Chapter Text
“The great Hanguang-jun has done it! The Second Jade of Lan has cultivated to immortality!”
That day, people cheered and celebrated in the streets. Alcohol flowed freely, and everyone was in high spirits. Wei Wuxian couldn’t get away from the ruckus if he tried. It was as though when Lan Wangji ascended, so did everyone who heard the news.
In Wei Wuxian’s mind, it had been a foregone conclusion. If anyone in his generation was going to cultivate to such a level, it could only be Lan Wangji. There was no one else so righteous, so deserving, so powerful.
Why then, didn’t Wei Wuxian feel much like celebrating when he heard the news?
Why then, when people would cheer or try to hand him a drink, he would politely turn it down? He rarely turned down a drink, even when he had to pay for it. So why couldn’t he tune into the celebratory mood that the rest of the whole world seemed to be in?
Perhaps he didn’t like the idea of now being on the wrong side of someone so powerful. Someone whom he had endlessly pestered and bothered, who could now easily destroy him and everything he had built with just a few words. He had made an enemy of the strongest cultivator of his generation and now he was regretful – that had to be it.
He left town pretty quickly, grabbing the supplies he needed before heading back to the thankfully more somber Burial Mounds. These days, coming back to the Burial Mounds brought him a similar kind of relief that seeing Lotus Pier used to, but without the anxiety of having to keep secrets from Jiang Cheng.
He hadn’t seen Jiang Cheng in months, and probably wouldn’t for many more. Tensions with his shidi were high ever since he renounced his place in the Yunmeng Jiang and split off with the Wen remnants. Sometimes, Wei Wuxian wondered if there was any way to salvage that relationship, or if the last time they spoke would be the last forever.
Besides, it was unadvisable for the newly minted sect leader to visit the cultivation world’s newest biggest baddest villain. As famous as Hanguang-jun had become, he could never beat the level of infamy that the Yiling Laozu had reached. He had reached a level of infamy so great he was practically folklore. Parents warned their children that the scary Yiling Laozu would punish them for misdeeds. Rumors flew around that Yiling Laozu was secretly a demon king. Wei Wuxian had heard stories of himself that had him curling his toes, and he actually was the Yiling Laozu.
No one recognized Wei Wuxian as his infamous title when he went into town. He didn’t look demonic enough, he supposed, to fit the description of Yiling Laozu despite being the man himself.
He liked to think it didn’t bother him, that he had such a reputation. It was the downside of siding with the Wen remnants, and of his show of strength during the Sunshot campaign. It was an unfortunate side effect of standing up for people he believed in. That, he could live with.
Besides, he liked to think that he had inadvertently united the other clans, through their hatred of him. So between that and the lives of innocent people saved, Wei Wuxian thought the infamy had to be worth it.
“A-Ning wants to talk to you,” Wen Qing said, holding a basket full of freshly plucked potatoes on her hip. Her expression was softer than Wei Wuxian usually saw it – she must have heard about Lan Wangji’s accomplishment. “He’s behind the farmhouse.”
Wei Wuxian nodded but continued looking wistfully at the clouds as they passed the distant mountains. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Are you doing alright?” She asked, voice uncharacteristically compassionate. It brought a smirk to Wei Wuxian’s lips. It was hard not to tease Wen Qing when she went against her nature and showed how much she actually cared for Wei Wuxian.
“I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be? The town was in a great mood, which means more free booze for me,” he joked. Wen Qing was no bloodhound, but even she could tell there was not a drop of booze on his breath. But, she had the sense to drop the issue anyway.
She huffed as she readjusted the basket on her hips and started to make her way back toward the fields. Her kindness had apparently run out. Wei Wuxian took her leaving as his signal to go find Wen Ning out behind the farmhouse.
Standing alone in the clearing, Wen Ning fiddled with the chains around his wrists, nervously awaiting his master’s arrival.
“Wen Ning! Your sister told me you were looking for me?” Wei Wuxian greeted casually, trying to maintain an upbeat attitude despite the extra effort it took.
