Chapter Text
When Chu Wanning wakes, he's not quite sure where he is. His entire body aches and his chest has a sharp biting pain that reminds him of what he has lost during his fight with Mo Ran. Chu Wanning is no stranger to pain, or to the enveloping darkness that surrounds him - but the destruction of his core has also taken with it his ability to perceive his surroundings. It leaves him unmoored. He has managed to get by for years by using his expertise in barriers to simulate his surroundings even when he could no longer see them and now there is nothing. He compartmentalizes the loss, as he has always done. There is nothing he can do about the destruction of his core and he has bigger problems to handle. He remembers collapsing in Mo Ran's arms but doesn't know what has happened since - or who is even left alive after their battle.
He hopes Xue Meng got away. He hopes the others are in a better position than he is - that his sacrifice bought them time. Assuming he can figure out where he even is. He can feel a thick blanket that is wrapped around him and a soft pillow under him so he knows he's on a bed - somewhere. Did Mo Ran bring him back to Sisheng? Was he left for dead on the battlefield until someone picked him up? He can't quite make out anything else from his immediate surroundings and he's not sure if he should be moving yet (both out of caution and pain). He's not even sure if he has company or not - there's no breathing that he can hear but that and any other sounds of another presence could easily be hidden by someone determined and with cultivation. He spends a quarter of an hour pretending to be asleep to see if he can sense any motion in the room he is in but there's nothing. Finally deeming it as safe as it can get, Chu Wanning sits up in bed.
The movement hurts, the dull ache his body has been feeling since he woke turns into sharp piercing ones as he moves in ways his body does not like. He grits his teeth pushing past the pain until he is sitting, his back giving way to rest against the bed frame as soon as he's up. Sensing no signs of anyone’s presence in the room he is in now that he has shown himself to be awake, Chu Wanning lowers his guard. He feels around him for any objects but the bed he is on seems to be empty save for himself. He feels a cool breeze against the back of his neck as he feels around and guesses that there is probably an open window somewhere behind him.
The breeze brings in a familiar scent of a pond and haitang flowers and he immediately stiffens. The scent is one he would never not recognize - having smelt it everyday for over the last couple of years. He gets out of bed to hobble towards the window, following a path he is intimately familiar with. The fact that he hits nothing along the way from the bed to the window is strong evidence that his suspicion is correct. Chu Wanning is back in Red Lotus Pavilion - only this time not as its master but as a prisoner. He stands at the window, letting his weight rest against the sill as soon as he reaches it. He feels the breeze from the pond again from where he slumps. It is the same as he remembers it, though so much has changed since he last felt it. The few steps he took have already left him dizzy and winded though he is loath to admit it. He gazes straight at where he knows the lotuses grow - though he can no longer see them in any form.
This is how Mo Ran finds him.
Taxian Jun walks into the bedroom of Red Lotus Pavilion, not bothering to announce his presence to the man he left in there when he first arrived. He finds Chu Wanning out of bed and standing and gazing out from the window onto the pond outside. It paints a calm and peaceful picture, one so very at odds with the fact that his old Shizun is clearly injured, newly coreless and has been captured by the very disciple he had given up on. Chu Wanning does not even bother looking at him as he enters, clearly deigning the unchanging view outside his window more interesting than Taxian Jun himself. It infuriates him - that after everything he has done, Chu Wanning still manages to disregard his existence with every action that he takes. He strides across the room and grabs Chu Wanning’s wrist to turn him around. He takes no small pleasure in glimpsing the flicker of panic in his Shizun’s eyes as he is spun around by his wrist to face him, though the expression is smoothened over to his usual placid one just as quickly.
“Shizun”, he drawls, his hand still tight around the other man’s wrist. He watches as Chu Wanning stiffens even further and his gaze focusing on the wall behind him. A hint of mockery slides into his own eyes as he continues, “Does pretending you can’t see This Venerable One help you feel better?”
Taxian Jun uses his other hand to grab Chu Wanning’s face until the man is forced to look up at him. Another flash of anger flits through his Shizun’s eyes at the roughness of his gesture though it only seeks to tempt Taxian Jun into wanting to do it again. He does not remember exactly when he grew to be taller than the man he so looked up to but the difference between them has grown - in more ways than one. It is no longer Taxian Jun that is weak, powerless, and at the mercy of cruel men.
“Tomorrow will be my coronation, Chu Wanning. I will be the first emperor of the cultivation world, hasn’t this disciple come so far? Even you could not stop me. Aren’t you proud of me?”
