Way too untamed, way too wild

Come meet my friends

Lan Wangji had quite a hard time procuring a bottle of milk, the people in Yiling were staring at him as if he had actually lost his mind at last. But he did not let it deter him in the slightest. He was sure the boy was waiting for him and he did not want to disappoint him, not when his first request was something he could do quite easily, relative speaking of course.

With the bottle safely stored in his qiakun pouch, he headed back to the Burial Mounds. He was in such a hurry that he had forgotten to dismount his sword at a distance from the small pond and he landed right beside it. He only realized what he had done when he saw the familiar figure of the boy staring at him. He calmed down the next second, the boy did not look freaked out or ill at ease, he was actually still smiling at him and coming towards him, seemingly without a care in the world.

He had even abandoned the swirling resentful energy and it was now dispersing away. It must have been that the boy finally stopped being wary around him. Was him promising to come back and then keeping his promise enough to finally convince the boy he had no ill intentions? Even though Lan Wangji knew from experience just how quickly he could summon his defences again if he thought he was in danger.

He took out the bottle of milk and proudly presented it to the boy. The other snatched it away from his hands eagerly and opened it. Lan Wangji though that he would drink it immediately but he was stunned when the boy only looked inside and then smelled the contents, probably checking if the liquid inside was indeed what he had requested.

When his inspection was done, he turned to Lan Wangji and beamed at him again, almost skipping in place from excitement: "Thank you! A-Yuan will be so happy!"

Lan Wangji was thoroughly confused now. Who was this A-Yuan? Was there someone else living in the Burial Mounds? Was it another demonic cultivator? The boy's master perhaps? He had to ask before the boy wold disappear again. If that was the case, he would need to report it immediately to the other sects, the harmless and half-starved boy was one thing, but an adult demonic cultivator with unknown intentions was another matter entirely.

The boy had already collected the package with food and was now apparently ready to leave. Lan Wangji wanted to call after him to stop him. It was only then that he realized he did not know the boy's name and he had nothing to call him by right now. Somewhat bothered by this fact, he skipped the addressing part and only asked, as calmly as he could manage when his thoughts were perturbed by the thoughts of all the dangers this A-Yuan person could mean for the cultivation world: "Who is A-Yuan?"

The boy stopped in his tracks and turned on his heel, spinning around crazy fast until Lan Wangji was afraid he would fall down and spill the milk he had been so happy to get. Nothing like that happened and he was glad. It would not bother him too much to go buy another bottle, but he knew the boy would be very disappointed anyway, he looked so eager to go meet this A-Yuan fellow as soon as possible.

Now however, he calmed down a bit and spent a second or two looking adorably pensive. Then he smiled at him again and waved his hand in a way it suggested he wanted Lan Wangji to follow him.

"A-Yuan is a friend. He is really sweet, save for the times he is unhappy with something and shouting. Come, you brought him his milk so you can come see how he enjoys it!"

For a split second, Lan Wangji was sure that this was not a good idea. Certainly, if the demonic cultivator saw him, someone in the Gusu Lan sect colours, approaching his doorstep, he would attack him on the spot. But, it could be a perfect opportunity for him to learn more about the other inhabitant of the Burial Mounds. He should probably not lose such a good chance to further his investigation. And perhaps the boy's master was not actually all that bad, the boy was such a sweet child after all.

He decided in the next second and nodded. The boy had apparently been too impatient and did not want for him to slowly follow him, he had danced towards him while Lan Wangji had still been considering his options. Now he grabbed his wrist with his free hand, the other one dangerously balancing both the bottle of milk and the package of food still neatly wrapped in a piece of cloth, and started dragging him wherever he wanted to go.

Lan Wangji did not protest and let himself be led further into the Burial Mounds. He had to smile for himself, the boy was just too adorable in his excitement, he was finally acting like someone his age. Although Lan Wangji normally minded being touched, he found out that he was quite comfortable with the boy holding his hand. He was not afraid of going deeper into the so thought damned place, he knew that if it came to it, he and the boy would be able to defend themselves. Mainly the boy though since this was apparently his home.

The only thing which worried him was the fact that the hand holding his was so thin, so bony, and oh so cold, like a block of ice. He was wondering whether that was a side effect of the demonic cultivation or if the boy was just too skinny to be able to properly maintain his body heat in this freezing place; there was no raging wind this deep in the Burial Mounds, nevertheless, the temperature was still far lower than outside.

As they walked further and further, Lan Wangji could see that trees appeared around them more and more often, not dead jet black ones like those around the barrier, but actual green trees, even if somewhat smaller than he was used to. Some of them had even fruits growing on the branches, although they did not look too appetizing, being all wrinkly and sick looking.

The boy did not stop chatting with him the whole time he was dragging him around. Lan Wangji tried to follow his line of thought, but his speech was too erratic, he could only understand that he was telling him something about the Burial Mounds and the resentful energy inside and how he should not be afraid because it would not attack them. Lan Wangji was sure that all the cultivation sects would have given their fortune for even a tenth of the information he had just received, if only he had understood at least some of it.

Then the boy stopped and he turned to look at him, the now ever present smile on his lips: "Lan Zhan, we are here. Just wait till you meet all my friends. They would be happy to see you; they do not come outside too often so anything new makes them really excited."

Lan Wangji felt alarmed at once. Were there actually more people than just this A-Yuan person? Was he just walking into a literal den of demonic cultivators? No, surely not, the boy seemed too innocent to actually lead him into a trap. Or had he been mistaking about him this whole time? Had the boy actually been playing a dirty game with him, misleading him ingeniously into believing him?

Before he could reach any conclusion or pull his hand away, the boy shouted so loudly as if he wanted all the dead in the Burial Mounds to wake up. "Come out! I have brought you food! And a friend!"