Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The things that happened after Erwa was thrown down into the cave became a blur. His head had been pounding, he’d been screaming the whole time, and his throat was sore. He'd clenched his eyes shut and couldn’t bring himself to pry them open, no matter how much Yeye coaxed him. The blood around his ears were beginning to swell and clot from being blocked by his hands. Those had been gently wrestled off his ears after a while, when he’d calmed down and couldn’t lift a single grunt even if he wanted to.

“Yeye,” he’d said after hours. “My eyes. My ears.”

He could barely hear the faint rumble of his voice, and foolishly hoped it was only because he wasn’t able to speak clearly then. Erwa sighed.

Despite the loss of only two senses, he could hardly remember the way out. Erwa could feel the rock and debris sink sharply into his feet, and smell the metallic stench of fresh blood spilled from the guards. The sky was a bright and sharp contrast between the dark of the cave, blurred like everything else and melted together. 

Then being cornered and finally – his San-di. 

The loud bang of the premature opening of the gourd was enough for him to hear. Erwa squinted and tried to see his brother, only finding the quick movements of a yellow blur. Yeye clutched onto him tightly and backed the two of them out of the way. Wet droplets of salty tears fell on his head. “Chuan Shanjia...”

Oh, right. He’d been able to see the splatter of blood when he looked down.

“Er-ge!” San-di called as he rushed up to them. He was eyeing the blood on his face, his dull eyes. San-di reached out and gripped his arm. “Gege, get out of here.”

Erwa shook his head. “You can’t defeat them on your own. Let's go back together.”

It was hard to watch San-di’s face change, but he noticed the slight shift in movement. “They still have Da-ge imprisoned. I can't leave him. Get out of here! Go back!”

“San-di!” Erwa shouted, reaching his hand to grip the one on his arm. “Think! SheXie-eryao have both brains and brawn. You’re one fighting against millions! Both Da-ge and I failed!”

“Aiya, go! Go, go, go!” San-di pushes them, and Yeye tugs him back. Erwa remembers desperately reaching out to try and grasp the front robes of his brother. but he couldn't see. 

When they get back, Yeye bandages his ears. They run across his face. Blood was able to soak through them within an hour. Yeye doesn’t have anymore. 

Days passed that were spent on the edge of the cliff, looking as far as he could and ignoring the stinging in his eyes to try and see his San-di. The journey would take a week at most on foot. Erwa couldn’t hear anything. The sun eventually beat down its heavy heat onto him. His time there is accompanied by the voices of his brothers echoing in his head. It's the only voice he could hear now that sounded clear. 

“Didi,” Erwa calls as he massages his Yeye’s back. “Do you have enough water?”

Not enough! Not enough! 

“Haiya,” Yeye sighs and stands. Erwa yelps and tries to get him back to rest, but to no avail. Yeye stalks over to the little pond and reaches for the wooden bucket. Cautiously, Erwa follows. He watches the bucket dip down before coming back up. He waits as Yeye reaches for it. “Is it filled?”

At first, he thought Yeye had spoken too softly. “Yeye?”

“There's a drought. Where are we supposed to find water now?” Yeye sighs. 

“Mm,” Erwa hums, thinking. He takes the offered bucket and waters what little he can onto the vines. 

Don’t worry! There will be water soon!

Erwa tilts his head. There’s a mysterious tone to their combined voices. There will be water soon, they continue to chant with excitement. 

And water soon, there is. Si-di and Wu-di’s gourds tremble and Erwa recognizes the sign from when he watched Da-ge emerge. Suddenly filled with excitement himself, he backs away to give them room and pats for his Yeye’s attention. Si-di falls first, hitting the ground with a thud and shake, then bursting open and shooting upward in an obvious show off of a pummel of fire. Erwa hears Yeye’s noise of amazement. A second later, Wu-di follows in a spurt of water that drops onto the remaining two gourds, who yell happily about it. Immediately, the twins run toward Yeye and wrap their arms around him in delight. 

Erwa wipes the water off his face and turns around in time to get barreled into as well. Screams of “Gege, gege!” fill his ears in a pleasant stream. Up close, he can just barely make out their faces, scrunched with happiness. Erwa returns the hug and pats them both on the back. 

Water! Hurry up and water us!

“Silly children,” Yeye chides. “Haven’t I said it already? The heavens have not rained in weeks. Where are we going to find water?”

“Yeye, don’t worry,” Wu-di says proudly, detaching himself from Erwa. “Let me.” 

Si-di drags Erwa a few steps back and he follows. With amusement and relief in equal measures, he watches as Wu-di begins pouring water into the pond, filling it to the brim until water sloshes onto the rocks and sizzles from the heat. Then, Wu-di pours a generous amount of water onto their siblings, splashing the vines and dripping onto the rock pillars. Erwa couldn't help but laugh at the display as Si-di continued to cling onto him. Yeye was praising him. Si-di let out a scoff and ducked out of Erwa’s arm to lightly shove his twin. “Didi, stop showing off! Let me!”

Wu-di rolled his eyes but retreated to Erwa. Although he couldn’t see it, he could feel the scrutinizing gaze as he surveyed his bandages. Erwa pulled him into a hug and watched his Si-di. With a stance, Si-di puffed out a little flame that probably only emitted a brief sense of warmth toward Yeye. With a surge, he blew toward the house and lit the kettle and bed, eventually using the fire to bring the kettle and cups forward when it began to shriek. Ever the observant one, Wu-di tucked an arm around Erwa’s back and guided him toward the other two. Erwa stifled a giddy laugh at the familiarity of it all, as though he’d lived this moment countless times before. 

They’d settled down for tea, knees pressed together, when Erwa flinched at an echoing voice in his head. Wu-di noticed and asked, alarmed, “Er-ge, what’s wrong?”

“Shh,” Erwa hushed. “I can still hear something…”

Quickly, Erwa tugged off his bandages, ignoring the surprised yelp of his Yeye. He put a hand to his ear and closed his eyes, furrowing his eyebrows as he tried to locate the source of the noise. 

“Xiongdi-men! Hurry and eliminate the demons!” 

The rebounding shout strung together beads of stinging pain in his ear. He rubbed his right ear painfully as he tried to gauge the reaction of his family. “It’s San-di. I think the demons have captured him.”

“Damnit!” Si-di cursed. He slammed his cup down, tea sloshing. “Those filthy demons! I'm going to use my fire and burn them to death!”

“I'm going to use my water to drown them to death!” Wu-di joined in, eyes flashing as murderous as his twin’s. 

Yeye sighed and sipped his tea. “Children, do not rush. We do not know enough about the situation. If we rush in unprepared, we’ll all end up in danger. First, we need to heal your ge’s eyes and ears. Until he can understand the situation, we can’t do anything.”

Si-di sat back down with a huff and crossed his arms. When his attention turned to Erwa, he could feel it. A pause of silence allowed him to prepare his answers. Si-di finally asked slowly, “Er-ge…what exactly happened to you?”

Erwa didn’t tell them when he’d gotten back, too tired and too scared. Gently, he laid his cup down. Erwa cleared his throat, “When I entered the cave, I was seeking the snake demon’s Ruyi. I saw that it was her only artifact, supplying her demonic qi. I wanted to either steal or destroy it — it’s what she used to capture Da-ge. But, when I entered…”

Wu-di leaned into his side, a silent comfort. Erwa sighed. “I didn't know the demon had another artifact. It’s a cut of crystal and acts similarly to my own powers. They were able to watch me and attack me. The demon, she blinded my eyes and shattered my ears. I can still hear and see, but just…barely.”

“Those vile demons! How dare they!” Si-di exclaims, jumping back up. He looks like he might want to start punching something, but nothing is in sight. He starts pacing back and forth, his feet flicking up little flames with every step. 

“Si-di, calm down,” Erwa says. He doesn't tell him that his worry actually made him feel pretty happy. 

Si-di fumes. “You expect me to be calm!? Er-ge, what they did to you is unacceptable! I'll kill them!”

“Si-ge,” Wu-di says. “We will kill them, but we need to help Er-ge. He needs to heal. Ei, Er-ge, why are these bandages so dirty?”

“We don't have any more,” Erwa explains as he picks them up. Wu-di catches his wrist with alarm.

“Don’t put them back on! They’re dirty! What if it makes your injury worse?”

“It's a magically induced injury. It wouldn’t be aggravated anymore by external factors. It’s not a physical wound, don’t worry.”

“Tomorrow,” Si-di suddenly announced. He paused in his pacing. “Tomorrow, I'll go into the village and ask for bandages.”

“We don't have money.”

“I'll do them a favor,” Si-di snaps. “I'll ask for medicine and herbs. Wu-di, stay here and make sure gege and Yeye are okay. Er-ge can’t fight like this.”

“Your Er-ge isn’t fragile,” Erwa says. “Take your didi with you.”

Si-di turns. “Yeye–”

“Going alone is dangerous,” Yeye only says. Another sip of tea. “With the two of you, you have a better chance if anything happens. While the two of you are out there, two of us will be here.”

Four of us! Four of us!

Yeye chuckled. “Yes, how can I forget? We still have Liuwa and Qiwa to protect us.”

Erwa’s baby brothers yap happily at this. He turns to Si-di, who holds a hand under his chin in deep contemplation. “Fine,” he finally says. “But we won’t be gone long.”

That is the beginning of Erwa’s healing journey.

They find out that Si-di has a knack for speaking with animals. 

From the gentle thank yous and soft pleases that left his mouth once in a while, Erwa had begun to suspect his brother was in the habit of talking to himself. Of course, with his shaggy vision and hearing, it took a long time for him to even notice he was speaking, let alone that he wasn’t even speaking to a person (or their growing brothers). Erwa deemed to let him be, until one day Si-di unknowingly popped his question himself. 

“Er-ge, the birds found this,” he told Erwa one day, holding up something in his hand. “They said it’s able to lessen the effects of any magic induced wound. Have you heard of it? It’s called Taixue.”

“Gege has not heard of it.” Erwa holds up his palms and feels a flower drop into his hands. “You said the birds found this?”

“En. I have been asking them if they know of any remedies. The squirrels, too.”

“Si-di can speak to animals?”

“Yes…Er-ge can’t?” Si-di tilts his head and rocks on the balls of his feet, suddenly looking a little nervous. 

Erwa holds up the flower to his nose and sniffs it. A sweet scent similar to fresh berries. “Si-di is very talented.”

Immediately, the nervous demeanor is gone and replaced with a pleased grin. “Ge, they said that you have to brew it into tea and drink three times a day. For a week.”

“I'd hope there’s more than one flower, then.”

“There's lots! They will harvest it every morning so Er-ge can drink it before breakfast.”

“Thank you, Si-di. Has Wu-di watered the plants yet? It's almost midday.”

“Wu-di watered them before going to the village. They’re also in a drought and need freshwater. He's bad at freshwater, see. And he has to use his hands because they don’t like it when it comes out of his mouth. They said it’s unsanitary. They should be more grateful! If not for us, they’d still be portioning their water for – for who knows how long!”

“En.”

“They’re so stingy with their medical supplies too,” Si-di continues to complain. “I've fought off the demons in their forest, and Wu-di’s supplying them with more water than they could even need! They have lots of bandages! I saw! If it weren’t for those, I wouldn’t even be helping!”

“Si-di shouldn’t be so rude to humans.”

“They don’t even respect us. They started laughing when I said I could fight off the demons! I'm not a baby! ”

“Anymore.”

“Er- ge! Even if I was still a baby, I could fight off those demons! They barely had any demonic qi, anyways. A three year old human child could fight them off!”

Erwa watched in amusement as Si-di strayed from their path and began jumping around in annoyance. He'd always get heated when irritated, and with so much fire in him already, the only thing he could do to coil off was start running around. “Did Si-di train today?”

There was a pause. “Er-ge, don’t you think fighting demons is enough?”

“Si-di is underestimating himself. Just now he said the demons were so weak he could beat them as a baby. Don’t you think you should be challenged?”

Si-di muttered something. Erwa smiled. “Can Si-di speak up? You know this gege can’t hear very well.”

Si-di waved his hands wildly. “I don't need to train! I'm already strong enough!”

Erwa sighed and Si-di returned to his side. They'd stopped walking by now, almost at the foot of the mountain. He wondered how he had such an arrogant and ambitious didi, so ready to rush into the center of danger and expect to be able to fight his way through. He reached out a hand and waited for Si-di to grasp it. “Si-di, training your fighting skill and maintaining a strong golden core is essential if you want to be able to defeat the demons. When Er-ge is better, he will train with you, okay? We need to be prepared when we go to save Da-ge and San-di. Be good. Ting hua.” 

He felt Si-di’s hands tighten in his hold. “Er-ge, you don’t need to train. Wu-di and I will protect you and Yeye!”

Erwa sighed once again. Such a silly little didi. He uses his other hand to pat Si-di’s. “Yes, yes, Si-di is very strong. But he still needs to train to do so.”

Si-di grumbles but lets go and doesn’t say anything more on the matter. When they reach the bottom of the mountain, a rabbit hops by. Si-di makes a swift kill and holds it up proudly, even though Erwa couldn’t really see it in the light of the sky. He nods approvingly anyways. Meat was hard to come by at the top of the mountain, something Si-di took as a personal offense and was determined to bring home food either from the village or the woods. When the sun began to set, they saw Wu-di in the distance, a bamboo hat over his head. Erwa let them go home without nagging them about training. He’ll have to remind them again tomorrow. 

A few days later, Erwa woke in the night with a seize of pain. He gasped and sat up, feeling steps of pain creak in his bones at the movement. Erwa felt around his body for a wound, but the pain seemed to come from inside. He clamped his mouth shut to stop any noises of pain from escaping, continuing his fruitless search for an answer. It was a stabbing pain that came from everywhere, that seemed to be inside his body yet further still. In a last moment of desperation, Erwa felt around his qi and meridians, but found nothing out of the ordinary. Moments later, it passed, diminishing to a dull ache. Erwa was too exhausted to do anything about it but lay back down on the mat, trying his best to lay in a position that didn’t jostle his weak body. 

In the morning, he felt the echoing string of ache in his body. It was enough for him to groan as he shifted on the mat and pushed himself up. Erwa checked his qi again and tried to clear his meridians, but nothing blocked them. As he tried to roll his neck to lessen the ache, a flutter of wings and a tweet alerted him of a bird’s presence. As promised, Si-di’s bird friends delivered the Taixue flowers in their beaks every morning, only able to fit enough for the day. Si-di had taught them to tweet loudly so that he could hear their arrival. 

“Child, are you alright?” Yeye’s hoarse voice came quietly from the side. Erwa turned to look at him. After a moment’s consideration, he shook his head. 

“Yeye, last night, I felt…my body was hurting. But on the inside. I don't know why…”

“How do you feel now?”

“My body hurts, but not as much. I checked for an injury and even stabilized my qi. nothing was wrong,” Erwa explains. He turned back toward the birds as their chirping continued, growing in volume as they continued to be ignored. Reluctantly, he stood up and limped to the window, letting the flowers drop into his palm. “Thank you,” he murmured, and the birds seemed satisfied enough to fly away. 

“It must be from the demons’ attack, then. It may have side effects.”

“Maybe,” Erwa whispered. He felt himself lean against the wall for support. “I don't know.”

When Si-di found out about his midnight episode, he started yelling a stream of curses that were shushed by Yeye for his obscenity. Wu-di quietly took the news, the usually gentle tilt of his eyes narrowing to a dangerous glower as Erwa described their theory. Si-di heated his morning tea within just a few seconds of time, grunting in annoyance when he found he couldn’t vent out his anger discreetly. Erwa refrained from making a remark about training, but Si-di jumped on the idea himself. “I'm going to train,” he announced. 

Wu-di poured the water into the strained flowers. “I should go make sure he doesn’t burn anything,” Wu-di said, sounding only half-serious. He paused. “Unless, Er-ge, do you need me to help?”

“Er-ge is not fragile,” Erwa repeats. 

Wu-di took this as an answer and nodded. “I'll bring Si-ge back to make breakfast.”

Erwa busied himself with righting the mats and blankets. It took a lot longer than usual, wincing in pain when and having to rub at a joint when it flared. Yeye had taken one look at him and told him to finish his tea, and that he would tidy up. Erwa downed the tea in a gulp and shook his head. 

He wasn't sure if this pain would worsen the longer they spent without healing his injuries. At best, it would leave on its own. He bit his lip and tried not to think about what might happen if they don’t find a cure soon. If all goes wrong, they would wait until Liu-di and Qi-di emerged so that they could launch an attack. Their hulu were growing well now that Wu-di was able to supply them with water, but they lacked the nutrition of fertilized dirt. Even with the little supply of qi they had in that form, it could only give so much nutrients to their bodies. They couldn’t move the vine either – it would disrupt their growing bodies and possibly damage their golden cores if not careful. Erwa blew out these worries in a sigh, rubbing his eyes. 

A few minutes later, Si-di and Wu-di returned, both drenched in water and clothing singed. Even with Erwa’s worsened vision, he was still able to see it. Concerned at how badly their actual state was were his vision stable, he ushered them inside and patted them down. “What happened?”

“Training,” they replied in unison.

“Did you train or did you fight each other? Why are you both so wet? Take your robes off! We’ll hang them out to dry.”

“I'll dry them,” Wu-di offers. 

Erwa shakes his head. “If you're not careful, you’ll suck the water right out of your bodies. Is that a rip? Aiyo, you did fight each other, didn’t you?”

They laughed, something Erwa had determined to mean was a yes that they didn’t want to admit. Obediently, they peeled off the wet clothing and laid them out on a rock outside. Wu-di directed the water into his palm and shimmered it away. Their bodies and hair were still slick with water. “Such troublesome didis,” Erwa says with a smile. “Don’t you know how to do anything besides fighting?”

As they went back into the little hut, the twins sobered into a solemn mood. “Er-ge,” Si-di begins, “how is your pain? Do you think it’ll get worse?”

“I was just thinking about that. Go heat the stove.” As Si-di left to do so, Erwa related the rest of his thoughts to them. Wu-di listened intently and nodded once in a while to himself, like he was noting the words in his memory. “If we don’t find a cure soon, I'm not sure what might happen to Da-ge and San-di,” he adds as the thought suddenly appears in his head. “I saw that Da-ge was trapped in a spider demon’s silk, the kind that interrupts your qi. I don't know how San-di was defeated, and what they might have done to him.”

“Congee is ready,” Yeye says. “Wuwa, cut some green onions.”

“En, Yeye.”

Erwa circled the ring of his empty tea cup in contemplation. “At the rate of this, I'll still be like this by the time Qi-di emerges. We need to come up with a plan for what to do if I can’t recover.” He tries not to let his words turn bitter at the end as he thinks about the possibility. Having to live like this for the rest of…well, forever, really. His abilities were the only thing he had – none of his powers could be used for fighting, at most good at collecting information. Not to mention the things he hasn’t even discovered he could do. 

“You will,” Si-di says firmly. “If not now, someday you will. I will make sure of it.”

“En, me too,” Wu-di adds. “When we defeat the demons, and you haven’t healed, we’ll go all around the world to find a cure.”

Erwa smiled softly. Silly and ambitious didis. 

Liu-di is due to emerge in a few days. Along with this great news is a map given to them by the village chief, containing the path to medicine herbs that should help with his injury. However, their good luck had a downside. It would be a long trip, closing in toward the territory of the demons’ cave. It’d be hard to collect as well, covered by many dangerous plants and guarded by territorial animals. 

Si-di and Wu-di leave little to no room for argument when they tell Erwa this news. He tries to argue against it, though he does know that getting his powers back would be extremely beneficial for helping them defeat the demons. Yeye went along with their plan, though he fussed over them terribly and recited morals. The twins look tortured as they were forced to listen to his poems about danger and knowing when to quit and helping the innocent and how good deeds bring future fortune. Erwa took the map and bent over on the floor until his chin almost hit the ground. He squinted and tried to follow the distorted strokes of ink. It made him nervous not knowing where exactly his brothers would be going, and what they might encounter on the way. 

At his insistence, they agreed to leave tomorrow, when the sun was high and they would return within just a few days if they moved fast. As much as they were adamant on going, they seemed to not want to go as well. Although, most of it stemmed from worry on whether Erwa and Yeye could fend for themselves while they were gone. As if the only thing that bothered them these days wasn’t being a little hungry because they weren’t able to get enough food that day. 

Erwa tied the strap around their bamboo hats around their shoulders and tugged them to make sure they were tight enough. “Don’t stray from each other,” he told them. “And think before you do anything. Consider all the possibilities. If it seems like the risk is too great, don’t take it.”

“Yes, gege,” they replied in unison, voice purposefully dull in mock boredom. 

“And ration your food well. Remember to drink water. Don’t be afraid to take a break and rest.”

“Yes, gege.”

“Grab only what you need. don’t be greedy.”

“Yes, gege.”

Erwa patted their hands each. “And if you run into demons?”

Their tone sharpened at this. “Run.”

His injuries cleared the very next day. 

Erwa would be laughing at this if he wasn’t so overwhelmed with relief. The birds chirped and chirped until Erwa rolled his eyes and let them apply whatever it was they had found on him. It’d stung his eyes for a moment and he rubbed them in irritation. When he opened them again, he found the fuzziness of it had slowly turned into a solid vision. Erwa felt his mouth fall open as he put out a hand and turned it, watching the clear outline of his fingers and the shadows twist on his skin. A moment later, noises streamed into his ear in a smooth path like water in the river. 

“Yeye, Yeye!” he gasps, tugging at his arm. Yeye’s face – his eyes, the curve of his nose, wrinkles around his smile – were so clear that he could cry with relief. “Yeye, I can see! I can see!”

He couldn’t care that his voice cracked and was barely level. He couldn’t care less if his stable voice had turned into a blubbering mess as he tries to thank the animals profusely, trying to express his gratitude and excitement to his Yeye, running outside to tell this to his baby brothers that yowled happily in his head. The thud of his feet below him was like a blessing on its own. Erwa ran around and whooped in delight as he heard the soft rustle of trees and saw the fields of grass at the bottom of the mountain. 

His excitement lasted days, eagerly awaiting his brother’s return so he could tell them the news. Days stretched out until the grin slipped off his face. It took a while for him to even remember that he could use his powers now. Erwa stood on the edge of the cliff and brought a hand to shield his eyes as he looked far, trying to locate where they went. He didn’t know where to look besides somewhere near the demons’ cave, and he suddenly became frustrated that he wasn’t able to read the map before. 

As he searched, he found the light of the sky suddenly dimmed with dark clouds. Pulling himself out of the vision, Erwa looked up and blinked. By the looks of it, the clouds were promising heavy rain. “Didi, be careful,” Erwa warned his baby brothers as he walked over to where his Yeye was. 

“Yeye, we should go inside,” Erwa says. “It’s going to r—”

A blast of wind flew slammed into his body, pushing him onto his back on the floor. Erwa gasped as he felt blood stir up in his throat and swallowed it down. “Yeye!” he cried, springing up and ignoring the way his joints jostled with the movement. As he got back up, dark wind flew into him again, picking up sharp rocks that slipped against his skin in stinging pain. 

“Haizi! Don’t be scared!” Yeye’s voice yelled. Erwa pressed his palms against his face, screwing his eyes tight. Fear thudded through him as his mind conjured up irrational scenarios. He can’t let them hurt his eyes and ears again. Not again. Not after struggling so hard to adjust and fix it. A particularly sharp rock skidded past forearm and left a line of blood that felt cold against his skin. 

Shuddering, Erwa ran towards his Yeye’s voice, pressing against his body as he tried to calm his breathing. The stench of demonic qi filled the area, their home. Erwa nails dug moons into his skin. The panicked screams of his baby brothers filled his ears. He was sure he’d have bitten off his tongue by now. Erwa didn’t dare open his eyes. 

As abruptly as it came, the wind ceased, the loud howls replaced with a chuckle. Erwa shuddered through breathing, still refusing to open his eyes — let them attack his eyes. The harsh texture of rope fell against him, tugging him close. At this, Erwa forced himself to peek, blood draining from his face when he saw the Xiezi-wang. His wide figure loomed over him, gazing at Erwa with sick amusement as he hoisted Yeye upward. Erwa’s eyes snapped wide. 

“Yeye!” he screamed. Rope pulled him upward and he felt the rush of his feet leaving the ground. Little things detoured his yelling. “Yeye! Yeye!”

With a grunt, Xiezi-wang tossed him down the mountain as though he was nothing more than a stone. 

“Yeye!”

Erwa let his screams fill the entire journey to the demon’s cave. 

Inside, Erwa used his vision to try and locate the rest of his siblings — leaving the view each time with a bitter taste in his mouth when he saw. Stuck, tied, frozen, delirious. Each with their eyes closed and body still, so still that at first Erwa felt a stone drop in his stomach before he realized they were still breathing. The demons chatter as he is led inside, their hands trailing over the leaves of the two remaining gourds in a twisted sense of triumph. 

As more and more twisted turns fall behind them, Erwa let himself close his eyes. Even if he could break free, what was he to do after that? All of his brothers seemed to be bound in imprisonment with demonic qi, and he was in no position to release them. He wouldn’t be able to get far, anyways. There were hundreds of guards parading around them. 

Not long after, they stopped. “Take him away,” Shejing hissed.

“Yes, my Lady,” the bat demons bowed, hoisting him from his net once more before breaking away from the group. Erwa let his head loll to the side so he could glare at the demons. They returned his gaze with a bark of laughter. 

“Finally, these hulu fall into our hands,” Shejing says, holding up the vine above her head, as though showing it off so Erwa could see. The door closes behind him with a loud bang, cutting him into the darkness. Defeat bubbled in his chest, filled with shame and resent. All ugly things were surging within him like angry waves. 

He wasn’t sure how long it was until they’d reached the room they deemed would hold him captive, but he jolted in surprise when they stopped. They were still many feet above the ground, enough that there would be a broken bone somewhere if he was dropped. The two demons hissed something before a cut of the stone floor slid apart and slowly dropped down. The two demons flew down and — with a suddenness that has him yelping in fear — drops him down. Erwa lands clumsily in the dip of stone, wincing as it is slammed against his body. Maybe not a broken bone, but definitely some bruising. In the midst of his groaning, the stone wall in front of him opened to reveal a screen of spikes. 

Startled, Erwa backs away before his back hits the wall behind him. Before he could even think about going anywhere else, the spikes are barely a finger away from his chest. Fear plowed through his blood so loudly he could hear it in his ears. Erwa scrunched up his face and brace himself, feeling the tip of the spikes press against the soft skin —

And found it stopped, holding him there. 

“Heh, look at how scared he got!” one of the demons mocked, landing in front of him. The two demons elbowed each other as they surveyed him, sometimes with chuckles and sneers. Erwa breathed shallowly. If he made too much movement, the spikes would tear through his clothing and penetrate his skin. The lack of enough air brought an ache to his throat and head, but it was enough to keep him alive. 

“This one is the most useless, isn’t he? I heard he doesn’t even have powers.”

“No, idiot,” the demon grumbled. “Why would a Huluwa not have powers? He has qianliyan and shunfenger , or something like that, and our Lady weakened him until they didn’t work. Wei, Chengwazi, how does it feel? Not being able to see or hear?”

Erwa considered his response. If these demons thought he still lost his powers, why would he correct them? A verbal response would give them more satisfaction. Erwa glowered and juts his face to the side. The demons barked out more laughter. 

“See, see! Pathetic! At least that Hongwa was able to fight us, were he not so easily tricked! And Huangwa, he was so arrogant! I was bashing my head at how easily he let our lady challenge him. But, this one?” The demon let a kick to his cheek emphasize his words, snarling. “This one is just embarrassing.”

“Luwazi and Qingwazi as well,” the other continued. “So easily fooled! Listened to our king and lady like they did something good! Aiyo, I was laughing my head off!”

Erwa struggled to even his breathing back to its slow pace. Hearing them laugh over his brothers brought his blood boiling. They weren’t stupid, they trusted too easily. They were all silly and naive, and Erwa was the one that needed to protect them from making these decisions. Ah, he grit his teeth, metallic blood pooling around his teeth at the abrupt kick. When he gets out of here, he’ll make them regret talking bad about his brothers. Every last one. 

The demons spent some more time uselessly giggling and taunting him before they eventually got bored and left. The other demon, who hadn’t hit him, decided to swipe a clawed fist over the same cheek. Hot white pain burst from his face, enough that Erwa let out a loose whimper and groaned. When they left, Erwa tried to rub his cheek against his shoulder to massage the pain away, and it worked enough that it subdued to a beating ache. 

His legs were beginning to cramp, with a now familiar stabbing pain around the top of his knees. Erwa sighed and closed his eyes. After all this, some sleep could help him figure out what to do after this. When his baby brothers grew big enough, they would all be tossed together and melded into qixindan. SheXie-eryao were giddy about this, expressing their plans for the pearl at every chance they got. Erwa himself had known about this reaction, but he wasn’t sure if the outcome would be true. He didn’t know exactly what would happen if they were forced together, but he was in no hurry to try it out. 

For now, Erwa finally evened his breathing and tried to keep his head level. Leaning his neck back would cause too much strain on his already too-brittle body. He tried to sleep. 

“Er-ge. Er-ge, wake up. Wake up.”

“Mm?” Erwa hummed, screwing his eyes tighter. His body was aching too much and he really, really didn’t want to do anything but sleep. 

“Er-ge, it’s me. Wake up.”

A gentle hand tapped him on the crown of his head, and Erwa groggily opened his eyes. He looked up and found a figure sitting on the stone path in front of him, legs tucked behind him and leaning forward. When the blurry of sleep retreated, Erwa couldn’t contain a gasp.

“Liu-di?” he croaks, voice hoarse. Erwa would give anything to be able to move now. 

Liu-di smiles. “Er-ge, good morning.”

“ Liu-di,” Erwa practically sobs. He stares at his little brother, taking in the grinning face and feeling it press into his mind. “How did you get out?”

“Shejing was careless. She wanted to show us off. I fell from the vine and landed on Xiezi-wang’s head.” Liu-di giggled, leaning back to a more relaxed stance. “It was so funny, gege. He was clutching his head and screaming, he was going all ‘who was it!? Who was it!?’ His flailing made everyone else panic! Have you ever seen so many demons jump around like there was a big spider? I thought I was gonna give away where I was with how hard I was laughing.”

“Liu-di is very smart,” Erwa tells him. A thought occurred to him. “Where is Qi-di? Have you seen our brothers?”

Liu-di fiddled with his hair. It was a bit too long, past his chin and falling in front of his eyes. His eyes turned down. “No. I'm sorry, Er-ge, but I couldn't save Qi-di. I didn't want to risk getting caught and Shejing was holding him too close. I'm…I'm really a coward, gege.”

“Liu-di is not cowardly,” Erwa says sharply. “You did the right thing. We need a plan if we want to save everyone. We can’t risk anything right now.”

“En, I understand.” Liu-di sprang to his feet and walked to the edge, peering at the spikes. He reached over Erwa’s head to push against the stone on his back. When nothing moved, he huffed and tried to pry the stone below his feet. Erwa sighed and shook his head. 

“It’s infused with demonic qi,” Erwa says. “You’d need to use demonic qi to reverse it.”

“Where am I going to get demonic qi?” Liu-di whines.

Erwa takes a moment to think. “Shejing has a demonic artifact, called Ruyi. It’s what she used to trick Da-ge when he first got here. Its qi is very powerful. If you can get it, you should be able to use it to break most of the seals.”

“I saw it, Shejing had it on her,” Liu-di says, frowning. “But how do I get it? She’d never leave something unguarded.”

She did, when I was here, Erwa thinks. He remembers seeing her panicked expression when she thought he’d broken it, until Xiezi-wang told her he hid it away. It would never leave her side, now that he failed to get it. Erwa hummed. “Let me think. Does Liu-di know where the others are? We will need to free them as soon as we can.”

“I do.” Liu-di’s voice turned cold and he looked to the side. Silence reigns its miserable kingdom as Erwa uses his powers to try and locate the demons. Liu-di resumed his previous position on the floor.

“I know,” Erwa exclaims, breaking away from the vision. “Liu-di, listen carefully. The demons are preparing to sleep so they can feast later. It is heavily guarded, but you should be able to slip past if you stay invisible the whole time. Xiezi-wang will have it in his hands, get it carefully. ”

Liu-di nodded along to his words, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. “But, Er-ge, when I get it, how do I use it?”

“Mm, it is activated by a spell. However, I don’t know it.”

“Oh, I know! How about I go play a game with them? Er-ge should watch so that he can hear the demon use her Ruyi, and let me know the spell.”

It wasn't a bad idea, but the consequences would be severe if Liu-di was caught. Erwa worried his lips between his teeth. “Liu-di would need to be very careful, then. Only provoke them enough to use it. As soon as she does, leave immediately.”

Liu-di shifted his weight between his feet in excitement. “I will be careful! I will be very quick, too! Er-ge won’t have to be stuck here for very long. Don’t worry, I'm great at playing games.”

With a shimmer of light, Liu-di disappears. Erwa tries not to let the loneliness return too harshly. He closes his eyes, opening them once more to find the room that SheXie-eryao was in. Many demons wandered around, chattering excitedly. They seemed to be preparing food for the feast, many holding up the carcass of animals and big jugs of wine. Their good mood brought anxiety to Erwa’s chest, which he tried to squash down. He watches for a while, waiting for Liu–di to arrive. 

When he does, it’s in the form of a dropping stalactite. It was just the little tip of it, but it dropped hazardously in what seemed to be a boiling pot of broth. The hot liquid sprayed everywhere, eliciting screams of both pain and shock. 

“What is going on? What happened?” Xiezi-wang grumbled, trotting over and peering into the bowl. Then, he looked up and squinted at the overhanging rocks. 

Shejing stroked her hands thoughtfully. “A fluke, is all. How are so many of you scared of a falling rock? Back to work!”

Erwa heard the faint giggle of his brother. Another stalactite fell, this time landing on the foot of a frog demon. With a loud croak, he jumped around, knocking over bowls and dishes. Shejing’s face grew pinched and she slammed a hand on the table, the force of the hit echoing throughout the cave and rattling utensils. The frog demon whimpered and cowered, throwing himself on the floor to grovel. Shejing clicked her tongue in displeasure, though her eyes drew to the ceiling in suspicion. 

Liu-di was still for a few moments. Xiezi-wang deemed it safe enough to relax behind a stone table, beckoning for a frog demon to pour his wine. He drank quickly, the frog demon eagerly refilling his cup when he slammed it back down. Shejing slithered around as she eyed the prepared food. A few moments later, Liu-di decided to make his presence known once again. Erwa watched as the jug of wine was lifted out of the frog demon’s hands. Startled, he scrambled for it, but Liu-di only waved it out of reach. Xiezi-wang growled. He slammed his cup down again. “Where’s the wine!? Pour it!”

Liu-di giggled faintly before exclaiming, “Right here!” and tipped the wine over Xiezjing’s head. 

As expected, the spill drew panic from the demon. Who would have expected his own drink to come dumping all over his head? Xiezi-wang’s face was drenched in a dark red. His eyes bulged wide, perfectly impersonating a vengeful ghost. Liu-di laughed loudly at this, kicking around the rest of the things placed on the table. 

“What!? What happened!? Who was it? How!” Xiezi-wang yelped and flayed his hands around, not even bothering to wipe the liquid over his head. His eyes zeroed in on the frog demon and his hands reached out to grab around his neck. “What did you do!?”

“Nothing! It wasn’t me!” the frog demon gasped. 

Shejing leaned over the table and examined the jug. “My king, this was not the work of a lowly frog clan demon. They would never dare betray my king. However, that means there is a…little nuisance in our presence.”

“Nuisance!?” Liu-di yelled indignantly from somewhere. The demons flinched and looked around. “Do you have any right to call me that?”

“Get him!” Shejing barked. 

“Yeah! Come get me!” Liu-di shimmered into view briefly, doing a flip off the table and kicking a wandering demon in the face. Panicked, the demons all lunged for him at once, ending in a pile of bumped heads and groaning pain. 

Erwa himself had to stifle a laugh. Liu-di continued to mess around with the demons, appearing only for a few seconds to get them back on his trail, only to fall out of view again. Everytime the demons were unable to grab him, they grew more frustrated. It must’ve been aggravating to be the one being taunted for once. Liu-di looked to be enjoying himself, at least. 

It took longer than expected for Shejing to resort to using her Ruyi. She was a strategic woman, and visibly the least angry demon at the moment. In fact, she only looks angered at having their preparations disturbed. Liu-di was rocking on a large piece of stone, laughing and making faces. Shejing halted her demons and held up the Ruyi. Erwa focused on her, listening intently. “Ruyi Ruyi, an wo xingyi, kuaikuai xieling”

Ruyi, fulfill my heart’s wish.

With a blow, a white flash of wind flew towards Liu-di. In a split second, he was encased within ice. Erwa jolted, heart hammering as the demons cheered to their lady. She quickly orders a few demons to take the block of ice away. Before she even finished, Liu-di disappeared from view, the ice falling forward like it was pushed. His familiar laughter filled the room, and Erwa felt himself release a sigh of relief, wincing when the sharp pricks of the spikes stabbed into his skin. 

Minutes pass before Liu-di is running toward him, no longer invisible, and wheezing. “Er-ge, did you see? It was so funny! They couldn’t catch me at all! I was — I was running around them and they tried to get me but I moved out of the way before they could! Oh, you saw, right? Did you see that — what was he, a caterpillar? The bug demon with two axes! His eyes were thiiiiiiis wide!” Liu-di emphasized his point with a large arc of his arms, making a wide circle. 

Erwa rolled his eyes. “Liu-di was having fun. But we need to focus now, our brothers are counting on us.”

“Mm, mm! I was!” Liu-di grinned. “Er-ge, did you hear the incantation?”

“I did.” Erwa murmured the words to Liu-di, who nodded and repeated it slowly. 

“And you just —” Liu-di pucker his lips and blew a puff of air — “blow it and it works? Like that? That’s too easy!”

“The hard part is getting the Ruyi,” Erwa reminded him. “When you do, you have to free our brothers so we can defeat the demons together.”

Liu-di’s smile grew wider. “Don’t worry, Er-ge, just let me.”

Erwa fell back asleep when Liu-di went to retrieve the Ruyi, waking up after a while to check on him and see Liu-di leaning over Xiezi-wang, gently pulling the Ruyi out of his hands. As soon as it was in his hands, Liu-di wasted only a second of time making a mocking face at the two sleeping demons before turning invisible and, hopefully, hightailing it out of there. Adrenaline rose from the bottom of Erwa’s skin, along with trepidation. There was no telling what the demons had in store for them once they began fighting. 

With Liu-di invisible now, Erwa had no way of knowing where he went first. All he could do now was wait within a barely contained swarm of emotions and wait. His head swarmed as he tried to formulate a plan for what to do. They had to find Qi-di and free him, so that the demons could not meld them together when he emerged. Demons were vengeful, but many with low amounts of qi could be easily eliminated when spiritual qi was used against them. But Shejing and Xiezi-wang were a pair of extremely powerful demon lords. A simple crack in the mountain was able to set them free, and they wasted no time in finding ways to become more powerful. If they couldn’t eliminate them head-on, the only thing they could do was follow up with the traditional cleansing ritual of sealing demons under a mountain of spiritual qi, until the demonic qi had vanished. 

