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Chapter Text

The loud clack of the axe could be heard behind the old shabby shack of a house that stood out amongst the dense forest. Snow flakes danced around Lan Sizhui as the wood he was chopping split into smaller pieces, seemingly spreading above an old tree stump.

"A-yuan!" A loud voice called out to the young boy.

"Baba?" The said boy turned to see why his dad had called him.

A man in raven black robes made his way towards Lan Sizhui, the red ribbon around his hair blowing to the side from the gentle breeze. His grey eyes soften when it landed on Lan Sizhui's hand holding the axe.

"A-yuan, I told you already we don't need the extra fire wood!" He exclaimed and crossed his arms. "Me and your father can collect the wood ourselves." He added.

The young boy looked down at his hands with the axe and blush slowly rose across his face. Lan Sizhui had thought he could collect extra firewood for his parents before his departure to the village, he wanted to be reassured that they would still be warm in case of a snow storm. He then pondered on how he should respond to his dad.

The gentle sound of the door sliding open had awoken the young boy from his pondering and caught the attention of Lan Sizhui's dad. His other father appeared before them with his gray bluish robes and limped towards them while holding his walking stick.

"Sizhui you should be heading to the village." His father's deep and calm voice said.

Even with out adding the extra context Lan Sizhui already knew what he had meant. 'Don't worry about me' was he silent plea.

Grabbing the bamboo basket filled with the goods, Lan Sizhui prepared to set off towards the small village below the mountain they live on. The snow had pilled up into small hills making it even more difficult for Lan Sizhui to reach the village.

'The village'  that Lan Sizhui called it was a small community with old huts build beside one another and with only a well to sustain them. The villagers had smiles hanging on their faces when Lan Sizhui passed them by.

"Lan gege!  Did you bring new toys for us to play?" Exclaimed a child with snot dripping down their nose.

"I'm sorry but I have to sell all of my baba's vegetables before I can play with you." Lan Sizhui said while lowering his eye level to the child.

"Your selling the vegetables? Oh is your father's leg still broken, Sizhui?" The child's mother asked Lan Sizhui.

Lan Sizhui only nodded in respond towards the old mother's question.

"Well I'll definitely buy anything that dad of yours plants!" Boomed an old man. While his friends behind laugh at his enthusiasm.

"I could use some of those in my soup too!" Shouted another villager.

Soon Lan Sizhui had sold all of his vegetables before the sky had darken but the journey back would probably elongate his time. Without a second to spare, Lan Sizhui had forced his feet to hike up the snowy mountain that separates him from his home. 

Not long after he had reached midway through the mountain is when a hand reached out to stop him. When he turned around he faced the wrinkled face of an old woman.

"The sun is soon to set. You should stay at my home for the night, Sizhui." The old woman suggested.

The old woman was an old friend of his parents. She would often care for him when his parents were busy as she lived near his home.

So Lan Sizhui only needed one look at the darken sky and entered the old woman's home without complain.

The smell of wisteria hit Lan Sizhui's nostrils when he stepped into the old house. While setting his shoes onto the shoe rack, Lan Sizhui eyed the old woman setting up various talismans around the windows and the four corners of the house.

"Are you setting those up to block the demons from entering, granny?" Lan Sizhui asked.

His parents used to tell Lan Sizhui tales of human eating demons to scare his child self when he was too adventurous for his own good. It definitely stopped the poor boy from skipping his bedtime and sneaking away from his parents. He was terrified of breaking curfew and meeting that supposed demon. Although he has never seen one in real life.

The old woman responded with a nod towards Lan Sizhui and handed a blanket for him. She ushered the boy to the handmade bed while lighting the wisteria scented incense. The familiar scent brought comfort to Lan Sizhui as it filled the room.

The next morning, Lan Sizhui left the old woman's home with silent farewell. When the outline of his home reached his silver eyes, his steps hasten and quickly turned running towards his home. The beating of his heart soon became erratic when his eyes landed on the blood stained snow outside his home.

"Baba! A-Die!" He shouted at the top of lungs to call for his parents.

