Previously:

'Yeah, didn't expect him back there.' Thought Amirul as he heard the bells from the main hall. He looked at his watch and its curfew which is at exactly 9 o'clock and waking up at exactly 5 o'clock.

"Well, better get to sleep then." And Amirul went to bed.

General POV

Amirul was sweating beads as he was rolling sides on the bed and woke up with eyes widen in shock as if he had a nightmare.

"What a dream. What time is it now?" Amirul looked at his watch as it showed 4:00 A.M.

He sighed as he stretched his arms and put his legs at the edge of the bed. Amirul wiped the sweat on his face with his hand.

'Huh, seriously I wake up an hour before 5. Huh, blame the school's curfews, I guess.' He thought and ran his hand over his hair. Amirul got out of the bed, walking towards a wooden bucket filled with water. He then washed his sleeping face while something came to mind.

Amirul thought that if he and Starise solve the demonic hand mystery, they have to find the way home. He looked at the room that he was in and thought.

'Speaking of the Jingshi, where's Hanguang-Jun?' Amirul could smell the faint sandalwood scent from the incense burner. He then began to do his daily workout by doing a couple of stretches, push-ups, planks, etc. Amirul had done his one-hour workout and went to take a bath after hearing the bells from the main hall ring.

Time skip~

After wearing his uniform, he picked up his backpack and took out a brown leather book. Amirul opened a blank page of the book as he sat on the floor near the table where the incense burner's at. He picked up a pen and started writing on the blank page.

For hours he just sat there writing down until a soft knock from the door was heard. Amirul quickly put his journal away and headed straight to the door and opened it, only to see Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi in front of him.

"Oh, it's you guys. What do you need?" Amirul greeted them with a smile. Lan Sizhui spoke with mannerism, "Good morning, Amirul. It's time for breakfast. We have been sent to collect you to the dining hall."

"Is my sister already there, at the dining hall?" Amirul asked and the Lan junior shook his head as his answer. "Not yet. We also were instructed to bring her after this."

"Oh, okay. Let's go then, shall we?" Amirul closed the Jingshi's door and followed the Lan juniors to the female Guest Quarters where Starise stayed. Amirul asked the two Lans in front of him where their senior, Hanguang-Jun at.

"Right now, Hanguang-Jun is with Grandmaster Lan at the main hall, probably discussing what to do with the demonic hand from Mo Village." Lan Jingyi said with a lazy tone as his friend glared at him for his antics while Amirul chuckled.

A few minutes later, they had arrived at the Guest Quarters and their jaws dropped. In front of the quarters, they saw a thin purple-liked ribbon surrounding a slender figure as if they were dancing. The Lan juniors were astonished and amazed while Amirul didn't say anything.

The figure who was playing with the ribbon is none other than Starise herself. She trained with her electro ribbon and the way she was using the ribbon was so graceful that people who were watching her thought that she is a dancer. The three boys saw her smiling as if she had fun with it, which made the two Lan juniors blush.

Starise raised her arm that holds the ribbon and swiftly pulled back as the ribbon follows her lead. She then turned her body to her side as she raised her other arm which holds a floating purple crystal up to the sky. The crystal shines a faint light as it was reflected by the sunlight. The translucent purple ribbon was swirling around Starise like leaves dancing through the wind. They have sworn that they smelled the scent of Lavender from afar.

Lan Jingyi had his eyes sparkled and spoke with amazement in his voice.

"Woah!! So cool!!"

"The way Starise move is just like she's dancing." Lan Sizhui said as he gazed at the hijabi girl.

Amirul smiled as he spoke with a hint of proudness, "And that's why people in our time called her the 'Angel of Cybertron'. Even though it was exaggerating, she really deserves that title."

'The 'Angel of Cybertron'? People in our time? He said that as if he and Starise weren't from here.' Lan Sizhui looked at Lan Jingyi in confusion while the latter shrugged his shoulders. 

