Mo Dao Zu Shi(Wei Ying's POV)

12.Chilly Sandalwood

Wen Ning stood with his head hanging low as if he were a marionette waiting for his master to pull strings and give commands.

His face was pale. Black cracking lines had climbed up his face from his neck. His eyes are white devoid of pupils. His black robes were tattered and he was bound by heavy chains that jingled eerily whenever he moved.

Wei Wuxian was at a loss of words when he gazed at his old friend. For a moment, he even felt as if he was back to the days he spent on burial mounds. He thought everything was just a nightmare and he would wake up to see everyone still alive. But he also knew, his thoughts were too far from reality.

He had already died once. All the people he ever wanted to protect were no longer in the world except Wen Ning who is somehow still alive but not conscious.

His palms became sweaty and trembled from the overwhelming anxiety as he looked at the scene before him. The disciples surrounded Wen Ning but still stood at a safe distance in case Wen Ning attacked them.

Sensing that the attention was diverted, the stone goddess stretched her arm and picked up Jin Ling who was near the statue. As Wei Wuxian saw the goddess open her mouth to absorb Jin Ling's soul, he didn't have time to be surprised.

Wei Wuxian brought the bamboo flute to his lips and played a tune commanding Wen Ning to attack the goddess statue immediately. Because of his trembling hands, the tune went off-key and sounded extremely unpleasant but at least it did the work perfectly. Aside from his rusty skills, the flute was badly crafted so, he wasn't entirely at fault for the unpleasant melody.

Wen Ning started fighting with the goddess. Wei Wuxian became more and more confused about why Wen Ning was not conscious. Usually, low-level corpses are unable to think or act on their own. But, Wen Ning is not some low-level corpse. He was created by Wei Wuxian and is the only fierce corpse to have the ability to think and act on its own will. He could be called the strongest fierce corpse in the current world. Aside from not fearing pain and injuries and not needing any food or sleep, he is the same as a human being. So, Wei Wuxian wondered what caused Wen Ning to become like this.

Just then, Wei Wuxian heard a few cries from the crowd of cultivators as Wen Ning trapped the stone goddess on the ground. He then proceeded to pick up a huge rock on the side which was taller than a human and looked heavy. Wen Ning picked up the rock and slammed it onto the goddess statue with great force.

Sure enough, the stone goddess statue was shattered to pieces after a while of continuous strikes.

Among the pile of rocks, Wei Wuxian noticed the core of the goddess which was emitting a white light. If it was handled properly, some of the souls could be restored but at the moment, no one made an effort to pick up the core. Rather, their attention was now on Wen Ning. Who would want a mere soul-consuming goddess when they have the great ghost general standing in front of them?

"Close in on him!" Someone shouted. Although everyone was hesitant at first, they soon joined in to surround Wen Ning with their swords unsheathed. Yet they were still hesitant to make a move on him.

"What are you scared of? It's not as if the Yiling Patriarch is here right now." The person shouted again.

Before they could make a move, Wei Wuxian played his flute to command Wen Ning to scare them off so that they would leave him alone. Wen Ning waved his arm causing the heavy chains to sweep past the swords and make their swords tilt aside.

What Wei Wuxian didn't expect was Wen Ning gripped a cultivator's neck tightly and lifted him off the ground. He didn't want to harm anyone. He only wanted to scare them off. Wei Wuxian panicked for a bit and realized that the notes he just played were too abrupt and caused Wen Ning to behave aggressively. He tried to calm his mind and switched to a more calmer melody.

He didn't know where he heard this. It just came to his mind naturally. It was peaceful and serene. Much gentler and more relaxing than the bizarre and vigorous notes he just played.

Wen Ning froze as soon as he heard the tune and slowly released the cultivator, throwing him on the ground. He turned to Wei Wuxian and walked towards him at a slow pace dragging the heavy iron chains.

Wei Wuxian stepped back and retreated as he played his flute while Wen Ning followed him. After a short while, they almost moved into the forest. Wei Wuxian wanted to move deep into the forest to a secure and more isolated place so that he could inspect Wen Ning and maybe try to bring back his consciousness.

However, the god seems to have other plans. He soon caught a familiar chilly scent of sandalwood. Immediately, his back bumped into something or rather someone. He stopped playing his flute when he felt a sudden pain in his wrist. He instantly knew someone caught him while controlling Wen Ning. He feared that his identity was going to be revealed as well.

He turned around to look who caught him. His eyes collided with Lan Wangji's golden eyes. His mind seemed to have malfunctioned as he gazed at the pair of cold eyes from such a close distance.

Whatever little hope he had before was crushed in front of Lan Wangji. Now that Lan Wangji saw him playing flute and controlling Wen Ning, it's over for him.

Lan Wangji gripped his wrist tightly as if he was afraid that Wei Wuxian would run away. Wei Wuxian turned back to Wen Ning who was standing a few steps away from them. He stopped walking and kept looking around like he was searching for the flute sound. He thought for a second and made his decision.

So what if Lan Wangji saw him? Many people try to imitate the Yiling Patriarch. It's not like whoever plays the flute has to be Wei Wuxian right?

Wei Wuxian didn't give a damn and continued playing.

This time, the notes were not calm. Rather it was a bit hurried as if he was urging Wen Ning to retreat immediately and hide somewhere safely.

The notes cracked at the end as he felt the grip on his wrist tighten almost causing his wrist to break. He loosened his fingers because of pain and the bamboo flute in his hands fell on the ground.

Wen Ning retreated into the dark forest without a sound. Wei Wuxian feared that Lan Wangji might go after Wen Ning so, he grabbed Lan Wangji's hand. Surprisingly, Lan Wangji never once glanced at Wen Ning and kept staring at him the whole time.

Wei Wuxian's eyes once again met with Lan Wangji's. He was surprised that Lan Wangji still held his arm and didn't push him away. In the past, he always avoided touching others yet here he is, initiating physical contact. As Wei Wuxian stared at his eyes, he could feel his heart tremble. Lan Wangji was not glaring at him coldly as he would usually do. There was no anger or disdain. Instead, his eyes held a lot of emotions that Wei Wuxian couldn't decipher.

Lan Wangji's touch was warm and comfortable on the cold night. Only Wei Wuxian knew how much he yearned for this type of warmth in his past life. During the days he spent on the burial mounds, he often confined himself in his cave working on new talismans to distract himself from the cold in his body and the loneliness that surrounded him. And after his shijie died, there was no one else who could comfort him and give him reassurances.

Using resentment energy is not easy for him either. It is not light and warm like spiritual energy. Resentment energy is cold and sharp to the point of freezing his body from the inside. Although he got accustomed to it later, it still felt uncomfortable when he used it excessively.

Now that he felt the warmth again, he didn't want to let go. His grip on Lan Wangji's arm tightened slightly as if he were afraid that the little amount of coziness would disappear.

But unfortunately, he didn't have a choice when he heard Jiang Cheng's voice. Both of them let go of each other's hands and Wei Wuxian took a step away from him. He is already dreading that Lan Wangji caught him. On top of that, Jiang Cheng is also here now. It's really over for him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~