Chapter Text
He hits the grassy floor on his back, "Ah...!". Rolls around few times, but quickly regaining composure Wen Xu gets back up and starts running. The open rural farmland is lit by the moonlight. The path running through the forest is broad and fairly lit as well, though the thick trees and vegetation are very dark. Zidian has whipped out chunks of his flesh, the young Sect Leader of tender age didn't bother to hold back. Wen Xu winces at the stinging pain radiating from his back, the fabric of his cloth is torn in a zigzag manner, the injury on his back looks like heavy brushstroke done in red ink.
The crackling sound is heard again, coming from his left. Wen Xu looks with the corner of his eyes. Jiang Wanyin has his hand raised up, ready to swing down his weapon. "You think you can run!!!" Comes the roar.
Silence and chill is flowing from his right, Wen Xu shifts his eyes again. Wei Wuxian is also chasing him, his handsome face is contorted into a deranged smile. Baring all his teeth, drool dripping at the corner of his lips, eliciting sounds of satisfaction like he can't get enough. With glowing red eyes, he is too happy to chase. "How can you leave your bride behind!"
Wen Xu grits his teeth. Suddenly, Wei Wuxian raises his arm and swings it down. With caw-caws, dozens of black crows dives in from the night sky and attacks Wen Xu. Their beak are abnormally sharp, boring hole in his skin with each peck. Wen Xu grunts in pain, using his arms as a shield. He unleashes a wave of his spiritual power, the red beam scatters the black birds away. But a black shadow lands in front of him, an outstretched hand wraps it long fingers around Wen Xu's neck, lifting him from the ground and slamming him over the trunk of a nearby tree.
Wen Xu instinctively grabs the assailant's forearm, at the same time raises his knee to aim a kick at the other's stomach. Wei Wuxian lets go of his neck to dodge the kick, but Wen Xu could only manage a single breath before the thong of Zidian snakes its way round his neck, slamming him back on the tree trunk. Holding both the thong and handle of Zidian with each hand, Jiang Wanyin lets out snarls from behind the tree. "Don't leave yet you scum!" Wen Xu is clutching the thong, attempting to prevent it from breaking his neck. He couldn't spare time to look at Jiang Wanyin behind him, as spilt moments later, two palms plants itself on either side of his head. Wei Wuxian's face is bit too close for an Alpha to tolerate.
The deranged fully toothed grin on the attractive face has only intensified. With eyes wide and glazy, fine eyebrows turned upwards, words comes out through lips damped in saliva: "Come with us! We will let you mate with the Omega!"
Jiang Wanyin also hums in agreement, scoffing with a 'sincere' "Yeah, we will!".
With only one hand over the thong suffocating his throat, Wen Xu uses his other hand to guide his spiritual sword to charge in the direction of Jiang Wanyin, he needs to get out of Zidian's hold. With one large swing of his arm and with a "HAHAHAHA", Wei Wuxian deflects the incoming sword with a wave of his crimson power, blocking the sword from hurting Jiang Cheng. The spiritual sword is hurled aside by his strong barrier. Wen Xu promptly switches hand, the hand that beckoned his sword now clutching Zidian, the other now uses a talisman, forming a ball of power, he rotates his palm backwards, firing it towards Jiang Wanyin's stomach. With another "HAHAHAHA", Wei Wuxian also switches hand, deflecting this attack as well. He again slams both his palms beside Wen Xu's head. "Come! Reunite with your brother!"
Wen Xu suddenly lifts both his legs and lands a direct kick on Wei Wuxian's stomach. Jiang Cheng watches his Martial Brother get smashed into a tree over the other side of the path. Wei Wuxian coughs up blood from the force of the kick, large blobs of red liquid is spat on the ground. "Wei Wu....." Zidian loosens up the hold on its prisoner due to its master's shock at seeing his Martial Brother receive a hit, Wen Xu ducks his head from Zidian's death grip, and slips out, attacking Jiang Wanyin.
