Chp 14. Lost

LOST

They had left early that morning from Gusu and had elected to travel by sword.

It had taken Huang Jin most of the morning to get the hang of it. Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian stayed back with her and gave her pointers, until she had figured it out, and could keep up with the rest of them.

Huang Jin had gotten terrible sleep, yet again. Her entire body felt like she had been hit by a sack of bricks. She was so unbelievably tired. Made especially worse because she was having to use most of her spiritual power just to propel her sword forward through the air.

This just wasn't going to be her day either, was it...

She had spent most of the morning trying to avoid everyone's eye contact, and told everyone that asked that she was fine. Throwing up a fake smile every time they stopped to rest.

She didn't care if they believed her or not. She just wanted to be left alone. Her irritation at everyones concern was almost visible on her skin, only made worse by the fact that Jiang Cheng had been watching her the whole day.

It may have been fun, if she hadn't already been annoyed at her lack of control. She would have teased him, or joked around with him, but she had to concentrate and focus just to keep her sword stable enough for her to ride it. It had taken everything she had to keep the swirling mist of resentful energy from being visible.

Breathe, Huang Jin. You can do this.

They had stopped several times throughout their journey. At a small well, or a passing river to rest, but the group of cultivators all traveled quickly.

They made it to the outskirts of Yunmeng just as the sun was just setting, and stopped at the first small village they could find that had a large enough inn to house them all.

They all immediately began to unpack, and order food from the innkeeper. The younger disciples stayed downstairs to ready everyone's tables for dinner and talk amongst themselves, while the elders went upstairs to unpack and relax before dinner.

Huang Jin had only barely closed the door to her room when she felt a heavy presence behind her in the hallway. The hairs on the back of her neck rose and a brush of resentful energy crept up her spine. When she whirled around, there was nothing there.

Huang Jin…get a hold of yourself…there's nothing there, it's all in your head.

Her heavy eyelids pulled at her, and she shook her head. She leaned against the door, closing her eyes, and tilting her head back, breathing in deeply, trying to focus her control.

I can't keep doing this. I need to get this under control.…Her mind raced as she tried to keep the energy from overwhelming her. The swirling mist began to seep from her skin.

She wasn't going to be able to last the night. She had to set the plan in motion. A tear slid down her cheek as she lamented.

A voice from her right spoke into the silence, "You are losing it." Her eyes flew open and she looked into the eyes of Wei Wuxian, standing at the end of the hallway. His eyes showed only concern.

Huang Jin choked on the tears she held back, and she lowered her head. She really was going to miss them. She needed this plan to work.

She knew that with the spirit flag symbols written on her, and with the amount of energy she was holding inside her, she knew it would attract the demon. She knew she could use this terrible curse given to her, for some type of good...

She looked back at him, and her face was the beautifully gentle smile she normally wore. "Yea...that's an understatement my friend. Can we go somewhere else please, I don't know how much longer I will be able to control it." Her face lowered, her control over the powerful amount of energy beginning to slip once again.

Wei Wuxian smiled and walked over to her, putting one hand on her shoulder.

"Yea it looks like it. Let's go, we will figure something out." Wei Wuxian said, waiting for her to look up.

Huang Jin breathed in a few breaths, still frantically trying to hold her emotions in check.

The intense aura around her, and an intense fog in the air around her was completely visible now, swirling in an invisible breeze. She looked up, a sad smile in her face, moving to follow him. He turned and went down the stairs of the inn and out the doors into the forest. Every cultivators' eyes were on them as they left without saying a word.

Huang Jin followed Wei Wuxian into the forest and walked with him in silence.

Every step felt like she had taken a thousand, and the farther they got, the more her mind whirled. She wasn't even trying to focus anymore.

The aura around her, now thick, a whirling fog around her. She had to get farther away. She had to make sure that no one would get hurt once she finally let go.

Huang Jin rubbed her chest absentmindedly, as she began to feel the energy start to seep from her pores, and the black mist curled around her.

Her hand stilled as she remembered the painted symbols she had drawn on her skin underneath. Please, please let this work. She would only have one shot at trying to lure the demon. She needed to let off enough energy to attract it.

Huang Jin stumbled, her legs began to feel like they had lead weights tied to them. She clutched her chest, in pain.

