Author Notes: Hello again, everyone! Apologies for the oversimplified explanations on poisoning. I'm sure the real Wen Qing could explain it better. Anyway, enjoy :)
Beta: JeanGirlMY
- Chapter Start -
Wen Qing cleared her throat a couple of times, but couldn't make herself be heard above the ensuing babble of arguments. One of it was which used more spiritual energy - sword flying with a passenger, or donating it directly to someone. Another was whether or not one's skewed perception of time could be considered an outright lie. The third - and loudest - was why should a mere arrow wound exclude one from donating his spiritual energy.
With a deeply annoyed look, Madam Jin stepped forward.
"Gentlemen, please!"
All arguments ceased at once. Lan QiRen looked mortified to realise he was included in the reprimand.
"I have a question," Jiang Cheng spoke into the resultant lull, barely stopping himself from raising a hand. "What's the difference between one of us giving Jin GuangYao spiritual energy and a healer doing it?"
To his relief, Wen Qing nodded as if his question had merit.
"A cultivator who is poisoned should be able to use their golden core to neutralise the poison, provided the amount is small, hasn't had a chance to spread, and their core is powerful enough.
"Jin GuangYao may have drunk a small amount of poison, but his core isn't powerful enough to neutralise it. At least four hours have passed and the poison has already affected his nervous system. Even ZeWu Jun feeding him energy didn't help. As a healer, I can sense the flow of the poison and how far it has spread. I can also direct the energy to it and prevent it from entering his spiritual pathways and corrupting his golden core."
Everyone digested this in silence. Madam Jin looked impressed, Wei WuXian looked smug, and Wen Ning looked fit to burst with pride.
A shaky breath from the bed drew everyone's attention.
"A-Yao, don't get up!"
Jin GuangYao struggled up onto one elbow despite ZeWu Jun's attempts to stop him.
"M-Maiden... Healer Wen, can you do that?"
"I will do my best," Wen Qing said, her expression softening a little.
Jin GuangYao's smile was a pained grimace as he attempted to bow his head.
"Thank you, Healer Wen."
"It will be a painful process so don't thank me yet," she warned him.
Jin GuangYao clenched his jaw.
"Whatever it takes. I'm not afraid of pain."
Wen Qing nodded in approval and went to sit beside him again, ZeWu Jun getting up to give her room.
"Maiden Wen, please take as much energy from me as you need," he said.
"If you need more then take mine," HanGuang Jun added.
Wen Qing held up a hand to forestall anymore selfless offers.
"We will start with you two," she decided and narrowed her eyes at Sect Leader Nie as he opened his mouth. "I will not take from an injured person."
"Agreed," Madam Jin said and turned to Sect Leader Nie. "One of my servants is a junior healer, but she's familiar with arrow wounds. Lan QiRen, please come as well."
Ignoring their protests, Wen Qing turned to the others.
"I need two persons to hold down Jin GuangYao. Forcing energy into his nervous system will cause severe discomfort."
"Can't you use anesthesia?" Sect Leader Nie demanded even as Madam Jin ushered him out, tut-tutting about the drops of blood he was leaving on her carpet.
Wen Qing shook her head.
"Anesthesia affects spiritual energy, making it more difficult to control and direct."
Again, Jiang Cheng saw her glancing at Wei WuXian and the shrug he gave. That uneasy feeling took root in his stomach once more. It was obvious Wen Qing knew about Wei WuXian's core being 'compromised' as ZeWu Jun put it. She must have healed whatever injuries he had also gotten at that time.
Had she tried to heal his core and been unable to use anesthesia?
"Let's get started," Wen Qing said briskly, taking out several needles from her black pouch and handing it back to Wen Ning. "ZeWu Jun, stand behind me and place your hand on my right shoulder. HanGuang Jun and Sect Leader Jiang, please hold down Jin GuangYao so that he doesn't struggle."
"Hey, I can do that!" Wei WuXian took an eager step forward.
"Me too!" Nie HuaiSang followed.
Wen Qing shook her head.
"You two need to leave. The less people crowding around, the better. I need to focus."
