Unrestrained Heart

Chapter 16

There are so many cultivators that they can't all fit into the small cave. They fill the adjacent caves and dining hall as well. The ones not currently actively working with Wei Wuxian murmur quietly together or find some small corner to meditate or nap in.

When the cultivators had started arriving, not even a day after he had sent the messages to Lanling and Cloud Recesses, Lan Wangji hadn't been surprised to see Jiang Cheng, Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan arrive from Koi tower. Seeing Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan with them was a pleasant surprise. Apparently the two of them had happened to go to Koi Tower to speak with Jin Guangshan after leaving the Unclean Realm. Nie Huaisang had also accompanied them to Lanling and came with them to Yiling.

Lan Xichen had come as expected, but Lan Wangji was shocked to see his uncle and several other elders with his brother.

If that wasn't enough, as the word spread, several young cultivators that Wei Wuxian had helped during the war started arriving. To the common person, Wei Wuxian might be the evil Yiling Patriarch, but to these people he was a hero that they owed much to. In the end, the two or three cultivators that Lan Wangji had hoped for had turned out to be a couple hundred.

Wen Qing quickly took charge and divided them into groups. The Lan clan was to perform cleansing. The others she divided into one group to feed Wei Wuxian a constant stream of clean spiritual energy while the other group slowly siphoned off the resentful energy. Luckily, there were enough of them that they could work in shifts.

Lan Wangji was given the job of staying by Wei Wuxian's side, bathing his forehead in cool water, and scenting him to keep him calm. Removing the resentful energy could be painful at times.

Wen Ning and the other Wens that could be spared from farming duties were sent to the forest to find healing herbs that could be crushed and fed to Wei Wuxian in a healing broth or burned in the incense burners.

Jiang Yanli, whose cultivation level was low, made food and tea for the cultivators. She also took Lan Wangji's place a few times when Wen Qing insisted that he get a little rest, or he was going to end up her next patient.

Nie Huaisang, who also had a low cultivation level, was given babysitting duty because A-Yuan kept trying to sneak in to see his Xian-gege.

Seeing Nie Huaisang's normally pristine expensive robes covered in paint because he had decided to give the toddler a fan painting lesson was the first time many of them had smiled for days. Lan Wangji tried to memorize the sight so he could describe it in detail to Wei Wuxian when he woke up.

Lan Wangji watches anxiously as Wen Qing examines Wei Wuxian. It's been over two weeks since Lan Wangji had found him unconscious.

"How is he?" Jiang Yanli asks.

"Much better, his spiritual energy is flowing normally now and the amount of resentful energy in his body is very low. I think he will wake up soon." Wen Qing says as she stands up.

"When he does, I am going to kill him." Jiang Cheng grumbles.

Wei Wuxian has been trapped in a dark place. It isn't like when he had been thrown into the burial mounds by Wen Chao.

Then everything had seemed dark and hazy, but he had been able to see. He had been able to smell the decay of the mounds, he had been able to hear and feel. His mind had been assaulted by a cacophony of voices. He had even been able to taste what could only be described as ash and smoke.

Now there is just nothing. Wei Wuxian is aware but there is only darkness, no sounds, no smells, he can't feel anything. There was nothing to mark the passage of time. He wonders briefly if this might be what it's like to be a baby in the womb.