Jiang Yanli doesn’t have time to poke at her feelings once the surprise has abated. They ride out at dawn, their wagon following along behind the host of cultivators traveling on horseback and on foot. It’s too risky to waste spiritual energy flying when they have no idea what they’ll face.

They’re so far behind the main force that when Yu Hui finally brings the wagon to a stop Jiang Yanli can already hear the sounds of swords clashing up ahead. There are only two other wagons traveling along with them, with healers from the Lan and Nie sects and based on their close proximity Jiang Yanli decides against calling forth the spirits of the resentful dead. Instead she closes her eyes, centers herself and calls out, “Muqin, we need you,” and waits.

It’s not a long wait, her mother appears before her in the wagon, looking so close to the way she did when she lived that Jiang Yanli is briefly thrown back to a better, happier time.

“Is it time A-Li?” Yu Ziyuan asks, lips quirked up in a hint of a smile. “I can feel a battle nearby.”

Jiang Yanli nods. “Yes, mother. You must remember what we discussed or I will not be able to summon you again.”

“I remember,” Yu Ziyuan says, with a snort. “I will gladly avenge our sect in this way, and you will stay safe here.”

“I will.”

“Good,” Yu Ziyuan says and then she disappears, off to appear at Jiang Cheng’s side as he uses zidian and be the final piece in the rumor they’ve let run rampant among the sects. It amazes Jiang Yanli how quickly the rumor spread, how they got information to every sect, every sect leader that Yu Ziyuan sometimes appeared when Jiang Cheng used zidian as if her spirit had lingered near her former spiritual weapon. And now they’re using it to their advantage setting her loose on the Wens and hopefully ensuring their success.

In the first minutes after her mother leaves they see a steady stream of injured cultivators. They speak in whispers of the horrors the Wen sect have unleashed. Jiang Yanli listens closely and worries, at her brothers facing fierce corpses that seem unstoppable, at what evil can so easily turn living men into such things.

As the battle wears on Jiang Yanli doesn’t hear the screams or the clang of swords crossing but the flow of injured cultivators slows to a trickle and soon all of the healers and nurses are left sitting and waiting for word of the outcome of the battle. It feels like hours or days but soon a line of Lan cultivators begin to walk and ride back followed by the purple of Yunmeng Jiang.

Jiang Yanli doesn’t stop holding her breath until she sees her brothers, at the rear of the line of survivors. It’s only then that she notices Yu Min trying to catch her eye and starts to listen to the chatter of the survivors.

”It’s because their whole sect was murdered after they welcomed those Wens in, that’s why that ghost was there,” one of the Lan men says, hurrying past.

“...if anyone was going to defy a soul cleansing to become a hungry ghost to avenge her sect it would be Madame Yu,” another says.

Although Jiang Yanli can’t see his face she assumes he’s a Jiang cultivator, they were all subject to her mother’s training regimen. She doesn’t smile but she feels a sense of peace settle in her gut. Her mother has done what they’ve needed and maybe made things just a little bit easier on them all.

Jiang Cheng finds her a few minutes later, standing tall and proud as he walks through his men.

“A-Cheng, are you well?” Jiang Yanli asks, taking the arm he offers her to walk among the wounded. Before they left they’d talked about how to present the sect reaction to a hungry ghost helping them and the best way to manage it, politically, was to control what type of rumors spread, so they walk out among the men who are resting and gossiping as men do when bored.

There are less of them than she expected, less than they’ve had from any of the other battles throughout this campaign and they’re all less severely injured. For that she sends a silent thanks to their mother, sure that her presence helped stem the tide of death and destruction among their men.

“I’m well, jiejie,” Jiang Cheng says, as they walk. “Wei Wuxian is well too, we both managed to avoid any injuries.”

Jiang Yanli smiles. “That’s a relief,” she says and means it. This walk, this public conversation may be focused on spreading information but she is still glad to see her brothers exit a battle unscathed. “Even as the injured came I worried.”

“I’m sorry we worried you, jiejie,” Jiang Cheng says, voice serious, then he looks around at the men and drops his voice, low but not so low that those trying to listen in won’t hear. “There is something I must tell you before you hear rumors.”

Jiang Yanli looks over at him, holding her face in what she hopes is a perfect portrait of curiosity and asks, “What rumors?”

“In the heat of the battle,” Jiang Cheng starts, voice grave. “Something strange happened with zidian.”

Jiang Yanli will applaud him later for his performance, if they hadn’t practiced this very conversation she’d think it was real. “What do you mean something strange? It didn’t cause any problems did it? Mother was always able to weld it.”

“She was,” Jiang Cheng says, slowly. “But I think she was too attached to it,” he adds before pausing and looking around them, a little too pointedly. She gives him a look and he settles back into storytelling.

“Jiejie, when I used zidian we saw mother.”

Jiang Yanli crinkles her nose, quickly darting a look to see that many of the injured men are listening while trying to appear as if they aren’t listening. “I don’t understand, how could you have seen her?”

“I think she was a hungry ghost or somehow connected to zidian,” Jiang Cheng says, looking down at where zidian is curled around his wrist. “She didn’t try to harm us, only the Wens, and when we were done she vanished.”

“That’s not possible, A-Cheng, she was from a prominent sect, she had a soul cleansing.”

Jiang Cheng shakes his head. “I know, but there must be some reason. It was mother,” Jiang Cheng says. “I would recognize her anywhere, she was not just a demon using our mothers face.”

Jiang Yanli gasps, hand pressed against her chest and then wonders if maybe that is too much but the men around them seem riveted so she continues on, nodding bravely and lifting her head to meet her brother’s eyes. Jiang Cheng looks on the verge of laughing so she reaches out to grasp his arm, which to anyone around them would look like she’s reaching for support when in reality she pinches him and gives him a look to control himself.

“Do we know how this is possible?” Jiang Yanli asks, grip firmly on her brother's arm. “Does this mean we’ll need to suppress her spirit?” she asks, rapid fire. It’s hard to keep up this farce of panic but she pushes on, secure in the knowledge that there’s not much left to do.

Jiang Cheng nods. “We will need to suppress her and ensure that she is sent on in peace,” he says with a sad sigh. “I’ve sent a fire message to our Yu grandmother to see if she knows anything but while we wait for a reply we’ll have to be more careful.”

“Does she,” Jiang Yanli starts and then stops, they’ve got a good enough audience now that they can push this home and turn the tide. “Did she harm any of our cultivators? Is she dangerous?”

