THE YILING MATRIARCH

Chapter 25 : Alone at last

Wei Meifeng thought she and Wangji would never leave Jin Guangyao and Lan Xichen presence after they had arrived just in time to save Nie Huaisang; while the older Lan brother had a calming aura that set all around him were at ease with, the other man was unsettling. Despite the honorable role he played in the Sunshot Campaign, his eyes made her feel anxious, watching the world with an ever-shifting gaze that made you wonder if he were looking at you as a person or as a stone in his path. Then there was the way he had looked at her as she and Wangji had left to find more clues along their never-ending quest, so the thought alone sent a nervous shiver down her spine, making Meifeng kick herself slightly.

Whether it be a pervert or an impossible task, nothing made Wei Meifeng shiver like a helpless maiden or scared her into backing down.

The luminous light along their path was gentler as she and Wangji walked in silence, distracting her thankfully from these thoughts as she watched the innocent light create shadows for her to find odd shapes in them for her own amusement. To her left was a wild bush, which no doubt attracted butterflies once daytime stretched over the sky, made her think of wine. Along the ridge of a tree where an owl hooted from one of it's limbs towards her right, she spotted the shape of a rabbit mid-leap in the bark. All these images and more floated in her head yet still Wangji's serious face gained her attention as she sensed he was waiting for her to talk about their recent run-in, and she dared not disappoint the bored Lan Zhan.

"It's interesting how they used both the spirit of their blade and corpses to restrain the wrath; without the Devil's Mark, we'll never find the rest of the missing body parts. I dare say it's pretty impressive-" Meifeng's words were cut off as she was suddenly pushed against the surface of a tree, Wangji hovering over her with an expression of his face that appeared a mix of worry and... possessiveness? How could such an emotion belong to him unless. "Lan Zhan, what's the matter? Don't you want to hear what I have to say?" His face tightened, almost painfully so, as his beautiful eyes shut themselves from her gaze before looking away from her towards where the Devil's mark had attempted to take her again.

"You are troublesome." Meifeng's eyebrows dropped hearing his voice sounding almost torn, only rolling her eyes a little at his choice of wording for her knowing the guy was, once again, beating himself up for her being hurt; the years had not erased his habit of taking care of everyone, making no room for error in his self-imposed heroic need. Though where had that possessiveness come from that she had seen- wait. The look she had been getting from Jin Guangyao that, if stares like that equaled actions, would send her six feet under... again. This had been what sparked Wangji's extreme protectiveness he felt towards her, especially after just coming back into his life, and had therefore created the possessiveness that burned within her boyfriend to throttle the man, clan leader be damned.

Taking his handsomely thin face in her hands, she made those eyes look directly at her, and spoke slowly so she kept his attention; not many got this sort of treatment from her. "Lan Wangji. I. Am not. Going. Anywhere. I know my death was sudden, leaving you alone like that for so long as people spat on my memory and anything to do with me, and for putting you through that, I'm so deeply sorry. I know we will never be able to get that time back, but nothing at this point could drag me away from this new life I have been given to spend with you once more. Nothing. Not even whoever is behind this whole damn plot to put us through hell, cause I doubt they are doing it for a couple of giggles to laugh at our misery." The longer she spoke, the more her words pounded against his heart like a drum; hearing her use pronouns referring to the both of them set a kind of fire in his soul he hadn't felt with anyone else but her. "When this is all sorted out- when we put this humpty-dumpty back together again with body and soul as one, and my name can be cleared of the wrong against me- you're never going to be able to get rid of me for as long as we both shall live."