After the extraction, Lan Xichen went back to the others with Lan Shizui by his side. On their way there, the Lan Clan Leader called Shizui, but it seems the boy was deep in thought, so he called again.
Lan Xichen: "Shizui."
Lan Shizui (surprised): "Y-yes Zewu Jun?"
Lan Xichen: "Are you worried for Young Master Wei? He's like a father to you, am I correct?"
Lan Shizui (nodded): "Yes Zewu Jun. I... I just... Don't want to loose him again."
Lan Xichen smiled and hummed in response at the boy.
Lan Xichen: "Don't worry. He will heal as long as he stays in the cave. Besides, (looks at Shizui) you can go and play the Guqin to him, that can speed up the healing process."
Shizui smiled at his Leader and nodded.
Once they arrived, they saw everyone surrounding an unconscious tied up Wen Ning. When Huisang noticed the two men approaching, he frantically ran to Lan Xichen.
Nie Huisang (frantic): "GÄgÄ! GÄgÄ! H-how's bro Wei?"
Xichen smiled, but before any words would come out of his mouth, Wen Ning moved, alarming everyone except Shizui who neared him. Jingyi grabbed Shizui to stop him, but Shizui only smiled at him in reassurance, grabbing his friend's hand and pulling it away. Shizui and Xichen neared the waking man and kneeled down as to be closer to him.
Wen Ning (half asleep/awake): "Zewu... Jun..."
Xichen smiled him and lightly gripped Wen Ning's shoulder in encouragement; he let go, stood up, and ordered his disciples to untie him. When they did, Shizui took Wen Ning's arm and helped him up.
Wen Ning (now fully awake): "Z-zewu Jun?"
Lan Xichen: "Yes?"
Wen Ning (worried): "I... I think s-something happened to C-childe Wei."
Lan Xichen smiled and nodded, he then turned around and saw everyone shiething their blades and waiting for the news.
Lan Xichen: "Everyone, unfortunately what Lan ZhÄn warned was true. Young Master Wei truly was cursed by his flute, Chenqing. But don't fret, he's now safe and currently healing in a cave, where he must stay and remain asleep until his body fully heals from the damage received by the curse. As for the flute, it's been sealed by one of ZhÄn's most powerful seals."
Nue Huisang: "But... What exactly happened? What made the flute react in such way?"
Lan Xichen: "The disciples that were with Young Master Wei will explain to us first thing in the morning after they've rested from today's events. As for all of you, please feel free to stay the night here."
Everyone nodded at this. Xichen ordered some of his disciples to guide the Leaders to the rooms where they'll be staying the night in.
~Timeskip to early morning brought to you by Nie Huisang's frantic fanning~
(Fanning them ghost away like a Boss)
In the early morning, all the Leaders are at the same place as the day before when meeting the Princess on their respective seats. The two disciples that helped during Chenqing's extraction stood in the center/front of everyone; the Grand Master Lan Qiren, Lan Wangji, Lan ZhÄn, and Lan Xichen seating in front of them.
Lan Xichen: "Please tell us what happened, and make sure to not leave a single detail."
Disciple #1: "Of course, we won't even leave the smallest detail."
Disciple #2: "It happened an hour after getting the scrolls for Zewu Jun..."
~Another story in Third person's POV~
(AN: I'm going to shorten the word "Disciple" as "Dc" and adding a number as to signify which is which. Example: "Dc #1")
Wei Wuxian and the Lan disciples were on their way to Gusu on their horses, everyone as calm and relaxed as they can be while Wei Wuxian twirled his flute with a smile, playing music with it once in a while. Seeing it was getting dark and knowing they weren't very close to a village, they stopped and prepared a small camp for them to rest for the night. Wei Wuxian along with two disciples went to go get firewood while the other three were hunting/fishing before nightfall...
???#1: "You made sure no one was around, right?"
???#2: "Of course! Besides, we're done with the extraction anyways. If anyone were here, they would only see a corpse. Plus, after this one, I'm sure we've gathered enough cores."
???#1: "Unless our Childe says it's not."
