Chapter Text
Ahead of them, something rattled in the fog. Without a second thought, Wei Wuxian raced forward, leaving Lan Wangji behind, charging straight at the intruders.
Then he stopped.
A familiar face stared back at him, sightless eyes looking straight over his shoulder. “Jingyi?” Sizhui asked, reaching behind himself for his companion, waiting to be told who (or what) had approached them.
“Sizhui?” There were others behind him, not just disciples from GusuLan. “Jin Ling?” Wei Wuxian asked in surprise.
“Its you again,” grumbled Jingyi, sheathing his sword and looking rather offended (Wei Wuxian wondered if he’d heard about the ‘rocks on the garden path’ prank).
“I also wonder why its you again,” retorted Wei Wuxian.
“You is a nice name,” remarked Sizhui, a friendly reminder that no one had told him who it was. Then, before anyone could explain, he tilted his head and asked, “Master Mo, is Hanguang Jun with you?”
It seemed he’d already memorized Wei Wuxian’s (or, rather, Mo Xuanyu’s, voice).
Lan Wangji, who had followed at a more sedate pace, grunted.
“Yes, he’s here. But tell me why you are here first. Don’t tell me that you came here together for Night Hunting.”
The glances the teenagers exchanged confirmed that the had not, in fact, joined up for a night hunt.
“Its very strange here,” said Sizhui. “I cannot feel the daylight, and there is a strange mist. And none of the shops are open.”
Wei Wuxian folded his arms over his chest, slightly annoyed that Sizhui was immune to any attempts to glare at him. “Tell me why you’re here.”
“That’s a long story,” said Jingyi, looking as though he didn’t care to tell it.
Thankfully, Sizhui seemed more willing, saying, “After we entered the town, we were worried about getting lost in the fog, so we banded together.”
Zizhen bounced, happily saying, “Sizhui practices navigating while blindfolded, so he has been leading us through the city.”
Jingyi shot Wei Wuxian a warning glance before he could make a comment about Sizhui being blind (didn’t they trust him? Of course he wouldn’t have said that!)
Lan Wangji only hummed, as though agreeing with the blatant lie (surely that was against the rules of Cloud Recesses!)
“Suddenly we heard a sound,” continued Sizhui, as though Zizhen hadn’t spoken. “A- a tapping, like a bamboo pole. Its been following us since our arrival, but we haven’t been able to discover the source.”
“Well,” Wei Wuxian muttered, “I don’t see how anyone could have found anything in this fog.”
Sizhui giggled. “It’s simple, Master Mo,” he said. “Just pretend to be blind.”
“Who would want to be blind?” sneered Jin Ling. “Everyone knows that blindness is a sign of evil.”
Sizhui suddenly fell silent.
“You don’t know that!” roared Jingyi. The rest of the Lan Juniors shouted in agreement. “I’ll blind you!”
“Jingyi!” Lan Wangji called. But his eyes were fixed on Jin Ling, a warning that he, too should keep his mouth shut.
Sizhui forced a weak laugh and continued, “Jingyi saw a small shadow that darted past us. The tapping sounds seemed to follow it, or were perhaps caused by it.”
“I should have brought my Fairy,” grumbled Jin Ling. Glaring at Jingyi, he said, “It is all because of your stupid donkey.”
“It bit Apple first!” Jingyi snapped. “And got kicked by Apple, after it threw Sizhui.”
Lan Wangji tensed, his sharp eyes snapping forward to the vaguely Sizhui-shaped outline in the fog.
The lead disciple held out his hands, much the same way he had in the Jingshi. “I was not hurt by the fall.”
Lan Wangji grunted.
Wei Wuxian, had other concerns, “Apple was bitten?!”
“Can that donkey compare with my Fairy?”
“Sizhui can’t ride Fairy,” offered Zizhen, who seemed put out that he wasn’t involved in the story.
“My uncle gave me Fairy as a gift,” sneered Jin Ling. “Its worth more than 10,000 donkeys.”
Folding his arms over his chest, Wei Wuxian snapped, “Don’t use Lianfang Zun’s name to frighten me! Apple was a gift from Hanguang Jun.”
Then he rounded on Jingyi, demanding, “How could you take Apple out of the Cloud Recesses and get him injured?”
“You lie!”snapped Jingyi. “Hanguang Jun didn’t give you such a gift!”
