un: absterge | video

[downswing]

( Dark and damp and Lan Wangji's pallor strained under moonlight. Behind him, flickers of broad, long temple columns — and the smoke smears of... ghosts, gathered. He seems short of breath, the silvered sheen of his sword half drawn from her scabbard, a spate of parchment papers littering the walls: active talismans. )

They have crowded their halls of the dead, to excess.

Here, the key withholds itself. Who hunts the other locations?

( And a pause, hesitant — whether to find his words or, absently, slap another talisman on the spirit that looms with a gaping maw behind him. ) Ke-Waihu stands safe?

( ooc: forwarded dated to the group's incursions in Ke-Waicai. Feel free to run into him in person, if you're also chasing the haunted temple key! )

Comments

[consignation]

The point IS⁠—

If he didn't want to be seen, perhaps he should not have gone out of his way to show off his well-endowed Lan arms. And yet he did.

1/4

[reparo]

Hold on.

[reparo]

[man, HOLD ON]

[reparo]

Are you suggesting that it's his fault for you oggling his [airquotes] "handsome struggling"?

[reparo]

Because you could just keep your eyes shut.

[consignation]

And what makes you so defensive of his honor?

[ JiangWanyin.exe is running. Searching for worst-faith reading of situation. Please hold. ]

⁠—Are you his side piece??

[ LAN WANGJI DO YOU HAVE A 二奶!!!! ]

[downswing]

You speak to a child.







Who absents a key.

[consignation]

Ugh, another of your fanclub then. I haven't missed them.

[ The Lan puppy brigade, that is. ]

[downswing]

( He misses his kids, though. )


Jiang Wanyin misses his disciples.

[consignation]

[ ...yeah that's fair. ]

Don't forget to give me Jin Ling's hair beads back, he'll throw a fit if he gets here and they're tangled.

At least yours are responsible enough that you don't have to worry about them without you.

[ He has a sudden flash of his last encounter with Lan Jingyi. The kid had lost a bet against Jin Ling that he could fit his entire hand in his mouth and was stuck, courtyard filled with muffled screams as he chased Jin Ling around for help. Hm. ]

... Well, at least not the one.

[downswing]

You resuscitated a sect. Discipline prevails among ranks, unwatched.

[consignation]

[ ......you know, Jiang Cheng never expected to hear Lan Wangji give him credit for that. The cultivation world as a whole tends to gloss over it until convenient to leverage it for political justifications, often in direct opposition to Jiang Cheng's own stance. ]

I suppose you would be the expert on discipline. I'll take your word for it.

[ A tense pause, then⁠— ]

Where do you need me?

[downswing]

They are distracted, seeking the key of the library.

Five hunts the forge.

Wei Ying stays with the Beastmaster's hunting party.

[consignation]

I trust Wei Wuxian is safe otherwise you would be there and not here. Do you actually want my help or are you good?

[downswing]

Leave the temple to us.

But the library... is encumbered. Five alone.

[reparo]

Am I HIS WHAT?

[consignation]

I don't see anyone else jumping to his defense! Not even his wif⁠— Sp⁠— My brother!!

1/2

[reparo]

The word you're looking for is husband?

[downswing]

( No, that's the wife, that's legit. )

[reparo]

And I'm not his side anything, you rude man! He's fighting ghosts over there and you're coming in to accuse him of being handsome while at it? Hmm.

[consignation]

Overly handsome. Intentionally handsome. Flauntingly handsome.

Fighting ghosts is his entire job. [ It's what he does when he's not railing Jiang Cheng's brother. ] Also, this is a family matter. I've known him most of my life and I'll say to him what I want.

[reparo]

[the sarcasm]

Oh wow, that sure fixes everything. I guess I'll leave you to it.