Why Chun takes care of Xue

They woke up to the reality of being trapped in the cold cave "Have you practiced inedia? Those like us can probably last three to four days without eating or drinking. But since Chun had food and manage to filter the water, we'll last a week and a few days if we stretch it. After that, if nobody comes to save us, our energy, strength, and spiritual power will probably start to drop" Wangji stated.

Wei Wuxian took a branch and sketched out a map on the ground, linking a few places together, "From here to Gusu is a bit shorter than to Yunmeng. It's probably your sect's people who will come first. Let's just be patient. Even if they don't come, the most that we'll have to wait is one or two days before Jiang Cheng arrives at Lotus Pier. Jiang Cheng is quite clever. The Wen Sect's people won't stop him. There's nothing to worry about"

Wangji's eyes were downcast as he whispered, "They will not come"

"Hm?"

"The Cloud Recesses has been burnt down already"

Wei WuXian probed, "...Is everyone still there? Your father, your brother?"

He had thought that even if the leader of the Lan Sect, Wangji's father, was heavily injured, his uncle and brother would probably take control of the situation. Yet, Wangji's voice was monotone, "Father is almost gone. Brother is missing"

The branch that Wei Wuxian was scribbling on the ground with froze.

No wonder Wangji was especially gloomy. Chun felt the sense of awkwardness "Here, stay hydrated. This'll ease the hunger, also you can cut down my share of food. Both of you need it to recover quicker" she hands them the metal containers.

"No, we share it equally"

"I've probably have the most practice of so caller inedia out of the three of us so don't oppose me" Wangji's icy expression seem to have melted "I heard it was food that you snuck in from before"

She shrugs "It was for Huaisang and Xue. You're food may not he flavorful but it's nourishing"

"...You're like Jiang Cheng and Shijie" Wei Wuxian mutters as the image of the two flashed in his head "Hm, How so?"

"You deeply care for Xue like them. At times you can be aggresive but then there's that gentle side as well"

She hugs her knees "Well, he's all I have so it's only natural for me to do my best and look out for him" Wei Wuxian remembered the conversation from the gathering "Why did Xue get kidnapped in the past?" This caught Wangji's interest.

"He told you that? Well we were hustling in their area or so they claimed. Well he also probably mentioned that we're orphan and street children..." Wei Wuxian nods knowing how difficult it was to be a kid in the streets.

Wangji asks, "How did you two end up in the streets"

Chun chuckles "I didn't know you would be interested to know"

Wei Wuxian pondered for a bit "Well we know some things about you guys but have no idea about your background besides being taken in by Sect Leader Nie"

She watch the fire crackle "Xue and I aren't actually blood related" this made Wei Wuxian almost choke on his spit "What?"

"Ever since I was young, I can understand and read situations but I was -like you said- aggressive. I would dare go against people -regardless of age- in the...orphan home, if they were bullying someone but they never cleared my reason. So they ended up passing me around" she smiled softly "Then when I was five and moved to a different orphan home, I met Xue..."

~Flashback~

Chun had a worn out rucksack walking around the new orphanage she got transferred in "Oooh they have a garden" she runs to it and crouched near the flowerbeds "So colorful~" she enjoyed looking at the vibrant flowers when she heard faint sobbing.

Chun looks around but noone was there, she carefully listens to it which led her to a large bush "Hello?" she parts the leaves to reveal a boy with tear stained face. When he saw Chun, he curled up even more "Hey, why are you crying?" she sat next to him but he never spoke

"Do you just like crying?" No response

"Well I'll stay here until you feel better" she beamed at him "Oh by the way, I'm Chun the new kid" she giggled.

Minutes later the boy was no longer crying "...I'm Xue" he reluctantly spoke "Nice to meet you"

She points at the flowers "Are you allergic to po-polin?" he shook his head "It's pollen, and I'm not allergic"

"Then why were you crying and hiding here? Oh no, is this your safe spot? Sorry if I disturbed you" She panics "Ye-Yeah"

Chun begins probing again "So..are you going to tell me why you were crying?"

Xue fidgets with his clothes "My painting" Chun smiles "It must be so beautiful that it made you cry. Can I see it?"