"Sorry, Young Master Wei," Wen Ning apologised.
"What about Jiang Cheng?" Wei WuXian protested.
"He can stay."
"Why is that?" Wei WuXian demanded as Jiang Cheng smirked at him.
Wen Qing narrowed her eyes, displeased at being questioned.
"Because you two can't donate any energy, but he can."
Jiang Cheng's smirk disappeared.
- o -
Wei Ying and HuaiSang emerged from the guest room to see Sect Leader Nie sitting at a low table with a servant attending to his shoulder while Madam Jin looked on.
"Kicked out by the healer?" Master Lan asked in a dry voice. He was sitting at another low table with a teacup in hand.
Wei Ying felt a smile tugging at his lips as he went over, ignoring the urgent hand pulling on his sleeve and the whispered 'Wei-xiong, let's go sit with Da-ge!'
Sitting beside Master Lan, Wei Ying poured tea for HuaiSang and himself. His gaze went back to the closed door and he pouted, feeling the same as when he and Lan Zhan saw how well the Wens were settling in the guest quarters at Cloud Recesses.
Unnecessary. Superfluous. Redundant.
Master Lan cleared his throat.
"Don't you think you have played the hero enough?" He asked, a note of weariness in his voice.
Startled, Wei Ying turned to meet those knowing eyes.
"'If others win over you, do not envy'," Master Lan recited.
Wei Ying huffed, recognising one of the many, many rules he had copied a few years back.
"True, but what about 'Perform acts of chivalry'?" He countered as HuaiSang quietly opened his fan and hid behind it.
Master Lan's eyes took on a gleam.
"Which doesn't apply to just yourself."
Wei Ying rubbed the side of his nose.
"True," he said reluctantly.
Master Lan nodded and took a sip of tea before his smug expression turned pensive. He was silent long enough for HuaiSang to peep at him over his fan.
"I was reminded of a few rules very recently. Two of them in particular." Master Lan gave Wei Ying a pointed look.
Halfway lifting his cup to his lips, Wei Ying stilled.
"Which ones?"
When the other man just raised an eyebrow, Wei Ying put down his cup.
"Master Lan, surely you do not expect me to guess out of the three thousand plus rules?" He asked, softening his words with a smile.
Master Lan stared at him, his eyebrows drawing together.
"Three thousand plus rules," he repeated and shook his head, muttering, "How did we end up with so many?"
Wei Ying glanced at HuaiSang who shrugged, still half hidden behind his fan. Then Master Lan cleared his throat.
"'Uphold the value of justice' and 'Help the underprivileged'." He looked away after he spoke, lips tightening in either embarrassment at his admission or at what it implied about his past actions.
Wei Ying stared at him, feeling that same tightness in his chest as when Master Lan defended him against Jin ZiXun earlier. Admitting to one's failures, even indirectly, especially to someone younger took courage. And courage was something Wei Ying respected.
"Well? Cat got your tongue?" Master Lan turned to glare at him.
Wei Ying huffed out a soft laugh and shook his head.
"'Do not argue with your family, for it doesn't matter who wins'," he recited, his voice unsteady.
Master Lan's eyes widened in shock.
Wei Ying's smile faltered as he wondered if he had overstepped his boundaries in claiming that familial bond. He wasn't married to Lan Zhan yet. But that was one of the rules he remembered copying back then. It reminded him of Uncle Jiang and Madam Yu's constant squabbles, and his own small disagreements with Jiang Cheng.
To his surprise and relief, Master Lan nodded at him.
"WuXian, you continue to surprise me. I can see why WangJi-" He broke off abruptly and looked away again.
Feeling pleased and somewhat embarrassed, Wei Ying glanced at HuaiSang who grinned at him. Master Lan turned back after a few moments, composed once more.
"I see that making you copy all those rules three years ago was a good idea."
This time, Wei Ying couldn't help chuckling outright, feeling that same rush of fondness for this man. Reaching for the teapot, he topped up his tea for him.
- o -
It took almost three hours to neutralise the poison.
