"Where is Jin Ling?"

The Jiang disciple blanched at the intensity of his question and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Sect Leader," he said. "I don't know. I haven't seen him."

"Great."

Jiang Cheng marched off to find the next person to interrogate. He'd asked at least a dozen this morning, but none of them could tell him where his nephew had gone.

If Jin Ling had left Lotus Pier of his own accord, he would have expected him to take Fairy along. However, Jin Ling's spiritual dog trotted beside him, ears back and head low.

At the same time, Fairy wasn't barking or trying to show Jiang Cheng where her master had been whisked away to. So it didn't seem Jin Ling had been kidnapped either. He must have stolen away in the middle of the night and had left his dog behind for some reason.

Jiang Cheng had already upended much of Jin Ling's bedroom looking for a note or any explanation of where he'd gone. But he'd had no luck. Thus, he'd been terrorizing his disciples all morning.

"Have you seen Jin Ling?" he asked a younger disciple, who'd been watching him for some time.

The girl had to have been around only eight years of age, but she straightened her back and stiffened her lip like a soldier when Jiang Cheng approached her. She had a lot more courage than many of the older disciples, that much was clear.

"I saw him," she said. She put her hands on her hips and tried to straighten her posture even further to make herself as big as possible. Despite Jiang Cheng's ill mood today, this fierce little girl amused him. "I heard him tell his dog to stay here, Sect Leader. And then he ran off that way."

She pointed out across the water.

"Did he carry anything with him? Any supplies? Or did you notice a coin purse?"

"Yes," she said. "He had a bag over his shoulder and he had a very heavy bag of coins. It almost fell off of his sash."

Typical. Jin Ling didn't like to pack much for journeys. He preferred to city hop so that he could sleep inside and eat warm food. So pampered.

He was never prepared for the possibility that he might not be able to stay at an inn for one reason or another.

"Thank you for your help," Jiang Cheng said. "Do you have training to attend somewhere?"

"They gave us a break," the girl said distractedly. She was fixated on Fairy.

"Did my nephew's dog do something to you?" he asked.

"No," she said. "I wondered if I could pet her?"

"Sure."

The girl eagerly rubbed Fairy's ears and wrapped her arms around her neck. Fairy took a step back, as if she didn't know what to do.

The girl then looked up at Jiang Cheng and frowned at him.

"You're not as scary as everyone says."

He raised his eyebrows. "No?"

"No," the girl said matter-of-factly. "I haven't seen you torture even one person. I thought you captured people all the time."

She sounded almost disappointed.

"The people I would capture have gotten better at hiding," Jiang Cheng said.

The girl screwed up her face and peered at him like she was trying to discern some deeper truth. Jiang Cheng had never met a child like this.

"It's not a bad thing to not be scary, you know," she said. "Most people think it's a good thing actually."

"Uh huh. Well Fairy and I have things to do today. Why don't you run along and stay out of trouble, or you'll be the next one I capture."

The girl's eyes widened for a moment. Then she said, "My cat will be the next one I capture. He chased after a bird earlier. I need to keep him from getting hurt again."

She squinted at Jiang Cheng, stuck her tongue out, and ran away giggling before he could tell her off.

No one ever would have dared to do that to him. Maybe he was losing his touch. Or maybe that girl was just very strange.

That settled it, though. He would pack his things and head for Qinghe since that was the direction the girl had pointed.

He assumed Jin Ling was off to warn Huaisang. Or at least he hoped so.

If he'd gone out to look for Wei Wuxian, he would be much more difficult to find.

Jiang Cheng's hand curled into a fist. He marched back into the estate and gathered his things, throwing clothes and food unceremoniously into a bag that he then flung over his shoulder.

He tried to ignore the metallic glint on the desk. He didn't need to keep bringing that thing with him everywhere. He already had one of his own. He had no need for a spare.

And yet, Jiang Cheng walked over to the clarity bell, staring at its cord for a moment before grabbing it and stuffing it into his bag.

