Once they were inside the arena, Jiang Cheng drawled out another long-exasperated sigh. His martial brother and his future brother a.k.a headache-in-law were driving him nuts. They wouldn't let him take a damn breather from witnessing their lovey-dovey display of affection for each other, clinging to one another like it was their last chance to survive.
Okay, perhaps he was exaggerating a little since the couple were simply walking side by side while their eyes never left each other but it still irked him to the maximum.
"Shameless couple. Honestly." He said under his breath with disdain, shaking his head at them as the rest of the group pretended that they did not see anything unusual albeit the knowing smirks painted their faces.
"Where are the Feral Ghost Targets?" One Shidi asked. His eyes darted around the area, looking for the possessed life-sized paper mannequins that they were supposed to shoot at.
"You think they would stand here welcoming you? You must be dreaming," another said, laughing at the younger Shidi.
"Even if you see one right away, can you even differentiate the right ones and the fake ones?" A third junior chimed in.
Xiao Zhan turned to face them and clapped twice, drawing everyone's attention towards himself. "Alright everyone. Let's look for them. We are going to split up into two groups now."
Jiang Cheng raised his brow at the head disciple's command, "Split how?"
Lan Xichen, who was unintentionally tagging along with them since his younger brother was insistent to stick with his beloved partner, shook his head with a grin. He patted Lan Wangji on the shoulder and nodded at Xiao Zhan. "See you two later then."
Jiang Cheng got the gist and immediately scoffed, "You mean the two of you form one group and the rest of us will form the other."
"Yep." Xiao Zhan confirmed with a brief nod.
Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes, running a hand through his bangs, and tugging at them roughly before continuing to speak in an irritated tone, "This is not the time to-"
"Jiang Cheng, can you keep up with us?" Xiao Zhan cut him off. He directed his eyes to the other juniors, conveying the same question through his eyes. The younger ones understood and shook their head in an instance.
Xiao Zhan grinned widely as Jiang Cheng's face pinched into an expression that resembled constipation before the later spoke with resigned tone, "Whatever. Just remember that this is a competition between the clans."
"Oh, I know that, and I have zero intention to lose." Xiao Zhan said as he turned around, leaving with Lan Wangji like a flash of lightning after saying, "Good luck everyone!"
The Yunmeng Jiang's disciples looked at one another before shrugging their shoulders and continuing their search. They had long acknowledged that their head disciple was way ahead of their league, and he was very capable of winning the competition even if he was alone.
And just a minute later after they left, flare was shot in the air, signifying a target was hit. The fireworks were purple in color and revealed Yunmeng Jiang Sect emblem.
"As always! Our Da-Shixiong is indeed awesome!" The juniors exclaimed excitedly.
The next minute, another flare went off. This time, it was blue.
"Wow! That must be from the Second Young Master Lan! As expected from our future brother-in-law!" The teens made a racket again, causing a grimace to appear in Jiang Cheng's face.
Lan Xichen smiled softly at how Yunmeng Jiang disciples could be so proud of his younger brother like they had grown accustomed to him. It warmed his heart knowing that his stoic and aloof brother had people who cheered for him despite the fact that they were not from the same sect. Shortly after, he excused himself and went off his merry way.
*****
Back in the watch tower, when the symbol of Yunmeng Jiang was the first to brighten up the sky, Jin Guangshan raised a toast towards Jiang Fengmian, "Sect Leader Jiang, disciples of your clan are truly skilled in archery to score first in less than five minutes. I am sure your clan will take the victory in this competition."
"You must be joking, Sect Leader Jin. Nothing is certain until the match is over." Jiang Fengmian responded, sipping his tea.
Just as he finished speaking, Gusu Lan's emblem showed up in a brilliant blue color followed closely by two more purple flares.
"Which of your disciples do you think made those shots, Sect Leader Jiang?"
"My nephew." Jiang Fengmian didn't think twice of answering him honestly. If anyone could pull that feat, it would be none other than Wei Wuxian who had mastered all six arts with flying colors.
Sect Leader Nie couldn't help but feel proud of his adopted son, he commented, "Fengmian-xiong is lucky to have a great head disciple like Wei Ying."
"Indeed. Very lucky." Qingheng-Jun agreed with Sect Leader Nie, smiling as he did so. The three leaders shared an amicable glance before exchanging a look that only they could decipher.
Jin Guangshan could sense something was going on, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what exactly it was. He felt as though something significant had changed between the three heads of the cultivation sects and he had been left out of the loop. There definitely was a shift in the atmosphere around the three men and there were more smiles exchanged between them. All that was certain about it, however, was that Jin Guangshan had a hunch that Wei Wuxian had done something that affected all of them. And he hoped to find out exactly what it was soon.
