Mount Kunlun Hike

-Shen Wei-

A strong knock on the door wake up Shen Wei from his troubled sleep. The sudden sound make him moan in pain, as he became sensitive to the insisting sound. He try to move to open the door, but an unexpected dizziness, make it impossible. So he asked to the one on the other side to come in instead, as he sat over the bed, with a headache and thirsty for some water, meaning he had a hangover, despite only drinking just less than a cup of the rice wine.

To his surprise, Zhao Yunlan came in, carrying a plastic bag and a pleasant smile on his rosy lips. For some reason, Shen Wei unconsciously looked at Zhao's smiling lips and blushed. There was something in the back of his mind, that he had the feeling he should remember, but whatever that was it eluded him for now. The last thing he remember was asking Chu to take care of him, after that, he had no idea of even how or who brought him to the room.

"Good morning, Shen Wei. How do you feel?" Zhao asked, already knowing the answer.

"Not as good as you, I guess." Shen answer, as he rubbed his forehead. It was rude to stare at other peoples lips, for more inviting they looked. He just hoped that his sudden obsession with lips will wash away with a cold shower.

"Ah, but Shen Wei... I didn't do it as well as you believe. I pretty much turned on my bed from side to side all the sleepless night," Zhao said, putting the bag over the table and start looking for something inside of it.

"Why? You were doing fine as far as I remember. You are such a cautious man, I doubt you drank more than that toast glass." Shen innocently said, slightly moving his head at one side. Seen Shen looking so beautifully confused, Zhao smiled, while his heart raced like hell inside his chest. Damn, he is already making me going crazy for him this early in the morning.

"Why? You ask? Don't you remember?" Zhao asked back as he offer Shen a bottle. "Drink it, it will help you with you hangover." He added and Shen thank him before sipping it a bit at the content.

"Did something happen while I pass out?" Shen asked, looking at him and drinking a lot more from the bottle.

"You passionately kiss me, when I brought you to the room last night..." The effect was instantaneous, as Shen Wei almost drown himself with the content off his drink, then coughed in surprise, looking at Zhao with widen doe eyes.

"What?!" Shen asked going deep red. He must be kidding, because he couldn't had dare to approach him first.

"You put your arms around my neck and told me I was handsome too and kiss me without warning or restrain. Ah, it was such a kiss, even if it lasted so little. You are in fact a good kisser... I definitely approve your passion." Zhao said with amusement, as Shen Wei's face went even redder, if that was possible.

"You are teasing me right?" Shen asked hopefully, because if he had indeed kiss Zhao Yunlan in such a way, then it will be the end of him, because he will definitely die of embarrassment before going up the mountains.

"Nope. Apparently, you kiss the best, when drunk. Old Chu even ask me if you did it last night, because once, in high school, some bastards put alcohol on your bottle of water in your gym class and you pass out almost instantly on the floor, then, a girl try to wake you up and you kiss her when becoming conscious for a few seconds, the same you did with me." Please earth, just swallow me whole right now, Shen Wei wished, closing his eyes in resignation. He had forgot about that incident, which was the reason he didn't drink and now Zhao knew about it. Perhaps he could kill Chu before doing anything else.

"Don't worry, Shen Wei, you don't have to feel embarrass for things in the past or the present. I myself had done far worse than a heated kiss with another man when drunk. Despite what most of my team believes, I not as depraved as to take advantage of something done unconsciously. You can rest assure, I will not force you to do something you are either not ready for or don't like. I said it before I will leave it all to fate. Just drink that and the pills inside the bag, which will help you with the headache, then come out and join us. We need to be on our way as soon as possible."

Zhao said, turning to move back to the door, when suddenly Shen Wei stood up, more steady now and held his arm. Zhao turned to look at him and almost cursed as the handsome devil gave him another of those killer smiles he was beginning to love so much.

"Thank you... for being so understanding... I promise it will not happen again." He was so damn cute that Zhao couldn't resist himself. He came even closer to Shen and put a finger under his chin, to gently rise his head a bit.

"Oh, but I think it will, Xiao Wei... only next time, you will kiss me fully conscious of what you are doing and out of your own will." Zhao said, enjoying seen Wei ears redden. Then he laughed, the man was easy to tease. Ah, he was in heaven. He only wished he had known the professor sooner, maybe exchanging some words with him back in that hospital.

"Zhao Yunlan... You really love to tease me, right?" Shen asked, sighing.

"Of course... take the pills for the pain. We need to go soon..." Zhao said, turning again to leave, but as he grabbed the handle of the door, he remember something. He search inside of one of the pockets of his pants and tuned to face him once more.

"Ah, I almost forgot. I would like for you to wear this. I made it myself many years ago. It was such a weird impulse back then, but I think, I made it for you to wear it in this trip. You can call it a good luck charm, made by the god of luck himself." Zhao said smiling, while gently putting the black and red jade beads bracelet on his wrist.

