Wei Ying had then aimed the cord in the opposite direction of the mansion.
The cord had struck a tree and it had fallen over.
This had successfully distracted the zombies who had walked towards the noise.
Wei Ying and Wangji had taken this chance make a run for the mansion.

They had entered it and immediately taken refuge in the hidden chamber.
It had been stuffy and uncomfortable, but it had been safe.

Wangji had tried to concentrate to gage the outside situation.
The zombies had turned and followed them when they had made a run towards the mansion, but had become aimless again once the boys had entered the hidden chamber.

Lan Zhan had immediately lit the candle again.

"Lan Zhan, this flame is so calming. What powers it? Is it a charm? Is it a talisman?" Wei Ying had asked mesmerized by the brilliant flame.

"My core." Wangji had said expressionlessly without looking at the younger boy.

"Your core powers it?" Wei Ying had looked surprised.

"Mn."

"Does it also have any other power?" Wei Ying had continued to enquire. Wei Ying had not expected Wangji to answer him. Information about Core powered items were always kept hidden.

"It shows my state of mind." Wangji had answered.

"So if you are not calm... then the flame won't either?"

"Mn."

"Lan Zhan, don't reveal it freely to just anyone. They may use it against you." Wei Ying had said without looking at the Light Bearer. Wei Ying had sounded guilty.
Wangji had looked up at Wei Ying then. Wei Ying had been chewing on his lower lip deep in thought.

The flame had flickered.
Wei Ying had noticed.
"Lan Zhan, I will never reveal it to anyone. I promise." Wei Ying had smiled before taking a seat next to Wangji.

Wangji had shifted away a little trying to put more space between them.
A look of hurt had crossed Wei Ying's face.
Wangji had missed it.

"Lan Zhan, why are you always so quiet? Lan Zhan... It's just us two unfortunate men here. What else should we do besides talking." Wei Ying had tried to encourage Wangji to speak to him.
"Lan Zhan, I promise I will listen and I won't call you boring... Lan Zhan!" Wei Ying had gotten frustrated when Wangji had continued to ignore him.

Wei Ying had smiled mischievously then.
Wangji had missed that too.

"Lan Zhan, how about I repay you now?" Wei Ying had said playfully bumping their shoulders together.

"Mn?" Wangji had finally looked at the younger boy.

"I bit you remember? I made a promise to you that you could bite me as a compensation... Hehe." Wei Ying had teased.

Wangji's face had remained expressionless but the flame had flickered again.

Wei Ying had noticed that again.

"Lan Zhan, you can do whatever you want...I will not stop you... Hehe...you have already punished me a few times....Ammm. ammm!" Wei Ying had continued to tease Wangji relentlessly before Wangji had put the silencing charm on him once again.

"Shameless." Wangji had said.
The truth was that Wangji had wanted to push Wei Ying on the floor of the chamber.
Wangji had thought, that bitting Wei Ying once would not have been enough for him.
He had wanted so much more.
'I can't have what I want.' Wangji had told himself and tried to calm his beating heart.

Wei Ying had continued to make unsatisfactory sounds. "Ammm. Am. Ammm. Ammmmm."

It was then that Wangji had felt a strange presence.

Wei Ying had felt it too.
Wei Ying had also fallen silent.
Wangji had at once removed the spell and looked at Wei Ying for confirmation.

The presence was negative... resentful.

Wei Ying had felt it too. He had moved closer to Wangji and asked in a slow voice, "Lan Zhan, can you sense the zombies outside? Have they left yet?"

"No. Still there."

"Damnit." Wei Ying had cursed before saying, "Should we leave and take refuge in the temple?"

"That would attract the zombies I think."

"Should we try?" Wei Ying had said.. his brows were knitted.

Wangji had noticed.
"What is it?" He had asked. He had been worried about Wei Ying.

"It's nothing." Wei Ying had dismissed.

"Mn. Let's try." He had said getting up and walking towards the exit door that lead to the temple.

Wei Ying had followed.

On entering the temple they had noticed that the main temple door that had been agape previously had been shut.

As soon as they had walked a few steps inside the main hall of the temple, the door they had come from had closed shut as well.

"Lan Zhan, I don't smell the stench anymore. Do you?" Wei Ying had asked.

"No, it's not a stench anymore. It's a sweet fragrance." Wangji had answered.

"That's curious. Anyway, let's see if there is another way out."

"Mn."

