Backlash Part 1

Chapter 128: Chaos Descends on Lotus Pier

The moment the barrier broke, chaos descended upon Lotus Pier. The world was awash in screams as blood splattered the ground. For Lan Wangji this was the second taste of battle, but it was easy to tell just how different this battle was. The number of enemies seemed uncountable. They flooded into Lotus Pier, filling the once warm and lively place with the stench of blood and screams of death.

Lan Wangji desperately missed having Bichen in his hands. The strength he could command with his own spiritual sword vastly outpaces what he could do with an ordinary blade. Although enemy after enemy fell under his blade, it never felt like it reduced the onslaught. Lan Wangji had long since lost count of how many people he killed, but every time he had the chance to look around he still saw just as many QishanWen sect soldiers.

Lan Wangji was desperately trying to stay close to Wei Wuxian. He wanted to be at Wei Wuxian's side, but the task had grown increasingly difficult. The volume of enemies, the way Wei Wuxian constantly charged into one group of enemy cultivators after another. It was like a tide of blood pulling Wei Wuxian away from him. A tide that seemed to be growing in strength with every passing minute as Lan Wangji's own strength was being worn away with every cultivator he killed.

In the face of an overwhelming force, Lan Wangji's efforts felt futile. He could not hope to win the battle for Lotus Pier, and he could not singlehandedly make sure he was always at Wei Wuxian's side during this battle. Wei Wuxian's efforts were not directed to staying beside Lan Wangji at all. Wei Wuxian's entire focus was elsewhere, on other things and other people. Some small part of Lan Wangji wanted to be angry about this, but Lan Wangji found himself unable to muster such a feeling when it came to Wei Wuxian.

Lan Wangji killed two more cultivators with swift movements as he tried to spot Wei Wuxian. The battlefield was utter chaos. A confusing clash of swords and colours all blending together in a haze. Lan Wangji desperately tried to find Wei Wuxian amidst that haze. He needed to find Wei Wuxian.

This battle was doomed to fail, in a sense. The force that the QishanWen sect had brought to bear was never going to be defeated tonight. Not with only the YunmengJiang sect cultivators present to try and fight them off. Yet Lan Wangji, and Wei Wuxian, had expected nothing less. Their goals were not to stop Lotus Pier from falling.

Lan Wangji ran through the list in his head of what Wei Wuxian wanted to accomplish. Don't let Jiang Wanyin lose his golden core. Keep all the Jiangs alive. Protect and evacuate as many disciples as possible. Lan Wangji began scanning the battlefield for the crackling of Zidian and its violet electricity. If Lan Wangji could not spot Wei Wuxian, then it would be the next best thing to find one of the people Wei Wuxian was trying to protect. Zidian was distinctive and should stand out in a battlefield filled with mostly swords.

Lan Wangji's hope that he would spot it nearby was rudely interrupted by another wave of QishanWen sect cultivators. How could he hope to find them if they were already far away from each other, and an endless stream of enemy soldiers kept interfering. The anger Lan Wangji could not find for Wei Wuxian came easily when it was about these nameless others keeping Lan Wangji from his Love.

Lan Wangji felt the anger surge through his body. Unacceptable. He would not allow anyone to keep him away from Wei Wuxian, certainly not today. Lan Wangji found himself attacking the enemy soldiers with renewed force. Any hesitance or uncertainty about killing them melted under the heat of the intense protective rage burning inside of him.

This night was a living nightmare for Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian had woken up screaming from the memories of this night. How could Lan Wangji not be by his side right now? How could he allow Wei Wuxian to be alone when one of his worst memories was literally playing out in violent detail all around him? Lan Wangji no longer saw the faces of the QishanWen sect cultivators as he killed them. All he saw were people who were preventing him from being at Wei Wuxian's side.

People began running. The YunmengJiang sect disciples were falling back. Lan Wangji found it harder and harder to move through the battlefield. The ground was littered with corpses. People were tripping over them in their efforts to flee. The battlefield was filled with so much noise Lan Wangji could not hope to distinguish one voice from another.

The need to find Wei Wuxian is what pushes him forward. Being separated on the battlefield fills him with something disturbingly similar to how it felt to be away from Wei Wuxian during that first month after Wei Wuxian came back. There's a cold dread that starts in his stomach and floods through his veins. The very real concern that if Wei Wuxian is out of his sight, something terrible could happen. Something fatal could happen.

Ever since Wei Wuxian's suicide attempt Lan Wangji has begun having nightmares. Not nightmares that wake him up in the middle of the night. Not nightmares that disturb his sleep and leave him disoriented. Every few weeks he has one of these nightmares, each one different, but the theme remains the same. It is the nightmare of losing Wei Wuxian. Sometime Wei Wuxian dies in front of him. Sometimes Wei Wuxian leaves him. He says goodbye and kills himself once he is far enough away that Lan Wangji can't stop him.

The days after he has one of these nightmares he stays particularly close to Wei Wuxian. At this point his mind is half convinced they could be warnings. After all, Lan Wangji had had a bad feeling about leaving Wei Wuxian alone when the Jiangs came to negotiate the betrothal. Lan Wangji had ignored that feeling, only to find that something had happened when Wei Wuxian was out of his sight. Even though Lan Wangji suspected it was simply a manifestation of his anxiety, he found himself unwilling to test this.

Whenever Lan Wangji had these nightmares he would keep an extra close eye on Wei Wuxian. If he had his way he would spend the entire day in constant contact with Wei Wuxian, but that was not always practical. Lan Wangji found that same sense of anxiety growing stronger inside of him. He needed to find Wei Wuxian.

Lan Wangji fought through cultivators and trampled bodies. The blood slicked wood of the pavilions and walkways were partially on fire. Wei Wuxian had used the same talismans he had made for Cloud Recesses in Lotus Pier. It was enough that most of the buildings had resisted more than mild scorching, but Lotus Pier was not just buildings sitting on the ground. Part of Lotus Pier was on solid ground, but much of Lotus Pier stood on the water connected by a network of wooden walkways.

Trying to waterproof all of these walkways was awkward and challenging, especially if you were doing it in secret. The range of each talisman was more of less guesswork on such a long narrow structure. As such many of these interconnected bridges and piers were aflame or hosting small fires that were not prevented, but would not spread.

The first clue Lan Wangji had about what was happening was when the light of the fires changed. Bright orange glows that dotted the bloody battle field became a ghoulish green. It was progressive originating from a point and creeping through to the other fires. Many people froze nervously, confused by what it was or what it meant. Lan Wangji noticed an abrupt pause in the fighting. Lan Wangji grabbed two nearby YunmengJiang disciples by the shoulder and shoved them towards the evacuation route.

"Get to the field behind the infirmary. Retreat to Gusu." Lan Wangji almost growled the words as he shook them from their stupor and ran with a purpose. The change in the flames had spread from a direction. Something strange happened on the battlefield, and odds were good the origin of it would be where Wei Wuxian was.

Lan Wangji tightened his grip on the sheath in his left hand.  The injury on his hand burned with renewed force under his grip, but it helped clear Lan Wangji's mind.  Wei Wuxian would always put him self in the most dangerous places.  Whether this strange change in the battle was Wei Wuxian's doing, or the doing of the enemy, Lan Wangji felt certain that he would find Wei Wuxian there.  Lan Wangji only hoped he would find Wei Wuxian unharmed.