Solstice Souls

The Truth of the Past

Wei Ying POV

At first, Wei Ying drifted peacefully in the deep body-numbing exhaustion that had claimed him. Nothingness was not always bad. He had no idea how long he had been asleep. It felt like it had been only minutes. The energy inside him that had been ebbing away suddenly sparked to life.

He could feel its pull, trying to bring him to consciousness. But Wei Ying was just so tired. His limbs felt like they had rocks stuffed inside them. Opening his eyes was impossible. Even if he did, he knew what he would see. More darkness.

His dreams had been filled with nightmares of Lan Zhan being held in the scorpion's grip. Wei Ying fought to free him but the creature refused to surrender its prize. In one dream, the evil monstrosity had crushed Lan Zhan's body and cut his soulmate in two. Wei Ying's screams were silent in that world. They always were.

His mind awoke once during the night even though his body refused to budge. He heard Lan Zhan's steady breathing next to him which settled his heart. At least he was still alive. Wei Ying could only pray that his jade would not look at him with hatred and disgust once those beautiful amber eyes opened. That was something he did not want to think about so he allowed sleep to pull him under again.

And then....something pushed through the veil of resentful energy that kept watch over its master. His energy coiled around his core, testing the intruding energy. The dark energy was still in control, for the most part, unwilling to let any harm come to the being that it possessed.

Wei Ying sensed the change in his core, his foggy mind still struggling to think clearly. He felt warmth slowly return to his arms and legs. The darkness that had been holding him captive brightened ever so slightly as if someone had lit a candle. But instead of a warm golden glow like a weak flame, this energy was white. It was pure.

His resentful energy not only didn't attack this new energy, it began merging with it. Suddenly, Wei Ying felt a huge surge in his energy, his core feeding off the excess power created by the unexpected union. He basked in the euphoric sensation. It was an incredible feeling! At this moment, Wei Ying knew he could do anything. All of his fear and uncertainty vanished, replaced with serenity and....love.

Lan Zhan. This was Lan Zhan's white core energy!

But...why was his dark energy not trying to destroy it? Why did he feel stronger? Did Lan Zhan feel the same way?

Wei Ying remembered how they had both felt after their kiss on their way back from seeing his grandmother. Only this time, the joining of their powers was magnified a hundred times more. Maybe it was because they were closer to each other now in heart and mind. They had both fully accepted the love they felt for the other and were no longer at odds with themselves.

Before he had been afraid that the surge in his energy would harm Lan Zhan. He had been terrified of what his soulmate would think of him if he knew he was a Demonic Cultivator. Yet now it seemed that their two energies, like Yin and Yang, needed each other to be complete.

Wei Ying opened his eyes.

"Lan Zhan." he whispered.

His jade sat there, unblinking. Wei Ying's heart sank. Lan Zhan's expression was unreadable, even to him. Bichen's glow illuminated its master's face in the same pure white energy that Wei Ying had felt inside him. He could still feel its remnants tickling against his core. His own energy was still coursing through him as if it was searching for its lost companion.

"I'm sorry." Wei Ying murmured sadly.

Lan Zhan kept staring at him. The guilt of hiding his true self from the one person who had repeatedly accepted him for who he was rose up like bile from Wei Ying's gut. He lowered his head trying to hide those red eyes that burned like smoldering coals. Tears of regret trickled down his high cheekbones in an endless flow of sorrow.