Then, Starise noticed her brother and the juniors from the corner of her eye. She stopped her training and the ribbon and the crystal turned into particles as it vanishes through the air. "Good morning Amirul, Sizhui, and Jingyi. I'm so sorry for keeping you waiting. I was so busy training that I didn't notice you three." Starise greeted them as she walked toward them and put her weapon in her bag. Amirul and Starise shared their fist bumps while the two Lans stood behind the short-haired boy, staring at them doing their thing.

"Nah, we're cool and by the way, was that your new skill just now? That was rad!" Amirul praised his sister and she nodded in reply. "Yeah, I've been working on it for a few months and I think that I can get the hang of it. So, what are you guys doing here?" Starise asked.

"I see, oh and the reason we're here is to pick you up for breakfast. We're late, ya' know." Amirul told her and Starise oh'ed at her brother.

The Lan juniors awkwardly stood there and didn't say anything to the siblings. Lan Jingyi tried to cut them off but Lan Sizhui was already one step ahead of him and he spoke, "Pardon for interrupting you two but I think that it's best if we go to the dining hall now."

The siblings looked at the Lan disciple and nodded as the four of them walked to the dining hall of the Cloud Recesses.

Time skip again~

After having their breakfast, Amirul and Starise went to a secluded area of the Cloud Recesses with the two Lans escorting them since they didn't have any class today. They were curious why did Sizhui carry a basket full of carrots and when they arrived at their destination, they finally understood why. The whole area was full of white fluffy balls with long ears hopping around the grass field and chewing on them too. 

Amirul was aesthetic at the view as rabbits are his favorite animal and it reminded him of his pet rabbit back home. He looked at Sizhui as the latter fed the fluff balls with carrots while Jingyi just stared at his friend doing his work. He asked the Lans who took care of these rabbits and Jingyi said that all of them are Hanguang-Jun's pets. Amirul blinked and couldn't believe that the esteemed Lan Wangji secretly raised a herd of them.

On the other hand, Starise picked up one of the rabbits and cradled it in her arms as she sat down on the grass. The same goes for her brother as he noticed a black rabbit among the white ones. Lan Sizhui finally sat down after the feeding session as well as Lan Jingyi followed him. 

They sat there for a while, just playing with the fluff balls until the Lan Juniors heard a humming coming from Starise. She hummed a melody that is unfamiliar to them and her voice was so good that it can't even compare with all the instruments that Sizhui and Jingyi played before.

Starise didn't notice the Lans was staring at her as she continued humming until Amirul saw them staring at his sister and felt a bit annoyed as he cleared his throat.

"Oi, I know that my sister is pretty but would you two please refrain from staring at her? You're creeping the hell of us out." Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi quickly averted their gaze, sheepishly playing with the sleeves of their robes. The siblings let out a small laugh as Amirul told them that it was a joke and the Lans sighed in relief. Then, Lan Sizhui asked them with curiosity in his voice.

"We're sorry for our actions. It's just that we never heard that melody before."

Lan Jingyi added, "Yeah, the melody was so different than the melodies that we had heard here in Cloud Recesses or other places that we had been. What kind of melody is that?"

Amirul and Starise looked at each other as they were talking telepathically and sighed. "Well, what you heard just now is actually a song that is common where we are from. Although it was a bit foreign for you you can enjoy it by listening to the rhythm." Amirul explained to them as they understood a bit. Being the most un-Lan, Lan Jingyi had asked the short-haired boy to sing the song as Sizhui elbowed him on the stomach for his rudeness but Amirul sweatdropped at the scene.

He then put the black bunny on his arms down while adjusting his position and took a deep breath as he started to sing. 

I've been locked in the locker
I was picked last in soccer
And they say that it's all fun
But their fun it ain't fun man I'm done

And I know we're all different
Our beliefs and religions
But I don't see the difference
In me, you, your tu or moi vous

So if you had enough then...