“She’s a spirit, jiejie; they’re always dangerous,” Jiang Cheng says then he sighs, sounding incredibly put upon and just a little too fake so Jiang Yanli widens her eyes at him and tries to convey that he should tone it down. “But she didn’t harm any of our people, and I think we could wait to suppress her.”

Jiang Yanli frowns, eyes darting quickly to the men trying to listen in around them. They’re nodding as Jiang Cheng speaks and she tamps down a smile; they’ve got them. “She was absolutely focused on our enemies and I don’t know if we would have won the day with so few casualties if she didn’t appear.”

“You want to continue using her in battles?”

Jiang Cheng nods. “Only when things are dire,” Jiang Cheng says and then he gets a far away look in his eyes. “Some of the things Wen Ruohan is doing to his men, they aren’t even puppets, they’re something worse. We need something worse if we’re to survive and win.”

*
The trip back to the Unclean Realm is a lively affair, with the men laughing and joking as they march. Wei Wuxian takes up a spot next to Jiang Yanli’s cart talking to her about everything and nothing as they make their way back. His eyes keep scanning the land around them like he’s poised for an attack and Jiang Yanli wants to ask but she holds her tongue, content to wait until they’re back in safety to know what their brother has kept from her.

When they arrive to the Unclean Realm everything is a flurry of activity and Jiang Yanli can see immediately that the other sects did not fare nearly as well as the Yunmeng Jiang in their battles. Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian are immediately drawn off into a conference and Jiang Yanli is left alone with Yu Min and Yu Hui.

“We should make ourselves useful,” Jiang Yanli says, turning to Yu Min and Yu Hui. “All of the other sects have suffered casualties much more severe than ours, let us try to ease some of this suffering.”

They both nod and then they all get to work. It’s gruesome, bloody work tending to the injured and there are many that they are forced to just try to make comfortable before they pass on. Jiang Yanli is sad to think that those, the ones who are dying and will see an end to their suffering, are the lucky ones, the others are barely aware of their own suffering.

Jiang Yanli avoids touching the cultivators who have been infected, even without her own weak golden core she can feel the damage to their qi, the resentful energy bleeding off of them in waves. It takes all of her energy to not get caught in the tide of it and let the resentful energy infect her more than it already has. She tends to the injured and eases the way for the dying and then when she sees her brothers emerge from the chamber they’ve been in for the last few hours she nods to Yu Min and Yu Hui and they return to their guest quarters.

She prepares the tea and waits for her brothers to return to her. It’s not long before their door is opening and Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian are filing in and immediately Jiang Yanli knows something is wrong.

“What is it?” Jiang Yanli asks, rising from her seat.

Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian look at each other before they look back at her and Jiang Yanli can smell the lie before it crosses their lips.

“Do not attempt to lie to me,” she says, sinking back down and resting her hands on her knee. “I will ask the spirits that inhabit this place and you will regret keeping things from me.”

They both grimace and Wei Wuxian drops down into his spot across from her first. “Shijie, it’s not that we want to keep things from you,” he starts. “It’s just that things have taken an unexpected turn and we don’t want you to worry.”

Jiang Yanli pins him with a glare. “Do not condescend to me. Tell me, I can’t help if I don’t know.”

Wei Wuxian bows his head cowed, as Jiang Cheng drops into his spot beside him.

“Sect leader Nie has been taken prisoner by the Wens,” Jiang Cheng says with a sigh. “The information we got was incomplete, his fighting force was decimated and he was captured. We think he’s been taken to Nightless City.”

Jiang Yanli looks between her brothers, horrified. If Nie zongzhu has been taken there’s no guarantee that he’s still alive and she wonders if this was the goal of the Wens all along, to wipe out a generation of experienced sect leaders to further their own goals.

“Do we know anything else?” Jiang Yanli asks, mind already jumping to what they’ll need to do to win this once and for all and hopefully reach Nie zongzhu before Wen Ruohan kills him.

Wei Wuxian shakes his head. “No, we head out for the assault on Nightless City tomorrow. To hopefully end this once and for all.”

“And we’re still trusting the word of this spy?” Jiang Yanli asks, fingers reaching down to grasp the piece of yin iron hanging alongside her Yunmeng Jiang bell. “Even after such a failure?”

Jiang Cheng huffs, crossing his arms over his chest. “Lan Xichen has complete trust in him,” Jiang Cheng says with a frown. “And you know how hard it is to go against a Lan’s trust, especially when we can’t reveal how we know who the spy is.”

“This is ridiculous and a waste of time if we’re to ride out tomorrow,” Jiang Yanli says, ignoring both of her brothers faces of surprise at the idea that she would travel with them again. She holds her yin iron and says, “Nie Jianjun, your presence is required,” in a singsong voice and waits for him to appear.

It’s not long before Nie Jianjun appears breathing heavily and looking angry.

“Why have you called me here?” he asks, voice labored.

Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng both are on their feet before he has taken a step near Jiang Yanli, with Wei Wuxian’s chenqing already at his lips.

“It’s alright, he won’t harm me,” Jiang Yanli says, standing and stepping around the table. “Tell us how Nie zongzhu fairs.”

Nie Jianjun gives her a sharp look but relents, settling position to deliver his report. “He is in a dungeon in Nightless City along with four other Nie cultivators. They have been severely beaten.”

“But not killed?” Jiang Yanli prompts and at Nie Jianjun’s slow nod she smiles. “Then we may have time to attempt to save their lives.”

Nie Jianjun wheezes. “Wen Ruohan can control the dead as well as you, better with the kinds of puppets he employs.”

“We can definitely control them more, we choose not to,” Wei Wuxian says, twirling chenqing between his fingers.

Jiang Yanli shakes her head. “I have no interest in who can control what better, the dead are not our servants, they need to be avenged and put to rest.”

“I cannot rest,” Nie Jianjun rasps. “I cannot act.”

Jiang Yanli looks at him; looks closely and sees the tremble in his hands, the tension around his eyes, all of it more than the remnants from the moment of his death. “What do you need?”

“You said I could not show myself,” he says, voice trembling. “I cannot protect my sect leader.”

Jiang Yanli narrows her eyes confused for a moment before she realizes what has happened. Nie Jianjun was shadowing Nie Mingjue and could not show himself to prevent his capture. All of it, the tension, the anger, the resentment clearly building and rolling off of Nie Jianjun makes more sense now.

