Chapter Text
The sound of howling wind overpowers everything as he pushes his way through the dense, murky dark fog of swirling resentful energy. It has nearly devoured the whole village and is growing bigger by the second.
Lan Wangji has only ever encountered resentful energy in the form of ferocious beasts or ghosts of people who wanted revenge or haven’t been able to move on. But this is a different kind of energy. It made his eyes sting and his breathing suffocated; a physical embodiment of resentment trying to take down everything it so much reaches with a sliver of its touch. The air around him seemed to be pulsing, like a warning. As if one wrong mistake will end him right then and there.
A growl from his left side catches his attention just before a fierce corpse lunges at him. With one strike from Bichen, it lies on the floor unmoving. However, there seems to be waves and waves of fierce corpses trudging towards his direction, almost in time with the pulsing of the air. He had been able to fight off a wave of them earlier but with the way that the air has thickened, it seems that there will be more of them coming. This overflow of dark energy like a dam that has burst is most likely the reason that attracted the fierce corpses.
It was just supposed to be a regular night hunt. The plea for help came from a seaside fishing village in the far eastern part of Gusu with reports of aggressive fierce corpses attacking their village. It left the people unable to do anything but hide in their homes trembling with fear. The case is hardly an unusual one, and Lan Wangji went alone to help with this problem expecting to only get rid of the fierce corpses and ensure the villagers’ safety. It is a good thing that he managed to get the villagers out and evacuated to higher ground before the chaos ensued.
Things have taken a turn for the worse now as the wind started to pick up and the thick swirl of dark resentful energy swallowed him. The air pulses once again and sure enough, only a few moments later, another wave of fierce corpses charged on. Lan Wangji thinks he needs to get to the source of this growing energy quickly if he plans to get out of here alive.
He quickly summons his guqin and counters the cloud of resentment in front of him with a note infused with yang energy. A glowing slash pierces the air. It creates a slim opening, one that he barely manages to get through, leaving the fierce corpses unable to follow beyond. And then, he feels it before he sees it. Inside lies the source of the thick mass encapsulating him. It is like being stuck in the eye of a great whirling storm; in the middle of it are bright glowing ores that reeks of something dead and hateful.
The biggest one is a cube-shaped stone marbled with a purple hue and Lan Wangji could feel a strange power within it that he could not explain. It is strong and venomous. He raises Bichen, blade ringing clear and ready to break the stone into pieces when he hears a shout.
“Stop right there!”
Lan Wangji stops in his tracks and whips around but before he sees who it was, a blinding flash of light bombards his vision. Almost instantaneously, he felt the strong winds around him falter. The resentful energy stopped swirling like a storm around them and slowly calmed down, as if a pacified child.
When he looks around, the onslaught of fierce corpses that was on the other side now lay subdued on the ground in piles. The ores are no longer emanating resentful energy and are now surrounded by a red glowing ring, perhaps a sort of spell that quelled the energy, written in a language he could not decipher within it.
Exactly what just happened?
The person who yelled the warning had also casted a suppression ward to the ores. Lan Wangji, despite being well-versed in the use of talismans to create wards of suppression, is unfamiliar with this type of array. He turns his gaze to the caster, a young man about his age, clad in clothes that are a bit foreign to Lan Wangji, indicating that this man might have hailed from somewhere far away. Feeling the heavy weight of his gaze, the man meets Lan Wangji’s eyes and beams.
“You almost got us in even more trouble there, my friend.” He says in a lilting voice, loud and carefree as if he is having a perfectly normal day. “Had you broken them into pieces, it would have multiplied the dark energy into how many pieces they broke into rather than put a stop to it.”
Lan Wangji is stunned. “Do you know why they are here in the first place?”
“No, but it’s been a while since I have seen ores like these. They are certainly not from these parts.”
“Not from these parts?”
“Yes. Must have been washed ashore, but I can’t be sure.” The man says as he walks over to the now warded ores and leans down to inspect the biggest, cube-shaped one.
