Click here ⬆️ for the original post.
"Holy Shit!" Xiao Qing gasps, jumping up from the divan she'd lain on.
"Language, Shimei!" Deyao scolds her but is left ignored as the disciple scrambles to get her shoes and reaches for the door.
"Fuck my language-- I need to warn Wei-shushu!"
Worried by the behavior, the senior followed behind Xiao Qing as she made a mad dash through the corridors. "-Wait! Warn Wei-zhongzhu about what?!"
Blank pupils meet his for a spare second before they focus on the path forward.
"Cultivators! Gold, green, purple, blue-- many of them!"
The senior disciple makes a shocked gasp as he halts, Xiao Qing couldn't care less to look back at him. The Reverberant Hall was not a close distance from her junior quarters much to her dismay, and she couldn't waste her time!
They're walking through the streets of Yiling. A few of them booked buildings. Some golds are surrounding the forests around the Burial Mounds-
They were getting too close!
A strong pressure of wind shot past the junior disciple as her eyes caught sight of a crow in flight, heading towards the same destination.
The disciples stationed at the magistrate must have noticed them as well. It gets there only a few seconds before she does, only because she has the decency to knock first and announce her arrival before throwing her formalities out the window to kick the doors of the Hall open.
Her uncle sits in the middle of the hall, crow perched on his finger as it reports its findings to him.
"Wei-zhongzhu cultivators at bay, possibly seventy at arms. Further observations cannot be made, going into hiding." The crow squawks in its mocking tone, repeating what it's been told to say.
Wei Wuxian's expression is grave as he watches Xiao Qing enter panting with exhaustion.
"More than seventy, shushu.' she shakes her head, blank pupils shaking in anger.
"A hundred men at arms, Jins are scouting the graveyard forests. They're trying to find the entrance to the Burial Mounds."
He closed his eyes, feeling a headache forming at the edge of his skull. Rubbing the bridge between his eyes he hesitantly asks his niece,
Xiao Qing swallows fir air as she chases to calm herself, before she answered slowly. "...Qinghe Nie, Lanling Jin, Laoling Qin, Baling Ouyang, Yunmeng Jiang, Gusu Lan... and many more. Shushu." She visibly hesitated stating the last two.
His eyelids closed itself harder, burying his face deeper into his face as if it would hide him from the world.
He had expected this day to come, but he didn't think it would be so soon. They're not investigating that's for sure, Jins are scoping their domain, they have an army of cultivators in the town he protected. It's clear to anyone what their intentions were.
Of course they would get suspicious, Yiling Laozu and his criminal refuges have hidden away from the eyes of people, no news about them but a simple rumor that they've closed themselves off from the rest of the world.
Wei Wuxian sighs, stuck on a fork road of decisions. "What do you think, Wen Qing?"
The woman in red and white, who stood next to his dais was in deep thought.
"They're definitely not here to negotiate, with an army like that." She scoffs. "Neither are they willing to leave peacefully."
"Oh please, when do they ever." He snides.
The doctor sighs, "Either way. We don't want the innocent citizens outside getting involved in this. We should evacuate them."
Wei Wuxian nods, "Gather the chiefs and seniors." He ordered her, who immediately works.
"A-Qing, I need you to stay here. Your eyes will be needed"
His niece salutes, "Of course, shushu."
As soon as orders were given, everyone immediately set to work.
The senior disciples, those with more experience, were to descend the mountain stealthily and help the Yiling citizens evacuate in order to secure their safety.
Burial Mound residents were relocated to the Bamboo Dwellings deeper into the mountain and were not to leave the area until Wen Ning said otherwise.
Wen Qing and her students were in charge of stocking emergency rations, water, clothes, non-perishable items to hide away in case their supplies were cut off.
Junior disciples prepared emergency exits, secured hidden passage ways, and were tasked to guard the residents.
Heavy tension hung in the air as everyone moved with purpose, Xiao Qing could feel everything from the enclosed Red Room.
In a smaller room meant for more important meetings, stood the remaining chiefs and Wei-shushu.
They were discussing... something. Xiao Qing wasn't really focused on it, she was too busy keeping an eye on those Jin cultivators, making sure they didn't get too close to the gate of the mountains.
"They're scattered into five groups, shushu." She hisses.
"Any of them get close yet?" She shakes her head. "But I think it won't be long till they come across it.
The man clicks his tongue in irritance. Hearing this, Xiao Xingchen stands up from his seat, "Xue Yang, with me."
"I'll stall them for a few more hours, you need to be focused on this discussion A-Xian."
Wei-Shushu sighs, "Thank you Tang-ge."
"What are their true intentions?" Luo Qingyang mutters, placing tokens on the map to indicate which cultivators were where.
It's been 20 minutes since Xiao Xingchen and Xue Yang had descended to stall time, during that period, some Yaos have entered the fray to help the Jins search.
Wei Wuxian sighs, "We'll have to let them in."
"And what?" Wen Qing growls, "Let them burn our home down?"
"It won't be long until they find the gate. And even if we don't let them in-- they'll resolve to cutting off our water supply. Hell they might rampage the town!" The man groans, rubbing his temple gently.
Wen Qing opens her mouth to argue back, but before she can do that his niece gasps.
"They've... they've found the gate... Shushu."
Wei Wuxian walks pass the empty houses slowly, unwilling to pace it up towards the entrance of his home.
It woulld be no lie if he said he didn't want to meet any of the sects. Sometimes he wishes he hadn't the patience nor the consideration for these men, he sometimes dreams of kicking their asses so hard they fly back into their homes.
He sighs wilfully, Wei Yuan by his side notices his mood and smiles pitifully.
"We can always do this another day, ba." His son says. Ahhh what a loving child.
"Unfortunately, I don't think the sects would like that." Mo Xuanyu muses, his arms are folded and his posture is rightened, making him seem upright and intimidating.
Xue Yang cackles, "But then again, when have we ever cared for their feelings? They never gave shitwad about us!"
His son sighs, taking in his fellowmen's words in consideration. Although Wei Yuan has never experienced the world of the cultivation soceity; being holed up in a mountain and by extension its only town, it's safe to say he doesn't like them either-- in light of his childhood.
"We're only here to listen to their intentions. Anything else I will not permit." He tells them.
By then, they've walked enough that they can see the silhouettes behind the barrier of the mounds.
"But," Wei Wuxian hums, "If they attack first, I wouldn't be so keen."
It was basically permission, even though he just said the opposite. And it formed smiles on his wards' faces, ones that weren't as sweet and joyful.
Once they've reached the gates Wen Ning bows his head at him. The cultivators have long noticed his presence and have resolved to shout louder at him.
Wei Wuxian inhales deeply, closing his eyes to savir his last moments of peace.
The sect leader smiles, the corner of his lips visibly twitching.
"Welcome to the Burial Mounds, dear cultivators." He greets them.
The silence that comes after is refreshing.
But not as aggravating as the curses and yells that come after.
