WangXian: Reunited ✔

Extra (NHSxJGY): Fall By Baxia's Blade

~NIE HUAISANG'S POV~

Nie Huaisang stepped into the cold and chilly cabin, his footsteps echoing in the air. He let his strides hang between them as he made his way to the figure lounging in the back. A look of pure hatred flashed in his eyes as he came face to face with his brother's murderer. 

He slid a blade out from under his sleeve, and promptly rested it against Jin Guangyao's throat. A thin line of blood trickled down the side of his neck, and Huaisang tilted it so the other man could see who the blade belonged to. He had hoped that the name would inspire shock and despair in the other. He had thought that he would be greeted with a small thread of alarm that would flicker in those wide and panicked eyes. 

What he didn't expect was Jin Guangyao to shoot him a small, sly smile- an amused glint in his eyes. 

Jin Guangyao felt nothing but ease when he saw the engraved markings on the handle. It was a sword he knew intimately, a sword that he had once caressed in awe, as he stared at the man holding it. It was a sword that belonged to the man he once loved, and whom he tried so desperately to forget. It was a saber that was now being held by his throat- held by the very person he had once considered a brother to him. "You want to kill me A-Sang?" he asked, shooting a mocking look at Nie Huaisang. 

The latter only sneered, glaring at him as contempt dripped from every word. "You slippery bastard, you put up quite a fight." 

Jin Guangyao smiled, a crafty and clever grin. Over the years he had perfected it, his acting only a tad bit slighter than Nie Huaisang's. "But you won in the end, didn't you?" he pointed out, a touch of bitterness clouding his tone. 

"Save it," Huaisang hissed, scowling at him. His heart pounded in his chest as a million emotions flickered to life inside him. He scowled at the man he once called a brother. Glaring at him, he tried to convey his feelings with one, hard stare. Was it betrayal that he felt right now? Knowing that the man he once called 'A-Yao,' was the very same man that had killed his beloved brother? Was it shame he felt? For not being able to see it in time? Was it hatred he felt? For letting this snake in the grass take away the one thing he loved most in this world? Was it guilt he felt? For not saving Mingjue on time? 

He decided that it was a mix of all of them. 

Glowering at Jin Guangyao, he spat, "We both know it was an empty victory." 

"Enlighten me," Jin Guangyao challenged, one brow arched in amusement. 

Huaisang snapped at him, his voice coming out scalding. "You really don't know? You really don't know what you did? How you condemned all those innocents? How you helped the Wens? How you betrayed the Nie Sect? How you seduced a Sect Leader? How you killed your brother? How you murdered Chuan Han and your son? How you fucked your own sister? How you've somehow managed to turn into a man worse than even Jin Guangshan?" Huaisang paused, his voice breaking as he added, "How you killed my brother?!"

At those last words, a crack appeared in Jin Guangyao's seemingly unbreakable facade. His mask dropped, and for a second- pain flashed in his eyes. It was the kind of deep pain, the kind that would make you crumple and lament about your fate. It was the kind of pain that drove men insane, the kind that slowly poisoned you from the inside. It was the kind of pain that stemmed from heartbreak and utter despair. It was the kind of pain that Nie Huaisang understood- and for a moment, was taken aback. 

Because the look on Jin Guangyao's face... that had been a man in denial with himself. That had been the look of a man finally forced to face the cold and harsh reality. That had been the look of a man whose grief paralyzed him, whose pain echoed deep into his soul. That had been the look of a man who had been forced to change, to adapt in order to survive. That had been the look of a heartless monster, one whose reflection suddenly confronted it in the mirror. That had been the look of a man defeated, whose weariness echoed in his bones. That had been the look of a resigned beast, one that realized: it was better to dwell in the numbness, than to live through the pain.