Wen Chao laughed, “Well done, well done! At such a time, we should have a grand celebration. Tonight, why don’t we set up a banquet here? Make the best use of everything!”

"How dare you?!" exclaimed the siblings.

"You dare to celebrate huh." said Wei Wuxian.

"Just wait on how we will celebrate your death." said Jiang Cheng.

Wang LingJiao spoke in a tender voice, “Young Master Wen, congratulations for moving into Lotus Pier.”

Wen Chao, “What Lotus Pier? Change the name. Bring down any door carved with the nine-petaled lotus crest and replace them with those with the QishanWen Sect’s sun crest! JiaoJiao, come dance for me your best song!”

Wei WuXian and Jiang Cheng couldn’t listen to this any longer. They flipped back down the wall. Stumbling, they staggered out of Lotus Pier. Even after they had run for a long while, the laughter of the crowd at the training field still couldn’t be wiped away. The coquettish voice of a woman sang happily above Lotus Pier. Like a blade doused in poison, it cut into their ears and their hearts again and again and again.

"We will also dance and sing the Yunmeng song with the both die." said Jiang Yanli.

"It is much more better than theirs anyway." she added.

"Lotus Pier is Lotus Pier, you can't change it's name." said Jiang Cheng.

"Watch how we'll do it." said Wen Chao.

"Don't forget that your woman was still fighting for her life. Do you me to take it now?" asked Jiang Cheng.

"You won't touch a strand of his hair!" exclaimed Wen Chao.

Jiang Cheng just smirked at him.

They had been running for over a mile before Jiang Cheng abruptly stopped.

Wei WuXian stopped as well. As Jiang Cheng turned around, Wei WuXian grabbed him, “Jiang Cheng, what are you doing?! Don’t go back there!”

"A-cheng, don't be reckless." said Jiang Yanli.

"Jiang Cheng, don't go back. You know it's dangerous." said Wei Wuxian.

"What can I do? I don't have any control on what he is going to do." said Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng shook his hand away, “Don’t go back there?! Are you serious? You’re telling me not to go back there? My parents’ bodies are still in Lotus Pier—could I leave just like this? Where could I go if I don’t go back?!”

Wei WuXian’s grip tightened, “What could you do if you go back now? They’ve killed even Uncle Jiang and Madam Yu. All that’s waiting for you is death!”

Jiang Cheng shouted, “Death it is, then! If you’re scared of death then get lost—don’t block my path!”

"What's wrong with him?" asked Jin Zixun.

"Have he become crazy?" he added.

"Can't you see he's in grief?" asked Nie Huaisang.

"He wanted his parents." he added.

"But we all know that it's impossible. They're gone and even taking back their remains is impossible." said Sizhui.

"Can't he understand that?" he asked.

Wei WuXian lunged for him, “Revenge is never too late. We must bring back the bodies but not now!”

Jiang Cheng dodged to the side before attacking, “When does not now mean? I’ve had enough of you—get lost right now!”

Wei WuXian shouted, “Uncle Jiang and Madam Yu said for me to look after you, for you to be well!”

"A-cheng." said Jiang Yanli in a serious tone.

"It is not the time for the both of you to fight. Why can't you listen to you brother?" she asked.

"I know how to listen to him, that I have to listen to him." Jiang Cheng said in anger.

"Why are you asking me when that is not me?" he asked.

"Can't you see, I'm still hurt here by their death?" he added.

"Oh yeah, you never see." he whispered.

“Shut up!” Jiang Cheng shoved him hard, roaring, “Why?!”

Wei WuXian was pushed into the bushes. Jiang Cheng threw himself over. He grabbed Wei WuXian’s collar and shook, “Why?! Why?! Just why?! Are you happy?! Are you satisfied?!”

"Jiang Cheng, what are you talking about?" asked Wei Wuxian.

"Why are you hurting my a-niang?" asked Sizhui.

"How would I know?" asked Jiang Cheng.

"I understand that you're in grief but your action is unacceptable." said Sizhui.

"I know." said Jiang Cheng.

He clenched Wei WuXian’s neck, eyes bloodshot, “Why did you save Lan WangJi?!”

Under the grief and the fury, Jiang Cheng had lost his mind. He couldn’t control the strength that he used at all. Wei WuXian pulled at his wrist, “Jiang Cheng…”

Holding him on the ground, Jiang Cheng continued to roar, “Why did you save Lan WangJi?! Why did you have to speak up?! How many times have I told you not to stir up trouble! Not to strike! Do you really want to play the hero so much?! Have you seen what happened when you played the hero?! Huh?! Are you happy now?!