“I see,” Jiang Yanli says, nodding. “If the lives of Nie zongzhu or any of the Nie prisoners in the Nightless City are directly in danger you can show yourself and interfere.”

“Wait,” Wei Wuxian says, tapping his dizi against his chin. “We need more than that.”

Jiang Cheng pushes him on the shoulder. “No we don’t, a Nie ghost interfering is more than enough.”

“He just said Wen Ruohan can control the dead, we need a fail safe in case he’s able to subjugate Nie Jianjun’s will.”

Jiang Yanli’s eyes go wide in understanding. “He’s right, ChengCheng, we need to protect Nie Jianjun and the prisoners.”

“Nie Jianjun,” Jiang Yanli sings. “Protect your sect leader and your shidis, show yourself if you must but if you feel your will slipping you must return to me or my brother.”

Nie Jianjun looks at her and nods. “Can I kill?”

“If it saves the life of one of the Nie cultivators?” Jiang Yanli asks and shrugs. “Do what you must.”

Nie Jianjun nods again and smiles, blackened blood dripping from his teeth. “Thank you, Lady Jiang, this is what I needed,” and then he disappears.

*
They march out at dawn the next day, all of their fighting force pointed at the Nightless City to try to end the Sunshot campaign once and for all. Jiang Yanli is surprised to not see any Lanling Jin cultivators in their numbers for as much as Jin Guangshan has tried to direct every moment of the conflict, but the remaining Nie cultivators march with the Jiang and Lan sects with a host of healers at their backs.

There was no argument about the inclusion of healers on this second march, they are all well aware of the stakes and the risks of injury or death. It’s a quiet march, everyone on edge as the sun rises and they get deeper into Qishan Wen territory. It’s strange how unafraid Jiang Yanli finds herself, even as it becomes clearer and clearer just how many people have died horribly in Qishan, how many are resentful spirits demanding satisfaction. She sings to herself in the carriage, soothing spirits as they go, sure that there will be plenty more to draw on once they reach the city.

Jiang Yanli is lost in the rhythm of the carriage as it slowly moves along and in the song she’s singing to soothe some of the restless dead of Qishan on their way to rest so she doesn’t notice when the carriage stops. She doesn’t hear the screams or the clash of swords or anything out of the ordinary until the carriage door is wrenched open and Yu Hui grabs her arm.

“Lady Jiang, you must hurry,” Yu Hui says, as Jiang Yanli slowly opens her eyes and looks past her to pure carnage. Of the carriages and carts Jiang Yanli can see, they are mostly overturned and bodies crowd the ground. The group of healers have mostly scattered and those left are fighting off a group of Wen soldiers, Yu Min holding off several as Yu Hui helps Jiang Yanli out of the carriage.

They move quickly but Jiang Yanli thinks fast, adopting Wei Wuxian’s habit of whistling and calling forth the Qishan dead who haven’t been put to rest to attack the Wen soldiers. It’s not much, not enough power to win the battle but it gives all of the remaining Lan and Nie healers time to run and take flight to safety so it’s something.

Yu Hui and Yu Min don’t risk flying, with Wen soldiers behind them fighting the restless dead and ahead of them trying to box in their coalition of cultivators, so they stay low and hustle Jiang Yanli along until they’re just behind the main battle. From the looks of it, it seems that they’ve won and the Wen cultivators behind them are nothing but the last dregs of Wen Ruohan’s host but Jiang Yanli can feel resentment building and knows in her gut that the Qishan Wen will not fall so easily.

It’s nearly silent, the Wen soldiers dead and littering the ground while the Nie, Lan and Jiang cultivators stand, backs to each other as they wait for whatever comes next.

They don’t have to wait long as the silence is broken by the sound of something whistling through the air and then the sound of gates, rising. Jiang Yanli can’t see the source of the whistling but she can see the gates and what she sees beyond them fill her with despair and disgust in equal measure, as wave after wave of the dead pour out. They’re of all ages, young, old, and some so deformed by Wen Ruohan’s cultivation that Jiang Yanli isn’t sure if they would still be considered human.

“Lady Jiang, we need to move,” Yu Min says as they watch the puppets pour out of the gates. “If we stay here we’ll be overrun.”

Jiang Yanli shakes her head. “I have to do something, our men are outnumbered.”

“Then please do it fast, we don’t have much time,” Yu Hui says, unsheathing her sword as she and Yu Min move to flank Jiang Yanli.

Jiang Yanli nods to their backs and then calls out, “A-niang?”

“I’m here,” Yu Ziyuan says, appearing in front of them. “The air tastes like death. What do you need, A-Li?”

“Will you join my brothers?” Jiang Yanli asks, already running through the poems she knows in her mind and trying to find one that will appeal to the dead of Qishan.

Yu Ziyuan nods. “I will join them. Wen Ruohan is close, if I see a chance to kill him I will take it.”

“I expect nothing less, mother,” Jiang Yanli says, as she finally settles on something to call forth reinforcements. “Go, hurry, they need you.”

Yu Ziyuan fades away and for a moment Jiang Yanli feels relieved but then the first puppet reaches them and Yu Min and Yu Hui start to battle.

Jiang Yanli watches as Yu Hui cuts down a puppet that was little more than a child and starts to sing.

Rats in government granaries are fat like cats, I say;
Even if one opens the door, they just won’t go away.
Soldiers’ supplies depleted, folks famished, why! O by
Whose grace you feed and fete each every single day?

She imbues the words with what she feels and more importantly what they need; reminding the dead that they all died at the hands of a tyrant, that they have the chance to protect the people fighting to take him down, that they can know peace if they just focus their resentment, their rage on the mindless, soulless bodies of their fellow victims.

Jiang Yanli doesn’t notice moving with the fight as she sings, raising her voice to call forth as many of the restless dead as she can, begging them to help protect the living and destroy the rule of Wen Ruohan. When she opens her eyes she sees that they are on the edge of the battlefield and Wei Wuxian has joined her song with his dizi. They’re stronger together, their family always has been; with Jiang Cheng fighting alongside the spirit of their mother as Wei Wuxian and Jiang Yanli joined together in song, Wen Ruohan’s time among the living is limited.

She doesn’t care that the Lan and Nie sect cultivators can see her, can hear her sweet voice singing so many horrors down upon their enemies. It’s good that they see and know that the Yunmeng Jiang sect will not be held back, even by the destruction wrought by the Wens.

