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Chapter Text

"We're going to be late! I'm telling you, we're going to be late." Ru Huangjing's father's servant grumbles.

"Calm down Wudu, we're still on time." The young man waves.

"I can't believe he didn't let us in!" He hears an unknown boy's voice in front of him.

"We can't do anything, the rules are the rules, idiot." Another voice comes.

"But it's not our fault that we left our invitation." The first voice grumbles, before Huangjing smiles and, pulling his hood closer to his face, rushes towards the voices.

"Gentlemen, sorry to bother you, but I heard you were looking for an invitation, but not this one?" He takes the small scroll out of his sleeve.

"This... But how?" The one with his hair only tied up blinks at him.

"We stayed at the same inn and I saw the innkeeper running after you, but he didn't catch up with you. From your clothes, I deduced that you had also come to study at the Gusu Lan clan, so I offered to bring it after you." Huangjing explains.

"Thank you." The other boy, whose hair is tied in a bun, bows to him.

"It's nothing." Huangjing says with a smile.

"Young master!" He hears his servant's voice behind him.

"Sorry, I have to go. I hope we can talk later." Huangjing bows as well and hurries back to Wudu. "I'm here, I'm here. We can go." He rolls his eyes.

"Don't forget what your father said, you're not here to play, you're here to study." The older cultivator scolds him.

"Yes, I know." Huangjing nods and goes to the snow-white gate, where after he hands over hiy invitation, he is allowed into the Gusu Lan clan's home, the Cloud Recesses.

The place is dazzling, with huge trees and beautiful buildings scattered everywhere. Like a little paradise in the mountains. After the lights of the caves, this sight seems amazing. Perhaps that is why Huangjing can hardly sleep on his first night here and can only thank exhaustion for getting some rest. In the morning, he dresses neatly in the snow-white clothes of the Gusu Lans' apprentices and, nodding to himself, sets off for the introduction ceremony, with Wudu at his heels.

"Look at how he looks!" He hears it from somewhere in the distance.

"Is he sick?"

"He must be some kind of ghost."

"It's not natural for his hair to be so white."

"And those red eyes." Huangjing hears the small group chatting, but he just lets the words pass his ear, this is not the first time they have said such things and it will not be the last. With Wudu at his side, he enters the large hall, where several people are already gathered, including the two boys whose invitation he found.

The introduction ceremony soon begins and Huangjing suddenly finds himself seeing the different clans introducing themselves to Lan QiRen, the most famous teacher of the Lan clan.

"The Nie clan, pays its respects to the master." The Lan disciple speaks, and a boy about Huangjing's age and a slightly older man step forward. The Ru cultivator watches them curiously, but when the apparently high-ranking servant boy, Meng Yao, speaks, the colors blur before Huangjing's eyes.

A sword in his stomach, a serious look at him, a forest around him.

"They deserved what I did, Clan Leader Nie. Now please forget me."

Suddenly, he is wearing a white dress with red trim, he feels a piercing gaze on him and that stern face again, but this time with hatred.

"I will kill you!"

The image changes and a figure dressed in snow-white clothes stands before him, a kind smile on his face.

"A-Yao, I will teach you to play."

A huge tower, a white dress with a yellow flower on the chest, a glass of drink exactly like the embroidered flower pattern on his dress. Who is this puffed-up figure? The image changes again, a young lady stands before him with tear-filled eyes.

"What you read is not true, A-Su, and it is all just fiction!" He hears the voice.

"I am your sister, how could you do this?" The woman shouts, and then the image changes again, the severed head of Clan Leader Nie, a drawn sword, a letter. Then again, the figure in the snow-white robe, thrusting a sword into his chest.

"I have done all the evil in my life, but it never crossed my mind to hurt you." Huangjing's heart clenches, he loves him and the one in the white robe loves him too. Why does this have to be so?

"The Jiang clan pays homage to the master." Huangjing blinks as the voice pulls him out of hiy vision and finds himself back in the Cloud Recesses. The two boys he met yesterday now step forward.

"Jiang Chang, of the YunmengJiang clan, pays homage to the master." The boy with the bun bows.

"Wei Wuxian, of the YunmengJiang clan, pays homage to the master and asks the master to accept the clan's gift." The eldest disciple of the Lan clan accepts the gift from the boy, then lets them go back to their seats.

"The Ru clan pays homage to the master." At this, Huangjing pulls himself up and steps forward in front of the master.

"The Ru clan, but haven't they closed themselves off from the world?"

"I thought they died."

"Then that boy, is he the Snow-White Blood Crystal?" He could hear the murmurs around him, but before anyone could interrupt them, he spoke up.

"Rǔ Huāngjīng of the LěngshānRǔ clan pays homage to the master and asks to accept the gift of his clan, this crystal teapot. And I ask that the master accept my father's greetings with a warm heart." He bows deeply to the master.

"I hope your father is in good health." The master speaks for the first time.

"Thank Gods, yes." Huangjing replies and after Zewu-Jun, the eldest Lan disciple, takes the gift from Wudu, he returns to his place. The introduction ceremony is then completed in complete peace, and the young people are dismissed for the day.

"I am leaving to return to Lengshan, young master." His father's servant bows to him. "Take care of yourself and do not bring shame to the clan."

"I won't, Wudu. Have a safe journey." He bids farewell, then starts to walk around the Cloud Recesses when he sees the Nie servant. "Master Meng!" He steps up to him.

"Master Ru." The older cultivator bows before him. "How can I help you?" He asks with a kind smile on his face.

"It's better if you give up." Huangjing says without thinking, and the other starts blinking at him.

"What?"

"Looking for your father's approval, no matter what you do, you won't get it, only you will suffer." Huangjing shakes his head.

"Everyone says that." Meng Yao ​​sighs, and Huangjing closes his eyes.

"Please, whatever you plan, tell it first to Clan Leader Nie or Zewu-Jun, just don't go at it alone. You don't want to get on Nie Mingjue's bad side, he'll be your doom if you does." He looks into the man's eyes, which betray disbelief, but finally he just smiles.

"I know what I'm doing, Master Ru, and I have no intention of going against Clan Leader Nie." The man explains, as Huangjing's hands clench into fists.

"I know you don't believe me, my visions are never believed, but if all else fails, please remember one thing." Huangjing grabs the man's arms. "Never, under any circumstances, marry a woman named Su." He begs him.

"But why?" The other asks confused. "Because you're not your father's only illegitimate child, but unlike her, everyone knows it about you." Huangjing lets the man go and bows his head. "I'm sorry for disturbing you, Master Meng." He finally says when the silence is too long. "I wish you a safe journey back to the Impure Realm." He bows and leaves the man alone. "Why do I always want to help if they won't accept it?" He grabs his head and his hand gets caught in his headband. "Just don't let Dad know that I've been babbling about the future again." He shakes his head and continues walking.

Chapter Text

The first few classes in Cloud Recesses were interesting, Huangjing didn't hear much that he didn't know before, but it was the first time he had left the caves of Lengshan, so everything was new and interesting to him. And let's not even talk about the classes being boring, thanks to Wei Jing, it all started when the Jiang clan disciple made a little scene in class, which needless to say Master Lan wasn't too happy about.

"What was the occupation of the founder of the QingheNie clan?" As the question left the master's mouth, not only Brother Wei pulled himself up, but also the boy sitting next to Huangjing.

"Butcher." The boy who was being questioned immediately answered the question.

"The coat of arms of the LanlingJin clan is the peony. What kind of peony is it?" The next question comes, before one of the boys on the right side of the room pulls himself up.

"Sparkle in the snow." The automatic answer comes.

"Who was the first in the cultivator world to prioritize the rise of his own clan over his sect?" Huangjing smiles at this, it's not a difficult question.

"Wen Mao." The Ru boy just nods as Brother Wei says the answer.

"I have another question. Let's take an executioner who has parents, a wife, and children, but has already executed more than a hundred people. He suddenly dies and his body is left there, he starts hunting the living with the suppressed energy of his resentment, what should be done? Everyone think about it!" Hearing this question, Huangjing swallows hard and tries to stare straight ahead. He presses his hands into fists he can't say anything, he's not allowed to. The room is silent until the master calls someone. "WangJi, tell them what to do."

"There are three ways, liberation, suppression, or destruction." And here the Lan disciple begins to explain, but Brother Wei just starts scribbling something on a piece of paper.

"I have a question."

"Ask." The master stands up.

"Although liberation is the first step, it is often impossible. 'Fulfilling his last wish' sounds easy, but what if his last wish is mass slaughter?"

"Then suppression complements liberation, and if there is no other way, destruction follows." The Lan disciple interjects.

"Yes, of course. I actually knew the answer, but I was thinking of a fourth solution." Brother Wei explains, and Huangjing looks at him in surprise. How does he know about the fourth way?

"There is no fourth way." The master scolds him. "What would have been your solution?" Curiosity wells up in him eitherway.

"The executioner died suddenly. Of course he became a ghost. He killed more than a hundred people before he died. It's easy to dig them up and ignite their desire for revenge, collect the hundred heads and hunt the wild corpse with them." The boy explains, and Huangjing can only blink at him.

"How dare you! The essence of exorcism is liberation and destruction! You are thinking about how to incite their anger! You are rejecting the norms and the order of nature!" The master shouts, causing several people to flinch.

"But sir, there are souls that cannot be liberated. Why don't we find a way to use them?" The next question comes, which makes Huqngjing's eyes widen. "Spiritual energy and angry energy are both just energy. Why can't we use the other?"

"Let me ask you something." The master speaks in an icy voice. "How do you ensure that the angry energy follows your orders and does not harm others?"

"I haven't thought of that yet!" As the boy says this, the master throws a scroll at him.

"If you had, you would no longer have a place in the cultivator world!" He shouts, then points to the door. "Out!" After Brother Wei leaves the place, the room falls silent.

"With a soul crystal." Huangjing speaks softly.

"What?" The master suddenly turns to him, and Huangjing raises his head and stands up.

"The way to ensure that the angry energy obeys our orders. Soul crystal." He repeats, then bows. "I don't think I have a place among you, master." He says, then picks up his scrolls and calmly walks out of the room. He stops on one of the paths and closes his eyes as he turns his face to the sky. "Dad will kill me if he finds out." He mutters. "The cultivator world can't know our secrets." He imitates his father's voice, then sighs. "But if he was right..." He holds his forehead.

"Um... Ma... Master Ru?" At the sudden voice, Huangjing turns around in surprise. One of the students stands in front of him, he must be as tall as him. He holds a fan in his hand, and when he looks into his eyes, Huangjing's breath catches, he has never seen such golden brown eyes.

"Y... Yes?" The Ru cultivator swallows, and the boy smiles timidly.

"Thank you for standing up for Brother Wei. You shouldn't have, now Lan QiRen is angry with you too." His features turn worried.

"I'm more afraid of how my father will scold me than of Master Lan punishing me." Huangjing scratches his neck. "By the way, I'm Ru Huangjing, nice to meet you." He bows politely.

"Nie Huaisang, nice to meet you too." The boy says and repeats Huangjing's movements, then opens his fan and holds it in front of the lower part of his face. Huangjing's eyes widen again.

"You have a very beautiful fan." He pulls himself together. "A real masterpiece, I've never seen such beautiful painting." He starts to say something, but when he notices the other's surprised face, he immediately starts to excuse himself. "I mean... Uh... I'm sure... um... it must have been expensive..." He finishes quietly.

"Are you interested in fans?" Comes the quiet question, before Huangjing has to swallow hard and his head even turns red as he nods. "You saw right, it's special, there's no other like it. Do you want to look at it?" The boy turns the fan, then folds it and hands it to Huangjing.

"Can I?" Huangjing blinks at him, and the Nie boy nods in approval, before the Ru cultivator takes the fan and opens it with his usual gesture. "Oh, how light it is." He says surprised.

"I made it out of special paper." Nie Huaisang shrugs.

"You made it?" Huangjing asks surprised.

"Yes." The Nie boy glances to the side. "You know, it's kind of a hobby." He chuckles.

"I wish I could do something like that." The Ru boy says enthusiastically, still looking at the fan. "My fan isn't this pretty."

"Do you have one too?" Huangjing looks up at the boy at the question.

"Yes, I just didn't bring it for class, it's in my room." He answers as he folds the fan and hands it back to Huaisang.

"You could show it to me later." He looks at Huangjing with sparkling eyes, then grabs the fan. "But now I have to find Brother Wei." He nods and starts walking away, but after two steps he stops and looks back at Huangjing. "Would you like to come with me? Brother Wei would definitely like you." He smiles, and for a moment the Ru boy doesn't know what to say.

This is the first time that someone wants to spend time with him. People usually fear him because of his appearance. He's used to being alone, he's accepted that it will always be like this, but deep down, hidden there, he really wants this. A normal life, where he has friends and where he isn't looked at as a monster just because he was born that way.

"If I'm not disturbing you." He finally answers and steps next to the Nie boy. "And tell me, Brother Nie, where did you learn to make a fan?" He asks as he follows him, looking for that pioneering cultivator.

Chapter Text

"The old man can't take things lightly, shouldn't we even think?" He can hear Brother Wei's voice from afar.

"Not if you're thinking nonsense!" The Jiang heir snaps at him.

"Brother Wei, Brother Jiang." Brother Nie waves to them from Huangjing's side, and the two boys turn to them.

"Brother Nie." They greet the boy and then turn to Huangjing.

"Brother Ru." One then the other nods, and Huangjing returns the gesture.

"What are you doing here?" Brother Wei looks at him suspiciously, and the Jiang boy punches him in the side.

"Shut up! He was the only one who stood up for you in front of Lan QiRen." He scolds him, and Huangjing turns his head to the side.

"Really?" The surprised question comes, and Huangjing quickly nods. "Then they're going to punish you too because of me?" Wei Jing’s eyes widen.

“Ah, Master Lan said he would write to his father.” Brother Nie nods, and Huangjing shivers.

“That’s it for me.” He swallows hard, but his statement manages to make all three of them look at him in surprise. Huangjing begins to scratch his neck in agony. “You know, there are some things that can’t really be mentioned outside of Lengshan.” He tilts his head to the side.

“Is that soul crystal like that?” Brother Nie asks.

“What is a soul crystal?” Brother Wei asks, sitting down on the shore of the small pond.

“The solution to your problem. A special crystal that can control angry energy.” Huangjing explains, looking up at the sky and then at his fellow cultivator. "Don't be too enthusiastic, it's just one of the Ru legends. I've never seen a crystal like this before, and according to my grandfather, only our clan founder has seen one." He explains.

"So much for using it." Brother Wei grimaces, and Huangjing starts to giggle.

"If it helps, I heard that the soul crystal uses music to control angry energy. I guess it might be like the sound of a bell, at least crystals usually sound like bells." He holds his chin.

"Speaking of crystals. Brother Ru, what are these red crystals?" Brother Nie asks, and Huangjing involuntarily reaches for his bracelet, which has the most red crystals on it.

"Blood crystals." Huangjing announces.

"Blood crystals?" They all look at him with wide eyes.

"Now why are you looking at me like I summoned a demon?" The Ru cultivator inquires.

"The blood crystal is it not..." Brother Wei begins, but Brother Jiang cuts him off again.

"There is a legend among cultivators, about the Snow-White Blood Crystal, when we saw you, we thought it was you." He explains, and Huangjing starts to giggle.

"You were not mistaken." He sits down on the lake shore, while the other two boys who were left standing also sit down next to them. Brother Nie sits on Huangjing's side, and Brother Jiang sits next to Brother Wei.

"But, you helped us." Brother Wei is surprised. "And you stood by me."

"Like anyone would have done. It's just a name." Huangjing rolls his eyes. "And it's natural that I stood by you, you didn't have a bad thought and you didn't do anything wrong. I couldn't let them scold you and look down on you for no reason. I know what it's like to be looked down on for something you can't do anything about." He sighs and grabs his upper arms.

"Because of your looks, right?" A soft question comes from his side.

"Yes. I was born like this, I can't help but be like this, but who would want to be around such a demonic creature?" Huangjing closes his eyes. "That's how I got my nickname. Snow-White Blood Crystal... I guess the snow-white part doesn't need explaining." He shrugs. "The blood crystal." He shakes his wrist so the crystals on the bracelet start jingling. "These are small crystals that help calm the mind and soul. That's all."

"They're like our bells!" He hears Brother Wei's happy voice andshouldhe looks towards him and sees that he has picked up a small purple bell.

"I think so." Huangjing agrees.

"And why are there so many of them?" Brother Nie asks with curious eyes.

"Because they're small, it takes a lot for the effect to be noticeable." Huangjing explains, as if that's really the reason, when his blood crystals are completely different from average blood crystals and their function is completely different too. But no one needs to know about that less so than they should about the legends of the Ru clan. "Speaking of crystals. It's one thing for me to be punished more by a letter from my father thats worse for me than anything, but Brother Wei, what did you get?" Huangjing asks, and the boy's face sitting next to him contorts into a grimace, and the one next to him folds his arms in front of him with an evil half-smile.

"He has to copy all the Lan rules." Brother Nie shivers.

"Ah, now I understand why I didn't get that." Huangjing nods, and they all look at him curiously. "I know them by heart." He shrugs.

"But there are about a thousand..." Brother Wei huffs.

"Most of them are the same as at home." Huangjing rolls his eyes. "I can tell him backwards if he wants." He squeezes his neck. "But please don't test me." He looks at them pleadingly, and all three of them laugh. Huangjing's lips unintentionally run up into a wide smile, it feels strange to be among a group of people and laugh, usually he is left out of such things.

"Brother Ru I think we can say that you are officially a member of our team." Brother Wei grins at him, and Huangjing can only blink at him for a moment.

"Are you saying that I can be your friend?" The Ru cultivator asks softly.