With Chu Wanning saying nothing in response, Taxian Jun simply continues, “Now that you’re awake, you can finally bear witness to my being crowned. I waited for so long for my esteemed Shizun to be able to attend as well -”
“Mo Weiyu, I have no disciple like you”
Taxian Jun simply laughs. Finally, he has successfully goaded Chu Wanning into acknowledging him and responding. Chu Wanning’s voice is rougher than he remembers - sleep and his numerous injuries have turned it hoarse and weak - though his words are no less harsh than what Taxian Jun has been subjected to since he made his unfortunate choice in picking his Shizun. Though the words Chu Wanning says spark a rage in him, he quells it with a nasty grin at the man in front of him.
“Tomorrow, I will finally avenge Shi Mei for your failures.”
With that, Taxian Jun finally releases Chu Wanning, who slumps back against the window behind him. Right before leaving, he erects barriers around Red Lotus Pavilion that will ensure that Chu Wanning cannot leave until Taxian Jun wants him to, that is, of course, assuming his injuries even allowed him to get that far.
Mo Ran's coronation ceremony takes place at the newly named Wushan Palace with a large crowd. Chu Wanning is led by two attendants who flank both his sides. Though they don’t touch him, their presence helps him navigate without anyone the wiser. While he does almost trip down some stairs heading towards the hall, his long, flowy robes hide most of the fumble. His two companions are mostly quiet, only barking orders and for him to hurry up. Chu Wanning suspects they are chess pieces made out of people long passed though he has no way to confirm it without his core.
As they approach, the muted mumbling of a large crowd grows more distinct. He wonders if there is anyone in the crowd that he knows and cares about. It has not been long since the battle at Taxue Palace, even accounting for the numerous days he may have spent recovering before he woke up. Xue Meng has probably not recovered enough to start another battle so quickly on the heels of the previous. He quells the anxiety that the thought of an injured Xue Meng brings as he is brought upon the stage Mo Ran is on. Chu Wanning internally grimaces as he realizes that Xue Meng is both the start and end of the list of people he knows that care about him and are still alive. There is no one else to look for amongst the crowd; even if he could. Dying at the coronation, as Mo Ran threatened yesterday, does seem a fitting punishment to him for failing everyone he has ever known.
Chu Wanning makes no sound as he is made to kneel in chains in front of the crowd by the two guards that brought him over. There is no point in protesting the inevitable. He kneels, back straight and gaze looking straight ahead as Mo Ran introduces him to the waiting crowd as his cruel Shizun. He lets no signs of distress show across his face or body at Mo Ran’s words. The crowd sees not a flicker of emotion on his face. It seems that Taxian Jun notices as well.
Chu Wanning feels a shadow cast over him before he hears the familiar draw of a sword from its sheath and the immediate panicked whispers from the crowd at the sight of what can only be Mo Ran’s holy weapon. Mo Ran moves too quietly for Chu Wanning to track anymore but his presence and warmth that is currently so close to him is undeniable. He continues to look ahead as he feels the cold blade rest on his shoulder, its sharp edge pressing lightly at his throat. He expects the blade to push deeper but it doesn’t, it slides to the side before Chu Wanning finally feels the cut.
It is not as deep as he thought it would be - the thin line of red formed on his neck does not hurt as much as his still aching chest. While not as painful, he can feel the blood beginning to seep from where his skin had been sliced open under Mo Ran’s blade. He feels the blood drip down and soak his collar and robes as it flows. The red against his white robes must leave a disturbing sight for the crowd watching them both in silence. Every heartbeat, every breath he takes only serves to push more blood through the open wound that refuses to clot. Mo Ran leans down to whisper in Chu Wanning's ear, "Shizun, pay close attention to me now", before returning to his throne.
Chu Wanning loses track of Mo Ran as the latter walks away from where he kneels. Based on the crowd’s cheers, it sounds like Mo Ran is being crowned as Taxian Jun. His head feels too heavy to hold up and the sharp cut has dulled to a steady ache. There is a steady flow of blood continuing to drip from the cut, it stains his robes all the way down to his waist as he struggles to keep his body upright. He feels his consciousness fading in and out as the minutes tick by. It feels fitting that he's paying with blood for all the times he failed at reigning in his temper and whipping his disciple’s back raw. He can’t help but hope his death might do some good, that it might quell at least some of Mo Ran’s rage and betrayal.