But how long would that even take?  

SheXie-eryao were quite possibly overwhelmed with demonic qi. They’d already been sealed under a mountain once for thousands of years, and still they flourished. The only mountain with enough natural spiritual qi that was able to subdue them was now reduced to a pile of rubble, no thanks to a certain pangolin. 

Erwa felt a stab of guilt at that thought. He shouldn’t blame Chuan shanjia-xiong for digging into the mountain. It was all thanks to him that Yeye was able to find them and take them out of the mountain…although they were still supplying the mountain with enough qi to keep the demons in check. If only it’d been a few years later, maybe they could’ve been done and…

Erwa shook his head. As long as there was good in the world, there would be evil. There would not be a time in the future where he wouldn’t need to kill and eliminate demons. It’s the only thing he knew how to do. 

“Er-ge!” Liu-di suddenly appeared, startling Erwa from his thoughts. He holds up the Ruyi, flashing a bright golden color in the dark of the cave. “Xieling, xeiling, xieling!”

Erwa laughed at his eagerness as the wall of spikes in front of him slowly moved back with a rumble. Liu-di wasted no time in hopping onto the stone with him, wrapping his arms around in a tight hug. Erwa buried his face in his brother’s neck, barely containing a sob as he finally felt the relief of a breath of air. His legs buckled, no longer needing to stay upright, and Erwa fell forward. Liu-di yelped and caught them both from tumbling, ending with Erwa still clutching onto him in a struggle to prevent himself from falling any more, and Liu-di supporting his weight while he sat on the floor. 

“Sorry,” Erwa muttered, pulling away. “My legs hurt.”

“Er-ge can sit. Let’s get up first,” Liu-di says, pulling Erwa up. The movement causes his numb legs to screech in pain. Erwa bites his lip and climbs out of the dip between the stone, sitting on the stone path leading up to where he was previously prisoned. Liu-di sat beside him while Erwa stretched his legs out, groaning as his back popped. Tears sprung in his eyes, both from the exertion of the stretch and relief at finally getting out of that trap. Liu-di waited for him to adjust. 

Finally, when Erwa felt like all the air had returned to his lungs, he turned to Liu-di and asked, “Has Liu-di freed the others?”

“En. They should be on their way here. They were…a bit out of it, when I freed them. Si-ge almost started fighting me as soon as he got out before he saw it was me,” Liu-di giggled. “Si-ge was so silly, though. He fell over and then tried to hit me. Then he fell over again and almost burnt me to a crisp! Rude!”

“Si-di is like that,” Erwa agreed. 

“Oh! Has Si-ge ever tried to burn anyone else?”

“He and Wu-di spar a lot. But they hit each other. Without trying to kill each other.” Erwa thinks back to their days in the bamboo hut, smiling at the memory. “Wu-di complains about getting burns, even though he never actually got one yet. He’s worried about the possibility of it. They always come back soaking wet, though.”

“That sounds like fun! I want to fight with Si-ge and Wu-ge!”

“Spar.”

“Ehem, Er-ge, it’s not fighting if we’re just playing!”

“Why do you all like fighting each other so much?” Erwa sighed. 

“Oh! Are we fighting?” An eager voice came. Erwa and Liu-di both snapped their heads up, spotting San-di striding into the cave. Liu-di jumped up. 

“San-ge!” He cries, tossing himself onto him. San-di smiles and returns the hug, squeezing tightly until Liu-di gasps and starts hitting him to let go. Erwa doesn’t bother testing to see if his legs are working right now, and waits for Liu-di to guide them over.

“Er-ge, are you alright?” San-di asks immediately. He pats Erwa’s cheeks. 

“En. All healed.”

“I destroyed the crystal,” San-di boasts proudly. “And pretty much every single weapon they have. With my head.”

“Very good, San-di.”

“That’s a funny thing to brag about,” Liu-di adds. 

“How were you captured, then?” Erwa asks. San-di frowns and rubs a hand to his neck, diverting his gaze. Ah. Erwa sees now. 

“I made a bet with Shejing. Since she’s a girl, I told her I could let her hit me three times.”

“San-ge, that’s sexist.”

San-di’s face bloomed with red. “Whatever! I said if I could withstand all three, then she would let Da-ge go. She took out a sword and hit me twice over the head with it. Then, I don’t know what happened, but the sword had qi in it, apparently, so then she said a spell and tied me up. I can’t be hit but I certainly don’t have the strength to get out of it like Da-ge!”

Liu-di started laughing. Erwa considered his story carefully. “Did San-di not notice there was something amiss when she was able to hit you twice? If it was any normal sword, it would’ve broken on the first hit.”

San-di’s silence of revelation sent Liu-di into another laughing fit. 

Erwa stifled his own chuckle. It was refreshing to be able to talk with his brothers so freely, even under the circumstances that they are in. 

“I’m here!” Another familiar voice rang out. Quick thudded steps were racing towards them. 

A faint follow of footsteps were heard after, followed by the shout: “No! I’ll get there first!”

Erwa braced himself, familiar with these antics. San-di and Liu-di were none the wiser, and definitely not prepared when Si-di and Wu-di sprang out from the darkness and tackled them into a giant hug pile. San-di let out a high pitched shriek that he would definitely be denying later. 

“Si-ge! Wu-ge!” Liu-di yowled happily. 

“Guys!” The final voice completed their missing group. From where he could see, Erwa caught the way his Da-ge’s face lit up at the sight of them. 

“Da-ge!” Everyone chirped. 

Erwa, in the center of their excitement, feels himself overwhelmed with all the relief. Combined with the warmth of his family were the boisterous voices that didn’t leave a trace of hardship. He cracked then, letting out a sob as tears finally sprang from his eyes. Laughter around him didn’t notice the tears, and he laughed along with them. It wasn’t any grief that brought them out, all plain happiness and relief. No one needed to know he started crying at the moment, and that was fine. 

“Liu-di, you should find Qi-di first,” Erwa tells him, when they’d all disentangled from each other and sit in a circle on the floor. He had tried to stand until his feet wobbled again and Da-ge pulled him back down. Almost in unison, everyone sat down, crossing their legs.

“Mm, okay! Does Er-ge know where he is?”

“Yes. He’s encased within a room that has spikes on the outside. It’s quite deep into the cave. However, I wasn’t able to look inside it. There might be a demonic seal on it to prevent any spiritual qi from breaking in.”

“So, it can only be opened with the Ruyi?”

“En. Liu-di should be able to find it.”

When Liu-di set off again, the rest of them put their heads together to try and form a plan. Erwa, unfortunately, broke the news to them about their Yeye. The following reaction was a lot of overlapping yelling, pacing (from Si-di), and a lot of breaking nearby rocks (Da-ge and San-di). Erwa did his best to calm them down. Only saying that he might not be dead, his whereabouts just unknown, did everyone stop thrashing around angrily. At least Wu-di seemed…distinctly more calm than the others. 

With everyone putting in their own two cents, the best course of action they could still take was an ambush. Demons preferred fighting more than anything, and so they wouldn’t have an elaborately smart counterattack if they were to launch one. At best, they would fight back. But the seven of them would be able to fight their way through to the two demon rulers. 

What began as a serious discussion slowly turned into chatting. One remark led to another before Erwa himself didn’t even know when they started simply talking. Da-ge and Si-di were shoving each other, dangerously close to starting a full on play brawl. San-di looked like he was trying to provoke one into happening. 

Wu-di sat leaning his side against Erwa. “Er-ge, when we left, how did you manage to get your sight and hearing back?”

“Si-di’s birds brought me the antidote,” Erwa explained, tapping a finger along his brother’s sleeve. “It wasn’t too long after you two left on your journey. I got worried when you didn’t come back.” He frowns. “What happened? How did you end up captured?”

Wu-di looked embarrassed, voice turning softer as he explained, “We saw that there was a large fire on a mountain side. Si-ge and I went to investigate. We started putting it out, and it turns out it was the demons — they were all trapped in it. They said — they said they would give us the cure for your injuries because they were grateful to us.”

Erwa felt a stab of pain and something like guilt in his chest. “Wu-di followed them back to the cave?”

Wu-di nodded against him, a warm movement. “En. They planned a lot of…incidents where Si-ge and I had to use our powers. Now that I think about it, they were probably testing to see how our powers worked,  but I didn’t think of that when we were here.”

“And they trapped you?”

“Well, they brought us in for a meal first. We didn’t eat anything, promise! We asked for Da-ge and San-ge. Shejing showed them sleeping, but I think that was just an illusion. They said we could see them after we had some drinks. So we did.”

“Did they poison you?” Erwa demanded. 

Wu-di thought about it for a moment, finally making a soft eh noise. “We were drinking a little until they gave Si-ge and I a ‘special’ liquor. They boasted about it being really good wine, so Si-ge took a sip, and turned a bit blue in the face. He passed out.”

Poison . Or at least, some kind of sedation or mixture. Cowardly weapons, in both the human and demon worlds. Erwa scoffed angrily and glared down at his hands. Wu-di pressed more firmly against him.

“I didn’t realize I was already a little drunk by then. The demons called in a large bowl — big enough to sleep in — that was filled with more wine. They said if I could finish it, I could take everyone back home. I drank it all. It was refilled.” 

Wu-di sighed. “I kept drinking and getting more drunk and it kept refilling. Until I passed out as well. Gege, I really don’t like drinking. But they told me I could get everyone back if I did.”

Erwa makes a noise of acknowledgement and wraps an arm around his brother in a side hug. “Wu-di is really good. The demons were cruel and manipulative.“

Wu-di turns around to fully hug Erwa, causing a small puff of air to escape him in surprise. “Er-ge, I hated it! I don’t like drinking at all! It tasted so bad, and I hated what it did to my head! It felt all fuzzy and gross and wrong ! Er-ge, I was really scared.” Wu-di sniffed and buried his head in Erwa’s shoulder. 

Blind fury filled his veins at his brother’s words, but Erwa pushed them aside. He leveled his voice and rubbed a circle on Wu-do’s back. “Shh, Wu-di, don’t cry. It won’t happen again. We’re all here.”

Their conversation seems to have alerted their other brothers. Da-ge, San-di and Si-di walked over cautiously, throwing a questioning gaze at Erwa. He nodded and gestured for them all to come. Wu-di heard their footsteps as well, turning around to face the others and rubbing his slightly damp eyes. The other three piled on him, and so they returned to another pile of bear hugging. 

Wu-di told them what he’d said to Erwa. “ Qiyou cili ,” Da-ge curses. His hold tightens, his strength just barely held back so as to not harm any of them. Si-di managed to look murderous and remorseful at the same time. 

He shook his twin by the shoulders lightly. “I didn’t know. I swear to the heavens I will pulverize those demons. I’m sorry, I really didn’t know.”

Wu-di smiled gently. “I didn’t know I disliked it so much either. Don’t blame yourself.”

“Fuck, me too! I’m going to destroy those filthy demons!” San-di’s curse caused Da-ge to throw his hands around Wu-di’s ears. 

“Language!”

“Shit, sorry.”

San-di’s mind was one filled with more fighting than thinking. Erwa knew of this, of course, and he loved his brother, also of course, but he really needs to teach him a lesson on proper behavior. He can’t go around cussing at everyone and everything. 

Da-ge scowled. “Don’t say that word! It’s a bad word!”

“Wu-di isn’t a baby,” San-di complains, though he fortunately didn’t add any more curses to his words. 

“He’s the youngest here,” Da-ge argues. “That’s like, basically a baby.”

“Who said I was a baby?” Wu-di asks sulkily.

“That means Si-di is a baby, too,” Erwa adds jokingly.

Si-di spluttered in indignation. “Er-ge! Stop calling me a baby so much! I’m not even the youngest here!”

“Si-di is older by like four seconds.”

“Four seconds is a lot of seconds!”

Wu-di finally laughs, tears no longer there, and Erwa feels himself let out a sigh of relief. If he could, he’d keep them all happy here. No more demons, no more missing family, no more fear or hurt or trickery. As the only one who couldn’t fight, he’d have to figure out a way to keep them safe using his head. Erwa sighs. 

All peace lasted a sparing amount of time. Erwa heard the racing footsteps towards them and looked up. Liu-di was far away, although what worried Erwa was the fact that he was visible. When he neared, the others noticed, everyone detangling when they caught sight of Liu-di’s distressed face, along with a noticeably absent presence beside him. 

“Er-ge!” Liu-di cries. He was breathing heavily, almost heaving each breath. “Something’s wrong with Qi-di!”

Da-ge caught him by the shoulders, brows furrowing. “Liu-di, calm down. Your qi is unstable. Breathe.”

Liu-di changed direction and grappled onto Da-ge. “Da-ge, he’s been — brainwashed or something! I don’t know! He didn’t recognize me!”

“How could he not recognize you?” San-di asked. 

“He was —“ Liu-di made a noise as Da-ge started to channel qi into his wrist — “ bleh . He was — he asked me who I was, and I said I was his gege , but then he said he doesn’t have any! Then he started calling for A-Niang and A-Die !”

Everyone fell silent for a moment. 

“Liu-di, take another deep breath,” Da-ge eventually says. “Qi is still disturbed.”

Liu-di grumbled. He breathed in slowly, then exhaled, although his face didn’t look any less pinched than before. “Even worse, the place was absolutely reeking of demonic qi! I couldn’t find a trace of spiritual qi at all.”

“Tell me about what it looks like,” Erwa says. “Is Qi-di still growing?”

Liu-di nodded. “He looked about ready to emerge, too. He was hanging over a large pot of dark black liquid, boiling and blowing dark fumes onto him. His plant even changed color! It went from purple to pitch-black!”

Erwa hummed, thinking. “That should be it, then. His plant body is really susceptible to other factors when it’s still growing. Too much exposure to demonic qi must have overpowered the little spiritual qi he had, replacing it. Then, if even the qi that’s supplying him energy is demonic, then there’s not much separating him from a purebred demon.”

“A demon!? ” Da-ge glares at Erwa, as if offended that he even suggested such a thing. 

Erwa shrugged, though he felt the stirrings of anger himself. “It’s my theory. Especially since Qi-di is the youngest, he has spent more time still growing using the demonic qi as nutrients.” 

“Then what do we do? We can’t uproot him again, ” Da-ge demands. 

The stares boring down on him grew pressure like fruit. “I’m not sure. I’ve never heard of anyone turning into a demon before. I mean —” at another glare, Ewa decided to backtrack once again — “I’ve never heard of anyone being exposed to so much demonic qi at once. If we think simply, we would only need spiritual qi to expel it. But that could hardly be the case. Our plant bodies only had a little bit of spiritual qi to begin with, which is why the demonic qi was so easily able to take over. If he were to transform now, there’d be just about the same amount of demonic qi in his meridians as spiritual qi in ours. It would be like trying to turn any of us into a demon.”

“Not a demon,” Da-ge mutters. 

“Why did it affect his memories, then?” Liu-di asks, finally shaking off Da-ge from his hold on him. “Shouldn’t he still remember me?”

At this, Erwa heard a faint sound. “Shh,” he says, cupping a hand to his ear to hear better. “It’s Shejing and Xiezijing. They’re preparing for the feast.”

“Are they coming to get us?”

“I don’t think so. Hang on.” Erwa closed his eyes and opened them to see the grand meal hall. Food was carefully being prepared at the same time the room was being cleaned. Demons were fluttering all over the place. Sitting on the table, swinging his legs — was Qi-di.

Erwa flinched and peeled away from the vision. “What is it?” Si-di asked immediately. 

“It’s…Qi-di. He’s emerged.” Erwa wished he could still feel relief when the time had come. Instead, all he felt was hollow weariness. “He’s…”

“What? He’s what? What happened to him?” Liu-di asks frantically. 

“He’s with the demons,” Erwa finally settles on. “ With them, it seems. Happy about it, too. It seems he really is brainwashed.”

The word hangs heavy over them. Erwa blinks back into the vision, gut twisting as Qi-di starts humming cheerfully. He fiddles with his Baohulu, not noticing the weary and angry glances both casted his way. He looked so small sitting on the table. 

“A-Niang, why are we having a big party?” Qi-di asked, turning his head to the side. 

From the corner of his vision, Erwa sees the glistening scales of Shejing. “A-Niang is making a special pearl. She will take those blasted huluwa and cook them into qixindan. Once you eat it, you won’t fear heaven nor earth.”

“I want to eat it!” Qi-di’s eyes lit up in excitement. 

Shejing laughs silkily and picks him up. “Of course. How could we leave our precious child out?”

Qi-di giggles and holds up Baohulu. “A-Niang, this artifact is really powerful. It can suck anyone into it and let them out. Qi’er will use it to help A-Niang!”

A glint appears in Shejing’s eyes. “Yes, Qi’er should.”

Erwa, unable to watch any longer, tears away once again. He faces the others, who wait intently for his report. Sighing, Erwa explains, “They’re preparing to form the pearl. Qi-di volunteered to help.”

“Qi-di wouldn’t do that,” Liu-di says, face twisting at the end. “We have to save him!”

“I’m with you,” San-di replies instantly. The two share a glance, fierce with determination. 

“But what are we going to do?” Wu-di asks. Erwa sighs, thankful for the only other person who doesn’t see fighting as their own way out of this, until — “When we attack them, wouldn’t Qi-di fight against us?”

Erwa sighs once again. Wu-di throws him a look. “Er-ge sighs a lot.”

“Er-ge is stressed,” Erwa tells him. “And Er-ge needs to stop all of us from storming in there unprepared. We don’t know what is going to happen. The fact that we are free is probably still unnoticed by them. We can use this to ambush them, but raw strength won’t be enough to overpower them, especially with Qi-di helping.”

“Then what do you want us to do?” Si-di asks, crossing his arms. Fumes were beginning to light from the wisps of his hair, which Wu-di quickly pats out. 

“I’m not saying we don’t go out there and fight,” Erwa says slowly. 

“I mean, it kinda sounded like it,” San-di comments. 

Erwa ignores him. “We have to take in all the factors for this. What do you think our odds are, right now? Even if there are six of us together, Qi-di wouldn’t hesitate to kill any of us. He doesn’t know . We can’t do anything to Baohulu, and we don’t have any spiritual weapons on us, either. And we’re fighting inside the demons’ territory. We’ve all been tricked while in here, what are we going to do when they’re able to use everything against us?”

Liu-di coughed. “I wasn’t tricked.”

Erwa lightly hit him behind the head, earning a yelp of pain. “Irrelevant and obscene.”

“They’re going to come for us soon anyways,” San-di argued. “If they come in here, we’ll all be cornered. Better to find them ourselves and defeat them.” 

“Er-di is overthinking,” Da-ge says. “Last time, it was because we’d all fought them one by one that we were captured. If we all fight together, nothing will get past us. Right, San-di?”

Erwa opens his mouth to argue but stops when Si-di holds his shoulder. “Er-ge, don’t worry. We’ll take care of it.”

“Is — are we just going to storm there like that?” Erwa spluttered. “Are you crazy? Stop walking! We have to find a way to sneak in!”

As decided, they would sneak station themselves in pairs around the perimeter of the room. Si-di and Wu-di were a guaranteed pair; Da-ge and San-di were the best at fighting; which leaves Erwa with Liu-di. Erwa brewed over these pairs and lamented about how bad they were, but nobody seemed to agree or want to split up. At the very least, his body seemed to be back to functioning now, no longer aching, and so they set out to find the cave room. 

Guards were nowhere to be found when they left Erwa’s containment room. It was both relieving and insulting, since Liu-di reported to have seen at least two guards outside the rooms to his other brothers (all of whom were probably dead, by now). They moved quickly, Erwa watching the road ahead of them continuously while Liu-di guided him by the hand to make sure he didn’t bump into anything while they ran. Many of the demons were already inside the meal hall, preparing food. The ones that loitered around halls were easily defeated. 

Until a group of ragtag demons turned the corner and were blasted by fire, one particular red frog demon scrambling backwards. San-di cursed and moved to chase after him, but the demon was already halfway down the hall, and there were still many other demons to take care of. 

“There goes the element of surprise,” Wu-di sighs as he tosses a screaming demon to his twin, who kicks him around the head. Erwa quickly catches sight of the running demon, then switches his vision to look into the room. He gasps. 

“It’s Yeye!” he exclaims, sidestepping just in time before a stray bat demon lunges for him. He punches him toward Liu-di. “He’s alive, but he’s been captured. He’s talking to SheXia-eryao. They’re – he’s talking to Qi-di now.” He cringes at the mouthful that Qi-di has to say to Yeye for apparently harming his A-Niang and A-Die. “Nevermind that. The frog demon isn’t there yet. We should hurry. Are they all dead?”

“Mm,” Da-ge says, cracking the neck of a demon. “That’s the last one. Let’s go.”

It worked in their favor that the cave was so spacious and had many tunnels and paths that led to the same place. Once they were in view of the room, the three pairs split up and weaved to hide behind walls of rock. Erwa and Liu-di peered from behind thin throngs of stone falling from the ceiling to a platform high above the tables. Seeing Qi-di standing with the demons, Shejing’s hands on his shoulders in an almost perfectly wrong imitation of an actual mother-son duo, brought bile up his throat. 

“Demons!” Si-di yells. “Return my Yeye!”

“Give me back my brother!” 

“Who’s your brother!?” Qi-di yells back indignantly. He stomps his foot angrily and puffs his cheeks. “How dare you attack this place! Do you think you’re welcome here!?”

Even though the words weren’t directed at him, Erwa felt himself step back in shock. Si-di and Wu-di looked pained as they glanced at each other.

“Didi, they’re lying to you! Don’t associate with the demons!” Wu-di calls desperately. 

Qi-di is angered once again. “You’re the demons! Stop bullying my A-Niang and A-Die! I’ll show you!”

“Child, it’s true,” Yeye says. He tries to step forward, bound by ropes, and the demons besides him hold up their spears to block him. “Listen to me. We’re your family. These demons have confused you and turned you into someone you’re not.”

“Stop talking!” Qi-di snaps. He clutches Baohulu tightly to his chest, frowning down at it briefly before glaring at Yeye. 

Si-di didn’t look like he could contain his anger any longer. He grits his teeth and begins blowing fumes of fire at the two demon lords. The fire charges quickly, almost able to catch the two off guard, but Qi-di was watching him. He brandishes Baohulu. “ Shou!”

The fire is sucked in quickly, faster than Si-di blows it. When Qi-di moves to stand in front of the two demons, Si-di closes his mouth in an abrupt stop, puffing out an escaping flame. Erwa focuses on Yeye, trying to figure out a way to free him from the ropes safely. It would be impossible — he was surrounded with demons, and he wouldn’t be able to slip past Qi-di’s keen gaze. 

Wu-di shoots a stream of water from his palms, the speed fast. This time, it was able to hit Xiezi-wang in the chest, eliciting a pained groan. Qi-di gasps and glares at Wu-di, who falters in his next attack. The water does not fly at the same speed as before, and is absorbed quickly once again. 

Si-di’s clenched fists shake and he jumps up, shooting out a stream of lightning. Mostly stemmed from anger and frustration, the lightning misses its mark. Instead, it lands on nearby walls and causes rocks to fall around the room. Any that were able to get close to the demons were sucked up immediately by Qi-di. 

“Liu-di, we have to get Baohulu away from Qi-di,” Erwa whispers. 

Liu-di looks over with furrowed brows. “But…Er-ge, that’s Qi-di’s Baohulu. He doesn’t like being away from it.”

“It’s not a teddy bear right now. It’s a spiritual weapon that is protecting the demons,” Erwa reminds him. He pressed his hands against the stone. Liu-di is silent. 

Qi-di giggles as Shejing praises him. He turns around, suddenly holding Baohulu up and towards the twins. A beam of light jets out and his Si-di. Erwa jumps, suppressing it at the end. Another one hits Wu-di, and the two sway on their feet for a second. Then they turn to each other. 

“You bastard!” Si-di yells, throwing himself onto Wu-di. He hits clumsily, fueled with fury. Wu-di growls and kicks backs, streams of curses falling from his mouth. 

Erwa’s jaw drops as he and Liu-di share a shocked look. They turn back when they hear the sizzling of doused fire, finding the twins tossing fire and water at each other. This wasn’t anything like the play fights they always had. This was fighting with the intent to kill . Liu-di stepped out from his spot, mouth open as if to shout. Erwa caught him by the wrist and dragged him behind the pillar once again. “What are you doing? You can’t go out there!”

“I —” Liu-di threw a desperate look towards Qi-di. “I have this?” 

Liu-di questioningly raised Ruyi. Before Erwa could stop him, he whispers the incantation, and a breeze of chilling cold rushes towards the two demons. Qi-di’s eyes narrow and he holds up Baohulu. “ Shou! Who’s there?”

Liu-di laughs awkwardly. “Whoops.”

Erwa clicks his tongue. “Stop messing around. Da-ge and San-di should’ve gotten to their place already. If we let them distract —”

Erwa catches sight of a familiar beam of light heading their way. He yelps and jumps out of the way, but Liu-di is hit squarely in the shoulder. There isn’t much of a reaction except a groan and a bit of swaying, but Erwa takes a step back cautiously. “Liu-di?”

At his voice, Liu-di’s face hardens as he looks over at him. “You!”

Liu-di lunges forward with a fist aiming for his face. Erwa jumps out of the way and holds up his hands. “Liu-di, listen to me! I’m not your enemy! You —”

Liu-di throws himself onto Erwa again. He sidesteps to the left, narrowly avoiding falling over the edge. At this second of vulnerability, Qi-di points Baohulu at him, and Erwa only briefly sees the spell coming his way before it knocks him over the side. 

As he is flung over the edge, Erwa shoots out a hand and clings onto the stone. His mind is hazy from whatever spell had hit him, and is barely able to pull himself up. When he does, Liu-di takes the chance to punch him. 

Erwa throws a punch back instinctively, but when his eyes land on Liu-di’s face, an anger arises in him, hot and blinding. He staggers as Liu-di steps back from the hit, ugly triumph filling him to the bone at the reaction. Along the path of that anger is pain, unable to escape or settle. Frustrated, Erwa aimed another hit on Liu-di, which was caught in a fist and flung aside. 

He has to hit him. He has to — kill him? Would that stop the intrusion of emotions in his blood? Erwa envisions it, Liu-di beaten and bruised and it —

It’s disgusting, but it’s satisfying to see. Erwa hates him for bringing this pain, hates his breathing lungs and beating heart. 

Anger is a pulsing emotion that replaces a heart when it dies. Erwa no longer feels the bump of his heart, tasting instead the artificial fury of a dying man on his last breath. His attacks are clumsy and uncoordinated — as is Liu-di’s — only with the intent to hurt. He can hear laughter coming from somewhere, all around him, adding fuel to fire. 

Blood pours from scratches and bruises on his body, the texture thick and muffled like a fever. Liu-di’s bottom lip is bleeding, dripping onto his cheek and clothing that he doesn’t swipe away. As he directs a kick to Erwa’s stomach, he feels a pull tug him forward. In a split second, he is flung upwards in a blow of wind. He twists around and sees Qi-di’s Baohulu, pointed towards him and pulls him in. “No!” Erwa yelps, but it’s futile, and the world in front of him disappears. 

When Erwa awakes, it’s to the gentle carding of a hand in his hair. Groaning, he pushes himself up, feeling the ends of his arms tingle with pain. The hands are pulled away, instead patting his arms. “Is Er-ge okay?”

“Huh?” Erwa rubs his temples. Something thuds inside his arms, hot. “Where…huh?”

“It’s me.” Erwa looks up, eyes focused on Wu-di’s face. “Does Er-ge still have a fever?”

“I have…a fever?” Erwa mumbles. Now that he thinks of it, it feels boiling hot around him. Sweat is already sticking his hair to his neck, robes onto his back. Erwa leans against Wu-di. “What happened? Where…”

Suddenly, he remembers what happened prior. Erwa jumps up and almost falls forward, but catches himself and looks around. He counted the others — relief flooding through him when he finds everyone here. Wu-di stands up and places his hands on his forehead, damp with cold water. Erwa sighs at the little relief it brings. “Wu-di…are we inside…?”

Wu-di nods. “We’ve all been absorbed in Baohulu. The effects of the spell broke as we all fell in.”

“Was I the only one asleep?” 

“En. Er-ge’s head was burning up.”

“Oh.” Embarrassed, Erwa looks over at his brothers. Dried cuts and dark bruises covered their bodies. Liu-di catches his gaze, rushing over immediately with a noticeable limp. 

“Er-ge!” Liu-di, despite his injured foot, throws himself onto Erwa and pulls him tight into a hug. “I’m so sorry!”

“Ah…” Erwa’s head was pounding, but he managed to reach a hand up and pat Liu-di’s back. “I should be sorry. Are you alright?”

Liu-di sniffed and tensed at his words. “No! Er-ge shouldn’t be sorry! I shouldn’t have attacked Er-ge.”

Silly didi. “Er-ge hit you too. Let me see.” Erwa pulled Liu-di off himself and checked his body. A bruised lip and dried blood were mostly what covered his skin. He wasn’t sure how many other injuries were blooming under his clothes. 

Liu-di sniffed again. “Er-ge, you can hit me all you want! But I shouldn’t have hit you too!”

Erwa flicked his forehead, earning a yelp. Liu-di rubbed his head with a pink nose and wet eyes. “Who says it’s all your fault, ah? We were all under a spell. No blaming anyone you want, it’s all forgiven. So, how long have we been here?”

“Not long,” Wu-di answers. “Half an incense at most. Er-ge probably woke up from how hot it is.”

“It is hot,” Erwa murmurs. “Qi-di’s Baohulu really is tortuous.”

“If we stay any longer, we’re going to be cooked alive and turned to steam,” Da-ge pipes up. “Is there any way to get out?”

“From the inside? No,” Erwa sighed. “Our best bet is to wait for them to throw us into the pot and get out then. Si-di, you can survive fire, you’ll have to be the one to break us out. San-di can still make a protective shield, right?”

“I can,” San-di replies. He’s poking at a large bruise on his knee, watching the way the dark skin turned bright at his temporary touch. Once in a while, he presses and holds it until he winces and releases. “Should I set one up now?”

“No, save your qi. It’s bearable here for now, and we need a really strong shield to survive in the pot.”

“It’s bearable?” San-di exclaims. “I’m practically naked and it’s still hot as fuck!”

“Language,” Wu-di chides and cups Liu-di’s ears, who turns to him in confusion. Da-ge laughs. 

Indeed, San-di had stripped out of his robes and sat on the floor with his legs out in only his shorts. His other hand held his bunched up inner robe to wipe at the sweat on his neck. 

“Sounds like a you problem,” Si-di comments. “I like it!”

“You are literally made of fire. What more do you want,” San-di replies blatantly. 

They laugh breezily, distracted, and in the middle of it the Baohulu vibrates slightly. The laughter is cut off abruptly, and a screaming voice falls into the gourd. 

Qi-di falls onto the bottom with a thud, lying on his back, and is still. “Qi-di!” Everyone yells, rushing over and crowding around him. Erwa had assumed he’d fallen unconscious when he landed, but Qi-di’s eyes were wide open. He was looking straight up, completely ignoring them. 

“Qi-di? Are you okay?” Da-ge asks, shaking his arm lightly. 

A second passes and Qi-di finally whispers, “Why?”

“Why what?” Si-di asks. 

All of a sudden, thick tears swell in Qi-di’s eyes and he surges up, slapping his hands to his eyes as he lets out a loud sob. The sound shocks them all into a jump. Qi-di cries were anguished and loud, so much that nobody seemed to know what to do for a moment. 

“Why did she lie to me?” Qi-di bawls. His knees pull up and he rests his arms on his legs as he continues trying to wipe away his tears. “Why did she leave me here? Why did she leave me alone? I’m scared! I don’t want to be here!”

Da-ge moves first. He surges forward and wraps Qi-di in a hug. There’s a few seconds of resistance before Qi-di sags against him and cries into his shoulder. Soon enough, the seven of them are back in their third group hug in the past day. In between Qi-di’s crying are useless pleas that crack Erwa’s heart every time he hears one. Qi-di is able to cry for a long time, but his words stop long before the tears do. All of the body warmth from their close embrace was probably unbearable for Qi-di, right in the middle of all of it, but he doesn’t say anything about it. When at last all is left is shallow breathing, Da-ge whispers, “He fell asleep.”

They untangle themselves and Erwa shakes off the uncomfortable sweat that began to form on his skin. Da-ge still held onto Qi-di, whose head was leaning against Da-ge's chest and sleeping with tear tracks on his cheeks. Da-ge wipes them away carefully. 

“He still doesn’t remember us?” Liu-di asks, looking at Erwa. 

He shakes his head. “It doesn’t seem like it. Since he was under the effects of demonic qi, it wasn’t able to be reversed when he passed through Baohulu like us. But he didn’t fight us when we touched him. Shejing tricked him and absorbed him, so he must have been very confused.”

“Fucking bastards,” San-di curses. 

“We need to set up a swear jar,” Wu-di laments. 

“Not the point! They made Qi-di think they cared about him and just threw him away when they were done using him! Don’t you think that’s a little messed up? 

“It is,” Wu-di affirms calmly. 

San-di is grateful for his agreement. He launches into a rant about the cruelty of the demons — which Si-di joins in merrily with the same enthusiasm. Erwa turns away and looks at Qi-di, sleeping curling up and arms hugging around his chest. He picks up his hand gently and turns it around to place two fingers on the veins. “His qi is disruptive. I’ll transfer some qi to him, but washing out the demonic qi completely will be hard with just body contact. We’d need a spiritual device to better transfer it.”

“But we can help him?” Liu-di asks. 

“I think so. Or, we could at least rid him of most of the corruption. Let me transfer it from his back, it’ll get more through.”

Da-ge readjusts their position slowly to not wake Qi-di, and holds him up while Erwa presses his palms against his back. Qi-di lets out a disgruntled noise as the qi is transferred, but doesn’t wake, and energy flows into his body without resistance. “Don’t exhaust your internal force,” Da-ge chides. “Say when you’ve given enough.”

“Heh, I have a lot of qi to spare, don’t worry.”

When Qi-di wakes, he does it slowly. The first sign was a scrunched face as he snuggled into Da-ge closer, then furrowed brows at the extensive heat. His eyes blink lowly a few times before he opens them fully. He turns around and looks at Erwa with sleepy eyes. He looks up to see Da-ge’s smiling face. Then he seems to feel the qi flowing into his meridians and twists his neck around to watch Liu-di, who had switched places with Erwa after a while. 

To his credit, Qi-di doesn’t jump up and attack them. He just slowly turns back around and asks Erwa, “You’re nice people?”

“We’re your family,” Erwa tells him.

“Oh.” Qi-di yawns. “Why do I feel funny?”

“We’re getting rid of your demonic qi. It’s what’s been corrupting you.”

“Am I a bad person?” Qi-di asks, eyes widening. 

“No,” Da-ge answers. Qi-di looks up at him. “Qi-di is very good. He was tricked.”

“A-Niang tricked me,” Qi-di muttered sullenly. “She said she just wanted to see Baohulu, and that she’d give it back when she was done.”

“She’s not your Niang.” At this, Qi-di’s face scrunched in confusion. “She’s a snake demon that has terrorized many innocent people. They are planning to form us into qixindan so she and Xiezi-wang can become invincible.”

“Can I ask a question?”

“En, Er-ge will answer.”

“Um.” Qi-di looked nervous as he fiddled with his fingers. He opens his mouth several times but never voices his question. Liu-di removes his hands with an exhausted sigh. 

“You didn’t overuse your qi, did you?” Erwa demands, grabbing Liu-di’s wrist to check his meridians. He glares at him. “Any more and your golden core would’ve disappeared!”

“First off, that’s impossible,” Liu-di argues. “And second, Qi-di still has a lot of demonic qi in him!”

“We can’t rush this process. An overwhelming amount of external qi for a prolonged period of time will push him into a qi-deviation,” Erwa says. “Even if too much qi didn’t affect him, there’s so much demonic qi that all six of us transferring qi wouldn’t be able to reverse the damage. Stop pouting!”

“Er-di, how much more spiritual qi can he take?” Da-ge asks, looking down at Qi-di in concern.

Erwa shrugs. “Um, half a transfer session, I believe? Three is already pushing it for immortal cultivators.”

Qi-di pipes up, “Um, excuse me, I wanted to ask…am I…like you? Is that why A-Niang…Shejing put me in here?”

Erwa sighs. “Qi-di doesn’t remember the legend of Hulu-xiongdi? ”

Qi-di shook his head. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright. Liu-di will tell you.”

“Why do I have to tell it?”

“Because I’m tired. Go, start talking.”

With amusement, Erwa listens to Liu-di recount the written legend. Qi-di also listens very intently, nodding along with wide eyes. Erwa truly wasn’t lying when he said he was tired — maybe it was the fever still burning in him, but he found it difficult to keep his eyes open. If it wasn’t for the fact he was stuck in a spiritual weapon, waiting to be cooked alive, Erwa would have fallen asleep again. 

Wu-di, having sat through both San-di and Si-di ranting to him about demons, finally had enough and walked over. He sat next to Erwa and plastered himself to his side again, his body cool to the touch. Now , Erwa really would like to take a nap. He forces his eyes to stay open while they wait for Liu-di to finish his story. 

Qi-di is silent for several moments, tapping a finger on his crossed arms in thought. “Then…what if I don’t want to?”

“What,” Liu-di said intelligently.

“It’s just, I like the way I am right now?” Qi-di’s tone was unsure as he looked from each of them to the other. “If it’s okay…?”

“But — but Qi-di is still corrupted!” Liu-di cries. “ Corrupted! Your qi is demonic!”

“But what if I wouldn't like it if my qi was spiritual?” Qi-di asks. “I’ve never had spiritual qi before!”

“S—Spiritual qi is good!” Liu-di argues. “Demonic qi is bad!”

“Qi-di,” called Wu-di. “The demonic qi changed your memories and altered your morality. You’ve attacked us and sided with the demons. Transferring spiritual qi is the only way to change you back to who you were before.”

Qi-di pouts and fiddles with his hands. Erwa yawns and holds a hand to his forehead, testing the heat. “It won’t be long until they let us out. We should prepare and meditate.”

“This is hardly meditation material,” Liu-di says, gesturing around. 

“Great, Liu-di can use this as an opportunity to practice concentration in an inconvenient environment.”

After some grumbling, they gather San-di and Si-di with them onto a big circle in the center. Qi-di sheepishly raises his hand and admits that he has no idea how to meditate. Liu-di patiently guides him through it, although if it was stemmed from care or not wanting to meditate in this heat, Erwa didn’t know. When Qi-di got the hang of it, they all assumed a meditating stance and closed their eyes. Erwa slowly took a deep breath, relaxing his meridians to flow his qi throughout his entire body. 

They were able to meditate for longer than Erwa had anticipated, but the inevitable arrived. Baohulu vibrated slightly, and Erwa didn’t have any time to prepare before he felt himself shot upwards. Passing through the spiritual weapon felt like swimming through thick mud, but it ended quickly, and he caught the brief gleeful looks of all the demons around him before falling into a giant pot. 

