He could hear Luo Qingyang and Yu Qingqi calling to him as he ran, but Jin Ling didn't slow down. He hadn't meant to come so close to everyone else. He hadn't wanted anyone to see him. But it was hard to remember where everything was and it was even harder to see where he was going.
He felt so stupid for crying.
Hot blood trickled down his side and his wounds stung terribly. Each breath he drew burned his throat. He didn't know how he was able to keep running but he did.
And then, suddenly, he wasn't running anymore. Something had dropped down from the sky and landed directly in front of him.
Jin Ling had no time to stop. He ran straight into Luo Qingyang, who proceeded to curse at him for doing so.
"Why did you ignore me?!" she demanded, sheathing her sword.
Jin Ling longed to yell at her and tell her to mind her own business, but his injuries were catching up to him. It was all he could do to remain standing.
"Why are you running?!" she went on. "What happened back there?! Where is the loud boy?!"
"He's… still there," Jin Ling gasped.
"Goodness! Look at you!" Luo Qingyang said, gesturing toward his torso. "Have you had that wound this whole time? Is it deep?"
Jin Ling glanced down to see his entire right side soaked with blood. "It's not deep," he assured her, but even as he said it, he wobbled on his feet.
Luo Qingyang stepped forward to steady him, but he pushed her away. She frowned.
"What's wrong?" she asked. "Did you talk to him? Did you two find anything?"
"We didn't find anything."
"Can you stop only answering the last question I ask?"
Jin Ling took a deep breath and winced. "Nothing's wrong."
Luo Qingyang narrowed her eyes. "Did that boy say something to you?"
"No. Well, yes, technically we exchanged words, but nothing interesting."
She continued to stare at him, eyes narrowing further. "…Did you kiss him again?"
"Can you stop asking that?!" Jin Ling screamed. "Why do you always assume that?!"
"Because it's a real possibility!"
"No it isn't!"
"So you didn't kiss him," she said dully. "And I'm guessing you didn't talk to him like I'd hoped you had. So, why are you running? Was someone chasing you?"
"Aside from you?"
Luo Qingyang scowled. Jin Ling did his best to remain upright.
"I don't know how to make my question clearer," she said. "Why. Are. You. Running?"
"Why should I answer you?" he asked crossly. "How can I trust you?"
She cocked her head to one side. "I don't understand."
Jin Ling took a deep breath to steady himself. It had the opposite effect. He was beginning to feel dizzy.
"Yu Qingqi," he said simply. "You told her, didn't you?"
Luo Qingyang's mouth fell open. "No!" she breathed. "I told you I wouldn't!"
He hadn't felt angry when he'd accused her, but now he did.
"Don't lie to me," he said. "Why else would she tease us and laugh along with you like she has been? Why does she seem to suddenly pay so much attention to me?"
"Because she's not an idiot, Jin Ling!"
"What?"
Luo Qingyang pressed her palm to her forehead. "I told you that I could tell," she said. "She can tell too. She figured it out on her own."
Figured it out on her own? Panic filled his heart.
Apparently, Luo Qingyang could sense his inner turmoil because she added, "And I've told you that most people aren't looking for that. They aren't expecting it. But she and I know you and don't have the same… perspective that most other people do as to what a romance should look like."
Jin Ling made a face at the word 'romance'. It made him think of a teenage girl fawning over a good-looking man who was just out of her reach.
"I told her nothing of what you've confided in me," Luo Qingyang stated resolutely.
"Then why do you two seem like you're making jokes together?"
"Because if I dismissed her suspicion of you, that would only make her more suspicious that she was right and that you've confided in me!" Luo Qingyang said. "I'm going above and beyond. I would appreciate some gratitude."
That did make some sense when he thought about it. If his interests had been so obvious to Luo Qingyang, it would certainly make her wife suspicious if she denied it outright.
Jin Ling was ashamed for having thought she would betray him. But it irritated him that she'd demanded gratitude, so he moved past his shame quickly.
"Hm," was all he said in reply.
"So, why were you running?" she asked.
She really wouldn't let it go, would she?
"I wanted some extra training," Jin Ling joked.
"I'm serious," Luo Qingyang said sternly. "I can't help you if you don't tell me what you need."
"I'm staying away from Jingyi."
"Why?"
"…"
"Tell me damn it!"
"I am telling you!" Jin Ling shouted. "I need him kept away from me!"
He'd sounded more desperate than he'd intended. Luo Qingyang had noticed.
"Something happened between you two again," she said.
She wasn't accusing him. Her voice was sweet and comforting.
"No, I-"
"He didn't hurt you, did he?" she asked.
She had spoken in the same way she had before, but her demeanor had shifted into something frightening. Jin Ling was thankful that the honest answer was the one he was able to give her.
"No, of course not."
"Did you do anything more than kiss?"
Jin Ling's face burned red hot. "No!"
"All right!" Luo Qingyang said, holding up her hands. "I'm trying to figure out what we're dealing with, that's all."
"…"
"So you kissed him again and-"
"No, he… he initiated…"
Luo Qingyang didn't look as amused as he'd expected. A horrible feeling grew in the back of his mind. He worried what she would say.
"So he kissed you," she said, "and it's a problem now because you don't want to pursue this further and this time you have no excuse for why you kissed him back… I assume you kissed him back?"
"I did," Jin Ling said, ashamed. "I need him kept away from me. I don't know why this keeps happening. I can't be doing this."
"He's a romantic. I would suppose it could be difficult for someone like you not to be drawn to him."
"What?"
Luo Qingyang shrugged. "The way he talks and always says what he's thinking and feeling… that boy is a romantic," she said. "Just the other day weren't you three talking about how you would win a girl's heart?"
"…yes?" Jin Ling said, feeling like Luo Qingyang was getting a little off topic and missing the point. He also didn't recall her being a part of that conversation.
"Do you remember what he said?"
Jin Ling thought for a moment.
"He said he would listen to her when she talked about things she liked and he would get her those things or do those things for her so he could show her rather than tell her that he cared – bleugh."
Luo Qingyang rolled her eyes at Jin Ling's disgust.
"Obviously you like that," she said. "You keep kissing him. Don't try to pretend with me, boy."
Jin Ling returned her eyeroll.
"And do you remember what he did shortly after that?" Luo Qingyang asked.
"You pay a lot of attention to what the three of us are doing…"
"Answer the question."
Jin Ling had to think on it. He knew they'd been eating during this conversation, but he didn't know what part afterward had caught Luo Qingyang's attention.
He was pretty sure they'd gotten into another trivial argument. And then they'd started to clear up their things to rejoin everyone else when…
Jin Ling's stomach did a little flip.
"He offered us a dessert… because he'd remembered that I said it was one of my favorites a long time ago."
"Mhm," Luo Qingyang said. "I have to wonder just how long that boy has been writing you love letters that you've been too stupid to read."
Jin Ling made a face again, put off by how sappy she was making everything out to be.
"I thought you liked Lan Sizhui better," he said.
