Chapter Text
Sect Leader Nie is one of the most powerful cultivators of their generation.
He is writhing in agony on the floor, eyes sightless with pain, at the mercy of resentful energy. Tearful moans work their way out of Nie Mingjue’s throat.
Wei Wuxian grips Chenqing with a shaking hand.
When the Twin Jades of Lan rush to the man’s aid, he is fixed to the spot. If resentful energy has done this to someone with a golden core, what is it doing to him? Is this his future? Visions of his fate sink in Wei Wuxian’s mind until a voice interrupts them-
“I thought if I pushed harder, trained harder, I could overcome my fate.” The explanation of the Nie sect leader feels unsettlingly like his own thoughts.
You don’t have a choice. You have no core. He tries desperately to convince himself that there is no other path than the dark, painful one he now sees stretching before him. A path that can only lead to his own death. You can’t just stop, you can’t be powerless, so many people need you.
“I must find an alternative path for the cultivation of resentful energy.” Nie Mingjue’s voice pulls him back into the present again.
Another path.
“Help me.” Nie Mingjue’s voice is thick with desperation and pain.
Wei Wuxian finds himself nodding.
Another path. If I can find another path…
The thought, coupled with his earlier exertion in the Jin tent, drains the remaining energy from Wei Wuxian and he leans his weight against a tent post for support. His mind is swirling like a muddied river, catching in eddies and currents of possibilities.
Another path, one that leads to something other than death...could it be possible?
“When are you going to tell them?”
Nie Mingjue’s gruff voice sends a chill through Wei Wuxian. He glances up, pulled from the river of his thoughts. They are alone in the tent and the Jades of Lan are nowhere to be seen. Fear curls in his chest like a cornered animal. The sect leader’s gaze is hard, unreadable. Wei Wuxian finds himself unable to respond.
“You don’t carry your sword because you can’t use it.”
His heart is hammering in his chest. This can’t be happening.
“You use demonic cultivation because you can’t use any other form.”
How? How does Nie Mingjue know?
“You are so tired, so weak after every fight. Every blow knocks you down and you only have resentful energy to help you back up.”
“I-” Wei Wuxian’s throat is so tight, he tries to swallow.
“When are you going to tell them that you have no golden core?”
At this precise moment, a shaft of light breaks into the tent as someone enters. It falls, blindingly, across Wei Wuxian’s face. Panic catches in his throat as he recognises the upright silhouette of the figure who has frozen in front of him.
Pain and fear and shame gather in Wei Wuxian’s eyes. Please, no.
“Wei Ying?”
His heart stutters and Wei Wuxian looks down, trying to hide his trembling lip. He closes his eyes, awaiting the rejection that is coming. Everything he has tried so desperately to hide is coming unravelled and he has absolutely no control.
The pain of that night he gave up his core laces through his veins. The terror of the burial mounds seeps cold and cruel in his lungs. He feels, rather than sees someone move towards him and reflexively raises a hand in defense.
A gentle fingertip touches the back of his hand. He looks up and Lan Zhan is there. A single tear is sliding down his jade cheek. His lips are parted and Wei Wuxian chest tightens with fear, with hope.
You were never meant to know.
“Wei Ying.”
His face is so open, so young. In two syllables Lan Zhan somehow says everything Wei Wuxian never dared to hope he could hear. He can’t help but smile against the tears in his eyes, as Lan Zhan steps closer, his meaning clear. I am with you.
“Lan Zhan, can you forgive this weak man?” He tries to make it sound like a jest but somehow his voice is shaking. Lan Zhan shakes his head and for a beat Wei Wuxian’s heart stops completely.
“You have never been weak.” The gentle fingers find their way around Wei Wuxian’s wrist and he finds himself stepping forward. They are face to face, it is the closest they have ever been. Hope blossoms between them.
Now Wei Wuxian’s heart is hammering in his chest. With the truth fluttering between them, suddenly the thing he has always wanted but never dared to say pushes from between his lips.
“Do you remember the promise we made?”
Lan Zhan nods in reply. “Always.”
“I thought I only had one path in front of me. I needed to be strong, to protect the weak.” Wei Wuxian swallows. “I still want to honour the promise. With you.”
Lan Zhan leans forward and presses their foreheads together. The cloud-engraved plate is warm against his skin.
“We will find a path.”
Together.