23 Sand Hazards

-Yunlan-

Shen Wei wake up before sunrise feeling completely rested and in his private heaven, cuddle inside Yunlan's arms. He stared at him for a few minutes, as his even breathing, threatened to lull him back to sleep, so just as Yunlan had done with him, he kissed him very softly. He wished he could had remember as much of their past lives as he did, because he just didn't have enough of the handsome man who had turned his ordinary life, outside down in such a magnificent way.

"Shen Wei..." Yunlan murmur, opening his eyes and smiling at him in the way he loved so much, mischievously and lovely. "Already horny this early in the morning?" Shen Wei blushed like mad, yet he smiled back.

"Are you not?" Zhao laughed, as he pulled his lover even closer and damn right kiss him like his life depend of it. He was learning so fast, he was actually proud of his comeback.

"I'm so glad to have find you back this time too..." He said, before kissing him again, however, as pressing matters were at hands, soon, they go out of their room to wake up the others. It was time to move on, to meet with Pei Zhi and doing it when he goes out to tend his camels was the best time to catch him, before he goes somewhere else.

An hour later, they walked out of town with all their equipment on their backs, then when they were out of sight, Zhao make them gather in a small circle, then open a portal to the west desert. He had been there many times, so he knew the place well enough to memorize it. They appeared back in a different landscape, still as cold, but with no snowy mountains in the background. In front of them, there was a narrow sandy road that leaded to a small house with at least a dozen of camels.

It was early enough to be out of sight from other people, but not nearly enough to escape the notice of the eccentric old man, which happen to sense something odd and looked their way in the very moment their group appeared out of nowhere. Luckily for them, the old man was not easy to panic, but his camels did, sensing a dragon among them. Pei Zhi, ignore the coming group, as he try to calm down his camels, yet as the dragon came closer, they try to escape more desperately.

"Hey you! Stay away! Whatever you are looking for, I'm out of it!" The old man shouted and Yunlan signaled them to stop.

"It's my presence that makes the animals nervous. I am a fearsome dragon, after all." Lóng Hún said.

"Fearsome my ass, stay a little behind, I will calm them down myself and convince the old man in my own way." Zhao said walking ahead and smiling at the old man, as if they didn't just appeared out of nowhere. When he was close enough, the old man frowned.

"Zhao Yunlan? I should have known it was you... weird things always happen around you. Are you in league with ghosts now?" The old man asked, glancing behind his back and passing a hand over the neck of one of his camels to try calming it down. Zhao laughed a bit, giving the old man a credit for actually seen better with his third eye than his two normal ones. He could see Shen Wei's guardians clearly now and they were circling them protectively.

"Ghosts, demons and gods. It's such a long story, but let me help you first..." Zhao said as he spoke in a lower tone, a few words in his god's language, which make the camels stop and calm down. Then they kind of bow to him in their own way, lying down, as if resting over the sandy ground, with their neck low in his direction. Seen such uncommon display of respect toward a human, the old man widen his eyes in surprise, clearly understanding their message and he too was about to bow, but Zhao stop him before he could hurt his already shrinked back.

"You are..."

"Oh, come one Old Pei Zhi, we don't have time for revelations. To be honest we are in a very dangerous quest to save the world and we need a bit of your help." Zhao said, moving his hand, to let the rest of his team come closer and soon he have Shen Wei back to his side.

"Anything you wish, my Lord." The old man said, eyeing Shen Wei first, bowing his head respectfully in his way, then eyeing Lóng Hún, which make him shiver a bit.

"I knew he is just like me. He knows now what they are." Wang said, feeling some kind of kinship with the old man.

"Yeah, but you know, they all bow to the professor with such respect, so unlike the Chief, was he an equally mischievous god?" Da Qing asked in a whisper to Wang, who smiled.

"I can hear you loud and clear, you lazy cat! And you are half right, Wang. Your gifts are different, mostly because you were born with them while, Pei Zhi develop his third eye when he got lost in the desert. As he saw a white camel safely guide him back to the oasis that saved his life, he had remained aware of the things normal humans miss." Zhao explained.

"Ah, that camel was sent by the heavens to save me, probably to serve you in this trouble times." The old man said.

"Oh, good. You see, we need to travel around the desert to the Oil Town..."

"That place is no more. Wicked creatures lives there now." The old man shiver.

"Well, yes... we are hunting those wicked creatures and... we need to find those militaries that leaved in an expedition two days ago."

"Ah, those... I told them this was not a good time to travel the desert, so I deny them my camels, but they didn't listen and hire some, somewhere else. They leave quietly in that morning with such confidence, but there was a sand storm last night, so if you wish to find them now, it could be hard." The old man said. Zhao looked at Shen Wei, who understood his silent message and close his eyes in concentration, then he looked back at Yunlan.

