Chapter 81

Something was up. Xiao Xingchen could sense the resentful energy the moment he walked into Yi City, knowing that there must have been something foul at play if it was drawing that much energy into the city.

It wasn't natural, and he hadn't seen such high levels of resentful energy since the war.

But Wen Ruohan was dead. The pieces of the Yin Iron were safely stored in Gusu, and there was no way for it to be here.

He'd heard from A-Xian that the Yin Tiger Amulet had been destroyed as well, with plans to work on cleansing out the remaining pieces of the Yin Iron.

So what was happening here?

He looked over at A-Qing, wondering if she could feel it too.

"I don't like it here," she said in response, clearly knowing what he was asking even if he didn't say the words.

Was it safe to bring a small child to a place like this? One that was teeming with resentful energy? What if something happened to her? What if she got hurt? What if he put her in danger just by letting her come to the town with him?

And yet, the idea of leaving her behind hurt him. He may not have known A-Qing for long, but he cared for her deeply.

"I don't either," Xiao Xingchen took a breath, "Do you want to leave?"

"There's something bad happening here, isn't there?" A-Qing asked, sensing the energy as well.

"Yes," Xiao Xingchen admitted, "Something dark has taken root in Yi City."

"And if we leave, will bad things happen to the people we leave behind?" she asked, seeming older than she really was."

"Probably," he said, not sugar coating it, knowing that he could lie and tell her that it'd be fine. But he didn't know if it would be. He couldn't know that, not without knowing what it was that was happening here.

He was a cultivator. He was a disciple of Baoshan Sanren. It was his duty to figure out what had happened here.

Even if it were truly evil. Even if it were horrible. He had to figure it out. He had to stop it.

"Then we should stay," A-Qing said simply, "It's your job, right?"

"Yes," Xiao Xingchen said with a sigh, "But I don't know if I can keep you safe as well while I'm here. I don't know what's happening. I don't know what the cause of this energy is. I cannot promise that you'll be safe."

"I'll stay wherever you leave me," she promised, "I don't want to get in the way. But Gege is nice and I don't want to leave him. Please let me stay?"

He looked down at the girl, still pretending to be blind, as she seemed earnest. He knew she must not trust him fully if she didn't reveal the truth about her eyes yet, but he hadn't wanted to push it. They were still getting to know each other, and it would be unfair to ask her to let her guard down completely. Not when they were just a little more than strangers.

"Okay," he told her with a small nod, "Let's look to see if we can find somewhere to stay for the night. Then once you're settled and have had something to eat, I'll go out and see what I can find. I can ask the innkeeper to keep an eye on you."

"I'm not a baby," A-Qing crossed her arms, looking petulantly at him, and he hid a smile.

"No, you're not," he told her in agreement, "But you are young and inexperienced. I cannot in good faith bring you with me when you don't have any way to defend yourself. If something happens to me, I won't be able to protect you."

"You can't let anything happen to you," A-Qing said, stressed, as she turned her body towards him without quite looking at him.

"I'll do my best," he said, as they approached an empty looking inn.

They walked through the door, and he looked around with a frown to see no one inside, aside from an exhausted looking innkeeper.

"What can I do for you, Daozhang?" the innkeeper asked, looking stunned at the sight of them.

"Can you prepare two rooms for the night?" he asked, "Preferably next to one another for my companion and I?"

"You want to stay the night in Yi City?" the innkeeper said, a bit surprised with that ask.

"Should we not?" he raised a brow, wondering if he would learn anything about what was happening to the city.

"It hasn't been safe as of late," the innkeeper admitted, "Something dark is going around the city causing harm to those who live here. I would leave, but my business is here. I do not have enough funds to just go. And since it started, visitors to the city have drastically decreased. No one wants to risk coming here."

"I see," Xiao Xingchen nodded in understanding, "I will do my best to rid the city of whatever it is that is happening here."

"If you could, that would be incredible," the innkeeper said in a shaky voice, "But I'm not sure the town will be able to pay you for any actions you take."

"I do not need money," Xiao Xingchen said with a shrug. While it was true that a few coins would help him out, it was more important to save innocent lives than to value a few coins over it. Especially not for a town so desperate to be ridded of evil.

"I shall prepare rooms for you," the Innkeeper said, a lot more warmly than before, and Xiao Xingchen couldn't help but wonder just how much the town had suffered.

A-Qing herself seemed a little worried by the innkeeper's words, and he just hoped he would be able to protect her. If anything happened to his young companion, he would be absolutely devastated.

What exactly was plaguing Yi City?

"Lift your arm a little bit higher," Nie Mingjue said, as he walked through the disciples, giving them a command. Most of the new recruits were still rather young, and since the war had ended, he'd found that the Nie had an influx of new recruits. Something he was sure had to do with the fact that rumours of his war hero younger brother swayed the minds of the common folk.

