Mission: Protect Xiao Zhan (Completed)

ARC 6: Cultivation 4

Lan Zhan woke up from his sleep. He had been playing inquiry (a song used to communicate with spirits of the dead) when he slept off. His song ran into the ears of a wandering soul. He asked if she knew someone named Wei Ying and for the first time, he got a 'yes'.

This yes was both positive and negative. Positive because for the last 7 years, his investigations yielded no results, no one had seen Wei Ying not even the spirits he communicated with until now. It was negative because the one who seemed to know Wei Ying was...a dead person.

His heart nearly stopped beating but he gradually calmed himself. He was still in this world meaning Wei Ying was alive. These days, he communicated more with spirits than actual humans. He had perfected the art of inquiry to such an extent that he could ask and receive answers in such a complicated language that not even Lan Qiren would not understand. Such was the effort he put into finding his man.

"Is he dead?"

The spirit shook her head. Lan Zhan noticed that she wore black robes and on her hair, she had a red ribbon, which reminded him of his Wei Wuxian.

"I've looked everywhere for him, I'm certain he is not in the cultivation world. Is he locked up somewhere".

The spirit was quiet for a long time before finally responding in a melodious voice. This was the first time she spoke. "Are you certain you've looked everywhere?"

Of course, he had looked everywhere on the face of the cultivation world. He even found a way to check the secret cells of both major and minor clans. Lan Zhan had become a prominent person in the cultivation world, leaving his mark everywhere he went so his partner could find him with ease. He was so diligent and helpful that he had earned himself the title, Hanguan Jun.

"I've looked everywhere. Everywhere a human can go, I have gone. I have asked the dead, no one found him, meaning he is still alive. The only place I haven't checked..."

Lan Zhan came to a sudden realization. Why didn't he think of it before? Wei Ying liked to do the impossible. Burial mounds was a no-go area, just the kind of place Wei Ying would venture into. Little did he know that even Wei Ying did not dare go into the burial mounds unless absolutely necessary.

For Xiao Zhan, Yibo was ready to go to the ends of the earth. For Wei Ying, Lan Zhan was willing to go beyond. Without informing anyone, he left the sect and journeyed for days, finally arriving at the entrance of the burial mounds.

The entrance was covered by a visible black fog of resentful energy. It had gotten so bad that these energies could be seen with the naked eyes. If Wei Ying was here indeed, he must have run mad. In his heart, he didn't know what to wish for. He wanted to find Wei Ying but not in this kind of place.

He took a deep breath, circulated his Qi and took a step into the fog. To his surprise, it felt like just...smoke. Yes, there was resentment but it didn't dare attack him. he had prepared to put up a fight but... he let out a breath of relief.

He had barely taken 10 steps when he noticed a wave of people dressed in rags rushing towards him. upon closer look, these people were...corpses. Had this corpses cultivated the ability to move? This was sure to become a problem for the cultivation world. He resolved to inform his older brother, they needed to cleanse the burial mounds. First, he drew out his sword.

These corpses were difficult to fight as they were already dead and felt no pain. If you cut of their arms, they attacked with their teeth. They never gave up even when they were left with nothing but their heads rolling on the ground, they would fight with their voices. The silence spell didn't work on them.

It took him close to an hour to deal with the first wave and when he was about to take a breather, a second wave rushed at him. Their numbers 10 times more than the first. He had no idea but he suddenly had the urge to scream. Was his Wei Ying here? Was he a part of these...walking corpses? Was that why he was still considered alive? If he came across him, he wouldn't have the heart to pierce him with his sword.

"Wei Ying!", Lan Zhan called out at the top of his voice and almost immediately, the corpses stopped moving.

"Lan Zhan?"

The corpses parted ways, leaving a path in the middle and Lan Zhan lay his eyes on him for the first time in 8 years.

......

Hearing the truth, Lan Zhan was hurt. Wei Ying had gone through a lot. His first few weeks here was hell, he was finally able to harness and control the energy because of his strong will to survive. Wei Ying had been living with a fractured core and had to practice another form of cultivation.

Talking about cultivation, Wei Ying's base was no longer the same as Lan Zhan's. They could no longer dual cultivate. Wei Ying decided to call off their promise to each other not because he wanted to but because he didn't want Lan Zhan stuck to him because of a promise.

Lan Zhan just laughed at him, made him understand that whether they had the same core or not, Wei Ying was his chosen partner in every life time. He wasn't judgmental about Wei Ying's practices. Having the memories of many lifetimes, he knew better than to judge but he was curious as to how Wei Ying did it.

Wei Ying had been alone for years and finally found the opportunity to show off his achievements. He took Lan Zhan into a room that was sealed off with charms and talismans.

In it was a pool, red in color. A man, no, a corpse lay in it unmoving. Lan Zhan moved closer to take a look.

"Wen Ning? How?", Wen Ning had gone missing years ago, how did he end up here?

"This was the disciple who died during that fight. When I was thrown here, his body was thrown along. I was able to revive him like the other corpses but I am specially training him to get revenge on the Wen sect. Nothing would hurt as much as one of their own eliminating them".

His innocent Wei Ying had been tainted with hate but he understood. Staying here for so long definitely had taken a toll on his emotions. He would take his time to slowly change back his mentality, allow him live a life of happiness but his thoughts were not even given a chance to become reality as he made a mistake. He had touched one of the talismans by mistake, he and Wei Ying didn't notice until the next day when Wen Ning suddenly went missing.