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There’s a pool of resentment that’s feeding into the water stream of a nearby village. Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji go to investigate on their way home to Gusu. It leads them to a cave where the pool is found, the both of them stopping short of it. They had followed the trail after the villagers had one by one started to become poisoned. They saw it was corpse poisoning so Wei Wuxian tracked through and followed it to here.
“A copy cat.” Lan Wangji says.
“I was thinking the same thing. There are only a few people that know about the details of the blood pool, how to make it. It was a gruesome thing to manage and cultivate, took forever. They have to be nearby too, then. If it was left alone the person might not be even alive.”
Lan Wangji nods, shifting to look around the cave. There’s signs of age in the cave. Wei Wuxian leans over the blood pool to inspect it, humming to himself as he thinks. There’s a stream of the blood pool that branches off, going outside of the cave, most likely into the water stream.
“This has to be old. There aren’t this many people in the village cemetery to do this justice. It was a peaceful village too so unless a plague broke out, there’s no way this could be made. It’s strong though. I’d have to take a while to get through to controlling it, even if it’s old.”
Wei Wuxian stands, taking his outer robe off. He flourishes it dramatically before laying it on the ground and gesturing for Lan Wangji to sit.
“There’s no need for you to worry about building the dam to plug this thing up. You don’t have to dirty your robes.”
“I will work,” Lan Wangji says, shedding his own outer robe to gather some trees outside to pass to Wei Wuxian.
Over the course of the next few hours, the resentment grows. It’s a small hum that grows, grows, and grates on Wei Wuxian. It’s a constant thing around him that wears on his energy as he tries to ignore it. He tries to fight it but his head is pounding. He feels sweaty and weak, that isn’t on account of the physical exercise of making a dam.
There’s a sharp upturn that has him falling to his knees. He pants as he holds claws into the mud, trying to grip onto something. Lan Wangji rushes over, steadily holding him up and almost fussing over him.
“Wei Ying, what’s wrong?”
“Loud,” is all Wei Wuxian can ground out, holding his head as he’s moved
He digs his fingers into his hair, dragging them down his face. There’s a smear of dirt from his hands from this. Lan Wangji catches his fingers, worrying over the marks that they make. He tries to send Qi into Wei Wuxian but he shivers, his face blanching even more at the small amount.
“You should rest,” Lan Wangji says, gently pulling Wei Wuxian onto shore and letting him lean against him.
Wei Wuxian scrunches his face, breathing in deeply. He shakes his head, gently pulling back from Lan Wangji. He smiles. He looks tired and worn but he still smiles like it’s the first time they’ve seen each other and kisses his nose. “I’ll be fine.”
He seems inclined to disagree but Wei Wuxian doesn’t give him the chance to. He moves back to working on the dam.
They work as fast as they can but it’s still slow work trying to clog the stream. There’s a noise by the entrance that has them stopping, Lan Wangji guarding the two with Bichen.
Wei Wuxian whines then, leaning over as he clutches his head. Lan Wangji looks back, concerned to see him squeezing his eyes shut, on his knees in the stream.
“Wei Ying?”
“Fine, I’m fine. Just give me a second. There’s a bunch of corpses on their way. Pay attention to that. I’ll try to keep up.”
“I will protect you.”
“I’m not that weak. Don’t worry, I have Chenqing.”
Lan Wangji’s face pinches slightly but they can’t say anymore as the first of the corpses peak around the corner. There’s a lot of them and it’s an all too familiar sight for them. Lan Wangji makes a wide semicircle around them as Wei Wuxian takes out Chenqing. He starts playing, trying to get a hold on the corpses. There’s a strong hold but he’s still stronger and with time he could break it. It’s just that time isn’t what they have.
Lan Wangji gives him the best birth he can, fighting off any that try to get closer. It’s not easy though as they come way too close to breaking through. Wei Wuxian dances around them the best he can but he still trips up, panting as he stops playing to run deeper into the cave as they’re slowly backed into it.
Wei Wuxian lets out a growl, slamming his foot down as he plays an aggressive string of music. There’s a pause that gives them enough time to put some distance between them. There’s a strong tie on the resentment he can’t break through but he;s so close he can feel it. Then he stumbles, panting and his nose and eyes start to run with blood.
“Wei Ying!” Lan Wangji yells, alarm and concern making his voice loud.
“Keep going!”
Wei Wuxian starts up again but the strain is evident as the semi circle isn’t as wide as they pile onto them. They’re backed against a cliff. They have not many options and Wei Wuxian can feel himself starting to waver when Lan Wangji misses, a stray hand going for Wei Wuxian’s face.