"Of course." They all three of them says to him at the same time, smiling broadly, and Huangjing swallows hard and feels his eyes start to sting and his face get wet.

"Brother Ru..." He suddenly feels Brother Nie's hands on his shoulders and sees his head in front of his face. "What happened, are you hurt?" Huangjing just shakes his head at the question.

"I..." He sniffs. "I... Thank you." He smiles and tries to wipe his eyes. "This is the first time..." He sniffs. "This is the first time anyone has ever wanted to be my friend." He explains, and Brother Wei grimaces.

"Because you've only met peacocks! I'll show those who can't understand that it's not what you look like that matters, but who you are." He says triumphantly, pointing at Huangjing.

"If you don't kill yourself first." Brother Jiang rolls his eyes. "Don't even bother with him, his mouth is bigger than healthy." He waves and Huangjing starts giggling.

"We'll be your friends, and don't bother with the others." Brother Nie smiles at him too.

"Thank you." Huangjing looks at them all. "You have no idea how much this means to me." He whispers to himself. Yes, it seems like it was really worth leaving the caves of Lengshan, even though it was a huge risk, but if he didn’t come away from home, he would never have seen the blue sky and never made friends. Huangjing had always suspected that he would have to come out of his familiar walls to find his place in the cultivator world, wherever that place might be. Right now, that place was here, among his new friends.

Chapter Text

The weeks passed slowly in the Cloud Guard, and Huangjing finally experienced what it was like to have friends. She never thought she would feel so good so far from home, but luckily everything turned out for the best.

Not long ago, Lan QiRen had to leave the Cloud Guard, so they were all free for a while. His little group wandered through the mountains every day, and once they even had a drinking party, although Brother Wei came out badly, which is not so surprising, that boy attracts trouble like a flower attracts bees.

Then today, Zewu-Jun also appeared in the Cloud Guard for the first time in a long time, and their little group was of course in the best place at the best time, so when they learned that the man wanted to leave the Cloud Guard again to solve a big problem, Brother Wei naturally immediately volunteered to accompany them, saying that they had nothing to do anyway.

"Huaisang, are you coming?" Zewu-Jun asks the boy standing next to Huangjing, who just shakes his head and clutches his fan in both hands.

"I have to study, Dage will kill me if I get a bad grade again..." He mutters, and Zewu-Jun strokes his head.

"He only wants the best for you." He says encouragingly, then turns to the boy Ru. "Master Ru, are you joining?"

"I'd better not." Huangjing smiles sadly.

"Naaaa. Come on, it'll be great!" Brother Wei hugs his shoulder.

"I don't doubt it, but I already got it from my father, if he finds out that I left the protection of the Clouds, I'll be imprisoned for at least ten years." Huangjing closes her eyes. "He only let me go here. It's better not to test his tolerance." He shrugs, then smiles broadly. "That way, Brother Nie won't be left alone and maybe I can even help him study." He looks at the one mentioned, who looks back at him with surprised eyes.

"In that case, the matter is decided. Master Wei, Master Jiang, get ready, we'll be leaving soon." Zewu-Jun gives the order, and then the small cap council slowly breaks up. The oldest man goes to find his younger brother, and Huangjing's friends start to prepare for the journey.

"Did you seriously say you'd help?" Brother Nie suddenly asks.

"Of course." Huangjing smiles at him.

"Thank you." Brother Nie's face lights up. "I have no idea how to thank you." He suddenly becomes sad, and Huangjing laughs.

"Teach me how to make a fan and we'll be equal." The Ru cultivator says, which makes the Nie boy smile again.

It turned out that in the next few days, they were hardly seen outside their rooms. They were either at Huangjing's or Huisang's, studying the lesson given by Lan QiRen, or Huangjing was trying to paint and glue the fan.

"I never asked, but your fan looks quite old, is it an heirloom?" Brother Nie's sudden question surprised Huangjing, then picked up the fan on the table and slowly opened it. A smile crossed her lips as she saw the crystals painted on it.

"I wouldn't call it that. It's more like a gift. I have three other fans at home, they're newer, this..." Here she turns the fan towards Brother Nie. "My mother gave this to me before I came, to remember it." Huangjing explains. "Although I can't use this like the others, it's still very valuable." He turns it.

"Why can't you use it like that? ?" The surprised question comes.

"It's too valuable for me to use it like that." The Ru boy says immediately, then when he looks up at Brother Nie and sees that the other doesn't understand, he starts blinking. "Wait..." Huangjing's eyes widen. "You know that a fan can be used for more than just a fan?" He asks, but Brother Nie's face is enough of an answer. "Shall I show you?" He smiles.

"Yes." The other gets excited, and Huangjing picks up one of the fans that Brother Nie made with his help.

"Then come." He grins and leads Brother Nie out of the room. Since they are in a fairly secluded place, no one will see what they are doing. "My mother taught me this. You know, there are very few women in the Ru clan who cultivate. But those few are not like men. Women's greatest spiritual weapon is not a sword, nor is it a musical instrument like the Gusu Lan. This is their greatest spiritual weapon." Huangjing opens the fan and waves it.

"Does it serve as a weapon?" Brother Nie is surprised, and Huangjing repeats the wrist movements his mother taught him in response, then throws the fan, which spins in the air, cutting through several leaves, and then returns to his hand. "This is amazing." Nie boy opens his mouth.

"These are just the basics. You could see my mother doing it, you wouldn't actually see the fan in her hand. When she was young, she was the most dangerous cultivator in the entire clan, her nickname was Invisible Assassin." Huangjing chuckles.

"How do you do these movements?" Brother Nie asks, and when the Ru boy looks at him, he sees that the other is trying to imitate him.

"Less." Huangjing goes to him, steps behind him, and takes the Nie boy's hand holding the fan. "You mustn't resist, the fan has its own soul. Our job is to show it where to go. Like this..." He moves his other hand.

"I understand." Brother Nie whispers, and Huangjing can see that he is really concentrating on the matter. Over the past few days, he has learned the Nie boy's facial expressions and knows that he is really taking it seriously now.

"Now try it without me." He lets go of his friend's hand and after a few tries, the boy performs the movement perfectly.

"I did it!" Brother Nie closes the fan and turns to Huangjing with a huge smile on his face.

"You are very skilled. Most people can't do it that fast. I had to practice a lot more too." The Ru boy chuckles.

"Will you teach me more of these moves?" Brother Nie folds his hands.

"If you're really interested, I'd love to." Huangjing says with a smile.

"Thank you, Brother Ru." The Nie boy's face lights up.

"Huangjing." Huangjing turns his head to the side.

"What?" Brother Nie blinks, and Ru Huangjing blows a breath, trying to calm his pounding heart.

"In our clan, the fan cultivators are like family. If you teach someone how to use a fan, it's like being in the family." He scratches his neck with his free hand. "So since you really want to learn, it's like being in the family, so..." He clears his throat. "Call me Huangjing." He glances at the other, and he just blinks back in surprise for a while, then smiles and bows.

"Okay, but then you call me Huaisang, Huangjing." He smiles at Huangjing with a bright look. At that moment, the Ru boy's eyes widen and his mouth opens a crack.

~ It's him! Do you hear, human? It's him! ~

~ It's him? ~ Huangjing asks himself, but he feels his heart tremble. The demon hasn't spoken since he left Lengshan.

~ He's my xuexin! ~

~ My xuexin? ~ The Ru boy glups a big one.

~ Why do I doubt it? It's obvious! ~ He gets the answer.

~ Dad will kill me. ~ Huanjing smiles faintly looking at the person in front of him.

~ Dad can't interfere in this and he knows it well. ~

"It seems we have another special lesson, Huaisang." Huangjing smiles at the boy, who returns the gesture.

Chapter Text

That night, when the demon reappeared, Huangjing paces nervously up and down in his room. He doesn’t know how long he’s been doing this, but his thoughts just won’t settle. His mind is as chaotic as when he realized that demon blood had resurfaced in his family and that the demon must be his. Finally, he takes a deep breath and sits down in the middle of the room. He closes his eyes and tries to even out his breathing, and the heavy feeling only comes after that.

Normally, this would require clearing his mind, but he doesn’t even try. He knows he’s too excited to do that, so he chooses the more drastic method, which involves forcibly crossing into the spiritual world. Normally, it's quite dangerous to cross the border that keeps demons away from humans, and if any of the elders of the Gusu Lan were at home, Huangjing wouldn't even try, but now the situation is different, so although it costs a lot of concentration, he risks it.

"Long tine no see." He suddenly hears the now familiar voice, which when he first heard it scared him so much that he didn't dare to sleep for days.

"It really was a long time ago." Huangjing opens his eyes, only to find himself facing himself, that is, the form he would have had if the demon wasn't there. Black hair like his father and sparkling blue eyes like his mother.

"What brought you here? If mother finds out that you came here in the Cloud Recesses, she'll be really upset." He says with a frown as he takes a seat in front of Huangjing.

"It's your fault. I can't sleep because of you." The Ru boy rolls his eyes as he turns his head away from the other. The place where they are is a huge rocky wasteland, if the sunlight didn't fill it all, Huangjing would think they were in Lengshan, but that's how he knows that this is not the place, and let's say the small and large pools of blood are enough to indicate that he is not at home.

"Why is it my fault?" The question comes, which makes Huangjing look at the demon again, who has the nerve to be seriously surprised.

"Which one of us was the one who told me that Huaisang was my xuexin?" Huangjing asks, looking straight into the demon's eyes and grimacing.

"Me, but only because the lord refused to notice for weeks that there was something between us. Then he said our name." Here he looks at the ground and turns his head.

"You haven't felt like this before." Huangjing says surprised when he realises it.

"How would I know it? We are the first human demons in centuries." The demon opens his hands.

"Father said..." Huangjing begins, and the demon huffs.

"I know, he said that the demon is a separate being inside you. That the spirit of one from this world came into you..." He says as he looks around the place. "But..." He swallows hard. "I don't remember much." He rests his chin and leans forward so that his elbow can rest on his leg. "In an instant, a world suddenly opened up before me, I found myself here and you were there in the nearest pool of blood. Just a lost little child like me... What like... I knew that you were me, that we were one." He explains, and then a coin appears in his hand. "This is us, if I put this on a bowl of water, then the water represents this world, the air represents the other. The side that looks into the water is me, the side that looks into the air is you. What's special about us is that we can turn the coin over on the water."

"I think I understand." Huangjing nods.

"Good, because I don't understand what I explained." The demon laughs. "As for my xuexin..." He gets serious.

"I'm glad it's Huaisang, dad won't be so happy about it." Huangjing sighs.

"Yes, he had a choice, I don't really have one..." The demon pauses, and Huangjing takes his hand.

"Don't even think about it! We are one, I won't condemn ourselves to eternal suffering just to make our father happy." The Ru heir says seriously.

"But the clan..." The demon begins.

"I wouldn't have been the next clan leader anyway. The prophecy and all." Huangjing shrugs. "I do what I want." He states, and the demon starts to nod.

"He's the blood in our hearts, my xuexin. As long as he lives, I live too." The demon smiles faintly. "But I won't tell him, he's too valuable to risk losing his friendship." Huangjing just nods at his words.

"It's more than enough for me to watch over him from afar." They say at the same time and smile at each other.

"It'll be a little harder when I have to go home, but I've already told him that we'll correspond." Huangjing explains.

"What if..." The demon raises his hands, making the blood crystals on his bracelets jingle. "We both know they're of no use to us as Father intended."

"We haven't flipped the coin once." Huangjing looks at him seriously. "And it's just because you're being held down by the blood crystals." He notes.

"Yes, they are, but I'll experience your world just the same, this holding back just means I'm not using my demonic power." The demon shrugs. "Which, by the way, I don't want to to use, so I could give him one, so he would at least have something from me." His face flushes.

"I could make him a fan to hang on it, like on mother's fan." Huangjing pulls the object out of his sleeve, the sunlight reflects in his demon's eyes and his face lights up.

"That's a very good idea. Speaking of mother, I'll really teach him how to fight with a fan. He has an incredible talent for it, if he learned from mother, he might even be better than her." The demon thinks.

"Well, for now he can only learn from me, but that's more than nothing. Especially since he doesn't like weapons. At least this way he can cultivate somehow." Huangjing smiles.

"I'm also better with a fan than with a sword." His demon chuckles.

"Hey, I'm pretty good with a sword, and there's no god I'd trade Zuanbu for." Huangjing points out, his face serious.

"I think if I tried, he'd turn against me in the end." The demon laughs.

"Very likely." Huangjing agrees. "You know, it's scary." He grabs his upper arms.

"Yes, I feel it." The demon notes. "He has a frightening amount of power over me and he has no idea about it." He sighs. "One word from him would be enough and I would end the entire cultivator world without a second thought." He closes his eyes. "Speaking of the cultivator world... Did you see it?"

"The black stones?" Huangjing asks back, as the vision he had a few days ago, which literally attacked him out of nowhere, is usually tied to humans.

"You saw it." The demon says seriously.

"Do you know what it is?" Huangjing asks curiously, and the demon nods, then points to the nearest rock. "From here?" The Ru heir asks surprised.

"Yes." The demon nods again. "I met a demon not long ago who..." Here he pauses and turns to the left worriedly. "It's better not to talk about this here. I don't know what awaits the cultivator world, but I'm sure I'm the only demon who can set foot in your side." He declares.

"Am I safe here?" Huangjing asks, and his demon smiles evilly.

"There may be those who think I'm weak, but..." Here he chuckles. "But neither of them dare to come near me." He puts his hand on his chest.

"Because I belong to both sides." Huangjing smiles too and almost knows that he looks the same as his demon.

"Exactly. But now it's time to sleep." The demon yawns. "I want to dream about my xuexin." He winks, and Huangjing laughs out loud.

"Yes, I want to dream about Huaisang." He says before leaving the demon world. When he opens his eyes, a red light surrounds him. "It's time for the demonic power to sleep." He whispers to himself, and the light slowly fades. Huangjing stands up and walks to his bed, still looking out at the night sky, and from somewhere deep down, a worry fills him. "Why do I feel like clouds darker than the blackest caves of Lengshan are gathering over the cultivator world? Gods, please let me be wrong just for once. I've only just found him." He closes his eyes, barely noticing how sleep is overwhelming his tired mind.

Chapter Text

As he had discussed with the demon, Huangjing started making the special fan, for which he had less and less time after his friends and Lan QiRen returned. However, Huangjing tried to make the most of the time and create a perfect one, which is perhaps why he was not even finished with the object when Brother Wei managed to piss off the Lan old man so much that he had to leave the Cloud Recesses.

In the midst of studying and practicing with Huaisang, Huangjing only finished his work months later and although he was aware that his skills were nowhere near Huaisang's, he was still proud of the first fan he had made independently. To the best of his abilities, he tried to paint a waterfall on it and if he may say so, the work turned out quite well.

Then the day of his departure slowly arrived. In the morning, he visited his friends and after saying goodbye to Brother Jiang, who left immediately afterwards, he was left alone with Huaisang. Since everyone is leaving the Cloud Recesses today, they are now wearing their own clan colors again. That's why the shades of dark blue and green are standing side by side here under the trees of the Lan clan.

"I think it's time to say goodbye." The boy sighs next to Huanjing.

"Yes." Huangjing says very quietly. He feels his heart pounding in his throat and it seems like his palms have started to sweat.

"But at least we will correspond." The boy smiles at him. "And I will continue practicing with the fan, as you showed me." His face lights up as he says this, which makes Huangjing smile too.

"I'm already waiting for your letters. And I will talk to my mother, see if she can give you some piece of advice." Huangjing suggests and as always, when he says this, he gets a huge hug as a gift, which he tries to enjoy every moment of. "Huaisang." He finally says after a huge swallow.

"Yes?" The Nie boy moves away from him and looks deeply into Huangjing's eyes.

"As a sign of my gratitude and friendship, I would like you to accept this." The Ru heir reaches into his sleeve and pulls out the fan he made for Huaisang, on which he managed to equip one of his blood crystals this morning. The boy looks at Huangjing and the object in his hand with wide eyes.

"Seriously?" He asks slowly.

"Yes, I worked a lot on it, although it's not as good as yours, but I would be honored if you accepted it." Huangjing hands him the object, and Huaisang takes it with both hands. The Ru boy watches nervously as the other twirles the fan. Then he raises it to his eyes and stares at the crystal in amazement.

"This? Is it a blood crystal?" He suddenly looks at Huangjing, who nods.

"I wanted to make it special." He looks away before his face heats up.

"Oh..." At the sudden surprised sound, he looks up at the boy who has now opened the fan. "This is an exceptional picture." He says as he suddenly closes the fan and holds it to his chest. "I will treasure it."

~ Beautiful! ~ The demon sighs in Huangjing's mind and the boy must agree with him, but he doesn't speak, just smiles faintly.

"The honor is mine." Huangjing declares, when he sees Wudu in the distance. "I think it's time for me to leave." He feels sad. "I will write to you as soon as I arrive in Lengshan." He tells the boy.

"Have a nice trip." Huaisang nods towards him. "Goodbye, Huangjing." He says farewell.

"Goodbye, Huaisang." Huangjing and the demon speaks at the same time and, although with great difficulty, he turns away from the boy to face the man who will take him home.

Huangjing feels the pain and sadness that overtakes him when he has to leave Huaisang behind, but he tries to act as if nothing has happened and during the long journey to Lengshan, he doesn't know how many times he has relived the moments he spent with the Nie boy.

Everyone at home welcomes him warmly, his mother specifically doesn't let go of him for long minutes and hugs him as if her life depended on it. His father expresses a little more restrainedly that he missed Huangjing, but the boy knows exactly from his small movements that this is the case. Then, when he has to tell them the story of his entire time spent in the Cloud Recesses, despite the fact that he constantly wrote them letters, he already knows that they missed him much more than they let him see.

