Promise and Betrayal: A Mo Dao Zu Shi (the Untamed) Story

Chapter 25

When I come back into myself, the sky has lightened, and the sun rises. Wei Ying snoozes soundly beside me. I have not slept at all.

"Brother," I say, gently shaking him awake. "It is morning."

He blearily opens his eyes, remembers where we are, then dashes down the mountain. I smile softly at his haste. I follow slower, picking my way down the mountain and taking a moment to reflect not on my own troubles but on my brother's. I have a strong suspicion that he will be invited to the christening of the baby, but I have a darker hunch that others will take advantage of his presence to sow discontent and distrust. I can only hope he keeps his wits about him.

By the time I arrive at the palace ruins, everyone is up and scurrying about. The village is a flurry of activity. I spy Wei Ying kneeling by a muddy pool, squatting in the mud and burying seeds in it.

"Are you..." I ask as I approach, "planting lotus? Here?"

He turns, smiling like an idiot. "Yes," he says proudly. "And I will cultivate them until they bloom as gloriously as they do at Lotus Pier." Far be it for me to rain on his parade, so I smile and pat his shoulder encouragingly.

"I believe in you," I say. "But make sure the child does not get planted as well." He turns, confused, following my point. Playing in the mud is our village's only child, Wen Yu'an, affectionately called 'Ah Yu'an' the entire village. I laugh as he rushes to Yu'an, pulling him out of the soon-to-be lotus patch and admonishing him playfully.

Our good humor evaporates when Wen Qing comes running outside from Wen Ning's room. She says nothing, only points despondently at the interior of the palace. Wei Ying sprints like the devil is after him, me close behind. We skid to a stop at the entrance to Wen Ning's room, momentarily stunned by his thrashes and the ghostly black smoke that blankets him.

Wei Ying overcomes his shock a second after, dashing to Wen Ning's side. The talismans he had placed previously whip in a phantom wind, many tearing themselves free. Wei Ying acts immediately. I do not quite understand what I am seeing. Wei Ying's hands are a flurry of movement, several glowing characters appearing before him before he sends them to Wen Ning. He does several iterations, each different characters every time. Wen Ning stops thrashing, but the black smoke and the wind remain. After a deceptively calm period, he sits up abruptly. My hands instinctively fly to my swords. They are halfway out of their sheaths before Wei Ying gestures for me to put them away.

Wen Ning's eyes are open, but they do not see. The pupils are covered with a milky white film. His movements are jerky and unfamiliar, like he is using his limbs for the first time. I feel no energy from him, not even life. It is a blank space where life should have been.

"Brother," I say warningly. "I do not feel any life from him. His body moves, yet no life inhabits it."

"His spirit needs to be called back, now that his body is healed. Lead him outside. Keep him away from the others."

I nod, driving Wen Ning outside. But the moment he feels the others' energies, he whips his head around robotically and leaps at them. I sprint to their aid, my swords out of their sheathes in an instant. I am too late for the first victim, who Wen Ning throws against a wall. I parry his next hit, sending him jumping back.

"Drive him down the mountain!" Wei Ying says. "But keep him in Burial Mounds! I'll meet you there!"

I nod. Every time Wen Ning attacks a villager, I am there, blocking and parrying. I slowly herd him downhill, careful to keep myself uphill and therefore in the advantage. Once the villagers are out of sight, he turns to me. Our brief flurry of blows turns into a full-on combat. He is strong, his attacks dangerous, but he is still clumsy. I use the opportunities his clumsiness provides me with to wound him, making him slower. Eventually I see Wei Ying perched on a rock ahead, and I turn my herding into a circle.

The sound of Wei Ying's flute sounds as we begin to circle each other. It does not affect me, but it gives Wen Ning pause. He stops, his milky eyes seeming to turn inward. A grimace freezes on his face, and after a measure or two of the flute, he brings his hands to his ears to block out the sound. The flute only grows in volume.

