Chapter Twenty-One

After Wei Wuxian, Jin Zixuan, and Lan Wangji had been punished and Wei Ying had gotten in even more trouble, Wen Chao initiated the punishment on Wei Yue with his Mistress, Wang Lingjiao. She found ways to punish Wei Yue, ordering guards to hit her harder before Wen Chao insisted it was boring. That was when the woman brought out the Zǎnxíng, a torture device that was composed of five sticks of wood, all held together by a few strings. The person who was being punished would place their fingers inside the device, then they would be squeezed between the sticks of wood. Wei Yue could have sworn her fingers were going to break before Wen Chao stepped in, insisting that the girl had things to do and needed to be able to use her hands.

The next day, after being punished worse than she has ever been punished before, Wei Yue limped beside Lan Zhan as they walked with the rest of the disciples, making their way to Dusk-Creek Mountain. Wei Yue was sore, she couldn't move her fingers without pain shooting up her arms, and her back and legs ached as if she were still being hit.

"I should have never let you stay in my rooms, I should have never let you try to heal me." Lan Zhan sighed, his eyes were cold but Wei Yue could see the regret behind his mask.

"Lan Zhan, we both know that punishing me was never because of my healing you. It is for mere entertainment at this point." She whispered, moving closer as she so they weren't heard. "Lan Zhan, lean on me if you have too. Your limp is worse today, you've been walking too long." She looked up at him, her eyes meeting his own as he shook his head.

"No."

"Lan Zhan, please."

"No, Wei Yue."

"Lan Zh-"

"What's wrong with your leg?" Wei Yue and Lan Zhan looked away from each other, their eyes landing on Wei Wuxian as he stopped beside them. "Why are you limping as well, Meimei?" Wei Ying asked, concern evident in his face.

"Nothing." Lan Zhan answered, his voice even as he looked over Wei Ying's shoulder.

"I slept on it wrong last night." Wei Yue lied, though Wei Ying only rolled his eyes.

"You're a liar." He stated, pointing at Wei Yue before looking at Lan Zhan. "We're already familiar with each other, aren't we? How cold—you don't even bother giving me a single look. Your leg really is fine?" He prodded.

"We are not familiar." Was Lan Zhan's response before he went to walk away, though her brother continued to annoy him. Wei Yue shook her head and walked towards Jiang Cheng, the boy smiling as he saw her approaching.

"Jiejie ." He hugged her but froze when she hissed, his arms loosening immediately. "Jie? What's wrong?" He looked down at her, holding her shoulder as his brow furrowed with worry.

"I am fine, Jiang Cheng. I just want to go home." The girl whispered as she looked over, her eyes landing on her brother as he messed about with one of the female cultivators, trying to get a fragrance pouch.

As they went further into the underground cave Wei Yue stayed beside Lan Zhan, the total darkness hiding the fact that he was actually leaning on her slightly as the pain from their long journey increased through his leg. They walked further up the path, Wei Yue taking the echos around her as she tried to get a rough estimate on how far underground they were. She determined that they were about a hundred feet underground when they came upon a deep pool of water, it's water was black and stones of all sizes were protruding from the water. As everyone filed into the area, Wen Chao cured and looked around, angered that they had yet to find their prey.

"Find somebody, hang them up, and let out some blood to lure the thing out." He ordered, knowing that beasts usually craved blood more than anything.

"How about her?" Wei Yue's gaze followed Wang Lingjiao's finger, her eyes landing on MianMian, the girl who had given Wei Wuxian a fragrance pouch. Wei Yue felt her body tense, straightening beside Lan Zhan and Jin Zixuan.

"This one? How about someone else?" He asked his cling-on, his eyes shifting towards Wei Yue. "How about her?" He purred, looking down at the girl.

"Why someone else? I choose this one. Don't tell me that you'll miss her?" Wei Yingyue frowned as she watched the girl flirt with him in a sexual manner, trying to get what she wanted. It worked as Wen Chao turned and looked over the girl beside Wei Yue, taking in her appearance before agreeing.

"Nonsense. Why would you think that I'll miss her? Do whatever you want. Everything is up to JiaoJiao!" MianMian began to find someone to help her but all the other disciples moved away, avoiding her so that they would not be next. Wei Yue felt something bump into her side, knowing it was the girl, she reached over and grabbed her arm. She held the girl close and felt her shiver, both of the men in front of Wei Yue did not move as the three of them blocked the girl.

