Lan Zhan panicks and puts his arms around Wei Ying's back protectively.
"Wei Ying, what is it? What happened?." Lan Zhan asks, his tone scared but alert.
Wei Ying can hear Lan Zhan's heartbeat loud and clear in the absolute silence of the cave.
"Lan Zhan, why did Bichen stop glowing?" Wei Ying asks still clinging to his husband.
"I..I don't know.. It has never done that before." Lan Zhan says sounding concerned.
"Lan Zhan, how are you feeling?" Wei Ying asks turning his head slightly towards Lan Zhan's neck.

"Mn?"

"Do feel your chest getting uncomfortable? Heavy? Are you feeling out of breath?" Wei Ying asks and his warm breath caresses Lan Zhan's neck.
Lan Zhan's hold tightens.
'He is Ok... Safe... I can protect him.'
"No. I feel fine." Lan Zhan's answers sincerely and adds, "Why?"

Bichen starts glowing again. It's not as bright as before. It's dull.
"I was wondering if..." Wei Ying starts hesitantly, but stops and looks around.
"Lan Zhan, I feel like we are being watched." Wei Ying says climbing out of Lan Zhan's lap and adds smiling , "I am feeling much better now. I don't feel the heavyness anymore."

The cave grows brighter.

As soon as Wei Ying leaves Lan Zhan's lap he holds his chest again.
"What is it?" Lan Zhan asks putting a hand on Wei Ying's shoulder.
"It's back...the heaviness." Wei Ying says looking and sounding sad and worried.

Bichen's glow decreases.

"Maybe you should sit in my spot. You said you were feeling better there?" Lan Zhan says helping Wei Ying to where he was sitting.
Wei Ying nods. He feels better for just a bit but then the feeling returns.
"No Lan Zhan, I don't think that's... " Wei Ying starts but stops.
He looks around again.
"Lan Zhan... Don't you feel like we are being watched?" he adds.

"No." Lan Zhan says confidently looking around.
"Are you still feeling the same?" Lan Zhan asks concerned.

"Mn." Wei Ying says looking a little worried.

The men sit in silence for a few minutes.
Wei Ying's face brightens all of a sudden.
"Lan Zhan, just stay still...Don't move. OK." Wei Ying says mischievously.

"Mn?"

"Just don't move. I need to try something." Wei Ying says as he slowly crawls over to Lan Zhan and cups his face with his palms.

Bichen starts glowing brighter.

Wei Ying looks at Bichen and smiles brightly.
He takes his hand off and craws into Lan Zhan's lap again.
"Wei..." Lan Zhan starts to ask but Wei Ying's lips stop him from finishing.

Wei Ying breaks the kiss and looks at Bichen. The glow has increased considerably. It's flickering.
Lan Zhan looks dumbly at Wei Ying. He doesn't understand what brought on this kind of change in Wei Ying's attitude and actions.

Wei Ying rocks his hips slightly. He moans, "Hanguang Jun.."
"Wei Ying!" Lan Zhan's words are broken and rough. He puts his hands on Wei Ying's hips to stop the movement.
"What are you doing?" Lan Zhan says surprised and slightly aroused.

Wei Ying stops and looks at Bichen again.
He turns Lan Zhan's face towards the brightly shining sword and says, "Lan Zhan... Bichen is betraying your emotions... "
"Wei Ying, what do you mean?" Lan Zhan's asks perplexed.
"I mean that you, my Fuddy Duddy are more affected by me than I thought you were." Wei Ying says looking lovingly at his husband.

"Mn?"

"Bichen draws power from you. It's a direct reflection of your soul. When I am in pain your aura dims as does Bichen's. When your emotions are stable.. steady.. it's glow is steady as well...amm.. and when I feel scared ...or you feel helpless perhaps... your feelings get affected the most.. and you disconnect from Bichen." Wei Ying pauses as if contemplating something and adds, "But that's not all... I seem to feel better when...."

Lan Zhan cups Wei Ying's face with his palms and completes, " You feel better when we are touching."

"Mn. That seems to be the case. But why?" Wei Ying says confused more to himself than to Lan Zhan.
He stays quiet for a few moments and a thought comes to him.
"Lan Zhan, do you have your headband on you?" Wei Ying asks.
"Mn." Lan Zhan nods and takes out the headband from his robes and hands it to Wei Ying.

Wei Ying takes the headband and gets off from Lan Zhan's lap.
Lan Zhan's hand immediately moves to his heart and he frowns. Bichen's  starts flickering.
"Lan Zhan!" Wei Ying calls panicking and puts his hand over Lan Zhan's.
Lan Zhan looks up puzzled.
Bichen's glow stabilizes.

