Wei Wuxian is wary of her mother’s ghost at first, giving her a wide berth but they reach a sort of peace in the weeks they spend in the burial mounds. In death, she has learned things that have settled her and refocused her anger, and it becomes clear as she keeps watch while Wei Wuxian reforges the sword into something that stands out less - two pieces so they can share the burden - that she doesn’t hate him anymore. She doesn’t like him, but she didn’t like many people in her life and Jiang Yanli is happy to see that at least she considers Wei Wuxian theirs.

“It’s done,” Wei Wuxian says, when they’ve been there a month and they’ve had to get more creative to find enough to eat. She’s been singing to herself as she tries to turn the skinny hare and mealy vegetables they’ve been able to forage into something hearty and filling for their one meal of the day. “You should be able to use this to control the resentful energy.”

“How?” Jiang Yanli asks as she banks the fire under the stew. Her mother’s spirit lingers on the edge of their camp, watching the pot hungrily and reminding Jiang Yanli that she’s a xīqìguǐ and will devour all of their meagre food if they let her. “They come to me so easily already,” she adds.

She doesn’t say what’s been lurking in her mind, that they come to Wei Wuxian just as easily as if they can all sense the anger, the despair, the overwhelming need for vengeance that seems to permeate the very air around them. Jiang Yanli had needed to touch the yin iron sword to bring it forward, to understand what was keeping her moving but it’s all much closer to the surface with him.

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Wei Wuxian says, twirling his dizi. He’d started carving it out of the blackened wood trees that crowd the paths of the burial mounds and has taken to carrying it around with him in place of the sword that was taken by the Wens. “You sing,” he says, looking thoughtful. “If you sing with intent, if you call them to you they will come and this,” Wei Wuxian says, holding out something that looks similar to the Jiang sect bells they wear on their belts but gives off nothing of the calming aura, “will help you control them.”

Jiang Yanli takes it with a frown. “Why does it look so similar to our bells?” she asks as she adds it to her belt. “It should be something different.”

“We’re going to leave this place soon,” he says, plopping down next to her as she ladles stew into one of the rough-hewn bowls they’ve managed to make. “Madam Yu suggested that I forge something that won’t draw attention to either of us,” he says with a frown. “My first idea was an amulet, something substantial in size.”

“Something that would get you both killed,” Yu Ziyuan says, drifting over toward them. “All of these sect leaders are greedy cowards, never forget that,” she says as she eyes their bowls greedily.

Jiang Yanli and Wei Wuxian nod at her. Wei Wuxian doesn’t see anything wrong with the kind of cultivation they’re doing, it’s all interesting and innovative to him but Jiang Yanli is very aware of the ways and whims of the sects. Anything is acceptable if it helps them but if they can’t use it, it’s evil and must be destroyed and there’s no turning them back when they band together. It’s something she can’t forget, how all of the sects allowed the Wens to take and take and take, out of fear, how even Wen Qing, brave and defiant as she is, is afraid of the wrath of her own sect and must hide the good she’s done.

“We will not forget, mother, but we must also not forget our allies,” Jiang Yanli says, looking pointedly at Wei Wuxian. “If Wen Chao learned that Wen Qing and Wen Ning helped us they would be in as much danger as we are.”

Her mother scoffs. “Wens helped you? Unbelievable.”

“They helped us get Jiang Cheng back from Wen Chao and along with your bodies,” Wei Wuxian says, looking at her mother without fear. “We wouldn’t have survived this long without them.”

“Fine,” her mother says with scorn. “We shall mark these Wens as the few who won’t feed my hunger when we leave this place.”

Wei Wuxian nods and the fragile peace between them resettles. They finish their meal in mostly silence, with Wei Wuxian making a comment about them eating like Lans and then getting sad. They eat all of the pot, leaving nothing to chance since their meals have been sparse for days.

When they finish, Jiang Yanli looks toward her mother. “How long will it take us to make our way out of this place?” she asks, looking around at the makeshift camp they’ve called home for the last month.

“Time has no meaning to me,” Yu Ziyuan says with a shrug of her barely opaque shoulders. “It could be an hour, it could be 10 days, I can’t tell. I think it will take at least a week in your time, the terrain is rough for those with bodies and you’ll need to find food and rest.”

Jiang Yanli nods and looks at Wei Wuxian. “What do you think?”

“I think we take two more weeks, we can practice and you can heal.”

“I’m fine, A-Xian, just a little sore.”

“Shijie,” Wei Wuxian says, in that familiar whine.

Jiang Yanli sighs but gives in. “One week, and then we set out.”

“Okay,” Wei Wuxian says with a smile. “I only wanted a week anyway but I knew you’d be stubborn about it.”

She hears her mother snort from the edge of the camp and Jiang Yanli smiles, all they’re missing is Jiang Cheng and her father and it would be like they’re back at home.

At the end of that week, they begin their walk, practicing calling forth the dead as they go to clear debris and scare out game and make their trip as easy as a trip down a mountain littered with the resentful dead could be. Still, it takes them a month to reach the foot of the mountain, but by that time she has a firm grasp on how to call the dead and get them to do what she wants and together she’s sure the three of them are a Wen’s nightmare come to life.

She’s excited to see Wen Chao and Wang Lingjiao again.

