Chapter Text
It was well-known that Cangse Sanren, pupil of the famous Baoshan Sanren, was different. She was mischievous and straightforward and despite being a rogue cultivator she stood out as one of the best female cultivators of her time, her reputation earned her many suitors from many profound cultivation sects, yet she denied all of them and married the Jiang Sect’s servant Wei Changze.
Only a selected few knew that Wen Ruohan had been one of her suitors.
He was young and inexperienced. Too entranced by a woman that shone bright as the sun, and at that time Wen Ruohan thought that this woman was destined to be his. She was the living embodiment of what Qishan Wen represents. Beauty and power that outshone everyone around her. She would birth strong heirs and they will bring about a new era for the Qishan Wen Sect.
Yet the woman dared to laugh at his ambitions.
‘The day I’d marry you would be the day the sun rises from the west! I want to live a life free of restraint. Power? Riches? A man that bribes a woman to be his wife does not deserve to be wedded to me! I, Cangse Sanren, vows to cut your pillar if you as much as gets close to me as three inches.’
And what happened next was best not to be spoken ever again.
But Fate works in mysterious ways, she married a servant (to the surprise and horror of the cultivation world) and eloped with her beloved. The last time Wen Ruohan heard of his former interest was that she and her husband died on a night hunt. He had forgotten about her entirely.
Up until now, looking at a very dirty carbon-copy of her looking up at him. The boy looks to be around six years old and he wore ragged and torn clothes. He was pale and malnourished yet it can’t be denied that this child was her son.
“Sect Leader, this rat had the nerve to steal food from your guards patrolling around Yiling!” The one holding the boy pulled at the boy’s hair and tears glistened in his eyes.
“I d-didn’t! Y-you were throwing it all a-away!”
“Shut up! You filthy liar! Food that is thrown away from the Wen Sect still belongs to the Wen Sect!”
This was entirely unexpected. It was unusual for the Wen Sect Leader to be out of his palace, usually Wen Ruohan would remain in seclusion, cultivating. But as Chief Cultivator, he needs to reinstate his superiority among other Sects, he’d hosted a Conference keeping the other sect leaders’ toes in line, making sure that they know their place, if they ever want their peace to remain. He and the Wen Sect’s inner disciples were on their way back to Nightless City and in a moment’s notice they’d decided to stop by at Yiling to enjoy the festival. He was surveying the area when he was disturbed by the ruckus made by Wen disciples.
“Enough.”
Wen Ruohan glared at the down at the boy. The boy flinched when he met Wen Ruohan’s eyes but his eyes were defiant and stubborn. Just like his mother. The boy was in an awful state, his skin was lined with bruises (from the Wen disciples’ beating) and his stomach growled in hunger.
“Sect Leader, you don’t have to deal with this impudent filth. We will gladly dispose of him.” The disciple piped in but Wen Ruohan ignored him.
“Is what this man say true?” Wen Ruohan asked the boy.
“N-no. I-I was sooo hungry, and t-that bad man was bad-mouthing the granny who was selling food. H-he t-took food and t-threw it on the g-ground and left. I-I was just picking it up when he saw me and beat me.”
Wen Ruohan knows that his disciples could be cruel, but if they were cruel, Wen Ruohan was vicious. Wen Ruohan faced the disciple who beat up Cangse’s boy and immediately raised his hand circulated a tiny ball of condensed spiritual energy and destroyed that disciple’s cultivation instantly. The disciple threw up blood and looked at Wen Ruohan with betrayal in his eyes. The other disciples immediately formed a wall around them so that the spectators weren’t be able to see what was going on.
“You are banished from the Wen Sect.” He said to bleeding person.
Seeing his cruelty, Wen Ruohan didn’t miss the fear that appeared on the boy’s eyes. Wen Ruohan smiled in delight. He turned to the boy.
“You just cost me a good disciple. How would you pay for this?”
The boy trembled in fear.
“I-I..”
The boy was unable to say anything more, ridden with guilt.
“What’s your name?”
“W-Wei Y-Ying” the boy stuttered.
“Bring Wei Ying with us.” Wen Ruohan ordered. The disciples immediately took hold of the boy’s thin arms and dragged him towards the inn where they were staying. The boy was now actively crying, trying to break himself free but to no avail. When the boy was out of sight he ordered every disciple in the vicinity.
“I want that boy washed, cleaned, and fed.”
It was not like the Sect Leader to order such things. Many of the disciples had questioning gazes but none dared to question the Sect Leader’s decision. None except Wen Zhuliu. Wen Zhuliu kneeled in front of his master and asked.
“Master, this humble disciple asks what are your plans for the boy?”
If it were anyone besides Wen Zhuliu they would have their cultivation cores destroyed for daring to question the Sect Leader. But Wen Zhuliu was personally trained by the Sect Leader, and was currently cultivating a rare technique, ‘Core-Melting Technique.’
