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Chapter Text

Lan Qiren was walking in front of the classrooms when he heard a very distinctive raised voice of Wei Wuxian saying: “I'M NOT A DEMONIC CULTIVATOR!” This seemed to him like an absurd statement. Do not tell lies. Do not make loud noises.

He walked closer to the door wondering what was going on. Wei Wuxian was teaching or was supposed to be teaching a class to the advanced students on Talisman theory. Lan Qiren did not know what brought in this exclamation on demonic cultivation from Wei Wuxian, but this should not be accepted. He was not here to talk about his unorthodox cultivation, he should not be influencing the young student in such ways.

“But Wei-Shifu, you use resentful energy so you're a demonic cultivator, right?” exclaimed one of the students.

“Using resentful energy does not make one a demonic cultivator. This accusation needs to stop. Do you even know the difference between demonic cultivation and resentful cultivation?”

The student seemed confused by this statement. In truth, Lan Qiren was also slightly perplexed. He looked into the classroom and could see Wei Wuxian standing at the front, obviously upset and shaking by this point.

“You all know the difference between a Yao and a Monster right.”

“Of course, the Yao come from a non-human living creature and monsters from non-human decease.”

“Both of them are non-human! From an uneducated point of view, one would think that they're the same, they're not human. They are quite different. The way to handle them also is. Now Demons and Ghost are also different. Demons are from LIVE humans and ghosts from the dead. Now, what makes you think that demonic cultivation, to cultivate demons, and resentful cultivation, that I’ve heard called the ghost path, would be the same?”

The students seemed even more confused than they were before. And this question has also bothered Lan Qiren, so he stepped into the classroom but remained out of sight of the students in the back. He had often attended Wei Wuxian classes before as an observer, especially at the beginning. Teaching was a privilege and certain standards needed to be assured. Eventually, he had to begrudgingly admit that even if his methods differed from the standard Lan approach, Wei Wuxian was a qualified teacher.

“From an uneducated point of view, or from an outside viewer, both would seem to be using resentful energy, but in truth, it is not exactly the case.”

Wei Wuxian notices his presence, but since Lan Qiren was not stopping the conversation, he decided to continue.

“I will admit that even I did not know what was the differences, that there were differences, until I faced a demonic cultivator. The perversion, the outer disrespect for the human soul, for human lives, demonic cultivators exhibit was something I could not have really imagined.”

He paused there. There was definitely a haunted look in his eyes that Lan Qiren had seen from many of the disciples after the end of the war.

“When I was your age, I was told that demonic cultivation or resentful cultivation hurt the mind and body. That's all, the end. It’s probably all you were also told... You probably don't know differences between the two, that… umm…. Do you even know how it hurts the mind and the body? I understand your curiosity and I will explain it to you. But I will not, I will never tell you how to use resentful energy. And all the gods may not save you from me if I ever find you even exploring the demonic path.”

That seems like a very bold statement coming from him. Lan Qiren could barely stay in his fury at this hypocrisy, when in front of him, there was this upstart irresponsible man flaunting his use of resentful energy to everyone. Lan Qiren was strongly tempted to bring a stop to this conversation. He was about to, he really was, but somehow decided not. Something important was about to happen, at least the students might be scared away and stop idealizing Wei Wuxian.

In front of the class Wei Wuxian was obviously agitated. You could see him rub his face with both hands taking a deep breath trying to calm himself down.

“I was told that talking about it could help but no one ever listened to this so maybe this is the right occasion.” he said in a low voice, looking straight at Lan Qiren.

“From an outside perspective maybe demonic cultivators and resentful cultivators may look the same. I mean resentful energy appears in both cases, in completely different way and for completely different reasons, mind you. Demonic cultivators will use outside resentful energy, outside of themselves and pushed it into the victim, to tear out the spirit, the very soul from living, shredding the soul apart, using the soul’s energy to increase their own, using the fractured soul to manipulate the still-living body of its victim. The shredded soul will generate resentful energy within his body, from his torment. The more the victim’s soul is tormented, the more resentful energy will be generated in the victim’s body, the stronger the puppet. Demonic cultivators are the worst kind of murderers, violating not only the body of the living, but using the victim’s soul continuously until there's nothing left. This soul can never re-enter the reincarnation cycle. I also suspect that the soul energy, the living energy, its yang, feed the Qi, the core of the cultivator. Now tell me, to you, to those who knows me, do I look like someone that could commit such a violation?”

Most of the students were in shock, almost green at the horror described to them, and so was Lan Qiren. One of the braver students raises his hand, asking in a shaking voice “Wei-Qiobei, we're sorry. We could never imagine you doing something so atrocious. I mean, you're so protective of us when we go on night hunts, always taking care that none of us get hurt. We didn't mean any offense.”

“It's true, it's true.” and “Sorry” was heard from many students.

“Wei-Qiobei, were you talking about the puppets from the SunShot Campaign?”

“Yes, in part. We didn't know exactly what they were. We knew they were spirit snatched, full of resentful energy, some sort of controlled puppets, not dead or exactly living. I didn't understand it fully myself until I had to face Wen Ruohan, when he tried to fracture my own spirit at the same time that I had to block him from his own puppets.”