"Jiang Cheng!" Wei Wuxian shouted.

"Lan Zhan has nothing to do with this." he added.

"My a-niang is not at fault. Why are you blaming him?" asked Sizhui.

"A-cheng, why are saying that? A-xian is not at fault and also Young Master Lan. Why are you blaming them?" asked Jiang Yanli.

"You're in grief, yes. But, that's not right." she added.

"You're hurting your brother." she continue.

Jiang Cheng was looking down with his eyes close.

“Lan WangJi and Jin ZiXuan and those people can just die! Just let them die! What’s their deaths got to do with us?! To do with our sect?! Why did this have to happen?! Why?!

“Go die, go die, go die! Everyone!!!”

Wei WuXian’s face had turned red. He shouted, “Jiang Cheng!!!”

"I can say that he's really have gone crazy." said Jin Zixun.

"Do you know what you're talking about, Jiang Cheng?" asked Wei Wuxian with a clear anger in his voice.

Lan Wangji and Jin Zixuan along with others are glaring at him.

"I'm sorry." said Jiang Cheng.

"But, Am I the one who should be apologizing for that?" he asked.

"You guys might have really hated me so much." he added.

"I accept that." he continue.

"You must have really hated me by now." he whispered to the man who is hugging.

"No, Wanyin. That's not you." said Lan Xichen.

"I can say that I have done a lot of unacceptable things in the future that will make you dislike me." he muttered.

"None of that will change my feelings for you." said Lan Xichen.

The hand around his neck suddenly loosened.

Jiang Cheng glowered at him. Tears rolled down his cheeks. The depths of his throat let out a cry of dying man, a painful sob.

He spoke through tears, “… I want my parents, my parents…”

He was asking Wei WuXian for his father and his mother. Yet, no matter whom he asked, he wouldn’t be able to have them back again. Wei WuXian was crying as well. The two of them sat collapsed amid the bushes of grass, watching each other bawl.

"They're still too young." said Madam Jin.

"Too young to experience such tragedy." she added.

The Yunmeng sibling are crying again.

No comfort can ease the pain of losing your parents even though they have never acted like a parent even for once.

"My heart broke for them." said Nie Huaisang.

"My friends have suffered so much." he added.

"It's even worse than losing da-ge." he whispered.

In his heart, Jiang Cheng knew clearly that back in the cave of the Xuanwu of Slaughter at Dusk-Creek Mountain, even if Wei WuXian hadn’t saved Lan WangJi, the Wen Sect would have found some reason to come over sooner or later. But he had always felt that, if the whole thing with Wei WuXian didn’t happen, maybe it wouldn’t have been so soon, maybe there would’ve been some way to turn things around.

It was this torturing thought that filled his heart with hatred and wrath. Unable to be let out, they cut up his innards.

"This is what have changed him." said Jingyi.

"This is the reason why a-niang become what he is in the future." he added.

"And it is nothing good." said Jin Ling.

"Will never be good." said Sizhui.

When the day began to light up, Jiang Cheng had almost numbed.

Throughout the night, he had somehow managed to sleep a couple of times. The first reason was that, having been too tired from crying himself weak, he couldn’t help from passing out. The second reason was that he still had the hope that this might be a nightmare. He couldn’t wait to wake up after some rest and open his eyes to find himself lying inside of his room back in Lotus Pier. His father would be wiping his sword in the main hall. His mother would be angry again and complaining, scolding Wei WuXian who winked in a funny way. His sister would be in the kitchen, thinking as hard as she could about what to make today. His shidi would be refusing to do their morning lessons properly and jumping around.

Not to wake up in a bush of weeds with his head almost bursting apart, having been through an entire night of cold wind, and discovering that he was still curled up behind a barren little hill.

"How I really wish it was just a nightmare." said Jiang Cheng.

"But wishes doesn't work on me." he whispered.

"A-cheng, we still have our parents." said Jiang Yanli.

"But, what about the future me? He is alone." said Jiang Cheng.

"Alone with all of those nightmare." he added.

"I can't even imagine on how he came through with all of it." he added.

"By masking his feelings with hatred." said Jin Ling.

"And it's cruel to watch." he added.

The first to move was Wei WuXian.

Hands on his legs, he managed to bring himself up. He spoke with a hoarse voice, “Let’s go.”

Jiang Cheng didn’t move at all. Wei WuXian pulled at him and repeated, “Let’s go.”

