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Zhao Yunlan’s cellphone abruptly broke through the oppressive silence of his office. The noise startled Zhao Yunlan, but inwardly he couldn't help but sigh with some relief.
An honest to god distraction that he didn't have to make up just to get out of the massive amount of paperwork that sat on his desk, mocking him.
He was absolutely certain paper work would be the death of him someday.
His cellphone trilled for a third time and Zhao Yunlan dug it out of his pocket. He answered it without looking at caller id. His tone far cheery that his words might imply. “This better be good.”
“Boss.” Lin Jing’s harried sounding voice said. “You gotta get down here. Hei Pao Shi is trapped behind an energy barrier, and Lao Chu says you might be the only one able to get past it.”
Lin Jing's words immediately brought Zhao Yunlan to his feet. "An energy barrier? What's causing it - no ignore that, where are you at?"
“We’re in the main quad of Dragon City University.”
“I’ll be there shortly!”
Lin Jing started to say something back, but Zhao Yunlan was already pressing the disconnect button and shoving his phone back into his pocket. He grabbed the keys to his jeep and all but ran out of his office.
His arrival was very low-key, even with his brightly colored jeep, and Zhao Yunlan quickly pushed through the crowd of students (and employees) that were already excitedly buzzing around the outer area of the main quad.
Someone managed to put up bright yellow caution tape – the very kind the SID used – and Zhao Yunlan had a momentarily whimsical notion that Xiao Guo probably kept it stored in that bag of his.
Not that he had any room to talk with the to-go bags he had in his jeep that held an assortment of clothes, and items he might need during a case. He ducked beneath the tape and trotted toward the main area. Zhao Yunlan hoped they could keep the crowd far enough away that they could get Shen Wei out with very little fuss and without spoiling his identity.
As jogged closer he could see a large dome of dark energy. It shone sharply against the drab stone buildings, and bright green foliage of the nearby trees and plants. In front of it stood Lao Chu, Xiao Guo and Lin Jing.
Lin Jing gestured dramatically at whatever reading was showing up on whatever doodad he held in his hands. Probably his dark energy doodad. Or, at least, one of them. He had so many of them.
“What the hell is going on?” Barked Zhao Yunlan, unapologetic in that snap of his, as he took in the half-bubble of dark energy.
“Boss!” Lin Jing shouted with startled surprise, and the three of them turned to him.
Only Lao Chu’s expression stayed relatively flat, whereas the others showed relief.
Before Zhao Yunlan could snap for one of them to start talking, Lao Chu spoke. “There was an unseen trap. Some sort of array that almost entangled all of us, if Hei Pao-daren hadn't shoved us out of the way. Then he formed the dark energy around himself."
Xiao Guo took that moment to pipe up. “And it won’t let us in! Chu-ge tried.”
Zhao Yunlan didn't try to stop his frown, nor did he stop the softly muttered curse, as he turned to the barrier. "Tell me why you think I can get past it?" The question was aimed at the group, but truly it was for Lao Chu to answer. He brought his up and placed it just above the energy. He could feel the frizzle of dark energy, almost like a bunch of bees buzzing aggressively.
Lin Jing and Xiao Guo looked to Lao Chu again, and it caused him to look over as well. For a moment, Zhao Yunlan thought he saw something like discomfort flash across Lao Chu’s features.
It was gone before he could be certain, and when Lao Chu answered the question, his expression was back to its usual resting bitch face. “Sometimes when a Dixingren closes themselves off a person that they … trust might be able to get through.”
He almost said something but Zhao Yunlan realized Lao Chu was trying to say more. The pregnant pause was almost uncomfortable, but finally, Lao Chu added in a very morose tone. “And for reasons unknown, Hai Pao-daren sees you as that person.”
“Lao Chu, such kind words. My heart is all a flutter.” Zhao Yunlan angled one of his brightest and sassiest grins at him, before he turned back to the dark energy. “Alright, so, is there some sort of secret knock I need to do? Or announce myself in some way?”
The effort Lao Chu put into rolling his eyes was immense. “Just place your hand on the dark energy. If you are the one, then he’ll let you in.”
Zhao Yunlan nodded.
The foolishness of Shen Wei. Always so damn willing to sacrifice himself to whatever irrational whim presented itself. It caused Zhao Yunlan to tsk a sharp sound behind his teeth.
