08.20 am Sunday

Having ADHD wasn't a bad thing, per say, but now...looking at all these open tabs and keeping track of what was going on basically everywhere, Mo XuanYu could learn to appreciate it.

He'd already hacked into the system and was currently trying to override Wen Rouhan's command of opening all the cage doors in that manky basement, but as it turned out, that simply wasn't possible. He could open doors but not close them.

Wen Rouhan had done something right in installing a failsafe of actually being in the security room, and physically pressing the button which would stop the attack happening right now, on the lowest level in the Wen Laboratories compound.

So that presented a problem, unless Mo XuanYu found a way to override the override already in place...

Mo XuanYu had at least ten tabs open and he was keeping an eye on all that he could, bemoaning the cheapskate who picked where the security cameras would be set up.

It wasn't fair that they had picked the most boring, unimaginative places possible, and then made them worse.

His eyes catch a movement in the camera installed where his father is being kept prisoner...was being kept prisoner. Since he opened the door himself, Mo XuanYu thought his sorry excuse for a dad would try to run away, make for the exit and save his own skin.

Unfortunately (for him), open doors meant that while he could go out, something else could also come in.

That's why doors were magical.

The energy they radiated was mind-blowing.

Right now, Mo XuanYu smiled coldly, because his father's eyes had widened. He crawled backwards, trying to make himself seem smaller, but the corner was only so big, and the vampires had smelled him out.

They were coming for him.

Feral, wild and certainly out of control, they advanced. Every action was threatening because Mo XuanYu was assuming that these poor creatures hadn't been fed in a while. And then he smiled at the irony of poor fate, when their first meal was going to be so terrible.

Mo XuanYu watched as the first vampire attacked, aiming for Jin GuanShan's throat, and then it was like a feeding frenzy as all of them rushed into that compact cell and tore him apart. Limbs were thrown, caught, sucked upon and discarded.

It was terrible to watch, but Mo XuanYu made himself keep his eyes open, forced himself to witness the last few moments of a man who had never taken the trouble to be his father.

For his mother.

And for himself.

Justice could be served with the lifting of a single finger.

Mo XuanYu waited, watching the screen long after it was emptied, with only a dark pool shadowing the place where that man had been. He waited to feel bad, for remorse that would not come.

In its place was cold satisfaction instead.

*************

Tension rose with the audible shrieks and screeches that heralded the fight.

Lan Zhan turned to Wei Ying, desperation and a grim calmness in his golden eyes.

"My love...what is it?" Wei Ying is looking up at him, and there is so much love glistening in his beautiful eyes, quicksilver and molten at what he must see within Lan Zhan.

Lan Zhan holds his dear face, drinking in the sight of this gorgeous man, how wonderful and captivating he is, how generous of heart.

"I love you, Wei Ying. Let's get married after this." And he crashes their lips together while A-Qing groans behind them.

They feel the heat of her curved blades as she makes them sizzle alight with fire, but here, in this moment? It is only them.

Soft lips, eagerly seeking more, stealing each other's breath and chasing after each tingling sunbeam lifting their hearts. Like this, they can believe in tomorrow, they can believe they will win.

Out of breath, they hold hands as they pull apart.

And then Wei Ying remembered what his grandmother had given him.

"Here! I can't bring myself to use it," he says, handing Lan Zhan the gun. "Can you shoot?"

Lan Zhan's lips turn slightly, and he says, "I can not miss."

Wei Ying giggles, and Lan Zhan feels happy, able to hear his most favourite sound, one last time.

Xiao XingChen feels Song Lan stirring and tenses up, hoping against hope that whatever his affliction was, that it no longer is affecting him that way.

"A-Chen?"

His name falling from those lips?

Xiao XingChen cannot believe it. His ears were thirsting to hear this voice for so long, that it feels like a dream now.

A wonderful happy dream where nothing can hurt them, and they are finally together.

But as the sound of impending doom reaches closer, he knows he will have to wait until they're out of danger.

"A-Lan...it is good to see you." Xiao XingChen discreetly wipes his eyes, hoping they alone can convey everything he feels. "Can you stand up?"

"I don't know," Song Lan smiles sheepishly, healing the worries in Xiao XingChen's heart.

"Then wait here. We won't let them get to you." Xiao XingChen reluctantly eases out of his arms and stands up, while Song Lan has only now noticed that there are other people in the same room, and his face flames a brighter red than those fiery scythes, chakras of death.

"What's going on? Where are we?" He asks, despite his embarrassment.

"Wen Qing, please fill him in." Xiao XingChen says, standing up.

He bends to place a kiss on Song Lan's head, before going to stand next to Baoshan Sanren.

She gives him a warm smile, an acknowledgement of what has been returned to him, and then she rolls her shoulders.

"I don't know about you, but damned if I'm going to go out this way."

