Baoshan Sanren takes a piece of yellow talisman paper and activates it by infusing it with her energy, that's what it looks like to Wei Ying, who gasps because the action feels more familiar than it should.

She flings it towards the doors of her office, and it clings to the dark surface, glowing brightly as it spreads some kind of ward.

"That's so cool, grandmother!" Wei Ying tells her enthusiastically, hoping at some point that she'll tell him more about this later.

He might turn up his nose at fighting and weapon usage, but this he feels is something he can totally get behind.

"It's a silencing talisman, giving us privacy. Call me paranoid, but I don't trust easily." She pulls Wei Ying to where Mo XuanYu is engrossed in what he's seeing.

Wei Ying pats his head fondly and grins down at him when he looks up in surprise.

"Hi, Didi. Whatchya doing?"

Mo XuanYu rolls his eyes, but he's smiling.

"Our operatives are waiting," he tells Baoshan Sanren.

They look at the three monitors that show people dressed like ninjas, all black clothed and face masks obscuring their identities, wearing black gloves so as not to leave a trace of themselves behind.

"We're really doing this…" Wei Ying whispers, not really wanting an answer.

Lan Zhan squeezes their hands gently, knowing how much Wei Ying hates subterfuge, but they both understand how necessary it is, in this case. Neither expected to have to protect their children from someone whom they considered family, and yet, here they are. But they can not let Wen Qing have any upper hand in this matter; it is imperative that they take the choice out of her hands.

"I will alert the teams when we reach there. Any earlier would trigger security, though one of our team is there undercover for now, just to help them turn a blind eye, so to speak." Baoshan Sanren tells them. To Mo XuanYu, she says, "What do you need from us?"

"The teams are going to sweep through Wen Rouhan's offices, Wen Zhong's apartment floor, Wen Qing's offices, and the treasury. Three teams are still enough?" His eyes flicker back towards her before returning to the screens in front of him.

"Yes, they will coordinate and cover the areas in time. As it is, we're risking exposure already. If we limit our numbers, then we can proceed unhindered and undetected. If her security does manage to expose us, then I'd rather it happened at the end than before they've had a chance to find anything. Next?" She's curt because there's no time to dilly-dally.

"Wen Qing is too astute not to figure out you guys had external help on Sunday. She will have plugged the hole, the security breach, I mean, so our cameras won't be any good."

"Show me."

Mo XuanYu has already predicted her request and has opened the correct tabs.

There's nothing suspicious there, and everything seems orderly.

"That could be a loop. I check every five minutes, and nothing's changed. So, like before, if you guys can plant this, it will help." He holds out a little black item that looks like a harmless USB stick.

Wei Ying plucks it out of his hands and puts it in his pocket.

"I'll do it."

Mo XuanYu grins at him. "Alright, Gege. Our guy on the security team is going to help too, as soon as you leave here. I should have total access to their feed. He's waiting so that we're not discovered by some overly eager rookie who can't keep his hands to himself."

"Good plan. Then, are we ready to go?" Baoshan Sanren marches to her office door and rips away the silencing talisman.

************

"Congratulations again," Baoshan Sanren tells Wei Ying and Lan Zhan in the elevator, on their way up to the car park.

Wei Ying beams at her, holding up his hand so she can see the engagement ring.

"It's nice," she says, but it's too late; Wei Ying has already seen her expression before she hid it.

He throws back his head, laughing in delight.

"It's okay if you don't like it, grandma. It's something special, just for both of us." He smiles up at Lan Zhan, who maintains eye contact with him when he says, "Wei Ying ate the original."

"Damn! You are never gonna let that go, are you?" Wei Ying shakes his head in mock outrage, but his beautiful eyes are shining with amusement.

Lan Zhan simply smirks.

Baoshan Sanren looks at both of them, her insides warm with feeling. They're so much in love, so much into each other that she may as well not be there. It makes her happy that, while she wasn't able to be with her daughter and her son in law as much as she would have liked, at least she gets to have this.

Too soon, they emerge from that small enclosed space to the car park where three black SUVs are idling, ready to leave with their own drivers. Upon seeing them, Xiao XingChen opens a door and lets Huaisang in, climbing in after him.

"Looks like Uncle Chen is babysitting tonight." Wei Ying murmurs, climbing into the middle one with Lan Zhan and Baoshan Sanren. "Who's in the third vehicle?" He asks as they set off.

"A-Qing and a few others. I didn't want to take too many people, but Wen Qing should know that we are not alone." Baoshan Sanren glances at him before turning her attention to the window. "We're just taking precautions with Nie Huaisang. Wouldn't want him to get lost wandering around, would we?"

His grandmother seems to have thought of everything.

Wei Ying banks down on the nerves that he's been holding at bay. He wants to remember the good parts of Wen Qing, making a mental list in his head for reference, so that whenever he and Wen Qing talk, he can try to be sincere about it. But it's a sad feeling when he thinks that he's trusted Wen Qing to not hurt A-Yuan or JingYi.

Yet.

Three letters that make him feel cold all over.

He's distracted by Lan Zhan’s hand on his knee, which was unconsciously bouncing all this time.