"No..ah! Not that I don't want to b-but it's ruined" he slowly points at a small puddle not far from them. Chun stands and walks to it. There were shreds of paper in the muddy puddle "Who did this?"

Xue finally walks out of his safe spot "Oh I accidentally slipped" Chun tilts her head "Eh? Why would the artist themself ruin a beautiful piece?..So? Who was it?"

He was silent "Don't worry. I just want to know so next time I draw, I know who to avoid" she smiles "..It was Luo-ge and Ting-jie"

They started walking around the area "Can you describe what they look like since it seems like you're good with details" Xue thought for a moment and started to describe the two.

The next day, everyone woke up from the screaming of two naughty children that had their hair chopped.

~Flashback End~

Wei Wuxian was laughing "Did you really do that?" she nods "I had a sense of familiarity with him even tho we never met before. Since then we stuck together. I got into all sorts of trouble and Xue always had my back. When they said I was going to be transferred again, I decided to just run away but Xue didn't want to be left behind"

She stood then sat between the two male "It was so difficult for us at first. We started stealing money and food, it would sometimes need to outrun or outsmart them when we get caught. We were young but we strived to live and defend ourselves. We encounter all sorts of people and we learn along the way"

She was slowly and discreetly activating her energy circle to transfer spiritual energy to the two "Well after almost a decade Sector Leader Nie took us in. Now look at us alive and kicking"

Wangji felt pity as he recalled that time when they were being punished in Cloud Recesses. Lan Qiren's scolding and so on.

The two did notice that Chun and Xue had no resemblance but her just dropping the information of not being actually related still surprised them.

"Then you've done well. He's a great person and a cultivator" Wangji commented to which she smiles in gratituded "It might seem like that but it's more of him keeping me grounded. Since I was young, I told myself that I had nothing to lose so I had nothing to fear. Everything changed when we became close so I acknowledged him as my brother and did everything I could even if we had nobody else"

She notices the empty containers "We're out of water, I need to collect some so both of you keep warm and rest" she walks away.

"I feel embarrassed for being afraid of dogs" Wei Wuxian blurts out and Wangji just ignores him "I mean look at Chun, instead of having fears she gained strength" on that point he started talking again like his usual self.

×××

They waited for an four days No sun or moon within the cave. They only knew that it had been like that because of the sleep pattern of the Lan Sect's people-sleeping and waking involuntarily when the times came. Thus, it was be possible to calculate the time from how many times Wangji slept.

With the past days of conserving energy, the injury on Wangji's leg was healing. He was able to sit in the lotus position to meditate soon afterward.

During the time, the three had scouted around the pool a couple of times. The large, shell floated in the water like a huge, impenetrable warship. In the beginning, heavy chewing noises often came from within. Later on, though, the noises ceased, replaced by what sounded like it was asleep and snoring. The snores were like roars of thunder.

They had thought about sneaking underwater while the beast was asleep to find the hole where they could escape. However, they could only roam underwater for thirty minutes before their movements were noticed by the beast. And, although they had searched a few times, they couldn't find the hole that Jiang Cheng had mentioned.

Wangji suspected that it might be covered up by a part of the beast's body. Though they wanted to lure it outright of the water again, the beast seemed as though it became tired after the big ruckus and didn't want to move anymore.

They gathered all of the arrows, bows, and iron rods that lay scattered on the shore and took them back to count. There were over a hundred arrows, around thirty bows, and a little over ten iron rods.

×××

It was already a week and a half. Their food didn't last as much as they expected.

"I should've brought more"

"No worries, we would be running out of energy already if you hadn't brought anything"

Wangji picked up a bow with his left hand, attentively examining the material. His right hand strummed across the bowstring. It somehow managed to create the sonorous clang of metal.

The material used for the bows and arrows were nothing of the norm. Wangji took off all of the bowstrings and tied them from top to bottom into a long chord. With both hands he stretched the chords taut and immediately flicked his wrists. The chord shot out as though it was lightning. A flash of white light flared across and a rock ten feet away was smashed into pieces.

Wei Wuxian, "Chord Assassination?"

