A service? What could it be?

"It has something to do with your locket." Da Tuzi says, in that calming way of his.

His deep dark eyes are shining with curiosity, too.

"To be honest, we had questions for you, even before we came here tonight." Wei Ying says, pulling out his locket. His thumb traces the pattern on the outside, the coat of arms his grandfather must have taken great pains to engrave upon an unforgiving metal.

"I will be happy to answer any that does not interfere with my blood oath." Da Tuzi bows slightly, a tilt of his upper body to show his sincerity.

He can't be blamed for wanting things to go back to what they were like, just a few minutes ago, when Lan Zhan still trusted him.

Lan Zhan wants the same thing, so he can understand that to some degree.

Meanwhile, Wei Ying launches right into it.

"Oh, great!" He says, brightly. "Who commissioned the fountain at the front of this building? And who designed it?"

"This mansion has existed for hundreds of years. It has been the base of the Lan Clan for so long, some of the records have disappeared. But that fountain was added around three hundred years ago."

"Oh." Wei Ying looks disappointed. "It's just that, I was hoping for something more recent. I don't know why, but it pulls at me. Every time I go closer, I need to stop and look at it, and I don't know why." He rubs at a spot next to his temple.

"There were modifications ordered more recently." Da Tuzi says, a twinkle in his eye.

"What kind of modifications?" Wei Ying's head snaps up, immediately alert.

"A couple of months before your parents visited, actually." Da Tuzi looks excited, as he scratches his chin thoughtfully. "I thought it was rather odd that vandals would break in and smash the staff...on the fountain. The wards were not in place at the time, and we had to order another one, since I'm in charge of restorations on this property. The new one was delivered and installed a few days before Wei Changze and Cangse Sanren arrived."

"The vandals didn't damage anything else?" At Da Tuzi's head shaking no, Wei Ying agrees with him. "That's really strange. Especially because they could have tried to break in, causing some real damage."

"Most definitely."

"We should go outside and look at it, just ... just to put my mind at ease. But, there's something else." Wei Ying reaches into his pocket and pulls out the last remaining connection between himself and his parents. "Do you know what this could mean? I thought it looked like a compass, but I could be wrong. And given your proximity to vampires, can you read the Glyphs? What do they say?"

Da Tuzi takes the piece of paper, turning it this way and that, rotating the circle.

"I cannot truthfully say. I can read one of the Glyphs for sure, this one means blood." He points at it.

"We know that one, too." Wei Ying replies, still feeling low.

He had been hoping that this chat with Da Tuzi would prove to be more enlightening, but really, their list of questions was only growing.

"Have you tried Googling them?" Da Tuzi says, suddenly. "I find that very helpful, especially when there's nothing that seems to work."

"No way!" Wei Ying laughs out loud, he's so surprised at that. "Really? You think that'll work?"

Da Tuzi is blushing as he nods.

Lan Zhan has already pulled out his phone and started typing, as Wei Ying takes the diagram back.

"Omg!!" Wei Ying says, when Lan Zhan shows him the results.

They quickly begin to compare what is on their piece of paper and the different Glyphs depicted on Google's chart.

"That one! Look, it's the same!" Wei Ying exclaims. "It means energy." He points to a sign that looks like an incomplete nine figure with a single dot inside its head, and another at the outside of its tail.

"Mn. And this one: Power." Lan Zhan shows him another sign that is like two closing brackets parallel to each other, connected by two mirroring dots at their centre and a line drawn through both dots.

"We know the one for blood, oh, look, it's this one." Wei Ying points at another sign.

This one is a vertical line attached to a half circle like a drunk person trying to write an 'L' and messing up the bottom of it, making a hill instead. Two dots are on the inside curve next to one another.

"Hope." Lan Zhan breathes out.

He's still reeling from this discovery.

How is it that they never thought of asking Google before? Such a simple solution to something so mysterious and complex!

Wei Ying is already pulling him up.

"Let's go check that fountain! I have an idea!" Wei Ying turns to Da Tuzi. "You come too!" And with that, he's running towards the spiral staircase to go back upstairs.

Lan Zhan loves this side of Wei Ying's nature.

So excited at the thought of unravelling another mystery, the fruit of exercising his brain and working something out.

Wei Ying loves puzzles, and Lan Zhan will be the first to admit that he looks very hot while he's doing it.

There is something about Wei Ying, to see the gears turning in that pretty head of his, and when he figures it out, that Eureka moment! That's when Lan Zhan wants to push him against a wall, any hard surface really, and kiss the daylights out of him. Every day he thanks his lucky stars that he got to meet Wei Ying in this lifetime. It is a gift he will continue to cherish.

They're already outside, and running towards the fountain. Da Tuzi is following at his own pace.

While Lan Zhan is looking at the two fighters, admiring how lifelike they appear, which is a testament to the brilliant skill of the craftsmanship of this piece, Wei Ying is studying the stone basin.

He pulls Lan Zhan around the outer circle, looking for something.

"There it is!" He crows, delighted with his discovery.

On the rim of the fountain's base, Wei Ying has found the first Glyph. The one for hope.

It doesn't take long for them to find the other three.

Wei Ying begins to pace.

Lan Zhan remembers the photo of Cangse Sanren and Wei Changze, the one Baoshan Sanren had shown them, that day on the projector.

He pulls it up and shows Wei Ying.

Wei Ying drags them both to the same angle in the photo, and poses in the same way as his mother was, in the picture, all those years ago.

"Lan Zhan? Is she...is she pointing at that staff?" Wei Ying almost shouts it out, so shocked and excited he is.

"Mn." Lan Zhan is also smiling.

"We need a ladder...or...or..."

There's suddenly silence, as the water is switched off.

Da Tuzi waves at them from a stop water switch on the side of the mansion, hidden behind a bush.

Wei Ying gives him two thumbs up.

"No need for a ladder." Lan Zhan says, climbing onto the edge of the basin.

It's flatter than they first thought, and he reaches out a hand for Wei Ying to take, pulling him up to stand next to him.

"I cannot reach the staff from here, but if I lift Wei Ying-"

"Then we can! Lan Zhan, you're a genius!!" Wei Ying kisses his cheek with exuberance, laughing with real joy when Lan Zhan scowls back.

That chaste, sweet kiss wasn't enough, and definitely wasn't where he wanted it.

Kisses with Wei Ying were never enough.

"Later!" Wei Ying promises, in his ear, because Lan has already lifted him up by his narrow waist.

Wei Ying barely stops himself from shivering at this intimate contact. He feels like an ice skater lifted up by his partner, offered up to the skies of good fortune.

And then he's right above the staff.

Now it all makes sense!

The diagram was of this fountain, and the line stabbing the centre of the circle was this spear.

"Can you reach it?" Lan Zhan asks him, jogging him out of his thoughts.

"Yep, but it might be rusted, all these years around water...oh, nevermind!" Wei Ying calls out, as the spear slides free, detaches without any trouble. It's much lighter than he thought it would be, and just as he pulls it free, Lan Zhan is climbing down from the edge of the fountain.

There's a sudden whooshing sound and all of the water in the basin of the fountain drains away.

Lan Zhan shoves Wei Ying behind him, as the sound of metal grating against stone is heard, and then a section like a blunt slice of pizza pulls away from the rest of the circle.

Da Tuzi hands them a torch, and Lan Zhan shines it into the gaping darkness.

There are steps.

Lots of them, leading into the deep, dark hole, a secret path hidden for years and years, only now coming to light.