Secret’s Told

Jiang Cheng had finally found his brother. He and Lan Wangji had followed rumors of darkness and ghosts chasing Wen Chao all the way to Yiling. It led them to the supervisory office there that was eerily silent. No one seemed to be on the premises.

A noise was heard from one of the rooms on the second floor. They looked at each other and then both jumped to the roof. Jiang Cheng had gotten fairly decent at reading Lan Wangji in the three months they had spent looking for his brother and rebuilding the Jiang Sect.

The roof was not in good shape and they were able to peer into the room where the noise was coming from. A figure all in black stood over a another that was huddled in the corner.

“Please,” came a reedy voice from the creature huddled in the corner. “Please don’t kill me. I’ll leave right now and go as far away as possible. I will never enter any of these lands again.”

“No,” came a familiar but also unfamiliar voice from the figure in black. “I have prepared a special gift just for you and I want you to enjoy it as much as I did the destruction of my home.”

The figure brought a flute as black as the deepest darkness to his lips and began to play. Into the room came several fierce corpses of Wen soldiers that also included the corpse of Wang Lingjiao. They surrounded the figure that had huddled in the corner and slowly began to eat him. Since he had moved to get away when they had come to him, Jiang Cheng could tell that wretched figure was Wen Chao. It brought him a fierce sense of joy to see him be devoured by his own men and concubine.

Jiang Cheng held Lan Wangji back as he made a move to stop what was happening. “Lan Wangji this is justice for my parents, for my elders, for my shidi. We will not stop him.”

Lan Wangi looked at him intensely and then nodded. He did not think he believed what he said but he was going along with it. Wen Chao had killed and desecrated his home he would not let anyone help that man now.

The flute music slowly changed as Wen Chao screamed his last. Now it played a peaceful tune of rest and they watched as the bodies of the fierce corpses turned to dust and floated away.

“You can come down now,” said that familiar voice turning around and looking up.

Jiang Cheng was as excited as he had been since before the fall of Lotus Pier. It was his brother, alive.

“Wei Wuxian,” He yelled as he dropped down from the hole in the ceiling followed quickly by Lan Wangji. “Where have you been, we’ve been looking everywhere for you. A-jie is worried sick.”

“I’ve spent the time in hell, learning new tricks.” He said with a cruel smirk as he put the flute in his belt. He looked thinner and his eyes were tinted red, but his clothes looked new and he was alive. Jiang Cheng pulled him into a hug that seemed to surprise Wuxian.

“Aya Jiang Cheng, I’m fine I live.” His brother said as he hugged him back.

He let him go and stepped away. Clearing his throat and trying to get the feelings off of him.

“Wei Ying, “Lan Wangji said and held out Suibian for Wuxian to take. His brother stared hard at the sword and then up at Lan Wangji before he grabbed it reluctantly.

“Come down to the dungeons with me, there are some people who need freed.”

“Who are we freeing,” Jiang Cheng asked as he followed his brother out of the room and down the stairs Lan Wangji trailing behind them.

“There is a debt owed, I will not leave them down here.” Which was not clear at all to Jiang Cheng, who could Wuxian owe a debt to?

As they entered the block of cells. Wuxian grabbed the keys that were hanging on hooks before them. He began opening the cell doors. “Come out it’s time to leave!” he shouted as he opened each one.

Out of the cells came Wen cultivators, though in extremely poor condition. Most were leaning against each other.

“What is the meaning of this?” he yelled pulling Sandu from its sheath. These were Wen dogs, why was Wuxian releasing in them instead of killing the murderers of their family.

The last cell had just been opened and out came Wen Qing and Wen Ning. He could see the signs of torture on both as the leaned against each other even as Wen Qing tried to stand tall as their leader.

“Because we owe them for getting the bodies of your parents from Lotus Pier. Because they sheltered us when we were on the run. We owe them for more then our lives.” His brother answered him as he came to stand in front of the Wen dogs as a shield against him.

“The Wen destroyed our sect. They deserve death!” He cried in anger.

“Not all of them, not these Wen.” Wuxian began to sway where he stood and then went down. He rushed forward at the same time as Lan Wangji who got there first and caught him in his arms.