It seems like the tide is finally turning in their favor, when the doors to the Palace of Sun and Flames slam open and Wen Ruohan steps out, hair down and blowing wildly in the wind. Jiang Yanli doesn’t stop singing even as Wen Ruohan’s gaze sweeps the battlefield before landing on Wei Wuxian.

“It’s you,” Wen Ruohan says, glaring at Wei Wuxian.

Wei Wuxian lowers his dizi and says, “Wen zongzhu, glad to meet you,” while Jiang Yanli continues singing, not losing sight of the puppets still surrounding their fighting force.

Wen Ruohan looks away from him scanning the battlefield again until he locks eyes with Jiang Yanli and nearly growls. “I see you do not wield this power alone. Where did you get your yin iron?”

Wei Wuxian laughs. “We died so we brought it from hell,” he says, as Jiang Yanli changes songs as more of the puppets fall under the onslaught from the spirits of the resentful dead. She starts singing them all on to peace so that they may reincarnate and weaves a plea for her mother to stay sharp.

She sees Wen Ruohan’s face twist with rage and then he reaches out a hand toward Wei Wuxian and he’s flying toward him and Jiang Yanli watches in horror as Wen Ruohan’s fingers wrap around Wei Wuxian’s neck. She doesn’t have time to call for help as Wen Ruohan looks back at her and reaches out and Jiang Yanli feels herself dragged off her feet and pulled across the battlefield, heedless of the battle currently unfolding.

Jiang Yanli does something she hasn’t done in years, she screams for her mother. “A-Niang!!” she screams as she throws up her hands to futilely block any sword blows that might get too near and she hears Yu Ziyuan roar, an inhuman sound in a voice so familiar. She looks up in time to see Yu Ziyuan disappear and reappear standing behind Wen Ruohan, between him and Meng Yao who has emerged through the open doors with a sword in hand. Jiang Yanli watches as her mother’s hand shoots out toward Wen Ruohan’s back and she can’t immediately see what happens, Wei Wuxian is blocking the view but she knows when she falls that it is done.

She looks up in time to see Lan Wangji catch Wei Wuxian as he falls and her mother holding the still sluggishly beating heart of Wen Ruohan in her hand as Wen Ruohan falls face forward, dead. Yu Ziyuan raises the heart to her mouth as her face transforms, mouth opening wider and wider as blood drips down her hand before she swallows the heart whole.

Jiang Yanli is still watching her, horror plain on her face at such a clear reminder that their mother is dead, that this thing that she is now is an abomination, no matter how much she’s made this fight easier. Jiang Yanli is still watching her as Jiang Cheng reaches her, helping her to her feet before he hugs her tight when she sees her mother disappear.

Yu Ziyuan reappears directly in front of them and smiles, her lips red with the blood of their enemy. “You three have avenged our sect and Wen Ruohan is dead. Now I can go seek peace,” Yu Ziyuan says, as Lan Wangji helps Wei Wuxian make his way to them.

She looks at each of them, from Jiang Cheng to Wei Wuxian to Jiang Yanli and says, “Make the sect proud, stand together as a family,” and then she looks at Jiang Yanli, “Send me on, A-Li, it’s time.”

Jiang Yanli nods, tears falling freely and starts to sing.

*
The LanLing Jin sect arrive in the Nightless City the next day, and the assorted sects gather for yet another conference to discuss what is to be done next. They’ve found the Wen dungeons full of not just other sect cultivators but mediocre people, guest disciples of the Wen sect and various other cultivators and non cultivators alike in addition to the people employed in the Palace of Sun and Flames.

Something must be done with all of them and Jiang Yanli demands to be present at the conference, a feeling taking root in her belly telling her she cannot leave this to the men alone. They’ll already be without Nie Mingjue, recovering as he is from his injuries, less severe due to the intervention of Nie Jianjin but still enough to prevent him from attending the conference.

They’re the first to arrive; something Jiang Yanli insisted was necessary to Jiang Cheng over and over again in the hours after it was decided that a conference was needed. And her nagging is proven correct when the Jin delegation arrives hot on their heels. They make their bows and Jiang Yanli tucks her hand in her brother's arm and gently directs him to the dias and seat at the head of the room when there’s a cough from behind them.

“Was there something you needed, Jin zongzhu?” Jiang Cheng asks, as he takes his seat, Jiang Yanli sits at his side and for a moment she wishes Wei Wuxian was with them but they’d agreed the Jiang sect needed someone outside to ensure no sect started taking action prior to the decision of the sect leaders. Yu Min takes her place standing behind Jiang Yanli, always on guard even here amongst those who would call themselves their allies, while Yu Hui remains outside with Wei Wuxian.

Jin Guangshan smiles, the oily smile that Jiang Yanli may have once thought held some kindness but that she now knows holds nothing but cunning and cowardice. “I’m just surprised to see a Young Master take such a seat,” Jin Guangshan says with a brief laugh. “How bold!”

Jiang Yanli smiles at him adjusting her skirts. “In what way, Jin zongzhu? My sect leader was one of the leaders of the sunshot campaign and our family struck the killing blow against Wen Ruohan,” Jiang Yanli says, voice placid. As she speaks the Lan delegation enters along with those who will be representing the Nies.

“Do not be too harsh with them, jiejie, they were late arrivals so I’m sure they have to take more time catching up,” Jiang Cheng says, directing a sharp look at Jin Guangshan.

Jin Guangshan snorts. “Yes, well, we all are aware of that thing that killed Wen Ruohan but can you really claim a hungry ghost as of your sect?”

Jiang Cheng pins him with a look. “Maybe if your sect suffered the losses we Yunmeng Jiang suffered at the hands of Wen Ruohan and his spawn you’d have found yourself with a similar situation.”

“But our dear friends were very lucky indeed,” Jiang Yanli says, pouring her brother tea. “They suffered no losses at all when the rest of us have suffered so dearly. I hope to one day toast your good fortune,” Jiang Yanli says, suppressing a smile at the grumbling of the other sects present. They’ve all sustained losses while the Jin sect abdicated responsibility and subtly pointing it out does the Jin sect no favors.

Jin Guangshan says nothing, glaring and it's then that Jiang Yanli notices he’s accompanied by more than just Jin Zixuan, Meng Yao is also at his side dressed in Lanling Jin colors with a vermillion mark clear on his forehead. Jiang Yanli looks at him and wonders if being a spy and murdering a Nie was worth sitting at the left hand of such a man as Jin Guangshan.

