Wei Wuxian shot open his eyes and sat up with a jerk. He was panting hard and sweat beads were rolling down his forehead - he was drenched in sweat. The horrible memories started assailing his mind and he was shaking convulsively.

He frantically looked around while tugging roughly at his sweat-soaked hair and retreated his frame towards the furthest corner of the bed and hugged his knees tightly. He was still shaking as those memories started haunting him again.

After a few moments of this torment, he again felt that same pleasing energy start flowing through his body, and his mind and body started calming down immediately. Soon, he regained his composure and finally sat properly and looked around the room - as if searching for someone.

He was blinded by the redness of the room and suddenly started feeling irked from this vibrant hue. The colour seemed too much to bear in the eyes. Red, the colour of revolution and the colour of power, is also the hue of blood - the vitality of every being.

The soil is so smeared with red. Black smoke has enveloped the atmosphere. The rusty smell is dangling in the air. Chilliads of flesh, bones, hands, leg scattered like fallen petals - everything is coveted under one hue - red. The horrible scenes started assimilating his mind like a serrated knife.

He started feeling breathless inside this vibrant room. Getting out of the bed, he ran towards the white balcony.

It was dazzling white outside.

This realm is totally void and consists of nothing but just empty whiteness and bright lights - as if coveted by the blanket of transparent, yet opaque dazzling cloudy mist. A shy pinkness surrounds this misty void place and only glimpses of trees could be seen from the windows and balcony that peek through the thick pink fogs. Everything is concealed by those thick cloudy lilac fogs.

For any other eyes, the sight should be bewitching, astounding, mystical and almost beautiful, but for his eyes, it's just void.

He realised that it was early in the morning judging from the bright colour of the outside world.

He doesn't know why he has been brought to the retribution realm, but he had gladly accepted the never-ending pin drop silence that resides here.

He was once an exuberant youth, who loved to be cheerful and to cheer up others. Wherever he went, even a place as dead as a coffin would enliven from his charm. He was like sunshine whose rays could pierce through every darkness.

But now? That charm has waned like a river that has lost its stream. His once ebullient eyes are now as dull as a dead leaf. Though his bodily wounds and injuries have cured completely, but the bruises that his heart had received - how could he ignore them? These invisible wounds are killing him day by day.

His mind would always replay the series of horrible events that life had offered him in the cultivation realm, and his body, mind and heart would go numb each time from the torment.

What has he done?

What wrong did he do?

As he would remember about the betrayal that his beloved one meted to him, his heart would shatter into pieces again and again, until there would be nothing more to break.

In that realm, Lan Wangji was the only person whom he had trusted with all his heart, but see now - even that person took his essence away. Everything was just a facade - as temporary as a figment.

He sometimes feels that he was born with a curse - a curse that would take away every bit of happiness from his life. No matter how many times he reincarnates, life would always return misery to him.

Replaying those painful memories in his mind, again and again, was slowly crippling him from the core. The trauma of that horrible night shook him from dread every time. He neither talked, nor walked, nor cried. He just spent his days lifelessly - as dull as a burnt forest.

It has been a week since he was brought to this realm, and nothing happened in these few days. He would just stay in his room like a lifeless soul, and would sometimes sit at the milk-white balcony to feel the fresh air.

He didn't see that man in these seven days.

A tray of food always appear on the small table 5 times a day beside his bed and he devoured each and every bit of food. Though he had no urge to eat the food, but whenever his eyes settle on the tray, something unknown surges up inside him, and his appetite and hunger shrieks loudly in his stomach, and he rushes towards the food, as if someone else is controlling him. The food tastes heavenly every time.

A lavish bathtub is always filled with fragrant, lukewarm water in the extravagant washroom, and again an unknown force drives him to take bath three times a day - in the morning, in the afternoon, and before sleeping. With a strange essence and the fragrant candles, the baths feel therapeutic every time.

Though he spent the whole day just staring at the void, but these daily care chores were never skipped for a single day. That unknown force always makes him do these daily activities which he would have never thought of doing in such a mental situation.

He stood near the railing and stared at the pink fog smeared over this mysterious world.

"How long? " A deep familiar voice rang from behind.

He did not answer and kept on staring outside blankly. A series of footsteps approached him, and he stiffed uncomfortably.

Whenever footsteps echoed, he had to face the worse of the worst fate.

The steps suddenly halted and they did not advance further.

"How long? " The same question again.

No response.

"Remember why you were bought to this realm? "

Wei Wuxian frowned a little.

Why brought to this realm? To seek revenge, wasn't it? But revenge from whom? Why? For what? From whom should he take revenge? From his brother? His lover? From the cultivation world where he might not be able to return any more? From whom?