Peaking through the broken sliding doors, the colour red could be seen sprayed on the walls just like his dad's favourite ridiculously spicy dishes. Holding onto the sides of the sliding door to support his weight, bile threated to spill out from his throat at the sight of his dad's bloody corpse laid out on the floor.

Chapter Text

Snow covered the trees surrounding the hills all around the forest. The clouds above were so dense that it swallowed the sun's light from slipping through. Deep inside the forest, the harsh breath of Lan Sizhui could be heard from within. His body felt as if it was set ablaze as his strength slowly dissipated. The weight of his father's body began to feel unbearable on his shoulders but neither could he set him down nor rest. 

"Hang in there A-Die." Lan Sizhui said with a huff of breath.

The air coming out of his mouth turned to small clouds of smoke that filled his vision. The body behind him shook violently, the sudden stir caused Lan Sizhui to plummet down the hill he was on. Lan Sizhui's back hit the ground with full force, causing Lan Sizhui to gasp in surprised.

"A-Die!" panic filled Lan Sizhui's voice as he looked around for his injured father.

Lan Sizhui's eyes finally relaxed when it landed on the slow rising figure in a white, blood stained under robe. The harsh breath of his father could be heard clearly when Lan Sizhui advanced towards him. His body was slump in an inappropriate stance unlike the upright man Lan Sizhui knew of. Blood dripped down of his father's still injured leg but it was ignored by the man as he limped towards his son.

"A-Die you shouldn't be standing up! Let me help you get to the doctor!" Lan Sizhui exclaimed with tears sliding down his face from the stress of the whole situation.

Triggered by the sudden sound, Lan Sizhui's father sprinted towards him with his mouth wided open showing sharp beast like fangs. Reacting fast Lan Sizhui grabbed the axe that had fallen from the him sash to block the oncoming attack. The sharp claws of Lan Sizhui's father barely graze Lan Sizhui's face ,he struggled to reach Lan Sizhui with the axe's wooden handle acting as a barrier.

"A-Die stop it! What are you doing?" Lan Sizhui exclaimed as he struggled to overpower the monstrous strength of his father.

'Inhuman strength with fangs and claws like a beast, these are just like in the tales of demons!' As that thought reached Lan Sizhui, he could only feel disbelief at his own conclusion. How could his 'human' father be a demon? The same man that raised him with his dad since he could barely remember his own name. The same man that could never stand meat in his bland meals. And the very same man despised even the mention of demons at that!

Suddenly, Lan Sizhui remembered seeing foot prints that didn't belong to neither of his parents on the snow outside his home. That was it! There must have been another demon!

Oblivious of his son's dilemma the man turned demon struggled against the axe with renewed vigour. The sudden added strength and weight compelled Lan Sizhui to focus on his father. His gray eyes wided in astonishment as his father had grown in size!

Using the more arm strength on the axe that separated him and his father. Lan Sizhui's mind was in inner turmoil as to what he should even do next.

"A-Die!" Lan Sizhui cried.

"Please snap out of it!"

A normal human being would have run or tried to hit the demon with the axe but to Lan Sizhui he couldn't even dare to think of leaving his father here to let other unfortunate strangers to handle, let alone harm him!

"A-Die, from now on I promise I'll be a fateful son to the very end!"

"I'll follow all the one hundred rules in our house!"

"I'll never skip guqin practise or cleaning up after the bunnies!"

"And I promise to train extra harder in sword training!"

Before he could make a another plea towards his father, the sudden feeling of wet water droplets on his face caused him to look up. His gray eyes were met with his father's golden orbs, each eye filled with tears.

"A-yuan" his father mumbled his name through the wooden handle around his mouth.

Both Lan Sizhui and his father remained frozen in their place, huffing out loud, fast breaths from exhaustion. It was only when Lan Sizhui heard the faint tintinnabulation of a bell that Lan Sizhui finally moved ,grabbing his father's robes to dodge the blade that aimed straight towards his father's neck.

"Who are you?" Lan Sizhui turned towards his attacker that was standing menacingly above him.

The man was dressed in black and purple coloured robes with a small delicate looking bell hanging beside his sash.

"Why did you save it?" the purpled robed man asked.