She shrugged. "This one has grown on me, which is why I have to say that I'm disappointed in you."
Her words sent an electric shock through his being. He stared at her. So, she continued on.
"You can't keep doing this," Luo Qingyang said. "You're not being fair to him."
"You think I don't know that?!"
They were quiet for a time. Even the trees around them didn't whisper like they usually did.
Jin Ling couldn't bring himself to look at the pitying creases around Luo Qingyang's mouth, so he studied a little mouse he'd spotted scurrying around the base of a sickly looking tree.
The mouse slowed and sat back on its haunches. It swung its nose in his direction, decided he was of no threat, and set about stuffing its cheeks with seeds.
He could almost hear Fairy whine for permission to chase it.
He missed his dog. And he missed his family.
"What would he think of me?" Jin Ling breathed.
He had been speaking mostly to himself but Luo Qingyang had heard him.
"Lan Jingyi?" she asked. "Or Sect Leader Jiang?"
Jin Ling nodded at the mouse. "This is all so stupid," he said. "I have other real problems to worry about. Xue Yang is loose, there may be more of this gang elsewhere waiting to wreak havoc again, and I'm here causing more problems for myself. Maybe I really am related to Wei Wuxian somehow."
Luo Qingyang said nothing.
"My mother and father…" he muttered, "…they must be glad not to be here to see me ruin their names."
"Don't talk like that," Luo Qingyang said. "You don't know what you're saying."
"Of course I don't!" he yelled. "You knew my parents better than I ever did and you barely spoke to them! All I've got left of them is a sword, a stupid pond, and a clan that I'm failing! I haven't got a single memory! Not one!"
"Jin Ling…"
He knew she wanted him to stop degrading himself, but she didn't seem to know quite what to say. And now that he'd started, it just kept coming. Everything that had been weighing on him over the past months spilled out.
"I wasn't ready to take over!" he yelled. "I don't know what I'm doing! And now I'm out here jeopardizing the future of my clan by fooling around with Jingyi instead of looking for a wife! And my uncle is trying to hunt down Xue Yang, while I'm worrying about this stupid problem that I've created. And my parents-"
Luo Qingyang closed the gap between them and wrapped her arms around him. But this time, it wasn't comforting. It only made him feel more childish.
"Stop! Let go of me!" he shouted.
He shoved her away, nearly pushing her hard enough to knock her over.
"I don't need that!" he yelled at her. "It won't fix anything!"
"I know that," Luo Qingyang said sympathetically.
"Then stop! I don't need you!"
"Stop being a brat."
"Don't talk to me like that!" he yelled, taking a ready stance as if he were going to fight her. "You're my advisor! You're not in any position to call me a brat!"
Luo Qingyang's eyebrows shot up. He hadn't meant to pull rank on her, but what was done was done.
"Then as your advisor," she said, her tone deadly calm, "I advise you to consider that your mother loved Wei Wuxian as her brother."
"I – what?"
Jin Ling was completely caught off guard. Her statement had seemingly come out of nowhere.
Seeing his confusion, Luo Qingyang went on. "It was said that those three – Wei Wuxian, your mother, and your uncle – were practically inseparable," she said. "Anyone who had visited with them knew that a lot more had been said between those three than anyone else would ever know because a shared glance was as good as a passed note."
"I don't see how this-"
"I can tell you," she continued, looking annoyed that he'd interrupted, "from what I saw of Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian myself, those two worked so well together that they rarely had to say more than a word or two to communicate."
"…"
"I wouldn't be surprised if, with a family that close to one another, your mother and your uncle might have known Wei Wuxian's proclivities, even when they were young."
Jin Ling frowned. "But you said that it was hard for people to notice it if they didn't think to look for it," he said.
"Yes, and I can't be certain that either of them knew anything," she admitted. "But the more I think about it, the more I think it might have been the case. And regardless, from what I've heard, your mother was incredibly kind. I think she would have loved you no matter what, just like she loved Wei Wuxian no matter how much the world around them slandered his name."
"You don't know that."
"No, I don't," she said with a nod. "But they're gone and can't tell you otherwise. You can hold them in your heart in whatever way you want."
It was a strange notion. Jin Ling wasn't sure he could just decide what was true about his parents and what wasn't. But Luo Qingyang did have a point in saying that he would never know how they felt. He was agonizing over the unknowable.
He could know Jiang Cheng's thoughts, though. And that still frightened him.
"You were right when you said that you have other problems to deal with," Luo Qingyang said. "You need to hurry up and figure things out between yourself and that boy or else someone is going to pay for the problems between you two and it may not be either of you."
"I know. I'm sorry."
She took a half step closer to him as if she wanted to embrace him again, but she stopped herself.
"I cannot explain to you how sorry I am that you're dealing with this," she said. "Because even though I said that Sect Leader Jiang might have known about Wei Wuxian and loved him anyway, I still don't think it's a good idea for you to tell him about any of this."
"Right."
"And it's not easy to tell someone that you care about that you can't be with them, but you have to tell that Lan boy. Do you understand?"
"I do," Jin Ling said.
"Good," Luo Qingyang replied. "Are you ready to direct things back at the camp or do you need more time here?"
"I'm ready."
"Let's go, then."
As soon as they started heading back the way they'd come, Jin Ling regretted his answer. He wasn't ready to face Jingyi yet. What was he thinking?
His pace slowed the more he thought about things. Before long, Luo Qingyang had moved ahead so far that she was almost out of sight.
Would Luo Qingyang expect him to pull Jingyi aside right away to tell him what he needed to tell him? Would Jingyi make a scene in front of everyone before he even got the chance to talk to him? He did tend to speak his mind and it would have only been fair for him to be angry at how Jin Ling had run off and left him alone. Would Jingyi have already told Sizhui what had happened? How much did Sizhui know already?
For all of his fretting, Jin Ling could not have prepared himself enough to see Jingyi again.
When he stepped back into the gang's camp, he was greeted by his disciples and Yu Qingqi. People started asking him what he wanted done with the prisoners and when he was planning on returning to Jinlintai, but his eyes wandered and found what they were looking for. Suddenly, he couldn't hear any of them anymore.
Jingyi and Sizhui were together at the edge of the camp, next to a half-demolished tent. Wen Ning was nowhere to be seen and presumably had taken up his task of Xue Yang lookout. Jingyi was shaking his head as Sizhui spoke to him and tended to his injuries.
He was obviously upset. His eyes were red and there were distinct vertical streaks through the dirt on his cheeks. He sat slumped over beside Sizhui, leaning on him as if he didn't have the strength to hold himself upright.
Guilt raked its long claws through Jin Ling's chest.
"Sect Leader?"
He brought his attention back to his disciples.
"Were we planning to bring the prisoners back with us?"
Jin Ling frowned. "What else would we do with them?" he asked. "I'm not going to let them go."
"Execution, Sect Leader," Luo Qingyang said distastefully from where she stood beside her wife. "They're wondering whether you would like them to execute a few to make them easier to transport."
