For my abandoned justice

Chapter 16

                The disciples that had been sent out to the towns came back with varying reports. It seemed the Wen army under Wen Xu didn't go out of their way to hurt the civilians. The towns they had stopped in had some damage when they left. Sometimes rooms were trashed from drunken exploits or shops destroyed when they took what they wanted. Things like that harmed the economy, but it was better than burying innocents. 

                Wei Wuxian, Jingyi, and Sizhui made talisman barriers for each village to place up once the war started. It was their main priority to ensure the lives of the civilians under their protection. The Lan's had seen the difference showing the people they cared made. Often they were treated with respect and cold politeness before their Madam came along. Now that the relations between villages and the sect was better things had changed. They were still treated with respect while the people were now more welcoming and more willing to help them.

                   Lan Wangji had refused to send any disciples to the Wen's Indoctrination. They had already been attacked so there was no more need to play nice. At Wei Wuxian's insistance he had sent some of the best Beta disciples to spy on the proceedings. They were armed with the new communication talisman that Wei Wuxian and Lan Jingy had engineered. He had picked the Betas so they wouldn't be found by scent. Each day Lan Wangji received a daily report about the happenings of the Indoctrination.

                  Lan Wangji was forced to head out to their location in less than a week with his husband. Wen Chao had sealed all the disciples from other sects in a cave rumored to house the Xuanxu of Slaughter. He was not particularly happy to put his husband in danger. It was either bring Wei Wuxian or Wei Wuxian would immobilize him and go by himself. At least this way he was at his husband's side in case anything happened. 

             A barrier was set up around the cave entrance quickly to protect themselves. With a flick of his wrist, Wei Wuxian threw an explosive talisman at the rocks blocking the cave entrance. The dust cleared allowing them to walk inside carefully. At what looked like a dead end Wei Wuxian pulled a rope out of his sleeve tying it down the side of the cliff face. Lan Wangji insisted he go down first in case Wei Wuxian lost his footing. With an exaggerated eyeroll from his husband, he was allowed to go down and position himself to help his husband. Wei Wuxian made it down without help muttering how he was barely pregnant at the moment not far enough to be an invalid. 

            Looking around quietly they found the disciples towards a secondary cave. Their skin was pale and their clothes were torn. A lot of them were injured in some way, all looking at the rescue party with unconcealed hope. Lan Wangji ordered his disciples to help the injured out of the cave first. Then went by his husband's side who was asking a tired Jin Zixuan about what had happened in the cave.

                 To no one's surprise, Wen Chao had used the disciples to lure out the beast. Jin Zixuan had stepped in to protect a female disciple and was lightly wounded from it. The altercation had no chance to escalate since the small amount of blood drawn had enticed the beast out of its slumber. The Wens quickly retreated, leaving them behind to the beast's mercy. One of the disciples had found this cave and called everyone over. If not for the little cave many more disciples would have been eaten by the Xuanwu. 

                  They had been debating what to do when they heard the bang of explosives they hoped would be of help. Wei Wuxian smiled reassuringly at his friend's husband using his scent to calm him down. "You did good Jin-Gonzi leave this cave with our disciples and get some rest." Lan Wangji was not happy his mate was using his scent on another alpha. He understood the need to calm the stressed heir, but he did not like his omega being the one to do it.