“I wanted to talk to you. You… you said if I disagreed with you, it was okay to bring it up,” Wen Ning started softly, hands shaking at his sides.
Wei Wuxian’s face softened. It was hard not to find Wen Ning cute, given how much effort it took him to simply speak his mind. “Of course. You can tell me whatever’s on your mind.”
“I don’t think it’s safe for me to be in the village with the others…” Wen Ning choked out, avoiding eye contact with Wei Wuxian.
This was not what Wei Wuxian had expected when Wen Ning mentioned a disagreement. For someone as nonconfrontational as Wen Ning, he had expected the conversation to be about where to store the potatoes, or how many houses to build, or which type of thatch to use. Something logistic, or some simple disagreement before the nervous man could work up to larger disagreements. But apparently, Wen Ning had decided to come out swinging. Wei Wuxian couldn’t help but be impressed.
“Why don’t you think it’s safe?” Wei Wuxian prodded.
“I still feel a bit foggy, like I might lose control or something. You should lock me back up. Sister can come visit me still, but I don’t think I should be around all the children and elderly, just in case.” Wen Ning’s whole body shook with the effort to voice his concern. Wei Wuxian couldn’t help but feel proud of his friend, even if he didn’t agree with the concern itself. He was proud of the step toward self-confidence.
“It’s not like I released you on a whim, Wen Ning. Don’t you remember? We tried to trigger episodes of rage from you with all kinds of stimuli. I wrote talisman after talisman to try and undo the progress we had made just to make sure it all stuck. And Wen Qing did too. You don’t trust our work?” To be honest, Wei Wuxian was slightly offended. He was quite proud of how well Wen Ning behaved these days, and couldn’t help but chalk it up to his own cultivation and handiwork. It hadn’t been easy to give a fierce corpse his own autonomy and consciousness, but Wei Wuxian had made it work. And it worked well. In fact, Wen Ning’s disagreement with him was only further proof that he could not be controlled.
So then, why didn’t Wen Ning believe it himself?
“It’s not that!” Wen Ning quickly defended. “You and Sister are very talented. It’s just… I’m quite strong now. I wasn’t this strong before. And, well, if I were to lose control, I think I might be strong enough to hurt you too, Wei-gongzi.”
At this, Wei Wuxian wanted to laugh, but in an effort not to scare off poor Wen Ning, Wei Wuxian suppressed the laughter, covering it up with a small cough.
“You’re still a fierce corpse, I could suppress you with Chenqing if you did somehow lose control,” Wei Wuxian pointed out. He even pulled Chenqing from his side and spun it around expertly on his fingers.
Watching the dizi spin rapidly, Wen Ning became briefly distracted. Then, he shook his head, refocusing. “But I’m stronger now, that’s what I’m saying!” Wen Ning raised his voice slightly. Wen Ning never raised his voice, so Wei Wuxian couldn’t help but stare.
Apparently, Wen Ning felt quite strongly about this, evidenced by his sudden desire to confront Wei Wuxian, and his voice raising. This was something he was really truly worried about.
“You think you could resist Chenqing?” Wei Wuxian asked softly, a bit scared to know the answer. Perhaps there was something Wen Ning wasn’t telling him. It was odd for Wen Ning to suddenly bring this up with nothing had gone wrong. Had he found himself resisting the pull of Chenqing and hadn’t felt brave enough to bring it up to Wei Wuxian? Or was this about something else?
“Well… I think that the kind of energy you taught me to resist to give me my consciousness is the same kind of energy you wield with Chenqing. There are other types of energy that might suppress me, but none of it can be found in the Burial Mounds…” Wen Ning’s voice was soft again, like he was scared to say this part aloud.
Ah, so that was it then. This was about Wei Wuxian’s golden core – or rather his lack thereof. Ever since the day of the surgery, Wen Ning carried immense guilt and regret about his participation in it. And now that Wei Wuxian had renounced the Yunmeng Jiang, he supposed it had gotten Wen Ning thinking about it all again.
Wei Wuxian sighed loudly. “You think because I don’t have a golden core, I’m not strong enough to hold you back if you were to lose control. Is that it?”