“Wards simply aren't enough to assure the safety of the villagers. Those need to be put somewhere safe.” Lan Wangji states. “I will take them to the Gusu Lan Sect.”
“Gusu… Lan?” the man turns to him with wide eyes, an unreadable look passing through his face. His expression clears after a beat. “Oh, you’re from one of those great clans! Please excuse me, esteemed cultivator. By all means, you can take them. I assure you, the array will not break. However…” He stares pointedly at Lan Wangji’s eyes. “I will have to take that cube.”
Lan Wangji is immediately suspicious. This man just came out of nowhere, with a strange cultivation style and techniques, subduing a mass of fierce corpses in mere seconds, without even a sword in sight. Now he wants the biggest piece that was emanating a flood of resentful energy just moments earlier?
“I will take all of them back to the Gusu Lan Sect.” Lan Wangji repeats, his tone leaving no room for discussion.
“Such suspicion! I promise you I am but a humble traveler. I will not be doing anything bad with it. It’s warded now after all,” before Lan Wangji can say anything more, the man picks up the cube. Just then, he could see a smaller array, similar to the one that surrounds the whole pile of ores, now encircles it.
“Please explain to me exactly what they are.” Lan Wangji says sharply. He feels out of his element here, and it’s going to cause problems.
“I will gladly do so, esteemed cultivator. But don’t you think we should take care of the villagers first?” He says and puts down the cube back into the pile. Lan Wangji casts a doubtful look at him for a moment.
“For now, I’ll leave it in your care, then.” The man says, and Lan Wangji nods. Together they manage to stuff all the resentful ores into a sealed qiankun pouch. The man smiles at Lan Wangji and jerks back as if startled.
“Ah, pardon my manners, esteemed cultivator. This one is named Wei Ying. Courtesy name, Wuxian. It’s my honor to meet your acquaintance.” He says and bows politely, still with an ever-present smile on his face. Lan Wangji bows in return.
“Lan Wangji,”
“Of the Gusu Lan Sect, right? I heard the people from the Lan Sect are beautifully glorious as immortals that descend from heaven. Now I can say that those rumors are definitely true.” Wei Wuxian rubbed the side of his nose, expression thoughtful.
“Ridiculous.”
Lan Wangji quickly turns around and heads to the foot of the hill, leaving Wei Wuxian to run after him. They briskly make their way to the plateau wherein the villagers have gathered. Thankfully everybody was safe and no one was injured. Their presence made everybody perk up and with a sigh of relief, the gloom that was amongst them before had vanished.
Lan Wangji had to send a letter to Cloud Recesses to send some disciples in helping the village to bury the corpses because there were just too many of them. But after being reassured that it is now safe and the worst was over, everyone started to head back towards the village.
This time, Wei Wuxian walked in front of Lan Wangji, arms clasped behind him, ponytail and the vibrant red ribbon in his hair swaying with every step. His silver braces on both of his arms are also the most noticeable, subtle but intricately carved. The sun is nearing the horizon, casting hues of pinks and oranges in the sky. One could hardly believe that he was looking up at a dark storm earlier.
“Daozhang! Daozhang!” one little boy, hair windswept, runs towards them with his eyes set on Lan Wangji. “We saw that dark cloud appear over there just as we got to the top of the hill! Were you alright? Something happened after though, there was like a lighting flash and then we saw that cloud slowly vanish into thin air! Did you do that daozhang? Did you finish all of the scary fierce corpses? You are amazing!”
Lan Wangji is slightly taken off guard by the boy’s enthusiasm and a rush of fondness blooms in his chest. This boy did not seem to fully grasp the kind of danger his village was just in. It is the type of innocence that Lan Wangji rarely witnessed now, having spent most of his life studying and fighting the evils of the world. And in every corner of it, there is death.
Faced against a young boy’s wide awestruck eyes, Lan Wangji has no clue what to say. He is saved by a woman wearing simple robes and a slightly concerned expression etching her face. She pulls the young boy aside.
