They arrived after two minutes at a vast clearing. Lan Wangji was strumming Wangji in a hurried frenzy, Wen Ning swinging his chains at the thicket to grab the figure that was dashing through the circle of trees.

"Where's Qiang-Er?" Wei Wuxian ran in.

"A-Ying, there," Lan Zhan pointed.

"Mama, you go to A-Zhan," Wei Ying let go of her hand and whistled. "JIN LING! Where are you?"

"Woof!" The black Sawtooth Blood Wolf appeared again, right beside him, head pointing towards the ring of trees around the clearing. He raised his head to the moon and bayed loud and clear, echo of a howl chiming and shaking the woods. "Ouwoooooo!"

The creature screeched to a standstill at the howl, all rustling of leaves stopped, and it halted in shock at the sound.

"Ha, it's scared of wolves!" Wei Wuxian sighed. "You're also scared of me, I hear! Show your face, COWARD!" Wei Ying reached out and rubbed behind Jin Ling's ears, his fear of dogs having somehow evaporated into the air. The wolf pointed with its snout to a spot in the thicket. Wei Wuxian looked at the place and saw the blonde tuft of the tail again. He held up his sword to signal to the other three to be silent.

"Mmm! Mhmhmhmmh!"

Muffled screams and kicking feet were faintly audible from the spot Jin Ling showed. Growing low, he trotted to the place, and when he was at the edge of the clearing, he pounced.

Shrieking, the creature rolled out of the thicket, away from him, into the clearing. The thing was chased by the wolf right into the centre, surrounded by the three Immortals and fierce corpse.

"Oooh, hello, hello, didn't expect to meet all you amazing people here," the creature grinned widely, tip of the mouth tilting up in a sneer, eyes twinkling, eyelashes long and batting at them all.

"Hm..." Wei Wuxian crossed his arms. "Coquettish, slender, long green-yellow hair, green tail golden at the end, flashing green eyes... is that a charm you're trying to use, Young Mistress Nine-Tailed Fox?" Wei Wuxian laughed.

"Oh man, you found out!" She whined with a plea of laughter and let all remaining eight tails sprout out behind her. "Eek, get this thing out of here!" She shrieked, pointing to the wolf.

"Little Rulan is my son, for your information," Wei Wuxian leered back. "And you better let go of my sister-in-law first, or this'll be the last time you see moonlight."

Hand clasped over Lan Qiang's mouth, holding her pressingly close to her own body, the Nine-Tailed Fox woman grinned. She had her other hand wrapped around Lan Qiang's waist, gripping her so strongly that Lan Qiang didn't even feel the strength to flail her legs and arms. The pain cutting into her ribs under the fox woman's grip was just too much to endure...

"Let her go," Lan Wangji and Wen Ning growled at the same time.

"Grr," Jin Ling paced closer.

"I'm here to negotiate with Xingguang Xian. You," the fox pointed to the wolf, momentarily letting go of the cover on her victim's mouth. "Stay away from me if you don't want your aunt killed," she leered again, showing off her sharp fanged canine teeth.

Jin Ling immediately took two steps back.

"Oh you've got fangs too, like Rulan's sawtooth fangs," Wei Wuxian nodded. "So? What is it that this elegant and deadly young lady wishes to speak with me?"

"Thank you for the compliments," she winked.

Wei Wuxian's silver eyes abruptly took on a brilliant red, making her purse her lips and look away.

"See? I have my own charms. Now speak," he pointed Chenqing threateningly at her.

"Easy! Surrender yourself and I'll let her go!" She shrugged.

"Mmm!" Lan Qiang elbowed her harshly in her waist.

"No can do," Wei Wuxian sighed in mock sadness. "My husband has officially forbidden me from leaving his side hereafter. Perhaps you could tell me what you want, Young Mistress?" He sneered at her.

"It's Aria Verduria. I want nothing for myself, believe it or not," she laughed wickedly. "My darling happens to want revenge, and she wants your life as revenge. That's all! Simple, isn't it? Just like how you wanted her husband's life to avenge whatever happened to your sweetheart?" She nodded to Lan Wangji, who growled back at her.

