the cultivators. I have a list of victims who went missing in the last 6-7 years. I have with me all  the evidence we have collected. Listen, I know cultivators and normal people lead separate lives. But, damn it!” Lan Xichen slapped his hand on the podium, “this is our city too. We share the joys and sorrows. We cannot just sit quietly when our fellow citizens are being murdered and experimented on like lab rats. We have to fight for justice. We have to fight for our fallen friends. We have to fight to bring peace to their families.” 

A lot of cheer went up in agreement. Public sentiments were aroused. This was exactly what Wei Ying wanted to achieve. 

“I have an appointment with the head of the police department at noon. I will surrender all the evidence to him. I trust in our police. I trust in our judicial system. I trust that they will eradicate all the evil from our society so that all our fellow people can live a safe life here. I have trust in our government to give the people of this city justice and peace.” Lan Xichen concluded his speech. 

“We have five minutes for the question and answer session. You can ask questions to Candidate Lan”, the assistant spoke.

“What is the proof that all the trials are fair and all the criminals are punished?” A reporter arranged by Lan Xichen’s team asked.

“Good point. All the court proceedings and trails of all cultivators related to this case would be made public. Everyone would have access to that. I hope...no…I believe our government will do the same while punishing the mundane people too.” Lan Xichen replied. This was another point Wei Ying had asked to announce to everyone. This would put more pressure on the government. If they wanted to save their face, they had to make everything public too.

“Who will be the head of the Jin Clan now?” Another reporter asked. He was not part of Lan Xichen’s team.

“That is an internal matter and will be decided by the elders of the Jin clan.” He replied.

“Why are you involved in mundane cases?” A reporter familiar with Lan Xichen asked.

“Well, I thought about this too. I am a cultivator. Why should I get involved in mundane affairs? But, my conscience did not allow me to forget this matter. I spent a couple of sleepless nights thinking about this. Then I decided, human lives are important. Who says a mundane person is any less than a cultivator? And this is not just a problem of cultivators nor is the problem for only  the mundane people. This is an issue for the entire humanity. Only by joining hands and facing it together can we overcome this and progress towards a safer society.” Lan Xichen answered. 

“Okay. Our time is up. We request all the people here to follow Mr. Lan as he submits the report. Please.” The assistant of Lan Xichen requested. 

This way, everyone followed Lan Xichen and walked towards the Police Headquarters. Soon only a couple of reporters were asked to follow Lan Xichen into the building and record Lan Xichen submit all the evidence in his hand. The others could only wait outside. 

The whole event was grand. Lan Xichen remembered Wei Ying had called his friend. “Wen Ning, create a buzz. Keep the topic at top spot for the next few days. The whole thing should pop up everywhere. Hire a navy and create a discussion around the topic. Include all social media. Let some of the bloggers write about this.” 

With this the whole farce started. Over the next few days, everyone was talking about this. Many of the organisations, especially related to humanities, put pressure on the government to deal with the local army. Without any other option, the government had to bow down to the public demand.  

After a week, the leaders had to come forward and promise a fair trial and make everything public, just as Lan Xichen had done. They suspended the army chief and other key figures and announced a thorough investigation. At the same time, Lan Xichen shared that he would follow up with the government and post any new developments to the public. He vowed that he would fight till the end and let criminals be punished.

With this, the case was almost over. 

Chapter Text

Early morning rays had created a golden halo around his Lan Zhan as he was cooking breakfast and Wei Ying was simply admiring the view. Wei Ying had purposefully woken up early just to send his lover to the office. He really really wanted to enact the “the wife - husband, in this case - sending her husband to office” scene. He had seen many TV dramas with Wen Ning and Wen Qing, and he wanted to play all of them to his heart’s content. He had already set a scene for the evening, “naughty secretary and overbearing president”. Lan Zhan fit the role of the hot CEO perfectly and Wei Ying was very very excited. 

Right now the case had gained a lot of momentum and everyone was looking at it. Wei Ying had provided the department with Xue Yang’s painting. Now, in a joint operation, both the department and the local police were searching for Xue Yang and his cohorts. So, Wei Ying had some downtime to play with Lan Zhan. 

Just as he was indulging a bit in his fantasy and looking at his pretty er-gege and making coffee - his multitasking abilities were on display here - his phone rang. The sudden noise was jarring, disrupting the tranquility of that morning.  

Lan Zhan looked at Wei Ying questioningly as he saw his beloved look at the caller id with a complicated expression. 

“Mrs. Jin, what can I do for you?” Wei Ying asked politely as he picked up the phone. 

“A-Xian, are you free today?” Delicate voice of Jiang Yanli came through the call. 

There was a pause. Wei Ying thought for a while and agreed to meet with her at a coffee shop near Lan Zhan’s apartment. 

“I will meet you at 5 PM today. Goodbye” Wei Ying said.

“Sure. Take care, A-Xian”. Jiang Yanli hung up the call.

Wei Ying looked up from his phone and saw Lan Zhan looking at him worriedly. 

“Yesterday her father-in-law was arrested and her husband was taken for questioning. Today she wants to meet me. Her target must be you, Lan Zhan. She does not know my true profession.” Wei Ying answered with a sarcastic smile. 

“Wei Ying”, Lan Zhan said. He felt uncomfortable and a little sad for his Wei Ying. 

“This was the first time in the last couple of years she called me. After I left their house, for a few days she was very enthusiastic about maintaining the so-called sibling relationship and I indulged her. Later I was busy with my work and then I went abroad to hide. She got married and became busy with her family. It was inevitable that we would drift apart. There was no contact even after I settled here, opening my tattoo parlour. It is natural. It is life and it's fine. Now, all of a sudden she called me today. Let’s see what exactly she wants from me”. Wei Ying shook his head to ward off all the unrelated thoughts and once again chose to be in the moment with his Lan. 

—

“ A-Xian, how are you?” Jiang Yanli asked sweetly. Wei Ying had ordered her a cup of Sweet Caramel Latte and for himself, he had ordered a strong double espresso. He needed all the caffeine.

“I am doing well, Mrs. Jin. How are you doing? How is Jin Ling?” Wei Ying asked in return. 

“Jin Ling is doing well. He is still staying at the boarding school. Misses his father and sister a lot.” She smiled as she thought of her eldest son.

“That’s nice to hear”, Wei Ying answered. The atmosphere was awkward to say the least. There was no closeness they had once shared in childhood. They continued the polite chat for a while. Wei Ying never asked for the reason Jiang Yanli wanted to meet. He would never try to make things less awkward, he would never take the initiative to ease things like he did in the past. So, he waited for Jiang Yanli to bring up the topic herself.

“A-Xian, only you can help me. Please.” Jiang Yanli took hold of Wei Ying’s hand on the table. He calmly and politely removed his hand from hers, and asked, “What happened, Mrs. Jin?”

“Father and A-Xuan have been arrested. I do not know what to do. I can only rely on you.” Jiang Yanli requested. 

“Did you talk to your brother? I am an outsider and don’t know anyone.” Wei Ying replied.

“No...no…A-Cheng cannot help with this. Only you can help”, she replied. Wei Ying had an inkling on where this was going.

“Tell me then. How can I help Mrs.Jin?” He asked. 

“Please, I know Hanguang-Jun works in the department. Can you please talk to him and make him release my father-in-law and A-Xuan?” She begged.

“Oh! Lan Zhan never discusses his case with me. Even if he did, how can I ask him of this, that goes against his duty? Also, I believe in the department. If your family has not done anything, I believe they will be released soon. Just hang in there.” Wei Ying patted her hand and consoled. 

“No…No….A-Xian. You must ask Hanguang-Jun to help. I do not know what to do. I am all alone.” Jiang Yanli insisted. 

“Then, you tell me how I should do that? Really, I do not have much influence on Lan Zhan’s work.” Wei Ying replied,

“You can just talk to him…you know…after…in bed…just a sweet pillow talk…he will listen to you.” Jiang Yanli haltingly explained. 

Wei Ying’s face lost his smile. There was a hard glint in his eyes as he replied, “So, you are pimping your so-called brother? Is that it?” 

“No…no…A-Xian...just this once…I will never ask this of you again…please” Jiang Yanli started crying, “for the sake of our bond…I did take care of you before…please…I am begging you…” Jiang Yanli asked.

“No. I will never ask this of Lan Zhan, or anyone for that matter. No matter what our bond is - which is next to nothing, by the way - no matter what, I will never compromise on my principles. Do not ask me about this anymore. If your family has committed crimes, then they should be punished according to the law. I will leave now. Jiang Yanli, you have disappointed me a lot today. Please do not contact me again. Good Bye. Enjoy your coffee in peace.” With that Wei Ying left the cafe, leaving a crying Mrs. Jin behind.

—

When Wei Ying went home, Lan Zhan was already back from his office and reading through a poetry book. He laid down on the sofa and put his head on Lan Zhan’s lap. 

