Note: [Text] = Thoughts-one-has | [Text]= Thoughts-one-has-but-doesn't-want-to-acknowledge-it
Warnings: the usual depressive and suicidal thoughts, angst (because we can't live without it), bouts of misplaced and rightful anger and miscommunication. If any of these triggers you, please don't read.
Author's Notes: Here's another extra long chapter (4K words. Damn I wrote a lot) for you guys! I was dying to write this chapter, because well.. I won't spoil it. Just know I enjoyed writing this chapter.
It's heavy again so prepare yourselves. And thank you so much everyone for the warm support you've given! I haven't responded to many and I'm so sorry for that (I haven't had the time tbh) but I've read them all!
Calming down an agitated Wei Wuxian was not easy, Jiang Cheng reflected. It had taken time but he was able to settle him down, enough so that his brother wasn't screaming any longer.
Jiang Cheng knew why his brother reacted the way he did. Understood it even. After all, every Jiang had a similar reaction to Wei Ying, though toned down. But if it was hard for them to watch MingYu, then just how much worse was it for Wei Ying, who had to see what his future self was like?
"Mnn."
Jiang Cheng's eyes softened when Wei Wuxian stirred slightly before falling back asleep. He pulled his brother closer to him and closed his own eyes.
I won't let you become like MingYu. I promise, Wei Wuxian. I will never hate you.
"Wen Ruohan is getting bolder. Tension is brewing. It will only increase as Wen Ruohan becomes bolder and one day, that tension will snap."
Wen Qing couldn't deny that even as she shuffled to get into a more comfortable position. There was tension everywhere, with more unsavoury looks thrown towards her and anyone with the surname 'Wen.'
"When that happens, a war will break out, and during it, no-one is going to care whether or not you are innocent or not. You will be nothing more than 'Wen-dogs.'"
Already, people were calling Wens 'Wen-dogs.' Already people were beginning to hate. Already people were beginning to point fingers.
"They'll kill everyone with the surname 'Wen,' just because hatred and fear is a strong motivator. Everyone will believe that all Wens are the same as Wen Ruohan. You medics would be of no exception. And in the off chance, you do survive, you'll go through something worse. Something you can't even imagine."
When a war were to break out, would dying be a better choice? Being tortured, separated from our families - would it all be worth it to live through?
Nightless City is so big, it has so many people living there. Do you really mean to tell me that everyone there is happy with how Wen Ruohan do things? That they really are happy with the destruction their Sect Leader causes?"
She knew that. Intellectually, she knew that many would rise to the occasion, would cheer the other sects for bringing down Wen Ruohan. She knew that she would be one of them.
"I'm sure they want peace as well. Why should so many people die because of the actions of certain people?"
It was time to change things. Time to show the world that Wen Ruohan's cruelty didn't just extend to those outside of the sect, but also to those who were inside.
But first, she needed support. Other than Wei MingYu. [The thought to tell Wen Ruohan about the demonic cultivator amidst them didn't even cross her mind.]
"Jie-Jie? Where's—oh. He fell asleep?" His brother asks as he shuffles forward, her hand still caressing through the hair of the asleep demonic cultivator on her lap.
It had been a tiring day for them. MingYu falling asleep the moment they were done having their conversation. She was too, what with everything swirling in her head.
But she couldn't. Not yet.
"A-Ning," she says, staring at her brother in the eyes. "Gather everyone."
The ensuing conversation took long, but not without results.
"We'll support you A-Qing," Uncle Four says with a smile. "We're family, after all."
"I know somebody who would be willing to join us," Wen Qiao said, a small smile blooming on his face.
Wen Qing smiled predatorily. No-one should underestimate medics.
Wei MingYu didn't leave until he finished his invention. It took another few days to complete, making it a whole month since his arrival to Yiling.
It had taken time, but the results were worth it. The pendant he had created had a jade jewel in the center, which is what actually stored his resentful energy within it. Apart from adding a few arrays to do what he wanted it to do, the resentful energy would listen to the person he wanted protected. He just had to lock the pendant to that person's signature energy, so that nobody else could even use it.
