𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐃𝐘 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 !!
❤︎
y/n - your name
w/n - weapon's name
c/n - courtesy name
❤︎
WHEN LAN Y/N'S EYES FLUTTERED OPEN, HE FOUND HIMSELF BOUND TO A FLAT SURFACE, WITH HIS WRISTS AND ANKLES CHAINED DOWN AND ONLY A SINGLE PIECE OF CLOTHING CLINGING TO HIS COLD BODY.
he blinked a couple of times, as he was surrounded by darkness. he tried to get his bearings. a grumble escaped his lips as he tried to move, but the chains prevented him. on top of that, he felt extremely fatigued.
from either side of his head, candles were lit, but he still couldn't see anything other than the chains that kept him from moving. he tugged at them, his brows furrowing at the rattling sound it made.
"i see you're awake." said a voice, dark and deep, inciting fear inside of lan y/n. he looked around the dark room but was unable to identify anything that was further than the reaches of the weak candlelight.
a chuckle echoed from the darkness, which sent shivers up lan y/n's spine. he racked his brain for a way to get out; he needed to get to the children, he needed to return home, to his brothers. "do not panic, child." came the voice again. lan y/n opened his mouth, trying to say something, but he was just now noticing how dry his throat felt, so much so that it hurt him just to try.
"thirsty?" as he was surrounded by nothing but darkness, his ears were just a little bit sharper than usual. he heard the sound of running water, followed by the clink of some kind of pottery ware, probably a teapot. he heard the rustling of robes, and slowly, it began to get closer to him. lan y/n squinted his eyes in the darkness.
a silhouette slowly began to form thanks to the candlelight. tall and strong was their figure, similar to sect leader nie mingjue in a way, but leaned more into the elegant gentleman side. the figure bent down, and lan y/n widened his eyes. the person's face was revealed as they neared the candlelight.
wen ruohan.
it couldn't be anyone else. he wore the same sun robes as the rest of his clan, yet it held more flames that defined his status. more accessories and such accentuated his outfit, making him look all the more important. wen ruohan smiled, but it brought anything but assurance and comfort to lan y/n. he felt a chill run up his spine at the wicked smile that spread upon wen ruohan's lips.
daggers shot from his eyes as he felt threatened, but he couldn't say anything without feeling that scratching, uncomfortable feeling on his throat. wen ruohan chuckled and held up his hand. wrapped around his fingers, was a glass of water. it looked clear and tempting for lan y/n to drink, but he fought to hold in his thirst. his eyes stubbornly looked away. "now, now, we can't have that stubborn attitude. you could die you know? and we don't want that."
with one hand, wen ruohan harshly gripped lan y/n's cheeks, forcing him to look back to him. wen ruohan held the cup over lan y/n's lips, and lan y/n desperately tried to refuse, to close his lips and look away, but his body was too weak.
fresh water slid down lan y/n's throat, and wen ruohan smiled, pleased that he chose to just drink it instead of choke on it or something. "there, there," he cooed. "that's a good boy." he continued softly, his grip slowly loosening its hold from lan y/n's cheeks. he gently stroked lan y/n's hair as he continued drinking until the cup was emptied.
a breath of relief escaped lan y/n's lips. his throat felt refreshed, and his body seemed to cool down from the cold water that entered his system. wen ruohan smiled and stood up, retreating back to the darkness where he came from. lan y/n looked around the dark room. now that wen ruohan had disappeared elsewhere in the room, paranoia began to fill his thoughts.
the slide of a door opening echoed in the room, allowing a dim light to pour into the darkness. lan y/n's eyes absorbed as much of the room's layout as much as possible in the small window of time provided to him. then, the door slid shut with loud slam! which made lan y/n jolt up slightly from where he laid as once again, his vision became clouded in darkness. "son." wen ruohan's voice came softly.
footsteps padded in the wooden floor of the room, followed by the swishing of robes. he heard a thump, probably his son kneeling on the floor. "father." at the sound of that voice, something unpleasant filled lan y/n's body. something that was just waiting impatiently to burst.
wen ruohan chuckled. "look at what you did, son. it seems you've angered our guest." when the final word was spoken, a hundred, probably a thousand, candles lit up all around the room. the sudden light made lan y/n squeeze his eyes shut before he blinked his eyes open, revealing a spacious room, probably a bedroom located inside a cave. it had no windows but had one, small door. candles hung from the ceiling, burning brightly and bathing the room in its warm glow.
but the room was anything but warm.
lan y/n's blood ran cold as he saw in the wall to his right, where wen ruohan was seated on a rather elegant chair. a wide variety of torture devices hung on the wall. the metal parts of them were shined and polished as they all reflected the light from the hanging candles.
wen ruohan wore a smirk on his face as he sat comfortably in his elegant chair, wen xu on one side, and a young woman he wasn't familiar with on the other. she looked like a maiden of high status, but her prideful expression made it obvious to lan y/n that she wouldn't let just any man approach her. still, he was more bothered with the wide array of devices behind wen ruohan.
