Chapter Text
“I didn’t tell you this before, but today something needs to be said….because I might not get another chance”
Wei Wuxian looked at Wen Qing and Wen Ning in desperation. How could this be happening? All he had wanted was to keep these two safe, along with every other person who had a place in his heart and here he was failing yet again. How could they believe that their deaths would save him when he died inside every time he was forced to lose yet another person who he considered as his family.
“No.”
“Sorry and” there was a pause as Wen Qing fought back the tears “thank you.”
Wei Wuxian’s eye closed as he heard his newfound sister and brother leave the cave. As soon as they left he opened them again. This was not going to happen. He would not allow it. When he saw Wen Qing move to flick his forehead he knew what she intended and was able to form a small shield of resentful energy. He was fairly sure she did not know of this ability so he pretended to fall asleep so she would not realise her mistake. That still left the needle to remove but if Wei Wuxian was awake he was never helpless, not when he could summon his ghost companions with a simple whistle of his lips.
Most of his ghost companions allowed themselves to be liberated after he used their resentment for his purposes but for some reason the woman in red had remained with him since his torture of Wen Chao all those years ago. He was never sure if it was due to the level of resentment she felt at her untimely death or some misplaced sense of loyalty to him. Whatever the reason it made it easier for him to convey his wishes to her when he summoned her to appear. This was a dangerous venture. Ghosts were not known for their subtlety, as they preferred to rage and tear at the world and people who still lived in it, but he had no other option at this point. His concentration kept slipping as his panic threatened to overwhelm him. It was hard to tell how much time had passed as his mind was continually distracted by images of Wen Ning’s fist punching a hole in Jin Zixuan’s chest. Eventually, he felt a chill as the ghost’s claw like fingers reached behind his head and jerked at the needle there.
It took even longer for the effects to wear off enough for him to stumble to his feet. He rushed out to the centre of their small community at the burial mounds to be confronted by an unnatural silence.
They had all left.
What were they thinking? Surely they knew Jin Guangshan would show no mercy to anyone associated with his heir’s murder.
He had to stop them no matter the cost. He lifted Chenqing to his lips and reached out to the Burial Mounds. He had spent the last year calming and subduing the resentful energy of his mountainous home but there had always remained a mass of darkness remaining, just waiting for his permission to come out and take revenge on the mortal world. He called up his army of the dead and set out to Lanling.
~
It turns out walking corpses are only marginally faster than a group of half-starved refugees. By the time Wei Wuxian and his escorts caught up with Wen Qing and her family they were on the plateau of land approaching Koi Tower where a small army of Jin cultivators awaited them with increasingly panicked expressions as they took in the sight of Wei Wuxian’s demonic horde. There did not seem to be anyone who wanted to accept responsibility for leading the Jin cultivators so they stood in silence as the Wen remnants came to a halt. Wen Qing looked shocked but resigned as she scanned Wei Wuxian as if appraising him for injury. It was annoying, mainly because it was a justifiable concern. He was controlling large quantities of resentful energy in order to keep the fierce corpses from rampaging through anyone in their way.
Luckily for him, the last year in the Burial Mounds had allowed him to refine his control, or at least he had believed so until the events at Qiongqi Path. He still did not understand what had happened, why Wen Ning had suddenly acted against his commands and his own inclination to kill both Jin Zixuan and Jin Zixun. He did not have time to consider that now. The most important task was to hold on long enough to ensure the safety of the Wens. Whatever happened now he would not survive to see beyond that.
“Wei Wuxian! How dare you desecrate my son’s funeral in such a way. Are you determined to wage war on my sect?” Jin Guangshan appeared on the steps of the tower. Behind him were the leaders of the cultivation world, no doubt here to pay their respects to the murdered heir.
Wei Wuxian was relieved to see that Jiang Chang and his Shijie were not among them. He was not sure he could ever look Jiang Yanli in the face again. She was the only one from his Lotus Pier family to offer him unconditional love but even she must hate him now after he had killed her husband and ensured her son would never know his father. He had never deserved her care.
“Sect leader Jin, you sent word that you wanted Wen Qing and Wen Ning to surrender themselves to you, but we both know that it is really me that you wish to punish. I will make you a deal, guarantee the freedom and safety of the Wen Remnants and I will surrender to you for whatever punishment you desire and disband my army.” He took a deep breath before he added the one item he hoped would prove irresistible. “I will also surrender the Stygian Tiger Seal.”
