So many colours in my life

7. Golden yellow of surprise

Note: This chapter contains description of graphic violence (canon scene of Wei Wuxian hunting down Wen Chao and attacking him in the inn); please be warned and proceed at your own discretion

Wei Wuxian did not have to chase Wen Chao and Wen Zhuliu for long. The young master of the Qishan Wen sect was hurt, badly, so they could not flee quickly. In addition, Wei Wuxian had always been good at stealthy hunting. He could not see much difference between pheasants and those two. To him, it was nothing harder than a cat chasing a mouse.

In the end, he caught them in an inn not too far from the Yiling supervisory office. They were trembling in their hole, just like real mice. Wei Wuxian snickered to himself. This was the final step of his revenge.

He took his flute and went in under the cover of the night. He climbed the steps slowly, fully aware that his prey had nowhere else to run. This time, he made sure that Wen Zhuliu would not surprise him. He had put up talismans all over the place so he would be warned if anyone would try to escape the building.

When he stood before the door to Wen Chao's room, he did not hesitate. Although he knew the two inside must have heard him already, he still could not help himself. He knocked politely on the door, a lesson which have sticked with him no matter how long time had passed since Madame Yu had taught it to him.

He heard a terrified gasp for breath. Good, he had been right, Wen Chao was inside, waiting for him. Now he could lead everything to an end. Hopefully the victims of the Qishan Wen sect would be able to finally rest in peace.

With a little help of the resentful energy, he pushed the door open without touching it. He was only vaguely aware that it must have looked quite eerie. At least judging by another terrified gasp and the noises of someone scrambling away for their life.

Wen Zhuliu stood in front of him, hiding the rest of the room poorly. No matter, the Core Melting Hand could no longer hurt him. Wei Wuxian barely spared him one look, his eyes were searching for the other person in the room.

He soon found him. Wen Chao was huddled in the corner. He was trembling terribly and mumbling something under his breath. Wen Zhuliu noticed where Wei Wuxian was looking and took a step to his right to shield Wen Chao from him better. What a loyal dog, he thought.

Not that it would save either of them though. He had come here with one and only goal in his mind. Revenge.

He raised his flute to his lips and played. He commanded ghosts to go finish their job and take their own revenge.

Wen Zhuliu immediately went to his master's side and tried to protect him. There was however no way he would be able to succeed. The ghosts were everywhere. There were simply too many of them for a single person, even someone as strong as the Core Melting Hand, to prevail.

At that moment, Wen Zhuliu apparently had understood this as well. He made a bee line for Wei Wuxian instead, most likely thinking that he could stop the enchantment if he interrupted the sound of the flute. How futile, really.

In his eyes, Wei Wuxian could see unfiltered fear. The same one he heard from Wen Chao's piercing screams. Good, this was finally the beginning of the end.

Wei Wuxian stood his ground even if an enemy was approaching. He wanted to get over with this quickly. Anyway, Wen Zhuliu could really do nothing to him. He had no golden core anymore and the man was so injured his attack would barely hurt.

However, before the Core Melting Hand ever reached him, several things happened at once.

The roof above their heads caved in and two other people emerged from the hole. Wei Wuxian stopped playing and his eyes snapped to look at them. He did not appreciate the interruption.

It was only then that he realized who those people were. Before him, shielding him from Wen Zhuliu's attack, was Lan Zhan. And on the other side of the room, the one who had just trapped Wen Zhuliu by the neck with Zidian, was Jiang Cheng. They both just protected him from the attack.

Wei Wuxian's eyes went wide. He was unexpectedly surprised. A good type of surprise at that, one that he was not quite used to. Not even before sealing all his feelings and emotions away. He would have remembered.

This was the first time after getting out of the Burial Mounds that he actually felt any kind of positive emotion. It was warm as a sunny day. It felt good. So good in fact that Wei Wuxian wanted to break down in tears right there and then. He would have never imagined that someone would save him. Especially not if the whole cultivation world believed that he was already dead.

And the best thing was that he got to see two of his favourite people. Now only Jiang Yanli was missing for everyone to be together again. Not that Wei Wuxian would want her to appear right now though. She should not see the hanging cadaver of Wen Zhuliu, nor the state in which was Wen Chao. Every girl and woman should definitely be spared such a horrific sight.

Wei Wuxian did not have any more thoughts for his enemies at the moment. He had all but forgotten about the revenge. Moreover, Jiang Cheng's face spoke for him. His brother would like to take his own revenge. That, Wei Wuxian could understand.

What attracted his attention more though was the silhouette of a cultivator in pristine white in front of him. What was Lan Zhan doing here? Could it be that he and Jiang Cheng had been looking for Wei Wuxian all this while? Had they not believed he had been dead already?

This only intensified the surprise he was feeling. It was as if his heart had never experienced warmth before. At least not after he had crawled out of the Burial Mounds. The centre of his chest had only been freezing with loneliness or burning with rage. But now, it was being gently melted until there was nothing left of those previous cold emotions. It was a good feeling.

Only at a time like this, Wei Wuxian remembered that there was also kindness and happiness in this world. Not everything was filled with resentment and war. He was inexplicably moved by this discovery.

And it was all because of Lan Zhan and Jiang Cheng. They have truly appeared just at a right time. Wei Wuxian would not have been sure what to do after he would have revenged his family and sect. Perhaps he would have once again gone to wander the world with his heart completely frozen and unfeeling. This was much better.

Before he even had enough time to come to terms with the sudden existence of another strong feeling, there was an object flying towards him. Jiang Cheng had thrown him something. He caught it as a force of habit. Then, he looked down to examine what it was.

It was Suibian. The trusted sword he could no longer wield as before.