The boys had searched the whole temple without finding any other escape route.

"Lan Zhan, can you still feel the invisible presence?" Wei Ying had whispered, coming closer to Wangji.

"No. Do you?"

"No." Wei Ying had answered walking away to look at the broken statue of the goddess once more.

"Lan Zhan! Come here quick."

"Mn?" Wangji had asked waking towards Wei Ying.

"Lan Zhan, it's not a Goddess. It's just a mortal woman. Look. It says here that she was betrayed by her uncaring husband who didn't love her back. She had killed herself.
This place was built to please her spirit." Wei Ying explains.

"Then why is this place in this condition?" Wangji had asked before picking up what looked like surviving page of a burnt notebook.

Wangji had then started reading the page. Wei Ying had peeped a few times at the pages and then recklessly snatched it from Wangji's hands.

"Wei Ying!" Wangji had said getting irritated. "Give it back. Be gentle with it." He had said stretching his hand out to ask for the page.
Wei Ying had tried to understand it, but the scrip was unknown to him.
Wei Ying had pouted and reluctantly handed it over to Wangji, "Can you read it?"

Wangji's brows were knitted in concentration, "Some of it... But words and phrases are too faint and the last few lines are missing. It looks like a poem."

Wei Ying had lost interest in the page then and had wandered around for a few minutes before coming towards Wangji again.
He had sat in front of Wangji with an affectionate smile on his face.

Wangji had ignored it.
When Wangji was done reading he had had a frown on his face.

"Lan Zhan, you know that expression is making me feel things... Hehe." Wei Ying had said before crawling towards Wangji.

"Stop right there Wei Ying." Wangji had said panicking and shifting away.

Wei Ying's expression had changed instantly, "Lan Zhan, what is it?"

Sweat had started breaking out on Lan Zhan's forehead as if he was in excruciating pain. He had closed his eyes tight, "No...No.. No." He had muttered under his breath.

Wei Ying had inevitably gone and put his hand on his friend's forehead, "Lan Zhan! What is it? What is wrong? Where does it hurt?"

Immediately Lan Zhan's breathing had returned to normal and within a few seconds he had opened his eyes and looked at Wei Ying's eyes.

Wei Ying had breathed a sigh of relief, "Hey...are you feeling better now?"

"Mn... Come here." Lan Zhan had ordered patting the space next to him.

"Lan Zhan, don't you hate people coming close to you?" Wei Ying had asked, nonetheless he had come closer.

A soft look had come on Lan Zhan's face as he had lifted his hand and gently caressed Wei Ying's cheek.

"Aaa..Lan Zhan, what are you doing?" Wei Ying had asked holding and stopping Lan Zhan's hand.

Lan Zhan had not liked being stopped, he had grunted before pulling the younger boy into his lap and hugging him.
Wei Ying had yelped and resisted, "Lan Zhan! What are you doing!? Let me go. This is a most embarrassing position!"

Lan Zhan had not let go. He had held the younger boy tighter and buried his face in Wei Ying's neck.

Something had occurred to Wei Ying then and he had giggled, "Lan Zhan, you know when I had offered to be bitten...I was joking around... You shouldn't take my words so seriously."

Lan Zhan had looked up at Wei Ying's face and once again caressed his cheek before pulling the younger boy close and biting his lower lip.

Wei Ying had not expected this turn of events. He had gasped and winced in pain, "Ahhhhh.... "
Then he had started pushing at Lan Zhan's chest to get away. Lan Zhan had always been stronger. At first, Wei Ying had failed to remove himself from Lan Zhan's iron like grip on the nape of his neck and his waist.
Then Lan Zhan had let go of Wei Ying's lips and started kissing his jaw and neck.
Wei Ying's mind had told him to get away, 'Something is wrong... This can't be what Lan Zhan wants....I must stop him. ' But unexpectedly Wei Ying had realized that he didn't want to stop Lan Zhan anymore.
Wei Ying's struggles had lessened with each kiss. Wei Ying's breath had become heavy. Within a few seconds, both of them had started panting.

Finally Wei Ying's hand too had landed on the nape of Lan Zhan's neck and he had lifted his face and looked into his eyes and asked breathlessly, "Fuck... Lan Zhan... what are you doing?"