"Move aside!" The servants ordered the three, trying to get to MianMian. Wei Yingyue kept a stone face as she held the girl, her eyes cold as she refused. She felt two sets of eyes on her, knowing it was Jiang Cheng and Wei Ying, watching the girl closely as she held her ground.

"Why are you standing there? You can't understand human speech? Or do you want to save the damsel in distress?" Wen Chao demanded, his temper worsening as he saw them disobey his orders.

"Is that enough? It wasn't enough for people to be flesh shields for you, and now you want live humans to bleed for you to use as bait?!" Jin Zixuan asked, his voice indifference as his eyebrows shot up.

"Are you rebelling against me? Let me warn you, I've been tolerating you for a very long time. Right now, hang the brat up with your own hands! Or else none of the people from your sects can expect to return!" None of the three cultivators moved, though Wei Yue's heart hammered in her chest as she remembered her entire family. Her nervousness was forgotten after she remembered what the Wen's were capable of, her mind conjuring an image of the Cloud Recesses on fire as she held the girl in her side, the arms of the scared girl wrapped around her waist. As she stood there, however, one of the GusuLan disciples moved forwards, trying to rip the girl out of Wei Yue's grip. Lan Zhan struck the disciple, shooting the coward a look that gave off a million words of disapproval at his actions. "How dare you! Kill them!" Wei Yue bristled at these words, her eyes tearing away from the cowering disciple to look at the swords coming towards her, Lan Zhan, and Jin Zixuan. Wei Yue winced as she thought about the odds, the factors of injuries, exhaustion, and lack of weaponry putting the three of them at a disadvantage as they were apprehended.

"Talking back to me—who do you think you are? People like you really do deserve to be killed." Wen Chao spat.

"That's right. All those who oppress others and do evil relying on the power of their clan should be killed. Not only that, they should be beheaded for tens of thousands to revile so that those to come would beware." Wei Yue tried to listen to her brother but she jerks MainMain out of the way, kicking one of the Wen servants away before grabbing his sword, slashing at him with it as she placed MianMian behind her slightly. Two servants swung at her, the sword in her hand swung out and sliced across one's torso as a sword swung over her, slashing through the other servant's neck as Jin Zixuan spun, assisting the girl that had moved to stand back to back with him, MianMian placed between them as they kept the servants at bay. "Nobody move. If you're not careful, I might just decide to let some blood out of your Young Master Wen!" Wei Yue's eyes shifted, landing on her brother as she saw he was holding Wen Chao, a sword on the man's neck.

"Stop moving! Stop moving!" At this, everyone attacking the disciples stopped as they watched Wei Ying.

"Core-melting Hand, you're not moving either! You know how the temper of the Wen Sect's leader is. Your master is in my hand. If he loses just one drop of blood, then not one of the people here should hope to live on, including you!" The man he had called to lowered his hand, knowing Wei Ying was correct. Wei Yingyue straightened from her fighting stance, watching as the stone beneath Wei Ying's feet trembled when hands wrapped around her forearm as MianMian remained cautious. "Jiang Cheng! Yingying! Is it an earthquake?" Wei Ying called to them, both shaking their heads.

""It's not an earthquake—what's moving is the thing under your feet?" Wei Yue called, watching as Wei Ying when the stone began to rise. "Oh no." Wei Yue whispered, frowning as she watched the creature they were hunting rise out of the water. Everyone besides Wei Yue and the three men around her started moving away as the beast got up.

"What a large tortoise." Wei Ying whispered as me looked down at his sister, her eyes locked on him as she stood still in her spot beside Lan Zhan and Jiang Cheng. Wei Yue noted how the creature's eyes were in and out of focus, watching the pupils go in and out of focus as it looked around. She felt slight relief about the situation before two streams of water vapor shot out of its nose, causing her to gasp lightly when Wen Chao made noise.

"Why aren't you helping me yet? Help me now! What are you waiting for?" He yelled to Wen Zhuliu.

"That idiot!" Jiang Cheng growled, clenching his teeth as the creature let out a loud, piercing screech as Wei Ying pushed Wen Chao off the islet. After attempting to stab the beast Wei Wuxian jumped down beside his sister, nodding to her before all of the disciples began to shoot at the beast. Wei Ying kicked one of the Wen Sect's disciples away as he struggled to draw the bow, setting three arrows before pulling back and was about to let them fly when a cry came from behind the twins.

