𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐢𝐚 ⚣︎ mo dao zu shi x male reader

nine.

the gentle expression on the man's face had suddenly morphed into one of terror. his eyes became wide as saucers as he stared into the mother's eyes. they were red, with pools of red liquid running down them. and it wasn't just her eyes; her nose, her mouth, her ears...

lan qiren fell back in surprise, a loud shriek slipping past his lips.

the healers quickly entered the room at the sound of it. some helped him to his feet, while the others tried to figure out what was going on with the mother. she simply smiled, trying to reassure them. "i'm all right, everyone." she said with a smile on her lips. but no one in the room believed her. she shook her head and looked down, gently rubbing her thumb over the baby's cheek where her blood dripped down. "qiren, look! he opened his eyes." lan qiren glanced at the baby, and he recoiled in shock.

the baby's eyes were wide open. the irises were as red as the blood moon as those blood-red gems stared straight into the mother's eyes. lan qiren quickly looked away as he felt something wet run down his nose.

"ahhh!!" one healer screamed as their fellow healer had collapsed on the floor, bleeding on all openings in their face. the others who had looked too much into the baby's eyes began to collapse as well, one by one, bleeding heavily and spazzing out in the floor as they choked on their blood.

but the mother, remained unbothered as she cradled the baby in her arms, crimson liquid dripping down her eyes like tears. she hummed a slow lullaby while slowly rocking the baby back and forth. lan qiren avoided looking as much as possible while listening to the mother singing the baby to sleep. he panted heavily, as along with the gentle lullaby, the sound of bodies hitting the wooden floor thudded all over the room, seemingly in tune with the lullaby.

when the lullaby was over, lan qiren waited for a few more minutes before he could finally look at the mother and son. when he peeked over his sleeve, he was utterly horrified. the wooden floor of the gentian house was drenched in blood, the bodies of the healers were scattered all around the room, and in the middle, where the bed was placed, madam lan laid there, unmoving, as the baby in her arms was once again, asleep.

lan qiren shuddered. he bent down and picked up the arm of a nearby healer. his eyes widened. there was no pulse. he gently laid the hand on the floor, and as much as lan qiren would like to not step over the puddles of blood, he really couldn't avoid it as it was everywhere. he reached the bed in no time.

he looked at the baby, sleeping soundly with the face of an angel. he gritted his teeth before checking the mother for a pulse.

there was none.

lan qiren slowly and carefully picked up the baby, holding it in front of him so he could raise the baby in the air. he stared at him. so innocent and beautiful, yet there was a trace of malevolence around the baby, but lan qiren could feel as if it was somehow being suppressed.

he widened his eyes, for there in the baby's neck, were three dark moles, forming the three points of a triangle. lan qiren sighed. "of course a demon child would be born. of course, the demon child would be my nephew, because- ugh." he grimly complains to no one in particular. his hands grab onto the ribbon on his forehead. he tugged it loose before wrapping it around the baby's forehead, the malevolent energy once surrounding the child now vanishing as if it was never there to begin with.

a gasp suddenly snapped lan qiren out of whatever train of thought he was on. "lan qiren?" standing there, in the door, was one of the lan clan's elders; lan xiao. the oldest member of the clan, and one of the only people who actually knew about madam lan's existence. "what happened here? what about the baby? is the baby all right?"