Wen Ruohan, for his part, didn't think much about it those three. It's not as though he really cared to know about their relationships with each other either way. However, he couldn't ignore the strange sensation that had started to bloom whenever Wei Wuxian was mentioned.
There was this weird feeling about the youth that bothered him slightly after seeing him for the first time. The young man gave off an inexplicable energy that unsettled him to no end.
For a cultivator at his peak level, he could discern other's limits just from concentrating on their auras. But there was only this vague, undefined glow that came from Wei Wuxian that left him baffled. It was odd. It was as if the youth had a veil over him that hid whatever spiritual energy, he had within himself. He concluded that he had to observe the teenager closely in this conference to ensure that the boy could pose no threat to his position as the top cultivator and deal with the youth if necessary.
His pondering was cut shot and his brows twitched as five dark flares that carried his clan's emblem showed up. The competition was just getting started and five of his clan members already eliminated. He slammed down his cup in irritation.
Not even half an hour had passed, blue and purple fireworks dominated the airspace. There were a few from other clans as well but the most notable ones were these two colors as they rapidly fired one after another.
On the flip side, the number of dark flares that went off to out the contestants that went missed their shots climbed up pretty quickly.
"How the hell did they find targets so fast?" Jiang Cheng grumbled under his breath Jiang Cheng grumbled under his breath.
"Shixiong, are you sure this is the right path?" One of the junior asked as the pathway between the mountains became narrower and the misty mountainous terrain gave off an eerie feeling. Still, they had yet to catch sight of Feral Ghost Targets. They did stumble upon the fake ones often, causing a few of them to be ousted from the contest.
"Stop complaining and just follow me!" Jiang Cheng huffed impatiently as he looked back at the remaining juniors. When he turned to face forward again, he accidentally hit his forehead on a protruding rock on the wall.
"Fuck!" An excellent red mark appeared on his forehead as he continued muttering his train of curses. The juniors tried their best to hold back their laughter as they were still sizing the side of the hills with not much room to move carelessly. A moment later, they reached inside a cavern and that was when they released their loud cackles.
Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes and scolded them for a whole minute before he carried on leading them through the tunnel that got smaller and smaller until they all had to crawl on all four.
"Shixiong, how about we go back from where we came from. Don't worry, we won't tell anyone about this." One of the Shidi suggested as they continued to crawl like toddlers. The juniors giggled as they trailed behind the cranky teen.
"Just shut up!" Jiang Cheng snapped, and he hit his head on another small protruding stone formation. The juniors laughed maniacally once again, and the echoes of their laughter sent off some bats that were slumbering peacefully in the crack of the rocky mountain.
Jiang Cheng clenched his jaw to keep himself from submitting to the urge to kick his martial brothers down from the cliffs or maybe feed them to the family of Chiropteras that flapping their wings around as they got disturbed from their sleeps.
One junior pointed at the sky above them as they made it out. "Shixiong! Look!"
Jiang Cheng's eyes widened slightly as he exclaimed in relief, "Feral Ghost Targets!"
At one glance, the fake ones looked similar enough to the real ones that it was easy for most people to mistake them for the real deal as they were all gliding freely in the air like wraiths. However, the ones that were possessed with feral ghosts had a small red circle on the center of their forehead.
Hovering above them were three of real ones which snarled viciously. Jiang Cheng didn't waste any second; he drew his bow and shot at two of them successfully, prompting two purple explosions with nine petals lotus motifs in the sky.
Before he could launch another arrow, the remaining target dove down fast, baring its sharp teeth towards his direction maliciously. He froze in horror as it came too close to bite his face off. Thankfully, before it could do anything to harm him, an arrow hit it squarely on the red dot and vanished into thin air.
He lifted up his face to find Lan Xichen standing on a small cliff nearby with his bow at hand, smiling gently like an angel but without wings or halo.
"Thank you, Zewu-Jun." Jiang Cheng bowed gratefully.
"No need to thank me." Lan Xichen said as two blue flares went off displaying the rolling cloud motifs.
"Shixiong! You did it! You hit two!" His juniors cheered for him as they came to surround him.
Jiang Cheng just answered with a 'hmph', suppressing a smile that threatened his coolness. He saw Lan Xichen walking gracefully towards their direction.
"Young Master Jiang, do you mind if I stick around with your party?" Lan Xichen requested in his usual soft and polite manner that made anyone impossible to refuse.
Jiang Cheng thought for a second before he nodded. Lan Xichen might have better navigation skill than him and perhaps, he wouldn't have to grow another bump on his head or crawled around the dirt after this. The juniors welcomed him enthusiastically. They were always a friendly bunch, after all.
"Zewu-jun, you really look a lot similar to your brother." One of the juniors said.
Lan Xichen smiled warmly, "I heard that a lot. But isn't my little brother more good looking?"
