What?
Wei Ying looks around him and finds nothing that can help. Meanwhile, the Damsel looks positively evil, with huge gaping fangs and her eyes turning white. Her hair is stringy and matt, tangled in a loose mess whipping around her face as she snarls.
All around them, the resentment energy lifts up, leeching away the glamour that must have been a heavy spell to provide the illusion that everything was well. Now, there's no healthy thriving garden surrounding them, because that place must have died with the original owner. Dark shadows hang all around them, whipped into a frenzy. No more beautiful roses in all the colours under the sun, no more bright blooming flowers, kisses on the earth. No more verdant, lush trees on the cusp of summer's burgeoning. This world has dropped into a monochromatic black and white, with shades of deathly grey in between.
Night descends in a storm of uncertainty, as the servants who had previously served them so kindly, swoop in at the maelstrom of disaster, weeping, crying, howling because they are so cruelly exposed. The ground shakes, the wind shrieks and the pressure rises, the stench of decay and rot almost overpowering them.
Lan Zhan had forgotten that he doesn't have WangJi in this young life, nor Bichen to fight the prowling yao who has lost all of her control. Her mouth drips with a dark liquid, as she steps forward, with them in the eye of the storm.
"Rest?" She screams, "Rest? How can I rest when the one that I love no longer exists?" and then she launches herself at them, two defenceless little boys who have no means to protect themselves.
Lan Zhan wraps himself around Wei Ying who clings to him just as tightly, missing Chenqing and Suibian so much. But he won't let anything happen to Lan Zhan, not while there's breath in this tiny, small body.
The Damsel is terrifying, her talons stretched out towards them and an undying scream falling from her torn lips as she shoots to attack them, and then suddenly a blue glare hits her in the face.
The sound of a masterful guqin rings out, the first notes of Rest taking control of the situation. For a single moment, the pressure increases, the shock of the interruption levelling out the hurricane of Resentment energy to suspend all movement as it tries to make sense of what is happening.
The second note hits, and that's when all hell breaks loose.
The Damsel shrieks in defiance, the strength of her howl enough to disintegrate the momentary calm and yank back her control, but she's no match for the GusuLan music Cultivation.
Lan Qiren bursts onto the scene in front of his two babies, and then his fingers begin playing. Each note is suffused with his spiritual energy, reinforced by Lan Huan playing on his xiao, but really this is a duel to the death between a yao and a master cultivator.
Lan Qiren is relentless, beating her back with his expertise, the melody fighting on his behalf to liberate the vengeful soul. Rest battles her ironclad will, forcing her to let go, forcing her to succumb to his directive. It builds and it builds, a crushing, overpowering missive, a command for her to let go of her hatred, to relinquish her sorrow, to move on away from such pitiful suffering. She tries to fight back with all of her strength, but this is the miracle of these specific notes when played together in this specific sequence.
Rest is the King of all suppression, able to fight back against even a level ten demon, and so for Lan Qiren, this poor, confused yao is of little concern. But he is filled with sorrow when the last note sings out and then, there is only a deathly quiet.
The garden heaves a sigh of relief, and when Lan Qiren opens his eyes, the threat is gone.
Behind him, when he glances back, is Lan Huan with his skinny little arms wrapped tightly around his two baby brothers, shielding them from all danger. He drops to his knees and pulls all three towards his chest, thanking the Universe for keeping them all safe.
This dead garden, reeking of all that is unholy, is no place to talk, so as soon as they can manage, they flee from that terrible place.
It is so late that when they reach the marketplace, all is quiet and not a soul is seen outside. They take shelter under the old oak tree and Lan Qiren checks them out to make sure his children are uninjured and feeling alright.
"How did you come back, Shufu?" Lan Zhan asks him, still in shock. Against his wishes, his body trembles with what it has been put through. On any ordinary day, at this time he would be fast asleep.
"We worried when you did not get evicted from the garden like everyone else," Lan Qiren tells them, as they rest momentarily. "We waited and waited, but when you didn't come back to us, Lan Huan suggested we go back to the garden, and it was past evening when we reached that flower gate, but it was already disintegrating and there was no one around. It was easy to cut our way in as whatever wards that had been protecting the place had gone, and we ran towards the white door. Only, now it was black and we knew something was terribly wrong. What made everything change so fast?"
Wei Ying and Lan Zhan take turns to explain, and when Lan Zhan goes to show Lan Qiren the warded pouch that contained the last piece of Yin Iron, Lan Qiren stops him.
"For now, please look after it. We will make sure to return to Gusu, first thing tomorrow morning. Now, it is well past our time to rest. The others are waiting for us in the local inn."
Wei Ying cheers, his little chubby fists in the air at the thought of a hot meal and a bath in the morning.
They make their way through the silent town, such a contrasting image from that of the morning when it was a bustling thoroughfare filled with colour, life and energy.
When they reach the inn, the innkeeper's wife is waiting for them and she rustles up a quick rice porridge, plain and wholesome to let them rest well for sleeping. Lan Qiren requests early baths for everyone, and then they bundle into one room to rest.
************
In the morning, the children wake up later than normal but they still manage to meet everyone for breakfast.
Wei Ying notices Xue Yang giving him curious looks, but as he doesn't ask any questions, none are answered. After they finish eating, Xiao XingChen announces that their party of three will now aim for the south, and they are ready to set off.
"Please remember, the doors of Cloud Recesses will always welcome you, should you find yourselves close by." Lan Qiren bows, and all the children follow his example.
Xue Yang hugs A-Qing, who is trying not to cry. "You'll always be my sister," he promises fiercely as they turn to leave. "Bye, Gege," she grins through her tears with one final wave.
"We shall return to Cloud Recesses as soon as possible," Lan Qiren tells them.
Their belongings are already packed and they're ready to go. Lan Qiren takes them through the marketplace one last time where he buys food for their lunch and then they're off.
This time there is an urgency about them, and Lan Qiren refuses to take on any extra night hunts. He feels bad about it though, and promises those concerned that he will dispatch capable disciples to help them out as soon as he can, but that it is impossible for him to help right now. They leave every morning at sunrise and are well indoors by twilight, foregoing sleeping outside without any protection.
Every morning, Lan Qiren forces all those under his care for an hour of mandatory meditation, and he plays Rest four times, one for every piece of Yin Iron. Every night, further precautions are taken by repeating the process, and they all agree; the Yin Iron pieces are becoming stronger. They can feel the strain between each piece of cold metal, the strongest desire to unite, to become one, and it's something they all try their best to overcome.
The problem with carrying such a harmful artefact is that their moods begin to suffer. The Yin Iron naturally feeds on anger, hatred and weariness, and the mental state of all those who are usually the opposite of these feelings begins to decline. As a result, they must battle mental fatigue as well as physical exhaustion when they travel.
The Yin Iron is a great burden indeed.
Lan Qiren aims to keep their spirits up by singing songs or telling them entertaining stories to entertain them and make the time pass by quickly. And then on the fourth day, they pass through Caiyi Town and reach the base of the mountain that leads to Cloud Recesses.
They are finally home.