“A-Xin, that’s enough. Don’t crowd him. However, we are truly thankful for your help, young master… and young master’s friend?” She eyes the strange man beside Lan Wangji hesitantly.
“Oh, no no. I just happened to be there.” Wei Wuxian says quickly, waving off the compliment. This man is really not helping himself to be free of suspicion. It seems far too convenient for someone to not only have the means to instantly subdue a mass of resentful energy but to also contain one of that particular calibre. A humble traveler is definitely too lacking of a description. Lan Wangji decides to let it be for now and question him thoroughly later.
“This village of ours doesn't have many incidents to happen to us, and so we aren’t always in contact with the cultivation clans.” The woman continues, ”But this by far is something that will leave us villagers here on edge for quite a while.”
“Yes, that dark cloud was a nasty one.” said the village chief, Lin Zhoushi, who had sent for Gusu Lan’s help. He approached them, “My entire life, I’ve been living in this village. I’ve seen many great storms come and go. This was definitely something far more sinister. I don’t want to dwell on what could’ve happened if you hadn’t been here, young master. But this village truly owes you our lives.”
Lan Wangji bows, “It is our duty as cultivators. There are no debts owed.”
“Aiya, but you must let us do something for you.” The woman insists, “The sun has almost completely set. We don’t have much but we have spare rooms and a nice evening meal for you and your friend.”
“You are very generous, guniang. However, I still need to ask the village chief something important.” The dark-clothed man behind him says. Lan Wangji turns to him. “The energy that attracted the fierce corpses and eventually developed to that dark swirling cloud was from the ores that we found just outside the village. Can you tell me where those came from?”
Lan Wangji remembered that the man mentioned earlier that the ores were not from these parts. He already clearly knows what they were and of their origins. Is there something else this village is harbouring?
“Those ores…” Lin Zhoushi mumbles quietly before nodding resolutely, “Of course, young masters. Though it’s best we go inside first. I will tell you all I know about it over a warm cup of tea.” They followed him inside the inn where the woman had immediately welcomed them.
“Please, take a seat wherever you’d like.” She says as she pours their tea. “Your meal will be ready in a bit.”
“Oh, please only serve our young masters, A-Jing. I am only here to talk to them.” the old man says. The woman, A-Jing, nods. Lan Wangji bows his head in thanks.
“I never would’ve thought those ores would bring bad luck to this village, but I guess being in the possession of something of that quality will always come with a heavy price.” The village chief shakes his head as they settle down and he takes a seat across from Lan Wangji.
“Were they in your possession for a long time?” Lan Wangji inquires before taking a sip of his tea.
“Not at all. They were strange rocks that were uncovered from the caves by our fishermen just a little over a week ago. They usually set up traps to catch fish in that area whenever the tides change.” Lin Zhoushi explains, “I don’t know how long those rocks have just been there, or if it was just washed ashore. They were quite luminescent, indicating its high quality, but there was also something otherworldly about them.” he continues with a faraway look in his eyes, as if recalling exactly the first time he set his eyes on them.
Lan Wangji silently agrees. Those ores are certainly unlike anything he has seen or heard of before. Was it merely a coincidence that they are here? Or were they brought along by something else that they should be even more concerned of?
“Is that why you kept them then?” Wei Wuxian asks, putting down his cup.
“No, no, you misunderstand, young master. Our village is small and barely has anything so every resource we have will be put into something that will fill our people’s stomachs. We have no use of ores here, so it will definitely not sell in our market, pretty as they may be.” he continues, shrugging. “And so it was up to me to decide what to do with them. I thought maybe it’d be an opportunity that would keep our village’s head above the water for some time, once I have someone who is willing to buy them. I thought that one of the great sects would be interested in it, at least. And then use the money to buy better equipment for the fishermen, or perhaps buy land where we can grow crops so that even the children can eat some variety of food.”
