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The sun was barely starting to appear over the mountain range when the cultivators, led by Nie Mingjue, landed in a small village in the north of Qinghe. The survivors had already evacuated, so the streets were empty except for the fire and the debris. The traces of blood and the body parts scattered on the ground didn’t offer a clear direction as to where to find the monster that had attacked the village, so they would have to resort to other means to find their prey.
Even before they jumped down their swords, Nie Mingjue started giving orders.
“You two, put out the fire! You, find anyone who could have stayed behind and take them to the others. Everyone else, with me! We’re looking for that creature!”
After a chorus of, “Yes, Sect Leader!” everyone got to work.
Nie Mingjue knew he could trust them to follow his instructions, so he focused on his task. First, he knelt beside a pile of discarded limbs to examine them.
“No fierce corpses, then,” Lan Xichen mumbled next to him, pointing at the wounds.
The bites on the victims seemed to have been done by human-like teeth, but the marks were much too big.
“No fierce corpses,” Nie Mingjue confirmed, standing back up.
“Good. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with more of those right now,” Lan Xichen said.
Nie Mingjue had to agree with that. He also didn’t comment on the tone Lan Xichen had used.
He was the only non-Nie present for this hunt and Nie Mingjue wouldn’t have had it any other way. Lan Xichen was more than just his guest and one of his sworn brothers. If Nie Mingjue had to choose just one person to stand with him on a battlefield, that would be him, and if he could find a way to get rid of that heavy weight Lan Xichen carried in his heart…
“Da-ge! There!” Lan Xichen called, looking to their right.
Very well, one thing at a time.
Nie Mingjue turned to where Lan Xichen was looking, and he got to see the creature they were after.
Humanoid in shape and taller than a house, it looked like a walking skeleton wrapped in an almost transparent layer of greenish-yellow skin. Random patches of brown hair covered its head. It held a human hand with its lips, and the sickening, wet noises the creature made while sucking on it reached the cultivators’ ears.
One moment later, the creature noticed their presence and the vacant look abandoned its eyes. It howled as it ran toward the new arrivals believing them to be an easy breakfast, just like the rest of the poor villagers caught by surprise during the night.
With a scowl, Nie Mingjue raised Baxia and got ready to meet his enemy where he stood. However, Lan Xichen’s sword found the beast’s flesh first when its owner jumped over Nie Mingjue’s head. The deep cut Shuoyue made released a thick, green ooze that seeped down the creature’s shoulder.
As it happened, it was difficult to say who had yelled harder, the beast or the cultivator.
As of late, Lan Xichen carried within him a lot of pent-up frustration, and annihilating large prey offered an appropriate outlet. No matter how hard he and Nie Mingjue sparred during Lan Xichen’s visits to the Unclean Realm, it didn’t seem to be enough.
Nie Mingjue raised his arm to have his disciples stand down and sent them to help the villagers. Lan Xichen would be able to subdue this monster on his own, and he deserved to do so. As for him, he stayed behind to keep an eye on things.
After planting his feet on the ground and folding his arms, Nie Mingjue let his eyes follow Lan Xichen’s movements. Always flawless, always elegant despite the undercurrent of fury driving them.
Nie Mingjue was one of the few people not from the Lan clan who knew the truth behind Lan Wangji’s seclusion, and the whole affair had given him a lot to think about.
What would he have done if his little brother ever earned such a severe punishment? Fortunately, Nie Huaisang was a gentle soul incapable of hurting anyone. Yet, would Nie Mingjue have been able to stand on the side while his brother was flogged so many times? While he heard his cries again and again…?
Lan Xichen said that Lan Wangji hadn’t cried either for mercy or out of pain, but Nie Huaisang would—and, at his first whimper, Nie Mingjue would have thrown him over his shoulder to take him away, damn the consequences.
Despite how much they loved one another, the Lan Jades would have never considered such a thing. Even if Lan Xichen had tried, Lan Wangji would have refused. Thus, unable to spare his brother, Lan Xichen took a page from Nie Mingjue’s book and turned his anger toward a fight with a big monster.
Even so, he was not cruel. He was only efficient. A few strikes from his sword and the creature fell face-first in the middle of the street. Through the cloud of dust lifted with the impact, Nie Mingjue saw its fingers twitching for the last time and celebrated inwardly. No more human bones would be crunched by its teeth and no more human limbs would be torn by its hands.