*
They emerge out of the burial mounds tired and filthy on a cold clear night. They have nothing of true value to trade for food and lodging and there’s no guarantee that Yiling is any safer than it was when they were thrown in. Instead, they stick to the shadows and Jiang Yanli doesn’t protest when Wei Wuxian steals food for them before they make their way out of the village.

“We need to find food and clothes before we try to find Jiang Cheng,” Wei Wuxian says around a bite of a steamed bun. It’s the best food they’ve had in months but Jiang Yanli can only nibble at it as they walk. “Maybe I can try to get work on one of the mediocre people’s farms.”

“It would take a long time to save enough to get back on the road, A-Xian,” Jiang Yanli says as they walk on. “It’s better to keep moving forward for now, especially when we have no way to know where anyone is.”

That’s not fully true even if they’re not quite ready to discuss it. They have her mother and they have the restless, angry dead dogging each of their steps. It would take little more than a song, a few words in her voice or a few notes on Wei Wuxian’s dizi to ask the dead to find Jiang Cheng, to find Wen Chao but they don’t speak it.

They’ve been walking for two nights, walking in the darkness and sleeping in trees during the day when her mother appears before them again.

“Good,” Yu Ziyuan says, startling them as she appears out of the mists of the night in front of them. “You’re on the right path already.”

“The right path to where?” Wei Wuxian asks, with an eyebrow raise.

“To Meishan, they’re sending a small party to collect you,” she says with a wave of her transparent hand.

Jiang Yanli startles at that news. She hasn’t seen her mother’s family in years, she was supposed to be sent to them to be out of harm’s way in the conflict before their whole lives fell apart. “How would they know to find us?” Jiang Yanli asks, warily. If they knew how to find them they should have come earlier: when Lotus Pier was under attack or when they were in hiding from the Wen sect, when they were near starving in the burial mounds. Any time earlier than now when they have the power to destroy their enemies and restore their families honor at their fingertips.

“I told them,” Yu Ziyuan says, carelessly. “I’m not bound to any one place or person, I hunger for vengeance and it will be mine. But you need allies and there is only one sect, one person who would not immediately banish me.”

“Grandmother,” Jiang Yanli says, voice nothing above a whisper. “Did she know? About Lotus Pier?”

Yu Ziyuan nods but it’s a strange thing. Too slow and too sharp for a human and the air around her seems to simmer with resentment. “The cultivation world has gone to war against the Wen sect. Your brother is with them wielding zidian.”

“He’s alive! Shijie, he’s alive and the core transfer worked!” Wei Wuxian says, face lighting up.

Jiang Yanli clasps her hands together in front of her face and cries. This at least is good news. Her sacrifice was not a mistake. Her baby brother is alive and leading whatever is left of their sect in war. It only takes her a moment to snap back to reality. “Does he think we’re dead?” Jiang Yanli asks, dread pooling in her stomach. She watches the smile fall off Wei Wuxian’s face and feels a moment of sadness that she had to ask this question.

“No,” Yu Ziyuan says and then smiles with sharper teeth than she ever had in life. “He has been searching for any sign or word of you for months,” she says with a laugh that sounds nothing like happiness. “My precious boy has been raining down terror on anyone who might know what happened to you; him and that Lan Wangji. They even have a Wen with them, defected from his own sect.”

Wei Wuxian looks up sharply at her, confusion writ large across his face. “Why is Lan Zhan working with Jiang Cheng? They never said two words to each other the entire time we were in the cloud recesses.”

“Aren’t you friends, A-Xian? He has to be as worried about you as you were about him when the cloud recesses were attacked,” Jiang Yanli says, reaching for Wei Wuxian’s hand.

He nods, a small smile breaking out on his face even as they ignore the shade of her mother scoffing at them.

“You need to keep moving,” Yu Ziyuan says. “The faster you move, the sooner you will find my mother’s men and then you can moon over that boy where I can’t see.”

“I’m not mooning!” Wei Wuxian says, and Jiang Yanli tunes him out as he argues with her mother.

They have people searching for them and her mother’s family will see to it that they are clean and fed and ready to hunt down Wen Chao, and if she thinks about that she can ignore the stone that has dropped into her stomach at who isn’t helping look for them. Jin Zixuan is probably happy she’s no longer around to bother him. She pushes that down and focuses on the path ahead of them, soon they will be clean and full and safe and then their enemies will know what a mistake it was to cross Yunmeng Jiang.

*
Her grandmother keeps them in Meishan for two weeks.

“A-Li,” Yu Xiu Ying says, on their last day in Meishan. “There’s no need to rush to join your brother. You could even send Wei Wuxian on ahead of you and wait out the war here, in safety.”

“We can’t hide here while Jiang Cheng is out there alone, popo,” Jiang Yanli says patting her grandmother’s hand. “I know I can’t be of much use but I have to try to do what I can to help.”

Yu Xie Ying narrows her eyes at her. “We both know you can do much more than you let on.” She pats Jiang Yanli’s cheek and frowns. “I don’t fully approve of what you’ve done but I respect what you’ve given up for your family. Don’t belittle it.”

“I would never,” Jiang Yanli says, voice firm. “My skills with a sword were limited even with my golden core, and my cultivation was low. But I can cook and I can help the healers if there is space for me.”

“And you can control the dead,” Yu Xiu Ying says with a sigh. “Your mother has already told you to be careful so I will say the same, none of the sects are to be trusted with that information.”

