Ch13 – Golden Core II
The sun shone through the open door and Wei Ying's eyes shot open, a little too quickly as he had to close them again due to the bright light directly in his eyes. He didn't remember falling asleep last night, he certainly didn't remember falling asleep on the floor. If he was finally getting used to the hard be he shared with Lan Zhan back at the Cloud Recess, this floor had made it seem like sleeping on a cloud.
Standing up and trying not to wince at the pulled muscle in his neck, Wei Ying looked around the small room. It took him a moment to remember what he had spent most of the evening pacing the small room working out. When he finally did a bright smile split his face. He had possibly found the key to solving this illness, save all the people who has it…..save his family…..save Lan Zhan.
He quickly sobered up however, he had worked out what was wrong but he still had no idea how to fix it. There would possibly be some clues back in the library pavilion in Gusu but he couldn't possibly leave his brother and Lan Zhan here, not to mention all the others ill in Lotus Pier. Master Lan was already ill so he would be no help, so was Shidzui. There wasn't anyone he could ask. Walking back over to the bed he laid his hand back on his husbands stomach before delving to find any changes in his golden core. As expected the illness had only encroached a little on the core, it still shone and had a strong pulse of power emanating from it. Lan Zhan may be unconscious but Wei Ying couldn't see why he would be in danger for the time being.
Looking down on the chiselled jade features of the man he loved more than himself. A man who was normally so full of strength and power, only to now be fighting a battle with an unforeseen foe. An idea suddenly arose in hi mind and nearly tripping over his own feet in his rush, he ran out the door into the fresh air. Drawing a talisman in the air he made a push motion before watching the talisman vanish from sight. Taking a deep breath all he could do was wait. Wait and hope that the response would come soon and be something helpful. Hope that the person he had sent the message to would actually receive it. Anyway he couldn't do anything else now, sending a second message wouldn't help, if the first one didn't reach its destination the second wouldn't either.
Forcing himself to turn around he slowly closed the door to Lan Zhan's room before turning and walking towards the Jiang Cheng's room. He spent the next few hours checking on his brother, who as expected was worse than yesterday with his golden core seemingly fading faster than before. Checking on the healers who had contracted the illness, some of which where in a serious condition, and finally doing the daily chores for the main healing dormitories such as fetching water and feeding power into the heating system. Just as he was starting to get concerned about the lack of response to his fire message something flew through the window and landed in his hand. Without thinking he dropped the bucket of water he was holding and held out his had for the message.
A Piece of paper filled with characters appeared in his hand. Shaking almost too much to keep hold of the paper he forced himself to lower his hand and read the delicate but masculine script. 'WY, Have looked into what you need. Only one book has information on healing the way you wish. It states the two people must have some connection for it to be a success. LX' Wei Ying read the message twice to make sure he understood what was meant. A connection? What kind of connection? And how would a connection help him help the others? This message gave him more questions than answers. Knowing he would have received any information he could get from the other he simply wrote another message before sending it back into the air. 'Thank you for the help. Go back into hiding and keep safe. WY'
Walking aimlessly back into the courtyard which held both of the men he held dear he paused. The letter had said he needed a connection. In this courtyard where the two people in the world he probably had the most connections with. He and Lan Zhan where cultivation partners and cultivation partners shared a mystical bond that was a mystery even to cultivators, however the golden core inside Jiang Cheng had once been his own so he knew it intimately. Which one would be the strongest connection for him to try first? And how would he use the connection to cure anyone? He wished the message had had some more information but for now it was up to him to fill in the rest.
He didn't know he had chosen until he opened the door to one of the rooms. Lan Zhan lay on the bed, his breathing shallow. Wei Ying approached the bed suddenly apprehensive about what he was trying to do. Once again resting his hand on the bare stomach of his husband he felt gently for the beat of the core deep inside. Once he found it he searched around to find the darkness, it still seemed to be winding its way around the sore, as if it was trying to strangle all the light out of it. Wei Ying explored again for that thin thread that felt out of place in the body of a cultivator like Lan Zhan.