“Wei Wuxian,” he cried out as he grabbed his wrist.

“Go search for supplies that we can use.” Wen Qing barked out from where she leaned against her brother to the other cultivators. “Someone see if you can find our swords and you go see if you can find my work kit.” She said pointing to a couple of the people milling around.

She and her brother pushed their way next to where Lan Wangji and he were holding his brother. “Let me see, I’m his doctor.” Even in her state she managed to push him away and started her own diagnostics. He did not interfere. She had sheltered them before, and he did owe her and her brother. She also was the best doctor in the world.

They ended up taking him up to the room that had once been Wen Qing’s work room before she had been thrown in the dungeons. Lan Wangji had carried Wuxian up there like he was a princess. He was sure he would tell his brother all about it when he woke up. They got him on the table and Wen Qing began ordering her brother to mix together different medicines as she found her needles and began inserting them all over Wuxian’s body.

“What’s wrong with him?” he asks from the corner he put himself so not to get in their way.

“He has overdone it. Too much use of resentful energy and not enough food. It looks like he has not eaten anything nourishing in a while.” She answered him as she continued to place needles.

“Jieje here,” Wen Qionglin said as he came over to hand his sister a dish with a strong-smelling paste in it. Jiang Cheng had gotten a whiff of it from where he stood. She took it from him and put the dish directly underneath Wuxian’s nose. For a second it seemed like nothing was happening when suddenly Wuxian jerked and his eyes opened wide.

“Whah?” he said as he looked around though to Jiang Cheng it looked like he was not seeing anything. “Wen Qing? It worked right?” he asked when his eyes fell upon her. “He’s ok right? The core transferred fine?”

Jiang Chang felt shock at those words because he knew what his brother was implying, and he did not want to believe it.

“Jiang Cheng is doing fine with my core, right?” he continued while Wen Qing tried to hush him.

“Wei Wuxian, what have you done,” he cried tears streaming down his face.

“Jiang Cheng? You’re here? Are you all right?”

“I’m fine and you better not have done what I think you did.” He yells as he moved forward and grabbed the only part of Wei Wuxian that wasn’t stuck with needles, his right hand.

“Your real? Nothing! I’ve done nothing! What are you doing here?”

“Of course, you don’t remember, we found you taking care of Wen Chao and then we found those Wen’s in the cell. Now tell me what you are talking about.” His loosened his grip on his brother’s hand as he noticed he was starting to squeeze too hard. Everyone else in the room was keeping quiet and not getting in the way of the argument which he appreciated.

“Jiang Cheng,” Wuxian started and just stared at him and then glanced at Wen Qing. She looked at him as she moved her needles to different locations. “Please,” he said not to him but to her.

“I will tell him, Wei Wuxian, he is your brother and he should know.” They then seemed to have a private conversation with their eyes and his patience began to fray.

“Just tell me,” he said trying to pretend he wasn’t crying.

She took one last look at Wuxian, who nodded and closed his eyes. “There was no trip to the secret mountain of Baoshan Sanren. I was the one who asked you questions and led you on the mountain where, with the help of my brother, we put you to sleep and then I removed Wei Wuxian’s golden core at his request and placed it in you.”

“Why would you do such a thing,” he cried in misery. He could never do anything right. He had tried to save his brother from the patrols and lost his core and then his brother gave him his. It could not be bourne.

“My didi needs his core so that the Jiang would live on. I am only Wei and do not need it. I promised your parents I would protect you and it was my fault in the first place. I tried to do the right thing and protect the weak and uphold justice but there is no such thing, so instead I gave you my core in the hopes that at least the Jiang would come back and that you would come back and not hate me.”

Jiang Cheng leaned his forehead against his brother’s hand and cried. He felt like he had lost his brother though his core resided in his chest now. “We are all to blame. We allowed the Wen to do atrocities and did not stand up to them till they were so strong that when you tried, they worked to destroy us.”

He looked up into his brother’s eyes, who was looking at him in astonishment. “Maybe we should look at bringing justice instead of revenge.” His brother had given away his core in a boneheaded attempt to pay for a sin that was not a sin. Maybe he should not be bent on revenge but on justice. He had a brother and a sister to protect after all.