Chapter Three

"There is a lot of resentment here." Wei Yingyue murmured, flying alongside the Lan Clan Member. He nodded and they pulled out their instruments, though Lan Zhan began to make the notes for halting any further attacks of the evil creatures. They came to a stop as they hovered above the disciples, Wei Yue's eyes looking over the scene below her. Lan Sizhui had blood on his face, the other disciples standing beside him. The corpses that seemed to be the problem stood still, not moving as the two cultivators came to a halt in the air. Lan SiZhui wiped the blood off his face and raised his head, happily staring up at them.

"HanGuang-Jun! Lady Wei!" He called in a joyous tone. Lan Zhan began to play his guqin, the pitch of his instrument causing the corpses to cover their ears with their right hand. Wei Yue brought her xiao to her lips, playing the Eradication Tone with Lan Zhan, her eyes not leaving the monster's forms. The sound of something falling to the ground drew her eyes away, the multi-colored orbs landing on an arm that had flinching fingers, unable to move after using so much energy.

Once everything calmed down with the corpses, the arm, and the young disciples cheering due to their reinforcements finally arriving, Lan Zhan and Wei Yingyue made their way down. Wei Yue frowned as she saw that the disciples had lost their coats, shaking her head as she patted a cloth over Lan Sizhui's face, cleaning off the blood. She got as much as she could off before letting him go report to Lan Zhan, her eyes turning to Lan Jingyi. He looked up at her as she crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow as she tugged at the sleeve of her own jacket.

"Jiejie, we took them off and destroyed them to defeat that demonic arm. There is this lunatic that lives here, he kicked me in front of Sizhui when he was attacked and the demonic hand grabbed my jacket. It caught on fire, so we took off our jackets and covered the arm." He explained, she sighed before grabbing his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" She asked, he smiled and nodded as she patted his cheek lightly, letting the boy lean into her lightly as they turned when Lan Zhan and Ah-Yuan came over.

"Let's go." She nodded at Lan Zhan's order, following behind him as they began to leave. The disciples followed behind Wei Yue as she walked behind Lan Zhan, though Lan Sizhui was walking beside the female cultivator.

"Jiejie, HanGuang-Jun said you were worried when you saw the signal." He said to her, she only looked forwards as she walked. Lan Sizhui smiled as he hugged the woman's arm, clinging to her until she smiled. "I'm sorry, Yingyue-jie." He whispered, pouting gently. The girl smiled and nodded once before patting his head.

"I'm just glad you're safe." Was all she said before walking forwards, coming into step with Lan Zhan while the disciples followed closely behind. The small group continued walking when Lan Zhan grabbed Wei Yue's arm, jerking her back just as a deity-binding net jerked up from where her foot had been.

"Jiejie!" The disciples stopped moving when Lan Zhan shot them a look, turning his cold eyes to look at her. She returned his gaze and nodded, straightening as he let go of his tight hold on her arm. Lan Zhan looked around before walking forwards, though Wei Yue stayed back as she watched the younger boys. "Jiejie, what's wrong?" Jingyi asked, him and Sizhui walking forwards slightly.

"Someone is hunting tonight without considering others safety." Wei Yue held both her arms back while stepping backward, moving her and the disciples just as Bichen sliced through the air, cutting down multiple nets before returning to the owner further up the path. Wei Yingyue waved the younger cultivators to follow her and she led them forwards, following Lan Zhan's previous path. The sound of steel meeting steel made Wei Yue wince, though she rushed forwards to see Lan Zhan standing in front of some man. The man looked up at her when he moved away from Lan Zhan's boots lightly, his mouth opening in a shocked expression when his eyes met hers.

"And I was wondering who it was. So, it is you, Second Young Master Lan." Wei Yingyue froze at the sound of this voice, her fist clenching as she tore her eyes away from the man on the ground. "It is, of course, you as well. How have you been since your exile, Wei Yingyue?" The girl's eyes narrowed as she looked at Jiang Cheng, her fingernails biting into her palms as she stood in front of the juniors.

Wei Wuxian's P.O.V.

Wei Wuxian never thought he'd see his little sister ever again. Part of him wanted to get up, to tell her he was back. The other part wanted to stay hidden after hearing all of the things people said about him. The last thing Wei Ying wanted to do was bring his little sister down further than he already had in the past. As he looked into her eyes, all he could do was marvel in how much she had changed these past few years. Her eyes were colder, her face more serious than it had been when he was alive. "She kind of looks like Lan Zhan." He joked in his head, only to take in the clothes she was wearing. "Oh, she is definitely the female Lan Zhan." He teased silently when something called out caught his attention.

"How have you been since your exile, Wei Yingyue?" This sentence that came out of Jiang Cheng's mouth made Wei Wuxian freeze. He looked between the two male cultivators and noticed the tension between them, but then there was hatred between Jiang Cheng and his sister. His little sister's hand was clenched to the point where he noticed her knuckles had become white, her eyes narrowed into a glare as she averted her eyes away from the younger man. "HanGuang-Jun, you and Wei Yue sure live up to the reputation of "being wherever the chaos is". So, you had time to come to this remote area today?" Jiang Cheng asked, his head tilted slightly as he looked between the two. Wei Wuxian watched the three cultivators, though his eyes snapped towards a junior when he spoke.

"Isn't Sect Leader Jiang here as well?" He asked. This junior stood close behind Wei Ying's sister, him and another had moved closer after Jiang Cheng had mentioned Wei Yue's exile.

"Do you really think that you should butt in when your seniors are conversing. The GusuLan Sect has always been known for its respectful conduct. Is this really how it teaches its disciples?" Jiang Cheng asked with a tisk. Wei Yue turned towards the junior who had spoken, the boy pursed his lips at her stare as the other, who had received a look from Lan Zhan, turned and told the juniors to converse by themselves. After they moved, he stepped up beside Wei Yue and began to speak.

"Young Master Jin, night-hunts have always been fair competition amongst the different clans and sects. However, to set up nets all over Dafan Mountain is clearly hindering the cultivators, causing them to fall into traps. Is this or is this not against the rules of night-hunts?" He asked gently. Wei Wuxian noticed the small twitch of his sister's lips as her head lifted, prideful of this young junior's words.

"What can I do? It was their own fault for stepping into the traps. I'll solve everything after I finish capturing the prey." Lan Wangji frowned at these words, and when the young master went to try to speak again, he couldn't due to a silencing spell gifted to him by Lan Wangji.