Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Zhuzhi-lang was not thrilled

It was hot out the weather unbearable when he was covered in all the layers he wore. He wouldn't be out and about unless it wasn't an order from a certain someone. He would be happy to stay inside for the rest of his life if he could.

But the night before Tianlang-jun was set on him doing something with his life telling him to go out and make “friends”.

“But Junshang, this subordinate is happy where I am.. “ Zhuzhi-lang murmured his tone careful and quiet.

Tianglang-jun glanced up from where he was writing and titled his head. “Getting out and making friends will be good for you..being stuck all day with your uncle isn't much of a life is it?”

“I'd like my own personal time anyways i have some reading to catch up on..” He smirked, picking up a cheap romance book from his pile. He did have a lot to catch up on being trapped under a mountain; it didn't leave much for his imagination to do.

“But-..” Zhuzhi-lang was about to respond when Tianlang-jun cut him off immediately.

“Live your life, get a lover, learn something new” He continued flipping through a few pages in his book to find the right page.

Zhuzhi-lang sighed quietly and looked away with a light blush on his cheek at the mention of finding a lover. He glanced at Tianlang-jun and decided not to say anything else about the matter. “Goodnight Junshang..” Tianlang-jun hummed and waved him off in response, now focusing on the trashy romance he was reading.

That night Zhuzhi-lang thought about their conversation. He barely got sleep that night but ultimately decided he would “go out”.

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He made sure to buy a veil to cover his face. He didn't need people seeing the scales scattered across his face. He already had someone see it at a previous market. The lady who had seen his scales screamed and made a big scene about it.

Zhuzhi-lang sighed tugging at his robes a bit as he trailed along the crowded market streets he fidgeted with his sleeves as he walked. Maybe a market wasn't the best place to start, the loud noises and various smells were a bit overwhelming.

Over all the noises there was one that caught his attention and those of many others as well. There was a crowd forming around an elderly woman who was crying and rambling on about a demon. Zhuzhi-lang tensed even though the woman wasn't talking about him it still made him nervous despite how anxious he was feeling he walked a little closer to hear better.

“A demon stole my child..his poor soul!” The elderly woman cried clutching the front of her robes. Her appearance was poor to say the least as if she had been mauled by something. Her robes tore and a few cuts on her arms and legs.

As she continued to cry a group of people made their way over it which Zhuzhi-lang immediately recognized as cultivators. There were two adults and about three younger people which he assumed were disciples. One of the adults dressed in black and a hint of red helped the woman up asking about the demon possibly to help.

Zhuzhi-lang watched the crowd disperse once they realized the cultivators would help the lady; it was no longer their business after all. But he didnt move. He watched the group talk and helped the lady to an inn nearby. He was a bit interested. But as he followed he was so distracted by the group of cultivators he had bumped into something hard and unmoving.

The first thing he smelt was the unmistakable smell of death and rot. It was overwhelming especially with his good sense of smell. He stumbled back and glanced up, his eyes widening in slight surprise at a corpse.

The man had grey dead skin and black tendrils climbing up his throat and face. His clothes were torn and ragged. He turned and looked at Zhuzhi-lang realizing the other had bumped into him.
“Are..you okay?” The man held his hand out but was hesitant as if he'd accidentally hurt Zhuzhi-lang.

Zhuzhi-lang stared at the man for a moment. What was a dead person doing standing in the middle of a market? Especially without anything to cover the fact he glanced around but it didn't seem like anyone was too concerned like they were used to having a dead man walking around.. Or they didn't know he was dead.

“Sorry I'm okay.” He stammered out backing away a bit, messing with a string on his sleeve nervously. He watched the man (Corpse?) pause before nodding and turned away walking towards the same inn Those cultivators had entered.

He stood there for a while after the man had left before turning away. Maybe that was enough adventure for the day. But he glanced back at that Inn something was going on something strange. He opened the small pouch Junshang had given him before walking towards the Inn. It wouldn't hurt to spend the night right?

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He glanced out the small window in the room. He had booked a room that night and did stay but sleep evaded him that night. Sleeping in foreign places always made him paranoid; he had taken off all the layers of robes he was wearing before and was only in his sleeping robes.

Zhuzhi-lang sat up as a familiar smell caught his attention and the smell of death drifted through the window. He stood up looking out through the window and looked down. There was that man from before he was sitting outside behind a small bush his eyes were closed as if he was sleeping.

Zhuzhi-lang took this moment to get a proper look at the man. He looked over his body, noticing chains that were attached to parts of his body and how his body looked like it was deteriorating more. He leaned over out the window a bit more, his tongue flicking out as the smell grew a bit more bearable the longer it was there.

While he was looking, a slight movement caught his attention. He glanced at The man's hand that moved slightly a small twitch before the man opened his eyes and was staring straight at Zhuzhi-lang now.

Having been Caught looking he backed away from the window shutting it and crawling under his bed his face red with embarrassment. He covered his face berating himself Junshang had told him to make friends but all it looked like was that he was stalking a corpse at the moment. He sighed and pressed his cheek into the cold floor, closing his eyes. He definitely wasn't telling Junshang about this at all.

Chapter Text

To the few that have read this Ty!! I’m currently in the process of rewriting this your probably thinking “but there’s only one chapter” which your right but i had written the other chapters i just never got to uploading them and then i realized i didn’t like where the story had gone and scrapped the rest..

Life’s been crazy but now that it’s summer break Ive decided to finally pick it back up <3

One last thing..We need more Fics with this ship! I adore it but I’m also a sucker for any rarepairs or crossover ships.