Wei Wuxian laughed. "Well, the thing is... sure, I wanted Zhongliang's life torn apart for all he put my family through. And I understand that Zhang Huli," he leered when her eyes smiled at him in affirmation, "would want my life in return. But alas... not possible!" Wei Wuxian beamed at her, swinging Chenqing closer to his lips.

Cangse Sanren nodded firmly. "In this world, only the hero gets what they want. Not the villain," she grinned and unsheathed her own sword. On cue, Wen Ning gripped his chains and Lan Zhan pulled out Bichen.

"I'm telling you, she dies if you dare move!" Aria Verduria cried at them, laughing like an exuberant maniac when Lan Zhan's and Wen Ning's advances halted. "Treasure her that much–? W– What......." She groaned when she felt something fill up her head. "Oh, the Demon Master's melodies? Can't beat mine!" She shook her head and blew out a whistle that made Lan Qiang's body judder. Harmonious, slow and gentle, but also erotic, with a tropical touch to the rhythm, her own song was far more... pleasant than Wei Wuxian's fatal one. His was petrifying. Hers was enchanting.

But the distraction was just enough.

Thwack!

Thud!

"Ouch!" Wei Wuxian winced, chuckling. "Mama, that must have pained."

"Saves her right," Cangse Sanren rubbed the hand she had slammed into Aria Verduria's neck as though the very word 'contamination' was written all over it. Jin Ling walked over and licked her hand clean.

"Aww, thanks, Rulan!" She ruffled his ears.

Lan Wangji pushed Aria, lying on top of Lan Qiang on the grass, afar and pulled his sister away from her unconscious grasp.

Her captive having been taken away from her, Aria's eyes shot open, only to find Wei Wuxian already holding Suibian near her neck. "Who are you?"

"Catch me if you can, tesoro!" She laughed and disappeared, evaporating into thin mint-green air.

"Tch, of course, demons can disappear at will," Wei Wuxian pinched his forehead.

"Hey, it's fine, Ying-Er, at least we know her name now. And Lan Qiang's safe," Cangse Sanren squeezed his shoulders.

"What was her name again?"

"A– Aria... Ver...... duria......" Lan Qiang mumbled. She had tried to stand up and both husband and brother held her with each of her arms.

"Aria Verduria... what a name... sounds foreign. I'll ask Xiangxiang. Might as well call Hua Cheng here, too. Jin Ling," he bent down to the wolf's level. "Get home. Sizhui's waiting for you, right?"

Nod.

"Then go. You've done enough. See? Being a wolf isn't so bad, you did a great job today, thanks for the help!"

Nod. Lick. Jin Ling sprinted off into the forest.

"Let's go home, too," Cangse Sanren clapped her hands and nodded to the weak Lan Qiang hanging from her brother's and husband's grips. But the instant she did keep her foot forward to walk, her knees gave way and she slumped back into their arms.

Wen Ning looked up at Lan Zhan, who sighed and let go of her, reluctantly letting him carry her.

"Good, good, you're improving," Wei Ying patted his husband's back. "He's her husband, he'll take care of her! If you want, here I am! Carry me all you want!"

"Mn," Lan Zhan didn't waste a second in hesitating, bending down to pick him up.

"Hey, hey, not bridal style! Mama's here!" He whisper-shouted.

"Mn," Lan Zhan knelt in front of him and picked him up by the knees. Wei Wuxian confidently hooked his legs around Lan Zhan's chest and wrapped his hands around his neck. "Let's go, Mama!"

"Haa, if only someone would carry me, too!"

"Ah? Mama..." Wei Wuxian gulped feeling guilty.

"No, no, just kidding!" She chuckled and began running with her light feet, lithe body clad in blue weaving through the trees out of there forest.

Wei Wuxian smiled when she was gone. "A-Zhan, remind me to give Mama a piggyback ride next morning."