The menace had been contained.
Lan Xichen landed only a few steps from Nie Mingjue and shook Zhuoyue to clean the green blood before sheathing it again. That done, he turned to Nie Mingjue. His usual, placid smile was back on his face.
However, before Nie Mingjue could congratulate his sworn brother for his kill, a blood-curdling scream came from down the street.
“My son! What have you done to my son!”
An old woman dressed in extravagant clothes and wrapped in a dark red cloak came running as fast as her limp allowed her.
Thinking she would be the mother of one of the victims, both Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen took a step forward to try to offer some comfort. Yet, they stopped in their tracks when she fell on her knees next to the creature’s head to cradle it on her lap.
“Oh, my child. My sweet, sweet child,” she murmured, caressing the creature’s face, not caring about her hand getting covered in a viscous mix of the creature’s blood and drool. Then, she looked up and stared at Lan Xichen with furious eyes exuding resentment. “It was you! You did this!” She pointed at him with one of her sullied fingers. “I curse you! You hear me? I curse you with all my might!”
As she yelled the last word, a cold mist rose from the ground, covering the entire street. When her yelling stopped, the mist lifted, revealing that the old woman and the creature were now gone.
But so was Lan Xichen.
“Xichen!” Nie Mingjue yelled, turning in all directions. “Xichen! Where are you?”
“Here,” answered a—a voice.
A child’s voice.
Nie Mingjue looked down to find a set of pristine Lan robes piled around a confused child no older than eight years old. This boy did his best to cover himself with the too-large clothes, holding them together at the front while also adjusting the white headband on his head. He looked more curious than scared, even when he noticed the tall and bulky cultivator towering over him.
“Xichen?” Nie Mingjue repeated, eyes opened as wide as they would go. “Lan Xichen?”
The boy straightened his back, smiled, and bowed respectfully.
“Yes, sir, that’s me. Excuse me, have we met?”
The question stung a little. Of course, it wasn’t Lan Xichen’s fault to be on the receiving end of an elaborate curse, but it hurt not being remembered. Still, Nie Mingjue tried to keep his emotions out of his face and focus on the problem at hand.
He had never heard of this kind of curse and therefore he had no idea of where to start breaking it, other than by finding the old woman. Then again, he wasn’t a scholar and the woman had just vanished without a trace. Right now, he had to set his priorities straight and ensure the child’s safety.
In any case, the Unclean Realm was closer than the Cloud Recesses. He would start by taking young Xichen there and then send a message to Lan Qiren—but if and only if the Nie scholars came up with nothing.
“Young Master Lan,” he said. “My name is Nie Mingjue. You are in Qinghe. I can’t explain how you got here, but I offer you our hospitality while we sort things out.”
Even though he looked confused, young Lan Xichen wasn’t afraid. He recognized the Nie Sect as an ally of his, so he nodded.
“Does my uncle know I’m here?”
“He does.”
And he did, which was good because Nie Mingjue didn’t want to start telling lies to a child. Lan Qiren had always been aware of Lan Xichen’s comings and goings to the Unclean Realm. He might not know about his nephew and Sect Leader Nie’s various activities, but that was another matter altogether.
Nie Mingjue picked up Zhuoyue from Lan Xichen’s feet and stared at it.
“Do you know how to fly on a sword?”
“Not yet,” Lan Xichen replied, and then he added, with his voice full of well-deserved pride, “Uncle says I can start learning later this year!”
Nie Mingjue smiled despite himself.
“I just know you’ll be great at it,” he said in another statement that was not a lie. “However, that means I’ll have to carry you with me on my sword. I hope that’s not a problem.”
“That’s fine,” Lan Xichen said.
Nie Mingjue then placed Zhuoyue and Liebing on his back and waistband respectively before facing the problem of Lan Xichen and his much-too-large robes.
He let Baxia hovering next to him. Then, he picked up the boy and wrapped the robes around him like one would with a dumpling. Having never made dumplings, he could only figure that the process would be similar. Finally, he jumped on his saber.
Lan Xichen, meanwhile, accepted his dumpling fate on the crook of Nie Mingjue’s arm, quiet and polite. Fighting the urge to pinch his cheeks, Nie Mingjue commanded Baxia forward and up.
