Lotus Flower

Sprouting from mud

"Stop!" Lan Qiren shouted, louder than ever before in his life.

Everyone stilled and looked at him. A heavy weight had just been lifted from his shoulders, he had not dared to believe that the battle could be stopped just like that. Luckily, his reputation and the respect the other cultivators had for him helped, even Wei Wuxian recalled the resentful energy and was staring at him, wary and on his toes, prepared to resume the battle on the smallest of cues.

Lan Qiren took a deep breath and steeled himself, clarifications needed to be made and explications given. He could feel that whatever the story was, it would revel something much deeper than the rumours themselves. Much like the withered lotus flower earlier, hiding a child and attracting his attention towards a secret and the truth.

He could still not believe how close all the cultivation sects who had joined in on the siege of the Burial Mounds had been to committing an unforgivable crime. They had come here thinking they were seeking justice and were fighting the evil Yiling Patriarch and his army of demonic cultivators. Now, it seemed more like they were the ones in the wrong. Unless there was an army still hiding somewhere nearby – which Lan Qiren greatly doubted at this point – there were only under fifty people here in the Burial Mounds, including Wei Wuxian, apparently the only cultivator amongst them. And also the child who had been hiding in the hollow tree trunk and whom all of those people seemed to be fiercely protective of.

Why else would have the Wen remnant come out of the relative safety of the Demon Slaughtering Cave and tried to shield him with their own bodies? Why else would Wei Wuxian be so horrified when the child had shown himself and had been ready to attack all the other cultivators on his own just to protect this young life? And, the most important question of all, why was here a child in the first place?

When Jin Guangyao started getting all the forces together, he had informed them about the army which was of concern, one that could not be allowed to roam free. Now Lan Qiren was wondering where those rumours came from and if there had been anything true to them in the first place. It was clear now that the Lanling Jin sect had many grudges against Wei Wuxian. Though, they have only sent a handful of their disciples to participate in the siege. But would they be capable of spreading false rumours just to have the Yiling Patriarch executed? Lan Qiren did not know who he should believe anymore.

While the Lanling Jin sect was a respectable cultivation sect whose sect leader was at the same time the Chief cultivator, it seemed like they had not been telling the truth to them. At least not entirely.

Otherwise, how would it be possible for the people living in the Burial Mounds, those very people whom Wei Wuxian rescued from the work camp at the Qiongqi Path, were all elderlies and a child? It did not see like there were any cultivators among them aside for him.

No, that was not right, there had been two others he realized and felt shame flood his very core and foundations. There had initially been also Wen Qing and Wen Ning. Lan Qiren remembered they attended the guest lectures in the Cloud Recesses. They had not been carrying any swords at that time and introduced themselves as disciples from the Dafan Wen clan, a clan of healers, not fighters. How could he had allowed them to be killed just like that? And in front of his very own eyes too. He had even been relieved when he saw their ashes being scattered in the wind just before Wei Wuxian had made his appearance and things had gone south.

The Wen remnants now really was just a group of sickly looking elderlies, way too thin and fragile even for their age. The resentful energy in the Burial Mounds must not have done them any good. Their cheeks were hollow, there were deep dark circles under their eyes and their backs were all bent, most probably from age and hard labour at the work camp. Their skin had a sickly grey shade to it and it looked very thin as well, Lan Qiren could see their bones even from this far away. For some reason, Wei Wuxian did not look any better despite being a cultivator. The only one who looked somewhat healthy was the child; and the boy still looked too thin and small for his age.