Come Back to Gusu

34. He's going to kill himself.

He decided to wait until the spring was fully settled in before purifying the Burial Mounds. The ten strongest cultivators and fifty greatest swordsmen and women along with juniors, retainers, servants, cooks, and sect and clan leaders moved to the mountain for the effort.

Wei WuXian drew an array on the ground, planting five flags evenly around the edges. He then walked the array, rewriting the lines with his blood. "You're going to share your spiritual energy with your flag," he instructed the first five. "The array will redirect the energy through to me and I will direct it into the Yin Tiger Seal."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Lan XiChen asked.

"Yes." Wei WuXian looked resolute. "Which is why Lan Zhan isn't part of your group. He and Wen Daifu are going to patch me up after." He wrapped his bleeding hand and stepped into the exact center of the array. "Begin."

For a sichen, he took in the spiritual energy of five cultivators. Playing Chenqing, he spun it into energy the Yin Tiger Seal would permit, and then sent it out over as much of the Burial Mounds as he could reach. He played the ghosts and ghouls to their eternal sleep, settled the fierce corpses back into the soil and fast decomposition.

Wen Qing kept a close eye on his body; she stopped the five as soon as she saw him faltering. Lan Zhan took him back to their house where a select group of juniors were allowed to share spiritual energy or to play healing songs

The fifty swordsmen and women followed the radius of the song's effects, eliminating anything not already taken care of by the song.

The following day, they moved to a new area on the mountain. Wei WuXian redrew his array, replanted his flags, and the next group of five fed him their energy.

Day after day, they cleansed the land. For Wei WuXian and his ten cultivators, the work was grueling and intense. Despite eating at least double portions at meal times and sleeping half the afternoon away as well as the night, they all lost weight, and looked exhausted.

"Wei Ying, you can't continue at this pace," Lan WangJi scolded his friend. "You need to rest. Take a break for a week."

"No." Wei WuXian was resolute. "I need to finish this. ShiJie has had her baby. I made myself a promise that I will go see them once the Burial Mounds is just a mountain again."

"You can go see Jin XiaoFuren whenever you want. I'll fly you there. What you're doing... it's not healthy for any of you."

Wei WuXian placed a tired kiss against his love's cheek. "I will rest once we're done. I will recover my health completely before we destroy the Seal. I promise." He snuggled into the warm body. "You can see what we've achieved already. The trees where we've cleansed are healthier. There's proper grass. Birds and animals are returning. The air is cleaner, less oppressive."

"And it will still be that way if you rest for a week," Lan WangJi begged.

"Another month," Wei WuXian promised with a weak smile. "We should be done in a month."

~*~

Worry was Lan WangJi's constant companion. Watching his lover becoming more gaunt and fragile with each day that passed was.... Please. Rest. Please. For me. For you. A day? Can you take a break for just a day? You can hardly walk, Wei Ying. Your clothing doesn't fit you. How do you expect to be able to hold your niece when you can barely hold your chopsticks? Using the Yin Tiger Seal was destroying his lover's body if not his mind. He had black rings around his eyes and sunken cheeks. He almost looked as dead as the ones he dispersed.

"Wen Daifu, Jiang ZongZhu, please...." He knelt, prostrating himself before them in the workshop. "Make him stop. He's going to kill himself. Or destroy his Core."

Wen Qing was sympathetic, but unswerving. "Don't you think I would have made him stop if I could have? Aside from paralyzing him with my needles, what would you have me do? I have told him, daily, of the consequences. He can see and feel what he's doing to himself."

"Then paralyze him. Please. For a few days so he can..." I can't lose him. Not like this. Not ever. He's too important to me. To you, too.

"No," Jiang WanYin interrupted. "He'd never forgive us. Do you think he listens to me? If he ever listened to me, he would have his original Core still spinning in his body."

"Better for him to never forgive you than to lose his Core again!" Lan WangJi nearly shouted.

"Lan Zhan..." Wei WuXian smiled weakly from where he stood in the doorway. "I won't lose my Core. I promise." Lan WangJi knew his face showed his disbelief. "I promise, Lan Zhan. I know what I'm doing. I know where the limit is. I'm walking the edge, yes. I promise I won't step over it."

"Swear it."

"I swear." Lan WangJi looked for dishonesty in his lover's words or face. "Help me back to my bed?" he cajoled. "I'm very tired." He smiled and leaned on the door frame. "Play for me? I always feel better after you play...."

Lan WangJi knew exactly what Wei WuXian was trying to do: distract him from his worries.

Finally, the last day came. A wan Wei WuXian stood under the summer sun in the center of his final array surrounded by equally wan cultivators. Chenqing sang out as pure and powerful as she had on that first day of cleansing. Finally, Wei WuXian lowered his arms.

It was done. After seemingly endless weeks, the tragedies of a thousand years were ended. Those who had been killed on the mountain, or left to die... everyone, everything, was... at peace now. Sent to rejoin the reincarnation cycle. The soil, flora, fauna, air... everything was purified. "Thank you everyone," Wei WuXian smiled weakly at the men and women standing outside the array. "Our work is done."

"Finally," Lan XiChen agreed. "Thank you Yiling Laozu." He smiled an exhausted smile. "I'm all for sleeping for a week."

"I think that's a good idea," Wen Qing agreed, already stepping through the array lines to grab Wei WuXian's wrist. "Eat first. Lots of proteins and vegetables. Then sleep. You've earned it."

"Aiyah, QingJie," Wei WuXian whined. "I wanted ShiJie's soup for dinner tonight."

She tsked. "Lan WangJi is under firm instructions to as when he is allowed to fly you to Koi Tower."

Dear readers.

Updating is going to be more sporadic. For one, I'm only about two chapters ahead of posting. Also, I'm currently writing a smut scene... So the next three paragraphs should take me at least 3 days. And then I'm going on vacation again. So I won't be updating at all during that.

For those who celebrate, I wish you a Happy Hanukkah.

Thank you for reading, commenting and voting.
- Aitch.