On their way, though, Nie Mingjue stopped to tell the disciples that the threat had been neutralized and that they should remain there, focused on helping the survivors. Then, he described the old woman.
“If you see her, follow her at a distance and, when you find her lair, come to tell me about it. Do not confront her on your own. Is that clear?”
Only after the disciples agreed to his instructions, he resumed his way back home. From time to time, Lan Xichen’s face peeked from under the robe, grinning like the careless little thing he now was.
Just like he had lost his memories of Nie Mingjue, Lan Xichen was also unable to remember the sad events from the past few years. So, this curse had given him a little bit of a respite in that sense, huh?
As they traveled, Nie Mingjue couldn’t resist and began naming the different locations they flew over. Paying utmost attention, Lan Xichen absorbed Nie Mingjue’s words and nodded from time to time, gasping whenever a piece of information qualified as impressive.
He was just too cute.
When they landed at their destination, Nie Mingjue made sure his tiny guest would get new robes in his current size. Once the boy was in the hands of trusted servants, Nie Mingjue had a closed-door reunion with a handful of select scholars to whom he disclosed the events from earlier that morning exactly as they had happened.
The scholars exchanged looks, unsure of what to answer, until the eldest of them all took a bow and spoke.
“I have a vague memory of reading about a similar incident when I was a youngster. I don’t recall the details, but that book is there, in the depths of the library.”
Nie Mingjue felt the weight of the world lifting from his heart and his shoulders. Perhaps he could fix this before Lan Qiren started to get worried about the lack of news regarding his older nephew.
“Very well,” Nie Mingjue said. “Go find it.”
“Yes, Sect Leader,” all of them said with a deep bow.
When he came back to his study, he found Lan Xichen in his new Nie-styled robes waiting for him standing by the door.
“Sect Leader Nie,” he said, bowing once more, but now more appropriately since he didn’t have to struggle with his clothes.
“Young Master Lan,” Nie Mingjue said, returning the greeting. “How do you find the Unclean Realm?”
“It’s my first visit, but I find it quite nice. Very different from the Cloud Recesses.”
Nie Mingjue laughed. Those had been Lan Xichen’s words the first time it was his first visit.
“Young Master Lan, would you care to join me for some snacks?”
Lan Xichen looked around and, when he turned back at Nie Mingjue, there was a shadow of mischief on his face.
“We’re not allowed to eat outside the formal scheduled hours in the Cloud Recesses.”
Fortunately, Nie Mingjue had the perfect answer to this objection.
He leaned forward and said, very seriously, “The Unclean Realm is not the Cloud Recesses.”
Lan Xichen’s eyes shone and he covered a giggle with one of his sleeves.
Nie Mingjue smiled and asked a servant who was passing by to bring in some food. Then, he gestured toward his study.
Lan Xichen gladly went in.
Moments later, they were sitting on opposite sides of a table covered in different kinds of food, some sweet and some savory. Since Lan Xichen had problems deciding where to start, Nie Mingjue grabbed whatever was closest to him and ate it in one bite.
“Mmm. That’s good,” he said.
Lan Xichen grinned and, feeling encouraged, he followed his host’s example and began eating.
“Sect Leader Nie,” he asked after a moment. “Can you tell me now why I’m here? Am I a guest disciple?”
“Yes, for the moment,” Nie Mingjue said, grateful for the excuse.
He had been so busy with the arrangements to break the curse he had forgotten about this. To be honest, he didn’t think he would have been capable of coming out with a convincing story on his own. Deceptions were not a strong suit of his.
Yet, despite Nie Mingjue’s heartfelt belief that the truth was the best policy at every turn, he felt reluctant to tell Lan Xichen the truth. What need was there to upset the boy with those stories? Especially when his biggest worry at the moment seemed to be bowing at the right angle.
“This guest disciple will strive not to be a disappointment.”
He looked so cute.
It was too much.
It was just too much for Nie Mingjue’s heart.
“You’re smart and strong. I’m sure you won’t be,” he replied to the delighted child, who beamed.
Nie Mingjue had to find a talented artist to make him a portrait of child Lan Xichen before he went back to normal.
Just as Lan Xichen’s entire being glowed with the praise, the doors swung open and Nie Huaisang came in with long, determined strides.
