Wei Wuxian and Lan Zhan used what spiritual strength they had left to shield Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng from the heavy gale of the storm gate. Jin Ling jumped through ahead of them and began to call for a doctor, but this diverted his attention away from the gate, causing it to shrink by several centimeters.

"I'll call them!" Luo Qingyang shouted at him. "You need to focus on that!"

Jin Ling didn't look where she pointed, but he nodded and fell silent.

When Lan Xichen stepped through with Jiang Cheng, Jin Ling kept his eyes trained on the ground. He'd gone as white as Lan robes and his fingers trembled as he wound them into the waist of his uniform. Fairy licked his hand.

Lan Zhan followed them through and tried to pull Wei Wuxian along with him.

"I'll come in a moment," Wei Wuxian said, slipping free from his loose grasp. "Go ahead."

"Mn."

Reluctantly, they parted ways, leaving Wei Wuxian to turn his attention to Wen Ning, who was idling outside of the array that had previously trapped him.

With no orders given to him and no consciousness to lend him a will of his own, he simply stood there, nothing but a husk.

Huaisang was about to step through the portal as well when Wei Wuxian caught him by the scruff. He let out a little squeak and hunched his shoulders fearfully.

"Drop the act," Wei Wuxian said coldly, pulling him back to stand next to him.

Huaisang looked at him as if he didn't understand what he was talking about. That only made him angrier. But Wei Wuxian wasn't going to make Jin Ling hold the gate forever.

"Call for him," Wei Wuxian hissed, gesturing toward Wen Ning.

Huaisang frowned. "You can do that yourself, can't you? You're able to override any interference-"

"I don't give him orders anymore. Call for him. Or were you seriously going to leave him behind here?"

The mousy look he'd given before slowly morphed to something more akin to callousness.

"My order or yours, isn't it still technically your doing?" Huaisang asked.

Wei Wuxian's grip on his robe tightened as he leaned in very close to Huaisang's face.

"I won't say it again."

"Very well," Huaisang replied.

He snapped his fingers. Wen Ning roused and lumbered over to them. His eyes were empty, staring into nothing.

"He'll follow us through now," Huaisang said. "Shall we go?"

Wei Wuxian bit back the choice words he longed to sling at him. He only nodded, released him, and signaled for Huaisang to go ahead.

The gate closed behind them with a whoosh. One storm had ended and they were thrust into another.

"I said before that I'm overseeing his care!" Luo Qingyang yelled at the doctors who had transferred Jiang Cheng to a bed of cloth stretched between two bamboo poles. "No one else is coming with, per his request. Not even Jin Ling. Understand?"

Wei Wuxian glanced at Jin Ling. He didn't seem to have any desire to tag along. His fingers wound and unwound around his clothing. He wouldn't look at his uncle.

As Luo Qingyang and the doctors continued to argue about who would be in charge, Wei Wuxian poked Jin Ling's shoulder.

He looked up at him, almost in a daze.

"Jin Ling," Wei Wuxian said calmly, watching as his eyes began to focus a little more, "tell the doctors to listen to her."

"Why?" Jin Ling asked in a voice just as distant as his gaze.

"It's what your uncle requested. I don't know why. But it's what he wanted, okay?"

"That doesn't make sense…"

Wei Wuxian put his hands on Jin Ling's shoulders. "Please just do this. Do it for him. I promise I'm not lying to you about this. I would never."

Jin Ling slowly closed his eyes and nodded.

He turned and shouted at the doctors, "Do everything within your power to save him, but you will listen to Advisor Luo! You shouldn't need my instruction to know you should do this!"

"Yes, Sect Leader!" the doctors called back in unison.

They and Luo Qingyang moved down the wind-torn hall to an unoccupied room. They hurriedly ripped the door open and then, equally hurried, slammed the door shut. Jin Ling jumped both times.

"Why wouldn't he have wanted me to be with him?" he asked in a small voice, staring at his feet again.

"I don't know," Wei Wuxian said honestly, "but I don't think it's any indication of his feelings about you. We all know he and Luo Qingyang would tear each other asunder at the first opportunity."

"Yeah…"

"I think she somehow knows something that he doesn't want anyone else to know."

Wei Wuxian tentatively put two fingers under Jin Ling's chin, expecting him to slap them away. But he didn't. He allowed him to tilt his head up to look at him.

He wasn't so distant now. Jin Ling was very much present. Tears streamed down his cheeks and onto Wei Wuxian's hand.