Shen stared at it, as if mesmerized by the hand crafted beauty. It had what looks like an ancient word in each bead that fascinate him. He couldn't help but feel a strange energy that seem to run all over his body. It was a masterpiece in his eyes and he could barely contain his sudden surge of familiarity with the beads, as if they indeed belonged to him. Then he wake up from his trance and looked at Zhao.

"Yunlan, I can't possibly wear this after such hard work. It's quite exquisite, you should treasure it, if you keep it for years." Shen said, feeling honored and unworthy at the same time.

"It was made for you, just keep it. We all need the luck." Zhao said coming out of the room afterwards, leaving a flustered Wei behind.

-Black Dragons-

An hour later, they were taken the closet to the mountains trail by the locals, then they begin their climb of the Kunlun mountains fully equipped. The first few hours of their intense walking over the snowy path went well and on schedule, but as the hours of the afternoon came closer, things changed gradually. The wind pick up a bit, making the temperature lower even more.

Still, they keep on walking, only stopping for a short rest or a meal. In one of those stops, Lin Jing make some test on his equipment. The jacket they all wear, although in different colors have a water proof tracking device, which was working fine so far, but as he pointed his magnetic compass in the direction of the place they hoped to reach as their final destination, he notice that it went crazy, each time he point it exactly in that way.

"Strange..." He said, once again making the test. The compass worked just fine in any other direction, it only went crazy when pointing it at the ring of mountains that were close off until recently.

"What's strange?" Zhu asked, as she walked toward were he stood.

"Those close off mountains have a mess up magnetic field, which isn't a good sign for us. So far, the tracing device, as well as the satellite phone is working normally, but I'm afraid that as we get closer to where the professor disappear, every electronic device may stop working or gone crazy, the same as this compass." Lin answer a bit worry.

"Then we rely on our old method. We included emergency flares, both aerial and terrestrial, just in case everything else fails. Let's just hope it doesn't come for us to get separated." She said, looking at the distance.

"Do you believe there is something supernatural about those mountains, as the missing professor believed?" Lin asked, following her gaze.

"Perhaps... it's not only professor Ouyang's drawing, Wang also believes that gods resides in that part of the mountains." Lin chuckle.

"You never believe her before." He said.

"Well, maybe it's time to give her some credits." She said.

"Hey, don't jinx us too, you idiot." Da Qing said, coming closer. "We already have our hands full with her..." He added, looking at Wang, which was kneeled in the snow, praying to who knows what god, for a safe pass thought the mountains. Her husband trying to make her rise again.

"Sang should know that's futile. Once she is fix on something, she will not let it go." Zhu said, having pity on the poor guy.

"Yep, hard nut to crack... anyways, did the military called?" Lin asked.

"Zhao said, they talked an hour ago. We should be catching up to them a bit before nightfall, if they decide to actually wait for us." Da Qing said.

"I rather not meet with them at all." Zhu said.

"Well, it's going to be inevitable. Let's just keep an eye on them at all times when we catch up to them." Lin added.

"You guys are too relaxed... they are watching our every move already." Chu said, making them all turn to loot at him.

"How do you know?" Lin asked.

"I was once an elite military too, and aside from instinct, I saw lens reflection a while ago. They are not as far from us as they claim." He said.

"Does Zhao knows too?"

"Of course he knows. Despite being a lucky bastard, our Chief is quite perceptive. He can notice even the smallest of details at first glance, you bunch should learn more from your boss."

"And here I though, he was just shamelessly flirting with poor professor Shen." Zhu laughed.

"Precisely because he already like him, is why he will become more serious about getting this people safe to their destination, so don't slack off, or you will hear him soon enough." Chu said before turning to leave them to their idiotic chatter, as he call it.

-Yunlan-

"Anything more insightful in the notes?" Zhao asked, sitting by Shen's side on a rock.

"I have read them so many times already, that I can recite the content of those notes word by word, without even open it. Professor Ouyang was quite meticulous in both, his work and researches, but those notes are hastily made, sometimes not even making any sense. If he really wrote them, he must not had much time to do so, which worries me." Shen said, having another look at his mentor and friend notes.

"Don't worry, Shen Wei... we are going to find him alive."

"I hope so, because there is not much I can make of this. He draw the entrance, which looks ominous enough, then the beasts... there is some note about some kind of guardian... although I can't be sure about that part. He mention something about lighting, an unnatural storm of some kind, also a strong energy coming from within the mountain... then an old tree inside the ring..."

"Hum... quite supernatural if you ask me."

"Yes, but this... he said, beware, not everything is mountains and snow... there is also a river, although it had nothing to do with the yellow river, which origin from another part of these line of mountains. He draw some fires too, very small ones that I don't know what they mean either."

"I guess we will find out in due time." Shen sighed.

"I rather not find that part." Zhao smiled.

"Don't worry, I will protect you, even from the fires of hell..." Shen chuckle, sensing his temperature rise despite the freezing cold, in embarrassment.