Wen Qing kept one hand on Jin GuangYao's torso, over his golden core, and moved her other over his body as she directed the flow of energy. She kept her eyes closed most of the time, opening them only to shift her needles from one meridian point to another.
As soon as Wen Qing directed ZeWu Jun's spiritual energy into Jin GuangYao, he went rigid, teeth clamping hard on the folded silk handkerchief Wen Ning had placed between his lips and tied around his head. His shallow breathing turned harsh as his nervous system, already ravaged by the poison, was flooded with energy. Although he tried to keep still, his numb limbs jerked from time to time, requiring Jiang Cheng and HanGuang Jun to hold him down.
Fifteen minutes in, he broke down and started sobbing in pain. Another fifteen and his sobs escalated to gasping screams. It was awful for all of them to hear, but Jiang Cheng who had the misfortune - or lack of foresight - to hold down his arms and was therefore closest to his face, could bear it no longer.
"Use your Lan silencing spell," he begged HanGuang Jun who stood on the other side of Wen Qing and was holding down Jin GuangYao's legs.
"No!" ZeWu Jun objected at once, eyes widening in alarm. "That spell is only used when one speaks out of turn, and to get them to reflect on their actions. Not for this. A-Yao would force his lips apart and that would cause severe injuries to his mouth and throat."
Jiang Cheng scowled and thought about knocking Jin GuangYao unconscious, but Wen Qing opened her eyes to glare at him as if hearing his thoughts.
"I do not need anymore injuries to heal," she warned.
Pressing his lips together, Jiang Cheng looked away from Jin GuangYao's white face and the tears streaming from his tightly shut eyes. He wished he could cover his ears to shut out the sounds, but it was all he could do to keep the other man's arms still. He looked at the others.
HanGuang Jun's face was pale and his features tight with tension, but he didn't look away.
Was he recalling his recent bout with yin metal poisoning which Wei WuXian had healed him from?
Or the fact that it could so easily have been Wei WuXian lying there and screaming?
Only it wouldn't because they wouldn't have detected the poison in time. The three of them including Nie HuaiSang would have been in the same boat. They owed Jin GuangYao their lives. In fact, if ZeWu Jun hadn't promised him a home at Cloud Recesses, Jiang Cheng would.
Oh? You would? Asked a voice inside his head. You would take him in, no questions asked, but not your own brother?
His stomach twisted.
Shut up! That was different. Wei WuXian refused to come alone. Besides, my sect is stronger now. I am stronger now.
But Wei WuXian needed you then and not now, the voice pointed out. He has HanGuang Jun now. He has the whole of Gusu Lan now.
I know! Shut up!
Jin GuangYao doesn't need you either. He has ZeWu Jun now.
Once again, the most righteous sect in the cultivation world had beaten Jiang Cheng into offering sanctuary.
Once again, Jiang Cheng was a step behind.
"Hold him still!" Wen Qing's sharp voice startled him from his thoughts.
He tightened his grip on Jin GuangYao's arms and saw HanGuang Jun do the same for his legs. They would leave bruises, but that couldn't be helped. Jiang Cheng darted a glance at ZeWu Jun who had tears running down his face as he murmured a never ending litany of "A-Yao, shh, you're going to be fine. Just a little longer, shh." He looked and sounded distraught but the steady stream of energy he fed into Wen Qing never wavered.
Despite his annoyance at Gusu Lan as a whole, Jiang Cheng's respect for the Twin Jades' mental strength rose a notch.
A couple of minutes later, another scream tore from Jin GuangYao's throat and he fell unconscious. The sudden, deafening silence and utter lack of movement startled all of them. Jiang Cheng felt the same horror that was painted on the Twin Jades' faces, but Wen Qing just nodded.
"He's finally passed out," she murmured in relief. Sweat was beading on her forehead, but she just wiped it with her sleeve. "I can go faster now. Don't let go of him. Even unconscious, he can still lash out."
- Chapter End -
A/N: Thank you for reading! Please leave a review if you enjoyed it :)
- The rules were taken from a kind soul's translation of the Wall of Discipline in The Untamed.
- My beta JeanGirlMY has posted the first chapter of AU crack scenes for this story so please go check it out :)