It’s an automatic reflex that has Lan Wangji shielding Wei Wuxian with his own chest. Lan Wangji grunts and cuts the hand clean off but the hit is too much combined with the exhaustion and he stumbles, giving an opening for other’s to clamp onto his shoulder and one scratches his leg. Wei Wuxian makes the decision to fall then.
He wraps Lan Wangji in his arms and tumbles back, shielding him with his own torso as the slide. The back of his clothes are bloodied and grimy and he can’t breathe as they come to a rest at the bottom. There were a few corpses that came with but they get hit off and lay limply away from the two. They pull each other up, crawling along the ground until they find a spot to hide, an alcove pushed into the bottom of the cliff face they can easily barricade.
There’s shuffling as some of the corpses follow them down while others seem to hesitate. After an hour, they still didn't find them, though. It gives them the time they need to collapse and assess themselves.
Wei Wuxian ignores his own injuries to light a talisman and starts ripping apart his shirt to help bandage Lan Wangji. He grunts, sitting him and pushing Wei Wuxian’s arms away.
“Your back,” He grits out.
“It’s fine. You have a really deep bite on your shoulder and arm from five different corpses and on your leg as well as a scratch.” Wei Wuxian slaps Lan Wangji’s hands away from his and starts wrapping his clothes around the injured arm. “You’ll get corpse poisoning, you will, I know it. Your cultivation is high enough you’ll just end up getting a really bad fever from it though. I think. That’s good but not for us getting out of here. We also need to figure out if there’s somebody else waiting for us out there.”
Wei Wxian is at a loss on what to do other than use demonic cultivation. He almost wishes it was just him here because maybe then he wouldn’t have to be stuck seeing Lan Wangji’s defeated face when he hears him play.
“We’ll stay for a day but if we can’t figure another way out, I’ll have to figure out how to control the corpses.” Wei Wuxian says quietly. It echoes loudly in the small cavern and there’s a small defeated sigh beside him.
Lan Wangji nods. He leans back against the cave wall, closing his eyes. Wei Wuxian feels exhausted and drained but he can’t sleep. Lan Wangji is hurt worse and he’s so nervous that even though he’s exhausted, he keeps a constant vigil.
Maybe it was less than a day but he can’t wait too long. Wei Wuxian is twirling Chengqing around his fingers when he hears the tell tale scratching at the rocks. He stiffens, looking over to Lan Wangji. He also hears it, rousing and sitting up rigidly. He grabs Bichen but there isn’t much he can do in his exhausted state.
It’s then that Wei Wuxian starts to play. It’s mellow and loud and attacks immediately where he left off, desperately trying to grapple for control inside of the corpses. It fight and fights even when the corspes start clawing more frantically against the rocks.
There is little for him to do as he plays and lets them scratch at him as he dances away, leading them back through the opening of the cave and managing to continue to lead them away farther and farther from Lan Wangji.
Finally, there’s a break and he grabs onto it with the music, taking control and finally managing to get all the corpses to collapse and stay still, returning their souls to the earth. He is sweaty, cold with already dried sweat, and he can barely stand where he is. He doesn’t know where he is and he can’t stand anymore. There’s a sound of water somewhere as rocks fall and the sounds of the forest echoing from far away.
He hopes Lan Wangji took the momentum to escape. It’s so similar to their experience with the Xuanwu it’s laughable. That’s okay though because as long as Lan Wangji is out they still have a chance.
He must have fallen unconscious because the next time he wakes up, it’s still dark but he’s so hot and his head hurts and there’s screaming again like when the resentment is trying to take control. He swallowing, trying to ignore it. He can’t listen to it but it ebbs and flows around him, coiling around him like a cat trying to say hello. It makes his skin crawl and breath hitch but he can’t do anything to make it stop.
He can feel himself starting to spiral like all those years ago and he hacks out a mouthful of blood, heaving and spitting to get the awful iron taste away. He tries to roll back onto his side but collapses onto his front, his face squished into the dirt and rocks.
His breathing is the only thing he hears now. There’s breathing and voices trying to tell him things and the cold sliminess of the shadows petting along his legs, his arms, his back. It’s all so much.
The next time he wakes up, there’s voices. He can’t help but feel his eyes grow hot and sting. He can’t tell what’s real or not. He can’t help but yell, “No! Get away from me!”
The voices pause and he thinks that he’s free but then they start up again. He feels a sob crawl up his throat but then there’s a hand on his back. He flinches, the action making him able to look over and see a Lan cultivator.
He can’t tell who because it’s so dark but he’s so relieved the sob still comes out. They lift him up and he lets out a small gurgle of pain from the blood still in his throat. He tries to move to get off, trying to walk himself, but there’s another pair of hands that hold his arms so he can’t.
It’s enough that he just slumps against the cultivator’s back. He’s so tired he can’t fight.
