OUR HAPPILY EVER AFTER (A WANGXIAN STORY)

Chapter 41

Years ago...

White hair draped over the bed, eyes grey and dark, the smell of the grass lingering on pale skin, lowly growls in every forced breath. ZhiHao was changing. He'd tasted blood.

"Gahk!", he winced from the excruciating pain following the reconstruction of his internal organs. Once ZhiHao killed by sucking out the life of a person, animal or being, he'd turn into a full fledged demon. Merciless and hungry for more.

GuanYu and Ping could not sooth his pangs. They could only watch as their friend groaned like a wounded beast. 

At day break the Grandmaster was told that Gui had fled after he was discovered to be the cause of Wei Ying's condition. Baoshan Sanren cared for all her disciples but she'd long learned how to let them go. 

She visited Wei Ying after some days in her attempt to revive him. After a long time of spirit connection she withdrew her hands and let out a strained sigh. The usual stillness in her expressions compromised with a small frown. 

"Grandmaster, is it not working?...Is he going to remain like this forever?", GuanYu was concerned. 

  Grandmaster, "In all honesty I don't know. Wei Ying's new core is pulling his soul to a realm beyond my reach. The force holding unto the remnants of his soul is entirely Yin energy..."

Ping, "Does that mean..."

"Yes, my child...His memories are not entirely gone. But once it is, his golden core will make him ascend to the heavens to keep him safe. And my grandson who would have no memory of who he is will be lost...Lets give it a few more days and try again. ", She got up.

The door slid open. "There's no way I'm letting him stay here any longer....I'm going to wake him up." 

The Grandmaster's eyes grew wide when she saw a taller demon with a more gruesomely refined look than the one she was used to. She sharply turned to the Chen siblings, who now lowered their heads. 

"You allowed a demon to devour your senior brother and lie to me in the face!", her frown grew deeper.

She could smell the blood of her disciple coursing through the demon's veins. Ping and GuanYu dropped to the floor, kissing the ground with their foreheads. 

"Would you rather I let them die in his stead? That I let that snake you nurtured take advantage of your grandson.", ZhiHao frowned....

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Present day...After a year...

Wei Ying was stirred awake in the morning by a sharp pain in his abdomen. 'No...I cant let it happen again.', he lay flat on his back and drew symbols in the air; luckily his husband was not around. Carefully, he lowered two fingers on the pained area trying to still the foetus in his womb...

During the day Wei Ying felt weak. He slept through to midday, unbothered by his husband. Lan Wangji was not sure about leaving him alone but had to tend to some matters. After Wei Ying took his brunch he decided to take a walk. "Shidi's classes should have ended by now.", he remembered since Wangji was in charge of HuiZhong's studies. 

Sure enough he saw the boy standing in front of his class with Madam Lan. Wei Ying smiled thinking of how honourable it must be to raise a healthy son like Lan Jiang. However, his smile suddenly disappeared when he saw the boy's mother grab him by the shoulders with brute force and shake him. He had to rush over and try to calm her.

"Madam Lan, please calm down...I'm sure Lan Jiang did not mean to upset you, right Shidi? ", Wei Ying used simple words coupled with a remorseful look for the boy.