As he fell into the portal, Jiang Cheng was hit by a shock of cold deeper than any he'd ever known. He shouted his brother's name but nothing disturbed that deep silence. Wei Wuxian vanished before him. Jiang Cheng could only hold onto Zidian and hope the other end was wrapped around his brother's ankle. And then he was through the portal and landing on a sharp elbow.

"Ow, Jiang Cheng, get off. When did you get so heavy?" As Jiang Cheng scrambled to his feet, Wei Wuxian rubbed the ankle that still had Zidian wrapped around it. "What'd you do that for? You could have been killed."

Jiang Cheng called Zidian back to his wrist. "I could have been killed? What if I hadn't held back Zidian's lightning?"

"Well, you did," Wei Wuxian said. "I'm fine." He gestured at the portal. "You should go back now."

"I told you I'm not leaving your side." Wei Wuxian still hadn't moved from the ground but before Jiang Cheng could wonder why, he was struck by a stench, not the decay of a decomposing creature but something harsher, less organic. "Ugh, what is that stink? Is this what creatures smell like in demonic cultivation land?" He glanced around the small alley. The portal glowed faintly, giving him just enough light to see by. They seemed to be alone.

Wei Wuxian shrugged. "No, the stink normal for this place. The smell comes mostly from their … well they have vehicles sort of like our carriages. You'll get used to it. Unless you want to go home?"

"What about you? Why aren't you going home?"

"Jiang Cheng," he whined. "Don't be mean to me." When Jiang Cheng glared in response, Wei Wuxian answered more seriously. "If there's a portal, someone created it. This might be my only chance to learn who."

"So you were planning to jump through the portal and leave me behind? Look at you. You're not even standing yet. What's wrong?" Had Zidian broken his brother? No, it couldn't have. He'd held back the lightning. Even if Zidian had, it was Wei Wuxian's fault. He shouldn't have tried to go off on his own.

"There's no resentful energy here for me to draw on. Closing the portal drained me."

"People here don't feel resentment?" That Jiang Cheng didn't believe. "Are you telling me everyone's an angel in demonic cultivation land?"

"No," Wei Wuxian replied. "Things work differently here. Resentful energy doesn't flow here the way it does back home. Instead of raising fierce corpses, it stays in the body."

"People here have dark energy trapped in their bodies? No wonder you call it demonic cultivation land."

"I don't call it demonic cultivation land. And nobody here's overwhelmed by dark energies. Resentful energy isn't a power here like it is back home."

None of that made sense but Jiang Cheng chose not to pursue it. If they were going to stay in demonic cultivation land, he didn't want Wei Wuxian distracted by theory. They'd need to focus to stay alive.

Jiang Cheng reached a hand out to help his brother up. "Come on." Once Wei Wuxian was back on his feet, he leaned heavily on Jiang Cheng. "How were you even planning to defend yourself?"

"I didn't think it'd be this bad."

They walked out of the alley to a street and sat on a bench. The lights were brighter than any candle but didn't flicker which was a bit unnerving. The buildings, three or four stories high, were ugly, just boxes with flat roofs. "Where are we?"

"I'm not sure. This isn't Sunnydale."

"So we're lost."

"No," Wei Wuxian exclaimed. "Well, not exactly."

Before Jiang Cheng had time to ask what that meant, a pair of those unnatural lights came racing towards them. The stench grew more terrible as the creature rushed past them with a loud roar, too fast to be seen clearly but Jiang Cheng gasped at the sight of people trapped inside the creature's gut. Leaping onto his sword, he flew after. He had no idea where such a creature might be vulnerable but based on its direction, guessed where its head would be. Dropping down into the creature, he cut his sword straight down. As the creature veered off, shooting sparks, he had to jump back onto his sword. He must have harmed the creature more than he'd realized for it ran into a building and the openings where he could see into it shattered into a thousand shards. He reached inside. "Quickly, give me your hands." The people inside screamed and shrank away. Wei Wuxian grabbed his arm as if to draw him back. "What are you doing? We have to help them."

"That wasn't a creature," Wei Wuxian said. "You destroyed their …" He spoke a foreign word. "It's like a wagon or carriage."

"Carriage? But there was nothing pulling it."

Jiang Cheng startled as a high-pitched sound, almost like a wail, cried out in the distance. "Come on," Wei Wuxian said. "If we're caught here, there'll be trouble."

They ran down the street and darted through a few dark alleys until Wei Wuxian stopped and fell against a wall. "How long are you going to be like this?" Jiang Cheng demanded.

"I just need to rest."

"Rest? In this place?"

Someone spoke from behind them. Jiang Cheng spun to face them. He should have been paying more attention. Who knew what creatures might attack in this place. He put his hand to Sandu but didn't draw it. The alley was too narrow for sword work.

Three men stepped out of the shadows. They looked human but their faces were strange, deformed. Perhaps this was normal for demonic cultivation land? "Sirs," Jiang Cheng said, "we are new to your realm and …"

"They're creatures," Wei Wuxian shouted. "Kill them."

Jiang Cheng lashed out with Zidian, releasing the purple lightning, hitting all three creatures with one whip stroke. They vanished. "Where'd they go?"

"You killed them." Wei Wuxian sounded awed.

"What? That wasn't enough to kill. I might have stunned them but …"

"Oh, oh, Jiang Cheng, those bodies were possessed. Those demons took over unwilling human hosts."

"So when Sandu struck them," Jiang Cheng said slowly, "it forced the spirits from their bodies."

"And since the people were already dead," Wei Wuxian continued, "it killed the hosts."

"Why did they vanish? Where are the corpses?"

"These vanish when you kill them."

"Oh." He thought back to their earlier conversation. "Vampires."

"Exactly." Wei Wuxian grinned as if he thought this was fun.

"Is anything else going to attack?"

"I don't know," Wei Wuxian replied. "We need to get off the street. Fly me on your sword."

Wei Wuxian leaned on him heavily and the sword wobbled a few times before Jiang Cheng got the hang of holding up his brother and flying. Wei Wuxian pointed out a set of buildings that towered over the rest of the town. "Take me there. Land on any one of those. That should hide us for a bit."

Jiang Cheng didn't ask what would happen once the towers no longer hid them. He picked a tower which seemed to have the most objects – smaller buildings? Storage areas? – on its roof figuring the clutter might help them hide. When they dropped onto the roof, Wei Wuxian fell against a wall. It made a loud, hollow sound and Wei Wuxian quickly dropped to a seated position. "Hope no one heard that."

When he pulled out a blank piece of paper, Jiang Cheng grabbed it away. "What do you think you're doing? You're too weak. You can't make a talisman."

"I have to call for help. We can't stay here."

Fucking Wei Wuxian, always looking so calm while attempting the impossible. "If you kill yourself, I'll bring you back to life so I can kill you again."

"Deal," Wei Wuxian replied calmly. Well, why not? He'd already died once. His brother bit into his own finger and drew the talisman out in blood. It flew off, vanishing into the darkness.

Jiang Cheng stared up at the sky. "Is it ever light here?" There was something wrong with his question. It was light, or lighter than it should be at night. He should be able to see more stars. He just wanted to know if the sun would ever rise.

When he didn't receive a reply, Jiang Cheng looked down at this brother. Wei Wuxian lay crumpled against the wall. Jiang Cheng found his pulse, slow and steady. He stood guard, not needing to strain to see in this night that wasn't as dark as it should be, and waited for the next attack.