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A few weeks into the lecture series at the Cloud Recesses, just after dinner, Nie Huaisang dragged Wei Wuxian away from the rest of the disciples, into the woods, refusing to answer questions until they were out of earshot.
“Nie Huaisang, what did you drag me out here for?” Wei Wuxian pouted. “I was going to visit Caiyi again to get wine…”
“This is more important! Look at this.” Nie Huaisang whistled, an up and down call. “Zhaoshu, pretty lady!”
Nothing happened. Wei Wuxian made a face. Nie Huaisang stomped his foot, and whistled again. “Pretty lady, it’s safe here! Come to Nie Huaisang!”
After another moment of silence, there was a response whistle from the trees. A gray parrot flew in from above and landed gently on Nie Huaisang’s shoulder.
“What’s that?” Wei Wuxian had never seen such a bird. It was the size of a small cat, and gray as smoke. She regarded him with suspicion as she cuddled against Nie Huaisang’s cheek.
“Her name is Zhaoshu, and she’s really smart. Watch. Zhaoshu, who am I?”
“Nie Huaisang! Great Papa Nie Huaisang!” She whistled proudly.
“And where are we?”
“Cloud Recesses,” Zhaoshu chirped. Wei Wuxian smiled at the trick.
“Zhaoshu, can you do me a favor?” She nodded. “Bring me a flower.” He pointed to a clearing a little deeper in the woods, where little snowdrops were growing.
Zhaoshu gave him a look. Nie Huaisang rolled his eyes and pulled a bag of peanuts from his sleeve. “Papa will give you a peanut, yes.” She bobbed her head before flying over, and carefully examined the patch. She picked one, cut it with her beak, and grabbed it with her talon before coming back to Nie Huaisang’s shoulder.
He tried to grab the flower, but she croaked “Payment!” and nodded towards the peanut bag. Only when Nie Huaisang pulled one out and let her eat from his hand did she let him take the flower.
Wei Wuxian watched in amazement. “She’s a great bird!” He reached out to pet her.
Nie Huaisang sighed to himself. It would take a little more pushing.
“She’s so smart! She can learn all sorts of tricks, learn new words, put together sentences...” He laughed lightly.
A spark lit up in Wei Wuxian’s eyes. “Nie Huaisang, could I….. play with her sometimes?”
At last! “Of course! She needs more training. But she’s very shy, she doesn’t like being seen by anyone but me. And now you, I guess.” Zhaoshu was now leaning into Wei Wuxian’s touch, having decided that there were worse humans than one who would scratch her neck.
“Oh, I’m sure I can keep her out of the view of the Jades.” Wuxian stole the bag of peanuts, sharing them with a very insistent Zhaoshu.
Nie Huaisang smiled to himself.
After that, there were rumors of a ghost in the Cloud Recesses. What else could explain the voice that called your name from the trees? Or cups of tea spilling as soon as you left them?
“I think I saw it!” Nie Huaisang said over dinner one night. “Ten feet tall, with bleeding eyes and a gray cloak!” He did his best to sound frightened. The other students looked at him with wide eyes.
“That sounds right,” Wei Wuxian agreed, tossing another peanut into his mouth. He was rarely seen without them the past month.
A young Lan disciple grabbed her friend for support. “I definitely saw something gray last night!” “The ghost of the Recesses!” A murmur passed through the hall. The only one to not whisper about the ghost was Lan Wangji, who sat silently, as always.
“Lan Zhan! Lan Zhan, why haven’t you reasoned with the spirit yet?” When he didn’t get an answer, Wei Wuxian threw a peanut into his tea. “Lan Zhan, aren’t you a cultivator? The pride of Gusu Lan?”
Lan Wangji closed his eyes to gather strength, and slowly removed the peanut from his tea.
From somewhere in the night outside, an etherial voice called. Lan Wangji…. The table fell silent. Lan Wangji….. Nie Huaisang made a point to shake as he lifted his tea to his mouth. A gray shadow passed over the moon, and he spilled down his front. One of the younger disciples yelped.
Lan Wangji…… help me……..
Lan Wangji stood up abruptly and left the hall, refusing to look at anyone. Wei Wuxian had to stifle his laughter, while Nie Huaisang hid behind his fan again.