wen ruohan seemed to notice the agitated look on his face, and he chuckled, standing up. "you have nothing to worry about, lan y/n." he said, feigning a tone of comfort. "if you give us what we want, then there's no reason for me to use these... things, on you." he assures, gently sliding a finger on the blade of one of the devices.
a venomous glare took over lan y/n's previously, fearful gaze. "what are you talking about? what do you want?" he finally asked, his voice still a little hoarse. "my oldest son, wen xu, well, he currently has those precious children of yours. how they get treated depends on how you choose to behave." wen ruohan says, slowly walking over to lan y/n.
the chains rattled as lan y/n tried to move away from the tall man, but he couldn't. so he just laid there, on the stone bed, trembling as wen ruohan looked at him with a predatorial gaze. now that he could see him clearly, lan y/n could see, close up, how much evil was seeping from the man's aura. the hair on his arms stood up as wen ruohan drew his face closer. "i wonder why the righteous gusu lan clan never got rid of you. purge all evil, they say, yet they harbor a cursed child, hiding him away on the back of the mountains, away from the eyes of the world."
a hand grazed over lan y/n's cheek, a hand that belonged to wen ruohan. the older man smiled. "fifteen years." he said. "for fifteen years i've waited until the evil inside you was at its most potent." his hand went from his face, then down to his chest, where his heart thumped loudly. whether it was fear or something else, all lan y/n wanted to do was get his children and run away from this man, as much as possible, and return to his home. "how beautiful." wen ruohan drawled, softly caressing lan y/n's skin.
"you were born so impure, filled with so much evil. and as you grew up, that impurity should have grown stronger, yet..." wen ruohan paused, his eyebrows furrowed. with one swift movement, he ripped off the single layer of clothing that protected lan y/n's bare body from the hungry eyes of wen ruohan. he held in a yelp, his hand curled into a tight fist as he glared daggers up at wen ruohan. his smooth chest, decorated with bright pink scars and old bruises, was exposed, and thankfully, just that.
a crease formed on wen ruohan's forehead. "yet that impurity is being overwhelmed by... something else." he said through gritted teeth. he whipped his hand away, his sleeve flying with his movement as he turned around. he walked towards the door. it was small, made out of wood, with candles hanging on the sides. "do it." he said to the two wens that were left in the room.
without another word, he disappeared out the door, with nothing but the slam of the door echoing in his wake.
wen xu smirked as he grabbed a knife from the wall. slowly, he approached lan y/n. "guess it's up to us to get his golden core." he said, licking his lips, talking to the woman who stood behind him, arms crossed. wen xu stood beside the bed where lan y/n laid.
"you'll give us what we want." using the knife in his hand, he pointed it to lan y/n's throat. "take your best shot, wen dog." lan y/n spat, a smirk dancing on his lips.
he's already faced the worst person to have ever lived, so right now, in his eyes, wen xu was nothing more than a mad dog obeying his master.
the knife ran across his throat, just barely grazing over the exposed skin. the knife traveled lower, and lower, as the knife dove deeper into lan y/n's flesh. but he didn't feel any pain, just a tingle in his stomach, and the sensation of his blood seeping out of the lines wen xu drew with his knife. the knife stopped below his chest, the spot where his golden core should lay. wen xu smiled widely.
before wen xu could probably, cut his stomach open, a hand stopped him. "not yet." a feminine voice spoke. it was the woman who previously stood silently beside wen ruohan. "his core needs to be filled with as much resentful energy as possible. right now, the impurity of his golden core is at its lowest point, we have to find a way to return it to its original, resentful form." the woman spoke professionally as she held back wen xu from doing something he might regret.
he scoffed arrogantly, pulling his arm away from the woman. "so we just need to make him think evil thoughts or something?" he asked, angrily stabbing the knife onto the wooden table beside the bed. "more or less." the woman said, crossing her arms. "i should leave that part to you. send me a message when he's ready for the core transplant."
she gave lan y/n a look of pity, one which lan y/n returned with a glare. the woman left through the door, leaving lan y/n, bound to the table, and wen xu, with a knife in hand.
never a good combination.
"i never got her name." lan y/n sighs, resting his head back on the stone bed, or table, either way, he's choosing to think it's a bed. wen xu looked back to lan y/n, who was giving him a look of disinterest through his long eyelashes. "so what now? slice up my pretty skin until you get me to resent you?" lan y/n chuckled lowly, "or would you torture those children in front of me?" he asked, as slowly, his laughs grew louder and louder, growing more maniacally by the second.
wen xu stepped back, a freaked-out look on his face as the hairs on his skin stood up. "stop that!!" he exclaimed, picking up the knife. he pressed it against lan y/n's throat, threatening his life just to shut him up. but lan y/n continued laughing. blood dripped down the line wen xu made with the knife as the more lan y/n laughed, the more he pressed his neck against the blade, embedding it further into his skin.