Immediately, he felt burns searing across his body. Erwa gasps in pain as his head bursts with a pounding ache. The grunts and thuds of his brothers fell beside him. Inside the spiritual pot was much hotter than Baohulu, enough that he falls to his knees when he tries to stand. 

However, unexpectedly, when he looked around blurrily at the disgruntled figures of his brothers, he felt a taste of that blinding hot anger. A frustrated scream rips from his throat. The anger felt too much in his body, forced in and shoving itself everywhere. Anything else within him was falling apart and turning hazy in the return of the spell. Erwa clutched his hand as he staggered around, not knowing what he was trying to do or where he was trying to reach. He couldn’t remember where they were, either, or what they were planning to do once they got…

Liu-di is looking back up at him, his eyes sharpening when they lock eyes. A low growl reverberates in the back of Erwa’s throat as he throws himself onto him, fists raised high to pummel punches down on him. Liu-di struggles to kick him off, sometimes blocking a few hits with his own arms. 

Erwa finds delight in the adrenaline of each hit and watches blearily as blood drips down. Good, he thinks, even as Liu-di manages to push him off and begins to hit him back. His body wasn’t hurting, wasn’t failing, he could still fight back and scream. A pummel of fire brushes past him, licking hot burns across his shoulder. Liu-di blinks away from his sight and Erwa twists around to try and find him. 

Somewhere, distantly, he can feel rising dread and heavy anxiety as he stares at the scene in front of him. It’s uncomparable to the burning rage in him, but with its presence known, Erwa feels himself growing much more angered and confused. Liu-di reappears and tackles him to the floor. Erwa coughs blood, thick and metallic. 

In the midst of all the fighting is the sudden intrusion of a light. It plows through the covered spiritual pot, blinding any that looks at it. Erwa yelps and snaps his eyes closed. His skin tingles with the gentle warmth of a hot sun. Little by little, the intruding anger peels itself away, Much too suddenly still, Erwa lets out a sob at the entanglement of its hold. Slowly, he feels the dirty feeling ebb away, left with a hazy mind and heaving breaths. 

“Er-ge,” he hears. Liu-di lies opposite of him, voice thick. “Is it over?”

Erwa heaves another wheezing breath. “It’s over,” he repeats. “It’s over. Are you — do you feel alright? I hit you hard, didn’t I?”

“I’m okay. I’m just glad it’s over,” Liu-di whispers. “I don’t want to hit you again. Or any of our brothers.”

Erwa pushes himself up. The intense burning of the pot had died out, replaced with just the warmth of the spiritual device that saved them. He looks up, eyes seven glowing orbs, no bigger than the size of a lotus seed yet burning bright. “Is everyone okay?” he calls out wearily. 

Groans answer him. Da-ge was supporting San-di on his shoulder, looking tired but otherwise normal. “Whatever that was, it broke the spell.”

“Where’s Qi-di? He wasn’t affected by the spell, did he get hurt?” Liu-di asks, pushing himself up. He shakes his hand, knuckles bruised purple. “Qi-di? Qi-di!”

The shout echoes across from them and is answered by a tiny voice, “I’m so sorry.”

Curled up on the side with his head cowered behind both arms was Qi-di. Louder, he repeats his words. Liu-di hurries over to him, falling to his knees in front of him and trying to pry his arms away. “What is Qi-di sorry for?”

“I…I caused this.” Erwa walks over too and takes Qi-di’s wrist in his. Seconds pass. He looks at Liu-di with wide eyes. 

“It’s gone. The demonic qi. It’s — his qi is low, but it’s replenishing itself quickly. That thing must’ve—” Erwa turns around to gaze at the lotus seeds again. “It’s a powerful spiritual device, or something. It must’ve destroyed the demonic qi and replaced it with spiritual qi. 

Liu-di gasps and places his palms on Qi-di’s shoulders. “Qi-di remembers?”

“Mm,” comes a muffled noise. When Qi-di looks up, his eyes were already flowing with tears. “I’m sorry.”

“Qi-di has nothing to apologize for,” Erwa tells him as everyone joins them. “We need to save Yeye first.”

There’s numbness when they crowd around Qi-di, Baohulu in his hand with wisps of demonic qi flowing out of the tip of the gourd. Erwa couldn’t find it in himself to feel the victory of the defeat. It didn’t feel like winning at all. Yeye was gone. Everything they’d done was for Yeye.

Qi-di is crying, the kind that’s quiet with mostly sharp intakes of breath. Not much sound escapes his throat. His hands shake as he clutches Baohulu in his hands. Besides the demonic qi, it lays motionless in his hands, an underwhelming show of triumph. 

Da-ge finally pulls himself out of the silence. “Cleansing,” he says first. His words are chopped, like he wasn’t able to string them together. “We have to — clean the body. We need to contact someone to choose the date. We…need joss paper. And incense.” 

Wu-di makes a pained noise. “It’s dangerous to bring Baohulu around the village people. We should split up and…and some can go gather materials for a burial.”

“We don’t have time to construct a proper grave,” Si-di says. “We don’t have time to choose a proper date, either. We need to seal the demons as soon as possible. The ones staying will prepare a grave from stone. As soon as we’re done we’ll…have to go.”

Back into a mountain. This brief moment of proper living was already fading before he knew it. More countless years will be spent supplying a mountain with the proper qi to contain the demons and eliminate them. The sand slipped from his fingers and blew away in the wind. Erwa nodded. “Qi-di will have to stay, then. I’ll go into the village.”

“I’ll stay with Qi-di,” Liu-di volunteers quietly. 

“We’ll come with you, Er-ge,” Si-di says, gesturing towards his twin, who nods. 

Just like old times, huh. Admittedly, it wasn’ that long ago, but it feels like a lifetime away when considering the battle between then and now. “Da-ge and San-ge should stay too, in case anything happens to Baohulu. Be prepared.”

Qi-di sniffs and wipes away his tears. “We’ll retrieve the body and try to clean it. Er-ge, Si-ge, and Wu-ge have to be careful.”

Wu-di cups Qi-di’s face gently. “We will be careful. Qi-di should rest.”

The two groups depart with a breath of grief between them. Erwa feels exhausted to the bone, his steps wild and uncoordinated. Injuries still grace his body from his previous fights with Liu-di, then with the battle against the two demons. Si-di and Wu-di both were beaten down and weary. The trip down the mountain was a slow one, the three of them holding tightly onto each other’s hands to keep each other upright. Erwa felt the haze of an untreated fever still boiling in his body.

Villages were not close to the demon’s territory. They had to move quickly if they wanted to reach one in time. The closest would be the one by the bamboo house, just a forest away. Practicing inedia would be their only way of reaching it time for supplies. They would recognize the three of them, and hopefully whatever merits that Si-di and Wu-di accumulated would work in their favor. 

The day before they reached the village, Wu-di put a hand on his forehead. “Er-ge, you’re still burning up.”

Erwa leaned against the cool touch, closing his eyes. “It’s fine,” he says. “Let’s keep going.”

“What do you mean it’s fine?” Si-di demands. They were all sore, breathing in slow and rasp breaths. “You’ve got a fever!”

“Just another day,” Erwa says. “One more day.”

Si-di and Wu-di haven’t gotten out of the habit of speaking loudly to him, yet. Erwa notices this soon after, when they had replenished enough energy to talk idly. Erwa listened to them, not missing the way their voices raised louder when they turned to him for input. They know he’s healed, and he doesn’t know why they still talk loudly to him. Erwa decides not to point this out and leaves them be. 

They reach the village the next day. 

The village is like any other — outlined with strong wooden logs, a slight dirt path leading up to the front gates, bamboo and straw huts inside, the cluttering of farm animals pulled around. The three of them practically collapse by the gates, pulled inside by concerned villagers. They do seem to recognize Si-di and Wu-di, though they cast confused glances at Erwa. Wu-di pulls one down and points at him, murmuring something. The villager nods.

“We’re going to see the chief,” Wu-di tells him. His eyes are half-lidded, sleepy. “He wants to announce that we defeated the demons.”

Si-di grumbles. “I don’t like him.”

Erwa glances at the two villagers, sheathed swords by their sides. They seemed to be their escorts, and they were impatient. One grabbed Si-di while the other grabbed Erwa’s arms, tugging them deeper into the village and ignoring Si-di’s protests. Onlookers gazed at them from doorsteps, faces awed and wary at the same time. Children that pointed and asked their parents were shushed and tugged against the legs of their mothers. Erwa almost stumbled and fell multiple times, if not for the fact that the escorts were still gripping his arm tightly. 

The shops that were out quieted when they passed. Buyers paused in handling their money and eyed their little group. Si-di leaned over and whispered to Erwa, “That guy once asked me to kill a few demons around his house. After I did it, he tried to convince everyone that he did it. He’s an asshole.”

“Oh, I met him before, too,” Wu-di whispers, tilting his head toward them. “He asked me to become his personal servant. Like, work for him forever. So I could give him water any time he wanted. He kept asking when I said no.”

“What the — that’s so stupid,” Si-di grumbled. “For water? He needs to get his head checked, seriously.”

“Shh,” Erwa hushed. “Don’t gossip while we're here.”

“So we can gossip when we get out?”

“Who even needs that much water?” Si-di continues, ignoring him. “It’s not like the drought was that bad. Wu-di already filled the well and river and any buckets anyone asked for. Way too much, in my opinion. Wu-di, you should learn when to stop giving people stuff.”

“I felt bad,” Wu-di says, rolling his eyes. “Besides, he also wanted me around to kill demons, too. He’s probably cursed since he claims he sees demons everywhere he goes.”

Erwa shushes them once again when he catches sight of a figure nearing them. The escorts have slowed as well, dropping them off in the center of the village. 

The village chief is an old man, supporting himself with a wooden cane. His slouched head lifts when they approach. Then, he bows. 

“No need,” Erwa says, stepping forward and lifting the old man upward. 

The chief grasp Erwa’s hands with surprisingly tight fingers. “I am forever thankful for your contributions. Those foul demons have guarded that cave for centuries, waiting for their lords. They’ve even taken some wandering villagers that accidentally strayed too far into their territory. Now that they are gone, we can live in peace. We will feast in your honor”

“This Erwa will have no feast,” Erwa says. “However, Erwa would like to ask this gracious chief to spare burial materials.”

A moment passes. The chief seemed surprised at his decline. “Why not, child? You have slain demons and must return in glory. This honor will bring future generations great fortune.”

“This Erwa’s living purpose is to slay demons. Honor will remain with the legend of Hulu-xiongdi. Please, great chief, Erwa only asks for the proper burial of his family.”

The chief raises his chin slightly. “Very well. I will see to it that these items will be prepared by nightfall.”

“This Erwa does not mean to rush, but he is in a hurry. The demons must be sealed under a mountain, and the burial must be done quickly. This Erwa will leave with his brothers today.”

The villagers were happy to pile together the proper items needed for the burial. Along with fruit, incense, joss paper, and flowers, they also prepare medicine herbs and dried meat. One villager had found out about Erwa’s fever, and gave him a wet rag to carry on the way back. A little girl gifted the three of them each a personally painted fan. Si-di, as he twirled the fan, mutters, “They were never this nice to me before.”

“You’re an unlikeable person,” Wu-di says. “It’s easy.”

Si-di wacks him with the fan, and Wu-di laughs for the first time in a while. Erwa feels caught in the moment when he hears it, glancing over and seeing a sheepish look on Wu-di’s face. Si-di lets out a chuckle as well when Wu-di turns and pouts at him. Erwa didn’t even know how much his chest had tightened until he felt it loosen at the sight of them laughing once again. He breathes out a sigh. 

The last thing given to them is a bamboo hat each. “To keep out the sun,” the shopkeeper says with a crinkle of a smile. The three thank her with a bow. They leave, heading for a future lifetime within a mountain once again. The thought of forever is engraved in his mind, but Erwa is able to accept it. It was like he said; slaying demons was his life's purpose.

After dividing the supplies amongst them, they left the village. Passersby were concerned of the slipping sun, but Erwa assured them that they would be able to fend off anything hostile that planned to attack them. The rest of his siblings were still waiting in the center of the demons’ cave, and he doesn’t think there is anything nearby that would be edible. After a long battle, they were all holding on with the last of their strength. 

The sun has hidden behind the tallest mountain, bringing pink and yellow hues to the sky. The luggage wasn’t heavy enough to burden them much, and having taken such a long rest along with water was actually able to push them walking faster. Any breaks in skin were tightly bandaged when they were in the village, and bruises were beginning to fade. Chittering was much more frequent the road back, mostly between Si-di and Wu-di, conversation consisting mostly of pointed remarks and snide comments. 

The familiarity of the generated atmosphere was something Erwa could appreciate. It was like another taste of days before, although less potent and different. But it didn’t matter if it wasn’t the same, it just reminded him of home.

A few of the topics included catching up on things they missed. Si-di gave his side of the story on how he got captured — apparently the drink wasn’t poison, just kept at an unbearable cold temperature. Si-di’s intolerance for the cold acted up and made him pass out upon drinking it. Erwa told them how the demons had captured him again and the remaining gourds. He left out the detail of the irrational fear for his vision and hearing, both embarrassed about it and certain the two would throw a fit upon hearing about it. 

“Does Er-ge’s body still hurt?” Wu-di asks. 

“You mean right now? Or the other…” Erwa didn’t really know what to call it. Some type of ingrained pain that acted in response to his body’s basic functioning. 

“The other pain,” Wu-di explains. 

“Yes, then. I don’t understand why, though. The injuries caused by demonic qi were healed, so that rules out the possibility of it being caused by it.” Erwa frowns in contemplation. He hadn’t thought too much about his body’s pain, too preoccupied with defeating the demons. “I think I just developed it. I’d have to find some scrolls and texts to see if it’s a regular occurrence.”

“Developed it?” Si-di echoes. He kicks away a stray rock in the path. “Naturally? That’s insulting! Why does it have to be you? Stupid!”

Erwa sighs. “Sometimes things like this happen.”

“We’ll find a cure for it,” Wu-di says, giving him a gentle smile. “We’ve said it before some time, right?”

“Yeah!” Suddenly alight with determination, Si-di jumps up and points. “We can’t stay in the mountain forever, right? They were already trapped under there for ten thousand years! Only a little more would be enough to get rid of the demonic qi. After we all come out, we’ll find a cure for Er-ge!”

Erwa coughed weakly into his fist. “Sure, whatever Si-di says.”

As it turns out, there were still a few wandering demons loitering around trees and bushes. Most were forest demons that could easily be ignored. Given their more vulnerable state, Erwa didn’t want them charging at whoever they saw. However, there were still higher clan demons that noticed them and didn’t hesitate to attack. Those were easily defeated still, with just a toss of fire or razor-fast water in their direction. Erwa didn’t have to lift a finger, which he appreciated for letting them do the work. 

After eliminating every other demon on their path, Si-di seems struck with a question. He turns to Erwa from where he’s still strangling a demon. “Er-ge, you don’t have any powers that can attack things, right?”

“There’s always a possibility to discover one,” Erwa muses. Si-di hums and twists the demon’s neck. Wu-di cringes. 

“I’ll never be able to stomach that sound,” he says, shuddering. “It’s so… eugh. ”

Si-di rolls his eyes, holding up blood-stained hands. Wu-di dutifully splashes water on them and waits for Si-di to wash them off. “Er-ge, what do you mean discover one?” he asks, tilting his head. 

“My abilities are clairvoyance and all about discovering truths or whatever,” Erwa says. “There’s many things that revolve around that thing. Like, let’s say Si-di. He can also create lightning once in a while. It’s connected to his main power since lightning causes fires. And Liu-di. He can turn invisible, but sometimes even incorporeal if he concentrates hard enough. Your powers stem from your qi and are very flexible.”

“Woah, Er-ge is so knowledgeable!” Wu-di gapes. “I didn’t even notice.”

“I have spare time,” Erwa says, waving a hand. “In any case, I think what makes sense for me is being able to divert illusions, since my qianliyan  is able to watch anything. Stabilizing such a power would require mediation, possibly entering seclusion for a couple of years.”

“Well, Er-ge doesn’t need to fight, anyways. We’ll protect you.”

Erwa hears the echo of these words in the back of his mind. He nods and smiles. “En, Si-di and Wu-di are very strong.”

When they sleep, it’s deep into the night, and Erwa usually has to fight the two to even agree to it. Although Erwa shares their urgency to return to their brothers as soon as they can, there is no way they would even be able to stand at this point if Erwa hadn’t wrestled them to the floor. They slept in shifts, with Si-di being the first and Erwa being the last. He’d volunteered to go first on the first night, but the twins apparently felt too guilty sleeping first while their poor old gege was victimed to sitting up and keeping an eye out. 

Erwa argued that he was not poor nor old and definitely didn’t need to be babied, thank you, he’s the oldest one here! But then Si-di and Wu-di refused to close their eyes, crossing their arms and ignoring his scolding, so Erwa relented and let the two of them keep watch before him. 

Erwa liked sleeping next to Si-di more because his body was warm to the touch. Pressing against him kept him warm enough for the rest of Wu-di’s turn on watch. Wu-di himself was cooler than most, often having hands that were absolutely freezing. The night was cold, sometimes with loud winds rustling the looming trees. Erwa’s ears rang uncomfortably at the loud noise. 

Come morning was a slow rise of the sun. Erwa was able to watch it until it was light enough to move. The solitude of sitting alone watching it brought a wave of stillness. Erwa shook his little brothers awake with gentleness. They would stir and blink up at him, tired, but would sit up nonetheless. Erwa found out that stretching his legs early in the morning soothed the ache in his bones, so they set aside a few quick minutes for him to do so. Erwa rolled his neck around, feeling the pop in his bones and letting out a stifled groan. His body was really much too stiff in the mornings, especially since they were sleeping on the ground. 

As they shoulder their luggage once again, Erwa uses his powers to check on the others. They were still sleeping, it seems, curled in a little cave and huddled together. San-di was the one awake, keeping watch. He picked at his nails absentmindedly, sometimes casting a glance to the others and sometimes gazing aimlessly at some point in the distance. Liu-di and Qi-di were curled up together, Qi-di clutching at Baohulu tightly and burying his face into the curve of it. Erwa was a little worried about him sleeping with a spiritual weapon, especially one containing the two most powerful demons of the era. Da-ge slept in a fetal position sitting next to the cave’s wall, arms crossed together and eyebrows furrowed. 

“We should be able to get there today,” Erwa tells the twins, pulling back from the sight. “By nightfall, maybe. We should have the ritual tomorrow, and then seal the demons.”

Wu-di nodded. “Er-ge should eat first.” 

Erwa rolled his eyes fondly. “Am I an old man already? Come on, let’s hurry.”

“Are you guys playing hide and seek?” Erwa asks as soon as they step on the mountain. Liu-di was only in his white inner robe, hands to his eyes and counting quickly, but looked up when he heard Erwa’s voice. His face lit up.

“Gege!” Liu-di runs up and tries to hug all three of them, barely succeeding in wrapping his little arms around them. Erwa felt Si-di and Wu-di get squeezed beside him as they tried to fit into the hug. 

“Qi-di and San-ge are playing with me!” Liu-di reports. “Da-ge is throwing some rocks around, or something. Er-ge, Er-ge, do you have food? I’m hungry! Si-ge, Wu-ge?”

Wu-di, having carried most of their extra food, slips off his basket and rummages through it. He hands Liu-di a bun, probably a little hard and cold from their journey. Liu-di thanks him excitedly and takes a little bite. Then he goes invisible and is gone. 

Erwa shrugs and directs the twins to the nearby cave the others had previously slept in. They put their items down, all three pointedly ignoring the heap of aligned outer robes covering a large mound. 

When they exited, Liu-di was dragging Da-ge towards them. His eyes looked sullen with dark circles, but still smiled and greeted them warmly when he approached. “Er-ge, can you find Qi-di and San-ge for me?”

“That’s cheating,” Erwa tells him. 

Liu-di shakes his head and makes a whining noise. “No, no, no, they have to come eat too! Pleasssssssse?”

“Sure, give me a second.” Since Qi-di and San-di were smart enough to know not to stray from the mountain too much, they were easily located. Erwa pointed to the left. “Qi-di is there, hiding behind a large rock.” Then, he pointed to the right. “San-di is a little down the mountain, inside a bunch of bushes.”

Liu-di grins at him. “Thank you, Er-ge!”

He disappears from view once again. Da-ge chuckles and puts a hand on Erwa’s shoulder. “Did everything go okay?”

“Mm, no problems,” Erwa tells him. “How is Da-ge? You look tired.”

“It's just been a lot. Everyone had to take their own time to come to terms with things. You know, it was — nevermind that, I’m hungry, too. Inedia and transferring qi really is…”

“Hang on,” Erwa cut in, alarmed. “You’ve been transferring qi? To whom? And why? Don’t you know how important it is to save your qi during inedia?”

Da-ge at least had the decency to look embarrassed. He scratched his cheek and averted his eyes. “Um, Er-di, don’t be mad.”

“I’m mad already,” Erwa says as calmly as he can. “But try and change my mind.”

“Well, I was…I got worried for them. I didn’t want them to — they were hungry, and, um.” Da-ge shook his head and took a deep breath. “Let me start over. I didn’t want the others to use up all their energy to use their qi to keep them alive. So I…I started transferring some of my qi in them.”

Erwa pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing. Da-ge really cared too much for them all, even at the expense of his own life. “Is that why you look so terrible? Da-ge, you could fall over at the slightest bit of wind! You need to take care of yourself more.”

“I’m not sorry,” Da-ge tells him. As if Erwa had expected him to be anyways. “I know I shouldn’t have, but I would do it again. I’m the lao da. I should be the one to take responsibility and provide for the little ones.”

There was so much to unpack from those words. Erwa, however the strategist when it came to exploiting emotion, was not the best at comforting it. Most of his methods included manipulation and making people feel worse, really. He should let Wu-di have this talk — he's much better at saying nice things. But, Erwa still had to try. He mentally prepared himself, trying to filter out anything that would drive this delicate moment of vulnerability away. “Da-ge doesn’t always have to be strong. It’s okay to let us take care of you, too.”

Da-ge bit his lip and clenched his fists at his side, looking down. “Just forget it, okay? I’m hungry, you’re tired — let’s just rest for now. We have…we have work to do later.”

It takes a few minutes before San-di, Liu-di, and Qi-di approach them. Qi-di is skipping towards them with a big happy smile, giving each of them a warm hug. San-di isn’t much of a hugger, but he does ask how well they were faring. As soon as they all settled down to pass around the extra food, Liu-di grabbed another bun and waved it at Qi-di. “Qi-di, try this, it’s yummy!”

“Hm?” Qi-di hums, distracted by the display of food momentarily, before turning to face Liu-di. 

“Try it!” Liu-di urges, then shoves the bun into Qi-di’s mouth. Qi-di makes a surprised noise, muffled, grabbing the bun with both hands before it can fall out. Liu-di grins happily as Qi-di chews, as though he hadn’t just almost choked him. Erwa coughed quietly, sharing a glance with Da-ge. 

“There’s mushrooms in here,” Qi-di says, making a face. He pulls the bun a bit further away from himself. “I don’t like mushrooms.”

“Aiya, give it to me! I’ll eat them. The rest is really good, right?” Liu-di snatches the bitten bun bag quickly and begins to sift through its contents. He tosses any bits of mushrooms into the air and expertly catches them in his mouth. 

Qi-di nods. “En, it’s really good. The bun is hard now, but it’s still good.”

“Ah, should I heat that up for you?” Si-di volunteers. He holds out his palm expectantly and Liu-di drops the bun in after successfully ridding it of all its mushrooms. Si-di cups his hands around the bun for a few moments before giving it back to Qi-di. 

“Thank you, gege!” Qi-di bites into the bun again and makes a happy noise. “It’s so good!”

Erwa nibbled on some salted nuts. “Eat a lot, Qi-di, you went a long time without any food. Da-ge, here.” He passes the nuts over. Da-ge reaches for a few, thanking him, and some color seems to return to his face after he begins to eat. Erwa internally sighs in relief, then pauses. Wu-di was right; he really did sigh too much. So much that he even sighed in his head!

Liu-di picked up a dried piece of fruit and pushed it toward Qi-di once again. “Eat this, eat this!”

“Ah…” Qi-di reached for the fruit, still munching on the bun. “Thank you, Liu-ge.”

“This, too!” Liu-di picked up something else, but Si-di held up a hand to stop him. 

“Liu-di, you should eat some too,” he says. 

“Oh, yeah,” Liu-di says nonchalantly as though he hadn’t just forgotten he was also starving. He picked up a mantou, chewing it quickly. “Anyways, can you tell me about the trip? Please, please, please?”

Wu-di indulged him in their story as Erwa and Si-di continued to eat. The sun was still high, so they took their time to eat. Nobody was very eager to get business started, and Erwa was content with lying in the sun as well. Somewhere along the retelling, Wu-di took out the fans they received in the village and showed them off to Liu-di, who gasps in awe. 

He reached out a hand to grab one, stopped, then looked at Wu-di sheepishly. “Wu-ge, can I touch it?”

“Of course you can,” Wu-di says, passing along the fan that he received. It was a light purple color with a dark blue tassel, bamboos painted on it. Liu-di took it eagerly and flapped it around a few times, opening and closing it. 

“Fans are great vessels for spiritual energy,” Erwa pipes up as he watches Liu-di pretend to slash at San-di, who fake gasps and blocks his head. “If the materials are right and directed correctly. It’s different from a sword, which is more straightforward.”

“Wait, really?” Liu-di asks, gaping. 

“En. You’d have to rotate your qi along the curve of the fan, which is why it’s harder to wield than swords. They’re pointed straight, so all you have to do is channel your qi in a forward path.”

Liu-di looks down at the fan, contemplating. He snaps the fan open and covers the bottom part of his face with it, looking at Erwa from the tip of it. “So does Er-ge know how to use it?”

“In theory, yes.” Erwa raised an eyebrow. “Is Liu-di interested in learning?”

“Mhm! I don’t like swords, or bows, and fans seem easy to carry around, too. Plus! No one would even suspect anything!” 

“Well, you’d have to learn fan forms. They’re a lot more flexible than sword forms, but just as, if not more, difficult. Many people who use fans as spiritual weapons usually wield two. You’d also have to carry it around in your hands.”

Liu-di pouted. “Er-ge! You’re making it seem less fun!”

Erwa rolled his eyes. “Shush. It’s not always fun if you want to learn to use spiritual weapons.”

“Baohulu is a spiritual weapon,” Liu-di points out. 

Qi-di holds up Baohulu at his words, examining it. “I think it’s a bit different than a sword, though.”

“Qi-di is right,” Erwa says, catching the way Qi-di grinned at the praise. “Weapons like swords, bows, and even fans are more like vessels for spiritual energy. Baohulu is more like a spiritual device, carrying its own qi.”

“Ahh!” Liu-di yelps, clutching his ears. “Too much! SHHHHHH! I just wanted to look cool! Cool!” 

Erwa stifled a laugh and sigh in one breath. “Knowledge is power, Liu-di. You want to look cool? Work hard, study. Then you can look super cool when fighting. Knowledge corrupts, you know. See where I’m going with this?”

“No,” Liu-di announces happily. 

They resume eating once Liu-di settles back down. He starts fanning himself lightly, hair brushing against his face that he keeps needing to push behind his ears. Between easy conversation, they are able to finish quickly. Wu-di also fills up pouches with water — filtered freshwater — and passes them around. When the sun finally begins to fall from midday, they can’t hold it off much longer. Everyone cleans up, standing up and stretching, all with sullen expressions. 

They decide on cremation, as it would be done quickly so they could seal the demons soon. The pieces of clothing that had been covering the body were retrieved. Erwa braced himself for a moment, turning away and sucking in a breath, before looking down at Yeye’s body. 

It really was all cleaned up. Except for the bloodstain splatters stained in his robes, it was almost passable for sleeping. A lump forms in his throat, bubbling like boiling water. Erwa could feel the wave of grief slipping above his body. He hasn’t noticed he didn’t fully believe that Yeye was dead, until —

Erwa brings a hand to his mouth, but there is only the thick bile of emotion. Da-ge carries the body out and lays it gentle on the makeshift pyre. They pile wood and pines in the open spaces, until they threaten to fall and roll out. Si-di blows a plume of fire onto the end of a log, then hands it over to Da-ge. As the oldest, he would have to be the one to light it. He hesitates for a few moments, but time will not wait, so Da-ge tilts the log until the fire spreads to the other pieces of wood, and places it down. Heat and smoke already begin to roll off like waves, and Erwa takes a step back from where he stands, hot. 

They couldn’t wait the many hours it took to fully cremate the body with the little fuel of the wood. Si-di, clutching the hand of his twin, walks up to the pyre and blows a heavy fire on it. The smell of burn quickly fills the rancid air. Qi-di starts crying again. 

With Si-di’s added spiritual fire, it’s done in less than an incense’s time. The ashes are collected and carried to the grave, premade by Da-ge and San-di. They work quickly together, passing along flower and incense ticks. Fruit is placed gently around the stone and meat presented at its front. A separate fire is constructed, the little bits of spare joss paper they were able to receive gently offered up.

Erwa leans back, wiping away sweat. The knot in his throat had remained, a remnant of buried tears. He looks at the grave, the poorly made memorial and whispers a plea for forgiveness in his mind. If they had time, they would follow through with the tradition as thoroughly as possible, giving their Yeye passage to the underworld gently. He prays again in his head, then turns to find Baohulu still nestled in Qi-di’s arms, a smoldering dark hue now. 

The demonic qi that had escaped from the gourd had polluted the air around them. The presence of it wasn’t enough to affect any of them, but it was a concern how easily it was able to leave the spiritual device. It was surely already being destroyed from the inside, having to contain two powerful demons within it. 

They could not afford to waste any more time. Erwa kowtowed and tried to express all of the words he wanted to say in his head. I’m sorry was the first, for all the circumstances that led up to this moment. For bringing Yeye trouble, for not appreciating him more when he could, for failing to save his family, for being unfilial. Tears pressed against his eyelids as he scrunched them up to pray, fighting to be let free. Erwa stood up and walked away, blinking them back. 

The first signs of nightfall also signifies the end of their ritual. They’d been neglectful toward humanity — the demons must be subdued to protect them. Erwa felt a twinge of anger and desperation. When was it that he could focus just on himself? When would it finally be time that peace reigned in the world, and Erwa didn’t need an excuse to explain his existence? But, it would have to be humanity first. It’s impossible to escape for someone like him, who only knows how to slay and destroy demons. 

Qi-di holds Baohulu up, pouring his spiritual energy in with a scrunched up face. The gourd glows faintly and shakes. Qi-di tosses Baohulu down, splitting the mountain in half and watching it fall. They all wait to hear the loud crack of its opening and, without a second lost, pull their golden cores together. Erwa feels his body meld and disappear, replaced with the pulsing heart of his brothers. 

The legend of Huluwa continues and ends on a bittersweet note, passed on by villagers to generations to come, until it is the most well known of all. Its ending brings little children to tears and the elderly to nostalgic smiles, yet it will end like this all the same. 

Until they wake up once again.

Chapter Text

When Erwa did in fact wake up again, it was in the middle of a battle.

Or — not really a battle, per se, but definitely something sinister. Erwa, still rubbing his dry eyes and yawning, was still too sleepy to register the panic he should’ve felt. Not until he was running around and overheard two little demons whispering about a plan to corner him, did Erwa suddenly snap out of his stupor.

He blinks in confusion as they charge at him. He jumps out of the way in time, of course, and watches the way they slam into each other and let out painful yowls. He leans against some stone, heart hammering. How long has it been since they sealed the two demons? Who was it that broke a mountain this time? Mountains were sort of irreplaceable, you know! Erwa let out a dazed laugh. His legs are cramped from the high jump, and he slides down to take a rest.

His mind raced to catch up to what was happening. Obviously, whoever broke his portion of the mountain was attempting to capture him. Even better, this was the work of demons once again. Erwa quickly used his powers to try and locate whoever their commander was, squinting as he scanned the large army of demons. His eyes stopped when he found a tall blue snake demon, face pulled in a scowl but no doubt familiar. She looked remarkably close to Shejing, though her tail was a dusty blue. Erwa pulled away from her and took a peek at the mountain, heart leaping to his throat when he saw the missing red portion of it.

At least the rest was still intact. Da-ge was — well, he was somewhere. Erwa will have to find a way to bust him out of whatever trap it was this time. Ah, why was this happening again? All Erwa wanted to do was take a nap for another thousand years. He was much too sleepy to be dealing with more demon trouble!

His ears picked up on the dropping of pebbles beside him. Erwa blinks away and directs his power closer to himself, finding an alligator demon climbing up on the rocks behind him. Erwa narrowed his eyes as he snapped away his vision, turning around the little wall to peer down at the demon. The demon caught sight of him and, with a sudden surge, snapped his jaw and tried to swipe at him. Erwa makes a fumbling noise as he scrambles away, leaping onto the other cliffside. His heels are just barely hanging off the edge, and he has to do a little flip to right himself. 

No time to waste, however. When he glances back, he sees the alligator demon hot on his feet, closer than he’d expected. “Oh, screw off!” Erwa shouts as he starts booking it down the cliff, small rocks digging into the soles of his feet. The pounding of thundering feet behind him tells him the demon spared no seconds before chasing after him. He looks back over at the mountain, cringing when he sees the herds of demons laid all over it. Like a giant group of ants, from far away. He ought to find a way to get everyone together, before –

There’s a large dip in the rocks below him, enough for him to fit in. Erwa dives into the space onto his stomach at once, lifting a leg to kick at the lumbering demon behind him. As expected, the sudden change in position was too quick for the charging large alligator. The kick sends him barreling off his feet towards the edge of the cliff. 

Erwa jumps back up to his feet and shuffles over towards the edge. The alligator demon has one hand clutched around the rocks, knuckles turned white. His face was hot red with exertion. Erwa comes a little closer and lifts his foot to press against the handle of his axe, which had been burrowed deep within the rocks. “Where’s my Da-ge?” he asks immediately, pushing the axe slightly and feeling the rocks below him crack, threatening to break off. It definitely helped that the alligator demon’s own weight was contributing to prying it off. 

The demon’s face twisted up quite terribly into a scowl. “Your Da-ge has already been subdued by my Queen! That little nuisance has been put away! And you’re next!’

“Oh, dear,” Erwa drawls, pushing the axe even more. Just a few more pushes and a whole section of the cliff would come off. “I’m next, you say?”

“Don’t act so cocky! I’ll bet you’ll be the easiest one to–!”

Erwa forces the axe back as far as it can go, jumping to safety as soon as he’d given away that last push. There’s only a split second of realization for the demon before the cliff he held onto crumbled, and with a scream, he plunged to the floor below. Erwa hears the crack of the rocks as it finally makes contact, a mess of rumbling thunder. Now, the demon wasn’t exactly wrong in his predictions. Erwa’s not too good to say he wasn’t the most skilled in combat, and it seemed like an entire demon army was waiting out there for him. His other brothers would definitely put up a bigger fight.

As he thinks this, he hears a zipping wind behind him, and turns around in time to see a gust of ashy black wind behind him. Erwa thinks, Well that’s probably not good before reason catches up to him and he takes a step back. The wind follows him, rocks and dust collected in its path and nicking his arm slightly with its speed. Erwa dives out of the way, but he clearly does not have the speed of his sixth brother, and so the swirling turbulence quickly surrounds him. 

And the first thing that registers is that it burns.

Perhaps the dark color of the winds were similar to that of ash because it truly was that: fire. Erwa doubles down and slams his hands over his eyes as soon as he feels the first searing slash of wind against him. The screech of the movement, too, pounded so loudly in his ears he was sure they would start bleeding. He twists wildly around, desperately trying to blindly find his way out of the windstorm. Blind. He couldn't see, again, and everything was pushing against him. The little sharp rocks that had been picked up spin around him and draw hot white scratches along his arms, dotting shallow blood. It’s happening all over again. 

An echo of the first time, of the stabbing sting in his eyes and thunder in his ears. A repeat of the howling winds the second time, when he’d clutched onto his Yeye – Yeye – and felt dust seep into his senses. And now a third – 

His head spun. Erwa feels like he’s falling backwards, but his feet have still kept him upright. Distantly, he can hear laughter, from far away. Somewhere not here. Faintly, he catches the soft whisper of a family miles and miles away. Briefly, comes the tweet of a bird and the answering call of another. All noises that had seemed so loud now were barely audible. 

His head is worse. He claws at his skull and wishes to break it open, perhaps to dig out its contents and scoop it out empty. He can’t see. He can’t see –

Pain in his eyes, again – all over again –

Erwa breathes in heavy, raspy breaths as he runs away. His feet trip over themselves, legs suddenly not his own. He doesn’t know where he’s going, barely even conscious. The pain was a repeating rhythm, beating in huge waves of constant heat. He can’t even open his damn eyes and the way his palms have dug into his face might as well have pushed it all the way to the back of his –

His feet don’t touch the floor in his next step. A gust of lightness rises up his throat, and he’s plummeting downward before he can taste it in his mouth. He was falling – 

And when his body falls to the floor like a ragdoll, he blacks out. 

It’s become one too many times for Erwa to wake up inside of a spiritual device. 

Once is already enough, he quickly decides. In fact, he’d much prefer never having to wake up inside of any kind of magical device. Especially if, since it also seems to be a pattern, he always awoke to a headache. 

Erwa opens his eyes and immediately feels the ache in his neck and legs. His vision’s blurry, he instantly realizes with a sinking feeling. He blinks, hard, again and again, and it doesn’t clear. He moves his arm to rub at his eyes and when he opens them again it’s still blurry.

Dread pools in his belly and he lets out a stuttering breath. It’s not as blurry as the first, when he could hardly make out the shapes in front of him even when held right at his eyes. But it’s undeniable that he still can’t see. Again! It keeps happening over and over again and – 

“Didi,” comes a soft voice, and the shock of the fact that it was clear makes Erwa’s despair suddenly disappear. A hand touches him, gentle and barely there. 

Erwa squints, then frowns. “D…Da-ge?” he calls out weakly, reaching his hand out to pat at the face before him. He’s allowed to do so for a few seconds, hands trailing over each figure and feels the mark of familiarity. Suddenly, everything seems okay. He leans towards the touch and says again, “Da-ge?”

“I’m here,” Da-ge replies, in his soft voice. “You…you can’t…?”

Erwa shakes his head and fights back the frustration in his voice. “I can’t. It’s…it’s not as bad as the first –”

“The first?”

Erwa stared widely at his brother, and it suddenly came back to him. Right. Da-ge had no way of knowing what had happened to him. He had never had the chance to see him during the injury, and the topic had never been brought up in the short amount of time they’d been together. Da-ge was the only one that didn’t know, and Erwa suddenly wasn’t too sure how he would take the news. 

“Do you remember when you first were taken,” he begins cautiously, “and we were all running in to save you and –” he cuts off, swallowing thick bile – “and Yeye? When I went inside the cave, I was… well, long story short, Shejing basically…magically blinded me and deafened me?” 

