Nightless City was exceptionally cold for the time of year. Wei Wuxian glided in through the still open city gates. The silence inside was deafening.

He shivered and folded his arms against his body, still cold from his flight to Qishan. He could have used a transportation talisman to get there faster, but that took a lot of energy and he didn't know if he might need it.

He hoped he wouldn't.

Wind howled through the courtyard and dried leaves crunched under his feet as Wei Wuxian made his way to the place he'd left Jin Guangyao.

Lan Zhan had offered to go with him, but Wei Wuxian told him to stay in Jinlintai. It wouldn't be long before everyone started going their separate ways. Jiang Cheng had even started to ask when Wei Wuxian was planning on leaving. So, Wei Wuxian wanted Lan Zhan to stay so he could convince everyone to linger there a little longer… for Wen Ning.

Goodness, he wasn't ready to make things right with Wen Ning.

Jin Guangyao's sightless eyes stared up at the red sky. He was exactly as they'd left him. His fine silk robes were soaked with blood that was still wet and possibly still warm. Wei Wuxian had used exceptionally powerful talismans to keep him there. He was practically locked in time.

"I wish you were still alive in there," Wei Wuxian hissed as he stood over him. "You got off too easily."

Of course, there was no answer. But Wei Wuxian would have been lying to claim that he had completely expected that.

Part of him was waiting for Jin Guangyao to sit upright and flash that horrible, polite smile at him. He was waiting for him to laugh and tell him none of it was over. He was waiting for his peace to be stolen from him again.

But he was waiting for something else too. Thankfully, it didn't take long to arrive.

An unnatural whoosh sounded behind him. A transportation talisman. Not a storm gate.

"Hello, Huaisang," Wei Wuxian said without bothering to turn around.

"You look well."

Wei Wuxian chuckled as Huaisang walked around Jin Guangyao's body to stand across from him. "Back to casual conversation, are we?"

"No," Huaisang said. "This is formal."

He bowed to him, and after some consideration, Wei Wuxian bowed back.

"I've heard Jian – Sect Leader Jiang has recovered," Huaisang said, clasping his hands in front of himself.

"He has," Wei Wuxian replied.

He didn't know whether or not Huaisang was expecting gratitude, but Wei Wuxian wasn't going to give it to him.

"I'm glad to hear it."

Huaisang's eyes flicked down to Jin Guangyao. His nostrils flared by the tiniest margin and the corner of his mouth twisted with contempt.

"I was going to take care of this for all of you," Huaisang said, gesturing toward the body. "These talismans were a bit too much for my level, though."

"So, you set alarms to let you know when someone else arrived?"

Huaisang nodded.

Wind swirled around the two of them, tugging at their robes and hair with chilly claws. Wei Wuxian noticed Huaisang shiver. The sudden loss of yang energy had created a powerful vacuum in the area. But that vacuum had to be filled.

Nightless City, already a place filled with strong resentment from past events, would be a yin sinkhole to rival the early days of the Burial Mounds. With the neighboring ghost towns and villages, it was unlikely to find balance any time soon without assistance. The cultivation clans would need to set things right so the refugees of Qishan could return to their homes.

"What were you going to do with him?" Wei Wuxian asked, curious.

"I would take his body back to Qinghe with me," Huaisang said. "I hadn't decided yet whether to keep it under observation for the allotted time to see if he would return as a corpse or to simply incinerate it."

"What use would you have for a fierce corpse?"

"I would put him in my family's saber hall, across from Baxia."

Wei Wuxian raised his eyebrows.

To place an enemy like Jin Guangyao in his family's tomb might have seemed like an honor. Wei Wuxian knew it wasn't, though. Jin Guangyao would endlessly suffer under the blade he'd manipulated so many years ago.

It was a cruel fate.

Wei Wuxian smirked. "You win. Take him."

Huaisang looked surprised. "What were you going to do with him?"

"Reduce him to ash. But I like your idea better. If you still want him, I will release him to you after I ensure that he has no more powerful items on his person."

"He doesn't," Huaisang said. "But you are free to look."

Wei Wuxian set about carefully deactivating each talisman one by one. Even though they were designed to recognize him and release at his command, there was still risk involved with using such strong tools.