“Aiya!!! Er-gege, your Wei Ying needs all your attention right now!” Wei Ying sighed and wiped his imaginary tears.

“Mn”. Lan Zhan put a marker on the page he was reading and closed the book. He started caressing Wei Ying’s hair in comfort. 

“Lan Zhan, tell me about your adopted brother.” Wei Ying asked.

“Why does Wei Ying want to know?” Lan Zhan felt that this was not just a normal curiosity, but something deeper.

“Nothing in particular. I am just curious.” Wei Ying replied. Lan Zhan decided to drop this matter for now. Something must have happened when Wei Ying met Mrs. Jin. 

“Mn”. 

“So, will you tell me his story?” Wei Ying asked. 

“Come here.” Lan Zhan pulled Wei Ying onto his lap completely to let him lean on his chest and hugged him tightly, and said, “A-Yuan’s father was my father’s cousin, Lan Ren. His father died in the line of duty.” 

“What about his mother?” Wei Ying asked.

“His mother was a Wen cultivator, Wen Meiren. I think she was a distant cousin to Wen Ning and Dr. Wen.” Lan Zhan replied.

“Really? What a small world!” Wei Ying looked up to Lan Zhan with a smile. 

“Mn’, Lan Zhan patted Wei Ying’s head and pushed him to his chest, “his mother died during childbirth”, he continued, “After his father died, we adopted him under my uncle’s name. He was only three years old when he came to us. Right now he is staying at the boarding school.” 

“He seems to be a well adjusted and happy child,” Wei Ying commented.

“Mn.”

“Do you think A-Yuan owes your family for taking him in?” Wei Ying asked.

“NO! Wei Ying, no child owes a debt for providing basic care and necessities. It is their right, morally and legally”. Lan Zhan wished he could go back and protect young Wei Ying from everything. Since it could not be done so, now that Wei Ying had delivered himself into his care, he would protect his beloved from then onwards. He tightened his hold on Wei Ying.

“Wei Ying, will you tell me about your childhood?” Lan Zhan tentatively. He did not want to pressure his love. 

“Of course, Lan Zhan. What do you want to know?” Wei Ying asked. When you had already decided that this person is yours, there was no need to hesitate to share everything. Besides, his Lan-er-gege had a protective streak which would flare up from time to time, like right now, hugging him so tight that it felt very safe. Wei Ying could not help but indulge Lan Zhan when he got like this.  

“I want to know everything”. Lan Zhan replied. Wei Ying took a deep breath and shared his past.

“My parents, Wei Changze and Cangse Sanren, they both were agents in the department. My father was from a small family of craftsmen. They specialised in formations. And my mother was an orphan who grew up with her distant relatives. You have heard of Baoshan Sanren, right?” Wei Ying asked.

“Mn”. 

“So, she was my mother’s aunt according to family genealogy, but a very distant one though. Anyway, my father and my mother met in college. Uncle Jiang and Uncle Lan were also their classmates at that time. They were close, apparently. I had heard from some people that Uncle Jiang wanted to marry my mother but she refused. She was always in love with my father. After college, they joined the department along with uncle Lan. Soon, my parents got married. When I was six years old, they died in the line of duty. I do not remember much of that time. Maybe my brain simply could not process the trauma  and I do have some memory issues of that time in my childhood.” Wei Ying paused for a few seconds, “then Jiang Fengmian, the late Jiang leader, took me home on the basis that my parents were his close friends. You know, your uncle was handling my parent’s case and he wanted to adopt me as well. He told me this much later. Imagine, er-gege, I could have grown up with you, your own little brother! How would our relationship be then? An illicit affair in the family, perhaps?” Wei Ying grinned. 

“Wei Ying would have been mine a lot sooner” Lan Zhan replied. 

“Hanguang-Jun, please, save some face for me and stop saying such things!” Wei Ying turned bright red. He had no doubt about what Lan Zhan said just now. His innocent self of the younger years would have been corrupted by this menace of a man.  

“Mn”. Lan Zhan kissed Wei Ying on his head tenderly.

“Anyway, Uncle Jiang insisted that I was to be raised with the Jiang siblings. But things only got worse. Jiang Cheng always was his mother’s son. He was so jealous of my academic and cultivation achievements, he would hurt me with harsh words he had learnt from his mother, instead of actually working to improve himself. And his mother, Madam Yu was the worst. Who whips a child for some imagined slight from a dead person?  She would find faults with me again and again, and beat me up. Uncle Jiang did not interfere at all. He was subjected to a lot of verbal abuse too on a daily basis. Probably he was tired of it and he did not want to make it worse from stopping her from punishing me” Wei Ying felt his parents would have felt very sad to know what happened to their son. 

“Wei Ying”, Lan Zhan became teary eyed. He simply could not understand adults who let children be abused under their watch.  

“Aw! Hanguang-Jun, don’t be sad. Your Wei Ying is very sturdy. And right now he is very happy.” Wei Ying kissed Lan Zhan on his chin, “why don’t you pamper your Wei Ying with lots of kisses and hugs to make up for my childhood, then?” Wei Ying proposed. Maybe his Lan Zhan would feel better if he gets to take care of him. 

“Mn’. Lan Zhan agreed. He controlled his emotions. His feelings are his alone and this was about Wei Ying, right now. 

“Jiang Yanli was better. She offered me some comfort and companionship. However, she would always excuse her parents’ and brother’s words and actions, and would expect me to always smile and be happy. The situation at home was toxic and she did what she could, I guess. I cannot fault her for protecting herself and finding some comfort in my company. I mean, Jiang Cheng was not pleasant. And we were all kids anyway” Wei Ying said. 

“Then what happened?” Lan Zhan asked.

“This went on for a few years. When I was sixteen, Madam Yu punished me very severely. I had to be admitted to the hospital. Till then, the beatings were not that severe and my golden core was powerful enough to cure my body. And that was when I met Wen Qing and Wen Ning. Their father was my doctor.” Wei Ying replied.

“What happened when you were sixteen?” Lan Zhan asked.

“Jiang Cheng saw me kissing a boy at school, a senior in school. At that time, I was curious. I was exploring my sexuality. And I was attracted to that boy. Jiang Cheng went home and told his mother. She did not take it well.” Wei Ying replied, “that is when I decided to separate. I went to court for emancipation of the minor, on the grounds of abuse and that I was already capable enough to earn money for myself. However, for the grace of their upbringing, I chose not to sue them for all the abuse.  I just asked them to release me. And you know what happened after that.” Wei Ying added.

“Wei Ying is very brave, kind, generous, intelligent…” 

“Stop! Stop! Lan Zhan ! What did I tell you just now? Take care of my poor, fragile heart!” Wei Ying hid his face in his hands. Lan Zhan was simply too much. He could not handle all this praise, earnest and filled with so much affection.  

“Wei Ying’s heart is sturdy.” Lan Zhan teased.

“HA! Using my own words to tease me! You are a menace.” Wei Ying said in a fake annoyed tone. 

“Mn”. 

“When did you get your tattoos?” Lan Zhan asked. He loved them on Wei Ying’s skin. Had traced them with his hand, with his tongue so many times that he could recall them even with his eyes closed.

“I got them when I was studying formations as a side subject in college.” Wei Ying had a mischievous grin on his face.

“They are not just tattoos’, Lan Zhan concluded by looking at Wei Ying’s face.

“Bingo! Er-gege, you are so intelligent!” Wei Ying kissed Lan Zhan on his mouth, “and no, these are not just normal tattoos. But I will not tell you right now. You will know if and when the time is right.” Wei Ying proclaimed mysteriously. 

“Mn’. Lan Zhan kissed Wei Ying’s hand. Although he was curious, he also wanted to indulge his beloved in his little games. 

“Lan Zhan, will you tell me about your parents? I mean, no need, if you feel uncomfortable”, Wei Ying asked. Just because he felt comfortable sharing everything, Lan Zhan need not to. He would never want to make Lan Zhan feel that he has to reciprocate.  

“Wei Ying, I would share if you ask. There is no hesitation”. Lan Zhan replied fondly.

“Then, will you tell me now?” 

“Yes.” Lan Zhan replied, “My mother came to the city to study. Her family were all farmers and she grew up in a village. Her college was funded by the Lan Corporation. My father was a CEO then. He met her when he was a chief guest at a college function and she was in the welcoming committee. He chased after her, insisting her to be his girlfriend. She was not interested. But in the end she had to cave in under pressure because he was from a powerful Lan family and her family did not have any chance of standing up to the Lan clan. My grandparents were dead by that time and my uncle was working in another place. So, there was no one to keep my father in check. By the time uncle got to know, my father had already forced my mother into a marriage. My uncle asked her if she wanted a divorce and he promised that my father would not cause any problem to her and her family. But she refused. She was already pregnant with my brother. After my brother was born, she fell into depression and it went on for many years. My uncle often used to say that she would only laugh in the presence of her children. Slowly she lost her will to live and she died. My father left our house and settled abroad out of guilt and shame. Apart from occasional phone calls, I never had any contact with my father since then. And uncle has played the role of our parents after that.” Lan Zhan replied.