“Da-ge! Is it true that you gave orders to close the library? I wanted to copy some poems for my paintings!” He stopped when he saw the scene. “Oh, I didn’t know we had a Lan guest disciple—da-ge, are you crying?”
Nie Mingjue declined to answer, although he did wipe his face with his sleeves.
“Excuse us for a second,” he said to Lan Xichen as he stood up.
Lan Xichen grabbed a slice of watermelon to nibble on while he waited.
The slice was so big and his face was so small and the sweetness of the fruit made little Lan Xichen smile with such happiness…
Dangerously close to another fit of tears, Nie Mingjue grabbed his little brother by the shoulder and dragged him to the corridor. The Lan rules forbade its members from eavesdropping, so Nie Mingjue knew he could speak freely, although in a low voice.
“Huaisang, this is a sensitive matter and I need you to promise me that you won’t tell anyone about it.”
Nie Huaisang nodded.
“Yes, da-ge. I promise.”
“Fine, then. That boy over there is Lan Xichen. He was hit by a curse. The library is closed because the scholars are there looking for a way to break it.”
Nie Huaisang gaped for a long moment while he processed the information.
“Is he?” he asked in the end. “I didn’t know something like that was possible! They’re also looking in the Cloud Recesses library, right? Is Lan Qiren coming to get him? Is san-ge?”
Nie Mingjue’s mouth became a thin line.
“Not yet. I want to try to fix it ourselves first.”
Nie Huaisang nodded.
“Of course. What kind of host would you be if you let your guest go back home under a curse?”
Nie Mingjue stared at Nie Huaisang and the latter chose to stop sharing his opinions.
However, Nie Mingjue still had something else to say, although this time he avoided looking at his brother’s face.
“Regardless, I need you to do something for me.”
Not much later, Nie Mingjue was helping Lan Xichen with flying sword practice in the family’s courtyard while Nie Huaisang, sitting under a tree near them, worked on sketches for the portrait his brother had commissioned.
It amazed Nie Mingjue that, even at this age, Lan Xichen was so disciplined and talented. He had dominated the basics in no time and was working his way to more complicated maneuvers. It made him happy to find out that Lan Xichen had always been agile and strong and a joy to be around.
Nie Mingjue was wiping his face again when one of the scholars came to him.
“Sect Leader, we’ve found it!”
Nie Mingjue hadn’t expected to feel… well, disappointment at hearing this. But that was good news. Great news.
“Let’s go, then. Huaisang!” he called. “You’re in charge of young master Lan for a while!”
“Yes, da-ge!”
“Young Master Lan, please join my didi. He’ll look after you.”
“Yes, Sect Leader Nie,” the boy replied.
Lan Xichen bowed to the adults first and then skipped over to Nie Huaisang. One couldn’t run in the Cloud Recesses, but this wasn’t the Cloud Recesses and Lan Xichen was becoming less shy about taking advantage of the loopholes.
Lan Xichen’s little jumps made Nie Mingjue want to punch a hole in the wall, and he would have done it if a bunch of scholars hadn’t been waiting for him at the library.
As the old man had said, the book with the information they needed had been deep in the back of the building, which was nothing more than a dusty old place with shelves covered with cobwebs and books and scrolls. He didn’t understand how certain people could stand to be here for hours at a time. But that was irrelevant right now.
The Nie scholars stood in a circle with their arms folded inside their sleeves, waiting for Nie Mingjue to join them to start talking.
“Sect Leader,” the eldest began, the same one who had spoken when Nie Mingjue first gathered them. “The name of the witch who cursed Zewu-Jun has been lost to time, but we’ve found out that she’s been haunting those mountains for centuries. Those monsters, which she calls her children, she makes them with her own hands, using all kinds of unsavory ingredients. Now that the latest one has been killed, she’ll start making another soon.”
“Then she must be stopped,” Nie Mingjue said. “And the cure?”
The scholars shared glances before answering.
“There are three ways for Zewu-Jun to go back to his real age. One is for him to grow up again with natural speed.”
“Unacceptable. What are the other two?”
“The second is to convince the one who cursed him to lift the enchantment, and the third is to kill the witch.”
“As previously stated, she has to be stopped, so we’re going with the last one. Get me a map and assemble the disciples.”
One of the scholars hurried to step forward, blocking the way out of the library.