Da-ge says nothing. Erwa tries to save the silence through an awkward laughter. Why do I feel like I’m in trouble even though I did nothing wrong..! “Da-ge, say something,” he pleaded, reaching out to pat his brother’s hand. “I’m all cured now, so – actually, no, um, I’m currently not cured right now. Although it does seem like I’m starting to see a lot better than before, and at least I can hear so –”

“She did that to you?” Da-ge finally asks shakily. “Er-di’s eyes and ears…”

He doesn’t know what to do when faced with the furrowed concern of his older brother. Erwa is so used to having to act like the one everyone turned to for answers that he’s started to act like it truly didn’t bother him as much as it did. But the softness in Da-ge’s voice, the warmth of his body, the comfortability of knowing he could drop the act now, because Da-ge was here. And he could tell him how much it hurts.

“Yes,” he answers. 

Da-ge stared right at him before he suddenly surges forward and pulls Erwa into an embrace. He makes a startled noise as Da-ge squeezed him tightly – not enough to hurt. Erwa blinked. His hands come up slowly, almost uncertain, and embraces his brother back. It’s warm. It’s safe. Da-ge is here. 

But their moment of peace is shattered as there’s a whoosh from around. Erwa snaps his head up and looked around while Da-ge tightened his hold, the two of them tensing for what’s to come next. The spiritual device holding them shook slightly, and after one silent beat, there’s the sound of screaming. 

A blur of yellow whizzes down from the top, sudden, and thwacks against the surface below. Erwa breaks apart from his brother as he quickly recognizes who it is. They were getting us faster than I thought. Only just a few minutes after Erwa wakes up in here is San-di suddenly tossed in with them. 

“S–” Erwa is not even able to get a word out before San-di is writhing around on the floor, snarls and groans from his mouth. The sounds of pain are clear enough that they shock him still for a moment, but Da-ge recovers faster. He throws himself on the floor next to their didi, hands on him. 

“San-di, what is it–?”

“Get –” San-di’s voice is tight with pain – “this – stupid – SHOE – OFF ME!” 

Da-ge wastes no time. He locates the brightly colored shoe around in an instant and grabs it. Erwa has a brief moment of panic wondering how the hell he was going to take that off without hurting San-di even more — his foot was already turning red at the cut off blood — before there’s a quiet crack.

He looks down as Da-ge removes his hand. A crack at the top of the shoe had formed. Slowly, it stretched wider, splintering down the sides of the shoe. San-di lets out a half-suppressed, muffled whimper as it splits, and once it seems there was a cobweb of cracks along it, Da-ge gives it the final push it needs to break. 

Erwa comes down to his knees next to his brothers as the shoe crumbles apart with the sound of cackling firecrackers. San-di yanks the last of it off once a significant amount is gone, tossing it away with furious strength. Immediately, he groans in relief, stretching out his leg and rubbing at the skin. 

Da-ge winces. “It bruised.” 

That only happened whenever San-di’s body was under too much pressure, Erwa thinks with growing dread. There was a large purple bruise along the base of his foot, his toes red and beginning to swell. San-di grimaces as well and pokes at the injury, then shrugs. “It doesn’t hurt, but god fuck it’s sore. How do you guys walk around getting injuries like this all the time?” 

Da-ge ignores the comment and puts San-di’s leg across his lap. He inspects the injury with furrowed eyebrows, taking care to not touch it. Erwa decides to hold back on any teasing about how San-di was able to be defeated by a shoe of all things, because just the thought of such restriction on his body was making his own two feet hurt. Instead, he asks, “What happened, then? Have they gotten to the others?”

“Crazy demon wouldn’t leave me alone, so I couldn’t even see the rest of the mountain,” San-di mutters. “But I’m definitely seeing a pattern with the way they’ve been capturing us…”

“Wow,” Erwa couldn’t help but say, even in such dire circumstances. “You? Noticing a pattern? Don’t overwork your brain.”

“Er-di,” Da-ge warns, but San-di only barks in laughter. At least his spirit wasn’t broken. 

Once San-di gets a good look at him, however, is when his laughter abruptly cuts off. His eyes narrow. “Er-ge, what’s up with your eyes?”

Erwa blinks. “Oh, you can tell?” 

That might not have been the best thing to say, because San-di only seethed some more. “They’re grey,” he hissed, pauses, then adds with even more aggravation, “Again.”

Erwa rubs his eyes on instinct, trying to clear the last of the fuzziness away. It’s cleared up a lot more since he first awoke, but without a doubt has not yet returned to its prior state. A bit of him worried he wouldn’t be able to be cured all the way unless he had that special medicine given to him so long ago. “It’s not as bad as last time,” he says. “And it’s getting better by itself.” 

“You need to stop getting blinded,” San-di says bluntly. “It’s becoming a bad habit.”

“Twice is only a coincidence,” Erwa dismisses with a shake of his head. He nudges San-di’s arm with his own. “We should talk more serious. The snake demon – you fought her?”

“Chased me everywhere I went,” San-di says. Then he shrugged. “To be fair, I was also chasing her around.”

“I saw her too,” Da-ge pipes up, gently massaging San-di’s foot. It’s definitely swelling up a lot, but at least it wouldn’t hurt San-di at all. “She has this…kind of pouch thing. It kept throwing up a bunch of weapons. I swear I broke a hundred of those and she still had more.”

“Same here,” San-di says, swinging his other foot around to rest both on Da-ge’s lap. He leans his back against Erwa’s arm, using the two like they were his personal lounge. Erwa looks down at him, unimpressed, and flicks the top of his head. Of course, it does nothing to him. “Ouch, Er-ge, how could you do that to me?”

“You’re heavy.” 

“You think they’re going to get Si-di, too?” Da-ge says worriedly, casting a glance up. “Do we have any way of getting out of here?”

“I’m afraid it’s just like Qi-di’s Baohulu all over again,” Erwa says, disheartened. He adjusts his seating position to criss-crossed legs and rests his hands on his knees. “I can’t think of anything to do to get out of it. Unless you want to try stacking on top of each other to reach the top.” He points up with a blank face. 

Da-ge and San-di stare at him. Then they look at each other. “Er-ge,” San-di says cautiously, turning back to him, “was that a joke? Did you just make a joke?”

Erwa frowns. “Why are you looking at me like that? I make jokes. I’m funny.”

San-di has the audacity to let out a small, breathy laugh. Erwa’s eye twitches. “Was that another joke –?”

Erwa is unable to kick San-di like he wants to, so he settles with thumping a fist over his head again. Da-ge makes an aborted noise of protest, but it’s too late. San-di only blinks, then tilts his head to look at him. “Er-ge, why do you even keep hitting me? I don’t feel it.”

“It makes me feel better,” Erwa says, glaring at him. 

“Bie nao le,” Da-ge chides with a sigh. “You two are just the worst.”

“Wow, Da-ge –”

“I can’t believe you would say that –”

“Point made,” Da-ge says, with a note of finality. 

Erwa surrenders, crossing his arms over his chest. A smile threatens his face, but he fights it off. It’s nice to be with his brothers again, despite the situation they were in at the moment. Maybe he shouldn’t be so indifferent and aloof about things right now, but it truly was like he said – he couldn’t think of any way to get out. The point of spiritual devices that held objects was to suppress the qi inside of it, so their powers were limited as it is. 

So, for now, it’s best he waited it out. Maybe his younger brothers would even be able to free them, and they wouldn’t have to deal with a messy escape later. There’s no doubt what the demons want with them anyways: qixindan. It’s the only reason anyone would go through such lengths to capture them all in one place. 

It’s not long for the next shake of the spiritual device. But it is still a little bit of a surprise. All of a sudden, the world around them shakes. San-di curses loudly as Erwa is startled out of his seated position. Da-ge reaches out and holds onto the two of them tightly to prevent them from falling. 

A moment later, a loud thud signifies the newest arrival. 

“Wu-di!” the three of them chorus once the shaking has stopped. Wu-di makes a groaning noise in reply, flipping onto his hands and knees. He didn't make a move to stand up yet, and it seemed he was barely acknowledging them either. Another muffled noise of pain comes from his mouth, and the three older brothers rush towards him. 

“Wu-di, what is it?” Da-ge asks first, rubbing Wu-di’s back. Erwa checked him quickly for any external injuries, but other than the few occasional scrapes or dirt on his body, he was okay, at least on the outside.

“Du zi tong…” he whimpers, wrapping his arms around his stomach tightly. He looks up at them, eyes unfocused and sweat beading the sides of his face. “Da-ge…”

“I’m here,” Da-ge coos, quickly bundling up their brother into his arms. He pushes his hair back, sweat gluing strands to his skin. Wu-di’s head lolled to the side as he made another groaning sound. 

“What happened?” San-di demanded. “What did they do to you?”

Moaning with pain, Wu-di manages out, “Water…”

“Water?”

“Water…yucky…”

“They did something to the water?” Erwa asks. 

“Yucky…” Wu-di repeats. He winces and leans out of Da-ge’s hold. “I’m… throw up…”

San-di grabs Erwa and pulls him out of the way immediately, the two scrambling away just in time to be out of the projectile range of vomit. Da-ge holds his hair up as Wu-di puked, the substance black and runny. Erwa grimaces while Sanwa makes a gagging noise, quickly turning away. Da-ge must be flinching back with disgust as well, but his concern for his brother probably outweighed it. 

Once he’s done, Wu-di sighed and leaned back in Da-ge’s arms. “Sorry…” he murmurs. 

Da-ge wipes the remaining vomit off his chin and squeezes him tighter. “It’s alright, Wu-di. Does it still hurt?”

Another whimper and a nod. 

“Do you feel like throwing up again?”

“Little bit…” 

“Here, let me try to cleanse it,” Erwa offers, scooting closer and all around the blackened puddle of gunk and tries very hard not to look at it. He holds out his arms. “Do you think you could handle me rooting around your qi?”

“Can we do it later…?” Wu-di pleads, looking over at him only briefly before his eyes flutter closed in pain. 

“It’s best we do it now so we can get rid of whatever it is in your body,” Erwa says softly. “If you want, I’ll just take a look at your meridians first.”

“I…I’m gonna throw up first…”

“Oh –” Erwa pretty much jumps into San-di’s side with the way he dove out of the way. San-di grabbed his arm and swung him around to fully avoid the splash zone. The sound of retching was much too real and loud, and his own throat hurt hearing it. Beside him, San-di shudders. He doesn’t even want to imagine what it looked like right now.

Eventually, Da-ge says, “Let’s move somewhere else.”

A meek voice replies, “I’m sorry, Da-ge…”

“Don’t be silly,” Da-ge says back, and they all scoot a few meters away from the mess of vomit. Once situated, Erwa takes Wu-di’s limp hand in his and presses two fingers against the veins. He closes his eyes for a moment and concentrates, trying not to listen to his brother’s labored breathing or occasional whimper of pain. But his meridians were flooded with unwanted energy, spiritual qi flickering like a dying candle trying to cleanse it all by itself. Erwa winces as he feels it swirling under his fingers. 

“San-di, come help me,” he says. “And Da-ge, hold up Wu-di so San-di can reach his back. Let us know if you feel like throwing up again, kay?”

Wu-di nodded and shifted, with Da-ge’s help, to a more suitable position. San-di dutifully takes his place behind him, pressing two hands onto his back and flowing spiritual qi through to his body. Erwa puts his fingers back to his wrist and watches over the transfer session. “Wu-di, do you know exactly what they did to you? How did they manage this?”

“She put somethin’ in my mouth,” Wu-di mumbled. “She shot water at me and I sucked it in but there was something weird in it…”

San-di swears again, muttering a string of curses under his breath. “The snake demon?” Erwa asks. “Also, can we agree she looks terribly familiar?”

Three head nods answered his question. “I thought it was the actual Shejing at first,” Da-ge says, then frowns. “We squashed them under the mountain, but I don’t know if…”

Erwa bit his lip as well. They all had no way of knowing how long it has been since their last awakening. Would the two demons be vanquished by then? He can only assume that Qi-di’s baohulu was still acting as a holder for the two. But has enough time really passed for them to be melted away? Or had it been too soon, and…

“They can’t be freed,” Erwa says, fighting the plea that threatened to wobble his voice. “Not again.”

“Can you check?” San-di asks. “Do your powers still work?”

Erwa blinks harshly once, frowning. It’s still a little fuzzy, but there were only little tendrils of blurriness left. He wasn’t sure how much his powers were limited in this place, but it was at least worth a shot. He nodded, closing his eyes as he gathered his energy together. He would need to prepare himself as much as possible if he were to use his powers in such a place. 

“What’s wrong with Er-ge’s powers..?” Wuwa mumbles quietly, but still he hears it. 

“Nothing you need to worry about,” Dawa murmurs back. 

Erwa takes a deep breath before he opens his eyes once more, reaching out far and wide. He stretches his vision as much as he could and –

Blinding burns overtaken his vision. Erwa yelps and cuts off his view immediately, hands slapping over his eyes as though it would stop any invisible attack. San-di, he thinks, puts a hand over his shoulder immediately, asking what was wrong. But there is only fear clouding his mind, his breathing labored and fast. The pain is not lasting, however, and the stinging fades away very quickly. But he cannot help but clutch onto the most vulnerable part of himself. Swallowing thickly, Erwa croaks out, “No use. I can’t see anything outside of this barrier.”

San-di stares worriedly at him, gaze scattered. “What happened? Does it hurt? Is it worse?”

“I’m fine, didi,” Erwa rasps, inhaling a large amount of air. He patted the hand that was still on his shoulder, trying to look as “fine” as he could despite his beating heart. As long as San-di thought he was fine. “Just…don’t try to use your powers in here. Probably don’t want to end up like me.” 

Once Da-ge does his own fair share of worried hovering, Erwa resumes his prior position. San-di as well, starts to channel qi through to Wuwa, and Erwa watches the process. He doesn’t have much to worry about — San-di is particularly gentle with Wu-di’s qi, making sure to control his own energy carefully and prob only a little. Like it or not, Erwa thinks, his didi had a soft side. 

“You feel better, Wu-di?” Erwa asks after a while, once more than half of the negative energy had been expelled. Wu-di had paused them two other times in order to throw up again in the past few minutes, but he’s looking a lot less green in the face. The sickness must have made him exhausted, understandably so, and Wu-di only nodded with a little squeak of affirmation. “That’s good. There’s only a little bit of negative qi lingering around in there.”

Wu-di nodded meekly once, eyes fluttering closed. They were glassy, but not enough that any tears escaped. Erwa took a moment to wonder how long they would be trapped in here until either someone else joined them, or they would be broken out. Sitting around like ducks was just making him antsy, and he struggled to find something to do with his hands. 

“It’s been a while,” Da-ge mentions, looking up briefly. “Maybe something happened?”

“Who knows,” San-di mutters with a sigh, taking his hands off of Wu-di’s back. There wasn’t anything undesirable left in his meridians, and Erwa didn’t want to overwhelm him all of a sudden with so much qi. “Wu-di, was Si-di still with you while you were out there?”

“No,” Wu-di answers with a frown. “They took me first.”

“Wow.” San-di rolls his eyes. “These idiots don’t know the fucking colors of the rainbow.”

It startles a laugh out of Wu-di, and even Da-ge stifles a chuckle. San-di then turns to him, face expectant. Then he pouted — immature didi! — and crossed his arms. “Er-ge, I thought you were funny. You clearly wouldn’t know humor if it went up to you and smacked you in the face.”

Erwa pinched his cheek and tugged, wishing more than anything his ridiculous brother wasn’t literally impenetrable and couldn’t feel pain. Such defiance! “Who let you get this rebellious, huh!? Da-ge, you need to start punishing him more.” 

“What do you want me to do?” Da-ge asks, amused. ”You’re older than him too, go ahead and teach him a lesson on my behalf.”

“San-ge’s scared of tickling!” Wu-di shouts with an accusatory point. 

San-di snapped his head towards him with a look of betrayal while Erwa grinned to himself. He’d forgotten this cheeky weakness of his younger brother, with all the chaos going on. San-di’s shoulders tense and he holds his hands up. Erwa hadn’t even done anything yet, but maybe the silent threat of it was enough. “Er-ge, let’s talk about things,” he pleaded, scooting further away. Erwa still has not moved an inch. “I actually think you’re really funny.”

“Eh, did I hear something just now?” He hands San-di an unimpressed look, feigning ignorance. San-di looked nervous. Behind him, Wu-di giggled louder. 

“Also, you’re like, the smartest and bestest gege ever. And merciful. My gege is so merciful that he won’t attack me because he knows this one is a poor and weak didi.”

“You’re the poor and weak one?” Erwa muses, folding his hands in his lap. This was fun. San-di should be scared of him more often. It wasn’t common for him of all people to actually scare someone else, especially with this broken body of his and useless powers. 

San-di tossed a desperate look towards their oldest brother. “Da-ge, you gotta save m —“

A now too-familiar rumbling shakes the four of them wildly. Erwa was unfortunately used to it now. Still, he grabs onto San-di a to keep the two of them steady, each shake trying to knock them to the floor. Wu-di makes another whimpering noise as he’s jostled around in Da-ge’s hold. 

A scream echoes through their prison as the next one arrives. The scream is high-pitched, terrified and cracking around the edges. A moment later, it’s cut off with a slight thud. The shaking slowly comes to a stop, Erwa’s vision steadying and zeroing in on the figure on the floor. 

“GEGE!” comes a scream, as their littlest didi shoots up to his feet. From far away, Erwa sees thick bubbles of tears in his eyes, cheeks red. Qi-di doesn’t waste a singular second before he’s suddenly sprinting across the distance, tiny feet thudding against the floor. 

The closest to him is San-di, and he inevitable gets tackled as Qi-di jumps straight into his arms. San-di grunts at the impact, arms coming up around to hold him. “Qi-di—?” he begins, but sudden wailing cuts im off. Erwa’s eyes widened in alarm as he scooted closer, checking over his brother for any injuries. Qi-di’s crying is loud and relentless, almost like he couldn’t cry all his tears out fast enough. 

San-di looks a bit awkward with a bundle of a crying brother, but he shoulders past it. He adjusts his hold and tucks Qi-di into the crook of his neck. “Shh, didi, what’s wrong? Hey?”

Erwa can’t find any injuries on him, nothing major once again. Da-ge’s got his own arms full with Wu-di, so it’s up to him and San-di to console their sobbing baby brother. He reaches forward and wipes away some tears. “Didi, hey, hey, breathe.” 

Qi-di is left hiccuping through his sobbing, and Erwa sees his third brother’s robes slowly start to dampen with said tears. San-di rubs Qi-di’s back as his arms come to wrap around his neck. He rushes something through his voice, but it’s impossible to decipher even for Erwa. His tears were much too thick and obscured his words. He only blabbers unintelligibly for a few moments before everything dissolves back into crying. 

“Qi-di,” Wu-di tried, even though he looked half asleep, “don’t cry.”

Qi-di lifts his head momentarily and blabbers something else incomprehensible in Wu-di’s general direction, then ends his tangent on another loud wail before throwing himself back in San-di’s chest. San-di patted his back and quietly shushed him. 

Erwa racks his head for something to do that wasn’t just hoping Qi-di would cry himself dry, when all of a sudden, the damn place starts shaking once again. It’s intense enough that Qi-di’s crying pauses momentarily, but then it’s replaced by a scream of terror. The tremor passes by faster than before, though no less severe. 

He didn’t have any predictions for who it was next, but it still came as a surprise as he exclaimed, “Liu-di!?”

Their sixth brother lies groaning on the floor, already beginning to sit up. He had a hand wrapped around one arm, wincing slightly. Once he caught sight of the five of them huddled together, his eyes suddenly grew very wide. Very much like Qi-di, he shouts out, “Gege!” with a tone mixed with relief and worry.

Erwa is the only one whose arms aren’t occupied by another, so he sighs and opens said arms. Liu-di recognizes the invitation immediately, eyes lighting up even more, and he suddenly disappears from view. Barely a second later, there’s a considerable weight in Erwa’s lap, and his brother reappears in front of him. 

Then he frowns as he takes in the actual state of them all. “Wu-ge, are you okay?” He turns to the side. “Qi-di! Oh gosh, are you — is your head okay —?”

Qi-di starts crying again. 

San-di frowns and lowers his head. “You got hit on the head?” he asks, and Qi-di tearfully nods. He rubbed a spot on his head, as if indicating where the injury was. San-di nodded understandably and says, “Tell gege who hit you and I’ll make sure they never breathe again.”

“It was the blue lady!” Liu-di cries out with a pout. “She hit Qi-di on the head really hard — and also she broke Baohulu!”

A sharp intake of breath was taken by them all, the only exception being Qi-di, because the words only made him cry harder. San-di recovered fast enough and gently rocked his arms. “Shhh, Qi-di, you’ll hurt yourself crying that hard.” But Qi-di is unable to hear, or maybe his poor little heart was too broken, because his sobbing doesn’t lessen at all. 

Da-ge had been stunned to silence, his eyes wide. “But…how? How does… how?”

“I dunno!” Liu-di says, pouting when Erwa checks his arm and realizes the reason why he was clutching it prior was because of the massive bruise forming over the skin. “We put her and her ugly demon general inside Baohulu and us and Si-ge were trying to find you guys and Si-ge left to check the road in front of us and it just exploded! Boom!” He mimes an explosion. 

Qi-di sobs. 

If Baohulu broke, then doesn’t that mean…the thought trails off as Qi-di continues to cry, piercing Erwa’s ears. He resists the urge to cover them with his hands — because he’s holding onto Liu-di, and because it would probably be rude — but damnit does he wish he was. Qi-di’s crying has a particularly pitiful tone to it, one that made something invisible stab and twist around in his chest. He doesn’t think he could ever stomach the sound. And usually, the only way for Qi-di to stop crying was when he’d cried himself sick. 

“You don’t know where Si-ge is?” Wu-di mumbles from where he’s still buried in Da-ge’s hold. 

Liu-di shakes his head. “He went to chase that snake lady and I had to find the ugly alligator guy – by the way, his claws are sharp, cause like ouch! I don’t know how well Si-ge’s gonna do by himself, cause she came back after a while and Si-ge’s nowhere to be found…” He sends a glance to his left and right. “And clearly he isn’t here either.”

Wu-di’s face deflates and he returns to hiding in their oldest brother’s embrace. Erwa thinks, briefly, how ridiculous the three of them looked with their arms all full with one miserable didi. Although, Liu-di didn’t seem to be as down as the other two, though he was probably the most scratched up. There was a scabbed over cut over the left side of his cheek with dirt smeared around the side. 

San-di was rocking Qi-di back and forth a bit more vigorously now, even though it didn’t seem to help much. Qi-di tears never seemed to stop. It was a miracle he had any tears left in him after spending so much of his life crying it all out. And the worst part was that they didn’t have anything good to say to him – no white lie about how it’s okay or it’ll get better or, god forbid, even it’s not that serious – because Qi-di had just lost Baohulu. There’s no singular word that could describe the severity of such a thing, and even Erwa, with all his wits are good for, is at a loss of what to say. 

And so, for the longest time, Qi-di cries. 

Liu-di gives a go at trying to comfort him, but Qi-di wouldn’t even lift a head to hear him out. He probably couldn’t even hear much of anything over the sound of his crying. Da-ge offers to trade, to which Qi-di tearfully and silently agrees to, and Wu-di murmurs quietly enough for Erwa to hear that it was probably only because his San-ge’s body wasn’t an ideal pillow. Wu-di doesn't need to be held anymore, but he does lean against San-di and smushes his head against his shoulder with a groan, probably still feeling the effects of his poor stomach. 

In short, they were in a terrible state at the moment. 

“The only one left is Si-ge,” Liu-di says as he takes Erwa’s sleeve and begins to fiddle with the fabric. Why was he still letting him sit in his lap? He didn’t need the comfort either (if anything, he looked like he was dying to provide comfort for Qi-di instead), and Erwa’s legs were falling asleep. “Do you think he’s gonna get us out?”

“Si-ge’s a hothead,” Wu-di mumbles. “He’s probably gonna get stuck doing one thing instead of stepping back and looking at it differently…”

“Were the three of you out there together?” Erwa asks. “And you still couldn’t defeat them?”

“Hey!” Liu-di whines indignantly. “I was trying my best! You know, we actually did defeat them until –” he cuts off, glancing at Qi-di. He was crying less, but it was that dry, hiccupping kind of sobbing that was basically just regular crying without the actual tears. “ – until, um, you-know-what happened.”

“I thought it couldn’t break,” San-di says with a frown. “We couldn’t even be hit when we were in our hulus, not just me. And Baohulu is Qi-di’s hulu, so. How does that even happen??”

“Magic pouch?” Liu-di guesses. 

“Aren’t we in the magic pouch?” Wu-di mumbles. “Wait, why didn’t you get us out of the pouch if you defeated them? Why’d you let her keep the pouch?”

“We didn’t know you guys were in the pouch! I don’t even know if we’re in the pouch right now!” Erwa was getting tired of the word pouch. “And I thought she couldn’t use her pouch while in there! Baohulu’s supposed to not let anyone use magic inside of it! Like us that one time!”

“Where else would we be if not the pouch.”

“Don’t ask me that! Do I look like a blue snake to you!?”

“Why is it that her pouch is more powerful than Baohulu? We’re able to do some kind of magic in here – minus Er-ge, I guess – and we couldn’t while in Baohulu!”

Liu-di groans very, very loudly. “Er-ge, tell Wu-ge to stop talking! I’m not a know-it-all! I was under a lot of stress! It was a very stressful situation!”

“All of you stop talking so loud,” Erwa reprimanded with a sigh. After having his ears stabbed by Qi-di’s incessant crying, the last thing he needed was more loud auditory input to add to that. His own voice was too loud for him. 

“Sorry. But it was Wu-ge’s fault —!”

“Oh my god,” Wu-di groans into San-di’s shoulder, “I miss Si-ge.”

Liu-di sobers up enough from that to the point of quietting, and goes back to picking at Erwa’s clothing. He’s small, Erwa thinks, looking down at the back of his brother’s head. It’s understandable for him to be, since he is the second to youngest of their little family. He ought to eat more. 

“Hey,” comes a voice from behind. Erwa scoots over a little to allow Da-ge and Qi-di to join back in their circle. Qi-di finally quieted down, but he was still awake. All that’s left was the never-ending quivering of his lips and the redness in the tip of his nose. “What are we talking about?”

“Not much,” San-di answers. Liu-di leans over and starts talking to Qi-di, who listens silently with wide eyes. “What do you think they’re gonna do once they get Si-di?”

“Toss us all in a pot?” Wu-di guessed before Erwa could answer. He looked less sick in the face, but probably a bit more exhausted. “It’s what they wanted to do last time.” He tilts his head towards Erwa, as if silently asking for confirmation. 

“That’s my guess, too,” he replies. 

Da-ge nodded. “Not like they’ve ever invited us over for tea.”

“I want tea!” Liu-di cuts in, momentarily taken away from Qi-di. 

Da-ge patted him on the leg. “Sure, Da-ge’ll get you tea as soon as I can.”

“I’ve got water,” Wu-di mumbles, “but it’s probably gonna taste like puke.”

Liu-di looks positively alarmed. San-di ducks his head and asks, “You feeling sick again?” Wu-di shakes his head but doesn’t say anything else. 

“Why is Wu-ge sick?” Qi-di asks in a quiet, voice hoarse. 

“Stomach bug,” Wu-di answers simply. “Demon edition.” 

“Oh…” Qi-di frowns. “I’m sorry, gege.”

Wu-di peels his face away from San-di, eyes droopy and tired. Still, he says, “Don’t apologize, Qi-di. It’s not your fault.” A pause, then sigh. “I just… kinda wish Si-ge was here —“

As though cued in by those words, the next eruption of tremors came. Wu-di yelps as San-di grabs him again, yanking him back in his hold. Liu-di jumps and is gone from view, though the weight of his body remains on Erwa. In a panic, he wraps his arms around his brother and tries his best not to be swept up by the shaking. 

Why is this stupid thing so violent!? he screams silently in his head. Qi-di’s Baohulu shook as well, but not to such an extreme extent! At most it was like a polite little tremble. Which is automatically the reason why Qi-di was the best, and demons were horrible, and –

The shaking stops, and with it, their last hope of escape. 

Si-di lays quivering on the floor, hands curled up around himself. He’d landed not too far from them, and Erwa can hear the unmistakable clatter of cold teeth. San-di is once again nearest, and he swipes up their fourth brother with such ease it was like he weighed nothing. Da-ge would probably be impressed. Wu-di reaches out for him, then draws back with a surprised wince. “Si-ge! You’re so cold!”

Si-di, through shaking shoulders and jittery teeth, curls up as best as he could with the awkward position he’s in, half in San-di’s lap and half not. San-di puts his hand around his shoulder, biting his lip with a furrow in his eyebrows. “I can’t – I can’t really feel…Da-ge, here.” San-di shifts and wrangles the Si-di ball into Da-ge’s lap instead, and Si-di doesn’t even bother struggling. 

Liu-di leans forward and lets out an alarmed gasp. “Si-ge! Your lips are all blue!”

“Fucking fuck,” San-di mutters, taking off his outer robe and tossing it hazardously in Si-di’s direction. Da-ge catches the cloth and wraps it around their shivering brother, but once it becomes clear that doesn’t work, San-di goes to take off his inner robe as well. 

Qi-di, also in Da-ge’s lap, wiggles his tiny body in Si-di’s arms until it registers what he was trying to do. With a groan, Si-di opens his arms and allows Qi-di to crawl in before wrapping his arms around him again. San-di throws his inner robe over the two of them, helping Da-ge tuck the sides of it around them like a little protective wrap. “Si-ge, how come you’re so cold?” Qi-di whines.

“Er-ge, do the qi thingy,” Wu-di demands immediately, flapping his hand in Si-di’s direction. He leans away from San-di once again and hovers over his twin, frowning. “Please,” he adds, then turns to Erwa with big eyes. 

His siblings need to stop with the big eyes and pouty lips, Erwa thinks. If they ever found out it actually works on him, he’ll never win an argument with them again. He’ll never be able to say no. As soon as the word would be on the tip of his tongue, one of his annoying brothers would present him with their saddest, smallest, meekest expression, and Erwa would have no choice but to succumb to their demands. “I can try,” he offers. “But – Si-di, is it demonic magic that made you like this? Or regular cold?”

Si-di mumbles something, shaky and jumbled up. But Erwa understands. “Alright, I need to hold your wrist,” he warns, putting his hand out and waits until Si-di shakily pries his hand out of his cocoon and drops it in his palm. “Da-ge, you’re probably the best for this one, but...okay, let me hold them and you can do the transfer. No, Wu-di, your qi is way too cold for him,” he says, before Wu-di even has the chance to protest. With a pout, he accepts his fate. 

Liu-di climbs out of his lap with a melodramatic monologue – “Really, after all I did for you all! You send me away!” – as Da-ge carefully drops Si-di – and Qi-di in his lap. They’re both much heavier combined than just Liu-di, and Erwa tries not to grunt with strain. However, San-di seems to notice anyway. 

“Ge, want me to hold them instead?”

Erwa takes Si-di’s hand and furrows his eyebrows when he sees the way his other hand was curled tightly in a fist against his chest. “It’s alright, San-di, you don’t really have…body warmth.” San-di huffs in resignation at this. Erwa focuses on his brother’s qi for a moment, but he cannot keep his eyes off the curled up hand. “Si-di, do you have something in your hand?”

Shakily, Si-di nodded. Da-ge puts his hand on his body and starts to transfer spiritual warmth over. Immediately, a bit of color returns to his face, and his shaking is less than before. Qi-di peers up at his older brothers and grabs Si-di’s fist curiously, but it doesn’t budge. “Gege?” Qi-di asks, and yet it does not open. 

Wu-di and Liu-di come over as well, squinting at them. “Si-ge, what do you have?” Wu-di asks. 

“Si-ge, gimme it,” Liu-di also asks. 

“Seeds,” Si-di grits out, finally. It’s hardly loud enough for anyone to hear, and everyone leans an ear closer. “One each.”

“Where in the hell did you get seeds from while in a mountain?” San-di asks. 

Si-di shakes his head. “Xianhe. Xianhe. Xianhe.” His voice trails to almost silence the longer he speaks. No one but Erwa is able to hear. 

“Who is Xianhe?” he asks.

Finally, a bit stiffly, Si-di holds out his other hand. Everyone gathers closer to get a better look, heads popping up above each other and shoving each other’s arms lightly. With yet trembling fingers, they unfurl like a flower, revealing seven tiny little glittery pearls. They were no more than a tiny pebble against Si-di’s palm, and rolled with each slight tilt of his palm. Erwa counts them once more — yi, er, san, si, wu, liu, qi — and matches each color to one as well — hong, cheng, huang, lu, qing, lan, zi — and very soon he understands. Realized dawns quickly on everyone else’s faces as well, and they share uneasy glances with one another. 

Si-di doesn’t wait for the first question to spawn. He closes his fist again and brings it close to his chest. Protective. “I f-found Xianhe in a cave.” There was still a bit of cold left in his body. “He was sent h-here by — by him. By our creator.”

A collective sharp intake of breath was heard in the next pause of silence. Erwa feels a clamminess in his hands he never thought he would feel. “The — Shan Shen?”

“That’s what X-Xianhe said,” Si-di answers. “These seeds are for u-us. He saw what w-was happening. They’re g-gonna make us into — to qixindan. And to s-stop that we…” He looks down at his hand. “We need to eat o-one each. We’ll become one p-person. The force of the t-transformation should… should be enough to s-stop the pearl from forming…”

His words lay heavily above them. No one says a word for a few moments, all taking the time to process the information. Erwa looks down at his shivering didi, and thinks about the seeds in his palm that were held so tightly not a singular one was lost even in battle. He thinks about the creator of such things, of someone far away that even he could not find. He expects bitterness and resentment to rise, to know that there was such power that one could hold and refused to help what mattered most. He had let Yeye die because it didn’t matter how it happened, he only wanted results. 

But Erwa can’t bring himself to linger on such things. The weight of their fate lies in the very palm of Si-di’s cold, shaking hand. 

Xianhe. What had happened to him? 

Erwa had no way of knowing when the seven of them would be dumped out of the magical pouch they’d been stuffed into. There was no way for him to look outside of their containment area, and he assumed the only way to even know they were being moved was during the act. There was a wave of solemn silence that washed over all his brothers once they were all together. Gone was the hearty chatter and laughter, when a part of them still thought to themselves: It’s not over yet. We might still make it. 

But Si-di’s fist never opened again, no matter how long it had been. And those tiny seeds weighed down like metal chains on them. 

Little progress on recovery has been made as well. San-di still limped slightly on his injured foot. Wu-di’s hands still clenched down on his stomach. Qi-di’s eyes were still watery. All hope had been sucked out entirely, a terrible monster.

Erwa has no way of knowing what to do. He sits around picking at the dirt left on his clothes like everyone else, waiting in muffled boredom for their untimely fate. He wonders what the god had meant when he wanted for them to become one. Would they be some sort of amalgamation of seven different people? Or would it simply be one person, with the minds of seven others? He isn’t sure how to feel about combining with everyone else. 

He has no way of knowing when it would be for them to be dumped out, so when the time comes, he’s as startled as he expected. Everyone else, as well, snapped out of their ghost-like demeanors as the world around them shook, once more, for the eighth time. No way out of this, Erwa thinks, as he grabs onto Da-ge’s arm. If the Shan Shen has paved them a path to take, then they could do nothing but blindly follow. 

The sensation of being ripped off the ground and fly past the magical barrier between spiritual device and reality would always bring a sickly rush to his stomach. Erwa sees very little, everything merging into a blur with the speed. 

In an instant, his body hits cold metal, and he cries out in pain. More thuds follow, each accompanied by a slight groan or yelp. There’s the scraping sound of moving metal, and when Erwa opens his eyes, he only sees the light above him be snuffed out. 

Immediately, he springs to his feet and soon as he can. He helps Wu-di, the closest to him, stumble to his feet as well. “Si-di, you—?”

“I’m here!” Si-di was lit by the fire around the soles of his feet, and each of them flew to him like a moth at night. His hand was held out, though fingers still curled tightly. 

“We don’t have much time,” Da-ge says, with worry gracing his face. “We should hurry.”

Si-di opens his palm with clammy fingers, white from strain. The little pearls glitter like stars against the darkness, almost like they refused to allow their radiance to be snuffed out. Erwa eyes his own — orange — like a hawk. Again, he wonders briefly, what it meant to put two people together and make one. 

And yet when Erwa reached a hand out to pluck the seed out of his palm, there came the sudden eruption of fire around them. 

He’s become too accustomed to fire, now. But familiarity doesn’t make him invincible. The smoke and heat rises to his head immediately, squeezing tears out of his eyes and blurring his vision once again. Erwa can’t stop himself from collapsing to the floor, heaving laboriously as dirty air clogged his lungs. All rational thought runs away from him as all he thinks about is the heat.

Someone is shaking his arm, but only for a brief moment. A voice is screaming — Si-di, he manages to piece together. He is the only one who could possibly be stable enough to still move around. Erwa can’t escape the heat that’s trapped him to the floor, as every part of him burns up faster than he’d ever thought possible. 

There is no blackened skin or charred flesh, even when it feels like his very body was melting away. Perhaps it was melting away, he realized dimly. The point of this was to melt them all down to form one tiny pearl. It had started already, and Erwa couldn’t even move an inch of his body to stop it. 

It’s hot. 

(Everything slips away —)

A hand roughly grabs his face and yanks it upwards. Erwa grunts at the sting of the touch, coughing slightly when something forces his mouth open. His jaw goes slack immediately, too numb to fight it. Once in the clear, something brushes against his teeth, then rolls down his tongue. 

Erwa coughs even harder, the pearl in his mouth blocking any airway. The hand around his face tightens for a moment. “Swallow it!” comes a desperate plea. “Er-ge, come on!”

He chokes. The problem is, there doesn’t seem any way for the pearl to come up or down. He couldn’t cough it out, too low in his throat to do so. But his body seemed to reject its presence, refusing to let him swallow. 

“Er-ge, there’s no time!” In another desperate rush, Erwa’s head is yanked back. His chin juts to the sky, and the force is enough to push the pearl down. 

He stops coughing, and everything stills. 

It’s hot. 

I’m scared. 

Is this going to work?

What are we going to be?

Is it too late?

How will we defeat her? 

I want to go home. 

It’s too hot. 

I can’t feel anything. 

These thoughts were not his own. 

He feels intruding emotions next, each a burst of fiery light. 

Da-ge’s determination to protect everyone. 

San-di’s courage to fight. 

Si-di’s overflowing sense of justice and righteousness. 

Wu-di’s calming and kind rationale.

Liu-di’s unwavering loyalty and resolve.

Qi-di’s bleeding heart and unyielding trust. 

He has familiarized himself with each of these traits, having known his brothers through life and death. He can pin each emotion to a face, finding security in knowing that they were close. That these feelings came from their hearts that are approaching him so closely that he could feel them as though they were his own. 

They are his own. 

His. 

Mine. 

Erwa’s protectiveness and eternal love for his brothers. 

Everything is so loud. 

So bright. 

What am I here for? 

Them. Because of them. 

Oh. 

Where did she go? 

