The Value of Recognition

Heh heh so... we've got a little problem

Disclaimer: I do not own MDZS/ The Untamed. This will of course be a mix of canons as is usual for me. Wei Wuxian has returned with his original appearance but it's only superficial as he has Mo Xuanyu's core.

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It was supposed to be a routine night hunt. Nothing that the juniors couldn't handle. And with Wen Ning and a poorly concealed Sect Leader Jiang following behind them, things were usually fine if it turned out to be something more than they could. It had been 2 years since the fateful Guanyin Temple incident and they'd more than gotten accustomed to stalking the juniors together, though Sect Leader Jiang of course put up a grumpy front. They were back in Yunping, this time following the trail of a strangely elusive spirit that seemed to disappear every time they were close to trapping it. It did not help that Lan Jingyi was terrified of ghosts and his teeth kept chattering, possibly alerting the thing when they were near.

"Really Lan Jingyi if you're that scared you shouldn't have come!" teased Jin Ling. Lan Jingyi pouted, "I'm not scared!"

A cold gust of wind blew past them and Lan Jingyi shrieked and grabbed onto the person closest to him, clinging like a koala. It was Jin Ling, who smirked and raised an eyebrow at him. "This doesn't prove anything," Lan Jingyi said stiffly, "I...I did this because I wanted to!"

"You wanted to hug me?" said Jin Ling, an amused grin on his face. Lan Jingyi sputtered and let go, face turning red. "Who wants to hug you , Young Mistress?!"

"You apparently," Jin Ling snickered.

Before a furiously red Lan Jingyi could retort, Lan Sizhui shushed them.

"There's something here," he said, pulling out a spirit trapping pouch, and gesturing to Ouyang Zizhen to be ready to send the thing his way.

Lan Jingyi and Jin Ling also got into the same position, all levity fading, though Lan Jingyi had gone pale.

They'd agreed on this formation so that this time if the spirit evaded one spirit trapping pouch, it would directly be forced into a second one. Jin Ling and Lan Sizhui held the pouches and the other two got ready to banish the spirit into it.

Circling the area where the resentful energy was felt, the spirit soon materialised and cackled menacingly. Lan Jingyi shivered but as the spirit lunged at him his fight or flight mechanism kicked in and he strongly banished it towards Jin Ling.

The spirit was getting sucked in and Ouyang Zizhen cheered. "Finally!"

Except right at that moment there was a spike of resentful energy. The spirit did not intend to go quietly.

Before anyone knew what had happened, Lan Sizhui was being pinned down by Sect Leader Jiang, who had slumped over him, unconscious.

The ghost had shot a blast of light towards him and Lan Sizhui could not move out of the way in time. Sect Leader Jiang was closer than Wen Ning, and had tackled him out of the way, absorbing the blast himself.

The last thing they heard of the spirit was it's maniacal laughter before it was fully gone, trapped within the pouch, leaving behind several very panicked juniors.

"Jiujiu!"

"Sizhui!"

"Sect Leader Jiang!"

Sizhui, dazed from having the wind knocked out of him, still lay flat and unmoving on the floor with Sect Leader Jiang's deadweight on top of him. He managed to raise his hand weakly to indicate he was fine.

Wen Ning, worried about Sizhui, hurried over and lifted Sect Leader Jiang off of him.

Lan Jingyi helped him to his feet while Jin Ling fussed over his uncle, held in Wen Ning's arms like he weighed nothing. Ouyang Zizhen took a moment to appreciate the strength of the fierce corpse but he too was worried as Sect Leader Jiang was not waking up. Lan Sizhui took his wrist to try and see if he could figure out what was wrong. Wen Ning had been teaching him the little medical knowledge he had from Wen Qing; Lan Sizhui was a natural.