Some agreed and some disagreed. It was the matter of preference. Some likes cool looking guy like Lan Wangji and some likes the kind looking one, like Lan Xichen. The friendly bunch did not hold back on telling the First Jade on some events on the Yin and Yang pair that Lan Xichen did not know about. The conversation continued as they strode along together.
It was a win-win situation to say the least. With Lan Xichen acted wonderfully as a GPS navigator, Yunmeng Jiang entourage finally walked on paths that did not require them to move sideways or on all four. As for Lan Xichen, he felicitously collected quite a few new materials to tease his favorite couple about. His smile widened as he continued to listen.
As the time passed, the flares launched continuously decorating the sky like confetti. Yunmeng Jiang had collected twenty-two so far. Fifteen of them came from Xiao Zhan himself. The Twin Jades were proven to be great archers, each one of them contributed twelve points. Both Qinghe Nie sects and Lanling Jin scored a dozen while the hosting clan, Qishan Wen totaled up to ten.
Both him and Lan Wangji moved together like a unit, their momentum perfect and flowing together as easily as water. It was obvious by their actions that they knew each other's moves almost by heart. They were practically mirroring each other's moves, heading towards the central mountain. They navigated through the narrow paths and jumped over the rocky hills like a pair of ninjas. Their eyes met briefly before the arrows cut through the air and whooshed towards the dots on their targets. Just like Xiao Zhan, Lan Wangji never missed his shot.
Frankly, if Xiao Zhan wanted, he could simply gather all the targets in one place with a command and monopolized each one for himself. No, actually he would give half to Lan Wangji because sharing is caring. But that wasn't the point here. This was an archery tournament after all. It was a fun thrill to him to be able to use the bow and arrows once in a while. Besides, the Saint of righteousness by his side would not allow him to do that because it was going to be unfair, not that he ever wanted to cheat. In fact, he didn't need to.
Lan Wangji kept his eyes on Xiao Zhan as the latter released a long arrow straight into another target. His lips formed a faint smile, feeling proud of his lover's archery skills. The graceful movement of the slender fingers that pulled the bowstring taught and strong as steel and the powerful grip on the handle of the bow made a sharp contrast with the delicate fingers themselves. His gaze followed the flight of arrow as it whistled through the air in a swift motion. It landed in the middle of the forehead of the Feral Ghost Target.
"That's number sixteen." Lan Wangji stated as his eyes flickered towards Xiao Zhan.
"Yes," Xiao Zhan murmured as he drew another arrow back and released it, hitting another target. The paper mannequin dissipated in purplish flame. Xiao Zhan's attention shifted back to his lover next to him, grinning happily, "And that's seventeen! You're going to lose if you don't focus on the target, Lan Zhan."
"I don't mind losing to you." Wangji responded as his gaze fell upon the curve of Xiao Zhan's beautiful features.
"Aw, that's very sweet of you!" Xiao Zhan cooed as he gently nudged his elbow against Lan Wangji's side in a teasing manner. He then said firmly, "But, I have no intention to win in this way, Lan Zhan. I want it to be fair. So, come on now. Focus."
Lan Wangji nodded at him, "If that's what you want, Wei Ying."
"Do your best." Xiao Zhan smiled as he decked yet another arrow and prepared to shoot once more.
Lan Wangji stayed true to his words as he took down four targets consecutively, catching up to Xiao Zhan in rapid progression. The arrow in their quivers steadily decreased in numbers. Another target was spotted from a distance and the duo promptly went to its direction. It was growling loudly as they got closer, showing off its ferocious nature as it plunged down to attack them.
Xiao Zhan quickly jumped up high enough and kick it down causing to come crashing on the ground. However, before he could finish it off, an arrow swished past him from the back and pierced on the center of target's head. A red flare with the symbol of Qishan Wen exploded above him.
Xiao Zhan snapped his head towards the one who stole his target. It was none other than Wen Chao who was standing on top of a rock on one of the higher peaks of the hills. His face darkened as he glared intensely at Wen Chao from far away.
Wen Chao grinned smugly at Xiao Zhan, saying, "Oops, sorry. You're too slow."
Before Xiao Zhan could unleash his wrath upon the person who snatched his target, Lan Wangji swiftly landed next to Xiao Zhan and held him tightly before whispering softly, "Calm down, Wei Ying."
As much as he hated it, Xiao Zhan's fury quickly subsided once he heard Lan Wangji's calm voice. He sighed in defeat and relaxed his shoulders, "Let's just find another one."
Wen Chao sniggered as his face showed utter pleasure in seeing Xiao Zhan not fighting back against him. "Wei Wuxian. Since I am here now, I won't let you run rampantly!"
The duo ignored Wen Chao's taunting words and moved away without any further ado. Wen Chao and his assistant continued following along with his taunts and tried to steal their targets, but unfortunately for him, Lan Wangji's aim was just too good to allow such a thing to happen to them again.
