Archive of Our Own ^beta

Wen Qing saw herself in Wei WuXian. How could she not? After the dancing statue’s rampage, the responsibility of holding together what remained of her family had fallen onto her shoulders. She too had a little brother who had lost something so inherently precious. She too had an obligation to remain strong, to keep busy, to forge ahead regardless of her own heartbreak. 

Had she not searched through medical texts with equal frenzy in an effort to look for a cure for A-Ning?

There was one difference though. As she watched Wei WuXian and Jiang Yanli cling to each other as they shed their tears, she couldn’t help but let her own fall. There was sadness in the memory of losing her own parents, her own home, sympathy for what the Jiang siblings were suffering now, but also a touch of envy. Who had held her when she needed an embrace? Who had mourned with her? Who had shared in such isolating anguish? 

Had she been allowed to stay in Mount Dafan, Granny no doubt would have. Uncle Four also. But she and A-Ning were almost immediately taken to Nightless City. And so numbed by shock, she could do little to protest. Had it even occurred to her to protest, she doubted it would have made a whit of difference. 

A-Ning fell into a feverish coma soon after their arrival in their new home. It helped somewhat. His illness gave her purpose, served as a distraction from the tragedy she had just experienced. Her care for her brother caught the Head Healer’s eye and Wen Ruohan’s attention. Her fate was sealed. In the years that followed, despite all the darkness to which she bore witness, A-Ning continued to be her light. In instilling in him all the values and principles she had been taught, she was able to honor her parents, to remember them. 

She learned to stand tall, unwavering. She learned to keep her silence even as her conscience rebelled against what Chief Cultivator was doing, what he planned to do. She learned to disconnect from her reality, so as to preserve the spark of innocence and goodness in her little brother. She became what she needed to be. 

Nonetheless, she knew how tiring it could be, to be alone, to be the rock that steadied the tattered remains of her family. Even after the years of her absence, even though she had been powerless to stop Wen Chao from unsealing the statue, her relatives had still turned towards her for guidance. She was as much their leader now that she was an actual adult in age as well as spirit as she had been when the mantle first fell onto her too-small shoulders. In her loneliest moments, though, she had allowed herself to wish for someone to care for her. Wished for Mother’s soft voice singing a lullaby or Father’s strong arms swinging her through the air. Wished that she hadn’t had to abandon her childhood before she even turned ten.

She understood Wei WuXian’s decision regarding the procedure he had found. She could feel the desperation that drove him. Of course he would brush aside her question as to his own well-being, the consequences on him from his intended sacrifice. How generous he was, to give of himself in this way! How selfless! But also how reckless! She who knew the loneliness of bearing things alone would not condemn him to the same fate. Not when, unlike her, he wasn’t alone. Didn’t have to be alone. 

It was also foolish to keep it a secret. It was not something that could be kept secret, no matter what he said, especially not with a war on the horizon. 

From Jiang Yanli, Wen Qing had learned of the gathering of Sect Leaders in LanLing. Wen Ruohan would not stand unopposed. 

Even without Jaing Yanli, Wen Qing could have foretold this outcome. Had known that this day would come, especially after the events in that cave on MuXi Mountain. Besides, Qishan Wen was rotten on the inside, it would have collapsed in on itself eventually. With the cultivation world finally taking a stand, it would be sooner rather than later. 

A war required capable fighters. Wei WuXian might have a reputation as a troublemaker, but his intelligence and skill ensured that he truly deserved the title of Head Disciple. To take his Golden Core away from him meant…

Meant losing another pair of hands that could help topple the source of so much of Wen Qing’s sorrows and terrors. 

She too had kept secrets from her little brother. To protect him. To shield him. But A-Ning had become involved nonetheless, had defied Wen Chao to rescue Jiang Cheng, had committed treason in drugging the Wen guards. A-Ning was stronger than she had assumed. 

A-Ning had also interfered at great risk to himself. He was good in a way that made Wen Qing at once proud and frightened. There was no room for such earnestness in the Wen ranks. 

But hadn’t she also told him that they were different? Her own words were as much for his sake as for her own.

Remember, A-Ning, we help people, never kill them. 

First, do no harm . Father had taught her.

Every act of healing is a contract between you and your patient . Mother had said. 

Every life we touch incurs a relationship of trust. Her ancestor had written. One of sanctity and intimacy that should not be violated. 

These values had been twisted in her time in Nightless City. Had mandated that she keep the secret of Wen Ruohan’s deeds and their effects on his health. He had taken advantage of such principals as much as he had of her dedication to her brother, her relatives. 

What would her parents say? In treating Wen Ruohan, in ensuring his survival, had she not allowed harm to befall so many others? Had doomed the world really. How did that factor into the premise of their legacy? 

She wished they were there to guide her. But then, she knew the answer, didn’t she? 

She could not hide from the consequences of her actions, could not pretend ignorance of the wider ramifications anymore. Could not remain neutral for the sake of survival. Well, given the surname she bore, she would not be allowed to remain neutral, would she? 

The war had come to her door. How ironic that it’s A-Ning who brought it. Wei WuXian’s request also compounded her moral dilemma. 

The Jiangs’ misery had thrown reality into sharp relief. They were her patients too. And not just here in Yiling. She had treated Jiang Yanli’s dizziness in Cloud Recesses and Jiang Cheng’s leg wound at Lake Biling. Through A-Ning, she had even treated Wei WuXian’s wounds from Wen Chao’s torture in Qishan. She was their healer. She had a responsibility to stay true to all the lessons she had been taught, all that she tried to pass on to A-Ning. She had an obligation to prove that Dafan Wen was indeed different than QiShan Wen.

Wei WuXian had gone hunting. She took advantage of his absence.

Bearing a tray of light but nutritious foods, she stepped into the sickroom.

Jiang Yanli looked up tiredly but was still so polite, “thank you, Wen guniang.”

Wen Qing nodded before turning to the figure in the bed. Even with the needle in his head, he looked restless, his brows furrowed in a frown. She went through the motions of examining him regardless; there was some comfort in the familiarity of the task. 

“How is he?” His sister asked, voice quiet.

“His physical wounds have healed well. They should leave minimal scars.”

Jiang Yanli nodded.

“But he remains weakened,” Wen Qing continued, “the lack of nourishment and true rest hinders his recovery, will likely continue to hinder it even when I remove the needle.” She had told Jiang Yanli that the silver needle really was just a temporary solution. 

Jiang Yanli looked down at her clasped hands, heartbroken. “I don’t know what to do. I feel so useless.”

“Jiang guniang, it may not be my place to say, but...you are also a Jiang. The first born, in fact.”

Jiang Yanli looked up in surprise.

“Your Sect is without a leader now.”

Jiang Yanli shook her head, “I couldn’t. I…”

She looked at her brother, “I have not the strength. Not in that way. I am not…”

She looked back at Wen Qing, “I am not like you, Wen guniang.”

Wen Qing was taken aback at such a comment.

“Of the three of us, I think I’m the only one who has ever accepted my limits. A-Xian lives and breaths our motto. He strives to accomplish the impossible. Thrives on it really.  A-Cheng is aware of his limits and hates himself for them. And now…” She sighed, “it really is worse than death for him.”

“Still…”

Jiang Yanli shook her head again, “I am no fighter. I have no skills that could win a war. And...I could never take it away from A-Cheng. It is his birthright. What has always helped define him. A responsibility that has always grounded him.”

"Even now?”

“Now…there has to be a way. A-Xian will surely find a way.” Her words were ones of hope, but her voice clearly revealed her fear.

Wen Qing took out the scroll Wei WuXian had found, laid it open on the table. “There is. He did.”

Jiang Yanli looked at the drawing. “This is…”

Wen Qing nodded.

Jiang Yanli’s eyes were wide, “he means to…”

“Yes.”

Jiang Yanli shook her head, “No. He....he can’t…”

“Is ‘can’t’ even in Wei WuXian’s vocabulary?”

Jiang Yanli winced. 

“He wanted to keep this secret.” Wen Qing shared. “But as his older sister, I thought you should know. I also cannot operate on anyone without their consent.” She was not Wen Zhuliu. Refused to be Wen Zhuliu. 

“You agreed to do this?”

Wen Qing met her incredulous gaze steadily, “I too know what it’s like to want to do everything in my power to make my little brother well again.”

“You would take…”

“I won’t be able to use anesthetics either. It’ll compromise the integrity of the Golden Core.” 

Jiang Yanli looked horrified, as well she should. It would be painful. So excruciatingly painful. 

Wen Qing gave her a moment, giving her silent support as tears streamed from her eyes. 

“A-Cheng won’t let him.” 

Wen Qing inclined her head. “Likely why Wei WuXian wanted to keep it secret.”

“Not just because of the inherent dangers in such a procedure,” Jiang Yanli admitted, her expression sad again, “my brothers...their relationship is fraught with so many conflicting things. My parents…” She quieted a moment before continuing, “I should not speak ill of them, especially not now, but...I tried so hard to temper the effects of Father’s favoritism and Mother’s jealousy. I don’t think I succeeded.”

She looked at Wen Qing, “forgive me, Wen guniang...I should not...such things are my burden to bear.”

Oh. Jiang Yanli was right. They were different. But in one way, they were also the same. “The transition from boy to man is difficult, awkward enough without the turmoil of our times, isn’t it?”

A-Ning was growing up much more quickly than she would have liked. Even if she could see that he would become such a good man, so strong in his convictions, his drive to do the right thing. No wonder he was drawn so much to Wei WuXian. 

Jiang Yanli sounded miserable as she said, “they should be flying kites, swimming laps, arguing over who gets the last bowl of soup. They shouldn’t be…” she looked again at the offending diagram, “shouldn’t be making decisions about…” fresh tears fell down her cheeks. 

“He still has a right to know,” Wen Qing said, as gently as she could. “It is his body. His future. His…”

“His right.” Jiang Yanli completed the thought. 

They sat in silence for a long time, before Jiang Yanli took a shuddering breath. “I am not like you, Wen guniang. I have no proficiency with a sword, nor any affinity for talismans. I have not your brilliance nor your skills. My strength has always been in the little things, the simple things. But...I too am willing to do all in my power to ensure my little brothers’ wellness.”

“Jiang guniang…” Wen Qing was not really surprised at the conclusion Jiang Yanli had drawn, about the path that must be taken. 

“It really is wasted on me. I do not need it to continue to cook or to try to soothe their spirits and tempers.” Jiang Yanli folded her hands demurely in her lap, “Wen guniang. Thank you for telling me. Thank you for letting me be of use.”

“You could die.” She should be informed. 

