Perseverance (Wangxian)

Chapter 35 - The Fall of The Yiling Patriarch

"I had received the invitation to Jin Ling's one month celebration. Wen Qing tried to convince me that it wasn't the best idea to go, as it could be a trap. I asked her why would it if Lan Zhan was the one who sent it? She sighed and just let me go. Wen Ning went along with me. When we got to Qiongqi Path, it was very suspiciously quiet. Wen Ning stopped an arrow that came inches from piercing my skull. Jin Zixun was there and there were dozens of other disciples from each sect...maybe ten to fifteen each. The one sect that had the most, which surprised me, was the Lan Sect. There was more than twenty.

"There was just Wen Ning and Me. Jin Zixun took the opportunity to stop me. He told me that I was not welcome to go to his sect. He also told me to remove a curse that he assumed I did. I've heard of the hundred holes curse and what it does, but I've never even taken the time to really learn to cast it nor did I ever want to use such a curse. As much as I hated him, and even the most hated person of mine, I wouldn't wish such a curse. So for him to place that on me I was surprised.

"Everything happened so fast. He wouldn't stand down and he told the disciples to shoot arrows. Wen Ning went into attack mode to protect me and helped me to cover. Soon though, Jin Zixun came down and tried to attack me with his sword. Jin Zixuan came eventually and told Jin Zixun to back down. He tried to convince me to get Wen Ning to stand down. I told him to call off the archers first. He didn't listen. He wanted Wen Ning to stop first. I am as about to call Wen Ning back when he just appeared behind Jin Zixuan.

"Wen Ning sent a punch through his back to his chest. I froze from shock as Wen Ning was strangling Jin Zixun. I thought I was hearing things because I though a second flute was heard but I was so lost in shock that it slipped out of my head. I don't know how I managed to get back to the mounds but Wen Ning was back to normal when we were back. I was shattered. I didn't know what to do. I knew shijie would blame me, hate me. People wanted me dead. I didn't know how I could convince others that it wasn't me.

"Wen Qing stuck me with a needle in the back of my neck, making me immobile. I told her to remove it but she said no. She and Wen Ning laid me down on the bed and told me they were turning themselves in. Her last words to me were, I'm sorry and thank you," Wei Ying stopped there and put his face into his hands.

He remembered everything that day so vividly that he can even remember the sounds, and the smell of blood. He could feel the chill run though his skin.

"You can stop for today if you need to," Lan Zhan told him, "we know that after that day you probably have more to tell."

"I should finish until the end of that day, I can't move on if I don't," he told Lan Zhan and continued, "I remember stumbling through the woods, trying to get to Nightless City. When I saw the bodies of Uncle Four, and Madam Wen...and the others, I lost it. I took off to the conference at Nightless City. I remember people wanting o rial me up, and telling me I'm vile and lack compassion. Telling me how cruel I was for killing their disciples.

"In my head, I was just wondering did anyone care to ask me? Or maybe even ask what happened? The real answer? I was not going to hurt anyone. I just wanted to see my shijie and my nephew. I had been ambushed and they say I'm a monster for hurting and killing them. So my life had not mattered anymore. When I was struck with that arrow, I did take a glance at a few familiar faces. Looking at Xichen-ge, he looked concerned, but I felt it wasn't for me. It was because the person who shot the arrow made a huge mistake.

"I threw the arrow and they started the attack. I didn't intent to kill anyone there either. Just scare them. If some people paid attention, I didn't make puppets. I didn't even attack certain people. I didn't attack the Jiang Sect. I didn't attack Lan Zhan's brother. I had a clear enough head to know who I was attacking and who I wasn't. It was when my shijie ran onto the battle field everything just, went out of control. As I tried to stop the energy, I heard that second flute again, and that was when the puppets came.

"People saw I wasn't playing but they still told me to stop. I couldn't, I couldn't control them, someone else was. That second flute caused a puppet to attack my Shijie. I went to her and she tried to speak with me. Before she could say much, she shoved me out of the way and took a sword for me. Once she was gone, my desire to live was completely gone. Before going to Nightless City, before Qiongqi path, before the Wens, but after Wen Ruohan's death, I contemplated on ways to end it all. I desired death and no one cared to notice.

"So before I went anywhere, I tossed away the amulet and destroyed it. Destroying it would cause a backlash on me, so I would have died if I jumped off that cliff or not. What I didn't understand at the time was why Lan Zhan insisted on saving me. Jiang Cheng stabbed the side of the cliff and it would have caused Lan Zhan to fall. I couldn't let him fall so I yanked my hand away," Wei Ying explained.

"Wangji didn't tell us that," Xichen said, "he would have fallen?"

Wei Ying nodded, "I guess I did one good thing before I died, which was save him. Even though he suffered all those years after I left," he said.

"If I was there..." Lan Qiren said, "if there were things that I'd have known, I wouldn't have had Wangji punished. Even much sooner, If I'd known of your core I would have had Wangji convince you in some way, to come."

Wei Ying was shocked after hearing Lan Qiren say that. Out everyone, Lan Qiren hated demonic cultivators the most. Even if Wei Wuxian didn't have a choice, how would he just accept him like that.

"It has passed now," Wangji said, "I am not mad or upset about the punishment. It was reasonable at the time. You couldn't have known. I was also stubborn as well."

"Why don't we continue tomorrow, let us take a break," Xichen suggested.

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji nodded. Lan Wangji helped Wei Wuxian up and helped him back to the Jingshi. He seemed to be okay, but it was a lot of story telling for him and it was a lot of his life he shared.

"Lan Zhan?" Wei Ying asked looking up into his eyes.

"Hmm?" He hummed looking back at him.

"Will you hold me?" Wei Ying asked, "snuggle with me?"

Lan Zhan removed his outer robes as well as Wei Ying's and crawled into bed with him. He held onto him close. Wei Ying shoved his face into the crook of his neck and wrapped his arms around him tightly. Laying down on Lan Zhan was so nice and comfortable to Wei Ying. He loved the closeness and the soothing smell of sandalwood on his skin. Lan Zhan smiled and he held onto him, he was always happy to hold him.

The closeness was something Lan Zhan began to cherish when he got Wei Ying back. With a wave of the hand, the candle lights went out and the two fell asleep holding each other close all night. It was something they did every night, but that night, Wei Ying needed the closeness and security from Lan Zhan's embrace. Once he got comfortable and his head relaxed from a long day of story telling, he eased himself to sleep.