Jin Ling was taken aback, but did his best to hide it. They would ask him that here, in front of the prisoners?
He glanced over to find that the two prisoners that were conscious had turned very pale.
"Um no," he said. "That won't be necessary. We'll take them back to Jinlintai to stand trial."
"Yes, Sect Leader," the disciple said with a bow.
He sidled off and another one took his place.
"Where would you like us to house them?" the second one asked.
"At the center of our encampment, where the patrols can keep an eye on them."
That disciple moved away to start organizing the transport of the prisoners. Another disciple replaced him.
"When do we plan to depart for Jinlintai?" he asked.
"Before nightfall."
The questions kept coming.
After the rough start to his morning, their battle, and then everything with Jingyi, Jin Ling was finding himself overwhelmed by all of it. But he did his best to not let anyone see just how tired and flustered he was.
He answered questions left and right for what felt like forever, until the final question freed him.
"When are you going to let a doctor look at you?" Yu Qingqi asked him, going so far as to pluck at the bloodied part of his uniform. "I think you're still bleeding."
"Not badly," Jin Ling said. "I'm fine."
"You should still have someone take a look at you," she said, steering him away from the crowd. She started leading him toward Sizhui and Jingyi. "Your friend dressed the wound on my leg quite well. Maybe you would feel more comfortable with him tak-?"
"No," Jin Ling said quickly, pulling his arm out of her grasp.
Yu Qingqi stared at him in shock. "Um, all right," she said. "Do you not trust his abilities or-?"
"No, I would just prefer to use my own doctor. Where is he?"
Jin Ling didn't get far in his attempt to distance himself from the Lan disciples. They'd gone no more than a few steps before he heard Sizhui call from behind him.
"Jin Ling!" he said. "Jin Ling! Over here!"
Sizhui was not one to raise his voice unless absolutely necessary. Jingyi must not have let him leave his side to track Jin Ling down.
"You heard him, didn't you?" Yu Qingqi asked when Jin Ling had stopped but hadn't yet answered.
"I did," he said brusquely. "I… lost my train of thought. That's all."
He turned around to call back to Sizhui, but Yu Qingqi caught his arm.
"Are you sure you're all right?" she asked, staring at him so intently that he was forced to look away. "I know you're closer with A-Yang, but please know that you can confide in me as well. We both care about you."
He was perplexed why a minor pause in stride would summon such an exaggerated reaction from her. At the same time, he felt a rush of affection for Yu Qingqi. He'd never heard her say that she cared about him. He'd thought that they were mostly polite acquaintances with one another.
"Yes, I'm fine," Jin Ling said, maintaining a surly demeanor for the sake of reputation.
"All right," she said. "My apologies for prying. Please be sure to have your friend or the doctor examine that wound."
She released him, but did not drop her hand back down at her side. She looked as if she wanted to say something more.
But then the look passed and she gave him a fleeting smile before heading off through the crowd toward where Luo Qingyang had last been.
Dread washed over Jin Ling like a fever. There was nothing now to keep him from going to Sizhui and Jingyi. What had Jingyi already shared?
He locked eyes with Sizhui, wordlessly signaling that he'd heard him earlier. He then dragged his feet the whole way over, even pretending to have dropped something on the ground to delay their reunion.
But he eventually stood before them, still unprepared to face Jingyi.
The two had finished whatever they'd been doing earlier. Jingyi was no longer leaning on Sizhui and from the smudges on his cheeks, it seemed that he had tried to hide the evidence of his hurt. But it was obvious that he was still upset. Not once did he look up at Jin Ling.
"Please don't take this the wrong way," Sizhui said. "You look terrible."
"Tch."
Jin Ling's knees trembled. Sizhui seemed to notice. His brow twitched almost imperceptibly.
"I admit that I've felt better," Jin Ling added reluctantly.
Sizhui smiled. "Would you like to have a seat?" he asked. "I can take a look at your side if you want?"
Jin Ling glanced at Jingyi, but he gave no impression that he cared one way or the other if he joined them. He wouldn't look at him at all.
Jin Ling eased himself down on the grass next to Sizhui.
There was no way he would have invited Jin Ling to sit with them if Jingyi had told him what had happened. And yet, there was something in the way that Sizhui regarded him before picking at the cut in his torso that made Jin Ling apprehensive.
"Ow!" Jin Ling cried as Sizhui pried his uniform away from his body.
"Sorry," he said, lips pressed tightly together as he concentrated on peeling the uniform away more gently. "It's really stuck to you."
"Just stop then. Stop! Ow!"
"You're still bleeding. I have to take this out before I can cover it with anything."
Jin Ling smacked his hands away, but Sizhui didn't relent.
"You won't be able to bandage it out here anyway!" Jin Ling insisted. "I'd have to – OW! What did you do?!"
Sizhui had ripped the remainder of adheared cloth away in one fluid motion, no doubt to quell Jin Ling's whining. In so doing, he had completely reopened the wound. Blood seeped down Jin Ling's side once more.
"I'm sorry!" Sizhui said. "It was going to have to come out anyway. I can put this on it for – Jin Ling?"
Jin Ling swayed where he sat. He felt hot and cold and tired all at once. It was hard to concentrate on what Sizhui was saying to him.
"I'm going to put some of this on you," Sizhui said, holding up a small box of a white substance that slid in and out of focus.
Jin Ling squinted at it.
"It's tian qi powder," Sizhui explained as he dipped his hand into it. "It works better as a pill, but the powder should help to stop your bleeding a little faster."
He felt Sizhui gingerly pat his side a couple of times. When he took his hand away, his wound began to tingle.
"Ow," Jin Ling said dully.
"Would you like me to fetch the doctor?" Sizhui asked.
"No," Jin Ling said. "I just need to lie down. My head hurts."
"Can you walk?"
"Yes."
"All right let's go back to the encampment," Sizhui said. "I can try to patch you up more there, but if I can't do it, I will be calling the doctor."
"Fine."
He'd wanted his doctor before, but now that he felt so terribly, he didn't want to answer questions from yet another person. Plus, his wooziness had chased away much of his apprehension.
Sizhui rose and offered Jin Ling a hand up, but he pushed it away and got up on his own. Jingyi stood silently by himself and followed them, his head bowed as if in prayer.
They walked back through the crowd. Surprisingly few people tried to talk to him as he went by. There had been a good number of disciples still gathered around him when he'd been pulled away.
But, it seemed that everyone was hard at work with one task or another. He assumed that Luo Qingyang had taken the lead once again.
"Are you all right?" Sizhui asked when Jin Ling shielded his eyes as they stepped out into the sunny plains.
"Ah – it's – yes I'm fine," Jin Ling replied.
It felt as if nails were being driven through his eyes and into the back of his skull.
"We're almost there," Sizhui said encouragingly.
"Great."
He followed Sizhui to the best of his ability, but even with his hand shielding his face from the sun, Jin Ling was still only able to bear opening his eyes wide enough to squint. The veins in his temples pulsed.
