To Live a Thousand Deaths

by CrystalHeartZyx

A Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation fic, huzzah! Fu Xuanming is a walking corpse. After the destruction of her home, she has focused her efforts on protecting her younger sister from the Wen Clan. A chance encounter with Wei Wuxian brings her to the Jiang Clan, and her fate becomes linked with the demonic grandmaster - all the way into his second life.

10. Trivial Glory

Fu Xuanming wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry.

She mixed a remedy for hangovers and handed the teacup to Lan Xichen, saying, "Really, it's nothing so serious."

Lan Xichen had not been able to look at Fu Xuanming, let alone meet his gaze. He had his head in his hands, his forehead ribbon returned in a frantic rush of movement when Fu Xuanming had stirred.

He hadn't stopped apologizing the whole time. Fu Xuanming had barely gotten a word in to explain what had happened because Lan Xichen just seemed to have jumped to conclusions and decided he was going to spend his life repenting. She hoped he wasn't planning on locking himself in seclusion like his father.

"Huan-xiansheng," Fu Xuanming said, and then held up her fingers to silence him.

Lan Xichen was shocked to silence anyway, opening his mouth to find that his lips had not been sealed — Fu Xuanming had not used the Lan Clan's signature silence spell, and so even if he was in the mindset to remove it, he couldn't.

Fu Xuanming sighed with relief. She had never been so happy to not hear Lan Xichen's voice. "First of all, drink this to clear your head. Second off, let me make this clear: we engaged in no improper physical relations last night. I would never take advantage of you in such a state, and you would never do something without my consent even when inebriated. You believe me, don't you?"

Lan Xichen needed a moment, but finally, he nodded.

"As for what happened, let me lay it out step by step. First, it seems even a single cup of alcohol is enough to get you black-out drunk. A thing to note for the future. Either your precepts have prevented you from building a tolerance, or they're in place specifically because this is an unfortunate trait of your family line."

Lan Xichen pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. After a moment, he remembered to drink the tea Fu Xuanming had given him.

"Second, you laugh a lot when you're drunk. Your regular smiles only seem to get more elated. Like many drunks, you do things on impulse. You dragged me out to see the bunnies you and Lan Wangji have brought up to the mountain, and you were so happy all the while. I admit, the sight was rather adorable."

Lan Xichen would have been groaning with shame if he could make a sound. Fu Xuanming didn't see what was so embarrassing about bunnies — especially for Lan Xichen, who would obviously find them adorable even when sober. Fu Xuanming hadn't even told him the details of how he had fawned over them in a high-pitched voice, murmuring utter nonsense like they were too cute for him to physically form words. Then, he had shoved a pair of them into Fu Xuanming's arms, and continued to fawn over all three of them at once, like the sight was the most beautiful thing he'd ever witnessed. He had been laughing the entire time.

When Fu Xuanming finally convinced him to leave the bunnies at peace and dragged him back to the Righteousness Room, Lan Xichen had immediately sniffed out the remaining alcohol and began drinking it straight out of the teapot. He played a game of chase as Fu Xuanming tried to get it back, but within seconds, he had finished the whole thing and proudly announced, "All gone!"

When Fu Xuanming had foolishly stated that it was in fact not the only alcohol she had stashed, he began investigating every inch of the Righteousness Room to find more. Fu Xuanming had tricked him into eating more curry, and just when she thought Lan Xichen and passed out from the spice, he shoveled a whole bowl into his mouth and subsequently spent half an incense time hiccuping with laughter and pain on the floor.

When that period had ended, he had abruptly shot to his feet and sprinted away. With his cultivation, Fu Xuanming was barely able to keep up with him. The only reason she did was because he realized Fu Xuanming could not move as fast as him when at his top speed and so slowed down and grabbed her to drag her along.

They ended up in the Wintry Room, and Lan Xichen was searching around for something like he had a present for Fu Xuanming's birthday and couldn't wait to see her reaction. He was ecstatic the whole time.

Then, he seemed to forget what he was looking for and simply took Fu Xuanming by the shoulders and said very emphatically, "I support you! Do whatever you want! I love when you follow your heart! If your heart is broken, I'll lend you mine!"

He was very insistent on making sure Fu Xuanming knew he supported her decisions. He kept repeating himself over and over, even when Fu Xuanming agreed with him again and again. Fu Xuanming wondered if this was an extension of his true inner thoughts — he wanted everyone to know that he would support them, and feared that some did not believe in his genuine desire to help. Fu Xuanming could understand why Lan Xichen would think she in particular did not believe him.

Lan Xichen had then begun searching again, and Fu Xuanming thought that perhaps he was trying to find something to prove his sincerity.

Eventually, he ended up tugging on Fu Xuanming's robes just enough to expose her bare shoulder, and he pointed at her scars like he could magic them away with the right spell. "I support you!" he repeated desperately.

Fu Xuanming was brought into another helpless smile, and this seemed to please Lan Xichen. He reached up and tugged on his own robes and removed the outer layer before Fu Xuanming could stop him.

"I'm supporting you!" he insisted.

"You don't have to support me by stripping!"

"Do you not like being bare? Do you think I don't like seeing you? I do! I'm totally fine with it!"

Fu Xuanming had wrestled and argued with him until she finally convinced him to keep his inner robe on and go to bed. Lan Xichen had made it to the bed, but when Fu Xuanming arranged him in the proper Lan sleeping position and tried to slip away, Lan Xichen had immediately grabbed her wrist and refused to let her leave.

Fu Xuanming thought to herself that she would never have expected Lan Xichen to be so clingy when drunk, but then this was definitely the level of crazy she expected from a Lan on alcohol. Growing up under three thousand rules, no clamor or horseplay or childish fun. He hadn't experienced the joys of just being a kid, just trying to make his parents laugh. Fu Xuanming knew that when she was little, she had gone out of her way to try making her father laugh. It had brought her so much joy to know that she could say the most random of things and get him to smile.

Lan Xichen spent his life smiling and trying to make others smile in turn, but he never got upset when he failed. Who would he be most upset about but Fu Xuanming, who had once hated him because of his smiles? And who would he blame but himself?

She had sat beside him and tried to tell him a bedtime story as she had when Fu Lianmin was young. She had thought it was working, at least until she tried to leave again and this time Lan Xichen had caught her and then had her hold out her hands.

Thinking he was going to offer something, whatever he had been searching for this whole time (and thinking that allowing him to accomplish his goal would finally get him to go to sleep), she had complied. After he stared at her hands for a long time, like he was trying to read her fortune, he had reached up and removed his forehead ribbon. Immediately, he had wrapped up her hands and tied them up into a basic knot. Fu Xuanming was confused, but it would be easy enough to remove once he had fallen asleep.

However, Lan Xichen had not seemed satisfied, and redid the headband into a dead knot. Then another. And another. The Lan Clan forehead ribbons were as durable as the rest of their clothing and long enough to flow down the length of their robes. Fu Xuanming quickly found herself completely bound by seven or eight dead knots.

"I support you," Lan Xichen said again, this time with a waver to his voice.

It finally occurred to Fu Xuanming, then, that perhaps Lan Xichen was acting like this because there was someone he had supported before…but they had not believed him. He had wanted to show his support, he had wanted to stand by their side, but he had not been insistent enough back then. They had not believed in his sincerity or the depths of his care, and something bad had happened to them because of it. Maybe Lan Xichen was blaming himself for something out of his control, or maybe it had been his fault, and he had taken it to heart as he did with everything else — with the whole of his being.

So Fu Xuanming had said as honestly as she could, "I believe you. Thank you."

Then, this was what Fu Xuanming did not tell the now-sober Lan Xichen: he had pulled her close by the dead knots with one hand, and ran his fingers along her throat with the other. He then said, "You are too pretty. No, not too pretty, but too pretty. You're a girl, right? I don't mind. I support you. I like you the way you are. Stay the way you are. I couldn't be friends with you if you were a girl."

Fu Xuanming was taking in all the information he'd just put forth when Lan Xichen fell asleep sitting up! Her bound hands were still stuck in his clenched fist, and he did not seem to want to relent, even while unconscious. Every time she thought his grip had slackened, it tightened again. Fu Xuanming had no choice but to try and maneuver him into a sleeping position, and then had laid down as well out of boredom.

For someone who didn't need sleep or didn't want it, Fu Xuanming would only ever fall asleep out of boredom, for the sake of passing time. It was like a magic power, to close one's eyes and open them again in the future when the action began again. Fu Xuanming had trouble falling asleep not only because she was used to being alert, but also because when she did fall asleep, she often got too comfortable and had a lot of trouble dragging herself out of bed in the aftermath.

Even when Lan Xichen had begun panicking, elegant fingers trembling as he struggled to undo the knots of his forehead ribbon, Fu Xuanming almost didn't want to wake up and pretend that she didn't know what was going on. But, thinking that the trauma was going to crush Lan Xichen in ways she never intended, she finally tumbled off the bed and slowly dragged herself back to consciousness. For a significant period of time, no matter what Lan Xichen said, Fu Xuanming wandered around like a walking corpse — and he took this silence as another attack to his dignity.

