Once upon a lifetime

Waterborne Abyss - Part two

Revised 07/08/22

It's so easy to lose track of time lmao 💀 Like one day I update and before I know it it has been an entire month.

I'm so sorry for the atrocious chapter but I tried to diverge from canon as much as I could at least

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Throughout the hecticness of the situation, many disciples–such as Lan Xichen–were constantly alert, their hands already on the handle of their swords, as if prepared for the unknown to strike at any moment. Wei Wuxian thought it sensible, so he, too, stood his guard, Lan Wangji standing proudly by his side.

A cry suddenly reverberated the area, piercing the ears of all who were unfortunate enough to hear it. Wei Wuxian frowned, "Lan Zhan, do you think..."

"A water ghoul's wail." Lan Wangji said with a nod of his head. "It's coming."

"Jiang Cheng, are you all right?" Wei Wuxian yelled over the heavy chatter. His call was answered by a loud "I'm fine!"

And then the ear-piercing screech once again crossed the waters, but was now a considerable number of times louder than before. Wei Wuxian almost drew blood with how hard he clenched his sword, trying to resist the urge to place his hands to his ears and render himself vulnerable to block out the sounds.

The pace of the water seemed to increase abruptly, almost making a few of the boats topple over in the process.

An abundance of resentful energy pooling in the middle slightly startled Wei Wuxian, who had felt its presence in a swift, stark strike; a wash of darkness encompassing his body all at once. The waves of the lake grew larger and larger, until Wei Wuxian heard multiple splashes of water, indicating that a few unfortunate people had fallen into the lake!

Lan Wangji narrowed his eyes before jumping across the boats and grabbing the collars of the two Lan disciples who had fallen in. He brought them onto one of the boats furthest away from the centre, where it was supposedly the safest. When Lan Wangji had rejoined Wei Wuxian, he murmured under his breath, "The Waterborne Abyss has deliberately led us to the centre of the lake."

"Everyone!" Wei Wuxian yelled as loud as his voice would allow him. "Get on your swords! The Waterborne Abyss is coming!"

Following the many gasps of shock from the disciples was the sound of unsheathed swords and boots clashing against metal. The very few disciples who were too petrified and therefore unable to fly on their swords clung onto the wooden boat nearest to them.

The water seemed to elevate within the air, erecting tall towers akin to a thrashing tornado. These areas of water chased Wei Wuxian, Lan Xichen, Lan Wangji, Jiang Cheng and many other disciples through the air. Everyone, however, managed to deftly avoid getting attacked as they flew in a circular motion.

"This level of evil is more than we can handle." Lan Xichen said. "Young Master Wei, you and Young Master Jiang focus on saving the disciples while Wangji and I will focus on keeping the Waterborne Abyss at bay."

Wei Wuxian and Jiang Wanyin nodded in confirmation, splitting up from the two Jades and heading for the disciples in the water. And then, just as he attempted to get as far away from the Abyss as possible, a small, unnoticeable trail of resentful energy emerged from the depths of the beast, reaching out to grab at Wei Wuxian's sword and entangle it in dark strands.

'How curious.. How very curious..' Wei Wuxian thought idly. 'I don't recall the resentful energy ever being so lively before. Could it be that the Abyss actually senses me?'

He glanced behind him, where Jiang Cheng was still following, although his face expressed great exhaustion—he was probably nearing his limit and used most of his spiritual energy reserves.

Wei Wuxian felt fairly guilty despite himself.

'I've got to wrap this up very quickly..' he took a sharp left, allowing the resentful energy to follow him behind, as well as removing its attention from Jiang Cheng. To the onlookers, it would be fairly obvious that the Abyss had already locked its focus on a singular target.

And then, for a very brief second, his sword faltered. Wei Wuxian's teeth pulled at his bottom lip in frustration. He'd used most of his spiritual energy battling the Water Ghouls, and now it was coming back to bite him. 'Not now!'

Afterwards, Wei Wuxian was both chased and cornered by the resentful energy. He briefly noticed a flash of white in his peripheral vision, as well as Lan Wangji's shocked face as he dived down towards the water to save the falling Lan disciple.

He grabbed the disciple by collar, hauling them into the air with little effort. He didn't care who it was, really. Even if it was Su She, the bastard, he'd still save him.

The resentful energy relentlessly pursued Wei Wuxian, whose golen core was slowly depleting by the second. The lake began to grow unbridled as it attacked him in large masses of waves.

'My cultivation is not yet strong enough to fight a Waterborne Abyss! What was I thinking?'

He felt his grip loosening on Su She's collar so he tightened his hold and allowed himself to push his limits and fly faster.

"Wei Wuxian, this way!"

Wei Wuxian was snapped out of his reverie by Jiang Cheng's voice. The male looked much better and energised compared to before. He must have allowed himself a little break while Wei Wuxian was busy playing hero. But nonetheless, his face broke into a relieved grin.

He flew as close as he could to Jiang Cheng's sword, Su She still in hand, and reached out with his other hand for Jiang Cheng to hold. The latter reciprocated the action, spreading his palm wide, their fingertips briefly brushing against each other.

And then, what happened next was definitely not something Wei Wuxian had planned in advance for— The same wild vines of resentful energy lunged into the air and reached out to him. As he sensed this, Wei Wuxian turned his head to see, and could only watch in horror as masses of the darkness latched onto his feet, wrapping around his ankles and making him lose his balance.

"Wei Wuxian!"

Wei Wuxian's hand slipped as he was pulled down towards the awaiting lake. He reached out for somebody—anybody to catch him, to stop him as he fell down, down, down...

His body crashed into the ravaging abyss, along with his sword and any remaining hope he had clung onto.

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I've definitely had the worst possible day today. First my phone smashes, and then my glasses frame snaps in half. Although, throughout my rage, I managed to pump out a chapter or two, haha.

idk what on earth a 'water ghoul's wail' or whatnot is but 😭😭 it's certainly a way to avoid following canon too closely right?