Wei Ying did not like the casualness of the way the man was speaking to XiChen. There was definitely something happening, of which they had no idea, or else why was he so cocky, so sure of himself? None of this made sense.

Any criminal, once caught, would not be so relaxed as to come before those who wished to punish him with such ease. So he was doubly on edge.

"Don't trust him," he whispered to Lan Zhan.

"Mn." Lan Zhan agreed, not taking his eyes off the stranger.

"Why not?" The man seemed to have hearing sharper than Wei Ying. He spread his arms out. "I am but an open book. I have nothing to hide." He stared, all of his attention on Wei Ying.

Lan Zhan moved forward, obstructing his view.

"What do you wish to know of me? Ask away, ask me anything!" He demanded, coming closer.

"Stop." Lan Zhan said, coldly. Bichen was vibrating in his hand.

The stranger laughed again. His laughter had the opposite reaction, because Wei Ying was supremely uncomfortable. He saw the same effect on others, especially Jiang Cheng, who threw him an annoyed look.

"Why are you scared? I do not own a sword, nor do I possess any concealed weapon. And much as you don't believe me, I have no wish to harm you." When he saw his words were having little to no effect, he sighed dramatically. "Do you not think that here, I should be the frightened one? The one unsure of the outcome?" He tutted, shaking his head, watching them all the while. "You come to my home in the middle of the night, through no provocation on my part, attack my people and kidnap my children; let me ask you, who is the hostile ones here?" He smiled, turning his attention back to XiChen. "I really think you should do me the honour of a little trust, don't you?"

"Trust?" XiChen almost spat the word out in contempt. This man was no stranger to talking, turning any situation to his advantage. Like someone else he used to trust. He could taste bile in his throat, hating this conversation.

The stranger was attuned to his discomfort, watching him keenly.

"Yes, trust. A small word, yet so important, wouldn't you agree?" Amusement danced along his speech.

Wei Ying got the distinct feeling he was playing with them through this verbal sparring. What could be the reason? Was he buying himself precious time to do something else, or was there another reason? But he did not dare to draw the attention of him again. He could feel a strange sort of malevolence sitting beneath the surface, just waiting to be exposed. He wanted to watch him, because even the cleverest man could slip up; they just had to bide their time.

"Perhaps, and I may be wrong for pointing this out, but I get the feeling you were betrayed in the past? No? Forgive me if I am making assumptions." He pounced, poisonous words spewing from his mouth like a volcano.

It had the desired effect.

"You know nothing about me!" Thundered XiChen, losing control for the first time.

"Don't let him mess with your head!" Jiang Cheng whispered, urgently. "He's trying to rile you up."

"I have a question!" Wei Ying found himself speaking, without thinking it through. But he had been unable to watch his brother in bond suffer, especially because of a man like this.

Jiang Cheng grinned at him, gratefully. He was reminded of another Wei Ying, when asked to recite the Wen indoctrination, had gone in front of everyone present and performed stretching exercises, and then managed to recall at least a hundred of the Lan clan rules instead. He hoped whatever his brother was going to do, it would not incite this man further. He rubbed XiChen's arm discreetly, trying to comfort the trembling man. No doubt, Wei Ying would hold this over his head soon. Probably come up with something unreasonable to compensate.

"Finally." The man drawled, coming closer again.

Lan Zhan thought he had an unhealthy interest in Wei Ying. "You can answer from there." He told him firmly.

"Of course, of course." He wore a slimy smile. "I do not wish to antagonise you."

Wei Ying was creeped out, but bravely asked, "what are you doing with the spiritual energy you are gathering?"

"A worthy question indeed, however, I find I am unable to answer with mere words." He showed his yellowing teeth in another smile. "As they say, sometimes showing is better than telling. And then I have a question of my own."

"What?" Lan Zhan gave him a hard glare. He hated this man, the way he was trying to take control of this situation, through a verbal tug of war. Duplicitous people, he despised.

"My question is this: are you brave enough?" He rocked back on his heels, watching them through hooded eyes, waiting.

