It was late afternoon on the next day that they both awoke to the sounds of a well run camp. Wei Ying sat up, yawning and waking Lan Zhan in the process. He looked around, bleary eyed.

"We must have tired ourselves out." Wei Ying mumbled.

Hui Gai was playing Jacks with their daughter, and Hongse came to give them two bowls with fresh water. They washed their hands and faces, and she replaced those bowls with ones full of porridge.

Wei Ying made a face, because while his stomach was practically screaming for nourishment, he was put off by the sludge. The glare from Hongse fixed that quickly, and soon breakfast was over with.

"So?" Hongse returned to sit with them again.

Lan Zhan scowled, although only Wei Ying could tell. His husband was particularly annoyed by this woman today. He took his hand to calm him down.

"So...what?" Wei Ying asked her.

"What are our plans now?"

Oh.

Wei Ying scrambled for the answer in his mind, because "I don't know" sounded bad, even to himself.

"We are waiting for nightfall." Lan Zhan answered calmly, squeezing their already joined hands.

Wei Ying relaxed immediately, smiling brightly.

"Yes, that's exactly it."

"Would you mind repeating that rhyme again? I'm afraid I don't remember it too well."

This, he could do.

"A lone oak tree,
Over land, over lake,
Where we roam free,
Our love, our life,
Is hidden within.

A rainbow at night,
Invisible in daylight,
Concealed to those,
Whose ignorance is pain,

True of heart,
Of mind and deed,
Who lives with grace,
Only he will find peace."

"It seems the rainbow part was easy to find." Hongse said. "But the rest of it...I can't see an oak tree around here." She sighed. "I wish the immortals weren't so cryptic."

"But then, anyone would be able to find her home. And if she was hiding from assassins, I'd bet she would want as less people knowing about it as possible. Maybe that's the hidden part." Wei Ying replied.

"Assassins cause pain. And they're ignorant." Lan Zhan added.

"True." Wei Ying kissed his cheek. "Maybe we just have to wait."

********

Evening fell, throwing candy colours at the sky, a unique blend of sugar pinks, peaches and orange. The evening star shone first.

"Wan Xing." Lan Zhan pointed it out to Wei Ying who was sitting, leaning against his chest.

Slowly, more stars appeared as the darkness deepened until finally, they saw Beidou.

"Look, Lan Zhan! That's the last star? Tianguan...XiChen-Ge said it's called the Heavenly Pass."

"Mn." Lan Zhan kissed the top of his head proudly.

But then, even as they watched, that last star began to shine even brighter, glowing and growing. It suddenly burst into many tiny stars and fell one by one into the gap where two mountains joined.

Wei Ying stood up excitedly.

"There! That's where we have to go." He pointed in that direction.

They all looked at him blankly, even Lan Zhan, although he stood up, ready to leave.

"Wait...don't tell me none of you saw that?" Wei Ying stared at their puzzled faces.

Lan Zhan discreetly took his temperature.

"Stop that, there's nothing wrong with me." Wei Ying stepped back.

"Master Wei, I can assure you, we clearly did not see whatever you saw." Hongse bowed low. "But if there's one thing this journey has taught me, it is to expect the unexpected. I believe whatever you saw was for your eyes only. Perhaps the rest of us are not worthy."

Wei Ying turned to Lan Zhan.

"You believe me, don't you?"

"Always." His voice was firm.

Wei Ying looked up at the sky again, where the big Dipper looked as it always looked.

"I'm sure of what I saw. If you don't want to follow me, that's fine too." He told them, excluding Lan Zhan who had already taken his hand.

"We will come with you regardless." Hongse said. "At the end of all this, I hope we can find our Master and our sister. How we go about it matters not. Sometimes, all it takes is faith. Who knows for what reason we have been brought together? Whatever it is, know that we will help you however we can."

Wei Ying bowed back.

"Thank you." He said, simply.

They gathered their things and prepared to move out.

Excitement had Wei Ying walking on ahead with Lan Zhan. What looked like mountains from far away turned out to be large hills. The climb was not difficult, only arduous because of the steep incline.

Li XiWang had taken both their hands somewhere along the line, and now the three of them progressed together. Once they climbed to the summit, Wei Ying looked around, disappointed.

A barren empty field lay before them.

No oak tree, no lake.

Nothing.

To his amazement, Li XiWang picked up a stick and began to draw characters on the ground. For a second, nothing happened, and then the characters began to burn like fire, red and hot as they sizzled into the ground.

"What are you doing, little rabbit?" Wei Ying asked her.

He placed a hand on her shoulder and when she turned to face him, her eyes were that peculiar silver white again.

"Watch." She said, in a voice that was deeper than his little girl's.

She raised her hand to touch an invisible barrier that shimmered when she touched it.

"Come with me," she said, taking their hands again.

She led them straight towards the barrier, and they passed through it alone.

Hongse and her sisters had been lagging behind them, and when they crossed over the top of the hills, she was just in time to see them disappear...into nothing.

She hurried forward until she reached that place, but when she touched it, it repelled her back with such force that it was only by the quick thinking of her sisters that she was caught safely.

They tried different methods to no avail, until finally, they gave up.

Whatever was waiting for the Yiling Patriarch and Hanguang-Jun beyond the barrier, was theirs alone to deal with now.