Jiang Cheng, “… Go where?”

His throat was dry as well. Wei WuXian replied, “To the MeishanYu Sect. To find shijie.”

"Yeah, we still have to find shijie." said Wei Wuxian.

"I wonder how she will react on the news." he added as he looked at Jiang Yanli.

"I don't care how I will react as long as the both of you are safe." said Jiang Yanli.

"You two are more important." she added.

Jiang Cheng waved his outstretched hand away. A few moments later, he finally sat up on his own and slowly got up.

The two set off in the direction of Meishan. They went by foot.

Along the way, both of them summoned whatever energy they had left. Their footsteps were heavy, as though they carried with them thousands of pounds.

Jiang Cheng’s head had always been lowered. Hugging his right hand, he pressed Zidian onto his chest where his heart was, feeling over and over again the only remnant of his family that was left. He’d also often looked back toward where Lotus Pier was, staring at what used to be his home and had now become a den of demons. Again and again, it was as though he’d never get enough of it, as though he’d never lose that last spark of hope. However, the tears within his eyes could never be contained either.

"I can't even imagine what his feeling right now." said MianMian.

"Jiang Cheng." Wei Wuxian called.

"It hurts. Can we stop now? Can we stop watching now?" Jiang Cheng asked.

"I'm afraid, we have to finish to everything." said Wei Wuxian.

"Are they torturing us?" asked Jiang Cheng.

"Torture us with the truth, I guess." said Wei Wuxian.

"What else, Wei Wuxian? Other than our parents' death, what else? Yours? A-jie? Can I still even take it?" asked Jiang Cheng.

"We just have to be strong." said Wei Wuxian with a smile.

They had fled on a hurry, without taking with them any food. From the day before to today, they had spent quite a lot of strength as well. After they had walked for half a day, both of them began to feel dizzy. They left the desolated fields into a small city. Wei WuXian looked at Jiang Cheng. Seeing how tired, unwilling to move that he looked, he spoke, “You can sit. I’ll go find something to eat.”

Jiang Cheng neither answered him nor nodded. Along the way here, he had only said a few words to Wei WuXian.

Wei WuXian told him multiple times not to move before finally walking away. He had often tucked spare money into corners of his clothes, and now it became of use—at least he had money to buy things. Walking around, he bought a bunch of food, especially dried ones to eat on the way. In less than thirty minutes, he quickly returned to where they parted.

However, Jiang Cheng was gone.

"What?" asked Wei Wuxian.

"Where is he?" he added.

"Then he go on his own?" asked Nie Huaisang.

"Probably. But, where will he go at such state?" asked Jin Zixuan.

They looked at the juniors.

"We know nothing about this." said Sizhui.

"Jiang Cheng?" asked Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng finally come back to himself as he rolled his eyes.

"I don't know." he answered.

Holding steamed buns, flatbreads, and fruits in his hands, Wei WuXian felt his heart skip a beat. He forced himself to calm down. Even after he searched through the neighboring streets, he still didn’t see Jiang Cheng. He finally began to panic. Grabbing a cobbler on the side, he asked, “Mister, there was a young master about the same age as me sitting here. Did you see where he went?”

The cobbler licked the thick end of a thread, “The one that was with you?”

Wei WuXian, “Yeah!”

The cobbler, “I was in the middle of doing something so I didn’t really see. But he kept on spacing out, staring at the people on the street. And then when I looked up at where he was again, he suddenly disappeared. Maybe he left.”

"Where will he go?" asked Jiang Yanli.

"Did he go back to Lotus Pier?" asked MianMian.

"That's possible." said Nie Huaisang.

"Jiang Wanyin, that's recklessness." said Madam Yu with anger.

Wei WuXian murmured, “… He left… He left…”

He probably left for Lotus Pier to steal the bodies!

"A-cheng, it's dangerous." said Jiang Yanli.

"I know." said Jiang Cheng.

"What I don't know is why you keep telling me when I'm not the one in that situation?" he asked.

"Jiang Cheng, if something bad happened to you, I swear you'll get a beating." said Wei Wuxian.

As though he had gone mad, Wei WuXian sprinted immediately toward the direction that they had come from.

He held in his hands the food that he had just bought, their weight slowing him down. A while later, he left them behind him. After he had run for some distance, however, he began to feel faint and weak, on top of how much he was panicking. As his legs gave out, he collapsed onto the ground.

As he collapsed, his face plummeted into the dirt. He could taste soil within his mouth.

"A-niang!" Sizhui exclaimed.