"MianMian!" Wei Yue called as Wei Ying let go of the string, letting the arrows fly towards the disciples holding the girl. Wei Ying and Wei Yue set forwards as Wang Lingjiao grabbed the iron, grabbing the girl by her hair before thrusting the hot iron towards her face. Wei Wuxian struck at Lingjiao as his sister grabbed MianMian, holding the girl to her as the smell of burnt fabric and the sound of pain surrounded her. She looked over and saw Wei Ying holding the burnt part of his chest, gasping as her hold on the girl tightened as she looked at the mark, knowing it would scar.

"Stop fighting, let's go!" Jin Zixuan shouted out. Wei Yingyue stood and MianMian wrapped her arms around her, still shaking in the grasp of the girl as they rushed away from the fight, Wei Ying close behind them as they followed the others. As soon as they arrived to where they had come into the tunnel they were met with cut vines, laying on the ground as they had been cut off by the Wen Sect. "How shameless and despicable. They cut the vines!" Jin Zixuan growled. As the others looked around Wei Yue sat MianMian down, fixing her robe and hair when the light started to wither.

"They're blocking up the entrance!" Someone called just as the light faded completely, causing the girl beside Wei Yue to cling onto her when Lan Zhan stepped beside Wei Yue. She looked at him as everyone panicked, smiling gently as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Jiang Cheng, there's a piece of cooked meat here. You want to eat it?" The tone of Wei Wuxian's voice reached his sister's ears and she frowned, looking up as Jiang Cheng frowned.

"Get lost! You really haven't learned your lesson, have you? Just what situation do you think we're in? You don't know how much I want to sew your lips together!" The younger boy snapped as Lan Wangji started at them before his eyes shifted to MianMian, who began to cry again as she gripped the older girl harder, saying 'I'm sorry' over and over.

"Hey, stop crying, all right? I'm the one who was burnt, not you. Don't tell me that you want me to cheer you up. How about you cheer me up? Jiang Cheng, stop carrying me. It's not like my leg is broken." The girl in Wei Yue's arms still cried slightly when other girls came over to her, taking her from Wei Yue. She walked behind Lan Zhan, frowning as she looked around.

"Young Master Lan, Jie. When are you going? The beast is still waiting in the pool." Jiang Cheng called, watching them.

"Return to the pool. There is a way out." Wangji replied. Everyone stopped and turned, looking at the two Cultivators who stood side by side.

"What is it?" Wei Ying asked.

"There are leaves within the pool." Wei Yue answered, seeing Lan Zhan nod once at her answer as Wei Wuxian realized what they meant.

"At the bottom of the pool, it's likely that there's a hole connected with water from the outside. That would've brought in the maple leaves in the forest creek." Jiang Cheng stated, his face focused on thinking about what was brought to his attention.

"But how will we know if the hole is large enough to let people through? What if it's really small, only a slit?" Someone asked timidly, causing Wei Yue to purse her lips.

"And the beast is watching stubbornly over the pool." Jin Zixuan stated, a frown stretched across his mouth.

"If there is hope, then let's move. No matter what, it is better than waiting for our parents here and doing nothing." Wei Yue looked over as her brother began to speak, fanning his burnt chest as he stepped forwards slightly. "So what if it's watching over the pool? We can just lure it out." He continued as he turned, winking at his sister before persuading the others to go and see if they could find a hole. Lan Zhan placed a hand on Wei Yue's back as they walked back towards the beast, giving her a once over as he noticed that she was paler than usual and her limp was coming back as the adrenaline from before had worn off slightly. As they neared the beast everyone took in the view of it's long, snake-like neck extending from the turtle shell that was shielding the rest of its body. Wei Yingyue frowned as she watched the beast take one of the bodies into its mouth, slowly retracting into its shell before Wei Ying took a torch and tosed it to the opposite corner where Jiang Cheng would enter the pool. The beast's head shot out and its head turned towards the noise, moving closer to the flame as it noticed the light and heat radiating from it. Jiang Cheng moved from the hiding spot and Wei Yue watched nervously as he dove into the water without making a sound, seeing as he has been swimming all his life due to the water near the YunmengJiang Sect settlement.

Nervous for their brother, Wei Yue stood beside Wei Ying and grabbed his hand tightly as they watched the beast, Wei Wuxian squeezed her hand as a way to show her comfort as they watched the creature. The head of the beast was slowly circling the torch, a silent debate going on in its head on whether it should approach or not. The twin's hands tightened together as the beast moved its nose closer, the flames burning its nose before it shot two streams of water at the object. As this was happening Jiang Cheng resurfaced and took in a deep breath, drawing the beast's attention to himself. Seeing this made Wei Yue suck in a breath as she stepped forwards, only to have someone behind her grab her as Wei Ying moved out, writing something on his palm in blood, slamming his palm on the ground before a wall of flame arose. This drew the beast away from Jiang Cheng and he climbed to shore as the person holding Wei Yue let go, moving to stand beside her as she looked up to see Lan Wangji's narrowed eyes looking at her.

