The Awakening

Wei Ying

He was deadly tired by the time they make they hasted retreat back to the east, so he reclined his body into Lan Zhan's for most of the journey back home, carefully wrapped in his lover arms. He could barely hear what the others were talking about as they went back, even when they were yelling to one another, to make their voices be heard under the strong winds.

It was like he was in a daze or when he was in meditation earlier that night. He could feel the dark energy below him calling up to him, even if it didn't have a voice. He could feel the dark energy pulsating below the surface as they moved at fast speed in the sky and he could feel it following, like a lost child, which was in a way true. Yin had release the darkness in waves as she moved all around the world over the many centuries of her madness, but apparently the tainted energy left behind was as lost as her.

"Wei Ying... are you asleep?" Lan Zhan asked him into his ear, but he felt like his awesome Lan was talking to him from miles away instead. His focus was drifting back to the dark energy that was surprisingly alive way below them. He could feel the many corpses lurking in the forests and valleys below them, searching for preys. How corpses came 'back' to life, had always been a mystery, but he could feel now that the corpses were nothing more than a medium for the dark energy to manifest inside of it.

If someone lose his/her life for example, mostly in regret because of war or murder, it kind of affected the dark energy imbedded in the soil in which the body is burry, awakening the resentment that is already dormant on the earth and taking possession of the body, 'bringing' it back to life, even when it was technically dead. Many bloody battles had been fought all over the country in the past, with hundreds dying with huge grudges of unfulfilled wishes, making it easier for the world to became chaotic when Yin lost her mind, spreading it long and wide over the world.

Thus the era of corpses began and even if they perform a cleansing in the burials after the corpses begin to rise back, that was never a guarantee for the land to not become tainted over the years, so they placed sealing arrays on the soil, just to make sure no corpse will rise inside their barriers.

However, feeling it like that, he wonder if the lost consciousness of a body was brought back, will the resentful energy still be in control of the body or the soul will came on top? And what about a live body losing its consciousness instead? Will it become possessed and turned into a corpse, like that old woman had warned Wen Ning when sealing his core or not? Then again, wasn't that how the puppet corpses were created?

At first he had thought the talisman killed the body, but perhaps he had got it wrong and the body was not really killed, but the consciousness, making the body an empty vessel they could control with the curse. Either way, it was a nasty thing to do and against nature. Yin's madness itself was unnatural, caused by the involvement of a foul creature that was also considered a demon and he wonder if Taotie had eaten more than rogues and Yang's white energy that day. What if Taotie had also taken a part of her consciousness too?

"Yin... just what happen to you?" Wei whisper internally in his trance, actually feeling her stir on her madness inside the Burial Mounds for the first time.

"Come... child of darkness and bring with you what I had lost." She seems to whisper back at the same time he felt an intense pain coming from Xuanyu's seal, making him wake up from his trance and spit some kind of dark blood.

"Wei Ying!" Wangji had been holding him tightly, for him not to fall while he rested on his arms, but he was beyond worry when he simply wake up spitting up blood.

"Wow! What was that? What happen to him?" Jiang asked as he happen to look at their way in the very moment he spitted blood.

"Ah... this is nothing... using Chenqing is no walk in the park, that's all." Wei explained.

"You sure?" Yanli asked also worry for her brother.

"Yeah..." Wei said with a smile, however, he didn't fool his lover, who hold him tighter.

"Wei Ying... what's wrong?" He whisper worriedly.

"Nothing really... I just overused Chenqing today. We are almost home, so Zilin will probably be waiting for us." Wei Ying said, unable to tell him he had just reached Yin in order not to worry him more. Soon after, once they were back to the cliff, they could see Zilin's figure waiting for them.

He had patiently waited for them along with Nie Huaisang who was scared to death of him, even when Zilin only looked at him once, then ignore his presence while releasing a spiritual pressure that got on his nerves the whole time.

When Nie saw them coming, he was actually relived he was finally going to stay away from the cold spirit and waved his hand in welcome. They landed without problems and after Zilin coldly scold them, they were ordered to go back to their rooms and stay there until Lord Wei decided on their punishment.

Back on their room, Lan Zhan make Wei sat on their bed and help him stabilize his inner energy by giving him part of his own, until he deem him alright, then go down to sleep. As Wangji worked with his husband, Chenqing had disappear back inside Xuanyu's seal, also worry about his own lover. He found Xuanyu on the ground, breathing heavily, so he rushed to help him sit.

"Mo, what happened? I could tell Wei Ying was reacting to Yin's residual energy. He is getting too caught up on it since yesterday. Maybe I should tell both Lord Wei and Lord Zheng to stop Wei from using me for a few days." Chenqing said, taking him in his arms.