Jiang Yanli nods. “I know, popo,” Jiang Yanli says. She has had it drilled into her head every moment of the walk to Meishan, from her mother and now her grandmother. She has spent countless hours doing the same to Wei Wuxian. They must be careful and secretive to keep themselves and their sect safe. “Nothing I do will endanger myself or our family.”

“Good girl,” Yu Xiu Ying says, palming her cheek. “We may make it out of this whole. And I will keep my promise, I’ve sent several of my disciples to search for this Wen Qing girl for you, they will ensure she and her people are safe.”

“Thank you,” Jiang Yanli says, truly grateful. They cannot track down Wen Chao and ensure Wen Qing is not caught in the middle of the battles at the same time. They owe a debt and Yunmeng Jiang will see it paid.

Yu Xiu Ying laughs, shaking her head. “Think nothing of it,” she says. “Her brother, that Wen Ning, refuses to leave your brother’s side until he is reunited with you and Wei Wuxian and we would owe them for retrieving your mother's body and ensuring she had a proper burial, what she did for the Jiang sect is worthy of our help.”

Jiang Yanli nods again, not trusting herself to speak. They have had so few allies since their sect was destroyed and it's good to know that some people, at least, are still on their sides.

Yu Xiu Ying finally gives them permission to leave late that morning and they set out with two Meishan Yu disciples, Yu Min and Yu Hui, to aid in their search for Wen Chao. It’s a quiet trip, traveling on horseback since Wei Wuxian doesn’t have his sword but they have a purpose and it’s not unpleasant.

They’re back on the outskirts of Yiling, waiting as Yu Min and Yu Hui scout ahead when Yu Ziyuan appears again.

“They’re here,” Yu Ziyuan says, as she appears beside Jiang Yanli. “What are we waiting for?”

“Patience, a-niang,” Jiang Yanli says, reaching out for her mother's hand and pausing with her hand halfway there as she remembers that this is just a shade of her mother. “We don’t want to go in under informed.”

Wei Wuxian nods. “We have scouts, we can use them and that will help me keep shijie out of danger.”

Yu Ziyuan looks at them with her too sharp teeth, it’s a shadow of the kinds of glares they saw when she was alive but there’s no mistaking her displeasure. “I will wait but when we attack I will feast.”

“No prisoners,” Jiang Yanli says, thinking briefly of the people who helped them and what Wen Chao could have done to them. “I won’t have innocents harmed in this pursuit of revenge.”

Yu Ziyuan hisses but doesn’t argue and Jiang Yanli is relieved. She doesn’t know how much she can really control her mother’s ghost and she doesn’t want to find out in the middle of their approach.

It’s not much longer that Yu Min and Yu Hui return.

“What did you find?” Wei Wuxian asks when they’re all gathered.

Yu Min and Yu Hui exchange a glance before Yu Hui speaks. “There are at least two dozen Wen soldiers, maybe more in the supervisory office. No sign of any civilians that we could find, Wen Chao and his party are also there.”

“Is there a woman with them?” Yu Ziyuan asks, teeth near glinting.

Yu Min nods. “There was,” she says. “She’s usually housed with Wen Chao but he was called away while we were watching them.”

“Then we can take her even if it takes time to get to Wen Chao,” Wei Wuxian says, stroking his chin in thought.

Jiang Yanli is supportive of any plan that makes Wang Lingjiao pay for what she did to their family, for what she did to Jiang Yanli but the odds are against them. Wei Wuxian has no sword and Jiang Yanli has no spiritual power so they are at a great disadvantage even with the help of the dead.

“We should be cautious, A-Xian,” Jiang Yanli says with a hand on his arm. “We only have two swords with us, we cannot go in against two dozen Wen soldiers.”

“Do not be timid, A-Li,” Yu Ziyuan says, voice grating. “You have power, use it and help me feast on our enemies. They deserve to suffer for what they’ve done.”

Jiang Yanli looks to Wei Wuxian for help but he shakes his head. “She’s right, shijie, you have power. We don’t have to actually go into the supervisory office to get our revenge.” He looks to Yu Min and Yu Hui again and asks, “Is there any place we can see into the supervisory office without having to enter or be seen.”

They look at each other and nod. “Follow us,” Yu Min says. “Stay low, stay quiet,” Yu Hui adds and then starts walking.

*

It’s not far, only a few li walking into the forest before they stop at a tree.

“Here,” Yu Hui says, pointing at the tree. “From the branches halfway up we can see into the compound.”

Yu Min pulls Jiang Yanli onto her sword and flies her up among the branches and when Jiang Yanli looks back down it’s to see Wei Wuxian declining Yu Hui’s offer and jumping up to land on another branch nearby.

“The woman is in that building,” Yu Min says, pointing to the building that previously housed Wen Qing and her brother, it makes sense that Wen Chao would take it over but she still feels a little stab of sadness. There’s no guarantee that Wen Qing or any of her people have been punished for interfering with the Wen sect plans but Jiang Yanli has a bad feeling and it won’t dissipate until she knows they're safe.

The door to the building opens and they see Wen Chao exit followed by several Wen soldiers and Jiang Yanli’s heart starts racing. She knows they can’t have seen them, that they have two of her grandmother’s best cultivators and her mother and yet she still feels a spike of fear and disgust.

