Part 5 – Runaway Blade

“Thank you for defending my honor back there, Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian murmured as they walked along, Bichen’s jade tassel twined around his finger. “It was sexy.”

“Mn,” Lan Wangji replied, looking askance.

Wei Wuxian’s lips curved. “You’re still angry with me, aren’t you? Did my chatting with Mianmian make you jealous?”

Lan Wangji didn’t reply. But the line of his mouth thinned a telling fraction.

“Maybe I flirted with her a bit on purpose,” Wei Wuxian said lowly, his smile turning seductive as he leaned up to whisper in his husband’s ear. “Maybe I like making you a little jealous. Maybe it turns me on.” Ever so slightly, he brushed his lips against the shell of Lan Wangji’s ear. “Maybe you can punish me for it later, if you like.”

Lan Wangji looked to him then, and the expression in his light eyes was so heated it made Wei Wuxian’s stomach flip. “…Prepare yourself.”

Wei Wuxian grinned. After a while, he threw his arms back behind his head and sighed dramatically.

“All this walking is such a chore. I miss my Lil’ Apple!”

“You should’ve brought him then,” Lan Jingyi said, ahead of him.

“I tried to, but he wouldn’t budge. He’s gotten too spoiled in Gusu Lan, laying around all day with those lazy rabbits and eating out of the hand of that cute little girl-disciple, er…” Had he ever learned her name? Scratching his chin, Wei Wuxian shrugged. “As far as steeds go, it seems Lil’ Apple leaves much to be desired.”

“You’re just now realizing this?” Lan Jingyi glanced back, shaking his head. “That donkey of yours is worse than useless. Anything else would be better.”

“Jingyi!” Lan Sizhui chided from beside him, while the rest of the Lan juniors exchanged looks of assent.

But Wei Wuxian just chuckled as he sprang forward, wrapping his arms and legs around his unsuspecting target. “You carry me, then!”

Lan Jingyi stumbled, his knees nearly buckling. “No! Let go of me, you lunatic!”

Aghast at them both, Lan Sizhui cried, “Jingyi, Senior Wei! Please stop.”

“You heard him, A-Yuan. He said ‘anything’, didn’t he?”

“That’s not what I meant!”

As Lan Sizhui helped to pry Wei Wuxian off, Wen Ning offered with a mild rictus-smile, “I’ll carry you, Young Master.”

Now that they were well outside of civilization, the Ghost General had joined up with them once again. Beaming over at him, Wei Wuxian was shameless enough to accept. But as he detached himself from the struggling Lan Jingyi, a strong grip on the back of his collar restrained him—

Not a moment too soon, as a seething, silver flash streaked through the air where his neck might have been.

Wei Wuxian cursed, jumping back. Lan Wangji’s hold on his collar broke, as he shoved his husband protectively behind him. Bichen was unsheathed, glowing faintly blue. Before Lan Sizhui and the other juniors, Wen Ning crouched defensively, prepared to lunge, while Wei Wuxian scanned their surroundings with narrowed eyes. He had an inkling of what it was he’d just seen shoot by them, but it had happened so fast…

Just then, from a dip in the road ahead of them, a posh, green-and-gold-clad figure surfaced in a panic. A retinue of armed men flanked him, as they all hurried back toward Wei Wuxian and his group.

“I-I’m sorry!” their leader called out breathlessly, almost tripping over his own feet as he ran. “I…I couldn’t control it!”

“Nie Huaisang?” Wei Wuxian blinked, then whirled. “Hanguang-Jun, it’s his saber—look out!”

Mo Dao Zu Shi © Mo Xiang Tong Xiu