Fu Xuanming brewed tea for Lan Xichen and for herself, and by the time her body and mind had finally fully woken, she could only find humor in the situation. She kept laughing during her recounting of events, even though she was trying to frame it in a very innocent light to reassure Lan Xichen.

Fu Xuanming was still processing Lan Xichen's words — the ones she had not informed Lan Xichen of. She skipped to the dead knots and then him passing out sitting up.

She had prepared herself for the possibility that Lan Xichen (and anyone else, really) had suspected her true gender. As she grew older and older, her physical appearance grew harder and harder to disguise. Thanks to her ability to control the sound around her, she could shift the pitch of her voice lower, and that combined with her peers acknowledging her as a boy, everything mostly fell into place. These days, her abilities had developed to the point that her voice was more refined than ever, and no longer could anyone accuse her of sounding like just a girl keeping her tone low and her cadence deliberate.

Even if someone had a suspicion, who would truly be bold enough to accuse her? Fu Xuanming was a master demonic cultivator alongside Wei Wuxian — its very founder! Who cared what he was or did, so long as he was killing Wen dogs and helping them win this war.

Why wouldn't they be friends if Fu Xuanming was a girl? It weighed on her mind, but she dared not ask. Lan Xichen was being supportive, after all. He had probably just been insisting that he liked her the way she was and didn't want anything to change, and so his drunken state had made him phrase it that way.

"Fu Xuanming, I am truly sorry!" Lan Xichen exclaimed when she allowed him to speak again.

"Lan Xichen." She reached out to cup his face and force him to look her in the eye. "I believe you. I trust in you and your sincerity. If anything, I should be the one apologizing. This is what I get for sneaking in alcohol. I made a fool of myself last night too. I suppose you could say…I laid bare myself far worse than you did. Caught by the Sect Leader himself. Feel free to punish me as you wish."

Lan Xichen seemed startled at the mention of punishment. Fu Xuanming could feel his face warming under her fingers, but it hardly showed on even his pale skin. "You…had to endure my indecent behavior. I think that is punishment enough."

Fu Xuanming chuckled. "Punishment for whom? I have even more stories to hold over your head, Zewu-jun. Forget tiny acts of indecency; this would tarnish your reputation for years to come — if not permanently!"

Lan Xichen did not seem like he had considered this. But before he could protest, he instead reigned himself in and said with all certainty, "You wouldn't do that."

"I wouldn't," she agreed immediately, and tucked a finger under his chin. "What happened stays between us, all right? So calm down. I didn't mind any of it, and if anything, it was entertaining."

Lan Xichen carefully considered his words. "You are…"

"I know. So are you. We'll look back on this one day and laugh. For now, we both have places to be. Lives to save and lives to take."

Lan Xichen's mood dampened only slightly, but he returned to normal — not nervous nor solemn, but his regular optimism and hopeful smiles. "Yes, we do indeed."

---

Fu Xuanming was on her way to visit Qinghe when it happened. She had just finished a routine battle covering the western flank of the seventh platoon when the celebrations had begun.

Many of the townsfolk had wanted to celebrate their liberation from the Wen Clan and reward the soldiers for their work. It was nothing as grand as the proper celebrations that would occur once the war was finally over, but in comparison to the dreary atmosphere of constant battles and desolate meals. Someone had pulled out barrels of wine, and that was a celebration itself.

Fu Xuanming wandered the town beside Wei Wuxian on one of their few relaxed meetings. The next day, they would go their separate ways once more, and meet up again some time in the future, as the tides of battle took them back and forth.

"You think they have booze as good as Emperor's Smile here?" he wondered.

"Nothing's as good as Emperor's Smile," Fu Xuanming pointed out. "And anyway, this is Qinghe. We need to try some of the local delicacies while they're available."

He sighed and looked around. Qinghe was boring, but then everything was boring to someone as eccentric as Wei Wuxian. Especially during war times, it was hard for anyone to really relax for long. After all, he and Fu Xuanming were technically still on duty, alert for active threats and having set up many barriers and alert talismans to tell them if something was wrong.

Fu Xuanming pointed into the distance. "How about there?"

Wei Wuxian frowned. "A play? A-Xu, you know I can't sit around watching people clown around for hours on end."

"Not unless you're part of the clowns, right?"

Wei Wuxian managed to look offended. "I'll have you know I have grown out of my clowning phase. I'm a right and respectable young man now."

"The only part of that sentence that was correct was the 'young' part."

The two of them found out that the play was a rather exclusive event, but they didn't stop people from climbing up onto wagons and rooftops to try and get a glimpse from the sidelines. It seemed to be a common occurrence, since security was low and they weren't trying to block out anyone who didn't buy a ticket for the front row seats. If you couldn't hear or see the characters in detail, you lost out on half the experience anyway.

Fu Xuanming and Wei Wuxian found a nice rooftop to view the play from, their senses more than keen enough to enjoy it in full. The theater group was a former band of thieves turned into proper performers. That got some of Wei Wuxian's attention, at least.

When the play broke out into a sword fight, the characters dancing all across and around the audience stands, he exclaimed, "Ha ha, they're not half bad!"

Some of them had to have practiced in cultivation, maybe a sect on the move somehow. It wouldn't be surprising if they masqueraded as one or the other depending on which was facing more difficult times — hence being but humble performers during a war of the cultivation world. Fu Xuanming tossed some money along with the rest of the audience for the act.

The play was about some kingdoms, with lovers torn apart by social status, and eventually what was simply right and wrong. The naïve royal girl stepped out into the world and met a thief, who she begged to kidnap her so she might be able to see the rest of the world. But her father sought to return his daughter by any means necessary — even kidnapping her! As it turns out, he wasn't interested in her, but the pendant that she wore when she escaped. Such a jewel could be used to wage war across the lands.

"Father, you know I will always love you, but I will not condone this war!"

"My child, what nonsense do you speak of? I only attacked those wicked kingdoms who thought to wage war upon us first! I will not stand by and let them take lives before our kingdom chooses to act!"

"The acting's not half bad either," Fu Xuanming admitted. "They're giving it their all, and the instrumental pieces are doing wonders. I wonder who their composer was. Let me see…I think next comes the bit where the two agree to meet by moonlight, yet thanks to this confrontation, the princess is locked up and misses the deadline."

"You know this play?"

"I think so. Originally written by Lord Avon. Although this version has some…colorful additions. Not that it's a bad thing; it's rather far more interesting."

Wei Wuxian was halfway through his second bowl of some spicy noodles. It was the most offensive flavors he could track down in the festival, and it was from a shop specializing in dishes from Yunmeng, no less. "I never knew you had such a passion for theater. You should have gone into their business, made your own traveling circus."

"As if. I work alone. Unless…you and Jiang Cheng could be my clowns! On second thought, that does sound rather entertaining. I'll have to consider it after we win the war."

If Wei Wuxian had some quippy retort, Fu Xuanming would never hear it. The cries of surprise made from the audience drew the pair's attention. Most of the exaggerated exclamations were all in the fun of the show, but this time even the cast members seemed caught off guard.

In an instant, Fu Xuanming was on the move. She was faster than even these low-level cultivators, and more adept at handling catastrophe brought on at a moment's notice. Someone had climbed up along the large archway over the stage, probably to get a good view of the show. But during a moment of carelessness, too invested in the story they were witnessing, they had leaned too far and begun to fall!

Fu Xuanming sent the winds to slow their descent, and then when she physically jumped high enough to approach, she realized it was a child. That made things a lot easier. She scooped up the youth, no older than three or four, surely. Why were they watching the play from up there? Such a dangerous place. Desperation?

Fu Xuanming didn't have much time to ponder it as she was forced to land very carefully. A gust of wind strong enough to break her fall would disturb the stage below at best, or completely destroy some of it at worst. Luckily she and her passenger were light, so indeed the damage was minimal in every way.

The child appeared to be a young boy, although it was hard to tell at that age. He was dressed in rags like most of the street urchins, bandaged up in old cloth that was low-quality and hadn't been changed in a while.

"You're okay now," Fu Xuanming insisted, and then hurried to escape the stage.

The audience didn't seem to think anything was wrong, and so merely whispered among themselves as to who she and the child were. Fu Xuanming didn't want to interrupt the play, but she was almost front and center where she had landed, and therefore needed some kind of cover story even if she did manage to escape. Actors could easily improvise if they were worth their salt.

"Halt! Stop that man!"

She was quickly surrounded and cut off. If it weren't an act, she could have knocked away any who stood in her path, but as it stood, she just needed to make a flimsy excuse to take her leave.

And so she turned back to the evil king actor and shouted, "Anle will never surrender to your army!"

The actors quickly picked up on her scheme. Anle was one of the many kingdoms in the story overtaken by the mad king's conquest. The main characters came across the kingdom just as it was attacked, managing to save a family from death and later seeing the soldier and his wife had children.