“Then what is it exactly that you do? How does that differ from your use of resentful energy to control the dead, the ghost? Doesn't that also damage their souls?”

A dark sad laughter was the first answer to this question. Do not laugh without reason. They could all see the told this conversation was taking out of him. Laughter was inappropriate in this situation.“No, not exactly, but sometimes the spirit is so fractured even beforehand, the only thing keeping it together is the resentment. Freeing them of it could result in their dissipation. Unless the fragments of the soul are captured in a spirit bag and given enough time to heal they… they…” The conclusion of the soul's demise was left in the air.

“I don't force them the act if they are unwilling to act, but I have enough control now over resentful energy to prevent them from acting if there is a need.” Wei Wuxian took a very deep breath and continued. “I will explain a little bit how it works but I will not go into specifics. Just know, and this is a very serious warning.” As he said this, he looked at them in the eyes “You cannot start cultivating resentful energy if you have a functioning golden core. It takes too long to understand the finesse of it to be able to manipulate both at once. By the time could possibly be able to, you would already have lost your core.”

There were gaps all over the classroom.

“Does that mean that you’ve lost your golden core during at the start of the war?” one horrified student said.

“Yes” this whispered admission pushing Lan Qiren to ask a question in fury.

“Your use of resentful energy destroyed your core, preventing you from the righteous path?”

Again, dark laughter was the first answer he received.

“No, no, no, no. I had already given it away when I was forced down this path.”

“Giving it away?” there were whispers all over the classroom.

What kind of nonsense was this? Qiren could not imagine was this actually implied! Giving Qi was a normal, acceptable practice in certain circumstances. But was this gremlin said seem to imply something different. Qiren filed the information away for now. Do not be greedy. Knowledge will be acquired in due time.

“Let this be a cautionary tale for you all. Resentful cultivation harms the body and the mind. You all heard this.” There was a lot of agreement all over the classroom.

“Did you ever actually ask yourself how it hurt the body and the mind? Why is does it? The process of it all?”

This time, there were some blank stares but also curiosity.

“Let's start by how it hurts the body. That will be the easiest to grasps.” Wei Wuxian whispered almost to himself “and easier for me to start with.”

Of course, Lan Qiren knew. He had seen the remains of a demonic… umm, of a cultivator that had been infected with resentful energy in his youth. The body, barely a corpse, had been covered in wounds, blood leaking out everywhere like water in a sieve. The fact that the Wei boy had survived more than a month with all the resentful energy he carried, was a feat in it of itself, let alone years.

“Your golden core, the Qi you manipulate, is mostly composed of yang energy. It keeps you warm, makes you strong, heals your body at a rapid rate. If you block your golden core, you would still be warm, your rapid healing and enhance strength would be momentarily impaired. Without a golden core, you wouldn't be warm anymore, not necessarily cold, but you wouldn't be warm. Your body would heal in the same way as commoners do. It would take time… you would be susceptible to infection and sometimes some residual scar will be left behind.”

At this, he took a deep breath like trying to build the courage to continue on.

“Resentful energy is mostly comprised of yin. It is cold, so cold, freezing compared to having a core. It also does not heal your body, it can preserve. For example, if you have a small cut, you send it some Qi, yang, and it heals instantly. Now, if a commoner has a cut, he will need to clean it, bandage it and let it heal over the next few days. In contrast, if your body is full of yin energy, a cultivator, without thinking, would send Qi, infection with yin to the wound. …the wound disappears so you might not think about it… but it's not healed. On the plus, side it does not get infected, it can keep the wound in a stasis, giving the illusion that it doesn’t exist.”

“That doesn’t seem too bad.” The bolder student said again.

Lan Qiren files the student identity. Maybe, a greater supervision of this external disciple was warranted.

“There lies the problem. Think about it! Over time you have a little cut here, another cut there, twisted ankle, a broken femur, a shattered hip bone, bite marks, get strangled, stabbed, arrows shot through you. None of them will kill you. Application of Yin energy will preserve you, hide the accumulation of wounds. How much can you accumulate? What happens if the Yin runs out, that someone tries to forcefully expel it all at once? All those wounds who were in stasis, would reappear all at once.”

The picture he presented was not a very appealing one. It would explain the death of so many corrupted cultivators when the treatment was delayed. Near-fatal wounds acquired during the initial infection during a night hunt, going unnoticed by the healers and accumulating if left untreated, until the resentful infection is noticed. Rarely, but still too often, the purge results in the death of the cultivator. Lan Qiren believed, like most others, that it was the Yin causing the harm, not simply hiding what was there. They would have to rethink the entire process of healing and purging the resentful infection from the victims. Respect a knowledgeable man as your teacher. It would seem that he was still a student. Arrogance is forbidden.

“You might think, if you have a golden core you could simply transfer Qi to help them heal.” This time he sounded sad. “So let me ask you, what happened when you send a Qi blast to resentful energy?”

There was silence for a moment, the answer was just so obvious “the resentment dissipate.”

