The Path In-Between

Chapter 10: An Impossible Solution

A/N: Hey guys! Here's chapter 10! The plot thickens! Where are our beloved characters going to go from here? Will Wei Wuxian attempt to achieve the impossible once more?
Warning: Mild gore, pain, references to abuse, depressed behavior etc.
~worldlesswanderer

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The moment of peace was cut short when the dizi abruptly halted, causing the guqin to also stop in its wake. The distinct sound of a flute clattering to hardwood flooring followed by a series of wet-sounding coughs and rushed footsteps were heard as the three men standing outside were shocked into awareness.

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Wei Wuxian felt like he was seconds away from fainting.

He had asked Lan Wangji to play him the song that he had sung in the cave once more. Lan Wangji had lovingly obliged and divulged that he had composed it for him. ('Lan Zhan composed a song for him! And named it after them!!!') Wei Wuxian had felt compelled to join him and he had, allowing Lan Zhan to lead him into the melody before they began a sort of cannon where Wei Wuxian would imitate lan Wangji's notes at an altered pitch with different embellishments.

Playing music with Lan Wangji was heavenly. The purest form of pleasure that Wei Wuxian had ever experienced. Note after note, they weaved the story of their life into the song. So lost in weaving tales out of their tune, Wei Wuxian had instinctually channelled spiritual qi that remained dormant in the pooling depths of his dantian through pathways that were corrupted and corroded by resentment qi.

Wei Wuxian knew something was wrong when flashes of Wen Qing entered his mind. Wen Qing explaining to him in one of the many, grass-topped mountains in Yilling that if he were to attempt to use spiritual energy in any way ever again, he would die. Wen Qing warning him once again after they settled on the burial mounds that since his pathways were full of yin energy, he would fall into qi-deviation if any yang energy, his or otherwise, came into contact with the volatile yin streaming through his being.

As a result, several events occurred in the matter of a few seconds. He stopped playing and broke into coughs, expelling blood. Then, Chenqing was dropped and he almost collapsed while attempting to stablize the yin that had become agitated in his dantian. At some point in which Wei Wuxian was trying to prevent the bleeding of his qiqiao, Lan Wangji made his way to him and and was soothingly rubbing his back all the while emmitting a strong aura of concern and worry. And while all of this was happening, the Lan and Nie presences he had noticed standing just outside the cottage had barged in.

Once he was sure the residual sipritual qi left in his body had settled, Wei Wuxian dragged his gaze up, utilizing an incredible amount of energy, and smiled at Nie Huaisang.

"Nie-Xiong," Wei Wuxian breathed, "Never thought I'd see you here again..."

Wei Wuxian watched amusedly as realization and recognition flashed in Nie Huaisang's eyes before settling on stony determination. That was one expression most did not see on the face of the younger and more timid Nie.

"Wei-Xiong... will you really allow things to end where they began?"

Wei Wuxian couldn't help but smile. As much as he was touched by the secretive man's perpetual concern throughout almost all stages of his life, Wei Wuxian had known since he was five and begging on the Yilling streets that all lives end in death and that his was inevitable. Wei Wuxian could no longer delude himself into thinking that he had chance. Not when his body was in shambles and held together solely because resentful energy flowed through his veins instead of blood since the Second Seige. Not since his second family with the exception of A'Yuan had been brutally slaughtered and he was left all alone again.