“We could only wish it were so simple, Sect Leader. It isn’t just that the witch changes her lair every so often. The only way to kill her is to pierce her heart, which she took out from her chest and hid in a den whose location she also changes.”
Nie Mingjue pursed his lips. He didn’t have to think for long since he had already made up his mind, and he saw no reason to change it.
“We’ll figure it out. Gather the disciples.”
“One last thing, Sect Leader,” called the eldest scholar again. “Zewu-Jun needs to be present when the heart is destroyed for the curse to be broken.”
“I understand,” Nie Mingjue replied. “Thank you for all your hard work. Gather the disciples,” he added for the third time and walked away from the library.
Even though Nie Mingjue understood the mission and its implications, the one who didn’t was Nie Huaisang.
“But why do I have to go, da-ge?”
“Someone has to keep an eye on Xichen,” Nie Mingjue replied. “You’re the only one I trust with that.”
Nie Huaisang stared at the saber his older brother offered him without taking it.
“You'll be away from the battle,” Nie Mingjue insisted. “That’s the whole point.”
Nie Huaisang raised his hand, but stopped, looking up at his older brother.
“Could we do this in the morning?”
“No. The sooner we finish this, the better. Besides, there is a full moon tonight.”
Nie Huaisang bit his lip. His face betrayed that he didn’t have any more arguments to go against Nie Mingjue. He couldn’t even say that Lan Xichen would be hard to look after. The boy was well-mannered and well-behaved, and they had spent the past couple of hours building rapport.
“I do miss er-ge. Yes, I know he’s still here but you know what I mean…” He looked up and picked up the saber. “All right, da-ge. I will do my best! But after this, I’m allowed to sleep in for the entire month.”
Nie Mingjue was expecting something of the sort, which was why he had his counterargument ready.
“One week. And I’ll commission two more portraits and I’ll pay full price.”
Nie Huaisang sighed, and it sounded as if his soul was in the process of abandoning his body.
“Fine.”
Nie Mingjue smiled and squeezed his brother’s shoulder.
“Thank you, Huaisang. Go get ready; we’re leaving in half an hour.”
As for Lan Xichen, the child was excited about the possibility of staying up past his curfew. Whether the excitement would allow him to stay awake past 9 p.m. or not was anyone’s guess, but for sure he too would try his best.
Nie Mingjue didn’t have the heart to tell him that he hoped to end the curse before that time.
The map the scholars put together took them back to the village where it all started. That worked out since Nie Mingjue also had to check in with the disciples who had stayed there.
By the time they arrived, all the wounded had been taken care of, and all the dead had been placed in a funerary pyre. As for the village itself, it wouldn’t be a problem to rebuild it before winter came.
“Sect Leader! Sect Leader!” One of the disciples came running, almost tripping, but he managed to keep his balance and not fall in front of Nie Mingjue. “We—we found her!” he said between pants. “We did as you told us! Just follow her and not engage! We were about to leave for the Unclean Realm, but you’re here, so—”
“Calm down,” Nie Mingjue said. There was no need to ask who they meant, so he went straight to the point. “Where is she?”
The disciple turned around and raised a finger pointing at some vague spot behind him. Of course, that wouldn’t be enough, but it was a dramatic good start.
“Take us there,” Nie Mingjue said, adjusting Baxia to his back.
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
“I’m really happy to go on a night hunt!” Lan Xichen said as the group began to move.
“I can tell, but you and I are only going to watch,” Nie Huaisang replied, earning a sad look from the kid.
“One day, you’ll be able to participate in all the night hunts you want, Young Master Lan,” Nie Mingjue said. “Maybe you can even convince Huaisang to join in.”
“I can do that! You can come with me and Wangji, Huaisang-gege!”
“I’ll—definitely think about it,” Nie Huaisang replied, although with more awkwardness than enthusiasm.
Nie Mingjue laughed at the exchange. He could picture his brother’s pout, unable to say a direct no to Lan Xichen’s polite determination. That’s not something adult Lan Xichen would do, though, to insist after Nie Huaisang had said no, so Nie Mingjue had to enjoy it while it lasted.
The group moved in as much silence as a dozen cultivators could. They also carried with them charms to cover their presence. Besides, they knew where they were going and they knew—however vague—a couple of important things about their target, which gave them a tactical advantage.