"You mean my father?" Lan Sizhui replied as he tighten the hold on his axe.

"Xiansheng you misunderstood, my father wouldn't hurt me! He has never harmed anyone before!  Another demon attacked our home, injured my A-Die and killed my baba!" Lan Sizhui exclaimed.

The man ignored Lan Sizhui's desperate attempts at explaining the situation to him, grabbed the demon's hands and detained him right in front of Lan Sizhui. The tip of the man's blade was dangerously close to the demon's throat.

"Stop!" Lan Sizhui screamed in terror.

With a sob, Lan Sizhui bowed, making his front body facing the cold snow.

"Please don't kill my father I'll do anything!"  Lan Sizhui begged the man with tears in his eyes.

Chapter Text

The man in purple robes tighten his hold on the demon, but even as the pale skin of the demon started to bruise, it showed no signs of resisting as if accepting its inevitable fate. This puzzled the man as he had never seen a demon, especially one only recently turned be so docile. But he could not let his guard down in case the the demon does attack the boy again.

It was when the purple robed man lost his focus on Lan Sizhui, that the boy rushed at him with the axe, aiming to disarm the man. With sharp reflexes the man used his arm holding the sword to knock Lan Sizhui to the ground. The impact of the sudden assault  paralyzed the boy and knocked him unconscious.

The man above him only looked at him with pity, sympathizing on the boy's loss but he would have to bear the guilt of what he must do, taking away the boy's last living relative. The eyes of the boy's father on the other hand, started dilating rapidly, kicking the man when his gaze was focused on his son. The sudden movement loosen the man's grip on the demon, freeing it.

The man could only curse at himself for his mistake and watched in horror as the demon approached the unconscious boy. Readying his sword to slice the demon before it devoured the boy, his sight was soon greeted with the demon standing protectively in front of the boy. It's limping body shielded the boy from the man's sight, growling it's teeth at a man as a warning.

"A-yuan!" The demon screeched and lounge itself towards the man.

The man dodged the demon consistent attacks, the movement of the demon getting slower and slower at each swipe. To the purple robed man this demon was an oddity, most demons attack any humans near them whether they were family or not, but this demon ignored the easy prey right in front of it, opting to protect the boy from a supposed threat. This behavior truly puzzled the experienced man and neither had his colleagues shared a similar to this.

During his pondering the man spotted a strange piece of silk slipping out of the demon's right hand, it looked worn out, the patterns around it fading away with blood stains decorating the sides of it. When the man could finally make out the pattern on the ribbon, his eyes widen into saucers. He immediately stopped and swung his hand towards the demon's qi point at the neck, causing the demon to fall silently to the snow covered ground.

Lan Sizhui felt a warm hand rocking his body gently with a low voice calling out his name.

"A-yuan." Lan Sizhui only stir slightly at the familiar voice.

"A-yuan." The voice said a little louder but the boy still did not wake.

"My little radish, it's time for little lans to wake up~" The gentle voice sang.

At the words Lan Sizhui's eyes slowly opened to see his dad dressed  in the robes he wore before his death, with a smile hung on his face that reminded Lan Sizhui of the morning sun. Looking up at his dad, tears filled Lan Sizhui's face as he embraced the smiling man with his arms. The man in question only hummed at the boy's actions.

"A-yuan, my little radish you should be waking up from sleep, not staying here with me." Lan Sizhui's father said as he gently patted the boy's head.

In response Lan Sizhui tighten the hold around his dad and shook his head violently. His tears were soaking his dad's raven black robes.

"Please don't go." Lan Sizhui plead to his dad as the world around them slowly faded away.

"Don't go."  But there was no response.

Lan Sizhui's eyes opened to see himself grabbing onto his father's robes, laying beside him was his father with a bamboo muzzle placed on his mouth.

"You're awake," said the purpled robed man above Lan Sizhui.

The boy only looked at the bad in disbelief as if he never considered the stranger to spare his father's life.

"Young master, may i ask what is your father's name?" The man asked out of the blue.

"What?" Lan Sizhui asked the man, trying to see if he had misheard him.

"His name," the man pointed towards his unconscious father.

