"No."
Whatever was plaguing Lizhuang—Wei Wuxian was almost certain it was a ghost, but Lan Wangji cautioned him not to settle on an idea without proof—was targeting newlyweds.
Normally, there would be no issue; if they'd come a few weeks earlier, they might have been able to hunt it down with ease. Only by the time Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian had crossed paths in the same small village, six people were already dead and buried, and it was a bit too late for a traditional hunt.
Three marriages were held in the past few months, but each couple had already been killed, leaving nothing but their stories behind. No one to use as bait.
Unless—
"Do you have a better idea?" Wei Wuxian asked as he stepped in front of Lan Wangji, so that he would either have to move Wei Wuxian aside or walk around. They both stopped walking, the quiet bustle of village life continuing around them; they were just two strange cultivators, worrying in the middle of the road.
Lan Wangji did not answer. "Ha!" Wei Wuxian pointed at him, feeling his lips kick up at the corners. "You don't, do you? But you don't want to admit mine is good, either. Lan Zhan, are you really so stingy?"
At this point, Lan Wangji took a step to the left, moving to walk around Wei Wuxian altogether. He caught Lan Wangji around the upper arm, expression grown serious.
"We can't just do nothing."
"We will not."
"So tell me your idea!"
Lan Wangji continued walking. Wei Wuxian did not let go of his arm. Consequently, he was tugged halfway down the street.
"Come oooon," he whined, stuck to Lan Wangji's side, "you can't always rely on being straightforward! Especially not with spirits. Haven't you ever heard of a ruse?"
Slowing to a stop, Lan Wangji appraised him from the side. The silent look went on so long Wei Wuxian wanted to fidget, only something about it kept him in place, weight leaning slightly on Lan Wangji's arm. They were nearly of height, but the gaze itself made him feel smaller.
"Comport yourself."
Wei Wuxian blinked. "What?"
Lan Wangji looked ahead. "We are husband and wife. Behave."
He began walking again. When Wei Wuxian looked ahead, he saw that Lan Wangji was making his way to the local inn. The newlyweds had all stayed in the same inn when they died, though not in the same room. This had allowed them to continue renting them to other young lovers, who were so enamored they were more than willing to overlook superstition. It was the best place to act through their ruse.
Then he internalized what he'd heard.
"Lan Zhan!" He ran a couple steps to catch up. "Who said I was the wife? We should discuss this! We need to get our story straight."
"We may discuss inside," Lan Wangji agreed, "and you said so yourself."
Wei Wuxian thought back, and realized Lan Wangji had not specified who was who. In his eagerness to fire back, it was Wei Wuxian who had named himself wife between them.
It seemed as easy a way to decide as any.
He made useless chatter with the proprietor of the inn before Lan Wangji settled down to business, booking them one room. Though his brows raised as he looked between them, the proprietor said nothing on the subject, only asking once to be certain of Lan Wangji's intent. When asked if they would like tea sent up, Lan Wangji nodded, and that was that.
They settled on a plan after heading back out of the inn. If it was a spirit, as Wei Wuxian suspected, then it would be capable of overhearing their plans and making some of its own. They walked arm in arm around the village instead, conversing under their breath as they figured out what to say and do.
"Don't worry," Wei Wuxian said, patting Lan Wangji's bicep. "I remember how you reacted to seeing porn; since you don't know anything, I'll take the lead."
Lan Wangji didn't acknowledge him, not even with a single sound. Wei Wuxian was expecting something like that. It wasn't like Lan Wangji was fond of such vulgar topics, prudish as he was.
When they returned to their room, Lan Wangji parted from him to strip his outer robe from his body. He was utterly unselfconscious—nothing like the scandalized Lan Wangji he'd been the last time Wei Wuxian had seen him this unclothed. He was so surprised that Lan Wangji had time to strip down to one plain white inner robe before Wei Wuxian even remembered to start on his own.
Lan Wangji turned and approached him, brow slightly furrowed. He reached out, then paused. "You wanted me to do it."
He didn't phrase it like a question, but Wei Wuxian knew his part. "Yeah, Lan Zhan, don't you want to ravish me? You promised!"
At that, his brows climbed up his forehead. Wei Wuxian winked.
Lan Wangji reached forward and tugged him closer by his belt. When they were close enough to trade breaths, Lan Wangji began to undo that belt, taking off Wei Wuxian's outer robe. He was only wearing two in the first place; Lan Wangji's hands froze on his hip, only the thin layer of red between his fingertips and Wei Wuxian's skin.
Wei Wuxian shivered at the change in temperature.