This low conversation took Wei Wuxian's attention as well as the two disciples, they lowered and hid behind a fallen tree where they had a perfect view of the crime scene. Wei Wuxian's eyes widened on what he witnessed... A diamond core extraction. They saw how those shady uniformed men placed the diamond core into a special looking box which was completely covered in seals. Wei Wuxian knew those seals, those seals are only used for extremely powerful objects, whether they are cursed ones, unstable, or just very powerful. He was considering in using them for Wen Ning, but he didn't have the energy, or more like a core, to do such seals. Him fully knowing of the history of the people with diamond cores, it infuriates him greatly that he came too late to save, what appeared to be a mere child between the ages 10 and 12. Wei Wuxian turned and leaned on the tree next to him, trying to calm his rage down, shedding a few small tears as to relieve the anger as to not activate Chengqing by accident.
Dc #1 (whispering): "Predecessor Wei, what do we do?"
Wei Wuxian took a deep breath and-
Dc #5: "Hey! What do you think you're doing?!"
Wei Wuxian and the disciples quickly turned to see another disciple of theirs as well as another one, facing the two murderers. Wei Wuxian sighed in despair while shaking his head, not approving at ALL of what those two did. He stood up and leaped in between the two groups, one of the disciples that were with him followed close while the missing one stayed hidden, in case things would get out of hand.
Shady guy #1: "Oh? Do my eyes deceive me? Or am I in the presence of the great Yilling Patriarch?"
Wei Ying stayed serious, not wanting to joke around at such a serious situation, nor seeing a reason as to joke around in the first place.
Wei Wuxian: "Yah. You DO know you just killed an innocent child... Right?"
The two men chuckled, causing Wei Ying to grip his flute ever so tighter.
Shady guy #2: "How do you know the child is innocent? What if we told you that the child tried to poison us to steal our stuff?"
Wei Wuxian: "Because people with a diamond core are known to be naturally pacific."
The two men straightened, the first shady guy gripped the box tighter from behind him, which alarmed Wei Wuxian, soon knowing what their next plan was.
Wei Wuxian: "I wouldn't even try to escape if I were you. The both of you will face the consequences of your actions, no matter what... Clan, you belong to. Consider yourselves lucky if you were to be kept alive after doing such crime."
After this being said, the two men knew better than to try and run away from the Yilling Patriarch, so the second shady man quickly threw something in the air that glowed. This worrued Wei Wuxian tremendously, so he took out his flute from his waist band and was about to play it until smoke came from behind him. He didn't react fast enough, nor did the disciples when a huge masked man appeared from behind Wei Wuxian, knocking the three disciples away and grabbing Wei Ying from behind. The man's hands were big enough to grab both of Wei Wuxian's wrists with just one hand, while the other held a big sword which was placed on Wei Wuxian's neck. He slightly turned around so the disciples would know in what situation they were in; the man also made sure that Wei Wuxian's hands which were holding the flute, stayed away from the now distressed man's face. Laughter was then heard, grabbing the distressed disciples and Wei Wuxian's attention.
Shady guy #2: "Yilling Patriarch, I admit that, for a moment at least, me and my friend here got worried there. But as you can see, we have good resources with us; ones that are strong and unbeatable."
The two shady men kept ranting and overestimating themselves that they didn't see those two hidden disciples about to pounce on the enemy. One had his eyes on the giant while the other's eyes were on the two shady men, both were getting the Killer String technic ready. Wei Wuxian as well as the two readied disciples mentally counted...
1...
2...
3.
The Dc #4 then choked the giant thus making him loosen his grip on his hostage, allowing Wei Wuxian to slip out; while at the same time that disciple attacked, the Dc #3 tied the two men together making them drop the box that contained the diamond core. This made the two shady men panic; and right when the giant threw the Dc #4 off of him, Wei Wuxian played Chenqing, making the giant suspiciously fall unconscious to the floor immediately, almost as if it were lifeless.
Wei Wuxian then walked towards the two shady men and gently grabbed the box.
Wei Wuxian (serious): "Tell me right now what you or your Leader were planning to do with the diamond core."
Shady guy #1: "That's none of your business! Plus, even if we wanted to confess, we can't tell you anything!"
Shady guy #2: "That's right! We have a seal inside of us that forbids us from exposing any of our Clan's sectrets! Not that we wanted to in the first place."
Shady guy #1: "Besides!...(smirk) I would start running if I were you; it's getting dark, our Clan works better on dark hours. We sent a message from that small light, that giant friend of ours was just nearby; but when our Childe comes... He'll have your head."
Dc #?: "Predecessor Wei!"
