Never Let You Go, Again

37: Shattered Devil

After the tears shed on the third day, not much happened for the next few days. At least, not much of a difference.

The next day, accurately the evening of the fourth day, Wei Wuxian was convulsing again. This time, Wangji's music did the trick. When Lan Zhan successfully woke him up, Wei Ying claimed to have seen the Wens massacred on Qiongqi Path, saying how the darkness and malevolence that night was extreme. A bit of hugging and soothing kissing from Lan Zhan and he was calmer than ever.

On the fifth day of secluded cultivation, Wei Wuxian began shuddering then crying once more. Seeing the tears, Lan Wangji didn't bother to even summon his zither, just sent for his brother. Lan Xichen rushed over to help. Barely five minutes of Liebing's magic and Wei Wuxian had woken up. This time, he'd seen Qiongqi path again, but it had led to recalling how Lan Zhan asked him to return to Gusu but he denied it.

"Didi, isn't there anything you can recall without touching on the 'regret' part yet?" Xichen had asked sadly. Wei Wuxian had simply shaken his head.

The sixth day came and went.

Wei Wuxian decided to move from darkness to malevolence properly. Having dwelled enough and more on the Burial Mounds, Nevernight dungeons and Qiongqi path, he seated himself on the seventh morning after lunch and together-time, satisfied with the level of his cultivation.

Hm. Wonder how far it's improved... he wondered. Let's see.

He repeated the steps he did before, turning his palms in a circle before his chest. When they stilled, a bright crimson glow emanated from his chest a ball of light. His core was glaring red.

Lan Zhan had just sat beside him and was staring at his husband's core. Blood-red and luminous. But compared to the earlier day, right now the core was dark. Its brilliant red had streaks of black through it. Lan Zhan looked up.

"Wei Ying, black?"

"That's the darkness I built up."

"Oh." Lan Zhan was never afraid of things like this but any normal person would have been terrified at the sight of Wei Wuxian's core. It resembled scarlet blood splattered all over a black boulder. And the glare it radiated could send shivers down your spine. "Wow," Lan Zhan whispered.

Wei Ying blushed. "That impressive? Hey, how's yours?"

Lan Zhan blinked thrice to recover from the frighteningly beautiful glare of the demonic core and copied Wei Ying's steps.

Wei Ying waved his hands to let the red light fade away. No sooner had the image of his core disappeared, suddenly, a dazzling light shone on him. Wei Ying lifted his hands to shield his eyes from the wholesome brilliance and turned to look at its source.

He gasped.

The model of Lan Zhan's core was shining bright. So bright it blinded Wei Ying. The once soft blue glow was flashing a divine blend of white and turquoise. It radiated not a hellish aura as Wei Ying's had, but a heavenly blessing. Wei Wuxian's jaw dropped as he stared at the epitome of brightness in front of him.

"A-Ying?"

"A... A-Zhan... this is..."

"I also don't know. It's been growing brighter and brighter since a few days ago. The long hours of meditation are doing me good. Xiongzhang was right." Lan Zhan waved his hand to let the picture fade.

Wei Ying dropped his hand as the blinding light retreated. "But gege didn't say anything like this! This is... Lan Zhan, will you beat me? Maybe I can't become immortal with demonic energy, but looks like you definitely will!"