She thinks she can get away — 

Watch out! 

Keep it together. 

I can’t see her. 

Keep looking. 

Where are we? 

I don’t know. 

Where did she go? 

What’s that sound? 

Don’t trust her. 

But she’s so hurt. 

Is she telling the truth? 

Can it really be? Is there a demon who does good? 

… I trust her. 

It’s dangerous here. 

We need to find her. 

Kill her. 

But it’s so pretty. 

I hate being betrayed. 

When have you ever felt such a thing? 

I don’t know. 

But we’re the reason. 

Don’t sleep with your back to her. 

She was going to hurt us! 

But why — 

Don’t drink any more! 

Stop! 

I… I can’t stop myself… 

The first thing that Erwa learns is that Xiao Jingang is very unstable. 

Perhaps it was purely because he was an amalgamation. Because no right person could bear the minds of seven others. Seven brothers that shared one heart. Seven brothers that jumped at the first opportunity to speak their mind, each emotion hot and sharp. Each flavor felt at once — sweet, bitter, cold, sour — and whatever Xiao Jingang is was not meant to harbour so many things at once. At least, not well. 

Xiao Jingang was a mystery. Because it was not just seven brothers with one heart — it was seven brothers and Xiao Jingang, the host of an overwhelming amount of life that was bursting at the seams. Maybe it was all too much — whatever overdrive of emotion the seven of them hammered down on Xiao Jingang — whatever he was — seemed to break him down so much it seemed he hardly felt anything of his own. 

What was he? 

He was not them. Because somehow, he was himself. And yet he existed because of them. His life force is their very existence together, and still — 

Well. Erwa breaches the slivers of separation not long after his formation. 

It’s not really consciousness, not really a separation from the others. But Erwa finds him slipping in and out of a body that he almost thinks is his own before something shoves him back, as if desperately trying to hold onto existence. He can’t open his mouth, nor see with his own eyes, or feel touch like it was his own. But there are moments where he almost does, and these are gone as soon as they come. 

What happened? 

He sees an image before him. Darkness swirls around a figure on the floor, and he can’t seem to figure out who it is. There’s some kind of adrenaline coursing in his blood, an ingrained kind of fear he was unused to. He looks around, but there is only the void. And the mysterious figure on the floor, nameless and faceless. 

It’s quick flashes, next — the figure is struggling to breathe as a muddy substance covers his face. Next, there’s a sword running through his eyes, and as blood spurts everywhere, a piercing shriek busts his eardrums. Then the figure is back on the floor, writhing around and unable to move as he is held together by unyielding ropes. 

It continues on. The figure freezes after a sip of a drink, body locking up in itself. The figure is downing back an ocean’s fill of liquid, splashing everywhere. A venomous voice tell him to get lost. The darkness and shadows creeping up on him, whispering lies. 

It cycles through these like they were simply drawings in the dirt. Each from a different angle, a different screen, a different jolt of defeat and pain. 

Xiao Jingang — Erwa — can feel the sweat forming along his temples, fear thudding in his heart. It’s too much. He’s reliving memories he does not have — they are not his own — but still it is, but — 

It’s gone. 

Without the diamond around his neck, Erwa’s phases back to consciousness are even longer than before. 

It isn’t like before, where he was only a sentence of thought in another person’s head. A singular star within an entire galaxy. A few seconds would pass and he is quiet, and alone in his mind, and everything is still — before he’s thrown into the back, becoming small once more. 

Xiao Jingang is agitated. He’s angry. He’s scared. A lot of ugly things pass through in his head, and Erwa sees — feels — it all. He understands the hopelessness in him because it is his own, because he has felt this kind of defeat a million years ago. Xiao Jingang is unstable without the diamond. He is glitching and wavering and shaking, unable to hold his form without the help of his powers. 

What do you need? Erwa asks. 

“Sunlight,” Xiao Jingang whispers, into the dead of night. Beside him, Hudie looks over with remorse. 

“I know, Xiao gege — but where are we going to find sunlight? Demons thrive without it. There’s no way…” 

We’ll find another way, comes another thought, warm and red. 

“I don’t know…” Xiao Jingang murmurs, tilting his head back to rest on the rock behind him. He has never felt sunlight, yet why does he require it to stabilize himself? Are you like us? 

We needed sunlight too, muses another, a cool blue. 

Sunlight, water, and fertilizer, joins a darker shade. 

“I’m not you,” Xiao Jingang says. Hudie makes a confused noise. “I’m me — I didn’t…I didn’t come to be like how you… I’ve never even seen…”

The sun is warm, pipes up a tiny, meek purple. I like the sun. 

The sun is bright, adds a disgruntled green. 

The sun gives life, comes another, sharp yellow. 

“I know.” Xiao Jingang closes his eyes, turning them all away from sight. “The sun is everything.”

The sun is love. Love is everything. 

“Xiao gege!” He wakes up immediately, body tensing. Hudie is shaking his leg roughly, her eyes a glittery brightness in the darkness of the cave. Erwa watches through his eyes. “Xiao gege, wake up!”

“Mm?” Xiao Jingang mumbles, still half asleep. Erwa urges him to wake up fully. 

“Look!” She pointed across the cave. “Over there, if you look up, you can see the stars!”

“Stars?” he repeats.

 I’ve never seen the stars before, either.

Go look, Erwa urges again. 

Groggily, Xiao Jingang falls to his hands and knees, trying to crawl towards where Hudie was pointing to. The chain around his ankle dug into the skin, rubbing it raw and pink. Erwa hears Xiao Jingang wonder if this was how Hudie had spent the last hundreds of years, an overbearing weight on her body that scraped her skin until she bled. Briefly, he glanced at the chain around her waist. 

“Hurry!” Hudie whispers. 

Xiao Jingang tries, but without the diamond replenishing him with energy, he could only exert little power. The chain rattled like storms in the dead of night, and he struggled against the boulder holding him down. Hudie makes a move to help him, but it was at that moment that the cave doors slid open. 

“Oi,” snaps a guarding bat demon, his eyes wide and manic with sleep deprivation. Xiao Jingang and Hudie both froze. “It’s the middle of night, what are you making such a ruckus for, aye?” He pointed accusingly. “You two better not be thinking of some kind of escape. And you, filthy traitor –” There was no doubt who the words were directed to – “better watch your back.” WIth a harrumph, the bat demon turns around again, and the door enclosed them back into inky blackness. 

Xiao Jingang sags in defeat, letting the chain slink back on the floor. Hudie’s lips are pulled back into a tight line. She shuffles back over on her knees, leaning her mouth towards Xiao Jingang’s ear. “Xiao gege, listen to me. If we can see the stars from there, it means that when the day comes again, we’ll be able to see the sunlight through the hole.” 

Xiao Jingang nodded in understanding, but his wariness was only made clear in his mind. Erwa, amongst everyone else, feels the full brunt of such doubt. 

What if it doesn’t work?

It has to. 

Day comes to Erwa whenever Xiao Jingang decides to wake. It’s a bit suffocating, the longer he remains aware of his existence within another person. He can’t move anything, no matter how much his mind urges it, because it is Xiao Jingang who controls his own body. And no one in their right mind would give up that control. 

It’s the early dews of the morning, where sunlight is weak and cold. But the sun shines nonetheless, and a beam of light illuminates the cave. Xiao Jingang gasps softly when he sees the light, and Erwa suddenly remembers he had truly never seen sunlight before. At least, not with his own eyes. Not from the memories of others. 

Hurry! 

The chains are too heavy!

It’s so close!

But no matter how hard they pull, Hudie’s hands always slip from Xiao Jingang’s, and his knees thump to the floor when they break apart. 

Have her push the rock!

We can’t move the chain but we can move the rock!

Before anyone else wakes up!

They manage to shuffle just the tiniest bit closer. Xiao Jingang’s red in the face from strain, and Hudie has sweat beading down her neck. The stone scrapes lowly against the floor, a rumbling groan. Erwa can do nothing but watch – with eyes not his own – and hope they have the strength. Just a touch of sunlight would be enough. Just enough for Xiao Jingang to draw the qi from the light. 

Almost there! 

Hurry!

Come on!

Xiao Jingang’s hands tremble as he reaches as far as he could towards the light. It’s just a hair’s width away, and the frustration of failure makes him grit his teeth. He stretches as far as he dares, muscles tearing with strain. Hudie gives one final push. Xiao Jingang’s finger is engulfed in fire. 

The sun is warm. 

Erwa welcomes the feeling of disappearing away with open arms. 

She’s dead. She’s dead. She’s dead. She’s dead. She’s dead. She’s dead. She’s dead. 

What’s happening?

Keep it together!

You’re falling apart!

She’s dead. She’s dead. She’s dead. She’s dead –

She’s dead just like him.

You will live forever. They will die forever. 

The rest of what happens is quite frankly, a blur to Erwa. 

Xiao Jingang loses control of himself – that, he for sure knows. But instead of the boost of consciousness that had happened when he’d lost his diamond, it was the opposite. Erwa had been shoved so far back into existence that he couldn’t even watch what was happening. Only his most strongest thoughts made it through to Xiao Jingang’s mind, and even then he hardly listened. There was no pulling him back to rational thought when the seven of them were so far away, their voice lost to the wind. 

Erwa wakes up as himself on the hard, gravelly rocks of mountains that he is too used to. Is it ironic? The huluwa, born of water and soil and light, are most familiar with the lifeless forms of stones. He’s staring up at the blue sky, so blue one would think it wasn’t real. For a moment, he waits for Xiao Jingang to begin moving. It’s quiet in his mind. So still. 

Erwa shoots up in alarm. 

He looks around and counts. Everyone was here – as themselves, unharmed, outside. Erwa looks down and sees his own calloused hands and knobbly knees. He breaths an exhale in surprise. 

The last thing he coherently remembers is their escape from imprisonment, the feeling of molding back into one, and –

Oh. 

Hudie is dead. 

His brothers begin to stir, and each blink in confusion up at the same sky. The clouds are wispy and moving slowly, rolling with the wind. Liu-di jumps to his feet with a shriek, then starts running around, phasing in and out of visibility. Wu-di and Si-di lean against each other, looking over their own hands as if they couldn't believe they are back in their own bodies. Qi-di clings onto Da-ge when he picks him up, burying his face in his neck. San-di joins Erwa by his side and silently checks him over. 

“Where are we?” he asks, finally breaking the silence. “And…do you remember what happened after..?”

Erwa shakes his head, then checks their surroundings. “I don’t know. It’s unfamiliar. Did Xiao Jingang bring us here? But why would he split us up here of all places… and how?”

“Er-ge, why are you asking me like you expect me to answer those questions?” San-di looks up as Liu-di suddenly appears in front of them. 

“There’s a big mountain guy with a face over there!” he reports, pointing far off into the distance. San-di furrows his eyebrows and looks over at Erwa, asking with his eyes for confirmation.

But when Erwa looks ahead to where Liu-di is pointing out, he sees nothing of the sort. “I don’t see anything like that,” he says slowly. He keeps a few thoughts to himself, the ones wondering if Liu-di meant a mountain such as Shan Shen. He has no memories of such a person, but it strikes a chord of familiarity nonetheless.“Are you sure?”

“I see it, too!” Si-di suddenly shouts, pointing as well. Erwa made a confused noise as San-di stood up. He holds a hand out and helps him to his feet. 

“Your powers still work, right?” San-di asks nervously as Liu-di led the two of them to the edge of the cliff. 

“They do,” Erwa confirms with a nod. “I just… don’t think he wants me to be able to see him with them.”

Da-ge wanders over as well. Qi-di’s looks so small in their big brother’s arms. “Do you think it’s…him?” He casts and uneasy glance towards their destination, as though imagining the face of their creator. 

“Xiao Jingang was made by him,” Erwa says. “It’s not unlikely he knows where to find him.”

“But, so were we?” 

Erwa hums. “Xiao Jingang’s not like us.”

Xiao Jingang is not us. He is him. 

(But he cannot coexist with them.)

When they step around a large boulder, Erwa’s breath is caught in his throat. It would make no logical sense for such a large mountain to be hidden away by a few stray rocks, yet he is only able to see him here. Shan Shen does not move at all, but Erwa gets the impression that he was staring down at them. Vines fall around his face, a spout of life against stone. 

He doesn’t know what to say. Not when Shan Shen’s mere presence pressed down on him invisibly, crushing his lungs and smothering any words in his throat. Maybe that was the effect of a god’s aura, to eliminate all other things immediately so they are at the very top of the world. Erwa swallowed thickly, eyes tracing over each cracked stone and veiny leaf. 

“You are much smaller than I imagined.” The voice in his head is not heard by him alone, because his brother’s all jump in surprise. 

“Holy shit — did you guys hear that!?” San-di yelps, eyes frantically flitting around before landing back on Shan Shen. 

“Jingang was small, too. Why is that?” Shan Shen’s voice is gravelly, though for his age it made sense. 

“I…I’m sorry?” Da-ge finally says, the only one to speak when the rest were engulfed in silence. “You… I don’t understand…”

”Xiao wazi,” muses Shan Shen, “you needn’t understand. You only need to do. Jingang asked me, as well. He asked me who he was. And I said he was love. He didn't seem to understand too well.”

Erwa wasn’t sure he understood, either. He thinks this might be a dream. He doesn't think he was ever meant to see Shan Shen, in person. He doesn’t think this was something that was supposed to happen. Xiao Jingang brought them here. Was this the only way for them to split up? For Shan Shen to destroy what he created? 

(Does that mean Xiao Jingang is dead?)

”I see your confusion,” Shan Shen says solemnly, “I understand. You are children. Children do not understand many things. That is alright. You are only meant to do what you were always meant to do.”

What they were always meant to… but what does that even entail? Erwa thinks of a constant array of fight and death, of blood on his knuckles and bursts of light from attacks. He thinks of the sound of breaking bones and demonic screaming and whimpering fear. He has no other purpose than to kill demons. He is no better dead than to not live out his life as the weapon he was born to be. 

And yet, hesitation draws him still. His purpose is to eliminate demons. He should want nothing else. 

And yet —

“I don’t want to!” 

It’s Qi-di who yells. Qi-di and his tiny body and shaking shoulders and high voice. Everyone snaps their heads to him, still bundled up in Da-ge’s arms. The contrast makes him look impossibly tinier, but his voice is loud. Da-ge whispers something to him, but Qi-di ignores him. 

“I don’t want to have a purpose!” Qi-di shouts, to an unmoving mountain and unmoving god. “I don’t want to have to exist for a reason! I want to just be able to be with my gege’s, and I want to go back home, and sometimes I want to eat the berries I saw down the road and play in the river and — and —“

”Qi-di,” Da-ge whispers once more, a bit incredulous sounding. 

“But — but I don’t like it!” Qi-di wails. “Cause it’s like we go to sleep forever, and I don’t know when I’ll wake up again, and what’s the point if — I —“

”Wazi,” says Shan Shen, “you should not cry. Control him.”

Weirdly enough, this is what gets Erwa to snap out of his silence. Before he realizes it, the words, “Control yourself,” have slipped out his mouth. His jaw goes slack in surprise when they leave, eyes wide. 

“Er-ge,” gasps Si-di. “Did you really just say that? To a —“

”You are only children.” Shan Shen’s voice was firmer now, no longer under a false pretense of warmth. Erwa hears it immediately. It sends a cold shiver up his spine. “You would not understand these things. I will tell you what to do, and your purpose is to do it.” 

No one wants to. 

“Return to the mountain. Bring balance back.”

But they have to. 

(They will forget this. They will not remember him, nor his words, nor what he has done.)

Not many people know this second half of the legend of Huluwa. It happens in a time and place hidden away from human eyes, and not even demons have been able to spread the tale. No one was left after the massacre in the snake demon’s lair. She was hidden away in the shadows anyway, disposable and insignificant. 

And so, no one knows of Xiao Jingang, either. 

But perhaps his fate was kinder. Perhaps it is better to be gone than to know you still exist, to remain in a world you cannot be a part of. But Qicai Mountain will remain standing for an eternity later. As it was always meant to.

Chapter Text

But of course, someone decided to break the mountain once again!

This time was a lot less graceful than the others, though some might argue the previous breaks were not graceful at all. Erwa woke up in a painful position as he broke out of the stone, flying toward the ground and digging up dirt. He tumbled until he slid to a slow stop against the floor, the rock having carved a path into the dirt. His head thumped against the broken pieces of the rock with a loud smack. He groans and rubs at the sore spot behind him. 

Erwa sits up, wincing. “How long has it been?” he mutters to himself. 

The mountain had been forced apart again. Judging by Erwa’s own experience, the others must also have been flung around. It’d take forever to find them now. He sucks in a pained breath and uses his powers to examine the area around the mountain. Smoke still blew around the destroyed land, but there was no trace of anyone nearby. Erwa scanned the surrounding cliffs and mountains, desperate for a sign of anything. 

At last, upon a mountain cliff, was a group of demons gazing down upon the ruins. The notable leader, a tall and looming eagle demon with layers of robes, waves around a staff in a fit of anger. The mouse demon army behind him cower and grovel. 

A familiar caterpillar demon leaned over the edge, peering down at where the mountain used to be. He turned back to the eagle demon. “My king, we have agreed to serve you if you were able to free our former leaders, but…”

The eagle demon grunted. “Be at rest. Whatever I promise I will fulfill. They’re somewhere out there for now, but gathering up those Huluwa will be a hassle. We must return for now so that I can stabilize my form.”

The eagle demon spun around swiftly, loud footsteps echoing through the valley. “By the way,” he calls over his shoulder. “Remember to bring me the urchin who interrupted my plans.”

“Eh – yes, sir!” The caterpillar demon called. He gives one last weary look down the cliff before straightening himself. “You two, go down there and find him.”

Two mouse guards stepped forward and bowed. Erwa sighed, blinking away. Truly, he wouldn’t mind being left alone in a mountain if it meant demons would stop breaking it apart! Erwa pressed a hand to his abdomen, feeling a sharp stinging pain. He sucked in a breath, then slipped off his robes. The pain hurt more when he pressed against it, which meant it was definitely not his usual pain. 

At the corner of his stomach was a large array of yellow and purple skin. Erwa cringes as he pressed his fingers against it, then immediately regrets it when he feels the pain tenfold. He wasn’t sure when he’d smacked against something so hard — maybe when he was tumbling out of the mountain and had hit the rock — but that wasn’t important. The bruises were taking up almost half of his stomach surface area. He’d need some medicine so that it doesn’t mess up his internal organs and bones. As though they weren’t already messed up enough as it is…

Erwa put his clothes back on, then began looking around to try and find a village nearby. He didn’t need to look very far — one was stationed a good distance away, and if he hurried, he might be able to make it there in one day. 

Before setting off, Erwa tried to look around the area again to find any sign of his brothers, but to no avail. The blast must have separated them miles away. He’d have to find them quickly, too, or else the eagle demon would carry out whatever his plans were. 

For now, Erwa set his eyes back onto the village. He walked quickly to race against the sun, but it was still slower than he would’ve liked. Hisinjury, along with the lingering disorientation from so many years in a mountain, and his already frail body, was making a bad mixture for the long road ahead. There were a surprisingly scarce amount of demons along the way, though if that were due to change or luck, Erwa wasn’t sure. He made sure to avoid the lingering ones that he saw. They didn’t seem to pose much of a treat anyways, but he didn’t want to risk anything now. 

It’d taken him the whole day and some hours into the night, but Erwa finally saw the flickering lanterns of a village up ahead. With a heave, he picked up his pace and pretty much jogged to the entrance. 

Once he was close enough, the two guards stationed at the gates straightened. “Young traveler, what business do you have?”

“This one is looking for a place to rest tonight,” Erwa answers, dipping into a greeting bow. 

“You are young. Where are your parents?” One asks. 

“I am not as young as I look. Will you grant this one passage?”

They shrug. “Welcome to An Cang village.”

Erwa peers inside the gates, finding the familiar bustling streets of a village. Although it was well into the night, many were still lurking, buying the last items at shops or finishing meals. Erwa thanks them and walks in, looking around. Anyone who sees him doesn’t pay him mind, which he appreciates. Using his powers briefly, he locates the healer and heads over. 

The shop is closed when he arrives, but it seems the healer himself was still out and about. Erwa approaches quickly and bows. “Good evening, sir, do you have any medicine for bruising?”

The healer sighs as he places down a box. “How bad is it? If it’s only a little, just walk it off. Kids like you bounce right back up.”

Erwa gestures helplessly to pretty much his entire torso. “It’s quite large. I’m worried about my bones.”

“Alright, I’ll take a look. I am Qiu Pei, by the way.” He clicks open a small door on the side of his counter and Erwa steps through, glancing around at the displayed medicine.

“This one is Erwa.” He follows him toward the back.

“No need to be so formal. Here, sit. Take off your robes so I can see.” Qiu Pei waited while Erwa quickly slipped off his robes until his bruising was shown. He winces at the sight of the worsened darkening.

Qiu Pei only frowns at him. “What were you doing that caused…all of that?” 

“I fell.”

Qiu Pei fished up some ointment. “Some nasty fall, was it? You sure someone didn’t give you a beating?”

He fell out of the sky, actually, but Erwa wasn’t going to tell him that. He smiled. “I would’ve known if I was.”

“Sure thing, wazi. This sort of damage will probably mess up your bones a little bit, but if you let it heal and rest it should be fine. This should help…” Qui Pei snapped open the jar and dipped his fingers in. A strong smell wafted from the open jar, and Erwa wrinkled his nose in disgust. Qiu Pei didn't spare him a glance as he began to pat the medicine on his bruise with little to no gentleness. “Have you brought money?”

“No,” Erwa tells him. “I can come back later and pay for it.”

“Well, I’m not gonna keep medicine away from a kid. If you don’t pay it back though, I’ll be coming for you.” Qiu Pei gathers up more ointment on his hands. “What was it you were doing so late and got injured? Playing a game?”

“You could say that.” 

“I suppose I could. Whose house are you from, hah? Let that dry before putting your robes back on.”

Qiu Pei leans back and caps the ointment. Erwa shifted and rubbed at his throbbing legs. “I’m a traveler.”

Here, Qiu Pei looks at him in vague concern. “At your age?”

“I’m older than I look,” Erwa assures him. 

“You look like you were born yesterday.”

“Thanks. It’s because I eat all my vegetables.”

“Har har har,” Qiu Pei bites out. “Right, then, I should let you go on your way. I won’t charge you for the service, but I will charge for medicine. Here.” He drops the jar into Erwa’s palms. Even closed, the smell still manages to escape. Erwa holds it a bit further from himself. “A copper piece is all it takes.”

Erwa hesitates in his reply, cautiously eyeing the store around him for a moment. “…Just one?” It sorely showed that the man required more than just one piece of copper for his troubles. The wood almost seemed to be molding in some places. 

Qiu Pei evidently heard his concern. “Do you think I’m poor, hah? I know what I want and need. Now scurry along. Apply that medicine in the morning and at night until the bruising subsides. Drink some tea to help circulate your heat. How long will you be in town for?”

“I’m not sure,” Erwa confesses. “I need to find some people. Until I know where they are, I can’t go anywhere.”

Qiu Pei doesn’t ask. He nods simply, puffing out a breath of air. “Alright, then. There’s an inn a little ways down the street, and you’ll see it if you take a left near the red house.”

“I don’t have money,” Erwa reminds him, sliding off the chair and tossing the jar in the air, catching it with his other hand. 

Qiu Pei furrows his eyebrows at him as he walks past him. “What are you planning on doing, then? Sleeping out in the streets?”

“Yeah,” Erwa responds, hopping around a bag of plants on the ground. He doesn’t realize how terrifying his answer was without context until five seconds go without any noise. Almost out the door, Erwa turns back around with a raised eyebrow. 

Qiu Pei clamps his mouth from where he was obviously gaping. He cleared his throat rapidly, darting his eyes to the side and placing a fist behind his back. “Well, as a doctor, I can’t let a little kid sleep out in the streets. There is…there is a spare room in the shop that has some stock in it, but a putuan as well.”

Erwa hesitated once again. It’s not that he doesn’t distrust the Qiu Pei, but he doesn’t want to let his guard down, even around a full grown professional man. At his hesitation, Qiu Pei clears his throat once again, though rather unnecessarily and annoyingly, and says, “It would be much safer inside four walls than out there. I won’t charge you for it either.”

Erwa didn’t need much convincing anyways. Only weak paranoia and caution strayed him from the offer. “Thanking xiansheng for his generosity. It is much too kind of you.”

“Brat,” Qiu Pei mutters too quiet for anyone but himself to hear, though Erwa’s keenful ears pick up on it anyways. He grins to himself. “Let me go tidy things up, and I’ll be gone.”

Erwa follows him to the right, passing a row of medicine and through a sheet of slides. It leads into a narrow corridor that opens up into another small room, another clothed sheet to act as the door. Indeed, stacks of stock were piled around the room in a seemingly unorganized manner. To the side was an unlit candle, set on a tall but thin table. Qiu Pei stepped in and reached up to a high shelf, pulling out a white roll of cloth. 

He tosses the putuan down and smothers it straight, then reaches back up to pull down a thick red blanket. One last round pillow follows, then the bed is complete. Erwa nudges the fabric around a little before deciding that it was safe. He bows to Qiu Pei once again. 

Before he can say his thanks, a hand shoots up to stop him. “Please don’t thank me again. Your good manners and formality actually unnerves me, coming from a little kid. Why won’t you talk about games and food like a good little monster?”

Erwa merely shrugs. “I just wanted to express my thanks,” he says. “I didn’t think I’d be sleeping in a room tonight.”

Surprisingly, Qiu Pei’s expressions softened. “I’m not gonna give you a harder time than you’re already facing. Think of it as my good deed for the day. Stay here until you can leave.”

“Oh, no, I couldn’t,” Erwa exclaims, alarmed. He doesn’t even know when he’d be coming close to finding any of his brothers! It could take years for all he knows! “My stay is indefinite.”

“You can stay here until you leave,” Qiu Pei repeats firmly. “It’s better than out there. Who knows what a little kid like you is gonna face?”

“I’m not a little kid.”

“You are. Dunno why kids always think they’re so grown up…” Qiu Pei mutters the second part quietly to himself. “Just — I won’t force you to stay if you really don’t want to, but it’s better in here, alright?”

“…Thank you.”

“Go to sleep.”

Erwa watches Qiu Pei leave the little room, then when he leaves the shop, locking it. He waits until Qiu Pei strolls down the now empty street before turning his attention back to himself. The room is only barely lit with the lantern in the corner. It quickly dampens to loneliness once Qiu Pei leaves. Erwa hasn’t really known a time by himself. He was always…with someone. 

Slowly, he settles down on the putuan, the soft fabric just enough to soothe over the harshness of the wooden floor. He shifts around under the blanket, burrowing himself under it, strangely stiff. 

One last look, Erwa thinks to himself. He takes a deep breath, preparing for the ultimate let down, and spreads his vision back to the ruined mountain. None of the terrain has changed since he left, and might take a while for someone to notice it was gone. He stretched further, around the surrounding cliffs and forests and villages. Anything for a sign of rock, or whispers of a strange boy, or even a flash of someone who looks just like him.

It’s futile without any clues and just searching on his own without a map. Erwa ignores the growing desperation and stomps it down his throat, continuing his search. Nothing, nothing, nothing. 

He goes to sleep. 

Erwa wakes to the noise of Qiu Pei entering the store. Courtesy of his powers, he’s nothing if not a light sleeper. Although, most of the time, he can fall back asleep almost on command when awakened by the slightest noise. Erwa moves himself from his cocoon in the bedsheets and hears Qiu Pei call out, “Wazi, are you up yet?”

Not quite feeling his voice yet, Erwa doesn’t give him an answer and starts rearranging the bedroll. Qiu Pei’s feet are light against the wood as he nears the storage room. He pokes his head through the sheet door and says with satisfaction, “Ah, you are awake.”

“Mm,” Erwa says. Stiffness clouds his body, especially around his neck. At this, a thought suddenly occurs to him. “Xiansheng, you’re a doctor.”

Qiu Pei looks concerned. “Yes, I hope we’ve already established that…”

“Does Xiansheng know anything about…pain in the body without any injuries?” Erwa asks slowly, not knowing how to phrase his question. “Pain coming from the body like it was inflicted by itself?”

Qiu Pei doesn’t speak for a while, eyes drawing downward in thought. It’s long enough that Erwa starts considering if he should try describing the pain better, but Qiu Pei finally says, “Pains like in the joints and bones?”

“Yes,” Erwa answers, relieved and with a twinge of growing excitement. 

“Like in elderly?” Qiu Pei asks, crossing his arms. 

“I…guess so?” The thought does displease him a little. He wouldn’t consider his body old, since it doesn’t really…grow. And besides, he was the only one of his brothers affected by this anyways. Moreso, he’d spent most of his existence without a physical body anyways. “But not in someone who is elderly.”

“There are conditions like that,” Qiu Pei says, nodding his head. Erwa’s breath catches in his throat and he looks up at him in obvious excitement. “I suppose you’re the one affected?” he muses. 

“I – I am, yeah. It sort of just…started out of nowhere. I started having a few nightly fits where I would wake up and feel like my muscles were stretching and tightening, and parts between my bones were throbbing.” The words come tumbling out faster than Erwa had anticipated. “I’d been injured before it started and I thought it was because of that, but it kept happening when those injuries healed. Night fits aren’t common, but most of the time in the day my body would just…ache.”

“What was the injury? It could’ve been a side effect.”

Erwa’s eyes darted around as he tried to come up with a cover-up, but figured it wouuldn’t really do him any good to hide details about what happened to him. The longer he stayed in the village, the harder it would be to hide his abilities anyways, especially if he wanted to find a way to earn money. “It was due to a demon. She blinded my eyes with swords and deafened me with lightning.”

Qiu Pei jolted up from where he was leaning against the frame of the door, looking alarmed. His eyes bulged wide. “A demon!? She – she blinded — deaf – oh my –”

“I’m all good now,” Erwa reassures him quickly. “Can see and hear perfectly fine.”

“That doesn’t make it any – what the fuck were you doing around demons? Don’t you know it’s dangerous to get too close to them!”

“I was doing something important,” Erwa argues. 

“You were a cripple!”

“That’s not a nice way to phrase it.”

Qiu Pei runs a hand down his face with the most pained expression that Erwa had ever seen. He almost looks like he wants to cry out of frustration. Truly a sight. “Who let you go anywhere!? A demon — a demon!”

He repeats the word “demon” a few more times, each time more infuriated than the last. Once he apparently gets it all out of his system, he takes a deep breath, then points at Erwa almost accusingly. “Continue. How did your injuries heal? And describe the pain to me.”

Erwa muses inwardly to himself how funny it was that he was able to get Qiu Pei to drop his professional healer demeanor. “I’m not too sure how I was healed either. My brother has a way of talking with animals, and one day they brought me a medicine that cleared the haze almost immediately. Also, the pain is sort of mostly like a stiffness in my bones. Sometimes it feels heavy, and I can’t move much without a lot of exertion. Stretching and teas sometimes helps.”

“Well, those are good to do. I’m not too skilled in this field, but I can always go and study some books.” Qiu Pei yawns abruptly. “Man, it’s too early for me to get so riled up. Spare me the stress, will you? I’m old.”

“Xiansheng does not need to worry about me. I’m sure Xiansheng is much too calm and patient to be angered by a child in his eyes.”

Qiu Pei turns away and mutters a string of curses. Erwa almost wants to tell him about his powers, just to see the blood drain from his face when he realizes that his insults and retorts were all heard. He grins at the thought, which Qiu Pei glares at when he turns back. “In any case,” Qiu Pei says, clearing his throat harshly, “rest assured that there have been cases like this in the past. It’s not unheard of for some people’s bodies to be born broken or damaged. A cure might have to depend on how it is broken. I’ll look into it, but that much work cannot be done without pay. At best, I can give you some tea for now.”

“It’s more than I deserve,” Erwa says, dropping his head in a bow. “Thanking —”

“Please don’t be so formal,” Qiu Pei begs him again. “It’s driving me insane.”

“Heh.” Erwa simply grins wider at him. 

“Don’t look so mischievous either! You’re such a weird kid.”

Erwa chuckled to himself, rolling his neck to ease the stiffness. He would have to start finding a way to make some money in the village, lest he wants to starve to death. He also would need to repay Qiu Pei for his medicine, and possibly ask him to study his body’s pain some more. “Xiansheng, are there any demons around this village?” He asks after a while. 

“Uh, there are as many as any other village. It’s not that big of a problem,” Qiu Pei answers, shuffling some medicine in the room. “We have guards in case they attack or anything. That hasn’t happened in a while, and most of the demons are lowly ones anyways.”

There goes his plan. Erwa thought for a while. “Is there anything related to disappearances, then? Anything you need to find?” 

Qiu Pei pointed a bag of herbs at him. “What idea are you getting there?”

“I’m good at finding things.”

“Really, how so?”

“…Cultivation,” Erwa lies. “I’ve dabbled in cultivation before.”

Qiu Pei has the audacity to bark out a disbelieving laugh. “You? A cultivator? You barely look old enough to be applying for a sect! Ah, forget it.”

Erwa keeps his face passive. “No problem.”

Well, if Qiu Pei doesn’t want to tell him anything, then that’s alright! He’s not the only one Erwa can bug. Many people wouldn’t give a damn if they let a child run around asking about demons. Erwa stretches out his limbs a bit more until they’re all good in that wrung-out-water kind of way, and bids Qiu Pei goodbye.

“Where are you going?” Qiu Pei yells over his shoulder from where he’s grinding herbs. 

“Sightseeing!” Erwa says cheerfully, then walks out. He didn't have much time to appreciate the village when he first arrived, so he really does take a good look around. It’s much too early for any shops to open, but a few people are carrying bags and fluttering around the stalls of the market. The morning was crisp and smelled of dew. 

Erwa let his feet take him away from the market, which he’d seen in action last night. He wanders deeper into the village, greeting the villagers politely when they pass. He doesn’t ask about demons until a young man strolls down the path, a sword strapped to his side. 

“Good morning, gege,” Erwa says cheerfully, putting on a smile. Young adults like him were naturally drawn to demons and fighting. They were also irresponsible enough to indulge a little kid in stories and gossip. 

“Ah, morning, kid,” the young man replies, flashing a polite smile in return. 

“Does gege fight?” Erwa asked. The man’s footsteps stop and he turns his head. Erwa points to the sword.

“Oh, this ol’ thing?” And at once, a dam broke and the man was ready to boast. “You bet this ge fights! Demons love to lurk around villages, you know. What’s your name?”

“Erwa. Do demons attack this village often?”

“Well, your parents sure were creative, weren't they?” The man mutters. He raises his voice and gestures to Erwa closer. “Come, come. I’m Shang Huoxin. Have you heard about the disappearances of young women in the past few months?”

Well, that was something Qiu Pei definitely didn’t tell him. Erwa shakes his head. “What happened?”

“Demons!” Shang Huoxin throws his hands up in a halfhearted attempt to look scary. “Twice a month, a woman will disappear without a trace! Nothing is left behind except three days later, when a bloodied comb shows up on their bed. Scary, huh?”

Erwa thinks. “Does anyone hear anything when the comb appears?”

“No, no, it just shows up out of nowhere in the morning! There’s no warning or sound whenever this happens. All we know is that the comb shows up three days after a disappearance, and the second woman is gone three days after the first.”

Three days, huh. “Is the comb something unique to the woman? Is it her own, or is it a new one? Are they always the same comb? Do the members of the house keep the comb—?”

“What are you, a detective? No one knows!” Shang Huoxin obviously seemed displeased with his questions, and not the oohs and ahhs he had wanted. Erwa will have to deeply apologize for not swooning over such a ferocious tale. “No one’s been able to find anything about this case.”

Erwa sheepishly laughs. “I am just curious, that’s all. Shang-ge, can you tell me any more?”

“Ah, I’m too busy. I’m part of the patrol!” He pats his sword with one hand and waves dismissively at Erwa with the other. “The village chief would know all about it. His daughter was the first to go!”

Shang Huoxin leaves without a goodbye, muttering a “weird fucking kid” under his breath as he leaves. Erwa grins and shouts at him, “Many thanks to esteemed gege!” 

He locates the chief easily. 

“Powers, you say?”

The chief, whose name is Wen Xiyun, is a man who has not yet reached his age. His face was remarkably young, with long hair and lightly colored robes. His wife, Madam Wen, sat by his side. She was dressed simply, hair only righted up in a bun. 

“Has Cunzhang heard of the legend of Huluwa?” Erwa asked simply. 

“That old tale? The one with the little song?” Wen Xiyun looks extremely doubtful. 

It’s old news now, huh? “That’s right,” Erwa says instead. “This one knows it is hard to believe, but Qicai Mountain is gone. It might take a while for news to travel.”

“Wazi, I’m…not sure I can believe you,” Wen Xiyun says in what seems to be an attempt at an apologetic tone, but really he looks a little peeved. Maybe even irritated, if Erwa wanted to flatter himself. “Listen, why don’t you just head on home…”

“I can find your daughter.”

A moment of shocked silence seemed to ring around the room. Madam Wen breaks out of her stupid first, bringing a hand to her mouth and looking to the side. Wen Xiyun soon follows, mouth flapping open a few times. “That’s enough funny talk. Kid, you need to leave.”

“I can prove it right now. You—“ Erwa points at Wen Xiyun, who startled a little — “have appointed two guards outside this room despite saying that no one is here. They are talking about going out for drinks tonight.”

“That— that doesn’t prove anything,” Wen Xiyun stutters. 

“Then I will find something for you. You can hide anything here and I will find it.”

“Impossible. That’s — there’s no need to do that.”

“Husband, he says he’ll find our A-Ting,” Madam Wen suddenly hisses into her husband’s ear. Her eyes were slightly rimmed red, but she no longer seemed to be recalling any painful memories. 

“He is a child!” Wen Xiyun looked both shocked and angered. 

“A-Ting was a child when she was taken!” Madam Wen wails. “So what if he is lying!? A child wouldn’t even get close anyways! But what if he is telling the truth? Would you risk your daughter’s return?”

“Not on the line of another child’s life!” Wen Xiyun takes a deep breath when the last word comes out as a shout. Erwa examines his nails. “You’re driving yourself mad with grief, wife. You can’t possibly think this is a good idea.”

“Whether or not she thinks it is or isn’t,” Erwa speaks up, bringing his hand down and staring at the chief dead in the eyes. “I will go anyways. I am only here to ask you for more details.”

“Tell him! He can find A-Ting!” Madam Wen ushers.

“That is a child. I am not telling him anything.”

“In the case that you don’t tell me anything, I will still be able to find her,” Erwa interjected. “Unless she is dead, it would be easy to find where she is. Any more details about the disappearance would just help make it quicker, and possibly catch the ghost.”

“Ghost?” Wen Xiyun’s body seemed to freeze up, his eyes flying wide open. His words grew quickly and high in pitch. “It can’t be a ghost! It’s a demon, surely it’s a demon! How could a ghost kidnap any women? Only a demon! It has to be a demon!”