Finally, when he is left alone in his room, he writes the letter to Huaisang. He is happy just knowing that the other will read it and the demon is just as happy. Here in their room, they can freely show how they feel about the boy. Here, where no one can see them, they can weave their feelings into simple words.

Time passed slowly, and Huangjing got used to the ordinary everyday life that characterizes Lengshan. Until the day when a letter arrived, along with a package. It was brought by a simple letter carrier, who looked at the halls of Lengshan with wide eyes. Needless to say, Haugnjing's father looked at the man with quite a surprise.

"You came from the Impure Realm if I'mhIhandistaken, right?" Huangjing's father asks, as he receives the letter carrier in his hall . And Huangjing, as the heir to the clan leader title, is now sitting next to him.

"Yes, sir." The letter carrier bows, and Huangjing's father smiles kindly at him.

"What news did you bring to us?" The question is heard, before the man hands them the package.

"I came to deliver a package." The man says seriously.

"A package?" Huangjing's father asks back.

"Exactly, clan leader. It was sent to Lord Ru." The letter carrier looks at Huangjing.

"In that case... My son, take your letter." His father turns to him and when Huangjing stands up and takes his package, he continues. "And you can rest here with us, you've come a long way and your journey back will be a long one too." The man just bows at Huangjing's father's words and leaves the room, still in awe. Huangjing sits back down and turns the small box that came with his letter. "Aren't you going to open it?" He hears his father's voice, which makes him want to open the small box, even though he's a big mouth. "Who sent you a fan from the Impure Realm?" The surprised question comes.

"The friend I told you about. He's exceptionally skilled." Huangjing says as he looks around at the fan.

~ This is that kind of paper. That special one. ~ He notices surprised when he runs his finger along the side of the fan. Finally, he opens the fan with a casual movement, but as soon as he sees the picture painted on it, his mouth drops open.

"This is the crystal hall?" His father leans over his shoulder.

"Is that a new fan?" He hears his mother too, but Huangjing just stares at the painting. There is indeed Crystal Hall of Lengshan, and a willow tree, the kind under which he and Huaisang practiced fan fighting.

"Yes." He finally mumbles.

"Which one?" His father ruffles his hair.

"Both." Huangjing smiles.

"How does your little friend know what the cave looks like?" The question comes, and Huangjing's ears start to burn.

"I told him about it." He closes the fan.

"Can I look at it?" Huangjing sees his mother's hand. He looks up at her, then with some difficulty hands it over to her. His mother opens the fan with practiced movements and Huangjing sees her pupils dilate a little in surprise. "Oh." She smiles, then closes it and hands it back to Huangjing with a smile. "I wanted to try it, but it's made specifically for you, it won't accept anyone else." She says with a kind smile on her lips. "Your little friend is really very clever." She notes.

"Yes, Huaisang is very skilled, especially when it comes to this." Huangjing says, holding the fan tightly in his hand.

"Try it, little one!" His mother pulls him up from the stool.

"But, honey." His father says, and his mother looks at him seriously.

"This is a special fan, I don't need to explain what it means, do I?" Huangjing's mother puts her hands on her hips, and his father laughs.

"No, honey." The man shakes his head. "Good practice." He says as he returns to his tasks, and Huangjing's mother grabs the boy's wrist again and tugs him along as enthusiastically as a small child.

~ He made a fan for me. My xuexin made a fan for me. ~ The demon rejoices.

~ Yes, and mother is right, we should try it out as soon as possible ~ Huangjing notes and enthusiastically follows his mother to try out Huaisang's gift.

Chapter Text

It's been almost half a year since Huangjing returned to Lengshan. Don't get him wrong, he loves his home and loves being in the caves, but... But he misses the freedom. He's had a taste of what it's like to be outside the walls and now he longs to be back under the sun. Back, back to him. No matter how much they correspond, no matter how many times he rereads those lines written in beautiful handwriting, it's not the same as being there with him and talking.

He misses him, he misses him a lot and in this he and his demon are completely in agreement. Moreover, Huangjing's feeling of missing him is not helped at all by the fact that his father announced the other day that it would soon be time for him to find a bride. The older cultivator wants to ensure his bloodline, or something like that. Huangjing has to endure all this misery.

"Ru Huangjing!" At his father's scolding, he rushes into the main hall as fast as his legs can carry him. If his father calls you by your full name, you'd better appear before him immediately, because usually that's when you've done something really bad, or his father is in a bad mood.

That's why Huangjing is surprised when he enters the room and, contrary to his expectations, his father smiles, as if nothing is wrong, in fact, quite the opposite. It's rare to see Huangjing so enthusiastic, it's a bit scary to be honest.

"I'm here." He announces as he stops in his usual spot.

"Get ready! We're traveling!" At this statement, Huangjing's eyes grow twice as big.

"What?" He blinks at the man who is theoretically his father, but who doesn't act like his father at all. After all, his father would never leave Lengshan in his life.

"We're traveling!" He repeats himself, then sighs and motions for Huangjing to sit next to him. "A messenger came from the Wen clan leader." He begins to explain.

"What did he want?" The younger cultivator asks with a serious look.

"Since you left Lengshan, they thought they would invite us to their archery competition." He says thoughtfully. "At first I didn't want to accept the invitation, but..." He looks at his son and smiles. "Every clan will be there and I'm not the only one who wants to meet your little friend."

"Oh..." Huangjinf says, lowering his head. "Is that why you accepted?" He mutters to himself.

"And because my intuition tells me it's better not to clash with the Wens." The man's gaze becomes serious. "I haven't felt this for a long time." He shakes his head. "It doesn't matter. You'll decide whether you want to participate in the competition, but it's better if we leave as soon as possible." He finishes and pats Huangjing on the shoulder. "Come on, get a grip on yourself, you wanted to go out into the sunlight again." At this, the young man laughs and runs back to his room to get ready.

The journey was much longer and more boring than he had expected, even though he knew it wouldn't be a walk in the park. Fortunately, his demon kept him entertained from time to time, so he was a little less bored.

Shortly after arriving at the venue of this competition, he managed to run into his friends from Gusu, even Master Wei was here. Needless to say, his father could have searched for him for a couple of hours, he wouldn't have found him, but that's what happens when you meet your friends.

The day after their arrival, that particular competition started. Finally, Huangjing decided to skip archery, so he sat next to his mother at a small table. He didn't pay much attention to what was going on around him until the Wens arrived.

Black stones spinning in the air in front of him, smoke and darkness everywhere. What are those strange creatures?

Undead! With the souls of demons! Is that what he wants to achieve with the black stones?

A grinning youth who knows how to use them.

War, shouting, blood everywhere. Master Meng! Is that Huaisang's brother?

Master Wei and a flute? He trembles. He doesn't want to die. The sound of battle from afar, reaching for the black stones, a huge rumble and when he looks back.

The Demon?

Huangjing blinks a few times, seeing the table in front of him, from which he should be eating, but the images assault him again when the younger heir Wen speaks.

He smells fire and maybe water. These purple clothes! This is the Jiang clan, could this be Lotus Cove? Red flames, and that... Purple lightning? But the lightning is white, in Gusu it was white.

A cave, a monster, a woman, swords in a pile. Whip and iron flail in hand.

Dirty houses, fear, flute music. The living dead, but... These are not demons, these are people. Wounded bodies. Pain, burning, burning.

Purple, red, black, clicking, playing music. Let it end, let it end, he wants to die, he wants to die! Kill him! Kill him!

"Huangjing?" He hears his mother's voice and only then comes to his senses. He involuntarily touches his heart. "Baby, are you okay?" His mother holds his hand, but her voice is barely audible. Huangjing just nods, but it takes much more concentration than necessary to let go of his clothes and calm his breathing.

~ The black stones, have you seen them? The black stones are with the Wens and.... And... ~ Huangjing panics.

~ They want to turn demons into undead soldiers. ~ His demon finishes the sentence for him.

~ How did the black stones even get here and how does anyone know how to use them? ~ Questions are running through his mind.

~ I have no idea, but I don't like this. Demons are not something to be played without care. As we saw, he will learn that too. ~ The demon replies in a cold voice, and Huangjing is shaken by the cold as he sees that scene again.

"Huangjing! Huangjing!" The boy blinks widely as his mother fans in front of his face. The crowd has begun to disperse around them, it seems the game is over. "What happened?" His mother kneels in front of his table to hide Huangjing from everyone. "You look like when..." She starts to say it, but Huangjing just stands up.

"There will be a war." He whispers, causing his mother's eyes to widen. "I'll be in it." He closes his eyes.

"If your father will know about this..." Huangjjing doesn't let the woman continue.

"I was the only Ru." He swallows hard.

"But..." His mother stands up too, but doesn't continue, just hugs Huangjing tightly. "Is it for sure?"

"Not yet." The boy whispers as he looks towards the podium.

~ I lied. ~ The demon sighs in his head.

~ I don't want them to be nervous. ~ Huangjing answers, then steps away from his mother.

"Come on, mom, let's find dad and I'll introduce you to Huaisang." He says, forcing a smile on his face.

"Let's find that half-witted person before he starts fighting with someone." His mother giggles, then they search for his father side by side, who surprisingly managed to talk to the Nie clan leader, and next to him stands.

"Huaisang!" Huangjing signals to the boy, whose eyes sparkle when he looks at him.

"Huangjing!" Huaisang returns his greeting.

"Huaisang, do you know the little master?" The Ru cultivator boy hears the Nie clan leader's voice.

"Yes, dage. He is the friend I told you about, the one who taught him how to use a fan as a weapon." Huangjing's friend says enthusiastically.

"So my brother's mysterious friend is your son?" The man looks at Huangjing's father suspiciously.

"It seems so." Huangjjng's father chuckles. "He knows how to choose friends. How about we continue our conversation in my tent. Judging from my wife's look, she won't let the young ones go for a while." He sighs, before Huangjing's mother hits him on the head with her fan.

"Don't sigh here for me! Nie clan leader, can I steal your brother for a little training? It's rare for someone outside our clan to be a fan fighter. I would like to assess his skills." Huangjjng's mother smiles at the man.

"You are doing me the honor, my lady. So where is your tent?" He suddenly turns to Huangjing's father and the two depart.

"Well, we have taken care of that." Huangjing's mother puts her hands on her hips.

"Thank you for taking the time to meet me, Lady Ru." Huangjing's friend bows to the woman.

"Come on, it's nothing." The woman giggles. "Well, let's find a good place to practice, and if you're good at it, we'll finish quickly and you'll have plenty of time to chat." She says with a smile, then frowns. "Master Nie, how does your brother handle alcohol?" The sudden question comes, and Huangjing's mother gets two pairs of blinking eyes.

"Quite well." Huaisang mumbles.

"In that case, we'll have to bother you with Huangjing tonight, Young master Nie I think my husband will take advantage of the fact that someone can finally drink with him." The woman rolls her eyes, and Huangjing laughs.

"It would be better if we really looked for a place, it will be dark in the end." Huangiing says after laughing, so after that they really set off to look for a place suitable for practice.

Chapter Text

To Hiangjing's surprise, they find a suitable place relatively quickly. It's spacious, quiet, and no one will see them. According to his mother, discretion is key when it comes to fan fighting.

"The place has a good vibe." Lady Ru nods, then stands in front of the young people with a wide smile on her face. "Well, kids, the training begins. First, we'll warm up." She starts, and Huangjing imitates every move she makes with Huaisang at his side. When they've moved their limbs pleasantly, Huangjing's mother turns to her son. "There you go. Huangjing, how much did you teach the young master?" The serious question comes, before Huangjing straightens up.

"Just the basics, Baihe." He smiles, and his mother nods.

"Would you show me these moves, Young master Nie?" She asks turning to Huangjing's friend, and the boy swallows hard, but nods, and then when Baihe steps next to Huangjing, Huaisang begins to repeat the moves that the Ru boy taught him. When he finishes, Huangjing's mother smiles broadly and starts clapping. "Amazing, amazing." She says enthusiastically. "Huangjing was right. You have a talent for fans." Baihe nods.

"Thank you." Huaisang lowers his head and Huangjing sees that his face is blushing.

"Huangjing." At his mother's voice, the boy straightens up.

"Yes?" He asks.

"Show us the fifty-second formation." Huangjing just nods at the task and steps forward with Huaisang's fan in hand to demonstrate the exercise.

Ru Baihe's point of view

Baihe chose this formation with purpose. This is a particularly difficult formation, it takes a long time and requires a lot of concentration. While his son is busy with the formation, she steps next to Master Nie.

"He moves like the wind, right?" She asks in a low voice.

"Yes. It would be a dream to reach this level." The boy whispers next to her. "I'm so grateful that you saw how far I've come. I owe everything to your son. Thanks to him, Dage isn't so angry with me when I fail to fight with the saber." He explains, and Baihe smiles.

"You can thank yourself. The fan decides whether to accept you as a cultivation partner. Not all fans are suitable for cultivation and not everyone has the talent to do it. It can be a weapon, but it's not necessarily a spiritual weapon." She instructs him. "Huangjing found you talented and I have to admit, he saw it right." She says and turns to the boy, then extends her hand in his direction. "I'm Baihe, welcome to our family." She smiles at him, and the boy looks back at her with surprised eyes.

"Seriously?" He blinks with wide eyes.

"If you accept such an old woman as a master after my son." Baihe chuckles.

"You're still very young." The boy blushes. "Huaisang. It's an honor that to learn from you..." He bites his lips here. "Baihe." He says and the blush grows stronger on his face as he shakes Baihe's hand. At this, the woman starts to giggle.

"As I see, Huangjing explained the essence of our family." She nods. "Then my son, head to your brother's side and try to imitate him. It's okay if you don't do it exactly, we'll just relax your muscles." She winks at him, and the child smiles broadly and rushes to Huangjing's side.

~ They move very well together, as if they've always done it this way. Amazing. Wait... ~ Baihe's eyes widen for a moment when she sees the stone floating on Nie boy's fan. ~ Is that a blood crystal?! But where did he get it? Where did it come from? ~ Her lips involuntarily pull into a sad smile. ~ Oh my... ~ She sighs and opens her fan as old images appear in her mind.

"Come and marry me!" Those beautiful eyes that have been driving Baihe crazy since she was young sparkle.

"But I'm just an orphan, Fenqing. If your father finds out that you want me, your reputation will be ruined. I can't do this to you." Her voice rings sad even to herself. The boy she's been in love with for a long time looks at her seriously and does something she never thought he would do. He takes off the ribbon that holds his blood crystal from his forehead and simply ties it around Baihe's neck.

"I don't care if you're an orphan, Baihe. I don't care what my father says either." He smiles at her with that bright smile that always makes her heart race.

"But, I'm not your xuexin." The bitter truth comes out of her. To which Fenqing simply laughs, causing the crystals above their heads to tremble.

"My best friend is my xuexin, you know that." He shakes his head, then looks into Baihe's eyes. "But you, Baihe, I love you with all my heart. And with that." He grabs the blood crystal that's now hanging around the girl's neck. "I'm engaged to you. Will you be my wife?" He asks, leaning in to her lips.

"Yes. Yes, I will!" Tears of joy well up in Baihe's eyes as the man of her dreams kisses her.

She blinks back to the present from the happiest day of her life. Her son and his friend finish their formation at this moment and come towards her, panting but with radiant faces. Close together and smiling broadly, like two young deities.

"Congratulations. That was a very nice job." Baihe applauds. "How about another round? Then we could go to dinner and if Huaisang and his family aren't in a hurry tomorrow morning, maybe I can teach you some more. I have something new for you too." He winks at them, which makes them both enthusiastic.

They complete the next series of tasks skillfully and accurately, and then the three of them return to the Nie clan tent, where after a pleasant dinner, she lets the two young people chat for a while while she does her usual evening meditation. When she finishes, she goes for a walk. However, she doesn't get far when she finds her son, who is muttering something to himself and staring at the moon above his head with a serious look.

"Huangjing?" She calls out, before he turns his head towards her, Baihe sees the blue glint in his eyes. He was talking to the demon. "Can I disturb you?" The woman asks.

"Of course, mother." The boy smiles at her, and Baihe sits down next to him.

"The moon is beautiful." She notes it, and his son agrees. "When were you going to tell me?" She asks. She doesn't have to look at her son, she can feel that he's getting nervous. "I'm not mad at you, little one. I'm just worried. Your vision, and your father, and what we don't talk about. You're so young. You shouldn't have to carry so much on your shoulders." She strokes his head. "Come on, tell mom." She puts her arm around the child's shoulder. The boy clings to her, just like when he was only five years old and his tears are about to fall.

"It's him, mom, it's him." He sniffs. "I don't want him to be scared. I don't want dad to be disappointed. The de... What we don't talk about." He looks up at Baihe. "He's scared too. We’ve seen terrible things, mom.” He hugs her, and she pulls him closer and strokes his head.

“He suits you.” She says, making his son look at her in surprise. “Your father isn’t the only one who knows what it means to be xuexin to someone like you.” She points her index finger to his son’s nose. “Your father should know about it.” She pinches the boy’s cheek, making the boy wince.

“But… He doesn’t even know, how could I tell father.” Huangjing closes his eyes. “I don’t want to force this on Huaisang. Not so soon.” He shakes his head.

“Okay, then we won’t tell your father for now. But." Baihe raises her index finger. "After you told Huaisang, you should tell your father too." She says seriously.

"Thank you, mom!" The boy hugs her tightly, and Baihe laughs softly.

"Tell me, little one, how much do you think Clan Leader Nie would object to his younger brother coming to study with us?" The woman asks, making her son's eyes sparkle.

"Would you invite him to come with us?" He looks at her with the same surprised and sincere eyes as when he was three years old.

