They won't expect us
Wei Ying was hurting. He was quite used to it, but it did not mean he liked it. He allowed himself to sink in Lan Zhan's arms, to feel his comforting energy. He could stay like this. But suddenly there was a foreign touch on his wrist, and he withdrew his hand, abruptly torn between the need to curl into Lan Wangji's arms asking for protection and to defend him.
"Leave us", he growled, the coils of dark energy feeding on his fear were slowly creating a shield.
"Wei Ying, this is the healer. He has cared for us. Let him check on you. I am here. I won't allow anyone to harm you", Lan Zhan's voice had a soothing quality. Still, Wei Ying was not convinced.
"Hanguang-Jun, I can instruct you what to do", the man called the healer declared. Wei Wuxian slowly managed to focus on him. He looked intently at the slim face, the dark hair with a untidy knot. The stranger was wearing Nie colours.
Nie Huiasang and Jiang Cheng were observing the scene and the Yiling Patriarch suddenly appreciated their silence.
"What do you need from me?", Wei Wuxian asked the healer. His fingers were clutching to Lan Zhan robes as he was trying to hide within him.
"Master Wei, I would like to check your pulse.", the healer seemed to be a bit unconfident.
The Yling Patriarch breathed in and extended his hand towards the man. The touch was light and precise. Wei Wuxian realized belatedly that it did not make him run away. The healer focused on the examination.
"I'd like to see the wound, if you allowed, Master Wei", he said after some time.
"I'll take care of the bandages", Lan Zhan declared quickly and Wei Wuxian gave him a thankful smile.
"May I?", he asked, when his fingers ghosted over Wei Ying's inner robe.
"Always", Wei Wuxian murmured before he realized that all the more intimate scenes between them were only among his dreams and wishes.
There was a glint of understanding in Lan Wangji's eyes.
He needs to rest. He's too pale. He shouldn't be taking care of me…
Somehow he must have betrayed his thoughts as Lan Wangji gently covered his upper chest, above the wound with his palm.
"Don't move'', he said calmly. Wei Wuxian was not in the best position to observe Lan Zhan's movements but still he did his best. The sight of Lan Wangi's fingers gently prying off the bandages was too precious to remain unseen. Wei Ying loved the care in every gesture, the intensity of the gaze, the shyness when Lan Zhan touched his skin accidentally. Wei Wuxian was so mesmerized by the Second Jade, that he only barely felt the pain of the wound.
The spell broke when the injury was exposed. Judging from Lan Zhan's expression, it did not look good.
"I need to examine the wound, Master Wei", the healer stated.
Was he a bit irritated? Wei Wuxian honestly could not blame him for it.
"I have to touch the area around the wound", the man added after a while. Wei Wuxian nodded, his body arched when the healer's energy and hand touched it. His fingers digging in Lan Zhan's hand. He was suffocating. He could not catch his breath. Was he dying?
Suddenly a gentle stream of energy entered his system. It was like fresh water for someone dying in the desert. It was a reassurance. Like the light lit in the child's room which transformed all shadowy lurking hungry monsters into the well-known furniture.
The air tasted sweet and it tasted sandalwood.
Wei Wuxian was held by Lan Zhan. His face was hidden in the other's robes. The ever present sandalwood scent was a promise of safety. He relaxed. His fingers loosened their desperate hold. Then the realization came.
How am I embarrassed! How can I look at them now?! I want to disappear!
Instead he laughed loudly.
"I am sorry. It really hurts!", he cast a false bright smile.
"I see", the healer played along, "the wound is not infected. It has already started to heal."
"What does it mean exactly?!", Jiang Cheng asked and Wei Ying felt awful that his brother witnessed the whole situation.
"Master Wei will recover. Though he needs to rest and drink my awful concoctions", the healer smiled.
"Thank you, healer Nie", Wei Ying replied, "though I prefer not to be treated as an unconscious object when I am aware."
"My apologies, Master Wei", the man bowed deeply and focused on preparation of a herbal infusion.
Nie Huaisang was silently observing the whole situation. He saw the problem as Wei Wuxian was wounded more deeply than he expected. It meant a necessary adjustment of his plans. The sect Nie leader wanted to talk with his old friend without anyone else's presence, which seemed pretty impossible. Lan Wangji was holding the Yiling Patriarch in his arms, his closeness was doing wonders for the wounded man.
He excused himself leaving the two injured love-birds. He needed to listen to the reports of his cultivators who followed the assailants.
Nie Huaisang felt furious when his men shared their gained knowledge with him. He needed Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji in fighting condition and according to his healer there was no chance that the Yiling Patriarch could recover enough within a day or two. He definitely needed more time. The time which they did not have.
The Nie sect leader did not like the idea of going to the abandoned shrine in a cave on his own but it seemed that the other option was not truly available. For the moment he ordered the close observation of the place. Obviously a trap was there but it was quite probable that this trap was set up there with Chenqing as a bait.
Nie Huaisang focused on the symbols which were drawn at the cave entrance. Some of them were just protection signs, but others… he was comparing them to those drawn in his other notes when he heard a soft knock to the door.
He reached for his poisoned knife and invited the unexpected guest. The door silently opened and a very pale Wei Wuxian appeared.
"What are you doing here? Are we under attack?!", the Nie sect leader asked nervously.
"No… I've just seen the light… may I come in?"