He falls to his knees, now at war with himself. The ghostly black smoke reappears, converging on Wen Ning, part of it from Wei Ying's flute, the other from Wen Ning himself. A scream rips from Wen Ning's throat: shrill, and inhuman. It chills me to my core, but after the shriek ceases, Wen Ning ceases to move as well. He falls forward, limp. I sprint to him, rolling him to his back.

Wei Ying lands next to me, checking Wen Ning's neck and feeling his chest. "The resentful spirits are gone. His soul has heard the call I send out, but I have no way to know whether he will answer the call. We should find a spiritual anchor. His sister, or his sword. We need to take him back to town." I heft him on my back, and together we dash back to the town to find Wen Qing. She did not follow us as Wen Ning was attacking villagers, and is likely still in his room, in shock.

The sprint feels like it takes far longer than it should, but eventually arrive. The others glance at Wen Ning with concern as we fly past. I give some of them heartening smiles, but for most we move too fast. After an eternity, we reach the ruins of the palace. Inside we find Wen Qing.

"Wen Qing," Wei Ying says. "Take his hand. Call him back to the living world. He needs a guide to light his way."

She nods, delicately taking Wen Ning's hands and holding them to her face. She closes her eyes and begins to mutter softly. I retreat to the back of the room, no longer needed. I cannot save him now.

We stand vigil over the Wen siblings for hours. The sky darkens, the moon rises and the stars appear. The others do not disturb us with well wishes or concerns. For those hours, I lean against the wall, in a tense silence. I am about to give up and go to sleep when I see Wen Ning's eyes flutter. He has not moved since he went limp that morning.

His eyes flutter more intensely now, the spasm spreading to his entire body. Soon, he is thrashing in Wen Qing's grip, but she holds on, never ceasing her prayers, her eyes never opening. After an even tenser period of thrashing, he quiets. Then he opens his eyes.

They are human eyes. The only difference is faint black veins that spider up over the collar of his robes and his eyes are a shade darker than normal. His eyes find his sister first. He moves his hands to grip hers, her eyes flying open at the movement. They embrace tenderly.

Then Wen Ning sees Wei Ying. His eyes widen in surprise when they see me standing behind. "Young Master Wei, Young Master Xiao," he stammers. "I..."

Wei Ying smiles. "You're awake. I'm glad. So will the others. But they can wait until morning. Let them sleep." Wen Ning nods, his eyes lingering on me. They keep doing double-takes. Eventually he abandons his manners and stares at me, a strange and confused look on his face.

"Young Master Xiao," he says slowly, "you...I have too many questions. I smile as well, hoping to break his tension.

"What is you want to know?"

"One...I didn't think you'd be here, after our clan massacred yours and all..."

I nod. The question was common after the initial shock of being free wore off. Many of the other Wen Clan members asked me my reasons. I answered them truthfully, and so I shall with Wen Ning.

"I could not sit by and let another clan massacre, even if the massacred clan was the one that had eradicated my clan. I have since made my peace with it, and I hold it against Wen Chao and Wen Ruohan. None of the people here took part in it. I checked."

He cocks his head. "Then...why do you feel, pardon the bluntness, but different?"

I chuckle at that one. He was still sleeping when I told everyone. "Because I am not a young master," I say. "I am a woman. My name is still Xiao Shelan, but seeing as it is a relatively neutral name, I do not think I need to alter my name."

Wen Ning's mouth falls agape a bit. I manage not to outright chuckle again, but I cannot resist a smile. He does not attempt to respond right away, but he closes his mouth and thinks hard for a bit. When he looks at me again, he says, "I don't respect you any less. You're still amazing, Young...Lady Xiao." Then he smiles. "In fact, I might respect you more because of your skills."

I nod, thankful that he did not have a negative response. Now that he knows, the four of us fall into idle talk. It lasts until Wei Ying intervenes and says Wen Ning, despite sleeping for months, has to rest. He shoos us out. I sleep soundly that night, better than I have in weeks.