Wei Wuxian woke up. The simple fact that he did had actually surprised him. After what he had pulled off – commanding resentful energy in the heart of the Qishan Wen sect territory, right in front of Wen Ruohan of all people and letting his family escape – he had been sure that the Qishan Wen sect leader would just kill him on the spot. Aching all over and with his head killing him but he was definitely still alive.
There was something insistently probing at the edges of his consciousness. It was much the same feeling as he had gotten during the first days in the Burial Mounds. The resentful energy wanted to rule him, to control him, to make him a puppet and never let go. Luckily, he knew how to defend himself by now and it was just a matter of deep concentration to keep it at bay. It did not go away but at least it had become tolerable. Still, something felt off, the resentment felt different than usual, more vicious and insistent, as if it was more evil if that was even possible.
And then he remembered what had happened right before he had lost consciousness. Wen Ruohan dragged him into another room, adjacent to the throne room and threw him unceremoniously on the ground. He was then engulfed by a cloud of resentful energy which tried to overpower him. He must have lost consciousness at some point.
It took an unparalleled effort to open his eyes even the tiniest bit, his eyelids felt like they were made of steel. But he managed this feat and carefully looked around.
The first thing he saw was that the was not only laying on the solid ground, but that he was in an iron cage. He did not know how big or small it was, it would cost him too much strength to examine it thoroughly, he could and should probably do that later.
The second thing he saw was a kind of altar just a short distance from him. Someone, most probably Wen Ruohan himself, was standing between him and the glowing and pulsating red light surrounding it. He was moving his hands in exaggerated gestures, it looked like he was summoning something. Wei Wuxian could not see what was there in front of the Qishan Wen sect leader but he could pretty much guess. From the way the resentful energy was swarming around the place, it must have been the Yin iron.
When the resentment headed towards him, he finally realized why he had had such a hard time resisting the pressure in his head. It was not the same resentment he knew; it was not a natural one. The Yin iron itself seemed to radiate evil, and judging by several corpses which were littering the ground, blood still lazily oozing out of them, it must have just been even more strengthened. Wen Ruohan was really a demonic cultivator in the worst sense of the word.
Wei Wuxian could not help himself and he gave out a horrified scream. It was one thing seeing mountains of corpses in the Burial Mounds, an ancient battlefield where they had been expected and only carried injuries from the battles. But it was something else entirely to see the impaled and apparently tortured bodies here. He was not surprised anymore that the resentment felt so different; it was different, its very source was pure evil, not even talking about the man manipulating it.
Wen Ruohan must have heard he was awake because he turned around in a swirl of blood red robes and came down from the altar. Wei Wuxian's eyes were immediately drawn toward the simple, unassuming object lazily flying above it. Despite the situation, he felt amused. He had not expected the feared Yin iron to be what looked like just a regular piece of iron, only shaped into three quarters of a disk. So the Qishan Wen sect leader did not have one piece of it, but three, no wonder he was so powerful and thought he could overtake the whole cultivation world.
Wen Ruohan was suddenly standing in front of him, blocking the view of the altar. Wei Wuxian shook his head, he immediately felt better and the pressure of the resentful energy became smaller. He could finally fully concentrate on the man who was glaring at him with something between displeasure and regret in his eyes.
"Wei Wuxian, Wei Wuxian," he started and his voice thundered painfully inside Wei Wuxian's head. "I thought we have reached an understanding. I was even prepared to welcome you as a son into my family. I admire very much your powers and your prowess in manipulating the resentful energy, with a little more practice, you could perhaps even become just as good as me. I thought you could inherit my powers and stand side by side with my two other sons. No one would have been able to stand against you.
But you have chosen to betray my trust. And I do not like that. Now, I will just have to make you obey by force. But do not worry, you will not suffer too much; once you surrender yourself to the will of the Yin iron, you will become an obedient puppet and you will follow only my orders. It will be a shame to not have you come to my side willingly, but it is too late now, you have already shown your true colours.
That is regrettable but I can work with that. I promise I will make it as painless and fast as possible out of respect for the determination you have shown me in letting the Yunmeng Jiang clan escape. That had really been an impressive plan, you have almost fooled me. Luckily, Wen Chao had warned me just in time that you could have other plans than to peacefully join us. You are loyal to a fault, I like it, soon, your loyalty would be mine and mine alone."
Wen Ruohan smiled and it send shivers down Wei Wuxian's spine. He had been ecstatic when he had heard that his family had apparently escaped. At least one part of his plan had worked, even if not quite like he had imagined it. It did not matter in the end; the most important thing was that the Yunmeng Jiang clan he had been supposed to protect was alright now. He could work with that, he had accomplished his primary mission so even if he would lose his life in the battle with the resentment controlled by Wen Ruohan, everything would be worth it.
Still, he would not just give up like that, he could not. Even if his family was now not in the clutches of the Qishan Wen sect leader anymore, it could change only too quickly. If he would lose to Wen Ruohan and become his puppet like the man wanted, he would surely be used against the allied forces, just an expendable chess piece in this game; but one that the people fighting in the Sunshot campaign knew and could possibly hesitate to injure.
At least Nie Huisang and probably a handful of other people would believe that he had not turned sides and would try to approach him. It could only end in a disaster. No one would be able to help him and the allied forces would discover the truth only too late.
No, he could not let himself succumb to the power of the Yin iron. He had to destroy it, just as he had planned. His new prison cell was so close to it that he would probably be able to study it to his heart's content. Only if the resentment around here was not clouding his judgement and weighing on his mind.
Wen Ruohan gestured with his hand and the altar's glow intensified, just as did the pressure of the resentful energy in Wei Wuxian's head. The Qishan Wen sect leader did not say another word and left the room, it was now only Wei Wuxian and the Yin iron. The transformation process apparently already started, Wen Ruohan did not want his cooperation anymore, he wanted to break him.
Wei Wuxian curled into a ball on the ground when another wave of resentment attacked him, it was clear that Wen Ruohan did not have to be present and that the Yin iron could be controlled even from afar. Which was a valuable information, if only Wei Wuxian could focus enough on studying and coming up with a plan to control the Yin iron and destroy it.
He could not however, he found it hard to concentrate on anything at all, aside for desperately keeping the resentful energy from fully controlling him. It was taking all his non-existent and exhausted strength to go on. He was not sure how long he would be able to resist.
He curled even tighter, closed his eyes and covered his ears and tried to do the same as in the Burial Mounds, to just expel the resentful energy from both his body and mind. He hoped it would still work even now; he had been in a bad condition in the past and still managed to do it, but today, he was completely exhausted, body and soul, and he did not know if he would be able to tame the resentment and make it obey his will again. It seemed completely insane to even try. It was impossible.