“Yes it does. But so does the Qi. The Yang rich Qi and the Yin rich resentful energy mostly negate each other. The amount of Qi needed… the sear uselessness... Like trying to dry the sand on a windy beach. It’s like throwing water in a bucket with no bottom. Ah no, the image here is not exactly right. I imagine that if the cultivator still has a core, then you could still repair the bucket first.” This last piece was like an afterthought.

Wei Wuxian stops talking after this, looking thoughtful, rubbing the side of his nose, walking back and forth at the front of the class. Do not move arbitrarily.
No one seemed to dare ask questions. Be patient with others. Time and tide wait for no man. Lan Qiren took it as his own responsibility to have the conversation move along. Do not let your studies go to waste. This was supposed to be a class on advance talisman practices. If the subject deviated from its original purpose, at least make the time used should not be wasted.

“Then how does it hurt the mind?”

Wei Wuxian stared at him from across the room, his eyes turning red for a second, making some of the students gasp. If his own teaching had not prevented one of his students from the demonic or ghostly path, he was going to make sure that the next generation of students would be forewarned, not follow in his footsteps. If blind obedience was not enough to prevent such calamity then knowledge was the best recourse. Continued study and knowledge were encouraged in the rules but some things needed to be taken slowly to protect the mind of the youth. Maybe that protection have not been enough at the time, especially in the light of unrest that was over the horizon. And now, with the living embodiment of unorthodoxy in front of them, secrecy may not be the best course of action.

Wei Wuxian finally nodded at him and replied: “It hurts the mind and if it doesn't, the mind is already unbalanced. The way it hurts, it may not be what you expect. Other than myself, I've seen two cases of resentful cultivators. Well maybe not. OK, the first one was using music cultivation to disrupt and encourage resentful energy. He was not actually controlling anything, so he doesn't really qualify.”

“Who was it? Have we heard of this person? Was he powerful? Was he famous like you?”

“Now there is a loaded question for you. He used to be a member of your own sect until... I believe he was cast out for treason?”
Now that statement shocked quite a few of the students, one of their own!

“Do you mean previous sect leader Su?”

“Yes, that little cockroach want-a-be. Ah oops, you’re not supposed to insult people. Maybe in this case it's insulting cockroaches. I think I'll have to ask Lan Zhan.” He hadn't meant to be funny but he still got a few chuckles from some of the students, and if Lan Qiren was being honest with himself, he also had a hard time disagreeing with this statement. No slandering. Love all beings.

“The other one was actually a resentment cultivator, I think, maybe. He’d been influenced by the Yin iron for years, I believe. The best term to describe him was a sociopath. He could stimulate the resentful energy, could raise corpses, but not control them or really influence them properly from what I noticed. I believe he had no empathy for the suffering of the soul, hence why they would fight him. There was no collaboration, no willing exchange. The ones I saw were forced, enslaved by the Tiger seal imitation.

“Empathy, share pain and understanding is the real key to the ghostly path. Deliverance from their resentment. You cannot truly extract the resentment from a soul, you can just ask. I believe that if you force it, it would no longer be deliverance but extermination, it would shatter the soul, the energy would not be given, it would dissipate, well I never accepted it… Maybe forcefully gained energy could also hurt de mind in a different way?... If the spirit is still coherent, still intact, the best you can do is to ask, empathize, say ‘I understand your pain because I live through it’. ‘Give me your resentment, I'll make it my own so you so could be free’. The given resentment comes with the memory of pain inflicted. This is how it hurts the mind. The accumulated trauma, the stress of it all.”

This is not what Lan Qiren knew about the subject. Not exactly. It was believed that the resentful energy tortured the mind, made the victim hallucinate, give them nightmares. Eventually, the cultivator developed paranoid tendencies. Could it really be just the memories of the spirit trying to express themselves? The mental load of those memories could be a valid explanation of these symptoms. But how could one prove this? This could be just a coping mechanism that the Wei boy came out with. Just a way to justify his actions, to reduce his feeling of culpability or was it the truth? History had shown that he was not a liar. But ones perceived reality does not make it real. Lan Qiren closed his eyes, took a det breath and centered himself. Complete sincerity can affect even metal and stone. The boy did look sincere, and his explanations did ring true.

“What you're looking for is deliverance, not suppression or obliteration. The demonic cultivator results in the obliteration of the living soul. From what I gather, the shredding of the living soul generates resentful energy (Yin) in the victim’s body but also Yang energy that would feed the core of the demonic cultivator.”

Wei Wuxian paused there. He looked haunted. Nothing so far had seen easy for him. Lan Qiren had seen this look far to often from fellow cultivators during the war, or even after. It has been over 15 years now. When thinking of time past, in Wei Wuxian perspective, it has only been less than 5 years, not even 4.

“Not All Souls would listen to me. I’m not arrogant enough to make that claim. I have enough power over resentment energy now that I can suppress the movement of it in a corpse or ghost. That’s what you’ve mostly seen me do.”

And in a resolute manner, Wei Wuxian state: “Most often deliverance is a cheap revenge and this is how I weaponized it during the war.”

