Luca Lee

Jiang Cheng’s ice-blue gaze turn to him, eyes narrowed, and for a moment Jingyi sincerely considers saying his prayers and calling it a day. But the most terrifying second of his life passes, then another, and the sect leader seems to decide he just isn’t worth the trouble. “Who are you to interrupt when an elder is speaking? The Gusu Lan Clan pride themselves on being an example of good etiquette. Is this what its disciples are being taught?”

Ah well⎯now Jingyi is sincerely embarrassed. Just because he isn’t a real Lan doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about the clan's rep even a little bit. His eyes dart between Lan Wangji and Lan Sizhui. Which one spoke first in the novel again? Help a guy out here, folks! 

“Young Master Jin,” Sizhui finally says ⎯ and Jingyi could kiss him, he really could, “night-hunts have always been a fair competition amongst the clans. But you…you set up nets all over Mount Dafan and made it difficult for the cultivators of other sects to tread, for fear of falling into traps. Does this not violate the rules of night-hunting?”

Jin Ling scoffs. Up close, the resemblance between him and Jiang Cheng really is uncanny, Jingyi thinks : their mouths pull up on the same side when they talk, almost like a snarl. “What can I do if they step into traps due to their own stupidity? I must capture my prey ; everything else can wait.”

An almost-imperceptible furrow appears between Lan Wangji’s brows. Jingyi can pinpoint the exact moment Jin Ling shifts on his feet to keep going with his tirade, then tries to open his mouth and realizes his lips might as well have been glued together. He makes a strangled, desperate sound and whirls towards his uncle, eyes pleading.

So far, Jin Ling’s been a total brat, but Jingyi can sympathize with his situation right now. He remembers the first time he pushed the class clown gig far enough that Lan Qiren subjected him to a solid hour of the Lan sect’s silencing spell to try and get him to mind his manners. That was probably the longest hour of his life.

Jiang Cheng’s reaction is instantaneous. “What is the meaning of this?” he rumbles, rounding on Lan Wangji like a storm cloud. “It's not up to you to discipline Jin Ling. Release the spell!”

The sound of shifting branches draws Jingyi’s attention away from the confrontation. In the commotion, Wei Wuxian *started moving, subtly inching out of Jiang Cheng’s field of vision and towards the trees. 

Oh no you don’t! Just because he got distracted doesn’t mean he’s going to throw this whole mission! While Sizhui fumbles through an explanation in the hopes of getting both parties to calm down, Jingyi pulles a talisman from his sleeve and sends it flying--not towards Wei Wuxian, but towards his donkey. 

Just as Wei Wuxian makes to to grab Little Apple’s reins, the talisman goes off in a puff of smoke. The donkey brays and jerks away, speeding off into the trees...and just like that, everyone’s attention is back on Wei Wuxian.

To his credit, the guy doesn’t let it bother him. He straightens up, nonchalant as anything. Only Jingyi is standing close enough to notice the way his gray eyes brush over the assembled crowd, probably figuring out the specifics of his next attempt at a vanishing act. 

He’s got plenty of reasons to be worried, after all. The little stunt has drawn the attention of just about anyone in the clearing. Some of the juniors make noises of recognition and surprise at the sight of the so-called lunatic of Mo Village, but the most noticeable reaction by far is Jiang Cheng’s. Jingyi can practically see the gears turn behind those cold purple eyes, beginning to make sense of the spectacle before him. His left hand comes up to cradle his right, idly stroking his silver ring. If the gesture in itself wasn’t enough, the lightning pattern etched into the metal would be a dead giveaway.

Zidian! Gosh, it looks even cooler in person than in the best cosplay replicas. If Jingyi weren’t contemplating the likelihood of his main objective in this mission getting struck down within the next five seconds, he might just swoon. 

Stop it! Get your shit together! He can’t very well unlock the OOC function if Wei Wuxian gets whipped to death before he can reunite with his long-lost love, after all. But before Jingyi’s brain can come to any rational decision, a white-robed figure moves to block ‘Mo Xuanyu’ from Jiang Cheng’s line of sight.