“Gosh! How old were you?” Wei Ying asked. He could not imagine the abandonment the child Lan Zhan would have felt. 

“Six years”. 

“Lan Zhan…Lan Zhan…I am here….” Wei Ying peppered kisses all over Lan Zhan’s face. Some of them were for the lonely boy of six who had lost both his parents one after the other. 

“Wei Ying is enough”. Lan Zhan hugged Wei Ying in his arms.  They stayed like that, offering comfort to each other. Soon, they were able to come out of the old memories and be at present. 

After a while, “You know, I had so many plans for us this evening, er-gege!” Wei Ying pouted at Lan Zhan.

“What plans?” 

“We could play in so many ways, er-gege. Are you interested?” Wei Ying slid down his finger on Lan Zhan’s chest.

“Explain.”

“We could play “Naughty Secretary and Overbearing President”. This was what I had planned for this evening. Or we can also think of “One Night Stand with a stranger in a bar”. My favourite is “Petty thief being handcuffed and punished by the strict officer”. Which one do you prefer?” Wei Ying asked. There was a challenge and an invitation in his gaze as he looked at Lan Zhan. 

Lan Zhan gripped Wei Ying’s hair at the back which allowed him free access to Wei Ying’s graceful neck. He bit into the skin and worried it between his teeth while Wei Ying’s loud moan reached his ears.  He then murmured into his collarbone, all the while sucking and licking all the area he could reach, “All of the above”.

—

They were so hungry and desperate for each other that they did not bother to go to the bedroom. Lan Zhan ravished his lover with his hands and teeth and lips and tongue. He sucked, kissed, licked, and gripped any and all parts of the skin he could reach. Wei Ying felt he was floating, his mind blissfully empty except for the sensations on his body. He thrashed and moaned louder and louder as the time went on. He did not even realise when his clothes were disposed of, when his legs were roughly spread open, when his inner thighs and calves were littered with teeth marks. It was as if Lan Zhan was possessed or rather, he wanted to possess Wei Ying. He never let Wei Ying a breather, any respite from the onslaught of his lovemaking. When Wei Ying came about, there were already three fingers inside his hole, stretching and massaging the insides, and always touching the bundle of nerves which made him delirious with pleasure. 

“Lan…Zha….” He slurred. He could not even speak properly. Usually he would talk and talk and talk to make Lan Zhan mad. But today, he did not have any strength. Maybe the affairs of the whole day made him sluggish, maybe sharing the most horrible part of their lives with each other made Wei Ying very unburndered. So, he let go. Wei Ying allowed Lan Zhan to do so as he pleased with his body, to use him for pleasure and just take everything that was offered. There was no resistance, no hesitance, as Wei Ying gave everything to Lan Zhan, body and soul. 

“I need you…please…Lan Zhan…” Wei Ying cried, with tears in eyes. Lan Zhan’s weight on top of him was so so safe. He was surrounded by the familiar sandalwood scent, so very comforting. He just wanted Lan Zhan inside of him without delay. Only by having Lan Zhan completely, inside and outside,that Wei Ying would feel better, and not feel so empty. 

And finally, finally , Lan Zhan entered Wei Ying in one swift motion and Wei Ying moaned loudly. He screamed and screamed and screamed as Lan Zhan fucked into him, again and again, hard and fast, leaving his finger marks on Wei Ying’s hips. Lan Zhan was so brutal in his pace that in the end Wei Ying lost all his strength. He could only let out a few pitiful whimpers as he felt so overwhelmed with everything he was feeling at that moment. It was like coming home. It was like soaring high in the sky. It was like finally breathing after being submerged in water for a long time. In surrendering and submitting, Wei Ying found the freedom he had never felt before.

And it was all over. Wei Ying arched his back as he found his release, his cum spread all over his stomach and Lan Zhan’s torso. He felt shaken and his spine still shivering as he let Lan Zhan release his cum inside his hole. Wei Ying did not allow Lan Zhan to pull out of him immediately. He held on to his beloved, feeling very emotional for some reason. Lan Zhan hugged Wei Ying tightly, soothing him with delicate kisses all over Wei Ying’s face, his hands caressing Wel Ying’s side, allowing Wei Ying come back and gain his composure. 

After a while, Wei Ying let out a whine as Lan Zhan pulled out of Wei Ying.

“Shhh…I am here”, Lan Zhan said tenderly and carried him to the bathroom to clean both of them. 

Soon, they fell asleep holding each other, with Wei Ying resting on Lan Zhan’s chest. 

—

“Wei Ying, come to Lan mansion right now!” Lan Qiren bellowed into the phone. 

“Okay. Something happened?” Wei Ying asked as he got his car keys and wallet from the tray. It was already well into the morning and Wei Ying was alone at Lan Zhan’s home. 

“Yes. There have been kidnappings again.” Chief Lan said, “hurry”. 

“I am starting my car now. I will be there in 20 minutes. What about Lan Zhan?” Wei Ying asked. Lan Zhan should be in office right now.

“He has been notified. He is on his way”. 

“On my way. Bye” Wei Ying cut the call in order to drive. 

After some time, he ran into Lan Qiren’s study where Lan Zhan and Chief Lan were already waiting for him. 

“This time it is the kids. Several young cultivators were abducted on their way home from the boarding school, as many as ten kids.” Lan Qiren informed the two agents, “including Lan Yuan and Lan Jingyi”, he looked at Lan Zhan with sadness and worry. 

“Xue Yang”, Wei Ying said, “it must be him. His plan B. Don’t worry uncle Lan. If it is him, he will not harm the kids until he finds Yiling Laozu. By now he would have known that Yiling Laozu works for the department. And these kids are his leverage. We will find them”, Wei Ying added.

“Yes. I have sent many agents to enquire. I hope we will find them soon”. Lan Qiren was just a worried parent at this time, instead of the Chief. Lan Zhan patted his hand to console. 

“What will you do?” Lan Qiren asked Wei Ying.

“Wait.” Lan Zhan answered for him. 

“Yes. We will wait for Xue Yang to make demands” Wei Ying agreed, “meanwhile we will try to look for the kids”. He assured Chief Lan. 

Chapter Text

Wei Ying had just kissed goodbye to Lan Zhan outside his office when someone interrupted the moment. They were tired looking up to the clues about kidnapping and finally had made some discoveries. Right now, they were planning to investigate further to confirm their suspicions.

“What are you doing here being so shameless?” Angry roar of Jiang Cheng spread across the whole corridor. The evening shift agents and the other people present at the department looked up from their work and frowned in displeasure. Next to him was the acting sect leader, Jin Zixuan, looking very embarrassed about his brother-in-law’s behaviour. Both of them were here because Jin Ling was one of the kids who was abducted. 

“Why? I am kissing my man goodbye. What is so shameless about it?” Wei Ying rolled his eyes. The Jiang sect leader would not be so enraged if it was not a man he had kissed.

“Ah! Ah! Before you say something unforgivable, please have a care about where you are. This is not Lotus Pier.” Wei Ying admonished his former foster sibling, before he could open his mouth and cause issues with the department. 

It was quite late in the evening and all the agents present at that time were working on the kidnapping case. Jiang Cheng, along with Jin Zixuan was there to help with the case. 

Jiang Cheng opened his mouth to say something in anger, suddenly there was a shift in the air. Before Jiang Cheng could utter anything, Wei Ying spoke, “Shut up. Be quiet”.  There was an authority in his voice, an aura which felt oppressive and impressive at the same time. Jiang Cheng promptly closed his mouth.

Meanwhile Lan Qiren and Jin Zixuan received a message on their phones. 

“Attention all the parents. If you want to see your kids, then come to this address.” There were also videos attached to it, no doubt of the kids for proof.

Obviously, all the parents and guardians would have received messages on their phone simultaneously.

Wei Ying knew he could not stop these parents from going to the address mentioned, including Jiang Cheng and Jin Zixuan. Wei Ying and his team could not stop these parents from reacting like this because of the message. They were yet to find the location of the kids and they had no right to stop these parents from worrying about the kids. So, they could only look on as these parents, no doubt went to the location sent by Xue Yang.

Wei Ying went to Lan Qiren and said, “Uncle Lan, this is the antidote for the potion that Wen Qing developed. I am sure Xue Yang would use the potion to temporarily block your powers. He would have to keep using the potion every half an hour. Use this antidote as soon as you reach there and it will work for at least twelve hours. And this is a two-way communication array. Keep it on all the time. Do not let anyone know that you can use spiritual energy till we come.” Wei Ying handed over a bottle with a green potion and a small array disc. Attached to the disc was an invisibility talisman which would hide it from prying eyes. 

—-

“Wen Ning, did you manage to find the satellite view of the school area?” Wei Ying entered Wen Ning’s office. He was alone as Lan Zhan had gone out to get some food.

