Platonic JC & LJY in which they are separated from the group and stranded in an enchanted ravine. Just the two of them.

It was ngghshsh *scratches face* a fcking NIGHTMARE for LJY. Of all people he could've stuck with! Why couldn't it be HGJ even jin da-xiaojie was better!

When SLJ aggressively tried to rip whatever veil around them with Zidian (to no avail), LJY made a blunt remark or two about it.

SLJ leveled him with a /look/, and part of LJY was like *uh-oh did I offend him * but then JC just close his eyes, took a deep breath, and turned

around with a majestic swish of his robes, calling LJY to come.

LJY rolled his eyes (if it's HGJ they would've found their way out!) but followed after SLJ nonetheless.

They walked down the ravine in silence. Aawkkwarrd. LJY watched SLJ turned his head this way and that,

and again, a part of LJY couldn't help but thinking just how clueless SLJ was. HGJ, even Senior Wei, would have come up with something by now!

Ao LJY decided to put SW's lessons into practice and /assisted/ SLJ. He reported his observations: the strange fog around them,

the relatively warm temperature & comfortable air despite them being ib an *obviously* ominous ravine. He also noticed the lack of sound, his voice didn't echo on the sleek black walls.

The width of the ravine was too narrow for his liking. If they were ambushed, they wouldn't

have much space to move around.

SLJ didn't show much sign of listening safe from the non-committal sounds he let out every once in a while. How annoying. Personally, LJY thought his observations were quite thorough!

"May this disciple know what SLJ thought of this place?"

He asked, and if there was a challenging tone in it then well, SLJ deserved it.

SLJ didn't stop walking, but he turned his head and looked at him with one baleful eye.

"What skills have you mastered, LJY?" He asked instead. Flat. Cold. Disinterested.

LJY felt his face colored.

What's that question for? Was SLJ really that petty to compare LJY's skill with his own? Definitely LJY would lose, he was a junior disciple & SLJ was a sect leader!

Convincing himself that this wasn't a fair battle & hence /he/ shouldn't be the one feeling ashamed, LJY replied.

"Sect Leader, this disciple had been taught the basic cultivational requirements, as well as GSL's sword forms. His revered teacher also taught him the knowledge of creatures & musical techniques fitted to his inexperienced years."

He put both hands in front of him, bowing.

"This disciple hope he may assist Sect Leader Jiang, thought his ability may not meet the expectations of Sect Leader, whose expertise is unparalleled."

That last addition was unnecessary at best, downright mocking at the worse because he hinted of comparison between him & SLJ,

but he couldn't help it.

SLJ had always rubbed him the wrong way.

SLJ grunted as acknowledgement. Then,

"What about your poison-eliminating technique?"

For an insane second LJY couldn't help thinking the worst of SLJ, before he realized that killing him would benefit almost

nothing to SLJ.

Except on the time one had to sacrifice a soul to get out of this place ....

LJY bowed again. "This disciple had been in the privilege to practice eliminating poisons from the xia pin*, as well as a few elemental poisons."

SLJ frowned. "The basic GSL curriculum

then?"

LJY had wished SLJ forgot about GSL's self-healing technique curriculum, but it seemed that it was in vain.

"Yes, sect leader."

Curse his Lan habit for preventing him to lie.

If SLJ /did/ intent to poison him, then LJY had given himself away, informing SLJ of the kinds

of poison he couldnt flush out of his system.

SLJ tch-ed, seemingly displeased.

Did that mean any poison he brought was made out of the xia pin herbs? Or was he merely unimpressed by LJY's reasonably basic knowledge?

With SLJ, LJY couldn't be sure. This was the man who killed

his own shixiong after all. You couldnt make a guess with such a character.

"How about your breathing technique? How long can you hold your breath?"

It was such a random question, yet also reflected on SLJ's pettiness. Everyone knew very well that only YMJ, a lake-bound sect,

had the secret technique of using their qi as a contemporary replacement for air.

YMJ members' golden core was trained in such ways that they could regulate their qi to survive as long as three ke** underwater.

With SLJ, one may assume he could last up to one shi***.

*xia pin = lower kind. A term for substances that are classified as poisonous in classic herbal medicine.

**ke = unit of time, approx. 14.4 minutes

***shi = unit of time, approx. 8.3 ke.

"A little under one ke, Sect Leader."

Which was pretty normal for a non-YMJ cultivator, thank you very much.

Again, SLJ huffed an unimpressed huff. LJY was starting to feel like he was in the middle of a practice exam with a particularly incompetent teacher who taught nothing

but judged him hard and gave him low marks for unreasonable excuses.

Then suddenly SLJ took three long strides and stood right in front of him.

LJY took a step back instinctively, his heart thundered in his chest. SLJ's fave remained impassive.

What the hell was that for!?

"Let's try something," SLJ said, holding out his hand. It took LJY a second too late to realize that SLJ was handing him his clarity bell.

LJY reached out hesitantly to take the bell, which was too long for SLJ's taste. He pulled LJY's arm and deposited the bell into his hand.

"Err, Sect Leader?"

"This ravine is filled with poisonous gas," SLJ said in a no-nonsense tone. "I can't deduce the elements, but it's lethal. I have a gist of your tolerance, but I want to test it to be sure.

I will slowly lower the arrays so you'll gradually get exposed to

the toxin. When you feel even a /slightest/ discomfort, I want you to signal. Shout, wave, or ring the bell.

Don't try to hold it, this is not a test of endurance and you will not impress me by endangering yourself.

I merely want to see how much I can lower the arrays within a

safe level for both of us. I don't know how long we'll be here, so it's best to save energy and use the arrays as effective as possible.

Do you understand?"

LJY blinked.

He understood, but at the same time, he didn't.

