Collide and Cry

Duet

The music at the top is the song that Wei Ying plays-Authornim

Lan Sizhui and Jingyi stayed huddled behind the tree when the music began. Even though they were uncertain as to what they had expected from Wei WuXian, the dark beings rushing at them as quickly as they were, they had certainly not expected whatever this was. Sizhui had to stop Jingyi from rushing out in a desperate attempt to see what the mysterious man was doing. The music was most certainly not what they usually used to defeat dark corpses. Even they knew that, though they had never done it themselves. Such music as this?? This was never used among Cultivators. Ever, not that they had known at the very least.

The music itself was heavy with dark energy. It seemed to resound through the trees. Lan Sizhui could feel the darkness flooding the air. He did not know what in the world Wei WuXian was doing, and could only huddle behind the tree, shivering from the gentle Candance of the dark notes. Shuddering, Jingyi could not help himself any more, and peered out from behind the tree which the two were huddled, to see what Wei Ying was doing, and froze. He tapped urgently on Lan Sizhui's shoulder, and resistant the pleading tugs which the other gave on his robes, finally getting Lan Sizhui to look over his shoulder from behind the tree...and he quickly froze as well.

Wei WuXian was indeed playing the music which was filled with dark energy. That flute of his was held to his lips, and Lan Sizhui could physically feel the change in the other's aura. He played without hesitation, fingers hitting every note of the flute elegantly. Dark smoke collected underneath his fingers as he played the same song over and over again on a loop. His eyes seemed to have garnered a slightly crazed edge to them. Yet, Wei Ying was still somehow coherent, that much was clear, as the moment Jingyi and Lan Sizhui moved, despite his orders for them to not do so, Wei Ying glanced curtly at them, stopping the music for a split second...The corpses which he was fighting with the music, then turned on them, turning to them, and Lan Sizhui and Jingyi froze, now regretting that they had disobeyed Wei Ying. Wei Ying stepped before them and once more, taking a deep breath, held the flute to his lips and began again, this time, the inky black smoke gathered faster and faster, encasing Wei Ying's lower body entirely spiraling upwards towards him, gathering around his arms and Wei Ying began to walk forwards, towards the corpses. Once he hit the high note of the song once more, the corpses began to turn on themselves. Instead of fighting with them, they fought themselves, tearing themselves apart. Wei Ying showed no mercy, and continued to play the malicious tune. 

Lan Sizhui did not even know how this was possible. Any cultivator who had tried to harness dark magic and dark energy had been seeped within it at all times, and eventually succumbed to the dark magic they tried to control. However, Wei Ying, despite clearly known what he was doing, and how to do it, his core was not immersed in dark energy like one would expect. He had been perfectly fine before and yet now, everything around him was cradled in dark energy, the corpses he was somehow controlling to stay away from them, and fight themselves in stead. It was unnerving, yet the strength within which Wei Ying must have to control this sort of energy was insane. 

Lan Sizhui watched Wei Ying, carefully, and noticed something even more odd than his ability to use this sort of cultivation in the first place. That was the dark energy did not fill his core, but rather hid it. Lan Sizhui could not feel the other's core in any capacity. Dark Cultivation was incredibly difficult at the best of times, and all who had used it had succumbed to qi deviation or had been swallowed whole by the ghosts and the spirits whom they tried to command. Furthermore, even managing to attempt to use dark cultivation was incredibly difficult. The ability to use it was rare, and even rarer that the user actually survived the encounter. Clearly Wei Ying had managed both since he was still standing, and commanding the dark corpses. Yet, in any case of Dark Cultivation, one thing remained the same. Whenever they used that style of cultivation, their core was doused in dark energy, dark qi, and it could be felt, it could be practically seen. In Wei WuXian's case, however, his core was merely hidden by the dark energy, not steeped in it. He had never heard of such a case happening before, so it was rather strange. 

Then....came the note...

Help had come...in the form of HanGuang-Jun. Jingyi and Lan Sizhui breathed in mounds of relief. As well as a ton of shock. They had expected help, of course, but HanGuang-Jun? They had not expected that at all. Wei Ying continued with his melody, but the added melody of Lan Wangji's powerful spiritual energy was enough to crumble the dark creatures to the floor, into ashes. Wei Ying lowered his flute, the dark smoke quickly dissipating as his playing stopped, and soon, the heavy atmosphere which had been lingering around the place as Wei Ying played his flute, was gone as well. Lan Sizhui and Jianyi breathed fully for the first time since the beginning of Wei Ying's song. They inhaled sharply, almost as though gasping at the suddenness of the lack of dark presence. Once more, Lan Sizhui noted that there was still, as before, nothing wrong with the young Wei WuXian's core. It was hopelessly confusing. 

Wei Ying, twirled the flute in his hands idly. He looked at the person who was in pure white, watched him carefully, bowing to him.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, my name is Wei Ying, curtesy Wei WuXian. May I ask...who you are?"

This served to show just how...long that Wei Ying must have been held in captivity by the Jiang Clan. But this also served more questions than answers. For instance, if Wei Ying had been under the Jiang clan for so long, long enough that he would not have heard of HanGuang-Jun, or Lan Wangji, than he would have certainly not had enough time to have learned Dark Cultivation. Then again, perhaps he was in a place which was more isolated. The fact remained, they did not know how long Wei Ying had been in captivity and under the Jiang Clan, and they certainly had not had the time, or even really the heart, to ask. They would need to sooner or later, and Lan Sizhui knew that. He just...did not have the heart to ask such sensitive questions while they were still headed towards the Cloud Recesses. 

If Lan Wangji was surprised, he did not show it, merely bowed back, and introduced himself. 

"What happened here?" Came the question. Lan Sizhui bit his lip nervously, he knew that the Second Master would ask him this, and he honestly had no idea how to respond. What could he say? It was already incredibly obvious that Wei Ying had been using the flute, and been using an uncommon form of cultivation that they were not entirely aware of. What more was there that he could say? 

"Ah, Master Lan, please do not be angry with them." Wei Ying said suddenly, causing Lan Zhan to place his piercing look upon him. Wei Ying hesitated when looked at, but stubbornly continued on. "I told them to stay out of it. We were being chased by these dark creatures. I took care of them, mostly. It is a good thing that you came when you did, Master Lan. I do not know how much longer I could keep them under my control. I have never really...used cultivation before. Not for a long time, so I am a bit...rusty, I suppose you could say." Wei Ying said, biting his lip nervously, as the other said nothing. 

Lan Sizhui and Jingyi watched Lan Wangji carefully. They were certain that their second master would do something. The real question was what exactly was it that he would do. It had them on their toes. Many think that Lan Wangji was easy to predict. In all reality, it was incredibly complicated. He could do anything, as long as it still followed the GusuLan rules. That was one thing that you could always count on Lan Wangji to abide by. As long as it was somewhere within the GusuLan Rules, however, all bets were off...

"Master Lan, I know you may not be happy about the current situation. I assure you, though, no harm was done to...What are you doing? HEY!"