Death?

Lan Wangji's heart wrenched in despair as he saw the love of his life, losing control of the power of the Stygian Tiger Amulet. Desperation and fear, grasped every cell of his body as he tried to save him. The terrified truth Lan Wangji predicted ultimately came true.

'There is a price for cultivating dark arts.'

The Nightless City was in chaos once more. This time it wasn't the Qishan Wens but the infamous Yiling Laozu, Wei Wuxian. The sky was red as the clans fought the ghost army raised by Wei Wuxian. Jiang Yanli, ran fanatically into the battlefield screaming to Wei Wuxian.

"A'Xian! A'Xian!"

The love she had for Wei Wuxian was no less than her blood brother Jiang Cheng. Rather, she dotted on him even more than Jiang Cheng at times. The fact that her A'Xian turned into dark arts threw her into a heartbreaking anguish which made her run into the dangerous battlefield filled with an undead ghost army, without fearing for her life. She was pursued and mortally wounded by a Fierce Corpse. Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng, and Lan Wangji rushed to save her. As Jiang Cheng held a mortally wounded Jiang Yanli, a clansman charged at Wei Wuxian from behind and she sacrificed her life to save him, her throat ran along the sword, much to Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian's horror. By that time realizing what he has done Wei Wuxian became distraught and it made him lose control of his summoned army of dead. Devastated at his loss of control and his beloved shijie's death he brought forth the two parts of the Stygian Tiger Amulet and clasped them together with all the power he had left and the energy surge was projected towards all the clansmen killing them in retaliation.

The process drains his chi power to a great extent and in the end, he staggered, heavily injured, trying to get away from the battlefield. But he lost most of his vital energy and was unable to move at all. Lan Wangji realized this grabbed him and tried to fly away on Bichen and hid him in a cave in Yiling. He tried to replenish his chi by giving his spiritual energy. While doing so a distraught Hanguang-jun, repeatedly confessed his concealed feelings for him,

"I love you!"

To which a distraught and semi-conscious Wei Wuxian replies,

"Get lost!"

Soon the Gusu Lan Sect found them and forcibly tried to take Wangji away and kill Wei Wuxian. Lan Wangji fought and injured thirty-three elders trying to prevent them from capturing Wei Wuxian and delivered him to the Burial Mounds. Later, however, he was forcibly taken away by his sect leaving a fragile and near-death Wei Wuxian in the Burial Mounds. Jiang Cheng led the First Seize of the Burial Mounds wiping out the remnants of the Wen clan. Wei Wuxian during this time successfully destroyed the Stygian Tiger Amulet. But as a result the dark force the Amulet held, backfired and seemingly destroyed Wei Wuxian's soul. At the last moment, his life flashed back. Tears ran down his eyes as his soul slowly dissipated. But a strange confidence glistened beneath those regretful eyes as he finally closed them getting lost in a spiritual void.

Lin Chang opened her eyes as the sunlight hit her eyes from the glass window pane. She sheepishly woke up with disheveled hair and puffy eyes and a splitting headache.

"Aghhhh! I had way too many drinks last night."

She thought clutching the head with her fingers combed into her hair. The phone vibrated on her table. She lifted her head and looked at the screen and expressed an irritated expression at the name flashed on it. 'Mom' calling. She let it ring without receiving it and then turned her head to see what time it was. Eight past fifteen. She then checked her planner on the phone. Then she got up to freshen up and get ready for her job at an excavation site. Lin Chang got a temporary position as an assistant archaeologist with a very meager salary. However, Lin Chang is a highly qualified student of ancient history with a Ph.D. but fate has been cruel to her. In spite of excellent qualifications, she couldn't land a job suited to her caliber. It has been three years since she received her degree yet everywhere she applied turned her down. At last with much difficulty, she landed this low-paid temporary job.

For Lin Chang, it was way better than being unemployed. The frustration of being turned down at every opportunity she tried to grab drove her to severe depression and strained her relationship with her parents. Being the only child her parents were overbearing and overprotective of her so much so that it started to suffocate her. At the age of thirty-three, her parents were derived paranoid about marriage, but Lin Chang was stubborn not to get married without first landing a stable job. Conflict ensued between them which significantly made her emotionally distant from her parents. Not just that, the recent ending of her nine-year-old relationship also added 'fuel to the fire'. Most of her parents' call goes unanswered. Her parents keep on pressurizing her to try different options at her job which infuriates her. She is someone who hates being in control and strives to stand out in everything she does. Her motto for life is 'only dead fish goes with the flow'.

She found solace only in her best friend Dai Lu, her work, and her uncanny interest in flutes. She didn't know how to play one but she has an atypical interest in them. She has a collection of different types of them.

Dai Lu often jokes, "This strange hobby of yours does not make any sense to me. You probably are the only person in this entire universe who has a wild collection of flutes yet doesn't know how to play one."

Lin Chang came back from washing and got ready to leave for work when her phone vibrated again. She received the call and a voice spoke,

"Lin Chang, I wanted to let you know that I will be going for a week-long off due to health reasons. You have to look over the excavation for me, okay."

Lin Chang, "I will handle it ma'am don't worry please take care of your health. I'll keep updating you on the progress."

The woman, with a smile, "Ehhhh, I know. I have faith in you. Come quickly I am waiting for you at the site. Will explain the responsibilities before I leave."

Lin Chang, "I am on my way ma'am."

She disconnected the phone and hurriedly wore her wide-legged cropped culottes with a black t-shirt. She has very long straight hair which she put into a ponytail with a red band. She grabbed her backpack and phone and left. As she did a huge map came into view that was pasted on the wall above her bed. It is the map of the town she was staying in and where the excavation is going on. The name of the place on the map was written in bold capital letters below the right-hand corner is...YILING.