In the last few hours, they had managed to go through all the CCTV cameras on the school grounds and the traffic cameras on all the nearest roads. Unfortunately, the boarding school was on a mountain top and there were no cameras in the surrounding area. The only footage they could get was of the school premises and the traffic cameras five kilometres away from the school. So, they were completely blind in an area of five kilometres radius. That was the reason why Wei Ying had asked Wen Ning to come up with the satellite view of the area.

While looking at the footage, they had seen that the school bus carrying the children went out of the school premises. However, there was no bus found on the roads according to the traffic cameras. That means, the bus was diverted and the children were kidnapped in between. So, Wei Ying wanted to check all the buildings within the marked area using satellite maps. 

“Yes, Wei-Xiong.”, Wen Ning replied, “here. Including the main school building, student hostels, teacher’s houses, and other school related buildings, there are only five buildings in the area, spread across the whole location. Looks like they are not in use right now.”

“We can start with these five buildings and then move towards the school. We will have to personally go and check. And we would have to hurry.” Wei Ying worried that they would not be able to save the kids in time. 

Just then, Lan Zhan came with food  and Wei Ying ran to him hurriedly. “Lan Zhan, call agents you trust and send them to look for the kids in this area. Let there be four teams and we would make up the fifth one. If any of them find the kids, they should not take any action and should wait for us.” He explained the plan.

“Yes. Wei Ying, eat this food meanwhile”, Lan Zhan kissed Wei Ying on the forehead and left much to Wen Ning’s amusement. He was already used to their display of affection, without a care about other people in the room. 

As soon as Lan Zhan came back, “Lan Zhan, we will go take a look at this building first. It looks like a warehouse. The area around this is clear of vegetation. It is difficult to approach this building without anyone from the inside noticing the intruders. A perfect place to hold a few kids, I would say”. Wei Ying pointed out at a building farthest from the school. 

“Mn”. Lan Zhan was thoughtful. He was analysing something in his mind.

“Lan Zhan, what are you thinking?”

“Too easy,” he replied.

“That’s right. Finding kids was too easy.” Wei Ying agreed. “But the main target was the parents, don’t you think? Just look at the parents and guardians of these abducted kids, all of them are prominent cultivators, they hold important positions, including your uncle. Xue Yang do not have the resources of the army and the Jin clan now. He cannot kidnap these cultivators directly, like he did with Nie Mingjue. So, he can only lure them using their kids.” Wei Ying explained his thoughts.

“Wei Ying is right, as always” Lan Zhan caressed Wei Ying’s face. 

“Yes. And don’t you forget that in the future!” Wei Ying replied sassily. 

“Mn.” 

—

“Lan Zhan, let’s go.” Wei Ying said. They had made a full preparation and before things could escalate at the parent’s side, they had to rescue those children.  

They quickly drove to the old warehouse where they thought the kids would be kept. They had already gotten the report that the other four buildings were not their target. That is how they knew that the possibility of finding the abducted kids was quite high in this old warehouse.

When they neared the place, Wei Ying and Lan Zhan deduced that there were only five cultivators who kept guarding the building. The four guards were placed at the four sides of the warehouse and presumably the fifth one would be with the kids. The children would be dosed with Xue Yang’s potion and will not be able to fight back. 

Xue Yang probably did not have many resources working for him and most of his people would be with him, holding the parents and guardians of these kids hostage. Lan Zhan and Wei Ying took out two guards each and quickly tied them up with ropes. All of it took less than ten minutes. 

As they entered the building, they heard the shouts of the kids. They had heard the commotion from the outside. 

“Someone is here”

“You keep quiet.”

“They must be here to rescue.”

“How do you know they are here to save us?”

“Yes, they could be our enemies”

“Hanguang-Jun will come to save us”.

“HA! Lan Jingyi, you are an idiot. Your Hanguang-Jun is not reliable at all. Look at the company he keeps”.

“HOW DARE YOU! Jin Ling, take that back. Hanguang-Jun is the best”.

“My uncle says nothing good comes out of Wei Ying. He is just a bastard son of my grandfather.”

“Jin Ling, there is nothing wrong with Senior Wei. He is a good person”.

"Lan Yuan, you are too naive." 

Wei Ying saw Lan Zhan being outraged. He slid his hand on Lan Zhan’s arm in a comforting gesture. “Lan Zhan, they are kids. They are only saying what they heard from their elders”. 

Lan Zhan nodded his head in understanding. But his tense shoulders did not relax. He was still peeved. Cute , Wei Ying thought, when his Lan Zhan would get so offended on behalf of Wei Ying.

“You kids gossip a lot. Who taught you this? Ha!” Wei Ying entered the room where the kids were tied up, while Lan Zhan took care of the only cultivator guard left. 

“Hanguang-Jun! Senior Wei” The children surrounded both of them and chattered nonstop. 

“Okay! Make space. Give your Hanguang-Jun some breathing room.” Wei Ying shooed away the kids, “Now, take a look at yourself and your friends and tell me if there are any injuries.”

The children were surprised with the authoritative tone in Wei Ying’s command. They lined up and started checking for any wounds and injuries.   

“Senior Wei, there are only scratches. Nothing much.” Lan Yuan spoke up.

“Good boy! Now, I need your help with something. Will you do it?” Wei Ying gripped Lan Yuan’s shoulder. 

“You are not what people say about you, aren’t you?” Lan Jingyi asked curiously. There was something mysterious about senior Wei and he had started to notice only now.  

“Shhh…it is a secret” Wei Ying winked at him for which he got a huge eye roll from the Lan kid.

“Okay, you two”, Wei Ying pointed at Lan Yuan and Lan Jingyi, “I want you to take down the names of all the children here and compare it with the list I have in my hand. I want you all to remember and let me know if someone is missing. You have ten minutes.” Wei Ying clapped at them.

They soon went to work.

Fortunately, none of the kids were missing and they had managed to rescue all of them. They quickly called Wen Qing and asked her to prepare to receive the children for further check ups. 

Meanwhile, Lan Zhan called his colleague and a trusted subordinate of Lan Qiren and asked them to send a team to the place for further procedure. 

Once everything was handled, it was time for Lan Zhan and Wei Ying to join the final phase. 

“It is time, Lan Zhan. Xue Yang forced Uncle Lan to call me from an untraceable phone. He wants the department to hand over Yiling Laozu. So, let’s fulfil his wish.” Wei Ying let out a feral grin. He long wanted to teach this maniac a lesson. 

“Careful” Lan Zhan hugged Wei Ying. 

“Yes, darling. I will take care of myself. I have to get back to you, after all.” Wei Ying kissed Lan Zhan hard. He leapt on Lan Zhan, his legs encircling Lan Zhan’s waist, he kissed and kissed, for a long time.

“Ahem…” 

“Get a room!” 

“Ew…gross”

The voices of children reached the lust filled brain of Wei Ying and he immediately got down. He hid his face in Lan Zhan’s neck in embarrassment and refused to look at others. 

Lan Zhan patted his head and asked Lan Yuan, who was waiting for the kiss to get over, his face bright red, “What is it?”  

“Brother, we wanted to properly thank you and Senior Wei”, he said politely. 

“Not the right time”. Lan Zhan replied. 

“Right! We will proceed then.” Lan Yuan pulled all his friends towards the ambulance that was waiting for them. 

“We will have dinner later, everyone together” Lan Zhan said and Lan Yuan brightened with happiness. 

“Mn”, He replied and left the two of them alone. 

“They have gone now.” Lan Zhan caressed Wei Ying’s back gently. 

“Lan Zhan… Lan Zhan! What am I to do now! I will perish with embarrassment!” Wei Ying whined into Lan Zhan’s neck. 

“Wei Ying will survive. I will take care of Wei Ying”. Lan Zhan replied, his eyes filled with mirth and tenderness. 

“You promise!” Wei Ying asked.

“Mn”. 

—

They were back at the abandoned Jin resort according to Xue Yang’s instructions. Lan Zhan and Wei Ying carefully scanned the whole area and realised that there were more than fifty cultivators present as guards. And on their team, they had more than thirty agents with them to deal with the hostages. They had ambulances and other aids ready just outside the resort. 

“Wei Ying”, Lan Zhan whispered worriedly as he looked at the number of people. 

“Don’t worry, Lan Zhan. I have back ups.” Wei Ying pointed at his tattoos, “and moreover, I believe my er-gege will come and save me as soon as possible” Wei Ying smiled at Lan Zhan. Lan Zhan did not say anything. He had already made up his mind that he would not leave Wei Ying’s side. Wei Ying would be alone inside to deal with all these people and he would not let that happen. From the moment he walked into the tattoo parlour and saw Wei Ying for the first time, his destiny was already decided. His honour would not allow him to let his beloved to face dangers alone, no matter how powerful Wei Ying was, no matter Wei Ying could save himself, it was the principle of the thing and Wei Ying simply had to deal with his protectiveness. 