All she needed to do was say, "You dare take a child hostage to prevent our retaliation? We shall never fall for such dirty tricks!"

The king's laugh was overly done, but Fu Xuanming could find the humor and appeal in his dramatic cue. "Guards, restrain this little rat!"

Fu Xuanming was subtly tossed a prop sword and dueled with the guards. Their attacks were pretty good for faking it, and clearly they were skilled cultivators in their own right.

It was only when the male lead arrived in a bout of glory and told her to run that she managed to escape without incident. The play continued on with the lead taking on all of the palace staff — until his own comrade showed up, and turned on him to aid in the king's conquest! Such a plot twist was supposed to happen slightly later, but all would work out if their director was any good.

Fu Xuanming hurriedly snuck away before any of the backstage crew could catch her, and once she had escaped back into the streets of the festival, she relaxed herself and began walking along as though nothing was amiss.

She glanced down at the child in her arms. "Are you okay?"

The kid was clinging to her robes, tucked the wrong way as usual. Without looking up at her, they nodded.

"That's good. Do you have somewhere I can take you? Your family?"

The grip on her robes tightened, and a little head shook frantically. "My mom and dad…were quarreling. I left to get away."

Fu Xuanming could only guess as to why the boy was bandaged up. Either way, returning him when he wasn't ready wouldn't be good for him. "I see. Then…how about we enjoy the festival a little more, hm? Do you like these candies?"

She purchased a few treats for the child and some for herself. For a while, the child didn't accept anything, probably for fear it would cause them to be in debt to her.

They were startled by some fireworks going off, and so Fu Xuanming waved and the area around them was silenced. "There you go. Nothing scary about loud noises, yes?"

A thought occurred to her, and she remembered something her father used to do to calm her when she was around this age.

"Hey. You see this light?"

A small twinkle danced across the air above her finger. It shimmered like a small star, and when the child finally dared to risk a glance at it, Fu Xuanming summoned a few more to begin floating about at an even pace. The child was captivated by the sight, and even reached out to catch one of them. To their surprise, when they opened their tiny little hand, the light had stayed and had not flickered out or disappeared.

Fu Xuanming whirled her fingers around, and created a small light show like a little sparkler at her behest. However, when the young kid reached out to catch the sparks, they neither burned nor faded, and they could catch as many as they wanted. The lights became as numerous as grains of sand, golden dust that slid between their fingers, and finally Fu Xuanming tossed them all up towards the sky, where they joined the natural stars twinkling above.

Now thoroughly entranced, the child accepted Fu Xuanming's offering of food in exchange for more tiny light shows. They stopped at a restaurant so they could properly sit down for a meal. Wei Wuxian would catch up to her soon enough, so she grabbed some extra spicy dishes for him.

To her surprise, the child easily ate one of the bowls of curry without batting an eye. Well, his one eye, since the other was covered in a layer of bandages as well as his shaggy, unkempt hair.

She wondered if this child truly had parents anymore. Fu Xuanming was all too used to seeing kids on the run, abandoned and lonely, just looking to survive, and so she immediately decided to take care of this one — even if just for the night.

"Do you have a name I can call you?" Fu Xuanming eventually asked.

The little boy, she'd determined, hadn't left her side even when she set him down to eat. He hesitated before finally saying, "Hong-er. My parents called me Hong-er."

She smiled and rested her hand on his head. "That's nice. I'll call you Hong-er then. If you ever want some more spicy foods, you should come to Yunmeng. My shijie, Jiang Yanli, can make you the best soup. Ah, but I suppose this war might get in the way of that. When the war is over, I'll bring you some."

Wei Wuxian had finally caught up to her, though he walked at a rather leisurely pace as he made his way through the crowded streets. "There you are! Running off without me like that — and leaving me all alone in that boring play! But speaking of which, you sure were having fun, weren't you? Ha ha, we should get you more excuses to act back home!"

He sat at the table across from her, helping himself to the dishes immediately.

Fu Xuanming pointed her chopsticks at him accusingly. "I was just doing what I had to in order to escape. Besides, I act all the time. In case you weren't aware."

Wei Wuxian knew how Fu Xuanming's personality could change in an instant, often reflecting the energy of those around her. That was why she only relaxed and became slightly unhinged when in the presence of him and his antics, why she could act as resigned as a Lan Clan disciple when in the Cloud Recesses, why she could take on the sturdy military might of a soldier when around Nie Mingjue, and a more suave smooth-talker around the Jin Clan — even if she was spewing absolute nonsense.

"True, true," Wei Wuxian conceded. "What's with the kid?"

Fu Xuanming didn't quite know how to respond. It wasn't as though she could simply pick the kid up and bring him home with her. At the same time, she didn't like the idea of leaving him behind. She wondered if his fall had truly been an accident.

Seeing Hong-er eat like this, like it was the last meal he'd ever get for a while, reminded her of the days on the run with Fu Yao. Fu Xuanming would always give her sister whatever food they could manage to find, since Fu Xuanming could technically die of hunger, but it would only renew her life again at full strength when she did.

"I'm…looking after him," Fu Xuanming said simply. "By the way, you were going to visit the border to the west, weren't you?"

Wei Wuxian didn't miss the abrupt change in the conversation, but played along. "Yep. I'll pay a visit to the Lotus Pier if I have the time. The Wen Clan has been particularly harsh on their borders, since they see Jiang Cheng as the weak link in the Sunshot Campaign. Ha! I'll make sure we're the powerhouse of the whole cultivation world, just you wait."

"I would say Chifeng-zun is more of a powerhouse than you."

He took out the hell flute, Chenqing, and twirled it proudly. "You're just jealous because I'm the master!"

"Nah, he's just way cuter than you."

"What?" Now Wei Wuxian was properly aggrieved. "But I'm so much better with the ladies!"

Fu Xuanming shrugged. "Says the man who's never had his first kiss."

Wei Wuxian now tossed his legendary flute at her head. "You promised never to mention that again!"

Fu Xuanming snickered as she tilted her head to dodge and then caught the flute just as it passed her ear. "Oh, come on. It's not like you're the only one. I'm placing my bets on whether you or Jiang Cheng get married first."

Wei Wuxian did the most adult thing he could manage and stuck out his tongue.

---

"You should run along home," Fu Xuanming urged. She rested her hand on Hong-er's head again.

Earlier she had parted ways with Wei Wuxian, but little Hong-er had seemed intent on sticking with her for longer. She had taken him aside and changed his bandages. He had protested at first, and as it turns out, he was a tough little sucker. He lashed out with punches and kicks and scratches, trying to hide himself. It seemed that his bandages were old not because his injuries had yet to heal after some time, but because he simply wore them at all times to hide his appearance.

She had been far stronger than him, however, and managed to grapple him to remove the bandages and take a look at his face. There was nothing particularly wrong with it, and with a few light touches of healing magic, even his little bruises and tiny scrapes were healed. The only thing she noticed in particular was that one of his eyes was a darker color than the other, bordering on the red of dried blood. Maybe that was a particular point for bullying. Children could be so cruel to those who didn't fit in.

"There you go, A-Hong. Now let me wrap you back up, okay?"

After that, the little boy held completely still. Fu Xuanming had to tidy his hair first, and then applied new bandages in such a way that they couldn't be removed easily. If he wanted to hide himself, then who was she to protest? A normal person might have encouraged him to get out of his shell, tell him that he was ordinary, so why give in and act like he was not?

But Fu Xuanming had never been the first to encourage such things. She was rather indulgent, having had her younger sister to look after for so long. If it made someone happy, she would allow them to do it, whether she even had a right to protest or not. Sometimes she would tease like she did with Lan Xichen, but that was because she knew he and his boisterous smile could take it.

"There. You look all neat and tidy. If you're having more trouble with your parents, I can't promise I can be there to help you — as much as I want to. I have to go help fight a war that will hopefully be staying far, far away from here."

Hong-er's little brown eye was wide. It lowered, then rose back up to meet hers shyly. "You…fight Wen?"

"The Wen Clan of Qishan, yes."

"Mom and dad are Wen. We're in trouble…"

Fu Xuanming's expression fell solemn. "That's why they were quarreling, then."

Hong-er — Wen Hong — didn't seem ignorant of what that truly meant. When he nodded, Fu Xuanming felt the full weight of the implications weighing on her shoulders. If they were of the Wen Clan here in Qinghe, that probably meant they were either undercover or simply hadn't wanted to be invested in the war when it had begun. Now, the hatred for "Wen dogs" had spread far and wide across the cultivation world. Any association with the Wen Clan was considered traitorous, worthy of punishment where death was often the more preferable option.

Nie Mingjue and the Nie Clan were especially hateful towards the Wens. They were a noble people, most of the time, but when it came to the atrocities committed by Wen Ruohan and all those that followed him…they often didn't discriminate between those who followed willingly, and those who followed simply because they had nowhere else to go — or worse, the Wens were threatening them in turn.

