Author Notes: Hello again, everyone! Enjoy this next chapter :)
Beta: JeanGirl
- Chapter Start -
For several tense seconds, no one spoke. Those who burst in couldn't believe their eyes even after what they had overheard. Those who were surprised were too taken aback to say anything.
"Young Master Jin!" GuangYao cried. "Please help me!"
Jin ZiXuan stared at him, eyes still wide with shock. Then he looked up at Sect Leader Jin.
"Father, what's going on?"
Paperman!Wei Ying would have rolled his eyes if he had any. Did the Peacock even need to ask with such an incriminating scene before them?
Sect Leader Jin forced a smile.
"ZiXuan, it's your wedding night," he chided. "Shouldn't you be making A-Li happy? Why are you here?"
Then he spotted Lan Zhan and Jiang Cheng behind ZiXuan and his smile vanished.
"HanGuang Jun. Sect Leader Jiang. What are you-"
"Father, why is GuangYao tied up?" ZiXuan interrupted him. "What's going on?"
"Young Master Jin!" GuangYao tried to shuffle towards him on his knees. "I didn't do anything wrong! Please!"
Xue Yang dropped the bottle and grabbed GuangYao's shoulder. He spun him around before seizing his jaw, fingers digging into his flesh. GuangYao struggled, but Xue Yang's grip was like a vice, holding him in place and prying his mouth open.
"Stop that this instant!" ZiXuan demanded, taking a step forward.
Wei Ying thought he heard voices in the corridor, but he couldn't even spare a glance. His horrified attention was riveted on a smiling Xue Yang emptying the cup into GuangYao's mouth before kicking him in the stomach. GuangYao's face scrunched up, but he kept silent until another vicious kick made him gasp in pain. Coughing, he fell onto his side, unable to break his fall with his hands tied behind his back.
"A-Yao!"
"GuangYao!"
The breeze from two tall bodies rushing past almost blew Paperman!Wei Ying away. Clinging to Lan Zhan's thumb, he saw ZeWu Jun drop to his knees before GuangYao.
"A-Yao, are you alright?"
"Sect Leader Jin, what's going on?" Sect Leader Nie stood beside ZiXuan, stance firm and gaze steady despite the amount of alcohol he had drunk earlier.
"What have you done to A-Yao?" ZeWu Jun demanded. He untied GuangYao's hands and helped him up.
"Nothing that concerns any of you," Sect Leader Jin replied in a voice he tried to keep pleasant. "Just a small matter between me and that traitor."
"Traitor? A-Yao's your son!"
"What's going on?" Sect Leader Nie repeated.
"Why is Xue Yang here? Is this where he's been hiding since escaping from Qinghe Nie?" Jiang Cheng pushed forward, Zidian crackling around his right wrist.
Sect Leader Jin took a step back, looking at them with assessing eyes, his expression turning calculative.
Paperman!Wei Ying looked over his shoulder to see four guards hovering at the entrance to the corridor, awaiting orders. Sect Leader Jin wouldn't want to cause a scene now, not with three other Sect Leaders and his own son and heir present, not to mention the other wedding guests still at Koi Tower.
Sure enough, when he turned back, Sect Leader Jin had a broad smile on his face.
"My fellow Sect Leaders, I have not even asked why are you all-"
"A-Yao?" ZeWu Jun's worried voice caught everyone's attention. GuangYao's face was whiter than before, his breathing shallow and pained.
"Er-ge, I've been..."
"Fatally poisoned," Xue Yang finished for him, smirking.
ZeWu Jun stared at him in horror and turned back to GuangYao who was grimacing, a hand pressed to his stomach.
"Why is it taking effect so fast? I wanted something slow acting," Sect Leader Jin muttered to Xue Yang.
Xue Yang just laughed, his gaze on GuangYao.
"I just added a little something," he said.
"What's supposed to be slow acting?" Sect Leader Nie demanded, his jaw tight with anger.
"Da-ge. Er-ge." GuangYao's eyes were tightly closed. He swallowed. "I... I'm dying."
"No, you're not!" Sect Leader Nie glared at him.
"You're going to be fine." ZeWu Jun's voice shook as he slid an arm around GuangYao's waist.
"No, he won't." Xue Yang's voice held both certainty and amusement. "He might have had twenty four hours, but now he only has three. Maybe two."
"Two hours?" ZeWu Jun turned as white as GuangYao. "What did you give him? Tell me!"
Xue Yang laughed, looking delighted.
"Nah, I don't think I will," he replied in a pleasant voice, as if declining a cup of tea.
No one saw Lan Zhan move, but Bichen was suddenly unsheathed, its tip a scant inch from Xue Yang's throat.