The protections fell away without issue. Wei Wuxian searched the inner lining of Jin Guangyao's robe and even removed his shoes to look inside. It was as Huaisang had said. He didn't have anything on him.

"I will turn over his golden tally to you if you request it," Huaisang said as Wei Wuxian straightened.

"Golden tally?"

Huaisang let out a long-suffering sigh. "He thought he was so clever. He made it as an inverse to your Yin Tiger Tally. It was meant to draw in yang energy, first to attract a compatible demon to himself and then to control those golden daggers of his. I had to have someone explain it to me, but I think that was the general idea."

"Ah."

Wei Wuxian recalled the letter Huaisang had sent him before and its brief mention of an item he'd needed to reactivate Jin Guangyao's daggers.

"If you ask it of me, I will relinquish it to you."

"And if I don't ask?" Wei Wuxian asked.

Huaisang shrugged. "I'll probably have to destroy it. Can't have it anywhere near him-" he pointed at Jin Guangyao, "-but it's a shame since I imagine it has potential to do a lot of good."

"Take care in imagining potential," Wei Wuxian warned. "Too often it's corrupted."

"Perhaps I'll just destroy it then."

"No, deliver it to Lan Xichen. He can decide what should be done."

Huaisang inclined his head.

They stood there for a while, neither speaking. Wei Wuxian wanted to leave, but something kept him rooted to the spot.

"Have you reconsidered at all the way you see me?" Huaisang asked quietly. Wei Wuxian had to strain to hear him over the wind.

"The way I see you?" Wei Wuxian repeated blankly. "Have you done anything to change it? Am I to believe you're no longer as ruthless as you were?"

"No," Huaisang admitted, "but I thought you might have come to see that I only did what needed to be done."

Some of his old anger flared up again, but it quieted swiftly. He was too tired to be angry.

"I already knew your motivations," Wei Wuxian said. "And I suppose I've forgiven you for what you did."

Huaisang looked up at him, eyes slightly wide.

"Don't think I've forgotten it, though," Wei Wuxian went on. "I forgave you for my own sake. I've been burned to ash by my own hatred before, and I'm not keen on letting it burn me alive again."

"I see."

"I can't forget how you endangered the boys in Yi City and I can't forget how you endangered all of us here - how willing you were to let any of us die."

"So that's it then."

Wei Wuxian shrugged. "What did you expect? If Jiang Cheng knew what you'd done, I don't think you'd be standing here in front of me. Things aren't going to go back to the way they were before."

Huaisang's body language changed subtly. He straightened and set his jaw. He seemed ready to defend himself or retaliate against Wei Wuxian's statement, which he may very well have perceived as a threat.

So, Wei Wuxian added, "Since there's part of me that's grateful for some of the things you've done, including helping to secure this second life of mine, I won't be telling Jiang Cheng anything. Besides, you've changed. It wouldn't be in my best interest to push you to any extremes."

Huaisang shifted back to his usual mousy, unassuming stance. "In your best interest? What do you think I would do?"

"What wouldn't you do?"

"I only do what's necessary, Wei Wuxian."

"And how do I know what you deem to be necessary? I'd reckon your image is pretty important to you since you've made a bid for the head cultivator seat. I can't claim to know what you would do to protect that."

Downcast eyes, lowered lip corners - did Huaisang expect Wei Wuxian to believe he was truly upset by what he'd said?

"I've considered withdrawing," he said softly.

"What?" Wei Wuxian replied, surprised. "Why?"

Huaisang shrugged. "It just doesn't seem like the right thing for me - head cultivator."

"I don't know about that. You've become pretty competent as a leader now."

"I thought you would have been happy to have me withdraw."

"Well..." Wei Wuxian said slowly, "the next most likely candidate would be Lan Xichen, if he's willing. And I was kinda hoping he wouldn't be so busy for a while."

"Why? I didn't think you two were close."

"We're closer than we were," Wei Wuxian said. "But it's not ultimately for me."

"Who then?"

"That's really none of your business."

"Sure."

Huaisang set about collecting Jin Guangyao's body to take with him. He produced what looked like a modified spirit trapping pouch. It was only the size of a rucksack, but when Huaisang waved his hand and muttered a simple translocation incantation, Jin Guangyao disappeared, presumably into that pouch.

