The Demonic Clan of Yiling (MDZS Fanfic)

Hanging Tree Night Hunt (Pt.1)

"How long until we get there?" Jin Ling asked as he trailed behind the two men.

"It's not far now. If I remember correctly, it should be another 10 minutes to the town." Guangyao answered.

Zixuan hadn't originally planned on bringing either of them, as the letter was addressed to him and him only. However after further inspection of the map Guangyao realised that he had been to the town before, when he was undercover in the Sunshot Campine, so Zixuan thought it best to bring him. Jin Ling on the other hand kicked up a fuss after finding the letter on his father's desk. He yelled about how if Wei Wuxian was involved then he should come too, for Jiang Cheng's sake. In the end Zixuan was done fighting with the boy and decided to just keep an eye on him.

Them being there wasn't what bothered him. It was something else. Why would Wei Wuxian be involved? 

The man was one of the main turning points in the war. When he came back and killed Wen Chao, the tides felt like they turned. He killed hundreds of their men. He hated what they did with every fibre of his being. So why the hell was he involved with this? What had changed?     

10 minutes passed by quickly and soon the three of them were on the outskirts of an old town. It was nothing like Zixuan expected: A clean town that had only just been abandoned. Doors still open and food still on tables. This place was... destroyed...

"When did you receive that letter, papa?" Jin Ling asked as he kicked the fallen door of a house.

"All the letters we were going through came in this week." Guangyao answered, peeking his head through the door of said house.

"But this place looks like it was abandoned a long time ago. So how could the villagers have only recently gone missing?" Jin Ling stated, looking back at his father hesitantly.

"Something is defiantly going on here." Zixuan mumbled as he walked further into the town to investigate more. Both his brother and son followed after him quietly. 

They were all looking around, for clues or anything suspicious, but there was nothing. They made it to the centre of the town and took a seat on the edge of the fountain that stood there. It was silent apart from the gentle rustling of old fabric and leaves in the wind. 

Zixuan looked up at the moon as it rose in the sky. They had been travelling for a long time and they had hoped that there would be somewhere to rest in the town. However that was no longer the case.

"Something is off here..." Guangyao mumbled from next to Zixuan, who nodded in agreement. "Why would the letter speak as if it was recent?" He asked.

"I'm not sure, but I do not like it." Zixuan answered. There was silence again. Jin Ling was kicking rocks nervously.

Then suddenly there was a loud roar and a flash of white sped past their eyes, before colliding with one of the old buildings. The wood collapsed around the body and dust rose from the ground in a cloud. Other shouts could be heard in the distance and both Zixuan and Guangyao drew their swords. Jin Ling, however, ran over to the wreckage and quickly began digging. 

"Jin Ling what are you doing!?" Zixuan yelled, but Jin Ling didn't stop until the body in white was revealed.

"Jingyi!?" He gasped as the other boy started to cough uncontrollably. Zixuan and Guangyao exchanged a look and quickly ran over to help the Lan boy, who was still coughing and struggling to get up. "What the hell are you doing here!?" Jin Ling asked.

"A... A-Die got a letter... Saying Sect Leader Jiang needed help..." Jingyi spluttered and suddenly Jin Ling's face went white.

"Jiujiu needs help!?" He exclaimed, but Jingyi just shook his head.

"N-No... He thought Sect Leader Nie was in trouble, but Sect Leader Nie is here for a different reason and... Zizhen came for something about Wei Wuxian, but Wei Wuxian's here for something about the Jin Clan planning something. It's really fucking confusing." Jingyi explained through heavy breaths. 

Guangyao looked up at Zixuan with a concerned look which Zixuan returned. Had they all been brought here for different reasons!?

"Jingyi, where is everyone else?" Zixuan asked the Lan boy who was still unstable.

"Fighting the dead villagers. There's some sort of energy that makes them super powerful, so neither Sizhui or Wei Wuxian can control them." He answered, nodding in the direction of loud roars.

The three Jins looked in that direction and could see blinding flashes of light in the distance. There was definitely a battle going on. Jingyi took a step forward seeming a little steadier on his feet and just as he did a giant corpse rounded a corner and froze when it saw him.

"Ah... Well shit..." The boy mumbled before darting off down one of the alleys.

None of the others had much time to take in his quick disappearance or the swift movements of the corpse as it chased after him. They all just looked at each other, silently agreeing on the same thing.

They needed to help the others... 

---<~>---

"Zixuan!? What the fuck are you doing here!?" Jiang Cheng yelled as he looked up at the man who just saved his ass.

"Letter." Zixuan managed to splutter. Jingyi wasn't kidding when he said these corpses were strong.

"That makes all of us." Wei Wuxian said, suddenly appearing next to them. A few corpses were charging towards him, but before they could get close Lan Wangji cut them down. "Someone has definitely planned this." He added.

"Baba look out!" Wei Sizhui suddenly shouted. Wei Wuxian moved swiftly, narrowly missing a corpse as it lunged past him to get to the boy.

One thing Zixuan had noticed was that all the corpses stuck to one target and ignored everyone else. It was odd because most corpses didn't care, but not these.

"A-Yuan be careful!" Wei Wuxian yelled as he watched his son with worry. The look reminded Zixuan of his own son and he quickly looked around for Jin Ling.

The boy wasn't far away, fighting alongside Guangyao and Ouyang Zizhen as a group of corpses surrounded them. Zixuan was about to run in and help, but there was no need to, because at that same moment Wen Ning appeared after surveying the area.

"More are coming from all over the town." He said to the group with a grim expression.

"There's more!?" Huaisang wailed from his place behind Lan Xichen and Lan Jingyi.

"Yes." Wen Ning nodded, without much expression. Jiang Cheng clicked his tongue in what seemed to be annoyance, but no one made any comment on it.

"We should find somewhere to recuperate." Lan Wangji stated and Zixuan couldn't help but agree. Though he, Jin Ling and Guangyao were fine as they had only just joined the battle. The others were all dishevelled and panting. It would also be a good idea for them to figure out what the hell was going on before they fought anymore. 

"There's a cave over there." Wei Sizhui said, pointing towards a small hole in the side of a cliff on the edge of the town.

The group didn't need telling twice and all headed towards the cave just as the echoing voices of the corpses began to fill their ears.