“And if I refuse?”
That was the question Wei Wuxian had no intention of answering with any honesty. He had already decided that he could not allow a massacre to occur when there were people he cared about in Koi Tower at this time. He would never risk Shijie or her son getting hurt by fierce corpses. He just hoped Jin Guangshan believed him to be the unprincipled monster of public opinion.
“In that case you will find out how Wen Ruohan met his end.” At that the corpse at the front of the horde took a step forward.
“So, you would be the new Wen Ruohan. You come here with your army of Wen cultivators and unnatural soldiers and want to take over the world. How arrogant you are Wei Wuxian.” Jin Guangshan flicked his sleeves in a gesture of contempt.
“Are you blind? The only cultivator here other than me is Wen Qing and she is a doctor. The rest are old people, farmers, and a child. They have never wished any harm on any of you but were imprisoned and tortured solely because they carry the name ‘Wen’.” Wei Wuxian felt the old anger rising in him at the injustice his new family had faced at the hands of these men. He took a deep breath to calm himself before continuing. “I am the one to blame for the deaths at Qiongqi Path. I will submit myself to punishment without any resistance but only if you guarantee the safety of these innocents. They are no threat to you.”
Jin Guangshan’s face turned red and he was about to speak again but was interrupted by Jin Guangyao.
“I see no child.” He said in a polite voice with a small smile as if querying the seating arrangements at a banquet.
Wei Wuxian was puzzled for a moment and looked across at Wen Qing. She also had a puzzled expression which turned to horror as she spoke to him.
“We left him with you. I put him to sleep so he would wake up when you did.”
Wei Wuxian’s heart started to race as the panic rushed through him. He had not seen A-Yuan when he left but he had been so distressed it had never occurred to him to look. The thought of A-Yuan all alone at the Burial Mounds was unbearable. He had been through so much in his short life, he deserved a far better guardian than Wei Wuxian had proven to be. He searched frantically through the faces of those around him hoping that someone would say it was a mistake and he would see A-Yuan hiding behind Granny’s legs, but they all showed the same concern. He looked up at the cultivators on the tower steps and saw the one person who might be able to help.
“Lan Zhan, you have to find him. A-Yuan has been left alone at the Burial Mounds.” He tried to keep the desperation out of his voice but was unsure how successful he was. “Please you have to bring him here before he wakes up.” He was not sure if A-Yuan would remember Lan Zhan, after all it had been a year since they met which was a long time for such a young child, but hopefully whatever method Wen Qing had used to sedate him would last until he could join the rest of his family. If Wei Wuxian’s plan worked perhaps he could live in safety away from the toxic environment of the Burial Mounds. Wei Wuxian would gladly face a thousand deaths if A-Yuan could be raised in peace. He wondered if Lan Zhan might play a part in his upbringing.
Lan Zhan leapt gracefully down the remaining steps of the tower and walked towards Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian was glad to see him despite the grim circumstances. It would do no good to contemplate the ‘what ifs’. The moment he gave his core away he had surrendered the right to hope for anything more than friendship from Lan Zhan, but he could not help the feeling of safety that grounded him as the other man drew near.
Lan Zhan looked at him with his usual unreadable face. If he had to guess there seemed to be an element of concern there but perhaps that was wishful thinking. At the very least Wei Wuxian could not detect outright hate or revulsion. He turned to Wen Qing.
“Wen Qing tell Lan Zhan where he can find A-Yuan.”
She gave directions and Lan Zhan gave a brief nod.
“I will bring him here.” Then he was off into the sky.
Wei Wuxian turned back to Jin Guangshan. The man showed no signs of discomfort at the idea of a child abandoned in the Burial Mounds. Around him at least some of his fellow sect leaders had the decency to look vaguely guilty.
“I’m tired of having this conversation shouting up at you. Why don’t you come down so we can negotiate my surrender in the semblance of civility?”
“If you want to talk face to face then come up here.” Jin Guangshan almost looked to be enjoying himself, as if this was a piece of theatre to entertain his guests rather than the prelude to an execution.
“The last time I approached Koi Tower without a guard I was ambushed by over 300 archers. Come down here and you can have as many guards as you like. I’m sure such esteemed cultivators as yourselves would be able to fly out of danger with no difficulty if I tried to attack you. What are you afraid of?”
He saw some discussion amongst those on the steps before Jin Guangyao ordered servants to carry cushions and tables down to the plateau where the Wen remnants and Wei Wuxian waited.