"We need to set boundaries, I think," Wei Wuxian said as Huaisang draped the sack over one shoulder. "I don't need you randomly popping in on me like this."

"This was a one-time thing," Huaisang said stiffly.

"Even so."

"Very well. What do you want from me?"

"I want you to stay away from Jiang Cheng," Wei Wuxian said sternly. "I'm protecting you by keeping your deeds a secret, but I won't allow you to lead him around blindly. And consider Lan Zhan, Lan Sizhui, Jin Ling, Lan Xichen, and Lan Jingyi - all of them - under my protection as well."

Huaisang's nostrils flared. "You can't take Lan Xichen from me."

"You've done that yourself," Wei Wuxian replied. "I'm not saying you can't interact with them. You'll have to meet with fellow clan leaders, I know that. But I'm telling you to limit those interactions to only what's necessary."

"I'm afraid I can't accept those terms."

"Don't do it, and I'm going to become a real nuisance for you."

"Define 'nuisance'."

They were both getting angry. Wei Wuxian needed to try to get him to agree as quickly as he could or else one of them - probably Wei Wuxian - was going to do something they'd regret.

"Seriously, Huaisang, what chance do you think you have of repairing things between yourself and Lan Xichen?" Wei Wuxian asked. "He's kind and trusting, but you've already fooled him once. Do you think he's going to let you get so close again considering everything that's happened?"

The inner corners of his eyebrows turned upward by a fraction. The hand clutching the spirit trapping sack trembled.

"Very well," Huaisang said. "I will distance myself from all of them. All Nie Clan alliances will remain."

An uncomfortable weight pressed against Wei Wuxian's heart.

"Good," Wei Wuxian said. He then went on in a softer tone, "In spite of everything, I don't wish you ill, Huaisang. I understand why you did what you did, and I can't say with complete certainty that I wouldn't have done some things similarly had I been in your place. But I can't trust you. And in honor of the friendship we had before, I wanted to be straightforward about that rather than continuing to pretend to be your friend."

"I... appreciate that," Huaisang said.

"I hope you find what you're looking for."

"You too," Huaisang replied. "And for what it's worth, I'm sorry."

As he turned around and started to walk away, Wei Wuxian couldn't help but wonder if any of what he'd said was genuine. Was he sorry? Did he actually care about his relationship with Lan Xichen because he cared about him or just because he was a powerful ally to have?

Watching him move further and further away, it was clear to Wei Wuxian that the uncertainty he felt was confirmation that he'd made the right decision.

He and Nie Huaisang couldn't be friends anymore.

"How are you getting home?" Wei Wuxian asked, realizing that Huaisang had already used a transportation talisman to get to Qishan and definitely wouldn't have enough spiritual energy left for a return trip.

"I have someone at home," Huaisang answered, turning back around. "She'll open a gate for me."

Wei Wuxian smiled. "I'm happy to hear that."

Huaisang smiled back at him. He then started to reach toward a little green trinket fixed to his belt. It looked like the jade tokens used in the Cloud Recesses for entry.

Before he could touch it, Huaisang paused.

"Wei Wuxian?" he said.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we could keep pretending to be friends?"

What a confusing yet intriguing question!

Was Huaisang using this as a last ditch effort to repair tensions between them? Would he try to win him over by playing this new game?

Something told Wei Wuxian that this was not the case, which of course, made the proposal that much more dangerous.

Oh, he should say no. Wei Wuxian knew he should.

But the rush of excitement he felt was so hard to ignore!

He grinned at Huaisang and said, "I'd like that."

Huaisang beamed at him. "I'll be sure to write you before I visit."

"Good."

With that, Huaisang pressed his thumb against the green trinket. It flashed white for a moment before returning to normal.

Crack!

The courtyard was filled by the wild gales of the storm gate. Wei Wuxian tried to peer through it to see who it was that had called Huaisang back to Qinghe, but his hair whipped around his face and dust assaulted his eyes. He couldn't see a damned thing.

Without a backward glance, Huaisang stepped through the gate, which proceeded to collapse inward after him.

Wei Wuxian stood alone in the courtyard of Nightless City with nothing but a windswept pool of blood as proof that anyone else had been there too.

"Until next time," he muttered to the emptiness.