Lan Wangji bared his torso first, leaving himself in white trousers alone. As he went to do the same to Wei Wuxian, he had a bit of a fight on his hands—rather than get out of his red sleeves, Wei Wuxian wanted to touch Lan Wangji, his act momentarily forgotten. Lan Wangji's skin looked soft and smooth as jade, but when Wei Wuxian was finally freed from one sleeve and allowed to touch, he found that Lan Wangji was very warm and alive. Wei Wuxian could press his cold ear to Lan Wangji's heart and be comfortable again in seconds.
Cold. Right. The plan!
"Er-gege~" Wei Wuxian called, softening his voice to the point it hurt his teeth. "It's too cold. Warm me up?"
Lan Wangji turned and tugged the fleece blanket to the side, then reached behind him for Wei Wuxian. He was deposited on the bed as though he weighed nothing, as though their near-equal heights made no difference. Lan Wangji wasn't shy about crawling on top of him, either, flinging the large fleece over them both. They wriggled, trying to replicate the motions of taking their trousers off and bunching them at their feet, but it was unclear how convincing they were.
Next, Wei Wuxian expected Lan Wangji to reach down and pretend to take them both in hand. Surely grinding together in one of Lan Wangji's large hands would be—well, it would be enough to—it wasn't like what happened between men and women, so that was all they could do. If further demonstration was needed to see the ghost, Wei Wuxian could duck his head beneath the blanket and…
The world tilted as Lan Wangji flipped him over, using a thigh to ensure Wei Wuxian's legs parted. He gasped into the grass-and-cloth pillow, trying to shift so his cheek was properly on it. "Lan Zhan?" His voice was higher than usual.
He received no answer; there was only the heavy weight of Lan Wangji's hand traveling down the length of his spine. The next thing he knew, Lan Wangji's body was pushed up above him, just enough for him to slide a hand in between their bodies. His knuckles brushed the soft flesh of Wei Wuxian's ass, his trousers not quite thick enough to protect him from the heat of Lan Wangji's touch.
After a few awkward motions, he pulled his hand away and nestled down over Wei Wuxian's body.
"Where did you learn this?" Wei Wuxian hissed, trying to ask so quietly the spirit wouldn't hear even if it wanted to.
Lan Wangji leaned down to murmur into Wei Wuxian's ear. "Research. Planning."
What research? Wei Wuxian had read a lot of porn, and none of it had something like this! He had done a lot of research. There was no way Lan Wangji knew more about sex than him. What plans could he have?
Besides, what was good about this? Now, if they were naked, Wei Wuxian's dick would just be trapped against the bed. That was fine when he was half asleep in the morning on a lazy, hot day, but was it really what anyone would want with a lover?
He squirmed and tried to take control—he said before that he'd take the lead, and Lan Wangji had agreed, hadn't he? Wei Wuxian's recollection was blurry…
Just then, Lan Wangji lined his palms up with the backs of Wei Wuxian's hands. Slowly, he linked their fingers together, then rocked forward.
Wei Wuxian was so surprised he cried out, though it was a breathless sound. Until that moment, Lan Wangji had kept his hips lifted off Wei Wuxian's body. He didn't know that Lan Wangji was hard before. He didn't know it would press against him like that, almost sliding inside the crack of his ass if not for the two layers of cloth in between.
What kind of research had Lan Wangji been doing?!
"N-Nh," Wei Wuxian managed. He tried to stop Lan Wangji, but the word didn't come out right with Lan Wangji pressing him hard into the bed like that; in one sharp thrust, he'd made it impossible for Wei Wuxian to speak. When he gasped, Lan Wangji did it again.
This wasn't—right. Surely, Lan Wangji was improvising. Men didn't do… they didn't do it like this, they did it other ways. This was more like how men and women did it. Wei Wuxian knew enough about porn to know that men entered women from behind.
But they were—receptive!
Still, if this was how Lan Wangji wanted to do it, Wei Wuxian would defer to him. Lan Wangji was a much worse actor, after all. He probably couldn't improvise if Wei Wuxian took the lead.
All terribly in character. Wei Wuxian helped by lifting his hips back the next time Lan Wangji thrust forward. He meant to wink, too, but Lan Wangji slid inside enough that the hard length of his cock touched Wei Wuxian's hole, and it tickled. He thrust forward to get away from that feeling at once, gasping and shutting his eyes.
After that, Wei Wuxian tried to keep still. He really did. It was just that Lan Wangji didn't keep still, nor did he help Wei Wuxian by touching him as little as possible.
Instead, Lan Wangji threw Wei Wuxian's hair over his left shoulder before bending down and kissing the nape of Wei Wuxian's neck. Wei Wuxian shivered, expecting a kiss, only it wasn't Lan Wangji's lips that met his skin next, it was his teeth!