“Sorry Master Mo,” Sizhui said softly. “Apple makes noises at Cloud Recesses every day. The masters have complained about it for a very long time and asked us to send it away while we were having a Night Hunt. So-“
“I disliked that donkey at first sight,” announced Jin Ling. “And its name is Apple? So dumb.”
“What’s wrong with Apple?”demanded Jingyi (who had definitely said that Apple was a stupid name the last time Wei Wuxian had seen him). “It likes eating apples, so its name is Apple! Not pretentious at all! Its way better than calling your fat dog Fairy.”
No doubt sensing the upcoming argument, Sizhui sighed.
“Fairy is not fat at all! Can you find a Wonder Dog more robust than her?”
Jingyi looked as though he was about to start making up fake wonder dogs to name when suddenly he couldn’t open his mouth at all. Thankfully, neither could Jin Ling.
“Noise,” said Lan Wangji.
Sizhui hid a giggle in his sleeve. Somehow, it seemed he was the only one unaffected (although he certainly hadn’t cast it himself, that honor could only have belonged to Lan Wangji).
“The silence spell!” Wei Wuxian laughed.
Suddenly Zizhen paled. He shoved Sizhui, shaking him and pointing past Wei Wuxian, as though asking him to point something out to Wei Wuxian.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t actually see what Zizhen was pointing at.
Instead he soothingly patted Zizhen’s hand as Wei Wuxian turned to look. “Fierce corpses,” said Wei Wuxian, mostly for Sizhui’s benefit. He snapped his fingers and grinned as they stumbled to a slow halt.
Then they started moving again.
“Master Mo?” Sizhui asked as his friends unsheathed their swords.
Panic shot through him, glancing back at the group of Juniors, then turning back to look at the corpses. “Ah-“
“What happened?” Sizhui whispered.
“Ha ha-“ he said nervously.
Unconcerned, Lan Wangji sent out Bichen, letting it slice cleanly through the corpses.
A whispered discussion with Lan Wangji did nothing to soothe Wei Wuxian’s worries (there was no good reason he couldn’t control the corpses, unless they were already controlled by something more powerful), but with the Juniors standing so close, they couldn’t discuss much.
Suddenly a strange expression crossed Lan Wangji’s face as he stared at something over Wei Wuxian’s shoulder. Turning quickly, he saw several of the juniors coughing and hacking.
“What happened?” Wei Wuxian asked.
Lan Wangji’s eyes focused on Sizhui, who thankfully remained seemingly unaffected. His grateful expression didn’t last long, the fog becoming suddenly thicker, obscuring everything from sight.
“The powder in the fog,” hacked Jingyi.
“All of you, step away from there!” Wei Wuxian ordered. “Quickly!”
“But I cannot see you!” someone called.
“This way,” said Sizhui calmly. “Join hands again and follow me.”
He emerged from the fog a moment later, clinging tightly to Jingyi’s wrist. Even as the fog settled and the others began to let go of one another, his grip remained tight.
Of course, just when he thought things couldn’t get any worse, the masked stranger that they’d been evading for so long decided to show up, grabbing for Wei Wuxian’s Spirit-Trapping Pouch.
Jingyi was almost coughing too hard to stand, but he managed to simultaneously draw his sword with one hand and shove Sizhui at another Lan Junior with the other. Undeterred, Sizhui broke free of the Junior and drew his own sword.
Leaving Lan Wangji to handle the masked man, Wei Wuxian turned back to face the juniors, asking, “How are the ones who inhaled the powder?”
Sizhui’s voice, shakier than he’d ever heard, replied, “They are starting to have trouble standing up.”
He frowned. “Sizhui, lead us away from the fight. There is less fog to the right.”
Once again they linked up, forming a chain, although, unlike before, Wei Wuxian was on Sizhui’s left while Jingyi clung stubbornly to his right.
Even through the thick fog, Wei Wuxian marveled at Sizhui’s navigation. He seemed to feel the ground out with his feet, following ruts in the road left by heavy traffic. As they neared the buildings, he knew when to turn to avoid walking into them. A quick blast of spiritual energy was sent out, bouncing back to him like echolocation and telling him where the alley’s entrance was.
“This way.”
The fog cleared somewhat, once they were off the Main Street.