Fairy watched him dolefully.

"Don't look at me like that," Jiang Cheng snapped. "You're coming with."

Fairy barked and wagged her tail. Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes.

"Come along then."

Jiang Cheng grabbed a few disciples who weren't busy and had them take him across the lake. Fairy happily wagged her tail and snapped at the lotus flowers in the water. Jiang Cheng was in a sour mood again and didn't take in much of the scenery, nor did he let Fairy jump in the lake like she so desperately desired.

They reached the other side and Jiang Cheng sent his disciples away. No need to waste anyone else's time to track down Jin Ling.

More than that, he didn't want to faint in front of any of them. If he returned to that memory… or relived even more of it…

He shook his head.

Jiang Cheng shouldered his belongings, cursing himself for not thinking to put something on Jin Ling to track him the day before, and he and Fairy set off toward the tree line.

They traveled together surprisingly well. Jin Ling had lent him his dog on occasion, but Fairy rarely remained with Jiang Cheng for longer than a few hours.

As it turned out, she was a much better travel companion than Jin Ling. She whined less and was happy to listen to commands. She even did a better job warning him of the approach of fierce corpses as night fell.

And as Jiang Cheng enjoyed his time with Fairy more and more, he began to suspect that that had been part of Jin Ling's plan – leave the dog behind to butter him up and hopefully get in less trouble upon his return.

That wasn't going to work. Not in the slightest.

"Fairy!" he called.

It had been a few minutes since she'd run off after some nocturnal woodland critter, and she hadn't returned yet. Jiang Cheng was beginning to worry.

Only the owls answered him.

He listened carefully and crept forward, Sandu at the ready. Every twig that snapped under his boots set him more on edge. Every dancing shadow cast by his lantern was menacing. He was sure that there was something lying in wait for him. And he was sure it knew where he was.

Jin Ling would never forgive him for putting his dog in danger like this. Granted, it was his own fault for leaving Fairy at Lotus Pier, but Jin Ling wouldn't see it that way. Especially after Fairy had already scared him during that night hunt.

"Fairy!" Jiang Cheng called again.

This time, he heard a response, somewhere between a bark and a whine. She wasn't far.

"Come here, Fairy!"

The mild air was suddenly very cold against his sweaty skin. An odd sweet smell drifted on the breeze. It made Jiang Cheng queasy.

I'm going to take your golden core and kill you no matter what.

He paused momentarily, resisting the urge to look around for Wen Chao. He knew he was dead. Was he having another episode like at the Cloud Recesses?

No. This wasn't what it felt like before. So what was this?

Everything that happens between now and then is up to you, really.

Fairy yipped louder… and then started outright barking. Jiang Cheng's ears rang from all the noise.

"You're very easy to spook, Sect Leader Jiang," a familiar voice teased. It came from somewhere near the dog.

Jiang Cheng squinted, but couldn't make out anything between the trees. Fairy barked and snarled more ferociously.

"You can't be this easy to fool too."

A figure stepped out into the light.

He was a tall man with long black hair tied back with a red ribbon. He had an easygoing, handsome face and the ghost of effervescence about him. This was a man that Jiang Cheng knew well – his past, his strengths, his fears.

Wei Wuxian had, after all, once been a brother to him.

But this wasn't Wei Wuxian. It couldn't be.

As things currently stood, Wei Wuxian's soul inhabited the body of Mo Xuanyu. The man standing before Jiang Cheng was very clearly the original Wei Wuxian, complete with pale skin brought about from years of demonic cultivation and hiding away in the shadows of the Burial Mounds.

"What the hell?" Jiang Cheng said. He nearly took a step back, but caught himself before he could display such weakness.

Not Wei Wuxian laughed coldly. The hairs on Jiang Cheng's arms stood on end.

He wondered again if he was having another episode like what had happened in the Cloud Recesses. But he hadn't lost consciousness and he still didn't feel like he had back then. He was also very clearly in the same place he had been. There was no sudden appearance of Lotus Pier or any other far away location.