Lin Zhoushi shakes his head in dismay, “However, once the rocks were brought into my possession, it wasn’t long after that that the rocks started glowing ominously! I immediately felt something was wrong. At first there were only a couple of sightings of fierce corpses just outside the village, which is already a cause of distress for us as we do not have the means to protect ourselves, nor is there a nearby cultivation clan that can swiftly take care of it.” He takes a sip of tea to calm himself down.
“By that time, I had already had a letter sent to Gusu Lan asking for help. As it went on, there seemed to be more and more of them coming at once! The marketplace was the one that was attacked first. I was there as well, young masters. Corpses started appearing left and right, the vendors and merchants had no choice but to abandon their goods and head inside for shelter. It was a horrific sight. It was a good thing that I requested help as early as I did, otherwise it really would have been too late for us.” Lin Zhoushi shudders at the thought.
⌜ • ° + ° • ⌝
They finish their tea and evening meal and the atmosphere slowly dies down. The rejoicing relief of the people gave way to exhaustion and soon enough, everyone started to head to their own homes for some well-deserved rest. The village chief also headed out but not before thanking them profusely once again.
“I apologise for not being any more help, young masters, but this village of ours will always remember what you have done for us.” They exchange bows and he leaves Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian to each other’s company.
“I must say, that may have cleared some things up but it still doesn’t tell us how those ores came here in the first place.” Wei Wuxian taps a finger on his chin as he stares at the empty seat left by the village chief.
“You said you have answers for me,” Lan Wangji starts
“I know, I know.” Wei Wuxian surrenders, leaning his elbows on the table in front of them, crowding Lan Wangji’s space. “I’ll tell you what I know, gege.” He looks at Lan Wangji through his eyelashes and blinks slowly.
How shameless!
Lan Wangji feels the back of his neck heat up in irritation.
“The ores. Where did they come from?”
Wei Wuxian pulls away from Lan Wangji’s personal bubble and leans his cheek upon his hand, eyes never once leaving Lan Wangji’s. He has a gold and red tassel earring adorning his right ear, glinting as it catches the low candle lit lanterns inside the inn.
“Have you heard of the nation called Inazuma, gongzi?” He asks candidly to which Lan Wangji slowly shakes his head. “The nation is made up of a bunch of islands across the sea, and those ores come solely from there. I believe they are called Crystal Marrow.”
Lan Wangji pauses, unsure where to continue with that. “Are they actually resentful in nature?”
“I would say so. They are only found around the remains of a dead serpent deity. That deity was slain by another more powerful god, one who now rules over that nation, and it died filled with resentment.” Wei Wuxian explains, running a finger around the rim of his cup. “But that was a long time ago. People expected that the resentment of the serpent deity would eventually fade away. Instead, the energy seeped through the surrounding lands and, as time passed, some of its power manifested into these ores.”
Lan Wangji does not know what to do with this information. Divine beings dwelling the mortal realm is not unheard of, even if it is rare, but an altercation between two deities in said realm is almost unfathomable. He is not sure if he should just take this man for his word, but seeing as he has close to no information right now, he supposes he will just have to.
“What about the cube? It looks out of place compared to the other ones,” It was the one that Wei Wuxian clearly wanted for himself.
Wei Wuxian’s smile brightens. He taps a finger on his chin thoughtfully. “You have a good eye for detail, Lan er-gongzi. You’re right. They are completely different from each other. Coming from different places as well. That cube is not at all from Inazuma so having them together is most unusual indeed.”
“And they somehow just washed ashore here? To a land where almost no one has heard the name of this nation you speak of?” Lan Wangji says, and the unspoken question is clear. How can you convince me to believe you?
“I am just as clueless as you are, young master Lan. But if you need further proof,” Wei Wuxian’s expression turned pensive, before he stood up. “Would you mind accompanying me somewhere for a moment, gongzi?” He directs at Lan Wangji, a smile plastered on his face once again. “I will show you something.”