"Tell him."
Xue Yang just smirked at him, unafraid.
"There's no point. There's no antidote, you see."
"No antidote," ZeWu Jun repeated before turning to Sect Leader Jin. "How could you poison your own son?!"
"He is no son of mine." Sect Leader Jin's smile vanished and his voice was cold. Final. "He betrayed me."
ZeWu Jun glared at him, a muscle ticking in his jaw. Then he nodded.
"In that case, we of Gusu Lan Sect claim Jin GuangYao as our own," he declared.
"Do as you will. He is nothing to me," Sect Leader Jin replied.
"Er-ge..." GuangYao's eyes fluttered open.
"It's not too late. You're going to be fine." ZeWu Jun wiped his face with his own sleeve.
"Two hours and ticking," Xue Yang added with a smirk.
"Sect Leader Jin," Jiang Cheng stepped forward. "What is he doing here?"
Sect Leader Jin's expression smoothed out and he gave a careless shrug.
"GuangYao asked me to give him a home, that's all. As a gesture of goodwill, I will let Sect Leader Nie decide on Xue Yang's sentence. I will not oppose whatever it is."
Xue Yang's smirk vanished.
"What do you mean?" He demanded, ignoring the sword at his throat. "You ordered me to study the yi-"
"I have no idea what you're babbling about, Sect Leader Jin cut him off.
"Liar!" Xue Yang screamed. Pushing aside Bichen with his arm, he shoved past Sect Leader Jin with a burst of spiritual energy, escaping through the half open door behind the large and ornate desk. Caught off guard by his speed, no one attempted to stop him.
"After him!" Jiang Cheng yelled.
Sect Leader Jin quickly signalled to his guards in the corridor.
"No need," he replied calmly. "That door leads to my bedroom which opens out into the main hall. He won't be able to escape."
It wasn't so much the choice of words as the calm authority in his voice that made Jiang Cheng pause. They soon heard shouting and the clashing of swords out in the main hall, followed by the sound of at least a dozen arrows being shot. Then silence and the ominous sound of something being dragged off.
No one said anything until Sect Leader Jin's triumphant expression turned to barely veiled alarm. They spun around to see Madam Jin striding towards them, fully dressed with her hair still down.
"What's happening?" She asked and caught sight of her son. "ZiXuan, what are you doing here? You should be with A-Li, it's your wedding night!"
"Mother, I-"
She swung to Sect Leader Jin.
"What happened? What's urgent enough for ZiXuan to be dragged from his wedding bed?"
Seeing a thunderous scowl forming on Jiang Cheng's face, Paperman!Wei Ying glided to his shoulder, intent on stopping him before he could-
"It's already past midnight!" Jiang Cheng exclaimed.
"A-Li's already sleeping!" ZiXuan blurted out at the same time.
They turned to each other, faces turning red as Paperman!Wei Ying face palmed.
"You'd better not have hur-mpf!"
Paperman!Wei Ying squished Jiang Cheng's lips together with all his strength and prayed he wouldn't get bitten in half. Then he reached one arm up and slapped as hard as he could. Alas, he only succeeded in delivering a tap to the end of Jiang Cheng's nose.
"Get off!" The snarled out words made him hop back to Lan Zhan's shoulder, feeling slightly damp from Jiang Cheng's spit.
Lan Zhan sighed and looked like he wanted to roll his eyes. Badly. Undeterred, Paperman!Wei Ying tenderly stroked his cheek while looking back at Jiang Cheng who snorted.
"Sect Leader Jin, what about this liquor delivered to the Lan guestroom earlier?" Sect Leader Nie held up two bottles.
"Why would you deliver liquor to the Lans?" Madam Jin stared at her husband in surprise. "Only Wei WuXian drinks-" She broke off, eyes narrowing in sudden suspicion.
"A mere gesture of goodwill," Sect Leader Jin told her before leveling a stare at ZeWu Jun. "But I stand by what I said this evening - Gusu's kind action in welcoming the Yiling Patriarch and Wen dogs will backfire upon us all."
"Wei Ying is my fiance." Lan Zhan stepped forward, Paperman!Wei Ying quickly slipping behind his ear to hide.
"And my brother," Jiang Cheng added, not to be outdone.
"He cultivates resentful energy. He will bring nothing but evil," Sect Leader Jin insisted.
GuangYao started coughing, sweat beading on his forehead as he leaned against ZeWu Jun.
"A-Yao, hang on. We'll find the antidote."
"Antidote?" Madam Jin repeated and took a closer look at GuangYao.
"Nothing to concern yourself with, madam," Sect Leader Jin told her. "It's late, please return to your rooms."