"I couldn't bear it if my son couldn't spend enough time with his xuexin." She gives him a kiss on the forehead. "Nor would I if he did not get enough sleep. So, get some sleep, young man." She says, and her son stands up with a broad smile and leaves her alone.

"I wonder what the future holds for them." She looks up at the shining moon with a faint smile on her face.

Chapter Text

For the next two days, they stayed here in the Wen territory, Huangjing's father had a lot of conversations with Huaisang's brother, and Huangjing and Huaisang trained with Huangjing's mother. Then the time came for them to go their separate ways again. However, there was a little joy in the sadness, Huangjing's mother managed to talk to the Nie clan leader that although Huaisang was still promised to the Lans this year, he could come to study with them next year.

This was one of the things that kept Huangjing's spirits up during the following period, and the other was their letters. Of course, only after they got home, but somehow both he and his demon managed to cope. Let's say Baihe played a big role in all of this, to whom he could always tell when his heart was really overwhelmed by sadness. And this happened more and more often as time went by, although to his greatest surprise, not because of the feeling of missing him, but because his father decided to play matchmaker for him.

That's probably why Huangjing is subjected to the pain of having to turn down a bunch of girls at least once a week. Let's just say, it's not just him who's annoyed, because after about two months, he managed to make his father so upset by sending everyone away that he found himself facing what Huangjing's mother called an "your father's angry peacock face".

"Okay, son, let's look at things differently! What kind of partner should I find for you?" He asked, but Huangjing somehow knew it was better not to answer him honestly, because his head would fall off.

"One with golden brown eyes." He finally said, because he couldn't leave his father without an answer.

"Let me guess, it does matter what kind of gold..." The man rolled his eyes, but then he smiled. Huangjing was saved for a while. Of course, the ladies didn't stop visiting for a week after that, but at least her father was a little happier. Until today.

"No way!" Huangjing hears his father's cry from afar, even though the training area where he is with his mother is not close to the main cave hall.

"That was your father." His mother stops and looks towards one of the corridors.

"What could have happened? I've never heard him so angry." Huangjing remarks and he definitely feels that his demon is starting to worry too.

"We'd better go check on him." His mother closes his fan. Huangjing follows hee example, and the two of them head towards the main hall. However, when they get there, all they see is Huangjing's father with his sword in his hand, that fearsome sword made of the purest crystal and iron alloy that can cut through stone, hitting the wall. He suddenly screams, and Huangjing has to cover his ears, and then his father falls to his knees. Huangjing's mother suddenly stands in front of the boy, so he can't see anything else.

"Go to your room, little one." She puts her hand on the boy's head. "We'll send for you." She turns Huangjing around and pushes him a little towards the hallway. Huangjing looks back at her with a worried look, but starts walking down the hallway.

"Do I have any idea what this could be?" Huangjing asks barely audibly as he closes the door to his room behind him.

"I have no idea, dad has never done anything like this before." The demon speaks in a worried voice. "Unless..."

"Unless, what?" The Ru boy's left hand clenches into a fist.

"It might have started." He says these simple words, but so quietly that Huangjing can barely hear his voice and his whole body trembles at the thought.

"Did I find anything about stones from the demon world?" Huangjing asks after a big swallow, but he gets the answer in the form of a shake of his head halfway through the question.

"But, if we're close, I'll feel them." His demon assures him.

"Can I destroy them?" Huangjing asks the most important question.

"I'm not sure, but they can't necessarily only be used for evil. If I get them, then maybe..." He explains when they hear footsteps and Huangjing immediately covers his mouth. The next moment, there's a knock on the door. His parents are calling him and judging by the messenger's face, they're not happy. Huangjing nervously approaches the center of his father's realm, his home, Lengshan. His mother and father sit silently next to each other, both of their faces grim, as if they've just received news of someone's death.

"Father... mother..." Huangjing finally speaks, when the silence begins to become painfully long.

"Son, you have to leave Lengshan again." Finally, after many minutes, Huangjing's father speaks, in a much more somber tone than he should.

"Yes?" The boy is surprised and starts blinking in confusion. Something tells him that this news is not such a good thing.

"Yes." He gets the curt answer.

"Where should I go?" He asks the question and starts to get nervous. His father is not the kind of person who needs to be squeezed for information. So it never bodes well if he doesn't want to tell you something.

"To the Wen clan." The man's hands clench into fists and he even turns his head away.

"Dear." Huangjing's mother places her left hand on his right hand.

"I'm sorry, son, I didn't want to agree, but..." His father shakes his head.

"You're doing it for the safety of the clan." Huangjing speaks, and his parents look at him. "Now that they know where Lengshan is, the clan is in danger. Even if you are against it, the clan is not strong enough to openly confront the Wens." Here he smiles. "In fact, the Ru clan is more for espionage than war. One man for peace. That's what they said too, right?" He asks, and his father stands up with a look of sparks.

"How did you come out?! Why now?!" The man snaps at him, but Huangjing's mother catches his arm.

"I'm just as worried about this place as you are. Let me protect it." Huangjing lowers his head.

~ Sorry, now dad is angry with me. ~ He hears the regretful voice in his head.

~ It's okay, you know he is just scared. But I know he can't avoid this. ~ Huangjing notes and when he looks up he meets his father's desperate gaze, they stare at each other for a few moments, then his father starts to tremble and his hands clench into fists.

"Demon!" At his father's words, Huangjing raises his head.

"My dear!" Huangjing's mother tries to hold him down.

"Take care of my son!" The man closes his eyes. Huangjing just blinks at him, and his mother lets go of his arm with a surprised face. "My hands are tied. You are the only one I can trust." The man squeezes the words out of his teeth. "If the situation gets serious, if Huangjing is in danger." Here he takes a deep breath, then opens his eyes and looks straight at Huangjing. "You can take off the blood crystals." As he said this, Huangjing's eyes widened, blood-red light surrounded him from all directions, swirling around him for a few moments, then disappearing as if they had never existed.

"Did you let it go?" He heard his mother's surprised voice.

"Dad?" Huangjing's eyes filled with tears, and the next thing he knew, his father was hugging him tightly and placing his hand on the back of his head.

"I will pray to the gods to bring you home safely. The future of our clan is in your hands, my son." His father said in a halting voice.

~ It has begun. ~

~ Yes, it has. ~ Huangjing agreed with the demon.

Maybe the darkness is not what the cultivator world needs to fear now.

Chapter Text

Huangjing traveled alone this time, at least for a while. It was a small joy that he ended his journey with Huaisang in his company. Although he had to admit that both he and the demon almost had a heart attack when they realized that their xuexin would also come to the Wens for gods knows what. This would greatly change their attitude towards things.

Normally, Huangjing would probably just stand by and let them do whatever they wanted, because what could a simple child do against adult cultivators? However, with Huaisang here, everything else would lose its importance and he only cared about Huaisang being okay.

At the end of their long journey, they arrived at the designated place where disciples from different clans had gathered. The friends he had met in Gusu were also here, but like Huangjing and Huaisang, they were also confused and you could feel the concern in the crowd. The tension literally sparks in the air.

There were no problems until everyone arrived, but then all hell broke loose. The Wen cultivators took their swords, which for most cultivator apprentices equaled to a bloodbath. Huangjing didn't feel this way only because they left his fan with him. It seems the cultivator world has collectively forgotten that a fan is a more deadly weapon than a sword.

Of course, Huangjing doesn’t let this little fact slip, for now it’s better if he stays quiet, like everyone else. In the beginning, the first few days were not bad. Meaning, nothing bad happened, although Huangjing did chuckle when Wei Wuxian got punished and started reciting the Lan rules instead of the Wen ones, but it seemed that the young Wen didn’t like it that much. So the team was sentenced to community service.

Then they got to the present day, when the arrogant bull who had been making them do everything for the past few weeks decided to go find the monster that supposedly lives in the area. Huangjing might have even put up with it if the Wen boy hadn't brought his whore with him, who had a habit of poking her nose into things she really shouldn't. The search takes quite a while, and when someone discovers a cave, since His Majesty has decided so, they have to go in.

"Is everything okay, Huaisang?" Huangjing asks the boy walking next to him as quietly as he can.

"I'm starting to get a little scared, but I think so." He replies, and Huangjing takes his hand and squeezes it reassuringly.

"Stay by my side and you'll be fine." He says confidently as they follow the Wens deeper and deeper into the cave. "Something's wrong." Huangjing mutters to himself.

~ I feel strange. ~ He hears the voice of his demon and unfortunately, he has to agree with it. Something very sinister surrounds them. When the son of the Wen clan leader starts fighting Wei Wuxian and all hell breaks loose, Huangjing tries to at least keep Huaisang safe. Then the huge turtle appears.

"You good demon!" Huajing opens his mouth wide at the sight of the monster and literally pulls Huaisang behind him.

~ Do I know what the hell this is? ~ He asks the demon.

~ I have no idea, but it definitely came from us. ~ The demon declares and opens their fan without thinking. In the great confusion, the Wens step aside, while the team stays here to deal with the monster.

"Go with the others." The Ru heie looks back at Huaisang, then rushes to Brother Wei, who has created some kind of fire wall that has held back the monster. "Can you make another one?" He asks his friend, who looks at him questioningly.

"Yes." He finally answers.

"On count three." Huangjing nods as he raises his fan in front of his face. "One. Two. Three." The moment the larger plume of fire rises, Huangjing uses one of her mother's special moves, causing a huge wind to blow, sending the fire straight into the monster's face. "Let's get out of here." He grabs Brother Wei's arm with his free hand and rushes after the other disciples with him at his side.

"Here you are." The Jiang heir steps in front of them.

"We're safe for a while." Brother Wei nods. Huangjing looks at the others and when he sees that Huaisang is safe, he blows a big sigh and turns to head back to the main hall of the cave, where the monster is.

"Brother Ru, where are you going?" He hears Jiang Chang's voice.

"I'm surveying the terrain. The Wens have cut off our exit, I'll see if there's another exit." Huangjing announces.

"Why are you going?" He hears a strange voice, and he chuckles.

"Which one of you grew up in a cave system?" There's a silence at his question. "I guessed it. Believe me, it's better if you leave this to me." He turns back towards the exit of the smaller hall and calmly walks out into the large hall.

"I can't do anything with it, can I?" He asks quietly when he's far enough from the cave.

"No. He's very old. I've never seen such an old ond before." He gets the answer. "This isn't the best cave I've ever been in." They grimace as they look around the place.

"Not really." Huangjing agrees, then slowly ventures closer to the lake in the middle of the large room.

~ It gets water from outside. ~ He blinks at the mirror of the lake.

~ Where do... Oh, right. It's has a different color over there on the right. ~ The demon notices it too.

~ Judging by the amount of water and the lighting conditions. Two people should be able to fit in the passage, at least on this side. ~ Huangjing notes to himself, before the demon forces him to crouch down and touch the surface of the water. There's silence around him for almost a minute.

~ Two people can fit on the other side too. I hope the others have good lungs, the tunnel isn't that short, but there's a smaller room in the middle with air in it. ~ The demon explains.

~ I just wish I knew how you did it. ~ Huangjing shakes his head as he slowly moves away from the lake shore and starts to walk around the room to assess where everything is.

~ I swam through it, I did it like that. ~ Huangjing gets the answer, before his footsteps stop and he starts blinking in front of him.

~ What do you mean you swam through it? ~ He asks back.

~ Remember when I explained what we are like? The bowl with the coin? ~ The question comes, but Huangjing just nods and move on quietly. ~ Well, think of it as putting an identical bowl over that bowl. This is the world we live in. What you have there is also here. Saying, that old demon is not here, but the rest is here. ~ The demon explains.

~ So you are walking with me now? ~ Huangjing frowns.

~ No. The coin is walking on the surface of the water. ~ As he says this, the darkness of the cave disappears and sunlight surrounds Huangjing. ~ I see the half of the bowls that I want. ~ He gets the explanation before the darkness of the cave returns again.

~ I understand. ~ The boy nods and since he has gone around the large room, he goes back to the smaller room where the other apprentices were waiting.

"Huangjing!" Huaisang rushes to him when he sees him at the entrance of the smaller room.

"Ru Huangjing." His other friends also stand around him.

"What did you find?" The question comes from Wei Wuxian.

"I have good news and bad news." Huangjing announces. "The good news is that there is another way out." Everyone is enthusiastic about this. "The bad." He continues, drowning out their words. "It's underwater. We need to distract the killer turtle somehow." He looks at the group of young people, whose faces suddenly take over with despair.

Chapter Text

"Is everyone in?" Brother Wei asks as he dusts his hands off and stands up from the plan he's drawn on the ground.

"Do you understand anything about this?" One of the students grimaces at the scribble on the ground.

"Shut up!" The one next to him cuts him off.

"Ru Huangjing?" Brother Wei turns to him.

"I'm in. I don't have a better idea. Jiang Chang, can I have you lead the team?" He looks at the boy, who nods. "Then you lead the team in the swim. There should be a room halfway. It probably has air in it. At least ours does." He explains, because he can't just say that his demon swam the distance and that's why he knows. "Then let's get started!" He says, getting the team to move out of the cave as quietly as they can.

In the monster's turtle cave, the group becomes so quiet that even the sound of their breathing can hardly be heard. As they had agreed, everyone lines up on the shore of the lake. Then Huangjing and Brother Wei head to the other side of the room. They agreed to distract the creature. Huanjing because he knows how to navigate a cave best, and Brother Wei comes from Lotus Cove, where the best swimmers come from.

As before, they decided on fire as the most effective method of attack against the creature. According to Huangjing's plans, they manage to attract the creature's attention. At first, everything goes perfectly, but then trouble strikes. Huangjing has no idea how, but the monster noticed the group of people fleeing outside. Moreover, only Huaisang and Lan Wangji were on this side of the passage, for whom Jiang Chang returned just then. Thus, the monster immediately caught the Jiang's heir's leg. Brother Wei naturally jumped on the turtle and successfully freed his clansman.

"Get out!" Huangjing yells as he throws himself into the water and, putting his arms around Huaisang's waist, dives underwater to get out of this cursed cave. Halfway through, he stops for a quick breath, doesn't look back and keeps going. After all, the monster's roar can still be heard from the cave. Finally, after a long time, they reach the surface. Huangjing takes deep breaths and Huaisang coughs in his arms.

When they crawl to the shore, Huaisang proves that when he said he could faint anywhere, he wasn't lying. He had just reached the shore, but he was already lying down and panting. Huangjing looks at him with a smile, believing him, so he knows that he just needs to rest and wake up on his own. Then he looks at the group. Everyone is covered in water, Jiang Chang holds his feet and...

"Where are Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji?" Huangjing turns back to the water.

"They're stuck." Jiang Chang hisses and you can see the concern in his eyes.

"We should get help." A girl speaks up.

"Which clan is closest?" A new voice comes in.

"The Lans." Someone whispers.

"The Jiangs." Another voice comes in.

"I'll get help. You go and tell your clans what the Wens did." Jiang Chang gave the order, but he didn't move from the ground. The group slowly disperses, leaving only Huangjing, Jiang Chang, and the soundly sleeping Huaisang on the riverbank. "You're not going?" The wounded boy asks.

"You should be busy with yourself, how can you bring help like this?" Huangjing asks, kneeling down beside him and pulling the boy's clothes off his wound.

"What are you doing?" Huangjing is asked.

"I'll check your wound. With legs like this, it would take at least a week to get to Lotus Cove. In that cave, at best, you can only last a week. By the time you get home, they'll be dead." Huangjing announces, while he starts fiddling with one of the blood crystals on his bracelet, it's a good thing he put a new one on it at home instead of the one he gave Huaisang.

"If it weren't for my wound, four days would be enough to get home, and then the adults would get here faster." The boy narrows his eyes.

"That's why I'm helping." The Ru boy smiles. "However, you have to promise not to tell anyone about this." He looks the other seriously in the eyes.

"What do you want to do?" Jiang Chang looks at him suspiciously.

"I'll heal your leg." Huangjing unhooks the blood crystal from the bracelet. "This will sting like salt, but you have to endure it." He hardens his voice, then holds the crystal over the boy's wound and closes his eyes. "What splits, at my word it will now fuse. The pain will fly away with the wind, the strength will return to the limbs. Let the wound heal as I want. As a drop of blood, the crystal will touches the ground." He finishes the rhyme and lets go of the crystal. He doesn't open his eyes, but he hears the tinkling, then the dripping, and Jiang Chang's hissing, then a sudden gasp.

"How did you do that?!" He gasps.

"A secret healing technique, there are too few blood crystals in the world for many to use. It's for emergencies. This is an emergency. You'd better get going, Brother Wei and Young Master Lan have very little time left in that cave." Huangjing finally opens his eyes and is pleased to see that the wound has healed.

"What are you going to do?" His friend asks, and Huangjing looks at Huaisang.

"I will accompany him to the Impure Realm." He nodded, then they parted, leaving Huangjing alone with his xuexin.

"We would have been the fastest messengers." The demon mouthed.

"I know." Huangjing said sadly.

"He's the first." The demon announced and bent down to pick Huaisang up in his arms. "Let's take him home." He sighed, and Huangjing nodded.

As the demon had said, thanks to his strength, they would have been the best messengers, because even though the Impure Realm is nowhere near this gods forsaken place, they still arrived before Huaisang woke up from his long rest. Let's just say that Huangjing found himself facing some pretty interesting faces when he stopped from the demon's speed in the middle of the palace right in front of Nie Mingjue, who was doing some training.

"Master Ru?" The man blinked at him, then looks at the boy in his arms. "Huaisang!" He steps towards the Ru boy, but Huangjing takes a step back and hugs the boy close to him. He has to forcefully close his eyes to calm down.

