THE YILING MATRIARCH

Chapter 33 : How a rat should've died

Running through the dense ground cover, Meifeng was able to find her way to what she thought was towards, as she knew, where Lan Zhan and Xue Yang were still fighting while concealed in the fog. Despite their proximity to one another, however, the heavy smog prevented them from seeing one another easily, thus giving Xue Yang a moment to recuperate until Lan Wangji could find him.

Knowing this, Meifeng tried to come up with a plan since she was in no way able at the moment to step in and fight alongside Wangji, and it was the incessant tapping of A-Qing's bamboo staff against the ground that gave her an idea.

Having experienced A-Qing's desire to avenge her fallen friend, there was no way the girl would not do all she could so the guilty Xue Yang was captured and put down like the filthy rat he was. All that Meifeng had to do now was simply tell him.

"Lan Zhan! Aim towards where the sound of that bamboo stick is coming from!" Wangji's reaction was instantaneous, doing as Meifeng had yelled out to her lover, and Bichen came down like a swift lightning strike on Xue Yang's shoulder, ripping the fabric of his clothing with it.

Red eyes widened in shock after Xue Yang felt himself being struck, stumbling back a few feet for a moment, but his surprise quickly turned to annoyed anger upon seeing A-Qing's ghost telling the others where he was so long as the sound of bamboo was coming from behind.

Xue Yang's voice when speaking towards A-Qing was low and menacing, which understandably intimidated the ghostly child as she tried to hold her ground against the murderer. Throwing a paper talisman then at A-Qing, ruby orbs watched in glee as her apparition twisted in agony until he felt Wangji take advantage of his opponent's attention off of him.

Meifeng, seeing the girl in pain, managed to save a piece of her before A-Qing's appearance disappeared altogether inside her Spirit trapping Pouch.

Meanwhile, Wangji had taken Xue Yang's own Spirit Trapping Bag in a remarkably unique technique that sent the man into an enraged panic that left him wide open to be slashed open. Left bloody and defeated, Wangji's towering form stood above Xue Yang like a white mountain, knowing the fight had officially ended. In that brief moment, his head lifted to search for Meifeng remembering having heard her voice earlier, and was caught in that silver gaze as she looked at him with a reassuring smile on her visage.

They had finally conquered yet another stone in their path that brought them one step closer to what they had initially set out to solve and hopefully clear any wrongs placed on Wei Meifeng's name.

Suddenly, in a flash of blue light that illuminated like the sun at Lan Wangji's feet, an unknown presence cloaked within a Teleportation Spell whisked Xue Yang's body away before any could identify the stranger they had seen only twice before.

It had most definitely been the gravedigger, recognizing the man's posture and habit of appearing where they least expected him, and he had been wounded based on how the left of the body was tenderly moved in accordance to lessen further injury to the area. Yet, at the same time, the person had put himself and his spiritual powers at risk to take Xue Yang away.

Was it only to rescue the Stygian Tiger Seal, which was in Xue Yang's possession? Both she and Lan Zhan believed it might've been the case, though they would only have to confirm this later upon their next encounter, so for now it was time they left the dead city and found their inn again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before leaving, Meifeng and the others watched Song Lan as he returned to the mausoleum of his deceased friend, mourning in total silence with only his head hung low having regained his consciousness. The sight set all of their hearts into a heavy mood, weighed by the grieving aura around the undead man, especially Meifeng who could still see what had happened through A-Qing's eyes years ago. A tear, alone in her eye, was caught by Wangji before wrapping an arm in comfort around her shoulders while his disciples were not watching the couple.

Jin Ling, standing off in front of the pair like the others, however saw this interaction between the stoic Hanguang-Jun and Meifeng. He understood from his uncle that Jiang Cheng and Wei Meifeng had studied under the Lan Clan to further their knowledge of the Cultivation arts, so there was no doubt they had been fellow students during that time, but this was unlike simple friendship between peers.

This was something that lit Jin Ling's face a subtle colour, having realized the two had to be a couple either previously or had become so during the current sequence of events. Subtle, they were not. Still, glancing back despite the knowledge burning his mind, he couldn't help but notice how they balanced each other out like a scale weight that had found its perfect match.

A/N: Another chapter and more Wangji/Meifeng moments! While this one felt shorter than other chapters, I hope you all enjoyed it! Also couldn't resist with this chapter's title; it's literally the first thing that popped into my head.