06.00am Sunday

Lan Zhan can't sit up yet, so he hopes Wen Qing is going to be more forthcoming as the minutes drag on.

He can hear her softly crying, and his sensitive ears can pick out another noise, like gentle waves undulating on the shores of a peaceful beach. The ebb and flow makes him relax and he closes his eyes.

The next thing he knows is the feel of cool hands gently tapping at his face, and for a short minute, he lets himself believe that it's Wei Ying.

But the smell is all wrong, and that's what makes him open his eyes.

Wen Qing looks relieved but still worried as she helps him to sit up.

"What did they do to you?"

"Tayther." Lan Zhan is appalled to find that although his tongue works, it's slurring so it sounds like he has a speech impediment. Like a lisp.

"Taser?"

"Mn."

"Where?"

Lan Zhan looks down at his chest, just grateful that he can do that much now. It saves the last bits of what remains of his dignity.

"Okay, sorry about this, but let me see?" She sounds far calmer than she ever has, since Lan Zhan has known her.

He nods at her, because it's not like he really has a choice, is it? If he said no, and she was determined to look, he couldn't exactly stop her, because, with what strength?

Lan Zhan is a realist at the best of times.

She carefully moves aside the blackened robe, charred fabric falling away with Lan Zhan wincing.

The pain is welcome because at least his body is returning to normal, however slowly. He's aware of a dull ache all over his torso as he too, looks down at his chest. There's an intricate flower branded over where his heart used to beat, the pointed ends burnt into his skin as the charged barbs had pierced his body.

"The Wen Brand?" Wen Qing looks disgusted at that. She purses her lips as she takes in the other damage to his torso.

There are four slashes across his sternum, and as her hands press against his ribs, he feels another ache, though this one seems to stay with him.

"You have three broken ribs. What exactly happened to you?"

"Wen Thu!" Lan Zhan thinks he would have blushed if he still could.

This is abominable.

And Wen Qing is biting her lip, trying not to laugh at him. It's worse because she knows how he usually talks, and this is just...just embarrassing!

"Well, I'm sure you'll be okay soon," she tells him optimistically.

"Wen Chao ith dead." Lan Zhan replies.

No matter how 'okay' she thinks he's going to be, that is one heck of a picture which will forever stay with him. And whether or not that person deserved to die, the act itself was gruesome, however necessary.

"How? When did it happen?" She looks calm when she asks this, and Lan Zhan is reminded once again, that they don't know where her loyalties lie.

But then again, neither do the Wens apparently, because what is she doing in the dungeon in the first place?

And Lan Zhan is tired, emotionally. He's sick to death of trying to find plausible excuses for her behaviour, to try and justify to Wei Ying why she might still be okay to trust, and on his side.

He wants the truth now.

"Do you know how much you have hurt Wei Ying?" He asks, instead of answering her question.

He's not at all prepared for her tears.

He was expecting her to deny everything, to continue playing whatever games she was playing, and messing with their heads. He can smell enough of her blood to know that she genuinely feels terrible.

But the question is, about what?

"I'm so sorry. I never expected it to turn into the shitstorm this has become. If you only knew what it's like-"

"Why don't you start by telling me?" He interrupted, flat out of patience. Lan Zhan feels tense, as if this is the only chance he's going to get, and she better start talking.

"You're right. You're absolutely right. I should have told A-Xian before, before things got really crazy. I know it's hard to believe me, especially after everything that's happened, but I really was trying to protect him." She uses her sleeves to dry her face, as if she's made her decision now.

"Isn't that up to him? You can't make those choices for anybody." Lan Zhan is finding it really hard to forgive her.

"Yes, but I feel responsible for him. To me, he's just like A-Ning. You can judge me however you like, but do it after you put yourself in my shoes," she insists.

There's a hint of impatience in her tone, and strangely, it makes Lan Zhan feel better about her. Wen Qing, not being all bad-tempered and growly, was tilting his world, making it unbalanced and weird to cope with. Her grouchiness was the closest thing to normal and her reverting back to her usual personality was restoring his faith in the Universe.

He nods at her to continue, thrilled that the lisp has gone, and that he can move his head independently.