Although the other agents did not understand why this degenerate Wei Ying was with their second jade of Lan, being well trained, they did not question their superior’s orders. They were told to wait outside the resort, ready for action at a moment's notice.

Wei Ying and Lan Zhan entered the resort in a high profile manner, alerting the people inside. 

All the parents and guardians were held hostage in a huge ballroom hall in the resort. Some of the guards were circling the premiere of the hall and the rest were inside, along with Xue Yang. 

When Wei Ying and Lan Zhan entered the hall, they saw all the hostages tied up in a group of four to the fancy pillars around the room. At the centre was a huge table and sitting on one side of the table were two cultivators, one of them was obviously Xue Yang. There was a bed next to the table and a comatose Xiao Xing Chen was placed on the bed with care.

“Su She” Lan Zhan muttered darkly as he saw the person sitting next to Xue Yang. 

“Who is it, er-gege?” Wei Ying asked in a hushed tone.

“A traitor”, Lan Zhan replied softly, “Allegedly, took bribes and worked for a drug cartel, but no evidence. Fired from the squad because he was highly incompetent and led his team to death.“  Wei Ying, “Let’s change his name to Su Shit!” muttered under his breath and Lan Zhan let out an amused hum. 

“Xue Yang, you are quite a difficult man to catch”, Wei Ying sauntered into the room, followed by Lan Zhan.

“Wei Ying, you are quite famous, or rather, infamous as the gold digger extraordinaire.” Xue Yang smirked. 

“Well, yes. Anyone would be, Have you seen this man!” Wei Ying pointed to Lan Zhan carelessly.

“What are you doing here?” Xue Yang frowned, and looked at Lan Zhan, “so, you are Yiling Laozu?” he asked with a manic grin, “I did not know that your nephew to be very sophisticated as a spy, given his unbending nature” he looked at Lan Qiren.

“Xue Yang, you are still behind certain things. It is fine. You are not so clever after all.” Wei Ying looked at Xue Yang condescendingly, which was meant to rattle him a bit, and it had the perfect effect.

“What do you mean?” Xue Yang lost his smile.

“Lan Zhan is not Yiling Laozu. I am”, Wei Ying pulled out an empty chair by the table and sat down comfortably with Lan Zhan hovering above him as a shield.

“YOU!” Xue Yang was speechless for a while, and then laughed with appreciation, “master is master after all, how clever, hiding beneath everyone’s nose. Master, you fooled me too. This disciple bows down to the superior being” Xue Yang bowed to Wei Ying with humble posture. And surprisingly, Xue Yang was genuine about it. 

“Since you called me master, let’s have a discussion. Let these unnecessary people go.” Wei Ying waved at the hostages.

“WEI YING! How dare you lie and cause problems here! Get out!” Jiang Cheng screamed. He was worried that Wei Ying was just playing around and was really not the person his kidnapper was looking for. Wei Ying, he knew, was just a loser who did not amount to anything.

“Silence!” Xue Yang shouted at Jiang Cheng who promptly closed his mouth. “He is really stupid, isn’t he?” Xue Yang asked Wei Ying. He looked to be very sympathetic.

“Well, yes. He is a bit of an idiot. Ignore him” Wei Ying said conspiratorially.

“How did you stand this person all these years?” Xue Yang looked at Jiang Cheng darkly, he would have killed the Jiang sect leader in his sleep if it were him who grew up in the Jiang household. 

“Ah! I never took him seriously. Never spared him a thought” Wei Ying chuckled. Jiang Cheng was enraged at the discussion going on at his expense. To realise that he did not amount to anything in Wei Ying’s life stung.  All this while, Jiang Cheng jumped around with jealousy and inadequacy, trying to make Wei Ying’s life miserable in retaliation. And Wei Ying never took him seriously at all. Jiang Cheng felt like a clown. But he could not do anything. He did not even have his powers at that moment.

“Master, how about I teach him a lesson?” Xue Yang asked. 

“Forget it. Just let them all go. They would only cause disturbance.” Wei Ying said in a  causal tone, as if the life and death of these people did not matter to him at all. 

“How could that be? What if those idiots at the department hurt me after these people are released?” Xue Yang asked. He was really whining at Wei Ying, as if they were the best of friends. 

“My dear disciple, aren’t I here? What else do you need? I will stay with you. We do not need any random people hindering our business, do you?” Wei Ying leaned in and asked.

“I will stay with Wei Ying. Let others go” Lan Zhan added firmly.

“Lan Zhan!” Wei Ying looked at him in surprise and saw his determination, and let out a small smile. The original plan was for Wei Ying to stay behind, alone. He thought Lan Zhan had agreed to it. But that was not the case at all. Lan Zhan was too much, really, Wei Ying thought. Just what was Wei Ying supposed to do with this silly man! Wei Ying did not know. To be on the receiving end of such devotion was indeed very humbling. He was touched and overwhelmed with love for his Hanguang-Jun. He also knew that once Lan Zhan made a decision, no one could change his mind. Wei Ying could only use this to their advantage. 

“Well, look at this. He is the nephew of Chief Lan. He is a better leverage than these parents. What do you think?” Wei Ying tempted, “with Lan Zhan here, do you really think Chief Lan would risk offending you?” 

“How could this be? Master,....” 

“Disciple,” Wei Ying cut Xue Yang midsentence, “Forget it. Let these hostages stay here then. But mind you, there is a whole team of agents outside who could come anytime and disturb us. Your goal is already achieved and your master is here. What else do you need these irrelevant people here for? From now on they will only be an obstacle to you.” Before Xue Yang could open his mouth in reply, Wei Ying added, “Lan Zhan will tell his team to clear out the area once these hostages are released. Then, it would just be the two of us here.” 

Looking at Xue Yang hesitating, Wei Ying shook his head in disappointment, “I did not know you to be such a coward. Don’t tell me, with so many guards here, you could not handle your master and Hanguang-Jun. You are not up to the mark, then. I have to seriously reconsider taking you as a disciple”.

“No no...I will send them out right away.” Xue Yang replied in a hurry. 

Wei Ying looked at Lan Zhan. They knew Xue Yang agreed to this, partly because he thought the kids were still under his thumb. Xue Yang did not know that the children were already released. 

Lan Zhan opened his phone and instructed his team to take away all the released people to the hospital and leave the area. Lan Qiren, who had listened to all the discussion just then, would take it forward from there. 

Soon all the hostages were released and the team seemingly left the resort area. One of Xue Yang’s cultivators followed them to check if the team really left as promised. Soon came back with the confirmation. 

“Now, why don’t you call all your guards inside. That way, you will feel comfortable, with all of them staring at us.” Wei Ying suggested Xue Yang and he agreed. It made sense that all his people guard the only two people being held captive.

They were playing a game and Xue Yang would not suddenly trust his opponent. But because he needed Yiling Laozu’s help, he played along with whatever Yiling Laozu requested. With so many people around, Xue Yang did not think Yiling Laozu and Hanguang-Jun would escape. And he did see the love and affection between the two of them. Xue Yang felt his so-called master was a fool to let his weak link stay here. He could use Hangaung-Jun as his bargaining chip to make Yiling Laozu do his bidding. This was more effective - the emotional impact was huge in comparison -  than holding random people hostage. And this was the reason why he let those people leave, they would be a burden, as his master rightly said. He could use all his manpower to subdue Hanguang-Jun, instead of dealing with these hostages and a team of agents outside simultaneously. Let Yiling Laozu be under the impression that he had the upper hand, Xue Yang thought.

So, both sides had their own little thoughts and plans and agendas.

“Now that the irrelevant people are sent away, Xue Yang, will you clear your master’s curiosity?” Wei Ying asked casually, as if they were having a tea party.

“Master, anything for you”, Xue Yang put on a worshipful look. 

“I know why you left the evidence of local army involvement at the lab”, Wei Ying said, “it is because they tried to harm your Xiao Xing Chen, isn’t it?” he asked.

“How did you know? How clever are you, master!” Xue Yang grinned.

“Well, you used their resources to kidnap Nie Mingjue, without their approval, and caused this whole operation to come out in the open. Until then, no one knew the experiments had started again. They must have been very angry with you when the Old Sakura Road was raided. However, after Wen Ruohan, you are the key person in the lab and they cannot do anything to you. But they can eliminate your weakness so that your attention would not stray away from the experiments. I guess they must have tried to harm your comatose friend here.” Wei Ying explained leisurely.

“Yes. They should not have touched my A-Chen. I will destroy anyone who would harm him.” Xue Yang replied in unbridled rage. But you are the person who harmed him the most, Wei Ying thought, but he did not say it out loud.  

“Well, then, why did you try to harm the Jin clan by giving away the evidence of their involvement? By the looks of it, this Jin resort is your private playground and they have helped you a lot. You were really treated well by the Jins.” Wei Ying asked. 

“I did that!” Su She shouted, “that rascal, Jin Guangshan killed my only friend, the only person who was kind to me.”   