“You won’t let me.” There was so much conviction in Jiang Yanli’s voice. She continued, her voice softer again, “You are right. I am a Jiang. And the first born. My body and my mind are limited, my voice too quiet; I am ill-suited for the role that now needs filling. But A-Cheng…he is what our Sect needs, especially in these troubled times. Through sheer stubbornness alone he will avenge our parents, will rebuild Lotus Pier. And A-Xian should be right there alongside him. As he had always promised. They need each other now more than ever.”

“Wei WuXian will never forgive me.” Wen Qing said at last. 

“He will. I’ll make him understand.” Jiang Yanli stood, “but first, let me wash my face before we wake up A-Cheng.” She paused, “Wen guniang, it may be best if you let me speak to him alone first.”

Wen Qing nodded. “I fear I don’t own any clothing that’s not red.”

Even if it wasn’t just the color of her gowns that would trigger and renew his rage and anguish. 

“I don't even know if he’ll let me.” She added, almost to herself. The last time a Wen had held a weapon in his presence...

Jiang Yanli went towards the cupboard that held Jiang Cheng’s discarded clothing, “there is something you should know.”

Wen Qing looked at the small wooden object cradled in her hand. It looked so delicate, so...innocuous. 

“It was an accident that I came upon it at all. I do not know when he bought it, but I think I know who he intended to gift it to.” Jiang Yanli’s voice was again sorrowful before she tucked the precious bundle away again. 

“Did he tell you…”

Jiang Yanli shook her head. “But I had my suspicions even back in Cloud Recesses. I also know that…left to his own devices, he may never give it away. Especially not since...A-Cheng is in possession of a proud spirit, perhaps excessively so. It’s his way of protecting himself, how he hides his hurt during all the times our parents made him feel inadequate, unworthy. I’ve tried...but...there are invisible wounds that linger, will likely continue to linger.”

Wen Qing understood now. Wei WuXian’s reasons for keeping this secret were more complicated than she had initially thought. Just as...just as her decision to help was. “The way things are…”

"I know,” Jiang Yanli said quietly, “I had heard him raise his voice to you, when he first woke. I would only ask that...growing up is such a messy process. With all the responsibilities that he must bear...I do not wish for him to be crushed beneath them.”

Wen Qing turned again towards the figure lying in the bed and remembered his past kindness. How he had worried about her safety in Mount Dafan and asked after her well-being in Qishan. There was a light within him too, rarely seen as it was, one that ought to be preserved. Wen Qing did not know if she was capable of reciprocation, did not know if she wanted to take on the role Jiang Yanli was hinting at, did not know if...

“It’s unfair of me,” Jiang Yanli admitted, “and he may never forgive me for revealing it, especially not now, but…you have a right to know. In sheltering us, in helping us...you have your own future to think about too.”

Jiang Yanli was wrong. She may not be good with a sword, but her mind was quite astute. 

Wei WuXian returned with both a wild chicken and another patient. Even if there wasn’t much to do other than help calm the inflammation. It was almost ironic, for Song Lan to be the recipient of a transplant too. And based on the story he told, he had no idea that…

He also had no idea where to find Baoshan Sanren. Wen Qing wished he did know. Wished that…

Surely Baoshan Sanren would know a way. A better way. Or, if not, would be able to provide better odds than fifty-fifty.

From the expression on Wei WuXian’s face, Wen Qing knew he was concocting a cover story.

“Wei WuXian, we need to talk.”

“Yes, we do.” Jiang Yanli was walking up the path to join them, “all four of us.”

“Four?”

Jiang Yanli nodded, “you, me, A-Cheng, and Wen guniang.”

“Jiang Cheng’s awake?”

“The needle is not without side effects,” Wen Qing shared, “it’s really not a long term solution.”

“How is he?” Wei WuXian looked nervous, anxious, and...scared?

“Come see for yourself,” Jiang Yanli said, her voice still soft. 

“Come,” Jiang Yanli tugged at his hand when he didn’t move, “A-Cheng is waiting for us.”

And indeed he was. He still looked haggard, still pale and tired and wane, but he was clean shaven and dressed appropriately and sitting in the chair at the table rather than lying in the bed. 

He looked up as they entered. His eyes were still dull, his expression drawn, but there was also a hint of determination that had not been present in the depth of his despair. 

They sat quietly and it was then that Wei WuXian noticed the scroll that lay open on the table. He looked sharply, accusingly at Wen Qing, who refused to flinch. 

“A-Xian, is this the only way?” Jiang Yanli asked gently.

“Shijie…”

“Is it?”

“The only one I’ve managed to find,” Wei WuXian admitted finally, unable to meet his sister’s gaze.

“Would you have told us?”

Wei WuXian looked at the table in lieu of answering. 

“You would have made Wen guniang lie to us? Both of us?”

Wei WuXian remained silent. 

“A-Xian.” Jiang Yanli held his hand again, “it cannot be you.”

Wei WuXian looked up sharply, “of course it does. It was my fault that...that we were attacked. My fault that our shidis, our home… Jiang Cheng was right. If only I hadn’t provoked Wen Chao, if only I didn’t have to play the hero...they’d all still be alive...and we’d be...” he swallowed before adding, “I owe everything to Uncle Jiang and Madam Yu. She was right too. I brought calamity to Lotus Pier, I...I really do nothing but bring trouble. I owe her. I...I need to keep my promise, to protect Jiang Cheng, with my life if needed.”

“That was unfair of mother,” Jiang Yanli noted, “but then, she had never been fair to you, either of you, had she? I’m sorry...I’m sorry I didn’t do a better job protecting you, both of you.”

“Shijie…”

Jiang Yanli shook her head, “A-Xian, know this. It wasn’t your fault.”

“Shijie…”

“It was not your fault,” Jiang Yanli repeated. 

Wei WuXian looked away, his eyes suspiciously bright. 

“Considering what happened in Cloud Recesses and the Unclean Realm…” Jiang Yanli’s eyes were still sorrowful, though her voice did not waver, “do not forget, I was with Father in Carp Tower, I heard the accounts of...we may have been the most devastated of the Great Sects, but we are also not the only ones. Sect Leader Yao described the slaughter of his people and…” She swallowed, “they would have come sooner or later. We would not have been spared.”

“Wei WuXian…” Jiang Cheng’s voice was rough from disuse, “shixiong...I...I didn’t mean it. In the grass. I…”

“Tell him what you told me,” Jiang Yanli prompted gently.

Jiang Cheng also looked at the table, “I...you were at that stand, they were so close. Had you just turned around, they would have...I ran, as fast as I could. But...I was still caught. They still…”

Wei WuXian’s eyes widened and the tears looked like they had returned, “Jiang Cheng…”

“You were gone.” Jiang Cheng continued, his voice halting, “when I became aware of my surroundings...you were just...gone. I thought...I feared that...it was like when you were trapped in that cave all over again. And when I saw your circumstances, it was like when Wen Chao took you away and…”

“I’m sorry…” Wei WuXian interjected, “I’m so, so sorry.”

Jiang Cheng looked up, “I am too. I’m...A-jie reminded me that...that this is not the first time you’ve lost...that she is also mourning, that...I’m sorry I’ve been selfishly hoarding all this misery.”

“We are stronger together,” Jiang Yanli murmured. “We are all each other has left. If we cannot depend on one another, lean on one another...then we have truly lost.”

As Jiang Yanli’s brothers wiped at their eyes, Wen Qing felt like she was intruding. She averted her eyes. Surely she was not meant to be part of so private a moment. 

“Wen guniang.”

She looked up.

“I apologize for my lack of manners. You...you were under no obligation to shelter us. Our very presence puts you and your brother in danger. For what you have done to help us...we will forever be in your debt.”

It was the longest, most complete set of words he had ever spoken to her. 

“You speak of debts...after what the Wens have done to you, it’s really the least I can do.”

He looked pained. “You and your brother...you are not…” 

His voice faded as he stared once more at the table.

Wen Qing suddenly thought about the comb and wondered if it was still in the cupboard or if he kept it on his person. 

“A-Xian,” she was grateful for Jiang Yanli’s voice as she repeated, “it cannot be you.” 

Wei WuXian shook his head stubbornly, “I don’t want it. Shijie. I don’t want to lead YunMeng Jiang. It wouldn’t be right.”

“I agree.”

“It…” Wei WuXian suddenly paused in his tirade. “You...what?!”

“But I am not a good enough cultivator to lead our people in battle. As a woman, especially one known for her meekness, I wouldn’t be taken seriously either. And YunMeng Jiang cannot afford to be seen as weak. YunMeng Jiang needs both of you to show the world that we can emerge from the ruins all the stronger.”

“But…” Wei WuXian fell silent as a look of horrible understanding dawned on his face, “Shijie. No. You...you can’t...no…”

“I won’t miss it,” Jiang Yanli said, “it’s never really been anything but a burden, a reason for Mother’s disappointment in me too. This way...this way it’ll be put to good use.”

“Did you tell her what it would entail?” Wei WuXian demanded of Wen Qing, “does she know that…”

“That I could die? That I will remain awake and feel every cut, every slice?” Jiang Yanli answered instead, “yes. All the more reason it cannot be you, A-Xian. If this fails...YunMeng Jiang can afford to lose me. It cannot afford to lose either its Sect Leader or its Head Disciple.”

“ We cannot afford to lose you,” Wei WuXian said, desperation clear in his voice.

“Oh A-Xian…”

Wei WuXian turned towards Jiang Cheng, “say something. You can’t just let her…”

“I tried,” Jiang Cheng answered, impatience coloring his tone and anger adding a healthy flush to his cheeks, “don’t you think I’ve tried? I even tried to give her Zidian. She won’t...she won’t listen.”

“Wen Qing. Tell her you won’t. Tell her...tell her it has to be me. Shijie’s health has never been strong, she…”

Jiang Yanli stood from her chair and wrapped her brother into her arms, “A-Xian. It’s alright. It’ll be alright. Let Shijie do this. Let Shijie take care of you, of both of you.”

Wei WuXian sobbed. Great, heaving sobs that rocked his whole figure. 

Jiang Cheng also had silent tears rolling down his cheeks. Wen Qing passed him her handkerchief. He reached for it, but held her hand instead, his grip strong despite the weary acceptance in his eyes. "Promise me. Promise me that you won’t let anything go wrong. Promise me that you will ensure that A-jie lives. Promise me that if you even think she might be in danger, you’ll stop, abort.”

Wen Qing knew better than to make such promises. Knew that countless things could go wrong. Knew that there were so many barriers, so many differences between theory and practice. 

Still, she looked into his eyes, squeezed his hand just as tightly, and vowed solemnly, “I will not fail.”

Wen Qing was already so very tired, exhausted to the point that she didn’t even feel the fatigue anymore. 