"A-Xian knew what it was like for us. A-Ning was starting university and I was three months into my residency, money was tight even with the three of us working all the hours we could. And with A-Yuan, we were getting desperate. My Uncle came to us with a deal, and it didn't sound that bad when he suggested it. I should have known I was making a deal with the Devil." Her sigh is heavy, weighed down with the past.

"What did he want?"

"He said he had clients who didn't want to go to a hospital for tests, that they just wanted to make sure they were alright, and official places would ask them too many questions. He asked if I wouldn't mind testing some samples and running some checks privately, and in return, he would pay for board and food for both A-Ning and myself.

"Initially, I wanted to say no. My Uncle is sort of a black sheep of our family; I didn't know why, and my mother never gave me a reason. She only told me to stay away from that branch of our family, and I should have listened to her advice, when she was alive. But to tell you the truth, it's just been me on my own looking after both myself and my baby brother.

"It's kind of tough, being the only one upon whom all the responsibilities land, that there's no one to turn to, no one older than me who I could ask, and my Uncle can be very charming. He made it sound like we were doing him a favour by accepting this arrangement, and that everything would be okay.

"He managed to persuade A-Ning to change courses midway through his first semester, without telling me. He told A-Ning that I already knew about it, and supported his decision. By this time, we were too deeply involved with dodgy deals and questionable testing.

"One day, I decided that I'd had enough. I marched up to the top floor where his office used to be, all fired up with righteous indignation, ready to tell him where he could shove his money. Even if it was going to be difficult, I was going to take A-Ning and get the Hell out of here.

"But he just laughed. Can you imagine how I felt? He made me feel like a child all over again, just like that. And then he told me in the most polite, civilised way how I was already in too deep, and by going to the police, the chances of them turning around and arresting me instead was far more likely, on the grounds that practically everything we had done for him was illegal, and I had done it with full knowledge of my actions. Then he said, quite seriously, that I had a choice: did I want to spend the next thirty years rotting in jail, while he groomed my baby brother to help him with his experiments, or was I willing to compromise by accepting a new deal?"

Big fat tears are rolling down her cheeks now, and Lan Zhan does feel bad for her.

Life was harder without a support system for anyone, but those without parents had a worse time of it. Having to grow up faster than their counterparts, needing to look after a sibling instead of having a good time, and dealing with adult responsibilities in early formative years created a pressure cooker effect.

He knew what it was like, partially.

He had seen what it was like for his Xiongzhang.

When their mother passed away, it was only through the love and diligence that his older brother offered unconditionally, that Lan Zhan was able to cope with their new situation. And they had Uncle Qiren too, in whatever capacity and however stern he was, he became their anchor in the storm.

Wen Qing had no one.

With all that pressure mounting on her young shoulders, of course she would pick the easy way out, not realising how corruptive it would become.

"What did he want you to do?"

"If I accepted a position here, as acting director in charge of labs, and continued to perform tests on subjects who were taking part in medical trials, he would give A-Ning a job, one that I could supervise instead. And it was only part time, so I could continue to work in my other job as well. I didn't want to rely solely on him for my income.

"I accepted, only so I could watch over A-Ning."

"But you knew about vampires." Lan Zhan doesn't bother phrasing it like a question, because they both know what he's actually accusing her of.

"Yes. I suspected as much about three years ago. When I questioned my uncle, he said everything was under control. There was a new disease and we needed to monitor it. I foolishly believed him. By the time I discovered the extent of it, it was too late. And both A-Ning and I were too heavily involved. My Uncle kept making veiled threats towards family members on my father's side, so I began cutting off our relationship with numerous aunts and uncles, hoping the lack of connection would dissuade Uncle Rouhan from taking any measures against them."

"Except for PoPo. And Wei Ying. And A-Yuan." Lan Zhan knows it's irrational, but he hates that she still put Wei Ying in danger. And A-Yuan, no matter her reasons.

"I couldn't stay away. Constant pressure. You know what A-Xian is like! If I stepped away from him and A-Yuan, he would have chased me down to find out why. And that would have made everything so much worse."

"That's because Wei Ying knows how important family is." It's a dig, one that Lan Zhan can't resist saying. In his mind, it is impossible to compare Wen Qing and Wei Ying.

Wen Qing looks thoroughly ashamed then.

