Backlash Part 1

Chapter 194: Waking in Nightless City

Wei Wuxian awoke slowly. His mind felt slow and foggy. There was light, wherever he was. Wei Wuxian tried shifting so it wouldn't bother him, groggily throwing an arm across his eyes.

"Wei Ying?" Lan Wangji's deep voice was filled with so much concern that Wei Wuxian was immediately blinking awake.

"Lan Zhan?" Wei Wuxian attempted to say, but it came out much less intelligible than he intended.

He blinked a few times to clear his eyes and found Lan Wangji hovering beside him. Lan Wangji's eyebrows furrowed and he disappeared from Wei Wuxian's view. Wei Wuxian turned his head and was pleased that he could see Lan Wangji pouring hot water. Lan Wangji returned with his offering of water.

"Water," Lan Wangji said softly.

Wei Wuxian allowed Lan Wangji to help him sit up and drink. Mostly because Wei Wuxian loved to have Lan Wangji's hands on him. Also he was very thirsty. The hot water felt like it was loosening something in his throat. Feeling more awake, Wei Wuxian searched the room carefully. There was no one else there.

"Wen Qing?" Wei Wuxian asked with a mixture of hope and dread.

"She is recovering. She's with Xiongzhang." Lan Wangji said softly.

Wei Wuxian let himself collapse backwards as those words sunk in. That was a lot for such a short sentence. Wen Qing was safe. She was hurt. Which Wei Wuxian hated, but also already knew would be the case. She was recovering though. Recovering was good. Recovering meant healing. Wei Wuxian blinked at the interior of the room. It looked vaguely familiar, but definitely not somewhere he had been often.

"Lan Zhan. This is Nightless City?" Wei Wuxian asked, his voice suddenly hollow.

"Mn." Lan Wangji acknowledged.

"We won?" Wei Wuxian asked with a breathy gasp.

"Mn. The war is over." Lan Wangji said gently.

That is somehow the best and worst sentence Wei Wuxian could have possibly imagined. The war was over. The war was over! Wei Wuxian was thrilled. Wei Wuxian was terrified. Wei Wuxian had desperately wanted the war to end, but now that it had he had to think about everything that came after.

In his last life the war ended. Wen Qing's family was imprisoned. Jiang Wanyin's anger toward him grew stronger by the day. He was made a pariah because of his demonic cultivation and for having the audacity to rescue innocent people. He killed people. Innocent people died. Shijie died. He died.

"Wei Ying." Lan Wangji's voice was muddled, like he was speaking through water.

Wei Wuxian's body felt cold. He remembered the feeling of blades cutting into him. The burning, blinding pain of zidian against his flesh. He could feel the open air around him and it was too much. All that space filled with all those people. People who wanted to kill his family. People who wanted to kill him.

"Wei Ying. You are safe." Lan Wangji's voice was self assured even if it sounded distant and fuzzy. "Wei Ying. I am holding you. Can you feel my arms around you?"

Wei Wuxian was feeling a lot of things right now. He didn't really want to focus on any of them.

"We are sitting on a bed in a room. There is no one here but the two of us." Lan Wangji continued.

Wei Wuxian felt something tug on his head. Was it Lan Wangji? Lan Wangji said he was holding him. The sensation came again. Then a light sensation of nails scratching against his scalp.

"Wei Ying is safe. I'm here." Lan Wangji's voice sounded much closer now.

Wei Wuxian focused on the feeling of fingers combing through his hair. His heart was still racing uncomfortably in his chest. He felt like he wasn't getting enough air and this unsettling feeling of panic seemed to just be shifting around under his skin. Wei Wuxian desperately wanted the feeling to go away.