But surely it was nothing to how Jiang Yanli must feel. 

Jiang Yanli was also wrong about something else. She may have a weak constitution, she may not have the muscles required for archery or wielding a sword, but her will was made of steel. 

She had still screamed, had still bitten through the leather piece between her lips, had still clutched at Wei WuXian’s fingers with enough force to break the skin with her nails. 

But not once did she ask Wen Qing to stop. She whimpered and tears leaked from her eyes and sweat covered her body, but she still took deep breaths, she still did her best to remain calm so that her Core would not disintegrate. 

In Wen Qing’s hands, it shone like the moon. Steady, peaceful. It felt smooth, cool, but also warm too. Like a pearl worn close to the skin. 

It slid into Jiang Cheng’s waiting body so easily. It pulsed a little before settling into its new home. It was as though it knew that it was a gift of love.

Wen Qing trusted A-Ning to provide the anesthetic that would allow Jiang Yanli to rest at last before he stitched closed the wounds Wen Qing had made. Trusted that Wei WuXian would watch over his sister and ensure that her breathing continued unabated.

Her own work was only halfway done. As meticulously as she had severed the ties that bound the Core, now she had to reconnect them to secure it. It pulsed with each addition, sending out tendrils of energy that also helped calm and invigorate Wen Qing. It was as though it recognized a friend.

She fed her own spiritual energy directly into it, lent the anastomoses her own strength, coaxed the glowing threads down the proper paths, nudged them to collect in the major meridians. They followed, as though grateful for a guide.

“Wen Qing.”

She blinked her eyes open. When had she closed them?

Wei WuXian was looking at her carefully, “enough. You’ve given enough of yourself.”

Wen Qing looked down to where her hands still glowed. The Core was bigger than it had been. 

“Can I…”

She didn’t know. She hadn’t really even thought about transferring her own energy. It had just felt right.

“Use me as a conduit.” She suggested. Just in case. They were in uncharted territory now after all. 

Wei WuXian nodded and placed his hands on her shoulders.

It was a strange feeling, stranger still to see the Core’s glow change, gain a true golden hue as energy poured into it. Soon enough, it resembled a miniature sun.

“I think that’s enough,” Wen Qing said quietly as the Core thrummed in her hands. 

She felt rather than saw Wei WuXian return to his sister.

And now for the final stage. 

She wavered on her feet as she snipped the last stitch. 

A-Ning was there to steady her, “jiejie…”

She tried to smile at him reassuringly, but from the way he was frowning, she wasn’t sure she had succeeded. 

“I’ll clean up,” he said, “and then wake Jiang gongzi. You go rest, jiejie.”

She thought about protesting, but she really was so very tired. She had never felt so drained. She let him pass her to Wei WuXian, who must have guided her to a bed because the next thing she knew was blessed blankness. 

Wen Qing woke to the feeling of wrongness, a prickling of her senses, a heaviness to her awareness that spoke of danger, of torment, of darkness. 

There were shadows flickering in her vision. She blinked to clear it. She was lying on a hard surface, the ground? The sky above was dark. The only source of light was…

She turned her head, a campfire. 

She sat up. She was in a clearing of sorts. 

A shout, a flash of lightning. She sprang to her feet. 

There were shadows, and they were attacking, just beyond the edge of where the light from the campfire could reach. 

She glanced about. There. Her sword. On the ground, right next to where she had been lying. She drew it without a thought and joined the fray.

Wei WuXian glanced her way when she ran her sword through the corpse that had been sneaking up behind him, “Wen Qing! You’re awake!”

She grunted as she sent a pulse of flames at another corpse. 

“Less talk, more fighting!” Jiang Cheng insisted as Zidian wrapped around two corpses and he decapitated them with a tug of his wrist. 

“Ah, shall we keep count? I’m at 5 now, I believe.”

“Shut up!” Jiang Cheng said even as he seemed to attack their enemies with renewed fervor. 

Eventually, they retreated to their campfire.

“We’re going to have to find actual shelter,” Wei WuXian said, slightly out of breath. 

Jiang Cheng huffed at him.

“Nine.” Wen Qing said, causing both of them to look at her.

“Nine?”

“My count.” Wen Qing shared.

Wei WuXian grinned at her, “Ah, thirteen for me.”

“Eleven.” Jiang Cheng said after a moment of thought. 

“Where did you get that sword?” Wen Qing asked.

Wei WuXian looked at the one in his hand, “ah. I stole it from the armory before we had to flee. It’s not a spiritual sword, but...it’s still sharp and stabby.”

Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes at such a description and despite herself, Wen Qing smiled. “Ridiculous.”

Wei WuXian seemed unperturbed, “Good thing too. The Burial Mounds really isn’t a nice place, is it?”

The...Burial Mounds? 

“Is that where we are?”

The two of them looked at each other. 

Wen Qing’s smile faded as she stood once more, her sword clenched tightly in her hand, “Where’s A-Ning? And your sister?”

“Whoah, calm down!”

“Don’t tell me to…” She glared at Wei WuXian, who just tilted his head at her, “it’s scary how much you resemble Jiang Cheng when you get angry.”

Wen Qing pointed her sword at him, “talk.”

Wei WuXian put up his arms in a peaceful manner, “alright, alright! As we had planned, Song daozhang is seeing them safely to Meishan. We just had to do it rather quickly. It was fortunate that Song daozhang agreed to stay and keep watch for us. He saw them approaching during his patrol and gave us enough warning so we were able to put you and Shijie in the carriages. I’m glad we planned ahead on that end too.”

Her arm lowered, “safely?”

“We made sure to draw Wen Chao’s attention to us,” Jiang Cheng spoke up, “told him we were kidnapping you. Or, well, kidnapping the Head of the Yiling Supervisory Office. Planning on keeping you as a prisoner of war and making you spill all sorts of secrets. That really caught his attention.”

“My idea,” Wei WuXian said.

Of course it was. 

Jiang Cheng ignored him, “we were outnumbered, they chased us. It wasn’t until our horse ran off in fright, almost smashing the carriage in the process, that we realized that they had purposefully been shepherding us in this direction.”

“You’re lucky Jiang Cheng caught you,” Wei WuXian said, “or else you’d have hit your head something awful. Might have even broken your neck.”

“Thank you,” she told Jiang Cheng.

He looked like he might be blushing, but that might have been a trick of the light. 

“Although, how you managed to sleep through all of that…” Wei WuXian’s voice gained a teasing lilt to it.

Jiang Cheng turned away from her to scowl at his brother, “she must have been exhausted. How could you have let her pass me so much of her spiritual energy when she had been awake for more than 2 whole days already for the operation…”

“I didn’t notice she was doing it at first!” Wei WuXian protested.

“You were supposed to make sure…”

“I did! Shijie was fine!”

“Not just A-jie! As the one awake, you had a responsibility to…”

“Enough!” 

They fell silent and looked at her again.

“Your sister truly is a saint,” Wen Qing shared, “how she could still be such an even-tempered, sweet young lady after growing up with the two of you for brothers, I’ll never know.”

“I did stop her,” Wei WuXian pointed out, somewhat petulantly.

Jiang Cheng opened his mouth, as though to retort again, but Wen Qing interjected, “he did. Your Core is as strong as it is mostly because of him.”

“Thank you.” Jiang Cheng sounded stiff as he said the words.

Wei WuXian blinked at him in surprise, “did you just…”

“I’m not saying it again.” Jiang Cheng crossed his arms.

Wei WuXian’s expression softened, “I know Shijie said it’s not my fault, but…”

“Shut up.” Jiang Cheng insisted again.

“So,” Wen Qing spoke up before Wei WuXian could say something else sappy, “shelter?”

“Might be safer in the morning,” Wei WuXian suggested. “We can take turns keeping watch tonight.”

“I’ll take the first watch then,” Wen Qing offered. 

Wei WuXian looked like he wanted to protest but she just raised an eyebrow at him, “Of the three of us, I’m the most well rested, no?”

“I’ll take the second one,” Jiang Cheng stated, “I’m the next best rested. And the other one with a real weapon.”

“This sword is a real weapon!”

Jiang Cheng just rolled his eyes before settling in lotus position on the ground. 

Wei WuXian made a face. He cast a golden net around them, the same one he had used back in Mount Dafan. “Just in case,” he told Wen Qing before flopping down onto the ground in an undignified heap. 

Soon enough, the clearing was quiet again. But she almost missed their banter. 

The heavy feeling did not dissipate. It pressed in on all sides to the point that Wen Qing felt like even her breathing was becoming restricted. There were faint screams that echoed at the edge of her awareness. At one point, she thought she recognized one of the voices and had to shake her head to clear it. 

The Burial Mounds was home to much resentment. Centuries of it building up here, festering, coalescing. It shouldn’t be surprising that it had gained some sentience, that it could tell that there were horrors from her past that she’d much rather forget. 

From the frown on Jiang Cheng’s face and the way Wei WuXian shifted restlessly on the ground, she must not be the only one. 

Forget shelter. They really needed to find a way out of here, before it drove them mad. Even though...even though it’s said that no one ever escapes the Burial Mounds. 

Well. No one had ever successfully transplanted a Golden Core before either. And not only transplanted but also enhanced it. 

Besides, it was YunMeng Jiang’s motto, wasn’t it? To attempt the impossible? 

She glanced again at her companions. She had chosen a side in this conflict. She had chosen to stand with them. Had chosen…

She looked away in favor of scanning the darkness beyond the golden cage. She should be keeping watch.

Jiang Cheng’s eyes snapped open with a gasp, startling her enough for her to look at him. 

His hand clutched at his chest, right above where his new Golden Core sat. Zidian glowed and he just stared at it for a long moment.

“Go back to sleep,” she told him.

He looked at her, his eyes still confused from whatever nightmare had plagued him. 

“It’s not your turn yet.” She said helpfully. 

He blinked and then recognition dawned, “Wen guniang.”

“Wen Qing.” She said. “Any other form of address would just be ridiculous at this point, don’t you think?”

He just looked at her another moment before asking her an unexpected question, “why did you decide to help us?”

“Because A-Ning asked.”

His brows furrowed.

“A-Ning may not be very powerful, but he tries so hard to do the right thing. He had stolen my medicine, back in Qishan, had snuck into prison, to help Wei WuXian.”

“Had snuck into Lotus Pier, to rescue me and my parents’ bodies.” He added.

She nodded before adding, “had he been the one who accompanied all of you to Muxi Mountain...he would have protested louder, would have done more to stop Wen Chao.”

“You tried.”

She honestly hadn’t thought anyone would notice.

