Chapter Twenty
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 room, 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 to her companion 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 cursed 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 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.