"Look what you did, Jiang jiujiu. You make my mother worried." he said.

"A-yuan, that's not nice." said Wei Wuxian.

"But, it's true. Because of his recklessness, he made you worried and it might lead you to danger." said Sizhui.

"We're already in danger, a-yuan." said Wei Wuxian.

An overwhelming mixture of hatred and helplessness rose from Wei WuXian’s chest. He slammed his fist hard onto the ground and shouted before he finally crawled up. He turned around and ran the other way. After he picked up one of the steamed buns that he had dropped, he wiped it on his clothes before he swallowed it in just a few bites. He chewed as if he was tearing flesh with his teeth. As he gulped, he felt it lump at his throat, creating a dull pain. He picked up a few more and stuffed them inside his lapel. Holding one in his hand, he ate as he ran, hoping that he’d stop Jiang Cheng midway.

However, even until he arrived at Lotus Pier, when the moon and the stars shone in the night sky, he still hadn’t caught sight of Jiang Cheng along his journey.

"What?" asked Jiang Yanli.

"Maybe he didn't go back to Lotus Pier." said Nie Huaisang.

"That's impossible." said Wei Wuxian.

"No, it's also possible." said Nie Huaisang.

"Or maybe he lost his way." said Jin Zixuan.

"Or maybe he was captured." said Wen Qing.

"No, he can't be." said Wei Wuxian.

"You know that's possible." said Wen Qing.

Wei WuXian stared at the brightly-lit Lotus Pier from afar. Hands on his knees, he panted unstoppably. The taste of blood climbed up his chest and his throat, the kind that occured after an extended period of running. Mouth full of the rusty taste, he felt his sight flash black.

He thought to himself, Why hadn’t I caught up to Jiang Cheng? Even after I ate food this was the fastest I could run. He was more tired than me and he’s going through something worse. How could he have run faster than me? Did he really come back to Lotus Pier? But if he didn’t come back here, where would he go? Go to Meishan alone without me?

"No, a-cheng won't go to Meishan without you. He won't leave you alone." said Jiang Yanli.

"Is Young Master Jiang really that stubborn to go to Lotus Pier on his own just for the body?" asked Sect Leader Yao.

"That's because it's important." said Jiang Cheng.

"For you to put yourself in danger?" asked Madam Yu.

"What if bad happened to you there? What will happen to the sect?" asked Madam Yu.

"A-niang, stop thinking about the sect. Can you please for once think of me as your son and I'm doing that as your son? They insulted you, I won't let that go." said Jiang Cheng.

"And you're going to die." said Madam Yu.

"Then death it is then. I don't care." said Jiang Cheng.

"Don't be so reckless." said Madam Yu.

"You still have people to live for. We're already dead, you have to continue living for your family, for the person you love." said Madam Yu.

"What would he feel when you're going to die there?" he asked and Jiang Cheng looked at Lan Xichen.

The man only smiled at him.

After a while of rest, he still decided to go to Lotus Pier to confirm first. Walking along the series of walls, a voice sounded within Wei WuXian’s heart, praying with what was close to despair, This time, please don’t let there be anyone talking about Jiang Cheng’s corpse on the training field. Or else, or else I’ll…

Or else?

Or else what could he do?

"You could do everything." said the juniors.

"What? I'm powerless that time." said Wei Wuxian.

"I'm sorry, Wei Wuxian." said Jiang Cheng.

"There's no need for that, Jiang Cheng. I truly understand." said Wei Wuxian.

"Maybe when I'm the one who is in your situation, I would have done the same." he added.

He could do nothing. He was powerless. Lotus Pier had been destroyed, both Jiang FengMian and Madam Yu were gone, and Jiang Cheng had disappeared as well. He was the only one left, alone, with not even a sword in his hands. He didn’t know anything, he couldn’t do anything!

For the first time, he discovered how little his power was. In front of something as large as the QishanWen Sect, it was the same as a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

Wei WuXian’s eyes felt so warm that he was about to tear up again. He turned around the corner when, suddenly, a shadow dressed in the sun and flame robes walked toward him.

With the speed of lighting, Wei WuXian had held the person down.

"A-xian." said Jiang Yanli.

"Whoever that person who caught me, I will make sure that I will kill him." said Wei Wuxian.

"I need to save Jiang Cheng first so no one should stop me." he added.

"Don't." said Jiang Cheng.

"Don't sacrifice your life for me." he added.

"That's what siblings do, Jiang Cheng." said Wei Wuxian.

"Sacrificing for each other." he added.