Fu Xuanming didn't know the whole situation, but she knew this boy was too young to be involved in such affairs. She dug through her sleeves and tried to search for something, anything she could use. Finally, she pulled out a small qiankun pouch with some unused dried medicinal herbs that could be mixed into a poultice for emergency use. The pouch itself was nothing special on the surface, but she eagerly set it aside and pulled out some talisman paper to write a note. Her handwriting was still atrocious, but it was further proof that she was the one who wrote it. Then, she wrote another one, just in case. She stuck one inside the pouch, then handed both the second and the pouch to Hong-er.

"If your family is in danger, you take these and find someone called Wen Qing or her didi Wen Ning. They…they might be able to help you, okay? But be very careful. It's not proof of anything, but they helped me in the past, and they might be in a position to help you. Tell them Fu Xuanming sent you, and that I will owe them anything if they can look after you, and when the war is over, come to me and I will keep you and any other Wen safe."

Hong-er clutched tightly at the pouch, before then tucking it safely away in his ragged shirt. "Qing…Ning…Ming…"

Fu Xuanming snickered. "Yes. Oh, you might also take this."

She handed over one of the many jade travel tokens she had taken from the Cloud Recesses. She always kept them on hand in case of emergencies.

"It will keep you safe, I hope. And it will grant you access to a place hidden among the clouds. The Lan Clan of Gusu will also offer you safety if you mention me and keep this token with you."

Fu Xuanming didn't know why she was so invested in this child's wellbeing, but she couldn't help it. A child this young…it just reminded her of herself. She had been this young when her life had fallen apart. No one deserved this. If she could help every child she passed in such a way, she would. This one had fallen into her arms, though, and so she would like to think the gods were looking out for him. It had been a long time since she offered prayer to the Scrap Immortal and the Ghost King. She should burn an incense or two in their honor.

Hong-er did his best bow, clearly taught how to be respectful, even if he didn't look the part. "Thank you, A-Ming!"

His pronunciation was slightly off, so it sounded like he had said E-ming — something like "wretched fate", and Fu Xuanming frowned. But Hong-er had already run off. Despite being so tiny, he had a lot of energy, both tough and fast. Such was the life on the streets, Fu Xuanming supposed.

She had no other choice but to leave Hong-er to his own devices. She had more places in this war to be, but for the first time in a while, she was reminded of the reasons they had started fighting in the first place…and why she was willing to end it, even if she didn't know who she would be in the aftermath. Why she wanted to help bring the fighting to a stop.

There were some things worth fighting for. It had been a while since she'd worried about her little sister like she had worried about that boy. She had missed it.

---

"Lianmin is missing?!"

Chifeng-zun was furious. He hardly had the power to give a brief summary of what had occurred — Meng Yao had proven himself a two-faced, shameless scum!

He had murdered a man, maybe more than one, because he had been taking credit for all of Meng Yao's work while he was in the Jin Clan. All for a bit of trivial glory, he had calculated an attack, using Wen techniques and a Wen blade, and doing the deed in the middle of a bloody battlefield to cover his tracks. Not a hint of remorse or mercy on his face, a calculated and precise murder. If Nie Mingjue had not caught him, he would have never uncovered the secret malicious, cold-blooded side hidden beneath his gentle and pitiful façade.

'Trivial glory?' Meng Yao had argued. 'Chifeng-zun, do you know how much effort I've put in to earn this tiny bit of military merit? How much hardship I've suffered? Trivial glory? Without this tiny bit of trivial glory, I would have nothing!'

Fu Lianmin had been there, apparently, and had tried to defend her half-brother. When Fu Xuanming had heard they were getting along, she had been happy, and already planning to try trusting them to look after one another. Of course it had to have all gone wrong.

But Fu Xuanming didn't need to hear Nie Mingjue's account to know what Fu Lianmin had made of the situation. As sweet and childish as Fu Lianmin could be, it was only in comparison to Fu Xuanming herself. Her sister had been raised by Fu Xuanming during their darkest days, after all. She had taught her sister to use her innocence to her advantage, and to be wary of threats from all sides in turn.

A man who had shamelessly taken credit for Meng Yao's hard work — the work that had him giving his everything and thensome — and refused to either acknowledge or recognize him. Trapped in a chain of command where no one would take him seriously even when he was the one being wronged. Everyone was waiting for him to snap, to either give up or make a fool of himself so they had a proper excuse to punish and get rid of him. Whether he was forced to leave in shame or whether he was somehow killed, his life meant nothing to them.

Fu Xuanming had told them what it would be like, if Meng Yao went to the Jin Clan. She had warned Fu Lianmin and subsequently stated her opinions on Meng Yao wanting his wretched father's approval.

She would have murdered the man too, the entire platoon! She would have ripped them all to shreds and never bothered covering her tracks or doing it so discreetly. Quite the contrary, Fu Xuanming would have left one of the falsified claims of victory stabbed into the man's body, along with a bloody message with the truth and why the massacre had happened — for anyone and everyone to see!

Nie Mingjue, however, was blinded by righteous fury. No matter how foul the man, death was not the answer, he insisted. He could be properly brought to justice, if only Meng Yao had turned him in!

What he would never seem to understand was that maybe that would be the case under the Nie Clan of Qinghe, but in the Jin Clan of Lanling, no one would ever take Meng Yao's side even if he was completely in the right and justified in calling out the dishonest practices. They would feign ignorance, put on a show to make reparations while others were looking, and then behind the scenes they would turn on Meng Yao and use all their resources to silence him.

And Nie Mingjue would never understand what "a little military merit" truly meant to someone like Meng Yao. To Nie Mingjue, maybe it was a tiny, insignificant bit of credit for a battle here and there. But to someone like Meng Yao, who had not been born into a prominent clan with natural talent, ability, and respect attached to the very mention of his name, let alone his presence — to Meng Yao, that "little merit" was literally his entire reputation. His entire life.

Someone was stealing everything he had been working for, doing it with a casual and dismissive smile, and threatening to take away what little remained if he so much as complained. It was like if someone stole all your wages after a week's worth of work, and if you complained to your employer, they would steal the very clothes off your back in return for the bother you had caused them.

What's worse, Nie Mingjue expected Meng Yao to confess his crime to the Jin Clan and take his punishment. It was a death sentence, but Nie Mingjue insisted that if the attack was not a deliberate murder but a simple moment's rage — unintentional and merely human error — he would not be killed.

As if the Jin Clan cared about truth or lies! They would be the first to falsify things, just for an excuse to keep Meng Yao from gaining anything. It was the excuse they needed to kill him, plain and simple. If he was banished, he would just be able to come back and cause more trouble. Why waste the opportunity to cut down their little problem at the root?

Chifeng-zun continued with Meng Yao stabbing himself to garner sympathy, but when Nie Mingjue had offered it, Meng Yao had attacked with a burst of spiritual energy that had petrified him. Fu Lianmin and Meng Yao had worked to immobilize him so the two could flee!

That was why he had been particularly savage to the Wen cultivators in recent days. Fu Xuanming had happened upon him during a routine run of the area, dropping off some cultivators she had saved, and Nie Mingjue had been quick to warn Fu Xuanming about her sister's actions. Whether it was by association or her own actions, he claimed she should be disciplined better by Fu Xuanming.

Fu Xuanming refrained from voicing her own thoughts on the matter, needing more information before she could make a judgment call…and because she didn't want to add herself to the list of targets for Nie Mingjue's rage.

When Lan Xichen found time to head to Langye and assist with the battle a few days later, Nie Mingjue's fury had still not subsided.

The moment Lan Xichen arrived, he said with a smile, "That's quite the rage Mingjue-xiong is in. Where's Meng Yao? Why isn't he here to douse those flames of yours?"

"Don't mention that name!" Nie Mingjue barked. He relayed the incident where Meng Yao committed murder, framed another, feigned death, and fled in its entirety to Lan Xichen, who was also stunned to hear it.

"How could this be? Is there some kind of misunderstanding?"

"I caught him red-handed," Nie Mingjue said. "What misunderstanding can there be?"

Lan Xichen thought for a moment. "Going by what he said, the man he killed was indeed at fault, but he really should not have killed him. It is hard to judge what is correct in such desperate times. I wonder where he is now."

"He'd better not let me catch him, or I'll sacrifice him to my blade!" Nie Mingjue replied sharply.

Fu Xuanming shook her head, but remained silent.

"You are worried about your sister?" Lan Xichen guessed, when Nie Mingjue had found some other distraction in the form of yelling at his own troops.

"She has made her choice," Fu Xuanming said simply. "I'm proud of her."

"You think the man he killed deserved such a fate?"

Fu Xuanming didn't answer again, this time because she feared Lan Xichen's subsequent response. It was the first time she actually felt…shame about something like this. Fu Xuanming had once openly threatened to ruin the Cloud Recesses if anyone dared try to threaten Fu Lianmin to use against her. It shouldn't be a surprise that she didn't think murder was an inappropriate punishment for despicable acts that may not have taken lives, but ruined them all the same.