If what all he said was true, the ramification were unbelievable. To empathize, to suffer the same as the dead had to only be a lie. There were reports in the war of him raising not only the dead Wen soldiers, but also of the ghosts of a woman in red and of a starving child.

“This implies that you can talk to the dead.” Someone said.

He nodded in agreement.

“Those with enough cognition left to them. Most of the time communication is not done with words but emotion, flashes of images, some words.”

“You raise the body of our dead enemy; how can you empathize with them?”

That seems to confuse a lot of the kids.

“History has shown repeatedly, Lan-laoshi will agree, that the first victims of a tyrant are the people under him. I did not raise indiscriminately, especially when fellow soldiers were around, a good portion of the Wen army was forced into this situation. Some of them came from small clans that were themself subjugated, others were there under duress fearing for their families back home. They wanted nothing more than to see their oppressors gone just like I did. Some were just mad at their superiors for using them as shields. I did make mistakes, I was not always careful. War was…hard.”

Soldiers were one thing, but his argument could not really stand with the ghostly red women. What could a man have in common with this type of ghost. Lan Qiren had to ask.

“What about the red woman, in the earlier reports there was a ghost of a red woman.”

“Ming-Guniang” At the name, a soft small appeared. “She came out of the Burial mount with me. She found her revenge and peace a few weeks after my exit from the Burial Mount.”

“And how exactly did you convince the ghost of this woman to follow your orders?”

“I never actually ordered her around. I just gave her the means to get revenge from her… from… The real demon was not her but those who did this to her.”

Lan Qiren had to admit, this was not the best location and moment to elaborate further. The implication of this line of inquiry requires discretion.

“And the child?”

Wei Wuxian had gotten more agitated as time went by. You could now see wisps of resentment energy swirling around him. Lan Qiren should not have asked these last questions. He did not carry any weapon on him and if Wei Wuxian lost control, the students would be in danger.

But that is not what happened. Wei Wuxian forced a smile and said “Class is dismissed for today” before rapidly walking out of the classroom.

Lan Qiren was no fool. He could not let a demonic cultivator …no… a resentful energy cultivator, who was obviously upset, run around unsupervised in Cloud Recess. So, he followed Wei Wuxian out the door. He didn’t have to go very far to catch up to him. Wei Wuxian had turned behind the next building over. When Lan Qiren catches up to him, Wuxian was on all four, in obvious distress, like the air was not reaching his lungs. He did not look like the fearsome Yiling Laozu, more like a hurt child whose mental anguish overwhelmed him.

Lan Qiren kneeled down next to him and dare to put his hands on his trembling shoulders. It surprised him when Wuxian responded by grabbing the lapel of his robe, looking at him with tear tracks running down his cheek, mumbling in distress: “I'm not a demonic cultivator, I'm not, I'm not a demon, I'm not a demonic cultivator. Please tell me I'm not.”

Lan Qiren did the only thing he could at the time and answered the truth: “You are not.”

The crying was so loud, it shook his entire body, trembling like a child on his lap. Some of the students had followed them, so he ordered one fetch Hanguang-Jun immediately. When his nephew arrived at the scene, he took one look at his husband on his uncle's lap and seemed to understand exactly what had happened?

He bent down and picked up Wei Wuxian in his arm. Turning to the closest disciple and said: “Go find Xiǎohuā-daifu and tell her there is a need for her expertise in the Jingshi.”
His nephew then left with his husband crying in his arms, the crowd parting before him.

Lan Qiren cleared his throat to get the attention of the rest of the disciples that had congregated.

“I believe there is no need to remind you that gossiping is not allowed and to keep the event that happened today for yourself. You're dismissed.”

***

After the doctor left the Jingshi, his nephew came to join him on the porch of his residence.

“Wei Wuxian had never wanted to talk about his cultivation before. What exactly happened?”

“Mh.”

His nephew pointed him towards the small pavilion in his garden. Once they were both sitting and the tea was poured, Wangji looked at his uncle in the eye.

“Last week, our night hunt involved a demonic cultivator. A street urchin was involved.”

He had known the recent night hunt involved a possible demon but he had yet to read the report.

“I see.”

He made a note to himself to read all the participants' reports involved in this Night Hunt. Wangji had always been parsimonious with his words, so Lan Qiren was surprised when Wangji started to elaborate.

“Wei Ying tried to save the puppet child, fighting for the control of this soul, to put it back in his body in an attempt to save him. The cultivator would not relinquish his control and in the process, destroy what was left of the child’s spirit …”  Looking down at his clap’s hands, he whispered: “The child's name was A-Yuan.”

Wangji look at the closed door of the Jingshi and closed his eyes.

“Wei Ying blames himself for not knowing how to save the child. He's been plagued by nightmares all week. Last night was … taxing.”

“Does he often experience nightmares?” This was a well-known side effect of trauma.

“Mhh”

“Playing clarity before going to sleep will help him.”

“It is not enough, not precise enough. At the moment, we are unable to prevent this nightmare, only to limit the damage that they may cause. Wei Ying created an array that absorbs excess resentful energy he may generate in his sleep into a crystal.”

“Is that actually an issue?”

“Uhm. Last month, the nightmare broke our bed.”

“Ah.”

