Way too untamed, way too wild

Who is Wei Ying?

"So you came because of Wei Ying? Just an investigation? You are not here to kill any of us? Not even Wei Ying?" Wen Qing asked with no small amount of surprise.

"Mn," was Lan Wangji's only response and he though he did not need to detail it anymore.

Wen Qing still looked baffled, apparently trying to process the good news that he had not come to dispose of her and the other Wen children. She seemed to care a great deal about Wei Ying as well so it probably reassured her that he was not here to kill him either. Well, he supposed that her worries were grounded, he was pretty sure that be it any other cultivator with a rooted hate for the Wens and demonic cultivators, they would not have hesitated.

Since Wen Qing was now silently observing him, he explained for good measure. "I want to know more about Wei Ying."

"Why?"

Lan Wangji supposed this was a logical question, he had after all not explained his intentions aloud yet.

"I want to help."

I took several seconds before Wen Qing moved. Lan Wangji was relieved that she did not brush him off right away, she probably understood that he wanted to help and needed more information to actually be able to do so.

Instead of speaking however, she pointed her hand at one part of the stone wall. It took Lan Wangji the whole of three seconds to realized that she wanted him to go sit down with her. There was no furniture in the cave, only some pieces of cloth scattered here and there, the biggest one just under the spot Wen Qing was pointing her finger to. It must have been the sitting area. If she was inviting him to make himself comfortable, this conversation would probably take a while.

She went to sit down and he obediently followed, lowering himself to the hard ground full of rocks which were making it uncomfortable to be sitting. He did not complain and only looked at Wen Qing in a way which he wanted to prompt her into starting to explain. She returned his look and took a deep breath. Then she slumped into herself, hugging her knees close to her chest and started talking:

"I do not know much about him either. I never got him to talk about himself much, I can only tell you what I have pieced together from a few remarks made he had here and there... I only know a few things so you should definitely talk to him when he will be up again; I had to put that idiot to sleep or he would have gone playing with the children and would have surely opened his wound again.

But for now, I can tell what I know. If you truly want to help – and do not get me wrong, I believe you have the best intentions but I am not convinced you will actually be able to do anything for a group of homeless children, including some run away Wens and a demonic cultivator – you will need as much information as you can get. The cultivation world will not be easily swayed and if the sects learn about our existence, I am afraid they would want to snatch even this away from us.

I should probably start from the beginning so you will get the whole picture. Me and Wen Ning are siblings, we were part of the Qishan Wen family, the Dafan Wens. Our family focused only on using the spiritual cultivation for healing; at one point, we were known as the best doctors the cultivation world had to offer.

However, after the war had started, us two, the youngest ones from our family, we were taken hostages by Wen Ruohan and we were forced to live in the Nightless City where he could keep an eye on us. He did it to gain our family's support as healers in the war. Once the Sunshot campaign ended, we were taken to the work camps as the rest of the survivors with the surname Wen, no one listened to us and no one wanted to hear that we had not even participated in the battles.

The camps were hell on earth. We were watching as our family members were dying one by one, either too exhausted from working, starved or beaten to death by the guards. After a while, it had gotten so bad that the rest of our family put their forces together and fought the guards to give me, Wen Ning and A-Yuan a chance to run away. I am afraid that none of them are alive at this point, the guards never took precautions with us.

We were chased by the guards not even two hours after we had managed to run away. There was no one who we could turn to so we just had to continue running and trying to find a place where they would not be able to follow us. In the end, I have no idea whatsoever about how long it took, we found ourselves on the outskirts of the town of Yiling. We were exhausted, close to collapsing really, and the guards had caught up to us at last. We thought we were doomed.

But then, a filthy and too thin child with bruises all over his body easily visible because of his ragged clothes appeared. It was Wei Ying. He chased the guards away using demonic cultivation; and before you ask, I know what it is and what effects in has on the body of the cultivator to command resentful energy, I had been treating Wen Ruohan long enough to have learned this. He took us through the barrier surrounding the Burial Mounds and he brought us here.

He never told us how he had found himself in such a hostile place, without anyone to look after him and instead having to care for a bunch of children all on his own. I only know that he had lived here for a long time, probably for years. He had mentioned that the people in Yiling had chased him out when he had been a child, not more than six or seven years old I guess. He does not even know his own age so I can only go by my own expertise. I think he is just a little bit younger than the both of us, around the same age as Wen Ning.

He had probably learned the demonic cultivation on his own while he had to fare for himself and protect himself from anything living and not dead in the Burial Mounds. He sometimes has nightmares and he cries from his sleep, begging for someone or something to not come closer, his first months or even years here must have been very hard. He must have cleared the place to the extend you see today during the years. He still does clear new area for us to expand to, little by little.

Even though the Burial Mounds are still crawling with fierce corpses and resentful spirits, they leave us alone. I do not know how Wei Ying does it to keep them away but somehow he is successful. I can however see that it takes quite a toll on him. He is weak and sickly but he tries to hide it from anyone. From time to time, he gets back and there is another child with him, he just cannot overlook anyone in need despite having a hard time himself.

It has been almost half a year now since me, Wen Ning and A-Yuan had arrived here and we have never left the Burial Mounds. It is Wei Ying who only ever goes outside. And he has to go to Yiling nearly every day or every other day because we need milk for A-Yuan. We can get some food here but we still need him to bring some more from the town every now and then, and also clothes, blankets medicinal herbs and other necessities.

In the beginning, he had been going there during the day but he often returned with injuries and bruises, sometimes even dog bites, it was too dangerous. So a few weeks back, after a nasty incident when the town's people had let a whole pack of dogs chase him all the way to the barrier, I begged him to change the approach. Now he is going at night, with the resentful energy to hide him and protect him.

It had however brought unwelcomed attention. First the Yunmeng Jiang sect's disciples came and tried to night hunt him as if he was some fierce corpse or a beast, they have even injured him and it had not healed until now. And here you are as well, trying to investigate because the town's people had called for help. They had no reason to! It is not like we are doing them any harm except for begging for necessities and when they do not take pity on a begging child and chase him away, setting a pack of dogs after him, they are surprised that we need to steal from them in the middle of the night!

It is not like we have a choice if we want to survive here; me and Wen Ning cannot go out because we could be recognized if the Lanling Jin sect guards were still searching for us, and the other children are too young. So all the burden is unfortunately left to Wei Ying. He does not complain and he does his best but he is quickly approaching his limit. He cannot go on like this; it would ruin him.

Even though his form of demonic cultivation is much safer then Wen Ruohan's, it is still harming him. It depends heavily on his emotions.

It does not help either that he gives all the food to us and is the most malnourished among the children. So, Hanguang-Jun, if you think you can help in any way, we will be extremely thankful. Even doing what you had already done and providing food had been helping immensely. We all have to thank you for that."