Sizhui swept aside the entrance flap to their tent and Jin Ling and Jingyi followed him inside.
"I need to grab a few things," Sizhui said. "Please go sit down."
It was easier said than done. The change in lighting from the glaringly bright late morning sun to the dark interior of the tent made navigation impossible. Jin Ling could only vaguely see where he was going. He scuffed his feet on papers and a stray cushion on his way to his mat.
The floating blot in the center of his sight had still not faded by the time he sat down, but his head did feel a little better.
On the other side of the tent, he heard Sizhui rummaging through his things. He had no idea where Jingyi had gone, but he assumed he was still present since they'd all entered together.
"It looks like I have enough things to make up a bandage for you," Sizhui said. "You will have to remove part of your uniform."
Jin Ling pressed his knuckles to his forehead, partly in an attempt to make his headache subside the rest of the way and partly to try to come up with some excuse that would get him out of shedding clothing. His apprehension of being around the Lans had returned in full force.
He racked his brain for a little while before the solution came to him.
"Uh – I – uh," he mumbled, making himself sound sicker and more disoriented than he really was. "I think we should call the doctor after all. My head really hurts."
His sight had finally adjusted, so he could see the skeptical look that Jingyi directed at the floor.
"Thank you," Sizhui breathed, visibly relaxing. "I really did worry that I wouldn't be able to take care of this. Jingyi? Would you be willing to bring the doctor here?"
"Sure," Jingyi said sullenly.
He rose from his mat and left the tent without another word.
As soon as he was gone, Sizhui rounded on Jin Ling. "What happened?" he asked, his tone very serious.
Jin Ling balked, taken aback by his sudden intensity. "What do you mean?"
"I mean," Sizhui said, "that you and Jingyi ran off after that woman, but only he returned. And now both of you have been acting strangely."
"I'm injured," Jin Ling said, irritated. "Sorry that I seem off to you."
"Don't do that," Sizhui chided. "I'm worried about you two."
"Well don't be. We're fine."
"Jingyi doesn't usually get upset like that. He won't tell me what's wrong."
"What do you mean he doesn't get upset like that?!" Jin Ling demanded. "He cried off and on until dinnertime after we left Yi City! He gets upset over silly things all the time!"
Sizhui fixed him with a stern look. "Don't deny that you were upset after Yi City too," he said. "We all were."
"Sure, but I didn't cry about it…"
Sizhui just shook his head. "Besides, what I meant was that Jingyi doesn't get upset like that when you two are mean to one another," he said. "It's usually more like a game to him."
Jin Ling frowned. "So what makes you think it's my fault in the first place?"
"I don't want to blame you," Sizhui said. "But after everything you've said, I'm starting to feel with more certainty that you did have a hand in… well… whatever this is."
"So you're taking his side?"
"I'm not on anyone's side. I'm on the side that wants to know what's going on."
Sizhui wrapped up the white cloth in his hands and carried it over to where Jin Ling sat. Jin Ling edged away from him.
"You still haven't removed the top part of your uniform," he remarked.
"No, I'll wait for the doctor to get here," Jin Ling said forcefully.
"I know how to bandage well."
"I don't want you to."
Sizhui knelt on the ground in front of him. "I didn't mean to make you angry earlier or to accuse you."
"I – that's not what-" Jin Ling stammered.
The entrance flap to the tent was swept aside, mercifully saving Jin Ling from having to explain why he was acting weirdly.
"Sect Leader," the doctor said, greeting him with a deep bow.
The doctor that Jin Ling had selected to accompany them was a Jin disciple with a moderate amount of medical knowledge. Jin Ling had chosen him to come along because he was also skilled in cultivation and would make a good asset as both a doctor and a warrior.
He was a slight man with a small nose and a face that was difficult to age. He projected more of an air of strength than most scholars did, but that was to be expected with his military background. He'd fought alongside the Jins during the Sunshot Campaign and probably had more knowledge about war strategy than Jin Ling did, though he was wise enough not to say this.
Jin Ling started to try to bow in return, but the doctor threw his hands out hastily.
"Don't worry about formalities, Sect Leader," he said. "Lan Jingyi told me that you were experiencing some confusion and head pain?"
"Yes," Jin Ling replied, watching Jingyi sneak into the tent behind the doctor and sit down in his section. He still wouldn't look at him.
"Did you get hit in the head?" the doctor asked.
Jin Ling thought about it. "Yes, I think I did once or twice."
"And you haven't lost a significant amount of blood?"
"Define significant."
"Hm," the doctor said, tapping his bearded chin. "Enough to fill the average teapot?"
"I don't think so."
"I think I know what we're working with here," he said. "But we'll start with a bandage for that wound first."
He gestured toward the oozing gash on Jin Ling's side. He noticed Sizhui cast him a sideways glance, reprimanding him for not allowing him to tend to it earlier.
But Sizhui said nothing, even as Jin Ling agreed to remove the clothing that he'd refused to remove before.
The doctor made short work of bandaging him. Jin Ling was able to dress himself again quickly.
"I like your thought to use the tian qi powder," the doctor said to Sizhui. "I always carry that with me. It's a good thing to have on hand."
"I keep some with me too," Sizhui said, blushing a little from the doctor's commendation.
"Obviously," Jingyi muttered at his feet. Sizhui didn't seem to have heard him.
"I believe your confusion and pain are the result of your head injury," the doctor went on to say.
"Do you have something to treat that?" Jin Ling asked.
The doctor nodded. "There's an herbal remedy I'd like to use as well as a few acupuncture points. Additionally, you'll need to reduce your activity for the next few days at least, preferably with full bedrest."
Jin Ling and Sizhui exchanged a meaningful look.
There was no way he was going to be 'reducing his activity' over the next few days, let alone languishing in bed that whole time. Assuming the gang business was taken care of, there was still the matter of Xue Yang. Jin Ling wasn't going to be getting any rest any time soon.
"Uh right," Jin Ling said. "Go ahead then."
The doctor set to work concocting the herbal mix and preparing his needles for acupuncture. He even had Sizhui help him with a few tasks, which seemed to make Sizhui happy.
As Jin Ling struggled to choke down the bitter drink offered to him by the doctor, he noticed Jingyi slip silently out of the tent.
His attempt to sneak away mostly unnoticed didn't work, though.
"Oh! Hello, Advisor Luo," Jin Ling heard Jingyi say from just outside.
"Oh here we go," Jin Ling muttered.
Sizhui glanced at him quizzically, then looked back at the entrance. The doctor continued placing acupuncture needles under Jin Ling's skin, unperturbed by the conversation outside.
"Is Jin Ling in there?" Luo Qingyang asked.
"Yes," Jingyi said. "The doctor is tending to him."
"And where are you off to?"
"I – uh – I was thirsty," Jingyi said, sounding confused as to why she would care where he was going. "I'll be back soon."
"Hm. All right that's fine then."