Chord Assassination was one of the techniques unique to the GusuLan Sect. It was created by and passed down from the granddaughter of the sect's founder, Lan An-the third sect leader, Lan Yi.

Lan Yi created Chord Assassination originally to assassinate dissidents, which was why she was often criticized. The GusuLan Sect was also quite ambivalent on its comments of such a sect leader. Undeniably, though, Chord Assassination was one of the most powerful, most versatile fighting techniques of the GusuLan Sect.

Wangji, "Breach through within."

The three had the same thought of this throughout the past few days and understood what Wangji meant.

What he knew with greater clarity was their current situation. If they waited any longer, their body will begin to decline. They're already feeling it after five days from running out if ration.

Instead of waiting for their death, it'd be much better to put up one last fight with all that they had.

Wei Wuxian, "I agree as well. We should attack from the inside. But from what I've heard of your sect's Chord Assassination technique, it wouldn't be the most useful it can be if it's inside the cramped environment inside the shell. And your leg injury still hasn't healed yet. It probably wouldn't be as put to good use as usual, would it?"

This was the truth, and Lan WangJi understood. They understood that forcing themselves to do things that they weren't able to do would be useless except for dragging others down.

Not hearing any comment from Chun made them look at the dazed girl "...Chun?" her attention went back to them "Huh? Oh, I'll help wherever I can" She was feeling sluggish for some reason but decided to brush it off.

As Wangji was about to reach out to her, she retreats "Shouldn't we be discussing about the plan. Let's not waste time"

"Listen to me" Wei Wuxian proceed ro discuss the plan.

~~~

Without making a noise, carrying on his back a bundle of arrows and iron rods, Wei Wuxian dove into the area before the head-hole of the Xuanwu of Slaughter. After he passed through the hole, he flipped into the inside of the shell. He landed on both feet, as if he stepped into a thick layer of rotten mud mixed with water. The stench was so overwhelming that he almost cursed.

He pinched his nose, 'What a hell of a place... Good thing that I didn't let them come in here'

Gentle snores came from the Xuanwu of Slaughter. Wei Wuxian walked while holding his breath, his feet sinking in deeper and deeper. The snores of the beast sounded louder and louder. The waves of air became heavier, and the corpse sludge under his feet became thicker. Finally, his hand came into contact with the beast's rough skin. He felt around, along the skin. As he had expected, scales covered the head and the neck, but beneath that was a thick, uneven surface. The deeper he went, the thinner and more delicate the skin became.

At this point, the sludge had already risen to Wei WuXian's waist. Most of the corpses here hadn't been finished yet, the bodies left remaining in larger pieces. It shouldn't be called a corpse sludge anymore, but rather a corpse mound. Wei WuXian reached behind his back, preparing to take out the arrows and the rods, but suddenly found that the bundle of rods seemed to be stuck to something and couldn't be removed.

He clenched the handles of the rods and finally pulled it out, using all of his strength. At the same time, the front of the rods took out something with it from within the mound, letting out a soft clang.

Wei WuXian froze at once.

A few moments had passed, and no noise came from around him. The beast hadn't lashed out either. He finally let out a breath of relief, The rods seemed to be stuck to something. Judging from the sound that it made, it's also made of iron? And it's quite long. Let's see if it can be useful. I'm short of something to use as weapon. It'd be great if it's a high level spiritual sword!

He reached out and felt for the object. Its shape was long, though it was dull and covered in rust.

The second that he grabbed it, shrill screams sounded within Wei Wuxian's ears.

It was as if hundreds of thousands of people were wailing their lungs out in desperation right into his ears. Immediately, cold air travelled up his arm through his entire body. With a shiver, Wei Wuxian pulled his hand away, What is this? Its energy of resentment is so strong!

Suddenly, his surroundings lit up. A light, orange glow casted out Wei Wuxian's shadow, illuminating a pitch-black sword made of iron in front of him. Slantedly, the sword pierced through where the heart of his shadow was.

This was the inside the shell of the Xuanwu of Slaughter-how could there be any light?

Wei Wuxian spun around. As he had thought, a large pair of golden eyes was inches away from him.