As soon as Wei Wuxian took his first breath of the air inside the Xuanwu of Slaughter's shell he gagged. He remembered thinking it was one of the worst things he had ever smelled, but over time the memory had lost its edge and Wei Wuxian himself sometimes wondered if he hadn't exaggerated the experience. He was wrong. It was worse than he remembered. He wasn't even sure he had the words to describe it.

It was a putrid stench, like vomit and rotting meat. It didn't just fill the air, it was the air. The air itself was thick with it. The humidity made it feel like he was drinking the foul combination with every breath. He had to take shallow breaths to try and limit the feeling of something sliding down his throat. Truly this was the most disgusting place on earth. Burial Mounds might be full of rotting corpses and resentful energy, but at least the stench didn't cling to your skin and slide down your throat like you were drinking it from the air.

Wei Wuxian was wading through knee deep fluid as he began his search for the sword he knew was here somewhere. It wasn't as though there were any landmarks to guide him. His talisman was providing him with a dim light that reflected off of the murky viscous liquid. He did not want to contemplate what it was. It was thick like syrup, but with the humanoid lumps floating in it, casting odd shadows, Wei Wuxian could not even try to pretend it was something as innocuous as cold honey. Especially not when it was cloudy and opaque. With his light source he could not be certain of the colour, but he had a sneaky suspicion that it might be some sickly shade of pink or red. Something fleshy, like the soft meat under his feet, another thing he was trying very hard not to think about.

As he moved forward the temperature seemed to drop. The damp putrid air seemed to congeal against his skin with the cold. It was a cold Wei Wuxian was intimately familiar with. Resentful energy carried a certain bite to it, it was sharper than even the coldest winter. Wei Wuxian knew he was getting closer to the sword he was looking for.

Wei Wuxian could feel the first whispers scratching at the edge of his consciousness. It was more of a sensation than a sound. Something scratchy and uncomfortable that poked and tugged at his senses. By the time Wei Wuxian saw the sword his ears were filled with wispy unintelligible voices. He had not been able to hear this last time, but Wei Wuxian already knew why. Last time he was not a demonic cultivator yet.

Practising demonic cultivation made Wei Wuxian more sensitive to resentful energy. It was both good and bad. It was useful in his cultivation and night hunting to have this increased awareness of resentful energy, but this sensitivity brought a few unpleasant traits with it. As the whispering began to grow into shouts and screams Wei Wuxian grimaced. It was like standing in a thunderstorm, the wind itself so loud that drowned out everything else. Except this wind was made of screams and shouts, unintelligible but ceaseless.

With a grimace Wei Wuxian did his best to ignore the lightheaded-ness brought on by the painful screaming. With a deep breath to brace himself, Wei Wuxian gripped the sword and drew it out. The resentful energy in the sword eagerly flooded through Wei Wuxian. Even with his control and experience it felt like a rusty blade was being dragged along his nerve endings. Wei Wuxian stifled a groan and bit his lip hard enough to draw blood.

'No!' The thought was a mental shout piercing through the resentful energy's noise. The amount of resentful energy in the sword was tremendous. This was not the Yin Hufu, not yet anyway. This was just the raw material, metal soaked in resentful energy. Eventually this would be a tool that could store and channel resentful energy, enough energy to command thousands of fierce corpses. Wei Wuxian focused on containing the resentment it exuded.

A sudden shiver of dread ran down Wei Wuxian's spine and he immediately spun around. The Xuanwu of Slaughter had found him. The large snake-like head opened its jaws and snapped at Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian jumped back, a little too slow. He had become distracted trying to rain in the resentful energy in the sword, and had forgotten to pay attention to the impending danger he knew was coming. A fang as big as Wei Wuxian's arm snagged on his robes and Wei Wuxian found himself being yanked backwards at a bone breaking speed.

Fighting such a large creature was not an easy task. Especially not when it had a hide thick enough to deflect swords and arrows alike. There were honestly only two options of attack as far as Wei Wuxian could tell. The thinner section of hide on its neck, or an internal attack. Lan Wangji was best equipped to target the vulnerable section of neck, and Wei Wuxian's main job was to expose that vulnerability.

This is what Wei Wuxian focused on as he dodged teeth and slashed recklessly at the roof of a slick cavernous mouth. Wei Wuxian felt himself falling backwards. He mobilized all his strength slamming the tip of the sword into the flesh of the large throat that was trying to rush him to his death.

"Wei Ying!" Wei Wuxian distantly heard Lan Wangji's voice.