“It’s right there,” whispered their guide, pointing up a little bit ahead.
Their destination was an old cabin on the side of the mountain, so old it looked like it would crumble down into pieces at any second. Yet, there was light coming out the windows. If they paid attention, they could hear a lullaby coming from there. Even Nie Mingjue with his lack of musical knowledge was able to tell the creaky voice was out of tune. Nevertheless, there was warmth in it, and no child, he was sure, would be afraid of hearing it. The perfect bait by a vile creature.
Nie Mingjue signaled Nie Huaisang and Lan Xichen to remain right there, where the trees and bushes would conceal them, and he and the rest of the disciples kept moving forward.
Once he reached the cabin, Nie Mingjue took a peek inside the window, and his insides revolted.
As she sang the lullaby, the old woman was cutting out the skin of a huge leg—the leg of the beast she had called son. Judging by the tools next to her, she intended to fashion her unholy leather into a pair of boots. She seemed more composed and less enraged than the last time Nie Mingjue had seen her—he was kind of expecting her to be planning further revenge on the killers of her son—, but that didn’t mean he was going to underestimate her.
Either way, they needed to capture her. Getting in there themselves was out of the question. Thus, Nie Mingjue came up with a clever idea.
He instructed the disciples behind him to spread around the ruined house and set it on fire. The structure was made of wood, so it caught on fast.
It didn’t take long before the witch came out the front door screaming. Having been caught by surprise, she wasn’t wearing her cloak, but she held a mid-sized bag against her chest.
Dashing forward, Nie Mingjue grabbed the bag while the other disciples reduced the old woman, tying her up before she could curse them too.
“You!” the old woman yelled when she recognized Nie Mingjue. Then, she laughed out loud, throwing her head backward. “Do you think you’re the first to try this? It has never worked! You can’t kill me! Even if you behead me, I’ll just put myself back together, no matter how many times you try.”
“I know that. I also know that the first step to stopping you is to find your heart.”
The witch grinned.
“That’s true, and I can tell you where it is if you’ll hear it,” she said in a mocking tone. Next, she nodded to Nie Huaisang and Lan Xichen’s general direction. “I put it in your friend. That’s a little warranty I give myself whenever I curse anyone. To free him, you have to kill him! Isn’t that nice? It’s either that or wait until he grows up!” She laughed harder. “And even then, he will grow up to become my child. In a few years, he’ll look like my son! He’ll act like my son! He’ll be my son, replacing the one he killed!”
She laughed harder when she finished her speech and Nie Mingjue felt the need to kick her in the face. Before he did it, one of the disciples thought of something.
“Sect Leader, maybe there is something in her bag we can use.”
That managed to go through Nie Mingjue’s head. His scowl went from being directed at her to the bag, fighting against the disgust he felt when he stuck his hand inside.
The witch snarled at that, which made this approach look promising.
Inside the bag there were leaves and roots, nothing that moved on its own—fortunately—, and, underneath all of that, there was a book, neatly bound and wrapped in silk.
The witch hissed when Nie Mingjue tossed the cover to the ground and tried to open the book.
“Leave that alone! It took me years to write it!”
Nie Mingjue held her gaze and shook the book in front of her face. He hadn’t gotten to read what was inside, but it couldn’t have been good.
“The world would be a better place if we get rid of this witchcraft!” he exclaimed, about to throw the book to the fire that still engulfed the house.
The witch yelled again.
“It’s not witchcraft! It’s poetry! I write poetry while I wait for my children to grow!”
The shock worked to still Nie Mingjue’s hand, but it was only that, shock. Just as he didn’t have an interest in music, he didn’t have any use for poetry.
But there was someone in their group who did.
Taking advantage of the confusion, Nie Huaisang got closer and grabbed the book from Nie Mingjue’s hand. Or more like he raised Lan Xichen by the waist to reach his brother’s hand. Then, he took it from Lan Xichen.
“Hold on a second, da-ge,” he said as he leafed through the book.
“Huaisang!” Nie Mingjue exclaimed, but, after that, he just grunted and grimaced.
Little Lan Xichen stood between them, holding his index finger against his closed mouth as he looked up at Nie Huaisang.
“This is good, actually,” the latter said. “Really good. Da-ge, we can’t burn this book! The world would be a worse place without it!” He turned to the witch. “How about a deal? You break the curse on er-ge and I’ll make sure to publish your book.”