“I saw them taking you away,” he shared, “I saw how they twisted your arms behind you. Saw your eyes widen in fear. It was the first, the only, time I had ever seen you lose your composure.”

“It was wrong, what Wen Chao did.” And not just in that cave.

He looked down at Zidian again. “Is that why you decided to...to betray your own Sect?”

“My allegiance has always been more towards Dafan Wen than Qishan Wen. There is also...my own parents, my own home, had also been casualties in Chief Cultivator’s quest for power. Even if the effort is futile, even if…” she resolutely pushed away her memories of what the Yin Iron could do, “I’d like to meet my parents in the afterlife and have them be proud of me. I’d like to look into A-Ning’s eyes and be worthy of the admiration I see in them.”

“Casualties?”

Right. He wouldn’t know, would he? She had never told anyone of that awful day, had successfully suppressed the events until she was back in Mount Dafan and she saw her relatives hurt again. 

She could not meet his eyes. “They died. That statue...it had attacked. It’s how A-Ning and I ended up in Nightless City as Chief Cultivator’s wards.”

“Did you...were you there to see…”

She didn’t trust her voice and just nodded.

“How old were you?”

“Nine.” 

“Nine.” He repeated.

“A-Ning was six, he had just turned six actually. He...he had been wearing the new clothes Mother had sewn for him and the new leather hair tie Father had tanned for him. We, our whole village, we had just celebrated…” she shook her head to clear it of the faint screams she had heard once again. Though did she actually hear them or were they just memories she had tried so hard to forget? “I almost lost him too.”

“No wonder.” He sounded thoughtful. 

She glanced at him, wondering if he would continue.

“I remember, you had not raised your sword that day in Cloud Recesses, but rather your arm to shield him. And after the nighthunt, you watched him like a hawk. And again, when I asked you to travel with us, you mentioned that he was still back in Qishan. He…”

“He was all I had.” Wen Qing said softly. 

“Your relatives…”

“Their safety also depended on me, on my survival, on my...on my obedience.”

“What was it like?” he asked after another moment of silence. 

“Like?”

“To take on a position of leadership even when you don’t feel ready for it? To be responsible for other lives when you could barely take care of yourself?” 

She let out a breath. Ah. For all that he’s older than she had been, he had also led a sheltered life before now, hadn’t he? “Difficult. Exhausting. Numbing.” She gave him her honesty, “but you’re also luckier than I was. You are the younger sibling, not the older one. You have your sister, your brother, who will catch you, steady you, should you stumble. You do not have to bear it alone.”

He glanced at Wei WuXian. “They...they were both willing to…”

“You’re lucky.” She said again.

“Sleep,” she told him, when he just continued to look pensive, “I’ll wake you when it’s your turn.”

The sky remained overcast even as darkness gradually faded to give way to light. 

Wen Qing tried to lift through the mist, to examine the terrain beneath her, but she found herself attacked by restless spirits instead. She swatted at them and in doing so lost her footing. 

“Oof.” 

“You’re getting quite good at that,” Wei WuXian commented casually as Jiang Cheng caught her in his arms again. 

His cheeks were definitely pinker than usual as he quickly set her on her feet. 

“My sword.”

Wei WuXian examined the weapon in his hand, “it’s quite lovely. What’s its name?”

“Phoenix Flame (凤火).” She shared as she took it from him.

He gave a whistle, “impressive.”

“Thank you.”

“When I have SuiBian again, we should spar.” He said casually.

“Your ego is big enough without me feeding it.”

“Ah, Wen Qing, you could win, you know.”

“Against someone who can fight Lan Wangji to a draw? I think not.”

He pouted, “ah, you’re no fun.”

She shook her head at him before sharing. “I couldn’t see much. It’s too cloudy and...there are...things...in it.”

“Things?” Jiang Cheng was frowning again. She was starting to think that was his default expression. A shame really. He looked much nicer when he smiled, as he had that time back in Cloud Recesses. 

“Resentment takes many forms.” She commented dryly.

“Hmm…” Wei WuXian rubbed his chin, “well, nothing for it. We’ll just have to pick a direction and start walking then.”

“Pick...how do you propose we pick?”

Wei WuXian shrugged as he turned towards Wen Qing, “did you see anything that might be helpful?” 

She thought for a bit, “a stream perhaps?” She turned around the clearing, trying to get her bearings. “That way, maybe?”

“That way it is! Maybe there’ll be fish in it. I could do with some sustenance.”

“Would it even be safe to eat?” Jiang Cheng asked cautiously.

Wei WuXian shrugged again, “better than starving to death, right? Besides, even if we get sick, we’ve got a healer with us, don’t we?”

“Let’s go,” Wen Qing said decisively before the conversation could devolve into another argument.

They did locate the stream. There were no fish in it. But there was a nice grove of fruit trees along the banks. 

Wen Qing tested them with her silver needles, “well, they’re not overtly poisonous.”

“Overtly?”

“There are untraceable poisons.” She shared. 

“And you know about those?”

“Some.”

Wei WuXian looked at her and shuddered, “remind me never to get on your bad side. Not only can you wield a sword and throw around balls of fire like they’re nothing, but you also know too much about ways to kill without leaving any evidence.”

“Are you...complimenting me?”

“The very fact that you think my observation is a compliment is…” Wei WuXian shuddered again, “you are scary.” 

“Thank you.” She said primly as she plucked a few more fruits from the tree. 

Wei WuXian made a strangled noise before moving further away from her, muttering, “not a compliment.”

Wen Qing just smiled to herself. 

“Huh.”

She turned towards Jiang Cheng curiously, “what?”

“You…” he seemed at a loss of words before saying, “your sword is appropriately named.”

She blinked at him. 

He looked away, his cheeks tinged pink again.

“Thank you,” she offered, her voice softer.

He cleared his throat and turned back to picking his own fruits. 

They followed the stream for the next five days, intermittently fighting the native inhabitants of the Burial Mounds. Rest was becoming more fragmented for all of them, though none of them spoke of what their minds saw fit to show them under the influence of their environment. 

They eventually came upon a lake. The water was dark, murky, and...sinister. 

“Doesn’t look too promising, does it?” Wei WuXian commented.

No. It really didn’t. 

“How many skeletons do you think lie in the bottom?”

What a morbid question.

“Likely too many,” Wen Qing answered.

“Don’t these lands belong to the Wen Sect?”

Technically, yes. “What of it?”

“Don’t you have...maps?”

Wen Qing shook her head, “no one has ventured in for generations. Whatever maps had existed from the age of Wen Mao has long been lost to history. I doubt they’d be accurate now anyways.”

“Hmm.”

Jiang Cheng eyed the water with deep mistrust, “Something’s...not right. It just feels...wrong.”

“So no attempts to find fish?”

“Would you really eat it even if you found any?”

Wei WuXian stared at the water too, “ah. You may just have a point.”

Jiang Cheng snorted.

It took another three days for them to reach the far side of the lake. 

Wen Qing looked up as the light seemed to grow brighter around them, even if the sunlight seemed to do nothing for the gloom of the water. “The clouds are clearing. I’ll try again.”

“Be careful.” Jiang Cheng told her.

“Ah. You’ll just catch her again,” Wei WuXian commented. 

Wen Qing ignored him as she mounted her sword. She had better luck this time.

“There’s a gate, or some sort of stone structure, up on the hills that way.”

“Oh?”

She raised her sword, “we’ve also got company approaching.”

Wei WuXian made a face, “again?”

Nonetheless, they braced themselves.

“Urg.” Wei WuXian complained when they were able to resume their journey, “uphill?”

Neither of his companions responded.

“Do you get the feeling,” he asked when they reached the ruins of what seemed to have been a fortress of sorts, “that we shouldn’t be here?”

“Need I remind you that we’re in the Burial Mounds ?” Jiang Cheng said crossly. 

Wen Qing threw a needle at the space beneath the arch. It passed through, seemingly unharmed. “Well, no obvious wards remain in place.”

They still approached cautiously. 

Wen Qing frowned as they crossed what must have been a courtyard once upon a time. The heavy oppressive feeling was growing stronger. 

“Do you hear that?” Wei WuXian’s voice lacked its usual brightness.

“Hear what?”

Wei WuXian frowned, “voices. Whispers. Getting louder.”

Jiang Cheng looked at him strangely, worriedly.

They reached another gateway, the wood had long rotted away, leaving behind only crumbling stone pillars.

“They’re coming from inside.” Wei WuXian sounded strained. “Almost shouting now.”

Wen Qing frowned, “what are they saying?”

“They’re calling my name. Offering me a chance for revenge. They...they claim they can help me.”

“Wei WuXian…” Jiang Cheng’s hand twitched and Zidian glowed.

“I’ve...I’ve heard their voices before. Back in the XuanWu Cave. From the…” He seemed to be drawn towards the doorway. 

“Wei WuXian!” Jiang Cheng grabbed his arm, “don’t be so reckless!”

Wen Qing threw another needle and then a ball of flame through the doorway for good measure. Nothing seemed to happen.

“They’re calling for me.” Wei WuXian insisted as he managed to break free.

Wen Qing gripped her sword tightly as she and Jiang Cheng followed.

There was a shaft of light shining onto a platform that might have at one time held a throne. Now though, there was just a sword. 

Before they could stop him, Wei WuXian had dropped his borrowed weapon with a clatter and wrapped his hands around the hilt. 

He screamed as he drew the blade out of the stone. He wavered on his feet, his eyes rolling into the back of his head, and then he fell. 

Jiang Cheng cursed and rushed forwards to prevent him from hitting his head. Wen Qing grabbed Wei WuXian’s wrist and did a quick assessment. 

She frowned and ran other tests. “The sword. He needs to let go of the sword.”

Jiang Cheng nodded and reached for it, only to be violently knocked off the platform.

Wen Qing went to his side, “you’ve fractured a rib. Thankfully it hasn’t punctured your lung.”

He waved her aside, “Wei WuXian…”

They looked as a dome of energy seemed to form around him. Almost like the golden net that they cast every night and yet completely unlike it. Dark tendrils flowed into the cage. It was almost like…

Wen Qing’s eyes widened. It was almost like when she had helped Jiang Cheng’s new Core settle and then grow, only…

She tried to approach, to stop whatever process was happening, just knew inherently that it was nothing good, but the heaviness pressed in on her the closer she got, until she really was gasping for air. She persisted nonetheless and was thrown backwards just as Jiang Cheng had been.

She winced as she landed on an ankle at the wrong angle. 

“Are you alright?”

She drew up her skirts and examined herself. “Sprained, not broken,” She shared as she looked up again.

He nodded, though his eyes were no longer on her. His cheeks were again flushed. He had looked just as flustered when she had examined him back on Lake Biling. Really. Propriety at a time like this, under these circumstances. 