Jin Ling imagined Jingyi's bewildered face at receiving permission to find something to drink.
Luo Qingyang threw open the entrance flap, causing Jin Ling to jump as the doctor was inserting another needle.
"Ow!" he yelled. "Don't you ask permission before entering?!"
The doctor apologized profusely for jabbing him, but Jin Ling shook his head and assured him it wasn't his fault.
Luo Qingyang, however, didn't apologize for anything.
"What do you want me to do?" she demanded, walking over and plopping down on the edge of his mat. "Knock first?"
"Get off! You're filthy!" Jin Ling said, shooing her away.
Luo Qingyang glanced down at her clothing, still covered in rotten bits of corpse, and shrugged. She slid off of his mat and sat on the ground.
"Better?"
"Barely. You still stink."
She rolled her eyes.
"Are you almost done with this?" Luo Qingyang asked, gesturing at the tray of needles that Sizhui was holding in his lap for the doctor.
"Nearly, Advisor Luo," the doctor said, not looking up from his work.
"Good. The sect leader has work to do… questions to answer," she said.
Jin Ling's fingernails bit into his palms. Was she referring to Jingyi? Had she come all the way back here to continue pestering him about that?
"Is something wrong?" Sizhui asked.
"No," Luo Qingyang said. "I'm getting impatient."
"For what?"
"I want to question the prisoners."
"Why can't you do that without me?" Jin Ling asked.
He was imagining some horrible torture scenario, like Luo Qingyang pulling teeth one by one and demanding to know why the gang dared to attack Jinlintai. It didn't sound like the kind of event that Jin Ling wanted to attend.
Luo Qingyang raised her eyebrows. "I think you should be there."
"Why?"
"So you can hear what's said?" she replied, wrinkling her brow. "Are you sure you've fixed him, Doctor? He seems out of sorts."
The doctor took his tray from Sizhui and straightened with a shrug.
"We'll have to wait half an incense time for the needles to finish their work," he said. "Why don't you ask me after that?"
"Fine," Luo Qingyang said.
"I'm going back out to make sure no one else needs my attention," the doctor said to Jin Ling. "Will you sit still for the time being?"
"Yes," Jin Ling replied.
With the number of needles in his skin, he wasn't sure he could move if he wanted to. But it was the treatment the doctor had recommended, and since he already wasn't planning to follow all of his advice, Jin Ling figured he ought to at least sit through this. He only hoped he wouldn't need to relieve himself any time soon.
The doctor excused himself with a bow, leaving Sizhui, Luo Qingyang, and Jin Ling to themselves.
"Looks like you'll be here for a while yet," Luo Qingyang remarked, seeming bored.
"Yes," Jin Ling said, "so why don't you go clean yourself up? Your filth is enough to foul a river."
"Is that how you talk to women?!"
"That's how I talk to you."
She flicked his forehead lightly. "You're lucky that your skin is so full of needles. I'd smack you if I weren't worried about cutting myself."
"No you wouldn't."
Luo Qingyang clicked her tongue but didn't say anything.
They then sat there in uncomfortable silence for a time until Jin Ling spoke up again.
"Are you both going to stay here until the doctor comes back?"
"No," Luo Qingyang said, getting to her feet. "I'll be back for you in a bit. I have things to finish organizing outside."
She headed toward the exit. Sizhui leaned where he sat, like he was thinking of following her but was held in place.
"Will you not tell me?" he asked Jin Ling softly.
Quiet though he was, Jin Ling wondered if Luo Qingyang had heard. She had paused at the exit without turning around.
"No," Jin Ling replied. "I'm not talking with you about it. Go with her."
Sizhui nodded and rose. He and Luo Qingyang left the tent without a formal goodbye, which meant Jin Ling was alone to fret about whether or not Jingyi was going to return while they were gone.
Thankfully, he didn't.
The doctor came back to remove the needles and gave him a pouch filled with the herbal mix that he'd made for him before. He told him to take it once daily and to refrain from battle and travel (save the necessary return to Jinlintai) for the next few days.
Jin Ling lied and said he would. He thanked the doctor for his work and the two of them left the tent, parting ways outside.
The sun still burned brightly overhead, but it didn't cause Jin Ling so much pain anymore. The treatments had worked, a fact that actually upset him a little bit. He had hoped he wouldn't have to take that disgusting medicine again, but now he was resigned to do just that.
He wandered toward the center of the encampment, hoping to find Luo Qingyang there. Instead, he ran into Jingyi.
They both came around the edge of Luo Qingyang's tent from opposite directions and narrowly avoided collision.
"Oh! Uh…" Jin Ling trailed off, not sure what to say even though he'd rehearsed some ideas while he'd waited for the doctor to return.
Jingyi was finally looking at him again. His eyes held Jin Ling's with resolve.
"I'm sorry," he said firmly, straightening his back.
Jin Ling frowned. "What?"
"I said I'm sorry," Jingyi repeated. "I'm sorry for what I did."
Jin Ling felt sick with shame. "No, I-"
"Ah there you are!" Luo Qingyang said as she rounded the corner behind Jingyi, causing him to jump with fright.
What timing!
Jin Ling knew he wasn't being fair. It wasn't as if he and Jingyi were speaking in a private area. But that didn't stop him from glaring at her.
She paid him no mind.
"Ready to figure out what's going on?" she asked, gesturing for him to follow her.
"Tch."
Jingyi fell into step beside Jin Ling. Was he going to pretend nothing had happened? Were they going to go back to the way things were? That hadn't worked so well for them the last time.
"I think that woman you caught is willing to fess up," Luo Qingyang said.
Jin Ling scowled. "I thought you had wanted to question them together?"
"I did," she said, "but you didn't care, so I compromised and tried to figure out which one would talk to us."
"How did you do that?" Jin Ling asked, imagining torture again.
"I talked to them?"
"That's it?"
Luo Qingyang glanced back at him. "What exactly are you implying?"
"Nothing!"
Behind Luo Qingyang's tent were five prisoners. All of them were opponents that either Jin Ling or Jingyi had fought. They were sitting cross-legged on the ground side by side, their wrists bound by rope behind their backs. Each one bore either an expression of fear or disappointment, but only one looked up at Jin Ling as he moved to stand in front of her.
A bandage had been wrapped around the woman's thigh and the arrow removed. She stared at Jin Ling with nowhere near the malice she had before. But she also didn't look afraid.
"Do you still agree to sit down with the sect leader?" Luo Qingyang asked her, her tone harsh but professional.
The woman nodded.
Luo Qingyang snapped her fingers at a nearby pair of Jin disciples. They immediately moved to help lift the woman from the ground.
"Take her…" Luo Qingyang paused, thinking, "…to my quarters."
The Jin disciples sheepishly began to mutter, their voices mixing together such that Jin Ling couldn't understand them.
"What is it?" Luo Qingyang demanded.
"It's just-" one of the disciples began.
"Do you think that's proper?" the other finished for him. "For us to enter your quarters, I mean?"
