The Untamed Oneshots / CQL / WangXian

Forgive Me

Wei Wuxian jogged after the Second Jade of Lan, the irritation he felt fuelled on by the resentment swimming in his core. How could he tell his Shijie such things about him, make him out to be a monster? Could he not stay within his limits? Why did the hand of Gusu Lan have to reach so far?

Making it into one of the courtyards of the Unclean Realm, he finally opened his mouth to give a short, sharp yell. "Lan Zhan!"

He did not anticipate what came next. Swift as the wind, Bichen left its sheath and came at Wei Wuxian, striking at him like a snake, movements precise and acutely dangerous. The esteemed Second Jade of Lan's face was dark, furious. As if he had the right to throw a fit at the moment. He was the one trying to ruin Wei Wuxian's life more than it already was.

Ironically, it reminded the demonic cultivator of their meeting under the stars when he'd tried to sneak over the walls of Cloud Recesses and ended up in a duel witnessed only by the evening sky. The biggest difference was the fact that back then, Wuxian had a powerful golden core propelling his movements, giving him the strength and ability to be the Lan's equal. Back then, he knew he would emerge unscathed.

They have shared weal and woe together. It came to a point where Wei Wuxian considered Lan Wangji to be his closest confidant, someone he could rely on, someone he could always trust. Which is why he never thought he would be on the receiving end of Bichen's wrath and fury.

Now, Wei Wuxian had no golden core. His body was made up of broken shards of glass that were pasted together with resentment, voices constantly whispering and screaming inside his head in painful agony; a price he had to pay for being alive and living the way he was. And, unlike that night so many moons ago, Wei Wuxian feared for his life.

He dodged and blocked the oncoming attacks as best he could, finding they were growing more vicious, more reckless, and Wei Wuxian didn't know where the invisible line was, the one that told them 'That is enough' and should not be overstepped. It was when he skidded backwards from a particularly harsh blow, Bichen now heading straight for his neck and having no way to protect himself, that he realized with rising horror there might not be a line. This might very well be his end.

Lan Wangji on the other hand was surging forward with anger pulsing through his veins yet had all the intention of stopping a breath away from Wei Ying's exposed throat. He wanted to test him. Wanted him to realize how dangerous this crooked path was, how vulnerable he was if he refused to use his sword. Rather he realized it now than on the battlefield when it was too late.

What he did not account for, a huge miscalculation on his part, was that they were not alone.

Apparently his brother and Jiang Wanyin had been walking past and saw him attacking the younger male. It might have seemed like a declaration of war, an uncalled for attack on his peer, on an ally. Wangji had to admit, even he was not pleased with raising his sword on Wei Ying, but he had no other way. Still, having not noticed their presence, he started when they exclaimed in unison as Bichen drove for the black robed male's neck.

"Wangji!"

"Wei Wuxian!"

His concentration slipped...

He lost control over his movements...

The pristine blade sliced through the air and pierced into Wei Wuxian's throat.

It took every ounce of restraint Lan Wangji could muster in that deadly short period of time to rein in his momentum and prevent Bichen from stabbing straight through the other male's neck, to not crush the bone structure.

The precious Second Jade of Gusu Lan, untainted by worldly affairs and unfaltering in his pursuit of true justice, the Lightbearing Lord and hope of humanity, felt true and utter horror at what he had just done. His senses were both sharpened and muffled in the way that he could neither see, hear nor smell anything other than the nightmarish sight in front of him. ChenQing clattering to the pavement. Wei Ying desperately grasped at his neck with both hands. The coppery tang of blood hung in the air like the stench of a battlefield littered by the dead. The vicious crack! once Wei Ying crumbled to his knees, gasping for breath that he could not seem to inhale into his lungs. And worst of all, the look of utter astonishment that never left his warm brown eyes, unlike the flicker of life that slowly drained away from those honest, open pools as blood gorily decorated the Nie courtyard.