The Child of Demonic Cultivation

The Forest of Trees

*start of book 2*

WC: 1186

The group travelled in the direction the ghost left arm pointed, and happened upon a small village. The mud houses were enclosed in vast fences, with many chickens and roosters.

The road split into three at the entrance, two were visibly worn and flattened with frequent use. The last was overgrown with weeds with a stone marker pointing in its direction. It was aged and weather worn with two giant characters inscribed, city and an unknown character.

"Why don't we go ask the villagers?" Wei Wuxian suggested.

The two Lans nodded. Lab Tian walked up to a gaggle of farmer ladies who were sprinkling grain. When they noticed him they seemed to be ready to bolt at a moment's notice. He pointed at the stone marker and asked about it. The women answered with hesitation but the conversation ended in smiles and laughter. Wei Wuxian offered the ladies something from his robes to the ladies and the two returned to Lan Wangji.

"Hanguang-jun, you should've gone over," Wei Wuxian commented as he returned, "They keep rabbits in their yard!"

"What information did you obtain." Lan Tian cracked a smile at their father's coldness.

"The road leads to Yi City. The first word is Yi on the tablet." Lan Tian responded.

"Yo for "xiayi", chivalry?" Lan Wangji asked.

"Yes and no."

"Please elaborate."

"It's the same word but different meaning," Wei Wuxian explained. "It's for yozhuang."

They started down the road as Wei Wuxian and Lan Tian shared their findings.

After explaining everything about the city Lan Wangji asked, "What did you give them?"

"Cosmetics." Lan Tian replied first.

"When you ask people for information, you've got to give them something as thanks." Wei Wuxian explained.

"They wouldn't except money though." Lan Tian added.

They were soon met with city gates at the end of the long road. That is when the hand turned into a fist.

They could tell it was a despairing landscape, Lan Tian could almost taste the resentful energy from out side the compound.

"There's a lot of resentful energy in there ya know. We've gotta be careful... I mean I'm guessing." Lan Tian tried to catch himself before revealing their new ability.

They pushed open the gates and were met with lurching fierce corpses, nothing but white. Fog shifting over the whole city and not a single person in sight, the there moves slightly closer together before continuing.

The deeper in they got the thicker the fog became. The three could only barely see their hand in front of them and stayed within touching distance of each other.

Wei Wuxian kicked something, but Lan Tian quickly picked it up. "What the heck." He whisper-screamed. It was a human head with bulging eyes and the appearance of a man. It was too light to be a real head.

Wei Wuxian stole the head out of Lan Tian's hands and squeezed it until it was flat. The paper head was very lifelike. It was probably a Substitute Doll.

Suddenly a scrawny little shadow darted past them. Ortus (Lan Tian's blade) unsheathed itself and attempted a pursuit before returning to ish holder. It was clearly too fast to be human.

"Keep your eyes open and be on alert." Lan Wangji cautioned.

Lan Tian focused his energy into his eyes and ears, the more he focused the more their senses seemed to become sharper. It was as if every sense we heightened. Lan Tian felt as if he could feel any small vibration on the ground bounce through their body.

A crisp 3 hit tap echoed through the ground and air. "Did you catch that?" Lan Tian asked.

"The steps and bamboo pole?" Lan Wangji answered.

Lan Tian nodded before stopping mid step and pointing to the groups right. They could feel numerous, light, varied steps echo through the ground.

Wei Wuxian flicked his hand, flipped out a yin-burning talisman, and casually sent it off in that direction. The talisman would burn if anything ahead was boiling with resentful energy.

In response multiple swords came hurtling at them. Out of instinct Lan Tian closed his eyes and swiped their hands across the sky in front of them just as the swords were about to hit the group. The moment the swords hit the air in front of Lan Tian the sky shon purple and the swords clattered to the ground.

Lan Tian slowly opened their eyes and saw a familiar yellowish sword lying at their feet. "Jin Ling?"

"Sizhui?" Wei Wuxian wondered out loud.

They were not mistaken. "Long time no see Ti Ti! What the hell are doing here old man?"

"We were going to ask the same thing!" Wei Wuxian said.

"Is Hanguang-jun there too?" Lan Sizhui asked.

I'm that moment Jin Ling shut up and Lan Tian chuckled at the thought of Jin Ling's irrational fear of their Dad.

"Ya he's here, who's with you?" Lan Tian questioned.

Wei Wuxian shouted, "Come closer then we can all stick together."

It seemed there were the original three from Lan Tian's group, Jin Ling, the other Lan juniors and seven or eight boys from different clans.

"Why are you all here?" Wei Wuxian asked. "Attaching so fiercely right away- thank goodness I have Hanguang-jun here with me!" Before the groups met Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian formed a silent agreement to say that the whole swords getting knocked to the ground thing was Bichen and not some freak force field that Lan Tian created. "What of you hurt ordinary folk?!"

Jin Ling rebutted, "There're no ordinary folk here. There's no one in this city at all!"

The juniors explained there findings and Lan Tian asked, "Why did you all come here? Were you coming for a Night Hunt?"

Lan Sizhui, who was the kind to answer every question posed to him explained accordingly. "That's a long story. We were originally..."

The piercing sound of bamboo hitting the ground came from within the fog interrupting Lan Sizhui.

Startled, the juniors faces changed colour. "It's here again!"

Lan Tian seemed to be the only one who could follow the sound but only through vibrations in the ground. They closed their eyes as everyone else drew close.

One of the clan juniors whispered in the silence between taps, "It's that thing again... How long is it going to keep following us?!"

"It's been following you guys?" Wei Wuxian asked.

"We stayed together since we entered the city, afraid of losing each other with how thick the fog is. And then we suddenly heard that noise. It was f this fast at first, and it only came every so often, with long intervals of peace. It's followed us since we tried to catch it once."

"How Ling have you guys been here?" Wei Wuxian asked.

"Also at half an incense time," Lan Sizhui replied.

"Dad how long have we been here?" Lan Tian asked concern being to lace their voice.

His voice came through the fog, "Nearly one incense time."

"We've been here longer, how did you get ahead of us?" Wei Wuxian questioned.