WangXian Forever Book 9: The Flower Demon

Chapter 42 Past

They walked out of the cave together, and were met by both Hui Gai and Baoshan Sanren.

She took one look at him, and asked, "How do you feel now?" She grabbed Wei Ying’s wrist and took a measure of his pulse. She closed her eyes. "The poison has been successfully removed."

"Much better, Grandmother." Wei Ying says, but swiftly follows it up with a yelp, as she flicks his forehead. "What was that for?" He asks, rubbing the spot.

Lan Zhan is surreptitiously glaring at the ground, because he can't exactly direct his displeasure at her.

"You've been keeping secrets from us. It's time to spill." Baoshan Sanren was just as tall as him, and yet she could make herself tower over all three of them. She crossed her arms over her chest and raised a brow, daring him to argue with her.

"What secrets?" Wei Ying turned to Lan Zhan, genuinely confused.

"The Goddess Chang'e mentioned the Keeper of Heavenly Treasures. Wei Ying made a deal….?" Lan Zhan reminds him.

"You should really talk to someone first, before agreeing to things you have no understanding of!" Baoshan Sanren snapped at him, her annoyance reminding Wei Ying of Jiang Cheng, bizarrely.

"Oh….that…." Wei Ying says, grinning sheepishly.

"Let's sit down." Lan Zhan says and manoeuvres Wei Ying to sit in between himself and Hui Gai so that Baoshan Sanren can't reach him.

The action does not go unnoticed by their grandmother, who bites back a smile. They are sitting underneath the peach tree and a few blossoms swirl around them, their petals wafting with sweet perfume.

"Goddess Chang'e said Wei Ying made a deal with the Keeper of Heavenly Treasures, a promise in return for opening the Book." Lan Zhan repeats himself, cautious of saying anything Wei Ying may not wish to reveal yet.

"Um…so do you guys remember when we were making plans to go to the Nether world? We were all worried about Yao Wang and what we were going to find there, right?" Wei Ying says, reaching out to take Lan Zhan’s hand.

"Wei Ying said he opened the Book of Prophecy to check." Lan Zhan recalls. He brings up their joint hands to kiss Wei Ying’s side.

"Well…um, just before all that, the thing is, there was a ward on the book and I accidentally triggered something, and I summoned the Keeper of Heavenly Treasures. He was right there, in the Jingshi. And he said that if he allowed me to read the book, then I'd have to make a promise in return…and I said yes, because it didn't seem like he was serious…okay?"

Wei Ying looked back defensively at three faces who were staring at him in disbelief.

"Why would you think he didn't mean it?" Hui Gai asked him. His friend was a genius but sometimes…

"Well, it's been my experience that people like to make things out to be far more serious than they really are?" Wei Ying blushes.

"Such as?" Lan Zhan asks him.

"Um…no offence, but the wall of rules…" his blush deepens.

Lan Zhan snorts, the ghost of a smile playing on his lips.

"Alright, you have a point." Baoshan Sanren agrees.

The other three stare back at her in surprise.

"What?" She snaps. "It's the truth. Anyway, carry on." She waves at Wei Ying casually.

"So…he showed me how to open it and then, I kind of forgot about my promise." Wei Ying looks sheepishly at his own lap.

"What was the promise?" Lan Zhan asks him, his voice full of nothing but kindness.

"Well, he said that as an immortal, it was our responsibility to 'heed the call to arms' as he put it. He said that in return for looking at something that was a veritable explosive - his words, not mine, I had to promise to help if it was needed. And then, when we came back, the Spirit of the Moon Tree reminded me about the promise too, but I swear I thought they were making a mountain out of a molehill. And then nothing happened so I thought they dealt with whatever the problem was!" Wei Ying felt slightly hysterical at having to explain himself like this, when he thought everything had been an honest mistake from start to finish.

"They're rather vague…" Hui Gai said.

"That's how they reel you in." Baoshan Sanren said, quite firmly. "How do you think I joined the Celestial Warriors? First, they ask nicely, then it's a different matter…" her voice tapers off.

"Chang'e tried to warn us…but how do you think she managed to poison me?" Wei Ying was tapping his nose thoughtfully. "There were lots of people at the banquet, and it was arranged suddenly…and she was still able to get to me."

"In this world, it all depends on how much someone wants something." His grandmother replied.

"Alright, grandma, I think it's your time to spill. What do you know about the Flower Demon?" Wei Ying turns towards her.

"Hardly anything substantial. She's a martial artist too, and has no conscience. And you can add the destruction of the Lotus crop to her list of crimes." Baoshan Sanren stated, feeling antsy enough to start pacing. "The Celestial Warriors were tasked to find her after she broke out of the Nether world…this was a few years back. Yao Wang was just beginning to branch out and he stopped caring about his job, which was to regulate those beings which were punished and entrusted to his care."

"Maybe he thought if she was an added distraction for you guys, then he could carry on with his nefarious dealings." Wei Ying said, pondering her words. "Any reason why she was there in the first place? Or why did she break out? Do we know?"

Baoshan Sanren shook her head.

"It's not necessary for us to know everything. Once the Jade Emperor gives an order, it must be fulfilled." She explains.

"What did the Flower Demon tell you?" Lan Zhan asks Wei Ying, finally.

Wei Ying looks around and sees all of them looking at him, completely focused on what he has to say.

"She demanded the JingLing. And when it looked like I wasn't going to give it to her, that's when she said she was going to take something precious to me, as a collateral asset, encouragement to give her what she wants. She promised to return whatever she took, when we uphold our part of the bargain, but honestly? I don't trust her." His silver eyes became dark, and hard as granite. "And now…I'm just plain angry."