Promise and Betrayal: A Mo Dao Zu Shi (the Untamed) Story

Chapter 2

Things quiet down after that. I hear no word of the Yin Iron again, only faint whisperings of something hiding in the mountain. I routinely pass Wei Wuxian, who nods my way every time he sees me. I return his gesture. He does not approach me again, but I continue to ponder the mystery of our energies. I reach no conclusive answer, and eventually I give up: I cannot produce a hypothesis. But I do tuck the information away, should it come up again.

I successfully keep my secret, made easier by my private room. I have grown used to the near-discovery incidents, but as of yet, none have found out. I continue to be diligent in my studies, and for once I can feel my knowledge growing and my skill improving. But dissent grows in our ranks, dissent I sense that has to do with the recent developments of the Wen Clan. Several disciples leave to attend to clan affairs related to incidents. I stay, having received no word from any of my clan.

Another incident involving Wei Wuxian results in whippings for him and two of his friends, as well as, to my surprise, Lan Zhan. Every version of the story I overhear is more far-fetched than the last, but many factors are consistent: they say they were caught drinking that night, and Lan Zhan seemed to be participating. Yet, I find the act of Lan Zhan drinking--which breaks the Lan Clan principles--an unlikely story. Soon after the whippings, Wei Wuxian and Lan Zhan disappear.

Class pauses as Cloud Recesses searches for them. I help, combing a mountainside river. Curiously, I see one of the two Wen Clan attendees—the woman, Wen Qing, examining the side of a rock. She does not seem to be looking for entrances, but rather something else. I return to my task, noting the occurrence. As strange as it may be, she must have her reasons.

The two missing persons appear a day later. Another story circulates, claiming they stumbled together out of solid rock. Too many versions contain that part for it to be false, which poses the question of whether they stumbled out of solid rock, or something disguised to be solid rock. I suspect the latter.

Closely after the incident, Wei Wuxian and Lan Zhan leave Cloud Recesses. The lecture is close to an end, in its final three weeks of instruction. They leave two weeks before it is to be concluded, having waited for the lantern ceremony before departing.

At the lantern launch, we crafted lanterns, and while setting them off, cast a promise or a wish upon their journey. I promised myself to remain true to the principles of my clan, and to never do anything I thought was wrong or ill-willed. My lantern, of small construction bearing an artfully drawn dancing lady wielding two swords, rose to meet the sky. I watched in contemplation, pondering where my journey would take me after Cloud Recesses--for as sure as the sun rises, I sensed change on the horizon.