"Is Wei Ying alright?"

Wei Ying is about to lie and say yes, but he changes his mind at the last second. "No. I hate Wen Laboratories, and I don't want to go back," he replies, honestly.

Lan Zhan looks dismayed at that, ready to demand that they turn around, but Wei Ying stops him with a hand covering the one on his knee.

"It's okay, my love." He musters as much courage as he can spare to say his next words. "I'm going to be fine. I need to get my big boy pants on and face whatever we have to. But I sincerely hope this is the last time we have to go there."

Lan Zhan stares into his lovely silver eyes, seeing the determination rise in their beauty.

"There is one notable difference," he replies, leaning closer to Wei Ying.

"What?" Wei Ying doesn't know what it is about the sound of Lan Zhan’s voice, but whatever it is, it's making him tremble all over.

"This time from the start, we're together." And with that, Lan Zhan places the warmest kiss on his forehead.

*************

Outside the Laboratories building within the compound, past the security guards still on duty, the car park is ominously empty, apart from Wen Qing's car and their three black SUVs.

Wei Ying shivers, his thin jacket providing hardly any warmth before a thicker one is placed around his shoulders. Lan Zhan smiles down at him.

"I wore it for Wei Ying," he says quietly so that only Wei Ying can hear him.

"I love you." Wei Ying mouths back, kissing his cheek and not caring who sees him.

Just before they had left the relative safety of the car, Wei Ying had watched Baoshan Sanren text a single word in her phone, most likely to the leaders of the three teams waiting on her command.

As a group, they walk into the building past the huge, intimidating glass doors, and find Wen Qing waiting for them with Doctor Afida standing just to her right, behind her, and a few security guards.

"Where's the other vampires?" Wei Ying whispers, well aware that every single person here can probably hear him.

"Good evening," Wen Qing says, walking towards them. "They're already in the conference room." Her eyes drift over their group, not pausing for anyone. Huaisang is not singled out, either, which is a good sign.

Wei Ying hopes it's a friendly smile plastered on his face when he meets her eyes.

Already she is looking different.

Her shoulders are back, her spine straighter with a confidence that had to stay buried before, and she looks much more certain, sure of what she wants from this meeting. She's dressed sharply, too, in a dark red power suit with a short jacket that flares at her waist and matching straight-leg pencil trousers. A pale silver silk shirt is just visible under her jacket, and there's a digital device clipped onto her waistband. She still has a pen tucked behind her ear, and it's this that makes Wei Ying’s smile falter.

Everything about her is so familiar. He KNOWS Wen Qing has done for the past few years. This is the person who talked him down from the metaphorical ledge of feeling like a bad parent whenever he couldn't stop A-Yuan from crying. Be it colic, toothache, or a scratched knee, whatever caused his despair regarding his child, Wen Qing was on his speed dial.

Think about the good times, Wei Ying tells himself forcefully and pulls his attention back from the past.

"How are you holding up?"

Her contralto voice felt too close, and Wei Ying forced himself not to jerk away. He decides to stick as close as he can to the truth and hope for the best.

"Kind of stressed about what we're here for, but other than that, just peachy!" He grins and is grateful for Lan Zhan gesturing towards the retreating form of Baoshan Sanren as they begin to follow Doctor Afida further into the building.

But Wen Qing is nothing if not determined. She keeps a pace with Wei Ying, and he can't step away from her without it looking bad, and then, of course, it would give the game away. The only small mercy here is that they're on the move, and Wen Qing can't look at him directly. Wei Ying wonders why she's staying close to him: is it because of their past shared history, and out of all these strangers, his is the most familiar face? Or has she begun to suspect something?

"What's this? Are you and him…" she side-eyes Lan Zhan. As usual, not spelling out what she wants to know.

"Yeah, we are officially engaged!" Wei Ying tells her excitedly. This, he can be genuine about, and it's a safe topic.

"When did he propose? Not to rain on your parade, but it hasn't been that long since you've known each other." It's the same voice that has always cautioned him from making rash decisions.

But instead of making sense to him like it usually did, Wei Ying just feels irritated with her. That's not good, and he's aware that this emotion could harm the upcoming covert mission.

"We both agreed it was the right time for us," he says calmly, aiming not to deflect. But he doesn't want to show her his ring. That's too personal, and he's glad that Lan Zhan has a tight grip on his hand, preventing her from seeing it clearly.

As it is, Lan Zhan is annoyed with her to start with, not just because of her wavering loyalty to them, but he's fairly bristling with it now, anger coming off him in waves. Her disapproval is something he does not care for, and like Wei Ying, he believes that their engagement, the question of it is their business, and no one else's.

Even if they were trusting her like before, he still wouldn't have liked her comment, but now he saw it as interference rather than advice.

"Alright, as long as you know what you’re doing." She lets that go and immediately steps into another minefield. "How are the children? I bet A-Yuan missed you on Sunday!"

"Actually, they slept in. Plus, Uncle Qiren is a fantastic guardian. He's been buying them educational books!" Wei Ying wants to get off the subject of his kids, feeling even more protective of them. He tells himself to calm down, though, because ordinarily, her questions would have sounded normal and harmless.