Jiang Cheng calls the conference to order and the discussion begins.

The sect leaders argue over what is to be done with the prisoners, both those they found already populating the dungeons and those captured after Wen Ruohan fell and it is fascinating how little they all say. They hem and haw, as Jiang Cheng sits silently watching over them and Jiang Yanli wonders how long it will take for someone to suggest an action.

In the end it’s Jin Guangshan who makes a suggestion, horrifying though it may be, after Lan Xichen has suggested they think carefully about it all.

“It seems obvious to me,” Jin Guangshan says with an oily smile. “If no other sect is willing to take responsibility for dealing with these Wens then the Lanling Jin sect will humbly take on this burden.”

Jiang Yanli cuts a look at Jiang Cheng. “And what exactly do you suggest you do with them, Jin zongzhu?” Jiang Cheng asks, voice flat. “I haven’t heard any sect indicate they aren’t willing, but none of them have suggested a course of action.”

“Well obviously we’ll execute the cultivators,” Jin Guanshan says, to some nods from some of the smaller sects. “Possibly we can establish some work camps for the mediocre people.”

Jiang Cheng leans back in his chair and strokes his chin. “So you propose we summarily execute all of the cultivators then?” Jiang Cheng asks and at Jin Guangshan’s nod he raises an eyebrow. “Even those we found in the dungeons who had clearly crossed Wen Ruohan?”

Jin Guangshan scoffs. “Surely you don’t think those who would turn against their own sect leader deserve to live?”

“So you think that all the Wens should have stood next to Wen Ruohan as he was killing our people?” Lan Xichen asks, sounding horrified. “Respectfully, Jin zongzhu, I think you are not thinking clearly on this issue.”

Jiang Cheng nods. “I agree, Lan zongzhu. The Yunmeng Jiang sect will not stand idly by as those who turned against Wen Ruohan are punished. They did what was morally right in the face of unspeakable pressure.”

“And Wen Ruohan was clearly killing his own people!” Sect Leader Ouoyang chimes in. “There were many, many puppets in Wen robes on that battlefield.”

“Yes, there were. Many of them children,” Lan Xichen adds into the din.

Jiang Cheng quiets the room and says, “Gentleman,” ignoring the sharp look Jiang Yanli throws at him. “I think we must give Jin zongzhu some space, he would not have known of these things as the Jin sect was not with us on the battlefield.”

Jin Guangshan glares but says nothing, as the other sect leaders turn their attention back to him and his sect that has suffered no losses in this long, bloody conflict.

After that the decisions come easily, any Wen cultivator who stood with Wen Ruohan will be executed, those who stood against him will be spared and left to join whatever sects may have them or to become rogue cultivators. Those who did nothing, neither joined the fight nor stood against would have their swords taken. The issue of the mediocre people took longer to decide until finally a compromise was reached, those who actively fought for the Wen sect would be sentenced to three years labor to be split among the sects that suffered at Wen Ruohan’s hands while the rest would be allowed to go on and settle where they may, never to return to the Nightless City.

Jiang Yanli thinks it’s a fair compromise, with a minimal loss of life and she’s happy to see that Wen Qing and Wen Ning will remain safe, whether they choose to stay in Meishan or elsewhere but she can see how angry this has made Jin Guangshan and she thinks, to herself, that something will need to be done there.

“What about the weapon?” Jin Guangshan asks, into the quiet that has just settled over the room. “Surely we should discuss the weapon Wei Wuxian wielded in battle, one man cannot be allowed something with such power.”

Jiang Yanli looks up and sees what he is trying to do and laughs. She doesn’t intend for it to be out loud, but she cannot help the sound that springs forth.

“Jiejie!” Jiang Cheng says, looking over at her.

Jiang Yanli takes a moment to compose herself and then stands and bows to her brother. “I apologize for that outburst, Jiang zongzhu, I just could not help but find it silly to see someone refer to a dizi in such a manner.”

“You did not see what he has done with that dizi, as you are a woman and have not been on a battlefield, but it is too much power. Something must be done,” Jin Guangshan says, emboldened by the nods of sect leaders Yao and Ouyang.

Jiang Yanli lets the smile drop off her face. “I was on this battlefield, Jin zongzhu, I followed behind to tend the injured. And I spent three months in the burial mounds with only the songs my brother and I would sing to soothe the dead to keep us alive,” Jiang Yanli says, voice firm. “Believe me I am well aware of what he can do, just as I am aware of what I can do, even with my low cultivation.”

Jin Guangshan laughs, while Meng Yao looks at her, eyes sharp. “Surely you don't expect me to believe a lady can do such horrors,” Jin Guangshan says, slapping his knee. None of the cultivators who were on the battlefield join him in his laughter and he slowly stops, horror dawning across his face.

Jiang Yanli smiles. “I’m a lady and of course know very little of the true horrors of war, but I think you’ll find that anyone forced to survive in the burial mounds with no hope of rescue will adapt. I sing and the spirits of the dead are calmed and the calm resentful dead do not try to rip your throat out while you sleep.”

“So there is no weapon, Lady Jiang?” Jin Zixuan asks, finally speaking up from his father’s other side.

“The weapon is music and your intention, if that is a weapon too dangerous to be allowed to in the Yunmeng Jiang sect, I look forward to the Jin sect also demanding the Gusu Lan sect stop cultivating with music.”

Meng Yao smiles into the tense silence that envelops them all at that proclamation. “Maybe you and Wei Wuxian could teach others this new form of musical cultivation?” he says, into the silence. “It seems like it would be a great asset during night hunts.”

“I’m sure Wei Wuxian can be convinced to share his skill with the Cloud Recesses, the only time I can truly summon the power to fend anything off is when I feel I am in imminent danger and I’d prefer to never feel that way again.”

Jiang Cheng snorts. “I’d also prefer it and will make sure it is so,” Jiang Cheng says. “I think we’ve had enough discussion for today, we’ve agreed on decisions,” he adds as he closes the conference and stands to escort Jiang Yanli out of the room.

*
The sects begin to leave the Nightless City the next day, after an evening banquet filled with toasts to one another's bravery and an endless parade of snide remarks toward the Lanling Jin sect passed from one sect to another, from disciple to disciple.