The swirling mass of resentful energy she had been obviously holding back now plain as day. It felt like a tidal wave of raw intense energy that was oozing out from her.

She wouldn't have much more time. She knew she had to do it now.

Her eyes were glowing red and she stopped midstep. Her heart raced as she looked around, making sure they were far enough away from the town.

Huang Jin collapsed to the ground, her voice choked, "Wei Ying, I'm sorry...you should run now…Go!"

Wei Wuxian's eyes widened in shock as he saw Huang Jin collapse to her knees. Her eyes were rolled back into her head, and he could see the immense pain, plain as day on her face. He knew he wasn't going to run, but his mind raced trying to think what to do.

Her vision had gone red, and the last bit of control she had, vanished. All she felt and heard, was the hundreds of screaming voices suddenly filling her mind. She was in agony.

It felt like she could feel every, single, soul, screaming in her mind, and she couldn't stop any of it. The resentful energy she had been trying to hold back for weeks, seemed to explode all around her. A swirling black mass of thick fog surrounded the entire area.

"Wei Ying." Lan Zhan's voice cut into the stirring dense fog of mist. He held his hands over the floating white guqin in front of him, the white tassel tied to the end, tossing wildly in the unseen wind.

Wei Wuxian smiled fiercely, his hands immediately reached for the flute at his waist, and he twirled it in his fingers as he brought it to his lips. Of course he was here as well, always showing up to the trouble. Wei Wuxian thought gratefully.

They both began to play together. Their notes playing off of each other's spiritual energy. The swirling fog of negative energy began to grow even thicker the minute they had started to play.

It felt like an intense hand was trying to constrict around them, as they fought to control the growing resentful energy that was spewing from Huang Jin's body.

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Her mind had blanked the moment her knees hit the ground. She couldn't see, but she could feel a dense aura move in the fog.

Oh my god it worked…She thought to herself.

She had felt it earlier when they had first arrived at the small village. The evil presence had been following them ever since they had stopped at a small well on the outskirts of Yunmeng. She had felt it sense the spirit flag. But she needed to make herself more tempting.

The rest of the time they had traveled that day, she had been trying to build the amount of resentful energy in her, so that when she finally let it go, the demon wouldn't be able to pass it up. After all, the demon needed a powerful soul in order to maintain its existence on this plane.

As she knelt on the ground, she felt the strength of the evil presence in the swirling fog, and she knew instantly that she was in trouble. Warning bells were going off in her mind. She wanted to run…

Huang Jin's eyes went wide in shock as she felt the sinking cold feeling spread across her entire mind, body, and soul as the evil thing used the cover of the dense fog to cling to her, and begin to possess her.

All she could feel was pain and sorrow. God I hope I have enough strength to do this, was the last thing her mind registered before the demon took over, and darkness set in

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Neither of the men noticed the evil spirit dissolve into the dense fog, and latch itself onto Huang Jin's form. They could only see the energy begin to grow, and the intensity seemed to peek, as an invisible wind caused the fog to shift and swirl.

Lan Zhan and Wei Wuxian poured their spiritual energy into every note they played, it had been only minutes but it had felt like decades.

A sudden scream pierced the air as it erupted from Huang Jin's throat, her eyes glowed brilliant red and her arms extended, her face contorted in pain.

Time seemed to stand still, all the swirling mist seemed to freeze in mid air.

With a sudden shift, the mist exploded outwards. The amount of energy was massive, Lan Zhan and Wei Wuxian were knocked backwards with the force. The both of them coughed, and spat up blood as they sat up and quickly struggled to get up. They stared at the unconscious form of Huang Jin lying sprawled on the ground, shock etched onto their faces.

Wei Wuxian was pale, his eyes fixed on her. The amount of resentful energy had rivaled his own when he had lost control at Nightless city. Maybe even more, Wei Wuxian thought to himself. Had she lost it completely?

They both had seen the glowing red eyes…Had she just become corrupted? Had they been able to control the resentful energy quick enough, to stop her from becoming corrupted?

Lan Zhan and him both got up slowly. Both of them were coughing up more blood as they gingerly stood up.

Neither would admit it but, they had been injured by the massive amount of energy that had exploded from Huang Jin. It had taken quite a bit of their own energy to block the brunt of the blast.

