Hanguangjun- The Waiting

Breaking In

Warning: Description of Gore and Violence up ahead. 

As the door opened the stench of blood greeted the two. Lan Zhan moved ahead with steel resolve as Ian kept himself from not throwing up. The walls of the hallway was splattered in blood. Up ahead at the reception counter, the nurses head sat atop the table, her curls spilling out from her bun and her eyes, gaping, bleeding holes where they had been gauged out. Lan Zhan took out a metal compass that pointed south east. Ian identified the compass. "Isn't is?" he started to ask before Lan Zhan answered. 

"It is the compass of Ill Winds you gave me," Lan Zhan explained. 

"You mean Wei Wuxian gave Lan Wangji. I can't believe the Lans preserved it for thousands of years." he commented as they reached a gurgling sound. Up ahead a fierce corpse was busy decapitating bodies. They were so swift that the victims did not get a point to realize what was happening before their heads were no longer on their body. On hearing Ian's footsteps, the corpse turned its head without turning its body. It's head seemed to have been cut off at some point. 

"It's a decapitated spirit, venting out because it can't connect with its head anymore," Wei Ying pointed out. 

"Chengqing is powerless. The body can't hear without the head. The same goes for Wangji," Lan Zhan assessed, handing Ian a spare laser torch. "Set it to three and keep it away from your body," Lan Zhan instructed.  Ian did as told and soon the torch changed into a light saber giving off a faint red glow of Ian's Qi. 

A shout came from behind them as another corpse appeared with bleeding sockets for eyes. Ian turned around facing this corpse while Lan Zhan dealt with the first one. The Qi blade swiftly cut through the corpses leaving no cuts on the surface. Lan Zhan signaled them deeper inside. 

"We need to find the emergency department," Ian reminded. Lan Zhan walked soundlessly till he pointed to a plaque. "How did you know the layout so well?" Ian asked, amazed. 

Lan Zhan nodded as he pushed through the door. Another corpse sat on the floor digging through the intestines of a man in scrubs. There were many more walking corpses here, some wearing hospital uniforms. 

"They are freshly made," Ian judged from the stiffness of their muscles. He pulled Chengqing out and started to play. The corpses in hospital uniforms turned away from them and towards the older corpses, restraining some, fighting others. With less corpses to subdue, Lan Zhan soon cut through their qi and arrived at the end door. Sound of metals shifting was followed by the door swinging open. A man in his early twenties came out wearing scrubs. Ian smiled at him. "Tom have you seen Brian?" Ian asked him.  and threw his arms around Ian. Lan Zhan raised his light saber but was blocked by Ian. 

"Lan Zhan, meet your brother-in-law, Brian Wei." Ian introduced. 

"Greetings Brian. Just walk out without attracting attention while Ian and I deal with the rest," he instructed. 

"You must be Zayne. Wow, he is handsome," Brian told his brother who blushed involuntarily. 

"Brian, time for chit chat will come later?" Lan Zhan warned. 

Brian signaled for a few more doctors to follow him as they went back the path Ian came. They turned around and found a staircase and carefully climbed up. "Why are the corpses attacking here? Did you notice the corpses in scrubs. They seem to be working here. Why did they turn?" Ian asked Lan Zhan. 

"This is unusual. We need to find the source of resentment energy that is converting the dead into walking corpses," Lan Zhan suggested. 

Ian nodded. The compass of Ill wind led them towards the place with the highest concentration of Yin energy. They arrived at an area which was comparatively clean. No body parts lay strewn around. There weren't any blood spatters either. "Are we going the wrong direction?"  

"The compass has never failed before. It's still pointing forward." Lan Zhan nodded. 

They tiptoed through a large empty corridor and reached an isolated room. "What could be inside?" Ian asked. 

"The source of the resentment it seems," Lan Zhan pointed to the compass pulsating with energy. 

Ian raised the laser at level 1 to cut through the door but Ian stopped him. "Look here. This is a government issued security system." he explained and took out his Amber pass. "Welcome, Hanguangjun," the device spoke out in its mechanical voice as the door opened. A cold wind blew in their direction which forced a shiver out of them. 

"Hanguangjun, heh?" Ian scoffed. stepping inside after his husband. Inside was freezing cold but up ahead was a table and on it was spread the restrained body of a dissected corpse. Lan Zhan stepped forward and saw the corpse struggling ineffectively against the iron chain that bound his wrists and ankles. Thick iron band was placed in front of his chest and pelvis area to keep him lying down. His belly was cut open and where his Dantian should be, a black whirlpool of resentment energy swirled amidst the rotting innards and congealed blood. 

"They are dissecting walking corpses. No wonder there's so much resentment here. It was as if having enough resentment to run through their flesh after death wasn't enough, their remains had to be desecrated instead of being interred," Ian complained. 

Lan Zhan took his laser sword and pointed it at the Dantian, sending spiritual energy there. "What are you doing?" Ian questioned. The resentment sent out dark tendrils that latched on to the laser beam and travelled towards Lan Zhan. The Dantian emptied out and the corpse stopped struggling. 

"The amplifier in the laser which multiplies our Yang energy can also serve as an attenuator for Yin energy, tuning it down and using the absorbed energy to power itself." Lan Zhan explained. 

"Which setting is that?" Ian questioned looking at his laser but noticed that it was different from the one that Lan Zhan used. 

"This one is a prototype. It is not yet fully developed," Lan Zhan excused himself. 

Ian shook his head when a shout came from outside soon followed by his brother. "You aren't supposed to be here," he exclaimed panting. 

"We told you to go out with the doctors," Ian reminded. 

"I can't. I need to find my attending doctor and rescue him." Brian insisted. 

"Are you serious? You will just be a liability," Ian pointed out. 

"You don't understand. He is the source of it. This is his lab. He is trying to revive his daughter by using walking corpses," Brian informed. 

Ian looked at Lan Zhan in horror. 

"How the hell did he even get the idea?" Ian questioned. 

"I don't know exactly but I know that he is part of a cult called Xue Clan. They have some strange teachings. Apparently, it is a very old secret religion. They worship some god called the Yiling Laozu.", Brian said. 

Ian shook his head, not believing what he was hearing. He looked towards Lan Zhan. "He is a Yin cultivator," the Gusu Jade responded. 

Just as he said this a figure broke through the opposite wall. "Can you be a bit less destructive?" a weak voice requested, coughing as he did. 

"Dr. Simms," Brian recognized the man with the thick glasses and uneasy cough. 

"Who do we have here?" the man dressed in a doctor's coat responded. 

Ian smirked and brought Chenqing to his lips as he started playing a tune that drew all the fierce corpses in the building towards them. Dr. Simms paled as he noted the black flute with the bright red tassel. "No, it can't be. It's a story. It's a myth. You are dead. He became one with the resentment. You can't be Yiling Laozu," he muttered as his own resentment rose in tendrils to choke him.