"You?" Lan Zhan smirked.

"Hey! Mama's small, I don't need your strength to carry her! I can carry Xiaolian just fine!"

Lan Wangji looked up at him and sulked, gripping his legs tightly.

Wei Wuxian laughed when he heard the faint growl in his husband's throat. "I still can't believe you're jealous of her." He bent down and pecked his head. "Silly A-Zhan."

"Will Qiang-Er be fine?" Lan Zhan sighed, watching Wen Ning carry her away a few feet in front of them.

"Of course, she's a strong Lan like you! Her husband's the best doctor alive, don't you worry," he smiled and kissed his head again for motivation. "Hey, Little Rulan looks beautiful in wolf form, doesn't he?"

"Mn. Powerful."

"Indeed. I wonder how things are getting along with him and A-Yuan... oh you know something, A-Ning, A-Zhan?"

"Ying-ge?" Wen Ning slowed down to maintain pace with them.

"What is it?" Lan Zhan asked.

"A-Yuan came up to me this morning. A short time after gege and A-Cheng and Little Lien left. He said he wanted my advice on something. He asked me..." Wei Wuxian snickered. "How to confess."

"Really?" Wen Ning's eyes swelled.

Lan Wangji gripped Bichen tightly.

"Oh come on, don't go all protective father now! You fell in love at fifteen! He's only confessing at twenty-two!" Wei Wuxian tapped his husband's head.

"Fine then. What did you say?"

"I asked him what kind of a confession he wanted to know. Of course, a love confession, but what kind? How did he want to do it?"

"And?" Wen Ning egged him on.

"He told me he wanted me to tell him how A-Zhan confessed to me."

"Ah?" Lan Zhan looked up at him.

"I know, right? He said he was too terrified to ask you, and too shy, so he came to me. He knew that my kind of confession would be all flirting etiquette mashed together with saccharine words and long, long lines pouring out from the heart. Probably never-ending. So he wanted to know Lan Zhan's way. Said he felt he could relate to Lan Zhan more, so he felt that Lan Zhan's way would be easier for him to handle. So I told him Lan Zhan's way!"

"Second Young Master Lan's way?" Wen Ning stifled a smile.

"Yeps! A-Ning, did you know, A-Zhan never told me 'I love you'? He tells that very occasionally now, when I initiate it, but back then, nothing of the sort. And come to think of it, Lan Zhan gave me his confession...... sometime before the Sunshot Campaign."

"Huh?" Wen Ning goggled at him. "That's so long ago!"

"I know, right? I really hate my brain back then for not noticing. But I know now. A-Zhan, darling," Wei Ying hugged Lan Zhan's neck. "That night on the rooftop, when you told me about my unorthodox path affecting my temperament and all, when I vowed — obviously unsuccessfully — to never fall into demonic cultivation, and when I insisted on sticking to my path... that night, you confessed, didn't you?"

"Mn," Lan Wangji smiled.

"Let me help you. That's all he said," Wei Wuxian turned to Wen Ning. "Let me help you."

"That's..." Wen Ning nodded slowly, smiling. "Pure."

"Wholesome as divine light," Wei Wuxian beamed.

"You remember."

"I told you, there's no way I could have forgotten all of it. So I'm working on remembering. Going great so far! And I bet this thing helped A-Yuan because he was elated when he heard it all. He said it was the perfect thing for him to say right now, and then ran off back to work like a happy little child."

"Things will work out," Wen Ning hoped.

"Mn," Lan Zhan nodded. 

**********

Jin Ling pushed open the doors without knocking and staggered into the room.

"A-Ling," Sizhui walked to the door, shut it behind Jin Ling and looked at him. "How do you feel?"

"W...ea......k........." Jin Ling whispered, voice croaky with exhaustion and something suffocating him in his throat. Lan Sizhui sickly caught him as he slumped towards the ground.

"A-Ling!" He slapped his cheeks, cradling him to his chest. "Hey, wake up!"