"Goodness!" Luo Qingyang cried, smacking her palm against her forehead. "I miss living far away from all this nonsense."
The disciples waited for clarification.
"…Advisor?" one of them prompted her.
"Do what I said!" Luo Qingyang snapped.
"Yes, Advisor Luo!" the disciples said in unison.
They steered the prisoner back the way that the three of them had come. Luo Qingyang, Jin Ling, and Jingyi followed them, not saying a word to one another.
Yu Qingqi greeted them when they entered the tent. She fussed about the state of her living space even though it was frankly quite organized.
"Don't worry about that, Qingqing," Luo Qingyang said sweetly. "Would you mind waiting for me out with the rest of the disciples?"
"But I-"
"I'm sorry," Luo Qingyang said. "This has to be done without an audience."
Worry crept its way back into Jin Ling's heart even as he tried to reassure himself that Luo Qingyang wasn't going to resort to violent questioning.
"Very well. But-"
"I'll make it up to you," Luo Qingyang assured her with a smile.
Yu Qingqi grinned back at her. "Good."
She made her way to the exit, giving Jin Ling a little smile before letting herself out. Luo Qingyang watched her go, the corners of her mouth still slightly upturned.
As soon as the tent flap swished closed, however, her expression was stern once more.
"Well?" she said testily at the two disciples who were holding the prisoner.
"Did you want us to leave as well, Advisor?" one of the disciples asked.
"Yes!"
"Apologies, Advisor Luo!" he replied with a hasty bow.
His colleague followed his lead and together they left the tent.
"You too," Luo Qingyang said gently, her attention turned to Jingyi.
"What?" Jingyi said. "I want to stay!"
"She said she'll only speak to me and the sect leader," Luo Qingyang said.
"I said I'd only speak to the sect leader," the woman interjected.
Luo Qingyang shot her a look to kill. "And I said that the best you were going to get was the two of us," she hissed. "Have you changed your mind about speaking?"
The woman looked away. "No."
"Good."
Jingyi folded his arms in defiance. Jin Ling worried what Luo Qingyang would do, but she didn't react angrily to him at all. In fact, she smiled.
"I know you want to stay," she said, "but we're not going to get anywhere if you do. Please allow us to do this."
Her words had the same effect on him as her previous statement had had on the prisoner.
"All right," he grudgingly agreed. "I'll go find Sizhui. Good luck."
And just like that, Jin Ling and Luo Qingyang were alone with the prisoner.
Jin Ling fidgeted. What question should they ask first? Was he going to lead the interrogation or was he going to be quiet and let Luo Qingyang ask the questions? Which was more appropriate for him as a sect leader?
As it turned out, it didn't matter. The woman started talking on her own.
"The others won't say anything to you," she said matter-of-factly. "They're afraid of the huli jing."
"Huli jing?!" Jin Ling and Luo Qingyang exclaimed in unison.
The woman raised her eyebrows. "Yes, that's what I said. The demon is a master of demonic cultivation. It taught us illusion techniques that even the Yiling Patriarch doesn't know about!"
"Unlikely…" Jin Ling muttered.
Luo Qingyang glanced at him but said nothing, allowing the woman to go on.
"He appeared to us in his fox form initially," she said. "But I guess once he had deemed us worthy, he transformed into a man to-"
"Wait," Luo Qingyang cut in. "I thought huli jing were female demons."
The woman shrugged. "I'm telling you what I know. I apologize if it's not good enough for someone like you."
Jin Ling clenched his fists. Luo Qingyang laughed.
"Very cute," she said. "Carry on."
The woman glared at her reproachfully, but continued as requested.
"He told us how we could steal from the Jins," she said. "Each of us desperately needed money for one reason or another. So even though we were skeptical of the huli jing, we tried it. And his plan of impersonating tax collectors with a fake uniform and some illusion work was a huge success.
"When he came to us again," she said, shaking her head, "we asked no questions. He wanted us to cause enough trouble for Jinlintai to be able to strike a deal with the sect leader. He said that filling the role with someone unfamiliar was more likely to cause problems. Better to just use the current leader as a puppet. And the easiest sect leader to control would be the child. He told us if we did this correctly, we would all have cushy jobs as councilmen or military officers."
"And the huli jing never asked you for anything in return?" Luo Qingyang inquired.
The woman huffed an exasperated sigh. "I was getting there," she said. "The second time he came to us, he gave us that plan and gave us some talismans that he'd made for us, but he also told us who he was and-"
"What?" Jin Ling said. "Why would he tell you who he was?"
The woman looked annoyed at his interruption but merely shrugged.
"I don't know," she said. "He then told us that we could share with no one that he was the orchestrator of this plan. He said that if we were caught and told anyone about him that we would face a worse fate than the Changs. I don't know what would be worse than lingchi, but I digress."
"And he told you that he was who exactly?" Luo Qingyang asked.
"Xue Yang."
That confirmed it, then. It was as Nie Huaisang had said. And yet…
"If he threatened you with all of that," Luo Qingyang said, "why are you telling us anyway?"
The woman shrugged again. "I needed this for my children," she said. "It's all for nothing if I'm executed or imprisoned for life."
"You committed treason!" Luo Qingyang exclaimed. "What did you expect to happen?!"
The woman ignored her. Her gaze was fixed on Jin Ling.
"Please," she said. "I know I don't deserve your mercy after what I did, but I am begging you to spare me for the sake of my children."
"Oh spare me!" Luo Qingyang cried. "You-"
"Wait," Jin Ling said.
"No, you can't bel-"
"I don't," Jin Ling said, frowning. "Something doesn't add up."
The woman furrowed her brow.
"Of course something doesn't add up!" Luo Qingyang shouted. "None of this story makes sense! I bet she doesn't even have children! You had to have known your chances at victory were basically nonexistent! Why would he have told you his name in the first place, then turn around and tell you to not to share it with anyone?!"
"Look," the woman said, dropping her shoulders in defeat. "I told you what I know. He wanted to have control of the Jins since they've been historically in charge of the other clans. He told me that you would spare my life. There are more of us out there. It'll be best if you keep me with you to help deal with it."
"Oh you're definitely lying now!" Luo Qingyang shouted. "There's no one else. You're bluffing! I can tell!"
"No, I-!"
"Was it even a huli jing that spoke to you?" Jin Ling asked. "Xue Yang should know that the title of head cultivator is decided by all major clans. There's no guarantee it would go to the Jins again."
"I'm telling the truth!" the woman said earnestly. "It was a huli jing that called itself Xue Yang! I swear it!"
"And what did this Xue Yang look like?" he asked.
"Um…" the woman screwed up her face in concentration. "He was handsome in a sly way. It felt like he wasn't to be trusted, you know?"
"What gave you that impression?" Luo Qingyang scoffed.
The woman didn't react. "He had long hair drawn back in a ponytail, he smiled a lot… oh! And I noticed that he doesn't blink much."
