Dragons and Demons

‘Stop fighting me and give in. You already allowed me in so you are mine. We merged. Li ChenLan, you can’t escape your fate!’ Wan Jun would enjoy tormenting his host, if only said host would finally honor their pact. Wan Jun had freed and served him, but now Li ChenLan refused to honor their terms!

“No!” He had to fight. Giving in wasn’t an option. He wouldn’t just lose his soul, a price which Li ChenLan didn’t mind paying, but the sword demon would make him kill loved ones and innocents while possessing him. If only he could kill himself and end the madness, but Wan Jun would never allow it. The Inner Demon kept saving him, no matter who hurt him. “I won’t!”

Giving up meant condemning the woman he loved, Lu Zhao Yao, to death and not just her. Wan Jun would go after her first and then the demon would force him to kill A-Rong, Qin ZhiYan, ShiQi, and many others. Maybe Gu Han Yuang and Shen Qian Yu might be able to escape, since they didn’t live in Wu E Hall.

‘You can run, but never hide. Li ChenLan, I am already in your blood,’ Wan Jun kept taunting him and digging his mental claws deeper into the mortal’s soul. So close, he was so close to finally gaining the upper hand.

“No!” Li ChenLan pulled at his hair, trying to fight pain with pain, but the physical discomfort failed to subdue the mental torture that Wan Jun submitted him to. Why did his Inner Demon strike the moment he was to lock himself away in the safe room, which he had established deep in the mountains? Maybe it was exactly for that reason though; maybe Wan Jun feared he might slip away.

‘You are mine! Li ChenLan, your father gave you to me! Did you know that? In order to free himself, he transferred his curse onto you, a newborn, a baby!’ That should push the mortal over the edge!

Li ChenLan’s heart bled. His father hadn’t told him how the Inner Demon had managed to get hold of him as a child, but in his heart, he had always suspected the truth. Only two men had ever managed to rid themselves of their inner demons. One of them had been his father. How? By passing on the curse.

And yet he still loved his father, who had recently returned from the dead. The Demon King had only regained his memories for a short time and Li Xiu might have already forgotten what he had done to his son. How then could he blame his father, knowing how heavy the burden was? Didn’t he carry it himself right now? But the difference between him and Li Xiu was that he would never shift the curse to another person, least of all a newborn.

‘Li ChenLan, you have been mine since you were one day old. You have fought me for decades, but I am bound to win. Accept it.’ Wan Jun breathed his demonic essence into the mortal’s soul, carved his signature in his bones, and branded Li ChenLan’s face by leaving his mark on the human’s skin. ‘Blood red eyes, Li ChenLan. Your eyes reveal what you are, no matter where you go. You are mine, never doubt that.’

ChenLan might not be able to rid himself of the demon, but he could make sure no one else suffered. Why hadn’t he reached the safe room yet? Where was he? Li ChenLan’s vision blurred due to Wan Jun’s influence and made finding his way nearly impossible. In the end, he simply stumbled ahead, no longer caring where he was headed as long as it meant getting away from the demon.

Losing his footing, ChenLan crashed into the wall. He tried steadying himself, his fingers clawing the rock and wondering if he could take Wan Jun by surprise by bashing his head against the stone. His loved ones might not find him in time and he would bleed to death. But no, Wan Jun would save him.

‘Li ChenLan, I know exactly what you are planning, I won’t allow it!’ Racing forward, the demon was ready to hook his claws into the mortal’s soul and body when suddenly…

Gone. Li ChenLan was suddenly gone.

Li ChenLan had vanished the moment the mortal had hit the wall. Wan Jun scanned his surroundings, briefly considering manifesting in his demon/dragon form. Being limited to the Wan Jun sword hampered his search. ‘Where?’ Where had his prey gone? No, his victim couldn’t have disappeared. Not while he was this close!

Enraged, Wan Jun made the cave beneath the mountain shake. Pebbles and dust rose from the floor and fist-sized rocks dropped from the ceiling. No, Li ChenLan wasn’t getting away! The tip of the sword crashed into the rock where Li ChenLan had last stood. Had the mortal managed to spell himself invisible?

But the moment the sword touched the wall, something repelled it, making it jump back. Wan Jun directed the sword toward the wall again and this time he proceeded with caution. The same thing happened and Wan Jun realized the truth; Li ChenLan hadn’t gone invisible.

A strong, but unseen barrier kept the demon from following Li ChenLan wherever his prey had gone. Enraged, Wan Jun propelled the sword forward, trying to force himself a way through the wall, but to no avail. The sword remained suspended in the barrier, turning and twisting, hacking away, but achieving nothing.

‘No!’

This time it was Wan Jun calling out in despair and not Li ChenLan. So close, he had been so close to gaining control and now his puppet had escaped!

//

Losing his balance, ChenLan failed to stay on his feet and fell. The wall had suddenly disappeared, leaving him with no support. Extending his arms, he tried to stop his fall, but he ended up on the ground face first at any rate.