wen xu gritted his teeth and pulled the knife away before abandoning the knife elsewhere. he then grabbed lan y/n's throat with both his hands, squeezing the air out of them. lan y/n's laughter slowly died out as he began to choke, but the smile remained on his face, his eyes rolled to the back of his head as he struggled. wen xu immediately stopped before he could kill lan y/n, he didn't want to get on his father's bad side after all. he slowly removed his hand, breathing heavily. "i see. so you're saying... my curse comes from my golden core, and you're father wants it for himself?" lan y/n calmly asked, laying still on the stone bed.
a smirk danced upon lan y/n's lips before he chuckled. "and those children... how are you so sure that they're just normal, cute little children?"
jinjiu held his siblings close to him as they all sat trapped, inside a dark and dingy cell. chains held him and all his siblings inside the cells as they remained shackled to the rotting wall. his eyes were closed, and his hands were trembling as he gripped onto shin mei's robes. shin mei snuggled closer to him, seeking comfort from her older sibling, while shang yiu was on his other side, holding the younger ones closer to him while he slept soundly.
shin mei heard a guttural growl come from above her. she quickly looked up. her brows knitted in worry as she saw veins beginning to bulge out of jinjiu's neck. "jinjiu!" she gasped quietly, careful as to not scare the two younger ones. shin mei slapped her brother awake, and he jolted up with a groan. "give it back...! it's my blanket!" he grumbles sleepily, waving an arm out, but he didn't wake up, he just went back to sleep.
the sister rolls her eyes. "wake up! jerkface!" she says, tugging on his hair, but instead, the two younger ones, ping and zhuli, snapped their heads towards their oldest sister, their attention was now on her. "jiejie?" they asked in sync, looking up at her. she smiled nervously. "y-yes?" she asks, giving them a nervous smile. "will gege come for us?" zhuli asked, tugging on her robes. from beside her, ping's bottom lip trembled as tears welled up in his eyes.
she sighs sadly. "i'd love to believe that gege will come for us but... it looks like we're on our own here." she says, smoothing down zhuli's messy hair. "but we are getting out of here." she stands up and puts her hands on her hips. with her brows furrowed, she kicked her brother, and he woke up with a startled yell.
a loud clang! hits the door to their cell, surprising the young girl. "hey! quiet in there!" the guard outside yells. "little brats." he huffed afterward. shin mei sticks her tongue out to the guard before she turns to her brother. "wake up!" she says, pulling on his ear. "okay, i'm awake!" shang yiu painfully whines. "my goodness! i can't believe we're related." she huffs. "you and me both." shang yiu sighs. shin mei bit back her tongue, refraining herself from verbally abusing her brother. "whatever. just get up!" she orders, pulling him to his feet.
"ping, zhuli, come here." she beckons, walking a little farther, as far as she can get in their little cell, away from the dreadfully quiet jinjiu. from the window of their cell, the moonlight shone inside, shining its pale light down on jinjiu, who just sat there, unmoving. "what's happening?" zhuli asked, her tiny hands gripping on shin mei's dress. shang yiu stood protectively in front of the three. "jiejie, gege, what's happening?" ping asked, his voice trembling.
slowly, jinjiu stood up, his shadow casting a black figure in the ground next to him. his skin was as pale as the moon itself, and his limbs and neck twitched in a manner that scared the young children. "it's okay, it's okay." shin mei breathlessly says, holding the two younger children towards her. as childish as she and her brother acted around their caretaker, at times like these, they're forced to drop the childish act and adopt a protective and matured one and get serious as it was their duty to protect their youngest siblings during lan y/n's absence.
a quiet snarl came from jinjiu, and the two youngest children whimpered as they hid their faces in shin mei's dress. shang yiu stared at his older brother. "jinjiu?"
nothing but silence was heard from that cell as the oxygen seemingly left their lungs for a couple of moments. until a loud roar was heard, followed by a crash.
"wen-gongzi! wen-gongzi!!" the doors to the candlelit room slammed open, revealing multiple wen disciples, all wearing looks of terror on their faces. "the children..." they panted. "they escaped!"
wen xu looked back at lan y/n, who was still laying down on the stone bed, as calm and absent-minded as ever. lan y/n looked at wen xu, golden eyes shimmering with what looked to be, mischief.
fear him, revere him,
look into his eyes, shining with crimson intensity
meet his gaze, you'll bleed crimson endlessly
fear him, revere him, turn away and cry,
but ne'er shall you escape his crimson eye
lan y/n giggled.
angrily, wen xu stabbed the knife beside lan y/n's head, narrowly missing his ear. "what did you do?" he glowered, grabbing lan y/n by the torn part of his robe. lan y/n's smirk only widened. "as i said, there are many things about me that aren't what they seem." he recited, his eyes twinkling in red. "but, you know me, i live to disappoint."
( 𝖾𝖽𝗂𝗍𝖾𝖽 | ✓ )
( words: 3000+ )