Wei Wuxian turned around just in time to leap away before the giant man could knock him away from the two shady men in brute force. The giant grabbed the tied up men and disappeared.
Dc #1: "Predecessor Wei. What do we do now?"
Wei Wuxian thought of what to do, but looking down at the box, the answer was obvious.
Wei Wuxian: "We need to get back to Cloud Recesses, now."
The disciples nodded in agreement, they quickly burried and paid their respects to the murdered child, and they all immediately went back to their horses, in which they mounted on and head straight to Gusu as fast as their horses could go, taking any possible short cut they could find. The warning that shady man gave was no joke, there were a lot of them coming back and forth, Wei Wuxian and the disciples would sometimes even stop to hide so they could heal and rest for a while, they even lost 2 horses along the way.
It was then early morning; they were still far, yet still very close to Gusu, Wei Wuxian could already taste the Emperor's Smile liquor, just a hint really, but that explains how close yet far they are. They were all tired from the intense journey, the horses were also tired but they galloped and ran either way, understanding they are in danger. The horses then suddenly started galloping faster, which was a sign that the enemy were back and ready to fight again. Giant men (2 of them) suddenly appeared on the road, startling the disciple's horses and separating them from Wei Wuxian but before Wei Ying could react to turn and help, he then noticed an archer at mid air, pointing at Wei Wuxian and shot the arrow. Wei Wuxian covered the spot where he thought the arrow was aimed at, only to hear a desperate 'Neigh' from his horse and fell sideways with the now dead horse laying on top of one of his legs (AN: As in, him still being 'on' the horse, but both of them are laying down). Wei Wuxian desperately tried to push the horse off of his now numb leg, but the horse was too heavy. Seeing how the disciples were in danger, he reached for Chenqing only to realize the flute wasn't on his waist band anymore. He looked and saw it a bit far, so he tried to reach for it, only for a man to appear, or more like teleported himself, right infront of his flute which was infront of Wei Wuxian.
???: "Well... I guess they weren't lying after all. Here I thought you died at Nevernight."
Wei Wuxian looked up and saw a man with dark hair put up in a ponytail with side bangs that reached to his chin, what caught Wei Wuxian's attention the most were his oddly vibrant eyes and small, barely visible fangs. The man kneeled infront of Wei Wuxian, one of his feets stepping on Chenqing, and spoke again.
Mysterious man: "*smirk*Hello. Now then, *serious* I kindly ask you to give me the diamond core, and in return, (points at the disciples) I'll give you your disciples back safely."
Wei Wuxian groaned in distaste at this, but the man took that noise for something else.
Mysterious man (smirking): "Ah, I see. You can't think straight when you have a dead animal on top of your leg now can't you."
The man stood up and snapped his fingers, this made one of the giants come and pull the horse away with ease. The sudden pain on his leg made him semi-shreak/groan in pain, he held his leg and massaged it as to relieve the pain and help the blood flow through his leg again. Wei Wuxian glared at the man when he heard him chuckle/laugh at his pain.
Mysterious man: "Now that there isn't anymore obstacles... Why don't you hand over the core?"
Wei Wuxian (gritted teeth): "I'd rather die then give it to someone like you."
Mysterious man: "Hmm, no. I'm sure there's still a way to use you."
That's when a box was given to him by one of his archers... It was the same box he gave to his disciple to hide while he had a fake one. The mysterious man laughed at Wei Wuxian's confusion.
Mysterious man: "You think I would've fallen for that trick?! It's the oldest trick in the book!"
The man laughed while stroking his dagger onto the diamond core, making the edge of the dagger glow after taking it out. Wei Wuxian took this opportunity to grab Chenqing-
*STAB*
*SCREAM*
Wei Wuxian was stabbed on his hand, the same one that's gripping Chenqing. Wei Wuxian groaned in pain when the dagger was pulled, but the pain only worsened... Chenqing started pulsing, that's when Wei Wuxian noticed what the man's plans were. He used the power of the diamond core to activate Chenqing tremendously while uniting his blood to the flute, thus getting him cursed and bounded in an alarming level to the cursed flute.
The mysterious man grinned, watching contently his work. Seeing how the flute's power pulsing through Wei Wuxian's hand, curse marks appearing on his hand and extending in an alarming speed. Wei Wuxian winced in shock and pain, his body moving, flinching, and twitching as if he were being hit continuously (which he kinda was... Internally speaking).