"Ow! Lan Zhan, ow!"
Lan Wangji rolled his hips so thoroughly that Wei Wuxian was pushed up the bed—which also pushed him further between Lan Wangji's punishing jaws. By the time Lan Wangji let go, Wei Wuxian would have a big, teeth-shaped bruise.
There was no way to get free. Lan Wangji not only held both his hands down, he'd even pinned Wei Wuxian with his teeth. No escape.
Wei Wuxian waited for the panic he often felt at being trapped, but it never came. Instead, the next time Lan Wangji thrust down, Wei Wuxian gave a weak moan.
The bite tightened impossibly further. Wei Wuxian's answering moan held more pain, but Lan Wangji didn't let go. His thrusts sped a little. Wei Wuxian's protests grew louder, but he wasn't saying words, so if the spirit mistook them for pleasure, well, anything that worked, right? He was quite dedicated. Was Lan Wangji noticing his resolve?
Wei Wuxian understood their position a little better now. Every time Lan Wangji pressed against him, his dick rubbed against the bed, a pleasant, trapped friction that left him in a constant state of dizziness. His scalp tingled, his fingers squeezing Lan Wangji's tightly.
"Lan Zhan," he whined, "Lan Zhan, oh."
And Lan Wangji, in the greatest betrayal of all time, froze. He didn't move! Wei Wuxian tried to move for him, but Lan Wangji was still holding him down, his weight trapping Wei Wuxian in a way that kept him absolutely still. He let go of the hold on Wei Wuxian's neck, breathing wetly onto his skin. "Pay attention."
This was beyond betrayal. Words did not exist for what Lan Wangji had just done to him. That was why he couldn't explain it—even if he wanted to—and why the enormity of his disappointment and bitterness was so shocking. He'd been forced to new depths. When he blinked, he rid himself of the mist forming over his eyes.
Then Lan Wangji asked, in a voice so low it would blend with the wind, "Do you feel it?"
A wave of realization washed over Wei Wuxian: Lan Wangji was talking about something to do with the ghost.
The ghost Wei Wuxian had entirely forgotten.
Embarrassment flushed his face all the way to his neck. He even felt heat on his scalp, like his thin face was spreading. All his talk about being dedicated, about the merits of his plan, and he'd forgotten to pay attention? Lan Wangji must think him a total idiot, as idle as he'd always spat out during their days studying together. Wei Wuxian might as well have no face at all!
Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and tried to sense what Lan Wangji did. If it had been visible, he would have been asked if he saw anything, so Wei Wuxian tried to center himself, to think past the shame and how very hard he was against the bed.
After a few long, silent moments, he tilted his head back and kissed Lan Wangji's cheek. "There's a pull," he whispered.
Lan Wangji gave a barely-perceptible nod. "In all directions."
Interesting.
"Should we do more?" Wei Wuxian asked on an exhale. Lan Wangji shook his head and fell to one side, rolling over onto his back and tugging Wei Wuxian over him like a blanket.
"Wait, wait—!"
Lan Wangji ignored him, and Wei Wuxian now straddled him at the waist. He felt a flicker of embarrassment at how hard he was, but it lasted only until he realized Lan Wangji was hard, too. Still.
Flushed with delight, Wei Wuxian made himself comfortable. He'd never laid on top of someone like this outside of a training session, but Lan Wangji's chest was a broad pillow, and when he stretched out his legs so he was properly laying down, Lan Wangji had no complaints. It was a surprisingly pleasant position.
Only he wasn't tired. Wei Wuxian squirmed a little, not out of any real desire to fidget, but more so that his dick was closer to Lan Wangji's. If he kept going like this, he could close those few cun easily, which seemed incredibly important for ridding his body of the buzzing Lan Wangji had started. Really, was it so difficult for him to take responsibility? Wei Wuxian shouldn't have to do all the work. They were partners on this hunt!
Partners should look out for one another.
He shifted again; this time, Lan Wangji's hand came to rest on his hip. He didn't tighten his grip, but Wei Wuxian had a feeling he wouldn't be moving again if Lan Wangji didn't want him to. His heart was pounding beneath Wei Wuxian's cheek. When he tensed like he was going to wriggle further, the hand on his hip tightened—a warning.
"Lan Zhan," he whispered.
"No."
"Lan Zhan!"
He didn't answer again, no matter how Wei Wuxian said his name. He pressed it into the meat of Lan Wangji's shoulder with a bite, said it as loud as he dared into those sensitive ears, but between one sleepy Lan Zhan and the next, he was dreaming.