Wei Wuxian grimaced. His eyes flashed a glowing red, energy crackling in the air around him. Wei Wuxian commanded the resentful energy and his world vibrated loudly. The Xuanwu of Slaughter howled. It was beyond deafening. The sheer volume echoing around him felt like it was physically battering his body as it assaulted his senses. Wei Wuxian's entire body jolted with a fierce impact. Wei Wuxian held on tightly to the sword. He could not let go. He could not fail. He made a promise.

Wei Wuxian felt like he was drifting. Everything was dark. Wei Wuxian felt like his entire body was still vibrating with the violent tremors of the Xuanwu of Slaughter thrashing and screaming. Something grabbed him. Reflexively, Wei Wuxian began to try and fight his way out of the grip. He couldn't give up. He promised Lan Wangji he wouldn't die. Something pressed against his mouth. Wei Wuxian struggled harder to get away. His lips were pried open. A warm tongue and hot breath invaded his senses.

'Warm. Familiar.' Wei Wuxian stopped struggling. He was being pulled onto a hard surface. The air hit Wei Wuxian's wet clothes and suddenly Wei Wuxian could feel how cold he was. His body began to shiver uncontrollably.

"Wei Ying!" Lan Wangji's voice sounded muffled and far away. Warm hands were cupped Wei Wuxian's cheeks.

"Lan Zhan, is it dead?" Wei Wuxian asked between chattering teeth. He thought he heard Lan Wangji hum and affirmative, but it sounded so quiet Wei Wuxian wasn't sure he didn't imagine it. The warm hands cupping his face disappeared and Wei Wuxian tried to open his eyes to see what had happened.

"Lan Zhan?" Wei Wuxian called. There was an uncomfortable ringing in Wei Wuxian's ears. It made his head hurt. He didn't understand why everything else was so quiet.

"Lan Zhan?" Why wasn't Lan Wangji answering? Wei Wuxian tried to look through the darkness to find Lan Wangji's white robes. He tried to sit up to look around, but his head disagreed, spinning dangerously in complaint. Light suddenly assaulted Wei Wuxian's eyes. The bright orange and yellows of flames made sense, but it seemed far too intense. The light hurt his eyes. Wei Wuxian just barely saw a flurry of something white moving before he closed his eyes, against the pain.

"Lan Zhan?" Wei Wuxian was feeling panicked. Even though the white blur had probably been Lan Wangji, he wanted to hear Lan Wangji's voice. He wanted to hear confirmation that Lan Wangji was okay, and the monster was dead. Wei Wuxian still couldn't hear anything over the horrible ringing sound. Even though his head was pounding and was still shivering uncontrollably, Wei Wuxian tried to push himself up so he could go towards Lan Wangji.

He pushed himself up onto his knees to stand, but immediately fell. He expected to feel the pain of hitting the stone floor, but no such pain came. Strong arms caught him and he was pulled against a warm chest. Wei Wuxian gripped Lan Wangji's robes tightly. With his face pressed against Lan Wangji's chest he felt a subtle vibration as if Lan Wangji was speaking, but the ringing was too loud.

"Lan Zhan, my ears hurt." Wei Wuxian mumbled. He felt warm caress his cheeks and neck, like something was being wiped away. Wei Wuxian felt something round pressed against his lips.

"Wei Yi... Medici..." The sounds were hard to make out through the ringing. It sounded like Lan Wangji was mumbling.

Wei Wuxian opened his mouth and swallowed the pill Lan Wangji was practically forcing on him. Wei Wuxian wanted to ask Lan Wangji more questions, but his shivering was getting worse, and his head was pounding. His breath hitched as warmth suddenly began to flow into his body. Wei Wuxian would recognize this sensation anywhere, Lan Wangji was transferring spiritual energy. Wei Wuxian wanted to protest that Lan Wangji shouldn't exhaust himself. Wei Wuxian had felt worse than this. He'd be fine.

Wei Wuxian felt the gentle tug of fingers detangling his hair, gently scratching against his scalp soothingly. Wei Wuxian moaned as he melted against Lan Wangji's warm chest. He was weak to the sensation and the warm affectionate feeling it filled him with. Lan Wangji knew him too well. Protests died before Wei Wuxian could even string them together. The warm spiritual energy began circulating from the points of contact through his body.

The ringing finally began to quiet a little, and soon Wei Wuxian could hear a soft melody being hummed into his ear. Lan Wangji's voice vibrated from his chest and the combination was so soothing that Wei Wuxian couldn't hold back from letting the last tension dissolve. His mind emptied of everything else. Nothing existed beyond the gentle touches, soothing warmth, and this soft melody that felt like it was caressing his soul.