"There are sixteen, scattered in a few small groups, in a northeast direction. I can't tell of their state, but their energy feels weak." Shen Wei told him.

"Okay... we gather more provisions and head out to the closet ones. Is that alright with you, Pei Zhi?" Yunlan asked and the old man assented.

"Yes, yes... I will prepare the camels for the journey now."

"Good, then we are on our way." A bit while after that, everything was ready and so they begin their journey to the desert. As soon as Shen Wei had a better idea of the exact location of the first group, he gave the information to Yunlan, so he could portal them close to the area, then Shen Wei guide them toward them.

The first group consisted of three men in a bad shapes, barely conscious, dehydrated and sun burned. Wang took care of them, giving them water and food, then checking for wounds. After they were tended, Yunlan portal them to the old man place, which was close to the town, in which they could walk a short distance to safety.

The second group consisted in four men, equally in bad shape and they repeated the procedure, then looking for the others. Zhao erased the memories of every single military men, before sending them back to town, so the military would not be looking for them. Then they found another small group of three, but unfortunately, one didn't survived the ordeal.

After offering some prayers for his soul, Wang instructed the other two man, to carry the dead one, so he could be properly buried by his family. The suggestion stayed in their minds, as they also were portal back to town, even if they didn't remember anything after the sand storm.

The third one consisted in four men, then the last one of two. However, as they talked with them, they found out there was another group of elite militaries that went ahead of them, six in total, yet Shen Wei could not sense them, which mean one of two things, they were dead of inside the ghost town.

They decided to move forward and Lóng Hún portal them as far as he could, yet the no portal zone was huge, so they travel in their camels the rest of the way. At nightfall, they make camp and a camp fire, while Wang and Sang created a few layers of barriers, in case some demons decide to come and visit during the night. The old man tended his camels, while Shen Wei make some tea for everyone and personally gave Yunlan a cup, then sat by him.

"Are you tired? You can lie down for a few hours, I will keep watch, just in case we have visitors." Zhao suggested, putting one arm over his shoulder and pull him closer.

"I'm fine, the one who should be resting is you. You have use a good amount of energy opening portals almost the whole day."

"I didn't use that much energy. Actually, I'm good enough to..." He whisper some indecencies to his ear, making Shen Wei blush like mad and almost throwing his tea.

"Yunlan!" Shen protested, seen if there was someone too close. Zhao laughed, enjoying seen that lovely blush on his face.

"Don't be that shy, my Wei, you know eventually it will happen..." Zhao teased further.

"Yes, in a more private place, I assure you..." Zhao laughed some more as Wei whispered words.

"You are too cute..." Zhao kissed his tinted cheek.

"Stop calling me cute, Yunlan. It's sounds so womanly."

"Nope, you are quite the man, my Wei... my beautiful man..." Zhao said, as he was about to kiss him, when there was a bluish flash of the barrier. Both of them let go of their cups and were on their feet instantly.

"What was that?" Da Qing asked looking up, but saw nothing. The sky was clear and the horizon calm.

"Shen Wei, are there are demons nearby?" Zhao asked to his lover.

"I don't sense any... but this is a protected place, I could be wrong." He said, also looking up. Then the wing begin to pick up, becoming stronger, then some small pebbles carried by the stronger wing, landed on the barrier, making it flash again.

"Look there, it's a sand storm!" Zhu yelled, pointing at a huge wave of sand, quickly heading their way.

"Damn it! We can use portals here!" Zhao cursed. The wind was even stronger, although luckily not crossing their protective bubble, yet the flashing was even more constant. Zhao used a bit more of his energy and expanded the barrier to give them more space.

"Yunlan! They are coming..." Shen Wei warned him, as he sensed demons coming their way. He guessed the demons were causing the sand storm, then attacking once the visibility inside it was narrow to almost nothing.

"Prepare to fight!" Zhao yelled, keeping himself close to Shen Wei. "Pei Zhi, keep the camels calm or they will be killed by demons. It's safe inside the barrier." The old man obeyed, staying around his animals. Then the sand hit the barrier making it flash like a sun, as his barrier was a golden one.

They make a circle, waiting for the demons to try cross their protection. Shen Wei concentrate even harder, closing his eyes, so not to be blinded by the shine. Then he sense it coming. He moved forward, away from the teams circle and use his longest sword to slash a shadow figure lurking among the sand. His sword, was half in and out of the barrier, but it didn't affect their protection, thus the first demon turned into ashes, mixing with the sand.

