Maybe Bards sang some of the same spooky ballads in Rethwellan, or wherever he’d come from. Arvil was trying not to hear the lyrics whispering in his mind. Heralds were supposed to defend the innocent and uphold justice, not run off screaming like littles from a Sovven-night prank.
After all, the whisper in his head could be wrong. He didn’t see any shallow graves around here….
The three of them rounded another tree-clad fold of earth, catching up with the red ribbon at last. Wei was standing on the streambank by a tree whose fallen trunk was still taller than his head, odd black flute in hand and shoulders braced as if against a winter wind. “Come up. But keep it slow.”
Arvil traded another glance with Graya, and dismounted. There were no weapons in sight, but Wen Ning had fallen in at Wei’s side as if they’d fought sword to sword. “What are we – oh.”
It was a fallen giant of a tree, undermined by this same stream years or even decades ago. A tree of the size you only saw in the Pelagirs, roots thicker than a man’s leg just visible dangling on this side. The hole they’d gouged out of the earth should be just upstream, around the trunk, hanging roots forming a shallow cave likely big enough for a man to stand in.
“She’s in there.” Wei’s voice was low, but steady. “See the língcǎo – er, those odd purple ferns? They must have sprouted in her aura.”
Or they were just Pelagirs ferns that didn’t care it was autumn, not spring. Spirits didn’t change plants. Did they?
“I didn’t want to go in alone,” Wei went on. “Whatever she’s protecting – she might not be calm.”
As if that incident back in the village had been anywhere near calm. Arvil swallowed. “Ghosts can’t-”
Three pairs of eyes slid a look at him; dark, silver-gray, and bright sapphire blue.
If it’d just been the two strangers, Arvil might have laughed it off. But Graya wouldn’t lie to him. “Do we need more help?”
Wen Ning shook his head. “More might scare her. She might – hurt things. Even what she cares about.”
Crossover Queen's Creative Chaos 
Ooo! Spooky people, but they know how to deal with the spooky ghost. And now I’m really curious about what happened in the village! Something to convince a Herald that this was fierce ghosts, not that, they really have that term yet.
And it’s so fun to see the cultivators in their element, through an outside perspective. I wonder what happens that Wei Wuxian gets to walk away with the seedling? (A-Yuan is going to thrilled to get another sibling.) Maybe it’s just because Arvil needs to keep riding his circuit…
You do imply, in an earlier comment, that Wei Wuxian takes his paper and ink out of his saddlebags. Does that mean that Graya quietly approves, or even suggests it? Because if the spirit horse doesn’t want you in her saddlebag, you are not getting in that saddlebag.
LikeLiked by 4 people
It could be a case of Wei Wuxian waiting until they’ve set up camp for the night somewhere and Arvil unsaddled Graya to go thieving~
LikeLiked by 1 person
Arvil put together all the things he’d seen and realized it was highly unlikely he was dealing with a human milk-stealer.
And it’s more likely Wei Wuxian steals the report in transit. 😉
LikeLiked by 2 people
Or the burial mountain crows do. Smart creatures!
LikeLiked by 2 people
He hasn’t seen the crows yet. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
The hair standing up at teh back of his neck probably helped, along with the “glance away a second she vanishes– oh hey the weird priest guy and the sick dude are following her, after them!”
LikeLiked by 3 people
Both of those, yes. *EG*
LikeLike
/After all, the whisper in his head could be wrong. He didn’t see any shallow graves around here…./
Just deep graves… which means that whatever crawled out would have to be strong enough to claw their way through several feet of soil… Arvil decided to stop thinking about it.
LikeLiked by 3 people
*G* I came up with something a bit more reasonable than the original folktale for a “grave”.
(Though yes, Arvil really didn’t want to think about it more…)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, man, this is spooky. (Not familiar with this legend, maintaining my lack of spoilery info on purpose.)
Btw, if you go to daytonmetrolibrary.org/register, you can put in for an ecard and borrow electronic media/ebooks, or use electronic educational resources, without being a Dayton or Ohio resident. (Unless they’ve changed policies recently.) If you ever get up here for any reason, you can show ID and upgrade to a “real” library card.
Don’t feel guilty about this. It’s not super-expensive, we’ve got a lot of money set aside for libraries in Ohio, and it’s not like everybody in the known world is panting to have and use twenty electronic library cards, like my one local friend who is a voracious reader. There are lots of people who don’t ever get any library cards when they easily could and should, so a library card for somebody in another state or someone serving overseas is just making up for non-participation. (And helps maintain library funding.)
LikeLiked by 3 people
Also, you know what people in Valdemar can use?
Cooking chopsticks. Holy crud, those big long cooking chopsticks have so many uses. I was cooking today, and I used them to pull a foil dinner out of the back of the oven without using oven mitts. You can stir with them. You can poke things with them. You can test texture of cooked meat with them. You can do all kinds of things with them. They’re light. They work outdoors, indoors, and for camping. They would be the dungeon adventurer’s friend, as long as you remembered which pair you shouldn’t cook with.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Neat, thanks!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Advantages over tongs? Although I suppose tongs + spoon + fork + knife is more gear to pack for the outdoors.
I can see an adventurer keeping three kinds of chopsticks: One for poking/prodding/grabbing things in the dungeon, one for cooking, one for eating.