Wei Wuxian was overwhelmingly warm. The air beneath the blanket was sweltering, sweat beading along the column of his spine, his hair sticking slightly to his cheek. He pushed it back off his face, then pouted when it returned to the same position, falling into his eyes and distracting him.
"Er-gege," he crooned, each syllable soft and round in his mouth, "will you give me your ribbon?"
He asked to tease, remembering something about how the forehead ribbon was sacred to the Lans after his time studying in the Cloud Recesses, but to his surprise, Lan Wangji complied . He slid it free from his hair with minimal resistance and reached down, carding his fingers through Wei Wuxian's hair and untangling some of the damage the damp heat had done to it.
Wei Wuxian turned his head and nuzzled into Lan Wangji's palm. The world narrowed to the scent of sandalwood as his eyes fell shut.
Lan Wangji gathered his hair and tied it high on his head. It was somehow neater than when Wei Wuxian did it by himself; he should ask Lan Wangji to tie his hair every morning.
Now that he was free of such distractions, Wei Wuxian could focus entirely on hooking his fingertips under the hem of Lan Wangji's trousers and tugging them down. There was a little bit of resistance as the fabric caught on his erection, but rather than deterring Wei Wuxian, it excited him.
Lan Wangji was so big!
He wasn't sure how he knew that, exactly, his mind fuzzy on the details, but he knew this was important. When he looked up through his eyelashes, he saw that Lan Wangji was holding the blanket up enough to see his face, though anyone else in the room would not be able to see him. Joy roared through him with the merry crackling of a well-tended fire.
"Little er-gege," he whispered, almost awed despite his teasing. He ran a single exploratory fingertip down the length of Lan Wangji's shaft. It twitched in response; Wei Wuxian had never been so excited at such a light touch from his own hand, but he didn't feel embarrassed for Lan Wangji at all.
It was… cute.
Emboldened by such sensitivity, Wei Wuxian took Lan Wangji in hand and angled him toward his mouth. He spread the liquid gathered at the tip with his thumb, eyes flicking up to take in Lan Wangji's expression: his open mouth, the red at the corners of his eyes, which narrowed as he watched Wei Wuxian lick his lips.
The tip of his tongue touched Lan Wangji's cockhead. Lan Wangji tasted stronger than he would have thought, stronger than the one time Wei Wuxian had licked his own essence from his fingers. Curiosity propelled him forward as he slid the entire head into his mouth. Would Lan Wangji taste different when he reached completion, as well? Wei Wuxian would have to catch it on his tongue and taste, just to be sure. He slid down a little ways and felt Lan Wangji reach the back of his throat—
"Wei Ying."
The sound of his name was a shock to his system; Wei Wuxian bolted upright, scrambling back on instinct. Lan Wangji blinked at him. He was holding a tray with enough food for two, and he was very much clothed.
"Lan Zhan," he complained, struggling to keep his tone even and casual, "it's too early!"
A tiny furrow appeared between Lan Wangji's elegant brows. "It is si shi."
Oh. Well. "That's when I usually wake up…" Wei Wuxian said, feeling a little sheepish. The strange subject of his dreams, along with the utter realism he'd never before experienced, must have made it difficult to wake up.
"I know," Lan Wangji replied, pulling Wei Wuxian out of the haze of his salacious memories.
He did? "You do?"
The unspoken how? went unanswered, but Wei Wuxian hurried to correct himself, their ruse momentarily forgotten. He was usually forgetful, but not about something this important…
"I mean, of course you do, I've only warned you a thousand times. Just because you married me doesn't mean I'll start waking at mao shi!"
Lan Wangji took their tray to the low table and set it out, separating out the dishes. It was clear that nothing on the tray was meant to be shared, but as Wei Wuxian grabbed his inner robe from the floor and tugged it on—trying not to make it obvious to any ghosts that he was wearing his trousers the night before—he caught a flash of red from the table.
It was only with great effort that he stopped himself from acknowledging his own sheer delight. Lan Wangji had remembered his distaste for the bland food at Cloud Recesses! When he knelt at the table and took a bite of congee, it was actually passable. Next time, Wei Wuxian would show him how to properly spice a meal. For now, his embarrassment from earlier was banished by a swift and overwhelming fondness—it was this fondness that allowed him to speak as freely as he was able, considering their plans.
"I don't know about you, but I had the strangest dreams…"
Lan Wangji's chopsticks hit the side of his rice bowl hard enough to clack. Wei Wuxian expected chastisement—he'd copied the various principles of Gusu Lan enough times to know that speaking while eating was prohibited—but Lan Wangji only nodded and said, "I noticed."