"Do you want to be with him?" Wei Wuxian asked.

"I… I don't know," Jin Ling said. "I saw… Shushu… I saw him after… I don't know if I want to… to see… to…"

A sob broke through his shaking voice. Once he started, it seemed he couldn't stop. His shoulders quaked with each whimpering cry that racked his body. He backed away, pressing himself against the wall behind him, and covered his eyes with his arm. He cried so hard, it was a wonder he didn't make himself sick.

Wei Wuxian had no chance to react. Yu Qingqi was with him in an instant, speaking softly and taking his hands in her own.

"What do you need?" she asked him. "Where do you want to go?"

"I need him to be all right!" Jin Ling screamed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. And it was. "I want him back! I want him back!"

"I know you do. He may be all right yet. But it's going to be a long night. Come on. We'll go down here. I'll see if…"

Yu Qingqi had led him down another corridor and out of earshot. Fairy had gone with them, Jin Ling's silent shadow.

Wei Wuxian was left standing hollow in the middle of the hall, the smell of smoke and burning flesh still strong in his nose even though they were far away and safe from all of that.

I want him back! I want him back!

I want my parents back!

"Wei Ying?"

He was pulled from his thoughts by Lan Zhan's voice. He stood before him in bloodstained clothes. Over his shoulder, Wei Wuxian could still see the door to Jiang Cheng's room. He stared at it as if this alone could tell him whether or not Jiang Cheng still drew breath.

"Wei Ying, are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Wei Wuxian said, speaking in a whisper although he hadn't intended to.

"Mn."

Without another word, Lan Zhan circled his arms around him and pulled him close. Wei Wuxian inhaled deeply the scent of sandalwood, still present somehow even after everything they'd been through.

"I'm fine," Wei Wuxian mumbled again into Lan Zhan's shoulder.

"Mn," Lan Zhan hummed.

They stayed like that for a long time. But also not long enough.

Wei Wuxian hastily wiped his face as Lan Zhan stepped back.

"You should see a doctor for this," Wei Wuxian said, carefully raising Lan Zhan's arm to kiss his broken wrist. "You're more hurt than you let on."

"Mn. So are you," Lan Zhan replied. "Come with me."

"I will. In a moment. I still have something to deal with."

Lan Zhan's face darkened, but he nodded. He knew to what he was referring… or rather, to whom.

"I'll find you again," Wei Wuxian said.

"I know."

Lan Zhan leaned in to kiss him briefly. Then, they parted ways.

Wei Wuxian watched him for a moment or two as he collected Lan Xichen and together the two of them wandered off to speak with an official who was loitering at the end of the hall.

The rustle of paper drew Wei Wuxian's attention back to the two people who had remained nearby in the corridor.

Wen Ning was frozen beside Huaisang, who had paper and brush in hand and was frantically trying to find a surface on which to paint. No doubt he was trying to leave.

"Come with me," Wei Wuxian said, motioning for both of them to follow him. When Huaisang seemed unsure, he added, "I won't be repeating myself."

Like summoning a dog, Huaisang snapped his fingers to make Wen Ning tail them as Wei Wuxian led the way down the corridor. He peeked into a few rooms, looking for one that was empty and unlikely to be important. Eventually, he settled for an oversized supply room and stepped back to allow Huaisang and Wen Ning to enter first. He closed the door after following them inside.

There was a lot of floor space for a room that seemed only to be used for storage. Wooden shelves, heavily laden with jars and various instruments lined the walls, but the center of the room was entirely empty and large enough to comfortably hold four people.

Wei Wuxian didn't spend much time admiring his surroundings. He walked up to Wen Ning and beckoned Huaisang over too.

"How many?" Wei Wuxian asked.

Huaisang furrowed his brow. "Skullpiercers?"

"Yes. How many did you use?"

"Only one," Huaisang said. "I streamlined the method… made it less painful."

"We'll see about that."

"Would you like me to remove it?"

Mention of using a less painful method, and now offering to remove the nail himself? Huaisang was doing whatever he could to earn himself mercy.

Unfortunately, Wei Wuxian wasn't inclined to give it to him.

"Is there some trick to removal?" Wei Wuxian asked.

"No."

"Then I'll do it. But you're going to watch."

Huaisang looked puzzled, but Wei Wuxian didn't explain.

He reached up and began to feel around the back of Wen Ning's head, pressing his fingers firmly against his scalp so he would feel the stud through his hair. It took less than a minute to find it located at the base of his skull.