However, he could only make a handful. When he'd given it to the Wens, they had a rather complicated expression. On one hand, they were happy for such a present. On the other... wasn't it just too soon for somebody to give them something like this to people he's only known for a month?
"Jie-Jie, Young Master Wei..."
"I know, A-Ning. I know. How he's Jianjun-zun is mind-blowing," Wen Qing could only say amusedly, staring at the pendant she had wrapped around her wrist. "But with this, it gives us something to identify with."
"...H-He still doesn't knows, right?" Wen Ning asked, slightly amused.
"He doesn't. All he knows is that we are planning on something that needs us to stay undercover."
"W-Will it be enough? O-Our plan?" Wen Ning asks, squirming slightly.
"...We'll see," Wen Qing says, looking down. "But we know that should the other sects still want us dead, even after this, we would still have MingYu."
"Mn!"
MingYu walked down the halls of Cloud Recesses, his steps resounding in the silence as every disciple paused and stared at him.
He hated it. [He felt suffocated.]
He wanted to go back. Back to Wen Qing and Wen Ning. Back to Wen Qiao and Wen Huian. Back to the Wens. Back to Yiling. He wanted to go back.
Already, MingYu could feel his shackles raise. Already could feel the tension return. He hated Gusu Lan. Hated its rules. Hated everything. [And yet, he loved it. Why were emotions so difficult?]
Gusu Lan was, after all, nothing but a cage for him.
"Come back to Gusu with me."
"MingYu!"
Said person stopped short, turning around to see Lan Xichen hurrying towards him, well as much as he could without actually running. Lan Wangji, Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng not far behind him.
"Thank god you're okay!" Xichen says with a soft smile. "You really had us worried. Disappearing like that."
"You brat! Where have you run off to in these three months?!"
"Sorry," he says, not really giving an explanation of where he'd gone. He didn't want to. Not yet.
"It's fine," Xichen says shaking his head slightly. "As long as you're safe. Now, you must be tired. How about you take a rest in your room and we can talk later?"
"Haha, it's a long story, it's a long story!"
"Mn."
But Wei MingYu didn't want to talk. Not anymore.
"Wei Ying."
Looking up, the hiding teen found the Second Jade of Lan walking towards him. He went back to push his face within his arms around his knees. He didn't want to talk to anybody.
"Wei Ying. Fine?"
"Just leave me alone," he muttered and he heard something pausing before clothes ruffled.
A warm hand landed upon him before, "Wei Ying?"
"I'm fine Lan Zhan," not really believing that I-don't-touch-people Lan WangJi is actually willing touching him. "Just.. tired."
"Mn," the other said before he heard the other shuffling once more. It took only a moment before he felt somebody sit beside him, the sound of a page ruffling.
Wei Ying couldn't help but glance at the stoic teen beside him. He was as always perfect. Not a speck out of place. Hiding his face back in his hands, Wei Ying couldn't help but a smile to grace his face. Lan Zhan was just too good.
It seemed that the comfortable atmosphere between the two couldn't be broken by anything.
"Lan Zhan?"
"Mn?"
"What would you do if I become like my brother?"
"You won't," the firm conviction in Lan Zhan's words seemed to strengthen Wei Ying himself. How was it possible that only two words were able to do so?
"How do you know that?" he murmured, still desperate for reassurance. Any kind of reassurance that he won't turn out to be like his future self.
"Wei Ying is Wei Ying."
"Huh?" Startled, the teen looks up. Piercing eyes looking back at him.
"Wei Ying is Wei Ying," Lan WangJi repeats. "Wei MingYu is Wei MingYu. 2 different people."
"B-But w-what if.."
"Trust Wei Ying," Lan WangJi said, as though he hadn't shocked Wei Wuxian with his uncharacteristic behaviour. "Won't become Wei MingYu."