“What?” Nie Mingjue said.
“I didn’t know you had another brother,” Lan Xichen murmured.
Nie Mingjue grunted but shook his head and picked Lan Xichen up in his arms.
“Don’t worry about it. He’s going to be fine.”
Meanwhile, Nie Huaisang continued his conversation with the witch. Her eyes were wide open, shining in a way that made them look like they belonged in a much younger face.
“Do you honestly think it has potential?”
“Of course! With enough copies, it will be able to reach far and wide, all over the realm!”
Nie Mingjue grumbled.
“I’m not paying for that.”
“It’s fine,” Nie Huaisang said. “I’ll cover the expenses with what I’ll earn from the commissions I’m working on.”
Nie Mingjue scoffed. He did refrain from saying that since he was the one who ordered those commissions, the money would come from his pockets anyway.
The witch glared back at Nie Mingjue before turning her attention back to Nie Huaisang.
“All right. I’ll break the curse. Release my hands.”
“Wait,” Nie Mingjue said. He held Lan Xichen more tightly against his chest. “There’s no guarantee that she’ll do as she says.”
“Don’t worry, da-ge. I did think of that,” Nie Huaisang replied, taking a step closer to the fire. Once there, he extended the book toward it and stared at the witch. “No matter how good your poetry is, if I have to choose between er-ge and your book…”
Nie Mingjue wasn’t expecting that, but he felt proud seeing his little brother making his stance so clear.
The witch made a face and rolled her eyes.
“I’m not lying! I’ll break the curse for good!”
Nie Mingjue glanced at Nie Huaisang, who nodded. His doubts hadn’t completely left him, but he decided to trust his little brother. Besides, he was right: Lan Xichen’s well-being should be their priority. He signaled the disciples who stood the closest to the witch to undo her bindings.
She opened and closed her eyes before turning to Nie Mingjue again.
“Angle the boy so there’s a clear shadow of him on the ground.”
When he moved so Lan Xichen would cast a dark shadow close to the witch, he noticed that Nie Huaisang’s arm hadn’t faltered and he looked at the witch with a serious expression that Nie Mingjue had seldom seen on his face. But he didn’t have time to dwell on that because the witch made her move.
Kneeling beside the shadow, she pressed her hand down, which went not through the ground but through the shadow all the way to her elbow. Then, when she brought it back up, it held her beating heart. After dusting it off, she put it inside her chest.
“There. It’s done. He’ll be fine in the morning, after a good night’s sleep.”
“Thank you,” Nie Huaisang said, taking a step back from the fire and placing the book inside his lapels. “I’ll come back with a printed copy once it’s ready.”
“You’d better,” the witch said.
“And you had better stop creating human-eating monsters or I’ll track all the copies and burn them myself!” Nie Mingjue said.
“Be more respectful, you big oaf! You’re talking about my children!”
Nie Huaisang placed a hand on Nie Mingjue’s arm right before he grabbed Baxia’s handle.
“Maybe you can make them so they don’t eat meat?” Nie Huaisang said. “If they ate, I don’t know, vegetables, you’d have fewer problems and more time for writing.”
The witch stared at Nie Huaisang as if the idea had never crossed her mind.
Nie Huaisang smiled and raised both hands in an appeasing gesture.
“Just putting the idea out there. But do stop transforming humans, please.”
The witch sighed.
“All right. I guess I can do that.”
“Fine, then,” Nie Mingjue said. To be honest, it wasn’t fine and he wasn’t sure how much he agreed, but Lan Xichen was rubbing his eyes and yawning. Curfew was approaching rapidly, after all. “It’s time to go back before I regret this deal.”
The witch scoffed at Nie Mingjue’s direction.
“You’ll regret not giving me my due credit when I become the greatest poet in Qinghe!”
Then, she disappeared again in a bout of mist that dissipated sooner than the one she had used in the morning.
Nie Mingjue scoffed and unsheathed his saber, ready to fly back to the Unclean Realm with a sleepy Lan Xichen safely tucked in his arms.
“That was fun,” the little one said. He was making a brave attempt at keeping his eyes open, but his eyelids were heavy. “Although I didn’t understand much.”