"Nice shot, Lan Zhan." Xiao Zhan complimented his boyfriend as he smiled brightly at him, giving him thumbs up.
Wen Chao scowled as he spewed some disdainful remarks, but he didn't give up on tailing the duo yet. Noting a target ahead of them, he immediately took a shot, but he missed the target. A dark flare with Wen clan's emblem was triggered, signaling his elimination from the competition.
Xiao Zhan struck it down without hesitation. As the purple firework decorated the sky, he flashed a grin at Wen Chao, "Thanks for that."
Wen Chao cursed loudly as he kicked the pebbles on the ground like a child throwing a tantrum.
Lan Wangji glanced at the fuming Wen Chao. His face betrayed no emotion while he stood by Xiao Zhan's side, saying, "It seems like the person has lost patience."
Xiao Zhan shrugged his shoulders, talking loudly on purpose "What goes around, comes around. It's only fair."
"Mn." Lan Wangji nodded his agreement.
"Wei Wuxian! You!" Wen Chao's expression was ugly to behold upon hearing their words. He felt like he was being mocked by the two of them. He took three arrows from the quiver that was held by his assistant and attempting to strike down other Feral Ghosts Targets that were hanging around nearby the area in an attempt to prove that he was better in archery.
Xiao Zhan shook his head sardonically before calling Wen Chao out, "Second Young Master Wen, I wonder if your eyes are failing. You can't see the extremely striking signal of your end earlier?"
Wen Chao snapped, "What did you just say?!"
Xiao Zhan replied, "One must quit after shooting the wrong target or off-target. Remember? Are you trying to break the rules set by your sect?"
"Rules??" Wen Chao roared furiously. His expression was turning to crimson, seething with rage as he yelled obstinately, "I am the rules!"
Xiao Zhan snorted, "Wow, you are utterly unreasonable. Are you abusing your surname as a Wen to cheat?"
Wen Chao lips drew back in a snarl, "What did you say?!"
Xiao Zhan gave him a halfhearted grin as he said, "I am not going to waste more time arguing with you, Second Young Master Wen. You can play by your own rules alone. So, excuse us. We have better things to do."
With that being said, the couple turned around and walked off towards another direction as though nothing had happened. They refused to entertain a madman any further and pretended like they didn't hear Wen Chao's distasteful retaliations.
Wen Chao felt humiliated, insulted, and infuriated. How could these two people embarrass him like this? How dare they act so cocky in front of him! He thought as he clenched his fist tightly before he pulled the bowstrings that was already loaded with arrows to full extension earlier and fired off the three arrows at the same time.
Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng together with Yunmeng Jiang juniors, just arrived in the area and saw Wen Chao aiming at them. They all yelled out a warning as the arrows flew from the bow at high speed.
"Wei Wuxian! Look out!"
"Wangji!"
Lan Wangji reacted quickly and shot at the incoming arrow before it could reach the target, shattering it into pieces. While Xiao Zhan moved out the arrows trajectory swiftly and leaped forward to grab one flying arrow before throwing it back with some strength towards Wen Chao.
A loud thud resonated through the air after the arrow hit the boulder behind Wen Chao, just missing his head by a mere centimeter. The arrow penetrated the rock and buried deep inside the boulder, leaving several deep cracks in its surface.
Wen Chao spun around and stared back at Xiao Zhan with widened eyes, his anger now replaced with fear as he realized how dangerous Xiao Zhan's actions could've been. He fell to his knees from shock as the remaining shards of the boulder fell onto the floor with a loud crashing sound. Before he could open his mouth to say some sort of nasty remark, his gaze met with Xiao Zhan's cold menacing glare and his mouth went slack.
In just mere seconds, Xiao Zhan already appeared in front of him, looking down at him in an imposing manner. No words were able to form as his expression was twisted in utter confusion and disbelief. His words came out shakily, "How....How are you able to get up here so fast?!"
Xiao Zhan looked at Wen Chao's bewildered expression, his face was devoid of emotion which only made him appear even more intimidating than ever. There was a sinister aura around him as he spoke in low tones, "Do I look like someone who is easy to bully, Second Young Master Wen?"
Wen Chao gulped audibly after Xiao Zhan's question. His assistant was frozen stiff, unable to move or speak as Xiao Zhan snapped his fingers on his free hand together. He too was petrified from the oppressing aura that the younger man exuded to even move his lips, although Xiao Zhan never casted his spell on him. A pang of terror struck him as the latter grabbed him by the collar.
Xiao Zhan's voice was dripping with venom as he warned darkly, "Don't mess with me. You should know that I never miss my target before. Not even this one! Try this shit again and the next arrow will go straight into your chest. Remember that Second Young Master Wen."
*******
A/N: Pictures are screenshots from MDZS Donghua.