She shook her head and stuck needles into the proper positions to help reduce the swelling that was sure to come. 

“What do we do now?” He asked eventually. 

“We wait.” She said. They could not see Wei WuXian beneath the darkness that surrounded him. “And then deal with the aftermath.”

“I hate this.” He stated eventually. 

She nodded. She did too.

“He never told me,” he said, eyes still on the platform, “what happened in the XuanWu Cave. There was never time and...and I suppose I was envious that he got to defeat such a legendary monster. With Lan Wangji of all people.”

How...childish. 

“It was always supposed to be us. The Twin Heroes of YunMeng. Us on such adventures, together.”

“You’re on an adventure now, aren’t you?” She pointed out.

“Yes,” he agreed. “And what he was willing to do…”

He fell silent. 

“He’s your brother, will always be your brother.” She reminded him.

“I know.”

They continued to keep watch. 

“That sword...I’ve seen it before.” He broke the silence again, “He had been clutching it, when we went back to rescue them.”

“The sword?”

He looked back at her and nodded, “I thought it was just some broken relic that he had found in the cave. I made him leave it behind in QiShan. I told him it was a terrible replacement for SuiBian. It…”

“I don’t think it’s just a sword,” Wen Qing said quietly. 

“Not just a sword?”

“When I checked him, it...the effects felt too much like what the Yin Irons can do.”

He sucked in a breath. 

She fingered her needles, just itching to stick it into the proper meridians, to…

“Is that what you were looking for back in Cloud Recesses?”

“Yes.”

“So you really were a spy.”

“Yes.” What was the point of denying it?

“Willingly?”

“Does it matter?”

He was quiet before noting. “You didn’t try to steal it.”

“I’m sure it would have been against Gusu Lan rules.”

“So’s spying. Probably.”

She allowed herself a faint smile. 

“Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

Her smile faded. 

“Who could I have told?”

“Master Lan,” he suggested, “he’s strict but he’s still…”

“Our elders did nothing to check Wen Ruohan.” She reminded him, “even though the signs had been there.”

He winced. Right. His own father had been known for his isolationist ways, hadn’t he? 

“Did you never think about...about running away? Taking your people and…”

Of course she had thought about it. But as the years passed and she learned more about the state of the world, she knew she was stuck. 

She sighed. “Given what had happened to their previous Sect Leader, the Nies would have turned me away for being a Wen. The Jin Sect...well...as a woman, I would never turn to Sect Leader Jin for help. As for the Lans...Even Master Lan would not have protected me, my people, if it meant putting his own people at risk.” 

She was not bitter. It was the way the world was. Self-interest still colored Clan politics, even the self-proclaimed righteous Lans. 

“That’s…” whatever he had meant to say, he didn’t. She was grateful. Besides, he should know, should understand. Surely as Sect Heir he had been trained to be aware of such things? Surely he wasn’t so naive? 

“And what about your mother’s family?”

“My mother?” Oh. Right. His mother had been Madam Yu, the Purple Spider. Her brother and his sister were even now, hopefully, seeking shelter with his maternal grandmother. “Jiang gongzi, we are not all so lucky as to have such illustrious and powerful relations. My mother had not even been a cultivator. She had been a gifted healer though. The techniques with the silver needle came from her side of the family.”

He was quiet again before saying, “Jiang Cheng.”

She looked at him questioningly.

“Any other form of address would just be ridiculous at this point, don’t you think?”

And despite herself, she smiled a little at hearing her own words returned to her. Still, she asked, “Not Jiang Wanyin?”

He shifted, “that name is usually reserved for when I’m in trouble.”

"I see.”

He looked towards where Wei WuXian remained obscured beneath the mass of swirling dark energy. “Usually at his instigation too.”

She followed his gaze, “whenever it ends...he’ll need your support.”

He nodded.

They kept vigil, taking turns napping. Prolonged sleep had long become a luxury; the resentment around them was slowly but surely taking its toll. Though, likely nothing compared to what Wei WuXian must be experiencing.

“I wonder if this is how he felt,” Jiang Cheng murmured on the morning of the fourth day, “watching the operation.”

He sighed. “But different. He knew we were in good hands. He knew you wouldn’t have let harm come to us.”

“You shouldn’t have trusted me so much, any of you. I am still a relative stranger.”

“You chose our side.”

“I could be acting as a spy again.”

“But you’re not.”

“How do you know?”

He looked at her, his expression serious, “you’re not.”

She looked away first, just in time to see the cloud around Wei WuXian start to dissipate. She scrambled to her feet, wincing as she put pressure on her injured ankle. Jiang Cheng reached out quickly to steady her.

“I’m fine, it’ll just take some time.”

He nodded but did not let go as they both approached the platform. 

Wei WuXian’s eyes opened slowly. There was a red tint to them that reminded Wen Qing too much of Wen Ruohan. 

Just as with the Chief Cultivator, she steeled herself before reaching to touch him. 

Wei WuXian watched her, the redness gradually fading as she assessed him.

“Wei WuXian…” Jiang Cheng sounded as though he wasn’t sure what to say.

“I’m…” Wei WuXian croaked before he broke into a coughing fit. 

“Obviously not fine,” Jiang Cheng scolded him even as he handed him the water skin.

Wei WuXian drank gratefully and coughed his throat before trying to speak again, “how long?”

“Three days and three nights.” Jiang Cheng answered.

“Felt longer.” Wei WuXian muttered as he sat up gingerly. 

Wen Qing frowned at him, “I can’t tell what’s wrong with you.”

“What do you mean?” Jiang Cheng asked, his alarm obvious. 

“Something is wrong with you. Your Golden Core is...suppressed somehow. And yet…”

“Ah. I made a deal.” Wei WuXian shared.

“What deal?”

Wei WuXian settled in lotus position. “Did you know, the last person Xue Chonghai had sacrificed to the Yin Iron had been his own son?”

Jiang Cheng and Wen Qing traded a look. What nonsense was he saying?

Wei WuXian smiled a little wanely, “let me tell you a tale…”

Unlike his father and his older brothers, Xue Liang had been of an upright disposition. He had been the one to help Wen Mao and his allies gain entry to the fortress so as to put an end to his father’s madness. Sadly, Xue Chonghai discovered that he had been the traitor and used the Yin Iron to end his son’s life. 

“He had only been fifteen,” Wei WuXian said quietly, “too young to become a hero. Wen Mao had promised that he would destroy the Yin Iron and so put an end to its powers. He didn’t keep his promise. They also did not show mercy but rather hunted and did their best to eradicate all traces of the Xue’s. The bodies buried here...not all of them fell in battle…some of them had only been children...”

Wei WuXian’s eyes looked distant, his expression grim, as though he was seeing the scenes of slaughter and hearing the screams of death, before he continued, “A part of his spirit lingered though, and he has watched all this time as the Burial Mounds transformed from the home he had known to what it is today. That lake we passed...it had once been so beautiful, even had lotus blossoms growing in it...He wants me to end it all. To destroy the Yin Iron fragments and release all the tortured spirits that remain bound to this forsaken place. He wants his father’s legacy to end at last.”

“You’ve...spoken to him?”

Wei WuXian nodded, “his was not the only voice, there were others too. Xue Chonghai had turned most of his people into puppets at that point, to prevent insubordination. There were those who willingly joined his quest for world domination, but certainly not all.”

“And the deal?”

Wei WuXian looked down in his lap and it was then that they noticed that the sword no longer existed but had become something else. “They offered to help me obtain revenge. I asked what the price would be, what they wanted in return. What I could do for them. It seems that they’ve never been asked that before. That was when Xue Liang made himself known to me. As young as he is, he seems to be their leader of sorts. He was the one who suggested…” he looked back up, “以毒攻毒 (to fight poison with poison). They helped me create this amulet. Of all the Yin Iron fragments, the one inside the XuanWu Beast had been the strongest. They taught me how to gain control of it in return for my promise that I would finally give them peace once I was done.”

His words were met with silence as his companions digested such a strange tale. 

“What does it do, exactly?” Wen Qing asked practically.

“Wanna see?” Wei WuXian stood.

Both Jiang Cheng and Wen Qing frowned at him.

“Wei WuXian! You’re being reckless again!”

“Maybe,” Wei WuXian admitted, “it’s not everyday I make a deal with centuries old spirits and let them use me as a conduit for resentful powers.”

“You think you can control them?”

“Ah,” Wei WuXian rubbed at his nose, “the trick is not to control them at all but just...let them lose?”

“What do you mean?” There was dread in Jiang Cheng’s voice.

“Ummm…it’s one thing to know the theories and another to put them into practice?”

Oh heavens, Wen Qing thought to herself, this was not a good time to think again of how she saw herself in Wei WuXian.

“You’re sure you know what you’re doing?”

“Pretty sure?”

“Wei WuXian…” she started warily.

“I know what’s at stake.” He said, voice uncharacteristically serious.

She narrowed her eyes at him, “I don’t like it. I don’t like trusting things I can neither see nor hear. They could very well be hallucinations. This place is...not right.”

Wei WuXian gestured to the amulet, the two halves of which he was holding in each hand, “you can see these can’t you?”

She pressed her lips together. Yes, she could. She could also feel the Yin energy rolling off of them.

“I don’t like it.” She repeated.

“I promised,” Wei WuXian said stubbornly as he gripped the pieces of metal in his hands. 

A strange expression flitted across Jiang Cheng’s face, “and you have a tendency to keep your promises even at the price of..”

“Then it’s a good thing the two of you are here, isn’t it?”

Zidian crackled. “I don’t like it.” Jiang Cheng parroted Wen Qing.

“Wen Ruohan can be killed, just as Xue Chonghai was. But as long as the Yin Irons exist...we have a chance to correct our forebearers’ mistake.”

“Why didn’t they destroy it?” Jiang Cheng muttered, “and spare us all this trouble.”

“Power,” Wei WuXian answered, “it’s why Lan Yi unsealed it. And arrogance. No doubt Wen Ruohan thinks he can gain control of it.”

“Isn’t that what you’re doing?”

Wei WuXian shook his head, “I told you, the trick is not to control it at all but let it do what it wants.”

“What does that even mean?” Wen Qing asked again.

“I have some ideas I’d like to try. The Burial Mounds really is the perfect testing ground.”

“Testing…”

But Wei WuXian had already started walking towards the exit.

Wen Qing sighed before saying to Jiang Cheng, “Go. Make sure he doesn’t do anything too foolish. I’ll catch up.”

He frowned at her. 

“Go,” she insisted, “I don’t trust him to be by himself.”

“Your ankle…”

“Is healing just fine. I’m not so fragile.”

