Nightless City was echoingly empty.
Where once lush gardens were tended, a few strangling remnants of plants struggled to exist. Formerly verdant stretches were overtaken with weeds and scrub trees. Pebbles and stones lay in the dust of gardens violently uprooted and any stubborn remains long lost to drought and inattention. Long vines and roots stretched across cobbles, a hazard for the two men's feet, as they wandered deeper into Nightless City. Few doors remained on the structures seen, and most roof tiles were at least partially missing. Poking their heads into several small sheds, the men found little beyond fallen timbers from a wall or roof long collapsed. Occasionally they noted the pale, stubborn leaves of weeds, growing where seeds had blown inside through broken doors and windows that no longer barred the outdoors from entering. They saw no more smoke, although once they heard an angry voice in the distance. A single shout, then it was heard no more. The city truly appeared to be almost entirely deserted.
The men spent the entire day exploring but never a trace of another person did they find, other than what they had already seen of Dao. If others resided within, they kept themselves well hidden. The neglect was profound – dirt and dust gathered in corners everywhere. Even the evidence of animal infestation was minimal, so severe and forbidding the environment. No greenery encouraged insects, so no predators were drawn to the area... the only sounds the occasional whistle of wind through cracks and their own footsteps.
The once striking entrance to the main portion of the residence, the power seat of the ruling family, was a blank, expressionless face. The imposing doors that had borne the Wen Sun emblem, carved and set in bronze into the wood, had been one of the earliest items destroyed. Inside, the floors echoed their footsteps back as the sound reverberated off empty walls devoid of hangings and bounced back from floors and ceilings unadorned, taken back to their basic stone construction. The upper levels were begrimed and open to the weather. The serving levels fared little better, although their lower levels had preserved them from most of the plant life seeking new soil in which to root. The dungeons... ah, the dungeons. The wood and iron doors to cells had been wrenched free and doubtless joined the many thousands of shi in goods and materials that had been thrown to the lava to ensure their utter destruction. A strange chill came over Wei WuXian walking these long-deserted halls. Lan WangJi noted his husband's face losing the healthy colour he'd worked so hard to restore, and slipped his arm about his shoulders and took his hand.
"It's done, Wei Ying," Lan WangJi reassured. "They can never rise again. You saved those you could and they were the golden core of a very bad lot. These cells will never be used again."
Wei WuXian stopped at the end of the hall they were exploring. Even doorless, he knew this place. He remembered it vividly... the clanking of chains, the weight of iron cuffs about his wrists and neck, the nightmare apparition of a monstrous dog, canines dripping ceaselessly as it growled...
Wei WuXian turned and hid his face in Lan WangJi's shoulder, inhaling deeply the comforting sandalwood fragrance that accompanied him. Lan WangJi rubbed his back, murmuring reassurance as Wei WuXian fought down his visceral response to the place. He struggled to regulate his breathing and Lan WangJi allowed him to take his time until at last Wei WuXian stepped back and flashed a weak smile.
"I'm fine, Lan Zhan. It's just... I haven't...," Wei WuXian took another deep breath. "It just all came over me, sweetheart." He reached out and took Lan WangJi's hand, turned them about to leave the dank, dark place, and lead his husband back into the light. "I'm glad this place is in ruins. And I don't ever want to come back here again."
"Never," replied Lan WangJi. "When it is time for Gusu Lan to provide the patrol, I make a point of instructing those I send personally. I need to follow my brave husband's lead in ensuring that no one is ever here against their will, and that no blackened soul thinks to rise to power from such an honourless base."
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WangXian Untamed Together
FanfictionSequel to WangXian Untamed. Two souls bonded beyond death into a second life. They will do whatever it takes to protect their world, their loved ones and each other. Anything - as long as they're together.
