Long Jishu

He drinks — that's good, now the second one has started showing signs of life, wonderful. The ritual works, that's good. He looked around, with a heavy sigh, understanding how everything looked. A gloomy large room, many tables, everything dark, rotten, there's not a drop of life in all the decor. Even the spider hasn't spun a single thread in many centuries. Returning his gaze to those who had come to, he gave the girl a drink as well. It was time to explain. He tapped his fingernail on the fan.

— I took you out of them and pushed you into the bodies, which damaged the vessels, but I needed to break the souls so that you could prevail over them. I don't want you to die. I think you will be useful to me.

Went to the table where water and cloths were prepared. Returning, he put down the bowl, moistened the cloth, applied it to the wound on one and then the other breast and, glancing at the floor, remembered the request. He lifted the fan and held it out.

— Are you sure this is what you want to beg me?

Zui He

With relief he hid the desired object near his heart.

— Thank you, but I would like to know why you freed us? What should we do now?

He fell silent, without asking the main question. How to restore memory? Trusting this creature is not even in his thoughts. He is not yet completely out of his mind to do something like that, even though he does not remember anything. I wonder if the girl has the same problems? He will have to ask her later. For now, it seems, she has not yet come to her senses.

Long Jishu

Looking at the sickly appearance of his charges, he drew his eyebrows together. Both of their wounds were bleeding, and he began to tend to them. Quite a long time passed until he waited for the maiden to also show signs of life, and he turned to her, treating her wound.

— Can you listen?

Yun Xu

Obviously, the young man comes to his senses faster. Yun Xu breathed heavily, not understanding the question, nodded, hoping that she would figure it out later.

Long Jishu

— Great, then listen, — smiled at the edge of his lips.

This was the moment he had been waiting for. Now everything will become clear.

— I want to offer you something. All you need is your desire. If you don't agree, I'll let you go, and you can try to forget me and this place, start a new life, — he thought about how to express his thought more correctly, — I took your souls out of the fans, but I didn't know if the ritual would be successful and if I could do what I had planned. Now I want to offer you to become like me, but I don't know if I can do it or not.

Zui He

The phantom of freedom beckons, he wants to be far away from this place, from the demon who smiles with lips, but gold boils with rage in his eyes, but will he let him go as he says? And where to go, Zui He doesn’t even know who he is. It makes sense to linger and look around. And it’s better if there is an ally nearby - he looked at the girl doubtfully - well, what there is. Hoping that the girl would remain silent, he tried to smile at both at once:

— Who would refuse such an offer, what do we need to do?

Long Jishu

Having cast a fleeting glance at the scrolls, and thought about the question asked. A soul trapped in a weapon, fed on blood and rage. An evil spirit that had captured someone else's body, there was no other way to put it. He looked at his hands, remembering his awakening, and closed his eyes. The lips shrank before the words, but his voice remained even, only unconsciously leaning back.

— I am a demon, one might say a spirit of weapons. You too and she, but you are light, — pointed to chest, — I placed you in the bodies of spellcasters. The dantian energy was pumped there. This is the only reason the body is still alive, without it you would have died from such wounds. 

He thought about the second question, because they were not spirits anymore. Perhaps they were spellcasters, but the souls, like his, were imprisoned in weapons. Most likely, no one could imagine where they came from and where they went. How long would he have to stay here if not for a lucky chance. An eternity of senseless struggle, alone, with no chance of victory or defeat. Raising his gaze, he looked at the huge number of scrolls. Maybe there is an answer there, but now those sitting in front of him know and understand even less.

— Do you remember where you were and how long you spent there? Remember at least something? Who are you, what is your name? — two ambers in the semi-darkness lit up with hope and pleasure from communication. To speak and listen is an unprecedented gift.

Zui He

Remember... if only. Even a little information would be good. The young man looked carefully at the demon, trying to understand what he was really thinking about - it was useless. Saying that he didn't remember anything seemed like a bad idea.

— I don't remember anything, — covered his mouth with his hand. The tongue, against his will, pronounces the truth. What is this? Why is this happening? There are many questions, but no answers. He looked into the eyes with bewilderment. Looks like there's no choice, you'll have to trust, — And you? At least tell me what your name is. And who did these fans belong to?