Wei Ying could only take a deep breath in, his hand running through his hair. He still felt shaky but hearing Lan WangJi, who could never lie, who would never lie, assured him like no-one else could.
"Promise?" he asks quietly.
And it was as though Lan WangJi was swearing an oath that he replied with such determination, "Mn. Promise."
"Did you hear?"
"About that, right?"
"What else? I told you that demonic cultivator is planning something!"
"But to think that... he would..."
The person snorted, "What did you expect out of that demonic cultivators? His name Jianjun-zun is well given. He's already started making his move."
"But what would he get?" One of the more naive ones mentioned. Everyone immediately pitied the child.
"You poor poor soul, do you not get it? He's accumulating power. He already had Yunmeng Jiang under his control, Gusu Lan is almost within his power and now he disappeared for a month. Who knows which cultivation sect he took over?"
"Still, if I ever meet that vile excuse of a demonic cultivator, I'll murder him myself," a woman said crossed. "To dare touch the First Jade of Lan—"
Everyone froze when somebody slammed their drink on the table too loud. The bulky man glaring at all of them.
"Shut. up."
No-one spoke again.
Nie MingJue wanted to crush something, or rather someone. Wherever he went, all he heard was about the demonic cultivator that was missing from Gusu Lan. And he couldn't believe Xichen! He threw him out by saying that he needed to cool down! All he did was try to talk some sense into his friend!
"And? Why does his method of cultivation matters?"
Clearly, letting that demonic cultivator near him had brainwashed Xichen.
Which was also a trending topic within Gusu. Wasn't gossiping like banned and everything so why is that everywhere he went, all cultivators, including Gusu Lan cultivators, gossiped? The latest pub he went to wasn't any better! Talking about this in broad daylight!
At least he wasn't the only who thought so. It's going to be a pain to make Xichen see something. That man could be stubborn when he wanted to be.
"You are wrong in thinking that MingYu wants to harm us. If he did, he would have done it a long time ago, when the entire cultivation world was thrown into disarray at his appearance. He would have destroyed us all when we were least prepared."
Knock. Knock.
MingYu stood up when he heard someone entering his room. There were only a few people that did that. No-one was fearless enough to come to the demonic cultivator by themselves.
He was surprised to see Wei Ying being dragged in by Lan WangJi. Jiang Cheng entering not a moment later with the air of a sect leader.
"Didn't you say you could control it?!"
Wei MingYu wasn't looking forward to this conversation.
"Talk," Lan WangJi says before leaving the brothers alone.
No-one spoke.
It was Jiang Cheng who broke the silence, taking a seat on the bed while pulling Wei Ying along with him as well.
"Where did you go?"
"Yiling," MingYu responds, not seeing a reason to hide from them. They already knew he was from the future, so why bother hiding.
Both Wuxian and Wanyin stare at him.
"You went back to your hometown?" Wanyin asks hesitantly, exchanging a glance with his brother. Why go back when there was nothing there? [Unless there was something.]
"Mn."
"How did you get out of Cloud Recesses? You can't leave without a Jade token," Wei Wuxian asks after a moment, slightly curious of how he escaped. Was it related to his powers?
"Stole one."
Or maybe not.
Jiang Cheng chuckled slightly, even as Wei Ying grinned. Some things never change.
"You shouldn't have left without telling us," Jiang Cheng says softly. "We were worried."
"You brat! Where have you run off to in these three months?!"
MingYu shrugged indifferently. For whatever reason, MingYu felt everything was just too much. [It was suffocating.]
"Wanted to." So that I could meet Wen Qing and her family.
Just four words were required for the light atmosphere to crumble. MingYu didn't care.
"Haha, it's a long story, it's a long story!"
"What did Nie MingJue do?" Wei Wuxian finally asks, his tone pleading. MingYu blinked. What did Nie MingJue had to do with this?
"You wouldn't have left if he hadn't had done something," Wanyin says when he saw confusion swirling on his face.
Oh.
