[ Mouth hot and belly febrile, quiet infection running its riotous course in his rushed mind. Around him, the wind barely howls like a learning pup. He feels as if he'll survive the draining, though Lan Zhan cuts and punctures with every edge of agility Wei Wuxian remembers from his swordplay. ]
I'm not. Running. [ Gritted, between tiring teeth. Milled, white noise stacking. ] You're... you've waited sixteen years for the answer to a riddle I've just been asked. Everything tastes of delay to you.
[ Caught again. The trouble of the day, as if, after proposing their encounter, Lan Zhan still can't trust in Wei Wuxian to see it through. Between Lan Zhan's fire and the embers of old anger, the wick of his patience has burned at both ends. Lan Zhan detains him from slipping back. No trouble. He leans in, forehead bridging to meet Lan Zhan's shoulder, angle strained, but the petty ache of it keeping him alert, composed and prone — calculated, forcing words out, quick and vicious. ]
I've woken to two boys-turned-men, a Jin ruling dynasty, to Jiang Ch — Jiang Wanyin's grudges, and Wen Qing and my sister dead for decades. To Wen Ning.... unresolved, and this man, this stranger Mo Xuanyu wanting vengeance. As for my memory... [ He laughs. Has to laugh. A quilt of gifted patches, so thinly frayed that Wei Wuxian startles to know this will be the whole of him, one day, when old men's sicknesses take him in ways the average cultivator won't nurture. ] I've dealt with it. I'm catching up, to all of you. I've made good time.
[ Sorted and settled accounts that preceded him, overhauled a ruling house, gave peace to two wandering cultivators, paid homage at altars, released Wen Ning, reclaimed the boys Jin Ling and Lan Yuan, undid some of his sorcery, reinforced the rest. Bade Baxia farewell, and become an unsung hero to crippled and grotesque prostitutes everywhere.
He has achieved, in the span of months, what emperors set out to do in lifetimes. Some matters linger. Stabbing worse than the prickling of his ill-trained nephew, Jiang Cheng won't meet his gaze across the grounds, let alone take his hand. ]
I will split this ground open and people it with dead flesh, and we can see who runs first, you and I.
no subject
I'm not. Running. [ Gritted, between tiring teeth. Milled, white noise stacking. ] You're... you've waited sixteen years for the answer to a riddle I've just been asked. Everything tastes of delay to you.
[ Caught again. The trouble of the day, as if, after proposing their encounter, Lan Zhan still can't trust in Wei Wuxian to see it through. Between Lan Zhan's fire and the embers of old anger, the wick of his patience has burned at both ends. Lan Zhan detains him from slipping back. No trouble. He leans in, forehead bridging to meet Lan Zhan's shoulder, angle strained, but the petty ache of it keeping him alert, composed and prone — calculated, forcing words out, quick and vicious. ]
I've woken to two boys-turned-men, a Jin ruling dynasty, to Jiang Ch — Jiang Wanyin's grudges, and Wen Qing and my sister dead for decades. To Wen Ning.... unresolved, and this man, this stranger Mo Xuanyu wanting vengeance. As for my memory... [ He laughs. Has to laugh. A quilt of gifted patches, so thinly frayed that Wei Wuxian startles to know this will be the whole of him, one day, when old men's sicknesses take him in ways the average cultivator won't nurture. ] I've dealt with it. I'm catching up, to all of you. I've made good time.
[ Sorted and settled accounts that preceded him, overhauled a ruling house, gave peace to two wandering cultivators, paid homage at altars, released Wen Ning, reclaimed the boys Jin Ling and Lan Yuan, undid some of his sorcery, reinforced the rest. Bade Baxia farewell, and become an unsung hero to crippled and grotesque prostitutes everywhere.
He has achieved, in the span of months, what emperors set out to do in lifetimes. Some matters linger. Stabbing worse than the prickling of his ill-trained nephew, Jiang Cheng won't meet his gaze across the grounds, let alone take his hand. ]
I will split this ground open and people it with dead flesh, and we can see who runs first, you and I.