Come to the land of the lost and lonely
Don't be afraid we'll be one big family
Of freaks like you and me
I know a place where the bruise and broken
Live like the kings and the queens of tragedy
Just freaks like you and me
We are the freaks!

I've been kicked down in the dirt
I pretend that it don't hurt
And I know that they're just words
But sticks, stones they break bones but just know

We could all be disciples
And we'll write our own bible
We'll put freaks in the titles
It's me, you, your tu, and Moi Vous

So if you've had enough then...

Come to the land of the lost and lonely
Don't be afraid we'll be one big family
Of freaks like you and me
I know a place where the bruise and broken
Live like the kings and the queens of tragedy
Just freaks like you and me
We are the freaks!

Come to the land of the lost and lonely
Don't be afraid we'll be one big family
Of freaks like you and me
I know a place where the bruise and broken
Live like the kings and the queens of tragedy
Just freaks like you and me

Come home
Where you can be you I can be me
We'll never leave cause we are the freaks
Come home
Where you can be you I can be me
We'll never leave cause we are the freaks

We are the freaks!

Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi awed at Amirul's voice while the latter grinned after he finished the song. Amirul asked them how was it and they say that it was amazing and cool. 

"It was a really beautiful song that I had ever listened to. I was also impressed with the meaning of the song." Lan Sizhui said. Lan Jingyi added, "Yeah, that was awesome, Amirul! The song was great and your voice is nice! Just like yesterday!!" 

'Yesterday? Wait, so that means they're the one who was stalking us back then?' 

Amirul and Starise looked at the flustered Lan Jingyi as he made a panicked face while Lan Sizhui was silent and sighed in defeat. He then apologizes to the siblings, "We're really sorry for our actions yesterday. It's just that we saw the two of you sing and we couldn't help but to sneak behind your back. Even though we don't understand the language, the song made us feel light on the inside." Lan Jingyi nodded his head and agreed with his friend.

Amirul snickered while Starise just smiled and the Lans thought that they did something funny. The short-haired boy waved his hand and said, "No, it's just that we already guess that it was you guys who were stalking us when we started singing. Who knew that the Lan juniors were this curious. He's right all along about you Lans being old-fashioned."

Sizhui and Jingyi looked at each other, questioning who's the person that Amirul say just now but let it slide. But that didn't stop Lan Jingyi to remarked the latter about his clan being so-called 'old fashioned' and telling him that even though his clan has a lot of rules to follow, there's no doubt that the Lan Clan is the most modest clan that ever exist in the cultivation world.

Amirul being the curious boy that he always was, asked his new friends some questions about the clan's cultivation method and Sizhui willingly answered all of them while Starise listened to their QnA session and Lan Jingyi dozed off, not interested in the conversation.

They continued talking with some laughter but little that the four knew is that behind the bamboo trees near them, a tall white figure was eavesdropping on them while gripping his sword in hesitation. His eyes only focused on the short-haired boy who he brought back home. Lan Wangji thought that Amirul was the person that he's been looking for thirteen years after the siege in the Burial Mounds but he started to doubt What ifs came to mind.

'What if he is not him?'

'What if he never returns to him?'

'Wei Ying...'

Lan Wangji quickly left the area after Lan Sizhui told the three that it was lunchtime. He told himself that he will ask Amirul soon.

Time skip~ (I swear that this is the last one!!)

After lunch, the siblings went to do their own thing until the sun has set and night came in. Amirul went for a walk to get some fresh air before the curfew until he lost his sense of direction. He began to panic as he tries to remember the path to the Jingshi but he couldn't. The short-haired boy decided to walk wherever the path takes him and he stumbled across the Cold Spring of Gusu.

The spring was located in a quiet and hidden as it was surrounded by forest and rocky terrains with a waterfall. The temperature near the spring was so cold that you will be turning into ice. Also, the water was so clear that you could see the bottom of the spring. Amirul stared at the view until he noticed a set of neatly folded white clothes on a flat rock near the edge of the spring. 

