Dance of the blades

Chapter 17 A Cure Within Reach

'Wen' Lan Sizhui repeated Wen Qing's words in his mind repeatedly. Ever since learning the name of Wei Wuxian's murder, that surname had been implanted into the boy's heart like a spear. The wound left by his dad's death was still fresh in his mind. He knows he shouldn't hold grudges towards those who share Wen Ruohan's sir name. No. His parents taught him better than that. There was no point in holding Wen Qing and Wen Ning responsible for what Wen Ruohan had done.

So instead of falling into the spiral that was his emotions, the boys decided to focus on the other matter at hand. Like for instance, what could have caused two of Wen Ruohan's subordinates to betray him like this? Were they unwillingly turned like his father, stuck controlling their demonic urges. How many more of Wen Ruohan's relatives were turned to demons by him, willingly or not?

Lan Sizhui grip his hand into a fist at the thought, he turned his gaze to Lan Wangji. His father's once sun kissed skin had turned into a pale white, covering the evidence of his life under the hot sun. His father was not a man of many words, but other than letting out small grunts and mumbled calls of Lan Sizhui's name, he had entirely stopped speaking as if something prevented him from uttering a word. The man who was once content with his life in the village, with only his family by his side, was now replaced with an empty shell hiding away the remnants of his humanity.

"I know it may not be the right time to ask you this but-" Wen Qing paused, she looked at the boy nodding his head before continuing "After examining your father's condition, I believe that he may be the key to turning a demon back into a human again"

"Really? Wen Guniang can you really create a cure for-" Wen Qing raised her hand to stop the boy from his rambling. Lan Sizhui calmed himself from the excitement caused by the new information and sat back down on his seat.

"Don't get too excited. Right now it's only a theory that I've came up with. The materials needed to for my research are still lacking." Wen Qing sighed.

"Let me help then, Wen Guniang. What are the materials that you need?" Lan Sizhui asked Wen Qing, he could feel himself vibrating on seat from anticipation. He could hardly contain the smile that was forming on his face and making him look like a fool in front of Wen Qing.

"The first one is simple. I need a sample of your father's blood to study its properties in order to compare it with other demons' blood. The second one is the blood of Wen Ruohan's demons..." Wen Qing paused, a frown hanged on her face before continuing. " The problem is I can't simply use any random demon's blood. The sample has to be from the highest concentration of Wen Ruohan's blood for the results to be accurate." Lan Sizhui nodded his head at Wen Qing's statement.

The request while it sounded simple on the surface, was far from so. The higher the concentration of Wen Ruohan's blood in the demon, the stronger the demons becomes. These demons are then split between Upper Moons and Lowers Moons, each with their own rankings and unique abilities.

Baoshan Sanren's training may have prepared the boy to face low level demons and their blood demon art, but facing off against the Upper Moons were a completely different story! Lan Sizhui is not embarrass to admit that he was still lacking in some areas of his sword play.

He still struggled with the three clone demons on his own and needed the assistance of his father. Instigating a fight with an Upper Moon or let alone a Lower Moon was basically courting death! Lan Sizhui pondered if he would need to train under Baoshan Sanren again for another two years before reemmerging to take the daunting task.

Bang! The sudden loud noise caused Lan Sizhui to snap out from his thoughts, the abrupt shanking of the wooden walls around them caught the attention of his companions. Perplexed, Wen Qing stood up from her seat, going towards the window to try and see the cause of the shanking. Wen Ning was trailing behind her, his faces turned pale, panic slipped through his eyes as he look over his sister's shoulders to witness the scene outside.

Standing amongst the wreckage of the enchanted walls that once concealed the house were two demons, a boy and a girl looking to be in their adolescence. The boy was wearing a black hanfu, with his yellow under garments slipping through the collar of his robes, his eyes remained closed as he smiled, bearing his sharp teeth. The girl in contrast was wearing a bright orange hanfu, her hair was braded with an orange ribbon and both her hands were cuju balls decorated with intricate patterns.

"Look out!" Wen Qing screamed, tugging her brother to the ground to avoid the cuju ball being thrown towards them. Lan Sizhui barely had time to react before Lan Wangji pulled him to the side and shielded the boy with his back, the cuju ball missing the boy's head. The ball pounced around the four corners of the room, destroying all its contents before returning back into its owner's hand again.

Slowly standing up, Lan Sizhui could hear the loud giggles of the girl as she and her companion observed the massive hole she created with her cuju ball. Her laughs became louder, taunting them and threw her cuju ball again, releasing the second one as well.

"Come on out now! There's no point in hiding!" she laughed as the four occupants in the room struggled to dodge the two oncoming cuju balls.