𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓━━━J. Cheng

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗙𝗶𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗻

015-Cloud Recesses, I

Wen Sect successfully annexed dozens of cultivation clans soon after their conference. Clashes and death, that year, a lot of blood was spilled. Wen Sect started its tyrannical rule once again, forcing everyone to remember their overwhelming strength. In the end, those sects accepted their unreasonable demands and offered their own sects to Wen, just to survive.

Lan Sect couldn't escape its fate as well. One night, a few days after the Wen Conference ended, Wen Ruohan ordered his son to burn down Cloud Recesses.

Stirring up awake from the noises outside, [First Name] rose up from her sleep in the middle of the night. There was a smell of burning but she was still half-asleep, she didn't recognize it immediately. She rubbed her eyes as she mumbled, "It's so late... What's with the noise?" She slowly left her bed and dragged her tired and wounded body towards the closed windows. She weakly opened it and a startling scene appeared before her eyes. The nearby buildings were burning there were Lan disciples scattered everywhere and Wen cultivators in the sky, riding their swords.

... Huh? Burning? Cloud Recesses?

[First Name] was momentarily stunned. she had just woken up and she had already seen such a scene. She slammed her clenched fist to her thigh, trying to stop her legs from trembling. Her back was aching and her chest felt stuffy. She turned and grabbed a white robe from her dresser, she took her sword as well as the qiankun pouch which had her bow and arrows inside. She immediately left the room in a hurry.

Every part of her body was hurting, her wounds felt like it was burning. The excruciating pain turned her drowsiness into agony. [First Name] could only clench her teeth and endure it. "Father, Xichen-xiong, Wangji-xiong... Where are they?" her voice was trembling as she frantically ran and searched. Until she found a Lan disciple trapped in between the debris of a fallen hall. She ran towards him, pushed aside the wooden planks and pillars, and helped him up. His white sect clothes were bloodied and his head was dripping with fresh blood.

His meridians are damaged and his physical body is all battered up, [First Name]'s expression darkened as she held the injured disciple in her arms, "Wen Sect...! Why are they attacking Cloud Recesses?!" He coughed up blood and he raised his hand to clutch onto her robes. His eyes were full of desperation as he teared up, "[First Name]-shijie, the Library Pavilion... Wangji-shixiong is fighting all alone there! He's fending off the Wen cultivators but...!" but he released a mouthful of blood once again before he could what he wanted to say. But [First Name] already knows.

She placed her hand on his chest and sent a bit of her life energy instead of spiritual energy. It's much more convenient after all. She patted his back and slowly comforted him, "It's alright, it's alright. Don't talk anymore, go to the Ancestral Hall and stay there. The others should be there, alright?" [First Name] inhaled a painful smoky air and forced herself to calm down. She looked at him and smiled gently. This disciple was young, but he had already experienced and witnessed such a situation.

[First Name]'s heart got colder and her hatred for Wen Sect burned up even more.

"I have to go to the Library Pavillion. Can you move now? Regroup with the others and save as many disciples as you all can. Don't endanger yourself and make sure to stay with the elders." The boy repeatedly nods with his eyes closed. He finally pushed himself from her embrace and stood up. He cupped his hands and lowered his head but [First Name] could see the drop of tears falling. He lifted up his head and looked at her with teary eyes, "The Cloud Recesses... Will it burn down to ashes...?"

Her heart ached but she continued to smile. She raised her hand and rubbed his messed-up hair gently. Lan Sect cultivators and disciples should always maintain their elegant and proper appearance. But this was no time to keep up such an appearance. "Don't think of anything like that, Lan Sect and Cloud Recesses will be fine. Go, go." she lightly pushed him and urged him to go. After hearing the reassuring words, the boy finally went and ran.

After the boy finally left her line of sight, [First Name] sighed as she fell to her knees. Her robes were stained with the boy's blood but she ignored it. After all, the pain in her back and legs was much more worthy of her attention. Her chest rose and then fell. Her mouth was open and she was gasping for air desperately.

[First Name] closed her eyes and she clutched onto [Sword Name] tightly. "It hurts..." But in the end, she forced herself to stand up.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

After dragging herself and avoiding Wen cultivators carefully, she finally arrived at the Library Pavillion. It was burning and the surrounding area was lightened up because of the fire. [First Name] first calmed down her breathing and mustered her strength to her legs. She then ran towards her cousin and called him, "Wangji-xiong!"

Lan Wangji's eyes widened and he turned his head towards her. There was anger and frustration in his eyes when he was facing the Wen cultivators earlier but as soon as he heard her voice, those emotions turned into worry and confusion. He wanted to tell her to leave but seeing her hand on the hilt of her sword, he desperately told her, "[First Name]! Do not unsheath your sword, no matter what!"

[First Name] glanced at the Wen people. They were previously on the ground, beaten up by Lan Wangji's guqin but now that someone had broken his wooden instrument, they stood up again with their swords in their hand, pointing at the two. Her hands tightened on the hilt as she looked at him with frustration. "Why can't I, the Cloud Recesses is..."

The crackling sounds behind them, as well as the sounds of clashing swords, echoed throughout the mountain.

Lan Wangji held Bichen in his hands and narrowed his eyes, "Just don't. Go find Brother Xichen, leave the Library Pavilion to me." But despite his words, [First Name] still took a step forward towards him. "Your guqin... I can't leave you alone here. I won't unsheath my sword, I promise I won't."

"Go, leave."

"Wangji-xiong-"

[First Name] looked at him with her wet eyes that barely reflected the burning state of the library. But soon, it was Lan Wangji who reflected on her eyes. She couldn't even finish what she wanted to say when her acupoint was hit and soon fell unconscious. She fell forward and Lan Wangji caught her, he held [Sword Name] together with Bichen. He frowned, looking back at the Wen cultivators who rushed towards them. And then to the Library Pavillion.

He closed his eyes and leaped off, leaving the burning library with regrets and pain.

Wangji-gege 😣😣

Published: February 25, 2022