"I want to know something." Lan Zhan says, experimenting with his neck and shoulders.

"Anything."

"Why did you make us come here that day? You knew security was tight, and getting us in and out would be difficult. What you told us could have been said over the phone." This question has been burning a hole in his head ever since that day, and Lan Zhan feels anticipation at getting it answered at last.

"I really did want to show you your test results that day. There was equipment we could have used to check Wei Ying's condition immediately, but the testing instrument needed fresh blood. Unfortunately, my uncle interrupted us. But there's another reason why I needed Wei Ying to come here."

Lan Zhan's gaze snaps to her face.

"I started gathering evidence against my Uncle and everything he's done so far. I disguised it as notes, so he wouldn't suspect me. And one day, I found notes and annotations regarding something called the HeartStone. And allusions to someone called the Necromancer. The time between me finding that out, and seeing with my own eyes what Wei Ying's blood and your venom can do, I thought, I thought he was the one. That's why I told A-Ning to take you both through the underground carpark. If my theory was correct, then Wei Ying would have felt something, anything. But he didn't." She sounds disappointed.

Lan Zhan thinks back to that day.

She's right, Wei Ying didn't feel anything.

But then, the next day he had found the locket in Wei Ying's cupboard and been introduced to his parents. And the texts they'd found, plus Baoshan Sanren told them that the locket was a key...could it be that Wei Ying needed to have the locket on him, to be able to locate the HeartStone? And what part did Chenqing, and the accompanying musical score play along with that?

He was beyond glad that he had sent the HeartStone forward with Wen Zhuliu to deliver it to Wei Ying, whenever he got here.

Lan Zhan didn't know for sure, but he suspected that the explosions they'd heard outside were most likely some kind of diversion created by Baoshan Sanren and her people.

But all of this, including everything about the HeartStone was something that didn't need to be exposed to Wen Qing, not yet.

He would leave it up to Wei Ying to tell her if he wished.

"Did you know about Wei Ying's cancer diagnosis? Could you tell by looking at his blood?" Lan Zhan asks her instead. This is something else that's been bugging him about her, and she better have a good excuse about her actions.

Her dark eyes are full of remorse.

"So it's true?"

Lan Zhan nods, wanting to hear her reasoning first, before telling her that it might not be a concern now, especially given Baoshan Sanren's test results. If he had to choose who to trust more, right now, Lan Zhan would pick Wei Ying's Grandmother above and beyond anyone else.

Wen Qing looks crestfallen.

"How bad is it?"

"The doctor said it is in a difficult place, rendering the surgical removal to be nearly impossible. He suggested chemotherapy to shrink the tumour." None of it is a lie, because it was true, about a week ago. "How did you know he had it?"

"If you look close enough, there are certain proteins which can be detected. Plus his dizzy spells, fainting...it's an easy leap to go from that to either an aneurysm or cancer." Her voice is clinical and matter-of-fact. But her trembling hands give her away.

Lan Zhan has never been one for causing unnecessary pain, and he's not a cruel person.

"Wen Qing was right. My venom is fighting the cancer. He's not in immediate danger of it any longer, and we think prolonged exposure to it may kill it off completely. Suffice to say that Wei Ying has stopped falling down unexpectedly. No headaches, either." Lan Zhan lets himself smile, because this is worth it.

Anything which pointed at Wei Ying being healthy and in the prime of health was something to be celebrated to the high Heavens.

Wen Qing grabs his hands in sheer relief.

"Really?" This time, her tears are happy ones. "So I was right...."

"Meaning?" Lan Zhan stares at her hands until she lets go. He could feel the touch, so that's an improvement, but at the same time, he's reminded how much he hates it when there is unsolicited contact. Only Wei Ying is allowed and welcomed. And their children.

"I wasn't lying when I told you that your samples were contaminated. A-Ning dropped them because of Wen Chao and his relentless bullying. But he does have one brain cell, unfortunately. He was able to make sense of some of the data, and reported it to his father. I thought they copied the files from my computer, but it's actually worse than that." Wen Qing looks utterly defeated.

"What did they do?" Lan Zhan thinks he's going to hate what she says next. He's already steeling himself for bad news.

"They cloned my computer, and since it's linked to my phone, they know everything."

