"You failed him!"
A melancholy silence cascaded over the troops punctuated only by the loud crying of the Jiang Sect Leader. By this point, the man no longer cared for his dignity or pride, just wanted to go back in time to when he was safe, when he was oblivious, when he wasn't the one who had to make decisions. The sadness was crushing; he felt as though someone had winded him and he couldn't suck air back into his lungs no matter how hard he tried. Right now, he just wanted to disappear and cry to his sister, shunning his responsibilities so he could properly mourn.
His brother was dead. The only one who would tolerate his harsh attitude, childish threats and somewhat sulkiness. The only one who was always by his side. The only one who would always support him. The only one who properly understood him. Sure, he still had his Shijie but it was different: with her he was cautious, he didn't want to hurt her and so would never alleviate his true grievances in the same fashion. He would feel comforted but would still bottle it all up and put on a facade. With Wei Ying he knew whatever he said or did, he could take it and would understand. But that was gone, he didn't value it enough when he had it. If (in some miraculous way) he ever got the chance to be with Wei Ying again, he swore to himself he would never leave the boy's side, shielding him from pain.
By this point, Lan Wangji was also beginning to lose his grip of his stoic countenance. His tears silently rolled down his face, gaining momentum. 'Pull yourself together,' he thought,'you can grieve when you get home. You still have his sword, your disciples, his brother and his memory to protect. If you let yourself collapse and break, no one else will know the truth. His sister will be left without both her brothers'.
He straightened himself up, wiped the tears from his face, tucked Suibian away, and unsheathed Bichen. Around him, the rest of the disciples followed suit taking on an attacking stance. Luckily, they had kept the Sword Array strong so it was protecting them for the mean while. Not daring to turn around lest Wen Chao took the opportunity to attack, he shouted out orders.
"Those who are confident fighters move to the front, those who are less confident move to the back. Three of you more accomplished fighters escort Sect Leader Jiang away, do not worry about the rest of us, we will follow you soon. Ensure to keep the sword array strong at all times and don't be reckless. We have found what we came for!"
Wen Chao chuckled again. "Why are you leaving so soon? You didn't think it would be that easy did you?"
To his left and right appeared lines of armed soldiers totalling about 200 in numbers. They were completely outnumbered. No disciple dared to say anything but Lan Wangji was aware of the rising fear and hopelessness of the situation.
"Any last words? It will be a pleasure to kill you too, Hanguang-jun and what will be truly amusing will be watching your collapsing rebellion die with you!"
Anger sparked among the disciples, who was this man to mock their esteemed Hanguang-jun. They resolved to get out of there alive, protecting Lan Wangji wherever possible.
The Wen soldiers collectively drew back their bows and loaded them with burning arrows which blazed through the early morning light. They crashed against the sword array, slightly weakening the points of impact.
"It will be interesting to see how long your disorganised bunch of disciples can hold this up" cried Wen Chao smugly.
"Everyone, focus on the sword array, don't mind me - whatever happens keep it strong whilst retreating and protecting the Jiang Sect Leader".
Set in his determination, Lan Wangji prepared to fight. He tucked Suibian into Jiang Wanyin's belt sash, before heading into battle.
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Authors Note: I hope you enjoy this chapter. Sorry it's a bit short, the next one should be coming out later today (providing I stop procrastinating). Thanks for the votes and comments and if you have any suggestions, feedback or corrections to my story please comment.
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You've Changed | Wangxian |
Fanfiction"What happened to you?"... "Why are you so cold?"... "Who hurt you?"... Wei Ying is missing, the sunshot campaign is struggling and on the brink of collapse. Unknown to the rest of the world, Wei Wuxian is rising again. But he's changed - his once l...