There’s still talking around him but he ignores it. He’s in and out of consciousness as they go to Gusu. He can feel the wind around him and the walking up the steps. But he only truly wakes up when people are around him again, trying to give him things.
Something sparks and he fights. He’s delirious and back at that god forsaken time in Burial Mounds. Things would hold him down and torment him. Not again. He can’t listen to those things again.
It takes Lan Wangji rushing in, limping towards the bed and taking Wei Wuxian’s face in his own.
“Wei Ying,” he says, ignoring the nails clawing at his wrists. “Wei Ying, this is Gusu Lan. You are safe. I am real. You are safe. And you need rest.”
Slowly, as Lan Wangji talks, Wwei Wuxian calms down, breathing hard and heavy. He can only mutter a soft, “Lan Zhan,” before he faints, finally allowing the doctors to work on him.
Lan Wangji steps back, watching everybody work. There’s scratches and bites that are infected they have to treat and soon, they have to assess his mental state, Lan Wangji knowing what they were going to say.
It took everything in him to leave Wei Wuxian in the cave. It truly was like leaving a part of himself. But he had to get the signal flare and wait for the cultivators outside. It hurt so much he didn’t know if it was even the right choice.
Wei Wuxian sleeps for an entire day and night. He barely moved when things are tipped into his mouth, his eyebrows furrowing a little. Lan Wangji stays as much as he can. He doesn’t move from the bedside until the doctors bring a second cot into the room for him. They move it close enough that Lan Wangji can hold Wei Wuxain’s hand and that’s enough.
He settles onto his back and stares at the other, gently tracing the small scratches along Wei Wuxian’s face idly. His eyes are heavy. He isn’t sure why but sleep is hard. There’s a heavy air of demonic qi from Wei Wuxian that has him on edge, wanting to stay up and play to help calm him. He isn’t sure it would help with his depleted qi and healing body.
When Wei Wuxian finally wakes up, his eyes are still glazed and he can barely move. He’s feverish and slow either from an actual fever or from overdoing it with demonic cultivation. Lan Wangji isn’t sure which but he’s awake.
“Wei Ying,” he says gently, sitting up and cupping Wei Wuxian’s face.
He hums, closing his eyes briefly. “Lan Zhan...This real?”
“Yes, this is real.”
“Kiss me...convince me.”
Lan Wangji huffs, leaning over and kissing Wei Wuxian gently. He pulls back slightly and balances his forehead against Wei Wuxian’s. “I shouldn’t have left you there.”
“Glad you did. Needed somebody to lead them back.”
“That does not mean I enjoyed it.”
Wei Wuxian hums again. “Not mad. Can we go back to the Jingshi?”
Lan Wangji hums this time, unsure of the answer. “You are unstable from excessive demonic cultivation. They will want to monitor you.”
“Boring. Just want Lan Zhan.”
There’s the noise of footsteps and Wei Wuxian’s eyes flutter open as the two stare, waiting to see who might be coming. Shizui and Jingyi open the door, shocked the both are awake. Shizui looks distraught as he rushes in, fussing over the two while Jingyi sniffs, following but still hovering awkwardly, unsure how to help.
“‘M fine, A-Yuan.” Wei Wuxian says, sounding as tired as he looks. His arm flops uselessly as he tries to catch Shizui’s face in it.
“You look like shit,” Jingyi says thickly.
“Feel like it.”
“Senior Wei, I’m glad you’re awake. Everybody was really nervous when we saw Hanguang-jun’s signal.”
“I bet. Just tired. Somebody should play.”
Shizui straightens a little, scuffing his foot a little. “I could go get a Qin and play for you both. Jingyi is better at the flute though.”
That makes Wei Wuxian laugh. “Qin and flute is good. Like Lan Zhan and me.”
“We’ll be back then, Senior Wei. Don’t fall asleep yet.” Jingyi says as they rush out of the room.
“They’re good kids.” Wei Wuxian says tiredly. “Might fall asleep before they’re back though.”
“It is fine. They can play while you’re asleep.”
Wei Wuxian nods, shifting a little and reaching over to Lan Wangji. “You should lay with me.”
“You have a lot of injuries. I cannot.”
Wei Wuxian pouts. Lan Wangji pulls the blankets more tightly around his shoulders. “I will be here when you wake up.”
“Mm, guess so. I can’t believe we’re stuck in a cave together again.”
“You always get in trouble.”
“So mean, Lan Zhan. Don’t do it on purpose.”
“I know.”
Wei Wuxian presses a sloppy kiss to the hand still on his cheek. It rubs soothingly on his cheekbone and he feels his eyes flutter back close. He sighs, sinking a little more into the blankets. He was so cold for so long that he forgot how warm blankets were. They were nice.
He’s asleep before Jingyi and Shizui get back. He feels a kiss on his forehead and smiles, sighing again.