Mysterious man: "Let's go boys! We've got a weapon to awaken!"
The man turned to leave until.
Dc #1 (angry): "How dare you! Who are you?!"
The disciples took out their blades and pointed them to the man. The man slowly turned around and grinned, revealing his fangs and his eyes piercing the Lan Disciples's hearts in fear.
Mysterious man (grinning/laughing): "Tà i YÇzhù (太 é ç), your future ruler."
The man then disappeared/teleported away right before Wei Wuxian stood up.
Dc #3: "Predecessor Wei! Are you o-"
They stopped once their Predecessor turned around, them seeing Wei Wuxian corrupted, covered in curse marks and with black eyes...
.
.
.
Wei Wuxian/Chengqing: "*chuckle*"
~Back to the conversation~
The atmosphere was tense, the tension coming from all the Leaders, including Lan Xichen who tried his hardest to calm down. Relaxing once feeling his daughter's hands holding his tight fist, he turned and saw her reassuring smile which made him relax a little.
Lan Xichen (turned back): "Did they have a crest?"
The two disciples thought for a moment until the first one perked up.
Dc #1: "Yes! The swords as well as their clothes had a snake."
Everyone gasped at this. Wangji looked at his brother with eyes filled with worry and concern, Lan Qiren looked away feeling worried as well, and Lan Xichen tensed immensely, this time holding his daughter's hand.
Clan Leader Yao: "It's those people, the same people who tried to steal Miss Lan! They finally got the core they wanted!"
Jiang Cheng fisted the floor in anger, knowing a child was killed for power; Jin Ling and Ouyang Zizhen were also angry, gripping their clothes in anger.
Nie Huisang: "U-um... A part of me really doesn't want to mention this but... You said you heard them say "I'm sure we've gathered enough cores.", am I correct?... Please say no."
Nie Huisang sunk on his seat, really not wanting them to say yes.
Dc #2: "Yes... They did."
Jiang Cheng: "More?! What more do they need?! One diamond core can consist of more than 2 cores united! Why more?!"
Lan ZhÄn (serious/tense): "Because they weren't hunting adults..."
This caught everyone's attention.
Lan ZhÄn (looking up): "They were hunting children."
Everyone gasped and tensed, they were all furious of this fact.
Ouyang Zizhen: "So you're saying that children are just as powerful as someone with a golden core?"
Lan ZhÄn: "In a way, yes. But they are still more powerful by just a little. Consider it as a core and a half or so."
Jin Ling: "So that means... They stole approximately 5 diamond cores?"
Lan ZhÄn: "Unless they were able to find an adult or teenager; yes."
Clan Leader Yao: "I don't understand. What weapon would they want to awaken?! Especially when it consists of so many cores?!"
Dc #2: "We don't know. He didn't say anything."
Lan Qiren: "Now everyone! Let's calm down, we still don't know of what's going on. Let's just hope they don't end up awakening a powerful weapon."
Clan Leader Yao: "What about the amulet? I'm sure their eyes are set on it! After all, that thing was what destroyed many lives."
Nie Huisang: "But the amulet was completely sealed along with Baxia. Besides, it's location is completely hidden from society, I highly doubt they'll find it. Especially when it's constantly moved in secret to many secret locations. Plus, wouldn't they need Wei bro to unseal it? After all, it's his seal made with his own blood, and he's being kept at a safe location here within the Clan."
Everyone tried to think of a weapon, but nothing came up. One of them had an theory, but that certain person thought it was just impossible. So, they stayed silent.
After that reunion, days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months, and all the Clan Leaders kept their eyes peeled for the gang as well as their ears. Their guards always roaming around their Clans and city for 24 hours straight every single day. Two of them in which received from their disciples in discovering two dead kids, one between the ages 10-12 while the other was known to be a 6 year old, these news tormented the Leaders, and they all tried their hardest to save any other child found.
