Wei Ying POV
At first, Wei Ying drifted peacefully in the deep body-numbing exhaustion that had claimed him. Nothingness was not always bad. He had no idea how long he had been asleep. It felt like it had been only minutes. The energy inside him that had been ebbing away suddenly sparked to life.
He could feel its pull, trying to bring him to consciousness. But Wei Ying was just so tired. His limbs felt like they had rocks stuffed inside them. Opening his eyes was impossible. Even if he did, he knew what he would see. More darkness.
His dreams had been filled with nightmares of Lan Zhan being held in the scorpion's grip. Wei Ying fought to free him but the creature refused to surrender its prize. In one dream, the evil monstrosity had crushed Lan Zhan's body and cut his soulmate in two. Wei Ying's screams were silent in that world. They always were.
His mind awoke once during the night even though his body refused to budge. He heard Lan Zhan's steady breathing next to him which settled his heart. At least he was still alive. Wei Ying could only pray that his jade would not look at him with hatred and disgust once those beautiful amber eyes opened. That was something he did not want to think about so he allowed sleep to pull him under again.
And then....something pushed through the veil of resentful energy that kept watch over its master. His energy coiled around his core, testing the intruding energy. The dark energy was still in control, for the most part, unwilling to let any harm come to the being that it possessed.
Wei Ying sensed the change in his core, his foggy mind still struggling to think clearly. He felt warmth slowly return to his arms and legs. The darkness that had been holding him captive brightened ever so slightly as if someone had lit a candle. But instead of a warm golden glow like a weak flame, this energy was white. It was pure.
His resentful energy not only didn't attack this new energy, it began merging with it. Suddenly, Wei Ying felt a huge surge in his energy, his core feeding off the excess power created by the unexpected union. He basked in the euphoric sensation. It was an incredible feeling! At this moment, Wei Ying knew he could do anything. All of his fear and uncertainty vanished, replaced with serenity and....love.
Lan Zhan. This was Lan Zhan's white core energy!
But...why was his dark energy not trying to destroy it? Why did he feel stronger? Did Lan Zhan feel the same way?
Wei Ying remembered how they had both felt after their kiss on their way back from seeing his grandmother. Only this time, the joining of their powers was magnified a hundred times more. Maybe it was because they were closer to each other now in heart and mind. They had both fully accepted the love they felt for the other and were no longer at odds with themselves.
Before he had been afraid that the surge in his energy would harm Lan Zhan. He had been terrified of what his soulmate would think of him if he knew he was a Demonic Cultivator. Yet now it seemed that their two energies, like Yin and Yang, needed each other to be complete.
Wei Ying opened his eyes.
"Lan Zhan." he whispered.
His jade sat there, unblinking. Wei Ying's heart sank. Lan Zhan's expression was unreadable, even to him. Bichen's glow illuminated its master's face in the same pure white energy that Wei Ying had felt inside him. He could still feel its remnants tickling against his core. His own energy was still coursing through him as if it was searching for its lost companion.
"I'm sorry." Wei Ying murmured sadly.
Lan Zhan kept staring at him. The guilt of hiding his true self from the one person who had repeatedly accepted him for who he was rose up like bile from Wei Ying's gut. He lowered his head trying to hide those red eyes that burned like smoldering coals. Tears of regret trickled down his high cheekbones in an endless flow of sorrow.
Wei Ying shifted his body away from Lan Zhan's but was shocked when the jade's body followed until he was pressed against white robes once more. Lan Zhan's steady hands reached out and cupped Wei Ying's face. The jade pulled Wei Ying's face back up until their eyes locked.
"Beautiful." Lan Zhan said with conviction.
Wei Ying broke. His cries echoed off the rock walls entrapping them. Lan Zhan's thumbs continually wiped away the tears Wei Ying wept, unwilling to let even one get past him. He leaned over and placed a single kiss over each closed lid. Wei Ying sobbed uncontrollably. The relief he felt at revealing his last, deepest, darkest secret and having Lan Zhan still want to be by his side was staggering.
"Want to see. Open." Lan Zhan demanded lovingly.
Wei Ying hesitantly opened his eyes again.