So the form in front of him was probably real on some level.

However, Jiang Cheng didn't know what this thing was. It couldn't be a corpse because it could talk. He didn't know of any talismans that could do this and if it were some sort of hallucinatory array, his clarity bell should have allowed him to see through the deception.

He didn't have the first clue as to what this was.

"Your dog must be equally confused," Not Wei Wuxian said. "She's playing in a different fantasy."

Without taking his eyes off of Not Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng set the lantern on the ground. The thing laughed at him again.

"You're going to fight me?" it said in disbelief. "Even in your dreams you wouldn't win."

Jiang Cheng still wasn't entirely convinced that he wasn't hallucinating all of this, but as his fury bubbled up inside him, he decided that trying to hit it with his sword was as good a test as any.

He wound back, but never got the chance to swing.

Not Wei Wuxian didn't move or use any sort of incantation, yet Jiang Cheng found himself instantly on his back. And not in the knocked-off-his-feet kind of way. He was simply standing one moment, then lying amid the moss the next.

His abdomen was painful as though he'd been punched, but he'd been watching Not Wei Wuxian the whole time.

It. Hadn't. Moved.

"What the hell?" Jiang Cheng said again.

There was that ice cold laughter once more.

"Don't feel too bad," Not Wei Wuxian said. "Those born with a silver spoon in their mouth never learn to eat with their hands. You've never had to stoop to using such methods as these."

Demonic cultivation? But he'd already established that this couldn't be a corpse…

Jiang Cheng mentally ordered Sandu back to its sheath and drew Zidian instead as he got to his feet.

"High class spiritual weapon," Not Wei Wuxian said, eying the lightning whip. "Now that may even the field."

"Great. Let's go then."

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Not Wei Wuxian cut in before Jiang Cheng could hit him.

"Yes," Jiang Cheng snapped.

"But your nephew's beloved dog is in need of assistance. Won't you help her? Or is killing me really that important to you?"

On cue, Fairy whined somewhere nearby.

"Leave the dog alone," Jiang Cheng demanded. "She's got nothing to do with this."

"What makes you think this is personal?" Not Wei Wuxian said. "This has nothing to do with you either. You're just convenient."

Not personal? Why would it take the form of Wei Wuxian then? This felt personal.

It didn't matter. He needed to get to Fairy.

Jiang Cheng lashed at Not Wei Wuxian and took off in the direction of Fairy's whine. Despite having not aimed carefully, Zidian surprisingly made contact with its opponent, striking Not Wei Wuxian across the face. The creature's knees buckled and it howled with pain.

As it screamed, a pair of white triangular ears appeared on its head. Somehow, they seemed more real than the rest of its body. Jiang Cheng couldn't quite explain it. It was as if the form of Wei Wuxian in front of him was a highly detailed mirage and only those ridiculous ears were actually there.

Jiang Cheng had half a mind to try to finish it off before going to aid Fairy.

It would be easy. Not Wei Wuxian was kneeling and clutching its cheek. It wasn't prepared to fight back.

But then Fairy whined again, and Jiang Cheng jammed Zidian back on his finger, leaving Not Wei Wuxian where it was. He wasn't about to be lectured by Jin Ling for getting his dog killed while he was gone.

Since he'd abandoned the lantern on the forest floor, it was difficult to find Fairy. Jiang Cheng started to slow down when he'd reached the area in which he assumed Fairy to be.

"Where are you?" he whispered. He was straining his ears for any indication that Not Wei Wuxian was following.

As soon as he asked, there was a whine right in front of him.

Jiang Cheng couldn't stop in time. His legs caught Fairy's side and the two of them stumbled without falling.

"Damn it, dog," he muttered, grabbing Fairy's head to help orient himself in the dark forest. "You could have moved."

He reached with his free hand into his pack and felt around for the correct talisman. He'd always been the most organized of his family – something that the real Wei Wuxian had often teased him for. But, as he found what he needed within the section of his pack that was devoted to light incantations, he mentally rubbed the victory in Wei Wuxian's smug face.