Her swords start spinning and as the first vampires break into the room, they become her first victims as well.

Chaos.

That's how Wei Ying feels as he watches all these people that he's come to love, admire and respect.

But what he has to watch is gruesome, gory and frightening.

There are so many of these monsters, fighting to get in, fighting to get to THEM, that this feels like a losing battle.

Lan Zhan uses all the bullets in his gun, and he's an expert marksman. The problem lies in numbers.

The gun only has six bullets and however accurate his aim is, there are simply too many of them for it to make a difference. The ones he manages to get, scream in anguish, the holy water coated silver bullets causing so much more damage than ordinary ones. The putrid stench of rotting flesh hits the air as the fighters try not to gag.

The bodies are kicked aside to make room by their very own kind as they reform to attack once more.

And then Lan Zhan decides to transform.

His talons take the place of his usual manicured fingers, and his canines come out, sharp and aching to do some real damage. He snarls with need, and hears Wei Ying say, "omfg, that's so hot!".

But he needs to focus, and when the second wave comes, they're ready.

With one fell swoop, Lan Zhan leapt into the air and ripped out the throat of an unsuspecting vampire, clearly lacking in basic combat skills. Lan Zhan's super sharp talons finish the job, separating his head from his torso in quick succession, ready to move onto the next one.

Since he has to use his hands and fangs to fight, it's close contact fighting, and he has to move away from Wei Ying in order to be able to properly protect him; he doesn't have to worry though, because both Baoshan Sanren and Xiao XingChen have replaced him, as they're using swords which have a slightly longer range.

Wen Zhuliu has moved to stand with Wen Qing, and he still seems to be under Baoshan Sanren's compulsion, because he hasn't shown any signs of switching sides.

Two other vampires flank Lan Zhan and they cut through swathes of wild vampires, saliva and venom dripping from their mouths, as they snarl and growl, becoming ever bolder. Snapping their teeth in anticipation of a meal that Lan Zhan intends for them never to taste, he picks one of them up and hurls him against the deluge of vampires who continue to attack.

A-Qing is a stand alone warrior, and the vampires can see that there's no point trying to attack her; her beautiful, blazing weapons have taken out more vampires than the other fighters have combined, and that's saying something.

But the waves of vampires are relentless and Wei Ying can see his people begin to tire. They are constantly in motion but they've also been at this for quite a while, and the sea of the enemy only appears to be getting more dense, rather than dissipating.

If this carries on, without any form of back up, they are going to lose.

There's no way to send a signal to Mo XuanYu, because Wei Ying has tried, and never has he hated technology and its boundaries as much as he does now. So if contact outside the confines of this place is out of the question, then the solution to this problem must reside within themselves.

What is the point of having the HeartStone if it's not working?

Wei Ying recalled how it felt to see Lan Zhan injured, to the point that he couldn't stand up. The marks on his chest and arm, and that stupid flower that was burned onto his left pectoral muscle...it made Wei Ying burn with anger.

How dare these Wens think they can touch anything of his?

What were they thinking, aiming to hurt his beloved like that?

Wei Ying doesn't think he can take anyone of this team of brave fighters getting hurt, or worse...but he nips that thought in the bud. There's no way he can allow that to happen.

They are his family now, and he will do anything to protect them.

That's when Wei Ying tries to think back, tries to remember if there is anything he can do to help his people. He has practised the tune that was supposed to be so important...so now that the HeartStone is around his neck, Wei Ying must find a way to make it work.

In his grandfather's notes, the first text he'd translated for Baoshan Sanren was most interesting, and since it had pulled at his curiosity, he'd remembered it, word for word.

'Activation of this device will happen automatically, once the item has been returned. The owner will be able to control the degrees of the dead, depending on the gestation period.'

What exactly did that mean? Wei Ying could understand the need for secrecy but at the same time, he wished his grandfather had just spelled it out.

So far, according to his personal list regarding the things they had in their arsenal, they had his ability to influence the moods and feelings of those around him, they had the HeartStone, and the locket, which Baoshan Sanren had deduced was a key, and together, once the key was in the lock so to speak, he could detect hundreds of vampires all over the world.

That being said, he did not know how to control them yet.

And he nearly forgot!

What about Chenqing and the musical score? Weren't they part of the great mystery, too?

So what would happen if Wei Ying combined everything?

Would it help them in any way?

Only one way to find out...

***********

A/N

Dear Beautiful and Patient Readers,

No update tomorrow because I'll be working on the Solstice Souls chapter, as many of you already know, it's a collaboration between myself and my best friend, the BEST co-author in the world, @edzooc8r.

I have many surprises ready to reveal in that one too, and I'm so eager to start writing. In the meantime, please do also check out her phenomenal writing, it's honestly such a pleasure to read, hands down, some of the best writing I've ever had the honour to read.

Good night to all!

Charlie.