Dazed, he looked about and found that he was still in the cave. The rocky underground had cut the tender skin on his palms, causing him to bleed. He actually welcomed the pain, hoping it would lessen the torment in his mind.

Then he blinked. What? His eyes dashed in their sockets and he wondered why… Why had the pressure inside his head suddenly decreased? A moment ago, Wan Jun had been crushing his skull, driving him insane, and unexpectedly the strain was gone. It wouldn’t last long, it never did, but the reprieve allowed him to take a few deep breaths.

Pressing his back against the rock, ChenLan raised his head and startled. Where he had just stood hovered a fine layer of energy. Behind it, only a shadow, was Wan Jun sword, trying to pierce the barrier and to push through so it could get to him. What kind of barrier was strong enough to momentarily stop the Inner Demon?

His hands automatically went to his head, cradling it. His instinct told him to put more distance between him and the Wan Jun sword, but he was tired, too tired to move much. At the same time, the sword doubled its efforts to push through the energy formation. ChenLan sensed its fury and once it got to him, the mental torture would start all over again. He couldn’t linger here. He had to move instead!

Putting his hands on the uneven floor, ChenLan started crawling. Painstakingly slowly he managed to creep forward, putting several meters between him and the sword. The further away he got, the more his thinking cleared. How long would it take for the Inner Demon to push through the protective barrier and to claim him again? Crawling took a lot of effort and he bit down the pain emanating from his back, The wound the LiuheTianyi Sword had caused continued to exhaust him.

At times the pain, which being struck by lightning had caused, was manageable, but right now it threatened to crush him. Too drained to fight, ChenLan eventually collapsed. He wasn’t as far away from the sword as he would have liked, but maybe the barrier would buy him a few more precious moments of mental freedom.

Reaching out with his right arm, ChenLan tried to crawl forward, only to grow nauseous at the sickening stench of blood, which invaded his airways. Coughing in disgust, he almost turned around. But he couldn’t, that way lay hell. Wan Jun would snatch his soul the moment the Inner Demon broke free. No matter what caused that horrifying smell, he had to continue that way.

An eerie red light shone in the distance. It pulled him close, though he fought that urge. The dense energy was strong though, too strong to resist and it told him to move. A pool, gleaming a demonic red, appeared ominously in front of him. The stench was even worse now and made him retch. ChenLan lay on the cold ground for several minutes, gathering his remaining strength and unwilling to give up.

Everything hurt; his hands, back and head, but remaining where he was, was dangerous. What if Wan Jun destroyed the protective barrier? He had to move! The pool continued to draw him in and he started creeping again. His head spun, his abdomen contracted, and the dry retches almost made him cry. But he wasn’t giving up! He had to increase the distance between the Inner Demon and himself. Although ChenLan was barely conscious, the sudden scream echoing through the cave still registered with him.

“A-Yuan, no! Don’t!”

The urgency in that voice made him lift his head. A-Yuan? Who was that and why…? His eyes widened when a small form appeared, quickly falling toward him. A boy, maybe five or six, must have crawled onto the cave’s ledge, had probably lost his footing, and was now falling. If the boy hit the ground from that height he might die, or if he survived carry away lifelong injuries!

That moment ChenLan didn’t think, he acted instead. He ignored the stabbing pain that traveled up his back, pushed himself to his feet, and prayed he had enough strength left to save that little boy. Lurching forward, he used his last energy reserves to launch himself into the air. He caught the boy, pulled him against his chest, and then curled himself protectively around the child. When they hit the ground he absorbed the impact, using his own body to shield the boy and keep him safe.

“A-Yuan!”

Whoever had called out worried about the child and ChenLan relaxed in spite of the pain spiraling from his back into the rest of his body. Once the man who had called out came for the boy, the child would be safe. ChenLan ended up smashed against a wall, but hardly registered the crash. The boy in his arms was safe, nothing else mattered. “You must be A-Yuan,” he whispered, hoping to comfort the child and to get him to react. “Did you hurt yourself?” The boy, a bit chubby and terribly distraught, stared back at him with big eyes.

A-Yuan, still reeling from shock, shook his head. No, he wasn’t hurt, but he did suffer from guilt. He had been playing on the ledge with his favorite stuffed toy, the dragon that Wei WuXian had given him. Wei WuXian acting like it could talk was A-Yuan’s favorite pastime, but the older man had been busy researching and had asked him to play on his own. A-Yuan had agreed after extracting a promise from Wei WuXian that they would play later.

The ledge was off limits, but A-Yuan loved pretending the dragon could fly, so he had climbed up there, always carefully checking he wasn’t disturbing Wei WuXian, who kept mumbling to himself. Upon the ledge, A-Yuan had extended his arm, holding the stuffed dragon over the rim and pretended it was flying. When he had accidentally dropped the toy, he had tried catching it.

But he had lost his balance, had stumbled, and had then started to fall forward. If only his stuffed toy could really fly, than his dragon could have saved him! But then this gege had appeared and saved him instead. Still reeling from the fall, he clung to his savior. “A-Yuan is fine,” he confirmed, knowing he had made a terrible mistake.