'Who would want to soak themselves in the spring at night? Huh, they really want to get themselves sick.' He thought as he went closer and halted when he saw a figure in the spring. 

The figure had his back facing in front of Amirul and his skin was fair and smooth which outlined his waist and back were fluid, graceful yet held strength. He then immediately knew that was Lan Wangji and remembered Wei Wuxian's memories when he(wwx) and Lan Wangji soaked themselves in the spring during their youths before the Sunshot Campaign. But what Amirul was unable to look away from was the things on Lan Wangji's back. There were dozens of intersecting scars!

'Those scars are from the discipline whip!'

What Wei Wuxian told him is that each sect in the cultivation world has its own types of discipline whips for punishing the disciples who made certain mistakes. After the punishment, the scars won't ever disappear as they were a reminder to never make the same mistake again. Also, Wei Wuxian stated that he had never been hit by a discipline whip before but Jiang Cheng had.

Usually, one or two strikes of the whip would already be enough for the bearer to remember the punishment for the rest of their life. Yet, the amount on Lan Wangji's back had more than just one or two scars,  it looked like he had thirty scars at least. Just what kind of crimes that the Hanguang-Jun had committed for him to be whipped so many times? 

Amirul's heart stopped at the moment when Lan Wangji turned around and he could see that beneath his collarbone and near his heart, there was a clear brand mark with a sun motif.

Lan Wangji felt a presence behind him and when he turned around, he thought that he saw Wei Wuxian but was disappointed because it was only Amirul. The atmosphere between the two of them was awkward and Lan Wangji decided that he wants to ask the short-haired boy something. 

He then got out of the spring and covered his body with his white robe, making Amirul anxiously step back not knowing what will Hanguang-Jun do to him. The older Lan walked towards Amirul and was about to open his mouth but quickly shut it when several juniors including Lan Jingyi, ran towards where he and Amirul at.

"Hanguang-Jun!"

Amirul sighed in relief and was curious on why they were in such a hurry. Lan Jingyi and the others went towards their senior and apparently, the demonic hand that they brought back has gone wild and uncontrollable. They also say that the elders couldn't handle the massive resentful energy of the hand including Grandmaster Lan himself so they knew that only Hanguang-Jun can control it.

Lan Wangji was disappointed that he lose his chance but didn't show it as he nodded at Lan Jingyi and the other juniors. He made eye contact with Amirul before walking out from the spring while leaving the black-red hoodie boy with the juniors. 

Amirul frowned in confusion and murmured, "What's up with that guy? Weirdo..." Lan Jingyi asked him what happened between him and their Hanguang-Jun just now and Amirul replied, "Nothing, I just got lost and somehow I found this place. Also, I get the feeling that your senior wants something from me."

Jingyi raised his eyebrow at Amirul's statement but stayed silent. Suddenly, a loud bell sound came from the west side of the Cloud Recesses and Amirul had a weird feeling about it. The sound was completely different like someone was striking it madly. Lan Jingyi and the other's faces quickly changed and made a run towards where the bell rang with Amirul following them from behind.

The sound came from a building called Mingshi and it was used for summoning spirits. The walls were made with unique materials and incantations carved on them. 

Once they arrived, more Lan disciples started to crowd around. Amirul saw his sister with Lan Sizhui and run toward them asking, "What's going on? I've never heard such violent bells before."

Sizhui explained, "When the bell of the Mingshi rings by itself, it only means that something happened to the people that performing the summoning ritual inside."

Starise spoke, "Are there any situations similar to this that ever happened before?"

The Lan junior shook his head, "There are no cases in which the summoning rituals had failed before. Well, almost.."

Noticing Amirul trying to enter the building, Lan Sizhui stopped him from doing so. He asked why he can't go inside and Sizhui replied, "The doors to the Mingshi can only be opened from the inside and not only it's difficult to open them from the outside by force, but it is also forbidden to do so as well." 

