"Oh, just a rogue cultivator. I've been calling myself Liu Wuxian, lately."

"You what now?"

"Master Mo, this is Lady Liu. We have been working together. Lady Liu, this is Young Master Mo."

"Pleased to meet you."

"Sure, me too. Uh, so why are you all here? Have you found anything?"

"We were following a trail - someone's been leaving dead animals near us, and other things of that sort. We've found that the mist turns you around in a maze - you can walk straight, turn around, walk back, and not end up where you began. Flying out doesn't work, the mist continues up and then there's dark shapes in the sky. There's an odd sound - footsteps, and a tapping sound like bamboo - that we were following just now."

"Hmmmm. Huh. Well none of that's especially good. Did anyone see the shadow fly by just now? Like a person moving very fast?" He squints around and then gestures in the direction of Bichen's distant glow, which cuts through the fog at quick angles. "Looks like Lan Zhan found them. Do you know who else is here?"

She's already turned her head in the direction the odd shadow went, before he said anything. " - should we help your friend?"

Wei Wuxian flaps his hand. "Eh, I'm sure he's fine. I think our Hanguang Jun would rather I get you kids out of trouble first! Is anyone hurt? Jin Ling?"

"I'm fine. We've been careful."

"Lady Liu had us sounding off pretty frequently. No one's gotten hurt or vanished."

"Good, good, you should probably keep doing that. How many of all of you are there?"

"Thirteen, including me."

"Cool. Do you kiddos all want to hold hands, for now? Jin Ling, why don't you pick a buddy. Our next move is getting to the bottom of that tapping sound you were hearing, I think. Sound good? Do you have any ideas of what it's from?"

He sighs but grabs onto Lan Jingyi's sleeve. "Sounds like bamboo on stone."

"Maybe it's a bamboo ghost! I wonder..." He broke off, tilting his head. The sound of footsteps cut through the fog behind and around him, crunching on the dry mud. "Eh? Now that doesn't sound like bamboo at all."

"Could be multiple ghosts. Or one with a walking stick." Still, she's wary, listening. "The bamboo sound led us to you."