An oddly specific detail and one that Jin Ling couldn't necessarily confirm. When he'd met Xue Yang, the man had worn a blindfold for most of the time.
"Anything else?" Luo Qingyang prompted after looking over and seeing Jin Ling still deep in thought.
"Uh…" the woman said slowly. She seemed to be racking her brain and didn't finish her response for a good while. "He had these little candies with him every time I saw him."
Xue Yang. For sure.
"All right, but why did he tell you his name?" Jin Ling asked. "It almost seems like he wanted you to tell us who he was."
The woman wrung her hands and began to look back and forth between Jin Ling and Luo Qingyang rapidly. "How can you expect me to understand the machinations of a mad man?"
"You'd better explain enough for us to understand," Luo Qingyang said. "You're still looking at capital punishment."
"Here's the thing," she said. "I can't-"
She cut off abruptly for no apparent reason. No loud noise had sounded outside and no one in the tent had interrupted her nor motioned for her to stop talking.
"You can't what?" Jin Ling asked, leaning forward.
The woman's face was blank, mouth agape.
"Don't hurt my children," she said in a voice that was as detached as her expression.
"I didn't say anything about hurting your children," Jin Ling said, bewildered. "Could you finish what you were going to say?"
"I'm sorry."
She fell forward onto Luo Qingyang's threadbare rug and didn't move again.
Jin Ling was frozen to the spot, staring down at the prisoner sprawled on the ground in front of him.
"Is she-?" Jin Ling started to ask as Luo Qingyang bent and pressed her fingers to the woman's neck.
"Dead," she said without looking up. "Definitely dead."
"How?!"
Luo Qingyang turned the woman over. Her face looked exactly as it had a moment ago, though paler. There was no blood or any other indication that she'd been physically wounded. She was just dead.
"I don't know," Luo Qingyang said. "Who do you think she was talking to?"
"Xue Yang?"
"I'd imagine so."
Jin Ling didn't know how long they sat there like that, both of them staring at the dead woman on the floor.
It was Luo Qingyang who came to her senses first. "Let's go," she said curtly.
She stood, turned on her heel, and strolled outside as if nothing had happened. Jin Ling remained rooted in place, spluttering non-words at no one in particular.
"Are you coming?" Luo Qingyang asked, popping her head back through the entrance. "We have things to do."
"We can't just… leave her here like this," Jin Ling breathed.
"You think I intend to leave her there?!"
"Why are you walking away?"
"To gather supplies!" Luo Qingyang cried. "We have to build her a coffin and find out who her family was so we can transport her to them."
"Do we have enough hands to do all that?"
"What would you have me do?! Burn her and scatter her ashes?!"
"No! That's not-!"
"Then come on!"
His legs finally moved when he told them to. Jin Ling was able to follow Luo Qingyang outside. The laughter and normal noises within the encampment were jarring to him.
"I never knew you had such a low opinion of me," Luo Qingyang said as they walked.
"What?"
"First you thought I was going to start torturing prisoners and then you assumed I was going to leave that poor woman on the floor of my tent? Goodness! What have I done to make you think of me in this way?"
"Nothing I-" Jin Ling cut off, rubbing his hands on his face as if washing it.
"It's not you," he explained. "It's the other people I've known."
There was understanding in her eyes when she looked at him. He knew that Jiang Cheng was the only person that had come to her mind. He didn't bother to correct her assumption.
Sizhui and Jingyi approached them from a group of disciples that had been conversing beside the remaining prisoners.
"How did it go?" Jingyi asked. "Are there more of them out there?"
"We don't think so," Jin Ling answered.
"What did you find out?" Sizhui asked.
"Not a lot," Jin Ling said, struggling to keep pace with Luo Qingyang. "She lied to us at first, but then she was starting to share the truth when she died."
"You killed her?!" Jingyi exclaimed.
"Of course he didn't!" Sizhui said before Jin Ling could defend himself. "But how did she die?"
"We don't know that either," Jin Ling said. "She just sort of fell over."
Luo Qingyang came to a halt, so the rest of them did as well. She started speaking in a hushed voice to the doctor that had helped Jin Ling before. He was nodding a lot, his face serious.
"What did you find out?" Jingyi asked.
Though Jin Ling wanted to be a part of Luo Qingyang's conversation, he knew that Jingyi wouldn't stop asking until his curiosity was sated, especially since they hadn't allowed him to be present for the questioning.
So, instead of listening to her and the doctor, Jin Ling recounted what the woman had told them. By the end, Sizhui and Jingyi looked just as puzzled as Jin Ling was.
"I see what you mean," Sizhui said slowly. "Each piece of her story makes sense on its own, but the way they're put together does not."
"Do you think the huli jing is real?" Jingyi asked, a note of fear in his voice. "I mean, we never see demons. They're so rare. Why would there be a demon out there that wants to usurp you?"
"I – well-"
Jin Ling thought for a moment. Jingyi's question had triggered a memory in his mind, one that he'd written off as nothing important.
"Actually," he said, "I remember seeing a silver creature in the forest on my way to the Unclean Realm. It only stood out to me because, at first glance, its body was wrong… too many legs or tails. But by the time I fully registered it and looked back to try to see it better, the creature was gone."
"You didn't fly to the Unclean Realm?" Sizhui asked.
"I did some," Jin Ling said. "but I didn't want my uncle to be able to spot me so easily."
"I don't know anything about demons!" Jingyi lamented.
"Neither do I," Jin Ling said, "but Luo Qingyang seems to know a thing or two."
"Oh I can't help either."
Luo Qingyang had finished speaking with the doctor and decided to join their conversation. The doctor sidled away looking forlorn.
Jin Ling frowned. "But you said that huli jing are usually female?"
"And that's the extent of my knowledge," she said. "I think we'll have better luck speaking with Wei Wuxian after we return to Jinlintai."
"How are we transporting the body and the prisoners?" Jin Ling asked.
"With that new technique of yours!" Luo Qingyang said brightly.
"The portals?" Jin Ling asked. "I can only link to certain people."
"Yes, people that you're close with. Do you mean to tell me that you're not close with anyone else in Jinlintai?"
Suddenly, he couldn't think of a single person, which was strange because he distinctly remembered having lots of ideas when Wei Wuxian had suggested he might not be able to link to Jinlintai at all.
"What about Qin Huiyin?" Luo Qingyang asked.
"Oh, I hadn't thought of her," Jin Ling said. "Maybe that would work."
Jingyi cleared his throat.
When Jin Ling glanced over at him, he asked, "Who is Qin Huiyin?"
"She's a friend of mine," Jin Ling said.
"Oh."
Jingyi seemed put out by something, but Jin Ling couldn't fathom what the problem was.
Meanwhile, Luo Qingyang's face was red and her cheeks slightly puffed as if she were holding her breath.
"Are you all right?" Jin Ling asked her.
She burst out laughing, which felt very inappropriate since a woman had died in front of them not long ago.
"What is wrong with you?!" Jin Ling exclaimed.
