The Child of Demonic Cultivation

The Wind and The Leaves

WC:1152

Jin Ling smiled a small sweet smile as he brushed a stray strand of hair behind Lan Tian's ear. It was almost comical how innocent and fragile Lan Tian looked when they slept, the way his face looks so relaxed and his mouth was slightly circled as if remembering an old joke.

Slowly Lan Tian began to open his eyes but only caught a quick flash of the person holding him before he was sat up and put down.

The rest of the group were talking about a man in the street when Lan Tian came to, and Lan Tian watched as Wei Wuxian devised a plan. Lan Tian stood up and stubbles over to the paper twins Wei Wuxian was examining.

"Let's go with these two," Wei Wuxian said. He quickly swept his hand over a junior's sword and used the blood form the cut to dot two pupils on each of their eyes.

He took a step back and gave a light smile. "Coy eyes and seductive wiles, red lips Part to chase a smile. Ask not if good or evil done, with these final dogs, let the warrior come."

With a gust of wind the two paper girls jolted. Giggling laughter filled the air.

Wei Wuxian gave them a courteous nod, and they bowed deeply in return. Wei Wuxian pointed at the door, "Go bring the living in. Obliterate everything else." The paper twins kept out the door and right into the growing mob of corpses. They slashed apart walking corpses as if dancing across a stage.

It wasn't long until the paper twins claimed victory, thus, they picked up the injured man and carried inside before guarding the door.

Lan Tian was as amazed as Jin Ling was terrified. Lan Tian crouched in front of the man and carefully looked over him without touching his body or the corpse toxin. He seemed to presumably be blind as well as there was a tick cloth covering his eyes.

Lan Tian ignored Jin Ling's concern and instead examined the man's face again. They knew they'd seen this man before but couldn't remember where. Lan Tian got distracted by the sword the man placed on the table, it was only half wrapped in cloth revealing it's amazing craftsmanship.

Lan Tian could feel the shift in the air as he locked at Lan Jungyi's eyes that were now screaming to blurt something out. It took them a minute but Lan Tian finally understood the unsaid words and their suspicions were confirmed when they saw Lan Jungyi write Shuanghua on the table.

The sword belonged to no one other than Xiao Xingchen himself. Lan Tian had never seen him in person but knew that something didn't feel right. The way he flinched away from one of the juniors hands as they were about to touch the cloth, how insistent but hesitant he was to leave. His whole manner just seemed off, or at least different from the stories.

"You can't leave. You still have corpse poisoning." Lan Tian was about to hold the man down when he remember the poison could be on the man's clothes.

"Is it serious?" The man asked.

"Very." Lan Tian narrowed his eyes as one of the juniors tried passed them a bowl of the congee but Wei Wuxian grabbed it first.

"We can cure him though, right?" One of the juniors asked.

Lan Tian's voice was laced with fake concern. "Us? I'm afraid not. We've never seen anything like this so we have no clue how to cure it."

"I'll leave then and take out a few walking corpses with me." Standing up and moving to the window Lan Tian looked out the slit in the window. Just as he thought they were surrounded by walking corpses.

"I'm afraid it looks like no one will be going anywhere any time soon." Lan Tian watched as the man turned purple and and fell back towards the ground.

As Wei Wuxian used a talisman to animate more paper dolls, Jin Ling couldn't help but follow Alan Tian's gaze. It seemed ever since he found out the man's suspected identity, Lan Tian had been staring daggers at the man.

It was then that a light sound could be heard on the roof. Only Lan Tian, Wei Wuxian, and the man noticed it and yelled warnings to the others. Lan Tian looked and saw Jim Ling standing in the middle of the room. Before he knew what was going on Lan Tian rand and jumped pushing Jin Ling out of the way just before the roof collapsed.

"Are you okay?" Jin Ling nodded and the two got up.

The man was dressed in Daoist robes and had no pupils in his eyes, Lan Tian knew he had to be a fierce corpse.

The corpse lunged and Lan Tian's eyes grew wide as he saw the Daoist's target, Jin Ling. "No!" Luckily Jin Ling's sword was strong enough to resist the attack. As the Daoist tried again the poisoned man helped block the attack but collapsed in the process.

Wei Wuxian tried to control the Daoist with his flute but soon realized he couldn't, meaning the corpse had a master. Lan Tian watched as Wei Wuxian struggled to dodge the attacker and advised everyone else to stay away.

Slowly the paper effigies started begging shredded to pieces one at a time until there was only one left. Not knowing what to do Lan Tian couldn't watch Wei Wuxian die, he can't go yet, Lan Wangji still needs him. Lan Tain still needed him.

Lan Tian closed his eyes and did the only thing he could think of, yell, "STOP!" The single word echoed through the space and out of the hole in the roof. As Lan Tian opened his eyes he realized the corpse had gone completely still and rigid.

Wei Wuxian ordered the last paper doll to hold the Daoist down as he examined him. The man's tongue had been cut out and he had a stab wound through his heart.

"Who among you have studied Inquiry?" Wei Wuxian asked.

Lan Sizhui and Lan Tian both raised their hands, "I don't have my guqin though." Lan Tian added. "Can I... touch him though?" Wei Wuxian nodded taken aback for a moment.

Lan Sizhui and Lan Tian sat on opposing sides of the corpse with Lan Tian sitting slightly closer to him.

The Lan clan juniors knew this trick, Lan Tian honestly sucked at Inquiry but somehow always made the ghosts more responsive when in direct contact with them. There wasn't a time where Inquiry wouldn't work when Lan Tian was touching their body or something important to them. Correction, there was one time, but no one other than Lan Wangji and Lan Tian knew that.

Both Lan juniors took a deep breath before Lan Tian reached forward and closed his eyes.