There had been some unsavory rumors that their nightly activity was the cause of that broken bed. It had made some of the maiden blush and some of the elders’ mumble in disapproval. The actual cause of the broken bed was a lot less shameful than the rumors had made them believe, and a lot more disturbing for the well-being of his nephew, and nephew-in-law. Could Wangji life be in danger just by sharing a bed?

“Xiǎohuā-daifu has encouraged Wei Ying to talk about his experiences. Wei Ying doubts it will help, that anyone would listen or believe him.”

His nephew was obviously upset.

“Uncle, … I am lacking… failing my husband… I can listen to him… He does not believe anyone else would listen. “He is the best man I have ever known,” there was conviction in every word he said. “But people keep villainizing him since childhood, using his as a weapon then discarding him, calling him a demon. Shufu, I need your help.”

His nephew needed him. Could he help? Can he? Now that the Jins manipulation came to light, now that he knows he had failed his nephew 15 years ago. He tried to protect him, to prevent him from turning into his father, from protecting criminals, from the crooked path.

There was no denying that the Wei boy was a menace to his Peace of Mind. Maybe, for his nephew, he could try to listen. Maybe, for his nephew, he would need to see what was black what was white.

“For now, I will take over his lesson. Let him rest for a week.”

“Thank you Shufu. Wei Ying said the students need to try to modify the water cleansing Talisman so it could be used even if their core is locked or have no energy left.”

“I will see to it.”

***

Lan Qiren contemplated for over 2 weeks on exactly how he could help his nephew-in-law. These things require careful consideration. It took another week to act upon his solution. That also required careful consideration. This was why he, currently, was having tea with Wei Wuxian.

“You want me to write in manual on Demonic Cultivation!”

There was incredibility in Wei Wuxian voice.

“No. This is not what I am saying.”

Patience was a virtue that was being tested at the moment.

“What I am proposing is for you and I to write a thesis together on the differences between Resentful Cultivation and Demonic Cultivation, with an emphasis on their danger. On how to counteract the effect of resentful energy.”

“You want me to tell the world how to kill me.”

This was taking more patience than he had first imagined. Just proposing the concept did not seem to go very well and was met with disbelief.

“Do not make assumptions or twist the meaning of my words. This is not what I have in mind. It is not a manual on how to become a resentful cultivator. It is to help distinguish between the unorthodox methods, so another Wen Ruohan would not occur. To possibly help cultivators not to succumb to resentful energy. I have no aspiration to encourage anyone to take these crooked paths. It is to warn cultivators of the danger to themselves and others. The philosophical questions they bring forth. Your specific experience could be of great value to future generations.”

“As in ‘what to look for’,‘what not to do’ and ‘don’t become the next Yiling Laozu’?”

“In a way, yes, and in another, it could rectify some of the misperception and rumors that we've been subject to.” Do not make assumptions about others.
Wei Wuxian could not sit properly. Sitting improperly is prohibited. He kept rubbing his nose and moving his hand like he was about to talk only to stop. Do not be of two minds.

“No offense Lan-Shizun, but why are you doing this? Did Lan Zhan make you do this?”

“‘Learning comes first’. ‘Do not give up on learning’. We will work together on this because you may sometime embody the rule ‘Be amicable and unedited’ to a fault but you are not ‘careful with your words’. I’ve seen your workplace and was subjected to your handwriting, so ‘Organizing work properly’ seems to be out of the realm of possibility to you. To ‘Avoid imparting knowledge to the wrong individuals’, we will also make two versions: one for the student and public, and one for the restricted library.”

“Again, Why do this?”

This was much more uncomfortable than Lan Qiren imagined but again, for his nephew's sake, and maybe a bit for his Peace of Mind you would get through this.

“Wangji did not make me do this. Although I will admit that it is a bit for him. I will not lie to you. I do believe you are a menace. You mean no harm but do not achieve to do so. My nephew loves you, you make him happy, and I loved him. This exercise could be cathartic for you, also maybe for me. We may not like each other but if you are to live in Cloud Recess, it would be appropriate to understand each other. I believe this would be a good start and academically sound.”

“Yeah, OK, I can live with that.”

“Good. Once the work is complete, we will present it at the next cultivation conference.”

“Wait! What?”

Chapter Text

Chapter 2 : Morning Conference.

It had been a while since Lan Qiren looked forward to a cultivation conference. Even longer since he's been enjoying one. When he was acting clan leader, he had the responsibility to attend certain events that did not correspond to his interest. Of course, the first day of cultivation conferences were busy with inter-clan business, the second or third days were usually used for various events on a range of interests. As acting clan leader and uncle to his nephews, he had to attend the competitions, as opposed to the more intellectual sessions reserved for medical or scholarly interests. Sadly, or more say happily one would say, those sessions were attended but very few cultivators. He did not imagine that it would be any different this year.

Qinghe Nie was hosting. He could not have imagined that those muscle head Nie would have made a fuss over the proposed sessions Lan Qiren had applied to present after this year's exhausting journey he had with the menace. Yes, Wuxian had kept the title of menace in his mind, but it was now more an endearing title than a loathsome one.