She doesn’t look as Yu Min jumps to another tree and Wei Wuxian joins her but she squeezes when he takes her hand in his and lets that warm pressure anchor her back to reality. They are not powerless and their family will have their revenge.

Jiang Yanli looks at Wei Wuxian and he looks back at her and asks, “What do you want to do?”

“She should suffer,” Jiang Yanli says, heart hardening. Wang Lingjiao is the reason so many of their sect are dead, she’s the reason Jiang Yanli can feel the rage of the unavenged dead surging through her. She reaches for the resentment of the women, those who were powerless to protect their families, their friends, those who watched as women like Wang Lingjiao welded borrowed power to terrorize people like them. “She’ll know what it is to be afraid.”

Wei Wuxian nods. He pulls out a sheet of talisman paper and frowns at it then bites his finger and sketches out a talisman and sends it flying to attach to the building. “If you sing, I’ll play and that talisman should attract all of the spirits we summon,” he says, lifting his dizi to his lips.

Jiang Yanli starts to sing, voice high and sweet as the resentful energy swirls around her. As Wei Wuxian joins in she remembers a poem she read years ago and starts to sing it, calling forth the sisters and mother and powerless women to go forth and seek their revenge.

She closes her eyes and focuses out, letting the sound of her own voice and Wei Wuxian’s playing drop away until all she can hear is the wind and the trees, and Wang Lingjiao screaming. Jiang Yanli smiles, and sends her thanks to the restless dead.

They watch as Wang Lingjiao runs out of the building, following the path Wen Chao took moments earlier only to come back again a few minutes later.

“I think it’s time to end this,” Jiang Yanli says, thinking again of the poem. “A-niang?” she asks the wind, with a smile that feels unfamiliar on her face as she waits for her mother to appear. Yu Ziyuan materializes in front of them but Wei Wuxian doesn’t stop playing his dizi, drawing more resentful energy to him and sending it swirling over the Yiling supervisory office.

“It’s time,” Jiang Yanli says. “But only Wang Lingjiao and the Wen soldiers, Wen Chao will suffer.”

Yu Ziyuan nods, ghosty eyes bright and disappears as Jiang Yanli starts to sing.

When the Spring worms die, the silk shall never come again,
When the candle wax becomes ash, tears shall stop.

Wang Lingjiao’s screams rise in pitch and then fall and Jiang Yanli throws her head back in joy at one of their enemies destroyed. She sings her thanks and listens as the screams start up again, deeper, as the men who served the Wen clan and destroyed her family get what they have earned.

Jiang Yanli sings through the men’s screams, feeling a surge of energy as the sounds go fainter and fainter until they’ve stopped and her mother appears in front of them nearly glowing with energy.

Her mother is nearly lost in a haze of red and it’s not until she looks to Wei Wuxian that Jiang Yanli realizes it’s her who is different, a red haze swirling around her eyes as she reaches for Wei Wuxian’s hand and lets him feed her spiritual energy until she can really see again.

“So many of our enemies are dead,” Yu Ziyuan says, with a smile that looks full of knives. “I need more.”

“Did you kill Wen Chao?” Wei Wuxian asks.

Yu Ziyuan looks at him and it’s the first time Jiang Yanli has seen her look at him without disdain. “No,” she says, voice sharp. “He escaped with his bodyguard before I had a chance to finish him.”

“We’ll need to chase them down,” Wei Wuxian says, taping his dizi on his chin. “Can you find them?” he asks, looking at Yu Ziyuan.

She gives him a hard look, like she can’t believe he would even ask her such a question. “Of course I can find them, you insolent boy,” Yu Ziyuan says, becoming more opaque. “They will never escape my hunger.”

“Thank you, a-niang,” Jiang Yanli says, trying to keep the peace. “If you track them, we will follow but I think we should stay at an inn for the night.” Her mother shimmers for a moment then nods and disappears.

Jiang Yanli looks to Yu Min and Yu Hui who have stayed nearby silently watching as they’ve unleashed hell. “Did my grandmother give us enough for an inn tonight?”

Yu Min frowns. “Of course she did Lady Jiang,” she says and then pauses. “Should we check for survivors?”

Jiang Yanli looks at Wei Wuxian and he frowns at her. “If they managed to survive that they deserve to live for however long they can. Wen Chao and Wen Zhuliu are the reason our sect has been wiped out.”

“We understand,” Yu Hui says with a nod. She offers Jiang Yanli a hand and helps her jump down from the tree.

*

Her mother appears in her room before the sun rises, lurking at the end of Jiang Yanli’s bed watching her in silence. Jiang Yanli doesn’t startle when she sees her, a night filled with nightmares of her family dying, watching Wei Wuxian fall into the burial mounds and Wen Chao’s threats dancing in front of her eyes.

She wonders if she’ll ever really sleep through the night again, if these visions will follow her the rest of her days but she doesn’t linger on it.

“Good Morning A-Niang,” she says, greeting her mother as she gets up and goes to the basin in the corner of the room to splash water on her face. “Any news?”

“They’re on the move, heading toward an inn a few towns away,” Yu Ziyuan says, watching as Jiang Yanli gets dressed. “It will be the work of a few hours to find them,” she adds. “Why are you in this room alone?”

