Note: The following chapter is heavily based on Mandela Catalogue. Photo is from google.

ᴊᴇɪʟ ɴᴏᴘᴇᴜɴ ɢᴇᴏsᴇ ɴᴀʟ ᴅᴀᴋɪɴ ᴡᴏɴʜᴀᴇ
ɴᴇᴜᴋʏᴜsᴇᴏɴᴇ ᴀɴsᴡᴇʀ.
ɴᴀᴇ ʜʏᴏʟɢᴏɴsᴇᴏɢᴇ ɴᴀʟ ᴛᴀɴᴇᴜɴ ɴᴇᴡ ᴡᴀᴠᴇ
ɴᴀᴇ ɢᴇᴏᴅᴀᴇʜᴀɴ ᴘᴀssɪᴏɴ.

Inside the Flame Palace, the lights were lit. It was bright inside.

Wen Xu grunted and looked around, annoyed and angry from the sudden attack.

The place was empty, none were inside the entrance room. The exit door and the doors to the other quarters were closed.

Huh?

What was even more odd was that room temperature was extremely cold. Qishan was an area known for being hot. It was not possible for the temperature to be this cold in the current time of the year.

Wen Xu got up and went to open one of the doors.

It wasn't opening.

Then another.

Fail.

Then another.

Fail.

Then another.

Fail.

None of the doors were opening.

The windows slammed shut all of a sudden, curtains falling.

The quarter became dark. It was just the faint light coming from the curtains that made things a bit visible. The Flame Palace had dark red curtains so it wasn't helping much.

Wen Xu was starting to feel unsettled. He tried to open one of the doors again.

At last, one door opened up. Wen Xu was glad, but just then, there was-

"Noonecansaveyoufromme."

Wen Xu jerked from fear and turned around. He unsheathed his sword and got in a defence position.

Wen Xu was a better swordsman tham his younger brother, who had apparently been killed already.

How, none knew.

Wen Xu looked around.

His eyes landed on one of the curtain and he froze.

There was a pair of eyes peeking from behind. And those eyes were not...normal.

They looked so impossibly long and big. It was not humanly possible to have such eyes.

And those eyes showed glee. And cruel satisfaction.

Wen Xu scrambled towards the door frame. He tried to open the door that was just unlock a few seconds ago.

But it was locked again.

Wen Xu looked behind, thinking that confronting it was the only way.

....The creature had come out and stood in front of him, a little distance away from the curtain. Her eyes were now covered. Her face was not visible. It was hidden behind her hair.

Wen Xu attacked but was instantly air yeeted away to the door he wanted to open, much like in the entrance.

Wen Xu grunted and looked up.

Wait-

That's-

ꎭꀭꀘꌗꌗꀤꀘꀭꈤꀘꍏꃅꌗꌗꊼꊼꊼꌗꀭꊼꊼꃅꍏꁴꀤꃅꎭꁴꀤꃅꌗꆰꃅꀸꊼꊼꀘꊼꁴ-

Wen Xu hurriedly tried to open the door, tears of fear rolling down his cheeks.

That was not something he could deal with. Not with his low cultivation.

The creature all of a sudden started sprinting towards him.

Wen Xu screamed out his lungs, but none was there to help. At the last moment he opened the door and went inside hurriedly, slamming the door on the horrifying and gruesome roars of the demon.

It couldn't have been anything else.

Wen Xu tried to see from where he could jump out, but the windows were not opening either. Behind was the demon.

He was trapped in the room.

Then he heard, the disturbing, distorted and the most terrifying voice he ever had.

ԾρeՌ Եe ԺԾԾՐ

ՌԾա

ɿ Թʍ ՌԾԵ ԳԾɿՌԳ ԹՌՎաɧeՐe eʅՏe

Wen Xu all but started praying to any deity of Heaven he knew, his whole body shaking and frame jerking with tremors.

The creature had been knocking the door for a quiet a while now, and the knocking was so strange, people would automatically get unsettled.

Suddenly the banging stopped.

Wen Xu sat absolutely noiseless. Not even breathing at this point. Then a voice came," Young Master Wen?"

It sounded like a human's voice. And of a male.

Wen Xu this cried tears of relief. And then he slowly opened the door. His hopes of being saved went higher by each passing second.

"I am here! Come an-"

Ideceivedhimhahahahahhahahahahahhaha-

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__________________________________

Wei WuXian saw a flare of multicoloured robes coming out of the Flame Palace and instantly recognised her.

"There she is." said Wei WuXian.

"What did he do inside?" asked Yu ZiYuan.

"Oh nothing much. He just tried to hold me hostage, so in return I messed with him a bit." said Tian Xing with a smile.

"Messed?" asked Lan WangJi.

"Just that I killed him is all. I buried him inside in an open space already so it's all solved."

"Not all." said Yu ZiYuan gravely.

Jiang FengMian smiled albeit a strained one, "It's fine, it's fine. I am an old man anyways, A-Cheng will be taking over sooner or later. I can continue without a golden core. I have a powerful wife, an amazing daughter, a fantastic nephew and a wonderful and capable son as an heir. What more can I ask? If they are alright, I will be fine anyways. Besides the Jiang disciples are amazing, thanks to their training and contributions of my family members."

The Jiang family smiled, a soft one.

The sun finally sat that day.

After that things went surprisingly smooth.

Somethings remained the same, like Jin GuangShan becoming the Chief Cultivator, as Lanling Jin sect had contributed to the war, him proposing to reestablish the betrothal between Jiang YanLi and Jin ZiXuan and Jiang YanLi refusing for the time being like before for the same reason, Lotus Pier being rebuild, Wen Sect territory being divided among various sects, Jiang Cheng becoming the sect leader early.

