what if instead of him being torn to pieces, they had managed to capture wei wuxian alive, injured and weakened and unable to defend himself at all, and what if he suffered the same fate as wen qing, burned at the stake, so they knew that he too could not be summoned beyond death

another public affair by the jin sect. jiang cheng has no power and only half the will to save him, wei wuxian is unrecognisable to him anyway, a hollow shell of a person the few times they’re allowed speak before his execution

would lwj be brought to watch, spiritual energy forcefully sealed so he can’t do anything to stop it from happening? wwx isn’t standing at the stake but is kneeling, the ropes around his wrists the only thing keeping him upright, but his head is lifted one last time

by the executioner, a final show of their victory before its dropped carelessly again. and as the flames climb he makes no sound, moves not an inch, just stared vacantly at the floor— or at lwj, who calls out his name one final time, anguished and afraid, lost and alone

lwj watches him burn but as the people around him are torn between vocal celebration and quiet relief that the terror they were told the yiling laozu held over the heads is gone, he longs to be nothing but ashes, too

lwj wants wwx’s ashes but doesn’t know how to reach for them and doesn’t want to be denied them. he loved him, he’ll always love him, he wants the last piece of him that exists and knows he can’t have it, knows he never even had it in the first place

the lan sect elders think its a small mercy for what he did, to watch wwx die and then receive what they would refer to as “the more severe punishment”, as if they don’t know lwj’s heart and soul feel broken beyond recognition, a black, bottomless chasm; gone

jiang cheng couldn’t even watch. he looked beyond the pyre, beyond his brother, but saw the flames eat at him anyway and felt a heavy twist in his gut, grief and justice and too much loss all at once. but this was the kindest death they were willing to offer, during negotiations

and the most merciful he felt he could be, felt that he owed to him, even after all he’d done and what he had caused... but at least he was able to keep chenqing... some piece of him still remains in the world, that way, no matter what he said to get it