The meaning of protecting you with my life

Loyalty

Wei Wuxian had known fully well that he could not trust Wen Ruohan's promise even before the said man ordered his family to be taken back to the dungeons. His plan had so many shortcomings, and this possibility was one of them.

He tried to reason with the Qishan Wen sect leader, to convince him to keep his promise: "Your Excellency. You have promised to let the Yunmeng Jiang clan prisoners go. Please, I do not want to see their faces ever again, and that can only be accomplished if they are kicked out of Nightless City."

Wen Ruohan was now standing in front of his throne, looking at him with an amused expression: "Of course, I have promised to let them go. But I have never said when I will do so. While I am happy that you have decided to join me, you cannot really expect me to believe you just like that, you will first have to prove your loyalty to me. Then, I will let you do as you see fit with those broken slaves. You can even kill them if you want to, I will give them to you. For now however, until I am sure that you have joined my cause, they will remain here, in the dungeons."

Wei Wuxian was cursing his head for working so slowly at the moment. He should have really thought about this earlier. Of course Wen Ruohan would not let the Jiangs go before he would let his golden core be melted! Which would not really be the problem here if he was not afraid that Wen Zhuliu would tell him that he had no golden core anymore and the whole deal would be off the table. Stupid him and his stupid, reckless and half-baked plan!

But he could not go back on his word now, all of his hard work would go to naught and his family would not be set free. He could only hope that the Core Melting Hand would keep quiet, or perhaps even better, that he would not remember destroying his golden core already in the past. Still, this hope seemed foolish, he would for sure know that there was nothing in Wei Wuxian's chest to be melted anymore and would inform Wen Ruohan immediately. Either way, the plan was going south really quickly.

Wei Wuxian did his best to not let any of his doubts show, he had thought only for a second so Wen Ruohan was satisfied with his almost immediate response. He was a little proud of himself that he managed to keep his voice from shaking.

"Of course, Your Excellency, I remember the terms. I am prepared to show my loyalty immediately."

Now he was actually hoping that the Qishan Wen sect would just laugh his suggestion away and order the Jiangs to be brought back to their cell, he really did not want them to see this. But he also knew that he could not allow that, this was his only chance at rescuing them. And if his plan would fail, he could still try to get them out by brute force, blasting everyone in the room away with resentment and somehow getting the Yunmeng Jiang clan members through the door. It would not matter what would happen to him afterwards, he knew they would be safe because Nie Huisang had his part of the plan already prepared. Or at least he hoped so.

It only downed on him at that exact moment just how fooling and full of holes his plan actually was. Had he really been so foolish and betted the lives of his family on it? It was true that he had been blinded by his guilt and the urgency to go save them, but still, he should have stopped for a while and considered all the risks thoroughly. Now, it was too late to regret, he would just have to play with the cards he had deal himself.

He had looked at Wen Ruohan, his eyes and posture radiating all the confidence he was not feeling. Hopefully, the Qishan Wen sect leader would believe him and let Wen Zhuliu try to melt his golden core.

For once, something went exactly as he had expected – or more like feared? – and Wen Ruohan gestured to the Core Melting Hand. Wen Zhuliu did not move and Wei Wuxian realized that he was the one who was supposed to willingly walk towards him, those were the terms after all.

He wondered whether he would feel differently if he still had his golden core. Would he have hesitated at this point? Or would he have backed down and tried to save himself and his family in another way? Would he have even become a demonic cultivator in the first place? He really did not know. It did not matter, he did not regret saving Jiang Cheng during the battle of Lotus Pier, that one thing was sure. And the rest did not matter either because it had been all inevitable. He felt resigned more than anything.

He glanced at his family one more time, pierced by guilt for making them this shocked and scared for him, at least some of them anyway. He did not dare to turn his head fully so he could only get a view from the corner of one of his eyes. But it was fine, he did not want to see them devastated, this was his burden to bear and they had nothing to do with it. Which however did not change the fact that he still did not want them to see.

He had started ignoring his body's desperate calls for rest some minutes ago, he had shoved all the pain deep down to deal with later. So while walking towards Wen Zhuliu, he did not stagger once. When he was standing in front of the fearsome cultivator, he only shuddered internally, he did not want to give the Wens the satisfaction of seeing him scared.

Wen Zhuliu bowed to him slightly which surprised Wei Wuxian greatly. He was confused as to why the Core Melting Hand would show him any respect at this point but he did not question it. He kept his hands steady by his sides when he bowed back and steeled himself for what would come: "I am ready."

Wen Zhuliu nodded and approached his hand towards where Wei Wuxian's golden core would have been if he still had one. He could not help himself and he closed his eyes in anticipation. He was wondering when exactly would the Core Melting Hand inform everyone that he had nothing to do with Wei Wuxian anymore. Would it be before or after he would touch him? And would his touch hurt like the previous time? Wei Wuxian had no way of knowing.

Unfortunately for him, he learned soon enough. Wen Zhuliu touched his stomach and pain shot through his now long dried and empty meridians. Just like the first time, the Core Melting Hand's spiritual energy was raging through his system before it found the core of his body, empty. It was right then that the pain stopped, so abruptly that Wei Wuxian staggered.

He could have been screaming or crying until that point, he did not know. He hoped he did not, he did not want to worry his siblings even more. They should not remember him like this, he would prefer to stay cheerful and happy in their memories, never like this, this empty husk of a person he had once been.

And then there it was, the dreaded sentence: "Your Excellency, he has no golden core anymore. There is nothing for me to melt."