He feels a presence come close to him though he’s too far gone to tell if it is Mo Ran or another one of his chess pieces. He wishes he had had a chance to see Mo Ran once. He wonders what the boy who had first come to him to convince him to take him as a disciple had looked like - whether there were already smile lines on his face when his voice held so much laughter and joy. If his eyes crinkled when he smiled, if his cheeks dimpled. He wishes he knew what Mo Ran looks like now – years since their first meeting. The man that the whole world now fears, whose voice and personality have only gotten quieter and angrier. It is rare that Chu Wanning lets himself indulge in self-pity over his lost vision but he can’t quite help himself now. This is the end for him, brought about by a boy he failed to protect. He tries to lift his arm up to reach out towards the person that stands beside him, hoping it reaches Mo Ran’s face, but the chains binding him drag his arm back to the ground. More blood spurts at his actions.
There is an urgency in him that causes the words to slip out now that he knows that this will be the last chance he ever has to try to make things right.
“Mo Ran... it was I who wronged ..you-”
The words slur before he can get all of them out, pushing more blood from his neck at his attempt to speak. Chu Wanning feels himself lifted up and held in Mo Ran's arms to be carried back towards Red Lotus Pavilion. He loses consciousness somewhere along the way, his head ringing with the clanks of the chains around his limbs as they sway beneath him.
Taxian Jun rushes back to Red Lotus Pavilion with his Shizun in his arms, his spiritual energy already working to quell the blood flow and reverse the damage the cut had inflicted on him for the last hour. Chu Wanning feels too light, too feeble in his arms - so at odds with the man Taxian Jun grew up to fear and hate. While the spiritual energy does seem to be helping, it doesn’t seem to be helping enough.
The man in his arms does not stir and Taxian Jun does not let himself pause to wonder why he is so afraid of the man he sentenced to die actually dying. He commands one of the palace guards he passes by to send a doctor immediately to the Red Lotus Pavilion. He refuses to let Chu Wanning die. Death would be too easy for a man as hateful as him. The words his Shizun mumbled right before passing out keep repeating in his mind. He tells himself he misheard and that he needs Chu Wanning to say them out loud again before he will believe them. He tells himself it was a lie to let Chu Wanning pretend he was righteous, humble and above everyone else again. He tells himself a lot of things as he waits in panic for the physician to arrive, erratically passing his spiritual energy to the unconscious, bloody man in his arms so he does not die.
When the physician arrives, Taxian Jun roars at him for taking so long before demanding he bring Chu Wanning back to normal. He pretends he does not see the fear in the man’s eyes as he steps back from the bed he placed his Shizun on to let him work.
Taxian Jun leans against the wall of the bedroom for almost an hour before the physician steps away from Chu Wanning, who still lies unconscious on the bed.
“He needs rest and most of his injuries will heal. I will leave behind medic-”
“Most?”
The physician pauses, the implied threat in Taxian Jun’s words is not lost on him. “He has injuries from much earlier - his eyes, the loss of his core, there is nothing I can do to revert a core destruction or a years-old injury.”
“What do you mean - his eyes? What’s wrong with his eyes?”
“Your Highness, there’s no response in either of his eyes. His pupils don’t react to light at all but there are no visible wounds. Whatever has happened to his vision happened a very long time ago.”
"Are you saying my Shizun is blind?"
The physician's split second of hesitation costs him his head. Taxian Jun has already drawn his sword and disposed of this sham of a physician who only seeks to lie to him.
In the next couple of hours, there are three different physicians who tell Taxian Jun the same thing and the knowledge that Chu Wanning has somehow managed to lie and fool everyone around him for years is getting harder and harder to deny. He sits beside Chu Wanning's bed, staring at the man's sleeping face. A pool of blood has collected around him on the floor and walls of the bedroom from the physicians he's refused to believe but he pays it no mind. He wonders how long Chu Wanning has been lying to him. Had he lost his vision well before Taxian Jun even came to Sisheng Peak?
He tells himself the news upsets him so much only because it reinforces how much Chu Wanning never considered him worthy enough to know the truth. It angers him because only he should be allowed to hurt the man currently lying unconscious in bed because of what Taxian Jun did. No one else can touch him. Now that he’s emperor, no one else ever will.
The sun is beginning to creep back into the sky early next morning when Taxian Jun notices the change in breathing from the man lying in bed. He can tell that Chu Wanning is finally awake - though he shows no other signs of being so. His eyes are still closed and it is obvious that he is doing his best to keep his breathing as steady as it was when he was asleep. Unfortunately for him, it just does not work on a man like Taxian Jun. Taxian Jun stays slumped and quiet in his chair, watching for moments in his old Shizun, curious as to what the man will do when he thinks he is alone and unwatched.