Unfortunately, Wei Wuxian would have much preferred punishment. Noticed? How much had he noticed?!
"You did?" Wei Wuxian worried, entirely too real in his concern. What had he done? Had he moaned or something? Did he say anything aloud? The thought of Lan Wangji laying there, wide awake, stiff and trapped beneath Wei Wuxian as he drooled and mumbled 'Little er-gege…' Well, it was enough to send him to the grave!
"Mn. You were restless." In spite of his innocuous answer, the searching gaze Lan Wangji gave him was not quite enough to dispel his suspicions.
He had to have done something. There was no use hiding it; Lan Wangji was an honest, straightforward person. Wei Wuxian would have to treat him in the same way, if out of nothing more than respect. After all, in spite of Wei Wuxian's concerns when they'd met on the road, Lan Wangji had been an agreeable partner on this hunt so far, and he was much less boring than Wei Wuxian remembered.
Surely the Lan Zhan he'd first met would rather die than play at being anyone's husband, let alone to someone like Wei Wuxian.
Rather than continue playing coy, Wei Wuxian decided to lean into his embarrassment. He hadn't spent all this time building his thick face to let Lan Wangji pierce it twice in two days, after all. He sighed and rested his chin in his hand, watching Lan Wangji eat in neat bites. "Maybe," Wei Wuxian drawled, heat flushing his cheeks, "if Lan Zhan had fully satisfied me, I wouldn't have to dream about him, hm?"
This time, Lan Wangji dropped his chopsticks altogether. Wei Wuxian felt a surge of triumph. "You stopped too early last night, er-gege. I couldn't even duck under the blanket and say hello to—"
"Do not speak while eating," Lan Wangji snapped. His eyes were darker than they normally were, like a cloud had passed over the sun.
Wei Wuxian blinked, then smiled. He liked when Lan Wangji sounded like that. He was always very cold, so far removed from others that it was all people could talk about, but when he was angry with Wei Wuxian, he had this… tone. It made Wei Wuxian's heart race, like the rush just before a fight began.
Still, they had a full day ahead of them. Now that he'd embarrassed Lan Wangji in return, things felt more settled between them. "Should we take a walk after we eat?" he asked.
Lan Wangji agreed.
The first order of business was to coax the laoban niang of the inn outside so they could have a proper chat. If the ghost were powerful enough to leave this area and roam freely, it would have killed outside of the building by now.
She agreed readily enough, though only after ensuring her husband and children would take care of the meals for the other guests, first.
"Oh, daozhangs," she said in a voice that trembled, "thank you, thank you. I hadn't dared hope—I've written to the closest sect twice, but they never replied—not that—I mean, I'm sure you have much more serious things to take care of—"
"We do not," Lan Wangji said.
At the same time, Wei Wuxian asked, "Which is the local sect?"
The laoban niang—Wei Wuxian had learned her name the night before, but it was already forgotten—looked between them before hesitantly answering Wei Wuxian's question. "Moling Su. You are… not connected?"
Wei Wuxian had never heard of Moling Su. He gave Lan Wangji a blank look, then turned to shake his head. He opened his mouth to say that he was dashixiong of Yunmeng Jiang, then realized it was probably better to stick to their ruse and pretend he'd married into the Lans, even if they were outside. If she told her family anything and the ghost heard it, they might run into issues later on.
"Nope! Lan Zhan is actually a cultivator from the Gusu Lan Sect, but he always goes where the chaos is. Isn't he admirable?" Hooking his arm around Lan Wangji's, Wei Wuxian leaned heavily on his shoulder. "Of course, Lan Zhan would say—"
"Your troubles are important," Lan Wangji interrupted, almost as though they'd planned it. Wei Wuxian wanted to credit him for being a better actor than anticipated, but he knew that Lan Wangji meant what he said. He wouldn't be here otherwise.
Wei Wuxian beamed at her. "Exactly so. Ghosts can't be allowed to get away with murder, right?"
"Right," she said, sounding tired but relieved.
"We know that three young couples have been killed," Wei Wuxian explained, leaning even further into Lan Wangji. He was like a pillar of stone, only one that was yielding and warm, soft enough to lean on but solid enough not to sway, even when Wei Wuxian was practically holding himself up with only Lan Wangji's arm. It was very impressive… "Uh. Were you the one who found their bodies?"
"The last two times. After the first... Cheng-er found them, my youngest. I sent him to check that they'd left the room…" She choked down something close to a sob, but her eyes were dry. "I thought they'd run out without paying. When the same thing happened again, I decided to check on it myself, just in case. The third time, I was certain enough."
This was good news; there was a chance that the first pair of murders was slightly different, but unless they came up short tonight, there was no need to involve the child.