"First, let the children go." Wei Ying replied. They were there for them, above everything else.

"Take them." He bowed with an exaggeration. "As I explained, I do not need them anymore."

Wei Ying nodded to Jiang Cheng. XiChen gave the signal to the teams in charge of securing the kids, who began taking them away immediately. Now, just the fighters remained.

"Children are so noisy, aren't they?" The man admitted, watching the last of them leave.

Zidian let off an electric current, in warning.

"So tell me, are you going to come with me?" The man ignored both XiChen and Jiang Cheng to direct his question at Wei Ying alone.

Wei Ying looked at Lan Zhan, who was fuming. It was not visible to anyone else. He squeezed his hand, the one hidden in his sleeve so the man could not see.

"It's okay." He whispered as quietly as he could. He waited for Lan Zhan to respond, and it was only a flicker of an eyebrow, but it was enough.

"Where exactly do you want to take us?" He asked out loud.

"Follow me." He turned his back to them and started walking towards their fields of crops.

They had no choice but to follow him, if they didn't want to lose him. Wei Ying was beyond curious, but Jiang Cheng had never been so annoyed before. Here was someone who could beat his brother at that.

XiChen glanced at Lan Zhan before following the man at a distance.

"Don't worry, Didi. I-I lost control back there, but I'll be on my guard now."

"Mn. Brother is better now."

XiChen smiled in relief. He would accept any manner of comfort from his brother.

The stranger led them past all their crops; fields of wheat, a paddy field specially elevated to hold water, corn, vegetables and a well. The well was unusually big, its circumference easily a few hundred metres.

He jumped in.

They heard his laughter echo back to him. Wei Ying thought he had solved their problem by jumping to his death, in fact there were many gasps as they ran to the rim of the well, where he'd just jumped in.

But no. He stood looking up at them, standing on a flight of stairs, still laughing at his stupid prank.

"I ask again, are you brave enough?" He watched as they followed him in.

The well still contained water; Wei Ying could hear it sloshing at the bottom. He didn't want to think that something was making that noise, so he ignored that thought and followed Lan Zhan silently. The stairs were roughly hewn into the rock that made up the inner walls of the well.

A dank and murky smell permeated the air, adding to his suspicion that something did indeed live down there in the dark. If he concentrated, he imagined it swimming...

Lan Zhan reached for his hand as the darkness enveloped them. It made him feel much better.

The stranger walked around and around, humming to himself as if this was an ordinary thing to do, lead your enemies down a deep and dark hole. Wei Ying did not trust him for a second.

He lit a flame talisman to light their way, understanding that the others did not have heightened senses to rely upon. The stranger, like himself, had no trouble navigating the steep stairs or the dark. He did not put a single foot wrong.

Just as they reached about a foot away from the water, he led them away from the last remaining light source. There was a tunnel.

Wei Ying marveled at the man's genius. He had been comparing the blueprints from Jin Ling and the map that Nie Huaisang had brought, the one with ancient Gusu, and the place where a temple was supposed to be, in his head. If his working out was right, these people had somehow found a way to reach it, and this man was currently taking them there.

He lit many flame talismans now. They were walking in total darkness, only the stranger's surefootedness to guide them. Who would be able to detect a crater or a hole here, in such a black space? He heard whimpers of relief as the light cast shadows on the wet walls.

They trudged after the man for at least a mile, so deep underground that no noises reached them. Just the sounds of their many feet, walking on a wet path, mingled with their breathing.

Wei Ying spotted a light ahead. He tugged on Lan Zhan's hand to alert him, knowing he wouldn't see it until they were much closer.

The tunnel opened up into a large cavernous space. Wei Ying looked on the ground to see a huge array, but he had no idea what it was for. The man walked around it, careful not to tread on any part. He led them to a door, that was shaped like an open mouth. Huge teeth curved over the edges, both above and below, making the actual stone door look like a tongue. The man chanted something, too fast for Wei Ying to hear, and the door opened to let them in.

To say they were unprepared for what they saw, was an understatement.