"Forgive me, Clan Leader Nie, I'm in a bit of a volatile mood right now. It's better if you stay two steps away until I calm down." Huangjing declares.

"What happened?" The Clan Leader's calmness surprises Huangjing for a moment.

"The Wens left us to our fate in a cave, with a giant turtle monster, we barely managed to escape. Huaisang fainted when we got out. I had to get him to safety." The boy says seriously.

"How do you prove that you didn't do this to my brother? If he really fainted then, he should have woken up by now." The clan leader raises his saber to the throat of Huangjing.

"He is my xuexin." The words leave Huanjing's lips and he manages to state it so clearly that he surprises Nie Mingjue with it.

"What does that mean?" The man frowns.

"That in order to keep him safe, I would let the whole world burn. Anyone can die, anyone can go to war, the world can collapse, as long as he is safe, I will do nothing. In order to keep him safe, I will do anything. If I feel that someone wants to harm him, I will end them without thinking. Be it a stranger or my own mother. The blood in my heart, my xuexin, is stronger than the blood in my veins." Huangjing smiles faintly as he looks down at Huaisang sleeping in his arms. "In short, Nie Mingjue, the Snow White Blood Crystal, the demon of the Ru clan, is in the hands of your younger brother."

Chapter Text

Let's just say that Nie Huaisang was known from the very beginning to be different from his family, from his brother. The fact that he had no sense of sabers at all was already a big enough sign. He was much calmer. Don't get him wrong, he adores Mingjue, but this saber mania can sometimes get on his nerves.

To be honest, when it first came up that Huaisang had to travel to the Lan clan to study, his first thought was "Hurray! There's no saber!" and immediately after that "Damn it, you have to study there! Study, damn very seriously!" Yet somehow, despite this, he was excited to embark on this adventure.

Huaisang loves to learn new things, to delve into the clan systems. So the chance to get to know the Lan clan system firsthand made him very excited. He didn't think then that everything in his life, and literally everything in the tenfold sense of the word, would turn upside down when he arrived.

It all started on the first day, at the introduction ceremony. That's when he saw him. True, Huaisang was so busy with everything else in the morning that when the groups of students and attendants arrived at the pavilion, he didn't look at anyone. However, when the introductions began, he was paying attention and...

He stepped forward... Snow-white hair, snow-white skin, almost luminous red eyes and pale lips. Those red stones almost shone next to the Lan white dress, even the one attached to the blue strap on his forehead. When Huaisang saw the boy, he couldn't breathe for a moment, and then his heart started beating wildly.

It was love at first sight. Ru Huangjing, the Snow-White Blood Crystal. It only took one look and he stole Huaisang's heart. He immediately started thinking about what excuse to use to address him, how to get close to him. Then, thanks to Brother Wei, he got his excuse. When Huaisang addressed Ru Huangjing for the first time in his life, he could barely hear his own voice over his pounding heart.

"I'm Ru Huangjing, it's nice to meet you." The boy finally bowed to him.

"Nie Huaisang, it's nice to meet you too." Huaisang nodded and hurriedly repeated the gesture, then out of habit, he opened his fan and covered half of his face with it so that the boy wouldn't see his smile. However, the surprised look on the other's face scared him.

"You have a very beautiful fan. It's a real masterpiece, I've never seen such beautiful painting." Huangjing said enthusiastically, and Huaisang slowly lowered the fan in his surprise. "I mean... Well... I'm sure... um... it must have been expensive..." He finished quietly.

"Are you interested in fans?" Huaisang whispered softly, simply not wanting to believe it. Then he just nodded, and Huaisang's stomach fluttered. "You saw it right, it's special, there's no other like it. Do you want to look at it?" He turned the fan, then folded it and handed it to the Ru boy.

"Can I?" He blinked at him, Huaisang just nodded, and Ru Huangjing took it and opened it with practiced movements. "Oh, how light it is." His eyes widened.

"I made it out of special paper." Huaisang shrugged, but it was more to hide his embarrassment.

"You made it?" The other boy raised his head.

"Yes." Huaisang tried to avoid the other's gaze. "You know, it's kind of a hobby." He chuckled in embarrassement.

"I wish I could do that. My fan isn't this pretty." He said, surprising Huaisang again.

"Do you have one too?" Huaisang asked in surprise.

"Yes, I just didn't bring it to class, it's in my room." The Ru boy folded the fan and gave it back to Huaisang.

"You could show it to me later." He took his fan. "But now I have to find Brother Wei." He nodded and started walking, but after two steps he stopped and looked back at Ru boy. "Do you want to come with me? Brother Wei would definitely like you." Huaisang said, and it wasn't even a coincidence that he wanted the boy to be with him more, no, not at all.

But the celestials stood by his side and gave him gifts. Ru Huangjing soon became one of his best friends over the weeks, for whom he felt a little more, unlike his other two friends. Huaisang thought he wouldn’t get more than that, but then he thought he didn’t need more, it was more than enough that his friend would help him study, that Huaisang could teach him something new. The sparkle in his eyes when they made the fans was forever etched in Huaisang’s mind. Then the Ru boy introduced Huaisang to the world of fan fighting.

“How do you do these moves?” Huaisang tried to imitate the moves the other guy showed him.

“Less.” Ru Huangjing stepped behind him and took Huaisang’s hand holding the fan. And the Nie boy had never had to concentrate so hard on anything in his life as he did then, on not showing any signs of almost melting. "You mustn't resist it, the fan has its own soul. Our job is to show it where to go. Like this..." Ru Huangjing moved Huaisang's hand and whispered in his ear, which mostly achieved the effect that Huaisang's heartbeat doubled.

"I understand." Huaisang whispered, his features steeling and his focus on the task, it was a huge luck that his brother kept nagging him about concentration.

"Now try it without me." The Ru boy let him go, which made Huaisang a little sad, but at least he could focus on the movements more easily.

"I did it!" Huaisang closed the fan and turned to Ru Huangjing with a smile.

"You're very skilled. Most people can't do it that fast. I had to practice a lot more too." The boy chuckled and his praise warmed Huaisang's heart.

"Will you teach me more of these moves?" The Nie boy begged.

"If you're really interested, then I'd love to." Ru Huangjing replied with a smile.

"Thank you, Brother Ru." Huaisang said enthusiastically, but the other turned his head away.

"Huangjing."

"What?" Huaisang blinked, and the Ru boy blew a big breath.

"In our clan, fan cultivators are like a family. If you teach someone how to use a fan, it's like being in the family." He scratched his neck. "So since you really want to learn, it's like being in the family, so..." He cleared his throat, which made him so cute. "Call me Huangjing." When he finished, Huaisang just blinked for a while, and finally bowed with a smile.

"Okay, but then you call me Huaisang, Huangjing." Huaisang said the name out loud for the first time, which he'd mentioned so many times since then.

Somehow, he decided then that when he got home, he would make him a special fan. He didn't think Huangjing would beat him to it.

"As a sign of my gratitude and friendship, I would like you to accept this." Huangjing handed the Nie boy a fan on the day they left the Lan clan.

"Really?" Huaisang asked slowly.

"Yes, I worked a lot on it, although it is not as good as yours, but I would be an honored if you accepted it." At Huangjing's words, Huaisang took the object with both hands and turned it over when he saw a red crystal on it that he now associated only with Huangjing.

"This? Is it a blood crystal?" Huaisang asked, and Huangjing nodded.

"I wanted to make it special." He explained, but for some reason Huaisang had a feeling that this had more significance, but instead he diverted his thoughts from that and opened the fan.

"Oh... This is an exceptional picture." He said, then suddenly folded the fan and held it to his chest. Huaisang's own waterfall, from his Huangjing. "I will treasure it."

And so he did, he treasures it greatly, he still takes it everywhere with him. However, this gift only encouraged him more to come up with his own fan for Huangjing. If not any other way, at least this way Huaisang could express his feelings towards the Ru boy. As soon as he got home, he immediately get to work, much to his brother's sorrow and his own greatest joy. Although his brother calmed down a little when Huaisang introduced him to the art of fan fighting.

Over the next year, he and Huangjing corresponded continuously and Huaisang sent him the fan as well. He was a little sad that he didn't see Huangjing's face when he received it, but his letter assured him that he really liked it, as well as the fact that he brought it with him to the Wen archery competition. This was the occasion where their families met and where Huaisang officially began learning fan fighting.

"Did you get that from Huangjing?" The question came from his love's mother, who had also become Huaisang's master. They were alone for a time, Huangjing was still asleep, and Huaisang's brother and Huangjing's father were drinking their Buddhas know how many rounds of liquor.

"Yes." Huaisang smiled down at the fan in his hand. "He made it himself, so I hold it in high esteem." He explained.

"I didn't know he could do that." The woman giggled as she sat down next to him and sighed.

"Is something wrong?" Huaisang turned to her curiously.

"Ah, nothing special. It's just that sometimes I really don't understand Fenqing." The woman looked up at the sky. "That's the downside of not being your husband's xuexin. It's not that I don't love him, and he doesn't love me, but it's not the same as being his xuexin." She closed her eyes.

"What's a xuexin?" Huaisang tilted his head to the side, causing the woman's eyes to widen.

"He didn't you?" Instead of an answer, he got a question, to which Huaisang just shook his head. "That's no small thing." The woman muttered under her breath, then took a deep breath. "You know that every family has its own special technique, right?"

"Yes." Huaisang nodded.

"The Ru don't have a technique so much as they have this. Xuexin, as the name suggests, is literally their heart's blood. A bond with another person that's stronger than a soulmate bond." Baihe explained, and Huaisang's stomach clenched involuntarily. "A xuexin is the person who understands them the most, the one who is closest to them. Huangjing's grandfather's xuexin was his grandmother. And his father's is his best friend." She looked into the distance. "I admit, when I found out who his xuexin was, I thought I would never have a chance with him. I always thought that the xuexin occupied too big a place in the Ru's heart for anyone else to fit there. I was right on one level, and wrong on another." She closed her eyes.

"Huangjing..." Huaisang whispered. "Has he found his xuexin yet?" He asked the question that cut deeper into his heart than his brother's scoldings, than anything in his life.

"Hmm?" Baihe glanced at him. "Only he can know that." She smiled sadly.

This conversation had played out in Huaisang's mind countless times since then, over and over and over again, like the shadow of a sundial. At first, it made his chest ache. What if he already had his xuexin? What if he had already found this close person? Did Huaisang even have a chance? Then, from Huamgjing's letters, he could glean that he didn't have his xuexin yet, and with that, the questions changed. Could it be him? Would it be enough for Huaisang to be for Huangjing like the Ru boy's father and his xuexin? When would one know that they had found their xuexin?

Huaisang was torn between doubts, then the Wens called everyone together for a school course and he met the love of his life again. And the questions evaporated from his mind. He didn't care about anything anymore, as long as Huangjing looked at him like this, as long as he treated him the same way as before, Huaisang didn't care if he was his xuexin.

The Wen training was pretty tough, but there was nothing he could do but endure it. Then they were put in the giant turtle's cave. As a result, Huaisang almost had a panic attack. Then another one, when he was almost eaten while escaping and Huangjing hugged him so tightly around his waist to save him, as if he didn't want even a hair's breadth of distance between them.

When they got outside, Huaisang was swallowed by a world of blackness. It was all a bit too much for him. But now in the darkness, he saw Huangjing's face, heard his voice, he reassures him that everything will be okay, that he will be home soon, he felt his arms as if he was hugging him and Huaisang's mind slowly started to revolve around wanting to kiss Huangjing, wanting to kiss him more than anything. Could it be like this if someone had a xuexin? If it were like this, then Huangjing would be Huaisang's xuexin.

Chapter Text

After Huangjing brought Huaisang home, he and his demon decided to stay here in the Impure Realm. They both knew that they were facing difficult times, so it was better if they stayed close to their xuexin. Of course, Huangjing also informed his parents about their intentions to stay here, although he did not tell them the exact reason.

Tempers were heating up in the cultivator world, but fortunately, there was relative peace in the Impure Realm. Huangjing took advantage of this peaceful time to spend as much time with Huaisang as possible and to do as many things as possible together. That may be why they even returned to their usual routine they did at the Lans.

In the end, Huangjing began to feel that everything was too good to be true, and unfortunately, his hunch was confirmed once again when Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian brought a prisoner to the Impure Realm, and since the younger Master Lan was called home, they both left. The next few days were spent with Nie Mingjue interrogating the prisoner, but he did not achieve much success, since the prisoner was not in the mood to talk.

Then, a week after he arrived here, Huangjing decided to visit him in his cell, something was wrong with him. That's why Huangjing finally ended up in front of the prison cell, where the grinning young boy sat and looked at him as if Huangjing were one of the crazy people who filled the world. However, from the looks of it, the other of the two was the crazy one.

"Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian said they arrested you because they suspected you had one of the black stones, but they didn't find it on you." Huangjing says the facts out loud.

"Because I don't have it!" The boy grins, but Huangjing just looks at him seriously.

~ He has it. Just not on that side. ~ He hears the demon's voice in his head.

"Can I take it from him?" Huangjing asks the question out loud, if the kid already looks at him like he's stupid, at least he's giving him a reason to look at him like he's stupid.

"What?" The boy tilts his head to the side, but Huangjing ignores him.

~ Like a fan from the rookie. ~ He gets the answer that makes Huangjing's lips smile faintly.

"Then I'd better confiscate the toy he doesn't know how to play with." Huangjing steps before the bars. "Shall I go in?"

~ I'll solve it, don't bother. ~ Comes the calm answer and Huangjing's body freezes again, like in the giant turtle's cave, when his demon swam through the cave lake.

"Do it quickly." Huangjing says seriously, while making eye contact with the prisoner.

~ And done. I told you it's as easy as taking a novice's fan. I put it in my sleeve. ~ He states, and Huangjing lifts his sleeve out of curiosity and tries to take out the black stone. It doesn't take long for his hand to grab the object and pull out the black stone, from which the dark energy emanates. The prisoner's eyes widen and he immediately jumps to his feet, but Huangjing takes two steps back.

"Give it back!" The prisoner shouts, and Huangjing grins.

"Hey, haven't you ever heard of not playing with something you don't understand?" He asks, tilting his head to the side. "This is staying with me now." Huangjing announces and puts it back in his sleeve. "It was a clever little trick to hide it in the demon world, congratulations." He tells the prisoner boy, then simply leaves the prison.

"Clever, but it's no use against me." He shakes his head, but he knows the demon has spoken out of him.

"Not one bit. I have one, I only need four." Huangjing purses his lips. "Are they safe over there?" He asks, lowering his voice.

"No one will touch them here. I know no one dares to come near me." He shrugs.

"Then I'm very grateful for that." He smiles when he sees Huaisang on the other side of the courtyard, but he can already see from his movements that something is very wrong. "Huaisang!" Huangjing calls out and waves to the boy as he rushes over to him. "What's wrong?" He asks, placing his hand on the other's shoulder.

"Lotus Cove." He gets the answer barely audible.

"What happened to it?" Huangjing's eyes widen.

"We just got the news. The Wens burned down the entire Lotus Cove and killed every member of the Jiang clan." The boy bites his lip.

~ To hell with our visions! ~ The demon in Huangjing's head growls.

~ But if our visions are true, then the entire clan didn't perish. ~ Huangjing notes hopefully.

~ Lets hope we were right this time too. ~ The serious answer comes.

"Does your brother know about it?" He asks Huaisang, who nods.

"He's currently discussing the matter with Meng Yao." At this statement, Huangjing swallows big.

"You're saying they're talking about it?" Huangjing blinks at his friend.

"Yes. Actually, it seems like I heard something aboit spying, but Dage distracted me. He said it's better if I don't get involved in adult matters." Huaisang rolls his eyes.

"You're curious, right?" Huangjing asks.

"Of course I am and so are you." Huaisang looks at him with a faint smile on his lips.

"Then come on, let's eavesdrop!" He grabs the boy's wrist.

"But if Dage notices..." Huaisang begins nervously.

"Don't worry as long as you see me!" Huangjing winks at him. "The Grandmaster of Concealment is standing before you." He chuckles as he pulls him along to go and eavesdrop on Clan Leader Nie's conversation.

~ It looks like Master Meng was listening to us. ~ He hears the demon's voice in his head as they positioned themselves on one of the rooftops to eavesdrop on Nie Mingjue and Meng Yao's conversation unnoticed.

~ It really seems like it! One of those rare occasions. ~ Huangjing agrees with the demon.

~ He's a talented man and has a great future ahead of him. It would have been a shame if he got on Nie Mingjue's bad side because of his secrets. I'm just curious when he'll get closer to the Lan heir. ~ The demon's voice in Huangjing's head chuckles.

~ It's even questionable, whether he will ever get there. I changed the vision by telling him. Now I don't know what will happen. He may never get that close to the Lan heir. ~ Huangjing notes, and he can only hope that Huaisang is better able to pay attention to his brother's conversation than he is, because Huangjing is quite occupied with the demon at the moment.

~ There's a problem! ~ The demon suddenly speaks in Huangjing's head after five minutes of silence and as the meaning of the words reaches his consciousness, Huangjing immediately tenses.

~ What problem? ~ He asks back in a nervous voice.

~ Our little prisoner with the stone has escaped. ~ He gets the answer.

~ And how do I know that? ~ Huangjing asks and almost rolls his eyes.

~ Even if not completely, but he has crossed over to my side, I can feel how close he is to me and now he is definitely moving away. ~ The demon grumbles at him.

~ What should we do now? ~ Huangjing asks the question, but the voices of the servants from the courtyard below interrupt him before he can answer.

"Clan leader! Clan leader! He's escaped! The prisoner has escaped!" Several people shout, and with that, a series of huge chaos begins. Most of them had no idea that the escaped prisoner would be the least of the people's troubles in the future.