"What did the bodies look like? Do you remember enough to know how they died?"
A grim nod. "Yes, of course. I wanted to put as much of it as possible into my letters, but I didn't know if it would help, since I couldn't find… Well, they weren't, ah. Cut? They had some bruises, but…" Here, the laoban niang actually blushed a little, avoiding their eyes. "The normal ones you might see on—on a newly wedded match."
Wei Wuxian's skin throbbed at the place Lan Wangji had bitten him the night before. He covered the spot instinctively with the hand not attached to Lan Wangji, even though it was covered by his robes, and there was no way to see it from her angle, anyway.
"But something was strange about them," Lan Wangji prompted. Wei Wuxian was surprised; he'd expected Lan Wangji to let him do the talking, but he should have remembered that Lan Wangji was an accomplished cultivator on his own. Of course he could read the faces of others and ask the right questions on his own. After all, if the bodies had appeared to be sleeping peacefully, with no signs of trauma at all, the laoban niang would not have sounded so very upset when she'd mentioned her son had found the first two victims.
Sure enough, a visible shudder ran through her. "It didn't make sense. I feed my guests well," she said with a note of pride, "but they were so thin… and when I touched them, their skin, it was like old paper. I thought it would break if I tried to move them. We were lucky it didn't." Up until now, she'd come across as a straightforward, determined sort of woman—the sort who wouldn't bother herself much over getting her hands dirty. Yet when she looked up at them now, her eyes were wide with the horror of an innocent. "They were still holding each other, still… connected."
Ah. "As though they didn't notice they were dying?" Wei Wuxian asked.
"Yes, that's it, that's it exactly. When Cheng-er brought me to see it that first time, I thought maybe it had been some sort of pact—a choice, you know? Something I didn't understand. But when it happened again, I realized we couldn't fix it, not on our own." She clasped her shaking hands together, wringing them harshly. "I should have written that very first time. There's no way for people to starve so quickly. I just, I thought…"
"You did all that you could," Lan Wangji assured her. He did nothing particularly comforting, but something about his conviction and tone straightened her spine.
It was only by watching this laoban niang that Wei Wuxian realized this effect of Lan Wangji's was a bit familiar.
Rather than consider that further, Wei Wuxian changed the topic. "Thank you, that's very helpful. Other than these six, have there been any other deaths connected to the inn? Before the first pair was found."
She shook her head. "No, but we only renovated two years ago. Before that, the building had been abandoned for… well, I was only a girl when the fire tore through it. The only reason we were able to afford it was the lowered price after so many years in disrepair."
Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian shared a weighted look. "Was it an inn before, as well?"
"No, not exactly, though it was easy to convert." A dark humor colored her expression. "It was originally a brothel, you see. Plenty of bedrooms."
Of course it was. "I assume there were deaths involved," Wei Wuxian prodded.
"Yes, many of those inside at the time died." Her eyes widened. "They say that when the smoke began to rise, Liu Rong—the man who ran the place—made everyone collect their valuables before they left. The ones that survived were those too afraid of the fire to obey… he died trying to ensure his investment would not be lost." She looked between them. "Does that help?"
"It helps a great deal," Wei Wuxian assured her, his mind whirring. An event like this was definitely capable of creating such a resentful spirit. Liberating it was only a matter of how that resentment manifested—and with so many dying at the same time, Inquiry might be a difficult prospect.
"There is no need to worry further," Lan Wangji assured her. "Thank you." Before Wei Wuxian could ask the rest of his questions, Lan Wangji saluted the laoban niang and began walking in the opposite direction— and since Wei Wuxian had attached himself to Lan Wangji rather thoroughly, he, too, began to move.
Wei Wuxian tugged on his arm. "Shouldn't we ask if—"
"No need."
"But—"
Lan Wangji stopped short and looked at him. "What else?"
"I dunno, shouldn't we… narrow it down? Ask her if anyone living in town would know the personalities of these people and get some suspects? That should make it easier to perform Inquiry, right?"
His words were met with a blank stare. After a moment, Lan Wangji began walking again.
"Lan Zhan, if there's something I don't know, you'd tell me, right?"
The two reached a small tea shop around the corner from the inn. It appeared they were about to become its only customers.
"I mean, I'm not a qin player, and I'm not from your sect, so…"
Lan Wangji sat him down at a table near one of the paper windows before making his way to the counter, presumably to order their tea. Wei Wuxian sat properly and tapped his fingers on the table, surreptitiously glancing over at Lan Wangji. When the tray was ready, Wei Wuxian started to slouch, his posture sloppy and his chin in his hands by the time Lan Wangji was facing him again.