Once he could see the Juniors, Wei Wuxian gathered them around, ordering, “Stick out your tongues. Say ‘Ahh!’”
Jingyi, the nearest Junior, whimpered and weakly stuck out his tongue, although his ‘Ah’ was more of a sob.
“Congratulations! You’ve been poisoned!”
Sizhui’s face paled and his grip on Jingyi grew so tight that it seemed his nails would rip the cloth of Jingyi’s robe.
“Congratulations for what?” Jin Ling demanded.
“Its another life experience,” said Wei Wuxian. “A good story to tell when you’re older.”
“Master Mo,” Sizhui whispered. “Will they be okay?”
“For a while.”
“A while?”
“Its isolated at the moment,” Wei Wuxian explained. “Once it gets in the bloodstream and travels all over- goodbye!”
Jingyi threw his arms around Sizhui’s neck. His friend responded by cuddling him to his chest, tucking his chin over Jingyi’s head.
“Can you help them?” Zizhen asked worriedly.
“Do you want to get better?” Wei Wuxian asked, a grin spreading over his lips.
They all nodded eagerly.
Perhaps he was enjoying himself a bit too much, but it had been a very long and boring 11 years since the last time he’d gotten to boss anyone around. “Well-“
Sizhui, suddenly looking more ferocious than Wei Wuxian thought possible, spoke up, “If you don’t, I- I’ll tell Huanguan Jun about the rocks.”
It was Wei Wuxian’s turn to pale. “You- you wouldn’t-“
“I would!” he said. “And I- I’ll tell him you made fun of me, saying that I should have watched where I was going!”
“That was a misunderstanding!”
“And your donkey bruised my shoulder!”
Sizhui was quickly getting more desperate, as though he didn’t have much experience in threatening people. That was alright though, just the first threat was more than enough.
Wei Wuxian raised his hands, even if Sizhui couldn’t see the move. “Alright, alright,” he muttered. “But you have to listen to me,” he added, more to the other boys than Sizhui.
“Yes!” they all agreed.
“Stand up,” he ordered. “Those who aren’t poisoned, carry those who are. Keep the head and heart upward.”
Sizhui immedately reached for his friend, only to be pushed away as Jingyi said, “I can walk.”
“If you walk around, the faster the blood will flow,” Wei Wuxian replied. “The faster the poison flows into your heart.”
The juniors quickly paired up, lifting the injured up like one would lift a rolled rug.
“Sizhui!” Wei Wuxian shouted. “Put Jingyi down, you are our guide.”
“Yes, Master Mo.”
Convincing the Juniors to search for an occupied house would have been easier if he’d told them that he needed rice, but it was far more entertaining to bully them into it through vague threats of danger outside. As they ran from house to house, banging on doors and shouting, Sizhui crept up beside Wei Wuxian.
Pretending to be offended, he scoffed and folded his arms. “Come to apologize for your attitude?”
“No,” said Sizhui. Then, as though he’d never said something so rude in his life, he quickly added, “Master Mo.”
Wei Wuxian snorted.
“But I- I thought I should say, I am sorry I took your Apple and rode it without permission.”
Was that all? “Oh?”
“I- well, it seemed best to pretend it would have a use. Master Qiren was terribly upset.” That made sense. If Sizhui said the donkey was useful to him, the rest of Cloud Recesses would be too polite to take away a guide from a blind man.
“Why does he like you so much,” Wei Wuxian complained.
“Hanguang Jun raised me,” said Sizhui. “Master Qiren has known me since I was three or four.”
“Three or four?” How could they not know? And where the hell did Lan Wangji get a kid, anyway? Did Sizhui really have no one else? He still hadn’t gotten an answer for that.
“Well-“
There was a splintering crash and Jin Ling (who had kicked open a door) shouted, “There doesn’t seem to be anyone in here!”
“Who told you to enter if there wasn’t anyone inside?” Wei Wuxian demanded. “We need one that’s occupied.”
“What?” Jin Ling demanded. “You want a house with a person inside?”
“Yes,” said Wei Wuxian. “And knock nicely. Yours were too strong. Its quite rude.”
Grumbling irritably, Jin Ling stormed off.
“Master Mo,” Sizhui said. “You should know, my shoulder is barely bruised.”
“Your Huanguan Jun should know that,” he grumbled.