Jiang Cheng moves out of the way in time. While he successfully landed a blow on Wei Wuxian and also freed himself, Wen Xu is breathless from the prolonged strangulation and weak from the numerous injuries inflicted by birds. He staggers on to the open ground and falls. "......Hah.." ".......Hah...." Supporting his upper body on his trembling hands, he looks up at the two brothers standing in front of him. From the corner of his mouth to his chin, a straight thick line of blood is spotted on Wei Wuxian, it has spilled over his chest, his black cloth is stained with red patches. Undoubtedly, he has lost blood. But he seems unfazed, while his deranged smile has gone down in intensity, he is still sporting a big, hearty smile with gleaming eyes.
Wen Xu asks him: "You killed my brother?"
His younger brother, Wen Chao, has been missing for months. An unconfirmed rumour is, Yiling Patriarch from Jiang Sect, along with the Sect Leader himself is responsible for kidnapping him. An unnamed 'gift' arrived on one Wen Sect office in the form of dismembered and mangled body of Wen Zhuliu, bodyguard of Wen Chao. Dead bodies of Wen Chao's subordinate, that weren't killed by his own hand when throwing tantrums, is frequently found hanging from trees around the routes Wen Sect Cultivators use to commute.
In a sly manner, Wei Wuxian tilts his head. "Maybe. Maybe not."
Standing beside him, Jiang Cheng makes a casual turn of his pupils, eyeing the damage on Wei Wuxian. He has bled a lot. The dormant annoyance inside him stirs up again. 'Wei Wuxian does not takes care of himself!' Jiang Cheng returns his gaze back to Wen Xu as he is attempting to get up from the ground. Both Martial Brothers take their time, indulging in the disgrace of Wen Ruohan's eldest son. As he stands on his feet, Wen Xu's hands moves towards his upper garments, taking out the now dirty cloths with spots of blood. Wei Wuxian observes with amusement as the cornered alpha flaunts his bare torso.
His smile soon vanishes as Wen Xu's body starts glowing from within, small sparks of lightening erupting here and there. Both Martial Brothers of Jiang Sect gets alarmed, but before either of them can react, in a flash, Wen Xu appears in front of Wei Wuxian, sending him flying to the nearest tree with a massive punch, he turns his body and sends Jiang Cheng to another tree with a kick.
"Umph!"
"OFFFH!"
Realizing Wen Xu is on his last resort, Wei Wuxian puts Chenqing over his lips, calling all his fierce corpses from the shrine to come aid in here. For two days he has collected fierce corpses from the area. Capturing Wen Chao was almost no work, as he collected a large number of dead bodies, he was sure he could get Wen Xu as well. These two sons of Wen Ruohan are not celebrated Cultivators. He safely presumed Wen Xu cannot put up a fight.
His fierce corpses came rushing from all direction, their hands raised forward, ready to snatch skin off its prey. Seeing the fierce corpses come, Wen Xu raised his hand towards the sky, holding something in his palm. An eerie stone encased in gold, a family treasure. The stone glowed brighter, suddenly the sky overhead is filled with dark clouds. Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng looks up at the sky, the clouds suddenly gathered out of nowhere. Jiang Cheng hastily muttered: "Wen Sect family treasure!" Lightening erupted from the clouds and shot down over the entire terrain, frying not only every single of Wei Wuxian's undead puppets, but also the trees and vegetation. The whole area is charred black.
This is the first time Wei Wuxian has met with such resistance. No wonder, there's no 'Wen Zhuliu' beside Wen Xu. He doesn't need a powerful bodyguard when he's carrying his father's most deadly treasures!
Each Sect has its own set of treasures of unusual power. As individual Sect grows in strength and number of Disciples, its collection of treasures also grows. Wen Sect, being the most powerful Sect till date, has the most impressive collection of eccentric treasures. Wen Xu is doubtless carrying some of these for protection.
Wei Wuxian withdraws the shield made up of his power, the shield has protected Jiang Cheng and himself from the thunder blasts. "How many more treasures do you think he's hiding!" This was a question that wasn't looking for an answer. Jiang Cheng simply said it out of frustration. Wei Wuxian too is dispirited. He was overconfident! Of course Wen Ruohan would be generous in regards to the protection of his successor. Wen Xu is the eldest son, the one who'll carry on the bloodline!