"Sit properly," Lan Wangji said as he set down the tray. Lan Wangji himself sat with perfect posture, elegantly holding his sleeve out of the way as he began to serve them both.
Wei Wuxian watched him with avid interest, slouching even further so he could see Lan Wangji pour without splashing. Not a single drop! "Lan Zhan," he sighed, "you really are perfect. Don't you think that's unfair? I've been practicing with my shijie my whole life and I still get a little on my sleeve most days." He looked up at Lan Wangji with half a smile. "Maybe you can teach me."
He hadn't thought before he'd spoken, nor could he have answered if asked where the thought came from. It wasn't as though Lan Wangji was a close compatriot. Really, this entire plan had been a bit of a lark—the fact that Lan Wangji had agreed was shock enough. Did he really want to spend more time with someone who found him so… so…
There wasn't really a good word for it, either. Lan Wangji didn't find him distasteful or unpleasant, not when he was fine sleeping in the same bed. He couldn't possibly be that annoyed, or frustrated with Wei Wuxian all the time—he would have said something by now.
Instead, there was a long stretch of time in which Lan Wangji stared at him in absolute silence, and then he said, "Mn. Later."
Just like that.
All of the sudden Wei Wuxian's clothes felt too tight, itchy at the neck and wrists. "Well, if you're in a teaching mood, will you tell me what I missed about Inquiry? Now that we're married, I should really know all of your secrets."
Lan Wangji's expression wasn't any different than it usually was, not in any way that Wei Wuxian could see, but it felt warmer, somehow. Just beneath the surface. "Sit properly," he said again.
That unusual warmth spread to Wei Wuxian, filling his chest and expanding outward until he was forced to sit up straight or risk combustion. He picked up his cup and stared down at the pale amber of the tea against the stark white of the porcelain—a cold, distant color, but it was so warm against his palm it almost burned.
He held it tighter, then drank it all down, scalding the back of his throat. It made his stomach flip if he looked too long.
"Your theory is sound," Lan Wangji said, his tea untouched. As soon as Wei Wuxian relinquished the cup, Lan Wangji poured for him again, just as neatly as he had the first time. "But there is no need to narrow the scope."
Wei Wuxian raised a brow. "You know something about the ghost, then?"
Lan Wangji shook his head. "They will answer on their own."
"Because you're so pretty?" Wei Wuxian teased, tilting his head a little to the left.
"Because I am asking." There was no pride in his voice that Wei Wuxian could tell, but Lan Wangji spoke with such authority that Wei Wuxian believed him. If he'd been thinking straight, Wei Wuxian probably would have figured that out sooner; he felt a bit foolish for having missed the obvious. In the same way that Wei Wuxian was not an average Yunmeng Jiang disciple, Lan Wangji was not an average disciple of the Gusu Lan Sect—and that unique quality was earned, not handed to him by birthright.
What might be true for someone else would not be true for Lan Wangji. If others needed assistance, they would go to Lan Wangji and ask; Lan Wangji would not need the same efforts that other disciples were forced to put in.
Wei Wuxian laughed outright, raising his cup in Lan Wangji's direction. "Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, you're too good. I'm really not used to night-hunting with someone like you. If we night-hunted together all the time, I think we would get things done a lot faster, even though we belong to different sects. Don't you think so?"
"Yes."
He'd been expecting another 'mn', but this answer caused him to laugh even more; what had felt so heavy inside him before now felt light and buoyant, like floating down the river on a hot day. "You want to night-hunt with me again, really?"
Lan Wangji nodded, causing his hair to fall forward and expose the tip of one ear. It was just a bit pink, just enough that Wei Wuxian could not help studying it—his hand itched to reach out and check the temperature via touch, fingertips tingling so hard he curled his hand into a fist. "More often?"
Another nod.
"What if I asked you every week?"
Lan Wangji nodded.
"What about… every three days?"
Wei Wuxian watched as pink darkened to a deeper flush, then developed toward a scorching red. All the while, Lan Wangji's face was utterly unchanged; it seemed as though all of his color went directly to his ears, which were not typically on full display. No wonder he had such a cold reputation! Wei Wuxian felt like he had stumbled across priceless treasure—he was sure that the number of people who knew this secret must be small, and he cradled the knowledge carefully, keeping it close and tucking it deeply away in his heart.
Mostly so that he could display his clever observation at the most opportune moment, of course.
"Alright then," Wei Wuxian said, monitoring Lan Wangji's ear from only the corner of his eye. "If you won't say no, then I'll take full advantage. We'll have to night-hunt together every day for the rest of our lives—since the spirits can't escape you, you can figure out how to liberate or suppress them, and if that doesn't work, I'll run them through with Suibian. If it's not a spirit, if it's some demon or corpse, then we can fight back to back. What do you think?"