Lan Wangji does not know what this man’s plan is but he needs answers and so, he follows. The sun has completely set and there is only a faint purple glow in the sky lighting their path. Wei Wuxian leads him a ways out of the village, to the opposite direction of where they came from with the villagers earlier. Eventually, they reach the end of the cape where a wide mouth of a cave is found.
Wei Wuxian doubles over in laughter at the growing tension around Lan Wangji the further they walk towards the cave.
“Lan er-gongzi, you are acting as if I’ve led you all the way out here just to murder you.”
“I cannot surely state otherwise.” Lan Wangji snaps. Wei Wuxian lets out an exaggerated gasp of disbelief.
“As if a lowly one such as myself could even entertain a single thought of harming a hair on the illustrious Second Jade of Lan.” He continues dramatically, a hand on his chest. Lan Wangji sighs internally.
“Why have you brought me here?” Lan Wangji questions. He is still thinking of the possibilities of what Wei Wuxian might show him but his mind is immediately put to a screeching halt when Wei Wuxian ignites a bright flame from his open palm. The flame brightens up their surroundings as they enter the cave.
Lan Wangji stares, stupefied. For a second there, he almost immediately wanted to ask more about exactly how he is doing that without any aid from talismans at all, but Wei Wuxian speaks before he could say anything.
“I found this here, about three weeks ago. Way before the ores supposedly appeared in this village. I am sure you are able to tell that it does not come from anywhere around this region, so I guess, in a way, it counts as proof.” Wei Wuxian says and he casts the light on a stone statue that leans on one side of the cave.
It is a statue of a man. The man appears to be sitting on a throne of some sorts, on top of a pedestal. Relaxed in position, his upper torso is bare except for a hooded cloak. The hood obscures the better part of his face, making it unable to discern his features, and the front of the cloak only reaches past his shoulders. His hand is positioned in a way that indicates he is supposed to be holding something. Suddenly, Lan Wangji’s mind flashes to the cube from earlier. Wei Wuxian drops his hand to his side but the flame still hovers in the air.
“This is…”
“It is a statue of Liyue’s god. Yanwang Dijun, or Rex Lapis, the name he is widely known as. Liyue is the name of the land where I come from. Only five statues like this are erected throughout some parts of the country and are considered to be wholly divine, representing the god’s protection over their territory. The fact that there is a sixth one all the way out here is already implausible. But I believe this statue itself has lost all its power, if it had any to begin with.”
Wei Wuxian meets Lan Wangji’s gaze. “The reason I brought you here is because the cube that we found among the ores is supposed to be a part of this statue. I recognised it instantly because of the patterns on its surface.” He heaves a sigh and turns his attention to the statue’s hand “But now, I suppose it’s not a good idea to put it back there. Who knows what we’ll unleash,” Wei Wuxian softly chuckles.
Lan Wangji has no idea how he managed to make a connection between the cube and this statue just a moment ago, but he decided to think about it later. “Two unrelated things, brought together by resentment…”
Suddenly, Wei Wuxian’s voice turns grave, “Yes. This statue is obviously a replica, which is disrespectful enough on its own, but to corrupt its power source with malicious energy is blasphemy. It is not something I can easily forgive.”
That last statement was said by Wei Wuxian almost vindictively, completely void of his usual cheeriness. It was enough to make chills run down Lan Wangji’s spine.
“The ores on their own aren’t catastrophically harmful, but combined with the cube which is a power source of the divine statue must have multiplied its effect. And like I said, the two nations are far away from each other nor do they have a significant connection in terms of power so it is suspicious how those ores and the cube ended up here together. The next step for me is to find out exactly how that happened.” Wei Wuxian continues to explain.
It is clear to Lan Wangji that there are much more dangerous forces at work here and so it might be best to leave the case to someone who is already familiar with it. On the other hand, he has a foreboding feeling that something bad will happen in the near future if he does not keep close watch of what Wei Wuxian finds out next.