It is a special talent of Lan Wangji’s, it seems, to make his point crystal clear without uttering a single word. Jiang Cheng looks like he’s one off-hand remark away from starting a fight - or like he’s bitten down on a very sour lemon -, but even he seems to recognize the pointlessness of making an enemy of one of the Twin Jades of Lan over a no-name from some backwater town. 

With a huff, he withdraws his hand from his ring, turning to Jin Ling instead. “Since Hanguang-jun wants to punish you, take the lesson this once. It's hard enough for him to keep track of his own juniors, without handling one from another clan on top of that.” Jingyi internally winces at the scathing tone of his voice. Jin Ling may actually be the gutsiest person alive ⎯ if he were on the receiving end of that kind of lecture, he’d never step one toe out of line again. 

“What are you standing around for? Waiting for the prey to run into your sword by itself?” Jiang Cheng continues, visibly worked up. “If you can't catch the creature here on Mount Dafan tonight, then you needn't come to me again in the future!” 

Jin Ling puffs up, seemingly winding up for a retort, before the harsh reality of his current forced mutism catches up to him. With no easier target in sight, he throws one last glare Wei Wuxian’s way before storming off in a sulk, each forceful step crushing leaves and blades of grass underfoot.

Jingyi doesn’t need to be a psychic to get a general read on the mood of every remaining soul in the clearing : awkward, awkward, awkward! Deflecting such tension, however, must be coded into Sizhui’s DNA at this point, because he’s the first to speak up. “Sect Leader Jiang, let us stop our quarrel here. The Gusu Lan Clan will fully compensate you for all the immortal-binding nets that were destroyed.”

That's the ever-polite protagonists’ son for you! At least half the assembled juniors look to him with stars in their eyes.

The Sect Leader Jiang in question, though, doesn’t seem impressed. “No need,” he sneers, sparing no more than a glance for Sizhui before turning on his heel, stalking away without a backward look. With a couple of gestures, the purple-clad disciples hurry to gather the remains of the immortal-binding net and follow after their leader like a row of ducklings, each looking more miserable than the last. No doubt they’re anticipating the tongue-lashing coming their way the moment they’re out of earshot.

To his credit, Jingyi lasts a whole ten seconds before he opens his mouth. “What's wrong with him?” he mutters under his breath. 

On his left, Lan Fan’s eyes shift over to Hanguang-jun before she gives a non-committal shrug, the universal language for no idea. Only when she jerks her chin towards the only non-Lan remaining in the clearing does Jingyi’s head catch up with him.

Stupid! Wei Wuxian might have taken the opportunity to flee in the commotion. Looks like it’s Jingyi’s lucky day, though. His target’s still here, and if anything, he seems more motivated to stick around now than before.

Ever-perfect, Sizhui clears his throat and gives the man a courteous little bow, his hands joined in front of him. “So we meet again, young master Mo.”

“All thanks to your little friend here,” Wei Wuxian says nonchalantly, his eyes sweeping over to Jingyi. 

Even knowing the guy isn't actually a villain, he has to remind himself not to shrink back under that ghastly stare⎯and even more so when Sizhui shoots him a quizzical glance. “Don’t look at me,” Jingyi says, perhaps a little too defensively to be a hundred percent convincing. “I didn’t do anything.”

Wei Wuxian quirks an eyebrow. For a moment, Jingyi thinks he’s going to point out his intervention in front of Sizhui and Hanguang-jun and everyone for sure, but after the three longest seconds of his life, the man just shrugs, his squint dissolving into an absent-minded smile. “Huh. Must’ve gotten confused, with all you big strong cultivators moving around.” 

Yeah, he totally doesn’t believe me. 