Jiang Yanli smiles. “Yu Hui and Yu Min have been taking turns keeping watch and Wei Wuxian is in the next room. I’m safe.”

Yu Ziyuan snorts. “Safe, you haven’t even put up any talismans to keep me out of your rooms. Do not mistake me for what I was when I was alive.”

“I have never underestimated you, mother,” Jiang Yanli replies, letting a hint of the steel she does not often display into her voice. “I know what you are, I will never forget it. But I told Wei Wuxian to not put any of those talismans in this room while we were waiting for you.”

“You need to learn how to create the talismans for yourself, don’t rely on that boy.”

Jiang Yanli sighs and sits back on the bed. “You’re dead, surely you have some clarity about things now. Wei Wuxian is not our enemy, he is our family. What do you think would have happened if he had gone through with his plan to give Jiang Cheng his golden core? What would have happened to me? He could have died and I could have been a prisoner of the Wens. Don’t assume that any of the other sects would have helped me without Wei Wuxian or Jiang Cheng at my side, they haven’t tried yet.”

“The only thing I have left tying me to this life is anger, A-Li, I can’t just unfeel it,” Yu ZIyuan says, with as much of a sigh as she’s able to produce.

Jiang Yanli gives her a hard look. “You have plenty of things to be angry about that are not Wei Wuxian. Wen Chao, Wen Zhuliu, Wen Ruohan, all of them deserve your rage and we will have our revenge. But if you don’t want me to work on sending you to your rest you will stop this with Wei Wuxian.”

“This is a threat,” Yu Ziyuan says, watching Jiang Yanli with narrowed eyes.

“A promise A-Niang,” Jiang Yanli says with a sigh. “There is too much at stake, I won’t let your anger at father distract us.”

Yu Ziyuan looks at her for a long moment and then smiles, with those razor teeth. “You make me proud, A-Li. You will help Jiang Cheng bring Yunmeng Jiang back to glory and I will redirect my feelings about Wei Wuxian to Wen Ruohan, he must die.”

“He will, A-Niang. He will,” Jiang Yanli says, voice firm. “Yu Min and Yu Hui will be back for their rounds soon, you should go keep an eye on Wen Chao, we’ll catch up to you.”

Yu Ziyuan nods and then disappears and Jiang Yanli sighs, exhausted. She could feel the resentful energy trying to build as she got angry with her mother and Jiang Yanli wonders if it will get harder to control the more she uses it. Hopefully not until their enemies are destroyed.

Jiang Yanli takes the time to settle herself, disturbed at her own behavior even if it was necessary. She waits until after she’s had a quiet breakfast to gather their little group together and tell them what she knows from her mother.

“Should we be letting her into inns filled with people she doesn’t know who aren’t connected to her former sect?” Wei Wuxian asks after they settle the bill. “I know she’s not a danger to you but we don’t want any accidents.”

Jiang Yanli shakes her head. “It's fine A-Xian, I’ve spoken with her; she knows the consequences for deviating from the plan to hurt anyone but our enemies.”

“Hungry ghosts from the Meishan Yu sect have remarkable self control, Wei gong zhi,” Yu Hui says, with a nod. “If she says she will control herself she will control herself.”

Wei Wuxian frowns. “How are they able to do that? What does your sect do instead of the soul cleansing to avoid them being out of control?”

“We are taught from a young age to fear and respect those who cannot rest easily and our disciples learn early how to retain our own identity even in the confusion of death,” Yu Min answers, face placid. “We do not fear death because we know if we are wronged in life we have a chance to return and defeat our enemies.”

“Huh,” Wei Wuxian says, flicking his nose. “Are you allowed to share how you retain your identity? It might help us with the resentful spirits.”

Jiang Yanli smiles. “A-Xian, it has to be learned before you die. We can’t convince the resentful dead to remember anything more than their rage and to obey us.”

“That’s not completely true,” Yu Hui says with a frown. “We cannot make them truly remember all that they are but they can be reminded of pieces of it.”

“Pieces,” Jiang Yanli repeats, questioningly. “What do you mean by pieces?”

Yu Hui frowns and looks at Yu Min who nods at her. “Let us walk as we discuss this,” she says, starting in the direction Jiang Yanli told them her mother followed Wen Chao. “The dead, those who cannot find rest, are tethered to this life by injustice or regret,” Yu Hui says as they enter the forest path. “We all know this from having to cleanse a spirit, but vengeful spirits are only driven by rage and revenge.”

“Yes,” Wei Wuxian says, from his spot behind them. Jiang Yanli has just noticed that Yu Min has taken up a spot in front of her with Yu Hui at her side and Wei Wuxian beside, all protecting her from each front. “That’s why you can call them forward, they want to enact revenge, any revenge on anyone.”

Yu Hui nods. “Correct, they are so consumed with revenge that they remember little else. It’s why their energy is so damaging to the qi and the mind.”

“We’re trying to counteract that by not using it so much,” Wei Wuxian says as Jiang Yanli sighs. She knows how dangerous this is even if Wei Wuxian is choosing to ignore it and her expectations of survival through the war are low.

“You’ll need to do more,” Yu Min says, up ahead. “Lady Jiang especially doesn’t have a golden core as added protection, so we need more than just limited use and spiritual tools to keep her alive.”