It's been nearly one hour since the bell started ringing wildly and suddenly the doors of the building burst open with a bang and a white-robed disciple rushed out, rolled down the stairs the moment he came out. The doors instantly closed again as if someone angrily slammed them shut.

Several disciples helped him up as his face was covered with tears. He cried, "We shouldn't have summoned it..."

Amirul immediately grabbed his hand and spoke in a low tone, "Are you alright? What happened inside? What are you trying to summon? Where's Hanguang-Jun?!"

Heavily breathing, the disciple spoke, "Hanguang-Jun told me to run.."

Before he could even finish the sentence, He coughed up blood from his mouth and had a nosebleed. Amirul pushed him into Lan Sizhui's arms as the Lan disciple shouted to the other disciples, "Quick, help him up! He's bleeding from his Qiqiao!"

At the same time, Amirul and Starise walked up to the doors of the Mingshi, shouted "Open!!" and the door opened for them as if it recognized them. The siblings entered in a flash and the doors closed right behind them, leaving the shocked disciples who try to follow them, outside.  

"Who on Earth are they?!" 

As they entered, Amirul and Starise felt dark energy surrounding them. The dark energy seemed like a combination of resentment, anger, and arrogance almost visible to a naked eye. Surrounded by it, one's chest would feel a constricted sense of pain.

Inside the Mingshi, a few people lay motionless on the ground as if they were passed out from exhaustion. An object set in the middle of an array that specializes in summoning. The object was none other than the demonic hand from Mo Village. It stood on the ground as straight as a stick with four of its fingers clenched into a fist. The index finger was pointed towards the sky as if it was angry at someone. A steady flow of resentful energy filled the room and was emitted by the arm.

Amirul and Starise saw Lan Wangji seating properly at the primary position on the east side. He was the only person that hasn't passed out yet as he tries to suppress it with his guqin music. It seemed that he was lost in his thought as he remained sitting. 

The hijabi girl decided that she was going to use her other weapon as she pulled out the diamond accessory from her hijab. Starise holds both her hands with the diamond and a purple light emitted from it, bursting out like fireworks. Thousands of particles floated around them, swirling like a tornado as it becomes a translucent shield, protecting them from the dark energy.

Yet the moment Lan Wangji saw that Amirul and his sister were in the room, his eyes slightly widen.

Amirul pulled out his metal flute and brought it to his lips, began to play a melody. Hearing the notes, Lan Wangji understood as he raised his right hand, playing notes on the guqin, and quickly joined in.

The song that they played was called 'Evocation'. It uses a corpse, part of a corpse, or an object that the corpse cherished when it was alive as a medium for the soul to follow the melody. Amirul was glad that Wei Wuxian taught him this.

However, the song didn't work. The arm twitched as if it was angered and seeing this, Amirul thought that it's almost impossible that the soul can't be summoned with Lan Wangji and himself playing 'Evocation' together unless... Unless the person's soul had been cut apart along with its corpse!

As if Lan Wangji was thinking the same thing, his finger shifted and started playing a different tune.

The song had a calming melody, different from the one before that sounded more like questioning. Amirul knew right away that it was 'Rest'.  Since both songs are well-known in the cultivation world, he immediately followed him.

But somehow, he didn't remember how to play the song and made some mistakes too as it was out of tune. It made Lan Qiren's face twitch that it sounded so bad like an amateur playing it for the first time. He sat upright, and shouted in a hoarse voice, "Stop playing! Get out! Stop..!"

He suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood and fell in the same place, back into a coma again. Starise quickly went to his side, pulled the older Lan into her arms, and started healing him as she looked at Amirul and Lan Wangji.

Amirul was surprised that their guqin and flute duet had made Lan Qiren angered till he woke up and fainted again. Talk about how bad the song sounded he didn't care as long as he can help Lan Wangji.