Wen Ning looked at him with big, sad, apologetic eyes, “You said if I disagreed with you, I could say so. I am not saying Wei-gongzi is not very talented and powerful! It’s a matter of the type of cultivation used against me, that’s all.”
To his point, it made sense. Wen Ning was essentially a giant, autonomous ball of resentful energy that Wei Wuxian had specifically engineered not to take orders from others. So, it made sense that a wielder of resentful energy might struggle to contain or control such a being. But surely Wei Wuxian, the infamous Yiling Laozu, was strong enough to do just that, even without his stupid golden core?
“You are allowed to disagree with me, Wen Ning, but I am allowed to disagree back. And I do disagree! I don’t need a golden core to suppress you, I created you as you are now. Surely if things were to get out of hand, your master could control you. Besides, we are arguing hypotheticals because it won’t even come to that since you will not need to be controlled. I’m not locking you up again.” Wei Wuxian said with finality.
“Wei-gongzi, please. Our energies are too similar. Just as you draw power from the resentful energy here in the Burial Mounds, so do I. Except you are just a conduit for it, whereas I am one with it. Living here, one day, I will surpass your power, and without a golden core to strengthen you, it’s too dangerous.” Wen Ning was making so much sense, that Wei Wuxian felt a bit like punching him. It was quite frustrating because Wei Wuxian didn’t have a good response, but intuitively he knew that Wen Ning did not need to be locked up. He was absolutely confident he had enough power with Chenqing to control him if need be. And there wouldn’t ever be a need because Wen Ning wouldn’t lose control.
What was the point in provoking him like this? Why ask to be locked up in the first place? If Wen Ning truly believed he was strong enough to resist Wei Wuxian’s power, then locking him up wouldn’t accomplish anything anyway. This was about something else…
“You’re upset because of what Jiang Cheng said, aren’t you? I don’t think this is really about locking you up. I think you’re angry, and you’re worried that if Jiang Cheng were to show up here again, you might get so upset you would hurt him.” Wen Ning’s eyes darting to the ground and his trembling lip told Wei Wuxian that he was on the right track. “Look, it’s okay to be mad at me, if you are. You can disagree with me, and you can be mad at me, and I won’t hurt you or make you do things you don’t want to do. But we can’t change the past. I don’t regret having Wen Qing do the surgery. And I don’t regret giving Jiang Cheng my golden core.” A chill went down Wei Wuxian’s spine as he briefly remembered the pain of his golden core removal surgery.
“He doesn’t deserve your golden core.” Wen Ning pouted.
Wei Wuxian couldn’t help but give a small laugh. “No, he doesn’t. But he has it, and we can’t change that. Besides, the Yunmeng Jiang sect leader needs a golden core to lead, and he has one. No one needs to know that it’s not the one he was born with, not even him.”
There was a silent pause as Wen Ning collected his thoughts. He fiddled with the chains around his wrists, letting them rattle loudly. Looking at Wei Wuxian out of the side of his eyes he asked, “If you knew how he would react when you saved us, would you do it again?”
“I would…” Wei Wuxian grimaced, “Even knowing how much it hurt. I owe Jiang Cheng and his family my whole life. And I feel like giving him my golden core means I’ve finally paid him back. That’s why it’s better he doesn’t know. He would think he owed me for it.” Wei Wuxian felt the tiredness of the day weigh on him suddenly and decided he had done enough revisiting the past. So, he spun on his heel, motioning for Wen Ning to follow him. “Now let’s get back to the others, I’m sure they’re looking for us. And I’ll talk with Wen Qing and see if we can come up with some potential backup measures to suppress you if you ever, somehow, miraculously, lost control. Maybe that’ll make you feel better.”
When Wei Wuxian lifted his eyes from the ground to begin making his way back to the others, his feet stopped in their tracks. His whole body froze. He felt his heart leap to his throat.
Hidden slightly by the foliage a pair of golden eyes, angry and glistening with unshed tears, looked fiercely at Wei Wuxian.
Apparently, the Burial Mounds had an unannounced visitor.