(https://www.dropbox.com/s/7abb96u6rh631c9/goldencoreremoval.wmv?dl=0)

They are on a straw mat, lying on their back on a bed. By their side is a woman (https://i.imgur.com/2otJM3b.jpg) who looks grimly determined. An anxious-looking boy (https://i.imgur.com/lL04kZD.jpg) is standing near the door that leads to this room - it's small, wherever it is. Dark, except for the bright light shining over them. The woman's jaw is set at an angle that looks almost painful. The boy speaks, and they reaffirm their decision.

The first incision is awful. There is no anesthesia - they had already determined that it would have added too many unknown variables, and the chance of this operation being a success is already only fifty percent at best. They bite down on their cry through that, and through the second. When they feel something move below the skin to lift it, they scream. Memories rush in through the pain, like their body is reacting to its own encroaching death. Sweet ones, pleasant ones. The sound of voices they love in their ears, which start to ring and ring and ring, until--

"Wei Wuxian, wake up! You have to remain conscious! You cannot faint!"

So they ground themselves, and they tether to the pain of the here and now, and they scream until they can't hear the ringing anymore. Soon enough, they can't tell where their body ends and Wen Qing's deft fingers begin. They count the minutes down in their head until they forget what they're counting. Wen Ning has left to stand outside and get some fresh air. The smell of blood is overwhelming, and time ticks from hours to days to seconds as the surge of spiritual energy within them settles into a still and cooling pool.