Honor and Cultivation (WoH×MDZS)

Fierce Corpses and Drug Men

Normally Kexing would avoid the main paths and cities on the way to visiting Gu Xiang, but in light of Zishu's disappearance he couldn't care less.

That didn't mean he wasn't careful. He still had Chengling to watch after all, and he didn't want another person he cared about getting hurt because of his hated identity. He didn't want extra trouble on the road.

...nor did he want Chengling to hate him for who he really was.

So everytime they went into a town, they wore hats that covered their faces- all of them so Kexing didn't stick out. He rarely if ever took out his fan. After Chengling had fallen asleep, he'd told Wuxian he was banned from calling him by name in such places. And Chengling was not to run around without permission, staying in the inn room studying while Kexing went to check the city for any sign of Zishu- only for his safety of course, in case whoever had kidnapped Zishu set their eyes on him too.

All the while Kexing held his breath in fear that all his precautions would be for nothing, and Chengling would soon learn the truth anyway.

It was only on days like today that he could breathe easy. It was days like todays when they'd long passed through yet another town, and were walking through the woods that connected the bustling hot spots.

...unfortunately it wasn't gonna last.

The peace was cut short by the ringing of a bell, followed by a chorus of growls and shuffling.

"What's that sound?!"

"Chengling hold on tight!!"

"A- AH?!"

Kexing had grabbed Chengling and launched into the nearest tree without another word.

"HEY!" Wuxian protested, jumping after them. "Wait for me!!"

He landed on the branch next to Kexing and Chengling. Kexing was holding Chengling protectively with 1 arm while holding his fan in his other, glaring at the ground below.

Wuxian looked too.

His eyes widened whrn he saw a large group of men- no, these weren't men. These were staggering corpses, barely alive. They all had bags over their heads, their bags and clothes covered in dried blood. Even from atop the tree, Wuxian could see their skin had been rotted and perserved, causing it to turn a sickly yellow.

"Where the fuck did they come from?!" he gasped. "We're nowhere near a single grave, let alone the whole cemetery these guys would need!!"

"How would I know?!" Kexing snapped.

"You're the one from here!!"

"Shishu, Uncle Xian, stop arguing and do sonething, they're starting to climb up the tree!!" Chengling yelped as the corpses clawed at the tree roots.

Kexing grabbed his fan and sent it out, its sharp edge slashing the corpses so hard they fell back.

Wuxian grabbed his flute on instinct, then paused. He turned to Chengling and asked, "These are corpses right?"

"Basically yeah."

"Basically?"

"We call them drug men," Chengling explsined. "Shifu and Shishu have more experience with them. From what I've heard, they're made from corpses, and they're controlled by a bell. They can't speak anymore nor can they understand words."

Wuxian considered his chances. These were corpses already under someone else's control... if he wanted to control these corpses and make them leave, he'd have to fight for it. He wasn't even sure if his way of controlling corpses would work on these drug men, he needed resentful energy and if that'd been driven out...