Not that he was complaining. Wei Ying had sacrificed a lot during the war. He'd given up his mind and his health, and if at the very least he got gratitude and respect, Nie Mingjue wouldn't say a word about it. After all, didn't the Jiang and the Lan get their own share of new recruits who had been awed by the sect leaders and heirs?

It wasn't often that he took over their training, but after the curse had been lifted from his family line, he found himself having more and more energy to burn. And while there were other enjoyable ways of burning it, he missed training without the additional stress that there could be death lingering around the corner for him.

He knew Meng Yao was sitting on the sidelines, as the current batch of disciples he was working with involved Mo Xuanyu, and Meng Yao liked watching the boy progress. While neither of them had been particularly strong cultivators, Mo Xuanyu still enjoyed training and threw his all into it, while Meng Yao had been happy to settle into his administrative role.

Not that Nie Mingjue minded. If it made Meng Yao happy, Nie Mingjue would gladly let him settle into whatever role he wanted. And as long as both of them were doing what they wanted and not what they thought they needed to do in order to be loved, Nie Mingjue had no complaints.

"Zongzhu!" a disciple came running onto the field, causing all the ones training to pause what they were doing in curiosity.

"Yes?" Nie Mingjue looked at her, wondering what had happened. Had Sang-er and A-Ying gotten themselves up to something again?

"Xiandu is here and is demanding an audience, alongside Hanguang Jun, and Zuwu Jun," the disciple said, a bit out of breath.

Nie Mingjue frowned as he and Meng Yao quickly made their way through the Nie grounds, following the disciple to his study, where the three Lans had been taken.

What had happened? Xichen hadn't written to either of them saying he was coming. Had something happened? Were they okay? He felt a sense of urgency as he walked through the Unclean Realm, trying to get to their guests and figure out what had happened.

Meng Yao had a similarly worried look on his face, and when he got to his study, he saw Wei Ying with his arms crossed as he looked at Wangji, Nie Huaisang looking pensive, Meng Shi sipping her tea with Sisi beside her, and both Wangji and Lan Qiren looking a bit serene.

Meanwhile Lan Xichen looked a bit embarrassed.

Just what had he stumbled into? Why did this feel like a bit of a trap?

"Xiandu," Nie Mingjue started, unsure of the purpose of the meeting, "I hope nothing is wrong?"

"There are plenty of things that are wrong," Lan Qiren said looking at both him and Meng Yao, "None of which concern my station as Xiandu, and all of which concern my oldest nephew."

"Oh?" Nie Mingjue said, a little lost, as his brothers urged him to sit down beside them, "What can I do for you?"

He took a sip of tea, trying to calm himself. What exactly was happening? And how had Lan Qiren convinced Xichen to come here for whatever this was.

"You can both officially request to marry my nephew, for one," Lan Qiren said, and Nie Mingjue almost choked as Lan Xichen rubbed his back gently.

Ah.

So that was what this was about.

"Uncle," Lan Xichen said lightly, "I have not requested permission to marry them either. We're all on the same page."

"Why not?" Lan Qiren demanded, "Wangji is engaged and will be married this spring to Wei Wuxian. Nie Huaisang will be married by the fall. If you were waiting for the marriage of your siblings to occur first, then they will be done shortly. How much longer will the three of you put aside your happiness waiting for your younger siblings to have theirs? Is it not time the three of you announced your engagement as well?"

"Uncle you know it's not that simple," A-Huan sighed.

"It is exactly that simple," Lan Qiren shook his head, "The reasons you had for postponing are gone. Your siblings will be married soon enough. The war is over. The opposing Lan elders have been removed. The Nie line curse has been broken. There is nothing stopping you now."

He paused, before continuing, "All the complications are for the elders of the family to work out. Wangji and A-Xian have already offered to step in with running your sects which you are at the other one. And if you have to sometimes spend some time apart, is that not acceptable if it at least entails being married to the ones you love?"

"I-" Nie Mingjue said stunned, overwhelmed with everything, before he took a deep breath, "I have wanted to marry Lan Xichen since I was a child and met him for the first time. I love Meng Yao more than anything. Having him in my life has made it significantly better. I cannot imagine my life without either of them."

"Then allow us to negotiate your marriage," Lan Qiren said gently, "I have thought of you both as family already for quite some time."

Meng Yao looked a bit startled by that, clearly unaware about Lan Qiren's favourable opinion of him.

"Perhaps I do not know you well enough, Meng Yao," Lan Qiren said to him, "But I would like to. You make my nephew extremely happy. And he has mentioned you have some plans for initiatives you'd like to take to improve the cultivation world. I'd love to hear it whenever you have time."

