Shooting Star [Never Let You Go, Again Book 2]

7: Purple Spider

Four days later, Wei Wuxian was sitting on the deck, his legs swinging in the water, thinking of how long they'd have to wait for Jiang Cheng to wake up. Jiang Baozhai was recovering at the Cloud Recesses, but her Sect Leader had suffered hard. Lan Xichen was having a tough time ignoring his own sect, staying here to take care of his lover. They hadn't let the Liu fellow go yet, detaining him for having perpetrated an attack on a sect compound. The Nie Sect Leader had promised to come with news on exactly what this troublesome LongzhenLiu clan was. Hm, I wonder when Nie-xiong would come with news...

"Wei-xiong!" Huaisang ran into Lotus Pier, waving to Wei Wuxian.

"Nie-xiong, what are you doing here?" He stood up and waved to his friend. What sweet timing. "Where's Xuanji? Little Zhilan?"

"Both safe and sound in the Unclean Realm. Wei-xiong, I found something." Nie Huaisang neared his friend and fluttered his fan.

"What?"

"About Madam Yu. And the Liu Clan of Longzhen. The history of the feud."

"Oh goodie goodie, come, we'll discuss in Jiang Cheng's room."

Wei Wuxian took his friend to the said room, where the Twin Jades sat with them to listen.

"So... we all know that Madam Yu was from the Yu Clan of Meishan. Back when the Purple Spider was fifteen, this MeishanYu Clan was attacked."

**********

Yu Ziyuan looked up from her letter to the betrothed future-Madam Jin. Shouts and cries reverberated across her home as she rose from her seat and dashed out of her room, running to the compound at top-speed. Her maroon and turquoise robes flapped in the wind and her knee-length, jet-black hair flitted behind her as she sprinted in the direction of the clamour. When she finally entered the area, she screeched to a halt and stared in terror.

A gang of beefy cultivators had broken into their compound, cackling maniacally. The tallest man, standing at the front, held up a red item. It was blood-red and gleaming, a sceptre with a ruby red stone atop that was shimmering like coloured glass. The thing was radiating dark energy, wisps of chunky black and red smoke leaving the red stone in waves, wrapping the Yu cultivators at the front of the fight and strangling them to death. On and on it went, more and more cultivators, relatives of Yu Ziyuan, all falling to the floor, lifeless. The men around the leader fought with swords of faded silver, attacking ruthlessly. Ziyuan looked around in a hurry. Where was she, where was she? There! She saw her mother slicing across a man's feet, blocking attacks for her subordinates behind her. But just when the woman's attention was grabbed by a sister of hers being strung up with a thread of dark energy, a thin woman from the gang ran at her, sword held high, ready to cut off her head.

Crash! The woman was sent flying over their heads. The Yus and the intruders turned to see Yu Ziyuan marching in, Purple Lightning flashing at her side. "That's my mother, you bitch!" She flashed Zidian again, picking up the young lady who'd dared to attack her mother.

"Ziyuan!" Her mother ran to her. "Are you mad?"

Her mother's grip on Ziyuan's wrist made her loose focus and Zidian retreated, freeing the woman. Ziyuan's mother tried to send her away but Ziyuan barely heard her mother as she saw several close friends and relatives of hers being tortured to death. Right before her eyes, two girls closest to her heart, her own sister and a cousin sister, were both attacked by the sceptre's smoke. She watched, stupefied, senseless with shock as sharp masses of evil energy pierced through their chests, cutting through their cores and hearts. Ziyuan ran forth to catch her falling sisters. Each lay in one hand as she stumbled to the ground, weeping amid the chaos around her, her mother blocking any attacks that came their way.