Most of the things had changed from the original story of the novel. Yu ZiYuan, Jiang FengMian, Wen ZhuLiu and Lan HaoXuan survived, the Dafan Wens were taken under the safety of the gentry sects, Jiang Cheng didn't have his core melted and thus Wei WuXian didn't have to give up his own golden core for his brother, not ending up being a demonic cultivator, Lan WangJi and Wei WuXian being an official couple, and one important and the only negative change was, Jiang FengMian's core being melted, which also ended up in Jiang Cheng becoming the sect leader earlier yet again.

But this time he had the support and guidance of his parents. Jiang FengMian still did many of the official works.

The grant banquet by the Jin sect had gone smooth.

Well...as smooth as it could go at least.

Tian Xing could only hope the future would be as smooth as now. But that didn't seem like a possibility.

In the world of Mo dao zu shi, calm before the storm was very common.

Something that left Tian Xing on edge.

It's best to be prepared.
_______________________

Tian Xing was just in the Elegant room of Lan sect, talking with Lan HaoXuan about trivial things.

Suddenly she asked, "Oh, how are things going on between A-Xian and A-Zhan?"

Lan HaoXuan laughed softly, "Very well. They seem ready to be married."

Tian Xing smirked, "It was worth playing cupid."

Lan HaoXuan laughed more heartily this time and said, "Yes yes yes."

In that time, Lan Qiren came in, with a grumpy grunt he spoke, "I am still uneasy about this. Wei WuXian is a troublemaker. He will corrupt WangJi."

Tian Xing glared at him, "You are a person with no sense of any humour is all. Your sect STILL beats children in the name of discipline. Child abuse at it's finest."

Lan Qiren flew into a fit of rage, "You-"

Tian Xing interrupted, "Am I wrong? You people forbid others to even not smile. One day the rules will say 'Breathing is not allowed.' right?"

Lan HaoXuan, being the peacemaker he was interfered, "A-Xing, let us not-"

Tian Xing stopped him, "No. Let me. He needs to know, you need to know."

With that she continued, "The reason you are reluctant to accept Wei WuXian is because he is a troublemaker and will shame the Lan sect, corrupt your nephew and your disciples, right?"

Lan Qiren's eyes shone with approval on that sentence.

Tian Xing continued, "So you are going to ignore the fact that he loves your nephew more than the world itself? You are going to ignore his amazing skills as a cultivator, his witty thinking of an inventor and his righteousness that never wavers, am I right?"

Silence.

Tian Xing didn't stop, "Laughing, crying, having fun and smiling are actually forbidden in this place. You do know that those things are human emotions right? You are aware of the fact they are normally stimulated in our mind right? You are aware that keeping them inside for too long can cause health issues right? It's fine to keep emotions in check in front of others, but for yourself and people you trust? A-Zhan and A-Huan grew up within these rules and had their childhood ruined, whereas a child should have fun and play, they were beaten when they broke rules. And you."

She pointed at Lan HaoXuan, who's mouth was agape, "I don't know how you would have helped them grow up. Because you didn't take any initiative to do so. But at least now you can reduce some rules? Like the basic ones? Be for real, one day people will not be able to breath in here. Also stop the constant child abuse. Because what is done here is not normal. At least in other sects there is freedom for people. Here it's just a fucking cage in the name of a sect. Lan An wouldn't have wanted this as his sect's outcome."

Saying that, she stormed out of the room, leaving two stunned Lan brothers.

__________________________________

Tian Xing was roaming in the bunnies' field. Lan WangJi had given her permission to enter. Her mood was ruined in an instant.

It's not like she disliked Cloud Recesses. The place brought up amazing gentlemen. But the system of discipline was really too much. Lan WangJi came in shortly, supposedly hearing what a fit of rage she threw in over there.

"Xing-jie." he greeted. He didn't bow, which was a sign of how close he felt to her.

Tian Xing smiled and looked at him. During the war they had gotten a lot closer. They had come to the point where courtesy was no longer even in question. They would just simply meet and greet.

"A-Zhan." she called gently. Then she looked at the front. The bunnies had been playing to their hearts' content and now that Lan WangJi came in, they started to flock around him. Tian Xing urged a bunny to come close to her and started petting it when the bunny did.

Both of them were just quiet and enjoying the company of these tiny balls of fluff, their pink noses twitching occasionally and tails and hairs flopping a bit sometimes.

"A-Zhan, I am sorry. I was too rude. I...It's just that, I really don't like the fact that the children here are not allowed to have fun."

Lan WangJi shook his head, "It's alright. Some people do say that. And frankly speaking, it is true. I may be someone who doesn't have a knack for fun. But not every child is the same. I never really thought much of it until now that you brought it up."

Tian Xing sighed, "Even so, I shouldn't have been like this. This is one of my biggest faults. I am too direct, whether it be your uncle and father, or A-Xian's martial uncle and martial aunt. Be it A-Xuan or A-Li, or anyone else, I am always too direct about myself."

Lan WangJi put a hand over her smaller but no less firmer ones, "That's not something you should be ashamed of Xing-jie. Being as direct as you are, do you know how many people wish to be like that? There are countless people in the world who want to be as open mouthed as you. But they simply do not have the spine for it. Not everyone can welcome the criticism that comes from direct facts. You can."

Tian Xing put her other hand on Lan WangJi's hand, "Maybe. I am used to criticism and hate, so it's not much effective against me." She muttered in a daze.

In her previous lives, she had been hated to the point where even breathing the wrong way made her out to be disrespectful, ill-mannered and what not. It was very normal for her to not be effected by this.

She was proud of the way she was. And she had never let her haters diminish her shine.

The day was bright in Cloud Recesses. It was a soothing cold and there were many memories of past swimming in her mind. But none could be said on the open.