"I'd like that," Meng Yao said with a dazed expression, as Meng Shi squeezed his arm.

"I want nothing more than to marry them," Nie Mingjue said finally, knowing he really had no reason to hold back as he admitted what he wanted publicly for perhaps the first time in years.

"My brother has no elders," Nie Huaisang sniffed in response, crossing his arms, "None that are his direct family. Wei Ying and I will step in and negotiate for him. I will not let him be taken advantage of like this. Someone needs to have his interests at heart."

"Yeah," Wei Wuxian glowered at Lan Wangji, "Stop trying to get more time for the Lan sect. Two of them are Nie. If anything, Da-ge should be here more! He has responsibilities."

"It is because there are two of them here that there should be more time spent in the Lan sect," Lan Wangji argued against his betrothed, "Do not take advantage of Xiongzhang."

"Wangji," Xichen said fondly, "A-Xian. Do not fight over us. I know you both love us and want what's best for us, but you do not need to undergo any discourse."

"I must defend Da-ge's honour," Wei Wuxian declared like a menace.

"Will defend Xiongzhang's honour as well," Wangji said with as much insistence.

"How about five months of the year at each sect?" Nie Huaisang said finally, "Which five months may change in between years if desired. Then the month in between each rotation, they may spend it at their discretion – travelling, night hunting, at other sects, whatever works best for them."

"I agree," Lan Qiren said, looking at Nie Huaisang approvingly.

"I agree as well," Meng Shi said softly, "I will miss my son when he is not with us, but I want him to be happy."

"Mother," Meng Yao said in a pained voice.

"Do not worry about me," she said, touching his face, "You have given me so much, A-Yao. And I have Sisi by my side. I want you to be with the ones you love."

"Acceptable," Wei Wuxian sniffed dramatically.

"Mm," Wangji gave in.

"Do I get any say in this?" Nie Mingjue looked around the room, "I am still sect leader of the Nie after all."

"No, now sit quietly," Nie Huaisang sushed him.

Lan Xichen laughed softly behind his sleeve, as he used his other to take Nie Mingjue's hand, "I gave up arguing a while back. Uncle and Wangji all but dragged me here despite my protests. They insisted I deserved to be engaged already and they were going to make it happen one way or another."

"Mm," Wangji agreed again, "Brother has put aside his happiness for far too long. Time he was made an honest man."

"You cannot threaten them into marrying me," Lan Xichen said with a sigh as if it were an old argument.

"Can," Wangji glared at Nie Mingjue and Meng Yao, "Marry Xiongzhang."

Nie Mingjue had never been so terrified of Wangji in his life.

"I'm not disagreeing with you," Nie Mingjue raised his arms, "I would love to marry your Xiongzhang. But we wanted our siblings to settle down first."

"Wedding planning takes time!" Nie Huaisang glowered at him, "Even if we start now, it will be a winter wedding anyways! Which is perfect cause as it is, Wei Ying's is in the spring and mine in the late summer and fall time. It will be perfect timing for winter! Weddings take time Da-ge! Do you know how much there is left to organize! Where the wedding will take place, how many days, who will be escorted where? Both of you are sect leaders!"

"Why not do a ceremony at both sects?" Meng Shi said, as the room turned to look at her in surprise, "They're both sect leaders. It would be inappropriate to suggest one or another as it may look the other sect look weak. Do parts of it at one, like the tea ceremony and bows can be here. Then the ribbon ceremony and banquet can be at the Lan sect. That way all the sects are being honoured properly and it will not appear as if either sect has the upper hand in the marriage."

"That could work," Lan Qiren stroked his beard, "I will have to discuss it with the elders first. Xichen, do you agree with that?"

Lan Xichen nodded, as it was all he could say. It seemed as if their opinions didn't actually matter that much in the discussion and they were only there since it was for their wedding.

"Then Xichen-ge should be escorted here in a sedan first," Wei Wuxian proposed.

"Only if brother-in-laws are escorted back to Cloud Recesses in sedans," Wangji argued back, and Nie Mingjue wasn't sure he'd ever heard Wangji and Wei Ying argue as much as they currently were.

"Acceptable," Nie Huaisang agreed, writing down that point which it seemed as if everyone signed off on, but the people actually getting married.

"Just let them debate," Meng Yao whispered to both of them, "You know better than trying to go against your brothers when they have an idea in their head. If you truly hate anything then speak up. But they have your best interests at heart. Let them fuss over you."

He looked at Meng Yao fondly as Xichen squeezed Meng Yao's hand as well.