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

Thank Goodness for Wen Zhuliu, Wei Ying thinks, because if not for him, they might have taken longer finding the way to the elevator that would take them to where Lan Zhan was.

He was constantly checking his phone, half hoping that Lan Zhan's red dot would move, telling him that Lan Zhan was alright, and the other half of him arguing that then, he'd be that much harder to locate.

The elevator was currently below them, and they had to wait for it to come back up to reach them.

Baoshan Sanren looks around, scrunching up her nose.

"What?" Wei Ying asks her, listening for the rumbling of a motor and sliding metal.

"It's not that...great, is it?" She whispers, definite distaste on her expression.

"Oh my god, grandmother...you aren't a snob!" Wei Ying cackles with delight.

He looks around again, trying to see it from her point of view.

The bare minimum of effort and care is evident in the crumbling walls and unfinished decor, as if they just hadn't got around to completing this area. Either that, or it was on a never ending to-do list.

"I'm a perfectionist," she defends herself, but it only makes Wei Ying laugh harder.

She's about to smack him on the upside of his head, when there's the distinct sound of machinery, and Xiao XingChen looks down past the protective fence stopping any bystander from plummeting to their death.

"The elevator is coming," he says, stating what is unnecessary, because no one in their party is deaf.

"But?" Baoshan Sanren asks him sharply.

"It's not empty." And with that, Xiao XingChen withdraws his sword, Shuanghua.

Wei Ying had only seen it up close once before, and now he sees the engraved characters.

"Frost Flower?" He asks in wonder, because it is truly a beautiful piece of weaponry.

The slender handle is delicately engraved, a mix of silver and ivory, the steel blade glinting with a lethal fierceness. It's similar to his grandmother's sword, the white one named Heping, but at the same time, it's absolutely apparent that two different master craftsmen were responsible for both works of art.

"It can detect the dead." His uncle tells him, following the curve of the blade with two of his elegant fingers. "And it will show no mercy."

With that, the doors open and Baoshan Sanren yanks Wei Ying behind her.

The battle begins instantly, probably because vampires have a superior sense of hearing.

It is Wen Xu who steps into the fray with his own sword, his disfigured face only now trying to mend itself. He looks really bad, though.

Wei Ying feels proud that he is responsible for that, and pulls out more of the holy water bombs to lob in his direction.

It's a full frontal attack, because Wen Xu wasn't alone. No less than twenty guards spread out behind him, all wielding guns and they started shooting immediately.

Baoshan Sanren reaches behind her to grab the black sword as well, and her wrists twirl in alarming speed as she deflects the bullets away from herself and Wei Ying standing just behind her. Dual rotating helicopter blades slash through the air simultaneously, changing directions without warning, and her wrists are a blur of movement.

A-Qing is holding her own, fighting four guards simultaneously. Wei Ying is vaguely catching her agile moves as she spins in the air and manages to slice off two heads while aiming at the other two in the chest with scissor kicks of precision.

Xiao XingChen goes in offensively, slashing away at anyone who dares to oppose him, and limbs go flying.

Wei Ying thinks he would be just as great a warrior even if he was blind.

Each stroke and swing of Shuanghua is meant to cause maximum damage and screams erupt all around them from the pain they are unleashing on the enemy that has dared to cross them.

There are a couple more vampires on their side, valiantly fighting the opposing forces with efficiency and skill.

Wei Ying doesn't know their names, but he makes a mental note to ask his Grandmother later.

Minutes later, and with few injuries to their side, Wen Xu is on his knees, a nasty smile making his face twist in the ugliest way. Xiao XingChen has Shuanghua at his throat, looking to Baoshan Sanren for the next orders.

Wen Xu looks up at him, a new cruelty blossoming on his face. It's as if he's not going to die without causing more pain.

Xiao XingChen ignores him, until he speaks.

"I bet you're looking forward to finding Song ZiChen, huh?"

Xiao XingChen nicks his throat, hoping he'll shut up, because it's obvious that Wen Xu is trying to distract him.

"He squealed like a gutted pig, when we finished with him," Wen Xu gloats, his dark eyes glinting with enjoyment. "I've never seen so much blood-"

"Do. Not. Say. His. Name." Xiao XingChen bites out with difficulty.