"It's all good as long as the Wen-dogs are the ones killed. Why care about how I kill them?"
"Nothing."
"What do you mean nothing?!" Wei Wuxian bursted out. "He must have done something!"
Wei MingYu shook his head, looking outside, "Just reminded me of people I wanted to meet."
"Huh? You.. went to meet people you know in the future?" WanYin asks hesitantly, for once speechless.
"Mn. Really important people."
[Why did he speak of them with such fondness? Who were they?]
"But they won't remember you," Wei Wuxian points out, confused. "So why bother?"
The answer they received chilled them to the bone. The sheer implications within it was too strong for them to even comprehend immediately.
"Because they were with me when no-one else was."
"Who?" Wei Ying asks quietly, his hands wrapping around his torso even as his body shook. Jiang Cheng beside him shocked. "Who?!"
Wei MingYu glanced at them momentarily before looking away.
"Wen Qing and her family."
Wens. God damn Wens. MingYu went to meet god-damn Wens.
"Because they were with me when no-one else was."
Wens stayed with future Wei Ying until the end? The Wen-dogs? The ones who brought destruction and harm to all sects? Those Wens?
Wei Ying felt his breath picking up speed.
"Because they were with me when no-one else was."
Did that mean.. that no-one was by the side? That, other than those Wens, no-one he knew was by his side? Had Jiang Cheng abandoned him? Had YunmengJiang given up on him? Why? Why?
"Wei Wuxian! Calm down! I won't leave you, you hear me! I won't leave you!"
Jiang Cheng felt his world was crashing down with just a few words from MingYu. What-What was the other saying? Why was he saying that?
A prank? If so, it was a horrible one. [Please let it be a prank. Please let it be a prank.]
"Were we there for you?" He whispers, his arms tightening around the shaking Wei Ying. It took sometime but he was able to calm the other down. It took lots of repeated reassurances. [Where was A-Jie when you needed her?]
"Wei MingYu, were we there for you or not?!"
The future version of Wei Wuxian stared at them with unreadable eyes before he looked away. Jiang Cheng's heart almost stopped.
"You couldn't be."
"What do you mean by that?" Wei Wuxian asks, deathly pale. "What do you mean he couldn't be?! Answer me!!"
Wei MingYu looked at them, slowly coming to a stop in front of him even as his hands brushed through his hair. Wei Wuxian took the silent comfort. He needed this.
"He wanted to, but he couldn't," MingYu reassures even as he feels a slight twinge at having to lie. [But A-Ying would break if he were to know the truth. Some things are best hidden.] "It's not his fault."
[After all, he had killed Jiang Cheng's loved ones. Why would he be with him when he needed to avenge for them? Even if their brotherhood meant something in the past, his actions had destroyed it completely. He truly couldn't blame Jiang Cheng.]
"So I couldn't make it time," Jiang Cheng breaths out, obviously relived. "N-Not that that's good, b-but it's better than n-not being there at all."
Wei Wuxian nodded frantically, his hands gripped Wanyin hard. The teen not minding at all, the harsh grip helping him remain grounded.
Wei MingYu merely stared at them with sadness.
"A-Ying, Wanyin," MingYu says softly, pulling both of them in a hug. Neither of them noticed the sadness swirling in those grey orbs. Neither noticed how the other wanted to just cry.
I'm sorry... I'm sorry...
He closed his eyes, recalling the warm hands that had held him close. Just like he was doing with his brothers. It was a memory he would never forget. After all, Wen Qing had never hugged him before. Never like this.
"We'll write our own future, MingYu. We won't go down without a fight, okay? So, please keep trusting us."
"Things have changed. Many things. The past, your future, is changing. I wonder just how this past-that-is-no-longer-mine will shape."
Lan Xichen didn't push, but MingYu could tell he wanted to.
It wouldn't hurt if he were to tell the other. After all, Zewu-Jun had helped pull A-Ying and Wanyin out of class. Both of them far too shaken to even pay attention.