"That will not make any difference... before, when he was mad at me for forcing him to kiss Lan Zhan for the first time, remember what he did? He gather my own energy and control it unconsciously in his anger. It was the same when he was a kid and was about to get killed. I find it odd from the start, but I thought it had been a desperate struggle for life, planned ahead by the seer, but now... I think is something else." Xuanyu said.

"Something like what? His ability to use me fully is already unheard off, what else it could be there that put you in such a state?" Chenqing asked him, as he removed the trace of dark blood from his lover mouth.

"I think Wei Ying can actually use dark energy in the very same way Yin does, without any restrain nor influence from any of us. He is simply can reach as far as her and do as much as her if he wants too. He is turning more and more like her, as if he were the same o part of her." Xuanyu told him as he closed his red eyes.

"That should be impossible, even if he has a strong affinity to her energy, pure dark energy only can be used with the aid of a very few treasures, like you and myself and nothing else. No one can equal her, she is an immortal... or more like a demi-goddess. No matter what he would never reach that far." Chenqing told him.

"It's not impossible anymore Chenqing, because the reason we were both harmed a while ago, was because Wei Ying was actually able to reach Yin, stunningly all the way to the Burial Mounds and even inside her madness to her very core. She was able to hear him and even respond him back before she push him out, unconsciously harming us both in the process." Xuanyu explained and Chenqing was utterly shocked.

"Then, who the hell is this kid? Not even Yang could reach her before." Chenqing asked with surprise.

"That's the very same question I had been asking myself for a while now." Xuanyu said, slightly kissing his Chenqing, before he rested his tired body on his loving arms. Seen him equally tired, Chenqing took Xuanyu on his arms and brought him to his small open pagoda and put him over the dense cocoon of dark energy he used as bed or shield, when he wanted to disconnect himself from Wei Ying's consciousness. Then he kissed his forehead and went out in search of Zilin, hoping he will enlighten him about Wei Ying's true nature.

⚘💖⚘

The next day, Wei Ying felt refreshed and better than in the last few days and of course, he wake up wrapped on his Lan Zhan's arms, as usual from the past month and more. It was amazing how much his unofficial husband kindle his inner fire just by looking at his adorable face, that he loved so deeply.

He knew his lovely Lan Zhan was far from been asleep, so he go ahead and planted a heated kiss on those tempting lips, that he will never get tired off tasting. He was addicted to them, as well as the rest of his beautiful hot body and soon Wangji was devouring him back, while melting his beating heart.

They wake up like that each morning, enjoying themselves a little before they were called to train with the rest of the group or individually, depending on his father mood. However, as that morning there will be no training because his father was thinking on their punishment, which he could guess it will be a very dirty one, they could finish what was started without awkward interruptions.

So this time, he didn't stop his seduction, because it was still too early for his father to be up and ready to send them to their punishment. Wangji also knew the cultivators from the east were not that early risers and it was barely around seven, so he didn't resist his morning advances, nor did push away his hand as it explored up and down, while opening his robes.

Their youthful passion was then consumed with the love and care that define their relationship. By the end of it, Wei Ying's back was slightly marked by nails and bites, by his very satisfy hot lover, although there were marks of love on Lan Zhan too, but made on his chest, when he had played to further arise his husband to hear him moan.

Later in the morning, they were served breakfast on their rooms and a bit before midday, they were called to gather with the rest of the group in the training ground. There, Lord Wei was waiting for them and line them up. He told them that despite their accomplishment and great bravery, they had disappoint him by sneaking away to seek danger in other lands.

It was his responsibility to look after them and the Clan Leaders could had put his Clan into a bad position if something were to happen to them while away. Thus a simple punishment was no enough to educate the troublemakers. As an example, he hit Wei Ying in the stomach with his fierce energy, sending him a few yards away.

The hit had not been too strong, but when Wei Ying stood back, he found that his energy had been sealed and immediately felt weaker, as if his strength had been sucked away. This was not his first time, so he got use to it quickly, but he knew the others will not be as fast as him to resign himself to become an ordinary human for a day or two, until his father rage subsided.

Zilin then, took the task to seal everyone's spiritual energy in a more dignify way, one by one and after all of them became simple humans, they were given water buckets and brought to a well. In there, there they were to fill at least a hundred of small barrels and distribute them all over the Clan on foot whatever they where needed, without resting.