Whether or not Wen Xiyun truly believed what Erwa said about his identity, it was enough for him to also believe him when he said it was a ghost. His fear and denial was a poorly made barrier from him fully accepting it. “It is a ghost,” Erwa says firmly. “I have dealt with demons. They are prideful, territorial beings. If they were to kidnap anyone, they would show their face. They would announce it was their work. And, they would not resort to leaving creepy belongings in hopes of spooking the villagers.”

“But — but how? How could a ghost kidnap someone?” 

“In many ways.” It wasn’t hard to see how much Wen Xiyun was taking his words to heart. “Ghosts can easily possess people, items, or whisper voices. Depending on which type of ghosts, the women could be enchanted by possessed men or voices. Some powerful ghosts have the power to create a human mask, therefore leading the women away.”

“So a ghost led A-Ting away!” Madam Wen shrieked. She clutched her husband’s arm. “Have him kill it!”

“We - we’ve never faced a — a ghost —“ Wen Xiyun was still stuck in his frozen state, barely hearing the words his wife was saying. “You can’t kill ghosts — how will we ever —“

Erwa holds up a hand, effectively silencing him. He suppressed a smirk and instead remained his calm expression. “I will be able to eliminate the ghost.”

After all, ghosts were just people who have been rejected by the dead. A blast of pure spiritual energy would be enough to destroy whatever it is they are tethered to through the connection inside them. 

“You — you know how to kill a ghost?” Wen Xiyun yelped, his eyes growing desperate. 

“En. It will be no problem to do so.”

Wen Xiyun dragged a hand down his face, sullen and panic still drawn across his expression. His wife clutched onto his arm and continued to demand he allow Erwa to find her daughter. Erwa almost felt a little bad for him. 

“…Alright.” The word came out forced and tired. 

Erwa grinned. “Thanking Cunzhang for his leniency. Of course, I will still need to collect a bit of compensation once I remove the ghost.”

“…Of course,” Wen Xiyun sighs out. 

“Good, we’re on the same page, then. Why don’t you answer some of the questions I have about the case?”

Wen Xiyun nodded, his expression slumped now. 

“First, when did this start?” Erwa asks. 

Wen Xiyun thinks for a moment. “Around four months ago. That’s…eight disappearances so far.”

“Then, my second question is if there are any patterns in the disappearances? If these women are young, if they are married, single, beautiful or ugly, anything. Also, if there is a pattern in the dates they have disappeared. I know that there is a three day gap between the two women who are gone, as well as three days before the comb appears.”

“Let me think,” Wen Xiyun mutters. “The women are all fairly young, not yet mothers. I believe some were in relationships, and some not. As for looks…I believe there were both pretty and ugly girls who were taken.”

Then the ghost only collects young women, without a care for their beauty. The ghost would not be after sexual desires then. Although… “Were any of them married?” Erwa asks. 

“I don’t believe so?” Wen Xiyun looked unsure. “My A-Ting wasn’t. She was engaged, though not married yet.”

That rules most of everything out. “I think the ghost is taking them to feed off their qi,” Erwa declares. “Women have a stronger qi concentration, and a more resistant one too. They are more preferable to anyone else’s in terms of using qi as a life force. Even more so are young adult women, not yet married. Marriage has an impact on the way qi flows, in both men and women.”

“How…how do you know that?” Wen Xiyun asks, mouth agape. 

Erwa shrugs and waves a hand dismissively. “I have free time. Now, another question. Are these combs previous belongings of the women, or are they a new comb that they have never used before?”

Wen Xiyun shares a glance with his wife, who blinks at him. “That has never occurred to us before,” he finally says. 

Erwa hums. “Well, we can try to find out if the ghost is specifically targeting women with a certain type of comb, and if the ghost has an accomplice in the case that the comb is being sold in this village. I’ll have to ask around. Does the comb ever disappear?”

Wen Xiyun shakes his head. “No, no, everyone who has lost someone has given the combs to us. They didn’t want to keep it in their house —“

Erwa stands up abruptly. “Show me the comb.”

Wen Xiyun steps out and orders a guard to do so. Moments later, he returns with a small wooden box. He sets it on the table between them, and retreats to his seat. 

Erwa uses his powers to take a peek inside first. It’s filled with eight combs, all already scrubbed clean from the blood. Erwa deems it safe enough and opens the box. 

He reaches and picks one up. It was made of jade, white and pink lotus flowers painted along the thick brim. The bristles are thin and pristine — not even a scratch along the tips. He turns it over and hums to himself, testing the weight. 

Wen Xiyun succumbs to his anticipation and blurts out, “Do you see anything in it?”

Erwa nods. “There is no demonic qi on it, so it’s definitely a ghost. Ghosts have no qi at all, so they are very weak to spiritual power. I don’t sense anything about it — it seems just like a regular comb.” He holds it up. “Have you seen this in a market somewhere before?”

The two shake their heads. 

“It’s better to double-check,” Erwa muses to himself. He looks at them. “Do you know when the next abduction will be?”

“No…they can take place on the first day of the month, the middle, or the very last,” Wen Xiyun says sullenly. “The — the ghost can attack at any time.”

Erwa had better hurry, then. 

When he heads back to Qiu Pei’s shop, the man narrows his eyes at him as soon as he steps inside. Qiu Pei was in the middle of treating what seemed to be a nasty cut on someone’s leg. 

“Out exploring the whole day?” Qiu Pei demands. 

“Mm. I had fun,” Erwa says. 

“The whole day. You didn’t come back to eat.” 

Erwa walks over and leans against a counter. He raises an eyebrow. “I wasn’t aware there was something to come back to.”

“You don’t have any money — of course I would get you something — quit squirming, I’m not even doing it that hard.”

Erwa peers over and is mildly surprised to see Shang Houxin laying on the cot. “Good evening, Shang-ge.”

Shang Huoxin looked like he was having the worst day of his life. Sweat beaded down his scalp and a bandage was already placed over his lip, which must have split. His eyes look like they just lost ten years of life. He looks up and squints at Erwa. 

“Are you Qiu Pei’s kid?” He asks. Even his voice was hoarse. 

Gross, no. “He’s letting me stay at his shop, but no. It’s a temporary situation.”

Shang Huoxin looks to Qiu Pei then, as if to ask if this was right. He nods. “The kid is annoying, though.”

Erwa just grins, pleased with that assessment. “So, what caused this?” He gestures to the deep cut. 

“Demon!” Shang Huoxin exclaims, his movement causing Qiu Pei to click his tongue in annoyance. “A demon came and attacked me while I was on patrol!”

Erwa tilted his head. “Did you win?”

“Of course I did! But, that’s not the worst part — he mentioned something about a new demon king.” Veins were appearing from the strain as Shang Huoxin grit out his words. Erwa was slightly grossed out. “He said that — that our village would soon be used to fill the qi of that king!”

Abruptly, cold water splashed on Erwa as dread climbed up his spine. The horror was a slick feeling, rubbing him in all the wrong places. Qiu Pei slaps Shang Huoxin’s knee. “Hey, don’t tell those things to a kid. It’s scaring him.”

“No,” Erwa forces himself to say. He takes a deep breath, calming his voice back to an even level. “I know that demon king — or, I know of him. Sort of. He…he broke Qicai Mountain.”

“What? How do you break a whole mountain?” Shang Huoxin demands. 

That was exactly what Erwa had been thinking! “I’m not sure. A demonic weapon I believe — a staff. He wasn’t able to capture us, rather had split each part of the mountain and scattered them around.”

“Us?” Qiu Pei says sharply, stopping Shang Huoxin’s incredulous voice. The two look at him with varying states of disbelief and confusion. 

“Ah—“ Erwa coughed into his fist faintly, but there wasn’t anything to save him now. Really, the matter of his identity wasn’t that big of an issue. It might be playing a hand in whether or not Qiu Pei was still willing to house him, though. “Mm. Yes. This one is…”

It was somehow embarrassing to say it out loud. Luckily, Shang Huoxin and his big mouth blurted, “You’re a Huluwa!?”

Erwa bowed, too high to be considered polite. “This one is lao er. My powers involve shunfenger and qianliyan.”

“Nope.” Shang Huoxin raises a hand. “I’m not believing it!”

Qiu Pei just sighs and shakes his head. “Delusional.”

Really, it would be so useful to have a physical ability for once, Erwa thinks. Just so it would be easier to use as proof of his identity. He sighs. “Well, I don’t really care if you believe me or not. The problem lies with that new demon king — what was his name?”

“So we’re just gonna ignore this?” Shang Huoxin mutters under his breath. “I don’t know his name, but he’s a vulture demon. Rose out of nowhere though. I think I’d at least know of him if he’s so powerful.”

“Hm, it does make you think.” Erwa puts a hand to his chin. “The hierarchy in demons is a simple rule and follow. Demons at the top control the lower demons, and they don’t question it. Anyone who can overthrow the most powerful demon therefore controls everyone else. But such a thing can’t be done overnight. Qi and fighting abilities is what mainly determines a demon’s worth. That demon king must have defeated the previous ruler. Then who would that be…?”

He pauses in his rambling and looks up to see the two men staring at him in bewilderment. “Where do you learn all that?” Shang Huoxin asks. 

“I have free time.”

“The most powerful demon before would be considered…that snake and scorpion demon, right? No one has risen in ranks that the human world has known of. And he, ah, broke Qicai Mountain? Wouldn’t freeing the two demons be good enough to overthrow them in terms of rank?”

Freeing…the two…demons…

Erwa stumbles and surprises himself when he actually falls to the floor. His knees hit the ground heavy and pin themselves there. Shejing and Xiezi are both…free…again. Qiu Pei kneels in front of him, shaking his shoulder and asking him what’s wrong, and Erwa can hear him but just can’t seem to move. 

The two demons — after everything, after losing Yeye —

No! Erwa can’t think illogically. He still doesn’t know how many years it’s been. The two demons could have been vanquished by now. It shouldn’t take too long, it —

They don’t know — The thought hits Erwa like a damn smack to the face. Her sister. The second time. Did — maybe they were already —

But what if they weren’t —

He lurches forward and grasps at Qiu Pei’s robe. “How. Long.” Erwa grits out. 

Qiu Pei blinks. “What are you talking about?”

“How long. Has it been. The legend. How long has it been since they were sealed? How many years!” His qi was beginning to frizz, jumping out of control at the edges. His eyes flash a dangerous glowing white and Qiu Pei wrestles his hands off his clothing. 

“Hundreds of years! Maybe thousands! I don’t know!” Qiu Pei yelps. “Take a deep breath, and calm down.”

Erwa tries. His breathing was rattled, but he quickly schools it back to a slow pace. “Are they still alive?” He thinks, How? How could they have escaped? They are trapped. They are in Qi-di’s Baohulu –

Baohulu…

Baohulu broke.

“Come up,” Qiu Pei orders with surprising gentleness, contrasting his prior shout. He pulls Erwa up just a bit firmly. Erwa leans back against the counter, much too reliant on its weight to hold him, but his feet are still wobbly. 

He swallows thickly, as though he hasn’t had water for days. “Almost a hundred thousand years of purifying wasn’t enough to subdue them. Hundreds of years isn’t nearly enough — they’re still out there. I don’t  – I wasn’t thinking of them when Xiao Jingang had…are they still out there? They — they know we’re out here, too. They must know, Shejing is smart, she’ll figure out the mountain was broken. She’ll find us again —“

Without him knowing, his voice had risen again, along with his breathing. Qiu Pei puts his hands on his shoulders, pressing hard. “Listen to me, wazi. I need you to take a deep breath.”

Erwa does, but it doesn’t help much. Panic still laced his blood like thorns. “We were only able to defeat them because of Yeye — I couldn’t protect any of them, and I don’t even know where everyone else is this time—!”

“Again. Take another deep breath. Slower this time. Hold it in for longer.”

Erwa struggles to hold it in for longer, but it seems it did help when he blew the air back out. Still, he couldn’t say he felt any better than he did a second ago. “I have to find everyone, then. If we’re all together, maybe we can defeat them. We’ll — we beat them all together like before. Maybe Xiao Jingang can — I don’t know — I — I need to find —“

Erwa desperately uses his powers to search across the lands again. The sudden intensity at which it came brought a sudden slap of pain to his eyes. He yelps, startled, and slaps a hand to his closed eyes. It’s gone when he stops using his powers. Erwa almost growls in frustration. He tries again, this time taking a slower time at stretching out his powers. 

Ruthless searching is interrupted by a shaking on his arm. Erwa blinks out rapidly and faces Qiu Pei. His face is set firmly, almost twisted in a grimace. “Again.”

Again!? There’s no time to be wasted taking breaths! “There’s no time!” Erwa tells him urgently. 

“There is.” Qiu Pei puts a hand on his chest. “See, you’re breathing too fast. Slower.”

Erwa breathes in slowly, holds it in as long as he can, and exhales. 

“Again.”

“I—“ Erwa begins, but stops at Qiu Pei’s glare. He takes a deep breath. 

“Again.”

Again, again, again. After a while, Erwa feels exhaustion settle, courtesy of his fast paced breathing prior. He sags against the counter, finally breathing normally on his own, and Qiu Pei releases his hold on him. He looks tired, too. Shang Huoxin has sat up, darting his eyes between the two cautiously. 

“I’m sorry,” Erwa says dryly, slightly embarrassed. His hands feel like they’re melting away. Dissipating like raindrops under the sun. And for a moment he thinks of a dimly lit cave with winding walls, the weight of a necklace against his collarbones, the feeling of glitching melody. 

Xiao Jingang. Xiao Jingang. Xiao Jingang. 

Erwa stared at the two. 

They don’t know about Xiao Jingang? 

Qiu Pei pats his head. Strangely, Erwa leans up to it. “It’s okay. Little kids shouldn’t be told scary things.”

Erwa frowns, hair still smushed by Qiu Pei’s hand. “I’m not a little kid.”

“Well — I’m definitely convinced you’re that Hulu Erwa,” Shang Huoxin offers up. “A delusional person can’t really fake all — that up.”

His embarrassment rises to another level. “I wish you didn’t have to see that.”

“It’s late,” Qiu Pei cuts in. “You’re probably tired. Go to bed. I’ll get you something to eat in the morning.” 

Erwa shakes his head. “I have to search for my brothers first. I can’t sleep yet. I haven’t looked today.”

Qiu Pei is firmly dead-set on sending him off to sleep, pointing out the fact he just had a panic attack. Frankly, Erwa wouldn’t call it that. More…heavy thinking. A bit of disordered thinking that got slightly messy but that’s — not the point. Panic attacks weren't…like that. In any case, he makes Erwa promise and swear and put up three fingers to tell him that he won’t be using his powers tonight, and instead will just go right to sleep. Erwa bid the two of them goodnight and walked stiffly back to the little storage closet. 

…As if anything he said was true! As if he would just be going to sleep! That — disordered thinking — may have exhausted him more than he expected, but that’s no excuse to just throw away the slim chance that he can find one of his brothers! 

Erwa settles down onto the mat, crossing his legs. He activated his power immediately, keeping a keen ear out for the present location in case Qiu Pei decided to check on him. 

He looks in the direction of what used to be the mountain again, then looks around the area. At this point, the others must have woken up and wandered around. It wouldn't hurt to check the same places more than once. Erwa passes by streams, forests, lively villages, prominent cultivation sects, little shacks constructed out in the wilderness. 

Qiu Pei does end up checking on him once, but Erwa catches the sounds of his footsteps. He slides under the blankets and turns to the side, feigning sleep. He hears the door slowly twist open, then the slide of the screen. A pause follows as Qiu Pei leans against the frame. After a few seconds, he closes the door and walks out. 

Erwa picks up where he is, rubbing at his sore eyes. Shang Huoxin could be heard leaving, making an offhand comment about how late into the night it was. Erwa ignores this for the sake of his sanity and continues his search, sifting through sceneries like a file of paper. 

Deep into the night, when Qiu Pei leaves the shop, Erwa begins to give in to his growing sleepiness. He’s yawned so many times that it’s a wonder he hasn’t accidentally fallen asleep yet. Tonight was another fruitless search —

“Yeye, please don’t force me to regain my memories anymore.”

Erwa lets out a little puff of breath at the familiar voice, blinking. He almost snaps out of the power in his shock, but regains focus. 

“Yeye promises you, I won’t force you anymore.” 

A soft face enters his view, eyes downcast and wary. At the words, a big smile breaks out across his face, eyes lighting up with a sparkle. “Really!? I knew Yeye was the best!”

Qi-di surges forward and hugs Yeye’s legs, where he's able to reach. Yeye leans down and embraces his back, his expression soft and alive. Alive. Alive. 

(But something is off. Something about him still feels so…

…dead.)

“Come on, time to sleep. Today was busy, wasn’t it?” Yeye says, untangling Qi-di from him. Qi-di hums happily in agreement, skipping towards a corner in a — a cave, it seems. Hay was bundled up messily in lieu of beds, along with bits of softer grass and leaves. 

Erwa closes his eyes slowly, breathing out and opening them to see the wooden floor before him. He curls up closer to himself, finally letting sleep take him away. “Finally found you,” he whispers softly, closing his eyes. 

(“You are love.”

“He was love.”) 

Breakfast is a bowl of congee with cut spring onions sprinkled atop it. It’s still steaming slightly when Qiu Pei hands him the bowl and a spoon. Erwa sniffs it tentatively. 

He looks up at Qiu Pei. “Growing boys need to eat,” he says gruffly. He’s also holding a tray of…some kind of medicine. It looked dry and brown, twisted up in weird ways. Erwa lights a candle for whoever has to eat that.

“…my body won’t be doing any growing,” Erwa tells him, quietly as though he was uttering some big secret.

Qiu Pei looks at him weirdly. “Eat.”

Erwa scoops the congee into his mouth. It’s not too hot, and he swallows without much chewing. It’s watery. Slightly salty and acidic, too, for some reason. As he mindlessly eats, he flicks back to the cave where Qi-di and Yeye were at. They’re still sleeping, it seems. Qi-di was curled away from Yeye in a fetal position, hugging Baohulu.

Ah…that can’t be good for his back, Erwa thinks distantly. He ought to berate Qi-di about that when gets to him. He squashes down any thoughts that try to surface about Yeye, turning his attention away from him. Not yet. I can’t.

(What if he’s not real? What if what I’m seeing isn’t –

And what if what I’m seeing is real? What then?)

He looks around the cave some more, spotting a pile of brown scales in the opposite corner. Upon closer inspection, it’s a pangolin, napping away with quiet snores. Hm. He doesn’t look all that impressive, but didn’t seem to have any ill intent. Good enough for now.

Erwa pauses in his looking when he hears a loud, consistent snapping. He reopens his eyes to see Qiu Pei, his hand in front of him. Qiu Pei leans back when they make eye contact. “Wow. You really do have powers, huh?”

Erwa tilted his head. “Xiansheng has excellent observatory abilities.”

Qiu Pei clicks his tongue in annoyance. “Why couldn’t you have something easier to believe, huh? If I saw you — I don’t know, breathing fire, I would believe you.”

Erwa nods. “Si-di is very commendable.” 

“That is so weird to hear, given context.” Qiu Pei walks out of sight, placing down the tray. Erwa scoops up the last of his congee into his mouth. His belly felt warm after the meal, mood lifted. This kicks today off as the perfect day to get to work.

Erwa stands up. “Thanking xiansheng for the meal.”

Qiu Pei takes his emptied bowl and throws it to the side. “Remember to come back for lunch. I’ll be in the shop all day.”

A twitch of gratitude flickered in his chest. Erwa smiled, genuine for once. “Thanks. I’ll be going out now.”

The first step would be to swing by the village chief’s house again. He would need to look at a drawing or picture of some sort of their daughter, so that he could actually find her. Erwa really hopes they managed to have at least one painting of her before she disappeared.

On his way, Erwa finds himself constantly checking up on Qi-di and Yeye, probably a little too much. They’ve started to get up as well, slow and languid. Qi-di sighs as the pangolin — who Erwa finds out goes by the name Xiao Tie — bounds up to him and starts shaking his knee. He goes on about magical plants and magical cures. 

Erwa nearly bumps into multiple people, whenever he uses his powers in the middle of his walking. He’s only able to sidestep in the nick of time when his ears pick up on shuffling too close to him, and he has to quickly pull away from the vision. The streets are busy. Erwa isn’t too used to walking like this without someone else making sure he didn’t run into other people. 

He makes it to the chief’s house, successfully in perfect shape. There’s no guards outside, so he knocks loudly. Erwa steps back, shifting on his feet as he waits. He hears footsteps shuffling toward the door. 

Three…two…one….

Wen Xiyun looks down at him in mild surprise. “Good morning, Cunzhang,” Erwa says first. 

“Good morning, wazi?” On top of the mild surprise, he also sounds mildly confused. “You’re welcome to come in.”

“Thanking Cunzhang.” Erwa steps in, glancing around. He waits for Wen Xiyun to close the door, turning around. “Cunzhang.”

“Yes? I’d assume you didn’t come here without reason.” Wen Xiyun folds his hands behind his back, looking down upon Erwa curiously. 

“This Erwa troubles you. Have you got a picture or portrait of your daughter? I would need to know what she looks like to be able to find her.”

Wen Xiyun nods. “Is that it, then? We do have one, done with her and her fiancé. Come, I will show you.”

Erwa follows him around the side of his house, to the back. Down the hall, Wen Xiyun walks until they meet a tall table. Hung above it is a long piece of parchment. He gestures towards it and Erwa steps up, examining the dark lines. He hums, pressing the image of her into his mind. Ting-jie was a fair woman, with eyes slit up like it was in a constant smile, a wide nose, and thin lips. She looked…really young. 

Erwa steps back, humming to himself. “Thanking Cunzhang. This one should be able to find her easily soon.”

Wen Xiyun sighed with a smile. “Don’t do anything dangerous. Thank you.”

Maybe it had been his knowledge on ghosts and demons, maybe when he’d tried to prove his powers, or maybe Erwa simply got lucky. Nonetheless, Wen Xiyun seemed to accept his identity, or whatever conception of who he is he had in his mind. He leaves out the door, the interaction having gone by smoother than he’d expected. Now, it was only a matter of time before he could find her. 

But before he goes, it would also do him some good to check the village for the same comb he had seen before. Obviously, such a business would be easy to find, if enough witnesses had seen the combs. It’s better to check beforehand, in case the business was just concealed really well. Nonetheless, Erwa retreated into the heart of the marketplace, his vision flickering from stall to stall and its contents. 

He walks for a while, and is able to dodge everyone that comes in his path. Until he bumps into someone. 

With a yelp, the two of them come crashing to the ground, Erwa too surprised to catch himself. His knees scrape against the granite and sand below him, puffs of it flying onto his face. With a groan, he shifts away when he regains control, spitting some stray sand out. “Sorry,” he rasps, twisting around on the floor. Someone nearly steps on his fingers. 

Who he bumped into was another young boy, dressed in pale brown robes. He’s wincing as he rubs a sore spot on his forehead, eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. He looks back at Erwa, scowling. “Can’t you watch where you’re going?” he demands, stepping up. 

Erwa notes that he makes no move to offer a hand to help him up. Annoying, but still, he did bump into him. His knees were okay, so he hauls himself up, flicking his hair back when it falls in his face. “Terribly sorry, I was in a hurry.” Then, just to annoy him, he sends him a dignified look with half-lidded eyes and a haughty jut of his chin upwards. “Couldn’t you be the one watching instead?”

The other scoffs. “Who do you even think you are? Just because you’re traveling through doesn’t mean you get a free pass to be rude to everyone!”

“Oh?” Erwa tilts his head curiously. “You could tell I’m traveling?”

“I know everyone,” the boy boasts, puffing out his chest proudly. “It’s so easy to tell when someone new is in the village. Someone who doesn’t belong here. My father’s the best archer in the village, you know.”

“Wonderful,” Erwa tells him indifferently, going back to sifting through the marketplace with his powers. There aren't many left, none of them relating to accessories either. He snaps out of it when he feels a shove to his shoulder. He looks back at the boy with a raised eyebrow. 

The other’s eyes are bulging wide, and the scowl is back. “What the heck was that!”

“Was what?”

“Your eyes just – went all, all green?” He exclaims, throwing his hands up. Erwa steps out of the way of a man pulling a small wagon of turnips, watching amusedly as the other yelps and barely manages to scramble out of the way. “What’s wrong with you!”

“It’s cultivation,” Erwa tells him. “I’m busy, so–”

He turns around to leave, but the boy lunges forward and grabs his arm. Erwa sees it coming, slowing to a stop and turning around expectantly. The other averts his eyes, but mumbles, “Can you teach me cultivation?”

…What? 

His expression must have said it all, because the boy’s cheeks flushes as he tries to explain himself. “It’s just – the demons have been terrorizing our village, and I need to be able to protect my family somehow! None of the people here know any cultivation, so if anything happens–!”

Well, that’s putting Erwa in an awkward position. He clears his throat. “It’s not demons.”

The other pauses. “Huh?”

“It’s a ghost. That’s what’s making the women disappear.” When the other kid blinks, still seeming to not get it, Erwa sighs. “I mean, it’s not demons you need to worry about. It’s a ghost. But I’m getting rid of it, so don’t worry. Demons will be easier to fend off, especially with your…talented, guards.” He thinks of Shang Huoxin, wincing. “Anyways, it’ll be gone soon.”

“You?” The boy points a finger at him incredulously, as if to make sure. Erwa looks down at his hand, unimpressed. “You look younger than me!”

“I can assure you, I got this,” Erwa tells him, pushing the accusing finger away. He goes to move away again, but –

“I still want to learn cultivation!” The boy shouts, reaching out and grabbing him again. This time, Erwa steps out of the way before he can, so the boy is left awkwardly trying to catch himself before he falls for the second time. “There still are demons out there!”

Erwa sighs and prepares to tell him, but a sudden thought comes to mind before he can. He remembers the events of last night, when Shang Huoxin had said through gritted teeth the warning a demon had given the village, about the newly crowned king of demons. He would be leaving straight away after completing this mission, just to have something to repay Qiu Pei. If demons were to attack here, he would not be able to defend them. 

But he doesn’t actually know cultivation. 

“I can’t,” he settles on, and watches the way the boy’s face both crumbles and ignites in dignity. “My way of…cultivation, it’s not…something you can learn. I was born with the power.”

The boy’s lips thin. “What do you mean?”

“It’s inherent.” He lets his eyes flash again, just for show. “It’s not something I learned, so I cannot teach you.” The boy takes a step back, his frown growing deeper. 

“How?”

“When a man and woman love each other very much–”

“Don’t say stuff like that!” The boy slams his hands against Erwa’s mouth, successfully cutting him off. It was a hilarious reaction, especially when Erwa thinks of how that wasn’t even how he was made. He giggles mischievously, then licks the palm. The boy jolts back with a shriek and starts wiping his hand off, on his robes, freaking out. “You’re so gross!”

“Yeah, see you around.” Erwa bows his head slightly and spins around. He doesn’t walk nearly five steps before he hears the boy’s rushed footsteps pounding after him. 

“Wait! Wait, wait, wait, wait, let me come with!” The boy yelps desperately. Erwa looks back and grins when he notices that he was still wiping his hand with his clothes. “Maybe I’ll – pick it up or something!”

Erwa stops and sighs once again, his shoulders coming slack with the breath. “You won’t leave me alone?”

“No.”

“‘Kay. I’m Erwa.” He starts walking again, already beginning to use his powers. “Make sure I don’t bump into anything.”

“Xiao Jie. Aren’t you looking where you’re going?” Xiao Jie rounds up to walk next to him, so Erwa diverts his entire attention to using his powers. He tries to keep his hearing in the present, in case Xiao Jie starts talking to him, but it was quite muffled with his split focus. “What are you looking for?”

“The combs that show up after the missing women,” Erwa mumbles. “Trying to see if they’re from the village or not. Ghost might have an accomplice.”

“The combs?” Xiao Jie’s voice takes the tone of confusion. “I’ve checked myself, they’re not anywhere here.”

“I’m beginning to see that,” Erwa mutters. He blinks out of his vision, turning around. “Alright then. Let’s get out of here.”

“Huh?” Xiao Jie stumbles before going to run after him as Erwa begins to walk faster. “Where?”

“Somewhere quieter. Can’t focus.” His arm twinges weirdly and Erwa winces. He brings one hand to the sore spot and presses against it, as if he could simply squash the feeling down to the depths of his flesh. As they emerge out of the marketplace, Erwa looks around quickly before pulling them into a more secluded alleyway between the huts. Xiao Jie squeezed in after him, huffing. “Shush.”

“Excuse me?”

“Can’t focus if you talk,” Erwa explains shortly. 

Xiao Jie scowls and crosses his arms, leaning his back against the wall behind him. He brings a foot up and pressed the bottom along the wall as well. “So what am I supposed to do instead?”

Erwa doesn’t give him the luxury of a response, breathing in a breath as he begins his search for Ting-jie. Since he doesn’t have to extend his vision that far, he’s able to scan areas faster, and focus all of his qi to just sight. It’s an intense, overwhelming flood of information and images all at once, but Erwa sucks in a breath and plunges through it. Xiao Jie, at least, stays quiet and doesn’t make much noise that interrupts his mental concentration. 

He decides to have a 200 meter radius around the edge of the village, in case the missing people were transported further away. It would make more sense for the ghost to keep them close by, so it wouldn’t need to exert more energy in taking them away. There was a forest not too far from the village, flushed with greens and shimmering with life. It would be a decent place to hide victims, especially if any others were to inhabit the forest. The ghost could use them to their advantage. 

Erwa travels through the forest, finding many nooks and crannies that could act as hiding places. Stray demons were camped here and there, but were in little traveling groups, none looking like they would be staying too long. He finds a thick tree, its roots twisted so largely it creates bridges. At the base, there is a small opening, covered by the shadows of nearby roots. 

Erwa gasps as he snaps back to his current whereabouts, the sudden change of perception like a sudden slap to his eyes. He rubs at his temples, ignoring Xiao Jie’s hands hovering over him. He turns away and Xiao Jie’s steps back per his request. As he rubs his headache away, he looks up and over at him, managing a grin. 

“Found her,” he says.

“Do you know how to fight?” Erwa asks as the thought comes to him suddenly. He’d left immediately in the direction of the cave when he’d spotted it. Ting-jie had been surrounded with the shackled figures of other women, and Erwa couldn’t look too long at it before bile was beginning to rise in his throat. In that haste, he didn’t give the two of them much time to prepare, physically and mentally speaking. 

“Well enough,” Xiao Jie admits. He wrings his hands together nervously. “I’m good with a bow.”

Erwa pointedly looked at him. “And do you have a bow? It doesn’t matter anyways, because it’s a ghost. I just need you to be able to at least do some close-combat and self-defense. You know how to dodge and all that, right?”

Xiao Jie just coughs weakly into his fist. “Well enough, I’d say. How far is it? Could we make it there before nightfall?”

“Yes.” Erwa answers shortly, jumping over a large tree root. Xiao Jie follows clumsily behind him, letting out a huff as he climbs over. “Hurry.”

“Couldn’t we have at least gotten someone to come with us?” Xiao Jie asks, peering above into the canopy nervously. “They’d help a lot in a fight, won’t they?”

Erwa checks the road ahead of them, wary of the demons scattered around. Those were his biggest concern, more than the ghost. Afterall, the ghost couldn’t touch them. Demons held qi as well as physical forms, and they were known for being ruthless to travelers who wandered too far off the trail. Luckily for them, the closest ones were miles away, mulling around and not going in their direction. He blinks away from his visions and directs Xiao Jie to the right. “No, we don’t need them.”

“I’d beg to differ!”

“Then beg,” Erwa tells him impatiently. “I told you, it’s a ghost, we don’t need to fight it. I just need to blast it with spiritual qi.”

“You’re so annoying.”

“It’s my best trait.”

Erwa leads the two of them deeper into the forest, and the longer they run, the quieter Xiao Jie gets with his yapping. He was either getting tired, restless, or scared. Erwa himself was getting tired, too, but mostly because he was running a lot. After a while, he slows his steps when they near the cave, and Xiao Jie lets out a groan when he catches sight of it. “Is that it?”

“Wonderful, isn’t it?” Erwa says, and walks straight in. Xiao Jie splutters behind him, but his footsteps quickly catch up. Inside the cave was dark and damp, and there was something really mushy on the ground that made Erwa suddenly wish he wore shoes. Xiao Jie makes a disgruntled noise behind him, and Erwa is suddenly realizing that most of their adventure has been him dragging said boy around, while Xiao Jie just makes a lot of annoying noises in vague protest. 

Instead of musing on that, Erwa decides to take another peek forward to what they may be walking into. He stops, tentatively turning around to face Xiao Jie. It was much too dark for any normal person to be able to see anything, but Erwa tried to make his eyes bright enough for it to be a sufficient light source. “What?” Xiao Jie demands, and he cringes at the sight of his eyes. “That’s kind of cool, but also creepy.”

“The women are in there.” Erwa jabs a thumb behind him. “Just, when we go in, don’t freak out. Focus on untying them all and leaving the cave as soon as possible. Protect them till I get out.”

Xiao Jie blinks. “You couldn’t have told me this before we went in?”

Erwa shrugs and doesn’t respond. “I’ll need to focus on the ghost, and I need to get all living people out so they don’t get, you know, possessed. And ghosts are pretty hard to corner, so I need my full attention on it.” He punches Xiao Jie in the arm, just hard enough for him to let out a little wince. “Focus, got it?”

“Fine,” Xiao Jie sighs, then squares his shoulders with a nod. Satisfied, Erwa turns back around and leads them into the opening. He focuses his qi into a condensated form, and slowly, a little blob of qi begins to bubble together on his palm. Its light is much brighter than his own two eyes, and he holds it up to light up the cave as much as he can. Immediately, gasps and cries respond to the sudden intrusion of light. He brings the ball down, and the faces of women stare back at him, their cheeks hollowed out and eyes ablaze. 

Xiao Jie makes yet another weird noise behind him. “Oh my gods…”

There’s a sharp cry. “Savior! Savior! Please, hurry and save us!”

Encouraged by this, the others also let out shrieks of their own. Erwa swallows and brings a finger to his lips, shushing quietly. “We will, we will, just be quiet.”

They don’t appear to hear him. Erwa raises his voice louder, just enough to carry across the entire cave. “Please, be quieter. I understand you want to leave, but try not to make too much noise. You don’t want it to come back, do you?”

At the mention of the ominous ghost, the women slowly closed their mouths, but instead that urgency and desperation flowed into their bodies. Women who had been tied around rocks began to thrash in their rope bindings, and ones laying hazardously on the floor wiggled around like worms. Their eyes had been blindfolded closed, probably to extinguish any hopes of leaving without a way to see. Erwa takes a deep breath to prepare himself, and he nudges Xiao Jie. Together, they begin in opposite directions, gently untying the ropes. Xiao Jie finds a sharp enough rock along his way to use instead.

The women rush towards Erwa and his beacon of light, huddling around him and eyeing the shadows as if they’d creep out and attack them once more. Erwa tries to gently nudge them away, but it quickly becomes apparent that they don’t do well with the dark. After that, he tries to just ignore their presence, and Xiao Jie unties the rest of the women.  

When they’re done, Erwa does a headcount, then tells Xiao Jie to count as well just in case. They both end up with eight, so finally, Erwa gives them the okay to  leave. 

Despite not wanting to leave the only source of light, the idea of finally getting out of the dingy cave tantalized the women into following Xiao Jie, quiet and shuffling. They don’t wait a single second to ask what Erwa was still doing inside, or maybe they just didn’t notice. Nonetheless, Erwa waved goodbye to Xiao Jie and extinguished his ball of qi. The cave is plunged into darkness. 

“Come on out, now,” Erwa calls. His voice echoes loudly in the grasp of the walls. He spins around slowly, trying to spot a flash of the ghost. “I’ve put the qi away.”

There’s a soft hiss, barely audible to the mortal ear. “I-I-I-Intruder.”

“I mean, you were kidnapping people, so. I kind of had to.” Putting two fingers between his closed eyes, Erwa opens them and his vision lights up, the rest of the cave illuminated faintly with green. In front of him stood the ghost, dressed in an old soldier garment and messy hair. Weariness and death bore down on him, tearing him to the bare bones of a human form. His eyes were boring into Erwa’s, intense.

“C-C-Cultivat-t-tor.” The ghost’s voice was gargled, like someone had wrung his vocal cords around almost to the point of being unusable. He mutters something unintelligible.

Erwa sits down, crossing his legs. The ghost remains unmoving, though his eyes are narrow. “Mind if I ask you a question?” Erwa requests, straightening his back and folding his hands in his lap. 

“Ye-e-es.”

“Too bad. What is the significance of the combs?” Erwa leans forward slightly. “What are they for?”

The ghost is silent, clearly unwilling to answer the question. Erwa keeps his face neutral. “You’re going to die…or, unexist, I suppose, anyway. There’s no point for you to withhold any information from me.”

“Why t-t-t-tell y-y-you-u?” The ghost asks, and really, Erwa does have to agree that that was a pretty sensible question to ask. 

“You don’t seem vengeful. Any other ghost would be scrambling to keep their victims, and you’re…” Erwa gestures vaguely with his hand, “kind of just chatting with me.”

The ghost pauses. “D-D-D-Die, an-nyw-w-ways.”

“We all tend to do that, yes.”

“D-D-Didn’t-t- ex-x-xpect-t-t to las-s-st this lon-n-ng.”

“What are the combs for?” Erwa asks again. “You don’t really care about staying here, do you?”

The ghost, after a moment of remaining still, slowly kneels down. He sits a meter or two away from Erwa, and when he’s finally situated, leans over and presses his hand on the floor. A moment later, his hand leaves to reveal a comb in its place. Erwa doesn’t dare do anything else but stare at it. The ghost leaves it there, as well. “So?”

“T-T-Tracking-g. Find-d-d nex-x-xt vic-c-ctims-s-s.”

“Hm, where did you get this?” Erwa knew fully well this was not something that came from the ghost’s own power. Especially now that the ghost said it was for tracking. The ones that the village chief had shown him lacked qi, but the one before him was filled to the brim with spiritual qi. That was the other concerning part. A ghost getting their hands on demonic qi was more likely than spiritual qi. Their accomplice was someone who could manipulate spiritual qi – and from the looks of it, they were not a cultivator.

“Q-Q-Qianj-ji Laor-r-ren,” answers the ghost, with no emotion in his voice. “Mad-d-d-de de-e-al.”

“Deal?”

“H-H-H-He wan-t-ted-d…pearl. Gav-v-v-ve me d-d-d-devic-ce t-t-t-to us-s-se.” The ghost gestured to the comb with an unsteady sweep of his fingers. 

That was treading into dangerous territory. “And do you know what this pearl does?” Erwa asks. 

“N-N-No. Only-y-y know…h-h-here long-g t-t-t-time. Around-d-d tim-m-me I-I-I-I d-die. Com-m-m-me from m-m-mountain,” the ghost pauses, a tick of a frown in his mouth. “O-O-Old bast-t-tard-d-d cal-l-l-led it s-someth-h-hing...T-T-Tongling-g z-zhu.”

“Tongling Zhu,” Erwa echoes, voice questioning.

