The tale of the fox and the dragon egg

Chapter 16 - After the first lightning

"Listen, there was another fox-"

"Don't fucking lie to me!"

Jiang Chengs voice boomed in the courtyard where no other dared to speak.

Only the breeze was Wei Yings lonely companion.

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Everything laid in shatters.

Wei Wuxian wasn't able to see the full extend of the attack on Lotus Pier until now.

With Jiang Cheng right behind him he was escorted through Lotus Pier. The rain had drowned almost every fire that started to form and those that lingered were quickly taken care of. Countless disciples lay within the rubble, holding their injuries or being unconscious.

His silver eyes swept over the catastrophe.

A sudden pull made him stumble forward. The hot electricity of Zidian was wrapped around his body, caging him in a cocoon of fire in his skin. At least it didn't sting him too much when he stayed relatively still; obedient and harmless.

Jiang Cheng stepped in front, while Jin Ling stayed behind him. Both of them kept an eye on Wei Wuxian, even when he thought that he wasn't in the state to do anything at this point.

His whole body felt as heavy as a boulder. Every step he took made his feet shake slightly. Wei Ying used to much from his power too quickly after trying to live without it for centuries. His body was not accustomed to this control of resentful energy in this extent.

It was as if he closed a barrel aggressively, until everything inside pressed against every corner and finally exploded. He felt hollow and weak, a former shadow of himself a few centuries back.

What a pitiful situation, Wei Wuxian thought, Jiang Cheng will taunt you for it. And the whole cultivation world too. What will you even do when the Lan arrive? When he arrives?

The lonely image of a white beacon within this chaos made his hands clench. A chaos he himself caused and never thought of until right that moment.

And A-Yuan.

A-Yuan!

His tired gaze swept over the inner garden where countless healers tried to care to the injured. There were too many. Countless men and women lying or sitting in the dirt, next to corpses in red and purple, enemies and friends.

A picture flashed in front of his eyes.

Of red and purple intertwining in their never-ending fight, red fire burning in the background, turning blue and so hot that he felt like his skin would peel off his body. How he himself only saw darkness, smelled darkness, breathed darkness-

He was pulled by the purple streak of electricity, out of the picture and memory in his head.

Jiang Cheng was watching him with wary eyes, already two steps ahead of him. He would not let Wei Wuxian leave his sight, not in a million years. And so, Wei Ying had no choice but to follow, his silver eyes now turning worrying.

There was still a dangerous fox lurking around.

Even though he had been drowned in rage before, he remembered it clearly. The days of his blissful ignorance of what he had done were gone and he needed to face reality once more. Shame crawled up his back and clawed itself like a parasite into his skin, building a nest and birthing more of itself.

He remembered how those cruel eyes smiled in glee, how they turned red with the power of resentful energy, how the Yin Tiger Tally reacted within his hold.