Chapter Text

As the weeks passed, the entire cultivator world really turned upside down. Literally upside down. The relatively peaceful, albeit quite tense, relations turned into war in the blink of an eye. The cultivator clans united against the oppression of the Wen clan. The Sunlight Campaign began. There are continuous battles everywhere.

One of the three survivors of the Jiang clan, Wei Wuxian, has been missing for almost two months, and Jiang Chang and Lan Wangji have been searching for him in addition to their own tasks, but no matter where they search, they can't find anything. The Nie clan and the other clans are fighting together and occupying more and more Wen cities.

Although Huangjing and Huaisang are mostly left out of the battles, because the Nie clan leader doesn't want his younger brother to be in danger, they still experience the wind of the battles. Which usually has an effect on everyone's mood. The initial excitement of war slowly turns into worry and frustration. And that's not a good thing at all.

However, Huangjing tried to stay as calm as possible. Most of the time, he succeeds, but there are days when he doesn't at all. Today is one of those days, when he decides that it would be wisest to take a detour to the demon world. That's why he's sitting here in this strange world dotted with pools of blood.

"Seriously, how do you think these stones got to the other side?" He asks, tossing the stone he acquired a few months ago into the air and catching it as it flies.

"I have no idea. The only logical solution I can see is that our ancestor who brought our clan to the caves of Lengshan brought them over." The demon says, leaning on his arms.

"He's the only one I know of who could have come here, right?" Huangjing asks, and the demon nods. "How many demons do we know anyway?" He asks as he puts the stone down, and the person sitting next to him starts counting on his fingers.

"There are about twenty, that I know who they are." He finally nods. "The rest just go this way and that." Here he suddenly straightens up and looks south.

"What happened?" Huangjing leans closer to him.

"There seem to be a lot of demons gathered there. Maybe I should check." He thinks for a moment and stands up slowly. "Are you coming?" He nods in the direction from which he sensed the many demons.

"I have nothing better to do right now, so I might as well go." Huangjing also stands up to join his demon and go look for the source of the commotion.

Wei Wuxian's point of view

He's crouching on the ground, trembling. Everything hurts, he can barely breathe, and this is how it has... He has no idea how long it's been like this. All he knows is that everything has condensed into one huge mass of pain and he feels nothing but this. At first he screamed, but at some point in the meantime, that stopped too.

There's nothing but pain and sunlight stinging his eyes. There's nothing but the voices of demons, as they surround him and whisper. These whispers form a bizarre mixture with pain, a bizarre bone-deep mixture that overwhelms a man's senses, if he's even alive and not a ghost already.

Then suddenly the whispers and the pain stop, he takes a deep breath as he opens his eyes and looks around. There's sunlight everywhere, but how is there sunlight? Shouldn't it be dark? But then why is everything light here? He hears strange sounds, like swords rustling and something... What is that sound?

"Come any closer and your hands won't be the only things I cut off!" A very familiar voice shouts.

"I wouldn't try if I were you. Don't you know that a fan is a greater weapon than a sword?" Wei Wuxian definitely knows that voice.

"Ru Huang...jing?" He groans and after blinking a lot, he suddenly sees his snow-white-haired friend with his back to him, holding a fan that seems to have a red edge. Next to him is a black-haired individual who looks exactly the same as Ru Huangjing from behind, only holding a sword.

"Get out of here, this is my territory." The black-haired one takes a step forward, and the demons all start to move away.

"They really are afraid of me." Ru Huangjing closes his fan.

"I told you. They don't dare come near me." The other shrugs and sheathes his sword.

"I'm grateful that I have Zuanbu at least like this." The white-haired boy sighs, then turns to Wei Wuxian and extends his hand. "Brother Wei." The wounded cultivator tries to take the hand that is extended towards him, but it is very difficult. "How did you get here?" The Ru boy asks.

"I see that the demons have tasted him. Let's take him to my pond and I will question him there." The black-haired boy speaks now, who is a spitting image of Ru Huangjing, only with blue eyes and black hair. "Hello, you haven't met me yet, I am the demon of Huangjing." He smiles at Wei Wuxian. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you, unlike those bastards." He grimaces, looking after the other demons. "What are you doing in the Yiling Death Valley?" He narrows his eyes, and Wei Wuxian opens his mouth.

"Hey, I was going to ask him at my pond. That applies to you too." Huangjing says. "You better help me take him."

"Okay, okay, calm down." The black-haired demon rolls his eyes, and then the two boys take Wei Wuxian to a small... Pond? A blood pond, where they make him sit down.

"Now we can talk peacefully here." Ru Huangjing sits down with the demon next to him.

"You? Me? Where am I?" Wei Wuxian stammers.

"You're the first one who's not a member of the Ru clan to know about this." His white-haired friend sighs, then begins to tell the story of his clan and its relationship with the demon and the demon world.

"So we're in this demon world now?" Wei Wuxian asks when Huangjing has finished his story.

"Yes." The demon nods. "Now your turn, what are you doing in the Death Valley?" He asks with a serious look.

"How do I know he's there?" Huangjing asks and although it's still strange that they're both talking in first person, Wei Wuxiang is starting to get used to it.

"Those were the demons of the Death Valley, but if he's there, we need to get out of here real quick, because he'll be devoured by the demons in one day!" The demon says seriously.

"Actually, I've been there for a long time." Wei Wuxian interrupts making them both look at him in surprise. "Wen Chao threw me down into the Valley as punishment. I have no idea how long it's been since Jiang Chang went up that mountain in Yiling." He thinks for a moment and only dares to hope that his friend made it down safely.

"More than two months." The demon speaks grimly.

"Jiang Chang and Lan Wangji are searching for you everywhere. The cultivator world has declared war on the Wens." Ru Huangjing continues.

"Are they looking for me? No, that can't be..." Wei Wuxian shakes his head, as the other two roll their eyes.

"Jiang Chang considers you his brother. Of course, he's looking for you. You two are the pride of Lotus Cove, so..." Here Ru Huangjing looks at Wei Wuxian seriously. "Whatever happened to your golden core, you'd better tell him. "The foundation of a strong bond is truth." He looks at the demon sitting next to him. "You and Jiang Chang are a strong pair, it would be a shame if it were to be lost because of that." He shakes his head, and Wei Wuxian blinks wildly.

"As for Lan Wangji, he's after you like I'm after Huaisang." The demon turns his head.

"Why are you after Nie Huaisang?" Wei Wuxian blurts out the question, and Brother Ru blushes.

"Because he's my xuexin." They say it in unison.

"What?" The boy asks back.

"The love of my life." Brother Ru announces, and Wei Wuxian freezes completely as his thoughts rush through him.

"I think I broke him right now." The demon whispers.

"This is what always happens when I tell my visions." Brother Ru mumbles.

"It helped in Meng Yao's case." The demon counters.

"I have to find them. I have to avenge my clan. I have to get out of the Death Valley." Wei Wuxian just nodded to himself.

"This is the Brother Wei I know." Brother Ru smiles at him.

"Tell me, can you play any instrument?" The demon suddenly asks.

"The flute. Why?" Wei Wuxian tilts his head to the side, causing the two boys to look at each other with grins.

"Do I think it possible?" He hears Brother Ru's question.

"It can be easily done. After all, music is the essence of soul crystals. Then all we need is some kind of powerful talisman." The demon continues.

"Like the black stone?" When Wei Wuxian asks the question, they both look at him in surprise, but nod. "There was a sword in the giant turtle's cave that had such an aura." He says thoughtfully.

"Okay, then let's get to work, boys. The Sunlight Campaign is still going on. We can't sit on our heels all day." Brother Ru suddenly stands up.

"What are we going to do now?" Wei Wuxian asks, as the demon stands up too.

"I'll help you get out of the Death Valley and teach you how to control demons, of course." The two boys say at the same time, and Wei Wuxian's eyes widen.

"Seriously?" He asks, but their gazes clearly show that they're serious.

Chapter Text

Over the next month, Huangjing's demon actually taught Brother Wei how to control demons with music, at least the basics, from there the boy had to develop it further alone. And according to the news, he was very successful, because they had just received the news that a week ago the Jiang clan had finally avenged the death of the former clan leader and the clan.

The war continued, the cultivator clans were getting closer and closer to the capital of the Wens, the City of Eternal Sun. Clan leader Nie and the new clan leader Lan were constantly negotiating with Meng Yao, who was spying on the Wens. That certain noose was tightening around the neck of the Wen clan. Wherever they fought, they encountered continuous losses, and not only on the fronts where the Jiang clan and Brother Wei were, but also on the front of Clan leader Nie.

Today is different from the previous ones. Huangjing had already felt this when he woke up in the morning. The cultivators’ troops were now camped around the City of Eternal Sun, so both he and Huaisang were here, although Nie Mingjue had specifically forbidden his younger brother from going near the fighting. Based on last night’s meeting, which even included Brother Wei and Brother Jiang, today would be the decisive battle.

Meng Yao plays a key role in the cultivators’ plans, and his task is to lure the leader of the Wen clan out of his hiding place. Of course, this doesn’t mean that they will have an easy time, because according to Meng Yao’s reports, the leader of the Wen clan uses black stones to control his undead troops. However, if luck is on their side, today they can put an end to the crazy killing spree once and for all.

“Huangjing, please!” Huaisang blinks at him with folded hands. "I want to test how good I am with the fan. The battle is almost over, I won't go too close." His xuexin begs. The troops have indeed left hours ago and only the wounded and women remain in the camp and if everything is true, then the battle will really be over soon.

"Okay, but we have to be very careful, if your brother finds out, he will flay us." Haungjing finally agrees, but only because he knows that he will be there, so Huaisang won't get hurt and he has been begging him for so long anyway. It's a wonder Huangjinh has managed to hold out for so long. Huaisang throws the fan once or twice and then they come back, no one needs to know.

"Thank you!" Huaisang suddenly hugs him, but he doesn't even have time to realize the gesture, he lets go and grabs his hand to pull Huangjing after him.

They secretly approach the city walls, but when they get inside, they are met with an unexpected surprise. Everyone outside thought the battle would be over soon, but the fight is still in full swing here, despite the fact that Brother Wei's undead corpses and demons are also helping the cultivators, yet they have also properly surrounded the leaders. Huaisang doesn't need anything more, when he sees that his brother is in trouble he immediately moves and although he executes the move perfectly and stops the attack that would have hit his brother, they immediately get noticed.

"Didn't I tell you not to come here." Nie Mingjue's nervous voice can be heard as he pulls Huaisang behind him.

"I can defend myself." Huaisang grumbles and immediately moves.

"I'd better go too." Huangjing hardens his features and starts the fight, trying to stay as close to Huaisang as possible. The number of enemies is slowly decreasing, he is just starting to calm down that everything will be okay when he hears Nie Mingjue's frightened voice.

"Huaisang!" Huangjing immediately turns around, but what he sees literally freezes him. Huaisang, the love of his life, his xuexin is lying on the ground in bloody clothes.

"No!" He shouts, but immediately appears next to the boy lying on the ground.

Nie Mingjue's point of view

His younger brother has lost consciousness, he was hit by an undead. He must protect him, he is the last member of his family. He immediately rushes to him, but somehow Ru Huangjing, who is much further away, gets there first and kneels with tears in his eyes next to Nie Mingjue's brother. The onslaught of the undead has now subsided a little, Wei Wuxian's undead are able to hold them back. So everyone gathers around them. Ru Huangjing closes his eyes and clenches his fists.

"Jiang Chang, remember, you asked why the Ru clan withdrew from the cultivator world." The boy says in a low, icy voice, while taking off his two red stone bracelets.

"Yes, but this is not the best time to talk about this. We should take Nie Huaisang out of the battle." The Jiang clan leader says nervously, but the Ru boy doesn't even pay attention to him, he just takes off his pendant from his neck, his ring from his finger, and his earrings. He has long since thrown his weapons aside.

"I think it's time for me to tell you." The Ru boy sighs, but he still doesn't open his eyes.

"What?" Nie Mingjue blurts out as he kneels next to his younger brother, but the young Ru kid is just reaching for his headband.

"Wei Wuxian, if I go too far, bring me back, okay?" He asks.

"But..." The boy begins.

"Okay?" The Ru boy snapps.

"Okay." Wei Wuxian nodds and pressey his flute against his chest, while Ru Huangjing takes a deep breath.

"As a drop of blood the crystal touches the ground." The boy's clear voice could be heard. This is the Ru clan's motto. The boy unties his headband and as he continues speaking, the headband fell to the ground. "As the crystal touches the ground, the demon is reborn." The next moment, the boy disappeares from Nie Mingjue's sight and only the splash of blood could be heard.

The Nie clan leader raises his head in surprise and looks into the distance, the undead are all falling to the ground one by one and all he could see was a bluish white spot running from one place to another. It's as if he hears a sound of laughter, but everyone watches with wide eyes as that bluish white spot literally wipes out their attackers.

"What is this?" Jiang Chang blurts out.

"This is the demon, the curse of the Ru clan." Nie Mingjue hears a voice from behind him and when he turns around, he sees the Ru clan leader. "So your younger brother is my son's xuexin." He sighs and shakes his head. Nie Mingjue immediately moves to reach out to his brother defensively. "I wouldn't touch him if I were you, the demon will kill you in the end. As a matter of fact, it's better if no one tries to get close to Young Master Nie or join the fight." He says seriously as he folds his arms in front of him.

"Why?" Wei Wuxian asks the question that Nie Mingjue wanted to ask as well.

"My son is not himself now. In this state, he could kill me too. The undead have no chance, he released the demon." He nodds towards the objects lying next to Nie Mingjue's brother.

"The blood crystals sealed the demon?" Wei Wuxian asks surprised, as if he was aware of the demon's existence.

"Yes." The Ru clan leader nodds.

"Why can't I touch my brother, just because he is your son's xuexin?" The Nie clan leader now asks, not understanding at all.

"He released the demon because of your brother. Your brother is the only one who is safe, he is the only one he can't hurt." Fenqing grimaces. "If the demon chooses someone to be his xuexin, then he can destroy the world for him." He explains, but all he does is look at his son who is fighting in the distance. "I know what it feels like when your xuexin is wounded, like a sword being stabbed in your stomach. In my son's case, it must have been like having his golden core pulled out." As he says this, both Wei Wuxian and Jiang Chang shivers. "He couldn't protect your brother, he couldn't protect his xuexin, I wouldn't be surprised if he was on the verge of madness." He says sadly.

"Huangjing!" Nie Mingjue hears his brother and turns to him immediately at the sudden voice, but his brother has his back to him and is looking at the boy fighting in the distance. He has already sat up and even raised his hand towards the battlefield. The bluish white spot suddenly stops, now they can see the Ru heir, he slowly turns his head towards them and the next moment he is kneeling in front of Nie Mingjue's brother and holding his face in his hands.

"You're alive! Huaisang, you're alive! Thank the gods!" He cries.

"Yes, I'm alive. You protected me. You hear Huangjing, you protected me!" Huaisang places his hand on the boy's. The Ru heir closes his eyes.

"Congratulations Huangjing, I've used up all my qi." The Ru boy suddenly speaks. "It's not my fault." He grimaces. "I told you I should have practiced with demonic power." He continues. "How long can I last?" A question comes up, but by then everyone except the Ru clan leader and Wei Wuxian are looking at him in confusion. "Just long enough to send those bastards back to this side." He grins. "Then we'll do it!" He nods, then opens his eyes and smiles at Huaisang. "I'm sorry." As soon as he says this, his white hair turns black and his red eyes turn blue. He lets go of Nie Mingjue's younger brother and looks at Wei Wuxian.

"Do you remember the last song I taught you?" He asks, and the boy dressed in black nods. "I'll knock them out and you play it backwards, then they'll have to go to the other side." He then looks at Ru Fenqing who is standing next to Wei Wuxian. "I'm sorry, dad, but he was in danger. I know you don't trust me, but I would never hurt you." He lowers his head here. "I'm sorry, Huaisang." He looks at Nie Mingjue's younger brother again, then his body is surrounded by black and red energy. The Nie clan leader's eyes widen and he immediately hugs his younger brother, pulling him away from the demon. As he expected, the energy flows out in a circle with a loud bang, a soft thud is heard, and then Wei Wuxian's flute voice.

"Huangjing!" Nie Mingjue hears his younger brother's nervous voice and feels him start to squirm in his arms. "Let me go, Dage! I have to go there!" He begs, but Nie Mingjue won't let him go. If Ru Fenqing doesn't trust that demon, then it's better if he doesn't trust him either.

"No." Nie Mingjue says confidently, and his younger brother stops and bows his head.

"I will ask just once. Let me go, Dage!" He repeats his words in the same cold voice he used when their parents died. And with that, the Nie clan leader doesn't even think about letting him go, and Huaisang hurriedly staggers over to the now white-haired Ru Huangjing lying on the ground. "Everything will be fine. I'm here." He hugs the boy, while Nie Mingjue just blinks at them. This is all too much for him.

"There's a riot in the palace, go see what's going on there." He hears Ru Fenqing's voice, then feels his hand on his shoulder. "Let me talk to your brother, I have experience with xuexins. When he calms down, you can help take them to a more pleasant place." Nie Mingjue looks up at him in confusion, but Fenqing just smiles at him, squeezes his shoulder, then walks slowly and measuredly towards Clan Leader Nie's younger brother, while the other clan leaders head towards the palace. After all this excitement, when it's all over, Nie Mingjue is sure going to get drunk tonight.

Chapter Text

When Huangjing comes to, the first thing he realizes is that s he is not alone. So of course, his eyes immediately open accordingly. He sees the top of the tent, but that doesn't help him figure out where he is, all such tents are exactly the same.

"Huangjing?" He hears a sleepy voice from beside him, and he immediately looks over and almost opens his mouth when he sees who is lying on the bed next to him.