“Meng Yao”, Lan Zhan commented.

“Yes. All he wanted was his father’s approval. So, he joined the Wens in order to contribute and make a name for himself. But in the end, his own father killed him to hide the evidence”, Su She cried, “Wei-gongzi, you must know how it feels to be marginalised. You and him are quite similar. Will you not do anything for the approval of the Jiangs?” he asked. 

“Wei Ying is different,” Lan Zhan said firmly.

“Thank you, Hanguang-Jun, for your admirable defense of yours truly!”, Wei Ying  laughed delightedly, and he looked at Su She, “We are not the same, Su She. I never cared for any approvals. And I would never knowingly harm innocents to achieve something. I agree that the world is cruel and unfair to some people.  But that is not an excuse for harming others, murdering people, experimenting on children ”, Wei Ying hissed angrily. He could still remember that little girl who died too soon and unjustly. Lan Zhan placed his comforting hand on Wei Ying’s shoulder. 

Xue Yang stopped Su She from hitting Wei Ying in rage. He still needed Yiling Laozu’s help and there was no point in unnecessarily antagonising him further. 

“Anyway,” Wei Ying stood up from the chair, “Disciple, tell me. Is this the reason why you need my help?” Wei Ying casually walked towards Xiao Xing Chen’s bed with Lan Zhan following him. Xue Yang let them. They were surrounded by his people and they would not be able to do anything. As early as the hostages were released, Xue Yang had let his men search Wei Ying and Lan Zhan, and confiscated their phones and Qiankun pouches, leaving them defenseless.  Xue Yang made sure they did not have anything on them to use as weapons. And both of them were dosed with his potion and they did not have their powers. 

Little did Xue Yang know that there was an antidote to his drug. And Wei Ying did not need any external weapons to deal with all the cultivators present there.

When Wei Ying and Lan Zhan stood next to Xiao Xing Chen’s bed,  they made sure to separate three of them from the rest. There was some space between the two groups. 

“Yes. I want you to wake him up. I want you to make sure that he obeys me all the time.” Xue Yang said with an obsessed look on his face. He looked desperate as well. 

Wei Ying smirked at Xue Yang, and said, “No”. 

Xue Yang frowned at Wei Ying’s tone and became angry immediately. “You do not have a choice”, he said.

“Ah! But I do” Wei Ying said calmly, as if he was chatting with a friend instead of facing his enemy, he simply rolled up his sleeves unhurriedly, just as Xue Yang was getting enraged second by second. He still did not understand what Wei Ying was playing at. 

Lan Zhan understood and he stood very close to Wei Ying and brought the bed which had Xiao Xing Chen closer as well.   

Once Wei Ying folded his sleeves to his elbows , the head of the phoenix tattoo on his left hand and the head of the dragon tattoo on his right hand were exposed. Wei Ying looked at Xue Yang - who had a confused look on his face - and pressed on the eyes of the Phoenix and Dragon and flicked his finger towards Xue Yang and his cultivators. 

At the same time, Lan Zhan threw two objects at them. This was a new invention of Wei Ying. He and Wen Qing together had turned the liquid potion into a gaseous form and used it as bombs. It was inspired by the smoke bombs of the mundane people. Wei Ying had thought using their own inventions against them would be poetic justice.

Soon, the screams of these cultivators were heard. Some were being burned and some were being frozen into icicles. The entire group of cultivators were covered in two formations. The Phoenix eyes had the formation which breathed fire into these helpless cultivators and the Dragon eyes had formation that threw freezing ice blasts at them. And they could not do anything since they had lost their powers because of the bombs. 

The torture went on for half an hour. But it was enough to bring everyone to a near comatose state.

Now they just had to wait for Lan Qiren to come back with his team to arrest them all, just as Wei Ying had asked Chief Lan as the hostages were being led out.  

—-

Cultivators were being arrested one by one after Wei Ying took back his formations. 

Xue Yang was specifically led into the prisoner vehicle by a team of veteran agents under the guidance of Lan Zhan. 

Wei Ying was being fussed about by a pair of emergency nurses. He was being fed with a steady stream of spiritual energy, as a lot of it had been drained while maintaining the two ice and fire formations for more than half an hour. He was almost back to normal within a few minutes, his pale cheeks recovered a bit of colour. Although his dantian was not completely full, for now he could manage. And he would recover completely with some rest and an entire night of sleep.   

Even when everything was over, the adrenaline still coursed through Wei Ying’s veins. All through the treatment, Wei Ying had been feeling restless. There was a buzz under his skin, that urged him to let out, urged him to move, or urged him to do something. He could not sit still. The whole evening, from the moment Lan Zhan chose to stay with him, allowing himself to be held captive, Wei Ying wanted to say something , maybe hug him tightly and pour his heart out, or even better, jump on him and attack his Lan Zhan’s lips. Now, too hyper to stay still, Wei Ying had to go to his Er-gege. He would go mad if he delayed even a single second. 

No one had protected Wei Ying before like Lan Zhan did. No one had Wei Ying’s back before like Lan Zhan had. To be at the receiving end of Lan Zhan’s utmost regard and unyielding devotion had destroyed Wei Ying into millions of pieces and he wanted his er-gege to put him back together. 

Wei Ying honed in on his Lan Zhan and soon found him with many of his team mates, talking about the case.   

“LAN ZHAN!” Wei Ying shouted at him to get his attention. As Lan Zhan looked at his love, Wei Ying ran towards him, crashing into his open arms, and held Lan Zhan’s face between his palms. 

“Hanguang-Jun, Lan Zhan, Lan-er-gege, my dear er-gege…” Wei Ying kissed Lan Zhan on his mouth, without caring that everyone on the site was looking at them with shock at first and mirth that soon followed, and including Lan Zhan’s uncle who looked on, completely gobsmacked. 

Lan Zhan was too shocked to respond. So, Wei Ying continued to serenade. With each word, he favoured Lan Zhan with a kiss. 

“I adore you…”, with a kiss on the forehead , “I fancy you…”, a kiss on the nose, “I whatever you…”, kiss on the cheeks, “it cannot be anyone but you…” a kiss on the chin, “I want to solve cases with you my whole life”, a kiss on the forehead again, “it cannot be anyone but you…” kiss on the cheeks again, and finally, “I love you…” Wei Ying surged forward to kiss Lan Zhan on the lips, again and again, till Lan Zhan’s lips turned red just like his ears. 

“Did you hear me?” Wei Ying asked as he continued kissing Lan Zhan all over his face. Love overflowed out of Wei Ying and he could not contain it inside, his body trembling with overwhelming affection. So, Wei Ying continued to kiss his love. He bit Lan Zhan’s chin. He licked Lan Zhan’s ears. He nosed at Lan Zhan’s cheeks. He took Lan Zhan’s lips in between his own and worried them with his teeth, leaving marks. He bit Lan Zhan’s neck, bruising it a blooming red, claiming him for the world to see. 

It took a long while for Lan Zhan to come to his senses. He yanked Wei Ying to his chest and hugged him with all his might. He held Wei Ying so close, that even air could not come in between. He hid his burning face into Wei Ying’s neck, and “adore Wei Ying, fancy Wei Ying, love Wei Ying,“ murmured into Wei Ying’s skin.

And Wei Ying beamed, at the green of the earth, at the blue of the sky, at the whole world, at the heaven itself, his body suffused with endless joy, and finally he looked at his Lan Zhan, his eyes full of fondness and affection for his beloved. 

What Wei Ying and Lan Zhan did not know was that by morning, everyone in the department would have seen the video of Wei Ying’s confession and the destroyed image of Lan Zhan as the ice prince of the department. 

—-

Much later, Lan Zhan took Wei Ying against the glass wall, overlooking the city scape. 

As soon as they entered Lan Zhan’s apartment, he yanked Wei Ying towards him and kissed him hard. Wei Ying gasped in shock which soon turned into delight as Lan Zhan tore open Wei Ying’s shirt with his bare hands. Wei Ying wanted to feel the strength of those hands on his body. 

“Lan Zhan…” Wei Ying moaned his name as Lan Zhan removed the rest of his clothes. The imbalance in the status as Lan Zhan was still clothed thrilled Wei Ying. Lan Zhan knew what Wei Ying was thinking, with his wide open eyes and his panting as Lan Zhan held Wei Ying in his arms, biting into the delicious skin of Wei Ying’s neck. Every time Lan Zhan’s clothes brushed across his skin, he would make obscene noises, which hit straight into Lan Zhan’s cock.

Lan Zhan pulled Wei Ying towards the transparent wall in his living room. He made Wei Ying lean forward, his hands on the glass, bracing himself for the impact of Lan Zhan’s dick, his ass bared for Lan Zhan to use. Wei Ying was filled with anticipation as he looked towards the twinkling light of the city. He could see their faint reflection on the glass as Lan Zhan coated his fingers with lube and inserted two fingers at the same time inside Wei Ying’s hole. Wei Ying screamed at the stretch and pull of those fingers, the pleasure and pain coincided with each other, making Wei Ying dizzy with lust. 