Lan Zhan's golden eyes flashed brightly, almost glowing themselves.
"Wei Ying is beautiful. Wei Ying is powerful. Wei Ying is mine. Wei Ying is loved. Love you forever, no matter what." the young jade swore to the man with ruby red eyes.
Lan Zhan leaned in. Their lips met in a soft touch. Wei Ying whimpered. He began moving his lips slowly, cautiously. Lan Zhan answered back by deepening their kiss. His tongue slid between those plump pieces of flesh that were the doorway to heaven. Wei Ying's whimper became a deep moan. Arms that had felt like rocks now were as light as air and slipped around his jade's neck, pulling him closer.
Lan Zhan responded immediately by lifting Wei Ying into his lap and trailing scorching kisses down his now easily accessible neck. He bit and licked his way over to Wei Ying's collarbone all the while gliding his strong hands up and down Wei Ying's back. The younger man purred and tried to find places to lay his own kisses. When he failed, he grabbed Lan Zhan's hair and yanked his jade's head back so he could worship the lips that were incinerating his control.
Both were lost to the other's touch. Their cores hummed and surged in unison, the perfect combination of dark and light. Mouths hungered for a taste of the sweet ecstasy held within their mate's depths. Hands roamed freely, unhindered by society's rules which were locked outside with no way inside. Bodies craved a closeness that only their souls could grant them.
They kept up their intimate bonding until Wei Ying felt Lan Zhan flinch. He broke away, his eyes now a bright silver again.
"Lan Zhan, you're hurt badly." he explained as Lan Zhan looked at him hungrily. "We have to tend to your wounds. And," he hesitated, looking around them. "We need to find a way out of here."
Lan Zhan submitted to Wei Ying's examination of his head wound. Wei Ying first removed Lan Zhan's headpiece before slowly undoing the blood soaked cloth he had placed on haphazardly when they first entered the cave. He tossed it away, burning it with a fire talisman. His long fingers felt along the back of his jade's head until they touched the large gash.
Lighting another fire talisman, Wei Ying tended to the sticky wound. He used most of what remained of their water to clean it before using some of the healing paste. They could ration the water. But Lan Zhan's wound could easily become infected considering where they were.
He needed more light to properly see the extent of the damage. The fire talisman that was burning was bright but he had to keep it a safe distance from Lan Zhan's hair lest he scorch those silky strands that were now dull with dirt and sweat.
"Lan Zhan, may I use Bichen for more light, please?"
"Mn."
Lan Zhan picked up his sword and imbued it with more of his now restored energy. Wei Ying moved it closer to the back of the jade's head. He wanted to make sure that there were no additional cuts or scrapes on Lan Zhan's neck so he gently pushed the dark hair out of his way.
"Lan...Zhan." Wei Ying gasped. "You have a birthmark, too. Did you know this?"
Lan Zhan reached back and placed his fingers where Wei Ying's were touching his skin.
"What does it look like?" he asked.
"It looks like....the sun." Wei Ying replied. "You didn't know it was here?"
Lan Zhan lowered his hand and sat very still. Wei Ying waited for him to speak knowing that if he was taking this much time to answer, Lan Zhan was thinking very hard about what he was going to say. So he was patient.
"No one has touched there since mother." Wei Ying could hear the pain in his jade's voice and wanted to take it all away. "She never said."
Wei Ying took his hand and squeezed. "You never talk about your parents."
Lan Zhan turned away and Wei Ying immediately regretted bringing up the sensitive subject. He released his jade's hand and returned to his previous care of Lan Zhan's head wound. Tearing off another piece of his inner robe, Wei Ying took his time and wrapped it tenderly around Lan Zhan's head.
Satisfied that the worst injury was now taken care of, Wei Ying began removing Lan Zhan's outer robes.
"I am fine." the jade said. He made to stand but Wei Ying pulled him back down.
"You are not fine. I can see the blood stains on your robes." Wei Ying reprimanded. "Now take them off or I'll do it for you. I need to see how badly you're hurt."