Every 5 weeks, Jiang Cheng would receive a letter from either Lan Wangji or Lan Xichen, informing him of Wei Wuxian's state, but all of the letters would say the same; Wei Wuxian was still weak from both mind and spirit, Lan ZhÄn would sometimes go and meditate to try and spiritually communicate with him, but the conversations were always short from both him still being weak and for her to let him rest. One of the letters were from Lan ZhÄn herself saying how Wei Wuxian was grateful of his (Jiang Cheng's) encouraging words after the extraction, and just being there for him. She also wrote over how Wei Wuxian knew on what situation he was in and was worried because he kept thinking of keeping his promise to him (Jiang Cheng) in helping him with the Clan; of how he was planning to speak with Lan Wangji about his plan in going to Junmeng and stay for a while to help him (Jiang Cheng) out with the Clan, and then come back to Cloud Recesses to stay there as well for a while, him repeating the process so he could stay at his two homes. Jiang Cheng smiled when reading the letter for the 11th time, finding it somewhat wholesome that his dumb step-brother was thinking about his promise before his possible death. He also couldn't help but roll his eyes after reading the last sentence...
"Don't tell Predecessor Wei I told you."
... But he also couldn't help but chuckle at this. He can't wait to just hit Wei Wuxian and yell at him for meddling on other's business, but deep inside, he was glad he did. After all, if it weren't for his meddling nose, him and the other Clan Leaders wouldn't be as alert as before.
Jin Ling: "Uncle!"
Jiang Cheng quickly stood up from his seat of the Main Hall and ran outside to see an injured Jin Ling as well as 3 injured disciples, one being from the Lan Clan. He hurried to Jin Ling and checked him all over, soon seeing a big vertical cut on his arm.
Jin Ling: "Uncle, those people are back and... (Looks down) I couldn't save the girl."
Jiang Cheng was furious, but was willing to wait until his nephew and disciples were treated. After their treatment, Jiang Cheng spoke.
Jiang Cheng: "Give me one good reason as to why I shouldn't smack you to the other side of the Lotus Lake. Tell me now on why you thought that fighting such a dangerous gang alone was a good idea!"
Jin Ling (teary): "But Uncle! I was just protecting a diamond cored girl! (Jiang Cheng shut himself) We found her at the city of Lanling begging for food; when we took her in, she told us that her guardians were killed by a gang with a snake as their crest in which she was able to escape from. I took her in and made her know that us superiors were making sure the gang wouldn't cross our lands to hurt anyone with a diamond core... But you weren't there at the moment, so I left with 8 guards and the girl which I made the servants disguise her as a servant, I even brought another female servant to make sure it didn't look odd. But even with all of that, nearing Junmeng, the gang found us and fought against us. I tried to save her, but her core was immediately taken from withing her and was practically yanked out... I guess... The name diamond core wasn't given for nothing. Not that I enjoyed it but, but you should've seen it Uncle, the core really did look like a diamond, if not, a star."
Jiang Cheng was furious, from not only the gang thinking they had the audacity to injure Jin Ling, but them also stealing yet another diamond core.
Jin Dc #1 (whispering): "I've never seen a core being yanked out of a body before. It was horrifying!"
Jin Dc #2 (whispering): "Tell me about. It almost makes me want to quit swordsmanship and just lock myself away from society."
Jiang Cheng heard their words, but turned when hearing a very low whimper, only to see his nephew shaking and silently crying, looking away as to not be seen. The Jin disciple's words echoed in his mind, reminding him that Jin Ling never experienced the horrors of a hand disappearing into someone's abdomen and getting the core out in such a horrid way. He kneeled to Jin Ling's level and hugged him, his nephew soon clinged on his Uncle and cried. Jiang Cheng let his nephew cry on his shoulder, understanding that this experience must've been so traumatizing for a teen. Just because he went through something like it as a teenager, doesn't mean he wanted Jin Ling to experience it too. After about 10 minutes, Jiang Cheng let the boy go and calmed him down. Once Jin Ling was okay, he left outside the room to speak with the Lan disciple.
Jiang Cheng: "What about you? Why are you here?"
Lan Dc: "(bowed)Clan Leader Jiang (straightened), I have a message from Clan Leader Lan. It's of most importance for you to come to Cloud Recesses as soon as possible."
Jiang Cheng: "Did he say why?"
The Lan disciple nodded.
Lan Dc: "Yes, they found out what weapon the snake gang are planning to awake, and for all the Leaders to plan out our strategy to attack them before it's too late."
Jiang Cheng: "Alright. We'll leave first thing in the morning, and you'll be coming along."
The Lan disciple bowed respectfully and allowed one of Jiang Cheng's disciples to lead him towards the Lan Disciples's room to stay the night.
"The Untamed" series as well as their characters belong to their rightful owner, I only own the made up characters and the plot.
Thank you for reading!â¤