A ghoulish spirit, eight feet in height, crashed into the village, stopping some feet away from the Demon Master who had his strongest weapon yet raised in the air. The Carmine Catastrophe.

Hua Cheng had long ago suggested sending the sceptre to the Ghost Realm for disposal, but Wei Ying hadn't let him take it yet. Sure, containing the object within himself was harming his temperament, but it was more useful than dangerous. Back when he had realised Meilien not sleeping well enough, he had decided to keep the sceptre for a while longer, until things were sorted out. And now this.

This was his Plan B. To use the sceptre's absorption abilities to let it absorb the dark energy that was possessing and haunting the innocent souls in the villages and cities, all the patients. No spiritual energy would have to be wasted on chasing the demons out. But of course, Lan Zhan wouldn't allow it, knowing the harm it'll bring upon Wei Ying's disposition.

But right now... Wei Ying had no other choice.

The ghoul in the air had nothing but black smoke below its neck, but its face was ashen and clear, with heinous red eyes and sharp black features of a nose, curling lips and a triangular chin, sparkling white teeth flashing as it sneered at Wei Wuxian.

"So it's you who's been causing all this, eh?"

More sneering.

"A formless ghoul who can distribute his energy into people? You're quite strong for your level of wrath, my friend," Wei Wuxian gripped the golden pole of the sceptre. Strings and fibres of scarlet drifted out of his fingertips and spiralled up the sceptre, sinking into the massive red ruby atop it, slowly igniting it up with demonic energy. "Tell me who sent you and you shall be left unharmed."

"Hmph, unharmed? You aren't going to let me off, you'll trap me whatever way!" The ghoul cackled, voice deep and growling, sending shivers like the winter frost had struck.

"Trapping and harming are two different things, pal," Wei Wuxian leered back. "I can torture you and trap you, or I can just trap you. Up to you to choose." Both the ruby and his eyes flashed a brilliant red. "Speak!"

"Never," the monstrous ghost snarled.

"Fine!" Wei Wuxian nodded and swung the sceptre across the air, sweeping the ground and the sky, letting waves of cerise flow out from the ruby. The ripples spread far and wide until they hit the beast unawares, and suddenly wrapped it up in a translucent red cage. "I did warn you," Wei Wuxian glowered at the ghoul.

"And I told you, I'll never tell on my master."

"Loyal dog," Wei Wuxian smirked and pointed the sceptre at the ghoul. The cage wrapping it up swathed its formless self completely, squeezing it, crushing it, scorching it. The being screamed in agony until the shrieks died out as the red cage was sucked back into the sceptre, taking the wailing beast along with it. The sceptre remained unaffected. To the Carmine Catastrophe, this was nothing but yet another evil it absorbed.

Once the formless ghoul was gone, Wei Wuxian sighed. "Tsk, I thought I could get something out of it. Loyal lackeys, tch," he kicked a rock in childish anger and planted the sceptre in the centre of the ground. While it stood there like a tree, he waved his hands and chanted to dismiss the ward around the patients and healers, and also called the villagers out. "THE THING'S GONE!" He shouted.

The people looked around happily, cheering and screaming Xingguang Xian's name and showering him with gratitude. The innkeepers of the two tavern offered towers of wine bottles, home-brewed specials, for him to take home and he accepted it all beyond just gladly. Home-brewed Lanling wines always had a rich savouriness to them.

"Now, let me get this done first," Wei Wuxian patted the innkeepers' shoulders and made sure the people and children were away from the sceptre. He called his mother and grandmother to leave the patients and stood between the sceptre and the patients. Though he couldn't send in energy to heal them, he could take out the energy in them. So he turned his palms towards the line of patients and focussed with all his might on the energy soaring in them, drawing out the searing discomfort towards himself. Slowly, a big massive reddish-black ball of light began to grow in front of his palms, as more and more of the demonic energy possessing the patients collected in front of him. Once he saw that the ball will not grow any further and that the red eyes flaring in the patients were gone, he clasped the ball of energy and redirected it towards the sceptre. The Carmine Catastrophe, eager to suck more and more dark energy, sucked all the evil in no time.

"HURRAY!" The people clapped. Even the two cultivators and the Jin doctors clapped. Who would have thought it could be this easy?

