The Demonic Clan of Yiling (MDZS Fanfic)

The Aftermath (Pt.2)

The table was silent as Wei Ying and Wen Ning finished explaining what happened to A-Yuan back in the cave. No one knew what to say. Both of the men had grim faces and seemed to be lost in thought while the others were still left processing. Jin Guangyao was the first to speak.

"How did Sizhui for his core so young?" He asked sounding a little amazed.

"I have no idea. I know it wasn't fully formed when it broke because if it had been then A-Yuan would be dead and I was only teaching him basics because of how young he was. So I really don't know how his core formed enough to attract the attention of the Yin Tiger Tally." Wei Ying said.

"Speaking of... What happened to the tally?" Jin Zixuan asked.

"I broke it." Wei Ying shrugged. "Almost killed me but I did it. I didn't want it attacking anyone else. But I also didn't want the wrong people to get their hands on the shards after it was broken so I had them forged into the hilt of swords."

"You did what!?" Jin Zixuan gaped at him. "What happens id one of those swords got into the wrong hands!? You know that thing doesn't accept any one master!"

"Actually, it does." Wei Ying grinned. "I only got the idea to forge the swords when I realised that there was four pieces. Which was enough for my tow disciples, Wen Qing and myself. Wen Ning didn't need one. The power in each of these shards wasn't anywhere near as much as it was when it was whole, so I knew it would be safe. When the swords arrived I presented them first to A-Yuan and Xue Yang and both of them had no trouble using them. However both me and Wen Qing had difficulty. Our swords wouldn't work for us the way they did the boys. In the end we put them in storage, since both of us were better off without them. We thought they were useless until Xuanyu came along and chose the sword that had been made for me. It worked for him the same way it did for the other two. And then A-Qing came along and the same thing happened for her." He explained while all the others listened closely.

"So they're like spiritual swords?" Huaisang asked but Wei Ying shook his head.

"Nope. Spiritual swords are bound to one person, their seal won't open for anyone else. These swords are different. A different person can use them, but not without consequences. For starters, if you touch it you will be burned. If you can withstand the burning for awhile then it will stop and you can use the sword. However the longer the use it the more it feeds on your energy. Almost like it's eating your soul. I only realised this after borrowing A-Yuan's sword in training and ended up coughing blood at the end of the day." Wei Ying sat back in his chair and watched as everyone tried to process what he was saying. There were a lot of furrowed brows around the table.

"They sound like the stuff of nightmares..." Jiang Cheng mumbled.

"They are made from the Yin Tiger Tally so they aren't far off." Wei Ying agreed.

"Aren't you afraid a disciple will turn on you and use it for bad?" Huaisang asked and Wei Ying grinned again.

"Not in the slightest. I have complete trust in my disciples, but on top of that: If say Xue Yang and A-Qing have an argument and go to use their swords later that day without making up. Then the swords won't work for any of them. They all have to be in sync or else they can't use them."

"Holy shit..." Jiang Cheng breathed.

Silence fell again while everyone thought. Wei Ying exchanged a glance with Lan Zhan who seemed to be concerned with how pale he was. Wei Ying just waved a hand to show that he was fine and Lan Zhan's gaze softened but he didn't look away. Wei Ying had to fight down the smile that wanted to curl his lips at this. Just then Jiang Chang spoke up and everyone looked at him.

"If you needed a sword, I have Suibian at Lotus Pier. I've been meaning to give it back to you." He said. In Wei Ying's tired state he didn't quite realise what Jiang Cheng had said and just shook his head.

"It's alright. Even if I did want it back it wouldn't work for me now that my core is-" Wen Ning slapped a hand over his mouth before Wei Ying could finish his sentence. His eyes went wide in realisation before glancing at Wen Ning and then at the table who had all frozen again.

"Now that your core is what!?" Jiang Cheng persisted sounding worried and a little threatening. Wei Ying carefully lowered Wen Ning's hand and waved his own in a careless manner.

"It's nothing. I misspoke doe to fatigue. I'm going to go check on A-Yuan." He said standing up from his seat, but before he could leave Lan Zhan grabbed his wrist and forced him to turn back to the group. 

"Wei Ying." He said in a stern voice and Wei Ying sighed.

"Does this have something to do with why you couldn't draw the teleportation array and transfer Qi to Sizhui?" Lan Xichen asked. He had been observant as ever back in that cave huh... 

"You couldn't transfer energy to your son!?" Jiang Cheng sounded angry now. "Wei Ying, explain!"

Wei Ying didn't say anything, looking around the room at anything but the group of people. Eventually his eyes landed on an abandoned jar of alcohol and he made a beeline for it while the others watched. He opened it carefully and quickly began chugging when it seemed like Jiang Cheng was going to persist more. However Wei Ying wasn't worried about what Jiang Cheng was going to say. It was the person sitting quietly next to the man in purple, that worried Wei Ying.

Huaisang stared straight ahead, but Wei Ying knew it was because he was avoiding eye contact too. Wei Ying knew it was because somehow he had been the first to figure it out and even though Huaisang was a pretty good secret keeper, if Jiang Cheng kept going on like this then he was bound to break.

Wei Ying closed his eyes as he reached the last drops of alcohol and prepared himself to confess. There was no point pretending now, they would just keep asking. However before he could start talking, someone beat him to it.

"You no longer have a golden core... Do you, Wei Wuxian?" Jin Guangyao asked. Wei Ying almost choked on his drink and Jiang Cheng shut up immediately.

"What did you just say!? Why wouldn't he have one!?" Jiang Chang growled.

"Well I was reading some of Wen Qing's old research paper a long time ago and some of them were on golden core transplants. There wasn't much on it because they were from years ago, but her medicine has advanced since then so I thought it was possible." He explained. The whole table turned to look at Wei Ying who was just stood there in shock. He didn't know what to say.

His silence seemed to act as an answer for everyone around the table and Jiang Cheng rose to his feet in rage.

"You did what!?"

"Jiang Cheng calm down! I'm sure Wei Ying has his reasons!" Lan Xichen said as he tried to stop Jiang Cheng from climbing over the table to Wei Ying, but Jiang Cheng just shoved him off.

"What possible reason is good enough for giving up your fucking golden core!? Who the fuck did you give it to!? It sure as hell wasn't your son!" 

"You! I gave it to you, you oversized grape!" Wei Ying yelled finally having enough of Jiang Cheng's bitching. 

Jiang Chen paused in front of him for a moment, panting angrily before raising his fist and punching Wei Ying straight across the face. Wei Ying slumped to the floor with a dull huff and glared at Jiang Cheng as he stormed out of the Inn.

"Asshole." He mumbled just as Lan Zhan rushed to help him up.