"Huaisang?" Huangjing asks and swallows hard, the boy rubs his eyes with one hand, then smiles broadly as he looks at him. "What happened?" Huangjing mumbles to himself.

"Your dad said you released your demon, then you saved me and fainted. We defeated the Wens and obtained the stones that controlled the undead. You have been sleeping continuously for two days." Huaisang explains, and Huangjing blinks.

"Then everything is finally okay." He sighs, but immediately tenses up, something is wrong.

~ Are you here? ~ Huangjing asks himself, but gets no answer. The demon has fallen silent.

"Huangjing?" His xuexin grabs his shoulder, which manages to nip Huangjing's panic in the bud.

"He's not here." Huangjing whispers to himself.

"Who?" Huaisang's question comes.

"The demon. He fell silent." Huangjing presses his hand to his chest, feeling somehow empty.

"Couldn't he just be exhausted like you?" Huaisang looks worriedly into Huangjing's eyes.

"Maybe..." The Ru boy mumbles to himself, then slowly sits up and runs his hand through his hair, but immediately reaches out and starts to feel his forehead.

"It's here." When Huaisang speaks, Huangjing immediately looks at him and sees the headband decorated with a single blood crystal in his hand.

"Thank you." Huangjing smiles and ties the headband back on his head. "By the way, how come you're here?" He asks suspiciously.

"You were much more restless when I left and your father says that having your xuexin with you speeds up your recovery, so..." Huaisang mumbles as he starts playing with the sleeve of his dress, but Huangjing freezes at his words.

"So you know what a xuexin is." Huangjing states, but doesn't look at the boy.

"Yes." Huaisang answers anyway, and the Ru boy closes his eyes.

"Do you also know what it means to be MY xuexin?" He whispers barely audible, but instead of answering, he only feels Huaisang grab his face and turn it towards him.

"Your father and Dage said some pretty scary and incomprehensible things about it and I saw it with my own eyes." Huaisang explains, but he doesn't let go of his face, and Huangjing looks at him desperately and swallows hard.

"And you're still here after all this? Tell me, they also told you that you have no obligation in this regard." He begs him, but Huaisang just smiles at him kindly.

"They didn't even stop." He shakes his head, then looks at Huangjing again and lets go of his face. "But let them say whatever they want, I don't care. Because you are my xuexin." He smiles at Huangjing and his smile shines like the stars.

"Huaisang..." Huangjing whispers, but the next moment he instinctively moves and grabs the boy's face and presses his lips to his. The feeling literally tingles through his body, especially since Huaisang isn't moving away from him, but is only getting closer and closer. Finally, Huangjing has to let him go. "My xuexin." He looks deep into the other's eyes.

"Yes, yours." Huaisang nods. "Your father said the blue eye belongs to the demon, and if I'm not mistaken, he's back." He says it so calmly, as if it means nothing.

"Aren't you afraid of me?" He asks, but a calmness runs through Huangjing's soul when he realizes that it's the demon who spoke and not him.

"Why would I?" Huaisang tilts his head to the side. "You saved me." He shrugs. "You're Ru Huangjing, you're my xuexin, I know you won't hurt me." He smiles at him.

"You're the first person to see us as one, besides me and the demon." Huangjing giggles.

"According to Wei Wuxian only your hair and eyes look different." He turns his head slightly.

"Speaking of Wei Wuxian, and the black stones." The demon speaks again. "I figured out where they came from, and let's just say the old lady isn't too happy about being ridden of her flints." He scratches their necks.

"Flints?" Huangjing and Huaisang ask at the same time.

"Yes, they were the ones she used to light the fire under her medicine jar." The demon shrugs Huangjing's shoulders.

"I knew the stones didn't have that much power on the other side." Huangjing shakes his head.

"Is there any way to get them to the other side?" Huangjing is surprised by his xuexin's sudden question.

"Yes." He answers anyway. "Why?" He blinks at his love.

"Dage and the other leaders are still thinking about how to get rid of them and the one that Brother Wei has." Huaisang thinks, holding his chin.

"Does he have one?" They ask surprised with the demon.

"Yes, he made his amulet out of it." Huaisang nods.

"That explains the few demons he brought over." Huangjing scratches his neck as the demon recalls the day of the battle.

"Just out of curiosity, how do you know it's possible? Can you take the stones there?" He hears the question, before he shrugs.

"I also took the one that was with the prisoner that Brother Wei and Lan Wangji brought to you." He says flatly.

"So that's what the demon meant by you having to practice with him." At his father's voice, Huangjing turns fearfully towards the door of the tent, where a large group of people are standing. "How long have you been so close to the demon?" Comes the question.

"Since I can remember." They speak at the same time and Huangjing closes his eyes as he nods his head forward. He hears surprised gasps, which makes him open his eyes, but the first thing he sees is his hair falling in front of his face, now black at the bottom instead of the usual white. "Did I come out?" He blinks, and he has to agree with the demon's surprise.

"You have a single blood crystal, it's a good thing you were able to come out." His father sighs and comes over to pet Huangjing's head. "I'm glad you survived." He smiles at them.

"So you're saying you can get rid of this?" Hearing Brother Wei's question, Huangjing sees him take out an amulet and start throwing it up in the air, Huangjing just nods, which makes the boy grin. "Then show me!" He throws the amulet at him, and Huangjing catches the object and looks down at it.

"Is the lady near me?" Huangjing asks the demon. "I'm looking." He gets the answer. "Yes. She says it's like I'm her grandson, so she'll stay at my blood pond for a while." He rolls his eyes. "It might be flint, but Brother Wei made it look really nice, I think she'll like it." He says and smiles. "Then I'll take it over." The demon declares and the amulet turns into a blur before everyone's eyes.

"This is amazing." Wei Wuxian grins as a spherical object that looks more like candy appears in Huangjing's hand. "What is that?" Brother Wei asks the question Huangjing was about to ask, before he smiles and lets the demon speak.

"The lady says thank you, it's a beautiful gift." He looks up at the boy in black, then throws the sphere towards him. "And she's sending this to you as a token of her gratitude. I'm not going to lie, I have no idea what it does, but the lady is the best healer among the demons. I would say it's some kind of strength booster." He shrugs.

"Thank you." Brother Wei smiles and swallows the candy in front of everyone, before Jiang Chang, who is standing next to him, punches him in the back.

"You lost your mind?! Just swallow it like this, what if..." It's not just the Jiang boy who is at a loss for words, but they all look on in surprise as Brother Wei is surrounded by golden light. "What was that?" The Jiang clan leader blinks.

"It's coming back..." Here Brother Wei frowns. "No, not back, this is a completely new..." He suddenly looks at Huangjing and speaks with wide eyes. "What's the name of the person I got this from?" He asks, and Huangjing is about to shake his head, indicating that he does not know it, when a voice comes from behind him.

"Baosan Sanren." Huangjing turns around in fear, only to see the lady to whom his demon gave the stone. "Use it well, young master." The woman looks at Brother Wei, then at the clan leaders. "I'd like my flints back if I could." She smiles. "Huangjing will give it to me." She caresses Huangjing's head. "But this little one should still rest, so it would be better if you left." The woman's figure fades, and the small crowd gathered in their tent leaves, almost dazed.

"That was strange." Huangjing declares when he is left alone with Huaisang.

"Very strange." His xuexin agrees. "Huangjing?"

"Yes?" Huangjing looks at him, smiling, but he doesn't have time to say anything more, as the love of his life immediately kisses him, making him forget everything that was on his mind until now.

Chapter Text

After the Sunlight Campaign, Huangjing and his demon brought back the flints of the female cultivator trapped in the demon world. Luckily, no one objected to this. All Huangjing need was to was beg the adults but luck was on his side and he didn't have to do it. Those stones were not suitable for the human world anyway, they were in a much better place with demons.

Then, when the situation calmed down, he and his parents and Huaisang returned to the Impure Realm first, and then Huangjing took his xuexin to show him Lengshan, his home. So they had been traveling a lot recently and had not stopped for long periods of time, and had rather been passing through rather than staying.

However, before they left the Lengshan caves again, Huangjing's mother made Huaisang promise that he would return as soon as possible to show him the headquarters of the Ru clan's fan warriors and so that Huaisang could try out what real fan warrior training was like. Huangjing's xuexin was naturally very happy about this and immediately accepted the offer and promised that the first thing he would do would be to come back when things calmed down a bit.

Their first trip after Lengshan led them back to the Impure Realm, from where they traveled with Nie Mingjue to the headquarters of the Jin clan, the Koi Tower. Huangjing would say that he was surprised that only four months after the Sunlight Campaign, all the clans had gathered in one place again, but he expected the leader of the Jin clan to throw such a party.

Everyone who mattered was here, although there was one person that Huangjing simply couldn't find in the crowd, no matter how hard he searched. Wei Wuxian is nowhere to be found. He was a key figure in the campaign, and the Jin clan leader is the kind of person who cares what others think of him. It's strange that one of the war heroes is not present at his party.

However, they don't have to wait long for the missing black-robed cultivator to show up at the dinner, albeit uninvited, and question a member of the Jin clan, who had introduced himself to Huangjing earlier, but his attitude was so annoying that the Ru boy immediately forgot who he was.

"Where are the Wen prisoners?" Brother Wei asks the same question over and over again in a cold voice.

"It has nothing to do with you what we do with the prisoners!" The Jin boy scrunches up his nose.

"I'll count to three..." The black-robed cultivator narrows his eyes. "One. Two."

"In the Qiongqi Trail." Finally, the dingy Jin says.

"Thank you." Brother Wei nods and immediately turns around.

"You don't want to do anything stupid, Master Wei. The Wens must perish." The Jin clan leader speaks up.

"Those Wens saved my life. I owe them." He declares. "Not all Wens are evil."

"That may be true, and maybe Wen Qing is a very talented healer, but she didn't stop the Wens, she didn't resist." The Jin leader continues. "All Wens must perish!"

"Really?" Huangjing suddenly speaks up.

"Master Ru?" Everyone looks at him and the Jin clan leader at the same time.

"I asked something."

"Yes." Comes the quiet answer.

"Okay, who should I start with?" Huangjing stands up. "Or do you want to die first?" He looks at the man seriously.

"How dare..." The bouncy Jin boy starts, but Huangjing is in front of him in just a moment and puts his hand on his throat.

"Almost every clan in this room is a descendant of the Wen clan, if all it takes is for someone to be a Wen to die, then everyone can die here." Huangjing announces.

"He wouldn't do it." The Jin clan leader smiles. "We have nothing to fear." He announces, and Huangjing starts to giggle.

"What are you laughing at?" The boy hisses in his grip.

"There is one person in this room who doesn't have to be afraid of me, and none of you are that person." Huangjing pulls his mouth into a smile, then pushes the boy away from him. "Brother Wei, Jiang clan leader." He looks at the nervous-looking Jiang Chang. "We'd better leave as soon as possible. Who knows how much time we have." He announces.

"I'm going too." He hears Huaisang's voice and when he looks towards him, Huangjing sees the boy standing up with his brother.

"I'm going too, if I go, they'll let them go." The Jin heir suddenly speaks, surprising not only Huangjing but everyone present.

" You got some sense?" Brother Wei smiles.

"Let's say a turtle punched it into me." He rolls his eyes.

"My son!" The Jin clan leader gets angry.

"Er-ge, Master Lan, are you coming?" Meng Yao, now dressed in yellow Jin clothes, steps out from behind the clan leader. The two Lans just nod and stand up.

"Traitors! Wen supporters!" The Jin clan leader hisses.

"You'd better think about what you're saying before..." The word catches in Huangjing's throat as the lights in the room fade before his eyes.

It's raining, the wind is howling, it's cold, very cold. He sees the sky, his tears are flowing.

"I'm sorry, sister." The voice whispers.

"Get up!" He hears Brother Wei's voice. "Get up and punish the one who killed you!" He shouts, the darkness disappears, only images flash, corpses under his feet. A mountain, a cave, talismans, it's hot. Very hot, then.

"Get up, little brother, please." Comes the crying voice, then music and people dressed in red and black surround him. A family, a strange but loving family. Sometimes he sees figures in different clothes, everyone laughs and smiles.

There is peace, finally there is peace. Children surround him, all singing and playing around him.

"Ghost General! Ghost General!" They shout happily, then a little boy dressed in Lan white runs towards him, a big smile on his face.

"Uncle Wen Ning!" He shouts, and he picks him up and hears them laughing.

"Huangjing..." He feels Huaisang's hand on his arm, causing Huangjing to blink wildly and return to the present, to the Koi Tower, where everyone is staring at him. "What happened?" His xuexin asks, and Huangjing closes his eyes.

"We're late." He whispers.

"What?" Everyone around him is surprised, and Huangjing sighs heavily.

"Wen Qing sent you here because of her brother, right?" He looks at Brother Wei, who just looks at him in confusion for a moment.

"Yes." He gets the answer. Huangjing swallows hard and nods.

"We're late." He repeats, then turns towards the door. "Let's go and ask him who killed him." He starts towards the door.

"Did he die?" Brother Wei grabs Huangjing's arm, the Ru boy doesn't turn back to him. "How do you know?"

"I saw it." He declares.

"This can't be..." Someone starts, but Huangjing just looks back at them with teary eyes.

"It's raining, the wind is howling, it's cold, very cold. The sky is dark, he can barely breathe. The last thing he says as a living person is 'I'm sorry, sister.' The next thing he hears is the voice of the demonic cultivator. 'Get up and punish the one who killed you!'" Huangjing continues. "He's not an ordinary undead. He's the only one whose mind will be clear and whose will will be free." He explains, but then his eyes widen. "The boy! He can't be even five years old! The child is there!" He runs his hands through his hair.

"We can't let this continue for a moment more! Let's go!" Meng Yao steps up beside him.

"Do you believe this, brother?" Huangjing hears the Jin heir's voice, and Meng Yao nods beside him.

"I can thank him for being here today. I don't know what would have happened if I hadn't listened to him and let Dage into my plans." He glances at Nie Mingjue.

"I would probably think of you as a lier, a worthless person." The aforementioned shrugs. "Well, enough of the talking. If we keep going like this, we'll never get there." He declares and that's what gets everyone going. They have to save the still-living Wens. They don't deserve to die, not everyone is evil just because of a name.

Chapter Text

"Are you sure we're in the right place?" Jiang Chang's voice breaks through the rain.

"Yes." The two Jin boys with them also say at the same time.

"Yes." Huangjing also nods. "I don't know exactly where he is, though." He looks up at the sky. "I haven't seen much of the surroundings." He shakes his head.

"We'll find them." Huaisang grabs his hand and squeezes it reassuringly.

"We have to find them. I can't lose my little brother." Wen Qing pulls her cloak tighter around herself. No one had the heart to tell her what Huangjing had seen, but they had been prepared her for the possibility that she might not be happy with what they found.

"Our soldiers are there." Meng Yao speaks up.

"I... I'd stay here if it's okay." Huangjing suddenly stops.

"Why?" Wei Wuxian turns to him.

"If we can't find him, you'll have to call him, I'm not sure you wants to face me then." Huangjing smiles as the demon speaks out of him.

"But watch out, if he gets really wild, you'll be the only one who can hold him down." The boy's face gets serious before he rushes on.

"Is he really dead?" He hears Huaisang's voice when they're alone.

"Nothing's certain, but..." Here he takes a deep breath. "It was too close to death. I felt him cross over into the demon world." Huangjing explains.

"When we left, he was already half a foot in death." The demon speaks out of him too.

"Did you come to see him?" His xuexin blinks at him in surprise, and Huangjing nods. "It's really easier to travel in the demon world." Huaisang blinks at him. "Do you think they'll find him?"

"I don't know, but if he calls, he'll listen to Brother Wei for sure." Huangjing smiles sadly, then puts his arm around his xuexin's waist. "Is it all right?"

"Yes." Huaisang smiles at him. "Do you need me to stop you from doing something harsh?" He looks at Huangjing's face curiously.

"As long as you're this close to the edge of the cliff, no matter what happens in the world, I wouldn't leave." Huangjing announces at the same time as the demon.

"Oh." The boy's eyes widen and he takes a step back from the edge of the cliff. "Do you feel me in danger?"

"Don't worry Huaisang." Huangjing suddenly hugs him. "As long as I see you, I'm not nervous." He whispers and rests his forehead on the boy's shoulder. Then, a flute sound is heard from the valley, causing Huangjing's muscles to tense.

"So you were right." Huaisang sighs sadly and strokes Huangjing's hair.

"It sounds like it." The Ru boy mutters. "I wish it hadn't happened." He closes his eyes.

"Ru Huangjing." The rain drowns out most of the shout, but since the demon was standing next to Brother Wei in his own world, Huangjing immediately knows that he is being called.

"I have to go. Stay here, Huaisang, please." He raises his head and holds Huaisang's face between his two hands.

"I won't move a bit." The boy smiles at him, which makes Huangjing smile too, but the next moment he disappears from his sight, only to punch a freshly resurrected Wen Ning in the face with his fist.

"It's no use grumbling, little ghost, I'm the stronger one." The demon grins at Wen Ning, who is snarling in the rock face. And the next moment he has his throat pressed against the rock face too. "Just because I can hold him doesn't mean I can drag him somewhere." Huangjing looks back over his shoulder at the group. "What should we do? Wait until you get some talismans to hold him, or knock him out before we do anything else? The latter won't take long, but at least we'll have some time." He explains.

"He's my younger brother." Wen Qing's eyes widen.

"Right now, your younger brother could eat your brains out. I wouldn't try." The demon announces in a cold voice.

"How long can Master Ru hold out?" He hears Meng Yao ask.

"Huaisang is standing on the edge of the cliff, he's struggling quite hard. Based on that..." They think for a moment. "For a quarter of a incense burner at most." Huangjing nods at his own statement.