Even then, Xichen didn't push. And MingYu appreciated that.
"So you went to Yiling?" Xichen asks surprised, sitting in one of their usual pavilions. The mood was somber, MingYu having an air of passive anger that wasn't there before.
"Mn."
"I see," Xichen says quietly. "Who were you staying with?"
MingYu took a pause, "A group of medics."
"Medics?" It wasn't that odd to think about why MingYu would stay there. After al, MingYu knew the healing arts but...
"Mn. Wen Qing's family."
Lan Xichen's eyes widened, "Wen—"
"You were with Wen-dogs?!"
Both of them turned towards the uninvited voice. MingYu made a face when he realized that Sect Leader Nie was still in Cloud Recesses. Didn't he have a sect to run? So why was he still here?
"It's because they're Wen-dogs, and Wen-dogs aren't people. So even if you killed them, it doesn't count as having killed people. That's what you mean, isn't it?"
"I asked you a question," Nie MingJue growled out, not happy at being ignored and by a demonic cultivator at that.
"What I do," the 22 year started coldly. "has nothing to do with you, Sect Leader Nie."
"It does when you are a demonic cultivator," he sneered at the same moment Lan Xichen stood up, hurrying towards him to pacify him.
"Maybe you are far too over-confident in yourself, demonic cultivator, but to think you were mingling with those Wen-dogs! I should have just slashed you with my saber rather than allowing you to defend yourself!"
"Nie MingJue!"
"Don't interrupt me, Xichen! He was with Wen-dogs!!"
"And why do you have an issue with who I interact with?"
MingYu's words were icy, Lan Xichen couldn't help but notice. He inwardly shuddered, preparing himself to step in should things get messy.
Though, he really doesn't know exactly what he would do to stop them. Nie MingJue was already a monster in his own right and he didn't really know much about MingYu's prowess.
He was undecided and he didn't know what to do. [He could see where MingJue was coming from. Everyone knew of his hatred after all. And he understood, maybe not too well but he understood it was important to MingJue. But MingYu must have a reason for initiating contact with Wens... right?]
"If it was anyone else, maybe I would have been lenient, but to think you were with those Wen-dogs," MingJue spits the name out.
Something cold flashed within those grey eyes.
"Wen Ruohan is already getting bolder! He drove a Waterborne Abyss to Gusu Lan! And yet, here you are becoming 'friends' with those Wen-dogs," MingJue sneered. "Or are you giving away information to those pathetic—"
"I'll be careful with what you say next, Sect Leader Nie," he says, eyes glinting red. "I'll ignore many things, but not an insult to the Wen healers."
"Healers?! They're all monsters!"
"What the Wen Sect does doesn't represent what we do. We don't need to be responsible for the Wen Sect's wrongdoing...I'm the office leader of Yiling, but I was ordered to take the position. I'm a medic, an apothecary, I've never killed anyone..."
"Wen Ruohan killed my father! The Wens murdered my father!! I'm going to kill anyone with the surname 'Wen' for taking what was mine!!!"
"Then from your standards, anyone that has wronged me, I should avenge for, right?"
"Of course!"
"Then, those Nie disciples of yours would be the first to suffer," MingYu informs them icily even as Mingjue suddenly startles to a stop. "Do you really think I lived easily in this world? I'm a demonic cultivator, somebody that everyone hates. There are people in your sect that have harmed who I care about, so hand them over Sect Leader Nie. I need to avenge them."
"Tonight, the ones whose ashes had been scattered were the two leaders of the Wen Sect's remnants. And tomorrow! It will be the rest of the Wen-dogs and—the YiLing Patriarch, Wei Ying!"
"Y-You can't just—!"
"Oh?" MingYu raises an eyebrow in mock surprise. "Didn't you just say that you will not forgive anyone by the name Wen, because Wen Ruohan killed your father, correct?"
Red-eyes glowered, "Then why should I forgive your Nie disciples for harming those who I care about?"
