chapter 2 : hitting the road

Zhang Qiling

After they discussed what steps to take next, it was decided that they would resume their journey in the morning, after Wu Xie and Ah Ning recovered from their weak state. Seeing that Wu Xie still looked pale, Qiling took food from his backpack and offered it to him, and almost immediately he saw Wu Xie warmly smile at him, taking the pack from his hands.

Qiling silently sat by his side, glad to have him back. He had been worry sick as he searched the hellish place, fearing he might not find him in time. Now, after seeing that devastatingly pure smile, his heart was once again at ease, although skipping a few beats. At times like those, it was plain to see that Wu Xie was indeed his only connection to this world. The only one that moved his heart like no one else Of course, he cared for Wang Pangzi as well, but the feeling was completely different. Wu Xie got alone with Fatty quite well, like a true brother, and thus he also treated Pangzi more or less the same. In the end, it was because of Wu Xie that his lone world had opened up to a bigger one, and he found it warming and even welcoming.

"Hey, did I worry you that much? You look a bit lost in thoughts... sorry about that. It seems that troubles always manage to find me no matter where I go." That was the biggest true Zhang Qiling had heard in a long time. He smiled faintly, which seems to delight Wu Xie, granting him with another smile of his own.

"Xiaoge, my luck is strong, so I will not die so easily..." Wu Xie joked.

"This was close." Qiling refuted, and Wu Xie patted his shoulder.

"Alright, it was a bit too close... by the way, thanks. You certainly saved my sorry ass again." Qiling simply nodded and lay his back on the rock behind him, closing his eyes.

"You must be tired for rushing all the way here." Wu Xie whispered as he moved a little closer to Xiaoge, to give him a little of his warmth in return for saving him.

"Rest too." Qiling hushed and Wu Xie closed his eyes as well after a while of silence. With all the walking, dehydration, and hunger he just experienced, his body soon gave in to exhaustion once more, and just shortly after, both Pangzi and Pan Zi saw as Wu Xie slowly end up laying over Xiaoge's chest first, then lap.

That in itself was not surprising, given the fact Tianzhen was tired, but Zhang Qiling simply didn't move a finger to push him away; on the contrary, he put his hands over Wu Xie's arm and waist instead.

Tempted by the cute sight, Pangzi grabbed his camera and started taking pictures of them like mad from different angles, while they slept on each other's arms.

"Sorry, Ah Ning, but you really don't have a chance with Tianzhen at all... they are so natural, sleeping like that." He said to himself, as Pan Zi sighed in resignation. In all honesty, if Wu Xie really end up falling for Zhang Qiling, the Wu family will find themselves without another heir to inherit the next generation's legacy. Maybe it was already too late for the future of the family, unless Wu Xie finds himself someone else to take over the family in his place. Probably adopted.

Maybe the Wu family had been cursed the same as other families from the Mystic Nine, because out of three brothers, only the eldest end up marrying and having a single son, which looked a bit too infatuated with the closest thing to an immortal. A male one at that

The next morning, Wu Xie woke up feeling refreshed. Perhaps he had been too exhausted the night before, because he slept like a baby, not feeling even the cold that was typical of the desert nights, until Pangzi woke him up.

"Did you rest well, huh?" Pangzi asked almost mockingly to Tianzhen.

"I did, why? Did something happen?"

Wu Xie asked innocently, as he stood up and dusted his pants. Then Pangzi smiled, taking out his camera to show him the photos he had taken of him and Xiaoge while they slept.

Almost immediately, Wu Xie's face was on fire, and in his panic, he tried to reach the camera, but Pangzi backed off just in time to keep it away from his grasp.

"What the hell?! Are you a pervert now, taking photos of me on my weakest moments? Give it to me!" Pangzi laughed and ran toward Xiaoge, who was close, packing some stuff inside his bag.

"Xiaoge! Let's make a deal. I can give you a copy of this photo if you keep Tianzhen away." Pangzi teased, showing Xiaoge one of their tender pictures on the camera.

"As if he will agree to that. Make him delete it." Wu Xie insisted, quite sure that Xiaoge was going to stand at his side.

"Let him be." Zhang Qiling whispered, turning his back on them, and Pangzi laughed louder. Of course, Xiaoge will want a copy of that. Naïve Wu Xie, you are too green in matters of love, he thought.

"Wait, what? Xiaoge!" Wu Xie yelled, but of course, he was outrageously ignored. This time was definitely Pangzi's win.

"Enough playing, you two. It's time to go." Ah Ning told them with annoyance, and Wu Xie let it go.

hitting the road as soon as they were all ready for the hard day ahead of them.

Somewhere else inside the Devil City, two others had also begun their journey early in the morning toward the elusive Queen Mother's Palace. Hei Xiazi was walking side by side with Xiao Hua, talking about the diversions of the road and how they could handle them. Luckily for them, it seems that they had taken the right turns, and after a few hours of walking under the scorching sun, they finally found signs of some ruins.

"Is this it?" Hei Xiazi asked, as he looked down at the stone pillar with a sculpture at the top. With the passing of time, it was obviously eroded, but Xiao Hua was no ordinary man, thus he believed he could make a drawing of the sculpture, more or less restored, on paper.

"Are you sure this is the right time to be creative?" Xiazi asked, looking at his demanding companion.

