The Tainted Jade of Gusu

Chapter 18: The Elusive Stranger

Lan Wangji sat in front of the Jingshi, his features composed in one of peaceful meditation, as little bunnies hopped around him. His guqin, his namesake, Wangji, lay across his lap, as his fingers idly plucked at the strings. A number of rabbits milled about in and around the Jingshi. 

It was for the first time he was letting his  disciples on the night hunt all by themselves, and among them, Sizhui and Jingyi were right there. It was true he was going to follow from afar, but for some unknown reason, his heart was refusing to sit still. Like something was about to happen. Something big. 

Lan Wangji had been through so many of them, he didn't quite trust his heart to stay beating through another one of those. Not when it was going to involve his two sons, Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi. 

"Wangji?" The familiar voice pulled him out of his reverie. He cast his golden gaze slightly sideways to the man in periwinkle blue .

"Xiongzhang," his voice was soft, "what brings you here?"

"I haven't heard from you for a while after the children, your disciples set out," Lan Xichen took a seat right next to Lan Wangji, "Xiongzhang was worried."

Lan Wangji knew exactly why Lan Xichen had been worried. The last time Lan Xichen had personally taken some of the  most capable Lan disciples, including Sizhui and Jingyi, Lan Wangji had been left idle, and a grief induced frenzy had come over him. He had chugged down an entire jar of the Emperor's Smile, and in his drunken stupor, he had broken into the chamber in Cloud Recesses where all the confiscated items from the vanquished Wen clan had been stored. From there, Lan Wangji had taken an iron branding rod, held it in a flame and used it to brand himself on the chest. He couldn't get hold of his beloved Wei Wuxian, so he had decided to carve a part of him in his own flesh.

The wound had healed rapidly due to Wen Qing's prompt and potent intervention, but the mark had remained.

"Xiongzhang needs not worry," Lan Wangji spoke softly, breaking the stifling silence, "I've learnt to make peace with myself since then."

Lan Xichen knew Lan Wangji's words could be trusted verbatim, so he did not pry into the matter more.

"Will you set off by sunset?" Lan Xichen asked his younger brother, "Should I get someone to prepare a horse?"

"No need," Lan Wangji looked at his elder brother, "I will travel by Bichen."

The moment Lan Wangji's white boots landed on the ground of Mo village, a chill ran down his spine. The night skies were overcast, adding a reddish tinge to it. There was absolutely no wind, as if the whole village was waiting with bated breath for something terrible to happen.

Lan Wangji found an inn and decided to settle down for the time being. It was already nighttime, and past  the usual mealtime for Lan Wangji, so he decided to forego the dinner. He unwrapped his guqin and laid it on the small table in the balcony, and plucked the strings leisurely. Sleep evaded him, and he couldn't care less about it. The darkness of the night gave way to a slight tinge of light along the eastern horizon. There was no sun to be seen through the thickets of grey clouds, only a dull, dreary light grey that spread throughout the sky. 

After having completed his morning ablutions and changing into a set of fresh robes, Lan Wangji set out to inspect the vicinity.

Mo village was the site that had been chosen for the night hunt of the Lan disciples. It was quite close to Gusu, and therefore, when walking corpses had started disrupting the peace of the idyllic village, it fell upon the Lans of Gusu to deal with that nuisance .

Lan Wangji walked towards the storytelling pavilion of the village. An old man had been telling stories about the Yiling Laozu , and the Lan disciples had been listening to him with rapt attention.