Lan Zhan had once again ignored Wei Ying's words and brought their lips together. Wei Ying had just gone with the flow then. He had wrapped his arms around Lan Zhan's neck and kissed him back.
They had tasted each other thoroughly, enjoying every touch and kiss.
Once Lan Wangji was satisfied with Wei Ying's mouth he had loosened Wei Ying's top garments and pushed them away from his shoulder and bitten him. Wei Ying had moaned loudly. A broken and breathless 'Hanguang Jun' had left his lips.
Wei Ying's moan had echoed throughout the ruined temple.

He had tightened his grip on Lan Zhan.

Precisely at this moment, Lan Zhan had stopped and his head had slumped against Wei Ying's shoulder.

For a few minutes Wei Ying had not understood what Lan Zhan was doing. Then he had looked down to find Lan Zhan unconscious. Wei Ying had gotten worried and tried to shake him awake,"Lan Zhan....Lan Zhan.... Wake up!"
Even after many tries when Lan Zhan had remained unresponsive, Wei Ying had gotten off his lap and laid Lan Zhan down on the temple floor.
He had looked around the temple for water, but had found none.

He had once again tried to shake Lan Zhan awake, "Lan Zhan, what is wrong with you... you can't Just kiss me like that and faint."

Wei Ying had stopped his actions when the things they had done just moments ago had come to his mind.

"What did we do? Why did Lan Zhan do that....He can hardly stand my presence, yet he kissed me like that... Why?"
He had sat still and tried to sense the presence of resentful energy around him. After having concentrated for a few minutes he had come to the conclusion that the resentful energy had left the place, thus he could not feel it anymore.

That is when a thought had occurred to him, 'Did Lan Zhan do all those things under the influence of the energy?'
His heart had sunk.
He had felt like he had taken advantage of his friend's condition.

'I should have stopped him... I should have tried harder... What if he hates me now? What if he doesn't want to be my friend anymore?'

That is when Lan Zhan had moved. As a reflex, Wei Ying had come closer and put his hand on Lan Zhan's cheek.

When Lan Zhan's eyes had opened, Wei Ying had been close, very close. Lan Zhan had pushed away Wei Ying's hand and moved himself away, "What are you doing? What happened?"

'He doesn't remember anything that happened!' Wei Ying had realized.

His heart had hurt, yet he had plastred a smile on his face and said cheerfully, "Ah, Lan Zhan, welcome back. You know I was getting bored sitting here all alone and looking at your boring face."

Lan Zhan had sat up and looked around. His eyes had become alert, "Wei Ying, be careful. This place is haunted. The ghost here effects our emotions through our senses. I think we should meditate and close our sense."

Wei Ying had smiled weekly and had done what was asked of him.
He had felt miserable and confused, 'I like women... I have always liked women... Maybe I too was effected by the ghost....yes that has to be it. Why else would I kiss him back... But then why does he not remember but I do... Maybe that's how it works.'

After much thought Wei Ying had decided that he too had probably been bewitched in some way.
He had taken the chance of them meditating to pull his memories of the incident out and erase them from his mind.

When Wangji had read the incomplete text he had only understood some of it. He had tried to put two and two together and come to the conclusion that the ghost had the power to influence emotions when people touched. He had been wrong. For the spirit could only effect emotions, if one was already in love.

She searches for the one who loves.
She puts her spell when they touch.
So make a payment
So she can rest.

What is Not given willingly,
Will be taken by fore.
There is no mercy
There is no remorse

A spell so strong,
It can't be broken,
It needs a payment
It needs a token

She will not halt
She will not rest

For Her heart is full of unrest.
To end her pain she pulls the strings

You can try
but you can not win
Open your heart
And let her in.

Proof of love is her token
It must be said out loud
It must be spoken.
Give it to her,
And the the spell will broken

Make the payment,
And she will set you free
Only then she can rest
Only then can you be free.

In reality, the spell had broken, not because Wangji had Taken Wei Ying, it had broken because Wei Ying had realized that he too had feelings for Lan Zhan.
But alas both of them had failed to realize it.

When the sun had risen, the Temple doors had opened on their own and the two boys had left the place with nothing but gaps in their memories.

{Note :- Please pardon my very sad attempt at poetry ☹️
Sorry for the late upload. My health as well as ryl life are making it hard for me to update my stories.

As mentioned in D&D, I will be on a vacation for a week from 11th onwards. I will try to update this before I leave, but I can promise nothing ATM...Sorry.
After 11th I will probably not be able to update any of my stories till 17th or 18th.

Please Vote to show your support for the update.

Thank you for reading.
Have a nice day.}