Lan Xichen seemed to have read this on her face, and his smile turned sad. Even so, he didn't say anything either.

In the following weeks, months, and then even years, there was no word of either Meng Yao or Fu Lianmin. Fu Xuanming couldn't hide her concern for her sister forever. She carried around an extra sword, one with the name "Langying" carved on its sheath — her sister's spiritual sword from Jiang Fengmian, which she had not brought with her during her flight. Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng were there to support her.

Jiang Yanli even joined the battlefield as well. The Jiang Clan of Yunmeng's forces traveled to the Langye region to provide reinforcements for the Jin Clan of Lanling. Since they were urgently lacking personnel, Jiang Yanli traveled with them to the battlefield. She was aware her cultivation was weak, so she instead did what she actually excelled at: fixing everyone's meals. Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng objected at first, but she'd always been an expert cook and was happy to do it. She got along well with others and didn't overwork herself, not to mention her duties kept her away from danger. Eventually, the two determined it wasn't a bad plan.

Her cooking lifted the spirits of the soldiers, even with the very limited resources and palate, and with Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian especially always making sure someone was with her and she was far from the battlefield, they allowed her to do as she pleased.

Fu Xuanming heard about an incident from Wei Wuxian involving who else but Jin Zixuan?

Jiang Yanli, for whatever reason, still seemed to like her former fiancé, but she had been too shy to admit it, knowing his temper and likely disdain for her. So whenever she made him her soup, she never let him know it was her who had made it. Jin Zixuan obviously took a liking to Jiang Yanli's cooking (who wouldn't?), but when another female cultivator in the same rank as Jiang Yanli subtly took credit for the soup, Jin Zixuan even promoted her from servant to guest cultivator and showed her particular favor.

Until one day, Jiang Yanli had been caught in the act. She was forced to make a shy confession — but of course another had already done so! Jin Zixuan exposed her "lies" and got increasingly angry, and Jiang Yanli had never needed to defend herself in such a way, so she could barely muster a full sentence to defend herself.

In the end, Jin Zixuan stiffly tossed this comment at her: "Don't think you can steal credit for and trample all over the kindness of others just because you come from a prominent clan. A vulgar birth can sometimes breed a character more noble than any of the prominent clans. Please mind your conduct."

Jiang Yanli finally understood the implications of Jin Zixuan's lecture. He had never believed that someone like her — a daughter of a prominent clan, but one with such weak cultivation — could do anything substantial on the battlefield, or help with anything at all. Bluntly put, he thought she was just trying to find an excuse to get close to him. That she was only there to add to the chaos.

Jin Zixuan had never known her, never even thought to try and get to know her. So, naturally, he would never believe her words.

Having been rebuked so harshly by him, Jiang Yanli burst into tears on the spot. This happened to be the part of the scene Wei Wuxian witnessed when he returned.

Everything had blown up into a fight. The moment Jin Zixuan made his beloved shijie cry, Wei Wuxian had punched him in the face. Nevermind the demonic cultivation; Wei Wuxian would have done that anyway.

Although his shijie was good-tempered, other than during their reunion after the destruction of Lotus Pier — during which the three of them huddled together, bawling their eyes out — she rarely shed a single tear in front of anyone, never mind crying so loudly, pitifully, and in front of so many people! Utterly panicked, Wei Wuxian asked her what had happened, but Jiang Yanli was crying too hard to speak coherently.

And then he saw Jin Zixuan standing there on the side, completely stunned. Of course it had to be that damned asshole again!

Wei Wuxian flew into a rage, launched a kick at Jin Zixuan, and the two began to tussle. It was an earth-shaking fight. All the cultivators in the area swarmed out en masse to try and break the two apart. After piecing together what had happened from all the talk swirling around, Wei Wuxian was even more livid. He demanded that someone drag the lying female cultivator out for questioning, all while swearing to Jin Zixuan that he would one day die by Wei Wuxian's hand.

When the full truth came out, Jin Zixuan was completely frozen. His face was ashen, and he didn't attempt to rebut a single bit of the verbal abuse that Wei Wuxian continued to sling at him. He didn't even defend himself against Wei Wuxian's fists. If Jiang Yanli hadn't gone forward to catch Wei Wuxian's hand, and if Jiang Cheng and Jin Guangshan hadn't also shown up to drag Wei Wuxian away, Jin Zixuan probably never would have made it to the end of the Sunshot Campaign at all.

Though Jiang Yanli remained in Langye to help out, she focused on her own duties and never delivered soup for Jin Zixuan again. She no longer even looked him in the eye. The crisis in Langye was resolved not long after, so Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng took her back home to Yunmeng.

Those who knew about the incident called it a simple misunderstanding. What did it matter, now that things had been cleared up? But Wei Wuxian vehemently refused to accept this. He hated Jin Zixuan — that presumptuous lord princess, that ostentatious peacock, that boggle-eyed blind man who only cared for outside appearances! He didn't believe for a moment that an arrogant prick like Jin Zixuan would recognize his own mistakes and suddenly start caring about Jiang Yanli.

"Just be glad that perhaps shijie understands it now too," Fu Xuanming told him, "what he is and what he thinks of her. A pretty face can't forgive such a pompous disposition forever."

Wei Wuxian didn't like that Jiang Yanli was having her heart broken all over again, having lived in a one-sided romance for a man who would never respect her as an individual, let alone return the feelings. But he also agreed that it wasn't a bad thing for A-Li to maybe, finally, see his true colors and get over the man who would only hurt her more.

The days went by slowly and quickly all at once. Fu Xuanming and Wei Wuxian were each considered unstoppable forces with their demonic cultivation. Where Fu Xuanming was not as powerful or creative as Wei Wuxian, she also had the benefit of her father and her saber (spiritual sword, to others) to make up for it. Those who had once whispered of her weak cultivation now praised her for such a powerful blade, and admired her most powerful undead soldier. Some had taken to calling him a Ghost Prince, citing a radiant halo of the heavens shining down where he went, and some naming him after the legend of the Calamity Ghost King.

Fu Xuanming found it foolish — he just had powers over light magic, healing, archery, music, etc., and perhaps just golden-blond hair. How did this make him a Prince in any way? But rumors like these could not be so easily quelled, and in the face of a brutal war, any exaltation that gave people reason to hope was not hers to crush.

Nie Mingjue detested Meng Yao with the same fervor he had initially admired and valued him. He would grow enraged every time Meng Yao was mentioned and be unable to explain why. Once he was certain there was no news of him to be had, he refused to discuss him with anyone. As such, he rarely spoke with Fu Xuanming anymore, and if he did, they would never mention her little sister.

Nie Mingjue never got close to other people, and he rarely bared his heart to them. To finally have a competent, trustworthy subordinate whose capabilities and character he approved of, then discover the person's true colors were not at all what he'd initially thought — it couldn't have been easy on him. No wonder his reaction was so vehement.

As such, Fu Xuanming never voiced her thoughts on the matter that had upset Nie Mingjue so much.

"Fu-gongzi," Lan Xichen greeted. "There is something I hope to discuss with you."

If it was anyone else, Fu Xuanming would have joked about a meeting behind closed doors, getting up to mischief together. But after the drunken incident at the Cloud Recesses, she had started to pull back on such comments without even realizing it. In the heated and swirling tides of war, Lan Xichen hadn't seemed to have noticed the change, or just attributed it to the colder atmosphere in general.

He led her to one of the war tents and held out a qiankun pouch and activated it to release the contents. A myriad of scrolls and books were laid out, and Lan Xichen scanned them before handing one to Fu Xuanming.

"What's this about?" she finally asked.

"Just read it."

When Fu Xuanming's eyes fell upon the message within, she nearly lost her balance from the shock. Fu Lianmin's handwriting was clear as day, and though the note was rather innocent, it certainly held some secret code that she had not experienced before.

"She…?"

"She and Meng Yao have been providing us information on the movements of the Wens — they've been working their way up to Wen Ruohan, gaining his trust."

"She's going…she's risking going…I told her to never go near that bastard!" Fu Xuanming crinkled the paper in her hand, easily tearing it. "I'd rather have her appealing to that wretched Jin Guangshan than…!"

Tremors had overtaken her whole body. Stiffness like that of a corpse had frozen her in place. Years and years of awful memories washed over her like a tidal wave. She had long since thought her past could no longer hurt her. It was the past, and it was far, far away.

And yet now it was right in front of her. Everything she had dreaded and feared and thought she had escaped — Fu Lianmin, in Wen Ruohan's clutches. If he figured out who she was, it wouldn't matter that they did not share a father. She would be captured, beaten, abused, used…

"Fu-gongzi. Fu Xuanming!" Even Lan Xichen's calming aura was not enough to bring her to her senses.

"How could you…? How could you let her do this?!" Fu Xuanming's fingers dug into his robes. "How could —?! How?! Why?!"

She was on the verge of tears she refused to shed. Lan Xichen looked like he was trying to say something, then reconsidered, then reconsidered again.