The boy looked at his father who was still breathing beside him and faced the man again.

"Lan Wangji." Lan Sizhui said trusting the man would not ask his father's name if he was planning to kill him.

At the mention of his father's name the man became silent. The man's looked at Lan Sizhui's father again, silently mumbling something with his lips. He then turned to face Lan Sizhui again.

"Go to Baoshan Sanren's mountain located in the east, tell her Wei Changze sent you."

Lan Sizhui's eyes widen at the familiar sir name the man had. Wei Changze's sir name, 'Wei' was the same sir name of his dad Wei Wuxian! While it was not uncommon to have similar sir names with people unrelated, it did not seem to be case here as Wei Changze seems to be somewhat familiar with his father.

The man, Wei Changze then handed a worn out envelope in front of Lan Sizhui, telling him to show it to Baoshan Sanren, if he wants to be trained by her. He explained that if Lan Sizhui wanted to find a way to turn his father back into a human, he would have to train to become a demon slayer.

Once Lan Sizhui had received the letter in his hand, Wei Changze banished into the dense canopy of the forest.

Chapter Text

"Baba please look over me and A-Die." Lan Sizhui prayed at the handmade alter for his dad, Wei Wuxian.

After Wei Changze had left Lan Sizhui and Lan Wangji alone, they hiked up the mountain to reach their home and properly buried Wei Wuxian outside of their home. Lan Sizhui gathered all of his dad's personal belongs before burying them with him, keeping only the red ribbon Wei Wuxian wore. The ribbon was now safely tied around Lan Sizhui's hair, copying the signature ponytail Wei Wuxian always wore.

Lan Sizhui lit the remaining incense sticks from his home and placed them on the snow covered ground, the exact location of his dad's body. Lan Wanji followed his son's actions as well, staring longingly at the handmade alter.

"Baba I'll be going now." Lan Sizhui said as he was getting ready to leave, having one last look at the alter.

But before he could move his father's hands had stopped him and guided the boy inside the house.

"A-Die what's wrong did we forgot something?" Lan Sizhui asked Lan Wanji.

His father not responding to his question, dragged the boy into the master bedroom and left him by the door frame. Lan Wanji walked to the bed and pulled out something from under the bed's floorboard. The item was a silver, bluish sword with clouds craved onto the sheath, it had a jade tassel strapped at the hilt of the sword. 

"Is this your sword A-Die?" Lan Sizhui asked his father.

Lan Wanji stared at Lan Sizhui with his golden eyes before shaking his head, handing the boy a piece of paper he took with the sword.

Happy birthday! Lan Yuan

- From Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji

Was written on the paper.

Lan Sizhui looked at the paper with this eyes arched, the excitement of the day had made Lan Sizhui completely forgetting that today was his fifteen birthday. He gently folded the paper into his bluish robes, cradled the sword in his right hand. The sword was light with a pleasant feel to it for the eyes, the blade on the other hand had a metallic feel to it, its surface reflecting the light coming from the bedroom's window.

When Lan Sizhui's grip on the sword with more force, the once reflective surface became pitch black! The sword felt a little heavier as if a burden was added to Lan Sizhui and a low heat radiated from it's blade. 

Confused on the sword's sudden change, he looked towards his father seeking answers. His father's golden eyes only stared at the sword in silence, remaining unresponsive to Lan Sizhui's silent query. Deciding to not dwell on the matter, Lan Sizhui placed the sword back to it's hilt and carried in beside him.

"We should get going now." said Lan Sizhui as both he and his father exited their home.

When they reach midway down the mountain, Lan Sizhui spotted the figure of the old woman standing outside her home. She approach the two of them with slowed steps and stared intently at Lan Wanji. 

"He's gone isn't, Sizhui." the old woman said as she faced Lan Sizhui.

Lan Sizhui took a deep breath and nodded. He wondered how the old woman already knew of Wei Wuxian's death. The old woman sighed at the boy's response, rummaging through her robes and handed Lan Sizhui a stack of talismans.

"You will need this on your journey to Baoshan Sanren's mountain." she said and then looked at Lan Wanji.

