chapter 1 : finding you

Xiaoge

Ever since Wu Xie went out with Ah Ning and her team, Zhang Qiling had the nagging feeling that something was going to happen. Yes, they were just supposed to explore enough to find the missing companions that apparently had gotten inside the Devil City, either lost or looking for a better shelter from the sudden sandstorm that had hit them with its fury, but nothing in that place looked like an easy task, even when it should be.

Long hours had passed and the team was still searching, and even if Wu Xie kept in touch from time to time, to let him know they were doing fine, he felt restless. Soon, night was going to fall and that hellish place would be very cold, not to mention it was like a huge maze of sand and rocks, in which it was easy to get lost at any turn.

At night, he signaled Wang Pangzi and Pan Zi, so they could meet, as already planned, and go looking for Wu Xie. To be honest, he was already impatient to have to deal with Ah Ning's bunch of idiots, who were not a match for him at all, but kept getting in his way. Soon, the two came looking for him, and after Pan Zi dealt with the remaining Ah Ning's team, they left in search of their friend.

As time passes and there was no more communication with Wu Xie, Zhang Qiling's anxiousness begins to grow to a point it was plain to see by both of his companions, who keep bickering all the way, probably

influenced by the Devil City itself. As they camp on their second night, they can see Xiaoge staring at the night sky, looking lost and worrying. Both of them knew that Xiaoge

will not mutter a word of his inner concerns, but regardless of words, he will always care for Wu Xie the most, as his feelings for the young man may be carved deeper into His heart that he probably wanted.

Thus, they kept on walking for long hours under the scorching sun and cold nights, going in circles at first, then in and out of deceiving paths, as they tried to find their way towards the lost group, until they finally reached the place where they saw an old ship in the middle of that hellish desert. It looked like a bad omen, and Zhan Qiling rushed to the site, hoping to finally find Wu Xie and make sure he was fine. In more than one way, Wu Xie had become a safe line in his messed up life, and he would do anything in his power to keep the curious youth safe and unharmed for as long as he could. It was that important to him in that period of his life.

However, when he got close, the only thing he found were corpses lying in the ground below the broken ship, and his heart sprinted inside his chest with the intense fear that he would find Wu Xie dead as well Death was the only thing left on the camp, along with the broken vases and the wounds left behind on the skin of the men on the floor, probably made by the corpse eating bugs. Qiling looked around with his gaze, desperately discarding those he could clearly see, while deeply hoping not to find Wu Xie among the ones who had fallen. He was forcing his feet to drag along in search... searching... hoping for him to be lucky enough to have escaped the cloud of death once again.

Nonetheless, there was one corpse, half-covered with Wu Xie's jacket and just thinking it might be him, making Qiling freeze on the spot. Despite the heat of the day in the desert of Tamutuo, his body truly felt cold to the sight. He didn't dare take off the jacket off the body on the sandy ground, yet Pangzi did it for him, and then, he exhale a breath he was unaware to have it in hold. Out of relief, it wasn't Wu Xie, and Fatty did the same on his own dramatically way, telling them that if it had been Wu Xie's corps, he would become a monk. The corps bug that came out of the remains of the man just killed by it, Qiling slashed it with his sword with more force than necessary.

Those things had been a threat to Wu Xie, thus no mercy was shown to such cursed insects.

Next, was the struggle to find him as soon as they could. If they had encountered corpse bugs, then that was no small matter, as just one of them was dangerous enough to kill a bunch of people, so Qiling pressed forward, from minutes to hours to almost the end of the day. The exhaustion didn't really matter at that point, only to find Wu Xie before it was too late, so they kept on going until finally, they found Ah Ning's Dangshi cooper coins scattered around, which gave him renewed hopes to see him again soon.

Even though they hasted their pace at that point, it was only after night had fallen when he finally spotted Wu Xie's red-jacketed face and Qiling ran to him as fast as his legs allowed him to grab Wu Xie in his arms. Sighing in relief, to find him still breathing, he took the little water he had left and gently parted Wu Xie's lips to make him drink some.

"Wu Xie... drink it..." Qiling whispered to the man on his arms, as the other two checked on Ah Ning.

"How is him?" Pangzi asked, looking at Xiaoge, after sensing Ah Ning's pulse.

"Weak... but alive." Qiling answered as he carefully purred the water on Wu Xie's lips, a bit at a time, for him to slowly swallow it.

"Ah, that's our Wu Xie's luck! Damn, he gave me the scare... I truly can't picture myself becoming a monk for the rest of my life." Pangzi said as he finally sat on the floor completely giving in to exhaustion

"If we are talking about luck, Wu Xie is not the only one with a strong one. Ah Ning is also one hard to get rid of." Pan Zi said as he gave her water too.

"It had always been like that with her; she is too stubborn, even to die in this hellish desert. A shame she is so ungrateful, otherwise those two will make such a pair..." Pangzi said casually, and Qiling gave him a freezing look that made him swallow in dread. Oh, hell, no joking about that in front of Xiaoge, he thought.

"Never mind that Xiaoge... you have better chances than her anyway..." Another cold stare, and Pangzi was silent, suddenly very interested in the night sky. Pan Zi smirked.

Minding not about Fatty's comment, Qiling simply focused on keeping Wu Xie alive, and after he made him drink enough water, he sat by Wu Xie and held him to keep him more comfortable and give him some of the warmth back, because his body was still too cold for his liking. Pan Zi made a fire as they waited for Wu Xie to wake up and join them in the world of the living once more.

