At thirteen, Wei Ying creates an array he calls 'Time Reversal' which he uses to save Jiang Cheng from drowning. At fifteen, he dies in a tragic accident. Two years after that, Wen Ruohan has overcome the Nie-Lan-Jiang rebellion. The small clans as...
He'd long ago become inured to the odors. Most of them. Sulfur from the volcanoes was ever present, and slightly nauseating. Thankfully, the stench from the Nie bodies rotting in their cages had dissipated along with their flesh. He refrained from scratching his hair; he could feel lice biting. Or maybe it was fleas. He'd certainly seen fleas jumping in the soiled and molding straw.
"Lan Er Gongzi," Jiang Yanli whispered. "May I have a moment of your time?"
"Of course, Jiang Guniang." He might be in a cell, condemned to die within a week; that didn't mean he needed to abandon the precepts of the Gusu Lan.
"I... I want you to know... I hold no ill will towards you for what happened with Wei Wuxian. It was an accident." She smiled sadly. "He used to write to me all the time when he was studying under Lan Qiren. You were his favorite topic. He looked forward to the day when you would become best friends. I know he wanted to take you out on one of the lotus lakes to pick seed pods." Her lips began trembling. "I think that would have been his one regret. He did admire you so much, Lan Er Gongzi."
"It was my fault he died."
"No. It was an accident. I'm sure Jin Zixuan didn't mean to do it. I know he regretted his attitude and his anger." She bit one chapped and peeling lip; there was never sufficient water to drink. "He apologized, did you know? Before he died... Jin Zixuan apologized for taking his anger about being forced into marriage out on my didi and shidi."
"Mmm." He relaxed his stiff posture and leaned back against the grimy stones. He'd read the letters from the future to himself and managed to get Wei Wuxian off the wall and into his brother's house to be assigned punishment. He'd also overcome his aversion to touching people and saved Wei Wuxian from the water abyss. Apparently, he'd failed that particular task four times. But he hadn't expected Jin Zixuan to not only insult Jiang Yanli in front of all the guest disciples, but also start a fight with the Yunmeng Jiangs. Jiang Cheng had pulled his sword out, determined to attack the Jin heir. Jin Zixuan had followed suit. Wei WuXian had stepped in between them in an attempt to stop the fight before someone got hurt.
He had called out, reminding the guest disciples there was no fighting in Yunshen Buzhichu. The three had turned, Wei Wuxian's silvery-gray eyes opening wide. He'd looked down at the sword point emerging from his chest. "Oh. I always wondered how it would feel."
Behind him, Jin Zixuan's face was white with shock. "It was an accident. I swear. An accident! I didn't mean it!" Not meaning it didn't stop Wei WuXian's body from slumping off the sword, crumpling into a heap, unseeing eyes staring into the distance.
She laughed, bringing him out from his memories; it sounded forced and self-deprecating more than jovial. "I'm glad it was quick. I'm jealous, almost. I fear for my didi...
"You saw what Wei Wuxian was like during the guest lectures. Can you imagine the amount of trouble he'd have been in during the Wen Indoctrination? His endless curiosity...." He voice trailed off. She sighed and reached into a qiankun pocket in the hem of her skirt. "It's his journal. I stole it from his room when we got the news. Muqin burned everything else even before his body arrived in Lianhua Wu. I look at it every now and then.... I feel closer to him." She wiped a tear from a grimy cheek. "Technically he was just a shidi to me, my father's head disciple. He was my didi in my mind and heart, no less my brother than A'Cheng." She flipped open the journal, lingering over a few pages before placing it in his lap. "Tomorrow... after I leave... could you?"
"You would like for me to destroy it after the Wen come to take you away?" The reverse time array is in this book. He looked down at the ripped hem of his own skirts where the letters he'd sent back in time were hidden in a qiankun pocket of his own. The Wen had searched his sleeves and lapel pockets when he was captured; they hadn't thought to look in his hems. Jiang Yanli is quite resourceful.
"Yes. Please. I can't bear to destroy it myself. But the thought of Wen Ruohan having it.... Please."
"I promise, Jiang Guniang."
"Thank you, Lan Er Gongzi. I pray your death is as quick and merciful as A'Xian's."
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Dear readers.
Your responses are overwhelming! Thank you so much.
I was honestly thinking it would be ignored because of the TW. After all, killing off the MC is usually not a good start to a fiction.
Thank you for reading. Thank you for commenting. Thank you for voting. - Aitch.