His hand falters and it's the opening Wen Xu is looking for, because he twists out of Xiao XingChen's grasp with a knife in his hand, ready to stab him.

But he never gets further than raising his hand, because at the same time that Heping flies towards his neck, another knife lands squarely in the centre of his throat.

His head rolls off and lands with a wet smack on the ground beside him, an expression of shock permanently fixed upon his face.

Wei Ying blushes because now, they're all looking at him in shock, awe and wonder.

And then his grandmother says in a lame and snarky, high pitched impersonation of him, "oh, I don't like weapons, I hate violence, I'm not carrying a gun..." and she raises a brow at him, a silent question in her silver eyes, so similar to his own.

Wei Ying shrugs helplessly. "Whaat?? I'm competitive, okaayy?? Carnivals." He explains.

"No way?" Xiao XingChen comes along and slaps his back in a way of thanking him.

"Yeah, I got tired of people trying to swindle A-Yuan out of plushies, so I learned how to throw. Though," he scratches the back of his neck, embarrassed, "I never thought it would come in so useful."

Baoshan Sanren gives him a quick hug, and he can feel her trembling.

That surprise attack on Xiao XingChen was a shock to everyone. Wei Ying hadn't even been aware of his hands moving, and suddenly that knife had left his possession, embedded in another's throat.

But this was one kill that he couldn't bring himself to regret, because it was a choice between his uncle and a vermin that needed to die.

"Alright, this might be the first of many confrontations we may have to face." Baoshan Sanren says, looking around at her team, the only people still standing. "Are we okay?"

There are mutters and mumbles, mostly of approval and mentions of minor injuries, but otherwise, everyone is ready to proceed.

"Then, let's go." She pushes a silent Wen Zhuliu in front of her.

And with that, they all pile into the crude elevator and press the button to go down.

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

"When I woke up from whatever they injected me with, I met Wen Zhong." Lan Zhan tells her.

Wen Qing is shocked.

"So you know about him." Lan Zhan shouldn't be surprised by now, but he is.

Wen Qing hasn't mentioned him so far, and he was wondering if Wen Zhong was another well-kept secret.

"I've only met him around two or three times," she explains. "I'm not sure why, but Uncle Rouhan wants to keep me away from him."

"Why? And why does he look like that? Wen Rouhan doesn't, there aren't any visible signs of ageing on him, and yet his brother is evidently weaker looking." Lan Zhan asks her, genuinely interested in this. Whatever Wen Zhong has been doing, Lan Zhan wants to avoid it, if it means looking like a scrunched up piece of paper ready for the trash can.

Wen Qing shrugs.

"I think there's an internal power struggle between both my uncles. Either way, Uncle Rouhan doesn't let me be alone with Uncle Zhong. And as for why he looks like that, a few years back, we had an incident."

"What kind of 'incident'?"

Uncle Zhong was this close to going feral," Wen Qing brings her first finger close to her thumb to describe it, "and with great difficulty, Uncle Rouhan managed to bring him back from that." She shudders, remembering. "He was out of control. Attacking everyone and anything that moved."

"How did it happen? What triggered it?"

"Uncle Rouhan found him in the treasury, and that's all I know. He was convulsing on the floor when they reached him. I was only allowed to see him when he was stable. But that's the reason why my Uncle Rouhan renewed his search for the Elixir Of Life. He wanted to prevent that from happening to any one of us."

Lan Zhan frowns, remembering what Wen Zhong had told him, but Wen Qing is still speaking.

"Uncle Rouhan is relentless. He really believes it's the only way to counteract the HeartStone, and he's hellbent on finding the last male descendant of the Wen family, with a direct line to our forefathers. A-Ning doesn't count because our connection is through our mother. But he doesn't know about A-Yuan yet; I made A-Xian change his name to Wei Yuan at the first chance we got." She looks relieved.

But Lan Zhan knows something she does not.

"Wen Zhong told me something else. He said that JingYi's mother had already had him for two years before she was married to Mr Lan. Before that, she had an affair with his son, who passed away soon after. Lan JingYi is the last known Wen Descendant, and they're actively looking for him." He tells her.

He's concentrating so hard on watching her face for her reactions that he's not aware of anything else. So he's completely floored when he hears Wei Ying say, "WHAT?"