“No, you’re not,” he agreed as he started to go after his brother.

He did turn around briefly to say, “Wen Qing. You’re also no longer alone. Remember that.”

She could only blink at his retreating back. Huh. 

Roughly a month and a half later, they emerged from the Burial Mounds. Wen Qing thought they probably presented an odd picture, not that anyone was nearby to see it. It was the middle of the night after all. 

Wei WuXian twirled a bamboo dizi in his hand nonchalantly, even as his eyes remained sharp for any sort of disturbance. Zidian glowed on Jiang Cheng’s hand as he too checked their surroundings. Wen Qing gripped her sword, more than aware that there was an army of invisible spirits following them. Their presence flickered just at the edge of her awareness. Sometimes she thought she caught glimpses of a sleeve or the reflected moonlight on a glade, but they were probably mostly just products of her imagination. 

“Shall we see what Wen Chao’s up to?”

Jiang Cheng looked grim, “Is he stupid enough to remain in Yiling?”

“Chief Cultivator probably exiled him here, for not preventing my capture. I do know so very many secrets after all. And I was the only healer he hadn’t managed to kill.” Wen Qing speculated. 

“Because you’re actually competent.”

“I try,” Wen Qing said modestly.

Wei WuXian snorted before adding, “And he probably thinks we’ve died. Little does he know, YunMeng Jiang specializes in accomplishing the impossible.”

“I am not of YunMeng Jiang.” Wen Qing reminded him.

Wei WuXian hid his muttering beneath a cough. It sounded suspiciously like he was saying, “not yet.”

Jiang Cheng cleared his throat, “Wen Zhuliu is probably with him. Be careful.”

“I’m always …”

“ Never careful,” Jiang Cheng completed Wei WuXian’s sentence.

Wei WuXian made a face at him. “I still don’t see why you wouldn’t let me bring the corpses too.”

“There are civilians living in Yiling,” Wen Qing reminded him, “ children . Such a sight would be much too disturbing.”

“All of whom should be sleeping at this hour. And it’d be so much more dramatic!”

“This isn’t a play.” Jiang Cheng said crossly.

Wei WuXian grew serious as he agreed, “No. It isn’t.”

“Shall we?” Wen Qing asked.

Wei WuXian’s eyes glowed red, “We shall.”

ChenQing’s song was haunting, appropriate really.

Wen Qing wondered briefly if she should feel worse about the death being inflicted on these unsuspecting soldiers. Even if they were in a war…

She waited until the sound of screams and grunts gave way to silence before entering the Supervisory Office. She stepped over bodies, all covered in blood in some way or form. The manners of death were all somewhat different. The spirits were all quite creative it seemed. 

She walked through the hallways, walked into the room that had once been hers, saw Wang Lingjiao swinging from the rafter, blood just beginning to congeal on the scratches on her cheeks. Self-inflicted, from the state of her nails. 

She cut the woman down and laid a sheet over her body. It was more than she would have done for Wen Qing. 

She made her way into the room that had served as her own office. There was a pile of correspondences gathered haphazardly on the desk that she had once kept so neat and organized. Well, Wen Chao had never been the studious sort. A blessing in this case, her many books and scrolls remained intact. 

What did it say about her that she cared more about them than the bodies that now littered the courtyards and hallways?

What was war but senseless killing?

The sooner it ended, the better.

She read through the letters and reports. The war was not going well for QiShan Wen. ChiFengZun had managed to defeat Wen Xu. Wen Chao must have celebrated; he had the dubious honor of being heir now. Chief Cultivator had still rejected his request to return to QiShan. No explanation was provided. Wen Qing shook her head. Even Chief Cultivator knew that Wen Chao really was inept. 

It was here that Jiang Cheng found her.

She looked up at his grim expression.

“It’s done.” He said. 

She nodded. 

He breathed out, “I thought I’d feel more satisfaction. I thought…” he paused. “They tried to run.”

“I can’t imagine they got very far.”

“They didn’t. I wanted to...” his hands were fisted at his sides, “I wanted to make them hurt , just as I had. I wanted…”

“But you didn’t.”

“The temptation almost overwhelmed me.”

Almost.

He looked at her, “I want to be better. I want…”

To be good. To do the right thing, the honorable thing even in a time of chaos. She knew that feeling, shared such a desire. Had made her choices based on it. 

“He knew. He looked so surprised when I wrapped Zidian around his neck. I choked him, saw the light fade from his eyes, felt his body go limp. I…”

It was likely the first time he killed with such purpose something that wasn’t a fierce corpse or a monster. Although...what constituted a monster? 

Wen Qing put down the paper in her hand, stepped closer to him, and reached for his hand. 

“Wei WuXian used Wen Chao’s own sword to slit his throat. Even though I could tell that he had also wanted to....to prolong his death.” He was shaking. 

“But he didn’t. Neither of you did.”

“No. We didn’t.” Did that necessarily mean they were better? His eyes asked her. 

“Where is he?”

“On the roof, with a bottle of wine. He said he’s long overdue for a drink.”

“He deserves one.”

Jiang Cheng nodded. “Wen Qing...will it get easier?”

“You’ll always miss them,” she said softly, “will always wish for their continued guidance. A part of your heart will always ache. But...the acuity of the pain will dull eventually.”

“And...and killing?”

“It shouldn’t get easier.” 

“And if it does?” He avoided her gaze, “a part of me...a part of me liked it. Liked that I held his life in my hands, liked that I had such power, liked that I controlled him. I…”

“Do not become lost in your hatred.”

He let out another shuddering breath. “It would be so easy…”

She pressed her hand over his Golden Core, “there is a part of your sister in you that bears witness to what you do, that enables you to wield your whip and, once you recover it, your sword. Do not disappoint her.”

“My sword is named Sandu.”

The three poisons. Greed, ignorance, anger.

“You are more than those things.”

He lifted his hand, placed it over hers, the pressure barely there at all. “Am I?”

His eyes were full of doubt. Self doubt. And Wen Qing remembered what Jiang Yanli had said about the wounds that lingered, wounds inflicted by parents who had been blind to the hurt they had wrought in their son.

Well. If Wei WuXian could command an invisible army, surely she could heal invisible wounds too. 

“You are.” She said with certainty. It would take more than hearing it just once for him to believe it. But she could be patient.

“You should eat something.”

Wei WuXian looked at the bowl of mantou (steamed buns) she was offering to him. “I...I don’t have much of an appetite.”

She sat down carefully on the roof, resting the bowl in her lap. “There’s porridge too, if you’d rather have that instead. Plain. It’ll take a bit of time for us to get used to heavier foods, I think.”

They had managed to unearth a patch of radishes and turnips from what must have been a garden for the Xue estate once upon a time. They were such hardy vegetables. 

He took a swig from his bottle instead. 

“It’s different, isn’t it?” She asked him. She could see the bodies spread out beneath them. Bodies of real people who had been alive until recently, rather than the walking corpses back in the Burial Mounds.

“ I did that.” He waved his arm, the wine sloshing a bit, “me.”

“Yes.” 

“You don’t mince words, do you?”

She shrugged. Why lie about something they both knew to be true?

“Did they all deserve to die?”

She didn’t know. 

“Who am I to decide…” he took another drink, “where’s Jiang Cheng?”

“Helping pack my books.” They may even strain the limits of the qiankun bag. 

“Books.”

“Some of them are family heirlooms, priceless.” She informed him. “And he needed something to do.”

“You would have made a good Lan. They love their books too. Which was why I was so impressed that I made Lan Zhan mad enough to destroy one. Even if it was…” he looked at her sideways, “one of those books.”

She was unperturbed.

“I wonder if he’s well.” His voice was quiet. “His leg…”

How like him, to be more concerned about someone else’s wellbeing.

“It’s a rotten deal.”

“What?”

“You are not a killer.” He had been responsible for all these deaths, yes, but he obviously took no pleasure in it either. 

“I think you’ll find that the evidence points to the contrary.”

“It’s war.”

“Does that justify it?”

She looked at him, “You’ll have to do it two more times, at least.”

“I know.”

“Can you handle it?”

He didn’t answer for a long moment. “I promised.”

“To set them free, yes.”

“And I can only do that if I destroy the other pieces.”

“Is killing yourself worth it?”

“I’m quite unharmed.” He protested.

She glanced at the bottle in his hand meaningfully.

“I drank even before any of this!”

“A most unhealthy coping mechanism,” she sniffed.

He gaped at her and she took the opportunity to shove a mantou into his mouth. “I made a promise too. To your sister. When we had made the original plans. She would look after A-Ning in Meishan, I would look after you and Jiang Cheng.”

He was quiet as he chewed. He had such a tendency to bear everything himself too. He’ll also need to be reminded that he was not alone. 

“She suffered no illusions about what going to war would entail. She knew that I can only do my best to keep the damage to a minimum.”

“Shijie…” He swallowed, “she should not know about any of this.”

“She’s stronger than either of you think. More insightful too. Even if we do not tell her…”

“I promised,” Wei WuXian said again, “I promised that all three of us would return to Lotus Pier, would...would go home.”

Wen Qing placed the bowl in his lap, “then eat. Eat so that you have the strength to do what you must.”

“And afterwards?”

“Afterwards, you heal and rebuild. Along with your sister, your brother. Together. Make a home again. That part of your journey will be no less difficult.” 

“And you?”

“Me?”

“What will you do?”

She looked into the distance, in the direction of Mount Dafan, “the same. Reunite with A-Ning. Find our relatives. Recover. Rebuild. Begin anew.”

He took up another bun, took a bite. “Good thing you still have all your books then.”

“Yes.” She agreed. Indeed it was. 

They lingered longer in YunMeng than they had in Yiling. Well, Jiang Cheng was the Sect Leader now, even if he had been presumed dead for the last two months. 

It was heartening, really, to see the residents of Lotus Pier come out of hiding when they woke and saw the flags of QiShan Wen be replaced once more by the banners of the Jiang. 

Jiang Cheng and Wei WuXian both looked overwhelmed at the cheers they received. 

“We knew you’d come back,” one woman said.

“Here,” a middle aged gentleman handed a basket of lotus pods at Wei WuXian, “freshly picked.”

Wei WuXian looked like he would actually cry. “Thank you.”

The gentleman just smiled, “no charge. Take it. Welcome home.”

“All will be well again.” A grandmotherly looking lady said. “Now that our young masters are back.”

Jiang Cheng visibly straightened his shoulders as he nodded at her. A silent promise. 

She smiled, “you’ll do us proud.”

Wen Qing learned that she was Liu popo, the Jiangs’ housekeeper, who ran the estate with organized efficiency. It still amazed her, the speed with which traces of occupancy began to be erased. 