Speak of the devil…

"You thought that one strike would keep me down?" said Not Wei Wuxian from back the way it'd come. "You overestimate your abilities. Then again, you always have, haven't you?"

Fairy's ears whisked Jiang Cheng's hand as they rotated to lie flat against her head. The spiritual dog released a low dangerous growl and moved to stand between Jiang Cheng and the disembodied voice.

He ignited the talisman he'd taken from his bag. It lit up the trees with bright red light, but there was no sign of the creature that was speaking to him.

He took a moment to evaluate Fairy, pleased to note that she seemed unharmed despite her earlier whining.

What exactly had the creature done to her to make her sound like that before?

"So easy to fluster," Not Wei Wuxian teased. "So angry and hurt and guilty around this form."

This form? Did it have other forms?

"But what if I do… this?" The last word was said by a new voice – another one that Jiang Cheng recognized.

He loosed Zidian once more, bathing the woods in purple to temper the red of the talisman.

"I don't know why I expected a little more fear," Wen Chao's voice taunted.

Fairy's hackles raised. She lowered the front half of her body in preparation to spring. Jiang Cheng's hand was shaking as he gripped Zidian, though not just from rage.

"You and I have been through so much!" Wen Chao sneered. "Funny how your brother didn't seem to believe me when I told him how you cried and begged me to stop. I guess you kept our secret, huh?"

"He's not my brother," Jiang Cheng said. He hated how weak he sounded.

Fairy growled louder.

"You going to hide behind that dog all night or are you going to fight me?" Wen Chao asked, his voice a little to the left of where it had previously been.

The creature was moving.

Jiang Cheng knew it was trying to goad him into fighting it without Fairy, but that was a waste of effort on the creature's part. He wasn't going to use Fairy anyway. Not after she'd been so easily subdued earlier. Jiang Cheng couldn't risk Jin Ling's dog to destroy something that he knew Zidian would make short work of.

"Stay behind me," Jiang Cheng said to Fairy.

She looked up at him, ears rotating forward again. Her head cocked to one side. She seemed unsure.

Jiang Cheng knew that Fairy had understood. After the events of Guanyin Temple, the dog had proven herself to be of much higher intelligence than any of them could have dreamed.

She knew what had been asked of her. She simply didn't want to accept those terms.

"Do not attack except to defend yourself," Jiang Cheng went on. "If I'm not able to protect you, find help."

Fairy laid her ears back and whined.

"Don't give me that."

"How brave you are to stand without your dog," Wen Chao said mockingly. His voice had moved further yet and Jiang Cheng turned to continue facing it. "If only I would have known about Wei Wuxian's fears back then. I would have been sure to bring hounds to Lotus Pier."

Jiang Cheng's hold on Zidian tightened. He marched off toward Wen Chao's voice.

"Do you think he would have left you there?" Wen Chao asked. "Abandoned you to run from mutts? I think he might have."

Fairy did as she was told, trailing so close behind Jiang Cheng that her nose bumped the back of his legs when he slowed down.

"Nowadays, the answer is obvious," Wen Chao said. "Back then, you might have been worth saving. But now? Definitely not. I might not even need a dog to dissuade Wei Wuxian from helping you."

Was this supposed to make him angry? Jiang Cheng wouldn't go out of his way to help Wei Wuxian. Why would it bother him if the opposite was also true?

At the beginning, it had seemed that this creature knew a lot about him. But it was missing the mark now.

It continued to move away from him.

"Are you sure you're not the one who's afraid of dogs?" Jiang Cheng taunted back. "Why are you running? I've already commanded her not to fight. Come out and fight me!"

"No. This is better."

Something fluttered at the edge of Jiang Cheng's field of view. He whirled to face it, striking with Zidian before he'd comprehended what it was.

The end of the white banner was seared by Jiang Cheng's whip, but that red sun embroidered in its center was untouched. The Wen Clan banner hung from a low branch of a nearby tree, fastened in place by twine.