"T-That's!" Nie Mingjue spluttered. "B-Because—"
"Because I'm a demonic cultivator?" MingYu interrupts, eyes narrowed even as his aura tightens. "Because I cultivate resentful energy? Because I'm evil? Immoral? Liar? Even though I'm using your own principle against you?"
"What makes you so different from me? That you cultivate spiritual energy? Is that it?"
When Nie Mingjue couldn't answer, MingYu's aura flares in impatience. Everyone in the vicinity stumbling at the sudden pressure descending upon them. For a moment, MingYu thought he saw a horde of cultivators standing right before him, spouting nonsense and accusations.
He wanted to burn them. He wanted them to die. He wanted to hurt them. [He wanted to escape. Somebody just help. Somebody notice me.]
"Me? How could I be the same as you? Don't you mix the black and the white! You're the most suspicious!"
"So when you, oh righteous esteemed cultivators, decide on something, you'll never be wrong? But when a demonic cultivator uses your own principles, it's wrong?" MingYu spats out viciously. "How arrogant! Just what makes you think you are so special when all you care about is murdering those who have nothing to do with you?!"
"That's right. They didn't ask. They straight-up prepared to kill you. Do you understand now? They don't need any proof. They don't need you to find the truth either. Whether or not you have curse marks on your body doesn't matter at all. You're the YiLing Patriarch, the King of the Demonic Path. You specialize in dark curses, so it wouldn't even be strange if you didn't have curse marks on you. On top of that, you didn't have to do it yourself. You could've gotten Wen-dogs, your slaves, to do it for you. It's you no matter what. You won't be able to deny it."
"Wen Ruohan was the one who murdered your father! Keep your animosity towards him and not towards innocents! By your own words, you won't even feel anything if you were to kill to a child because all his sin was to be born in Wen clan! Then by that standards, I should have murdered each and everyone of you here!"
"Tonight, the ones whose ashes had been scattered were the two leaders of the Wen Sect's remnants. And tomorrow! It will be the rest of the Wen-dogs and—the YiLing Patriarch, Wei Ying!"
Author's Note: I used Jade because apparently in ancient China, it was a popular choice for jewelry. So, jade it was then. I could have gone for gold or silver, but oh well. Jade was the most popular choice, apparently.
Jiang Cheng is now super worried for his brother who is fraying. He, himself, is shocked and off-balance but he's trying to stay strong for his brother. [Gee, I wonder why I reversed the situation.] In canon, it was the opposite. It was WWX keeping strong for JC. [I just want to see a bit of Yunmeng Sibling love]
Wen Qing is making a move. I wonder what she is planning. And yes, she is attached to Wei MingYu. No-one is fighting me on that. They already had a wonderful relationship before her death, I'm going to keep it that way. Except, she's just going to be confused on a number of things.
Wei MingYu was on the edge when he came back to Gusu. It's like this: when somebody comes back to a place that he's just conflicted, he would be on edge. He would be tense. That tension is going to build up the more he is conflicted and the more conversation-he-does't-want-to-have he has. Hence, why the breakdown afterwards is more taxing. Both physically and mentally. [Nie MingJue took the burnt of it, but I'm not regretting that. That man needs a slap.]
Yes, WWX and JC now know about how WY was alone when he died. Now, WWX is latching onto the barest hope that that was not possible, which is why the conclusion came that 'JC just couldn't make it in time before something momentous happened.' People do that. They try to think of things that does not means the worst. And that is exactly what WWX and JC have done here.
Nie MingJue.. won't really change from this explosion, but it's setting him up for a change. He was already thinking you know, when he was giving MingYu a "chance to explain." If you noticed, he was thinking about LXC words. He's obviously not going to be completely affected by what a stranger says but he is thinking about it. Now that even his friend agrees with the stranger, he's more liable to see his faults.
Fyi, just because LXC recognized that his sect was kind of hypocritical does not mean he recognizes he is hypocritical when it comes to Wens. That is soon going to change. [I've come to love MingYu, tbh.]