In order to escape being scolded by Wei WuXian, or even worse by Wen Qing, A-Yuan was about to cry to ensure their pity when his savior opened his eyes. They were red; as red as the water in the blood pool. Stunned, he stared into them. Normal children would probably scream or run, but at a young age A-Yuan had learned that not everyone who looked scary was evil. Wen Ning was a fierce corpse and the dark lines running across his skin would send most children running, but A-Yuan loved his Ning-gege, which was why he wasn’t scared looking into those crimson eyes now.

ChenLan cringed the moment the boy started wailing. He was only too familiar with denying any injuries himself and suspected the child was the same. “A-Yuan, where do you hurt?” In his panic, he had forgotten to keep his eyes closed. In the past, his demonic red eyes had vanished once he had calmed down, but lately the change had become permanent. ChenLan hadn’t gotten used to it yet though and kept forgetting his demonic mark now clearly showed for everyone to see.

A-Yuan, although still upset from the fall, stared at the stranger’s eyes and reconsidered his actions. Crying and pretending he was hurt wouldn’t do when his savior was injured. Quickly adapting, he stopped crying and his little hands patted the man’s face. “Are you hurt?” Why was his rescuer bleeding from the eyes? Had the stranger hurt himself because the man had caught him? If that was the case, A-Yuan’s guilt doubled. If only he hadn’t played on that ledge!

“I am fine,” ChenLan quickly reassured the boy. Where was the adult who had called out for A-Yuan? Why wasn’t someone checking on the child? Even more puzzling was A-Yuan reaching out and patting his face as if to check him for injuries. “I really am fine,” he repeated, though he wasn’t. He refused to worry the boy though.

But A-Yuan didn’t believe him. “You are hurt,” he stated quite resolved and turned his head, calling out, “Xian-gege, red-eyed-gege needs help! We need Qing-jiejie to heal him!” Wen Qing was going to make it all better.

“No need to worry about me, A-Yuan. Someone should look you over though.” ChenLan yearned to hand the boy, who was surprisingly heavy, to an adult since he was quickly growing dizzy. His body was shutting down and he suspected he was going to faint shortly. No need to upset the child even more!

Looking about, ChenLan tried locating the man who had called out earlier and promptly stared into a pair of intelligent and inquisitive eyes. “There you are, take him!” But he lacked the strength to lift A-Yuan and to securely place him in the other man’s arms. “Before I hurt him,” escaped him just before exhaustion got the better of him and caused him to lose consciousness.

“Xian-gege, he is hurt. A-Yuan is sorry!” A-Yuan’s little hands grabbed the stranger’s midnight blue robes and held on, hoping the man was going to wake up and reassure him.

Wei WuXian sat on his heels next to the odd pair. When he had caught sight of A-Yuan playing on the ledge, and then falling, his heart had stopped. No matter how fast he reacted, he wouldn’t be able to catch the boy. Then the stranger had appeared, plucking A-Yuan out of mid air and shielding him with his own body. Whoever the man was, he owed him. If Wen Qing found out about his negligence, she would scold him, or even worse, discipline him.

“A-Yuan, are you hurt?” Wei WuXian didn’t think so. The boy was crying, but not because he was in pain. Wei WuXian suspected little A-Yuan mostly suffered from a guilty conscience.

“A-Yuan is fine, but red-eyed-gege isn’t. You must help!” His hold on the blue robes tightened. A-Yuan gave Wei WuXian that certain look; a look which always got him what he wanted. “Xian-gege needs to take care of him!” Had A-Yuan been older, he would have done so himself. This stranger had saved him after all.

“Wen Ning, we need your sister in here,” Wei WuXian called out, knowing Wen Ning would easily hear him regardless of the younger man’s whereabouts. Eager to reassure A-Yuan, Wei WuXian smiled while at the same time loosening the boy’s hold on the blue robes. “See? Qing-jiejie will arrive shortly and when she does she needs space to work in. You can’t be in the way, so let go. I promise to take care of your red-eyed-gege.” But until Wen Qing arrived, it was up to him to look after these two. “A-Yuan, don’t you want to move into my arms instead?” He had to convince the boy to let go of his savior.

“No, A-Yuan needs to take care of red-eyed-gege until Qing-jiejie arrives.” The man had saved him and had been worried about him. Even at this young age, A-Yuan felt the need to reciprocate.

Unwilling to upset the boy further, Wei WuXian allowed it. While waiting for Wen Qing to arrive, he studied the stranger. A-Yuan was right; those lines, deeply etched into the man’s forehead, spoke of pain. A-Yuan had called his savior red-eyed-gege, which seemed fitting. Those red eyes had startled Wei WuXian at first, but the other man’s actions quickly reassured him.

No demon would save a child at risk of injuring himself. Neither would a demonic entity worry about A-Yuan’s wellbeing. Wei WuXian was an excellent judge of character. Whoever this man was, the stranger didn’t present a danger to them, least of all to A-Yuan.

The odd red and blue marks on either side of the injured man’s face presented him with a riddle, one which Wei WuXian fully intended to solve.