"But what antidote?" Madam Jin was nothing if not tenacious.
"GuangYao just ate something that disagreed with him," Sect Leader Jin insisted. "There is nothing wrong with that liquor."
ZiXuan grabbed one of the bottles from Sect Leader Nie and turned to his father, his fair skin flushed with anger.
"In that case, Father, why don't I take a drink?"
"No!" Sect Leader Jin looked alarmed.
"Why not?" ZiXuan asked, chin going up in a silent challenge.
Madam Jin looked between her husband and her son and then she rounded on the former.
"What's in the bottle?" She asked, her voice shaking.
"It's just liquor, isn't it?" Jiang Cheng said, glaring at Sect Leader Jin. Zidian crackled louder.
"Just liquor," Lan Zhan said in an icy voice.
Sect Leader Nie just raised an eyebrow and waited.
"Tell me!" Madam Jin demanded, her voice going up an octave.
Sect Leader Jin looked around, face mottled with barely suppressed rage. Then he exhaled loudly.
"I forbid you from drinking that, ZiXuan."
Madam Jin quickly snatched the bottle from ZiXuan.
"But why would you do that? Wei WuXian is A-Li's younger brother!"
"He's also the evil Yiling Patriarch," Sect Leader Jin insisted.
"Evil is trying to poison one of your guests," Lan Zhan stated, face and voice glacial.
"Where's the antidote?" Sect Leader Nie demanded.
"There isn't one." A smug note crept into Sect Leader Jin's voice. "And I have no idea where Xue Yang got it from."
Everyone turned to look at GuangYao who was leaning heavily on ZeWu Jun, eyes closed.
"How long does he have?" Madam Jin asked, her voice a little more subdued.
"Two hours."
"Two hours?! I demand you send for your best Healer right now." Sect Leader Nie's voice was shaking with barely repressed anger.
"I'm afraid they're all sleeping," Sect Leader Jin replied, smiling.
Sect Leader Nie drew himself to his full height.
"The four great sect leaders are in this room, and the leaders of the others sects are still Koi Tower. If word of this got out, that you tried to kill the fiance of HanGuang Jun..."
"You have no proof!"
"We heard everything," Lan Zhan said.
Sect Leader Jin's eyes flicked around the others, a vein pulsing in his temple.
"What do you suggest then?" He bit out.
"Swear to us," Sect Leader Nie said. "Swear to us that Lanling Jin Sect will no longer directly or indirectly pursue or prosecute Wei WuXian and his extended family, the Wen survivors."
Jiang Cheng stared at him in shock and then at Sect Leader Jin.
"That's it?" He asked in disbelief, his eyes going to Paperman!Wei Ying who shook his head at him.
Of course it was nowhere near enough. Wei Ying knew that. For trying to poison GuangYao alone, Jin GuangShan deserved a much, much heavier punishment. But he was the leader of the largest sect in the Cultivation World, and the most experienced of the four Great Sect Leaders. He was cunning, politically savvy and influential.
In contrast, Jiang Cheng was still inexperienced, ZeWu Jun diplomatic but also young, and Sect Leader Nie more used to battling with swords, or sabers, than words. Even combined, they couldn't hope to force a confession from Sect Leader Jin especially in his own home.
Extracting this promise from him was as good as it would get. For now.
Sect Leader Jin appeared to be struggling with his emotions before the rage in his face smoothed out.
"Very well," he said coldly.
"We all bear witness to your word," Jiang Cheng added, his voice equally icy.
"Fine. It has been a long day. I wish to retire."
"A-Yao needs a Healer!" ZeWu Jun insisted.
"They are all resting," Sect Leader Jin was immovable. "Goodnight."
"ZeWu Jun, please bring him to my-" ZiXuan began only for Madam Jin to hold up a hand.
"ZiXuan, you need to return at once. If A-Li wakes up, she will wonder where you are."
Then she turned to her husband.
ZeWu Jun will bring GuangYao to my rooms. I trust you have no objection to that?"
Again, Sect Leader Jin visibly fought down his anger.
"None whatsoever, madam."
"Very well. I bid you goodnight." Spinning around, Madam Jin led the way. "ZeWu Jun, please follow me."
ZeWu Jun slung GuangYao's arm over his shoulders, but when the younger man groaned and sagged against him, he lifted him in his arms and followed Madam Jin down the corridor. The others fell in line, Paperman!Wei Ying and Jiang Cheng glancing back at the glowering Sect Leader Jin.
There were a few guards standing in the hall, but they didn't stop them from leaving.
- Chapter End -
A/N: Thank you for reading! Please leave a review if you enjoyed this chapter. Stay safe :)