"There's an old basket in the back of the house, you can use it to carry your father during the day. Do not let either the sun or wisteria touch him" The old woman commanded.

Lan Sizhui thanked the old woman before grabbing the old basket from the back of the house.

"A-Die do you think you can fit into the basket?" Lan Sizhui asked his father while pointing at the basket.

Lan Wangji eyed the basket intently before shrinking to the size of a child, jumping it to the basket without a second thought. Lan Sizhui stared at the child like Lan Wangji with wonder, restraining himself from the undignified gesture of pinching his father's chubby cheeks. He knew his father's thin face would not be able to handle the embarrassing act of his son.

After saying their final farewells, Lan Sizhui and Lan Wanji journeyed to the east, passing by many small villages and merchants for directions. By the time they reached the forest in the outer rings of the Baoshan Sanren's mountain night had already fallen. His father who was calm during the entire trip started becoming restless in the basket.

"A-Die what's wrong? Did something happened?" Lan Sizhui moved the cloth covering the basket behind him to see what had made his father react this way.

Unbeknownst to Lan Sizhui, his father could sense the faint scent of blood that lingered in the air. Without warning, Lan Wangji jumped out of the basket and rushed to the source of the scent, leaving his son baffled. Lan Sizhui hurriedly trailed behind Lan Wangji, while folding the cloth that his father flung to the ground in his haste. 

When Lan Sizhui finally reached his father, the sight in front of him froze him in his place. In front of the boy was a run downed house, the exterior had faint traces of fresh blood, the light in the house showed the faint shadow of a man moving abnormally. Gathering his courage Lan Sizhui walked towards the front door and opened it. The first thing Lan Sizhui say was the corpse of an elder couple being eaten by a man with torn out robes. The man, no, the demon was licking the blood on his hand as if it was the most delicious thing in the world.

Hearing the sound of the door opening, the demon turned his scarred face towards the door. The scarred face demon glanced at the uninvited guest before eyeing the boy and his father in interest.

"Well I wasn't expecting guest to come while I was having dinner" The scarred demon and took another bite at the elder corpse's arm.

"Say stranger what is a demon like you doing, travelling with a human?" The scarred demon asked Lan Wangji who was staring at the corpses intensely. Saliva was dripping down from the muzzle around Lan Wangji's mouth, his hands gripping so tight that blood could be seen.

Lan Sizhui didn't registered the scarred demon's question, his hand focused on reaching for his sword in case of an upcoming battle. His breathing hasten as his eyes remained locked on the demon and the corpses. His body began to slightly shake in fear, the memory of Wei Wuxian's corpse was still fresh in his mind.

The scarred demon smirked and pounced at Lan Sizhui! Reacting fast Lan Sizhui unshielded his sword to block the demon's claws from striking at his neck. But the demon was faster and switched his trajectory to the boy's stomach. Before the tip of the demon's claws could reach the boy, a powerful punch was sent towards him, sending the demon flying into the trees outside the house.

"Thank you A-Die!" Lan Sizhui huffed, his heart felt like it was on a marathon with how fast it was going.

But the boy couldn't rest yet as the demon had gotten up from the blow and was running towards him with renewed vigour.

"Damn you! I'll kill you, you brat!" the demon yelled with all his might.

Knowing that he could not defeat the demon on his own, Lan Sizhui tried devised a plan to drag the fight until sunrise. But before Lan Sizhui could react, the scarred demon rushed head first at the boy, pinning him to the ground.

When the demon's claws swiped the boys robes, a burst of flames ignited from the demon's hands, the flesh slowly disintegrated. Tears fell from the demon's eyes and he cried in pain from the burns.

"Damn it! What was that!?" the demon held on his burned left hand while screaming curses at Lan Sizhui, evidently freeing Lan Sizhui from his grasp.

In a flash Lan Wangji had stomped the demon's head with full force to the ground while he was still cursing at Lan Sizhui, the scarred demon remained on the ground unconscious. Lan Wangji then turned to his son, eyeing between the sword in Lan Sizhui's hand and the demon's neck. And a the meaning dawned on Lan Sizhui as the grip he had on his sword tighten.