Long Jishu

After waiting a bit for the girl’s answer, he realized that he wouldn’t hear anything new from her and decided to say what he knew himself.

— My name is Long Jishu, for many years a man fed my soul with blood, then, as I understood, he died. The weapon in which I lived was placed in this place. I don’t know how much time passed. But one day, when I returned to my sword, I did not find it. I began to look for ways to get out, and I found it. There, — he pointed to a table with decrepit scrolls, — I found how I can acquire a body.

The demon stood up and tried to take the old scroll to make his point, but it crumbled into dust. He clicked his fangs in disappointment.

— They are almost all like that, better not to touch. And your fans belong to someone in the palace. Not far from here. My body left a memory, and with its help I got there. I think when we finish here, we will go there. We can probably start. Everything I needed, you gave.

Long Jishu smiled at the symbols that had been burned into the dust in the pattern on the floor during the previous ritual and ran his hand over them, removing them from view. The darkness extended its unfriendly tongues, as if resisting the secrecy. He looked at them and chuckled, slapping his palm on the floor, but the tongues only retreated for a moment.

Squinting, he felt the rage quickly filling his chest. Grabbing the tongues with his hand, he bit the other, immediately drawing symbols with it, erasing the old ones. They flared up immediately, but the darkness does not help, resists, soaking into the hand that holds them. Having finished drawing with a roar, he almost completely plunged into the darkness, taking the fans with him, and the servants circled nearby like a fine haze.

The battles are the only thing he remembers. And now there is nothing new, only the body and the opportunity to grab someone by the throat, showing strength and will. Fatigue rings in his head like a nasty bell, but there is not even a thought of giving up. Only when the darkness bowed its head in front of him, showing submission, did he order it to finish the ritual and let it go from his hands, feeling the weakness running through his entire body, buckling his not yet fully strengthened legs. The sounds fade, the servants caress the floating consciousness, and the disobedient body falls on the not yet fully extinguished drawing.

Yun Xu

The girl only had time to understand that the ritual had begun. Darkness swallowed everything. Sounds, images and thoughts disappeared as if they had never been. Then calm came, short-lived, but incredibly pleasant. The body reminded her of the wound, and it healed right before her eyes in a matter of minutes. The same thing happened to her comrade, but he continued to lie there.

She caught the demon with her gaze and jumped up to him, not paying attention to how quickly she did it. Why was he unconscious? What to do now? She started crying from fear and began to rub the unconscious body.

— Long... Long Jishu, you said... you said that we will go to the palace. Get up …

Zui He

A worried-sounding female voice brought him out of his prostration. Opening his eyes, he jumped up. Bending over the seemingly lifeless body, he listened. Feeling that he was alive, he sighed with relief; for some reason he became very important. Like a best friend or closest relative. Without realizing it, he took his hand, pumping him with energy.

— Long Jishu, — the words come out easily. Zui He feels how qi flows through the meridians, filling the centers, how the body is restored, filling up with energy again, — wake up.

Wanting to reassure, he stroked the girl’s hand:

— Don't cry, he'll be fine.

Long Jishu

It is unknown how long he remained unconscious, but when he opened his eyes, he immediately felt overwhelmed with energy that caressingly enveloped his consciousness while he slept. Feeling the soft warmth under his head, he looked closer. Both wards sit and ask... to wake up? He felt uneasy from such a helpless state. Jumping to his feet, he immediately frowned. 

— I'm fine! And you?

After examining both of them for changes, he realized that the process had only just begun for them. Rags, that’s how their clothes could be called, and no other way. He needed to go back and get everything he needed. It is possible to turn a person into a demon, but it is unknown how long you will have to spend here until the flesh takes on the dark energy. 

— I'll go to the palace and bring you some clothes. What you're wearing right now is no good at all, — a sincere smile appeared on his face, — food and medicine will also come in handy. Now your bodies will be reconstructed. It might hurt. Bear with me, I'll be back soon.

Without waiting for an answer, Jishu left.