The ritual Mo Xuanyu performed was for revenge. But revenge shall it remain till his soul did not rest.
When Wei Wuxian killed all those who Mo Xuanyu deemed worthy of a sorrowful death as repayment for his humiliation and torture, he got something like an offering.
The cultivation world had offered Yiling Patriarch many things in life, but what could Mo Xuanyu, a boy of sixteen afford to offer? An offering is no small thing and one's life is the most dear to anyone. So Mo Xuanyu made his mind the day he performed the ritual.
He wished for revenge and revenge shall he get, and if the Patriarch does what Mo Xuanyu wants, the realm of soul and possibility may join hands and from the memory and soul of the Patriarch, might return him his life—old and new at once, sold and gold at price just.
The full restoration would remain in the blind hands of the Patriarch, for how he will achieve that a hazy mark, but sure enough to give him the star.
How wonderful is life, how harrowing the death. But the plane of after-death is a bliss, for few souls would lie.
But who could find, those who prefer light ?
For twilight is, but ungraspable, a silly illusion of something sweet.
A mixture of all bitter and sweet.
—
————~•●•~—————
A whole day and two nights— all awake non slept, fingers drawing complex arrays, mind calculating every direction, brain deciding every step is what takes Wei Wuxian to complete the longest array ritual ever. He is not summoning anything nor is he eliminating or trapping someone; he is collecting something, a part of himself recalled from his very own soul’s pieces he has.
His yearning and determination is more than enough to fuel the arrays and enchantments to work, for the spell to consume and give the expected outcome.
Outside the courtyard in which he is preparing the array, Jiang Cheng is standing with two of his most trusted disciples beside him; ready to interfere least something goes wrong.
Not that it would. Wei Wuxian told Jiang Cheng the same, also warning him that if something untoward did happen, Jiang Cheng wouldn’t be able to help anyway as the backlash could be too much.
They both are haggard, between the week-long trip to the hills in Yiling and the return to Lotus Peir to complete the process; they are at their wit’s end. Jiang Cheng from carrying both of them on his sword for long distances without rest and Wei Wuxian from continuous strain on his resurrected body and mind. But everything will be over soon, for good or for worse.
This is the last stage and the most intricate and difficult one. A single mistake would cause him not only his but the Jiangs’ lives too who are waiting for him outside.
Finally, the array is done. Now the only thing left to do is to activate it and dip in his senses, praying that nothing would go wrong.
Wei Wuxia takes out a box wrapped in a piece of soft cotton from his things scattered near one side of the array, removing the lid to uncover a glowing ball of energy inside along with a sealed vial. The ball was emitting a soft but radiant blue glow, the vial filled with a pure black liquid, strictly in contrast with the light.
Taking both things with him, Wei Wuxian disrobed till he was only left in his trousers. Breaking the seal of the vial, he let a few drops onto the surface of the array— the liquid flowing like a serpentine; bending and slithering along the array’s design like it had a mind of its own.
When every nook and canny of the array was flowing with the dark liquid, Wei Wuxian himself stepped into it, reaching the centre with ease and getting into lotus position.
The ball was in his lap, glowing in the darkness. A bit of his blood and the array glowed bright, bathing him in its light. After that, he let himself drown in his mind, focusing on his soul and life-force.
Then, it was all black.
——————•●•——————
Jiang Wanyin didn’t know what to expect from his brother.
He has learned to not expect anything from anyone; but with Wei Wuxian and Jiang Yanli, it was different. Two selfless people, who never thought things through before jumping into the fire to protect the other.
Right now, the only one in the fire was Wei Wuxian himself. When Wei Wuxian had told him about his plan, the first thing that went in his mind was danger. Jiang Cheng was used to the word, having associated the word with his life every single day but this time, there was something else too.
He was worried.
In his second life, Wei Wuxian had redeemed himself truly. Though some crimes can never be forgiven, Jiang Cheng knew that few would claim to belong to the same era that saw the fallout of QishenWen and claim no blood on their hand.
So his feeling and fraying nerves at the moment were totally justified, given that his brother was inside the courtyard performing a ritual which no one had heard of. Jiang Cheng did not know about its source and Wei Wuxian refused to breath a word about it .
The other disciple staying with him were fidgeting nervously, their posture too tense and senses too open.
