You've Changed | Wangxian |

Chapter 3 - Attack on Qishan

Third Person POV

Stealthily, they crept through the darkness until they reached the open ground surrounding the perimeter. The sun had not yet risen but faint yellow light could be seen inching its way into the sky; there was almost no sign of life within Qishan. No disciples in the grounds, few guards and even far away in the distant ancestral hall it was silent. The air was still and close and the unsettling atmosphere became apparent.

Originally, Jiang Cheng and Lan Zhan had anticipated for a stricter security system around the education centre but upon first impression, it seemed very basic - no barrier to cross, no guards to overcome. Maybe it was too simple? They looked at each other wordlessly questioning before launching the attack.

Altogether, they had around 50 men to back them up, but they may as well of had none for it was extremely unnecessary. Between the shrubbery that they had been hidden in and the wall they needed to scale, was around 100 meters of barren land, which they successfully crossed in under a minute. The only form of resistance they encountered was a pathetic, solitary guard killed with one whip of Zidian. Next, was a short climb over before they officially entered the Education centre.

Again, it was deserted. Something was definitely wrong. At best, something had happened to the Wens - perhaps Wen Ruohan had died, or maybe they had all been rushed to the front line to fight - but that seemed very unlikely considering the weakened force of the rebellion. At worst, they lay in wait, watching their every move like hunters and prey. Jiang Cheng sincerely hoped it wasn't the latter.

It struck both of the leaders as odd to see the area so desolate and neglected. The last time they had been here it was full of guards, various sect disciples and friends. Looking around, they could remember all the happy and sad scenes of the past: the place where their swords had been seized, the bottom of the steps where Wei Ying had recited the Lan Clan's rules, the small rooms that they had been confined to... With the memories came waves of emotion and one person filled both of their heads. "Wei Ying," they thought in unison.

Focusing back on the task at hand, they instructed the troops to spread out and look for information before both slowly climbing to the top of the steps to act as look out. If anyone had wanted to shoot at them, they would have been like sitting ducks practically begging to be hit. But no onslaught of arrows came and before they had processed anything they reached the top.

It was empty.

Pausing, they looked at one another.

"Hanguang-jun something must be wrong." stated the Jiang Sect Leader.

"Hmn" responded Wangji

"I thought we would find something here, anything. I even made myself believe we might find Wei Ying."

"Hmn"

The Jiang Sect Leader wasn't really expecting a response but it felt nice to be able to talk a bit to someone regardless of whether the Lan boy was really listening. It felt as though they understood each other, united in their shared longing for Wei Ying.

"Damn it Wei Ying! What do I do now? What do I do if I can't find you? How will I rebuild our home, how will we win this war if your not here?"

This time there was no muffled response from Lan Wangji. All the built up anger and frustration was about to burst in Jiang Cheng and Zidian began to glow and crackle. He gave in to it and began to carelessly whip and lash out at the monuments around him.

"Arrgghh" he screamed. Destroying the Wen's precious statues wasn't nearly as satisfying as he had hoped. The torn flags still flew as if mocking him and the rolling heads kept their sarcastic smiles. He wanted to cry but he didn't want to lose his sense of dignity. "Why was it so hopeless?" he thought.

Lan Wangji had stayed cold and quiet, unperturbed by the Jiang Sect Leaders outburst. In a way he also wanted to scream and shout and beg Wei Ying to come back but he knew it would be a waste. Just as they were about to leave, none the wiser on Wei Ying's situation a shrill scream reached their ears. They hurriedly ran down the steps taking them three at a time until they reached the source.

"What happened?" Lan Wangji hastily inquired to a disciple.

"Over there." The disciple pointed and the two men could see an indistinct, black shape writhing around on the floor. Upon further inspection, they found it was actually multiple figures: a disciple grey in the face, foaming black blood at the mouth with blood dripping from the cavities where his eyes should have been; and several snake like creatures burying into his exposed flesh.

The serpents were approximately a meter in length with pronounced, ebony, skeletal frames threatening to rip through their skin. They were scaly and shrouded in a black mist. Their faces held bulging, blind eyes and dripping fangs. They radiated out from what looked like a doorway, coating the walls and floor piling up, completely engulfing anything in their path. Merciless in their pursuit. But that wasn't the worst thing.

The worst thing was the noise. From a distance it sounded like faint whispering accompanied by loud cracking and crunching from their dislocating bones however once the men got closer they could hear better what was being said. There was breathy, teasing laughter and crude screaming but they repeated one phrase over and over in their grating voices...

..."Wei Ying is dead!"

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Author's Note: Hi! I hope you have enjoyed this chapter. Please like and comment if you find any mistakes or have any suggestions. I'm going to try and update again very soon.