Transcendent

Chapter XIV: Home

The Sunshot Campaign.

For many decades and even centuries, it was a term that nobody had ever heard about, a name that had never been the topic of conversation by anyone, anywhere. Yet all of a sudden, as if history had just reached a turning point, this "Sunshot Campaign" became a frequent topic to be discussed, both by the demonkin and the humans alike.

A "joint forces", an "ambitious alliance" - there were many labels used to describe this occurrence no one had ever imagined would happen before. After all, who would have thought that the two races that had been tangled in a long conflict would one day, out of the blue, come to a complete reconciliation? Yet no matter how hard one wondered, no matter how confused, how many questions the public had, it was a fact that this coalition had really been formally created.

Together, the two forces were striving to annihilate the one most powerful demon clan that had been planning to conquer everything through coercion and brute force, the Qishan Wen Clan.

Stories of what took place during the year long crusade were an everyday's talk amongst the commoners and the nobles, from the open streets in town to residences of the influentials. Some were true accounts, some were exaggerated, others were mere hearsays that nobody could actually attest to whether they were facts or fictions. Though, in the midst of unconfirmed rumors and questionable news, some stories from the battlefield were indeed true and thus would be memorized by all as important marks in history to tell the generations to come in the future years.

The might of Chifeng-zun of the Qinghe Nie Clan who confronted and beheaded Wen Ruohan's eldest son, Wen Xu. The persistent endeavors of the Gusu Lan Sect's Second Young Master and the Yunmeng Jiang Clan's heir to hunt down Wen Chao and his right-hand man, Wen Zhuliu, eventually eliminating them along with their remaining followers. And of course, the grand final battle that took place in none other than the Nightless City itself, where the forces of the alliance came face to face in a clash against Wen Ruohan's overwhelming battalions. The fight lasted for many days and nights, casualties dropping from both sides that the ground was stained red with blood, to the point that the natural soil could no longer be seen. Eventually, what ended the life of the tyrant was not a frontal attack or an intense collision, but a quiet, well-thought sneak attack by the Lanling Jin Sect's Lianfang-zun who stabbed Wen Ruohan from the back on his own throne, hence putting an end to the long, and exhausting war.

Be that as it may, although the heroic sagas from the battlefield were sung throughout the land of humans and demons, praised by all both day and night, the exhilaration reached all places but the exiled, secluded Burial Mounds.

Hidden from the hustle and bustle of societies, up on an isolated mountain unbeknownst to all but those living in it, although some stories did reach the sheltered inhabitants, they were treated as nothing more than casual exchanges being talked to among these refugees during their free time. They were aware of what was happening, they knew more or less the outcome of each battle, and certainly the closure of the year long Sunshot Campaign.

But there was nothing they could really do about it. They had retreated into isolation to avoid persecution by their own clan, and now that the very clan they used to be part of was no more, what had they become but a nameless family of masterless demons? It was not so bad of a life as others might imagine; while the outside world was torn by blood and warfare, they were living their days peacefully, in a humble, simple life that was far from lavish, but enough to sustain their living. It was as if they were detached from everything, a tiny world completely separated from the two strenuous realms.

And it was in this hidden, sheltered place that Wei Wuxian had been living since the beginning of the war.

When Wen Qing's sleeping medicine finally wore off, he jolted awake, only to find out that three days had passed since Lan Wangji left him there in the care of the Wen family to protect him from harm. He was frantic, he was driven into sheer madness. From the moment he opened his eyes, the only thing he kept trying to do was to leave the Burial Mounds, out into the open world to find the other's trace. The commotion he caused in that quiet, little settlement was so massive that Wen Qing had to repeatedly put him back to sleep with her needles, only for him to wake up a few days later and committed the same thing over and over again.