“C-C-Come from m-m-mountain,” the ghost repeats. He brings his hands up slowly, and Erwa cringes when he realizes a bone was protruding out his left elbow. His hands come to his chest, and he makes a vague round shape. “H-H-Hulu Mount-t-tain.”

Erwa lets out a startled breath, his throat hitching. The ghost notices, his eyes growing sharp. Erwa quickly relaxes his body again, breathing out a sigh. “That’s all.”

He stands, the ghost following and taking a step back. Erwa doesn’t really know what the point was – the ghost knew himself that there was no way for him to get out of this. Erwa puts a hand up, his palm facing the ghost. He stares him down, long hair falling onto his face. 

A second later, a blast comes from his palm, pulling at the very edge of Erwa’s qi. It takes more out of him than he realized it would, but when the light of the blast is gone, so is the ghost. The comb on the floor remains.

Erwa picks it up, pocketing it. With his goal complete, he leaves the cave. 

Night falls by the time their group returns to the village, and Erwa is pretty tired for most of the return. Once they had gotten close enough to be noticeable, the guards at the front of the gates gape. One has the brains to actually run inside and alert the chief, while the other rushes forward and tries to help the staggering women inside. Immediately, news spreads like a wildfire, and every villager is rushing outside, armed with blankets and water or food. There’s cries of delight as families are reunited, and Erwa really couldn’t deny the little thrum of accomplishment he feels when he sees them all back together. 

When Xiyun emerges, his eyes frantically combing through the sea of people. Madam Wen is already stumbling through the hoards, shaking shoulders and asking for Ting-jie. Erwa quietly walks up to her, and she takes a second to focus on him. He beckons for her to follow. 

Ting-jie was shifting on her feet a little further away, her shoulders hunched with a blanket over them. Erwa wasn’t sure why she was hanging out so far away by herself, but he wasn’t going to let her be alone. He takes Madam Wen to her, the sounds of the woman’s heavy breathing right beside him. When he nears, Ting-jie looks up, and says, finally, “Ma.”

He breaks away from the duo as they embrace each other, checking around to make sure everyone was okay. He bumps into Xiao Jie after a while, and the boy punches him in the shoulder. Pointedly, much harder than Erwa had ever hit him. He rubs his sore arm with a glare at the boy. “Ow.”

“You suck. I thought you blew up.” Xiao Jie tells him, which is something he’d said when Erwa came out of the cave prior. 

“I know. That's all you’ve been telling me.” Erwa looks around, and looks back to Xiao Jie. “I’m leaving soon.”

“I thought you got here, like, yesterday?” Xiao Jie asks, confused. “At the very least I thought you’d stay for a week.”

“No. I know where my brother is now, there’s no need to stick around.” Erwa pauses. He tilts his head. “Though, I am hoping to collect some kind of payment from Chunzhang, just so I can pay back Qiu Pei.”

“For what?” Xiao Jie asks, his eyebrows furrowing. 

“Medicine. I hit my chest really bad when I fell.”

“You’re eccentric.”

“I’m surprised you even know that word.”

“What the fuck did you do,” comes an abrupt voice from behind them. Xiao Jie jumps fifty feet in the air. Erwa had heard the footsteps coming, so he only watches the other boy in amusement as he tries to smother his scare with an aloof expression. Erwa turns around, finding Qiu Pei’s burning eyes staring right back at him. 

“I went out,” Erwa answers. 

“You –” Qiu Pei cuts off with a scoff, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know who let you walk around like this.”

“Well I had to do something,” Erwa defends. “And hey, I got everything fixed.”

“You’re a child.”

“You know, technically I’m older than you,” Erwa points out. 

“What?” Xiao Jie interjects, his voice high. 

“I really hope you don’t make a habit out of this,” Qiu Pei says finally, his shoulders still tense. Erwa decides not to tell him that this mission was actually the most tame one he’s ever done. 

“About that,” Erwa says instead. “I’m going to be leaving soon.”

Qiu Pei blinks. “That – was not what I was expecting. How come?”

“I found my brother.” Erwa doesn’t know why, but all of a sudden he feels a little nervous. He shifts his weight on the balls of his feet, trying to avoid the way Qiu Pei was staring at him. “There’s no reason for me to stay.”

“What about the chronic pain?” Qiu Pei questions. Xiao Jie makes another high-pitched confused noise. Qiu Pei crosses his arms and raises an eyebrow. “You’re really just going to go back on the road like this?”

Erwa shrugs. “It doesn’t matter, I have to go. There’s no way I’m going to be apart from them any longer than I already have. This was just my way of making money.”

With the delightful cries of joy and sobs around the three of them, Erwa thinks his words were a bit too nonchalant. What he’d done wasn’t a normal person’s way of collecting a few quick coins. Still, making a little bit of money was his true intention – and hopefully, with some extra, he can pack some food as well. 

“You mean you did that–” Xiao Jie points rapidly towards everyone in the area – “just to make some money? I thought you were doing like, your mandatory cultivator’s good deed of the day or something! The money was just your reward!”

“It was the fastest,” Erwa tells him truthfully. He tugs his sleeves over his fingers and crosses his arms when a particularly powerful gust of wind blows icy coldness over him. His nimble fingers rattle slightly with the cold. “I think I’ll leave the next day, though. Way too cold to be traveling alone.”

“Wazi!” Comes the loud call. Erwa sighs, slightly annoyed that he has to deal with another thing. He was quite ready to fall backwards and promptly take a nap on the floor. However, with swaying feet, Erwa shoulders past Qiu Pei and Xiao Jie, towards the sound of Wen Xiyun. 

Wen Xiyun spots him once he’s close enough, and behind him is his wife and daughter. They only glance at him briefly when he steps close enough, but go back to their own conversation soon. Ting-jie does smile softly at him with a slight tilt of her head. He waves back, and turns to Wen Xiyun. 

The man looks like he’s finally reached his age. His eyes are weary and tired, hair messily put up in a bun with strands falling out. Erwa was surprised at such a noticeable change in his demeanour. The chief sighs, his chest stuttering. “I really just…can’t thank you enough for what you’d done. You’ve found my daughter. For this, we will be eternally grateful.”

“There’s really no need,” Erwa tells him quietly. “All I need is just a bit of money. I’m going to be on the road soon.”

Wen Xiyun doesn’t show his surprise much, but his eyes do widen slightly. “Leaving? So soon?”

There was also a hit of dread in his voice, like he worried catastrophe might strike the village again the second Erwa leaves. He nods. “I have other business I need to do. I am just hoping this act will reward me with some money to take with me?”

“Goodness,” Wen Xiyun says. “Of course.”

Erwa has to refuse a heavy bag of money, the coins jangling when shaken. He argued restlessly that it was too much, and would probably just attract people to attack him if he brought that much. Seriously, you could smell the money from a mile away. Additionally, it would be heavy, and Erwa really didn’t want to carry around heavy things. Qi-di and Yeye – who had miraculously found Si-di in the short amount of time he’d kept his eyes off them – weren’t too far, but they were still plenty of villages away. Erwa was prepared for a long walk, of course, but keeping a light luggage was in his best interest. 

In the end, after Erwa brought up his concerns, the money was reduced. Still a little too much, but Erwa decided he could just drop off his extra at Qiu Pei’s shop. The most ridiculous thing that he’d had to go through during that whole ordeal was the fact that Madam Wen suggested that he marry Ting-jie as another reward for what he’d done. Erwa had been unable to resist the physical shudder that passed through his body at the mere concept of that suggestion, and he could see Ting-jie turn her head to the side with a sickened face at her mother’s words. Silently, the four of them in that room all decided to push that idea to the side. 

Finally, after it was all sorted out and the newest comb locked away in the chest, and Erwa was shaking on his legs by the time he left the hut, he was finally making his unsteady way back to Qiu Pei’s shop. The night was a deep dark blue, and little to no light illuminates his path. Erwa was only able to find his way back because of his powers, a guiding light in the darkness.

When he does return, a dim light can be seen through the window. Relieved, Erwa knocks quietly on the door, and after a moment, it slides open. Qiu Pei looked tired, but expectant. “Hello.”

“Hello,” Erwa echoes. “Can I come in?”

Qiu Pei moves out of the way and gestures one arm inside, so Erwa steps over the door frame. The familiar scented herbs and medicine greet him inside, but it’s a lot warmer than outside. Erwa hears the click of the door closing behind him, and he turns around, meeting Qiu Pei’s gaze. He holds up a little pouch of money. “I’ve got payment,” he says, and dumps the pouch into Qiu Pei’s hands before he can say anything else. 

Qiu Pei sends him a look, but turns his attention to the money and unties the bag. He takes a few moments to count over the coins, and when he’s done, he levels out something between a laugh and a sigh. “You know, I didn’t really believe you when you said you were a Huluwa.”

Erwa nods. “Figured not.”

“But, guess you were telling the truth.” In a quick flash, Qiu Pei ties the pouch up again and places it on a nearby table, sitting down at the same time. He turns to Erwa with crossed arms. “So, what is the almighty and powerful Hulu-xiongdi planning on doing now that’s so important?”

“I mean, at first, I really was just trying to get back to my brothers,” Erwa replies earnestly. He doesn’t know why it seems so long now since he’s first arrived at the village, despite it just being a few days. “But after finding out about the eagle demon, and with my encounter with the ghost…I think we’ll just go back to doing what we do best.”

“Uh huh?” 

“Eliminating demons, I suppose.”

The next day, Erwa leaves bright and early. Qiu Pei gives him a few medical supplies before letting him go on his way, and even Wen Xiyun seeks him out to give him a proper farewell. Erwa quickly checks on his siblings, and thank goodness they hadn’t moved far from where he’d seen them last. Much to his delight, Si-di had regained his memories (and wasn’t that just delightful to know; his siblings were all amnesiacs from the unexpected blows to the head) as well as his powers. Although, he deduced it was mostly because he didn’t have his memories that he didn’t know how to use his powers in the first place. 

Checking in on them had also given Erwa his first glimpse of SheXie-eryao. In full honesty, he was almost disappointed with what they’ve become. Sure, he’s not disappointed that they’re not more powerful – but it’s almost a little funny and annoying how much they’re fumbling around. They’d lost all their sources of power, and their only way to climb up the ranks was through the eagle demon, who treated them lesser than dirt. He didn’t even need to have such a freak-out upon realizing they were still alive — what kind of a threat did they pose, really? 

The eagle demon himself was a much bigger threat, however. Erwa hadn’t been able to watch the whole fight, but he knows that at one point, Qi-di was bleeding and unconscious and held hostage in Jin Chidiao’s arms. Quite terrifying. Erwa doesn’t think he’s fully recovered from that shock. He’d had to lean against a tree and catch his breath with how high his heart rate suddenly spiked. 

Thankfully, though, Si-di’s miraculous recovery was able to get them out of that situation in the knick of time. Erwa was quite proud that he’d been able to scare off the demons enough for them to make a break for it. Now, the two were splitting up – despite the fact that Erwa thinks that’s a very, very bad idea, especially with Yeye (don’t think about it yet don’t think about it yet —) by himself. But, it is what it is, and he wasn’t there to be a voice of reason. 

A few days later, Erwa had been resting his legs and at the same time taking a peek around, when he’d suddenly caught a flash of red. When he’d focused on that area, he had, with much excitement, discovered it was in fact Da-ge. His brother was hunched over something on the floor, so Erwa redirected the angle he looked at. In Da-ge’s arms was a grey and black striped cat, sitting with its limbs tucked in and paw out. Da-ge held the paw gently, a roll of bandages wrapping around the fur. He was murmuring gently too; soothing phrases. 

Erwa had no idea how Da-ge managed to get those bandages, or how he’d managed to convince the injured cat near him, or even if he’d lost his memories too; but looking at his older brother again, that same soft smile and warm gaze in his eyes –

Erwa felt weirdly at peace. 

Once Da-ge was done, he spent a few seconds gently petting the cat, his palm brushing against its head. “All better now?” He whispered gently. The cat just sat and enjoyed the petting. 

Erwa let out a little breathy laugh, closing his eyes and away from the vision. At the very least, Si-di and Qi-di were walking in the…generally vague direction of where Da-ge was at the moment. Actually, Erwa himself was much closer to him than his other two brothers were. He could probably make a detour and collect his Da-ge before making his way to Si-di and Qi-di. 

Mind set, Erwa diverts his path. At least, when he finds Da-ge, he would have some company. A part of him whispers to him a scene, where he would greet Da-ge and in turn, he’d be faced with confusion and a question of who he is. Erwa tries not to listen to it, tries not to think about it either. He doesn’t know what he’d do in the case that Da-ge really, truly, did not remember him. He doesn’t even want to indulge in such a theory. Si-di may not have remembered, and neither Qi-di, but…

Erwa shakes the thought away. 

Si-di and Qi-di were getting restless as well, their long journey beginning to create doubts in the back of their minds. Erwa knew he ought to be near them faster, to hopefully soothe some of their worries, but he couldn’t just leave Da-ge behind like that. It would be too much of a hassle having to go back to Da-ge when he could’ve just reached him first. 

Thankfully, though, Da-ge didn’t seem like he was in a hurry anywhere soon. He mostly stayed in a grassy and open meadow, a stream nearby, surrounded by large rocks. Definitely the type of place Da-ge would enjoy staying in. Erwa grinned a little to himself, feeling light. 

It takes him two days and a half to reach Da-ge, which actually, considering his body, was pretty impressive! Erwa was able to spot Da-ge – in the middle of what seems to be fishing – around that cloudy time of day right before the sun began its descent. Da-ge didn’t seem to notice him yet. His short pants were rolled up, legs submerged up to his knees in the stream. He was frowning down in the water, his hands poised at his side and tense in concentration. 

Erwa decides to wait until that focus breaks itself, instead of startling his brother and potentially scaring away his dinner. It takes quite a while, and to be honest Erwa actually zones out at one point, but he snaps back to attention when he hears a loud splash. When his eyes refocus, Da-ge is holding a fish, flailing slightly. 

Erwa feels a burst of pride, and he calls out, “Nice catch.”

Da-ge jumps, and instinctively, his body shifts into a defensive position. It’s a little funny, with the way he’s holding the fish, and Da-ge himself obviously sees that really soon. His face relaxes – an action that has Erwa’s hopes rising – and his hands fall to his sides. “Sorry! I didn’t see you there.”

The obvious lack of any recognition was like a direct blow to his heart. Erwa isn’t sure why he had been so sure that Da-ge wouldn’t forget him – so ready to believe the possibility of amnesia wasn’t that serious – but he feels that foolishness now. He blinks. Da-ge is still smiling at him. He doesn’t know me, Erwa thinks to himself, slightly hollow. After a second, he clears his throat and, with a steadiness that surprised even himself, asked, “Mind if I joined you?”

Da-ge beams at him. “No problem! Do you know how to catch fish? If not, I can get one for you.”

Too trusting. Erwa was sure his Da-ge would never so easily accept a stranger’s company, or be so quick to dive to help them with anything. He tries not to make a displeased face, answering Da-ge truthfully that he could fish himself. Da-ge just smiles even wider, gesturing for him to come closer. Erwa narrows his eyes slightly, relaxing when he realizes that he’d done so. Da-ge would get tricked like this. It’s a wonder how no one had taken advantage of him yet. 

Erwa rolls up his pants, waddling into the freezing waters. He shivers slightly when the water comes into contact with his bear skin, and already his chest begins to rattle with faint shivers. Da-ge looks at him in concern. “It is quite cold isn’t it?” Erwa laughs humorlessly, reaching him. Fish swim around his legs, almost invisible against the current. 

“Winter’s approaching,” Da-ge agrees, casting another weary look at him. “If it’s too cold –”

“No I – I got this,” Erwa cuts him off, sucking in a breath. He can feel warmth radiating off of Da-ge and, hell, it’s almost impossible to not lean into him, maybe hug him really tightly, start crying in his shoulder if he’s really that sentimental. Erwa doesn’t think he is, though, so he turns away from his big brother and stares down at the water. His heightened eyesight really helps and, in no time, he’s got a fish in his arms. 

“Woah! That was fast!” Da-ge gapes, his eyes excited. “How’d you manage to do that so quickly?”

“I…” Erwa trails off, gaze settling on Da-ge’s smiling face. He had been ready to lie at first, and the words had almost left the tip of his tongue, but it just feels wrong. He clears his throat. “I have powers related to sight and hearing. So, uh, I was able to see it.”

“Powers?” Da-ge echoes, his voice slightly confused. Not as confused as Erwa had assumed he would be. “Oh, like –”

Da-ge waddles out of the water, where a large boulder sitting just on the banks was resting. With one hand, he lifts the boulder and keeps it above his head. Erwa is so used to this that he doesn’t so much as blink, and then he realizes that he should probably act like he wasn’t used to it. But it’s already too late, and Da-ge tosses the boulder down. “Like that?” Da-ge asks, shifting on his feet, as though nervous. 

Erwa swallows and pushes past the current, dragging his feet across the rough rocks. “Yep, like that,” he says, making sure his voice wouldn’t crack. It felt like the longer he spent in Da-ge’s presence, the harder it was to breathe. He didn’t know it was possible to feel such urgent itching and have to almost physically restrain himself from doing anything about it. 

“Oh! Do you know why?” Da-ge asks. “I just – I feel like, I dunno, I’m like this for a reason and – well, there’s probably some major business I’m supposed to take care of.”

Erwa stares at him incredulously. Was he supposed to just…tell Da-ge everything? Where would he even start? If he had anything to compare this to, his best bet would be when Qi-di had his memories warped by SheXie-eryao, and he recalls making Liu-di explain everything to him. Was it that much different? Qi-di had taken it very well, considering the fact that he’d been set on killing them a moment prior. Then again, he probably didn’t completely get it, but he was hurt and alone, so therefore only believed them for those reasons. 

Da-ge, though? Erwa wasn’t sure why he was so hesitant. Was it because he didn’t think Da-ge would fully believe him? Was it because simply telling him these things wouldn’t recover those memories themselves? Si-di had only recovered his memories because of a life-and-death situation, and Qi-di was the same (well, that’s what Erwa had gathered from snippets of conversation he’d listened in on before). Would the knowledge just burden him, pressure him? 

He spends too long thinking. Da-ge drops the subject with a smile, waving his hand in front of Erwa’s face to pull him out of his thoughts. “D’you want to catch some more fish, and I’ll start cooking?” He suggests kindly. Erwa takes him up on the offer. 

Da-ge starts a fire and Erwa goes back to the freezing waters to snatch up some more fish. They make quick work, and soon, there’s a pile of fish that’s waiting to be skinned and gutted. Da-ge made Erwa sit closer to the fire then gave him his outer robe to place over his cold legs when he saw that he was still shivering. Erwa couldn’t quite explain that strange, twisted up feeling in him when Da-ge does. He wonders how Da-ge can lose his memories, forget who Erwa was, who Da-ge himself was, and still treat Erwa the same way as he always did. 

It bothers him even more that Da-ge, alone and vulnerable, susceptible to any manipulation, lets him into his company so easily. Did he think he would be able to fight him off if Erwa ever attacked him? Did he simply just not consider that he should be wary of strangers? Erwa brewed and pondered over this for an incense’s time, staring blankly at the fire before him. The flames swelled and deflated in a constant wave, a bright orange hue. Da-ge stuck a fish on a stick and held it over the fire.

He clears his throat then, and Erwa’s eyes flicker up to his face. “So, what’s your name?” He asks politely. 

Erwa wonders if his face showed how much that question hurt. “Erwa,” he answers with bitterness swallowed. “And you?”

A nervous noise. “I-I don’t really…”

“It’s fine.” He knows that Da-ge didn’t really know who he was, so there wasn’t any point of asking. Besides just having basic manners. “Any plans?” He asks instead, wondering if he could just orchestrate a meetup between Da-ge, Si-di and Qi-di so that he wouldn’t have to go through the trouble of figuring out how to restore his memories. Qi-di must be an expert on it by now. 

“Not really,” Da-ge replies, turning the fish to the other side. “I guess, since I’ve got all this–” he flexed his free hand, fingers pulled taut– “might as well use it to do some good. I think I’ll just help out whoever needs it as much as I can.”

Erwa hums in acknowledgment. Noble, and very much like Da-ge to do so. He wonders if he’ll just eventually bump into Si-di and Qi-di on his own, with that plan in mind. “What about you?” Da-ge asks, the question almost flying over Erwa’s head. 

“...Looking for my brothers,” Erwa confesses truthfully. “Among…other things.”

Specifically, Qianji Laoren. From what Erwa had gathered from the ghost in An Cang, and the whatever-pearl had been created from Hulu Mountain of all things. Who even knows what kinds of weird powers it had? He only vaguely remembers the mountain, the overwhelming waves of Yin energy all around them. The only Yang at the time was from them, or rather the seed that contained the plant. He doesn’t recall a pearl being forged, but could it have been from when the mountain collapsed? If, when Yeye and the pangolin fled with the seed, they’d taken the only source of Yang energy sustaining the mountain together. 

With its absence, there is only Yin energy left. Following his own theory, that would mean the pearl would have been forged with pure Yin energy, without Yang energy to balance it out. Just like how their seed did not have any Yin, causing that finicky, dependent relationship that tied the seed with the mountain. Which was why it had collapsed in the first place when its anchor was removed…

Erwa blinks, his attention zooming back to the present again when he hears his name being called. “Erwa? Erwa?” Comes Da-ge’s voice, and wow, wasn’t that just a can of worms to hear. He shudders. Hearing his name come out of his brother’s voice, instead of the usual ‘Er-di’...just, wow. He could throw up from hearing it. 

“Sorry, what?” Erwa says, when he actually focused back into the conversation at hand. The sky had gotten darker now, cloudy and dusty grey.

“You just spaced out again, that’s all,” Da-ge tells him. “Are you alright?”

“En.” Erwa’s eyes drop down to the fire. “Da-ge, your fish is burning.”

Da-ge actually jumps in his seat then, and his hand jolts away in shock. The fish, really, wasn’t burning that much, but enough that Erwa could see it happening. Just a little crispier on one side, is all. Da-ge spins the stick around sheepishly. Erwa has a momentary thought that Da-ge would find it weird he’d called him by such, but deduced it wasn’t that absurd. At least it was Da-ge, of all things, and not something like San-di. That’d be hard to brush off. 

When Da-ge settles back down, it’s quiet for a moment. So, Erwa takes the time to check up on Si-di and Qi-di, his eyes glowing a faint green, though hidden by the fire. His two little brothers hadn’t made much progress in their journey, but it was getting dark for them as well, so they were beginning to settle down. Currently, Si-di was helping Qi-di apply some sort of green paste to the wound on his arm – which he’d gotten from pushing Si-di out of the way of Shejing’s sword – as Qi-di nibbled miserably on some bao. After a while, Si-di leaned away and reapplied a wrap of gauze around Qi-di’s arm. 

Qi-di lets out an occasional whine or hiss of pain, and Si-di either patted his back or murmured some comforting nonsense in response. From what he had seen of it, the wound itself was pretty deep, but it was already stitched up in the time Erwa hadn’t been checking in on them. With some qi, it should make a speedy recovery. 

“Erwa?” Again, Erwa feels a shudder run down his spine at his brother’s voice saying his name, and he closes his eyes. When he opens them again, Da-ge is holding out the fish to him, expectant. 

“Oh. No, Da-ge, eat first,” Erwa ushers, shaking his head. Da-ge’s expression grows firmer and he leans over a bit more, as if nudging the food closer. 

“Eat, come on,” Da-ge encourages. Erwa hesitates but – maybe he was used to listening to his Da-ge – takes it. Da-ge is already preparing another stick. Erwa looks down at the food in front of him, and takes a tentative bite. There was no seasoning, so the white meat was quite bland, and the skin gave a hard crunch when bitten. But Erwa liked it. He’d rather eat whatever the heck Da-ge made than anything else he has with him.

…Metaphorically speaking, of course. Erwa is not too sentimental. With that thought, Erwa reaches into his bag and pulls out a bag of dried plums. He slides open the slip knot and pushes it over to Da-ge. He glances down at it, smiles, and takes a small handful. Then he pushes it back. 

Erwa eats his food slowly, the warmth of cooked meat, the fire, and especially Da-ge’s company, burning all so brightly together. He hadn’t realized just how lonely he’d been back at An Cang. It was much nicer here. 

And, just as he thinks that, there is a rustle in the bushes across the river. Da-ge obviously doesn’t hear it, but Erwa’s keenful ears picks up on the noise. It’s a practiced pace of footsteps, slow and quiet so as to not alert anybody else. Erwa perks his head towards the noise, but isn’t too bothered by it. Afterall, it could just be an animal catching its own dinner. 

Da-ge notices his attention and turns towards the forest as well. There’s a moment where they just stare, but then Da-ge turns back to him and whispers, “What is it?”

“Heard something,” Erwa answers shortly. He shrugs. “Could be nothing. Have you run into any demons nearby?”

“Demons?” Da-ge repeats. “I…not really, not since I woke up. You think it’s a demon?”

“Dunno.” Erwa blinks open his powers, sifting through the forest to try and find the source of the noise. It’s much too dark to see a lot of anything, really, and Erwa doesn’t really want to use any extra qi to illuminate his vision. He’s tired, and pretty cozy, so unnecessary exertions were out of the question. He turns back to Da-ge. “Kind of hard to see, but we should be able to hear it if anything comes our way. There's a river they have to cross, anyways.”

Da-ge listens to him, and turns his attention back to the cooking fish. Erwa spends a few extra seconds peering into the dark forest, in case any more shifting would give away the intruder’s presence. His caution bears success – a moment later, a figure appears around a large tree trunk. Erwa narrows his eyes and he zooms in on the figure – it’s a rat demon, and he doesn’t look like he’s seen them yet. Erwa keeps watching, not yet alerting Da-ge in case the demon might just breeze past them. 

The demon doesn’t. In fact, when he nears the river banks, they lock eyes. Erwa wonders if Da-ge could just toss a rock and knock him out quickly, when the demon suddenly flinches and shouts, “Chengwazi!?”

Da-ge perks up at the shout, and he spins around to his feet. The demon’s eyes shift over to him, and then they bulge even wider. “Hongwa too!?”

Erwa winces as Da-ge makes a confused noise. “Da-ge, could you…?” Erwa makes a vague gesture towards a nearby rock, then makes the same gesture towards the demon. Da-ge’s gaze follows his movements, and he nods. He hands the fish to Erwa and quickly dusts off his hands before heading over to the rock. With one hand, he picks it up easily. The demon makes a startled noise on the other side of the river as Da-ge returns with the rock. 

The rock is flung across with lightning speed, but the demon dives into the river at the last second. Water splashes everywhere as the demon swims clumsily across. Da-ge picks up another rock, aims, and throws again. 

In the water, the demon’s speed was hindered, but with a surprising show of strength, he surged to the side again. The rock lands and brings a wave of water all around it. The demon gasps as his head is hit with the water, but he continues padding across the water nonetheless. 

“Hang on,” Erwa says to Da-ge when he picks up another rock. “It might be better to just fight him in close combat. It’ll be two against one, then.”

Da-ge didn’t need any time to reply, as the demon pulled himself out of the water and pants on the shore. Da-ge gently puts the rock back down, but even then, it emits a loud thud as it comes down. The demon recovers quickly, and Erwa notices the bag at his side. He didn’t have any weapons on him, which was unusual. Erwa’s eyes narrow again. “What business do you have?”

“I-I’m just a messenger,” the demon stutters, his body locked in a defensive position. His eyes keep darting around, looking for an opening to take off. 

“From who?”

“Jin Chidiao-dawang…” The demon takes a hesitant step to the right, and Da-ge takes a challenging step towards him. He makes a squeaking sound and steps back. 

“Who is it for? What does he want?” Erwa asks urgently. The demon clamps up, his mouth shutting tight as his face looks pained. Erwa steps towards him threateningly. “Who!”

“Erwa–”

Erwa ignores his brother’s call, stepping closer to the demon, hands twitching to just grab the bag off of him. He refrains from doing so, but he knows the desperation was clear on his face. “Tell me who it’s for. Now!”

“It’s to - it’s to Qianji Laoren, the thousand year old –”

Erwa hisses at the words, his thoughts racing as he tries to take apart the information. What could Jin Chidiao want with Qianji Laoren? Did he know about the pearl? The thought makes his stomach sink – the possibility of Jin Chidiao having a spiritual device of powers that could rival their own. How long had they been working for each other? Was there any way Erwa could remove such a threat?

“Erwa? Are you okay?” Da-ge’s hand finds his shoulder, shaking slightly. Erwa, at the last second, manages to stop himself from leaning into the touch. 

“It’s – nothing. Nothing, I–” Shaking his head, Erwa pulls himself back together. He eyes the wary rat demon, who had not moved much. He holds his hand out. “Give me the letter.”

The rat demon had summoned his courage and pulled the bag closer to himself. “Never!”

Erwa frowns. “You will if you want to leave with all your limbs intact.”

“Erwa, what do you need the letter for?” Da-ge asks, his voice dripping with concern and eyebrows furrowed. “Is it bad?”

“It will be.”

“For you?”

For you, Erwa wants to say. “For everyone. It’s dangerous.”

“Okay,” Da-ge says, then turns to the rat demon with a blistering glare. The demon lets out a little squeak again. “Hand it over.”

“I-I won’t!” The demon exclaims, though this time he sounds less sure of himself. He glances nervously from Erwa to Da-ge repetitively. “You can’t make me!”

“I could, but it would take a while. Knocking you out is much easier.”

“What?”

Apparently, Da-ge recognized his cue when he said it. He brings one hand up and slams it against the demon’s head, who promptly crumples to the floor like a sack of potatoes. Erwa sends Da-ge a grateful smile, then kneels down. He pries open the demon’s bag and takes out the rolled up scroll. He stands back up as Da-ge begins to move the demon’s body into a more relaxed position. 

Erwa unfurls the scroll with much trepidation. The words were written in neat and precise strokes, empty of any rogue splotches of ink. 

Qianji Laoren, it reads, and already Erwa grimaces at the lack of a mere greeting. Jin Chidiao, ruler of all demons, requests your assistance. He has heard of your wisdom and knowledge of having lived so long. Your help would be greatly rewarded for capturing the Hulu-xiongdi. If you fail to comply, your life will be endangered. 

Erwa’s hand is trembling by the time he finishes reading, but he manages to relax his body when Da-ge places a hand on his shoulder. “What is it?” He asks gently, eyes darting toward the paper. 

“It’s…nothing. Just – does he have a brush? Ink?” Da-ge nods and leans down to rifle through the demon’s bags. Erwa sighs as he looks up, the night growing darker. If Qianji Laoren was really in possession of some kind of powerful pearl, especially one that was similar to he and his brothers’ powers, he couldn’t just leave Jin Chidiao with such a powerful ally. If he could just meet up with this powerful xiansheng, then maybe – maybe he could manage to worm his way into the demon army. 

Adrenaline rose in Erwa the longer he thought about it. He had to destroy that pearl, no matter what. Destroying artifacts and weapons filled with qi always caused a bit of a backlash, but if he were to destroy it in the demon’s lair, and in theory the pearl was as powerful as they –

Da-ge held up a pen and a little container of ink. Erwa breathed a sigh of relief and took the items from him. He squatted onto the floor and turned the message onto the back. Erwa dipped the pen into the ink and held it over the paper, taking a minute to think of how to word his request. 

Mihu Forest, in three days. Meet me on the highest cliff at midnight. I wish to speak with you.

When he finished, Erwa waited a moment for the ink to dry. Then, he placed his palm in the center of the page, focusing a little condensed form of his qi into his hand. He pressed the qi into the page, hoping he would fit enough to last the trip. Anyone with any skill in cultivation would be able to recognize his qi. Erwa could only hope that Qianji Laoren followed through with his request. 

Erwa takes a deep breath as he stands back up, looking at Da-ge. “Sorry, you might want to find a different place to settle down. There might be more of these guys later.” He rolls up the message and places all the items back in the demon’s bag. 

Da-ge wrings his hands together. He looked nervous. “I don’t – is this…safe?”

“Safe?”

“I mean what is…going on?”

Erwa feels a pang of sympathy for his older brother. He can’t do anything to help him recover his memories now…but clearly, his presence here was just making things confusing for him. It’d be better for him to do these things when Da-ge knew what was going on. Erwa smiles as softly as possible. “Don’t worry about it, Da-ge.”

They returned to the fire, and it was then that Erwa had planned to leave. But, Da-ge argued with him mercilessly, telling him it was far too late to be traveling. Erwa couldn’t resist his older brother much, so with a sigh he complied. Da-ge beams at him, his expression weary yet bright. They finish off their paused dinner over the cackling fire, and when they do, Da-ge points him to a nearby alcove just large enough to provide some basic shelter. The two squeeze into the small space. Erwa leaned against the scratchy cave, still thinking about the messenger. 

Erwa leaves the next morning, every fiber of his being screaming at him to stay with his older brother and keep him safe. But there was no way he’d be able to prevent more evil if he didn’t leave. So, with guilt weighing down on his shoulders, Erwa bid goodbye to a smiling Da-ge before setting off deeper into the forest. He’d peaked around in Mihu Forest before, and the tallest cliff was in fact a 3-day journey. Erwa could only hope that nothing hindered his journey. 

He tries not to think about Da-ge too much on his journey, knowing the worry will just be fruitless. He couldn't let it deter him from this, wouldn’t let it take him back. It does get lonely, out on his own, when he was so used to the presence of his brothers with him. Back in the village, he at least was surrounded by other people. But now, truly, he was alone. 

Each step he takes is another step closer to the forest that Si-di and Qi-di get. But the two looked like they were getting frustrated, having journeyed for so long with no success. Erwa couldn’t help but take a small detour towards them. If this Qianji Laoren was soon to be a force to be reckoned with, he ought to at least warn them. Make sure they know he was an enemy. He wouldn’t reveal himself, not yet, because surely the two would follow him to the ends of the Earth, and no doubt would they follow him with his plan. He picks a leaf and uses his qi to burn shaky characters into the plant. 

The two were walking aimlessly through the edge of the forest, not yet within the fog. Erwa rushes in front of them to climb the trees. When they pass, he watches for the very moment Qi-di would pass. He drops the leaf. 

From the canopy, he watches Qi-di pick it off his head. There’s a split second where he’s about to toss it away before the writing catches his eye. “Head to Mihu Forest?” Qi-di whispers to himself, stopping in his tracks. “Si-ge! There’s words on here!”

Si-di stops and turns around, taking the handed leaf. Erwa sighs in relief as the message is delivered. He’d decided to drop the leaf on Qi-di’s head, knowing very well it had a higher chance of being spotted than if he’d dropped it onto Si-di. No doubt, Si-di would just flick it off the top of his head. 

Erwa kept a steady pace close to his brothers the longer they walked through the forest. Despite how much he initially believed he’d be fine like this, it twisted something sharp in his chest when he heard the sounds of their movement and chatter, or caught glimpses of their clothing, or even just the knowledge that they were right there. They were so, so close and it was Erwa of all things that was stopping himself from running to them. He had no one to blame but himself for putting himself through this dilemma, and that itself also drove the pain further. 

There was no denying that Erwa was very, very lonely. 

Just for a while longer. Just until it is safe.

Three days is a long time. 

He spends one of them actually traveling to the forest, the second to make sure Si-di and Qi-di are made aware to stay out of Qianji Laoren’s path, and the third one he climbs up the hill. Qianji Laoren, he’s seen, had come with his two disciples. Though, with the way they handled Erwa’s two brothers, there wasn’t much he could say to flatter them. It would take a genius to figure out why some esteemed immortal cultivator would take those two in as disciples. 

At the very least, he was confident in Si-di and Qi-di’s abilities to hold their own ground against any dangerous foes for now. But their lucky escape had only partly been due to Qianji Laoren’s underestimation of their powers, and was caught off guard in an unprepared environment. Had Qianji activated that pearl of his, Erwa had no idea how it would’ve turned out. Its abilities were still unbeknownst to him.

The clouds are grey, labouring around the sky heavily. Erwa cranes his neck to look at the sky and hears the slight rumble of changing weather. It’s going to rain soon. He puts his hand out and waits, testing for a droplet to come. He can’t see any, and he can’t feel any, but it’s undeniable that the water will begin to fall soon. 

The rain reminds him of Wu-di. 

“If you’re already here, why won’t you reveal yourself already?” comes the sudden, impatient snap. Erwa dropped his head down and stared at the faint silhouette of Qianji Laoren standing  at the edge of the cliff, back turned and expectant. He’d been able to sense he was nearby. 

Erwa coughed lightly as he walked forward, no longer hiding behind the mist. If Qianji was able to sense his presence, then there was no point. “Qianji Xiansheng is truly remarkable,” he says flatly, stopping just a few paces away from the other. “If that is the case, you surely have no mistake in my real identity.”

Qianji Laoren turns around then, his back hunched and eyes narrowed. His face had suffered the thousands of years he’d been alive, a crinkled lump of flesh. His voice was raspy as well, a rattly noise. His boney finger was absentmindedly stroking his long white beard, the hair flowing down so low it could almost reach his knees. “You, too, surely have quite the bold attitude. You speak so little and yet are quick to run away.” The clouds have begun to darken as Qianji Laoren raises a hand menacingly. “And yet you have still walked right into this trap.”

Erwa raised an eyebrow. “So you have decided to work with Jin Chidiao?”

Qianji Laoren’s eyes narrowed into slits. “Whatever association I have with him is my own personal business. Speak directly. What do you want?”

Erwa coughs again, briefly feeling concern cross over him because his throat was genuinely a little sore now — but ignores it. “You have lived for a thousand years, so naturally, you have a thousand years of experience. Why dirty your prestige with such muddy water? Your health is frail enough. Why not go home and rest instead?”

“For such a young kid,” Qianji Laoren says, “you’ve got quite the rude mouth. Your own health isn’t faring so well, either. And you have the nerve to speak of me?”

Erwa’s surprise shows from his raised eyebrows. But it wears off soon enough — he shouldn't expect less from a thousand year old master. Who knows what kinds of skills he hones? 

A rumble in the sky draws Erwa’s head up. He looked up at the blackened clouds as they swam closer together. “It’s going to rain soon,” he announces, blinking lazily. “I pray you can find cover for yourself.”

With cinematic timing, the first droplets begin to fall. Water hits Erwa’s head in slow, steady motions. Within a few seconds, the pitter patter grows into a harsher rain, until Erwa’s hair becomes drenched. He blinks water out of his eyelashes and wipes away rolling water, though it does nothing. The sky is dark. The rain reminds him of — 

With a flash of light, the rain around him pauses. Erwa blinks once more, staring at the refrozen water droplets for a few moments. Qianji Laoren held his hand up, almost nonchalant as he controlled the very weather around him. The rain continues its onslaught outside the still circle around the two, pounding and rumbling. “Qianji Xiansheng’s abilities know no bounds,” he comments. “Also, it’s unsafe to stand so high up during a heavy storm.”

“Quit it,” Qianji Laoren snaps. “You know of the business between Jin Chidiao and I, there’s no need to start walking around in circles. You know what I intend to be doing. And you’ve done the hard work for me already.”

“Oh, you’re supposed to capture me, right?” Erwa asks. He holds his hands up. “Go ahead. I’ll even struggle a little for the effects.”