Wei Wuxian smiled and dismissed the sceptre. "Well then? Move on to the next village?"

"Ying-Er, are you going to use this on every other village?"

"Mama, it is easier, right?"

"I guess so," Cangse Sanren nodded, though she couldn't help but worry that all the focussing and sucking out and the containment of the sceptre would harm her son. Nonetheless, Wei Wuxian wouldn't speak a word on it so she and her mother followed him and the Jin doctors to the next villages. With the help of the sceptre, all of Lanling was covered in a day. They spent the night at Lanling, feasting and resting at Koi Tower under Jin Ling's care, before moving onto Qinghe and Bailing. Qinghe had few, completed in a day. Bailing took two days. 

**********

By the end of the week, Wei Wuxian was back at the Jingshi, beaming at his husband.

"A-Zhan! I'm home!"

"Mn?" Lan Zhan slowly sat up, smiling weakly at him.

"Ah? One whole week and you're still weak?"

Lan Zhan pursed his lips and shrugged.

"Tch, don't worry, you'll be up and running by next week. Okay?"

"Mn," Lan Zhan nodded and patted the side of the bed. When Wei Ying sat on the bed cross-legged, he immediately slumped down, laying his head on Wei Ying's lap and snuggling his face into Wei Ying's chest, arms wrapped around his waist.

Wei Ying melted.

"Aish, A-Zhan darling missed me?"

"Mn."

Wei Wuxian smiled and stroked his hair, running his fingers through Lan Zhan's silky hair to tear off the few knots that had gathered from hours of sound sleep. "Look at your hair! Such a mess."

"A-Ying brush it," Lan Zhan mumbled sleepily.

"You won't let me stand up to go get the comb."

"Fingers."

"Aish, alright, then," he chuckled and slithered his hand down Lan Zhan's hair, caressing his head, fingertips kissing Lan Zhan's scalp before flowing down to attack the tangled hair.

"Mmmm!"

"What?"

"Pains."

"Okay, then I'll go slow for Baby Wangji?"

"Mn."

Wei Wuxian laughed. "A-Zhan, you aren't drunk, right?"

"No."

"All of this is because you're tired?"

"And missed you."

"Tired, sleepy and longing? Lan Zhan, ah, Lan Zhan," Wei Wuxian shook his head with a grin and kept on combing his husband's hair, this time doing it far more gently. In ten minutes, his hair was back to its waterfall-like nature, but Wei Ying went on combing it, knowing Lan Zhan liked it. "Lan Zhan, you seem quite weak. You've run out of a lot of energy."

"Run out of many things..." Lan Zhan groaned into his chest.

"Hm? What's that?"

"Energy, kisses, wine."

"AH?" Wei Wuxian grabbed his hair and pulled Lan Zhan's face away from his chest to look into his eyes. "Are you really drunk right now?"

"I'm sober," Lan Zhan firmly stated, staring back into his husband's greyer eyes.

"Ah? Lan Zhan..." Wei Ying grinned idiotically. "Fine, let's analyse this then."

"Mn."

"You've run out of," he held up three fingers on Lan Zhan's hand that was gripping his red hair ribbon. "One, energy. Two, kisses. Three, wine. Yeah?"

"Mn."

"Well, about energy, I can't do much, you have to recover from the tiredness and begin cultivating again. Two... Okay, I'll give you enough and more of that. Three... Wine? You want to drink now?"

"Mn."

"Lan Zhan, I've ruined you!"

Lan Zhan shook his head insistently.

"No, not ruined, I'm spoiling this big white baby right here," Wei Wuxian laughed as he squeezed Lan Zhan's cheeks. "Then let me stand up to get the wine!"

"First kisses."

Wei Wuxian sighed. "Fine, fine. Wait, are we going in order?"

"Mn."

"THEN!" Wei Wuxian's eyes took on a crafty glow. "First, you should solve the energy bit. Get cultivating. Only then will I kiss you, hm?"

"Ah?" Lan Zhan pouted.

"I mean it! No pouting can change my mind!"

Lan Zhan sighed and looked up at him. "Can I cultivate like this?"

"Sleeping on my lap? Lan Wangji! Get up right now! Lotus position!"