They walked over to where Huang Jin lay. Her face was ghostly white. Wei Wuxian held his hand out to test the air around her.

Something still wasn't right. There was still an evil aura in the air that wasn't like what Huang Jin normally had. He kneeled down and opened one of her eyelids. It was ghostly white as well. His heart sunk.

He raced to pick her up, as he noticed the blood begin to pour from her mouth. Oh god. She is hurt badly.

Lan Zhan and Wei Wuxian raced back to the inn.

The door flew open to the inn, as Wei Wuxian and Lan Zhan kicked it open. Their faces screwed up in intense concentration, and worry, as they carried the unconscious form of Huang Jin inside, and immediately went upstairs.Everyone in the room stared in shocked silence.

Jiang Cheng was the first to stand in alarm, followed by Lan Xichen, Sizihui, Jingyi, and Jin Ling.

"Wei Ying!?" Jiang Cheng exclaimed and rushed to follow. Lan Xichen on his heels.

Xichen turned and held his hand up to stop the rest of anyone following "Just wait. We will call down if we need assistance."

Wei Wuxian set Huang Jin down on the bed carefully. Both stared down at her in concern. She was breathing shallowly a cold sweat on her forehead.

Lan Zhan sat down on the bed next to her, placing his fingers on her wrist, and feeling for her spiritual energy.

Her core was still there, but it was a faint glow compared to her usual amount. She hadn't become completely corrupted.

She looked like a ghost. Wei Wuxian thought. He began to rub his chest as he replayed what had happened through his head, trying to figure out what to do.

"Wei Ying. I don't know what we are going to do with her." Lan Zhan's eyes looked concerned as he stared down at Huang Jin. "She has no control of it. If we had not been there, I am afraid that she would have become corrupted." The sadness in Lan Zhan's voice was evident.

Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen walked in just at that moment, and had heard Lan Zhan.

Lan Xichen looked incredibly somber.

Jiang Cheng's face was a mixture of shock and anger.

"Lan Zhan, Wei Ying, what happened?" Lan Xichen asked.

Lan Zhan and Wei Ying looked at each other, the worry evident on both of their faces. Wei Wuxian sighed loudly, and began to rub the back of his head, turning to face his brother and Lan Xichen.

He couldn't meet their eyes. "I told you both that she has a unique ability to control resentful energy" He sighed audibly. "Well, I don't know if either of you have noticed, but she seems to have the ability to control it using some type of Yin Iron. Lan Zhan and I don't think she actually knows that it is yin iron, but we have been trying to figure out how to address it for a few days now."

Lan Zhan looked at Lan Xichen and nodded in confirmation, his face forlorn.

"We both had been teaching her how to control it better using her spiritual cognition but…" Wei Wuxian looked at Jiang Cheng. His brother's face was a mixture of shock and sorrow.

"Over the last few days she began to have a harder and harder time of controlling it. We saw her almost lose control a few times." Wei Wuxian pleaded for them to understand, "Her soul is pure; she should have never come this close to becoming corrupted. There must be some reason…"

Jiang Cheng's face fell completely, and his shoulders slumped. He began to walk towards the bed, his eyes never leaving Huang Jin's face as he sat down next to her.

Everyone in the room stood silent as they all took in what they had heard.

Lan Xichen looked again at Lan Zhan and was the first to speak "Is it possible for her not to have become corrupted and still show the same amount of power you spoke of?"

Everyone knew Lan Zhan would never tell a lie. Lan Zhan didn't say anything for a few moments before finally saying, "It is possible."

Just at that moment a loud cry came from outside."Oh my god! Please…please, help...someone killed my husband and my son!!!!" A freezing chill seemed to fill the air, and a wind swept through the room, almost having been called through the window by an invisible force.

Wei Wuxian, Lan Zhan, and Lan Xichen immediately went to investigate outside, and they all dashed down the hallway and down the stairs.

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Jiang Cheng had stayed back. His mind had gone blank the moment he had heard Wei Wuxian explain what happened. His heart felt torn open. He had felt as if it had been ripped to shreds, as he looked down at Huang Jin's sheet white face. A small trail of blood leaking from the side of her mouth.

"You don't deserve to be in this much pain." he said, his voice barely audible.

