Wu Xie
Not knowing when the storm was going to settle down, they decided to walk toward the ruins of the Devil City, which was most likely to be closer than they original thought, as they had already reached the first ring of protection named on his grandfather's notes. All members of the team had the approximate coordinates of the Devil City, so the others will also make their way there at some point.
They already carry with them all they need to survive for the next two week at least and even if they end up short on provisions, it was best to discards the cars at that point, as the storm could easily burry them on sand if it lasted for long enough. Thus there was no turning back and the only thing they could hope was for them to rendezvous somewhere outside the storm range.
Just to be on the safe side, they had tide each other with a robe and walked against the storm guided only by their compass, as the visibility was narrow to a few feet ahead of them. They walked in silence for who knows how long, until the wind became too strong to keep ahead.
"Wu Xie! Let's stop here! There are some rocks than can shield us from the strongest winds that way!" Xiao Hua called him, noticing a formation of tall rocks at his right and pointing in that direction.
"Okay!" Wu Xie yelled back, but as he turned to walk to his right been the first in their small line, something that seems to come from under the sand on his feet rushed his way out in a flash and cut his rope, pulling him with was was left of the now free rope, making him stumble backwards by the unexpected force.
"Tianzhen!" Wu Xie hear Pangzi yell after him, but he could not do anything to stop whatever force had grab the end of his ripped rope, because there was only sand under him, not something hard he could grab on.
"Wu Xie!" Xiao Hua yelled as he ran after him, but whatever was pulling Wu Xie was too fast for them to catch him before he disappeared in the raging storm.
Zhang Qiling
He felt in the very moment Wu Xie's spiral in fear when he was suddenly taken that he was in danger. His own heart also spiking in Wu Xie's strong emotions, making his body release more adrenaline that was needed for his previous walk.
"Wu Xie..." He whisper and looked back at Xiazi, signaling him that he was going ahead and not really waiting for an approval, he dashed into the sandstorm in which he felt Wu Xie's panic the strongest. His almost inhuman speed make him run faster than possible for common people, yet even if he pressed his mad dash, he felt he was still moving too slowly.
He had no idea of what was happening to the younger man, only that he was scare and in danger. That alone make him push himself to his own limit against the damn storm and grabbing the hilt of his sword, he unlashed from its sheath and ready himself for anything he may find attacking Wu Xie. He swear that wathever it may be, he was not going to show any mercy, for daring see Wu Xie as an easy prey.
"I'm coming..." He whisper to himself as he ran after the moving target, until he finally hear Wu Xie's angry yelling's close by.
"Let go of me! Damn it, let go!" He hear Wu Xie yell and he almost smirked. Even when his heart was full of fear, he could tell there was also annoyance while he struggled to make the thing stop by trying to grab the sand in hope to find something that could anchor him.
The thing that was quickly dragging him over the sand was a kind of overgrown sand lizard he had never remember seen it before. It resemble the shape of a caiman, but bigger, more agile and strong. By it intense red color of its skin, he could tell that it was poisonous and by the fast way it moved, even when dragging Wu Xie behind it, he knew it was also quite strong.
Still, he wasted no time to catch up with it and in a clean move, cut the piece of rope that was still tied to Wu Xie's waist, wich had been unable to cut it himself for the momentum of the pulling with such frighteningly speed and pull him up in one go, making Wu Xie crash on his chest by the force of his pull. Surprise was evident on his expression as he instinctively grabbed him back to keep his valance, but he had no time for explanations when there was an ancient lizard, coming at them.
"Xiaoge!" Wu Xie yelled unconsciously, trying to move Zhang Qiling out of the way of the coming huge lizard, which make Qiling's heart skip a bit at the innocence of his charge. Only he will try to save him, when others will throw him as a shield to save their skins.
Still, his innocence was not needed at such a crucial moment, when he had put himself in unnecessary danger. So almost at lighting seeped Qiling pushed Wu Xie behind him, just in time to meet the lizard's sharp claws with his sword.
"Stay away! I will handle this!" Qiling yelled as he spiral down the sand to throw the lizard of balance and cut it right at its throat in an incredible swift motion. He was so fast doing it, that Wu Xie barely had time to register that the lizard's head was sliced off its neck and flaying away by the strong wind, splashing its blood all over them.
As soon as the lizard was killed, Qiling turned to grab the astonished young man and pulling the handkerchief Wu Xie was using to shield his face from the sandstorm over his head, he started to clean the splashed blood from his face, like a mother will do with a dirty child.