The original plan to draft a thesis on demonic cultivation and resentful cultivation had quickly devolved into multiple ones. In this morning session, Lan Qiren would be presenting the original idea of the thesis. This afternoon, doctors Lan Xiǎohuā and Lan Bolin would be presenting the results of the medical study for the healing of cultivators infected by resentful energy. On top of those two subjects, Lan Qiren and Wuxian were still working on, the first one was a manuscript on decontamination of resentful energy in the land for agriculture purposes, and the second was a history book with the Wen POV of the sunshot campaign and the subsequent years. Interacting with Wen Ning had been a shock to his system, and continued to be one since the manuscript was still in progress. He planned to interview some key cultivators eventually for this last project.

Coming back to the now, they had prepared for maybe 10 people attending this morning session. Of those attending, only a few would be interested in the thesis itself, so they had come prepared with only 6 available copies of the thesis to distribute. Other copies were kept in Cloud Recess but only a few. For the after session, 20 copies of the medical manuscript had been created.

They had been assigned one of the major Hall in the Unclean Realm, a waste of space Qiren first believed. His expectation of a quiet session quickly left him as the hall kept getting increasingly crowded. Some cultivators had approached him the night prior with their expectation of today's content. Lan Qiren guesses that they would be sadly disappointed. His presentation was not a condemnation of Wei Wuxian cultivation or of his actions. His presentation was on the nature and philosophical and moral implication of the differences in those unorthodox cultivations. Their impact on the understanding of the nature of Yang and Yin energy on the Qi. Lan Qiren had to admit that in certain places, he would probably sound more like a defense of the yin path.

The available tables were already full, people had started standing in the back of the room. This was getting ridiculous and out of hand even before the session started. Had they had anything better to do, like supporting their juniors in the competition that was concurrently going on outside? Most of the faces Lan Qiren was seeing in the crowd had not an ounce of scholarly tendencies. They didn't even have the decency to be quiet!

Sect leader Nie gave a sign to the master of ceremonies to start the proceeding. The presence of Nie guards at the periphery of the room had not escaped Lan Qiren’s notice.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

“Your attention please honor guests; the last session of the morning is about to start. The honorable Grandmaster Lan Qiren, of the Gusu Lan Sect, will present a thesis on the nature and philosophical implication of the differences between demonic cultivation versus ghostly cultivation. This thesis was created in joint collaboration with the Yiling Loazu, Wei Wuxian.”

Barely the announcement made, and grumbling could be heard in the audience. Lan Qiren rose from his seat to take place at the podium in front of the room.

“Thank you. Let me start this presentation by paraphrasing a question that made me pause: ‘If Yao and a Monster are different, and Demons and Ghost are also different. What makes you think that demonic cultivation and the ghostly path of resentful cultivation would be the same?’ This simple question may seem obvious once asked that they probably are not the same. But how many among us have asked ourselves this question? Or even thought to ask any questions on the difference? Knowledge comes from questions and observation. During the horror of the sunshot campaign, we have witnessed the most powerful cultivators of those two distinct paths ever recorded in history. Many of you had to fight against the created puppets and demons in the Wen army, and many other cultivators fought alongside ghosts and animated corpses raised by one of our allies.”

“What does it matter how different they are they are both evil crooked tricks that should not be.”

It did not take long for his presentation to be interrupted. Ah, his dream of a proper intellectual debate, attended by a few scholars was obviously not to be. Instead, he already felt like he was presenting to a bunch of snub-nosed monkeys who couldn’t see further than the tip of their nose. Qiren had been warned by the menace to expect such behavior. And he was sadly not surprised by the level of intelligence in the room. At least, his nephew-in-law could see the value in scholarly pursuit and debate the meaning of the term crooked.

***

8 months ago

“I'm not against the rule, on the contrary, I’m defending the rule. What I’m against is the interpretation of it.”

“There is nothing to misunderstand here” Lan Qiren defended.

“No, no, hear me out for a second. Nowhere does it say the crooked path is the ghostly path or the use of yin energy. Nowhere in your 3000 rules is there a mention of the use of Yin energy. Not in the first core 200 rules or the original 1314 by Lan An. I think staying away from the crooked path is more a question of intent. The ‘Reject the crooked path’ does not represent cultivation, I think the original intent of the rules falls in the same category as ‘Steer away from bad men’ or ‘Do not take advantage of your position to oppress others’ or ‘Do not associate with evil’.

“When you think about what a crooked merchant is, it's a merchant who abused its power, tends to help you only to stab you in the back or for his self-interest, acting in shadow, shift the blame of his misdeeds to someone else. So why is a crooked cultivator not someone who does the same, irrespectively of his cultivation practice? When I think crooked cultivator, I think more along the line of Jin Guanshan and the like. I think this goes more with ‘don't associate with evil’. It's a question of intent of causing Harm.”

For the love of all that was Holy, the menace was now trying to rewrite the definition of the tenant the very foundation of the Gusu Lan sect, to his own benefit. The worst was that he was making sense! He could not just let this pass.