Lan Sizhui slowly stood up, swinged his sword high in the air and took a deep concentrated breath. But even as he closed his eyes, he body kept shaking uncontrollably. This was his first time taking a life, even if it was not a human the gentle hearted Lan Sizhui could not fathom the idea of ending another beings life. 

"Are you going to kill it now or wait until it kills you when it wakes up?" in the distance a woman's voice was heard behind Lan Sizhui.

Surprised  Lan Sizhui turn to his back to find an old woman wearing a bamboo hat in white robes. Her white hair reached her shoulders with braids at the end of her hair. The woman's face was covered by a veil but Lan Sizhui could feel her eyes piercing into him as if seeing through his soul.

Lan Sizhui hesitated on responding to the veiled woman, but his silence made the woman annoyed and huff a breath.

She then turned her face to the sky and said, "Look, you took so long that the sun is already starting to rise." 

And when Lan Sizhui looked up to the sky, it indeed was! The majestic sun was making its entrance towards the sky, bathing the ground below with its gentle rays. Although as the sun's rays touched the demon's skin, he started to disintegrate into ashes. His cries filled Lan Sizhui's heart with terror until he slowly became silent.

Suddenly remembering granny's warning of the sun, Lan Sizhui looked for his father who was beside him, only to find he had disappeared. Fearing the worse Lan Sizhui went into the house hopping his father had already taken shelter. To the boy's relief, Lan Wangji stared at Lan Sizhui while holding up the cloth covering him in the basket Lan Sizhui dropped, while fighting the demon.

"I'm assuming your Lan Sizhui, gongzi?" the veiled woman asked the boy.

Lan Sizhui noted how he had not heard the sound of footsteps both times when the woman approached him.

Taking the boy's silence as confirmation to her question, she asked Lan Sizhui to follow her. Only when Lan Sizhui saw the direction the woman was heading did he knew that she was Baoshan Sanren.

Chapter Text

Baoshan Sanren's mountain was vast, trees and tall bamboo grooves could be seen in each direction. Standing at the peak of the mountain was Boashan Sanren's home where each of her disciples were trained to become demon slayers. And out of many disciples that became demon slayers, only one一the newly acquired Lan Sizhui一 currently resides with her.

Baoshan Sanren was what was known as a "cultivator" in the demon slayer corps. They find and train disciples to become demon slayers. And within the demon slayer corps the name Baoshan Sanren was the famous and highly respected for her accomplishments during her days as a demon slayer.

The demon slayer corps is the organization that controls the demon slayers. They provide weapons, clothing and all other essentials to the demon slayers. And the strongest of demon slayers become Pillars, known for their talents and accomplishments in battle.

The first task Baoshan Sanren gave Lan Sizhui before he even step foot on the mountain was to reach the peak unscathed. Once she gave the boy her order, she took the basket carry Lan Wangji and reached the peak first. Only after counting the minutes that had passed, Lan Sizhui started to climb the mountain.

At first the task seem rather simple, Lan Sizhui had thought he would reach the peak rather quickly. But when he reached midway up the mountain, various traps appeared and slowed him down each step of the way, each trap growing harder as he climbed higher. The air also seemed to get thinner the higher he went, forcing Lan Sizhui to limit his movement as to not exert too much energy.

Falling into the fifteen trap Lan Sizhui pondered if Baoshan Sanren was somewhere near looking at him fumbling around and ultimately deciding not to train him for his foolishness. Shaking the negative thought away, Lan Sizhui became more motivated to reach the peak, he slowly became used to the traps on the mountain and moved faster as time goes by.

While the boy keeps falling into the traps, Baoshan Sanren was sitting with Lan Wangji drinking tea. She looked at the setting sun and shook her head, her veil blocking the expression she was making for Lan Wangji to see. She would occasionally glace at the door and heave a few sighs.

"I'm sorry I'm late!" Lan Sizhui half-yelled, panting when he opened the door.

The boy's body looked to be in bad condition. There were purple and blue bruises showing on his arms and legs. His once neat hair looked like a hornet's nest with locks of hair tangled along with his red hair ribbon. His robes were in no better condition, the fabric smudged with clumps of mud and dirt.