Jiang Yanli is not happy to see the Jin sect’s fall from grace, but it feels like a little bit of justice for them abandoning their allies to face the Wens alone. But it was fascinating to watch the newly named Jin Guangyao navigate his family's newly lowered social status and to watch and wonder at what has transpired between him and Nie zongzhu.

Still, Jiang Yanli is glad to be free of conferences and banquets for a while, she will be happy to be back in Lotus Pier, purging their home of the resentful dead and then trying to rid herself of resentful energy.

Soon enough the Nightless City is free of all of the sects except the Gusu Lan and Yunmeng Jiang and it is time to cleanse this place once and for all. She has not said much to Jiang Cheng, but the sheer volume of the dead, of those who have suffered within the city walls is overwhelming and every day they spend within Jiang Yanli feels more of herself slip away.

Wei Wuxian finds her, alone in her quarters meditating and trying to keep the resentment that permeates nearly every corner of the Nightless City at bay.

“You don’t usually meditate much,” Wei Wuxian says, joining her on the floor. “How bad is it?”

Jiang Yanli exhales through her mouth. “Too many people have died here,” Jiang Yanli says, keeping her focus on her breathing. “Can’t you feel it?”

“Only when I reach out for it,” Wei Wuxian says with a shrug. “And for once I’ve listened and so I’ve only reached for it when it’s absolutely necessary.”

Jiang Yanli nods. “Good, that’s good,” she says, a small smile settling on her face as she pushes the resentful energy away. “The less you use it, the better.”

“Besides,” Jiang Yanli says, smiling at him. “We won’t be able to arrange a marriage for you if you’re swirling with resentful energy.”

Wei Wuxian sputters a bit before he says, “There’s no need to be thinking about that for me right now!”

“Well, we can’t look for me, can we?” Jiang Yanli says with a frown. “Our sect has been weakened, and as it stands we don’t have an heir. Jiang Cheng will need to marry and you will need to marry.”

Wei Wuxian leans forward with his head in his hands and groans. “Jiang Cheng I get, he’s the sect leader, but why me?”

“We need alliances, A-Xian,” Jiang Yanli says, sighing. “Even if I was still betrothed to Jin Zixuan, his father can’t be trusted. And I doubt anyone else will start beating down the doors for my hand in marriage.”

Wei Wuxian snorts. “That’s because they’re all fools,” he says, as the door opens and Jiang Cheng steps in joining them.

“Who’s a fool?” Jiang Cheng asks, as he plops down next to Wei Wuxian. “Is it you? I’m glad you’ve finally admitted it to yourself.”

Wei Wuxian pushes him and Jiang Cheng pushes back and Jiang Yanli smiles at them before she says, “Boys,” putting an end to their shoving match before things get out of hand. “He was talking about the parade of cultivators currently not vying for my hand in marriage,” Jiang Yanli says with a sigh.

“Oh,” Jiang Cheng says, frowning. “Well then he’s right. They’re all fools.”

Jiang Yanli smiles at him. “Thank you, ChengCheng but that doesn’t change things for now. We need to start thinking about marriages and alliances, for both of you.”

“We don’t need to think about that right now jiejie,” Jiang Cheng says wrinkling his nose. “Lotus Pier needs to be rebuilt first.”

Jiang Yanli rolls her eyes. She knows it’s not the thing for a lady to do but sometimes her brothers are absolute children. “We can do many things at once. Rebuild Lotus Pier and find you a wife, or husband! I’m not so naive that I don’t recall some sects have men who can give you an heir.”

“Can we please talk about something else?” Jiang Cheng pleads. “Anything else but this.”

Wei Wuxian laughs, dodging Jiang Cheng’s fist. “I do have an idea, shijie. For making it safer here, in case any mediocre people wander in.”

“Okay,” Jiang Yanli says, frowning at the shift in the conversation. She doesn’t want Jiang Cheng to know how badly the resentful energy in the Nightless City is affecting her but there’s no way to signal that to Wei Wuxian with Jiang Cheng in the room. “Is it safe?”

“It should be,” Wei Wuxian says, nodding. “We’d be cleansing the resentful spirits immediately instead of asking them to help us first. It should make this place a little less dangerous.”

Jiang Yanli thinks about it for a moment, wondering if she has the ability to summon the amount of power necessary to cleanse that many spirits. “Are the Gusu Lan sect still here? I think we’ll need more help.”

“Do you think they’ll really want to help with this?” Jiang Cheng asks, frowning. “They haven’t been openly judgemental about things,” he says making a face. “But you know how they are.”

“It does us no harm to ask,” Jiang Yanli says and leaves it at that.

Several hours later they’re all standing in the plaza at the base of the stairs to the Palace of Sun and Flames, Jiang Yanli and her two Yu shadows and Wei Wuxian with Lan Wangji at his side as Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen stand with lines of Yunmeng Jiang and Gusu Lan cultivators behind them. Jiang Yanli doesn’t know what exactly Wei Wuxian said to get Lan Wangji to help them but she is glad that they wouldn’t be facing the onslaught of resentful spirits alone.

Even without attempting to summon them Jiang Yanli can feel them clamoring for attention, for vengeance. “Do you both know what to do?” Jiang Yanli asks, as she recalls a poem that has always made her think of the bittersweet feeling of wanting to rush home without knowing what awaits you, a feeling she is sure so many of those who met their end in the Nightless City wondered.

“Yes,” Lan Wangji says with a nod. “Wei Ying and I will play rest as you sing to draw the spirits out and help them on their way.”

Jiang Yanli smiles at him. “Yes, it’s exactly that,” she says, looking up at the Palace and its history of such unending suffering. She turns to look behind them and startles as she spots Jin Zixuan talking to Jiang Cheng. Jiang Yanli doesn’t know why he’s here, why he hasn’t left with the rest of his sect, but she can’t deal with that yet. If he wants to see her do this so be it. Jiang Yanli is sure that this will sever what little hope there was of reestablishing their betrothal but it is a price she’s willing to pay to see these spirits at peace. “And your brother is here in case we need an additional voice.”

Lan Wangji nods, a short sharp movement and then sits on the ground and summons his guqin. “If you are ready, Lady Jiang?” Lan Wangji asks and at Jiang Yanli’s nod he begins to play.

A few moments later Wei Wuxian joins in on his dizi. Jiang Yanli listens as their music blends together beautifully, blanketing the plaza in an aura of calm and then she clasps her hands in front of her and joins them in song.