Admonishment could wait until later. When Shen Wei was safe, right now Zhao Yunlan needed to get past the barrier first.
The hand he had hovering just above the barrier was brought down, and Zhao Yunlan pressed it firmly against the wall of energy.
It thrummed beneath his palm, crackling and feeling alive. When nothing more happened, Zhao Yunlan pushed his hand harder against the energy barrier.
It resisted and the buzzing turned to angry wasps. It was when they almost turned to angry yellow jackets that the energy field finally gave way and Zhao Yunlan stumbled through.
There was a moment – when he was perfectly bisected by dark energy – that he heard a whisper.
A name? Was it his own?
Before his curiosity distracted him, Zhao Yunlan's attention snapped to the kneeling figure before him.
The sight of Shen Wei brought so low prompted a completely unbidden. "Hei lao-ge!"
Dark energy roiled upon both hands and while Shen Wei was dressed in the robes and mask of his office, the hood of his cloak was down, showing off his masked covered face. His sword likewise on the ground just out of reach for Shen Wei, fallen and motionless.
It almost seemed like Shen Wei wasn't going to respond, but after a distressingly long few seconds, he finally stirred. Shen Wei lifted his head and when their eyes locked, his expression turned to horror. “Zhao Yunlan!”
If Zhao Yunlan were feeling kind he might have called that a shout, but the reality was just a rasp of his name. Showing just how much strain Shen Wei was under.
“That’s my name.” Zhao Yunlan automatically jested, even as he took a step forward. “Don't – “
“Stop!”
And Zhao Yunlan stopped, though it didn’t prevent him from saying. “So forceful, Hei lao-ge. I like it.”
He knew any other time Shen Wei would have said something, he would have verbally slapped his wrists, but right now, all Shen Wei did was sag with relief. Or exhaustion. Or perhaps both.
Zhao Yunlan set all his jesting aside now. His voice lost any faux good humor it had held. “Can you tell me what’s going on?”
And while he waited for an answer, he squinted at the ground. There was something there, just at the edge of his vision, that pulled at him. Wanted him to look closer, so he did.
It took a minute, but then his eyes felt like they properly focused and that was when he saw a diffused red glow. It shimmered like pavement on a hot summer day, but eventually, it resolved itself into a rough circle around Shen Wei.
There were some sort of characters at each of cardinal points, he could tell, but he couldn't quite make out what they said.
“The array – it feeds on life force. You must leave. It wants to expand outward. It can sense all the life outside.”
Zhao Yunlan's attention snapped back to Shen Wei. “I’m going to crouch down to get a closer look.” Those words of warning caused Shen Wei to make a distressed noise, but Zhao Yunlan still (carefully) crouched down.
He didn’t dare touch any of the glowing lines as he considered it. “You’re holding it at bay?”
“Yes.”
“And you’re sure it’s going to kill everyone if released?”
Shen Wei nodded, expression pale and tight.
"How long can you hold it for?"
Shen Wei's hesitancy was telling. "As long as I must."
Zhao Yunlan looked up again and met the determined (but rapidly tiring) gaze of Shen Wei's.
Words wanted to push past his lips. Foolish words, but Zhao Yunlan bit them back. Later, when he got Shen Wei free of this thing, he would say them. Right now he needed to focus.
“There must be something we can do. What if I brought Lao Chu in? Could the two of you overpower it with a glut of dark energy? Make it feel like it fed off however much life force it needed to be satiated?”
Zhao Yunlan could already see the answer in those dark eyes of Shen Wei's.
“If there is a limit it’s beyond what we can provide it.”
A terribly shocking statement, if Zhao Yunlan allowed himself to think on it too long. After all, Shen Wei was one of the most powerful (if not the most powerful) dark energy user. "Alright, alright. Let me think. There has to be a way, Hei lao-ge. You're not getting away from me this easily."
Shen Wei smiled such a familiar expression. The corner of his mouth quirked upward by the tiniest amounts, though that expression morphed to something pained as he pitched forward.
The dark energy in his hands guttered like a flame fighting against the wind.
“Hei lao-ge?!”
Shen Wei tried to speak but no words came out, only a bloodied gasp.