They were currently sitting in the Jingshi, Wuxian was drinking his calming tea prescribed by Xiǎohuā-daifu. At first, Lan Qiren had greatly appreciated the benefit of the tea calming the menace. Sadly, the calming effect of the tea also came with the more thoughtful and articulate argument from his opponent.

They were not alone today. Wangji was quietly sitting at the table with them. So far, his nephew contributed very little to the conversation, neither in support nor again either party. Lan Qiren was starting to think that he also needed medicinal tea instead of the perfect blend that Wuxian had created just for him.

“One does not reinvent the meaning of a rule just benefit them.”

“Exactly! I'm not reinventing anything, it’s just not written down. I spent so many hours copying those rules, and let me tell you, some of them really need rephrasing or come with his own manual of instruction and applicability.”

“There are many such volumes in the library, maybe you should impart yourself to some of them.”

“Oh, yes, I’m sure there are. I’m more the technical applicability of theory type of person.”

He was so not surprised.

“The intent of this rule has always been to mean to follow orthodox cultivation techniques, not to meander your way around trying dangerous techniques. There is a reason for tradition, they show us a clear path forged by our ancestors. Just the use of the wording Path is proof of itself.”

“I disagree there too. ‘Stay on the righteous path’, ‘Take the straight path’ and ‘Reject the crooked path’ reflect intent of action, the path of our moral behavior, not about orthodoxy or unorthodoxy of cultivation.”

Did he just see Wangji smile? When looking more carefully at his nephew drinking his tea, nothing seemed to differ from his usual stoic self. Lan Qiren was not fooled.

“In any case, this is not what I've come here today to discuss. We have agreed that Yin energy has many facets, and that resentful energy was one of its types. You also mentioned that any ghost you have encountered possessed resentful energy.”

“Well yes, but then again there was always a problem with the ghosts that I ran into, either during the war or on night hunts since I’ve been more attuned to resentful energy. I mean, if the ghost was not causing any problems, then I didn't have anything to do with them. I guess, in theory, it could be possible… they do feed on yin energy… on fear. But when a ghost is without resentment, wouldn’t it be just a spirit ready to depart for his reincarnation cycle. Then he's no longer a ghost?”

“That may be true, but this is what I would like to ascertain today. Since you are officially part of the Lan clan, I've gotten approval for you to visit our permanent resident.”

“OK?” this agreement sounded more like a question. His nephew was also looking at him in surprise.

“Inquiry?”

Wei Ying was looking at Wangji like he would provide more information but his nephew seemed to understand that discretion was part of the issue here.

“Yes, I have organized for you a meeting with our permanent resident. You must be on your best behavior.”

Wei Ying was following him up the path, passing the inner clan member residences, to a more secluded trail going up the mountain. Qiren had many hopes for today's visit. One of his first goals was to ascertain if Wei Wuxian could actually communicate directly with ghosts. Another one was to actually satisfy his curiosity about the actual nature of their permanent resident. Usually, inner clan members that had mastered inquiry would visit this… resident for a final test of their abilities. The resident would reply or not to the disciple and would judge their potential to learn deeper techniques. The resident would sometimes also announce a title or position that the disciple could eventually take within the sect. Naturally, this opinion was taken into high consideration but was not the only factor influencing a disciple's future. No one knew the exact origin of the permanent resident. There was some strong speculation that it dated back to the time of Lan An but no official document had survived to provide concrete proof. If all went well today, some of this curiosity could be satisfied today.

“I don't think I've ever been this high up the mountain before.”

Could the menace not have a moment of silence. His inability to walk and keep a proper decorum had always astounded him. After another 15 minutes of climbing, they finally arrived at a very small and well-maintained cottage. Before proceeding inside, Qiren felt the need to remind nephew-in-law of some of the rules they previously established for this meeting.

“Once inside, you will bow as if you were in the presence of the highest-ranking, most honorable person you've ever met. I will not be talking. You will be introducing yourself. Respect a maximum level of decorum. Normally a disciple would install his Guqin and perform Inquiry. Since you do not play the Guqin, you may play on your dizi. You are not allowed to force or compel the spirit with resentful energy. Do I make myself clear? If the resident considers your skills sufficient, it will answer with the guqin present in the room.”

“Uncle, I don't actually know the guqin language. I wouldn't know what they were trying to say.”

“If need be, I will translate.”

Wei Wuxian actually looked a bit nervous but in a good way. He was not aggressive or defensive. The tea from Xiǎohuā-daifu, the music therapy and, Lan Qiren would like to believe, their current project where Wei Wuxian talks about his experience in a ‘safe’ environment, had made an impact on his well being. Wangji did report to him the reduced frequency of nightmares.

Lan Qiren preceded to knock on the door and made his way inside. He was not sure exactly what he was expecting to see. Normally after the disciple introduced himself, he would place down his instrument and start playing to the empty room. For this part, he was pretty sure that this would follow the usual script.

Naturally, it did not!

The menace did bow properly introduced himself with the utmost respect to what Lan Qiren believed was thin air, to have the most absurd conversation.

“… I'm delighted to meet such a gorgeous lady… Oh but yes, I've never seen such beautiful white hair color… Oh, I am not, poems should be written about them…. Oh yes please.”