“I’ll be on my way, though! I hear there’s a soul-eating monster wandering around, wouldn’t want to get caught up in it, hehe…” Without further ado, he pulls an apple out of his pocket (?), ties it to a piece of twine (??) and the nearest fallen branch (???) before hopping onto his donkey’s back, whistling a cheery tune all the while. “I’ll see you all around, then! Or maybe not. Don’t feel like falling into one of your fancy traps again.” 

“No, you wait, you⎯”

“Wait.” Lan Wangji’s calm, composed voice cuts through the air, making some of the juniors jolt. “Go on with your work,” he continues, with a slight tilt of his head towards their little group. When none of them move a muscle, their teacher seems to hesitate before adding : “Do your best, but do not overexert yourself.”

Well, that’s as clear a dismissal as any. Sizhui’s the first to recover his bearing, shepherding the rest into an approximate flock. “We all heard Hanguang-jun. Let’s go, everyone. The longer this…creature is left to roam around the mountain, the greater the risks are that somebody else will get hurt.”

There’s no discussing that. As much as Jingyi wants to stay and witness the inevitable exchange between the protagonists, he turns away, trying not to make his attempts at eavesdropping from a distance too obvious. When he comes to a stop some ten seconds later, pretending to readjust the hem of his robe, he catches a glimpse of Lan Wangji’s mouth moving, but both he and Wei Wuxian are already too far away for his voice to carry. 

They’ve barely walked a minute when Lan Fan visibly loses her battle for composure. “What a mess!” she exclaims, kicking into a pebble. Jingyi does his best to frown at her, to no avail. “It is true the Lanling Jin Clan only cares for their own. If it’d just been me and young master Jin, well⎯”

“Don’t be too hard on him,” Sizhui cautions. He lets his steps slow a little, letting the brunt of the group catch up to him. “He lost his parents at a young age. It’s not easy to grow up…normally…in these circumstances.”

“So did some of us,” Tao Ming huffs, “but we didn’t turn out to be prickly little⎯”

“Hey, pump the br⎯give it a rest,” Jingyi interrupts, surprising even himself. Both Tao Ming and his sister make big, google eyes at him, apparently just as perplexed. He resists the urge to cross his arms over his chest defensively. What? He has good character development! “Let’s put the Jin Sect thing behind us for a second. Hanguang-jun sent us to find the monster, didn’t he?”

As expected, Sizhui rises to the occasion without missing a beat. “Right! Jingyi, do you still have your compass with you?”

“Yes!” He fumbles with his pockets, but finally manages to pull the little thing out, dangling it by a string. With some measure of anticipation, he flips it open⎯only to be greeted with the sight of the needle spinning round and round, pointing north and south and east and west with no rhyme or reason. “Huh?”

Sizhui peers over his shoulder, a slight frown marring his face. “Hm… It must be picking up too many conflicting signals.” He looks up, lips pursed. “There must be more hauntings around here than we thought.”

Oh, that’s just great, isn’t it? Just what they needed on top of the murder statue. Jingyi swallows thickly, mustering as much courage as he can. It’s not like the System will actually let him die like this…right? “If the compass isn’t going to help, maybe we should just ask some locals, if we can find any.”

“Or take a look at the graveyard,” Lan Fan pipes up. “Tao Ming and me heard some villagers talking about it back in town. Apparently, there was a storm a few days back that knocked a bunch of coffins open. Couldn’t a monster have come out of one of those?”

Sizhui perks up. “Right! We heard something similar, didn’t we, Jingyi? In that restaurant we were in.”

“You were at a restaurant together?” Jingyi doesn’t like the look on Lan Fan’s face right now. Her eyes bounce between the two of them, and whatever conclusions she’s pulling, they’re sure to be a reach.

“What, did you expect us to starve? Here, we bought some baozi for the rest of you, too.” Distraction technique successful! As the rest of the juniors crowd around him, somehow not all making grabby hands for the leaf-wrapped buns (that’s the Lan Clan’s upbringing for you!), Jingyi makes eye contact with Sizhui over the top of their heads.