"Lan Zhan!" He tucks closer to my chest "where are you taking me?".

"To our room" I walk up the stairs and he balks "What? Why are you carrying me to our room?"

I look at the man in my arms and for some reason, I laugh inwardly 'My sweet Wei, don't worry, my thoughts are not nefarious. There will come a day, when I shall carry you this way and cross the threshold of Jingshi, if you shall permit me, but for now, I am just concern for your health'.

"There is someone waiting for us" I ignore my thoughts and merely reply to his concern. He sags into my arms and complies, when we reach the door, I simply kick it open and we hear a plea "Hanguang-Jun, Hanguang-Jun, I don't know anything, please let me go".

Ignoring the man, I place Wei on the comforting mat and walk towards the cabin. Brining out a bottle of Liquor from the cabinet, knowing it's not Emperor's Smile, yet Wei's most preferred drink, I pour him some. He grins and takes a sip, turning to the assailant, Wei assess him quietly.

Nie HuaiSang.

Who would have ever gussed, the man who has always preferred to be away from politics, would be the one to plan the entire fiasco.

"Hanguang-Jun, please I am not at fault, trust me" he pleads and I choose to ignore his cries and quietly wait for Wei Ying to handle this situation. After all they were much closer to eachother during their adolescent days.

I remember back in Cloud Recess, Wei Ying and Nie HuaiSang were never apart. I don't know how and when the distance grew between the two, but they sure were always to be found where there was mischief.

"Sect Leader Nie, Hanguang-Jun found an evidence of your elegant piece of cloth in the mouth of fairy, Jin Ling's dog, don't deny that you weren't present there" Wei take another sip of his drink as I place the tattered piece.

So that spiritual dog's name is Fairy? Wonder who suggested that name?

Nie HuaiSang's face visibly ashens and he looks at me "Hanguang-Jun, please our sect have known eachother for a long time. Your brother and mine were sworn brothers too, please you and" he looks at Wei Ying, whose identity has not been disclosed yet, Nie HuaiSang is unaware as to who the man in front of him is "and him, your guest, please should not reveal what I am about to disclose".

"You have my word" I assure him.

Taking a deep breath he speaks "Yes the Xinglu Ridge is a man eating ridge, in some ways more than the other, but let me start by giving you a history of the Nie Sect" he looks at us with fear "as you know the Nie Sect was found by my ancestor who was a butcher and thus our cultivation is of those Sabers we cherish and have by our side. When my ancestors were alive, they always used the Sabers to protect themselves. The Sabers were used to bloodshed. They had their own spirits within them. Once my ancestors ceased to live their respective Sabers started causing mayhem. One such ancestors of ours thought it was best to resolve the problem by using an extreme solution" he pauses and wipes his head with his pocket cloth.

"Go on" Wei Ying encourages, taking in the story and I look at the Nie Sect leader. A man refined and one who only cares for his appearance, is nothing like the previous Sect Leader Nie.

"As cultivators we are all aware of transforming corpse" he fans himself "no no we didn't kill them Hanguang-Jun, rather we collected abandoned bodies or at times paid heavy prices for them. My ancestor he placed the corpse and the saber inside the coffin. The transforming corpse and the saber spirits were always at loggerheads. Thus, the corpses tamed the Sabers and they in turn never allowed the corpses to transform".

"But what has that got to do with the rumours of Man eating ridge?" Wei looks perturbed.

"Years ago there were some thieves, who thought that the castle had some hidden jweals. But they were mistaken. In short, they disturbed the area and due to their yang, the corpses transformed. A battle ensued and they happen to kill some of those corpses" he turned to me "Hanguang-Jun, my ancestor was very particular with the number of corpses placed inside the castle. With the thieves disseminating the corpse, the Sabers sealed the castle and trapped the thieves inside, using their spirits instead. The locals witnessed few people entering the area but not exiting them. So they started the rumours and we just fanned it".

Nie HuaiSang looks back at Wei "Young Master Jin must have heard about these rumours and decided to find out the truth. He too broke into the wall and disturbed the corpses around. The history repeated itself. He was sucked into the walls. Trust me, usually I walk around to check the premise of the castle and that is what I was doing today when that dog caught hold of me".

"Hanguang-Jun, do you have anything else to ask him?" Wei looks at me and his eyes are alight with mischief. I shake my head and he laughs.

"Alright, you're free to leave, but I better not find anything suspicious about you" Wei warns.

The very next moment Sect Leader Nie walks out of the door fanning himself and Wei Ying gulps the entire content of the liquor from the jar.

Walking next to him, I hand him another one.

"Why are you being nice to me?" He enquires as he inhales the sweet smell.

"I am nice cause it's you" I say impassively but laugh inwardly when he chokes on his liquor.

"Lan Zhan" he wheezes "you can't say such things". I pat his back and he starts coughing.

Crouching in front of him, I pull up his trousers and he yelps again "What are you upto?"

"Why are you acting so shy? I am just checking your mark" I look at him and ... Is he blushing? I discard that thought and pull up his pants all the way to his thigh. This is the second time today, I am in front of him kneeling.

At first I do not realise, how close my face is but the second I realise what it would appear to look like, it dawns on me, the reason Wei Ying was blushing.

Oh my!

I quickly look away and stand "we need to do something about that?"

"Yes we need to, but not tonight" he smiles and is about to say something when we hear a crash.

We both turn to look at the soul trapping pouch. It looks agitated.

"We haven't played the melody of rest today" he comments and takes out his flute. Shaking my head, I snatch the flute and with a quick stroke with the help of a knife on the table, I draw finer holes.

Good, this would help him to play better. Handing it back to Wei Ying, I warn him "Play properly" and he laughs. It's a good thing, he already has my heart, thus I could tolerate his ridiculous method of playing.

Together we play the melody and the hand inside the pouch stays in one place. It's agitation has calmed down.

"Hanguang-Jun, what made the hand so agitated?"

"Could be something on you" I look at him.

He nods "tomorrow we'll go back to the castle".

Placing Wangji safely on the mat, I get up and enter the bed chamber. Removing my outer cloak, I undo my hair tie. Knowing Wei Ying's penchant to sleep with me and the question of my control, I don't take out my trousers nor my inner cloak.

Lying down, I wait for him to crawl all over me and he does not disappoint. I soon feel the bed shift and he quietly places his head on my chest. His arms around me, he whispers softly "Good Night, Lan Zhan. Dream about me".

I smile. I only dream about you Wei. Always and Forever.

Here is the Review that I received for winning Third Place under Ace Supreme Awards 2020.

Also do check out my new One Shot book:
Farewell.

I might consider it to make it a full length novel at a future date. Maybe. For now do enjoy and please give me your views.