"Ah, that's good to hear. Maybe the next time we get a weekend free, A-Ning and I can take both the boys somewhere," she continues. "I'd better get over there," and she hurries to Doctor Afida's side.

"Over my dead body," Wei Ying murmurs so that only Lan Zhan hears him.

"Mn. Mine, too," he agrees.

It's a bottleneck doorway opening as they filter in through a narrow gap that widens into a huge auditorium. There's a central stage where a circular table that can easily fit at least twenty people stands, and there is seating all around them, enough for around a thousand people. The seats themselves rise up from the second row, as if they were in a cinema or theatre, so that everyone can see whatever is happening in the middle.

Lights from above cast pink and purple shadows around the room, and it's a daunting space.

"This is like a Ted talk, but scarier." Wei Ying says, not caring about his volume now. "Trust Wen Rouhan to do something ostentatious like this! When they said conference room, I thought at most, fifty people? This is a whole helluva lot…"

Wen Qing throws him an amused look before addressing the hundreds of Vampires already seated and watching them. They're a loud bunch, their conversation and camaraderie entertaining to watch.

Some of it is playful jostling, some of it loud and boisterous, while others watch silently, perhaps a little warily. The noise level is lively without being too jarring, and Wei Ying thinks this might have something to do with the vampires' extraordinary hearing. At least no one will have to use microphones. He snickers to himself.

"May I have your attention, please?" Wen Qing's voice rings out, a ripple of a silent  power with the strength to have everyone present listening to her. Once they're quiet, she continues. "Have you elected a spokesperson as we discussed?"

The one Wei Ying recognises as Tripod, a tall, dark-skinned man with wonderful dreadlocks tied in a half bun, stands up from the front row and steps forward.

"That would be me," he says, his baritone deeply soothing.

His supporters cheer loudly, though there are a few disgruntled persons among the crowd, judging from the few boos and quiet heckling.

Wen Qing ignores them and gestures towards the chairs placed around the table, which have already been set with blank notebooks and pens. She turns towards Baoshan Sanren.

"Please take a seat with your chosen representatives."

Baoshan Sanren lets Xiao XingChen pull out a chair for her, like a queen. Wei Ying is so proud of her, the way she elegantly holds herself with grace, already earning respect just from her conduct.

"Sit." She glances at both Wei Ying and Lan Zhan, who sit on one side of her to her right, and Xiao XingChen and Huaisang sit on her left.

Tripod has left a few empty seats between them, and Wen Qing does the same, sitting in between Wen Ning, who Wei Ying hadn't even noticed, and Doctor Afida on her right.

Wen Ning smiles at Wei Ying, giving him a little finger wave, and a pang of sadness goes through him. Even while he waves and smiles back, quickly diverting his eyes, Wei Ying feels as if he's being two-faced and duplicitous by doing that, especially when he's privately deciding to cut off all contact between himself and his children, and the Wens.

Wen Ning hasn't done anything wrong as far as he can tell, but factoring in that his sister is Wen Qing, who has suddenly become all powerful in this mini kingdom, makes a lot of difference. Wei Ying knows how close they are, that they would do anything for each other, and so even if it pains him, he knows that his friendship with Wen Ning will become collateral damage. A-Yuan will miss this uncle, but if it's at the risk of his and JingYi's safety, then Wei Ying is willing to pay that price. He hopes he will never have to explain to his children why Uncle Ning and JieJie's absence had to happen.

His eyes drift past Wen Qing quickly, who is doing the same as he is, assessing those sitting here for potential weaknesses and strengths, the mark of true leadership.

To his surprise, Doctor Afida is watching him back.

Wei Ying hopes his is a friendly smile in return, and he relaxes, tilting his head at her in a silent acknowledgement. Her smile widens slightly, and Wei Ying is relieved that she's being normal with him.

He cannot trust her either, for the same reason that he has to give up his friendship with Wen Ning; she's Wen Qing's second-in-command by the looks of it, and that automatically cancels her out.

Then comes Tripod.

From this seating arrangement, places that each person has chosen themselves, it's a triangle formation within a circle.

Wei Ying wonders why Tripod didn't sit closer to Baoshan Sanren, given that it was her daughter who had formed the Network of Vampires to begin with, and he was sure that,  since Baoshan Sanren had called them for the initial attack on the Wen Laboratories, their loyalty should have been on the same side.

By sitting farther away from Baoshan Sanren, the action spoke volumes.

Wei Ying studies him covertly, not wishing to draw his attention to himself.

Tripod looks around thirty-five years of age, his skin shiny and smooth on his face except at the corners of his mouth and eyes, suggesting that he is prone to laughter often. His dark eyes were cautious, but he exuded a calmness that came with confidence, a good sign for his supporters. He's wearing tribal beads around his neck and wrists, red, yellow, and green interspersed with black, proud, and defiant.

If this man chose to defy Baoshan Sanren, then this was going to be a very interesting meeting.

Wen Qing looks around at everyone.

"If we're all ready, then let's begin."