love at first sight... // zhuiling

Chapter 19

Several months later...

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Who is it?" Jin Ling asked.

"Hehehe, it's your favorite uncle!" a voice called.

"Ughhh. You're so annoying." Jin Ling said, rolling his eyes. "Come on in."

Immediately, Wei Wuxian opened the dormitory door, smiling.

"What do you want?" Jin ling asked, holding Suihua.

"Jin Ling! Why are you so cold." Wei Wuxian said, whining. "Anyways, since you finally finished copying those damn rules, Lan Qiren the old man said you can join the night hunt tonight."

"Alright, thanks for letting me know." Jin Ling asked. "Hey, do you know if-"

"If Sizhui is coming?" Wei Wuxian interrupted. "Yes, he's also coming. Lan Zhan convinced the old man to let him join as well. We gotta make sure the lovebirds are there, hehe."

"What? Ugh, you're so annoying." Jin Ling said, blushing.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

That night

Sizhui walked out of the back mountain, seeing the sun after 5 months. He continued to follow the path towards the main quad. Immediately, he saw Jin Ling's fluttering hair and hazelnut eyes. The two lovers immediately met eyes. However, even though they have not seen each other in half a year, instead of greeting each other, they almost seemed scared to talk to each other. 

"Alright kids! Today, we are going to go night hunting!" Wei Wuxian exclaimed, as they walked down the hill. "Lan Zhan, where are we going today?"

The disciples followed the seniors to a remote forest on the edges of Gusu. According to them, recently, watchtowers nearby had picked up high levels of resentful energy in the area. Too much resentful energy can cause the air to become contaminated. If people inhale the air, it could affect their soul. In fact, non-cultivators or weak cultivators can be turned into fierce corpses if they inhale too much. If the Lan sect doesn't act fast, nearby cities will be in danger.

However, according to Wei Wuxian, the literal grandmaster of demonic cultivation, resentful energy doesn't just appear or disappear at will. There has to be a method or cause for resentful energy to form. As Wei Wuxian was further explaining to the disciples, Jin Ling was gradually walking closer to Sizhui, until he was standing right next to him.

"Hey, Sizhui" Jin Ling said, "I don't feel too well about this area. There's definitely going to be some crazy entity coming. What do you think?"

"Agreed," Sizhui responded, "but I think we'll be fine."

"Hey, by the way, what's that on your back." Jin Ling asked.

"Oh, it's my new guqin. I recently learned to how to play it." Sizhui responded.

"Nice, what's is it's name?" Jin Ling asked.

"I named it Sizhui," Sizhui responded, "like how Hanguang-Jun named his guqin Wangji."

After walking for some more time, Wei Wuxian suddenly stopped. He pulled out the Compass of Evil and let it scan the surroundings. The compass spinned a few times to recalibrate, then pointed backwards. Suddenly, a serpent jumped up and was going to attack Jin Ling.

"JIN LING! BEHIND!" a Lan disciple yelled.