Wu Xie
"So... that's a direct invitation, should we accept it?" Xiazi asked as he looked at the card Wu Xie showed them.
"We had no other to way to know what happen to them. We searched the area and found nothing, so there is really no other choice." Wu Xie said, and Xiao Hua agree.
"Then we go together and see what that man had to offer." Xiao Hua said, and they walked the short distance to the camp, to meet halfway with the woman that had been looking for Panma days ago.
"It's you..." Wu Xie said and the woman raised her chin a bit.
"Yes. Are you going to meet with my boss?" She asked, as if they would be there for any other reason.
"Of course." Wu Xie said.
"Good, he wants to have a word with you as well. Follow me... there is something you would like to see." She said and turned to walk ahead of them.
Wu Xie looked at Xiao Hua, but he had no idea of what the woman had in store, he they did as they were told. She guides them inside the main tent and once in there, she showed them a video that had been taken while he was away.
It showed Xioage going out of Pangzi's tent early in the morning and he looked into the lake, then rushed to get inside. Wu Xie realize it was the morning he had called Pangzi but Xiaoge had answer the phone instead, telling him that Pangzi was fishing, then calling him.
Xiaoge had seen Pangzi fall inside the whirlpool that had suddenly formed bellow the raft (which was the reason he had yelled to Xiaoge) and dive inside the lake to try rescue him, but also disappeared along with him. Seen it had happened so many days ago make Wu Xie's blood run cold and he paled instantly, giving a step back in horror.
"They disappeared after that and so far, there is no trace of them whatever dead or alive." The woman said.
Xiao Hua feared Wu Xie was going to get sick, because he wasn't completely recovered yet and finding that your lover, along with your best friend may be dead was not easy to take by any means, so he grabbed his arm in case Wu Xie's legs failed him and Xiazi was going to do the same at his other side, when Xiao Hua stared at him.
"Go grab a chair." Xiao Hua instructed and Xiazi looked around to find one behind a desk. He drags it to Wu Xie and Xiao Hua sit the young man on it, then squatted down by him to give him some support. Wu Xie was honestly in the verge of throwing up and he could understand why perfectly.
If Xiazi were to be the one disappearing into a dangerous lake for days, he would be the one sitting in the chair completely in a comatose state, unable to register anything other than the fear and pain of losing the one he loved, after seen him go down in a spiral probably to the very bottom of the lake.
"Wu Xie... Wu Xie... it may not be what you think... there are no bodies, so they should be alive somehow." Xiao Hua said in an effort to have a reaction for his cousin.
"Yeah... Yaba Zhang is not as easily to kill... there must be something in the lake, another exit point that cause the siphon phenomena. Both Yaba Zhang and Pangzi must had been carried away by it." Xiazi said with a calming voice.
"Xiaoge... Pangzi..." Wu Xie whisper then closed his eyes to fight his fear.
"If you want to know what happen to them... then dive into the lake yourself." An old man that walked inside said from the door.
"You may find him waiting for you... and I can give you the equipment you need for it." Cox Hendry added.
"Why is it always you? Ah Ning's death wasn't enough of a loss? She tried so hard for you and yet you have her replaced so easily."
"Wu Xie!" Xiao Hua silence him for a second.
"Ning's death was unfortunate, but she choose the path she wanted to walk all on her own and not even I could change her mind. Life keeps ongoing, for you also..."
"I morn her at the very least."
"So did I. She was my best talent after all."
"And she lose her life trying to find the impossible, for you. Was it worth? Her dead?"
"If I can find the secret of immortality, she can be brought back."
"No one returns from the dead, unless you are talking about blood zombies and that's not even a shade of humanity."
"The Zhang's secrets..."
"Not even Zhang Qiling is immortal. He had been close to die in the past, I know well enough of the close calls all three of us had while exploring tombs and his life had not been exactly something to rejoice, it was more like a curse than anything else. Why will you want to pass through that as well?"
"You wouldn't understand... at least not in the way I see it, you are too young to understand the fear of death. Zhang Qiling was outcast by his own family as well by many others, which was quite unfortunate, but it's not the same for me."
"Alright, what do you want?" Wu Xie asked angrily.
"A partnership, of course. Right now, we both want the same thing. I want to find what is at the bottom of the lake, the same as you. With enough luck, you can find your friends and I can find the place I'm looking for."
"So, you are after the Zhang's old Pavilion?" Wu Xie asked, already knowing the answer, but he wanted the confirmation anyways.
"Oh, so you know..."
"Xiaoge doesn't remember anything about his past, which is why we come here after finding some clues..."
"Clues you say? I doubt your luck is as simple as that, you are always a step ahead of everyone else in this business. What you have, is fate..."
"As if a man like you will believe in that."
"I am an open mind kind of man and for that we had worked together before..."
"It was more forced than open, and you are not exactly fair or trustworthy."
"You can see it as you wish, at the end it had work well for both of us... so, what about my offer? Do you rather let the chance to see if your friends are trapped underwater somewhere slip through your fingers? What if they need your help to get out? Will you abandon them?"
"Of course not and you know it, which is why you are taking advantage of it."
"So..."
"I will dive into the lake alone. If you have communication equipment for diving, I will tell you everything I see in detail, but my main goal is to save my friends. Their lives take priority."
"Of course. Just tell me what is down there and how to get in and you can bring your friends back, if you find them."
"We have a deal... let's talk about the details in the morning. I need some rest." Wu Xie conceded, quite tired.