They themselves didn’t knew the whole situation, just that the Yilling Patriarch was doing something.
After what felt like hours standing outside the courtyard since morning, a shrill hiss sounded, the winds howling around them along with a blinding glow which forced them to shield their eyes before everything went silent.
For a moment no one moved, too afraid to make a sound before Jiang Cheng broke from his trance to dash inside.
Inside the courtyard, everything was in shambles. Cinnabar sticks lay on the ground, papers on every surface known to mankind while a cloth bag was lying open at one side, seemingly forgotten.
A few broken buckets were also on the ground with the ground miraculously dry. The array was gone.
Jiang Cheng’s stomach dropped, thinking something went wrong when his eyes landed on the figure lying in the centre of the area the array was supposed to cover. The man who was only wearing his trousers, was on his back, limbs spread out like he was in a deep sleep.
There was a hint of beard on his face, his physic tall and strong if not a bit on the thin side. His chest muscles rose with every breath indicating that he was alive and there was also a scar on the left pectoral. On closer look the scar turned out to be sliced in between; the skin totally and brutally burnt from when it must have happened.
A Wen brand. Tortured skin.
If there was any doubt in Jiang Cheng’s mind about the identity of the man earlier, then the brand and the slit in his lower dantian cleared it immediately. Jiang Cheng may not remember much, but he would recognise that scar anywhere.
The scar of golden-core transfer.
Still, it took him another two minutes of gaping before he came back to his senses and barked orders at his disciples to come and help him carry Wei Wuxian back to his room.
His brother was heavy. Jiang Cheng had never been more glad of the fact.
——————•●•——————
Opening one’s eyes is a chore.
Wei Ying decides that he will continue sleeping for his whole life if he can be spared to perform such a hard task. Sadly, the decision is snatched away from him as he hears soft murmurs around him; someone trying to keep their voice down and failing.
With his sense of hearing at work, Wei Wuxian finds his body awakening, every cun feeling new and him.
And suddenly, the memories come rushing back.
The ritual! It worked!
In an instant his eyes are open, his body thruming with an energy he hadn’t felt with such intensity in a long while. Looking around he spots Jiang Cheng talking to a healer who nodded briskly before their eyes met.
The healer forgotten, Jiang Cheng rushed to the bed, appearing more scared and frustrated than Wei Wuxian has ever seen him.
He finds himself laughing, seeing his younger brother fussing over him. That stops the prodding and touching, but Jiang Cheng is still hovering near him with wide eyes and mouth agape that Wei Wuxian couldn’t help but tease his shidi about it.
“ A Cheng~ what happened ? Do I look like a forest demons now ?”
For a long time Jian Cheng didn’t speak leading Wei Wuxian to think he really messed up. But then he saw that his brother had a shine in his eyes, his face so open Wei Wuxian didn’t remember seeing ever and everything made sense. The knowledge seeped into him too, a gentle and overwhelming wave lulling him and he closed his eyes again.
This time though, it wasn’t due to exhaustion rather from the feeling of bone deep satisfaction and finality which came after a successful nighthunting.
The voice...it was his own voice.
He raised one of his hands slowly, shaking, afraid he would see the same gaunt small ones but no. In front of him were long fingers belonging to a hand much used to writing sword with small scars littering the thumb and index finger.
He let the tears fall ( he hadn’t known they were even there), barely registering another body shaking slightly beside him. A tumble and they were a heap of limbs glued to each other; both of them afraid to let go.
Though the moment ended as soon as it started and Jian Cheng pinched him in the arm, rubbing his eyes furiously.
Wei Wuxian couldn’t let a chance go to tease him about it, though his own eyes were red rimmed and there was a noticeable hitch in his voice when he tried to speak. They laughed together, the first they had since Wei Wuxian defected in his first life and all was well.
This was definitely needed. Not for anyone else, but for himself. In his own body, Wei Ying knew he felt whole— complete in soul and body literally.
He thanked Mo Xuanyu in his mind once again; for not only giving him a second life but also a second chance and his first body. He will thank him in a proper way as soon as he gets out of the bed, by making a marked grave for him.
This time, he is whole. This time, he is sure.
°———————~•●•~————————°
Last edited: 24 December, 2021 ~ 10 January, 2022, 14 January, 2022
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