Perhaps he could just sit back and listen to whatever was happening. If it meant that he and his partners could finally be married, finally be publicly together, then perhaps it wouldn't be so bad after all.

Xiao Xingchen walked through the abandoned looking town after ensuring that A-Qing was safe for the night. The innkeeper had been happy to accept the duty of watching her as a form of payment of ridding the town of whatever it was that was plaguing it. He knew he couldn't promise that things would be fine, but he was going to do his best to figure out just what was happening here.

He had one hand on his sword, as he looked forward in the night. It was harder to see in the dark, as his depth perception was now off, but it had honed his ability to detect energy as now he had to reply on it more during night hunts, and it heightened his other senses, such as his hearing.

It was how he knew that he needed to keep going forward, even if he didn't know what it was that he was sensing exactly.

Despite it all, he'd had a bit of an inclination. There were only so many cultivators, rogue and affiliated that were willing to play around with resentful energy for their own gain, and even less that would be able to use power of that strength.

In fact, given that his nephew had destroyed the Yin Tiger Amulet, he would bring that number down even further, to one.

One other cultivator that was still alive and knew how to wield a weapon of that strength. Even if not the Yin Iron, it was clear that whatever this was, was an attempt at a replica.

"How did you find me?" he heard a breathless voice, and he turned around to see none other that Xue Yang standing behind him, with his arms crossed and a bright smile on his face.

One that was far too sinister for Xiao Xingchen's liking.

"I missed you," Xue Yang said, coming closer, as if he were talking to an old lover, and not the fated one of the person he'd previously blinded.

"What are you up to now?" he asked, drawing his sword out. Perhaps it was bad form to point a weapon at a cultivator not actively drawing any weapons at him, but with whatever tool he had to channel resentful energy, he knew it was a risk to stand unarmed.

"Why do you doubt me so?" Xue Yang said, looking at him with sad eyes, "Everything I do, I do to make the world a better place. A place where those who do not have power do not have to cower in fear and suck up to those with money. I do it to overturn the balance of the world. And yet, everyone paints me as an enemy."

"There are ways to do that that doesn't entail causing suffering and death," Xiao Xingchen said, with pursed lips, "What did the monks at Baixue Temple do to you? They took you in when they thought you were suffering. They gave you food even though they do not have excess luxury. And yet, you killed them all without mercy. You tried to take Song Lan's vision from him. You tried to hurt him all because he tried to take you to justice!"

His voice hitched at the last part, and Xue Yang's lips curled upwards.

"It had the added benefit of making you sad," Xue Yang said as he took a step closer, as Xiao Xingchen froze.

"Don't come any closer," Xiao Xingchen said, holding his sword higher.

"You're so beautiful when you're sad," Xue Yang smirked, "I didn't want you to lose your eyesight. Not because of him. If you got hurt, I wanted to be the one to hurt you."

"You're twisted," Xiao Xingchen told him, "That's not what it means to care about someone."

"I wouldn't know, would I?" Xue Yang shrugged, "I grew up on the streets. But unlike your nephew, no one was kind enough to give me a home. No, instead they took, and they took, and they took from me. Without mercy. Why should I show any mercy on them?"

"You already slaughtered the sect that you claim wronged you," Xiao Xingchen reminded him, "What else do you want?"

"I told you," Xue Yang said, "I want revenge. I want the world to burn. I want everyone to suffer, just like I did. I want them to feel pain and helplessness and to know that no one will save them. That the righteous cultivators they all claim to be just as powerless as I was."

"I won't let you," Xiao Xingchen told him, with pained eyes. All of this pain. All of this suffering. Because of needless cruelty to a child. How many had died because one man ran over a child's finger?

How many had suffered?

"You won't be able to stop me," Xue Yang smiled darkly at him, "I may not have a piece of the Yin Iron this time, but I've been making my own. Of course, it could've been more powerful if I could've absorbed the energy from the Nie saber tomb, but I'll just have generate my own source of resentful energy. There really is no one you can rely on in this world."

"And how many more do you plan on making suffer until you're satisfied?" Xiao Xingchen asked him, with a pained look.

"That's the problem," Xue Yang said, as he raised his seal, "I don't think I'll ever be satisfied. Don't worry, Gege. I won't kill you. No, I very, very much plan on keeping you alive for a long time. And keeping you as mine. The only one who will be able to make you feel anything will be me."

And like that, Xue Yang held his seal tighter, as resentful energy began to flow out of it. Xiao Xingchen watched in horror as fierce corpses rose up around him, as the air filled with darkness. He lifted his sword higher, as he charged forward, attacking the corpses around him.

He just prayed that it would be enough. And that he would be able to return to A-Qing.

And if he couldn't, he hoped at the very least that she and Song Lan would be able to forgive him.