After leaving the hospital, Chen Mu, Lin Que and Zi Yan followed Ariana and Chen Nan back to their hotel suite to pack the necessities for their dangerous mission. They didn't pack any clothes. Instead, they dug through their luggage to look for weapons that are small enough to hide in their regular outfits and are easy to carry around.
For this day, they've practiced and modified many weapons. For instance, Ariana's sharp spike designed brass knuckle was modified so that blades were hidden from the opponent's view. From the outside, an accessory as simple as her earring could be used as a deadly tool.
Zi Yan went to her room and came back with a pair of rings. "Take off your rings and put this on instead. If there is an emergency, then throw this ring towards your opponent to delay their steps. This will buy you guys at least fifteen seconds extra to escape."
Chen Nan looked at the rings and said, "Wouldn't this ring be a little too big for her?"
Zi Yan replied, "This ring is designed to automatically adjust to the user's finger size."
He nodded and thanked her, "Here wifey, give me your hand." His right palm reached out and faced upwards.
Ariana smiled and placed her left hand on his palm where he planted a kiss on top of their wedding ring before taking it off for her. It seemed that he had been prepared for a day like this to come so he had two necklace chains with him.
"Till death does us part. I promised that I would continue holding your hand until I can't anymore. This wedding ring..I hope I will be able to put it back on this finger later. For now, I'll secure it around your neck. This chain is customized to only unlock with a passcode. Our wedding anniversary."
Seeing him slide the new ring to her wedding finger, her chest tightened up as if she had a bad feeling about this trip. A sense of hesitation conquered her courage; allowing fear spread to her heart. She thought for a moment and wanted to suggest for her to go alone.
As if her thoughts were said out loud, he covered her lips with his to prevent words from coming out of her mouth. He smiled and whispered, "don't think about anything else but my vow to you. I made an eternal promise with you that I will stand by you and fight. I won't allow you to do anything dangerous alone."
The warmth of his hands wrapping around her small fist reminded her of their mutual vow. "Give me your hand." Her voice was soft and gentle similarly to the day of their wedding.
He obediently lifted his hand with a joyful smile as if he had the whole world under his feet. "Yes, madam."
Slowly, she took off their wedding ring and took the other chain that he had in his hand and made the ring into a necklace. A few minutes later, the couple had their wedding ring necklaces around their neck and a new set of matching rings. With their arms wrapped around each other, they closed their eyes to capture every moment that they had before their parting time arrives.
Zi Yan's voice choked a little when she opened her mouth to interrupt their loving moment. "Is there anything we could do while you two are gone? Like a tracking device or something?"
Ariana responded with a smile, "take good care of Susu and Grandpa Xia. Of course, this includes you and everybody else. We will probably not have signal once we get into the tunnel, so no need for tracking devices. We will use another tracking method to leave traces of the routes behind. I've already prepared multiple maps and invisible ink pens."
"But what if there is signal? Then we could know where to find you guys if -" Chen Mu insist that they should bring some location GPS device with them.
"No. We've gone to several possible entrances and mapped out the routes. Once we got close to the gate, our device stopped working completely. No signals." Chen Nan shook his head.
"Then how would we know when we should go get you? How are you guys going to get back?" Zi Yan questioned in concern.
"We'll come back whenever we get out. We might come back separately depending on the situation inside the underground space. Considering the few routes that we managed to narrow down on, the most efficient way is investigating on our own." Ariana subconsciously gave Chen Nan's hand a squeeze when she mentioned separation.
Likewise, he reciprocated and tightened his grip on her hand. The couple wished to spend a bit of alone time together and requested for the three of them to give them some private time. After Lin Que and Chen Mu each had handed them a portable mini medical kit with basic necessities in it, they hugged the couple.
On their way out of the suite, Chen Mu and Lin Que lightly punched their chest twice and pointed at the couple. Ariana and Chen Nan smiled and patted their chest as if they have received the silent message. Zi Yan held the couple's hands and stacked their hands like how Professor Luo Xia did at the hospital. "Thank you. Please come back safe and sound."
"We will," They said at the same pace and walked Zi Yan out. Once they were alone, the two of them didn't speak for a while.
"May I?" He raised his palm like earlier and waited for hers to touch his. Though her eyes blurred from the layer of tears that stung, she smiled gorgeously just like their wedding night. Adjusting their hands and feet position, the two of them didn't say anything.
"Always." Her voice echoed sweetly in his ears.
A simple body contact, simple hug and simple moment together were enough for them to feel the bond they had. After today, they won't know when they'll be able to see each other again. All they thought of at this second were their vows to each other and their motivation to win the upcoming fight.
They cannot fail. No, they will not fail.
'We'll definitely dig the main leader out behind the families!' They whispered this thought to themselves as they completed their dance. As the dance came to an end, their foreheads met and eyes also shut tight to remember each other's warmth.