"You really don't waste time flirting with me." Shen whisper. The others were out of earshot, but just in case he keep his tone of voice low.

"How else can I woo you?" Shen laughed a bit.

"You are shameless indeed. Are you really that interested or you are perusing me because I look fine?"

"You look more than just fine and yes, I'm quite interest in you. However, is not only because you are handsome. I'm not the playboy type and you can ask Chu about that, if you don't believe me."

"Then why so interested, you barely know me..." Shen asked curiosly.

"It's an instant hit, just like it was years ago when I first saw you in that hospital. Apparently, I don't need a specific reason to like someone else, but if you really want one, I guess is because your smile make my heart race." Shen flushed even more, which make Zhao laugh.

"Your blushing face too... come on, Shen Wei, let's join the others and keep up walking. The closer we are to those ring mountains, the sooner we can rescue the professor." Zhao said as he stood up, offering Shen his hand to help him up as well.

"Right..." Shen said, taking Zhao's offered hand, once again, feeling a surge of energy coming from him. Still, he ignore it and followed Zhao to join with the others.

They walked a good distance for the rest of the day and make camp before nightfall. The militaries had not shown up so far, not gave them another call, for which Zhao reunite with his team, to make a schedule for the night watches. Zhao order his team to rest after their meal, as he was going to take the first one for the next three hours, beginning at nine.

Soon, the whole group, already tired for the intense walking, was fast asleep before Zhao sat on a rock to begin his turn. He had clothes with some heating pads specially made by Lin, so he would be warm without a fire. The night was clear with almost a fullmoon, so he had a good view of the mountains and of the stars. He stared at them for a bit, wondering what could await them, deeper within the mountains. The wind had die a bit a few hours ago, although the cold was still quite intense. He looked behind him for a second, in the direction of Shen's tent and smiled mischievously.

Originally, Shen was going to share it with Guo, but he had make up an excuse to leave the kid in Chu's care. So now, Shen was peacefully sleeping in the tent he was going to share with him later. It was a bit forward, but then again, he had done nothing less shameless so far and it wasn't as he was going to throw himself at him at his first chance, because one, he respected the man, who had a kind heart and it was neither the place nor the time for such daring. He only wanted to see Shen's sleeping face most of all, because he imagine it should be quite the sight.

However, closer to midnight, Shen Wei had wake up, after a disturbing dream that could be called nightmare and seen that he wasn't going to fall asleep again, he went out of his now empty tent and walked to join Zhao on his last hour of watch.

"Shen Wei, why are you up? There still a few more hours before sunrise." Zhao asked.

"I had a bad dream... can I join you?" He asked, making Zhao quite happy to share a night under the sea of stars with his handsome man.

"Sure, come here..."

"Anything out of ordinary?" Shen asked, sitting by his side.

"Well, there is just one thing, which have been bothering me for most of the night." He said, looking forward.

"What?" Shen asked and Zhao pointed at the far distance, in were some electrical flashes could be seen.

"That... I have never seen lighting striking in such a regular way." Zhao said, looking at the lightings that flashed here and there, up and down, yet there was no sound or even a bigger flash that illuminate the night sky, which usually comes with lighting storms, even from a distance.

Shen notice it too and frowned. The professor had wrote something about lighting, but as it was hastily done, he could not understand most of it. Obviously, there was no storm, the night was clear even above those mountains, yet the lighting could be seen in very short intervals, almost in a circle around a group of mountains.

"The guardian..." Shen Wei whisper, as he stood up to have a better look.

"What did you said?" Zhao was soon joining him.

"The only word I could clearly understand about the lighting, was guardian... and to be honest, lighting shouldn't behave in such a way. It's pretty much circling the mountain up and down as if..." Whatever came next, was interrupted by the sudden sound of gunfire a few miles ahead of them, that resonate all over the mountains.

"Ahhhh! Those idiots, should know better than to shoot in a mountain full of snow! They could trigger an avalanche." Zhao said, using his night vision binoculars to have a closer look. The others, hearing the gunshots come out of their tent in alarm, but right at that instant, another sound was hear, as a big piece of what he presumed was fresh snow at the top of a mountain, came down, like an ocean wave over the face of the mountain and down to the small valley in between.

"Zhao?" Shen asked in shock.

"They are probably gone, along with whatever they were shooting at..." Zhao said seriously.

"And that's not all." The guide added. "The only trail to that part of the mountains it's also gone. There is no longer a way to go that far."

"Professor Ouyang..." Shen whisper in such a sad tone that it broke Zhao's heart.

"Don't worry, Shen Wei... when there is a will, there is a way, and to be honest, you don't have the luckiest guy on earth by your side for nothing. I will find a way for you, that's a promise." Zhao whisper, as he watched the new landscape and praying for some kind of miracle.

AN: Thanks for reading, hope you like it. Things will get more existing now. Why the military shoot and are they really gone? We will find out soon enough.