Jiang Yanli feels her hands start to shake at the confirmation of what she’s been feeling. Her health has never been great but the loss of her core, the time starving in the burial mounds and the resentful energy always lurking in her body makes her feel like a hollowed-out shell. She nearly startles as Wei Wuxian slides his hand into hers but it helps anchor her back into reality.

“What do I need to do?” Jiang Yanli asks, squeezing Wei Wuxian’s hand and nodding at him before he retakes his spot guarding their rear.

“Rest,” Yu Hui says, with the briefest of smiles. “Eat well, avoiding sweets,” she adds and then her face grows more serious. “When calling forth the dead remind them of why you have called them back, to help the living.”

Jiang Yanli frowns in confusion. “I don’t understand. The resentful spirits we call know that we are alive and they are not.”

“Yes and no,” Yu Min says. “They know that you both want vengeance and that your call will help them get it, we have often seen that spirits do not quite understand that they are interacting with the living world, just those they think are their enemies.”

“Will this make them less effective?” Wei Wuxian asks, tapping his dizi against his chin. “If it’s too dangerous I can do it alone, there’s no need for you to risk yourself, shijie.”

Jiang Yanli gives him a sharp look. “You will not,” she says, voice firm. “You’re reckless and you don’t think of your own safety, and we made a promise to do this together.”

He looks at her and Jiang Yanli holds his gaze until he nods. “Okay, then what do we do?”

“They might be less deadly,” Yu Min says, with a pause. “If they know they’re interacting with the living world and there are still people they care about here, or they might be more deadly. You won’t know until you call them again.”

Wei Wuxian frowns. “But if they’re less deadly we’ll need a backup plan. This is war and we can’t go in without being fully armed.”

“If they’re less deadly I’ll call my mother,” Jiang Yanli says, as her mind shows her the path forward. “She knows what she is and what we are and she won’t stop until she’s had every bit of her revenge.”

*

It’s early evening two days later when they walk into the village on the edge of Yunmeng where her mother has directed them. She appears out of the fog in silence and points toward the inn. Yu Ziyuan is nearly glowing in her rage but she stays silent until Jiang Yanli speaks.

“We’ll need to be careful with them,” Jiang Yanli says as they stand and watch the inn. She looks from Wei Wuxian to Yu Min and Yu Hui. “Do not let Wen Zhuliu get close enough to touch you.”

Wei Wuxian smiles. “Don’t worry, shijie,” he says lifting his dizi to his lips. “He won’t ever get that close to anyone again.”

He starts to play, drawing in a different collection of the resentful dead. Jiang Yanli looks to Yu Min and Yu Hui. “Stay behind us,” she says with a gentle smile. “This will be far more up close and more unpleasant.”

Yu Min nods. “Do not worry Lady Jiang, we are prepared.”

Jiang Yanli nods and adds her voice to the music Wei Wuxian is playing, drawing forth a poem that reminds her of Lotus Pier before their world changed.

Before my bed, there is bright moonlight
So that it seems, like frost on the ground:
Lifting my head, I watch the bright moon,
Lowering my head, I dream that I'm home.

With every verse she pushes another feeling forward, her rage at the loss of her home, her sadness at the loss of her parents and shidis and her drive to protect what’s left of her family. She calls forth the dead who have left people behind and asks them to help her, to take her revenge as theirs and protect the parts of their families that have survived.

Jiang Yanli and Wei Wuxian take the stairs together, Jiang Yanli’s hand tucked into the crook of his arm, as she sings each line over and over again, as resentful energy swirls around them and the muffled sounds of whimpers drift down to the stairs toward them. The energy feels different, it’s not nearly choking her or overwhelming her ability to form a thought; Jiang Yanli feels calm, clear in her purpose and as strong as she ever was when she had a golden core.

Wen Zhuliu awaits them at the top of the stairs, trying to shield Wen Chao from view. Jiang Yanli smiles at him, though it’s nothing like her real, happy smile and she knows Wei Wuxian sports worse. She looks over at the cowering mess that is Wen Chao and says, “Don’t you think you’re a little old to be calling for your protector?” Jiang Yanli shakes her head at him, disgusted at what he’s become; the spirits of so many of those lost to Wen swords may have tormented him but he should at least still have some pride and show it for his sect.

Wen Zhuliu steps toward them and Wei Wuxian smiles at him, amused. Yu Min and Yu Hui are just outside of the room but even if they weren’t Jiang Yanli would feel no fear. There is power surrounding her and Wen Zhuliu is a tiny man who hasn’t learned that he’s already dead.

Wei Wuxian snorts. “Wen Zhuliu, do you really believe that you can save his cheap life from us?”

“I will try with my life,” Wen Zhuliu says, not showing fear. It would be commendable if Jiang Yanli was not seized with the memory of her brother, beaten and comatose after Wen Zhuliu crushed his golden core.

“It’s a life you will lose,” Jiang Yanli says with a sigh. “And for what?”

“I have to repay his excellency for the favor of promotion.”

Wei Wuxian laughs as Jiang Yanli looks at Wen Zhuliu in pity. “What a joke!” Wei Wuxian says, glaring at Wen Zhuliu. “Why should other people pay for your gratitude to Wen Ruohan?”

“My brother is right,” Jiang Yanli says, as Wei Wuxian raises his dizi to his lips. “We’re done paying for your gratitude.”

