bang! crash! the lightning flashed!! -- that's another story, nevermind, anyway!

[qingxinling]

Jiang Wanyin sweeps along the shores of the lake, glowering. This is not his beloved Lotus Pier. These waters are cold, foreign, uninviting. Clearly there's been some trap: he's been distracted by duty in this hunt, and when he followed the slight tug in his chest, he ended up getting pulled into unfamiliar territory.

No matter. He draws himself to full height, letting cool arrogance slip down his shoulders and suffuse him. Sandu is naked in one hand; Zidian crackles in the other. He can handle whatever monsters may arrive.

Comments

[qingxinling]

Something rotten is afoot -- this doesn't follow. "A Heavenly Demon has barely spoken to the Yiling Laozu."

[protagonisthalo]

"Why should I speak to anyone?" Luo Binghe crosses his arms. "Explain yourself."

[qingxinling]

"Because he invented demonic cultivation?" Obviously.

[protagonisthalo]

Luo Binghe's face is almost still, but his eyebrows shoot all the way up. "He invented demonic cultivation? I would love to hear how. How he invented demonic cultivation."

[qingxinling]

"I didn't fucking ask him," Jiang Wanyin snaps. He has, however, dealt with many copycats trying to emulate the stuff. "He did it during the Sunshot Campaign."

[protagonisthalo]

"Unless the Sunshot Campaign was at the beginning of time," Luo Binghe says coldly, "I'm confident that it was demons who invented demonic cultivation. What a talented shixiong you have, to have cultivated to immortality so long ago, before demons existed."

[qingxinling]

"Obviously we're from different worlds, if you haven't heard of the Sunset Campaign or Baoshan Sanren," Jiang Wanyin snaps.

[protagonisthalo]

"Then why wouldn't Lan Wangji say so long ago?"

[qingxinling]

To Jiang Wanyin's own abundantly-evident shock, he laughs at something a self-avowed demon has said. "Have you met that asshole?" he asks. "Why would he say anything about anything when he could just look constipated instead."

[protagonisthalo]

Luo Binghe's irritation also softens. "You're right," he says generously. "It does explain some things. I've found his self-importance utterly baffling for someone from a sect I've never even heard of."

He should not have been so quick to anger, when Jiang Wanyin has shown himself to be such a reasonable and pleasant man. Luo Binghe will give him another chance. "A friend here taught me a sign of fellowship common to other worlds. Two people clasp hands, and it indicates that they regard each other with respect." He holds his hand out to shake, the way Janet showed him.

[qingxinling]

It seems a lot more complicated than just bowing like a normal person, but whatever. Jiang Wanyin isn't above the diplomatic inclinations of his conversational partners. He's certainly not the worst sect leader in his world. He clasps Luo Binghe's hand firmly -- but keeps his hand still, because surely that's all that's involved in this strange ritual?

[protagonisthalo]

Luo Binghe's not fussed about the specifics of Janet's friendship ritual. He drops Jiang Cheng's hand, satisfied.

[qingxinling]

"Anyway," Jiang Wanyin says, resisting the urge to cross his arms. "If you really are a demon, watch out. Wei Wuxian..." He pauses. He doesn't want a demon to kill his stupid former shixiong, but he thinks that if a guy as reasonable as Luo Binghe is an actual demon (unlikely), he also doesn't want to give Hanguang-jun an excuse to try and kill him.

"He's strong. But he's --" not family. Not a disciple. What? "Someone my nephew likes, for some reason."

[protagonisthalo]

"The Yiling Laozu, who invented demonic cultivation?" Luo Binghe says to confirm, even though he still doesn't understand how a human can demonically cultivate at all. "Why must I watch out for him? What is he likely to do?"

[qingxinling]

It may sound strange, but Jiang Wanyin doesn't actually want Wei Wuxian to be murdered by some demon emperor. Nobody is allowed to murder Wei Wuxian but Jiang Wanyin!!! And he doesn't even --

Whatever.

"He can raise thousands of fierce corpses at once," he grumbles. "The people who found his notes used it to harvest resentful energy from demons. He probably can too. He won't. Stupid fucking Hanguang-jun has neutered him with sex, or whatever. But he could."

[protagonisthalo]

What?? Lan Wangji's boring husband can harvest energy from demons? They are from different worlds indeed—if any human had learned this power in Luo Binghe's world, it would have caused a war between the realms. And a massive headache for the Emperor.

Luo Binghe did not think he had anything to fear from either Lan Wangji or Wei Wuxian, who he doesn't recall having much of a spiritual aura at all—although perhaps that's because he gets his power from corpses and demons. And Lan Wangji is keeping this man in submission using his body?? There are stranger happenings in this mansion than Luo Binghe knew. He's still not afraid of either of them, of course, but he is shaken. As one of the only demons here, and an exceptionally powerful one too, he would be a natural target.

"I'll heed the warning," he says, "and your assistance will not be forgotten."

[qingxinling]

Jiang Wanyin bows.