Ever since Wei Wuxian leaped from the precipice, Lan Wangji had vomited blood and collapsed, carried back to the Cloud Recesses by Lan Xichen. With his heart as dead as ashes, Lan Wangji remained unconscious, causing both Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen immense anxiety.
On the third day, Lan Wangji still had not awakened. That day, Lan Xichen received a message from the Jin Clan stating that the various cultivation sects were preparing to launch a punitive campaign against the Burial Mounds and invited the Lan Clan to join. Lan Xichen went to the Jingshi to check on his unconscious younger brother and shared the news with him, hoping it might rouse him. After waiting a long time with no reaction from Lan Wangji, Lan Xichen led the disciples of the Lan Clan to the Burial Mounds.
Not long after Lan Xichen departed, Lan Wangji regained consciousness, struggled to his feet, and hurried toward the Burial Mounds.
By the time he arrived, the Burial Mounds were in complete ruins. Everyone from the Wen Clan had already been slaughtered, and the various cultivation sects were just about to enter the Demon-Sealing Cave to search.
This was the scene that greeted Lan Wangji upon his arrival. He vaulted through the air to land directly at the entrance of the Demon-Sealing Cave, pointing his sword at the crowd and declaring, "Today, no one enters the Demon-Sealing Cave."
The Clan Leader of the Yao Clan demanded, "Second Young Master Lan, what is the meaning of this? The Yiling Patriarch Wei Wuxian has jumped off the cliff, and when we went down, we found nothing. By barring us from entering to search, are you trying to shield him?"
Hearing this, Lan Wangji remained silent, yet anyone who attempted to force their way into the Demon-Sealing Cave was beaten back and injured. Lan Wangji himself also sustained severe wounds.
Jin Guangyao intervened, "Very well! Since Second Young Master Lan will not let us in, we might as well leave this place be! Over the past few days, we have had people guarding the perimeter of the Burial Mounds. Even if that Yiling Patriarch Wei Wuxian somehow survived, he could not have slipped in unnoticed. And had he been here, he would not have stood by and watched the Wen Clan annihilated. Let us leave!"
Then, casting a gloating look at Lan Wangji, Jin Guangyao added with a smirk, "Second Young Master Lan, Mr. Lan seems to be on his way here, apparently to drag you back." With that, Jin Guangyao turned and left, leaving behind only Lan Wangji, Lan Xichen, and the Lan Clan disciples.
When Lan Qiren arrived at the Burial Mounds with the elders of the Lan Clan, he crossed paths with the departing sects. Troublemakers eager to stir up chaos were quick to inform him of Lan Wangji's actions, adding that Lan Wangji had severely wounded the Lan elders who attempted to enter the Demon-Sealing Cave. Enraged, Lan Qiren flicked his sleeve and stormed off.
Seeing that everyone had left, Lan Wangji turned and stepped into the Demon-Sealing Cave. His pristine white robes were already stained with dust and splattered with blood, a far cry from his usual immaculate appearance. He sat cross-legged on the ground, and with a wave of his hand, the Wangji Qin materialized across his knees. Placing his hands upon the strings, he began to play a slow, gentle Inquiry.
"Ying, are you there? When will you return?" Over and over he played, but there was only silence in response. Utter despair washed over Lan Wangji's face. Then, the melody shifted, and the tune he had composed for Wei Wuxian alone in the Tortoise Cave echoed through the Burial Mounds, laden with profound affection.
"Hearing the flute, a solitary melancholy; the night in the deep clouds is yet endless. Right and wrong are all things of the past; having awakened, how can one treat it all as just a dream..."
As the final notes faded, Lan Wangji's face was streaked with tears. "Wei Ying, where are you? Wei Ying..."
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Suddenly, a soft sound of coughing caught his ear. Overjoyed, Lan Wangji searched frantically around the cave until he spotted a child huddled in a corner. Burning with fever and unconscious, the little boy occasionally let out a weak cough. This child was none other than A-Yuan, the same young boy who had once hugged his legs and cried when he visited Yiling.
In the quiet depths of his heart, Lan Wangji vowed, "Wei Ying, you said A-Yuan was born of you, so I will raise him well." With that, Lan Wangji scooped up the unconscious A-Yuan and carried him back to the Cloud Recesses.