Looking at his dishevel son Lan Wangji walked towards the boy to help tidy the poor boy's appearance. Baoshan Sanren eyed the father swiping the boy's dirty face with a cloth before guiding the two inside.

"I will say I'm impress on how fast you completed the challenge. From now on you will wake at seven in the morning to start your training." Baoshan Sanren said and left the father and son alone.

Hearing the confirmation that Baoshan Sanren was going to train him, Lan Sizhui sighed to himself in relief. After seeing Baoshan Sanren exiting the room, Lan Wangji went into the bathroom to prepare his son's bath. Once Lan Sizhui was cleaned, the two father and son duo went to the respective beds and slept.

Accustomed to spending nights together resting beside each other, they drifted to slumber, relishing in the presence of one another.

Lan Sizhui found  himself laying on the mattress of his home, his limps had no strength in them and he can't move. Beside him the figure of his dad humming a calming melody as his hands gently panting Lan Sizhui. His presence radiated the gentle warmth of the sun as its tender rays crashed against the cold mountain air. 

Without his consent tears started to roll down Lan Sizhui's face, a sob could be heard coming from within his mouth. The humming stopped as Lan Sizhui's sobbing started getting louder, determining the song as the cause of it. Gentle hands began to wipe away the tears on Lan Sizhui's cheeks, the warmth from the hands soothed the crying boy.

"A-yuan why are you crying?" Wei Wuxian asked, staring at the boy's redden eyes.

"If you keep crying like this you'll squeeze out all the water in your body and become a dried up, wrinkled radish. If that happens how will I be able eat my little radish?" Wei Wuxian jested, while playfully pitching his son's chubby cheeks.

Lan Sizhui huffed in amusement at his dad's nonsense. 

Seeing as the boy's tears coming to a stop, Wei Wuxian smiled and pecked Lan Sizhui's forehead.

"Good little lans don't cry, they should smile for their fathers. A-yuan promise me you'll always smile for me and Lan Zhan, okay?" That was the last thing Lan Sizhui heard before Wei Wuxian's face began to fade.

The very next morning, Lan Sizhui started the day preparing for Baoshan Sanren's training. He combed his hair in a neat manner and tied it together with his dad's red ribbon. He then ate his breakfast in a silent but dignified haste, before appearing in front of Baoshan Sanren's room in his training robes. The woman in question showed surprise evident through her veil at the boy standing outside her room.

"What are you doing standing outside my room?" She asked as the boy showed a shy smile towards her.

"I was waiting for you to start my training." Lan Sizhui said.

"So early? I thought I said we would start at seven." Baoshan Sanren couldn't believe the boy had woken two hours early just to start his training.

"Mn" Lan Sizhui nodded at the woman's question.

If only my other disciples was as diligent as this boy.

Baoshan Sanren internally sigh as the memories of her past disciples ran through her mind. Deciding not waste the boy's effort, Baoshan Sanren immediately brought the boy outside to start his training.

The first thing Baoshan Sanren taught Lan Sizhui was how to breath properly.

"Master Boashan Sanren aren't we already breathing? Why is there a technique for it?" The confused boy asked his master.

"The breathing techniques I'll teach you is not that of the normal kind." Baoshan Sanren explained.

"We humans are weak against demons, our limps don't regrow and we don't have inhuman speed nor strength."

She straighten Lan Sizhui's posture, guiding him to correct stance.

"The only known thing to kill them is sunlight or special weapons created by the demon slayer corps."

She pulled his arms forward, urging him to spread his legs and squat.

"That is why breathing techniques were formed."

Baoshan Sanren pushed down Lan Sizhui's leg, putting pressure on his knees.

"Each breath you waste during battle is each step closer you are to death!" 

Lan Sizhui felt his muscles tense as he struggled to maintain this posture.

"Only when oxygen flows into every cell in your body will you be able to enhance your natural healing power."

Lan Sizhui's shoulders trembled as Baoshan Sanren sharply pressed on his pressure points.

"Stabilizing and energizing your qi!"

And after the explanation, Lan Sizhui started learning breathing techniques. Little did he know this was the start of his hellish training under Baoshan Sanren.