"Of course. Go ahead and stand there, I need a focus point." Yeah sure, Xiazi thought as he stared at him. Their lone journey there had not been easy, but he had enjoyed it quite a lot. He never thought that the head of the Hua family was so stubbornly interesting and easy to talk to.

They had gotten along surprisingly well, to a point of teasing each other with each step. With only a few days, he could say he really liked him. Maybe that was how Zhang Qiling felt about Wu Xie and why they kept staring at each other so deeply. Hard times make bonds stronger... however, Xiao Hua was no Wu Xie, and he certainly was harder to catch, even when he knew he at least cared.

"Are you done?" Hei Xiazi asked after A few minutes passed.

"Don't move..." Xiao Hua insisted as he drew on his notebook, and half a minute later, he approached Xiazi to show him his drawing.

"You really restored it, such talent... but that looks like Birdmans."

"Have you seen them before?" Xiao Hua asked.

"Yes, there are such birds in the Heavenly Palace on the Cloud. Nasty stuff."

"The Heavenly Palace is in Mount Changbai, this is Tamutuo... this is interesting. Are they linked?"

"Probably. Blue Birds are traditional sculptures of the Heavenly Queen Mother. It's possible the Birdmans had evolved from hers... wait..."

"What is it? Is there any other connection you know about?" Xiao Hua asked eagerly.

"What's this? I had been standing here for so long and you only drew my sunglasses?" Xiao Hua ignored him.

"Blue Birds or Birdmans, it doesn't really matter. This must be the right place." Hua said.

"So heartless... alright, let's dig in around here and see if we can find an entrance." Xiazi conceded.

"Sure... here. It's all yours..." Xiao Hua said as he passed him the shovel. Resigned, Xiazi took it as he murmured to himself...

"Really too heartless... why do I like him again?" At his back, Xiai Hua smiled.

Back to where Wu Xie's team was, they had reached the vicinity of the river where the Heavenly Queen Mother's Palace probably was located. They watched at the horizon and Wu Xie theorized about the place. They were now very close, although there were still many miles of the desert in sight, but at least they were getting somewhere instead of getting lost.

Yet, as he thought about it and almost like in a curse, in the distance they spotted a red cloud moving toward their way.

"What's that?" Pan Zi asked, as Wu Xie focused his sight on the approaching thick cloud... then he realized with horror what it was.

"Corps Bugs! Run! RUN!!!" Wu Xie yelled and instantly they dashed for dear life as fast as they could and away from the deadly cloud of red insects that had already killed so many members of their group. But despite their mad dash, the cloud was getting closer and their road had ended off on a sudden cliff

"This is a dead end!" Pangzi shouted.

"Then let's go down, take out the ropes!" Ah Ning said as she searched in her bag for hers.

"Hey, I'm not going down there! We will be killed for sure and in the double at that." Pangzi panicked, seeing how high the cliff was and how short their ropes looked like.

"Idiot, we will die if we don't go down. Let's go!" Wu Xie demanded, and they all went down in a hurry, only stopping on their way down to look at the cloud of bugs that luckily remained at the top of the cliff instead of getting them as easy targets, while hanging on ropes.

"Huh? No following us down?" Pangzi asked, a bit surprised.

"Be grateful for that." Pan Zi said.

"Or maybe there is something worse than them down there. We are definitely in the right place." Wu Xie said as he looked down.

"Don't be a jinx now, Tianzhen." Pangzi whispered, trying not to think about what could be worse than corps eating bugs.

"Let's go down." Qiling said and started to slide down on his rope, closely followed by Pan Zi and Ah Ning. For Wu Xie, it took more time to do so, as Pangzi kept complaining. At the end, he was forced to cut the little that his rope had left to make him grab one of the vines that hang all over the cliff. There was evidence that the others had already done it, so it was safer than just fall down freely from their height.

"Wu Xie, when we reach the bottom, I will talk some sense to you. These things are not meat to hold a human weight!"

"The others had already do it! Just Keep going!

"They are not me!"

"I had told you many times to lose some weight!"

"It's my charm!"

"Just don't look down and keep going!"

"Wu Xie! If something happens to me I will..."

"Shut up! Nothing will happen!"

"That's what you say, but something really happens each time!"

"Do you prefer to die here and dry out for who knows what's down there?"

"Don't curse me!"

"Just do it! It's not that high now."

"Don't make me look down!"

"Stop complaining, I'm also doing the same thing as you!"

"I swear if I survive this madness..."

Then the sound of something snapping was heard and the next thing Wu Xie saw was Pangzi falling down.

"PANGZI!!!" He yelled as his heart raced like hell on his chest, but he didn't have the time to worry about Pangzi falling, as his own vine snapped too and he yelled his heart out as loud as he could, which made Qiling aware of his predicament and run as his life depended on it, to catch Wu Xie on his arms before he could hit the ground in full.

Wu Xie instinctively grabbed Xiaoge's shoulders, still with his eyes closed and the huge burst of adrenaline pumping on his veins.

"Wu Xie, its fine." Xiaoge whispered to him and Wu Xie opened his eyes to find himself hugging Zhan Qiling for dear life. With a deep blush on his ears, he let go of Xiaoge and smiled nervously. That was his second close call with the dead in less than a day, but at least both Pangzi, who was moaning in pain on the ground, but at least fine and him could live to tell the tale. Life was indeed the most precious treasure of all.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***