Externally he exhaled when he found it, although Wei Ying himself didn't notice such trivial things. Focusing in on that thread he let more of his dark energy drip into it. Slowly the thread seemed to widen, grow and thicken as if the feed of power was forcing its way through the narrow passage. Lan Zhan's brow was sweating at the effect of the foreign power being pushed through his body, however someone with Lan Zhan's tolerance to pain and the fact he already had a small amount in his body though the bond, meant the discomfort was all he felt.
Slowly, millimetre by millimetre, the darkness surrounding the core seemed to retreat a little. Outside of the transfer of power, both men were breathing heavily. Wei Ying didn't know how much longer he could keep up this power transfer without either draining himself or passing out. Gritting his teeth he pushed more power into the thread that tied him to his husband. It seemed to groan under the strain but he kept the flow going. Eventually the power transfer lessened automatically, Wei Ying couldn't keep up the level of control required to transfer just the right amount of power without overloading his husband. His control slipped slightly and his hands shook. He hated to let go but he had to.
Pulling back into himself Wei Ying wobbled as he sat on the bed besides Lan Zhan. He had enough strength left to grip hold of his partners hand and held it close, up to his lips for a small chaste kiss.
'I can''t do any more right now Lan Er-gege. Please get better and if you need more power I will give you as much as I can.'
Wei Ying whispered quietly to the sleeping man before lying back on the pillow next to him. Finally dropping to sleep he drifted in dreams. Dreams of waking up with Lan Zhan's arms wrapped around him, Lan Zhan's lips on his, Lan Zhan's breath and voice softly caressing his face. The kind of dreams he didn't want to wake up from. It wasn't a peaceful night sleep though, along with the dreams he also had a nightmares mixed in. Nightmares of Lan Zhan never waking up, nightmares of Lan Zhan trying to yell at him for help but trapped inside his own unresponsive body.
He awoke with a start. Breathing heavily trying to regain control, he looked over only to see Lan Zhan still unconscious next to him. Lan Zhan hadn't moved from where he had been before. All Wei Ying's dreams suddenly seemed shattered.
'Lan Zhan?…...Lan Er-gege?' Wei Ying inched closer pressing his forehead to Lan Zhan's almost allowing himself to feel the others slow breathing.
Lan Zhan didn't respond, his breathing remained the same and his physical body didn't move. The only thing Wei Ying could think of to do was to place his hand back on top of the core and see if the transfer of energy had created any change at all. Exploring for the third time that day Wei Ying would have have gasped if his energy self had been capable of it. The darkness surrounding the core was much less than it had been a few hours before. The dark thread still pulsed and the demonic energy seemed to clear the area close to it of all the illness. However the demonic energy seemed to have a short effective range, the area on the opposite side of the thread still held on to the darkness. This must be what was preventing Lan Zhan from waking up.
Wei Ying sighed. He didn't know how he could transfer any more of his energy into another person without damaging either of them. If this didn't work with someone like Lan Zhan who already had a connection to him then maybe the message meant something else. Or maybe he needed to use the connection in some other way.
Wei Ying growled to the empty space around him.
'Why are things so hard? What do I have to do?'
He felt exhausted from the exchange. He didn't have a lot of energy in the first place and the energy he did have he had been transferring to Lan Zhan for the past hour, with very little effect. Wei Ying fought to keep his eyes open and not lie down once again. Part of him just wanted to curl up next to Lan Zhan and face whatever fate had in mind hand in hand with his soulmate. But a larger part of him knew that he couldn't just walk away from his brother, son and nephew, not to mention all the others relying on him to find the key to this puzzle.
The minutes ticked past as he stood staring blankly out the door, his mind coming up with ideas only to dismiss them one second later. He had two clues, one was that the demonic energy he cultivated made him immune to this thing, the second was that the link he had with Lan Zhan gave some kind of resistance but not full immunity. Somehow he had to…..As if a lightning strike had hit his brain Wei Ying's head shot up for a few seconds staying still, before he started sprinting out the room.