“I know we had planned to forge ahead to QiShan,” Jiang Cheng told them apologetically, “but…”

Wei WuXian paused in peeling a lotus seed, “an oversight. You have a responsibility to offer some stability before gallivanting off again.”

“ We have a responsibility.” Jiang Cheng said with emphasis.

Wei WuXian blinked.

Jiang Cheng lifted his chin, as though daring him to disagree.

A smile slowly spread across Wei WuXian’s features before he nodded. “Alright, Sect Leader Jiang. We.”

Word must have gotten out of their miraculous survival, because Jiang disciples began to return back to Lotus Pier as well. Jiang Cheng and Wei WuXian both looked overwhelmed again on the realization that they hadn’t lost all their shidi’s. The largest group of them accompanied Jiang Yanli on her return, her eyes shining and her brothers’ names on her lips. 

Wen Qing had her own tearful reunion with her brother. 

“A-Ning.”

“Jiejie.” He was smiling, looking well and healthy. 

She hugged him close. She had refused to let herself think that he hadn’t made it to Meishan safely. It was still so good to feel how tangible he was here in her arms. 

“Jiejie. You’re alive.”

She parted from him, “A-Ning?”

“They said A-Cheng and A-Xian were missing, feared dead…” Jiang Yanli explained, “Grandmother refused to believe it though. She sent people to round up our disciples so they could train and add to the defenses at MeiShan. Wen Ning and I have been helping with the wounded.”

“A-jie…”

“Brewing medicines isn’t really so different from cooking,” Jiang Yanli said, “and it’s a way that I could contribute. Wen Ning is a good teacher.”

A-Ning ducked his head, as modest and bashful with praise as he’s ever been, “The healers said jiejie taught me well.”

“Our shidis say Wen Ning easily has the best bedside manner.”

A-Ning blushed as Wen Qing looked at him proudly.

Jiang Yanli hugged her brothers again, “oh, it’s so good to be home again.”

She, with A-Ning’s help, of course made soup to celebrate. 

“Nothing too heavy,” she told them as she handed out the bowls, “Wen Qing told me that you’ve been subsisting on vegetables mostly. The Burial Mounds…”

She shook her head, “you’re alive. And safe.”

Her brothers looked at each other, somewhat guiltily.

“Shijie…” 

Jiang Yanli shook her head, “I know the war isn’t over yet. I know I must watch you leave again. Wen Ning and I will hold down the fort here. We’ll wait for you to come home again.”

The ladle shook in her hand as she measured out the last bowl for herself, but her gaze was steady, “You do what you must so that we can have peace once more. Keep each other safe.”

“We will.” Jiang Cheng promised.

“Wen Qing will make sure of it,” Wei WuXian said.

Jiang Yanli smiled a little, “I know. She is a good friend.”

Wen Qing found herself smiling back. 

The night before they were to depart for QiShan, Jiang Cheng knocked on her door. 

“Wen guniang, I wondered if I could have a moment of your time?”

“Are we back to such formalities again, Sect Leader Jiang?”

“You are a guest in Lotus Pier.” 

Ah. She supposed it really wasn’t proper for them to behave with such familiarity with each other. They were among polite society again, manners were part and parcel of his new position. 

“And...there is something I wish to discuss with you, regarding Dafan Wen.”

Oh? She was intrigued.

“I see.” She said. 

“Will you walk with me?”

She nodded. 

They strolled the paths in silence at first.

“Wei WuXian says you plan to return to Mount Dafan after the war, to rebuild.”

“Once I find the rest of my relatives, yes.”

“You are healers, descendants of a long line of healers.”

She didn’t think he was looking for an answer.

“The world will likely need a lot of healing after...after everything.”

Most likely, yes.

“The story Wei WuXian had shared, about what happened to the Xues…I know you are proud of your lineage, it would be...be sacrilegious of you to give up your surname just because of the actions of Wen Ruohan, but…”

Ah. He was worried that history would once more repeat itself.

“What are you proposing?”

He let out a breath, “YunMeng Jiang had always been the weakest of the Great Sects. Now, even more so. But I would like to offer an alliance nonetheless.”

“What sort of alliance?”

“A-jie already thinks of you as a sister, if we were to formalize such a connection...should anyone protest, I would have more leverage to...to offer my protection.”

It took him a moment to realize that she had stopped walking.

He turned back around slowly to look at her, “Wen guniang…”

She tilted her head, “Are you asking me to...to marry you?”

“I…” he swallowed, “as Branch Leader, would you be adverse to it?”

As leader of her branch of the family, she would not be opposed to it. It made sense, politically. For her. 

“You could make a more advantageous match. For the sake of your own Sect.”  

“I could.” He agreed.

“So why…”

He just continued to look at her.

Oh. “I see.”

“See?”

She took a step closer to him, “As Branch Leader of Dafan Wen, I would be a fool to turn down such a generous offer from Sect Leader Jiang.”

He let out a breath and the tension in his shoulders lessened somewhat. 

“Now,” she added, “ask me properly.”

He frowned a little in confusion before saying, “Wen guniang, will you do me the honor of…”

She shook her head, “Jiang Cheng. Ask me properly.”

She could tell he understood her meaning as he looked uncertain, hesitant again.

She waited. He wouldn’t get to hide behind his title. She hoped he wouldn’t disappoint her. 

He took a deep breath. “Wen Qing. Don’t go back to Mount Dafan. Make a home here. Stay here. With me.”

She took another step and reached for his hand. He was shaking again, the slightest tremor. “That wasn’t too difficult, was it?’

“Wen Qing…”

“You’re going to have to build a bigger library. And I have very specific ideas for a workroom. And...”

“Wen Qing, are you saying yes?”

“As I recall, I already agreed as Branch Leader of Dafan Wen.”

“But as Wen Qing?”

She smiled, “Since you asked so nicely. Yes.”

Hmm. Indeed, he looked much nicer when he smiled.

“So.” Wei WuXian asked as they stood looking at twinkling lights of Nightless City through a gap in the trees. “Something you want to tell me?”

“There are lots of hidden passageways. Will your spirits be thorough in their search?”

“They’re not my spirits.”

“Xue Liang’s then,” Wen Qing amended.

Wei WuXian tilted his head, “he really wants to rest.”

He added after a moment, “Besides, I meant you, you and Jiang Cheng.”

“What do you mean?”

Wei WuXian lifted an eyebrow at her evasiveness. 

In answer, Jiang Cheng reached for her hand, held it tightly, and lifted his chin at his brother, as though daring him to comment.

Wei WuXian cackled. “Shijie will be happy. And now I have more than enough reason to coach Wen Ning in archery.”

They fell back into silence, just watching for any signs of disturbance. But for the lights being gradually snuffed out within the city, there were no other signs of anything being wrong. 

And then, Wei WuXian stiffened, “it’s time.”

Carefully, they advanced down the incline and across the open field towards the steps of the city itself, weapons drawn. It was eerily quiet. 

Well, it was again the middle of the night. Even Nightless City went to sleep eventually. Though Wen Qing suspected the spirits had something to do with that.

The entryway to the citadel itself was manned by guards. Well, had been manned by guards. Dead now, just like back in Yiling.

Wei WuXian looked pale but continued onward determinedly, Jiang Cheng and Wen Qing carefully guarding his back. 

Again, Wen Qing found herself feeling somewhat dispassionate about the bodies they passed.

There were corpses that roamed the halls, but they seemed to pay no attention to them. Their eyes were blank, their movements jerky, directionless. 

The door to the throne room opened, as though by itself. And there, collapsed on the throne, was Wen Ruohan. He appeared to be sleeping, even though blood dripped from his ears, eyes, and mouth. His expression was definitely not peaceful.

There was another figure lying at his feet, immobile as well. 

Their attention, however, was on the four pieces of Yin Iron that floated ominously in the air.

Wei WuXian brought his hands together, connecting the two pieces of the Seal once more. 

The Yin Iron pieces pulsed. Wei WuXian concentrated, his knuckles white, and the sound of splintering broke the silence within the chamber.

Wen Qing could again feel spirits gathering about them. Watching. Waiting.

Blood dripped from Wei WuXian’s hands, he didn’t seem to notice as he focused on his task.

Then there was a blast of energy that knocked them all off their feet.

Wen Qing blinked to clear her vision. 

“Here,” Wei WuXian was saying to someone only he could see. The Seal has been separated again, only one half of it remained whole.

Wei WuXian sighed, “I know you don’t have corporal form, but I really think you should do the honors.”

He waited a moment, “yes, I’m aware of the inherent dangers of letting you possess me, but it’s really just for a little bit.”

He frowned, “maybe I am foolish, but I want to believe we are similar enough that you won’t betray my trust.”

He then smiled, “Ah, I’ve been called worse things than crazy.”

“Wei WuXian!” 

He turned towards her, his eyes fully black now.

Wen Qing scrambled to her feet, horrified.

“Wen guniang.” It was Wei WuXian’s voice, but the intonation was clearly different. “Do not worry. I will return your friend to you. He is one of those rare people who is too generous for their own good. 好人有好抱 (good things come to good people). I still believe that.”

“Xue...Xue Liang?”

He nodded, “we are alike, you and I. Different from our kin. Doing our best to try to make up for their crimes. The Xue line has officially ended. Our last remaining descendant has wrought more than enough damage. As for the Wen…”

He smiled, “Despite the betrayal of your ancestor, I choose to be hopeful that you will not meet the same end.”

He then turned towards the throne, “that had been my Father’s…”

He sent a wave of energy at it, causing it to shatter. 

He let out a deep breath before looking down at the shard of metal in his hand and then at Wen Qing, “please tell him thank you. Tell him ChenQing is his to keep. A gift from...from a friend.”

Another pulse of power, a flash of light that caused Wen Qing to shield her eyes with her arm, and then...silence.

Wei WuXian was lying on a heap on the ground, his eyes closed. Wen Qing checked him quickly. His breathing was steady and...the resentful energy seemed to be abating. 

She heard a groan and watched as Jiang Cheng also stirred.

He looked in their direction before rushing over as well, “is he…”

“Exhausted,” she shared, “but otherwise stable.”

It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to tell him what Wei WuXian had done.

Jiang Cheng looked towards the rubble that had once been a throne, “What…”

“Apparently it had been Xue Chonghai’s.”

“Huh.”

He walked over and looked down at the body. Bodies, actually.

“Xue Yang.”

Wen Qing blinked. Was that merely coincidence?

“What now?”

That was a good question. 

Xue Liang’s words rang in her head. Yes. She was different from her kin. She also had a responsibility, an obligation, a duty to make up for the crimes of her relatives. 

