Wild Creatures

Chapter 132

Baoshan Sanren is a wild, untamed driver.

That is Wei Ying's first thought.

Then, she gets rid of the roof and suddenly, the wind is whipping through Wei Ying's hair, stealing his breath and obliterating his thoughts as they race back to the National Park and Recs building.

Reckless but somehow, safe? That's his second thought, when feeling returns to his face.

He wondered what would happen if the cops stopped her, and then he wondered whether his grandmother had actually tampered with anyone's mental state in that situation, because he supposed that she could always make them "forget" her and her car, whichever of the many ones at her disposal she might be driving that day.

Her parking is immaculate, sliding into the empty spot with the grace of a ballerina.

He stumbles when it's time to get out of the car.

She's a fantastic driver though, if a little spontaneous, and maybe Xiao XingChen was expecting it, because he catches Wei Ying and prevents him from eating the floor.

"I'll take him," his grandmother says, gesturing to the trunk. "There's a surprise for you and A-Lan in there. We'll talk more in my office."

Baoshan Sanren grabs his arm with a grin and marches Wei Ying towards the elevator.

"Aren't we gonna wait for him?" Wei Ying asks, a lot better now.

"Nah, him and Song Lan have been inseparable these past few days. I think they've done the deed," she winks exaggeratedly, and continues. "They'll wanna look through that box together, and then I'll tell them about going home."

"Right, but TMI, grandma!" Wei Ying makes a face. "Anyway, what are we gonna do?" He stretches, his hands clasped and high above his head.

"I thought we could start sorting through the documents and notes that Wen Rouhan and Wen Qing had. Maybe translating can wait until we have a system in place? I'd like to know the gist of what we have."

They get off on the library level, and there's a sandwich and a thermos of hot tea waiting for Wei Ying, in the third room from the circular one. Wei Ying's stomach is very much on board with this plan.

"Let's get started," she says, as soon as he's finished eating.

The following few hours are spent cataloguing papers and the few artifacts that the undercover ninja teams were able to retrieve, until Wei Ying thinks they've gone through about half of the haul.

He's come across plans for items which would help with the Cultivation World, not only at that time, but would come in useful even now. There are modifications on spirit luring flags, compasses that would point to the source of resentment when cleansing places of hauntings, or cursed items. There were specific and detailed instructions on how to construct a spiritual cage of containment, very much like spiritual nets designed to lure and trap beasts full of resentment.

All in all, the time flies by and it's only when Wei Ying's stomach protests that just a sandwich isn't going to substitute a proper meal, organising a full-on protest with pitchforks and molotov cocktails, that Wei Ying checks his watch.

It's gone past seven.

He hadn't even noticed the hours speeding by, and neither did his grandmother, because she's chewing on the end of a biro, fully absorbed with reading the notes Wei Ying had scribbled in the margins of a paper detailing how to create a heat seeking missive, but this was tailor-made for yin-strength beasts and animals.

With a jolt to his system, Wei Ying realises that Lan Zhan hasn't come for him.

Didn't he promise to come and collect Wei Ying, after he had fetched the children from school? Then where was he?