To call the view that greeted him chaos would be an understatement. The whole of the main greeting courtyard of Nevernight city was filled with cultivators from various sects all seemingly fighting each other. The sound was horrendous with the sounds of the injured and dying, but also sounds that didn't make sense to his practiced ear. Wei Ying stood to one edge of the battlefield still unnoticed by either side of the deadly dance in front of him. Something was wrong with what he was looking at, something wasn't making sense, and he needed to work out what it was before he stormed into the battle trying to find his brother or Lan Zhan. If he didn't he would find himself more of the hindrance than help that they thought him to be.

Two cultivators ran past him swords drawn, their robes to filthy with dirt and blood for him to make out the sect they belonged to. After them though followed a third….cultivator?...no that wasn't right…..the thing that followed after the first two looked like a cultivator but moved differently, the look in its eyes was also somehow lifeless. A sense of deja-vous ran through Wei Ying's head and he retreated further into the shadows while he got a grip on what exactly his mind was trying to tell him.

Years ago…the day he had first met Lan Zhan at Gusu…..the missing invitations…..the man on the stretcher…..climbing over the wall and being silenced before being taken in front of Zewu Jun and Lan QiRen….for the first but not for the last time in that visit he recalled…the man on the stretcher covered in the cloth…..It suddenly occurred to Wei Ying where he had seen such things before. That day in Gusu Lan Zhan had bought one home for his brother and Uncle to take a look at. A cultivator who had lost all his spiritual energy and….what had Lan QiRen named it?...become a puppet.

Puppets! Someone in the Wen Sect had been creating puppets and was using them to fight against the other clans. Part of Wei Ying couldn't help but marvel at the creativity and power that went into something like this, but the better part of him was disgusted by the very idea. Looking on for a few more moments Wei Ying noticed a few more things about the puppets, first they were slow and clumsy which is what was expected from people controlled from somewhere else. But they were also hard to kill and didn't appear to feel pain anymore, even when they lost and arm or leg from a sword wound. This immunity from pain along with their sheer numbers was meaning they where slowly gaining the ascendency in the battle.

Another puppet slowly wandered in front of him, this one obviously looking for its next victim. Wei Ying moved slightly and raised Chenqing to his lips beginning a quiet tune in the aim to draw the puppets attention to himself. As soon as the tune began however that power within him began raging like it had never done before, almost threating to drive away any semblance of self he had. Mentally struggling to control the power and channel it into the tune Wei Ying barely noticed the effect it was having on the puppet in front of him. Instead of just getting the things attention it was actually turning towards him, focusing on him as if the battle raging behind it didn't exist.

Out of the blue a sword swipe appeared and cut the puppet almost in half. It never moved its attention off on him, never tried to defend itself against its attacker, and more importantly for Wei Ying, it never rose up again. The puppet was completely dead!

Wei Ying managed to lower his flute and stare at the dead puppet for a moment before reality crashed back into his head. He could make the puppets vulnerable, he didn't know how but somehow he had managed it.

Lan Zhan, Wei Ying thought, I need to get this information to Lan Zhan.

Getting the information to Lan Zhan though was harder than planned. The battle site was huge and even though all the sects wore distinctive robes, by now they all so stained it was hard to tell them apart. Plus with everyone constantly moving around, and him trying not to get caught by wandering puppets, it took him a lot longer than ideal to come across the tell-tale signs of HanGuang Jun. Luckily Lan Zhan was close to the edge of the battlefield but he was surrounded by puppets, as he would destroy a host of them with either Bichen or his Zither another horde would arrive as if on cue. Whoever was manipulating this battle seemed to be paying careful attention to pin the famous HanGuang Jun down and not let him help out anyone else.

Moving out of the shadows slightly Wei Ying bought Chenqing once again to his lips and began to play, and braced himself for the raging power that flooded his mind and consciousness. Lan Zhan either saw the change of behaviour in the puppets or heard the flute because he immediately changed his stance to block them all from getting to Wei Ying. A few slices with Bichen and the whole horde was down with Lan Zhan turning back to face Wei Ying, his face as close to thunder and the later had ever seen it.

Wei Ying tried to cover his growing tiredness and spoke lightly.

'You can shout at me when we get home ok….for now look at them' with that he indicated over Lan Zhan's shoulder.

Lan Zhan glanced behind him and then back at Wei Ying with raised eyebrows 'They aren't getting up, they are dead'

'Yes they are, I figured it out. Something about the music from Chenqing blocks their ability to come back to life'

'And did you find that out before or after you arrived here?'

It seemed Lan Zhan wasn't going to let this go after all, so Wei Ying decided that attack was the best form of defence in the current circumstance.

'I found it out by accident after I arrived. Now if you want to yell at me fine but can we please kill all these puppets who are trying to kill us first huh?'

Lan Zhan's eyes didn't leave his own but he simply nodded.

'Ok, how can I help?'

Zewu Jun had heard some strange things in his time but when Wanji had come to him a few minutes ago and told him Wei WuXian had arrived with some ability to neutralise the puppets he was sceptical. However he knew Wanji wouldn't have allowed Wei WuXian to place himself in danger if he wasn't sure it had a good chance of working. Wanji had informed him of what he needed to do and then gone off to his own place for the plan, which of course was as close to Wei WuXian as possible. Part of ZeWu Jun wished Wanji had not fallen for someone as undisciplined and reckless as Wei WuXian, but he had to admit that the mad was good for his brother. And if this plan succeeded the man would be good for the whole cultivation community. But for now all he had to do was hope the disciples he had sent out to the other sect leaders arrived safely and wait for his cue.

Wei Ying had found a raised platform just large enough for himself and Lan Zhan. Being raised above the battle was good for what he planned as it meant they would not get over run by puppets very easily. Lan Zhan had quickly informed his brother of what needed to be done while Wei Ying found the right place to perform. The two of them looked each other in the eye silently as Lan Zhan nodded before sitting and removing his zither from its case. Quietly he began a tune that only Wei Ying could hear. A tune that would not interrupt or interfere but rather magnify Wei Ying's own. Wei Ying lifted his own flute to his lips once again and began playing, the now almost familiar raging rapids running through his mind as he struggled to focus on what he was playing.

Even though Lan Zhan was magnifying the sound and most of the puppets where now headed towards them as if in a trance, Wei Ying noticed that he was not getting them all. He put more force into his tune and this time slightly staggered at the wave of dizziness and nausea that ran though him. The more power he used the more the power seemed to fight back. He didn't dare glance over at Lan Zhan but kept his focus purely on his own task and what he needed to do.

Lan Zhan wasn't a fool he could see that something was happening to Wei Ying, he was obviously struggling to stand up straight and keep his composure. No one knew what using this type of power did to the body, especially using this much, but right now they had no choice. Lan Zhan looked down at the battlefield and saw that his brother had recognised their pre-determined signal. All of the puppets where now headed towards Wei Ying and himself, the sects could pick them off at whim. Lan Zhan just wished they would hurry up and kill all the puppets quickly as he wasn't sure how much longer Wei Ying could keep this up.

A sound broke his focus on the battle as the tune next to him rose and became more fierce. Was Wei Ying trying to kill himself? The few puppets that weren't caught in the net could easily be killed off by the sects. Silently cursing but not quite sure if he was cursing himself for agreeing to this, Wei Ying for always wanting to be the centre of attention, or the cultivators below for being so slow, he just focused himself on counting how many puppets were left.

200

100

Not going fast enough

50

30

The sound suddenly stopped next to him and Lan Zhan look up in horror just in time to see an unconscious Wei Ying topple from the platform.