Lan Zhan sighed in resignation. Slowly, he pushed off his outer robe. Wei Ying had to help him with the inner robe as the material was stuck to the already scabbing wounds. With each motion, Wei Ying could see the flinch in Lan Zhan's beautiful golden eyes. He silently cursed himself for not being more alert during the hunt and letting that creature hurt his precious jade.
Under normal circumstances, Wei Ying would have ached to touch the bare skin now exposed to him. But now all he could think about was how much he wished he could use his power to heal the beautiful man sitting with him. He tried to concentrate on something else other than the feel of Lan Zhan's naked torso and arms under his diligent fingertips. However, his mind kept filling with thoughts it had no right to imagine. At least, not yet.
Lan Zhan must have sensed his uneasiness and tried to distract him with conversation. Fortunately, it was one that Wei Ying had already scripted out in his head ever since he decided to tell Lan Zhan about his power.
"Will Wei Ying explain? Will not judge. Want to....understand." Lan Zhan spoke softly.
Wei Ying looked up at him, his silver eyes sparkling with hope.
"I don't know why my core is black. Actually, I didn't know that was its color until you told me. No one in the Wei Clan has that ability. I just knew I was....different."
Wei Ying continued to check Lan Zhan's puncture wounds from the scorpion's piercing blades. He frowned slightly. They needed to get out of there. Puncture wounds were the worst. On the skin, they appeared like tiny circles. The real damage was deep inside. Wei Ying prayed that the healing paste could penetrate deep enough to fully heal Lan Zhan's injuries or at least slow down any infections that had already taken root.
"If you're wondering, I was born like this. When I was just a toddler, my parents knew I wasn't like everyone else. They couldn't pass energy to me. It always made me feel sick. At first, they hoped that I would outgrow it. But as I got older, they began to notice certain...things."
He paused. He knew he needed to tell Lan Zhan everything, that his jade had already promised to stay with him no matter what. But his heart still held onto the fear that once Lan Zhan heard his story, his soulmate would no longer love him.
"Wei Ying."
Just hearing his name upon those delectable lips sent shivers through Wei Ying's body. It also gave him the strength to unburden himself of the final secret between them.
"Because my clan lives so close to the Burial Mounds, resentful energy is always around us, always tempting our hearts and corrupting our souls. It's a part of our daily lives. We have had to learn to cultivate in different ways from other clans in order to survive."
"Mastering your other senses." Lan Zhan concluded.
Wei Ying's perfectly bow-shaped lips turned up on one side. "Yes. I learned at a very young age not to believe what I saw. Resentful energy preys on the weaknesses in your heart and makes them real."
"Good to know." Lan Zhan said.
"Your clan believes we have some powerful artifact that allows us to control the energy around us. But we don't."
Wei Ying finished tending to Lan Zhan and began helping him put his robes back on. The white jade never looked away from him. The intensity with which he stared at Wei Ying should have unnerved the younger man. Yet Wei Ying was comforted that Lan Zhan was listening to everything he had to say.
"My people are some of the strongest cultivators because we are constantly threatened by dark energy. Every day there's a chance it could break through our defenses, tempt someone to do the unthinkable. If the wrong person learned to use it....."
"Why stay?"
Wei Ying smiled proudly. "Because we can. Because my clan keeps the dark energy at bay. We keep it in Burial Mounds and prevent it from wreaking havoc on the world. It's our duty. It always has been."
Wei Ying saw the realization of what he was saying spreading its way across Lan Zhan's face. This was the first time a Lan had ever truly listened to him or anyone from the Wei Clan. Hundreds of years of fighting, thousands of lives lost because two clans could not listen to each other.
"As I grew up, my parents saw how the resentful energy was drawn to me. They would find me playing with it like it was a kitten, talking to it like I would a best friend. To say it frightened them would be an understatement. So they tried all sorts of spells and talismans to protect me. But nothing worked. Finally they took me to my grandmother. She realized that even though it was dark energy, it wasn't hurting me. She taught me how to control it, how to harness its power without losing myself. I never knew why it wasn't harmful to me. But now I do, thanks to you, my love."
"Mn. Black is beautiful." Lan Zhan murmured.
He took Wei Ying's hand and lifted it to his lips to place a feathery kiss against his skin. Wei Ying trembled and turned their hands so he could place a kiss of his own on the back of Lan Zhan's.