She didn't deserve to have her body ravaged by whatever it was that was tearing her soul apart piece by piece. He had felt the resentful energy building in her when he had fought her, and he did nothing but make it worse. He had hurt her and had made her use up her spiritual energy.

At the time he didn't care, but if he knew that she had been fighting this inner battle with Yin Iron inside her. He would have never acted so harsh.

He would have never been so reckless as to force her to use up all her reserves when they had fought the day before. He knew that when Wei Wuxian had lost control in Nightless city it was because he had used all up his spiritual energy.

She could have used demonic cultivation to have beaten him. She had known she could have, and she purposely chose not to. She hadn't used the resentful energy she so easily could have used and she held back. She had been so nice and kind to him and he...He had almost caused her to die.

A freezing cold icy hand landed on his arm at that moment and his eyes locked with the glowing red eyes below him. A voice that sounded infinitely different than Huang Jin's seemed to hiss into his ear."Why do you look so sad…"

The hauntingly beautiful face that looked like Huang Jin's, was formed into an evil sneer. The hand on his arm tightened into a vice like grip. Jiang Cheng's mind tried to make sense of what was going on, but before he knew it he was thrown onto the bed with such a powerful force that it knocked the wind out of him.

The power behind it was nothing like Huang Jin's. This was on a whole different level.

Jiang Cheng stared into the glowing set of eyes that took up his whole vision. Huang Jin had rolled on top of him, and had straddled his torso and her arms held his wrists above his head. The bewitching face inches from his own.

He instantly began to struggle, his sword clenched in his hand, zidian on his wrist sparking weakly. The power behind her arms was like nothing he had ever felt. He couldn't move and zidian wasn't responding.

Where their bodies touched should have felt like fire to Jiang Cheng. He had fantasized something very similar just within the last day. But all he felt was an icy cold chill that seemed to suck the warmth from where her body made contact with his.

Huang Jin's body leaned down to his ear and whispered evily "I know what you want...I can ssssssmell it on you. Do you like this woman?" The demon asked through Huang Jin's lips.

Loud footsteps began to be heard coming up the stairway and Jiang Cheng called out "WATCH OUT THE DEMON IS HERE! It has possessed Huang Jin!"

The demon looked over suddenly and sneered through smiling lips. A swirling mist of black seemed to form in front of the doorway, sealing it just as Wei Wuxian, Lan Zhan, and Xichen's forms tried to enter.

The barrier Huang Jin had thrown up was strong and it seemed to crackle in intensity as the cultivators behind it began to try and break it.

Huang Jin hissed at the cultivators trying to break through. The demon inside her mind knew it wouldn't have much time. Those damn cultivators hacking at her barrier were strong.

The demon inside her was frustrated. She had spent the past day tracking this woman and she had just begun to play with her and now this…Huang Jin laughed a hauntingly beautiful laugh that made all the hairs on everyone's necks perk up.

Huang Jin's eyes glowed even brighter red as she turned back to look at Jiang Cheng below it. "Fine, since I don't have much time now. My sisters have already eaten, and you seem as good a snack as any…pity I won't be able to take my time though." Huang Jin leaned down and licked his jaw sensually, and Jiang Cheng choked in disgust.

"Disgusting." He said, turning his head to try and get away from Huang Jin. He was struggling to move underneath her, but she was far more powerful and had pinned him where he lay.

The men behind the barrier were frantically trying to get through, and the cries of "Jiang Cheng!" could be heard like a soft echo in the room.

The demon laughed an evil laugh and began to lower her head as if to bite Jiang Cheng.

Huang Jin had been trying to fight the demon inside her mind.

It was as if she could barely see through a murky hole. She could only make out fuzzy objects as she tried to clear her head. She willed her core to do something.The tiny fire from her golden core was a tiny wisp of smoke.

All she needed to do was to light it. She felt so trapped. So alone. She just wanted to feel something again. She felt so tired though, and the evil voice in her head had felt so good.

She felt like she was floating in a vast black expanse of water.

It had felt so good to just finally release all of what she had been feeling. The screaming in her head had stopped, the pain had stopped, and a tiny set of dark oozing hands had wrapped around her golden heart and held it just perfectly.

She never wanted to leave, it felt so right.

Out of the darkness she could hear a single word that shattered the calm of the water she had been drifting in, and her consciousness came crashing back.