"Wait... what are you doing?" Wu Xie try to protest.
"Stay still, this blood is poisonous." Qiling insisted, passing the handkerchief all over his face and jacket. Wu Xie was seriously flushing by then.
"Hey, I can do it myself. What was that thing?" Wu Xie asked, taking away his now bloodstained handkerchief from Qiling's hand.
"A lizard." Qiling said simply and Wu Xie was tempted to role his eyes. Was the poker face man with a messed hair the literal type? Seriously? Who lives like that these days?
"Dear gods... I can see that, I mean I had never seen such a huge lizard on any part of the earth. It's even bigger than a crocodile although less heavier." Wu Xie said next.
"Don't know." Again another short answer. Wu Xie sighed.
"Alright... hum... thanks for saving me just now. Ah damn... I was dragged away from my group... how did you find me?" Wu Xie asked curiously.
"Your pendant." Qiling answer honestly.
"Did you put a tracing on it?" He asked now more curious. He definitely didn't notice it if he truly did.
"It has my blood. Follow me." Qiling said, ignoring the way Wu Xie hopelessly look at him, ready to barrage him with several questions he was either usable to answer or couldn't answer by choice.
"Seriously... are you always so death serious?" Wu Xie asked him.
"Yes." Qiling whisper and when a particular strong wind make Wu Xie give a few steps back, Qiling grabbed him by his hand and held him, while intertwining his fingers with him, to get a better hold of him. Wu Xie's ears were on fire, but he didn't dare to retrieve his hand, when he could barely give a step ahead without a few back.
Like that, they walked for a bit more, until their hear Pangzi and Xiao Hua yelling for Wu Xie close. The wind had quiet down a little, but it was still a hazardous to walk around. As soon as Wu Xie saw his companions, he let go of Zhang Qiling's hand and let himself be embraced by the visibly worry Pangzi.
"Are you alright? Are you hurt? What was that thing that dragged you away?" At that, Wu Xie smiled wholeheartedly to Panzi's worry interrogation.
"To be honest I don't know. It looked like a desert lizard but one hundred times bigger. Let me tell you that my grandfather never mention such a poisonous thing on his notes. It was Xiaoge who save me just now." Wu Xie resumed.
Both Pangzi and Xiao Hua gave Wu Xie a weird look after he named Zhan Qiling in such a close casual way, while probably no one had dared before. Luckily enough for Tianzhen, Zhang Qiling didn't seems to mind one bit, but remained as stoic at his side as ever.
"It doesn't matter if its mention or not, the fact is that this place is more dangerous than we thought. We should keep up to the ruins as fast as we can. The quicker we leave this sandstorm behind, the safer we will be. With full visibility we will be able to protect each other. Let's go." Xiao Hua said, while this time leading the small group himself.
Around an hour and a half later, they went out of the storm and found several ruins extending for miles in each direction.
"We should find a more sheltered place to have some rest and use a flare for anyone of our group that could be nearby to find us." Pan Zi said and Fatty offer himself to go with him and have a short look around the ruins, as Xiao Hua shooted the flare.
Wu Xie, by now pretty much exhausted from all the walking, decided to sat on what was left of a wall and was about to took out his water bottle from his backpack, when suddenly, one was offered to him from Zhang Qiling's hands no less. Wu Xie looked up to him a bit surprised, as he was supposedly to be a loner, yet he turned out to be surprisingly atentive, even when he didn't needed to go that far for a bodyguarding job. Xiao Hua was also in amaze.
"You should clean all traces of blood and change clothes too. If you are poison, it will be troublesome." Qiling said and Wu Xie was somewhat disappointed that his previous heartwarming thought was so quickly crushed. Xiao Hua simply smirked.
Despite just getting to know each other, there was a feeling around them like that of an old couple, one been odd and probably emotionally awkward, while the other too open an easy to read.
Wu Xie, you will be in more troubles sooner than later. Xiao Hua thought, just before he hear someone yelling his name in the distance, which was obviously owned by his personal tribulation called Hei Yanjing, better known as Xiazi.
AN: Thank for reading, now the story is taking form and our Pingxie slowly coming into place. By this part Qiling will be acting more like he did in Lost Tomb 2. More like a sentinel while beginning to know Wu Xie better, to then be more attached to Wu Xie, like in the Ultimate Note. I hope you like it, it's been fun writing this so far. Take care. 😁💞