-Albert
LikeLiked by 1 person
Traditionally, you carved a new set whenever you needed one, if you were out wandering/camping/etc and didn’t have a baggage train to carry extra supplies.
LikeLiked by 1 person
If you use chopsticks for something like that, and just carve new ones as needed, it’s very important to know the properties of the local plants you might carve them out of. Like for example oleander. Never do that, the entire plant is poisonous if ingested, and people have died from eating meat cooked on oleander skewers before.
I know this because my grandmother still has an oleander bush in her greenhouse, and had to be very careful where she kept it while her grandchildren were in that young toddler stage of put anything you find in your mouth. Oleander leaves should not go into the mouths of children.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Indeed. Bad as digitalis, that.
LikeLike
The cooking chopsticks I bought at the Korean grocery store are as long as my arm. Never had tongs that long….
LikeLiked by 1 person
Okay, as long as my arm from my shoulder to a couple inches above my wrist. 16 inches or so.
And I forgot frying. Great for standing away from the grease and heat, and turning over individual chunks. Although tongs are a tad more secure for that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Arvil: there were no weapons in sight, just Wen Ning and Wei with his flute…
Everyone in the Sect lands: *spontaneously shiver*
And Kero was worried that the guards wouldn’t realize that the Nie were dangerous even without their sabres. There’s going to need to be all sorts of updated training once Valdemar discovers how dangerous music can be.
LikeLiked by 3 people
*G* Yes, I liked writing those lines for the irony.
And I don’t think Lan Wangji has demonstrated any chords yet. 😉
Kero: He calls up ghosts. He can use leaves as a weapon. He can block a sword with a godsdamned bamboo flute. What do I have to do to make him harmless, strip him naked?
Lan Wangji: *Ears completely red.*
Nie Huaisang: *Hides behind fan, giggling.*
LikeLiked by 3 people
Even that wouldn’t work, Kero. You’d have to gag him, because he can whistle. And he’s good at talismans so you have to tie his hands.
….
Yeah, Lan Wangji absolutely deserves a chance to lie down. Alone. Unless Wei Wuxian would like to come. Otherwise, no he really needs some alone time.
LikeLiked by 3 people
*Snicker* Yep.
LikeLike
And if you can bite yourself, you have blood ink. And if you have skin, you have talisman paper. Ughhhhhh.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Given Wei Wuxian survived the Burial Mounds… yeah.
LikeLike
Or I guess you could draw talismans in the dirt, with your toes or your knees. A little less violent.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Maybe the only way to make him safe enough to present in court is to hand him a cute clingy child that will cry if you put it down. He won’t be not-dangerous but safe for a ritualized occasion
LikeLiked by 5 people
Later, NHS to Kero: A lot of very powerful people have asked that same question and mostly came to the same conclusion: he’s only harmless if he’s dead. Maybe don’t mention that to LWJ.
Kero: dammit! also, why are you telling me this?
LikeLiked by 3 people
Kero is just teasing. Kero will be dangerous as long as she is alive and conscious, and so is quite willing to believe that other people are also dangerous. Lan Wangji doesn’t really believe that WWX is dangerous when he is flying around with a sword, much less sitting around drinking tea even when there is a ferocious corpse next to him, and restless ghosts skirting the tea party and criticizing the cups. Too large, too thick, ugly. Kellen and Kero; “these are common cups for everyday use, not for formal meetings. When I was your age I drank from a tin mug and was thankful to have that much! Did you ever go to war Mistress Ghost?”
LikeLiked by 3 people
Appropriately dangerous! 😀 I liked that bit.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Rebecca, they didn’t think he was harmless even when he was dead. They spent a lot of time and effort into trying to contain him. See: summoning rituals, protective statuary, etc that multiple sects laid down for him. (And the one thing to catch him, was the one thing he didn’t want and couldn’t have predicted.)
Banshee, is drawing a talisman with your spiritual energy just a drama thing? Where you draw and flick, and the paper talismans are less energy intense/can be used later?
LikeLiked by 2 people
Far as I can tell it’s not just a drama thing. Drawing talismans lets you have them in advance, but skilled cultivators can draw them with energy on the fly.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It definitely isn’t a thing that shows up in the novel, though.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good point. And that conversation would go over even more hilariously:
Kero: what does it take to disarm this guy?
NHS: No one is really sure, but the current theory is that after he’s dead (again? he did tell WRH that he’d died before), certain rituals can be done that might…
Kero: … after he’s dead… again… might… never mind, forget I asked
LikeLiked by 4 people
Given Ma’ar in Velgarth canon… yep.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like that it’s not technically a grave. If you die out in the Pelagirs there no guarantee anyone is gonna be around to bury you.
I wonder what killed her and if it’s still around creating the resentful energy.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Oh, it’s around – that’s what they need the Herald for. 🙂
LikeLiked by 3 people
Hmm. Okay, based on admittedly minimal familiarity with both fandoms, considering how formidable Wei Wuxian and Wen Ning are, I can think of two reasons to need a Herald. Arvil’s sense of not knowing what’s going on does not wholly rule out “esoteric information on local monster/natural phenomena”… but it does make me currently rate it lower than ” ‘it’ is human” — and hence they need a Herald to handle a completed crime in accordance with local law and custom.
LikeLiked by 2 people