The menace preceded to sit at the table not in front of the Guqin but on the side table where an empty teapot with cups with placed.

“It would be my pleasure” and he proceeded to make tea! Tea! While the tea was brewing, he kept on this one-sided conversation with someone sitting on the other side of the table… where there was one! The Guqin of the permanent resident had stayed silent so far. Was Wuxian actually talking to the resident or was he just making fun of Lan Qiren? He couldn't be sure until he heard the Guqin play.

“We were actually talking about the nature of yin, and the fact that I hadn't seen before a ghost without traces of resentful energy… I don't detect any… Oh… No, I was forced into it, but I never thought of this associating the two. Is that even possible? … I tried that at one point. I figured without a golden core, I could try to replace it to fill the void. No, I never tried that… "the crimson palace", You mean the middle dantian! You can have a core there?... Wouldn’t this cause an imbalance between the … No, I'm trying at the moment to coalesce a new golden core in this body, so I don't actually have one yet … before? Oh, ok, … How, umm how different would it be from normal meditation? ...umm …. Umm…”

Wei Wuxian was totally absorbed in his one-sided conversation, but he did take the time to serve three cups of tea, one for himself, one for Lan Qiren, and the third one in front of where Lan Qiren assumed the permanent resident was sitting.

“With all due respect Furen, doesn't this go against the Lan sect rules? … Funny she should say that! Me and Grandmaster Lan had a debate on the meaning of the rule ‘do not follow the crooked path’… Exactly, that was my argument!”

The most shit-eating grin could be seen on the menace’s face.

“Hear that uncle? I was right!”

He seems so proud of himself. But so far, he didn't prove anything except talking thin air. Lan Qiren wasn't technically supposed to be talking until the disciple finished his evaluation, WHICH WAS NOT STARTED YET!

So he cleared his throat, trying to remind Wei Wuxian of their original purpose.

“Ah, yes, Furen, I was supposed to play inquiry for you. Would you allow me to play on my dizi? I don't believe I have enough Qi to play such song using spiritual Qi. Normally I channel resentful energy in my musical cultivation. I'm not sure that would be appropriate here… thank you, I will do that.”

Wuxian corrected his posture and started to play without channeling. He was an accomplished musician, but without channeling any energy, Lan Qiren was not sure how the resident would react, or even interact. After finishing his piece, he bowed, and his eyes seemed to follow someone walking across the room and ended where the guqin was located.

“Thank you… but, but, I'm not a woman! yes, I appear more yin because of my cultivation, but I assure you I'm a man… yes… yes… the second jade, Lan-er–gonzi, Lan Zhan curtesy Wangji, Hanguang jun.”

Wei Wuxian was looking at him in a bit of panic like he didn't know what to say.

“She wants to bestow a title on me.”

This should be a great honor, Lan Qiren could not understand why the menace was panicking this way. he quickly understood when the guqin started to play.

This was a disaster!

***

Cultivation Conference, Present time

“If all Yin was resentful by nature, then womanhood would not exist. If resentful energy is but one aspect or subcategory of Yin energy, then one can assume that it would be possible to collect Yin without any trace of its resentful aspect. Sadly, those who tried to do so through the use of the Yin Iron failed to understand the nature of the artifact. This type of yin is pure resentment without life, it cannot be purified or harvested. We can either attempt to contain it or destroy it. The destruction of a saturated piece would generate a massive explosion like the one that some of you witness when Wei Wuxian attempted to destroy tiger seal amulet 15 years ago.”

“He just didn't know what he was doing! the Jin destroyed the Yin iron pieces without such fuss.”

“Umm, did they? did you witness it? It probably happened after my death? If the pieces were in fact destroyed, the energy shock would have required an array of at least 128 cultivators grade 3M or more, or 256 cultivators of grade 5J or more, to redirect the blast skyward or Jinlantai would have been raised to the ground according to my calculations.”

The menace had to open its mouth. This is not where he wanted to lead them to. He should have edited this section out. He wanted to lead the theory of crimson core in female cultivators!

A murmur could be heard across the room, no one could remember the Jin ever performing an array of this size. A grade three cultivator was someone in the range of Zewu-jun. No one in the room, even among the Jin, was saying that they participated in such an event. The implication was…

“Are you saying that the Yin iron was not destroyed! How can we take the words of a rogue cultivator over the one of a respec… of a sect! He just wants to cause chaos!”

“Wei Wuxian is not a rogue cultivator.” This was time for some small pity revenge. “Wei Wuxian is a member of the Lan Clan with an official title.”

His small smile as he looked at the menace sitting in the front row was in fact the small warning, a small revenge, a small …prank? Wei Wuxian had a realization, followed by dread, followed by his head shaking, a pleading look in his eyes. They were saying ‘please no don't say it, please no don't say it, please no don't say it’. Oh, Lan Qiren knew he would pay for it later but for now, it was giving him small warm pleasure.

“He is, after all, Lan-er-Furen, acting Lan-Furen, as declared by our Lan permanent resident ancestor.”

Sect leader Nie seemed to be laughing behind his open fan, while Wei Wuxian was hiding his face with both his hands.