Before he could contemplate more, Wen Xu is within his vicinity, seemingly about to throw a punch. Wei Wuxian jumps away at a safe distance. The punch land on a tree trunk, breaking it in half. His physical strength is elevated. Is he using two different treasures? One to enhance his physique, another to summon thunder? Wen Xu turns around and chases him, attempting another punch. As he raised his hand upwards, in midair Jiang Cheng latches onto it, seizing the movement. Jiang Cheng has wholly climbed on Wen Xu's shoulder, doing his best to lock Wen Xu in place. Wei Wuxian also gets the cue and latches onto his other arm, preventing him from using his hand to activate the treasures.
But Wen Xu's body glows nonetheless. Both realizing, he's using only one treasure. And it activates through will. Dark clouds covers the sky and thin white lines haphazardly makes their way down. Wei Wuxian immediately uses his power to put up a shield while Jiang Cheng hangs on to Wen Xu in case he attacks Wei Wuxian. Fortunately, while using the treasure, Wen Xu's body movements seems limited. But the treasure is protecting its master's body, though he can move, there's no hope for Jiang Cheng to attack!
This spell of thunder is much ferocious than the early one, Wei Wuxian is having a hard time maintaining the shield. But he must protect Jiang Cheng! He closes his eyes to concentrate, focusing all his attention on keeping up the shield. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!"
Jiang Cheng can see his Martial Brother is again pushing things, going over his limits. Annoyance mixes with helplessness. Wei Wuxian coughs up blood one more time. Jiang Cheng knows his Martial Brother would rather squeeze every energy from his body than give up the shield. He gathers his own purple spiritual power in his hand, and fires it at Wei Wuxian, sending him hurling away at a far distance over a dead tree. The red shield is broken and the thunder jolts down on Jiang Cheng.
Wen Xu stops the thunder after seeing both brothers on the ground. He was forcing his last strength, as much as he would like to murder these two, he needs to escape first! He brings out his transportation talisman and disappears within a bright smoke.
"JIANG CHENG!!!!!!"
***
Various Sects have gathered in Jiang Sect camp. An exciting development has occurred. Both the Young Sect Leader and its Eldest Disciple has driven Wen Xu to the edge. He must be severely weaken after using a tremendously powerful family treasure. Now is the optimal time for anyone wishing to settle the score with tyrant's son! They've gathered to encourage the wounded Sect Leader and discuss their next strategy. They're also here to provide protection as both the young talents are injured.
As the healers leave the tent, Wei Wuxian approaches the cough his Martial Brother is resting on. Zidian's base power is also lightening. It has faithfully protected its former mistress' son's internal organs from the thunder. But Jiang Cheng's skin is scorched on various places. The Sect Leaders gathered has bought healers and high quality medicine. With the strong Golden Core, that once belonged to Wei Wuxian, rotating in him, Jiang Cheng is making decent progress.
But even with minimum recuperation time, he cannot participate in battle for one whole month. Wei Wuxian sits beside his Martial Brother who's staring at the tent ceiling.
"Don't make that face! You're the reason I'm stuck in bed!"
"HUH!!!???!"
Jiang Cheng makes effort to sit up. Wei Wuxian tries to stop him but he swats his palms away. "Do you even have any blood flowing in you!?"
Wei Wuxian gets quieter. Jiang Cheng grabs his collar: "Wei.Wu.Xian! Do you take care of yourself!"
***
Wei Wuxian pushes the curtain aside and walks out of the tent. His Martial Brother's words doing rounds in his mind. Seeing him come out of the tent, the guest Sect Leaders and their Disciples attempts to surround him.
Before any words of encouragement or back patting or fawning could proceed, a miserable wail intrudes itself on their collective ears.
Their gazes turned towards the bundle of red meat shaking on the ground. Its in the shape of a grown man though it resembles more of a livestock without its skin on. Everyone is aghast at the sight. Did a kitchen maid let out the wrong animal?
Wei Wuxian first looks at the red meat of Wen Chao piled on the ground. Then at the seething Lan Omega standing behind it.
Lan Wangji's eyes meets directly with him, the beautiful Omega's face has never looked more savage.
As Jiang Cheng was gravely injured from the fighting, the sole priority of Wei Wuxian was to save his brother. In honesty, he outright forgot about this Omega.
He forgot to consider the possibility of a retaliation.
Not breaking their eye contact, the Lan Omega discloses the identity of the red meat heaped on the ground: "He's Wen Chao. Wen Ruohan's youngest son."
He points his index finger at Wei Wuxian. "He did it!"