It hits both of them at once and they both mouth, "Headband!"

They look at each other knowingly and Wei Ying ties the headband around both their wrists.

Bichen's glow steadies again. Wei Ying doesn't need to ask if Lan Zhan is feeling better.

They smile at each other.

Wei Ying hugs Lan Zhan and says softly, "Lan Zhan, I really need to perform the spell for enhancing the senses."

"You are not going to back down, are you?" Lan Zhan says in a resigned tone.

Wei Ying sighs and adds, "We need to do this."

"Side effects?" Lan Zhan asks.

"Just weakness." Wei Ying answers smiling, but his eyes are sad.

"What do we need to do?" Lan Zhan asks matter-of-factly.

Wei Ying starts explaining the spell in a serious tone.
"I can use a simple blood spell to enhance my senses and..."

"No." Lan Zhan cuts in.

"Lan Zhan, you are doing it again." Wei Ying says irritatedly.

"I said no." Lan Zhan persists.

"Lan Zhan it's really not dangerous." Wei Ying tries to convince Lan Zhan.

"You said it's a blood spell. That means you will need to draw blood." Lan Zhan says angrily.
"Yes , it's a blood... Lan Zhan.." Wei Ying starts in a soothing voice but Lan Zhan cuts in again and asks matter-of-factly , "Can any blood do?"
"What?" Wei Ying asks confused.

"Can you use my blood?" Lan Zhan asks sincerely.

"Technically yes, but.." Wei Ying starts but Lan Zhan speaks again, "Then use my blood."

"Lan Zhan... " Wei Ying interjects but is not allowed to finish.
"That is the only way I will allow you to attempt the spell." Lan Zhan says resolutely.
Wei Ying gives up and agrees. Wei Ying nods but doesn't move or say anything. His face grows darker and his expression sullen.
"Wei Ying, what's wrong? Is the heaviness back again?" Lan Zhan asks in a concerned tone.
"No. I am feeling fine... It's just that.. " Wei Ying says in a sad voice and adds, "Lan Zhan it will hurt."

"That's not a problem." Lan Zhan says simply.

Wei Ying sighs and continues, "Fine....I will have to make a cut over your heart... and draw a symbol on my body with my finger. I have to draw a total of four such symbols..One each on my chest, stomach and both my upper arms....For every symbol I will have to cut you again. After that I will chant the spell and in a few seconds the spell should take effect and I should be able to pinpoint where the resentful energy is originating from. The effects will last for a couple of hours at most. That will give us enough time to look for it.."

Wei Ying's eyes have tears as he finishes explaining the ritual. His hand has moved over Lan Zhan's chest.

Lan Zhan smiles and wipes the tears.

"Lan Zhan... on second thought, I think we should not do this spell. I am sure there are other ways we can locate the source." Wei Ying says looking away from Lan Zhan.

"But you said this had to be ..." Lan Zhan starts but Wei Ying cuts in.

"Not like this. Not if I have to hurt you. Not if you have to bleed... I can't Lan Zhan....No! " Wei Ying says hugging Hanguang Jun.
Lan Zhan returns the hug.
"I can't... Lan Zhan.. I can't... Lan Zhan. " Wei Ying repeats and his body shakes as tears fall freely from his beautiful eyes.

"Wei Ying, I am strong. A few cuts won't hurt me. I can use my core to heal myself." Lan Zhan says in a soothing gentle tone trying to calm his husband.

"I can't... I can't.." Wei Ying repeats, his breathing becoming shallow.

Lan Zhan notices and alarm bells go off in his mind. Yenay's words echo in his mind, 'His heart is weak.. It has always been weak.'

'He is afraid that he will lose me. That I will abandon him. I need to change his thoughts.' Lan Zhan tells himself.

Lan Zhan knows what he needs to do. He takes a deep breath.

"Wei Ying... Kiss me." Lan Zhan whispers in Wei Ying's ears.

Wei Ying stops repeating the words 'I can't ' and looks at Lan Zhan.
He is still shaking.

"What?" Wei Ying asks between sobs.

Lan Zhan looks at Wei Ying and brings their faces closer and repeats, "Kiss me Wei Ying. I need you to kiss me."

{Note :- So how was it?
It's one of my favorite chapters.
Just a heads up, the next chapter has mature content *cough* , but I will be marking the start and the end as I have been doing so far.
Please let me know how you liked this update.
Votes, comments and feedbacks most appreciated.
Thank you for reading.
Have a nice day.}