Fu Xuanming realized what she was doing. The esteemed Zewu-jun, Sect Leader Lan, was currently being man-handled, his robes in disarray, his expression a mix of emotions he normally didn't show. She slowly released him, forcing every finger to uncurl, and then stepped back.

"No. No, it's not your fault. It's mine. I should have searched for her, I shouldn't have left her with Meng Yao, I should —"

Lan Xichen finally found his voice. "You should not blame yourself for anything. You were proud of her for making a choice."

"Not a choice that should get her killed! Or worse! Worse, Lan Huan — so much worse!" Fu Xuanming's saber awakened on her back, Da-mei's eye frantic and erratic. Since she could not clutch Lan Xichen's robes, she dug her fingers into her own hair.

"Fu Xu." Lan Xichen rarely used her original name. When he did, it was smooth as the icy falls of the cold springs. It wasn't enough, right now, to calm her, but for one moment it felt like she could breathe again.

"What do I do? Tell me, someone, what should I do…?!"

Lan Xichen took her wrists and pressed lightly on an accupoint to force her to release her grip once more. He then brought her fingers to his lips. He kissed her knuckles and then clasped his hands around hers. Smooth and strong fingers that plucked the strings of a guqin and danced across the length of a flute. They caressed hers with gentle comfort, and yet a firm hold — to steady her in the roiling waves, yet prevent her from feeling trapped.

"Your sister will be fine. She was trained by you, after all. Meng Yao is a diligent and skillful young man; together, they can look after one another and emerge victorious."

True, Meng Yao's scheme that had upset Chifeng-zun so much was indeed something Fu Xuanming had admired. So calculated and cunning and cruel and precise. Targeted, however, and a justice Fu Xuanming had agreed with. If that was just a glimpse of what Meng Yao was capable of, then combining his efforts with Fu Lianmin might…might even give them a chance.

"Why did you tell me?" Fu Xuanming realized. "You could have…you knew I would react…what happened? What do you need me to know?"

---

Nie Mingjue received intelligence that led him to launch a surprise attack in Yangquan. Chifeng-zun always secured victory whenever he took the initiative to lead an offensive. But this time, whether because of a flaw in their intel, their plans being leaked, or a simple case of "man proposes, god disposes," they ran unexpectedly into Wen Ruohan, head of the Wen Clan of Qishan. Their erroneous estimate of the enemy's strength allowed the Wen Clan of Qishan to turn the tables on them. In one fell swoop, they rounded up all the attacking cultivators and brought them back to Nightless City as prisoners.

Nie Mingjue's hatred for the Wen Clan ran deep. As Lan Xichen explained, Wen Ruohan had been gifted a rather impressive saber by one of the cultivation clans pandering to his rule, but the Nie Clan's former head (Nie Mingjue's father) had been mentioned as the one man who would never claim a saber was superior to his own. Wen Ruohan had taken this challenge, summoning the former Sect Leader Nie and looking over the saber casually. With a few idle slaps to the blade, he returned it without complaint. Nothing seemed amiss, until several days later when his saber shattered during a Night Hunt with a demonic beast.

The previous Sect Leader Nie had not immediately died, but he had been severely gored with the beast's horns and never truly recovered. His injuries never did heal, and he lingered in ill health for half a year before finally passing away. No one knew if he died of anger or of illness. This was why Nie Mingjue and the entire Nie Clan of Qinghe loathed the Wen Clan of Qishan with such intensity.

"Assassination…?"

Fu Xuanming had not thought such a thing was possible.

"Meng Yao and Fu Lianmin came up with the idea themselves. We can risk all of our troops in full-on war, but even with all the dead at yours and Wei Wuxian's disposal, Wen Ruohan himself remains a major problem."

It was true, Fu Xuanming knew the horrible man's ability first-hand. Chifeng-zun was one of the strongest cultivators she had ever met, and even he would struggle to take on Wen Ruohan in a direct fight. That was if Nie Mingjue was beginning the battle at his full health; he would be dragged before Wen Ruohan, already beaten down.

At the absolute best case scenario, Nie Mingjue would be taken to Inferno Palace. The Inferno Palace was Wen Ruohan's playground. It was where he stored his collection of thousands of torture devices, with the specific intent to inflict them on others. The stronger they were and the longer they could last, the better. Fu Xuanming had spent time there. How much time, she could not be sure. The days, weeks, months blurred together when you were constantly between life and death.

"Meng Yao is going to get him out," Lan Xichen explained.

"Out of the Inferno Palace?" Fu Xuanming could hardly believe what she was hearing. Later, she might think to herself that maybe Inferno Palace was not as impenetrable as she remembered. She had been but a child when she had first escaped, and she only had her father and herself to rely on. If someone from the inside, who knew Inferno Palace inside and out, who had trust from Wen Ruohan himself…they might have a far better chance at escaping with a single prisoner — even someone as infamous as Chifeng-zun.

"Yes. We're going to meet up with him and take Nie Mingjue to safety, while leading an attack to make it look as though we were the ones who rescued him. I need an army we can sacrifice to the cause."

Fu Xuanming was slowly beginning to follow along. "An army of the dead. Not even Wen Ruohan would question if Wei Wuxian or I was the one who forcibly broke him out."

Lan Xichen had chosen Fu Xuanming simply because of their proximity and relationship with all parties involved. That, and he felt it was necessary to tell Fu Xuanming where her sister was sooner rather than later. The shock of it could potentially be used as a weapon against her in a critical moment, when they were attacking the Nightless City and came upon her. He weighed his options carefully, and then finally decided to tell her the truth now.

All things went as planned. Fu Xuanming stared down at the many notes received from Fu Lianmin. There were some messages from Meng Yao as well, but Fu Xuanming left those to Lan Xichen. Information and intelligence from within, allowing them to not only rescue Nie Mingjue, but to make significant progress in advancing through Wen territory. All Fu Xuanming could focus on was her sister, risking everything to get this information out.

With the progress of the Sunshot Campaign, what if Wen Ruohan started suspecting someone of leaking this important information? The more confidential the info, the higher up he would suspect the perpetrator to be.

"Meng Yao has taken precaution to ensure that he will be caught before your sister," Lan Xichen assured her. "And besides, you can tell just from reading these letters — she is more cunning and capable than you give her credit for."

Fu Xuanming had praised her sister's ability many times in the past. Why was she doubting her now? Fu Xuanming had taught her most of what she knew, but of course Fu Lianmin would start learning her own methods, new things that Fu Xuanming could have never accounted for. Fu Lianmin had to become her own person at some point. Fu Xuanming thought she was ready to let her sister grow up. This was not how she had planned for the transition to be.

"We need to launch an attack on the Scorching Sun Palace itself," Lan Xichen announced. "Wen Ruohan will be but one of many. All of this must happen in precisely the right timing and location."

"And you trust Meng Yao to get the job done and protect Fu Lianmin?"

"I have to." At least he didn't lie about it to spare her feelings.

"You've told how many about this plan?"

"Just you, so far. Wei Wuxian mentioned that he had a plan for the final confrontation against the strongest of the Wen cultivators in Qishan. But he said it wasn't ready yet."

Fu Xuanming knew what he was talking about. Wei Wuxian had mentioned a weapon he had found in the cave of the Xuanwu of Slaughter. A weapon with the power of five thousand souls at least who had all met their tragic end to the creature that two teenagers had managed to fell — though not without desperate circumstances and six hours of hard work.

Fu Xuanming and Da-mei only contained the power of a thousand souls. Such a weapon would be immensely useful if it could even be harnessed. But it had been lost to the lake where the tortoise had been slain at Mount Muxi. Fu Xuanming and Wei Wuxian had hoped to recover it, but recovering it was the easy part. Forging it into something useful was an entirely different concept. It was going to take time and caution. Even Wei Wuxian had confessed that the sword was overwhelming, and he couldn't be frivolous about its handling.

"We can get it ready," Fu Xuanming announced. "Whatever it takes to get Lianmin out of that place. Whatever it takes to destroy Wen Ruohan."

Lan Xichen nodded, the concern on his face only growing deeper. Fu Xuanming was too distracted to be stunned, but it was a rare moment without a hint of Lan Xichen's normal smiles, false or true. He didn't try to cheer them up, keep spirits high, or rally them in a positive "we have a plan" mindset. This was a very serious operation, and he had no room for pleasantries.

Fu Xuanming met up with Wei Wuxian at Mount Muxi, where together they finished his most impressive creation to date: the Yin Tiger Tally. The black iron sword that Wei Wuxian had found had already been drenched in the sin of murder, and after having lingered in the shell of the Xuanwu of Slaughter, it had absorbed abundant resentful over time. To forge it into something that could be contained and utilized took both of their concentration and attention for a significant period of time, forcing the other clans to hold the line on their own in the meantime without arousing suspicion.