"And if you knock him out, how much time will we have?" Brother Wei asks.

"One and a half incense burners." Huangjing shrugs when the demon speaks.

"Knock him out!" He gets the order, but he doesn't really know from whom, but that doesn't stop him from punching the boy they came here for again. Wen Ning grunts, then relaxes in Huangjing's hands and falls to the ground when the Ru boy lets go.

"I'll leave the details to you. When you've decided what to do, find me. I'll go back to Huaisang." Huangjing stretches a little, and then disappears as quickly as he appeared in front of the group.

"How did it go?" His xuexin asks when Huangjing reaches his side.

"I'm fine, but I knocked him out in the end." Huangjing shrugs.

"If it went well, why are you nervous?" Huaisang looks at him questioningly.

"I wouldn't say I'm nervous. I just fell weird." He holds his chin in thought.

"About what?" Huaisang asks surprised.

"He is stronger than I thought." He holds out the hand he used to grab Wen Ning and squeezes it into a fist, then releases it.

"Is this a good or bad sign?" His love asks.

"That depends entirely on Wei Wuxian." Huangjing closes his eyes.

Eventually, the group stuck in the valley find them. Wen Ning is already has turned into a puppet of talismans who can't even move. They also learn that the others have decided that Wei Wuxian will lead the remaining Wens to a place where they can settle, although they haven't agreed on where that place should be yet.

"I have an idea." The demon from Huangjing says. "The only question is whether Clan Leader Jiang will give it up." He glances at the one mentioned.

"Give up what?" Jiang Chang looks at him questioningly.

"The Death Valley in Yiling." As the demon says this, even Huangjing's eyes widen, not just the others.

"It's the Desth Valley, because you can't get out of it." The older Lan boy shakes his head.

"I came out." Wei Wuxian shrugs.

"I can clean it." Huangjing licks his lips, but he knows it was the demon and when he hears the thoughts that go with the idea, he shivers.

"Tell me I don't need to do it." Huangjing groans.

"Just put my ass down at the foot of the mountain, I'll take care of the rest." The demon announces, to which Huangjing nods.

"I can do it." He looks at the team.

"After all, that area doesn't belong to anyone. They could go there without a problem." Meng Yao also thinks.

"It's not very far from us. We can even help turn it into a habitable place. Of course, only after it's cleaned up." Nie Mingjue offers.

"We'll help too." The Lan clan leader also nods.

"Jiang Chang?" Brother Wei turns to the person in charge questioningly.

"Are you sure you can do it?" He looks at Huangjing suspiciously.

"Don't doubt the appetite of a starving demon." Huangjing grins.

"Huangjing, you're scaring them to death." Huaisang shakes his head as he holds his fan in front of his face.

"It wasn't intentional..." The Ru heir scratches his neck. "But you really don't need to worry, most of the spirits are afraid of me, and as for the rest, they won't last long." Huangjing chuckles.

"If you see it that way, then so be it. Let's take them to Yiling." Jiang Chang nods, settling the matter.

Chapter Text

Their plan to cleanse Yiling went quite well, so well in fact that Huaisang said Huangjing pulled slept for four whole days. His mother would say that he was like a well-fed five-year-old. Which was true in more ways than one.

Honestly, Huangjing has no idea how his demon was able to eat so many other demons and spirits, but somehow he made it work. The end result was a safe and prosperous Yiling. In fact, over the next few years, the place flourished so much that people literally came to admire it from everywhere.

Huangjing usually spends his days commuting between Yiling, Lengshan, the demon world, and the Impure Realm. Sometimes he is here, sometimes there. Huaisang usually accompanies him on such trips, so needless to say, he has had some very exciting years behind him. The world has finally opened up to him and is showing its true colors.

The Ru clan has returned to the cultivator world. They trade, travel, send young people to study, or accept young people to study. Huangjing's mother has opened an entire fan warrior school and is happier than ever. His father and Clan Leader Nie often go out drinking together.

Meanwhile, Jiang Chang's sister has married into the Jin clan and already has a child. The Jiang clan has begun to flourish again and, together with the newly founded Yiling clan, they represent a strong power. Speaking of Yiling, Huangjing has heard that Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are finally forming a couple, as have Clan Leader Lan and Meng Yao, who has taken over the power of the Jin clan from his father in the meantime.

"Do you have any idea why Mingjue-ge called you home?" Huangjing asks, when he and Huaisang return to the Impure Realm after a long trip, obeying Clan Leader Nie's letter.

"I don't know." His xuexin shakes his head and nervously waves his fan.

"Don't worry, I'm sure there's nothing wrong." Huangjing smiles at him and grabs his free hand to intertwine their fingers.

"I hope so." The boy tries to return the smile, but it's hard for him and when they enter the large hall of the building, where Nie Mingjue is waiting for them, he even squeezes Huangjing's hand. "Dage, I'm here." Huaisang says, and his brother looks up at them.

"Huaisang." The man answers seriously, but when he looks at Huangjing, his gaze shows disapproval. "Ru Huangjing." The aforementioned frowns and stands in front of his xuexin protectively.

"You are going to tell him something that won't be pleasant." Huangjing declares.

"How...?" The man's eyes widen.

"It's no big deal, your saber spirit is blood red, but it's usually sun red. It's only like that when you're facing something unpleasant." The demon from Huangjing speaks and for a moment flashes the image he sees on the other side. In the demon world, a blood red spirit stands next to Nie Mingjue.

"You know about them?" Clan Leader Nie growls at him, and Huangjing raises his hands.

"I don't know if there are more, but I see yours." He shrugs.

"That's impossible." Nie Mingjue shakes his head, and Huangjing blows a breath and lets the demon come forward, like after the Sunlight Campaign, which he now knows has resulted in the ends of his hair turning black and his eyes turning red and blue.

"I see it." He and the demon speak at the same time and he points to the eye that he knows is blue.

"Dage's saber has a spirit?" Huaisang grabs Huangjing's shoulder, and the Ru boy smiles.

"Yes, but it's not that big of a deal. I like it." He waves a hand, which makes Nie Mingjue nearly collaps in his chair.

"Do you like it?" He hears the soft voice.

"Yes..." Huangjing says slowly. "I don't know why it wants me to tell you, but it says it won't... Are you sure it said that?" He blinks a few times, frowning.

"Yes, sure." The demon replies. "It says it won't eat you."

"Thank the gods." Nie Mingjue sighs.

"Dage, what's the matter?" Huaisang wonders and steps past Huangjing to go to his brother.

"I think you're old enough for me to tell you about it." The man says.

"The way I see it, it's a family matter..." Huangjing starts and already bows to leave them alone.

"Don't go!" Clan Leader Nie would stop him, making Huangjing plant his feet in the ground. "It may be a family matter, but you have the right to know about it. We know about the demon and the xuexin, you should know about the saber spirits." He takes a deep breath.

"In that case, I'll stay." Huangjing nods and steps over to them. His hair turns white again, which probably means that the demon has gone to greet the saber spirit.

"You know that our father, the previous clan leader, died suddenly, from a qi overload." Nie Mingjue explains to his younger brother.

"Yes." Huaisang nods.

"What you don't know is that this is a common thing in our clan. That's why our ancestral cemetery is so hidden. The qi overflow is not a random event, it's caused by the sabers. The saber spirit and with it the user become stronger the more people they kill. The saber spirit absorbs their power. But after the death of the master, the saber still wants to kill. In the past, this has caused huge problems. Since then, our clan has figured out a way to block the saber spirits."

"Fresh undead, with an excess of dark energy." Huangjing announces, but he knows that the demon has appeared. "Not the tastiest thing, but satisfying." He shrugs.

"Exactly." Mingjue nods.

"I understand now why you said you wouldn't eat him." He looks over the man's head and faintly sees the now sun-red saber spirit again.

"Were you afraid that you would act like our ancestors?" Huaisang asks, looking at his brother.

"I killed a lot of people." The clan leader announces. "It already started, during the war there were times when I couldn't resist the desire to kill and the madness."

"It says sorry." Huangjing folds his arms in front of himself. "By the way you could really show up to tell him this, being a postman is not a funny thing." He looks straight in the direction where the saber spirit is.

"I don't think it can do that." The clan leader shakes his head.

"Then you should meditate there." The demon says simply.

"Is that possible?" The man blinks, and Huaisang starts to chuckle.

"Of course, I've been there a few times. I see both sides of Huangjing there." He smiles at Huangjing, which makes the Ru boy smile too. "But now you could tell me the real reason why I had to come here. If that was all there was to it, you could have told me anytime." Huaisang remarks, and the clan leader closes his eyes.

"You know me too well. Yes, there's something else." Nie Mingjue swallows. "The family crypt." He looks at them seriously here. "I've received ominous news from the area. I need to check on the situation and I wanted to take Huaisang with me."

"I'll go." Huangjing's xuexin snaps.

"But you didn't want to take me." Huangjing says indifferently, but he quickly draws a half smile on his lips. "We're a family, Mingjue-ge, your problems are my problems. So, when are we going?" He crosses his arms.

"Tomorrow morning. You can rest peacefully today." The man says and gestures for them to leave. So he and Huaisang retreat alone.

Chapter Text

The next morning, right after breakfast, they mounted their horses to head to the Nie clan’s family crypt. It was a long journey, but to be honest, Huangjing had become accustomed to long journeys in recent years, so this one-day ride didn’t bother him. The only thing that wasn’t so pleasant was having to ride horses through the dense forest in the dark night. However, everything was for the sake of the goal, as they say, and that was all that mattered.

“Mingjue-ge!” Huangjing suddenly said as they approached the structure.

“Yes?” Nie Mingjue turned back to him, but Huangjing wasn’t looking at him, but at the place in front of them.

“How many people are resting here?” He asks, frowning, because he's literally shivering from the cold, which can mean two things: his demonic self is either afraid, which if it's not about Huaisang's safety, then it's out of the question, or worse, he's hungry, and if he's hungry, then there must be a lot of ghosts here.

"Why?" The Nie clan leader looks at him suspiciously.

"I'm almost as hungry as I was in Yiling." Huangjing announces indifferently, which only makes more people around him shiver.

"Can you handle it?" Huaisang took his hand after leading his horse closer to him.

"Don't worry, Yiling's purification was more than enough for a long time. Now only my eyes are hungry." The demon says, and his xuexin smiles.

"Then we'll go in now, right, dage?" Huaisang asks his brother, who just nods, causing the group to dismount and split into two, with half of them, led by Nie Mingjue, entering the clan's crypt.

Huangjing personally walks silently next to Huaisang, who is walking directly behind his brother. For a long time, everything is completely normal, just an ordinary crypt, except for the dark energy that literally pours out of the walls and sometimes makes Huangjing lick his lips. His demon currently feels like a child in front of a tray of cookies. Luckily, he's not a child anymore and can command his hunger to stop.

"Someone or someones broke in and took something from here." Mingjue says softly.

"That couldn't have ended well." Huangjing notes, stopping and folding his arms in front of him, while looking around the ornately carved room.

"What do you mean by that?" He hears Huaisang's answer, before he sighs.

"Everything is on a blade's edge here, if you accidentally move a stone, it could end badly. This place is actually alive, or at least it feels like it is." A chill runs through him. "I wouldn't touch the wall if I were you." The demon says, and Huangjing only hears one of the soldiers gasp in surprise.

"Why not?" The question comes, in a trembling voice, and Huangjing just smiles.

"I'm not the only one here who is hungry." He starts poking his blood crystal pendant with one hand. "Those who broke in probably broke through the wall. Like I said, everything is on a blade's edge here, if they've damaged a few bodies, this place will mercilessly eat them to even out the balance. That's why we had to come, right?" He asks, glancing at the clan leader.

"Yes." Comes the quick answer, but Huangjing just nods in appreciation of the incident, then steps up next to Huaisang.

"I won't get any further from you, than this." He declares, and Huaisang just blinks at him.

"Is the problem that big?" He whispers as his brother continues towards the inside of the crypt.

"Not yet." That's all Huangjing says, then silently follows the clan leader into the depths of the crypt with his xuexin.

"Now I'm starting to have a bad feeling too." Huaisang grabs his hand when they reach a hanging rope bridge that doesn't look the least bit safe.

"Don't worry as long as you can see me." Huangjing smiles at him confidently, before Huaisang steps onto the suspension bridge to cross the chasm after his brother, but before Huangjing. He is halfway across the bridge when one of the planks snaps under his feet and he screams. It only takes one movement for Huangjing to pull out his sword and, ignoring the abyss, jump over for his xuexin. He hears Nie Mingjue scream, just as he catches Huaisang. "Zuanbu." Huangjing says seriously and his sword begins to rise, then he places them safely on the other side of the abyss.

"Thank you, Huangjing." His xuexin hugs him tightly.

"Don't even mention it, I don't want to see you in that situation again." He hugs Huaisang. "Mingjue-ge, we'd better hurry, the energies are getting more and more cruel in here." He looks at the man worriedly.

~ Something really doesn't want me here. ~ His demon speaks in his head.

~ Yes. But I didn't ask if it wanted me to be here. Huaisang is here, so I'm here too! ~ Huangjing announces seriously, to which his demon laughs.

~ It's not for nothing that I'm the strongest demon here. ~ Even Huangjing smiles at this statement.

~ I better if I don't let it get to my head too much. ~ Huangjing notes as they continue to move deeper and deeper underground.

~ I don't. It's just that you don't trust us enough. ~ He pauses for a moment, then sighs. ~ We'll be there soon. Huangjing. ~

~ What's wrong? ~ He stops suddenly, but no one except his xuexin notices that anything has happened. They are standing at the door of a large hall, Nie Mingjue has already walked over to the statues of the Nie ancestors.

~ Promise me you won't forget me. ~ Huangjing's eyes widen at this, and even Huaisang holding his hand can't stop the movement. For some reason, a very bad feeling has taken over him.

~ What does this mean? Why am I suddenly talking as if I'm two people? ~ Huangjing demands, but only gets a sad chuckle in response.

~ There's something I haven't told you yet Huangjing. ~ As he says this, things in the hall turn upside down, a saber spirit suddenly appears and attacks the Nie clan leader. Huaisang glances nervously from Huangjing to his brother.

~ What's going on here? ~ Huangjing asks, starting to lose his calm.

~ You should know that I was born to be the strongest demon. I am the demon king, you are the demon king, but the demon king cannot exist in two forms at the same time. I've been holding on as long as I can, but... ~ His voice stops here.

"Don't..." Huangjing mutters to himself, just as Mingjue-ge falls to his knees in front of his opponent, causing Huaisang to join the battle. However, Huangjing still can't move, it's as if something is holding him back.

~ I'm sorry, Huangjing. It's been nice being with you, but it's time for me to go. Protect the family of the Saber Lords, protect our xuexin! Be the demon king! Our power is in your hands, our future is in your hands! I love you and farewell, brother! ~ As he says this, pain runs through Huangjing's limbs. The outlines of the demon world appear before his eyes. The power that usually only floods him when his demon is in the foreground now runs through him without stopping.

"Huaisang!" He hears Mingjue's voice.

"Dage!" As soon as his xuexin also speaks, the pain passes. It only takes a moment for Huangjing to get between them and the saber spirit. He surprises himself with how easily he can defeat the saber spirit and send it back to its resting place, even though he doesn't even know what he's doing, he just sees the saber spirits, who are looking at him suspiciously.

"Never touch my family, especially not my xuexin. They've passed the test, let them go." Huangjing says, then turns around.

"Did your demon come out?" Mingjue-ge asks and Huangjing swallows hard.

"This isn't the demon, so something is different now." His xuexin looks at him suspiciously.

"Huaisang." It comes out of Huangjing, but he only realizes that he is crying on his knees and clinging to the boy.

"I'm here." He hears the boy's voice.

"We're here." Mingjue also speaks.

"What happened?" The question comes, but Huangjing doesn't really know who it came from.

"It's gone... The demon..." He groans and takes deep breaths.

"But it's in front, although your eyes are different than usual." This voice was clearly Nie Mingjue.

"Huangjing." His xuexin holds Huangjing's face in both hands. "Calm down. I know it hurts, but you need to calm down." He says seriously and next to his head he sees his saber spirit blinking incomprehensibly, who in his case prefers to rest in Huaisang's fan.

~ He didn't leave, why are you crying? ~ He hears the voice of the saber spirit, as if he were in the demon world.

~ I'm not the same. ~ At the sudden sound, Huangjing turns his head back, just to see the figure of his demon. ~ Hi, Huangjing. Before you ask, you are the demon, I am like them. ~ He points to Huaisang's saber spirit.

"Then he left?" Huangjing blurts out.

~ He didn't, he just returned to where he belonged, inside you. ~ He gets the answer.

"So that's how you see the world now. I can see why you were scared. " Huaisang's words make Huangjing look at him immediately. The saber spirit grabed his shoulder and he looks around curiously.

"Now you will see it like this too. There can't be much difference between the demon king and the saber lord." The saber spirit replies.

"Saber lord?" Huangjing's xuexin blinks.

"Someone could really tell me too what's going on here." Mingjue-ge also speaks up.

"The lady will tell you, so you better come over. We're looking forward to a long afternoon of storytelling." This voice was Nie Mingjue's saber spirit, which scared the clan leader so much that he almost jumped.

"Yes, I think there are somethings to tell." The man agrees.

"There is more to learn." Huangjing also nods, wiping away his tears.

"What you need to hear is all just a story. The point is, you are the protectors of peace. The peace that has come to the world with the return of the Demon King. So, are you ready to listen to a story?" The spirit resembling Huangjing's demon asks as he extends his hand towards him, which Huangjing accepts, thus embarking on a new era of peace, alongside his xuexin and their families.

The End