It was clearly fake. It flickered and its edges were blurry, as if covered in sand. His Jiang clarity bell was fighting the illusion, but it wasn't strong enough to completely dissipate it.

Jiang Cheng knew he was in trouble.

The tips of his fingers tingled. An insidious, familiar nausea crept over him. He paused for a moment, allowing the sensation to grow to its full force so he could decide whether he could fight or needed to retreat. Thankfully, after a few seconds, he found he was still strong enough to stand his ground.

Wen Chao laughed.

Jiang Cheng followed the sound and found another banner… and another… and another.

"What is this?!" he demanded. The woods didn't answer him aside from Wen Chao's incessant cackling that continued to lead him further in.

He wondered how strong this creature's illusion work was. If he could touch the banners, he may be in real trouble. Tactile illusions were borne of powerful magic.

He made to wrench the nearest one down when…

WHAM!

Jiang Cheng was tackled clean off his feet by a blur that darted at him from the side.

They both sprawled onto the ground. Fairy growled and barked ferociously. The red light of Jiang Cheng's talisman was extinguished when he lost his grip on it. He was left with the dimmer glow of Zidian.

Even with that, he could clearly make out the weasel-like features of Wen Chao, who bared his teeth at him in a twisted smile as he clamped his fingers around Jiang Cheng's wrists to keep him from fighting back.

Fairy wanted desperately to intervene, circling the pair and snapping at Wen Chao. But, she'd been told strictly to defend herself. So, the dog continued to circle.

Jiang Cheng fought and twisted and bellowed curses, but found himself firmly pinned to the ground.

"Familiar?" Wen Chao asked, his face inches from Jiang Cheng's. The feel of his breath on his cheek made him want to vomit.

He was beginning to feel the sort of panic he imagined a cornered animal might feel in its last moments.

Still, he refused to ask Fairy for help. He wouldn't risk the dog.

"You really are the weakest link, huh?" Wen Chao said. "This is going to be so easy. It's all going to be so easy."

"Let go of me," Jiang Cheng demanded. "Fight me like a man."

"Did I ever? When did I ever make things fair? When did I not stack the odds in my favor?"

Wen Chao's grip tightened. A sick, feverish feeling washed over him. His ears rang. He couldn't catch his breath.

The Wen banner dangling overhead caught his eye. And just like that, he felt like he had all those years ago when he was held as a prisoner in his own home.

He couldn't bear the humiliation again. He wouldn't…

Wen Chao leaned over and whispered in his ear, "I'll be back for you."

Then, he leapt off of Jiang Cheng and sprinted into the woods, cackling the whole way.

Jiang Cheng sat bolt upright. He clutched his chest and panted fiercely, but he just couldn't seem to breathe. Not really.

Fairy watched him shakily replace Zidian on his finger and start twisting it back and forth in an attempt to distract himself from the terror that gripped his heart.

He was glad the dog was the only one to witness him like this.

Wen Chao was dead. He'd helped to kill him. There was no reason for him to react as he had.

Jiang Cheng picked himself up off the ground, ignoring the look he knew Fairy was giving him even though he could no longer see her in the darkness.

It was late and it would be difficult to travel in the night with poor visibility and the risk of running into fierce corpses. However, Jiang Cheng didn't want to make camp there and he also didn't want to stay at an inn with other people. He didn't think that creature would return so soon, but he couldn't be sure.

"Come along," he said to Fairy.

They moved perhaps a few li away from the encounter, found a nice open area, and made camp for the night. It would have been more productive to keep moving since Jiang Cheng couldn't sleep anyway, but the night was otherwise peaceful.

From then on, the trip continued that way. Although the creature had promised to return for him, he and Fairy thankfully only had a few run-ins with corpses.

Fairy became a little overzealous fighting them off. On a few occasions, Jiang Cheng was forced to ignore an opponent he was engaged with in order to defend his nephew's foolish dog.