"You boys," she squeaked, wiping her eyes. "You're very funny. That's all."
The three of them exchanged confused looks. None of them knew what was going on with her.
"Why don't you make that portal, Jin Ling," Luo Qingyang said, her laughter dying down. "Then we can send everyone else home and we can rejoin Wei Wuxian and the others."
"All ri – wait," Jin Ling said. "We? You're coming with?"
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jingyi and Sizhui look at each other again.
"Oh yes, sorry," Luo Qingyang said. "I forgot that I hadn't talked to you about it yet."
"How? How did you forget that?"
She shrugged. "I'm just not made for this kind of leadership, Jin Ling," she explained. "Everything is an uphill battle for me there. Everyone resists my every command. Qingqing and I want to come with you. Your battle is the kind that I'm good at. Not this political nonsense."
"But I trust you," Jin Ling said. "You've done well. Who will run things if you don't stay?"
Luo Qingyang lit up. "Don't worry," she said brightly. "I've already found a replacement. Advisor Jin Qiang has agreed to step up in my stead."
Jin Ling frowned.
Jin Qiang was a seasoned advisor and a mostly honorable man. He could at least be trusted not to try to take over completely in Jin Ling's absence.
But, he was out of touch with the common people and had a habit of forgetting their needs when drafting new edicts. Of the council members, he wasn't the worst. In fact, he might have been Jin Ling's second choice if Luo Qingyang hadn't agreed to the role.
However, there was a reason that she had been his first choice and he wasn't thrilled at the thought of replacing her.
"This Xue Yang mission is really dangerous," he said. "What about your daughter?"
Luo Qingyang scowled at him. "That's low to bring her into this," she said. "You think I've given her no thought?"
Jin Ling's face grew hot.
"You didn't take issue with me risking my life on this mission," she went on. "Why do you only worry about who will take care of Mianmian now?"
"Tch," Jin Ling said, unable to meet her eyes. "Fine. I still don't like this idea."
"Please, Jin Ling," Luo Qingyang said. "Let me do what I'm good at. Let me hunt. Jin Qiang told me he'll be able to smooth things over for both of us."
"Smooth things over?"
Luo Qingyang cocked an eyebrow. "You think people are going to be pleased that you're running off again so soon after the Battle of Jinlintai? Most leaders would stick around for at least a few weeks to make sure everything was sorted out properly."
Jin Ling's blood ran cold. He hadn't even thought about that.
"When I told Jin Qiang what was going on," Luo Qingyang went on, "he said that the fact that Xue Yang was ultimately responsible for the mess would help people be more at ease with the idea of you going to hunt him down. It also helps that there are other sect leaders working on this mission too. He said it would almost be strange for you not to accompany them at that point."
Jin Ling sighed. She'd thought of everything. How long ago had she spoken with Jin Qiang about this idea? And had she actually forgotten that she hadn't talked to him about it or had she hoped to slide into the Xue Yang party without his notice?
"Who will watch Mianmian, then, if both you and Yu Qingqi are coming?" he asked.
Luo Qingyang rolled her eyes. "Qin Huiyin," she said. "The same person who has been watching her."
"Oh."
Luo Qingyang stared at him expectantly.
When he didn't say anything, she asked, "Are we agreed?"
"Fine," he said gruffly. "Come along if you want. You'll need to inform Jin Qiang of his new duties. I don't want to run through all of that again."
"I'm sure he's familiar," she said brightly, "but I'll brief him as you wish."
"Good."
"Now link to Huiyin," Luo Qingyang ordered. "We have other places to be."
He told her off for giving him commands while he scrambled to do as she'd asked.
Sizhui offered him some paper that he'd pulled from somewhere on his person, leaving Jin Ling to wonder if he, too, stored a trove of useful materials in his sleeves, just like Hanguang-jun.
He placed the paper on a wooden plank that Luo Qingyang provided him and set to work trying to link with Huiyin. He drew a similar swirling pattern to the one Wei Wuxian had showed him (though not quite as intricate) and cleared his mind of all thoughts except memories of Huiyin – the first time they'd met, the first time they'd fought, how she used to tease him for strutting around the palace like a peacock when he didn't even know how to fight properly…
As the crack like thunder announced a successful link, Jin Ling waved through the first disciples that Luo Qingyang had collected.
They seemed exceptionally nervous around this new magic, but they didn't dare disobey him. One by one, his people filed through as Jin Ling focused hard to maintain the gate.
When only Jingyi, Luo Qingyang, and Yu Qingqi remained, Jin Ling frowned.
"Where is Sizhui?" he asked them.
"He's gone to collect the Ghost General," Jingyi shouted over the wind.
"How long will he-?"
Before he could finish his question, he caught sight of Sizhui and Wen Ning speeding toward them in the distance. Shortly after Yu Qingqi had stepped through the gate behind her wife, Sizhui caught up to them.
"Hurry," Jin Ling said.
Sizhui and Wen Ning inclined their heads and hopped through the open gate.
Jin Ling was the last to pass through. His forehead was sweaty from concentrating for so long, but he had managed to hold the portal open a lot longer than he had the last time.
Huiyin was frozen in shock staring at all the people who had just appeared in Luo Qingyang's quarters. Mianmian, however, squealed with delight when she caught sight of her mothers. She sprinted over and threw herself around Yu Qingqi's legs.
"What a mess," Jin Ling heard Luo Qingyang mumble as she surveyed the overturned flower pots and debris that littered her floor.
"Advisor Luo," Huiyin breathed. "I don't know-"
"Don't worry about it," Luo Qingyang said. "Collect someone to help you clean up after we've gone. You're still all right with watching Mianmian for us, right?"
Huiyin nodded numbly.
"Great."
"Let's deal with that dead woman and have the other gang members await trial in prison," Jin Ling said.
"I've already assigned people to those tasks," Luo Qingyang said, pointing at the group that was leading the prisoners away and then at the doctor who was instructing another disciple on what to do with the deceased woman's body.
"Oh," Jin Ling said. "In that case, let's clean up and prepare to join Wei Wuxian and the others."
"Meet in the palace gardens?"
"Yes, that might be better than doing it inside," Jin Ling said, looking around at the destruction of Luo Qingyang's living quarters.
"If you don't mind," Sizhui said. "I'd like to volunteer to make the next portal."
"Uh sure," Jin Ling replied. "Why?"
"You're supposed to be resting as much as possible."
Jin Ling put his hands on his hips. "I can handle it."
"I know," Sizhui said with a gentle smile. "But you already agreed that I could do the next one."
"Tch."
It didn't take them long to get ready. They were eager to pass on the information about the huli jing to the others, so they washed up and dressed quickly.
Yu Qingqi and Luo Qingyang were the last to arrive in the gardens, but even they were practically dancing with excitement.
"Everyone ready?" Sizhui asked.
Another loud crack signaled their departure. Jin Ling took one last look around at the ocean of peonies that surrounded them before stepping through the gate.