A Ghost of Snow

26. Free

Baixue pulled out a blood-red tassel from her sleeve and handed it to Wei Wuxian.

"This should work.", he said inspecting it closely as a smile slowly bloomed on his face.

"But what is it?", Lan Xichen asked curiously.

"This, Zewu-Jun, is a protection charm cast by an immortal. Heh.", he sighed dramatically, "Who would've thought that I will get to see something so powerful in this life."

"Sure.", Lan Xichen replied. It took every last bit of his self-restraint to stop himself from rolling his eyes at Wei Wuxian's statement. This man was the creator of the most powerful weapon to exist in the cultivation world, the Yin Tiger Tally. Lan Xichen really wanted to laugh at his audacity to utter such a statement. But then again Wei Wuxian did always tend to downplay his own achievements recently. He wondered what had happened to the self-proclaimed greatest of all time who used to boast all the time. However, his thoughts were soon occupied by the female doppelganger of Young Master Wei. "Beautiful", his mind supplied as he looked at her snow-white face. In his mind she was like an angel, too pure, too fragile, too bright. At that moment, she was looking at Wei Wuxian inquisitively, with stars in her eyes. "How cute!", he sighed internally. He was sure that if the two of them could get past this phase, they would make the strongest and the most beautiful pair of siblings in the world surpassing even the twin jades of Gusu Lan. Maybe someday.

"Let's do this then. Ok.", Wei Wuxian said full of energy.

He placed the tassel at the center of the table and said, "You all should probably move back a little."

"Do you have to do it alone?", Lan Xichen questioned on behalf of his brother.

Wei Wuxian looked at him and nodded, "It's not that difficult."

So the three Lans stood at a distance watching as he adjusted his posture gestured Baixue to sit with her back facing him.

"Ready?", he asked in the softest of tones. "Hmn."
"It might hurt a little. Bear with me then."
"Hmn.", was the only reply he got. He really thought that she resembled Lan Zhan more than him, even their answers were the same. He shook himself to get rid of all unnecessary thoughts.

Now that everything was set in place, Wei Wuxian's face turned serious, he knew that if he messed up even a little, all of this could backfire and become one big disaster. So he willed himself to focus, once he was sure that nothing could distract him anymore, he held the tassel in one hand, whispering something as a drop of blood landed in the palm of his other hand, he then bit his finger letting the immortal's blood mix with his own and started painting complicated symbols in the air and then poked Baixue's back with his two fingers, he kept repeating this action until she spit blood.

Lan Xichen was about to interrupt him but stopped when his Uncle pulled him back, "This only means whatever he is doing is working. If you intervene now, it is sure to backfire, one of them could even die."

He looked at Baixue worriedly, she kept coughing and spitting blood every time Young Master Wei hit her back on different spots with his finger. He knew that she wasn't sick, he also understood that it was a good sign but he couldn't help the pain that settled in his heart as he saw her getting paler by the second.

Wei Wuxian hit her one last time, making her body jerk forward as she lost consciousness. As soon as she was about to fall, he caught her, made her sit again and dropped the tassel to the ground, placing both of his palms on her back to support her and started to channel the spiritual energy in her headpiece into her body. It didn't take long for her to wake up but he was tired himself, maybe all the sleepless nights and months of worrying had finally caught up to him. He felt faint, his eyes threatened to close any minute, but he managed to ask in a small voice, "How do you feel?"

Baixue stared at him with her big eyes for a few seconds, then touched her neck where the ugly blue scar had been previously, "It's gone.", she whispered.

Wei Wuxian let himself fall on his back at that, "That's great then. Little Snow, you are free.", he laughed humourlessly. He sat up and smiled then looked at the three Lans, "We did it. Thank you."

Lan Xichen was relieved, she was safe, she was free, maybe, there wouldn't be a need for her to put herself in danger anymore. Lan Qiren wondered what they were being thanked for? Wei Wuxian had done most of the work himself, only ever accepting help from Wangji if absolutely necessary. He acknowledged his gratitude anyways by nodding his head.

Lan Wangji however was a different story, he didn't know if his Uncle and Brother noticed but Wei Ying was clearly struggling to keep his eyes open. Did he use too much energy? His thoughts weren't even organized yet when his eyes landed on the small red stream that started flowing from Wei Ying's nose as his hand went up to his chest and his face contorted in pain.

"Wei Ying", he quickly caught the younger before he could fall to the ground again. His worried scream also caught the attention of the other two Lans in the room and they looked at the two people sitting on the floor with an expression that resembled something between shock and worry.

Wei Wuxian quickly wiped his nose with his sleeve and whispered with a smile, "Lan Zhan, I am fine."

"Liar.", Lan Wangji replied as he picked him up in his arms. Wei Wuxian let himself drift into unconsciousness basking in the sweet faint fragrance of sandalwood that emanated from the person who was carrying him.

Baixue only stood in silence as she looked at everything unfolding in front of her. Her face showed little emotion, it wasn't until Lan Xichen spoke to her that she finally blinked, "Are you alright?"

His eyes widened as he saw a single tear escape her eye and he panicked, he did not think it was possible for her to cry yet, and what was more was that he did not want her to cry ever, "What's wrong? Are you worried about Young Master Wei? I am sure he'll be fine. He is one strong cultivator, you know. He must just be tired."

It did not help, another tear escaped her eye as she finally spoke, "It's gone."

"And? Isn't that a good thing?", he asked in a calm manner as if talking to a child.

To which she shook her head as more tears fell from her ice-like eyes, "I can't feel it anymore. It's gone. I can't feel him anymore." She looked at him, her eyes red, "Zewu-Jun, it's gone. He said I am free but I don't feel him anymore. He was in pain and I couldn't tell."

Lan Xichen didn't know what to say, he understood that she must not have thought so much before she decided that she wanted to break free from the curse, she was still young. Now that she could not tell what Wei Wuxian was feeling, she must be terribly confused. However, he also knew that, in fact the right thing to do was to set her free and that was exactly what had been done.

He pulled her into a hug as he caressed her soft hair and whispered, "It's not your fault, he paused to give her a moment to relax and continued when he felt that she was calm enough, "Let's go see what's wrong. Hm?"

"Mhn.", she nodded.