The function of a tiger tally was to command. As the name implied, those who possessed the Yin Tiger Tally possessed commanding power over corpses, ghosts, and belligerent spirits of all sorts, forcing their obedience. Back when Wei Wuxian had first brought up the idea of its creation, he hadn't thought too much about it. Using his primordial spirit alone to control the corpse puppets and belligerent spirits made it inevitable that there'd be times when he got tired. The tiger tally was meant to help with the burden, potentially expand the range and strength of his power.

And so that was their plan. Together, the two demonic cultivators led the final charge at the Nightless City and the Scorching Sun Palace. With them were over 8000 cultivators from the various clans, all attacking at strategic points across Qishan to prevent too many from gathering and turning the tides of the main attack force. Wen Ruohan would insist that the Sunshot Campaign was pitiful in comparison to the Wen Clan's might. He wasn't wrong to think his forces were intimidating, as he could easily attack with tens of thousands of cultivators under his thumb — those both willing and unwilling.

The siege lasted for days. Fu Xuanming only remembered it had been more than ten by the time she stopped counting, but others would tell her that the siege's total duration had lasted weeks, and yet the Nightless City stubbornly refused to fall. Unlike Wei Wuxian, she did not need to rest or sleep during the entire duration of the campaign, and entering a nightless city would only give her more strength. However, she could not use the Yin Tiger Tally alone, with her demonic cultivation being weaker than his, and so they exchanged positions and the brunt of its use, even as they did not stop over the course of all of those days.

The power of the Yin Tiger Tally was far stronger and more terrifying than they had expected. Wei Wuxian had originally wanted to use it simply as a supplement, but unexpectedly, its power showed the faint potential to overwhelm its own creator. Moreover, the thing didn't recognize any one master. If someone got their hands on it, no matter who that person was — good or bad, friend or foe — it would be theirs to use.

When the Yin Tiger Tally had looked to be going out of Wei Wuxian's control, Fu Xuanming had summoned all of her strength to reign it in. Five thousand souls against one thousand, but it was enough to restrain the tiger tally from going completely out of control and causing the dead under its command to attack the living cultivators who had joined the siege.

Of course, even if the dead could be used to fight the entire battle to minimize casualties, no cultivator of renown would stand by and be protected — not when the final conflict to end this brutal war was about to begin. Fu Xuanming and Wei Wuxian together brought the tiger tally to heed, and so not many would recognize that for an instance, the dead were on the verge of becoming an even bigger problem than the Wens.

Later, the two would come to an agreement. The disaster had already been born into the world. It wasn't that they hadn't thought of destroying it, but forging the tiger tally had been no easy task and destroying it would have been just as difficult, demanding all their energy and time. Besides, the Yin Tiger Tally served as an immense force of deterrence. People wouldn't dare target them incautiously while he had this spiritual weapon, so Wei Wuxian kept it as temporary protection. All they did was split the tiger tally into two so that its powers could only be activated when assembled, thus making it so it would never be used unless absolutely necessary.

While Wei Wuxian was getting into another argument with Lan Wangji about the dangers of demonic cultivation (in the middle of the fight, no less — honestly, Lan Wangji sometimes had the oddest timing), Fu Xuanming was leading a charge through the main force of the remaining Wens. Even the dead she had summoned were being thinned out, but it was an inevitable conclusion. They would win here. They had to.

Normally, Fu Xuanming made an effort to spare those who surrendered, but under the Yin Tiger Tally, there was no such discrimination possible beyond keeping her own allies from being outright slaughtered as well. Many had already fallen to the friendly fire just from being too close, and so they had let Fu Xuanming take the lead and hung back to deal with any remnants that tried to escape or circle around and attack from behind the invading force.

Chifeng-zun and Zewu-jun accompanied her as they made a frontal assault on the palace where Wen Ruohan was waiting. Others had already been cut down as the king dared to descend from his throne. He could siege his own city single-handedly, annihilating the living and dead, indiscriminate of who was on his side or not.

"I've got you!" Wei Wuxian announced, and took over the Yin Tiger Tally to revive the dead again. He forged a path up the steps to the palace, and further ensured that no one else could dare approach, let alone interfere.

The battle was as fierce as expected. Wen Ruohan's cultivation was so strong that he had reached the point beyond aging, and so a young man greeted them with the strength to take on all three at once. They had to be careful not to get in each other's way, which was why Lan Xichen had insisted on bringing them together to train before the fight occurred.

Nie Mingjue was still an excellent cultivator and a master of the saber, and so Fu Xuanming had agreed to train with him. Learning blade techniques from Lan Xichen and saber techniques from Nie Mingjue, and then learning how to combine all three of their fighting styles as one — it was no easy task, and nothing could have compared to the might of fighting Wen Ruohan in person. At best, they could have Wei Wuxian controlling powerful corpses and even Fu Xuanming's father, or have Lan Wangji playing the guqin to control a puppet on strings like the archery range back at Gusu.

Fu Xuanming had been rattled by too many things at this point. She was struggling under the weight of the Yin Tiger Tally's darkness in the air, worried about her sister's location and if she might end up among the fallen Wens while trying to maintain her cover, and now Wen Ruohan stood before her. He hadn't changed in appearance in the last decade or more since they had seen one another. By contrast, Fu Xuanming had deliberately changed a great deal.

She didn't know if it was her face, her abilities, or her blade that gave her away, but Wen Ruohan seemed to recognize her, and began to focus his attacks, with Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen only able to run interference.

Fu Xuanming knew what he was doing, aiming for her chest where the ashes of her father were stored. If those ashes were stolen, they could be used to control him — or at least manipulate him against anyone except Fu Xuanming herself. But if they were destroyed, so too would he be. His spirit would be obliterated, not even hope of rebirth or whatever afterlife he might have been destined for. Fu Xuanming had been working tirelessly with Wei Wuxian for a solution ever since she had first told him the truth back at the Lotus Pier. But even with demonic cultivation, they had yet to find a way to free him from this prison between life and death in a safe and merciful manner.

Fu Xuanming had never been afraid of pain, but now she desperately avoided even the slightest brush of Wen Ruohan's blade. Lan Xichen noticed the divergence from her normal fighting style, which was wild and reckless and invited enemies to stab her even if it was fatal. Even Nie Mingjue was paying enough attention to spot the difference, and so the two of them worked in sync to adjust as well. They traded blows and covered for one another, but they were neither making progress nor falling back.

Wen Ruohan did not limit himself to a single blade as his weapon. He employed various types of attacks, and even his bare hands were enough to catch and parry the swords that came their way. At one point, he casually took Shuoyue's blade between his fingers and pushed it aside to clash with Nie Mingjue's saber Baxia.

The force of his cultivation base alone could physically ward off attacks, but whatever other methods he employed could neither be called proper cultivation nor demonic. He used magics stolen and modified to his liking from many different places, many different religions and forms of magic. Her father had once been the subject of his studies, but Fu Xuanming had always known that he was far from the first, and far from the last.

The three of them brought down their swords together, infused with all the energy both good and evil, of light and darkness, of life and death. The resounding quake from the blow nearly tore the Scorching Sun Palace down at its foundations.

But still, Wen Ruohan did not falter. His confidence remained unwavering; not only had he had blocked the strikes, but he had effortlessly begun gathering magics of his own without a care in the world. Fu Xuanming, Lan Xichen, and Nie Mingjue tried to pull their weapons back, but they had been grabbed by whatever force had caught them. They couldn't retreat and were sure to be caught in whatever attack Wen Ruohan had ready, forced to take it point-blank.

Only Fu Xuanming managed to summon Da-mei's strength, the strength of over a thousand deaths, and tear her weapon free. She shoved her saber into the core of Wen Ruohan's charging attack and released all its energy at once, trying to aim it for the sky and using her body as a shield for the boys. The ensuing blast pushed all of them back, a mixing of energies flowing in an uncontrolled state, and Fu Xuanming could feel her body being burnt away, only enduring with the power of her saber and her own magic.

She felt a steadying hand on her back. Lan Xichen pressed a hand against her and poured as much spiritual energy as he could to help. Shortly after, Nie Mingjue joined as well, and the three of them hurled all of their combined might forwards as one.

Then, it all came to a stop. An extremely thin flash of cold light swept across Wen Ruohan, and all the power he had been building and releasing went dead silent.

"Y…You…" Wen Ruohan might have struggled to say, before his body went limp. A sword had pierced clean through his heart from behind, a well-placed and deliberate blow from a spiritual sword of the Jin Clan of Lanling.

Another sword swipe took his head next. A green jade sword severed bone and flesh cleanly, without a hint of blood tarnishing its edge. Wen Ruohan's body fell one way, off the initial sword that had killed it, and his head was caught beneath the boot of his decapitating attacker. The second sword carved a rune into his back that burned to life through clothing and flesh alike.

Meng Yao and Fu Lianmin removed the fiery outer robes of Qishan, uncaring of their appearance as their true colors were restored — the yellow robes of Sparks Amidst Snow, and the black robes of an independant cultivator, a Clarity Bell of Yunmeng hanging from her waist.

"A-Yao." Fu Xuanming dropped her saber. It didn't hit the ground, as it floated up and turned its eye upon her younger sister as well.