"Of course. Come in and sit down before you faint on me and the Chief Cultivator execute me for that", he muttered, ready to support the wounded man if his strength failed him.
"Didn't want to disturb Lan Wangji. He needs sleep and… it's been elusive for me this night…", the Yiling Patriarch cast a quick smile.
"Nightmares?"
"Nah… rather a premonition. I can feel Chenqing. It's stronger than it was when I used the talisman to guide me to her. And that's something more. Much resentful energy was dealt with."
"Dealt with?"
"Yes. It was not exactly used against someone or something but it was transferred, maybe to create a powerful talisman."
"A trap… I think I know where Chenqing is but I'm positive it's there as a bait. I have only a few symbols reported from the entrance. I've not decided yet to send my people inside.", he showed the signs to the Yiling Patriarch.
"They are irrelevant, I think. Though I would like to see them in the flesh."
"I wish to have you there with me but… my healer's ordered you to rest."
"Something is going on, we can't wait.", Wei Wuxian was a newly regained confidence in his eyes.
"We won't go there during the night. This is too risky", the Nie sect leader declared solemnly.
"I agree. But… may I stay here for a while longer?"
"Obviously. I have some wine…"
He tossed the bottle towards his guest. Wei Wuxian gulped it at once.
"Brother Wei, are you afraid of Nie Feng?", the Nie sect leader was not sure how to approach the problem.
"Afraid of a healer? Come on, the only healer whom I may have feared was Wen Qing!", he reached for more wine which Nie Huaisang generously gave him.
"So it's counterproductive of me to send for a female healer, isn't it?"
"Brother Nie, there is no reason to trouble you with this inferior one."
"I beg to differ."
"Why? Because of the Chief Cultivator's proposal?", Wei Wuxian shook his head, allowing the bangs of his hair to hide his face a little before he mustered the strength to summon a bright smile, "I'll love to see the Lan Qiren's face when Lan Zhan announces this! It may send him directly into a qi deviation! Sorry, I shouldn't joke about it in your presence. Forgive me, please."
"I guess you've agreed to marry Lan Wangji?"
"Yes, I did… It was a mistake, wasn't it? I cannot tarnish his reputation. Especially… Well, I think it will be a sad joke for everyone to see the condemned Yiling Patriarch as his husband… they caught me because they wanted to hurt him… use me as a bait… I am useless even as a bait…"
"Brother Wei…", Nie Huaisang knew he should balance carefully while having Wei Wuxian at the edge of breaking down.
"Who am I to you, Nie Huaisang?", the other man asked, his eyes foggy with tears.
"My friend and my brother.", the Nie cultivator answered, lowering his gaze. He was not accustomed to such an emotional display. However it was needed here.
"How…? After all that has happened I am so unworthy…"
"They did it because they wanted you to feel in such a way. They wanted to show you that you're only their tool."
"And why are you talking about it with me?"
"You're not a tool, neither a weapon, brother Wei. You cannot be wielded. You proved it in both your lives. And I need you as my ally, as my friend."
Wie Wuxian slowly raised his eyes to meet Nie Huaisang's gaze.
"Could you answer my first question? About the healer. You know me, brother Wei. I have a reason to ask this question."
There was a glint of interest in Yiling Patriarch's eyes.
"You're not so interested in my well-being, are you? I am not sure, the touch or the energy. It doesn't make any sense."
"It does. Lan Wangji's energy has a very strong signature as does yours or Jiang Cheng's. Our healers are rather learned to use something which can be described as healer's signature. It's quite common in other clans too. That's because many healers are recruited not from main cultivators' families. Their training in the clan is often started later than the healer's training so… a five hundreds years ago the main clans decided that the healers should use a common signature."
"Healer Liu has her own personal strong signature. I guess that the Jiang healers never have obeyed that rule."
"That's very probable. I have the same impression about the always rightful Lans", Nie Huaisang smiled. Wei Wuxian was distressed enough to talk about his feelings but not enough to break down. It was a success!
"So… Do you think I reacted badly not only to a male touch but also to a healer's energy?"
"It's my guessing. It's a common reaction for the tortured cultivators who were maintained alive by healing."
"I was not healed…", Wei Wuxian clearly was thinking. He drank some more wine but his face remained serious and gaze focused, "a healer can easily use their energy to influence the body without exactly healing, am I right?"
"Yes. It's rather forbidden but… quite often used."
"Maybe it's the reason the pain was debilitating so much… and… the trap! I know the nature of the trap which awaits us, probably in the place where Chenqing is hidden! The part of the trap consists of my emotions, my memories. If they hit me with them I'll become only a liability and if it's aimed at Lan Zhan it may affect it enough for them to deliver a serious attack! But this trap would be created then, when I was in their hands. And what I felt tonight was something else. Much more energy… though they could have taken all of it from me… I hated them enough…"
"Call Wen Ning. I have the feeling we may need him. Not in the cave with us, it will be too obvious for them and too dangerous for us. And prepare some talismans to protect you and Lan Wangji from your memories… No, to protect us all.". Sending Jiang Cheng into rage was never a good idea. For anyones, his allies included. And Nie Huaisang preferred not to test his resistance...
"I'll do it. We're going there tomorrow. They know we're both with Lan Zhan wounded. They won't expect us!"
A/N
Legate_of_Apples, thank you for betaing!