Away beyond the ranges, no word from home e’er heard:
Cut off from winter to winter, cut off for a further spring.
O now as home I’m nearing, the more anxious I grow, and
Dare not ask of the comers, for fear they ill news may bring.

Jiang Yanli pours her feelings into her song, asking the resentful dead of Qishan to rise and allow themselves to be cleansed of their burdens. Their enemy is dead, their families have been avenged and the Wen sect is no more - its remnants scattered amongst the great sects as they destroy the yin iron. Jiang Yanli infuses every word with emotion, with gratitude for the sacrifices made and lets tears fall as she feels the resentful dead find peace and release themselves from this prison of rage one after another.

She doesn’t know how long they stay like that, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji playing in harmony while her voice joins them in song; but she sees the sun start to dip along the horizon. Jiang Yanli feels the last of the Qishan Wen resentful dead pass on, their screams giving way to thank you’s and peace and as she sings away beyond the ranges again she feels her legs give out and is thankful again that Yu Min and Yu Hui are always with her before she thinks no more.

*
Jiang Yanli wakes up to her brothers hovering around her nervously as a Lan healer tries to feed her spiritual energy. She is sluggish and slow to react but she sees the exact moment the healer realizes what is wrong with her qi, drawing his hand back as his face goes white.

“When did this happen?” he asks, voice grave. Then he turns to Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng and nearly yells, “You both must leave immediately, I must speak with Lady Jiang alone.”

Jiang Cheng scoffs. “I’m not leaving my sister alone with you,” Jiang Cheng says. “Anything you need to discuss you can include me,” he adds then looks at Jiang Yanli, unsure. “Right, jiejie?”

Jiang Yanli sighs. “Of course, ChengCheng,” she says, with a sad smile. This is not the time or the place where she wanted to have this conversation but it seems that time has run out. “This concerns my sect leader, healer Lan, so it’s best if he stays,” she says with a smile. “And I’d really rather not discuss this twice.”

“Do we need to call in Yu Min and Yu Hui?” Jiang Cheng asks, concern clear on his face.

Jiang Yanli shakes her head. “No,” she says with a sigh. “They know, at least they know enough to keep me safe, they don't know all of it.”

“A-Xian?” Jiang Yanli asks, sitting up. She hurts all over, probably a combination of exhaustion and expending too much energy without enough preparation. “Do you have a talisman we can use to make sure we aren’t overheard?”

Wei Wuxian nods. “Yes, shijie,” he says, before he sketches out the character for silence in the air and sends it flying at the door, then the windows of the room they’ve clearly commandeered for her.

“Thank you,” Jiang Yanli says. “Lan laoshi, what I’m about to say must not leave this room.”

He frowns at her and then says, “Of course, Lady Jiang, I’m a healer. My first priority is always the well being of my patients.”

“Good,” Jiang Yanli says, nodding. “That’s good.” She takes a deep breath and then looks up and meets Jiang Cheng’s eyes. “A-Cheng,” she says, smiling sadly at him. “You know I don’t have a golden core anymore.”

Jiang Cheng inhales sharply, and nods. “I remember, there’s been so much happening that I’d put the knowledge away like ignoring it could make it untrue,” he says, slowly kneeling by her bedside to take her hand. “You never told me how. Was it,” Jiang Cheng starts and then stops swallowing back his words. “Did the core-melting hand do this to you, jiejie? I wish we could kill him again.”

“No, A-Cheng,” Jiang Yanli says, reaching out to smooth back his hair. She looks at Wei Wuxian and smiles gently, trying to reassure him before she continues. “Although I think he was about to take Wei Wuxian’s before I distracted him when we were thrown into the burial mounds.”

Then it’s Wei Wuxian’s turn to inhale sharply. “You don’t know that, shijie.”

“You didn’t see him, A-Xian,” Jiang Yanli says. “You were being tortured, you didn’t see the way he looked at you.”

Jiang Yanli sighs. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, in through her nose and out through her mouth before she opens her eyes and looks at her baby brother. “After you lost your golden core, Wei Wuxian spent days searching for a solution,” Jiang Yanli says, quietly. “I knew when he found one. What it would mean. He stopped sleeping, he was arguing with Wen Qing so I confronted him. And stopped him.”

“No you didn’t jiejie,” Jiang Cheng says, confusion written across his face as he slowly realizes what she hasn’t said. “I went to see Baoshan Sanren and had my core restored.”

Jiang Yanli shakes her head smiling sadly. “No, A-Cheng, you didn’t. Wei Wuxian had planned to cut out his own core and give it to you,” Jiang Yanli starts, ignoring the horrified sound the Lan healer makes. “He knew you wouldn’t agree so he planned to tell you he’d remembered something from Baoshan Sanren, and he planned to have me delivered to the Lanling Jin sect for safety.”

“But that’s not what happened?” Jiang Cheng says, voice detached. Jiang Yanli takes his hand in hers and squeezes.

“No,” she says, shaking her head. “I can be very stubborn when I know something is wrong. I got Wen Qing to tell me and I made them change the plan.”

Jiang Cheng looks at her horrified. “Jiejie, how could-,” he says cutting himself off. “What did you do?”

Jiang Yanli squeezes his hand again and smiles. “What wouldn't I do for my family? We’re Jiangs. We must attempt the impossible; sometimes the impossible is strengthening your weak golden core to give to your brother. Sometimes it's convincing your other brother that you needed him to keep his core in case something went wrong and we needed protection.”

Jiang Cheng starts crying. “You had no right. You shouldn’t have done this.”

“I had every right. I’m the oldest,” Jiang Yanli says with a sigh. “My cultivation was low, my sword skills were mediocre and the future of my sect depended on it. And my baby brother was hurting in a way I couldn’t let stand.”

“I haven’t been able to take care of you in a long time,” Jiang Yanli says, smiling sadly. “But this? This I could do. My marriage prospects were already limited, and my core was neglected. To protect you, both of you?” Jiang Yanli says. “It was a small price to pay and I’d pay it again and again if it meant I got to see you thriving as our sect leader.”

Jiang Cheng shakes his head from his spot on the floor and Jiang Yanli beckons Wei Wuxian closer so they can deal with this as a family. “You shouldn’t have done this, jiejie. It’s too much.”

“Would you rather I let Wei Wuxian do it?” Jiang Yanli asks, voice gentle. “Because one of us was going to do it, you know neither of us can stand to see you hurting.”

“Neither of you should have given me your golden cores!” Jiang Cheng shouts, still crying. “You should have let me stay a mediocre person! This is too much.”