"Huang Jin." Jiang Cheng choked out his voice filled with the sound of heartbreak.

The demon's body suddenly stilled.

She could feel herself gripping Jiang Cheng's arms, and smell his scent inches from her face. It seemed to fill her very being. She breathed in trying to use that as something to keep her mind from splitting. Her golden core suddenly came alive and her eyes locked with Jiang Cheng's as she raised her head to look into his face.

She stared down into the piercing grey eyes that were filled with tears that leaked down the side of his face. Her glowing emerald eyes seemed to light up his face in a pale golden glow.

Her beautiful gentle smile on her face, she choked "I'm sorry."

She could feel the demon inside her already trying to consume her and gain control of her body once more. She didn't have any time. She needed to activate the seal.

She gripped his arms and using all the strength in her body she tucked and rolled across Jiang Cheng, throwing him towards the barrier, and right through it.

She realized that was probably going to hurt a lot but it was all she could do as she fought with every ounce of strength she had left to fight the demon from trying to possess her soul once again.

Jiang Cheng's body hit the barrier and the barrier exploded with the force of Huang Jin's throw. The demon's power still coursed through her tiny frame, and aided the powerful throw.

Jiang Cheng landed unscrupulously in the arms of Wei Ying and Lan Zhan who were just behind the barrier trying to get in. Their bodies cushioning his fall.

Jiang Cheng began to cough up a massive amount of blood. His eyes though had not left hers, shock and pain plastered across his face.

"Huang Jin, no!" Jiang Cheng yelled blood dribbling down his chin, his face filled with sorrow.

Her heart warmed as she took comfort that he would be ok.

Her eyes began to flicker between red and gold as the control she had waned, the demon's power beginning to overwhelm her fierce desire to protect the men before her. She had to hold the demon long enough to activate the seal below her, and use every ounce of energy she had, coupled with the yin iron in her veins, to suppress it using Wei Wuxian's fourth way.

She only had one shot at this. She thought. Please work.

She smiled gently at Jiang Cheng trying to memorize his face. He really was gorgeous she thought, as she gathered every single ounce of remaining spiritual energy she had, and poured it into herself.

All the men could do was watch as her entire body began to glow in an ethereal golden light, as she used the yin iron within her to amplify everything she had. It happened so fast. "Xichen…NOW!" Huang Jin screamed and the bed underneath her exploded as a seal was activated underneath.

The energy that it released was overwhelming. It tore through the room as if there was a tornado. Her body was one solid piece of light, as the seal seemed to be throwing off waves of golden energy. Multiple sets of arms and hands seemed to come from out her back as she stood floating on the tips of her toes.

The seal started to flicker as the demon's voice spoke from Huang Jin's mouth. "You dare to try and capture me." An evil laugh seemed to echo around the room.

Huang Jin's body then began to flicker as the demon began to fight the seal they had activated.

Huang Jin's clothes were torn and Jiang Cheng began to be able to see her skin again through the intense gold glow, but it was slowly dimming away as the demon fought to escape. Her skin was covered in red painted symbols.

Dark crimson blood began dripping out both sides of her mouth and her eyes. It looked like she was crying blood. Her body was beginning to fail. The power inside her tearing her apart from the inside.The seal was causing the demon unbelievable amounts of pain as it's design acted as a cleansing of a demonic spirit.

It was tearing its host's body apart at the same time. "Fine, you want her so bad you can have her." The demon snarled and the whole room stilled instantly and the golden light vanished, replaced by whirling black fog.

Time seemed to stand still.

Huang Jin's body lay on the floor. It had fallen to the ground in a crumpled heap the second the light vanished. Her mind was foggy, barely clinging to consciousness.

All she could see was the blazing red eyes staring directly at her, a voice filling her mind seemed to float around in her consciousness.

"I will return for you delicious soul my dear. Just you wait. The yin iron in your vein calls to me, and I will have my fill." She felt the demon's energy leave the room in a giant rush of energy.

She didn't move. She felt so tired. Her body was dead tired. She just wanted to sleep, forever.

"Huang Jin!" she heard through the darkness. It was a beautiful mixture of familiar voices. One voice stood out in particular, Jiang Cheng.

Her heart beat hard and it was the last thing she remembered before her mind and body went dark.