17 The Trip To River Village

-Shuzhi-

The day of the trip, as Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan were still sleeping holding each other, Chu Shuzhi had gone to Guo's room very early in the morning and pretty much drag him out of it. You see, he had a mission that needed to be accomplish before delivering him to the Guardians. So, as Guo more or less complained from been too early, he go down to the temple and after finding what he was looking for, he had guided the easily scared young man to the training ground.

"Hum, Old Chu? What are we doing here?" Guo asked a bit confused. Everyone living the temple knew that he didn't have much talent as a monk, none in martial arts and even less in sword fighting, so for Chu to actually took him to the training ground was kind of... scary, especially when it was still a bit dark outside.

"Isn't it obvious? What else can someone do in a training ground?" He asked, without looking at him.

"Well yes, but why did you bring me here?" Guo asked while rubbing both his arm, hoping to warm his cold body.

"Do you truly believe that I was going to send you to a potential dangerous place without the means to defend yourself?" Chu said, staring at him, making Guo flush under his deep gaze.

"What do you mean? I have some talismans for protection and some others for attack, in case of an emergency." He protested.

"Oh, right, talismans... then can you fully use them when in need or you will be so scare, that either forget you have them with you or let them fall from your hands, as they hold his Honor strong energy he specially made for you?"

"Well... I..." He try to say.

"Don't well me... this is something you can't avoid, so pay attention." Chu said when holding some kind of long stick, similar to those policeman's used.

"You know I'm not good at fighting..." He was getting anxious with a bad feeling.

"Yes and that's precisely why someone else had to do it for you with your own strength." He finish, but Guo only tilt his head at one side and looked even more confused.

"My own strength?" He just had no idea of what Chu meant.

"Yes. Come here." And so Guo obeyed without hesitation, standing in front of the older man a bit nervously.

"This is a very powerful weapon, with the right amount of fuel. Just hold it for a few seconds and we will see if you can actually use it." Chu said, passing the metal baton to Guo and getting behind him. Not really getting what Old Chu was trying to prove, Guo held the strange thing in his small hands, but nothing seem to happen.

"Hum, Old Chu, are you sure this is a weapon? What kind of fuel it needs?" He asked, turning his head to have a look at him, but at that instant, Chu shouted 'hey, a demon in front of you' and as Guo's fear escalated for the sudden revelation, a big fire ball seems to come out of the baton, fully illuminating the training ground, but before it could cause damage, Chu open a portal to engulf the considerably big flame, while smiling proudly.

"That was even better than expected. It seems you do have some talent after all..." Chu said to the still shocked monk, whose hand begin to trembled at the sudden scare and fire.

"What... what was that?" He asked, letting go of the enchanted metal baton.

"It was fear, your fear to be more exact. The baton you have in your hands until a second ago, had the ability to transform fear in elements such as fire or lighting. The more scare you are of something, the more power it will generate." He explained, taking the baton from where Guo had release it.

"That's dangerous..." Chu laughed.

"Of course it is. So make sure you don't toast, Zhao Yunlan when you meet him or his Honor will have no mercy with you as he punish you, okay?" Guo swallow in even more dread.

"Hey... just keep it with you at all times and if you find yourself in danger, use it. Just stay safe..." Chu whisper, coming closer to him. "I may not be able to keep an eye on you this time, so... let the fear protect you in my stead." He said, taking his hand and putting the retractable baton back on them. For a second, he let himself feel the warmth of Guo's hands and wished he could do the same his Honor did with Zhao Yunlan, but after that second of hesitation, he retrieved his hand.

"Now, go and practice, I will give you a few good scares..." Chu evilly laughed.

"Wait, Chu... nooooo!!!" It was without saying that all monks in the temple wake up quite early that day after been rudely awoke by Guo's pitiful screams and huge fire balls.

-Shen Wei-

"Zhao Yunlan, just what is that?" Shen Wei asked, as he watched the extravagant thing, parked in the back of the Guardians office. The red jeep looked intimidating and imposing and honestly out of place. Yet, Zhao had proudly announce that they were going to the mountains in it.

"Why you ask? This is our countryside, all terrain red fury. The mountains had bulky roads all around, so what's better than this? This is the safest car you will find, specially made for this kind of situations." Zhao respond, passing one of his arms over Wei's shoulders. "You don't like it? I assure you, it very resistant and reliable, just like his owner." Zhao whisper in his ear, making him flush all over again.

"Never mind, we should be going, your team is already on its way to the River Village. We are fifteen minutes behind schedule." Shen whisper back, ignoring the tingling sensation over his neck, where Zhao's warmth breath had hit him.

"And whose fault is that again?" Zhao asked, turning his head to stare at Chu Shuzhi and Guo Changcheng.