"Yes," Probably this is the first word that escaped Wei Wuxian's almost numb vocal cords, that were at the verge of getting obsolete from the repudiation they received from the owner of the body.

"May I know what it was?" The deep impassive voice asked in a grave tone.

Silence. Probably this is what Wei Wuxian wants now, and thus he is embracing this attribute as his pal right now.

"So you accept your fate? "

Wei Wuxian stilled - just froze like an alabaster statue, lost in a trance of thoughts - his eyes a bit unsettled.

"You accept the fate that doesn't belong to you? You accept the fate that was decided by the devils. You are kneeling before the misjudgement meted to you? Or rather a pre-ordered misjudgement?"

The man recited - in a calm, soft, desolated, aloof voice and tone, as cold as the frost.

"Fate? " Wei Wuxian intoned with an empty smile.

"Do you accept the accusations? "

Mo Xuanyu's brown eyes were whirled with misty and irky thoughts, getting disheveled under the murk of rumbled emotions, and a patch of scrambled questions.

"Don't you want revenge? Are you cowering down before injustice and betrayal? "

Is he?

"Don't you want to prove yourself? Don't you want to prove before them that you are not a puppet? "

Puppet? That is solely played, used and disposed of by humans? He is not a puppet. He is a human with flesh, bones, and a heart, who was brought to this world by an hour of labour pain.

"Are you willing to let them rejoice their false triumph? "

False triumph? They had just trapped him in a nasty mesh, where he was not even at fault. They had used the mesh of true love to enmesh him, isn't it?

"I don't want revenge anymore, I have already lost everything and nothing matters anymore." Wei Wuxian said expressionlessly, voice lingered by a murk of desolation and and a sense of solitude, accompanied by a pair of stern eyes.

"Not even all the sacrifices? "

Wei Wuxian's eyes gained a glint of shock.

Sacrifice?

Past memories started roaring back at him acrimoniously, bringing a spate of acrid emotions along.

'Take care of him understand? '

'No madam yu don't do this'

.......

'A-xian, go away, don't even think of coming here'

'No uncle Jiang, wait'

........

'A-xian......move away...... '

'Shijie........ '

..........

Wei Wuxian's lips and face started quavering mildly from the inclemency of agony and pain that were perforating his heart from the evocation of the grisly scenes that he had to witness in his previous life. He pursed his lips and shut them tightly.

"Do the sacrifices mean nothing to you? "

It means, and recalling  them makes him numb every time.

"Past is past."

The only words he could recite now. He is tired, not corporally, but from heart and soul. He is jaded.

"And the present is present. Why mourn over the past when the present is giving you another chance? "

Wei Wuxian has never heard a voice so cold, yet assuring at the same time, other than his Shijie's and......

He scoffed.

He doesn't know why, but this man's presence makes him extremely comfortable, and safe, and he dreads it. He hates it how this man has a resemblance with a nightmarish figure he used to cherish in the past.

Again wrath started boiling in his head. When he is alone, he feels nothing - as hollow as misery. But whenever this person confronts, emotions start rising within him like a swelling wave.

He gritted his teeth out of anger and tightened his hold on the railing until his knuckles almost turned white, and veins started popping out through his skin.

Those disgusted eyes - mistrust rippling through them, then the hatred, and lastly the horrific scenes of two figures......

"Get lost." Wei Wuxian snarled.

"Why should I? This is my place. I will decide who stays and who leaves." The man said impassively and sternly.

"I said get lost. Go away from here... I don't want to see your face."

This is strange. As if something is making him react in this way. He hates this man, more than himself.

"Who are you to order? I am the ruler of this realm"

"WHO TOLD YOU THAT!!! HOW DARE YOU? THIS REALM IS MINE."

Wei Wuxian shouted with a deluge of rage and glared at the misty void with bloodshot eyes and gritted teeth.

"Why should I believe? You can't even protect yourself, how could a realm belong to you? "

The final string broke, and Wei Wuxian finally turned around to confront this man face-to-face.

He was met with a stoic figure. A serene yet, calm and pale face gleamed before him. The tranquillity in this man's face and eyes could pariel with the frost that appears on the still ponds in harsh cold winter. Those dark brown orbs were as still as the tree trunk and his expressionless face added to the solitude in his demeanour. But the handsomeness was rippling through his whole frame. With his inky black hair opened, he looked like a God of a frosty night.

The same stoic face, same rigid posture, same....

Wei Wuxian's whole frame froze into a still statue, and he just stared into those dark brown eyes with stupified face and parted lips.

Only after eight seconds did he come out of his daze.

