"Lan Zhan? Do you know? When you finally decide 'this is it; I'm done', your whole world starts to get really quiet. I could hear the blood pumping through my veins louder than the battle going on around me. I could hear each tear drop as it fell of...
Wei Wuxian woke up the next morning with no ill aftereffects from the drug. And vaguely embarrassing recollections of discussing the thoughts leading up to his death in the Nightless City.
Lan Wangji had left him a letter along with a now cold bowl of porridge. "I hid your alcohol; don't go looking for it," he read aloud. "The porridge was hot when I brought it over. Get up earlier if you want hot food. You are expected at the upper pond to assist with the younger disciples with their archery practice in the morning, and my uncle wants to see you in his study in the afternoon. Your clothes have been sent for washing and mending. Put your hair up properly. You can use any of my hair pieces until we get some for you. And be on your best behavior in public.
"I'm always on my best behavior. We all just have differing opinions as to what 'best behavior' is."
What was left of the morning was passed in great humor. He enjoyed working with the little ones, adjusting their posture, helping their aim, and impressing them with his skills. The afternoon was not as fun. He met Lan QiRen, was lectured at for almost an hour, and then forcibly sent to the training grounds to practice swordsmanship under the watchful eye of Lan XiChen.
It appeared that Lan QiRen still did not know that Wei WuXian's golden core was gone based on the scolding that proper etiquette for Cultivators included carrying their spiritual sword at all times. Lan XiChen, however, did know, and insisted that Wei WuXian needed to build up his strength so he could defend himself at least with a regular blade in the future.
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HanGuang-Jun entered the Jingshi late in the evening to find his usually immaculate home a mess. Cloth bundles in varying shades of the lilac preferred by the YunMengJiang Sect leadership were strewn here and there. A wooden box tipped on its side, hair pieces and jade tassels spilling out of it. Most of the hair pieces were rather plain pieces; but one had a lotus flower design sculpted out of amethysts and emeralds. Suibian lay precariously balanced on the dining table. And Wei Ying was lying on the floor in the middle of this mess. Lan Zhan's hand clenched around Bichen in anger, not at the mess, although that was annoying. No, this time it was the lilac clothing and amethysts that were the fuel for his ire.
It was quite obvious that the YunMengJiang Sect wanted their prodigy cultivator back. They had carelessly and flagrantly thrown him away for protecting the weak and innocent. Even after his death and subsequent resurrection, they continued to rail against him as an evil monster. Now that he was vindicated, they had such thick skins, pretending as if the spineless Jiang Cheng hadn't bowed down before his fellow Sect leaders and disavowed his adopted brother! So many of the baseless accusations and unwarranted and irrational hatred against the Yiling Patriarch could have been resolved by Jiang Cheng standing firm with Wei WuXian; the two brothers should have stayed side by side, as they were meant to be. As they vowed to be.
But Jiang Cheng's jealousy and desperate need to be accepted by others was always greater than his affection for his elder brother. Even when, or especially when, those others were Sect leaders who hated to see a servant's son excelling in his studies and deeds over their sons, exceeding all expectations, and accomplishing the impossible.
