Past is set in stone, only your feelings may change

Marking

Wei Wuxian was about to leave the inn where he had left Jin Ling when he was caught by Jiang Cheng just outside of it. All because of that blood thirsty beast Fairy! If his brother had not yet known about his identity which fact was questionable at best, he must have realized by now. After all, he had once upon the time been the one to whom Wei Wuxian would run in panic to save him. He knew how he acted in the presence of dogs, no matter which one.

Just as he had expected, Jiang Cheng only sneered at him and when Wei Wuxian tried to leave, run away from him to be exact, the Yunmeng Jiang sect leader attacked him with Zidian again. The lightning whip had encircled one of his legs and caused him to trip and fall. Wei Wuxian could not hide a wince. The fact that he had not expected to fall and hit the ground quite hard was not the cause though, Zidian had agitated the curse mark and it suddenly started hurting.

Jiang Cheng apparently did not notice anything – or did not care either way – and he all but dragged Wei Wuxian into an empty room in the inn from which he had just come out. There, his brother sat down and poured himself a cup of coffee, clearly trying to appear calm but failing miserably. He was seething with rage.

Wei Wuxian was left standing in the middle of room, secretly wishing he had also been offered a seat. The curse mark was starting to act up again and he could barely keep himself upright while avoiding putting pressure on his hurting ankle and calf.

Finally, Jiang Cheng spoke: "Wei Wuxian." He said it matter-of-factly, there must have been no more doubt in his mind. "Do you not have anything to say to me?"

Wei Wuxian thought for a second. There was so much he wanted to tell his brother, so many things for which he wanted to beg forgiveness. But the wall between them was just too high, all the misunderstandings run too deep. There was nothing he could do or say to make this better. So he settled for a simple question: "Where is Jin Ling? Had he woken up yet?"

A cup of tea came crashing to the wall behind him. Jiang Cheng was looking at him, all anger and rage, the calm he had been so painstakingly trying to pretend no longer there. His voice could have cut steel with how sharp and mocking it was: "Jin Ling? Do you have any right to ask about him? You were the one who had humiliated him on the Dafan Mountain! How dare you even mention his parents, you were the one who had killed them. Or do you not remember? Perhaps your memory is so bad that you do not even remember that you have killed my parents as well. But do not worry, you can kneel in front of their graves and explain everything to them."

The words cut deep and Wei Wuxian's heart was bleeding. Jiang Cheng had always known how to cut just in the place where it would hurt the most. "I did not forget. I was just..." He wanted to say that he had been trying to protect everyone but he quickly realized that it would just be a pointless excuse. He should have known better. He had been way too arrogant in his past. He lowered his head, waiting for more angry words which would pierce him like the sharpest blade.

It never came to that though. Suddenly, there was knocking on the door. Apparently, Wen Ning had appeared in the city. Jiang Cheng all but forgot about Wei Wuxian and run out to chase him. He was left with other Yunmeng Jiang sect disciples keeping guard, and with Jin Ling.

If Wei Wuxian was not in so much pain, both physical and emotional, he would have laughed. Jin Ling acted cold and disinterested, just like his uncle, but he was a sweet child deep down. He helped Wei Wuxian run away while scowling at him.

Once Wei Wuxian was alone again, he realized that Lan Zhan must have been waiting for him for quite a while already and he set off to find him. The curse mark on his leg was now making it seriously hard to walk, it had spread all the way up his thigh. He stopped to take a deep breath and as he looked up at the moon, he saw that he had finally found Lan Zhan, standing like an ethereal immortal and gazing at the same moon. Wei Wuxian smiled.