"Who said I can't protect myself! Who the hell are you? And what the hell are you doing in this realm! "

The mahogany eyes despaired into orbs of solitude and the dark brown orbs looked down at the floor for a moment, and again rose to gaze at the light brown orbs.

"What I am doing? You don't even have the potentiality to avenge, you don't have the eligibility to counter me "

"Who said I don't? " His voice was stern, face tightened and eyes enraged, confidence was emanating through his whole frame.

"You were repudiated even by your own lover."

Wei Wuxian clenched his fist tightly.

Those golden eyes full of admonition, that face so familiar yet so strange at that moment - full of hatred.... Those terrifying memories volleyed through his mind, and all the pain and agony that were swelling inside his quietude started rancouring inside him like a tsunami.

He started shaking out of anger, and his hands involuntarily rose in the air - pointing towards the serene man standing in front. In a trance, a sudden string of white light escaped from his palms, and it pierced right through the man's chest, making him fall on the floor.

He coughed out blood, and beads of the red fluid started streaking from his nose too. He kneeled on the floor and held his chest while rubbing away the blood with one hand.

Wei Wuxian's eyes widened from bewilderment, and without thinking for a lone second, he ran towards the man frantically with muffled thoughts. The sight of this man suffering made him burn from inside, as concern and guilt engulfed his heart.

He quickly reached the other's side with quick brisk steps, kneeled after him, and held him by his shoulder - his eyes clouded with dread and regret.

"I-i am sorry. I didn't mean to. Are you all right? " He asked and started rubbing the other's back and chest.

The other did not respond but just sat on the floor - still like a frozen spring. He didn't cough out blood anymore, and the nose-bleeding has also stopped.

"What happened? I am sorry. I know I am a monster, I am a... I am... " His voice went hoarse and his eyes glistened over his twisted face out of anguish. These reactions appeared on his face without his consciousness.

The other finally looked up, and again few streaks of golden thread could be seen sheening on his mahogany eyes - his face masked with a pleased expression.

Wei Wuxian was still on prick and needles and looked at the other with a concerned face and eyes while rubbing his back and caressing his chest.

"I am all right." He assured.

"No... How could you be... I- I am.. I really don't know what has happened... I am sorry... I am sorry.... " Wei Wuxian kept on chanting apologizing and regretful words while trying to rub away the stains of blood smeared on the other's exquisite face and clothes.

" I am a monster.... "

The memories of that night in Haishi when he had attacked Lan Xichen, again flashed in his mind, and he started feeling suffocated and restless.

Is it true? Do I carry evil with me? Am I born to destroy everybody who comes near me?

"Not a monster. It was yang energy."

Wei Wuxian stopped in his tracks and stared at the handsome man sitting on his knees in a kneeling position.

"What? " Wei Wuxian asked with an ocean of confusion in his eyes with furrowed brows.

"It was not yin." Saying this, the man looked down at the hand that was still lying on his chest.

Wei Wuxian followed his gaze and stared at his own hands.

Something inside his surged. He wanted to retreat his hands as fast as possible, as he remembered about the night at the dungeon. But.... A part of him also wanted to hold this man forever.

Finally, he quickly withdrew his hands and crawled two feet away from the other.

"Yang energy? " He asked with confused and weary eyes - the concern still did not leave either his heart or his face.

The other looked up at him, the bloodstains were all gone, and he looked fine.

Wei Wuxian sighed in relief.

"It was white" The man replied calmly.

Wei Wuxian got lost in a trance of thoughts. It was a white string of energy indeed. But, how could he use yang energy? His body was made impotent to carry any energy...

"How is that possible? " Wei Wuxian asked.

"Powers are not powers unless they are unleashed." The man replied calmly with a stern voice.

"But how.... " Wei Wuxian was truly astounded now.

"You have to explore them. You need to prove that you are the worthy vessel of carrying the power." The other added.

"What do I have to do? " Wei Wuxian finally asked.

The other man released a breath of relief as if he had been waiting for this.

"Prove yourself to this realm. Nourish yourself. Nurture yourself into the one whom the world shall dread to mess with." The man recited dedicatedly.

"Nurture myself? How.... " Wei Wuxian asked with furrowed brows and muddled face.

"Hard training and loyalty towards yourself."

Wei Wuxian sat still and started contemplating everything that has happened and whatever this man is telling.

He looked up with determined eyes.

"Ready? "

The man asked.

Something inside him inflamed and with determination in eyes, Wei Wuxian answered -

"Yes. I am ready." He said with a stern face.

A strange flaming was ablazing inside his grey eyes balls. It was determination.

Hope you liked this chapter (ㆁᴗㆁ✿)

The next chapter is going to be a click.

Stay tuned ° ͜ʖ ͡ - ✧