Jinghua processed what Bingwen said and turned away, red in the face. Him? Sleep with Bingwen? Wouldn't that be weird? No, it couldn't. They spent nights together as children when they trained, but they always had separate beds. "Are you..sure?" Jinghua hesitantly stuttered. Bingwen turned over and looked at Jinghua. "It's just one night. I'm sure we'll find a way out by morning. Or someone will come to get us. Besides, it would be uncomfortable on the floor. Like I said, I don't mind." Bingwen said. Jinghua could see that Bingwen was still cold. But there was no blanket to cover the two of them. Jinghua lit the dying fire once more and went over to the mattress. Bingwen slides over against the wall to give Jinghua more room. The two were awake for a while before Jinghua said something. "Again, sorry about earlier. Something must have come over me, I-"
"It doesn't matter. It happened and it's over. Just go to sleep." Bingwen closed his eyes. The two had their backs toward each other.
Morning soon came around. The fire had turned to barley burning embers. Most surrounded the shrine Bingwen and Jinghua were sleeping in. It had been a cold night indeed. Bingwen opened his eyes. To his surprise, he was right up against Jinghua's chest. He realized that Jinghua's arms were wrapped around him. Bingwen was in shock. He struggled to get out of Jinghua's grip.
Eventually he did. He calmed his mind and left the shrine. There was dew on the grass. He noticed that there were fish swimming in the pond. There weren't yesterday so why had he just now seen them? But once he noticed it, he ran back to the shrine. The beast had made its way through the tunnel to them. He shut the shrine door and shook Jinghua awake. "Ning Cheng, the beast is in the cave!" He whispered. Jinghua shook Bingwen away and grunted. "I'm serious! You need to get up! Now!"
Jinghua grunted "Fine. You probably had a bad dream or something." Jinghua got up and looked out a small window. And to his surprise, Bingwen was right. The beast was there. But didn't Yu Tong say it couldn't get through? Unless somehow the child of the beast is still alive.
The beast was sniffing around outside of the shrine. Bingwen quickly ducked down under the window. "Now we're really trapped down here…."
It was the early hours of the morning at the Mei palace. Yuming and lady Hung Meifeng were awake getting prepared to go and find Jinghua and Bingwen. And a guest had arrived. It was unexpected. "Leader Ning?" Hung Meifeng said as she saw the leader of the Ning clan, Ning Lin, enter the room and approach the girls. "I'm here to retrieve my son." He said.
Yuming stomped infront of Hung Meifeng and looked Ning Lin straight in his eyes. "You damned murderer! You traitor! Trying to take out clans by killing their future leaders! You-"
"I advise you that you stay out of the way, young lady Yusheng. This is none of your concern and if you dare tell anyone, I will have you banished as well as your family and precious brother of yours." He growled. Yuming was afraid. Hung Meifeng spoke up. "Master, your son is stuck in the trench with Young master Yusheng. We.. were going to go down and get him."
Ning Lin laughed. "Your joking! You women can't do a man's job. Don't do stupid things that can get you killed." A woman's voice echoed through the halls of the palace. "You should think about what your saying before you say such things, Leader Ning Lin." It belonged to madam Mei. Her son and daughter were by her side. Her daughter, Mei Bao ran up to the two girls. "My Brother and I will help you!" She said, Hung Meifeng and Yuming bowed to her brother, Mei Ming. He smiled. "Glad to be of service!" He said, bowing back. "We've told the eastern region about the problem and they are sending one of their best kin disciples over. He's the only son of the Xue clan, Xue Quan. He's an ice hybrid." Madam Mei said. Mei Bao smiled at Yuming and Hung Meifeng. "We might as well get going then, right?" She said, The two nodded and passed Ning Lin. He growled. Yuming was determined to get her brother back
The beast growled outside of the shrine. "Damn it! It must have spotted us!" Jinghua said, ducking down next to Bingwen. "We need to get out of here! Baiyu!" Bingwen summoned his sword as Baiyu began levitating. It was a surprise the swords were working here rather than down in the trench. Jinghua summoned Jin Si too. But before the two could get out of the shrine, the beast clawed at the door, breaking it down. Suddenly, a voice from above them yelled, "Hey!"