Chapter 20: Birthday Gift
Wei Wuxian panicked, storming into his sworn brother's office unexpectedly. "Have you found the Wens?!"
"Wei Wuxian, don't barge into the room like that!" Jiang Wanyin glared at him. "It's not me who found them, it was Jin Jixuan."
Wei Wuxian's eyes widened before he dashed out of the room. The action was immediately stopped when a hand grabbed his arm.
"Wei Wuxian! What are you going to do?!" Jiang Wanyin shouted, anger leeching off his body.
The said man did not falter, "What do you think I will do?! Of course I'll save them! I will not let them die!"
"They are the Wens! They carry the symbol of their sect! Those shameless bastards should have died long ago if not because of Lan Wangji!"
"The Wens carry the blood of our comrades in their hands and the fact that they are Lan Wangji's associates did not sit well for everyone!"
Wei Wuxian returned the glare. "Why should they be punished for doing something they did not do? Those Wens you're talking about are of a branch family and have not participated in the war!"
Jiang Wanyin frowned, "So you knew their whereabouts all this time?"
"I've known it since the beginning! The only thing that has been keeping me from saying it to you is the fact that you've been so closed-minded. Think about it Jiang Cheng, all of you are scared of them creating an army and taking revenge...but have you ever thought about them being composed of mostly children and elders?"
Jiang Wanyin gritted his teeth. "It's too late to go now. The Lanling cultivators along with the Qinghe Nie and Gusu Lan Cultivators must have started the invasion."
Wei Wuxian instantly flew away with his sword. Worry filled his mind and hoped that somehow they managed to escape.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck! A-Yuan is there!
He desperately hoped he wasn't too late.
When he arrived he could see them attacking defenseless innocents with only his son trying to protect them.
"Sizhui, what are you doing? Get over here." Jin Jixuan said softly, not wanting to hurt his nephew.
The latter shook his head, "I won't. You're going to hurt them."
Blood already dampened his son's clothes and his unsheathed sword was now tainted with blood.
"A-Yuan!" The attention turned to Wei Wuxian who checked his son first before talking to the audience.
"What are you doing here, hurting my son like this?" Wei Wuxian seethed.
Nie Mingjue said, "Shouldn't we be asking you that? What is a prominent cultivator doing in this area where the Wens reside?"
"If you're thinking about killing every single Wen in this place then you'll have to go through me!" Declared the Right hand man of Jiang Sect Leader.
"Wei Wuxian—" Jin Jixuan was cut off.
"Then I suppose your Sect is also against to punish the wrong. Are you declaring war against us?"
Wei Wuxian glared, "What I'm doing right now does not involve the sect or any action I do for the protection of the Wens!"
"Wei Wuxian, if you value your life, then you must step away!" A random disciple shouted.
"I won't turn a blind eye as you go on killing every single one of them! Hanguang-jun fought in order to protect that family and I must not let it go to waste!"
The Lans stiffened at the mention of their former well disciplined member.
Wei Wuxian turned to his son. "A-Yuan, I want you to gather the Wens and leave."
The latter was about to respond but a stern look left him no choice but to listen. Even if he won't listen, he knows his dad is stubborn and will find a way to make him leave.
Lan Qiren was not having it. "How dare you mention that name in front of us. I will not tolerate such disrespect in our sect!"
"Disrespect? How dare you?" Wei Wuxian asked in disbelief. "Respect comes in both ways! You disrespect my dead friend, you disrespect me!"
The exchange continued between everyone. However no matter how much Jin Jixuan talked to Wei Wuxian into stepping back, he won't.
Nie Mingjue was the first one to lose patience. He raised his sword, Baxia, and struck first at Wei Wuxian who reflexively dodged.
Soon, there were arrows flying in the sky and cultivators running to him and towards the small houses behind him.
As much as possible, he tried to slash them to prevent them from getting closer. Quickly, and cautiously attacking the enemies.
"Dad!" Beside him he saw Wei Yuan fighting alongside him. "I'm going to help you."
"Leave now!" But of course, much to his dismay, his son is stubborn as well. "Damn it!"
He fought harder to protect his son, taking out most of the opponents by himself and earning scratches and wounds all over his body.
In the midst of the chaos, he could hear Jiang Cheng, Jiang Yanli, and Jiang Fengmian calling out his name.
He kicked the Lanling cultivator away just in time for him to see a cultivator about to strike his son's back.
Immediately he covered for him, receiving the blow and getting himself pierced right at the center of his chest.
Just how did we come to this point? We were so happy...
"A-Xian!" He could hear the sweet voice of his Shijie from afar.
With the remainder of his strength, he pulled Wei Yuan and threw him as far away as he could from the crowd.
A-Yuan, I'm sorry...
Then he felt a sword run through his torso, creating a huge gash and blood spilled out. He coughed out blood and turned towards his son.
"Run."
He coughed before landing on his knees and falling on his side but not without Wei Wuxian getting caught by his crying sister.
"S-Shijie..." Blood burst out from his mouth as he laid weakly in his sister's arms. "A-Yuan...please...take care of my son."
"He's a good kid...a good kid..." Wei Wuxian's purple orbs watched them crying for him, making him want to cry too.
A tear slipped from his eye. Despite having himself on his death bed, he tried to lighten up the mood.
"Aiyah, it's a bit sad...dying as a virgin don't you think?" His hand reached to wipe the tears staining his brother's cheek only to smear blood on them.
"Don't cry...don't cry...don't..." Those were the last words that he uttered before laying lifeless in their arms.
The cultivators stopped attacking and stared at the mourning family that surrounded the dead man.
The others noticed the teenager crying near the houses and attempted to attack only for the Sect Leader Jin to stop them.
On that day, Wei Yuan had received the worst birthday gift in his entire life.
Wei Wuxian was declared dead.
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