The last thing he could remember was Lan Wangji's desperate expression as he screamed his name. Well, to be more precise, he could also remember the strange feeling that suddenly took over his body. A warm and shimmering light invaded his mind and soul before everything turned dark.
Wait, he could remember?
How am I conscious at all?
Wei Wuxian instantaneously opened his eyes, his chest rising and falling as he was struggling to breathe.
Where am I? Am I alive?
He thought as he quickly looked around alarmed, his eyes – still widened from the shock - cautiously analyzing every small detail of his surroundings. He was sitting on the ground on top of the grass, his aching back pressed against the trunk of a tree. The time was unknown, but he could tell that it was evening since the sun was setting down. If he wasn't dead, had he been unconscious for an entire day? Or perhaps weeks or months? He couldn't tell at all.
Moreover, although his mind had already grasped the fact that this was not the depths of the hole he had fallen into, he slightly leaned his head back against the trunk so that he could look up. Just as expected, he could only see the branches and leaves from the tall trees. There were no traces of a cliff, hill, or mountain whatsoever. At this point, Wei Wuxian was only certain about two things: he was no longer in Nightless City and he was feeling extremely exhausted. That's when he also realized how much pain his head and body were in. It's as if something had crushed all of his bones at once before putting them all together again.
Did I actually fall? That wouldn't make sense though...
He thought. His body was indeed in a bad shape, but falling off a cliff that high would not have ended up with these kinds of injuries. He gathered all of his energy to stand up, feeling how his head and mind were weighing down on him. He held onto the side of the trunk as he slowly got up from the ground, taking the opportunity to look around and see if there was something he hadn't spotted before.
Are those lights?
He thought as he narrowed his eyes a little. Since the sun was setting down and the darkness of the night started taking over the forest, Wei Wuxian's eyes were able to spot something shiny from the distance. He silently gasped as the realization hit him. It was a town! And a very festive one from what he could tell. Or else they wouldn't have so many lights and colors brightening the whole place.
In this instance, Wei Wuxian couldn't care less about being recognized by others. He was feeling so baffled as to why, where, and how he had landed up here, which is why he needed to confirm it with his own eyes. He made sure to follow the source of light which only grew bigger as he kept walking, his curiosity gradually making him more impatient. However, as the trees started decreasing in number, Wei Wuxian instantly stopped walking as his eyes spotted the 'town' he was expecting to find. They widened in shock, paralyzed as they forgot how to blink. There was no time to blink. He could feel his heart drop and his stomach tighten. As for the emotions he was feeling at that moment, there were no words to describe them.
He shakily placed his hand against the trunk of the tree beside him and slowly stepped forward, his lips slightly parted as his mind was struggling with processing the unfamiliar sight.
He had realized that he wasn't in Nightless City... but now he didn't even know if this was his world in the first place.
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"Where am I?"
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Publication date: 16.12.2022
Images: Pinterest and The Untamed (2019); Xiao Zhan as Wei Wuxian
Dear reader, I apologize for the extremely short chapter. I am currently still writing the next ones, but decided to go ahead and publish this extract so that you have a small idea about what to expect!
