| Wei Wuxian POV |
I blinked my eyes opened. I found myself laying on a bed. The sword was gone. On the side, Wen (Y/N) was wetting a towel. She then turned to me to put the towel on my head, but saw that I was awake. She put the towel down on the side of the bucket of water before looking back at me.
"Hey." She said quietly. I weakly smiled before trying to sit up. "You're weak. Lay down." I laid back down. There was an awkward silence between us. "You lost your golden core." She then said. "How?"
I looked up at the ceiling. "I gave it to Jiang Cheng."
She gripped her hanfu. "Sorry." She paused. "I couldn't save Jiang Cheng from getting his core crushed or your parents from dying..." She drifted off at the last part. "So, why are you here"
"Wen Chao dropped me here to get rid of me." I weakly said and let out a weak laugh.
"Oh." She then said. "You should leave as soon as you recover. Jiang Cheng must be looking for you... ready to lecture you."
"What are you doing here?"
"I came to visit my mother's grave and bury Wen Xu hairpin next to her grave since the Nie Clan chopped him as well as hung his head in front of the gate. Wen Xu wasn't that bad, I guess. He wasn't like that when my mother was around. He's better than Wen Chao and my father." I looked at her in shock. Her father threw her mother in Burial Mounds? "My mother died taking care of me here. I buried her when she died. But that's all in the past." There was a pause. "You know that sword you pulled out?" I nodded. "It's the last shard of the Yin Iron." She then pulled out the middle shard of the Yin Iron. "I'm bringing it back to the Wen Clan... would you like to help me? Don't worry it's not for Wen Ruohan."
"Alright." I said.
She gave me her shard of the Yin Iron. "I don't care what you do with it as long as you don't hurt yourself, just bring it to the Wen Clan when the 4 allied gentry clans attack there. I have no interest in giving it to my father early, personally, and helping him, so say you got it from me, but don't give it to him. It would seal our deal since I did find the Yin Iron for the Wen Clan. Afterall, I am still part of the Wen Clan." She then pulled the hairpins of Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan from inside her hanfu. She gently placed them on the side table. "That's all I could retrieve from them." She said before standing up and leaving to go outside.
I played around with the two pieces of Yin Iron in silence thinking of what to do with them as I laid on the bed. I got bored and then walked out of bed to the exit. I walked into nowhere as I saw a garden of red spider lilies and white lilies in the distance.
I walked over. Wen (Y/N)'s voice sounded and I quickly hid behind a tree. "Dear mother,..." She started. I looked to see she was sitting in front of a tombstone. Next to it were two other ones in which I assumed was her brother's and someone else. "How are you doing? I'm free from the Nightless City... just like you wanted. I knew you never liked that place because you were haunted by the way he killed someone in front of you, so you pleaded to go somewhere else, but it landed you here. I hope you're in a better place now... with him and Wen Xu. I did as you said to never listen to my father which got me locked up for a few years, but that's alright. However, I'm still unhappy." She paused. "I met someone. He's very charming, funny, and he's just the guy you always wanted me to be with." I felt a tug at my heartstrings. "I swear I'll never leave him, because,... I know you're going to tell me that I'm going to regret it. I won't do anything to make him feel sad or get him harmed." She then let out a small laugh. "It's funny actually, remember how you loved a man who was friends with Wei Changze and you'd always tell me about how Wei Changze had a son who you wanted me to be friends with, but we were stuck here? I actually fell in love with Wei Changze's son." She let a light laugh again. She then paused and looked sentimental. "But, I don't know if he's going to forgive me. I failed to protect our friend's home which was the Cloud Recesses. I failed to protect his adoptive parents and his home. I even failed to stop Wen Zhuliu from taking his brother, Jiang Cheng's golden core and now, Wei Wuxian also lost his golden core." She then started to silently cry. "Mother, I feel useless for never being on time to save anyone."
I walked out of my hiding place. I silently walked behind her and wrapped my hands around her before whispering, "I forgive you. It's not your fault. I'll get revenge." She continued to cry as we stayed in this position a little longer.
| 3rd Person POV |
3 months have passed since the start of the Sunshot Campaign. At the top of the staircase of the Qishan Indoctrination Bureau, a few Wen Clan soldiers were talking about the Jiang Clan of Yunmeng while drinking. As they continued to talk about Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji silently walked up the steps to the top. Lan Wangji then sent a wave toward the soldiers. The soldiers were drunk from the alcohol as they pulled out their swords. "Who's there? "Could it be Wei Wuxian?"