"I wanted to tell you. But I...I was scared. I had so many secrets and this one...well this one was the deepest. And the darkest. I felt like I kept letting you down every time I confessed to one. Yet each time you stayed. You loved me even more."
Wei Ying felt the sting of his salty tears building in his eyes. He tried to blink them away but they fell anyway. Then, with a deep breath, he raised his head high and looked directly into those golden orbs that stared back at him with love and respect.
"This is who I am, Lan Zhan of the Lan Clan. I am the only heir of the Wei Clan, your mortal enemy. I am Mo Xuanyu, the dancer you fell in love with the instant our eyes met. I am Wei Wuxian, a Demonic Cultivator who uses the dark arts which goes against every belief and law of the cultivational world."
Again, Wei Ying breathed deeply, drawing strength from the physical bond he shared with Lan Zhan.
"But I am also your Wei Ying. I am the man who loves you, who only wants to see you happy. Did I tell you I made it my mission in life to make you smile the very first time I saw you?"
Wei Ying saw his jade's ears flush a bright red. He smiled his flirtatious bunny smile and rejoiced when Lan Zhan rewarded him with a soft smile of his own.
"I am the man who wants to marry you and make you the happiest husband in the world. I am the man who will never keep secrets from you from this day forward. I am the man who will protect you with his own life."
At that, Lan Zhan's gaze turned dark. Wei Ying realized what he said and how that declaration hurt his beloved. But it was the truth. And Wei Ying would never lie to his jade.
"Aiya, Lan Zhan. You know as well as I do that you would do the same for me. Or am I wrong about that?" he teased lightly.
Lan Zhan refused to make eye contact with him and Wei Ying giggled.
Such a stubborn jade!
"Now, let's see what we can do about our predicament. Can you walk? Or do I need to carry you?"
Lan Zhan shot him an angry glare and Wei Ying laughed out loud. The two helped each other to their feet and took a look around. Bichen's light was enough to illuminate the inside of the cave so, for the time being, Wei Ying kept his talismans tucked inside his robe.
First, they checked the cave in at the entrance. One of the scorpion's claws was partially visible under the rubble. It was shattered.
"Well, that's one thing we don't have to worry about." Wei Ying stated happily.
Now that they knew they didn't have to be concerned about uninvited guests, Wei Ying led Lan Zhan towards the back of the cave hoping to find another exit. He kept an arm around his jade's waist to make sure Lan Zhan didn't slip or trip over the rough ground beneath them. He realized it was difficult for Lan Zhan to admit that he needed help which was why, when his jade leaned against him lightly, Wei Ying hugged him closer without teasing.
The cave was larger than Wei Ying had imagined it, considering the tiny little hole they ran through to get inside. It was also deeper, much deeper. The sound of water dripping from the ceiling was the only sound they heard, meaning that there was no subterranean river they could follow out. That also meant that whatever oxygen was in the cave was the only air they had to survive on.
They continued deeper into the cave, Bichen's glow the only thing keeping the infinite blackness at bay. Wei Ying noticed how the farther back they went, the smoother the walls seemed. It was almost as if they had been sanded. He pulled Lan Zhan closer to the right wall and nodded for him to move his blade closer for a better look.
There were definite markings on the stone. Wei Ying ran his fingers over the etched figures, tracing the trails left in the rock. They certainly weren't random. And they most definitely were not naturally made. These were man made.
Lan Zhan moved Bichen over their heads and around to the opposite wall. Every inch of the dark gray rock faces around them were covered in the markings.
"Woah." Wei Ying whispered in awe. "Who made these?"
"Very old." Lan Zhan answered.
"How old do you think?"
"Hundreds of years."
Wei Ying turned his face to look at Lan Zhan. "How do you know that?"
"Studied it."
"Of course you did." Wei Ying huffed in a giggle. "Can you read it?"
"Mn."
"What does it say?" Wei Ying asked.
"It's a story."
"About what?"
Wei Ying was about to burst with excitement. He loved stories! And learning a new one was something he had not done since he was a young boy. Well, at least some good was coming out of this cursed situation.
"Two cultivators. Rogues. This is their story."