But, they worked well together and no one got hurt. There were times that Jiang Cheng felt inexplicably anxious, to the point that his chest ached. He would sit and breathe for a moment, and then the two of them would move on.

Still, the creature never returned for them.

"When I find that boy," Jiang Cheng grumbled, yanking Sandu from the ribs of a particularly troublesome corpse, "there will be hell to pay."

Fairy didn't respond except to wag her tail and watch him expectantly.

And then he felt it – the same sensation he'd experienced in the Cloud Recesses before he'd collapsed – an itching at the base of his skull.

Jiang Cheng reached into his robes and pulled out the talisman that Lan Xichen had designed for him. To his horror, he saw that the paper was almost completely blackened and crinkled as if burned. He didn't know whether that creature had somehow damaged it when they'd fought or if Xue Yang had figured out how to work around the talisman.

It didn't matter.

He was leagues away from Qinghe. And he was at least a couple li from the nearest town. If he was experiencing this sensation already, Jiang Cheng was skeptical of his ability to find help in time.

Fairy nudged his hand.

"Stop," Jiang Cheng snapped at her. "I'm trying to think."

This was going to be embarrassing if he died here in the middle of the woods. Jin Ling would be furious. He'd wanted him to keep people around for this exact reason. At least Jin Ling would have the satisfaction of being right.

Just then, a powerful blast of wind swept through the trees. Fairy started barking. That dog was ready to fight anything, even the weather.

Twigs, sand, and pebbles were picked up by the torrent. Jiang Cheng shielded his face.

"Jiujiu!"

At the sound of Jin Ling's voice, Jiang Cheng dropped his hands. He found himself face-to-face with not only his nephew, but also Nie Huaisang, Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, Wen Ning, and one of the Lan juniors whose name he couldn't remember.

"What the hell were you thinking, Jin Ling?!" Jiang Cheng roared.

He made no comment on the strange circular apparition before him, nor did he comment on the presence of any of the other people near Jin Ling.

The tingling at the base of his skull was intensifying. He wanted to keep this conversation with Jin Ling – if this even was Jin Ling and not that creature messing with him again – as short as possible so that he wouldn't collapse in front of everyone again.

It would have been more logical to ask for help, but Jiang Cheng wasn't about to show that kind of weakness in front of Wei Wuxian.

"I thought Sect Leader Nie deserved to know what was going on," Jin Ling said firmly.

Jiang Cheng crossed his arms. "Fine. You could have told me or, at the very least, left a note!"

"I did leave a note!"

Jiang Cheng frowned. He had turned Jin Ling's bedroom upside down before. There was no way he'd missed it. Unless…

"You left a note in your room?"

"Yes!"

"And you left your dog with me?"

"Um, yes?"

"With access to your room as well?"

Jin Ling blanched.

Fairy was an exceptionally well-trained dog. She listened to any command given and had on many occasions demonstrated intelligent disobedience in defense of others.

But the one thing they'd never quite been able to train out of her was her love for tearing paper. She didn't even eat it. She just liked to rip it up. For that reason, Jiang Cheng was surprised he hadn't found any evidence of it. Perhaps it was that intelligent disobedience again, hiding the evidence.

Wei Wuxian howled with laughter. The Lan disciple cleared his throat.

"Jiujiu, I tried to leave a note!" Jin Ling insisted.

Jiang Cheng was trying to fight off the onslaught he knew was coming. The tingling of his skull had turned into a splitting headache. He was starting to see stars.

But it was imperative that he tell Jin Ling off for disrespecting him like he had. The brat couldn't even tell him in person that he was leaving? Did he think Jiang Cheng would physically try to stop him from going?

Jiang Cheng opened his mouth, but as he did, searing pain erupted across his chest – just like it had last time.

He fell to his knees with a gasp, trying desperately to keep his vision in focus. He saw the others react with varying degrees of shock – except for Lan Wangji who never reacted to anything.

The last thing he saw was Jin Ling and Wei Wuxian rushing forward.

How strange…