Wei Wuxian starts to play and Jiang Yanli lends her voice to the music casting out for one of the resentful dead to join them, to help them get revenge and protect the living. She feels the answering call from a woman who died young at the hands of the Wen sect, in the wrong part of Yunmeng at the wrong time and urges her on to take the vengeance that was denied her in life.

Jiang Yanli sings as the woman materializes in the room, wearing the red wedding robes she never got the chance to wear in her life. Jiang Yanli watches her move toward Wen Chao with a detached air, she feels outside of herself as the ghost fights Wen Zhuliu. Jiang Yanli won’t let this spirit be harmed, not after all that she suffered in life so she sings a note telling her to leave if she’s in danger and watches with amusement as Wen Zhuliu turns his attention back toward her and Wei Wuxian.

Everything happens in a rush; Wen Zhuliu turns toward them, core melting hand outstretched, the ceiling explodes in a burst of wood and billowing robes and Yu Min and Yu Hui rush into the room, swords in hand.

Jiang Yanli feels a rush of affection as she spots Zidian wrapping around Wen Zhuliu’s throat and sees Jiang Cheng wielding her. She feels nothing but amusement as Lan Wangji puts himself between Wei Wuxian and Wen Zhuliu, happy that her grandmother's information was correct.

Jiang Cheng pulls on Zidian and Wen Zhuliu is lifted into the air, feet dangling as he struggles to breathe. Jiang Yanli feels nothing watching him die, he stole her brother's golden core, he murdered so much of her family and for what? To die here, powerless as he tries to save a man not worth saving.

When he stops struggling Jiang Cheng lets him fall, wrapping Zidian back around his wrist and Jiang Yanli exhales a breath she didn’t know she was holding. She looks to Wei Wuxian and says, “A-Xian, let it dissipate.” And he does without an argument as she turns back to her baby brother.

“ChengCheng,” Jiang Yanli says with a smile, happy to see him whole and healthy and using her core with more strength than she ever had.

He looks at her and his face crumbles, all pretensions at being too strong for it all melting away as he murmurs, “jiejie,” and crosses the room in two steps to hug her, lifting her off her feet to spin her around.

Jiang Yanli laughs, for what feels like the first time in years, as her eyes well up with tears. “I’m so glad you’re safe, A-Cheng, we were so worried.”

“Shijie was worried, I knew you were fine,” Wei Wuxian says, trying for flippant and missing it by several miles.

Jiang Cheng throws him his sword and Wei Wuxian looks at it like it’s a friend he thought had left his side for good. “Thanks,” he says, running his finger along the hilt.

“Where the hell have you been for the last three months?” Jiang Cheng asks, stepping away from Jiang Yanli to wrap Wei Wuxian in a tight hug.

Jiang Yanli joins them, rubbing a hand down Jiang Cheng’s back and looks at Wei Wuxian and tilts her head. She hasn’t forgotten that they aren’t alone but she’ll share if he’s willing. He nods, a tiny tilt of his head and Jiang Yanli sighs.

“We were thrown into the burial mounds,” Jiang Yanli says, watching the flash of horror in Lan Wangji’s eyes. “They only intended to throw in A-Xian but that woman pushed me in at the last moment,” Jiang Yanli says, flashing back to falling and watching as the ground seemed to reach out to pull her down faster. “It took us months to find our way out.”

“How?” Lan Wangji asks. It’s the first thing he’s said since he and Jiang Cheng crashed through the ceiling.

Wei Wuxian sighs as Jiang Cheng lets him out of the hug. “We had help.”

*
Wei Wuxian doesn’t elaborate, engaged in some sort of staring match with Lan Wangji that leaves Jiang Yanli exhausted just to look at it.

“You are a trusted ally of our family, Lan gong zhi, but there are things that have happened that cannot leave this room,” Jiang Yanli says, eyes cutting over to the quivering mess that is Wen Chao. “Do we have your word that you will not speak of it?”

Lan Wangji nods and says, “Yes,” eyes never leaving Wei Wuxian.

“A-Xian,” Jiang Yanli says, looking at her brother. “Shut the doors.” He does with a wave of his hand and Jiang Yanli walks, stepping over Wen Zhuliu’s body, to Wen Chao. “Many things happened before we were thrown into the burial mounds; we parted from our ChengCheng, I watched my brother being tortured, I lost my golden core,” she says, ignoring the horrified gasps of the men. Yu Min and Yu Hui already know about her lost core and she’s not interested in Jiang Cheng or Lan Wangji’s horror, even if it is useful.

She turns back to them with a smile. “Don’t worry,” Jiang Yanli says, trying to project calm. “I sacrificed myself to ensure that we would survive; my brothers have their cores and so I am safe, and when Wang Lingjiao pushed me into the Burial Mounds I found a temporary replacement.”

“This type of cultivation is dangerous,” Lan Wangji says, tearing his eyes away from Wei Wuxian. “It damages the mind, body and temperament.”

Jiang Yanli smiles at him. “I’m aware, that’s why I use it infrequently and purge it when I’m done. And of course my A-Xian is taking on part of the burden, he wouldn't let me walk this path alone.”

“Don’t worry, Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian says, finally. “We have no plans to use this long term, we’ll get the revenge we’re owed for our sect and then we’re done.”