"Alright."
"Lan Zhan!" If this were anyone else, Wei Wuxian would expect he was being played. Only Lan Wangji was so sincere; his solemn, earnest face actually made Wei Wuxian's chest hurt. "You can't say yes to all that, you'd be doing all the work! Cultivation partners should share equally. You can't just let any old disciple take advantage of your talent and generosity."
The look that Lan Wangji gave him was no different from any other, but Wei Wuxian felt its weight, the hairs standing upright on the back of his neck. "You are not 'any old disciple'."
Wei Wuxian covered his face with his hands. There was nothing to be done for such a strange case. If Lan Wangji really meant all that, the next night-hunt in Wei Wuxian's future was shaping up to be the possession of Lan Wangji himself.
While Lan Wangji stood and levitated Wangji in front of him to play, Wei Wuxian got nice and cozy on the bed.
"What?" he asked at Lan Wangji's glare. "I've got Chenqing ready—" he tapped the flute against his temple a few times to show it was in hand, "—and Suibian's ready, too. Don't worry, Lan Zhan. I'll protect you!"
Lan Wangji didn't say anything, so Wei Wuxian lowered his voice as deep as it would go and spoke as stiffly as possible: "I have no doubt of your abilities, Wei Ying. Though I am scared, I will carry on."
He beamed when Lan Wangji leveled him with a fierce glare.
"Lan Zhan, you better hurry! What if some poor, unsuspecting couple blows in tonight to escape the chill, and the ghost decides they'd be tastier than us? Hmm? You can look at me all you want later." Wei Wuxian winked his left eye.
Lan Wangji played Inquiry.
Wei Wuxian remained silent for a few notes, but could only bear to do so for a short time. "What are you asking?"
"To speak to the hungry ghost."
It was a good idea. There might be other resentful ghosts in a place with such a miserable history, but if there were other hungry ghosts lurking around, then of course Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian should take care of them also.
The response came a moment later, slow and haunting as Wangji played seemingly on its own. "There are more than one," Lan Wangji said before Wei Wuxian could ask.
"How many?"
Lan Wangji played again, then received what seemed to be a halting answer. "They do not know."
Likely their awareness was too fragmented after so much time spent stewing in this kind of resentment. They knew enough to know what they were, but could not necessarily speak to each other, and may not remember their human lives at all. Often, spirits who were not strongly resentful would deteriorate in this manner if they were not liberated soon after their passing, but were still wronged deeply enough to cling to this world in the hopes of satisfaction or vengeance.
This type of weak ghost would not be able to kill anyone on its own, but if it banded together with other ghosts who had been similarly treated in life—such as the case with the prostitutes who had died in the fire—they could sometimes be strong enough to do so together, as their needs would be the same. Wei Wuxian was a bit relieved to find that the solution was this easy.
Lan Wangji went through another series of short questions. "They are shi shui."
"Makes sense," Wei Wuxian said, crossing one leg over the other. Water eaters were generally recognizable by how dry and hairy they were, like they grew hair just to try and get it wet. "They were burned alive. Who wouldn't want a little water?" He nestled himself better against the wall. "Here, go downstairs and get the water together. I'll coax them all into this room and hold them until you get back."
Wangji floated gracefully back to Lan Wangji's back—still easily available should he need to play the qin again, but not in the way as he went to gather what they needed to liberate the ghosts. Lan Wangji never asked if Wei Wuxian was strong enough to hold them all, no matter how many there ended up being. He simply trusted Wei Wuxian enough to leave.
As he stepped outside the room, Wei Wuxian lifted Chenqing to his lips and began to play.
Oddly enough, he'd only made Chenqing because of his stay at the Cloud Recesses. It had been a short one, certainly, but whenever Wei Wuxian was told that something was impossible to do, he wanted to do it, and whenever he heard that he would never master a skill, he wanted to so thoroughly master it that not even the heavens would doubt him.
Though Yunmeng Jiang was not known for their musical cultivation, Wei Wuxian had always held a fondness for the dizi. After being able to witness the way that the Gusu Lan Sect wielded their instruments, he had begun to experiment with his own ideas, working with various craftsmen to create a spiritual instrument that he could use to test his theories. Solo night-hunts—as this had been, before he met with Lan Zhan—were the perfect opportunity to test his various theories on the redirection of resentful energy.
Through the combination of music and this experimental cultivation of his, he was able to coax the hungry ghosts into materializing—making it much easier to eliminate them should liberation and suppression fail.