Lan Zhan placed his other hand on Wei Ying’s throat and gripped it with a slight pressure. At the same time, he inserted two fingers into Wei Ying's mouth and repeated the same action as the other hand. Wei Ying felt delirious as he sucked on Lan Zhan's fingers, his drool escaping his mouth as he lost control of himself. 

“..an…han...” Wei Ying slurred with his mouth full, “..lease…inside…beg you…” he sobbed in frustration as Lan Zhan ruthlessly took apart and explored his hole, touching his pleasure point again and again, while the finger from the other hand simultaneously pressing on Wei Ying’s tongue. The duel attack was too much for Wei Ying and he climaxed with a loud scream, his release spread across the glass.

And even then, Lan Zhan did not let him go.

Lan Zhan pulled his pant’s zipper and let out his swollen cock. Without any delay, he coated his dick with lube and inserted it into Wei Ying’s hole in one go. 

The overstimulation made Wei Ying moan loudly. But he had recovered his wits by then.

“Er-gege, do you like to fuck Wei Ying like this? Do you want everyone to see how your Wei Ying takes your cock so beautifully? Do you want everyone to know Wei Ying belongs to you?” Wei Ying egged Lan Zhan on as he plundered Wei Ying’s hole again and again. 

“Don’t talk”. Lan Zhan gritted his teeth as he increased his speed.

Wei Ying did not shut up.

“What do you think people below would think if they look up and see us like this? Will they also go home and fuck their partners? Would they look at me and think what if they were in my position? Or would they look at you and want to take your place?”

“ Wei Ying ” Lan Zhan could not take it. He growled as he put his hand around Wei Ying’s neck and pressed a bit hard. Wei Ying moaned loudly. Lan Zhan continued to fuck Wei Ying roughly. The loud, lewd noise of flesh colliding against flesh filled the room as Wei Ying panted harshly. 

“Lan Zhan, er-gege, do you want people to see us fucking? Do you want people to feel jealous of us? Is that why you chose this location” Wei Ying spoke again, stimulating Lan Zhan to the extreme. He bit into Wei Ying’s shoulder, all over his back, marking him, bruising him, all the while not letting the pace and strength of his fucking go slack. 

Wei Ying felt his arousal and his cock stood up again. Even after coming once, Wei Ying still wanted more. “Come inside me...er-gege. Your Wei Ying wants to feel you inside,” he pleaded. He was too greedy for Lan Zhan’s cock. 

Lan Zhan grunted as he fucked into Wei Ying once, twice and came inside, coating the inside of Wei Ying with his cum. 

Wei Ying was so full and sated as he felt Lan Zhan’s release slowly trickling down his thighs. 

He let Lan Zhan pull out of him. He let Lan Zhan carry him to the bathroom and clean him up. He let Lan Zhan to make him lie down on his bed and held him close. He let Lan Zhan’s hand caressing his back and Lan Zhan’s heartbeat in his ears, lull him into sleep. 

“Lan Zhan...I love you.” This was the last thing Wei Ying said just before he fell asleep. He did not hear Lan Zhan’s reply, “Love Wei Ying. See you tomorrow”. 

—

The next few days, they revelled in their love and affection for each other, enjoying each other’s company any free time they had. Lan Zhan had cleverly and without Wei Ying noticing much, had made Wei Ying cohabitate with him. By the time Wei Ying had realised, almost all of his belongings were in Lan Zhan’s apartment and he had almost moved in with his love, much to his amusement. Lan Zhan really had lured Wei Ying with delicious food - and equally delicious cock - and endless pampering.

With their private life heading towards a blissful and fulfilling journey, they worked hard to finish the case in hand. 

In the next few months, trials were held for Xue Yang and his people, and they were punished according to their crimes. An intense and thorough operation was conducted, under the leadership of Lan Zhan and Lan Qiren, to catch hold of all the birds that had escaped the net previously.  

Meanwhile, Lan Xichen followed up with trials of the local army, relentlessly pressured the government to take immediate and necessary action, and finally all the related personnel were punished under court martial. 

And finally it was all over.

Chapter Text

Six months later: Rockhall Prison

“Master, why have you come?” Xue Yang asked Wei Ying angrily into his phone receiver.  His eyes dug holes into Wei Ying’s skull through the prison glass separation. After all, it was because of Yiling Laozu that he was in jail for lifetime. 

“Do you not want to know about your A-Chen?” Wei Ying asked through his phone, with a smile that did not reach his eyes.

Xue Yang’s eyes went wide with happiness with barely hidden madness. 

“ You are indeed a brilliant mind of this generation” Xue Yang praised, “tell me how is he right now? Is he awake? Did he ask for me?” Xue Yang asked questions, one after the other, he looked positively giddy with excitement, with a manic grin on his face.

“He is dead.” Wei Ying said grimly, and “you are the reason.” he added a blow. 

“NO! NO! Tell me you are lying!” Xue Yang clutched his hair in despair. 

“I did a soul searching on Xiao Xing Chen. Guess what I found out?” Wei Ying asked.

“He was so desolate and burdened that you made him kill the love of his life, Song Lan. He hated you to the core. Every time you made him do things against his will, he felt immense sadness and that only increased his hatred for you. Killing Song Lan was the last straw. He would rather die than be awake to face what he had done…or rather, what you made him do. He wanted to reincarnate and hoped to reunite with Song Lan in his next life. He never woke up and died peacefully in his coma.” 

“NO! NO! NO! This can’t be! You are lying! A-Chen…A-CHEN…A-CHEN…” Xue Yang screamed out loud, crying and laughing, crying and laughing, going insane. He beat against the glass separation, almost breaking it. Tears of his madness looked scary against the flickering lights inside the cell. 

Wei Ying looked at Xue Yang descending into hell, right in front of his eyes and thought this was fitting. Prison, a lifetime of jail would never have an impact on a person like Xue Yang. Only, abandoned by the one person he held on to so obsessively, knowing that the person would rather die than be with Xue Yang, was the best punishment.

One year later

“How dare you elope and get married! Do you have any respect for your uncle and brother?” Lan Qiren shouted at his nephew. He could not believe the audacity of Lan Zhan to actually elope with his lover. And he turned to Wei Ying who was having fun at his husband’s expense, “And you were supposed to be wise and intelligent. Why do you let him get away with everything? Isn’t it disrespectful of him not to give you a proper wedding?”

“Uncle Lan, come now. Don’t be angry. Since when do what others think bothered me? Married or not, I have already decided to spend my life with Lan Zhan. Eloping or an elaborate wedding, it really does not matter to me. And you know how difficult it is to resist when Lan Zhan pouts! I just had to give in when he looked at me like that and said he wanted to marry me immediately.” Wei Ying consoled his angry uncle-in-law. 

“Uncle, how about we have a proper reception party, a welcome to the family event and introduce Wei Ying to everyone?” Lan Xichen compromised. He knew his brother very well. Once he decided on something, it was very difficult to convince him otherwise. So, they could only take countermeasures. 

“Hmph! You are not out of the fire yet, young man.” Lan Qiren pointed at Lan Zhan, and said to Lan Xichen, “I will leave the arrangements to you, Xichen. Let’s do it next weekend”, and left the room. 

“Phew! Your uncle is so scary, er-gege. I am in fright. Hold me tight” Wei Ying swooned on Lan Zhan, who promptly caught hold of his dramatic husband. 

Lan Xichen shook his head in exasperation. In the last one year, he had been subjected to all kinds of romantic scenarios. He was, quite frankly, fed up with the overdose of dog food. For his own sanity, he gave an excuse of making some important calls and left the pair of husbands alone.

—

The reception was a huge success, or at least it caused a storm in the cultivation world. The whole evening, Wei Ying and Lan Zhan did not step away from each other at all. Lan Zhan always held Wei Ying by his waist in a possessive gesture, as if someone would steal him away, all the while receiving congratulatory messages from friends and acquaintances. 

Everyone was confused as to why second jade of Lan, who had such a high status in the gentry would marry a loser like Wei Ying. At first, when their affair had just started, they all had thought it was just a fling, a momentary fascination on Hanguang-Jun’s part, or as they say “slumming it up”. But never in a million years did they think he would marry the man. 

And even more absurd was the reaction of the family. How in the hell did Lan Qiren, who was a stickler for proprietary, accepted this marriage and how did Candidate Lan Xichen agree to this farce? And did they not disapprove of Wei Ying, initially? The gossip at the time was all about the fight between uncle and nephew over Wei Ying. This sudden turnabout was the biggest mystery of all.

All their questions were answered when Wei Ying’s achievements were announced one after the other, and was awarded for his contribution to the Cultivator Protection Bureau. 

The cultivation society as a whole was flabbergasted by the list of Wei Ying’s achievements. Everywhere they went, there was a buzz of gossip about the man of the hour. For a change, all the rumours about Wei Ying were true and presented Wei Ying in a better light.