Lan Zhan sulked and sat up on the bed, feebly crossing his legs and placing his hands properly. Wei Ying frowned. He really is weak... But he has to cultivate if he is to recover. I'll do what I can. To make sure Lan Zhan won't fall back to sleep, and to support his back to sit upright, Wei Ying crawled along the bed and sat in lotus position with his back flat against Lan Zhan's, lifting the other up to sit straight. "Feel better?"

"Mn," Lan Zhan nodded. Just like that, both drifted off into their own blank worlds. 

**********

The couple went on meditating all the way until the end of the day. Lan Wangji cultivated ceaselessly, eager to get himself to recover in time for his reward. Wei Wuxian was satisfied.

I really can get him to do anything, he chuckled inwardly when his eyes opened to find Lan Zhan against his back still cultivating.

He felt good after just four hours of meditation and kept staring up at the ceiling, head resting against Lan Zhan's mop of smooth hair, waiting for the latter to recover. Had he cultivated nay more than that, Wei Wuxian would have faced trouble controlling his rising energy. The recent exertion of his energy to suck out the people's disease and feed it into the sceptre had cost him a lot of his own energy. But instead of being weaker like Lan Wangji, Wei Wuxian felt stronger. The more evils the sceptre absorbed, the stronger he felt. But it wasn't a good sort of strength. This power could run wild any time soon. He had to get rid of it.

First, there were quite a few problems to solve.

Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng obviously hadn't gone for their honeymoon yet after their banquet got cut halfway thanks to the Red Death spreading fast. Jiang Cheng had to stay on guard at Yunmeng and Lan Xichen had to check on his people here in Gusu.

Now that that was sorted, Nie Huaisang suggested keeping Wei Wuxian's inter-village wards for a full twenty-four hours before lifting them once the death of the plague was confirmed.

And when it was confirmed, Jiang Qiao and Lan Qiang had both spoken to Wei Wuxian about re-hosting the banquet for a short couple of hours, just to complete the procedures from before, and then send the two away. Rituals and trips were yet to be completed. After all, Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen hadn't waited so long to have things cut off in the middle of nowhere like this! They deserved a good rest, like Nie Huaisang said. Then we'll hold the banquet day after tomorrow, same way aboard the boat, Wei Wuxian nodded. Short and sweet, no time wasted.

And when those two were gone, Jiang Meilien would be left under his and Lan Wangji's care.

Now that was the next problem. Wei Wuxian sighed. That sleeping issue. Got to address that.

And then find something for Haoxuan. For the moment, I can use the sceptre to protect A-Xuan while he trains with Meilien, but... the sceptre can't stay. Then what? I'll have to search in the library for something. Maybe finding A-Xuan a spiritual tool would do, help him develop a core somehow? 

Wei Wuxian shook his head. Aish, my mind's full to the brim with trouble, trouble, trouble. But this time, if I go somewhere to find him a protective item, I'm taking A-Zhan with me. No more risks, no more separation, he nodded firmly, Hua Cheng's, Xie Lian's and Chang'e's words echoing in his head.

"A-Ying?"

"Ah, A-Zhan darling woke up?"

"Mn. A-Ying's alright?"

"Yeah... Just thinking of the countless problems I've got to solve."

Lan Zhan turned around and smiled, cupping Wei Ying's face. "A-Ying need not think too much. We'll solve each one slowly. No rush."

"Or so you say! At this rate, for all I know, Meilien could go berserk, A-Xuan could turn into a monster, and either Jiang Cheng or gege could die, all at the same time! And I'd have failed to see to either of it! Who knows if all of this will come crashing in at once?"

Lan Zhan frowned at the flashing worry in Wei Ying's dull eyes. "They won't. Even if they do, A-Ying need not worry. A-Ying's not alone," he clasped his cheeks tightly and reassuringly.

"Of course, I've got you, haven't I?" Wei Ying smiled warmly. "Well then, done cultivating?"

"Mn."

"Let's see if you've recovered."

"I have," Lan Zhan nodded keenly.

"Nope, I need proof," Wei Ying humphed.

Lan Zhan smiled and pushed Wei Ying down onto the bed, pinning his hands above his head. "See?"

"Ah, nice!" Wei Ying laughed heartily, the laughter quickly fading into insuppressible moans of pleasure as Lan Zhan bent down and claimed his reward.