The air stilled, and there was the unmistakable sound of talons clacking on the floor on the steps outside. A ghostly howl came in on the wind. The cultivators looked around in terror, no one willing to investigate until the silence was broken by Lan Wangji appearing in the doorway.
“Wei Ying!” He hissed.
Wei Wuxian was, of course, the picture of innocence. “Lan Zhan, what is it?”
“My room!”
“What, are you afraid to go to sleep with the ghost on the loose?” Wei Wuxian laughed. “I didn’t think you were that easily spooked.”
That alone eased the tension in the room. But the look on Lan Wangji couldn’t be denied -- something had happened, and the ghost might be responsible.
“My room is wrecked!”
“But Lan Wangji,” Nie Huaisang protested. “When could he have ruined your room?”
“Yeah, you came right from your room to dinner, and he’s been here with us the entire time!” JC had to come to his brother’s defense this time, when he so clearly wasn’t at fault.
Lan Wangji’s jaw clenched, but he couldn’t deny it. He turned and stormed out.
“Sleep well! Don’t let the spirit take your soul!” Wei Wuxian called, throwing a peanut at him. It missed and clattered down the steps. The disciples went back to dinner, not noticing a grey shadow flying across the sky once again.
Twenty years later, on a visit to the Unclean Realm, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji once again encountered the ghost of the Cloud Recesses. Its ghostly wails could be heard through the halls, mysterious shadows passed the windows, and the clothes and blankets in Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji’s bedroom were tossed about the second they turned around.
Lan Wangji tried to bring it up at dinner. “There may be a spirit in the Unclean Realm.”
“What? I don’t think so…” Nie Huaisang started his act, but remembered who he was talking to. “There is no ghost here, I would know.”
Something nagged at the back of Wei Wuxian’s mind…. Was he forgetting something?
A ghostly wail interrupted dinner. Lan Wangji tried to look pointedly at Nie Huaisang, who suddenly was very interested in his food.
Lan Wangji! The voice sounded.
Lan Wangji! Closer. The spirit was approaching. Nie Huaisang hid behind his fan, trembling, as a grey bird swept into the room and went right for Lan Wangji’s head. He lept up and drew his sword, as the bird stole his hairpiece and flew to Wei Wuxian’s table.
“Zhaoshu! You’re still alive!” He reached forward to pet her head, but got nipped instead.
“Payment! Payment!” She knocked the table with her beak. “Payment for Zhaoshu!”
“Of course, old friend! Here, have some rice.”
Lan Wangji glared at the bird and his husband, but he couldn’t be too angry. Wei Wuxian with animals is a delight to see, and he didn’t have the heart to stop them. “Wei Ying, who is this?”
“Oh, right, you haven’t been introduced--” Wei Wuxian was interrupted by Zhaoshu knocking his chopsticks away, and flying to Nie Huaisang.
“Papa, payment?” She landed on his outstretched arm. “Good bird, made trouble!”
“Yes, you are a wonderful bird. Here you go,” Nie Huaisang pulled a loquat out of his robe to feed her. “Do you two remember her?” She nibbled joyfully on the loquat, before returning to Wei Wuxian to bother him.
“Of course we do! She was a great partner in crime. Such a good little ghost.” He pet her head, and now that she had been paid, she allowed it. “I don’t remember her being so picky, though.” Wei Wuxian made a face at the rice she had sent to the floor.
Lan Wangji nodded slowly. “The ghost at Cloud Recesses.” He reached out a hand to her, asking if she would accept a scratch on the neck. She looked at him for a moment, but decided that since he wasn’t currently a target, she could ignore him. “Her call sounds strange. Is that normal for this type of bird?”
Nie Huaisang laughed. “Of course not, it took years to train her to make the ghost noises. And to knock over tea and steal papers. She was very polite when I first got her.”
Wei Wuxian stopped petting Zhaoshu to stare at Nie Huaisang. “She already knew how to do those things? I didn’t train her?”
“No, she helped me prank Dage for years before I met you.” It took a great deal of effort to not grin at Wei Wuxian’s dumbfounded face. “I only brought her to the Recesses when I knew someone else would be able to play with her. I didn’t want anyone to think I was a troublemaker.” He smiled brightly. “I had a reputation to maintain.”