“Did you know, Wei Ying was a spy in Wen Ruohan’s lab?”

“Yes! How daring! How dashing of him to go on such an adventure!”

“Isn’t it? Wei Ying played a major role in the eradication of Wen Ruohan and then Xue Yang. The whole thing was a mess, really. I can not believe they experimented on people like that.”

–

“My cousin’s friend works in the department. He said most of the talismans, arrays, and formations in their standard kit were invented by Wei Ying himself. Apparently, he is very intelligent and a brilliant cultivator.”

“Yes. My wife works in the department too. This kit has saved a lot of people from injuries, and death, in some cases. It also helps with the investigation it seems. Now, the whole department is very grateful to Wei Ying. And you know the best part?”.

“What is it?”

“The case against Wei Ying, which led to him being fired, was an act, just so he could become a spy at the Wen Lab. Now he has been cleared of all charges”.

“Yes, just yesterday it was announced that The Cultivation Protection Bureau would be awarding Wei Ying with its highest honours, for his great achievements in the field”. 

—

“You know, we all thought Wei Ying was a gold digger.”

“But, isn’t he one?”

“That is old news, my friend. Where were you all these days? How come you do not know anything?”

“I was away for a year, vacationing, travelling the world and all that jazz, mostly spending my old man’s money. Tell me, what is the latest news here?”

“Well, Wei Ying has a lot of patents under his name. Some of his inventions are being exclusively used by cultivator agents. The money from his inventions alone would make him richer than the second jade of Lan.”

“So, that means, Wei Ying did not latch onto Hanguang-Jun for money?”

“No. They really seemed to be in love. I attended their reception party and the whole Lan family was happy for them”.

“And did you know, with all that money, Wei Ying had founded two NGOs?”

“Aiya! You scared me. Do not go about sneaking on people like this! By the way, when did you come?”

“Just ten minutes back”.

“So, what you said is really true?”

“Yes. One is to take care of and rehabilitate traumatised cultivators, victims of crimes mainly. And the other is for orphan kids, both cultivators and mundane children can find shelter there. And the NGO would provide education, food, and lodging.” 

“How nice! What a great man!”

—

“I saw you just now. You were talking to Jiang Cheng”

“Yeah! So?”

“So, I would stay away from him, if I were you.”

“But, why?”

“Because he is a liar”

“Ooh! Really? What happened?”

“Remember how he would talk about Wei Ying, like he was very ungrateful and unfilial?”

“Yes, even Madam Yu used to talk shit about Wei Ying.”

“Bunch of lies, all of them.”

“Is that so?”

“Madam Yu is a bitch, to be honest. She whipped and beat up Wei Ying when he was a child.”

“But why?”

“Because she thought he was a bastard child of Jiang Fengmian. But the funny thing is that she did not even do a DNA test to verify”

“What? Then that means…”

“Yes. That means she just wanted to abuse the child.” 

“So, that is the reason why he left the Jiangs”.

“Yes. It is not that he was ungrateful or unfilial. Who knows when he would die, whether he would live to see tomorrow, if he had stayed there!”

“Poor Wei Ying. No child should have such a childhood.”

“True. And now Jiang Cheng still talks bad about Wei Ying, even when he knows all the truth. Tell me, isn’t he just as bad as his mother?” 

“Yes. You are right”.

“So, stay away from him”.

“I will. Don’t worry. I am not an idiot. And who can stand his temper, anyway!”.

Two years later

“Lan Zhan, I want to get a PhD on Application of Array, specifically related to Time and Space.”  

“Uncle wants you to join the department”.

“He still has not given up. Lan Zhan, I do not want to join the department. I will continue to remain an expert consultant. What do you think?”

“Will support Wei Ying” 

“You are so sweet Lan Zhan. I will reward you tonight”

“Mn”.

Three years later

Sometimes, after a difficult case, they would be desperate for each other. They would hunger for each other’s flesh, a visceral need to conquer and to be conquered. Lan Zhan would fuck Wei Ying on the sofa, against the glass wall, over the kitchen counter…but Lan Zhan’s favourite was Wei Ying spread across his bed, ready to take everything Lan Zhan had to offer, offering his body to be used to Lan Zhan’s pleasure and being pleasured in return. Lan Zhan loved when Wei Ying cried and screamed, with tears in his eyes, too overwhelmed by Lan Zhan’s mouth and teeth on his throat, Lan Zhan’s hands all over his body, Lan Zhan’s cock pounding into him again and again, marking Wei Ying inside out. 

They would take leave for a week after a huge case, just to spend all their time in their apartment, finding comfort in each other’s arms.

Five years later 

“Lan Zhan, should we adopt a few bunnies? I know you secretly like them. I know you secretly collect their gifs and memes.” 

“I already have one”

“Who is it? How did I not know? How come you kept this a secret from me! I am miffed right now!”

“Wei Ying”.

“Lan Zhan! Calling my name will not appease me. Tell me where you have hidden your pet.”

“No. You misunderstood. Wei Ying is my bunny”

“ Lan Zhan! You are too much! I am not a bunny. I am a fox, a very beautiful and seductive fox I am told ”

“Wei Ying can be both”.

“That’s right. Well, should I order a bunny costume? Would you like that, er-gege? How would you feel seeing your Wei Ying in a bunny outfit, with a cute little tail and furry ears?” 

“You will look good in a fox outfit too.”

"Er-gege, now you are just being greedy! You want me to buy two costumes?"

"Always greedy for Wei Ying"

"Aiya! What did I tell? Preserve my poor heart, er-gege!"

"Wei Ying will survive"

Ten years later

“Lan Yuan looked fine in his new uniform, didn't he?”

“Mn”.

“They would make a fine team, A-Yuan and Jingyi”

“Mn”.

Twenty years later

“Let’s retire, er-gege. I want to travel the world with you, roam the mountains and the rivers” 

“Wei Ying’s wish is my command”

“Lan Zhan, when did you become so dramatic” 

“It is always the company we keep”

“Lan Zhan, you are teasing me now.”

“I like to see you pout”

Thirty years later

“The food was awesome, Lan Zhan. Why don’t you learn to cook it for me?” 

“Mn”.

“Shall we go to the mountaintop tomorrow? Or do you want to visit the monastery first?” 

“Mountain Top”

“Good choice, er-gege. I was told that we should see Sunrise on the snowclad mountains. They would bleed gold it seems, and I want to see if it rivals my er-gege’s eyes.” 

“ Wei Ying! Come to bed.”

Forty years later

“Er-gege, shall we settle down here for a couple of years? Beach here is gorgeous. I want to see how it looks in all the seasons and paint them. Please…please…please…I beg you”

“Wei Ying, no need to beg. I will give everything Wei Ying wants.”

“You are the best, Lan Zhan. Now, give me a hug”

“Mn”.

Fifty years later

“Lan Zhan, come and look at this. Looks like an ancient array.”

“Mn”.

“It is related to time and space, by the looks of it.”

“Careful, Wei Ying.”

“Oh! No. Lan Zhan, run. The array got activated on its own.” 

“Wei Ying!”

“Lan Zhan”.

“A-Zhan, A-Ying, stop running into danger…You brats” Lan Qiren bellowed into the air as he jumped headlong into the array following his nephews. He had felt a pull a few days back and that urge had led him to his nephew and his husband. And now the disaster had struck.

Cloud Recesses - Day before the lecture - Hanshi

“What the hell! Where am I!” Lan Qiren cursed out loud, “I will skin that brat for dumping him into this situation!” he scolded Wei Ying some more. 

Only years and years of experience in the department had made him keep his cool and not run out of the room with his sword in hand. 

Slowly, he took note of certain memories that did not belong to him or maybe it was the other him. It was all very confusing, anyway. He hoped against hope that Lan Zhan would have come here as well, and also that menace Wei Ying. If anyone could understand their situation, it would be his nephew-in-law. 

Cloud Recesses - On the day of lecture-Jingshi

Lan Zhan opened his eyes at Jingshi. His shocked eyes took note of his ancient white and blue robes and the gleaming sword laid next to his bed, on a side table.

“Bichen” his mind whispered and there were a lot of memories that did not belong to him - or was it him, really, a reincarnation from another era - came into his mind. 

Today, apparently, students from all the clans would come for yearly lectures. He vaguely remembered his brother and uncle talking about a certain Yunmeng Jiang head disciple and he hoped that it was his Wei Ying. He did not know what he would do otherwise. 

A random inn at Caiyi town

Wei Ying opened his eyes and was horrified to see himself in an ancient setting and felt even more desolate as he did not see his husband next to him. Memories of another Wei Ying, an ancient reincarnation of himself, flooded his mind, and he felt relieved to note that there were rumours related to one Second Jade of Lan. He hoped that it would be his own Lan Zhan.  

He could not wait to confirm it when he would go to Cloud Recesses for the lecturers that day.