Even so, after continue playing the song, the hand finally dropped down and the dark energy had begun to dissipate. After the last echo of Lan Wangji's guqin, the doors of the Mingshi sprang open, and all of the Lan disciples from outside rushed in.

"Hanguang-Jun!"

Although he said nothing besides pressing his hands on the guqin to stop the strings' vibration, he walked over to Lan Qiren with Starise holding him to check his pulse. everyone followed his lead and started helping out the rest of the unconscious folks as well as those who attended to the wounded.

A few of them worried, "Hanguang-Jun, neither elixirs nor acupuncture works.  What should we do?"

Lan Wangji remained silent as his fingers still set on his uncle's wrist. Lan Qiren had done countless spirit summoning rituals before and yet seeing that he was harmed during this ritual, it was clear that the demonic arm's dark energy was more unpredictably powerful than before.

Amirul suddenly noticed a worried expression on Sizhui's face and walked over, "What's wrong?" The latter knew that he wasn't an ordinary person so he spoke in a low voice, "It's just that I feel slightly guilty."

"For what?"

"This hand was coming for us." 

"Any reason?"

"The Spirit-Attraction flags we set up back in Mo Village could only summon spirits nearby from twenty-five hundred meters. Seeing what this arm could do if its targets were the villagers, they'd have been killed long ago. So it showed up after we arrived and I suspect that someone deliberately made the arm appear at Mo Village back then. If so, we are also responsible for the slaughter at Mo Village." Lan Sizhui replied.

Amirul patted his shoulder, "You are not responsible for that. It should be whoever that brought the arm there." Starise who was at his side nodded her head in agreement.

Lan Wangji finally stood up as he removed his hand. The disciples hurried to ask him, "Hanguang-Jun, how was it?"

The older Lan replied, "Trace its source."

Amirul nodded, That's right. If we track the source and find the corpse's full body beside the hand then we'll learn who he is. And then, there'd be a way to save this soul." Hearing this, Lan Jingyi couldn't help but ask in a criticizing tone, "And how do that? The spirit summoning ritual didn't work and brought up this mess. How do we find its source?"

Lan Wangji and Starise stated at the same time, "Northwest."

Lan Sizhui wondered, "Huh? Hanguang-Jun, why Northwest?"

"It has already been shown to you guys," Amirul said.

Lan Jingyi was confused, "Huh? Hanguang-Jun did not."

The short-haired boy facepalmed while Starise pointed, "It did." The rest looked at the girl and started to realize that what she was pointing at was the demonic hand!

The arm steadily pointed in one direction. Seeing this, Lan Jingyi stammered, "Wha... What's it pointing at?" Amirul replied, "What else? Either other parts of its corpse or the murderer that made him this way."

Lan Wangji turned to the disciples, "Take care of uncle properly."

They nodded, "Yes! Are you going to travel down the mountain?" The older Lan slightly nodded and Amirul began to talk cheerfully, "Yes! Finally, we can go somewhere else besides Gusu! Can't wait to see what the cultivation world looks like!"

Hearing that statement, Lan Wangji frowned as he looked in the boy's direction and questioned whether Amirul was him or not. Back then, when the boy summoned Wen Ning with his flute, he also thought that he might be that person but he was wrong. 

Lan Wangji, Amirul, and Starise headed back to their room, preparing for the journey. A few minutes later, the trio is already at the main gate of Cloud Recesses with some of the disciples wishing them good luck.

They went on their journey to the Northwest with the demonic hand in Lan Wangji's Spirit Pouch. Every day, Lan Wangji and Amirul duetted 'Rest' to temporarily calm its anger and killing intent. Also, Amirul had made progress with the duet as he gets the hang of it.

As they went to Qinghe, the demonic hand's posture suddenly changes as it now formed into a fist. This meant that wherever the hand was pointed is just around the area.

I'm so sorry for making y'all waiting. I was really working on it but my motivation sometimes went up and down like a draft. Also, I've been working on my second mdzs x transformers fanfic at the same time... Hope y'all enjoy it!!!