“Fuck!” And Zhao Yunlan reached out for Shen Wei -
"No!" Shen Wei's harsh exclamation caused Zhao Yunlan to stop (again).
With an effort that Zhao Yunlan could see, Shen Wei pulled himself up just a little bit straighter, and the dark energy stopped flickering chaotically around his hands. "I am … alright."
The audacity of him - saying those words that were patently untrue. "Shen Wei! Don't you dare try to pretend like this thing isn't trying to kill you."
Shen Wei shifted his gaze away from Zhao Yunlan, and anger boiled up in Zhao Yunlan. This foolish man! Zhao Yunlan cut his gaze away and turned back to the problem at hand.
The array.
Silence stretched between the two, though Zhao Yunlan was certain for Shen Wei it was more from exhaustion than actual anger. Zhao Yunlan wanted to kick the stupid array, but instead he considered what they could do.
If dark energy couldn't overcome this situation could technology? Lin Jing had so many damn invention, surely one of them could do something here. He reached for his pocket and pulled his phone out.
He was about to push the call button when he suddenly exclaimed. "A circuit!"
Shen Wei barely stirred at his exclamation, but when he looked back at Shen Wei he found him looking at him again.
"We have to disrupt the circuit! That's it, isn't it? If we break the circle, or the characters, that will change the whole thing and should free you. Make it inert."
Once more horror flooded Shen Wei's features. "No!, it's too dangerous. It could kill you. The backlash of energy -"
"And you expect me to watch you die here and now? To be okay with that? To lose you just so I can live?" Zhao Yunlan almost shouted, or maybe he did shout, with how wide Shen Wei's eyes got. "That's very selfish of you, Hei lao-ge!"
Shen Wei's already pale features went even further stark. "N-no, that isn't -"
But he couldn't finish the rest of that sentence.
They both knew how far Shen Wei was willing to take this.
"Alright, alright. We can do this." Zhao Yunlan muttered more to himself. "We just need - ah ha!"
He needed something to potentially disrupt the array and there, not too far from him and sitting outside of the red lines of the array was Shen Wei's sword. He leaned to the right and grabbed it.
Again, Shen Wei made a noise of distress, but Zhao Yunlan ignored it.
He met Shen Wei's eyes. "On three."
Zhao Yunlan brought the sword up, the blade pointed toward the closest character.
"Zhao Yunlan." Shen Wei all but whispered.
There were things to be said, things Zhao Yunlan wanted to say, but right now wasn't the time. Not when blood stained Shen Wei's lips a bright red. Tightening his hands on the hilt of the sword, he took the deepest of breaths and plunged the sword downward.
When the point of the sword hit the character there was resistance. It felt like someone was actively pushing back, but that didn't stop Zhao Yunlan. He brought the sword back up and then plunged it downward again with even more strength -
Several things happened at almost the same time. The first was Shen Wei crumpling, the dark energy that surrounded his hands disappearing in a flash of bright colors.
The second was the sword sinking down into the character of the array and then the cement itself and with it everything turned bright and then there was a boom (that almost felt distant to Zhao Yunlan, like he wasn't the one currently being tossed backward).
And finally the third, someone shouting his name. Or, he thought it was his name, the ringing in his ears was loud enough that he wasn't sure what they were actually saying.
Eventually it resolved itself into Xiao Guo giving his shoulder a hard shake and shouting his name. When his voice returned Zhao Yunlan gasped. "Shen Wei?"
He struggled to sit up, but he found his body wouldn't quite get itself together, and he flopped around very much like a fish. Thankfully, Xiao Guo eventually helped pull him upward, into something of a seated position. Frantically, he looked for Shen Wei.
And there, across the quad he found him with Lao Chu attending to him.
"He's unconscious but alive!" Xiao Guo said, his arms supporting Zhao Yunlan so he could stay upright.
"Good. That's good. When I wake up again he's going to have some serious explaining to do." There was a confused noise from Xiao Guo just as Zhao Yunlan fell unconscious again.
Somewhere, in his unconscious-addled brain, Zhao Yunlan knew they were bound for a terrible reckoning, but there wasn't anything more to be done.
Shen Wei needed to understand the flaw in his logic. They were both meant to survive, both of them. Otherwise how else could Zhao Yunlan buy him a house and they live within it, together.