Backlash Part 1

Chapter 166: Like a Family

Lan Wangji has long since come to expect the exhaustion that follows a battle. He is used to pushing his golden core to the limit of what it can endure, and he is used to the discomfort and exhaustion that follows that exertion. The exhaustion he feels right now is a different kind.

Lan Wangji is not certain what he expected the Yin Hufu to do. Wei Wuxian made two things very clear to Lan Wangji. The Yin Hufu is incredibly powerful, and Wei Wuxian is somewhat afraid of it. Lan Wangji has spent over two years watching Wei Wuxian use resentful energy in battle. He has seen the limit of what Wei Wuxian can do and watched him push against that limit. The Yin Hufu seemed to sweep away the idea of a limit the second Wei Wuxian summoned it into battle.

Every corpse was a fierce corpse and there were as many fully manifested spirits as there were corpses ripping the QishanWen sect cultivators apart. The resentful energy had grown so thick in the air that it blotted out the sun. Lan Wangji was left with the startling impression that single-handedly liberating Dafan was child's play to the Yin Hufu. Somehow that was both encouraging and terrifying.

On the one hand, Lan Wangji was certain that with the Yin Hufu they could defeat the QishanWen sect. On the other hand, Lan Wangji had seen Wei Wuxian's face while he used the Yin Hufu. His expression had been distant and hazy in a way that Lan Wangji had only seen when Wei Wuxian was having a flashback or heavily dissociating. Lan Wangji did not see the look often when Wei Wuxian was actually in battle. In fact he was not certain he had seen it since the battle at Lotus Pier.

There was also the frightening glint in Wei Wuxian's eyes. Lan Wangji could see the anger and malice of the resentful spirits echoed in Wei Wuxian's eyes. It was terrifying. There was a moment, when Lan Wangji called Wei Wuxian's name, when Lan Wangji was not certain Wei Wuxian recognized his own name anymore.

Then suddenly a child barrelled into Wei Wuxian's legs and Lan Wangji had been absolutely petrified with fear. If Wei Wuxian hurt an innocent child while using the Yin Hufu it would completely destroy him. Miraculously, maybe because compassion towards children was as natural to Wei Wuxian as breathing, Wei Wuxian seemed to come back to himself under the demanding wails of the little girl.

Lan Wangji had not expected that little girl to drag them to her baby brother, and he had not expected that that baby brother would be Wen Yuan. The aftermath of the battle felt like a haze in Lan Wangji's mind. One moment he was lifting the toddler from the ground, hands trembling in terror that he might accidentally hurt the little boy. Then suddenly Wei Wuxian was taking the crying child into his arms.

Lan Wangji helped support Wei Wuxian's weight. The entire time Lan Wangji could not drag his eyes away from the sight of Wei Wuxian cradling Wen Yuan in his arms while Wen Yuan's jie huddled close to Wei Wuxian's side. Even though all of them were clearly exhausted and hurt, Lan Wangji felt warm seeing Wei Wuxian with a baby and child.

Wen Qionglin was able to guide them to the appropriate building. He attempted to take Wen Yuan for Wei Wuxian, likely seeing how obviously exhausted Wei Wuxian was. Wen Yuan's sister was having none of it. She refused to accept anyone else carrying Wen Yuan, and Lan Wangji was almost certain she planned to resort to violence if anyone tried to separate her from Wei Wuxian's side.

Wen Qionglin seemed to think it was because he had been away from Dafan for so long. He thought Wen Nuan, Wen Yuan's older sister, probably didn't remember him. She was only four years old, it was possible she didn't remember her older cousin who had barely set foot in Dafan in the last three years. It became clear later that Wen Nuan's resistance was not specifically about Wen Qionglin.

Wen Nuan planted herself firmly at Wei Wuxian's side, gripping onto him if anyone came too close as though she was afraid someone might try and take her away. The two of them hovered while Wen Yuan was examined. Wen Nuan was apparently okay with having someone examine Wen Yuan, as long as her new gege was there.