“We inform the rest of the world that Wen Ruohan lost control and wrought his own destruction. We notify them that Qishan Wen has surrendered, is offering reparations. We heal. Rebuild. We do what our ancestors, our elders should have done. We take responsibility.”

“We?”

She looked out the window, at the first signs of dawn lighting up the horizon. 

She turned back towards him, “Sect Leader Jiang, I have a proposal for you.”

Those who oppress others and do evil relying on the power of their clan should be killed. Not only that, they should be beheaded for tens of thousands to revile so that those to come would beware. 

Wen Mao had once laid down such a severe law for his Sect. Wei WuXian had once quoted these same words to Wen Chao and revealed the latter’s ignorance. 

When had the shift occurred? When had the Wens become drunk on their own power, blinded by their own arrogance?

Or had the seeds been sown even in the beginning? After all, was it not also Wen Mao who had broken a promise to a boy, on the cusp of becoming a man, who had wanted so much to do the right thing? Was it not Wen Mao who took the Yin Iron for himself? Was it also not Wen Mao who broke his own rules and let what remained of the Xues be slaughtered? 

What was good and what was evil? Could one ever be just one or the other?

As Wen Qing presided over the banquet, as she looked over the gathered leaders of the cultivation world, she felt she knew the answer.

They were cultivators, looked upon with awe and fear alike by the civilians, but they were not infallible. They still bled, still sickened, still made mistakes. Despite their powers, their abilities, they were all still so very human.   

Xue Liang had been an optimist, had remained an optimist even in the end, despite all evidence to the contrary. Wen Qing had always thought herself too jaded to share in such hopes. And yet…

Wei WuXian lifted his cup to her before taking a drink. A silent show of support.

Jiang Cheng’s expression was fixated in a frown, but he also gave her a barely perceptible nod.

Together, they had wrought death. For all that Wei WuXian had been the one to make the deal, she and Jiang Cheng had not stopped him from unleashing the resentful spirits. Their actions had brought peace. A chance to recover, to heal. 

This war had ended, but it would not be the last one to be fought over ambition or quests for power. 

She was a healer though, she will do what she can to stave off the next one.

There were many eyes looking in her direction. Although, most of them were probably looking at the display behind her. A head, hanging over a pile of rubble. Wen Mao’s words floated in the air in golden script. Wei WuXian really was a genius when it came to talismans, and he did have a flare for the dramatic. 

As large, as grand, as it was, even this chamber could not hold tens of thousands. But the point had been made. 

She stood. “Gentlemen.”

They looked at her then. She wondered what they saw. 

Jiang Yanli had been right about one thing. As a woman, it was so difficult to be taken seriously in their world. But perhaps Wen Qing could use such a fact to her advantage. Qishan Wen should be seen as weak, unthreatening. 

“My Uncle, the belated Chief Cultivator, has been ill for a long time. His madness was both his own and yet not. As his healer, I cannot divulge more specifics. I will say, however, that the Yin Irons, the source of his malady, have all been destroyed now.”

She waited for the murmurs to quiet before continuing, “Chief Cultivator had sent me to Yiling and so I was unable to continue treating him. By the time I was able to return, he had already passed. From the signs of things...he had lost control of the Yin Irons. In turn, they had wrought damage on him and his immediate bloodline.”

Not quite a lie, even if it wasn’t the whole truth. But who would believe the truth? And it wouldn’t be a good idea to advertise that Wei WuXian could still control some resentful energy with ChenQing. The world had never looked kindly on those who were outliers in any way.

The events in Yiling also had to be explained. Why should it not be blamed on an ancient artifact of which few had understanding? 

“It still does not excuse him, not fully. And so he has also been punished according to our own laws.”

Let it not be said that the Wens all condoled what their leader had done.

“Much harm has been wrought on our world. My own family was torn asunder. Qishan Wen owes the world a great debt, one it can never truly repay. Nonetheless, the scrolls in front of you contain offers to help all those who had been harmed to help with the rebuilding. I trust you’ll find them agreeable.”

Further murmurs broke out as the various leaders saw the amount of land, artifacts, and wealth that she was giving away. 

Jiang Cheng was the only one who hadn’t opened his scroll. He knew very well what it contained. He still gripped Sandu, newly returned to him, tightly. 

“These are my first and last acts as the representative for Qishan Wen. Though I had Uncle’s favor, I am but from a branch line and a woman besides. I also have no wish to take Uncle’s place after he has so sullied the Wen name. And so, from this day forth, the Great Sects will number four instead of five. My brother and all others who decide to follow me, will relocate to YunMeng.”

“YunMeng?” Sect Leader Jin asked on behalf of all gathered.

Jiang Cheng stood, “Lady Wen has done me the great honor of agreeing to be my wife.”

“Wife?!”

“She and her brother had betrayed their own Sect to shelter my siblings and me after the fall of Lotus Pier. They arranged for A-jie’s safe passage to Meishan. She also tended to my and Wei WuXian’s wounds and kept us hidden until we had recovered enough strength to reclaim our home. Their branch of the family has always been healers. Without their assistance, the Great Sects may very well number three instead.” 

“The war that Uncle instigated has caused much destruction,” Wen Qing declared, “but not all Wens have forgotten the mandates of our own laws. Sect Leader Jiang has been most generous to allow us to start anew, to live once more in accordance with the principles of our ancestors. And maybe, someday, we may earn the right to call ourselves great once more.” 

“A toast!” Wei WuXian raised his glass, his voice cutting through the seriousness of the atmosphere like a clear bell, “to a brighter, more harmonious future.”

They drank. 

Wen Qing wondered how long it would take for the others to realize that she had in essence shifted what remained of the power of QiShan Wen to YunMeng Jiang. Even with all the reparations, QiShan Wen was far from destitute. 

YunMeng Jiang was certainly no longer the least of the Great Sects.

She had also not been entirely truthful. Wen Remnants settled in Yiling as well as YunMeng. The once Supervisory Office became an extension of Lotus Pier. She was still nominally its head. She still kept her office neat and organized, the better to serve others who had lived under Wen Ruohan in fear. Uncle Four, along with the rest of her relatives, resided there now too. They continued to study the art of healing and gradually earned the respect of their neighbors. It helped, of course, that Uncle Four was of such a jovial nature and brewed wines as well as he brewed medicines. Eventually, they would even open a school for civilians and cultivators alike who wanted to learn about healing. 

The three of them did return to the Burial Mounds. The journey was much faster on their swords. The landscape was still barren, but the whispers had fallen silent, the air of oppressiveness dissipating. 

Wei WuXian poured out a jar of wine on the banks of the lake, “may you rest in peace, Young Master Xue.”

The water was still murky, but no longer did it seem to absorb the sunlight. 

“I think,” Wei WuXian said thoughtfully, “that I’d like to explore and map out these lands. See if it’d be good for farming.”

“And grow lotus plants and introduce fish to this lake?”

Wei WuXian smiled at his brother, “you do know me well, Jiang Cheng.”

“You’re going to turn this place into a second Lotus Pier, aren’t you?”

Wei WuXian shook his head, “ We are going to transform this place into a second Lotus Pier.”

Jiang Cheng looked around at the landscape, as though gauging its potential, before turning back towards his brother, “ You still get to do most of the paperwork and budgeting. I’ve got enough to do rebuilding the actual Lotus Pier.”

Wei WuXian laughed merrily as he slung an arm about Jiang Cheng’s shoulders, “Ah, but you’ve got Shijie and Wen Qing both to help you with that!”

“Wen Qing has enough to do with settling the Wen Remnants.”

Wei WuXian hummed but continued to smile, “we do make such a good team, don’t we?”

Jiang Cheng snorted but did not remove himself from his brother’s hold.

Wei WuXian would eventually succeed in his endeavor, earning himself the title of the Yiling Patriarch in the process. He just complained that he wasn’t really that old and refused to answer to it whenever someone called him by it. Which meant of course that Jiang Cheng took great pleasure in using it to tease him to both Wen Qing’s and Jiang Yanli’s vast amusement.  

Song ZiChen and Xiao XingCheng would eventually settle in these reclaimed lands and build the Sect of their dreams, one not based on blood ties, but on ability and shared values. 

And indeed, the former Burial Mounds would become a haven for rogue cultivators and others who had always existed on the fringes of the cultivation world. Wei WuXian was probably most proud of the orphanage he established, right there on the banks of the now lotus filled lake. 良薛 (Liang Xue, transposition of Xue Liang’s name) Orphanage he named it, a soft look in his eyes. 

Mostly though, it was home to farms and homesteads. Where once fierce corpses and vengeful ghosts had roamed unchecked, now chickens and cows and goats thrived. 

The unscrupulous still looked for traces of the Yin Irons. But for Madam Jin’s meticulousness, Jin GuangShan would have likely bankrupted his entire Sect in his search for it. His unhealthy obsession with the artifact really was exactly that. By the time Wen Qing examined him, as a favor to Jiang Yanli, it was already too late to reverse the ravages of venereal disease on his mind and nerves. He became paralyzed and would pass deaf and blind to the world that, for the most part, did not really miss him.

The world was not perfect, of course not. Humanity was too flawed for it to be so. 

But as Wen Qing watched A-Yuan dutifully reciting herbs and their properties under A-Ning’s patient and watchful eye, as she spied Wei WuXian animatedly exalting the merits of Emperor’s Smile with Uncle Four, as she smelled the delicious scents wafting from the kitchen where Jiang Yanli and Granny were making dinner, her heart felt so very full.

“You should be resting.”

She turned towards Jiang Cheng. “I’m fine. I’m not so fragile.”

“You’re with child,” he reminded her.

“Which does not automatically make me an invalid,” she countered. 

He still frowned. 

She shook her head at his overprotective tendencies but then froze. Oh.

“What’s wrong?”

She didn’t answer, just grabbed his hand and placed it on her abdomen.

“Wen Qing…”

She shushed him. “Wait.”

His frown deepened before she felt the same sensation again.

“Oh!” His eyes widened, “was that…”

She nodded. She had felt flutters before that day, but it was the first time that their child had kicked with such distinct strength. 

He looked down at his hand in wonder.  

“Our little one has such strength.”

“Just like her mother.”

She couldn’t help but shake her head in exasperation at his insistence that their first born would be a girl. Though, she supposed she could little blame him for wanting their future children to benefit from the care and guidance of an older sister. 

“Though hopefully less stubborn,” he added. 

“With you as her father? I highly doubt it.” She commented dryly. 

“You like that about me,” he retorted.

She just smiled and was rewarded with a softening of his own features. 

The world was far from perfect. But as she let her husband guide her to a bench, she felt that surely her little corner of it was.