After a while of being embraced in his arms, Qiling felt Wu Xie's body relax and breathe more evenly, and there was even a small reaction when Wu Xie grabbed his jacked around his waist, before releasing it several minutes later. Qiling knew then that Wu Xie was about to regain consciousness, so he carefully let go of him and gently let him rest his back on the rock wall behind him, but stayed close, as always. That ordeal was finally over, and now that he had Wu Xie back, he planned on never letting him out of his sight for a while.

Seeing that Wu Xie looked better, Pang Zi had the 'brilliant' idea to take a picture of them together, as a proof of their friendship or more Like brotherhood. He sat by the other side of the exhausted Wu Xie and pulled him close.

"Hey, should we squeeze together like real pals?" Pangzi asked Pan Zi, while smiling like an idiot.

"This won't do Pangzi." Pan Zi said as he held the camera.

"Sure it will... Xiaoge, you come close too." Fatty demanded and Qiling complied, slightly moving a bit closer to Wu Xie, who he knew was already awake.

"Honestly, Pangzi, this is obviously fake. Do you still want it with Wu Xie still asleep?" Pan Zi insisted, feeling a bit bad for Wu Xie.

"Of course! Don't be so troublesome, Pan Zi. Xiaoge, make a sign." Fatty demanded again and Qiling moved his arm up in a close fist.

"Oh, come, show your fingers..."

He complained, and Qiling showed one finger with a deathly serious expression on his face.

"Better be two, okay?" Pangzi asked, and Qiling looked sideways at Wu Xie in resignation while he showed yet another finger. Pangzi had meant two different set ones, but oh well, that was already asking too much of a poker face.

"Ok, that's it." He sighed, and just when Pan Zi was about to take the picture, Wu Xie also showed his fingers for the photo, finally showing he was wide awake.

"I'm dead?" Wu Xie asked tiredly.

"Yep, and we are all reunited in hell. Hit yourself if you don't believe me." Pangzi answered. However, Wu Xie simply hit Pangzi instead; he honestly deserved it for taking advantage of him like that.

"Hey, why didn't you hit Xiaoge?" Wu Xie looked at Pan Zi tiredly

"I'm no match for him, and besides, it's you who deserved to get hit. A photo while I'm in such a state, huh? Are you for real?" Wu Xie asked.

"Where are you aware of it since when?" Pangzi asked.

"He was awake the whole time." Qiling said in a hushed tone. Then Wu Xie ignored Fatty to focus more on his third uncle's assistant.

"Hey, Pan Zi." He whispered.

"Wu Xie... we..." But Wu Xie shook his head in negativity.

"You don't have to say anything. I know it's my uncle's doing." Wu Xie said calmly.

"So you were really awake for a while... Damn, you are not as naïve as you used to. Now you are even being naughty. You had grown up." Pangzi teased, but Wu Xie was too tired to reply, so he let it go

"Do you know where your uncle is heading now?" Pangzi asked him next.

"He is in search of the Queen Mother's Palace and it's probably because of Chen Wenjin, right? They are looking for the same thing after all." Wu Xie declared.

"This kid knows a lot these days. Good to know, it saves us a lot of explainings..." Pangzi kept it up, but this time Wu Xie moved away, then faced him about the show he put off with the call that was now obviously made by his uncle. Damn Fatty, for running away with his uncle to the next adventure, leaving him behind, while being well paid, along with Xiaoge and even Hei Xiazi.

"Oh come on, you guys are been paid once or even twice, while I butt in with no monetary gain at all. I feel ripped off!" At that, Qiling felt a bit guilty, even if his main goal was not the money offered to him, as he looked at the enraged Wu Xie, yet he said nothing.

"Wow, calm down... don't get mad. We can head back now that we find you, so you can rest it off." Pangzi offered.

"Hell no! I'm not going back to be tricked by my uncle again. I'm tired of the 'it's for your own good speech' already. Besides, I know that Xiaoge had questions that still need to be answered about his past. If he is going, you can be sure that so will I." Wu Xie said firmly as he stared at Qiling for a long while, almost daring him to say otherwise. Their gaze was intense, like a silent war between oblivious lovers, but as usual, in the end Zhang Qiling was unable to say no to Wu Xie, even if he didn't want to put Wu Xie's life at risk more than necessary.

"Alright guys, since everyone is searching for the same thing, do you want to split up or join forces?"

Ning interjected at their discussion, seeing the chance to get them to their side to aid her on her own personal goals.

"Oh, ho, Miss Ah Ning, so you want to search with us?" Pangzi asked, but she ignored him.

"Ah, don't worry, we can divide the spoils later. It's a team effort after all." Fatty told her.

"That's fine with me. As long as you don't turn your back on us in crucial times, we have a deal." Wu Xie said to her, then looked at Xiaoge for his approval, and when he slightly assented, he looked back at Ah Ning.

"Very well, but time is of the essence. We need to find the Queen Mother's Palace as soon as possible."

Ah Ning said.

"If we miss the timing, we will have to wait for five years." Xiaoge said, very sure of it

"Then it's a good thing I have this..." Wu Xie said after he searched on his backpack and showed Ah Ning the diary he took from the Golmud Sanatorium. Chen Wen Jin's ultimate notes diary.

"Where did you get that?" She asked surprised.

"That doesn't really matter now. You can read it as you like, I have already memorized most of it, but there is just one thing I don't get it from what she wrote." Wu Xie said.

"What?" Ah Ning asked curiously.

"It." Wu Xie's answer and Qiling felt once again restless, yet, no matter the danger ahead of them, he was going to make sure Wu Xie and his group survive it no matter what.

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