#red oleander

Eyes. All over its head, one in the back of its mouth. Its maw is lined with rows of sharp teeth, and it has four extra maws too: One in the back of its head, a small one near its chin, and two on each leg. Its body consists of a ribcage, long skinless arms ending with giant claws, and a spine made half of bone and half of muscle tendon. Each movement makes crackling noises from its bones. It lets out a guttural roar, and Lan Wangji quickly unsheathes Bichen to get ready to defend against the rearing monster when Wei Wuxian throws an arm out to block him and shouts in Chinese, “Wait!”

Both Lan Wangji and the monster freeze, but the latter gasps and chokes on its own breath.

Telegraphing his movements very slowly, Wei Wuxian turns to the grotesque monster and crouches down to make himself appear smaller, even though it towers over him already. “Hong Zhulan,” he says in a soft, gentle tone, enunciating each tone with extra clarity, “is it you?”

The monster falls backwards into a limp sitting position. Enormous tears fill every single one of her eyes, and she breaks down sobbing and tries to bury her face in her knees.

Wei Wuxian approaches her and kneels down, continuing to speak in slow Mandarin. “My name is Wei Ying, courtesy name Wuxian. Both of us are Fallers, like you— that’s Lan Zhan over there, by the way, and we didn’t mean to frighten you— and we’re trying to find our way home. We read your book. I hope you know that it was invaluable.”

Lan Wangji has already sheathed Bichen, and now he walks up and takes a seat by Wei Wuxian. “Courtesy name Wangji,” he adds quietly.

Hong Zhulan looks up. Sobs still rattle her body as she opens and closes her mouth several times, although the sounds that come out from it are garbled and warped.

“It’s alright if you can’t respond,” Wei Wuxian assures her. Seeming to be unable to accept this, Hong Zhulan gets up and drags a pointer claw in the ground to write in Mandarin. She hesitates often, and her stroke order is completely messed up, but she manages to write four shaky characters in the end.

百年 (100 years)

多謝 (thank you so much)

“It’s still so weird that everything is written from left to right instead of up and down,” Wei Wuxian mutters, laughing, before his face turns solemn. “Oh, Hong-guniang… I wish things had turned out better for you.”