Jiang Yanli lets him cry on her, petting his hair as he lets loose his grief and regret and takes the hand Wei Wuxian holds out to her, anchoring herself to her brothers. Jiang Cheng will understand eventually, but for now she can take his sadness and the anger he doesn’t want her to see and hold onto it, because he’s alive and well, leading their sect which is what matters most.

She abruptly remembers that they are not alone and turns to see Lan laoshi standing, stunned just outside of the little circle of their family. “Do you understand now? And why this information must not leave this tent?”

“Yes, Lady Jiang,” he says, shaking off his shock. “You have my word as a Lan that this will go no further than me.”

Jiang Yanli smiles at him. “Good, thank you,” she says nodding at him. “Now could you give us a few minutes alone?”

He nods and makes his retreat, nearly running and Jiang Yanli goes back to focusing on her family.

*
Jiang Cheng is still prickly, still angry about his golden core even if he doesn’t want to direct that anger at Jiang Yanli but it’s nothing less than she expected. He’s never known how to be angry at her and she’s glad to be able to lean on that fact now with their biggest secret in the open. She doesn’t regret giving up her golden core, not really, but sometimes she feels a little wistful for what might have been as she thinks about the days she spent working to make it stronger for Jiang Cheng.

It’s in those moments that Jiang Yanli wonders what might have been if she’d had different teachers, if anyone but her mother had been in charge of her education might her cultivation have been higher? But it’s an idle thought and she doesn’t dwell. Instead Jiang Yanli gets back to the work of preparing to leave the Nightless City. She’s regained her strength and the dead of Qinshan no longer clamor for her attention so she is finally at peace and ready to leave this place.

All around her she can hear Jiang and Lan disciples readying themselves to travel back home, where they’ll all be rebuilding from the ashes the Wen sect left behind. It’s overwhelming but Jiang Yanli is glad to be soon free of this place. She’s just finished packing the last of the things that made the trek from the Unclean Realm to Nightless City when Yu Hui pops her head in the tent.

“Lady Jiang?” Yu Hui asks, as she steps into the tent.

Jiang Yanli turns and smiles at her, wondering briefly if her grandmother will ask the Yu’s to stay with her once they return to Lotus Pier or if this piece of her new life will also leave her as they return to Meishan. “Did you need something?” Jiang Yanli asks. “I should be done and ready to leave shortly.”

“Nothing like that, Young Master Jin is here to see you,” Yu Hui says then makes a face. “We’d be happy to send him on his way if you don’t wish to speak to him.

Jiang Yanli laughs, amused to see the Yu girls have taken so many of their cues from her brothers. “It’s fine,” Jiang Yanli says shaking her head. “You can send him in, i’m sure it won’t be a long visit.”

Yu Hui nods and leaves and a few moments later Jin Zixuan steps in.

“Lady Jiang,” he says, walking several steps into the tent before he stops to bow.

Jiang Yanli inclines her head. “Jin gongzi,” she says and then smiles. “I’m surprised by the visit, I was under the impression your father's party had already started making their way back to Lanling.”

“They have,” Jin Zixuan says, nodding. He stares at her then seems to notice and crosses his arms behind his back looking ahead. “I doubled back because I wanted to apologize.”

Jiang Yanli blinks at him. She can’t recall the last time he said something truly horrible to her. “For what?” she asks, confused.

Jin Zixuan clears his throat and then straights his back, standing even taller. “My father, what he tried to imply about you was unacceptable.”

“There’s no need for you to apologize for him,” Jiang Yanli says. She doubts Jin Guangshan would be happy if he knew his son was daring to offer an apology. He meant what he said, and Jiang Yanli is not so naive as to think it wasn’t calculated. “He has his opinion and most of it was directed at Wei Wuxian, not me.”

“Still,” Jin Zixuan says. “It was inappropriate to speak to a Lady like that, especially one from a major sect.”

Jiang Yanli stares at him and wonders what horrible things Jin Guangshan said of her after the conference to result in this. He was no worse than he was after her return to her family and so she is no more offended than she was before. Mostly Jiang Yanli just wants to sure up their allies so her family is safe.

“Well then thank you for your apology,” Jiang Yanli says, with a smile. “I hope this means that we can be friends.”

Jin Zixuan looks at her and then looks away and nods. “I would like that very much,” he says, hands clenched behind his back.

“Good,” Jiang Yanli says with a smile. “I could use more friends.”

“I could as well,” Jin Zixuan says, looking over at her briefly before looking back at the wall before he makes his bows and takes his leave.

Jiang Yanli spends the rest of the morning smiling to herself as she collects the rest of her things. It could be nothing, or something, but for the first time since she and Wei Wuxian walked along the streets of Yiling into a trap she feels a spark of hope ignite in her belly.

She looks around the tent one last time and finding nothing left behind, walks out into the early afternoon sun to find her brothers talking to Yu Min and Yu Hui.

“Jiejie,” Jiang Cheng says at the same time Wei Wuxian says, “Shijie.”

Jiang Yanli smiles, feeling free of the weight she’s been carrying around with her for months.
“What were you all out here talking about?”

“Fastest route back home,” Wei Wuxian says. “If we fly we can be back at Lotus Pier in a few days.”

Jiang Yanli frowns at him confused. “Okay,” she says, speaking slowly. “If that’s the best method what’s the problem?”

“You’ve never been a fan of flying, and you’d have to travel along with one of us now,” Jiang Cheng says. He still sounds a little sulky but Jiang Yanli thinks it’s starting to fade as he comes to terms with the necessity of her gift. She’ll never regret it, no matter how long he sulks about it.

“I’ve flown along with Yu Min and Yu Hui,” Jiang Yanli points out. Flying is not her favorite way to travel, especially after falling from such a height but she can endure it; she’s survived far worse. “I can be uncomfortable for a while if it gets us home sooner.”

Jiang Cheng looks at her, searching her face for any hesitation and Jiang Yanli reaches out for his hand, happy to see him not hesitate to reach back. “Are you sure?” he asks, voice uncertain.

Jiang Yanli smiles, reaching out to Wei Wuxian and exhaling in relief when he joins them on her other side. “I’m sure, ChengCheng,” she says looking from him to Wei Wuxian.

They’re a little bit broken and a lot hurt, but they’re alive and they’re together and that’s enough for her. “Let’s go home.”

And then, they do.

THE END