“Maybe sooner,” Jiang Yanli says with a sigh. “Wen Chao is a pathetic creature and you have your sword back, A-Xian, you don’t need to use resentful energy anymore.”

Wei Wuxian looks stricken for a moment and says, “Shijie, I’m not going to let you do this alone.”

“I’m never alone,” Jiang Yanli says with a smile. “And I won’t be riding into battle with you so don't worry. But that’s not all we should discuss before we deal with this trash.”

She looks at Jiang Cheng. “A-Cheng,” Jiang Yanli starts then stops, unsure how to begin. “Do you remember how things are done differently in Meishan?”

“Yes,” Jiang Cheng says, confusion plain across his face.

“They don’t perform soul cleansing ceremonies for their children,” Jiang Yanli says, speaking slowly. “Popo told me stories of one of our Yu ancestors who was killed in a conflict with a smaller sect. He returned as a hungry ghost when she was a little girl and joined the sect as they got revenge.”

Jiang Cheng frowns at her. “I don’t understand.”

“When we were in the burial mounds a hungry ghost came for me and led us out, much sooner than we would have ever been able to find our way alone,” Jiang Yanli says. She reaches out for Jiang Cheng’s hand and squeezes it when he grasps back. “You need to prepare yourself ChengCheng, she is very different.”

Jiang Cheng’s eyes go wide as he realizes who she’s talking about, what she’s talking about and Jiang Yanli watches as her baby brother quietly falls apart and puts himself back together. He nods and she catches a glimpse of Lan Wangji going tense out of the corner of her eye, but she trusts Wei Wuxian to handle him.

Jiang Yanli lilts her voice up as if she’s about to sing and calls, “A-Niang,” into the wind and waits. It’s only a few minutes before the air in the room changes and her mother materializes in front of her.

“A-Li,” Yu Ziyuan says, as she appears in a swirl of roiling resentment and rage. “Is it finally my time?” she asks, drifting toward Wen Chao. “It’s been agony holding myself back.”

“Mom,” Jiang Cheng chokes out, eyes wide as he watches the last bit of their mother that’s left in the world.

Yu Zixuan turns toward his voice, moving faster than any living person could and much of the rage and resentment holding together bleeds out. The room feels lighter and now that Jiang Yanli can feel the absence she realizes just how much resentful energy was clinging to all of them.

“A-Cheng,” Yu Ziyuan says as she hovers in front of him, standing and not standing in that way Jiang Yanli has come to expect from the dead. “My A-Cheng,” Yu Ziyuan says, reaching out to touch Jiang Cheng’s cheek before pulling back. She’s smiling, the first real smile Jiang Yanli’s seen on her face since before everything about their lives crumbled. “Look at you, making us all proud. Leading our sect and destroying our enemies.”

Jiang Yanli watches as Jiang Cheng tries and fails to blink away his tears. “Mom,” Jiang Cheng says, nearly choking on his words. “How?”

“Didn’t A-Li tell you, this is always a possibility for the Yu sect. I died by my own hand,” Yu Ziyuan says, and Jiang Yanli isn’t sure if the sharp intake of breath is from herself or either of her brothers. They’d assumed that Wen Zhuliu had taken her core and killed her, somehow this is worse.

“I wouldn’t let them have the satisfaction of killing the Violet Spider after they’d killed your father,” Yu Ziyuan says as the air in the room becomes heavy and the resentful energy around her grows. “A violent death, unresolved issues with our enemies, any of these things can help us come back,” she says, spinning gracefully to glare down at Wen Chao. Jiang Yanli can feel the waves of rage wafting off of her, can almost taste it as it presses down on them all.

“Now, the three remaining children of our sect, our future have brought me a step closer to peace,” Yu Ziyuan says as she hovers ever closer to Wen Chao. “Is it time, A-Li? I can smell his fear and I hunger.”

Jiang Yanli looks to her brothers and waits for a nod from Wei Wuxian, standing just outside the doorway with an iron grip on Lan Wangji’s wrist - holding him back or holding on, she doesn’t know - and then to Jiang Cheng who nods, zidian sparking on his wrist.

Jiang Yanli stands, joining Jiang Cheng and waits until Wei Wuxian joins them on her other side. “It’s time, mother,” Jiang Yanli says, looking down at what’s left of Wen Chao. “He’s lived long enough.”

Yu Ziyuan looks back at them and smiles with too many rows of too sharp teeth. They don’t look away as she pulls back Wen Chao’s hood, as he screams and begs for his life before she slices a long sharp nail across his throat and lets him bleed out on the floor for only a moment before his very essence is consumed. It’s the worst thing Jiang Yanli has ever seen, worse than the mangled corpses that littered the burial mounds but it’s what he deserves. Even as their mother's unquenchable thirst for vengeance is briefly sated, Jiang Yanli can still feel Wen Chao’s victims crying out for more. She closes her eyes and reaches out with her soul to theirs and wills them to be at peace, he’s dead, his essence destroyed and he can never harm them or their families again.

When she opens her eyes the air in the room is no longer heavy, is no longer choked with rage and she finds her mother standing in front of them, once again looking nearly like herself.

“Call on me when you need me again,” Yu Ziyuan says, looking at each of them. “When we have killed Wen Ruohan you will ensure I am at peace and rid yourselves of this,” she says and then fades away until there is nothing.