"It's Lan Wangji!" One of them screamed. "Someone quick! Catch the rebel. Catch the rebel from the Lan Clan." The soldiers were then knocked back by another wave and one was tied back to the giant cauldron. Jiang Cheng arrived at the top with Lan Wangji. The Lan Clan soldiers then came running in as they pointed their swords at the Wen Clan soldiers.
"Kneel." Lan Wangji commanded. "Where is Wei Ying?" One of the soldiers raised their hands.
"I'll tell you! We threw Wei Wuxian into the Burial Mounds. There's nothing left of him. Neither skeleton nor soul." Jiang Cheng's eyes widened. Lan Wangji looked down. He then commanded the Lan Clan disciples to take the Wen Clan soldiers down as hostages.
Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng arrived at the bottom. "It's been three months." Jiang Cheng said and broke the silence. "We agreed to meet at a tea house in Yiling. Until now, he never came. I thought he took off on his own to find you in Lanling. Could it be that he really fell into the Burial Mounds? Wouldn't Wen (Y/N) stop them from doing so?"
A few Lan Clan disciples then came with swords in their hands. "Young Master Lan." Jiang Cheng took his sword from the stash.
Another disciple then said, "This sword belongs to Young Master Wei." Lan Wangji then took it to his hands. He tried opening it, but it didn't budge.
Over at the Unclean Realm, the Jin clan arrived with Yanli inside the carriage. The bodies of the Nie clan and Wen Clan littered the floor. As the Jin Clan cleared the bodies, Jin Zixuan held out his hand to Jiang Yanli before pulling his hand away awkwardly. He then said, "Lady Jiang, we are here." She walked out and watched as the bodies were carried away. She set her eyes on the hanging head and gasped. Jin Zixuan flinched over to check on her before awkwardly turning away.
"Thank you for your kindness for these past months Young Master Jin." She said. "Now that we arrived at Qinghe, I shall bid farewell."
"Lady Jiang, Wei Wuxian entrusted you to me, the Jin Clan." He said. "I should wait till Jiang Cheng comes for you."
She looked over to Jin Zixuan quickly. "A-Cheng? You have news of A-Cheng?"
Jiang Cheng then came. "Yanli!" He called. She looked over and ran to him as they hugged.
Jin Zixuan and Lan Wangji then walked together towards the open area.
"Congratulations on a successful revenge." Jin Zixuan said. He looked down to see Wei Wuxian sword in Lan Wangji's hands.
"The Qishan Indoctrination Bureau burned down." Lan Wangji said.
A Jin Clan disciple handed Jin Zixuan his sword. "Excellent. I meant to consult with you to retrieve our swords. You're one step ahead." Jin Zixuan then asked. "Where's Wei Wuxian? He asked me to look over his sister. Now I can finally hand her over." Lan Wangji stayed silent. A few feet away, Jiang Yanli asked the same question. Jiang Cheng looked down as if he was about to cry. Yanli understood.
The young masters all grouped up inside the Unclean Realm's throne room. In the middle front seat, Nie Mingjue scowled, "The Wen Clan treated people with barbarity and got their way by any means. They shall face the wrath of God and the resentment of man."
Jin Zixuan then said, "The Red Blade Master killed a son of Wen Ruohan. They're at one slight disadvantage. It brings comfort to the deceased of the Jiang Clan."
"Our men will not rest." Jiang Cheng said. "Until Wen Chao and Wen Zhuliu are dead!"
"That's right. A life for a life. All the members of the Wen Clan will be executed!" Nie Mingjue agreed.
"So far, the supervisory offices in Langya, Qinghe, and Gusu have fallen. Zewu Jun has taken the disciples back to the Cloud Recesses. All that's left is Yunmeng and Yiling." Jin Zixuan stated.
Lan Wangji bowed and then requested, "I volunteer for a battle assignment."
Jiang Cheng also joined in. "Me too."
Nie Mingjue asked, "Which battlefield have you two chosen."
Jiang Cheng replied, "Yiling."
"Yiling is next to the Wen Clan's fortress. It's impossible to get into." Nie Mingjue said.
"Red Blade Master." Lan Wangji urged.
Nie Mingjue rose from his seat and walked in front of the two. "Alright. I'll let you go. Take off tomorrow and stay away from the main road." They left the room to get prepared for the next day.