Deprived of their spiritual energy to strengthen their bodies to resist such harsh work, they soon find out that pissing off Lord Wei was not an option any longer. The girls filled the barrels one by one while taking turns, while the boys took them where they demanded, far and wide for the rest of the day.

"No offense, Wei Wuxian... but your father is a demon too!" Jiang Cheng said, completely exhausted, once their task of that day was done and they were permitted to rest.

"This is actually worse than any training we had done so far." Mianmian said, as she sat on the ground, under a tree, as the day was coming to its end.

"I would had preferred the Lan way of punishment and be beated instead. This is a real torture." Nie wined.

"You can't complain, idiot. It was because of you that we went to the south!" Jiang protested.

"Ah yeah... sorry, sorry..." Huaisang apologize, shutting up immediately.

"Really, you guys need more stamina. This is actually a way to strengthen the body in a more common way. Lan Zhan looks good and he didn't even sweet." Wei Ying said, as he lay down on the ground by his stunning husband.

"Your Lan Zhan is also inhuman, we all know of his heavenly strength from a very long time." Jaing Cheng said as he accepted an elixir from Wen Qing, who was actually prepared for such outcome, knowing the ways of the Wei's punishments.

"He is not the only one, Wen Ning was actually doing quite well." Xingchen said from the ground.

"He is very strong too." Mainmian whisper with a blush.

"Hey, I think she likes you..." Song Lan whisper to Wen Ning who was closer to him and Wen Ning smiled nervously, while shyly looking at his partner with a flushed face.

"Please don't tease my brother, he is too shy." Wen Qing told him, as she passed another elixir to him.

"That's not teasing, it's the true." Zixuan said, accepting the bottle and Yanli smiled.

"He is so innocent too... just let him be." Yanli added, while thanking Wen Qing for the remedy of their fatigue.

"Never mind that, hey Wuxian! This is only a day's punishment, right?" Jiang Cheng asked hopefully.

"You wish. Why you think Wuxian feared his punishments so much? Brace yourself for a hellish week Clan heir Jiang Cheng." Wen Qing teased him and set her partner in dismay and half of them either wined or cursed for their bad luck.

"Still, do you really regret going there? Because I don't. A Clan was saved, what can be more important than that?" Zixuan asked. If he had the chance to save his father, he would had gladly accept any punishment, whatever uncommon or not, just for the same opportunity Nie Huaisang had.

"To be honest, I don't either. We were awesome back there, right? Do you saw those new monster like corpses? They were really strong and if not by Wuxian's song and us helping defeat them, they would had kill Nie Mingjue in no time." Jiang confessed.

"Thank you, brothers and sisters, really, I owe you all a big one." Huaisang said sincerely.

"Damn right." Jiang said and as they talked about what they did that night, so Huaisang will have all the details, Wei Ying closed his eyes in tiredness, to later open them again, as he felt another strange feeling stirring the energy of the south, but in the direction of the east.

He could tell it was not another small war or attack, it was more like something exceptionally tainted was slowly coming closer to their lands. Maybe a group of those monster were heading their way, for which he will warn his father in the morning. It was better for him to send a scout and see if he was wrong, than prove himself right and be unguarded.

Thus a scout was sent away the next day, while they faced another round of wicked punishment, which was cleaning the particular stinking stables and so on, until words were sent back, four days later than an ancient creature had been spotted on the border of their lands and had already kill anything on its path, whatever it was a human or corpse.

"Master, we really had a troublesome guest this time." Zilin told Lao, after he had personally try to deal with the foul beast unsuccessfully.

"Just what is it, Zilin?" Lord Wei asked.

"If my memory serves me right, it's none other than the legendary Tortoise of Slaughter that had conveniently awaken after several centuries of hibernation." The spirit said seriously.

"So they had finally come for my troublesome son." Lord Wei sighed.

"I believe so too." Zilin agree.

"Oh, well... it is not like we had not been prepared for that. Sanren... is it ready?" Wei asked and she smiled.

"Of course, my husband. I protect my sons and his friends quite seriously." Lord Wei assented in satisfaction.

"Then, lure it there as soon as you can. We will teach this rouges that messing with us is harder than they think." Sanren smiled wider.

"Well said, my dear. Please take care while I'm gone and they had enough punishment for a lifetime. Stop been stubborn." Wei rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah... be careful." Sanren gave him a slight kiss, then ruffle his head.

"See you soon... and behave." She warn him and he looked away, quite resigned.

"Alright..." He conceded and an instant later, she was gone.

AN: Happy Mother's days for those who celebrate it, even in the distance. 🌹💖⚘ Thanks for reading and take care. Until next time, be safe. 😙😉😁