"Leave them be, Yunlan, they apologize for the late coming. Please, let it go, okay?" Shen pleaded and Zhao couldn't refuse such request when he asked so charmingly politely.

"Well, of course... anything for you babe." Zhao teased, whispering the words with such pleasure that made Shen shudder. This was going to be a very long trip and probably very painful too, if Zhao was set on teasing him all the way there.

"I told you not to call me that... please behave, we are not alone." Shen said trying to escape from Zhao's arm in vain, because he had a good hold on his shoulders.

"But one of them has already seen us kissing passionately... well, two if you count the fat cat..." Zhao whisper back merrily.

"I hear that! I'm old, not fat..." The cat protested, making Guo flinch, moving closer to his protector and holding the sleeve of his black trench coat. Although he heard him talk before, he couldn't get use to it right away.

"Sorry to break your bubble but you are both, old and fat..." Zhao stated.

"Yunlan, please be more respectful." Zhao laughed, slightly kissing his wife in the check, making Shen go even redder.

"Damn, you are too cute. Alright then, let's get going. You two..." He looked at the two strangers that belonged to team Ghost Slayer, as he had name them. "Get in the back seat and take the cat with you. There is no way he will stay in Shen's lap all the way to River Village." Zhao said with amusement, as he glanced at Shen, who was too stunned and speechless to say something back.

"Such a jealous sick pervert..." Da Qing murmur and both Guo and Chu agree wholeheartedly.

The rest of the journey went more or less fine, with Yunlan properly introducing himself and the Guardian Order to Chu and Guo and talking about relevant matters, related to the Holy artifacts and so on. This time, Zhao had decided to actually behave, as he didn't want to piss off Shen for no reason, because he already looked tired.

He had not forgot that just last night he had fought a great number of demons, then go back to face who know what more, not to mention he was probably badly injured, because despite denying it with a gentle smile, he knew Shen Wei was in pain.

By noon, they reunite with the rest of the group and have lunch together in a local cafeteria, then resumed their trip to the mountains together. Zhao had opted for not driving in that second part of their journey, as the increased cold in the mountains had get to him, making him sneeze every so often. Shen, a bit worry that Zhao may have catch a cold had sat with him in the back seat and let him use him as a pillow.

As they got closer to the River Village, the air was freezing cold and the mountains were cover with a thick fog. Chu had a bad feeling about the place. It was still a few hours away from nightfall, but deep in the mountains, some parts were already begin to dark.

"Yunlan, call the other team and ask them to stop. This is not a normal fog..." Shen said seriously, using his dark energy to test it and Zhao didn't heisted to do as he asked. A minute later, both cars had stopped in a small clearing at the side road. Then Shen Wei had gone out, closely followed by Yunlan.

"Shen, what do you feel?" Zhao asked a bit worry. He recognized Shen energy just now, so he knew something was definitely wrong with the place.

"Ghost... many of them. This whole place reeks at angry ghost. Ward the cars now before coming any deeper into the mountains." Wei warned.

"Hey Lin! Paste some wards on the cars, will you? This fog may give us some troubles soon..." Zhao yelled and Lin, which was also feeling unease with the thing, didn't waste time to put a welcoming protection in the only thing that could take them out in an emergency.

"Will that be enough?" Zhao asked, seen Shen frown.

"Those are yours? Did you make the whole pack?" Shen asked, finally looking at him.

"Yes, something wrong with them?" Yunlan asked and Shen smiled gently.

"There is nothing wrong with them, just stronger than the usual. Apparently you worked quite hard on them." Zhao moved even closer, so only Shen Wei will hear him.

"Of course, as a Guardian, is my duty to protect the citizens from the supernatural world, but.... between you and me, I will never do less to protect my wife." Shen coughed, blushing like mad at the time he stared at Zhao with a hint of anger.

"Seriously, have some shame..." However, as he was going to reproach his lover a bit more, the fog became even thicker, to the point he could barely distinguish Yunlan at his side. Out of fear for Zhao's safety, Shen held Yunlan's hand on his own, to make sure he would not be separated from him and guided him back to the cars. In his hurry for wanting Zhao inside, he pretty much push him in and fastly closed the door behind him. A second later, Guo screamed in fear when a skull came out of nowhere and hit the just recently erected barrier protecting the cars, shattering in hundred of pieces when impacted against the gold shining wards.

"Damn it! They are already here." Zhao said as multiple skulls of all sizes begin to throw themselves into the golden barrier nonstop, making it shine like a sun.

"And this is just the beginning." Chu added, holding Guo' s trembling hand in order to try calming him down, which would prove to be quite hard at the horrifying scene playing outside the wards.

AN: Ups, cliffhanger!