"Don't be stupid." He hissed, looking up as Jiang Cheng shouted.

"There's a hole at the bottom, not too small!"

"How small is not too small?" Wei Yue called, looking at her Dede.

"About half a dozen can pass through at a time." He answered.

"Everyone! Follow Jiang Cheng and swim into the underwater hole." Wei Wuxian called out, drawing everyone's eyes to him. "Those who aren't injured watch out for those who are. Those who can swim watch out for those who can't. Half a dozen can pass through at a time, so nobody rush. Now go!" He ordered. The flame in front of him slowly died down and he moved into a different direction, hitting the ground with his palm again and the beast got angered by the flame. The beast moved towards Wei Ying, causing Wei Yue's heart to hammer in her chest as she watched the beast get on shore.

"What are you doing?" Jiang Cheng raged, his eyes wide as he watched Wei Ying move away from them.

"What are you doing? Get them down there!" Wei Ying yelled in response. Lan Zhan grabbed Wei Yue by the elbow as Jiang Cheng instructed everyone one to split into two groups; one for people who can swim, the other for those who couldn't. Wei Yue stood on the left with Lan Zhan beside her as she watched her brother, her lips pursed together as her eyes remained locked on him when she saw an arrow land in his arm, causing her to gasp loudly. "Back off! Don't cause me any trouble!" He yelled at the Lan disciple who had shot the arrow. Wei Yue grabbed the disciple and pushed him into the water as Wei Ying made another flame wall.

"Get over here!" Jiang Cheng ordered as he and Wei Yue guided people into the pool of water.

"I will!" There were three other disciples with Jiang Cheng, all of them unable to swim.

"Jiejie, grab one." She nodded and they dived into the water, guiding the disciples out and into the opening. As soon as the three were out of the water Wei Yue turned, though Jiang Cheng grabbed her arm. "What are you doing?" He asked, his eyes locked with hers.

"I'm going to get Wei Ying."

"Why? Young Master Lan is with him." Someone called, causing Wei Yue to freeze. Wei Ying had an arrow shot at him and Lan Wangji was suffering from a broken leg. Her heart hammered as she shrugged off Jiang Cheng's hand, ignoring his calls as she dove into the water before rushing back to the cave to see Lan Zhan in the monster's grasp. She raced to the shore and saw that Wei Wuxian had jumped onto the beast, grabbing onto the teeth to try and free Lan Zhan. Wei Yingyue jumped onto the beast beside her brother, ignoring the look of shock from both of the boys as she helped Wei Ying push at the upper jaw. Wei Ying's face was blood red, as was his sister's as they tried to free their friend. The effort seemed to pay off as the jaw of the beast slowly began to open, soon it opened enough that Lan Zhan had fallen into the pool. The twins let go and jumped down into the water after their fallen friend, who leaned heavily on Wei Ying while Wei Yingyue trailed behind them. As soon as Wei Ying got to shore he put Lan Wangji on his back and began to run, the sound of running behind him telling him his sister was behind them.

"You?" Lan Zhan blurted.

"It's me! You're pleasantly surprised? MeiMei is here too!" Wei Ying called.

"How can this be pleasant? Let me down!" Lan Wangji demanded.

"If I let you down just because you say so, doesn't that make me lose face?" Wei Yingyue felt her body tense as the roar of the beast came from behind them.

"Shut up and run faster!" Wei Yue ordered, pushing her brother's shoulder so that he would move faster. The boys ran faster and Wei Yue tried, though her injuries from Wen Chao's torture caused her body to scream, begging her to stop as she tried to out run the beast.

"Wei Yingyue, run faster!" She looked up and met eyes with Lan Zhan, his eyes wide as Wei Wuxian suddenly realized what he had said. "Run faster, it's behind you!" Wangji demanded, his heart thudding as he watched the beast right behind the girl. She pressed on and was almost to them when her foot caught on a crack, causing her to fall and a scream pierced through the air as the snake's neck flew at her. It grabbed her by her arm and shook her, letting go before she was rocketed across the room. The only thing she heard was the sound of her brother's voice, mixed with that of Lan Wangji's as they watched her fly across the cave before smashing into the wall.