#assorted others

It had been a few years now.

At first, the cultivation world had celebrated Wei Wuxian’s disappearance; in fact, the only thing they regretted was that he hadn’t been killed outright. The right way for the end of such a tragedy, they said, was a grandiose battle that would live up to the rest of his legend – but Lan Wangji knew that their real motive was so that they could say to all who listened that they participated in taking him down.

And Jin Guangshan – with the power of the Yin Tiger Seal in his hand – had become Chief Cultivator, showering everyone with the Jin sect’s riches. The Nie sect had protested, but wasn’t interested in starting another war, and all the junior sects were inclined to support it.

It hadn’t been long before that had spoiled.

Jin Guangshan had always enjoyed having things go his own way, after all – and he’d never been good at restraining himself, especially when it came to women. At first it was limited to those who didn’t have the ability to protest, but after the first one did…

The Yin Tiger Seal gave him too much power. Who could resist him?

The first time Jin Guangshan wiped out a clan, he’d come up with an excuse for it. But when he got away with that, it seemed to go to his head, and he stopped even pretending after that. Female cultivators fled Lanling in droves, whether they could afford to do so or not, and the sects who tried to make trouble faced disaster.

The junior sects turned to the three Great Sects, but they had their own troubles. Jiang Cheng’s sister had disappeared, her son with her, and Jiang Cheng was certain that Jin Guangshan was behind it, though Lan Wangji personally suspected that Wei Wuxian might have had something to do with it – assuming he could get news from wherever-he-was, he would never leave his shijie to suffer.

Lan Wangji’s own sect…

A frown surfaced on Lan Wangji’s face, just as it always did when he thought about it. Jin Guangshan had seen the noises the Nie sect and the Lan sect were making about him; he’d sacrificed a pawn to trip them up, and very successfully, too.

The former Jin Guangyao – Jin Guangshan had cast him out of Lanling and told both his sworn brothers about the various things he’d done. Obviously, everyone knew that he’d undoubtedly done it at Jin Guangshan’s instigation, but he’d still done them…and he was the only one clever enough to think of using the Song of Clarity, Lan Xichen’s gift, as a method to poison Nie Mingjue through his family’s hereditary weakness.

The revelation had very nearly destroyed Lan Xichen, and Nie Mingjue wasn’t much better. The former had largely withdrawn into seclusion, while the latter had temporarily removed himself from his role as sect leader in order to try to heal the damage. Nie Huaisang had temporarily assumed the position, nearly red-eyed with rage that reminded everyone that his share of the family inheritance was merely latent rather than absent – Lan Wangji worked closely with Nie Huaisang these days, managing the resistance against Jin Guangshan.

They got along well. Lan Wangji had his own rage to work through, too – for Lan Xichen, of course, but not just that.

For Wei Wuxian, too.

Jiang Cheng was the third member of their group. They weren’t as easy with each other, as Lan Wangji couldn’t quite let off his suspicion that he knew where Wei Wuxian was and just wasn’t telling.

Lan Wangji couldn’t blame him if that were the case, and yet…

Their efforts had borne some fruit, creating a division in the cultivation world between them – they weren’t powerful enough to attack Lanling, but Jin Guangshan was too lazy to do much more than rule his own territory and occasionally lash out at people who disagreed with him, even from a distance. Even with the Yin Tiger Seal, he didn’t have the heart of a conqueror, and that was the only thing keeping them all safe.

It wouldn’t last, though. He lashed out more and more, his temperament affected by the resentful energy, his psyche cracking – one day, he’d attack, and they’d lose hundreds of lives trying to stop him.

At least, they would if they couldn’t find someone to beat Jin Guangshan at his own game.

They needed Wei Wuxian.

Lan Wangji needed Wei Wuxian.

He was on his way to the Lotus Pier once more to beg Jiang Cheng to share what he knew, if he knew it; perhaps this time, he would be successful.