Poisonous gas? Arrays? What was SLJ talking about?

LJY glanced up. Above his head, the thick white fog rolled calmly like the clouds beneath the peak of a mountain. He didn't see anything else.

At least, not at first.

He flowed a little more qi into his eyes, enhancing his

sight to energy waves.

And there it was.

Around them, there was a thin layer of violet energy, encapsulating them like a dome. It was hidden so expertly as to hide its presence from creatures who feasted on such matter, and yet steady enough to create a fortress.

Had there been a shot of resentful energy collided to it, the resentful energy would've shattered.

LJY followed a thread-like energy that flowed from the apex. It ended at the crown of SLJ's head.

SLJ had been producing an array for them both with his own qi.

LJY blushed.

Thankfully, SLJ didn't seem to realize LJY's mortified shame. He narrowed his eyes instead, in a way that LJY had seen him did to Sect Leader Jin when the boy was being a brat.

"Lan Jingyi. Do you understand the instructions?" SLJ pressed.

LJY straightened his back, willing

the flush on his face to go away & save what little dignity he had left.

"Yes, Sect Leader. Understood."

"Do you think you can do it?"

LJY would have done it if he couldnt if only to save face.

"Yes, Sect Leader."

SLJ reminded him, "Once you feel a discomfort, signal to me."

LJY watched as SLJ took his stance. Very slowly, the thread of energy coming from the crown of SLJ's head faded. From a diluted violet, to thin whisp of mauve, until finally invisible even with enhanced sight.

Along with it, LJY felt the gradual changes around him.

First was the temperature. From comfortably warm, it slowly yet surely decreased, until it felt like the wind of Gusu winter. Cold and sharp.

The scent too, changed; from clear and pure to something a little unpleasant--heavy, with a hint of sulfic odor. SLJ's barrier must

have filtered the air too.

Then lastly, the view.

LJY frowned as everything started to sway, as if they were submerged underwater. Huh. Strange. He knew that energy barrier could purify the air, but he didn't know anything about it stabilizing the terrain?

And how could those

cliff walls throbbed and swayed like living creature?

Or ...

...Shit.

Realization came like a douse of cold water, knocking the air out of his lungs.

LJY was suddenly aware of the tingling sensation in his feet, like thousands of ants crawling in his veins. His tongue thick,

his sight blurred & sharpened contrastingly as his brain was rapidly shutting down--

"Seleahder--!"

He called out in panic, or at least he thought he did. He tried to shake the bell but he was losing sensation of his fingers. The bell clattered to the ground, it's ringing sent

an sliver of clarity of clarity into his mind before they were muddled again with clouds of suffocating agony.

His head throbbed. His eyes felt like popping out of their sockets. A giant pressed its massive feet against his back, the weight of it pushing him to the ground--

--and then, as sudden as they came, the unpleasant sensations dissipated.

The heavy cloud in his mind cleared, the bright, blinding, pulsing colors in his vision ebbed and disappeared. LJY blinked his eyes open, not realizing when he had closed them.

The cliff walls were back to their shiny black structure, no longer throbbing.

The gargantuan weight on his back was lifted, and LJY regained enough sense to feel the pressure on his meridians.

It was soon followed by the realization that he was slumped cheek-to-chest on SLJ.

LJY would have jumped back on his feet right then and there, if only his limbs hadn't still felt like they were made of jiggly tofu.

He had his cheek pressed on SLJ's chest.

He had his cheek pressed on SLJ's chest, while the older man's left arm circled around his waist,

keeping him in place, and his right hand drew patterns of energy on his back and neckk to clear LJY's pathways.

LJY was /mortified/.

"Breathe slowly," SLJ instructed, as soon as he felt LJY's breaths quickened. "Don't panic. You're fine."

LJY tried to regulate his breathing

without much success. He kept gulping down massive gulps of air but seemingly unable to send him back out. His eyes started to water, his heart jumped to his throat--

SLJ pushed another point on his back and LJY exhaled like a deflated air pouch.

"Better?" SLJ's flat tone

usually gave the impression of arrogant disinterest, but now it sounded calm, grounding.

"Mm," LJY mumbled. Then, coherent enough to think that it wasn't an appropriate reply for a sect leader, he slurred, "yesh, sewlewder jiang."

He stuck his swollen tongue, displeased.

SLJ patted his back. "Rest," he instructed.

Suddenly LJY's eyelids grew heavy. The last thing he heard was a quiet hum, like a distant singing. Was it a creature? A haunting siren?

A circle motion on his back.

/Oh/, LJY thought, /it's SLJ/.

He wondered if SLJ sang for JL too.

--

LJY's mother passed away when he was four. His father, consumed by grief, followed soon after. Such was the common fate of the Lans, cursed by their beautiful once in a lifetime love.

Not that it mattered too much.

In CR, children were separated from the parents as early as

five years old. They lived in the dormitory with their martial brothers or sisters, only coming home during the festivals, until they graduated as senior disciple at 16 years old.

For as long as LJY could remember, he was never lonely. Of course there were moments of envy,

especially when he was still so young & wanted everything his peers had, but even that feeling faded with time.

Orphans or not, GSL's children lived in different world than the adults. LJY didn't miss out too much.

But sometimes, when he saw non-cultivational children at Caiyi

Town, or even the junior disciples from less segregated sects; watching them having an intimate relationship with their parents, LJY wondered how his family would've been.

After all, to his chagrin LJY was often dubbed the most un-Lan of the Lans. Would his parents be as un-Lan

as he was?

He didnt remember much about his parents. Glimpses of faceless forms. A few phrases here & there which he wasn't sure was actual memory or just misplaced ones.

His father was much taller than his mother, or maybe she was petite.

Father carried him on his back ....