"Alright. Do you want a place to rest here? It had better lodgings."
"There is nothing wrong with my camp and I feel safer there." Wu Xie said as he turned to leave that fancy dome and that irritating man behind. Xiao Hua and Xiazi follow him closely.
"You are such a brave man... not many dares to treat Cox Hendry like that." Xiazi said as he whistles.
"I am a Wu... I know best about mad dogs." Xiazi laughed and Xiao Hua sighed.
"Seriously Wu Xie, you are becoming fearless, I like it." Xiazi said.
"I'm not fearless, I am pissed..."
"Oh... was it for Ning's death?" Xaizi asked curiously.
"That's only the tip of it... guys... I'm grateful of you both for saving me before, then helping me with this mess, but..."
"Yeah, yeah, go have your rest... Master Hua and I will keep watch for you, just in case." Xiazi said as he slightly tapped Wu Xie's back.
"Thank you... don't stay up for too long, I'm sure you will have a hard day tomorrow as well. That man is not trustworthy at all, keep your guard up..."
"Wu Xie, we know..." Xiao Hua said and Wu Xie assented, then got inside the tent he shared with Xiaoge, already missing his presence like hell. The tent itself was so full of him... his backpack, his towel, their sleeping bag... he misses him so much... and he was so worry sick...
"Xiaoge... just a little longer... I promise I will find you... you too Pangzi... just a few more hours..." Wu Xie said as he lay down over the sleeping bag to let himself be carry away by exhaustion. Outside, however...
"You know... I think he has potential. He seems to be so innocent, but he actually had guts." Xiazi said as he sat by his Master Hua's side close to the campfire, to keep away the cold of the night.
"He is desperate. Things like that can change a man."
"I think he could be a good student... well for the right price."
"Don't take advantage of him or you will have to respond to a pissed Zhang Qiling and hate to say it, but even as good as you are now, you are not a match for a dead serious one-man army."
"A pissed Zhang Qiling is a death sentence, no doubts."
"So, don't tease Wu Xie too much."
"I wasn't teasing him, I'm really serious... Yaba Zhang will even thank me for it... you know he gets into all kind of troubles... ah, damn it! That remains me of our bet... I was so close..."
"You were never close, considering how often Wu Xie gets into troubles..."
"You cheated."
"I was fair, you accepted the bet without a second thought. You could have refused it."
"Then let's bet again."
"To what?"
"That Wu Xie finds Yaba Zhang."
"Hei Xiazi... I will never bet on that. There is no force in this world that will keep Wu Xie from finding his lover, whatever alive or dead. That can't even be consider a bet."
"So, it was with Wu Xie getting into troubles."
"You accept it."
"Alright... what about the Zhang's old Pavilion?"
"What about it?"
"We can bet about Wu Xie reaching it."
"If Zhang Qiling is there he will."
"Hey, I'm putting my heart and soul into this bet..." Xiazi whined, and Xiao Hua smirked.
"Then let's bet on something other than Wu Xie or Zhang Qiling."
"Fine. Then what about us? Will we reach it?"
"I will certainly try it. I don't care about immortality, but the Zhang's secrets should be something else."
"Not all secrets are good."
"Even so... it had taken a lot out of me and my family. I deserve some answers..."
"Well... that's right and of course, I will not let you go on your own."
"Then there is no bet. None of us is going to leave the other behind."
"Not willingly..."
"What do you mean?"
"All things related to the Zhang's are deadly dangerous to a point not many survive it, otherwise it would have been overwhelmed by tomb raiders long ago. If you are set on going, so will I... but not even I can guarantee we will come out of it."
"It's the risk we all take when dealing with tombs."
"Yeah..."
"So... what do you want to bet on?"
"Easy... is it really there? Is the Old Zhang's down into the bottom of the lake?"
"You think it may not be? That will be unlikely if Cox Hendry is so set into knowing what's there. He must have got info beforehand and the expedition team did brought out a lot of cargo from here."
"Despite all that, I have my doubts. The Zhang's will never do something so easy to reach, just by diving in a solitary lake with nothing more than a sudden whirlpool as the only danger."
"Okay, that's fair enough. If it really is at the bottom of the lake, you lose and we stay as we are now."
"So if it's not, I do you at least once." Xiazi whisper and Xiao Hua sighed.
"Alright, but if it comes to that, I choose when."
"Oh, so you are already doubting yourself?"
"It's a real bet, there is always the risk of losing."
"Ah, that's why I love you so much, you are so mature..."
"Idiot."
"Yet so heartless with me..."
"Still an idiot... let's have some rest, I'm tired for all the rushed walk we did today."
"So do we sleep here under the sea of stars or use Pangzi's tent?"
"It's colder here... let's go to the tent..."
"I knew you will want more privacy... what about some kissing before sleeping?"
"You pervert, we are probably being watched." Xiao Hua said and Xiazi laughed.
"Don't want to?" Xiazi pouted.
"You know better than that... let's go." Xiao Hua said and stood to go inside the remained free tent, closely follow by Xiazi and of course, once inside and laying down over the sleeping bag, there were a few kisses, long and heated, yet exhaustion could not be overwhelmed and after a short while, they fall asleep on each other's arms.
AN: Oops, Xiao Hua... 🤭 don't blame me, you did trick Xiazi before. 😂 Sorry guys, I'm just having a little fun with this bet, my bad. Thanks for reading this far. Stay safe. 😘💖💖