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

Chapter 30

I wake up to stiff muscles that resist movement. For a moment, I panic. I cannot move my limbs! What curse was I struck with? After a second, the events from before I slept crash down on me. We were paralyzed by Wen Qing, who then apologized and alluded to not coming back—

I push my way to a sitting position, bringing an arm up to my head. My arm resists, like it has heavy stone attached to it. I fight through the sensation, eventually feeling around on my head for the needle she threw. I wrap fingers that feel like tree trunks around it and yank it out. I feel an instant change, but it is only minimal. It seems the effects will take time to wear off.

"Wen Qing took the Wen Clan survivors to Carp Tower," I say clumsily. My mouth feels like it is coated in fuzz and stuffed with cotton. "I do not know how long has passed since we were paralyzed, but we still may have time to save them."

Next to me, I hear Wei Ying shift. Fighting the cloud that still racks my muscles, I stand on shaky legs. The world bobs around me, but I retain my balance and stay on my feet. "Wei Ying!" I yell. His eyes open in fear, the same fear that plagued me racking him, but it fades. Then he notices me.

"Xiao Li?" he asks, his pronunciation clumsy and lips swollen. I nod. The motion makes my world swim.

"We were paralyzed," I explain. "There's a needle—" I try to step to Wei Ying to pull the needle from his head, but my leg refuses to hold my weight and collapses under me. I fall to the floor with the grace of a fish out of water. "We need to..." my mind fumbles for what we need to do. "We need to go to where they are."

I shake my head to clear the fog again, this time to some avail. I test out my legs and arms experimentally. They are less resistant now, but I am in no condition to be fighting. I can only pray it will fade on our way to wherever we need to go.

"Wen Qing?" Wei Ying asks groggily. "She isn't here?"

"No, she took the Wen Clan to Carp Tower. They went instead of us."

"They—" He sits up with shock, wincing when his muscles protest. "They went instead of us? We were supposed to go to...to answer for our crimes!" He stands, his legs shaky, but holding. He takes a step. He falls, snarling.

I stand again. My legs are more solid this time. I take a step, but I do not fall. I take another step. Still, I remain upright. I take more, my confidence returning with each step. I walk to my brother, who is frustrated and still on the ground. I help him up, letting him lean on my shoulders for support.

"We'll feel the effects of her needle probably for the next four hours," Wei Ying says.

"We should wait to reach our destination until after we have full capability of ourselves again, then," I say. "It would not do for us to be caught in a battle in this state."

"We have no time to waste!" Wei Ying snaps. "Now they must answer for their crimes."

"They have likely killed them already," I say, softer. "Rushing will do us more harm than good."

"Justice does not wait," he spits. I do not know exactly where this vehemence sprang from, but I have an idea. He was ostracized, then accused of crimes he did not commit. Then he lost control and killed his sister's husband, and the Wen Clan—who he sacrificed his reputation for—went to answer for him. It must be a combination of vengeance, bitterness, frustration, and grief.

I give up discussing with him. I do not want to initiate an argument, not when the only people we can count on have dwindled by a significant number. Aside from each other, the only others we have now are Lan Zhan and potentially his brother, Lan Xichen. But we cannot count on the full support of the Lan Clan.

We do not know where to go, only a vague idea to follow the whispers. When we arrive in the town closest to the palace ruins, I deposit Wei Ying in a quiet corner alley, discard my dual swords, pull my hood up, and ask around town for news. The locals, after giving me a suspicious once-over, tell me that the gentry families have gathered in Nightless City to celebrate the eradication of the Wen Clan. I give them a general excuse about being a hermit, or sometimes a traveler, to dissuade their suspicions. I know, though, that word of my passing will not go unnoticed.

Once I have a satisfactory course of action, I return to Wei Ying. He sits in the alley where I left him, a storm gathering on his features. A storm I would rather not be on the receiving end. I briefly feel sorry for the opposing gentry families. Their inability to accept common human decency has created the man that sits before me, the demonic cultivator that has a grudge to settle.

"Brother," I say. "Our battle awaits in Nightless City."

He rises, the dark look seemingly cloaking him in shadows. "Then let us settle this once and for all," he proclaims, eyes fierce. "We ride to where it all started." Our gazes meet, our determination mirrored, our energy bond snapping taught. "We ride for Qishan."