"Shen Wei!" Zhao moved to help him, but the professor stopped him.

"Stay there Yunlan, I can sense them, leave these ones to me!" He moved all around the barrier, killing everything that got close enough and when he had a clear shoot, Zhao would shoot, but it was nearly impossible to see with all that sand covering the barrier, making it shine, then there was a new kind of attack. As Shen Wei was distracted and the others following his movements, only Lóng Hún notice a part of the sand begin to rise, as if there was something trying to pull out of the earth.

"Look out!" The dragon shouted, as he killed the first red viper snake that came out of the small sand dune that formed as it make the journey up, but a lot more followed, taking most of the others by surprise. Then the shooting inside the barrier begin, making chaos, as ashes begin to rise inside as well.

"Yunlan!" Shen Wei yelled as he killed a viper that throw itself to him.

"Keep up Shen Wei... I will back you up." Zhao said as he fired the poisoned snakes and they took another formation. Shen Wei hesitate for a bit, but more demons were trying to break the barrier, so he keep his dark dance, keeping an eye on his lover as well as the old man who was as much terrify as his camels. Soon, under Yunlan's masterful control inside the barrier, all the red and black snakes were killed, without no one been bitten and as Shen Wei sensed no more demons outside the barrier, he relaxed, coming to Yunlan.

"You okay, Yunlan?" Shen Wei asked, looking at him for any injuries, but his lover looked fine.

"Yeah... that was quite unexpected." Zhao grant it, taking sit over the sand, Shen Wei following his example at his side.

"Was she testing us?" Lin Jing asked, also sitting in the now full of ashes sand.

"I think it's something more." Lóng Hún said, as he had a very bad feeling. Then, he saw the head of a viper, pop out of the sand near the professor.

"Ghost Slayer!" He yelled, but the viper had already throw itself in Shen Wei's direction. It was Zhao who acted, sheltering his lover with his own arm, as he couldn't shoot the snake in time, feeling as the thing deeply bite him, sending waves of hot pain all over his body.

"Yunlan!!!" Then Shen Wei sliced the thing in half, throwing it away and taking his lover on his arms. Then the ravishing storm outside their still standing barrier die away, as if never had been there, revealing back a calm sky.

"Yunlan!" Shen Wei worry cry, make Zhao tolerate the sudden pain.

"It's fine..." He dismissed it.

"No it's not! Wang!" She was instantly there and as soon as Zhao's jacket was out of the way, she examined the bite, which looked black and going up his arm, through his veins.

"He is poison..." Wang said.

"Yes, but this is not an earthly poison, is a hell one, let me see..." Lóng Hún said, taking his arms and touching it, feeling the demonic energy inside the skin. Zhao moaned in pain with the dragons touch, as he tried to heal it.

"Please don't hurt him more." Shen Wei warned the dragon, but he only sighed.

"It's alright Shen Wei..." Yunlan interjected.

"I was afraid, something like this was going to happen. She already accomplish her goal." Lóng Hún said, as he took out a talisman out of his robes.

"What do you mean?" Shen Wei asked.

"I told you before that she was probably going to use one of you as bait. Your lover is poisoned with a hell energy, his body will reject, as he had already awaken his god side. Thus, he is going to run a very high fever soon and unfortunately no one in here can heal, so we have only one option now."

"You mean... the temple?"

"Yes, I can only slow down the spreading of the poison with a talisman and lower his fever long enough to make it there, but we most hurry now to the temple, because it's the only place on earth in which he can be fully heal." They all looked at each other, feeling defeated, despite the small victory.

"She is as good as dead..." Shen Wei whisper as his anger raised tenfold.

"My Wei, don't let anger cloud you..."

"I'm sorry Yunlan, it was my fault..."

"Don't ever said that... this was my choice. I rather pass though this myself than allow you to suffer more than you already had. Remember, that if the worst thing comes, you are not to risk the world's sake for me."

"I... Yunlan, I..."

"It's going to end well, don't worry. A god, even in his human form, will not go down that easily. We have a few days, but we should move now."

"But what about those snakes and storms full of demons..." Guo remind him.

"She want us there as soon as possible, there will be no more attacks. Now we have the very same goal." Lóng Hún explained.

"Then we go and hunt her down for good." Shen Wei instructed and the others comply. Soon enough they were back in track and as he have Yunlan secure in his arms over their camel, he swore no matter what he was going to heal his lover and get rid of the hellish queen once as for all. She was not going to take another loved one from him ever again.

AN: Yes! Somehow I manage to put the pieces of this puzzle together! A very mad Shen Wei will follow, expect something epic.