Uncaring of anything else, Fu Xuanming dashed over the corpse of the man she couldn't care less about and wrapped her sister into a hug. A million questions that had built up over the years without her now died on Fu Xuanming's tongue. Fu Lianmin was alive and well, and Wen Ruohan was dead. All else didn't matter.

"Don't ever scare me like that again! You made me die of fright at least a dozen times over!"

When Fu Xuanming finally pulled back, it was only to look at Fu Lianmin's face. She indeed looked healthy and happy as ever, the glint of hard-earned victory in her eyes. "It was my turn to protect you, A-Xu. He'll never hurt you again. The rune I drew will ensure his spirit is shattered even in death, so he won't be coming back even if he's more vengeful than an army or summoned by Wei Wuxian himself."

Fu Xuanming was sure she had been worried about Fu Lianmin growing up too fast earlier. Something about her doing something foolish or something or other. Right now, that pride she had had when she had let Fu Lianmin go had returned in full force. Fu Xuanming took her sister's face in her hands, smiling through tears of relief. "Old enough to be worrying about me now. You're all grown up!"

Fu Lianmin grinned. "You're just now noticing?"

"Chifeng-zun!"

Fu Xuanming pulled Fu Lianmin out of the way as Nie Mingjue lifted his saber to attack Meng Yao. Meng Yao might have been able to lift his blade to defend himself, but he deliberately did not do it effectively. A blow from the raw power and strength would still win against Meng Yao's more nimble and quick-witted defenses. He was thrown back into the crumbling remains of the palace walls, dust raining down around him and blood leaking from his mouth.

"You won't get away this time!"

"Sect Leader Nie!" Lan Xichen protested, stepping between the pair before Nie Mingjue could approach to deal him another blow.

Chifeng-zun only tightened the grip on his saber and refused to take his eyes off of Meng Yao. "You killed them."

Meng Yao took the time Lan Xichen had bought him to struggle upright and onto his feet. "Sect Leader Nie, you should know that under the circumstances…I had no choice."

It was exactly the kind of excuse Nie Mingjue hated the most. "What do you mean, no choice?! It was up to you whether to do it!"

Lan Xichen was forced to draw Shuoyue to defend against Baxia.

"Was it really up to me?" Meng Yao pressed. "Sect Leader Nie, if you were in my shoes…"

Nie Mingjue anticipated what he was going to say and cut him off. "I would not!"

"Chifeng-zun…do you not understand that if I didn't kill them, it would've been your corpse lying there?!"

This was no different from saying "Since I saved your life, you can't kill me or you'll be in the wrong." But Meng Yao had a way with his words. His plea was heavy with reserved sorrow and a kind of implicit grievance.

"Mingjue-xiong!" Lan Xichen begged. "Please! A-Yao truly had no choice!"

"He became the Wen dogs' fangs and claws and gave succor to the enemy! No wonder I couldn't find him anywhere after he fled Langye! Turns out he ran off to be a lackey of the Wen dogs and aid that tyrant in perpetuating his evil from the Nightless City! And you're telling me he had no choice? Get out of my way!"

Fu Lianmin had been pushed behind Fu Xuanming at her elder sister's instinct, but she moved to emerge. Her hand was still clenched upon her spiritual sword, Yao Pingheng — Jade Balance — or just Pingheng. "Chifeng-zun, do you know who risked rescuing you from the Nightless City?"

Sure enough, Nie Mingjue's movement faltered. He stood rigidly in place, veins bulging on his forehead. Gripping the hilt of his saber, he bellowed his response. "Fine! I'll hack you to death, then take my own life!"

He didn't need to use his sword to shove Lan Xichen out of his way. But Lan Xichen persisted, and at this rate he was going to get himself hurt, flinging himself in the path of an enraged Nie Mingjue. With Fu Lianmin also urging her forward, Fu Xuanming summoned Da-mei to her hand and swung out her saber to join Lan Xichen's Shuoyue.

"Zewu-jun…" Meng Yao began.

"Xichen, get out of the way!" Nie Mingjue bellowed.

Lan Xichen persisted. "Mingjue-xiong, peace! You wanted to know who had been secretly sending us intel for the past year, didn't you? The real source of the Wen Clan's tactical deployment maps and movements! A-Yao regrets the incident at Langye, but he did not dare encounter you. All he could think to do was infiltrate the Wen Clan of Qishan and get close to Wen Ruohan before sending letters to me in secret. He did that to atone for his mistakes."

Fu Lianmin was quiet, but she was deliberately opting not to mention how there was nothing at all to atone for.

Lan Xichen continued, "I didn't know the identity of the sender at first. It was Fu Lianmin who finally revealed the truth to me. I can only speculate why she did not do the same for you."

Fu Lianmin turned her head away. "Zewu-jun, you saw it too. Even if we told him the truth, Sect Leader Nie would not believe it."

"To atone…for his mistakes?" Nie Mingjue recited, slowly. With a single forceful shove, he disengaged from the both of them, pointing his saber accusing beyond them and towards Meng Yao. "For the past year, you have killed countless men and allies of ours as you did that day."

Meng Yao lowered himself to his knees. "I was pretending to be one of Wen Ruohan's aides. I know that I carry grave sins. That day at the Yanyang Hall in the Scorching Sun Palace, I did injure you to gain Wen Ruohan's trust, so he wouldn't sense something was amiss. And I did speak insolently to you. I knew what happened to the former Sect Leader Nie sorely grieves you, but I still intentionally twisted the knife in that wound… While it might have been a last resort, I really am truly sorry."

Nie Mingjue replied, "You should not kneel to me, but instead to all those cultivators you killed with your own hands."

"Wen Ruohan was a brutal man who went berserk at the slightest hint of defiants. I had to pretend to be his trusted aide. How could I stand by and do nothing when others insulted him? That was why…"

"Good," Nie Mingjue observed. "Seems like you've done your fair share of such deeds before this too."

Meng Yao sighed. "When in Qishan…"

Lan Xichen sighed as well. He did not sheath his sword, nor did he lift it. "Mingjue-xiong, it…was unavoidable that he would have to do certain things while undercover in Qishan. When he did them, he also felt…"

Fu Xuanming was the only one without a particular side in the conflict, but she and Lan Xichen both had very different reasons for excusing Meng Yao's actions. Fu Xuanming was fine with deception and underhanded tactics, especially with good reasons behind the actions — be they self-preservation or a necessary sacrifice to win an uphill battle with too much at risk. And she had never found Meng Yao's original grievances very worthy of persecution in the first place. If Fu Lianmin was trusting him, Fu Xuanming would naturally be inclined to at least give him a chance.

Lan Xichen, however, was just too pure and kind. Then again, Nie Mingjue was already deeply suspicious of him. The Meng Yao currently before Lan Xichen was an undercover agent who endured endless humiliation to carry out his mission alone, left with no choice but to put himself in danger. With such different perspectives, how could their feelings be compared?

Then, Meng Yao announced, "Today, I was able to kill Wen Ruohan together with the help of Sect Leader Nie, Zewu-jun, Fu Xuanming and Lianmin-xiong, to restore peace for all of the clans and the civilian population especially. My wish has been fulfilled. Sect Leader Nie…you may do as you wish."

After a long moment, Nie Mingjue abruptly raised his saber.

"Mingjue-xiong!" Lan Xichen called out. "Please, I beg you pardon —"

Fu Lianmin moved with Pingheng ready, but Fu Xuanming snatched her by the wrist. Fu Lianmin put up a lot more force than she was anticipating, but Fu Xuanming was still strong enough to keep her from interfering.

Before Lan Xichen could finish, the silver glint of the saber slashed down — landing on a large boulder next to them. Meng Yao cowered at the thunderous sound of cracking rock. He turned to look and found the massive stone had been split in half.

In the end, Nie Mingjue could not make himself bring his saber down on Meng Yao. Returning Baxia to its sheath, he turned around and left without sparing them a single backwards glance.

Fu Xuanming reached into her qiankun sleeve and produced a sword. She tossed it back towards Fu Lianmin, who caught it with wide eyes. "Langying."

Fu Lianmin stared at her sister. Then, she finally relaxed. Flicking Pingheng, she twirled a small jade-green hairpin that replaced it and slid Langying to her belt.

"I think," Fu Xuanming announced, "it's time we choose your sobriquet."

---

The play WAS based on FF9's, thank you for noticing!

I chose to go with the depiction of the story from the donghua because it was more dramatic (and I had an excuse to actually make sure other characters were present during Wen Ruohan's defeat), but it hopefully doesn't take away from the fact that Meng Yao did work VERY hard to go undercover and risk his life assassinating Wen Ruohan at the last second. Wen Ruohan is described as a very powerful guy in the book especially, and it's actually a miracle that Nie Mingjue managed to make it out of that situation alive. Not that we NEEDED to linger on Wen Ruohan beyond his overall effect as the head of the snake we cut off during the Sunshot Campaign, but I enjoyed having a little fight scene.