“That boy would be serving me for all his lifetime as a disciple of the Wen Sect.”
“Master, why?”
“That boy’s mother owes me this much.”
Ang just like that, Wen Ruohan continued surveying Yiling, thoughts of Cangse and her son lingered in his head.
‘You wanted a life free of restraint. Watch as I bind your son to my Qishan Wen.’
The boy looked lost and terrified. Wen Ning notes.
Recently there has been an addition to the populace of the Nightless City Palace. The boy, Wei Ying he was called, was ruthlessly dragged into the palace a few days ago despite his protests. Sect Leader Wen did nothing to punish the boy instead he ordered the older disciples to clean the boy and be taken to the boy's new quarters located at the Healer's Pavilion, where Wen Ning and A-jie lived.
Many disciples and servants were whispering among themselves, gossiping about the new resident.
"I heard the boy is Sect Leader's secret love child— "
"Ssshhhh — even if what you say is true, Sect Leader will have our heads!"
But to Wen Ning, the boy couldn't have been Sect Leader Wen's child, because the boy looked nothing like him.
The boy was currently sitting on the bridge, looking at his reflection in the water. Wei Ying was covered in bandages and his bruises were already healing. Now that he was washed and cleaned, he looked nothing like the first time he entered the palace, he looked like he fit in well with the Wens now wearing the sect's robes and the red ribbon that tied his hair into a ponytail was given to him by the Sect Leader himself.
He was introduced to the whole sect as the new future inner sect disciple, replacing the mean one before him. Many were outraged, how could a child of six years of age inherit a higher position than themselves? When the child didn't even know how to cultivate yet. But none dared to bully the child when Sect Leader Wen was still around.
Wei Ying didn't even flinch when Wen Ning approached and stood beside him.
"W-Wei-xiong" Wen Ning whispered.
As if Wen Ning's voice had awoken him he jumped when he looked at Wen Ning.
"Who?"
"W-Wei-xiong, I-I My my n-name is…. Wen N-Ning"
"A-Ning!"
Both of them jumped at the same time. Wen Ning turned his head and immediately saw A-jie headed towards them. Her eyes screamed murder and Wen Ning hurriedly hid behind Wei Ying. Wei Ying was startled but didn't hesitate to cover Wen Ning.
"A-Ning! Where were you?! The supplies I told you to bring was supposed to be delivered a while ago!" The angry glint in her eyes worsened when she saw Wen Ning hiding behind Wei Ying.
"Why are you hiding behind your shixiong!?"
"A-jie.. I-I"
"Please don't be angry Wen Ning's A-A-jie"
Wei Ying spoke and tried to muster up a smile. Both Wen Ning and Wen Qing was startled at how bright the smile was, this was the first time the boy smiled but he was still trembling.
"Wen Ning was just trying to be f-friendly"
"Was I talking to you?" She said, yet the tone of her voice indicated that some of her anger had already dissipated. "And is that the proper way to address your shijie? I’m Wen Qing, and the one behind you is your shidi."
Wei Ying blushed, stammering.
"Wen Q-Qing s-shijie…"
Wen Qing didn’t look like she was satisfied but decided to let Wei Ying go for now.
“Wei Ying, I’ve watched you for the past few days and I must say, you are taking for granted the opportunity you’ve been given.”
Wei Ying’s eyes widened.
“Wen Qing shijie, I don’t like Sect Leader Wen.”
“So? Just because you don’t like him you’re going to throw away such an opportunity? Many have tried to enter the Wen Sect and have failed, rarely, almost never is even one person accepted that has no blood relations, yet here you are. You’ll never go hungry, eating the best of meals, you have the best healers, and top-notch cultivation scripts are at your disposal. You were taken here by force because of reasons unknown. But you are not powerless.”
Wei Ying was taken aback.
“Do you want to be free? Then prove your strength. Cultivate. Get stronger. Earn your freedom.”
Silence reigned between them, then Wei Ying smiled.
“Thank you Qing shijie! I-I’ll work hard!”
“A-jie!” Wen Ning said, still hiding and clutching Wei Ying’s robes.
Wen Qing sighed and dragged both Wei Ying and Wen Ning to the Healer’s Quarters. She checked if Wei Ying’s injuries and was satisfied that they were healing nicely. Wen Ning was left to find again the supplies he’d lost.
“A-Ying,” She tried saying, being a little bit more sympathetic to the poor child. She’d seen the cruelties of Wen Ruohan and she couldn’t ever forgive him for confining a child into his own sect.
“Welcome to the Healer’s Pavilion and the Wen Sect. Remember, you’ll meet many bullies in our sect but where there lies cruelty, there will always be kindness to balance out everything. We here at the Healer’s Pavilion has an oath to never take lives but save them. A-Ying, you’re safe here.”
Wen Qing panicked when Wei Ying suddenly started crying and froze when he hugged her.