When We Meet Again (The Untamed Sequel)

Chapter 17 - Fear

*Republished due to some errors*

"I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I'll go to it laughing."
― Herman Melville, Moby-Dick or, the Whale

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Wei Wuxian

I wake up with the feeling of a soft touch on my forehead. I open my eyes and find Lan Zhan sitting next to me on our bed in Jingshi.

Ignoring the pain in my head, I sit up with Lan Zhan's help. I recall yesterday's incident and a sharp pain shoots through my head when I remember the voice that spoke to me. I hiss and Lan Zhan caresses my head soothingly. I put an arm around his waist and lean on to his chest, keeping the side of my head on his shoulder.

"What happened to the kid who was attacked?" I ask

Lan Zhan hesitates before answering. "He lost his power."

I wince. "Core?"

"Unharmed, but weak."

"He won't be able to cultivate anymore, would he?"

He shakes his head and I sigh.

"No one should lose their powers," I say unable to stop myself and bury my face in the crook of his neck. He hugs me and I sigh into his warmth.

Deep within me, fear whirls making me feel vulnerable, as the voice I heard echoes within my mind, making me feel that I could lose all I've got if I'm not careful.

Just... How can you be here? What do you want?

Or was it just my mind playing tricks?

Well... whatever it is, I'll face it.

***

"You look better." Zewu Jun comments as we greet him with a bow in his Hanshi.

"I feel better," I say with a smile.

He nods in reply. "We interrogated the attacker yesterday, but he has been possessed."

"Yes, I figured that. The attacker is not the man but the spirit who was possessing him. By the looks of it, it's more conscious than an ordinary spirit.

"Usually a spirit comes for revenge. Other than recognizing the blood of the person of whom he wants to take revenge, it can't think nor make plans. It's like a human being who thinks of only one thing and nothing more."

"I think," Lan Zhan says, "this spirit can sense spiritual energy. In a night hunt, a large amount of spiritual energy is gathered in one place. When it senses that, it possesses a man, possibly to use the man's consciousness. With that awareness, it can be careful."

"Have you ever encountered a similar spirit before?" Zewu Jun asks me.

I look away. "No," I say softer than I intended to, which doesn't go unnoticed my Lan Zhan.

Zewu Jun sighs. "The spirit was unusual."

I glance at him questioningly.

"When it came out of the body it took a form of an orb," Lan Zhan says, "and was a mixture of Spiritual energy and dark energy. Too powerful for a spirit trapping pouch."

"It was the same when he extracted spiritual energy." Zewu Jun says. "He sent a part of the energy into the boy and it returned in red, again in the shape of an orb."

Of course red, just like my power. Spiritual energy and dark energy combined.

If they were waiting for my comment, I don't give one, I was too busy trying to figure out what this so-called spirit was up to.