“You will when you’re older,” Nie Mingjue said. Hopefully, that would be in the morning. “Are you truly going to publish that?” he asked Nie Huaisang, who was now hopping on Baxia behind him.
Nie Mingjue should have been asking his little brother why he wasn’t flying back on his own saber, but it was a lost battle. He had done enough just by coming here. Never mind that he had been the one to solve the problem.
“I gave her my word, da-ge. I might even copy some of her verses on my paintings and give her one.”
“Just not the ones I’m paying for.”
“Of course not, da-ge. I wouldn’t dare. By the way, you were very merciful letting her live.”
He said it in a tone that implied that he wasn’t expecting that. Well, Nie Mingjue hadn’t either, but he had to think of Lan Xichen. Besides, this once his brother looked like he knew what he was doing.
“As long as she keeps her end of the bargain, I’ll keep mine.”
And, with that promise resting in his tongue, Nie Mingjue began the flight home, followed by his disciples.
Lan Xichen didn’t spend the night in a guest room. Nie Mingjue couldn’t bear to part with that tiny sleepy face, so he ended up keeping the boy in his room. Lan Xichen took the bed while Nie Mingjue sat on a table, tapping the wood while he waited for the transformation. In front of him, there were a couple of cups of tea and a teapot ready to start boiling the water it contained.
Some nights, such as this one, he wished the Lans could drink alcohol. But this was a small price to pay in exchange for Lan Xichen’s company, and breaking a curse was always a cause for celebration.
However, despite his resolution to stay awake all night if he had to, at some point, he fell asleep sitting down, arms folded, and his chin resting on his chest. He didn’t realize when it happened, but it could only have been part of the spell. All he knew was that, eventually, the touch of a gentle hand caressing his cheek woke him up.
Nie Mingjue opened his eyes to find the adult Lan Xichen smiling at him. His headband was askew and Nie Mingjue could see the Jade’s smooth, white shoulders.
This lovely sight wasn’t new to him, so his first reaction was to smile back and lean forward for a kiss. The kiss was returned, and, while it happened, little by little, the events of the night before came back to mind.
“Did I dream all that?” Nie Mingjue asked, frowning but with his mouth almost pressed against Lan Xichen’s.
Lan Xichen chuckled and moved backward to sit next to Nie Mingjue. As he did, he adjusted around his shoulders the blanket he had brought with him from the bed. The robes he wore as a child no longer fit him, after all.
“I should be the one asking that,” he said.
Nie Mingjue shook his head to clear it up. Then, he put the teapot on the fire.
“I’m pretty sure it did happen. What do you remember?”
“It all seems like a blur, like a true childhood memory.”
“Are you feeling well? Any side effects?”
“I feel well and normal, no side effects so far. I’m very grateful to your scholars for researching how to break the curse and to your disciples for facing the witch. And, of course, to you and Huaisang for taking care of me so well.”
Nie Mingjue sighed in relief. Lan Xichen also looked much more relaxed than when he arrived days ago.
“Don’t mention it. I know you would have done the same for me—for us.”
“I would have, yes. Always.” He leaned forward for another peck. “By the way, do I remember correctly about Huaisang publishing the witch’s poetry book?”
Nie Mingjue sighed.
“You remember correctly.”
Lan Xichen laughed.
“I would love to see it. Is it that good?”
Nie Mingjue shrugged.
“I wouldn’t know. Haven’t read it. But if you want to do it, you’ll have to wait a few more hours. I promised Huaisang he could sleep in the whole week.”
Lan Xichen laughed harder.
“Then it is going to take hours.” He tilted his head and his smile went a little crooked. “I can think of a way to pass the time while he wakes.”
“You can?” Nie Mingjue asked, raising an eyebrow.
He knew that tone. Back when they were younger, it meant trouble. Now, though, it meant something else entirely, but nevertheless just as fun.
Lan Xichen’s grin got wider.
“So, what do you say? Will the Nie sect survive if their leader doesn’t show up for breakfast?”
“Of course they will. No Nie is a weakling.”
Lan Xichen leaned forward again.
“None of them? You’ll have to show me.”
Nie Mingjue laughed at that. They both did before they started kissing again and Nie Mingjue tossed Lan Xichen’s blanket back to the bed. Always a nice way to end an adventure.
When the teapot shattered after being unattended for so long, they didn’t even notice.