He hears a quiet and confused, “Eh?” before silence follows. Erwa’s hands remain up and he tilts his head expectantly, trying not to laugh. In the distance, a flash of light shines across the sky. 

“You work for Jin Chidiao now,” he says, not making a move to drop his hands. “Jin Chidiao also wants qixindan. So your job now is to capture me and my brothers, right?”

”You want to be captured,” Qianji Laoren says, flat. 

Erwa coughs again. That’s probably going to be a problem, but that’s for future him to deal with. “Not at all,” he says as bluntly as he could, “but I doubt I could ever escape Xiansheng’s powerful grasp. I am merely making this easier for the both of us.”

Qianji Laoren studies him through slit eyes. “You have ulterior motives.”

“I only want to ensure my brothers’ safety,” Erwa says. “Why would I want to do anything else?”

It turns out that the two disciples of Qianji Laoren, the ones that Si-di and Qi-di fought, had latched onto Da-ge like a pair of parasites. Erwa was immensely displeased by this, a scowl on his face as he watched Da-ge pick apples for them. Da-ge shouldn’t be associated with those kinds of people. Erwa wishes he could whisk him away and point at Si-di and Qi-di and scream, “Those ones! Go with those ones instead!” 

But, he is going to have to stay with Qianji Laoren until he returns to Jin Chidiao’s lair. If he was going to get rid of that pearl, he ought to have it destroyed somewhere to damage the demons as well. Once defenses were weakened, if he could get Si-do and Qi-di…maybe even Da-ge…

Erwa sneezes.

Standing in the rain, however short it was, was not his best idea. The very next day, Erwa wakes up with a pounding headache, aching bones, and everything else awful about sickness. Coughing fits were making themselves too familiar, and despite how much he hacks dryly into his elbow, they don’t cease. So, along with his already annoying night fits and ripped up joints, he has to deal with the constant feeling of wanting to throw up. 

Da-ge seems to be doing…alright, thankfully. Erwa doesn’t have too much time to keep track of him, as he’s keeping his guard up around Qianji Laoren for now. With how unpredictable the powers of the pearl are, he couldn’t afford a moment of weakness to allow himself to be fully taken advantage of. Despite his willingness to follow Qianji Laoren around, there was still no obvious power shift between them. 

“Aren’t you getting tired of staring at me all the time?” Qianji Laoren suddenly saps, turning his head around with a huff. 

Erwa only grins placatingly. Staring was his best skill. “Xiansheng is incredibly smart. If I dare so much as blink, you might disappear from my sight. Besides, you seem to be constantly on the losing side. And my Da-ge has made two new…friends. It doesn’t seem improbable that you might do something about this.”

With yet another dignified huff, Qianji Laoren turned around with a quick flick of his jade green robes. “Laofu naturally has thoughts on this. But however hard you watch or listen, you won’t be able to understand such mystery.”

Erwa stares at his hunched back, scratchy white hair pooling like hair over the fabric. He clears his throat. “Xiansheng, be at rest. I will only watch, I won’t say anything.”

Erwa is getting tired of walking. 

He’s walked too much the past few days, and with this new sickness from the cold rain, he is even more exhausted. He’s sure his bones crack with every too-sudden twist or turn he makes. Sweat sticks his hair to his forehead, the sun managing to reach him even through the canopy of trees around them. He doesn’t have nearly enough spoons for this. He may never have enough spoons for this kind of adventure. 

With a raspy voice, he turns to Qianji Laoren and abruptly calls out, “What if —“

But Qianji Laoren was in the middle of his own words as well. Erwa waits for a moment, staring into the sunken eyes of the immortal master. But he drops the matter with a disgruntled sleeve flick. Erwa wipes sweat off his neck and continues, “If Xiansheng is tired, we could rest for a sichen or two.”

”Laofu’s body’s in damn good condition,” Qianji Laoren retorts, turning his back to him yet again. He tilts his head back as he continues to speak. “Xiao wawa, if you’re tired, then quit following me around.” 

In his head, Erwa proceeds to call Qianji Laoren a myriad of ugly names. Since the other didn’t seem to possess any mind-reading abilities, he moves on in silence. Begrudgingly — and holding back an obnoxious groan — Erwa trudges after him. Qianji Laoren had a walking cane for himself! Erwa thinks he ought to get himself one of those as well. He’s technically chronologically thousands of years older than this esteemed xiansheng! 

On they went — walking through the forest with a destination Erwa had no clue in on. Each step was heavy, invisible chains binding him to the core of the Earth. He tries not to fall too far behind, but there are moments where he has to stop against a tree and lean his head against the bark because the heat has caused nausea in his stomach to strengthen tenfold. 

The forest is a mix of different bushes, trees, and rocks. Every blade tickles against Erwa’s ankles as he feels the softness of the dirt below. The leaves rustle from each slight blow of the wind, shaking the view of the sky. There are many different types of trees — short and curved, large and skinny, bushy and straight. Erwa stares up at the giant glowing white light in the sky and wishes — very quietly — for someone to be here with him. 

Someone else ought to feel the sun’s rays, as well. 

The walk lasts for another sichen, before Qianji Laoren stops dead in the center of an open field. With the grace of a collapsing building, he sits on the grass. Erwa follows and drops down next to him, mimicking his position. 

Qianji Laoren leans back. Erwa lies on his back and closes his eyes. 

“Since you already know Hongwa’s location,” Qianji Laoren says, his breaths coming in labored pants, “then why haven’t you gone ahead and rescued him?”

Erwa opens his eyes lazily, swinging a leg around his other knee and tucking his hands under his head. “My Da-ge is strong, why would I need to rescue him? Besides, he has those two disciples of yours to help him out with anything he needs.”

Qianji Laoren scoffs out a laugh. “I’ll let them enjoy their time together first. Then I'll make sure to give them hell.”

Erwa closes his eyes again and hums. He hopes Da-ge will be alright without him.

When their energy is replenished, half an incense’ time later, Qianji Laoren gets up abruptly. Erwa had been lazing in the grass, happily listening to a bird’s song from a distance away. He thinks of the bird’s chirping outside the window of a hut, so many years ago, when his vision was still blurred. When he hears the rustle of Qianji Laoren standing up, Erwa follows suit with an easygoing hum. 

Only to be stopped dead, one foot still up to take a step, as Qianji Laoren whirls around and points at him accusingly. “I’m going over there. You stay here and wait.”

Erwa catches his footing hazardously and nods frantically. “En, en, en,” he says reassuringly, flapping his hand in a shooing gesture. Qianji Laoren eyes him suspiciously before turning around and marching off. Erwa watches his disappearing back for a moment, a hand tapping his mouth in thought. Would it be implausible that Qianji Laoren was wandering off for a lovely stroll without him? Perhaps even a bathroom break? Well, yes, Erwa had full belief that Qianji Laoren was doing none of those things. 

He waits until Qianji Laoren’s white hair and green robes disappear, then counts to ten. Once he’s done, he puts a hand above his eyebrows to block the sun and uses his powers to look off into the forest, ears open as well to hear any noises. By the time he locates him, Qianji Laoren seems to have already found the spot he was looking for. 

He was standing in front of a tree – what appears to be any regular tree, really. Qianji Laoren reaches into his flowy sleeves and pulls out three seeds, larger than average. He drops them next to the roots of the tree, the seeds sinking into the soil like it was nothing more than liquid. Then, he straightens his back and says, “I know you have qianliyan. Has no one ever taught you to stay out of other people’s business?”

Erwa is not displeased at having been caught – it would be even more strange for Qianji Laoren not to be able to sense his presence. Such things came with being an esteemed cultivator, after all. He grins to himself tilts his head when he sees Qianji Laoren turn around to the tree, his hand moving in fast, nimble strokes. Six characters are burned into the tree, but when Erwa looks closer, Qianji Laoren swipes his hand over them and they disappear in a blink. 

Hm. Rude. Erwa was only curious. But it’s fine – Qianji Laoren could keep his secrets. Erwa makes his way over to that area, making sure not to step too close to where the old master actually stood. He leans against the back of a tree, listening to the ants crawl up the bark. Then a thought occurs to him: could any of these trees be marked?

Erwa turns his head and faces the base of the tree. He puts a finger to the tree, infusing a little push of qi. To his delight, a dark purple mark appears where his finger was. Snickering to himself, he draws a rather crude image, stepping back to examine the work. He doesn’t know what Qianji Laoren did to make his own markings disappear like that, so this masterpiece of his will stay there forever. 

He ought to show Liu-di, sometime. He’d find it funny. 

Erwa returns to the meadow long before Qianji Laoren does. He had gone around dropping numerous more seeds into the floor, drawing characters into trees and searing them into nature. There’s an unspoken acknowledgement between the two of them, where Qianji Laoren is aware of Erwa’s watchful gaze and Erwa is aware that his spying wasn’t unknown. But when the old master returns, Erwa keeps his eyes closed and head facing the sky, the wind a whisper in his ear. 

While he waited, he checked up on Si-di and Qi-di. The two seemed to be in a rather heated game of chase — Qi-di was shrieking with delight and jumping from tree branch to tree branch as Si-di sprinted after him. Every once in a while, a puff of fire would escape, but before it could catch anything on fire, Qi-di sucks it in through Baohulu. There was no frustration in Si-di’s voice as he chased him, only mischievous fun. Erwa has half a mind to berate them for playing with fire in a forest of all places, but seeing and hearing their laughter was enough to render him silent. Besides, it’s not like he was there to scold them anyway. He was just… 

…by himself. 

Si-di and Qi-di have each other. Da-ge had his two companions. Erwa has sickness and nausea. He opens his eyes a sliver and stares at the clouds, so slow it seemed they weren’t moving at all. That brief moment of safety and comfort with Da-ge seemed so long ago, and Erwa thinks he may have taken the moment for granted. He should have relished in his brother’s presence more, because now with the absence, he’s colder than ever. The knowledge that he could’ve been with him now, if only he didn’t have to… 

But Erwa has to. If the ghost in the village was telling the truth, about Qianji Laoren’s pearl coming from Hulu Mountain, then he couldn’t take the risk of it falling into their enemies’ hands. Taking it and destroying it himself would be a path to take, but if Qianji Laoren was going to do him a favor and take such a powerful weapon into the demon’s lair anyways, Erwa might as well destroy it there. That way, they have a chance to get the upper hand, if Erwa plays his cards right. And it wouldn’t hurt to try tangling up the demon army from the inside. 

As long as he plays it safe. As long as he makes himself seem as valuable as possible. As long as he gives the eagle demon a reason to keep him alive — 

Erwa peaks over at Qianji Laoren. He was in a meditating position, eyes closed and breathing steady. No doubt, a power hungry demon king would want to get his hands on any powerful weapon there is. Anyone would. Qianji Laoren has no reason to give up his precious power, and as far as Erwa’s aware, the only reason he agreed to an assistance with the demons is because he wanted to keep himself alive. No other strings of loyalty were involved. 

He needs to build some tension. Something that would rise on the back of everyone’s shoulders until it reached the sky and snapped in half. And then, Erwa will take those broken pieces and use them to his advantage. 

He closes his eyes again. 

It takes a while, but eventually, Qianji Laoren speaks up. Erwa’s nausea has died down, as well as the ache in his feet, but the sickness has not lessened. The sky was still blue, but was approaching the time the sun would dip behind the trees. “Looks like your brother has walked right where I want him to. You wouldn’t need to wait long to see him.”

Erwa hums. “I’ve seen too many of the world’s mysteries already.” Opening his eyes, Erwa sits up fully and uses his powers to locate his brother easily. “Hopefully you’ll put on a good show for me.”

Da-ge was trudging through Mihu forest, arm linked with the disciple wearing blue robes. His eyes were squinted, focused on the road in front of him as the dense fog blurred their surroundings. The two disciples were babbling about how exciting it was to show their Dali-ge — Erwa grimaces in displeasure at the name — their powerful shifu’s magic. Da-ge replies no more than the few occasional “En, en”, too concentrated on the path. 

“Eh?” he hears Qianji Laoren mutter. “Why have those two idiots gone in as well? Ah — whatever. They can help beat him down for me.”

Instantly, Erwa finds out what he was talking about: walking into the fog were two demons he personally knew. Shejing and Xiezi-wang didn’t seem like they really knew what they were walking into, though they eyed the dense fog suspiciously. If the five of them bumped into each other, there would certainly be tons of commotion to be caused. And Si-di and Qi-di were close by enough that it wouldn’t take much for them to hear it. 

If things played out alright, the three of them would find each other. 

“I’m curious,” Erwa says, not taking his eyes off his Da-ge, “about the fog. It’s much denser than before. But they’re reacting weirdly to it. It’s not regular fog, is it?”

Qianji Laoren clicks his tongue. “You think they’re here just for a walk in the woods? Of course they’re not.”

“Hm.” Da-ge’s expression ranges from confused to frustrated to cautious. “They’re seeing something,” he concludes. “Something I can’t see.”

“You’re not in the fog with them, of course you can’t see.”

“And you’re controlling what they see?”

“You think Laofu would bother giving them specific illusions?” Qianji Laoren snaps. “The fog will do the work itself.”

Erwa finally tears his eyes away and faces Qianji Laoren. “But you control the fog, don’t you?” He pauses. “Qianji Xiansheng’s powers come from Tongling Zhu.”

Qianji Laoren’s eyes flash with surprise, then narrow once it's passed. Erwa only smiles. He stands and crosses his arms. “Looks like I guessed right. Who would have thought Xiansheng would possess such a powerful weapon? It truly astounds this one.”

“I don’t know what you’re spewing on about,” Qianji Laoren hisses, a hand coming down to press against the soil. He glares up at Erwa, tension rising in his shoulders. “I think you should be more concerned over your Da-ge’s safety.”

“Da-ge doesn’t need my help.” Erwa has full faith in his brother’s abilities. “Why are you dodging my question? There’s no need to lie. I already know.” 

“There is no record of this pearl in existence,” Qianji Laoren says, his long bony fingers tensing against the ground. Power seemed to radiate off his shoulders in waves, a show of mere strength and potential. “It is impossible for you to know of it.”

“I’ve told you,” Erwa says leisurely, “I’ve seen too much of this world’s mysteries.”

Qianji Laoren lifted his hand up, and where his palm was once empty, appeared a glowing white pearl. Millions of colors reflected off the smooth surface of the orb, changing with each slight tilt. Erwa makes sure his face remains passive as he eyed the pearl, his posture relaxed and still. Qianji Laoren draws his hand closer to himself, his other hand coming to cup around it. “You speak so smart,” he observes, “but I don’t think you truly understand half of what you’re saying. It’s all for show, isn’t it?” 

There’s an obvious shift when he says these. Erwa’s mind is racing a hundred miles to keep up, a constant shield. His hands come back down to his sides and waits. He stays silent, providing no ammunition to be used against him. It may not be the best response, but anything he says ultimately wouldn’t subdue the growing tension. 

Qianji Laoren doesn’t think so. He takes the silence as submission, and perhaps it makes something click in his mind. He raises his hand up, lined up to the middle of his eyes. They sharpen like a fox right as it catches sight of its prey. 

In the next moment, before Erwa could make his own move, a blast of energy sparks from the pearl and shoots his way. Unwillingly, he watches the energy conjure, but remains a victim to the sands of time. Blazing white pain sends him flying into a tree behind him, wind lapping around his face. Erwa smacks against the wood, a cough of blood waiting to be spat out. He falls to the floor immediately, creating only a slight thud even after being hit with such intense power. 

Whatever sickness that was weighing down on him was pinning him to the floor, adding the weight of an army upon his bones. Erwa tastes blood as it dribbles out of his mouth, flicking his eyes up to glare at Qianji Laoren. 

What he meets is neither disdain or annoyance, but rather curiosity. “Strange,” Qianji Laoren murmurs, perhaps only to himself. “It’s like the energy is being absorbed…disappearing. Even I can’t see it anymore.” Slowly, mindful of his body, the old master stands. “Wazi, tell me, how does your qi feel? Disrupted?”

Erwa coughs weakly and wishes he didn’t stand in the cold fucking rain like an idiot. Straining, he pushes himself into a seated position, back against the trunk of the tree. “Xiansheng, I’m afraid you ask too much of me.” He clears his throat and swipes a tongue over the corner of his mouth, where the little bit of blood still stained his lips. “Truly, Tongling Zhu is not a force to be reckoned with.”

”Let me tell you something,” Qianji Laoren says, walking closer until he was just a singular step away from Erwa’s feet. “I’m familiar with being able to see many things, as well. One of these is the flow of qi within another being — however small they may be. The little bits of qi that flow through living plants. The over abundance of qi in this pearl.” He peers down at Erwa. “And you, Er-wazi, I can see yours as well. You don’t react to the qi of this pearl as others do. You take it in.”

“I literally do not know what you are talking about,” Erwa says. 

“What Laofu is trying to say—“ Another zap of the pearl rips a scream out of Erwa as a million needles pierce his skin, “—is that you—“ Erwa falls onto his elbows as his body jolts, as though electrocuted, “—take in the qi of this pearl.” Qianji Laoren emphasizes each segment of his sentence with another blast of energy, and it fucking hurts like hell. “You are a vessel. Your body is just like this pearl, able to contain the qi.” 

Qianji Laoren pauses, and the attacks halt as well. Even with the absence, Erwa isn’t able to pick his head up. He can feel that abundance of energy now, the intrusion of something foreign and alien that is rooted around in his veins. The nausea returned, but at a level Erwa didn't think was possible. The world spins, returns, spins some more, and Erwa stands at the very center, rooted to the ground. Too much swirls around him. Too much was pushing against the muscles in his body, demanding to be released. Too much of everything.

“You didn’t think this through, did you?” Qianji Laoren muses. “You think I would show mercy if you give yourself up willingly? Fool. You’re powerless. And your precious gege will follow soon.”

Gege. 

A lot of sounds are able to trickle into Erwa’s ears, sometimes without him meaning to. Sometimes it’s harder to control than his qianliyan, where he would have to activate it to truly focus on things he could not see. But little things only need to catch a piece of his attention before shunfenger tunes into the noise. The scratch of a leaf against another. The crunch of an animal’s footsteps. The whistle of a bird. Running water from a place Erwa did not know of. A tea kettle from a home Erwa never saw. Chatter from a family Erwa could not see. 

Gege.

He hears Da-ge’s voice, even as millions of trees separate them. It’s faint, quiet mumbling at first, and a part of him perks up despite the pain. He knows his brother’s voice, could pick it out from an orchestra of others’ in a heartbeat. 

“No…no, I didn’t…but…” Erwa cannot find the strength in him to look, but he hears the words as though through a hurricane. “I… I’m… no, no, no, no I – Yeye?” There’s a whimper, then Da-ge’s voice suddenly plunges into agitation. “I can’t – I can’t get out – no, no, where’s it – where’s it coming from –? I can’t – I can’t move, no, no, no please – Yeye, Yeye –”

Erwa manages to sit back up again, flopping bonessly against the tree once more. The sun has lowered to the point where he can look up at Qianji Laoren and not be blinded by the light. In his daze, he thinks the clouds around him resemble that of a nine-tailed fox’s tails. But he dismisses the thought when his body suddenly shudders, the overfilling amount of qi ripping a spasm out of him. Yet even through the fog of pain, Erwa wishes he had stayed with Da-ge – that maybe he could be able to help relieve him of the illusions he may be seeing. 

His eyes droop, no matter how hard he fights it. Logically, Erwa tries to reassure himself that he wouldn’t die, that there was no point in killing him if Qianji Laoren’s job was to deliver him to Jin Chidiao. But who knows what such a sudden burst of added energy would do to him? Qianji Loaren had said so himself, that his body reacted to the qi differently. If that was a good or bad thing, he couldn’t be sure. 

“I don’t – no, no, where am…how did…I can’t get out I –...” For a few terrifying seconds, Da-ge’s voice fades away. Erwa feels a brief moment of panic, terrified of the idea that silence meant Da-ge was gone. That he would be alone and Qianji Laoren would stare down at him in contempt. But then he hears it, whispered in a breath of wind. 

“Didi?”

Erwa couldn’t contain a soft gasp, a new kind of excitement replacing the prior panic. “Gege, you remembered –” He cuts off as another spasm overtakes his body, but it doesn’t do much to stifle his joy. Qianji Laoren clicks his tongue in annoyance, looking down at the pearl. He seems to turn away from Erwa now, returning to controlling the fog and its illusions. 

Erwa inches his way up on his feet, using the tree as support. Da-ge has seen enough illusions. He doesn’t need to see things that weren’t there anymore, especially when they only dug up memories best to be kept away. Qianji Laoren spun the pearl in his hands for a moment, frown ticking the corner of his mouth. Qi still thrummed perilously through his body, and –

Erwa pauses. Qi? He had a theory that Tongling Zhu was made up of the leftover Yin energy of Hulu Mountain. The seed of which they grew was of Yang energy, and the two would always need a balance to remain stable. That could possibly explain why the two of them reacted in such a way. 

But qi, however sourced by Yang energy, was qi nonetheless. 

Erwa looked down at his hands, where his veins lay hidden inside his wrists. With sudden fervor, he feels the presence of the pearl’s qi as something. Foreign, yes, but still his own. It had latched onto the energy in him and only served to amplify it. He could not handle so much energy in him at once, but if he were to expel it – 

Damnit, please work, is the only prayer Erwa sends to who-fucking-knows, before he clears his throat and straightens his back. Qianji Laoren hears the ever-quiet noise like a predator stalking prey. His eyes flick over. 

“Many thanks to Qianji Xiansheng for helping Da-ge recover his memories,” Erwa says, closing his eyes and beginning to gather up all his energy into one condensed spot. He tries to tune out all other noises around him, needing all the concentration and focus he could muster. He grasps onto the Yin-infused qi almost like boiling water, yanking forcefully to get it to cooperate. It had been the reason Qianji Laoren was able to create such illusions, so Erwa could only hope he could reverse its effects and shatter them instead. 

“Wawa, what are you doing –?” Qianji Laoren’s voice is loud, but Erwa turns away from it as well. He needs this to work. For once, he needs to not be so fucking useless and sit back while his brothers took on all the fighting for themselves. For once, he wishes to do more than just watch, just listen. Idiot, come on!

He needs to –

Shatter all illusions. 

Erwa is a conductor of static currents. He has had the shockwaves of energy stabbed into him, where they nestled in swarms. He’s driven all the power in him into a corner and forced it to obey his beckoning. Even still, the qi pierces his body with each brush of contact it makes. Only this time, it is all at once. With one last shove, Erwa sends qi flying out, crying out as they come in the form of lightning, striking every patch of skin. He digs his fingers into his palm to ground himself to the floor, shuddering with tased spasms, but he cannot stop. 

Shatter all illusions. Shatter all illusions. Shatter all illusions. 

He closes his eyes. Damnit, this hurts so bad. 

Erwa crashes to the floor and digs up dirt. The pain of contact is not nearly as bad as the fucking exhaustion he’s feeling right now. Is this what it means to be hollowed out from the inside? Because Erwa certainly feels very hollowed out right now. Whatever muscle and organs and bones made up his body had been scooped up and dumped out, forgotten. Dirt and dust gets into his mouth, ripping a choked cough out of him. Each cough brings only another stabbing pain to his lungs, in turn stinging his throat, which then goes to his chest and goddamnit whatever, everything hurts. 

Qianji Laoren had taken some damage upon the blast, and he trudges forward with gravelly breathing. “Who knew,” he croaks, “you would have such an ability to destroy illusions.”

Everything is too bright, even though it was just about heading into night, because Erwa says it’s too damn bright and he’s not taking criticism at the moment. “Guilty as charged. But, I suppose it is only a mystery how I would react upon facing Xiansheng’s prized pearl,” he rasps, then tentatively sits up. Fuck, that hurt as well. Erwa can probably expect many things to continue to hurt excruciatingly for the next few days. 

“I truly have underestimated you,” Qianji Laoren muses, a hitch of hostility in his voice. Erwa tenses. “Interesting, interesting.”

“Much obliged,” Erwa replies. Sweat was beading down his head, a slight yet uncomfortable pressure. “Now that they’ve regained their senses, there’s no telling what’ll happen.” 

Trepidation bleeds into his voice, splitting apart to reveal a bit of truth. Erwa really couldn’t predict what the outcome of this battle would be. Da-ge would be up against two demons — could he even count those two disciples as extra help? — but they had been severely weakened since their first encounter with each other. Would Si-di and Qi-di be able to hear the commotion from where they were? He could only hold his breath. 

Qianji Laoren clicks his tongue. “Tch. I’d suggest you be good and worry more about yourself.” It was a blatant warning hidden behind innocent words, but Erwa hears it nonetheless. Qianji Laoren gingerly sits back down, dropping his robes neatly in front of him. “But, now that Hongwa has recovered his memories, it would be even harder to capture him. I could use those two to my advantage, as well…”

It was an olive branch, a silent offered truce. Qianji Laoren would not attack Erwa again, and in exchange for that, Erwa would stay compliant. Scoffing, Erwa dutifully leaned his back against the trees. As if he could muster up the energy to do anything, after what essentially felt like a self-detonation. Did his theory uphold itself, then? If the Tongling Zhu truly was condensed entirely by spiritual energy, then of course an addition of more energy would enhance it. Erwa’s body was weak enough already, so it was only a short amount of time before he couldn't handle it anymore. 

And the pearl itself was made to sustain energy. Such a relationship could also be switched. If Erwa sent it energy instead…

Ah— A loud boom rattles the trees. Erwa slams a hand on the ground as the ground shakes slightly. No time to think about that, now. Quickly, he checks up on Da-ge, sifting through the forest urgently and anticipating a battle. 

Unfortunately, he’s not wrong. Now that Da-ge has regained his memories, familiarity and confidence is returned to his body. A sword slices through the air, a whistling sound cutting through the blockade of trees. Da-ge flips through the air a few paces back, jumping behind a tree and giving it a hard kick. The tree comes toppling down, slamming against the floor just in time to block the sword’s path. Erwa’s head was starting to hurt once more, but he shoulders past it in order to keep an eye on the fight. 

The two disciples — Erwa briefly considered actually learning their names, but then realized he couldn’t care less — attempted to join in on the fight, but their method was truly questionable. The red disciple shouted something before launching his spear (was the spearhead fucking broke?) at Xiezi-jing’s (not much of a wang anymore, are you?) back. But of course, due to the fact that the idiot tried to toss a snapped spearhead at the hard shell of a scorpion demon, it didn’t work too well. 

Xiezi-jing grunted and spun around, catching sight of the discarded spear immediately before locking eyes with the two disciples. Da-ge jumps out of the way of another one of Shejing’s lunges, snapping his head over when Xiezi-jing begins to charge at the two. “You two! Stay out of the way!” he shouts, voice slightly hoarse. 

The moment of distraction allowed Shejing to land a hit on his face, but only slightly as Da-ge dropped to a roll before she could properly slice him. Erwa’s heart leaps into his fucking throat when Da-ge stands back up and wipes away a small dribble of blood on his left cheek. Damn those two disciples — if they hadn’t distracted Da-ge, then he wouldn’t have —

Erwa shakes his head to clear away those thoughts. Focus on Da-ge. There’s no use dwelling on the past. Shejing uses her sword to deflect a rock hurled her way, which explodes into a pile of pebbles. Da-ge suddenly grows, his head taller than the trees and just a hair’s width away from the clouds. Shejing’s already pale face blanches, but she raises her sword and shrills, “Lao niang gen ni pin le!”

But just as the words leave her mouth, inky black vines rise from the soil. They shoot up and wrap around Da-ge’s arms and legs, surpassing both him and Shejing. More and more appear, slithering around his torso and eventually up to his neck. Da-ge grunts as he attempts to yank free, but the vines hold steadily. Erwa looks away once he hears Qianji Laoren’s chuckles. His arm was outstretched, a white prism of energy around his body. “This time, let’s see what tricks you have up your sleeve.”

“No need for me to interfere,” Erwa says confidently, returning to watching his brother. “Da-ge will know what to do.”

Indeed, Da-ge had already solved the problem. He returns back to his original size, hopping down to the floor from the loosened vines. Erwa has to hold back a prideful — and maybe a little shit-eating, to be honest — laugh. The two disciples rush up to him in delight, crying out about Qianji Laoren’s presence. No doubt, they had been able to sense his magic after learning under him as their shifu. 

Da-ge entertains their worry for only a split second before he’s back to focus. “Shejing, it’s best if you surrender now, you’ve obviously lost most of your power. Otherwise, don’t blame me for anything I might do.” 

Shejing slyly reappears from behind a tree. “Aiyo, who would have thought you remembered so quickly. But I certainly don’t remember you having such a big mouth.” 

Da-ge glared at her. “Back then, we’ve trapped you under the mountain for so many years for all the evil you have done. Not only have you managed to escape, but you still haven’t learned to repent!”

Sheijng’s face hardened with annoyance. “Really, you’re bringing up such an old and irrelevant matter. Why don’t we put those to the side —“ she prepares her sword — “and settle new scores!?”

In a flash of light, Shejing’s sword is just above Da-ge chin. He had ducked just in time, but even Erwa had held his breath upon seeing it. In the next moment, Shejing disappears once more, as though blending in with the forest. Da-ge eyes dart from side to side, tensing in anticipation for another attack. 

From behind, Shejing reappears again, sword behind her back. “Although most of my power has gone, it’s still enough to deal with you!” 

Da-ge turns around and dives to the side when Shejing’s sword gets too close once more. Dust kicks up as Da-ge spins up around, searching fruitlessly for Shejing’s form. The two disciples run up behind him, the blue one supporting Da-ge’s shoulders as he stands back up. “Where did she go!?” he yelps. 

“I don’t know,” Da-ge mutters, eyes still searching the trees, “but the two of you need to hide. I won’t be able to —“ 

A wave of blue qi whips across and hits the blue disciple, sending him flying across the floor. The red disciple cries out in shock as Da-ge grits his teeth, anger barely held in. “Shejing, show yourself! What’s so good about shooting someone behind their back!?”

It’s another useless shout, as a new wave attacks the red disciple at Da-ge’s side. She knows his weakness, Erwa thinks, biting his lip. She’s attacking the people Da-ge cares about. Da-ge loses stability of himself when the people he cares about are hurt, and that kind of protectiveness can make him too hot headed. Erwa had no way of reaching him on his own, to provide some aid. Damnit, if only those two hadn’t —

“No use being so impatient,” Qianji Laoren’s voice says, breaking his concentration. Erwa stands, steadying himself with the tree. “You and I both already know the outcome of this fight. Why hold your breath?”

Okay, he stood up too fast — yeah, no no no, this was horrible. A million black dots swim in Erwa’s vision and he almost topples over with how unsteady his legs feel. Coughing, he tries to level his voice and say, “I’d say you’re getting ahead of yourself.” 

He decides to find Si-di and Qi-di next, just as another boom shakes the forest. At the same time, he sees Qi-di yelp and jump at Si-di, wrapping his arms around him in fear. Si-di is immediately caught off guard, hands coming up to steady Qi-di even when he himself almost trips over his own feet. “What in the world was that!?” Si-di yelps, gently patting Qi-di’s head. “What’s up with this stupid forest and its stupid — stupidness!?”

Qi-di peels his face away from Si-di’s chest, his face shining even though it was shrouded with terror just a second ago. “Do you think it could be the other gege’s?”

“Um, maybe—?” Is all Si-di manages to get out before Qi-di suddenly grabs his arm and pulls him towards the direction of the fight. 

Erwa shakes his head fondly as he looks away. Qi-di, the little guai haizi, always ready to save the day. 

However, Da-ge isn’t faring too well, when Erwa turns his attention back to him. Both of the disciples had suffered injuries from Shejing’s attack, and Da-ge was in the middle of desperately and messily wrapping some bandages around the wounds. Shejing was standing off to the side, observing his struggle with a calculating expression. Why she hadn’t attacked yet, Erwa wouldn’t know, but his only guess was that she was still deciding how to approach Da-ge now that she’d gotten rid of those two other factors. Had she still had the powers from so many years ago, there would be no doubt she would strike already. But she is only a singular force amongst thousands of others, kicked off the throne in place of another. 

Da-ge must have sensed her presence behind him, because he suddenly springs up and whirls around, fists raised. “You— you!”

“Me, me,” Shejing mocks in turn, sliding a bit closer. Her sword was poised behind her still. “I think it’s amusing, really, that you care so much about those two imbeciles. Have you forgotten the brothers you actually have? Or were they just a replacement for what you don’t have?”

Da-ge flies at her, but Shejing dodges out of the way. “Don’t talk about my brothers! You don’t know anything!” He’s not the best suited to fight against her, even with his powers. He is not invincible, like San-di. If he had a weapon of his own, he would have the advantage. “What about your sister? I remember quite vividly she had tried to avenge you, and all this time you were just hiding away?”

“Meimei was always trying to be at the top,” Shejing says easily, pointing her sword. “She had too much ambition for her own good. But she was never good enough. She was never better than me. Sister dearest was bound to disappear, anyways. No one knows what happened to her, and I never bothered to check.”

Xiao Jingang, Xiao Jingang, Xiao Jingang, Erwa repeats in his head, silent. Shejing must know what she was doing, what she was saying. Da-ge would never feel that way towards his siblings, the way she does. And the indignation would only worsen his tunnel-vision. He was a fish eyeing the hook, lured by the shine of the metal. 

But as Da-ge opens his mouth to argue, Shejing disappears from sight. As soon as she was gone, she returned, only this time high in the sky. With a slash, she points her sword at Da-ge below, and an array of identical swords fly at him. Gasping, Da-ge avoids them to the beat of his abilities, but a few manage to nick him around the shoulders or legs. His clothing is torn by the blades, beaded blood and sweat coating the fabric. Erwa watches each with eagle-like precision, and each that manages to hurt his brother don’t go noticed by him. 

The swords were a distraction for him, it turns out, because as soon as the last disappears into the ground, Erwa suddenly realizes the ground below Da-ge had changed. Muddy, bubbling, and thick quicksand had formed, almost alive in the way it climbed up Da-ge’s ankles. 

“What the —“ Da-ge looks down with a pale face, eyes wide. “How did — no, I —!”

Shit, shit, shit, oh fuck, no, fuck, shit! Da-ge was quickly sinking below, and no matter how hard he tried to yank himself out, it only served to pull him down more. Shejing’s face was surprised as well, but as she came closer to the edge, it turned to delight. “I wonder which god looks up to me so much to send me such a lovely gift!” 

“Bite me!” Da-ge hisses, arms raised awkwardly as he continued trying to pull himself up. 

From far behind, the blue disciple stands up with a groan. He uses his sword as support, digging it into the ground. “What’s.. what’s happened?” In an instant, his eyes take in the situation, and they fill with tears. “Gege? Dali-ge!?” 

“Da tou!” Da-ge shouts in distress. 

Shejing looks over in annoyance. “Quit crying, why don’t you take the chance to properly say goodbye to your gege—!?”

A blast of fire sends Shejing jumping back, deflecting it with her sword. Si-di jumps down from the trees above, landing with a roll and standing. From behind him, Qi-di enters as well, though with much less dramatic flair. “Da-ge, we’re here!” he chirps, then glares when he spots Shejing. “Not you again!”

“Si-di, Qi-di!” Da-ge cries out, sharing Erwa’s delight and waving his arms. 

Shejing narrows her eyes at them, lowering her sword. She was certainly outmatched now, especially when her demon partner was out like a light…somewhere. Erwa hadn’t been paying attention to him since he saw him get knocked out easily by a flying tree. “Are the whole lot of you going to bully a poor weak woman like me?”

“En!” Qi-di replies cheerfully, then raises Baohulu at Da-ge. With precise control — although a bit shakily — he raises him above the quicksand and drops him off on the safe ground next to it. Immediately, Si-di rushes to him in concern, while Qi-di smugly makes a mocking face at her. “Hehe, bet you’re super mad!”

Erwa deems it safe enough to leave them be (when did Qi-di get so goody-goody about himself?) and turns away from them. He faces Qianji Laoren instead and crosses his arms. “Looks like you haven't succeeded, hm?”

But whatever he was expecting in response was not the raspy laugh he received. “You really think my powers are all just for show? Since everyone is present now, might as well show you what I’m really capable of!” As he says this, Qianji Laoren raises his hand and digs it into the ground, cracks forming where his fingers were. Each crack breaks further and further, shaking the ground and all it supported. 

“You —?” Erwa stumbles as the ground splits below his feet, and he slams against the trees for support. Immediately, he uses qianliyan to find his brothers again, and finds the cracks have reached them already. 

And, in the very center where the cracks open a path for, is a goddamn tornado. 

Trees, rocks and bushes are picked up by the wind and spun around. The quakes don’t stop, making it hard to run away. Erwa’s stomach drops when he hears a familiar scream, and searches around until he sees Qi-di suddenly disappear into the swirling wind. The two disciples, along with Xiezi-jing, are pulled in as well. It was an unnatural, unstopping force, tearing apart the forest. The shrieks of the winds were a piercing pain in Erwa’s ears, even from so far away he could hear it like it was inside him. Dust billowed over the trees, coating the forest in brown. 

Da-ge and Si-di manage to avoid being swept up by it as well, but they’re only inching away. “Da-ge, what do we do!?” Si-di shouts, barely loud enough. Rocks were flying around, scratching their skin but not enough to draw blood.  “Qi-di’s in there! Where the hell did it even come from!?”

“I don’t know!” Da-ge screams back. “But we need to get rid of it!”

Heart racing, Erwa turns back to his current location. Qianji Laoren had relaxed his hand and laid it over the broken ground, waves of qi flowing into the cracks. Sweat was beginning to douse Erwa’s head, this time more from stress than anything. Demons they could deal with, of course, but who has ever got into a fight with a tornado and won? He taps his finger against his skin restlessly, arms still wrapped tightly around his body.

“Who would have thought I could capture three Huluwa at once?” Qianji Laoren muses, peeking a slit eye at him and making an exaggerated noise of surprise. “Oh no, I should count you as four.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Erwa snaps. 

Amusement shined in Qianji Laoren’s eyes. “Are you beginning to worry?” 

“My mind is at peace,” he lies easily, despite the fact his mind was on fire and screaming and running around in a panic, “but with the circumstances now, it seems it’s up to Da-ge and Si-di to solve the problem.” Even I don’t know what to do…

When Erwa activates his powers once more, he arrives just in time to see Da-ge launch Si-di into the air.

I CAN’T FUCKING LEAVE THOSE TWO ALONE, CAN I?? Erwa screams in his head. 

A plume of fire circles the tornado, wrapping around the swirling winds like ribbons. Once Erwa gets a hold of him, he’s going to lecture the two very carefully about the dangers of throwing fire into an active volcano. It turns it into a fire tornado! Shouldn’t it be basic common sense not to mix tornadoes and fire together? Si-di, just because you have fire, does not mean you should be using it at any chance you get!

“Oh no, no –” Qianji Laoren curses, as a sudden wave of qi backlashes from the cracks below. “It’s over!”

Erwa looks at him and scratches the back of his head. “You’re alright, I’m still here –”

The ground suddenly erupts below his feet, sending Erwa flying through the trees.