Wei Wuxian muttered an apology. In one swift motion, he yanked the steel from Wen Ning's head.

Wen Ning let out a hoarse cry and fell to his knees. His arms twitched and he growled quietly a few times before he finally came to.

"Wei-gongzi?"

Wei Wuxian knelt in front of him, relieved to see the light of consciousness present in his eyes again.

"How many times must I tell you to call me Wei Wuxian?"

The corners of Wen Ning's lips twitched. But in an instant, his amusement was gone. His eyes widened.

"What happened?" he asked. "What did I do? I lost control! I'm so sorry! I-!"

"Shh," Wei Wuxian soothed. "You helped us. Nothing happened. You did nothing wrong. Understand?"

"I – I'm – that-"

He was twitchy and agitated. He needed time to recover from his confusion.

Wei Wuxian put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm going to speak with Sect Leader Nie for a moment. Please relax. Okay?"

"Okay."

He gave him one consoling pat before getting to his feet.

Then, he rounded on Huaisang.

"Care to call it painless again?" Wei Wuxian asked through gritted teeth.

"I said it was less painful. I never-"

Wham!

He cut off abruptly as Wei Wuxian's fist connected with his jaw. Huaisang was lifted clean off his feet. He lost his grip on his paper and brush, both of which went flying in separate directions. The paper fluttered down and slid under the nearest shelf while his brush clattered noisily across the stone floor.

"Fuck you, Huaisang!" Wei Wuxian shouted.

"I did what needed to be done," he said, rubbing his face without getting up.

"What needed to be done," Wei Wuxian repeated, scoffing. "You would have sacrificed each and every one of us for that same reason, wouldn't you?"

Huaisang didn't answer and he didn't look at him.

"Wouldn't you?!"

"Wei Wuxian, I…"

His heart pounded furiously. His chest heaved with ire. Every fiber of Wei Wuxian's being longed to hit Huaisang again.

"Why don't you tell me exactly how much we meant to you?" Wei Wuxian said.

"What?"

"I want to know. Tell me. Rank us, why don't you? Tell me who you were most likely to risk helping and who was just fodder for you. I know you were willing to let any of us die, but who were you a little less willing to give up, huh?"

"Wei Wuxian, I don't understand why-"

"I WANT TO KNOW HOW MUCH JIANG CHENG MEANT TO YOU!" Wei Wuxian screamed in his face. "DID YOU HESITATE AT ALL OR DID YOU THROW HIM AWAY?"

Huaisang scooted backward, eyes wide.

"It's not like that," he said. "I didn't throw him away. I care. I do."

"Tell me how much."

"I'm not going to rank-"

"TELL ME HOW MUCH!"

"I don't know!" Huaisang cried. "How can I possibly quantify that?!"

"I swear I'll hit you again."

"Okay, okay!"

Huaisang drew in a deep breath and rubbed his face with both hands as if he was rinsing off. Very slowly, he picked himself up. And at last, he met Wei Wuxian's gaze.

"I guess it would have been a matter of how well I knew each of you," he said.

"So, less likely to sacrifice those of us you knew?"

"I guess so. Is that good enough for you?"

Wei Wuxian let out a mirthless laugh. "I don't know what's worse," he said as Huaisang brushed the dust from his robes, "the fact that you were most willing to sacrifice children-"

"They're hardly children anymore."

Wei Wuxian continued without acknowledging the interruption. "-or the fact that you cared about Jiang Cheng, but you sacrificed him anyway."

"Sacrificed?" Huaisang repeated. "You speak as if he's dead already. You don't know that he won't make it."

"No, I don't," Wei Wuxian said. "But you don't either. And you were fine with that. I guess now we know how much your love is worth, don't we?"

"You're putting words in my mouth."

"Well, you won't spit them out yourself, so I'm helping you. In fact…"

Wei Wuxian stooped to pick up Huaisang's fallen brush. He then walked over to the shelf, got down on all fours, and pulled out the paper.

"What are you doing?" Huaisang asked.

"I'm helping you again," Wei Wuxian said, holding both out to him. "I trust you can find your way out of Jinlintai?"

"Yes…?"

"Then take these, go outside, and open a gate to whatever connections you have left. There are none here for you."

The color drained from Huaisang's face. He opened his mouth but no sound came out. He cleared his throat and tried again.

"Wei Wuxian, I'm sorry," he breathed. "I didn't mean for this to happen."

"Sure you did," Wei Wuxian retorted. "You got the end result you wanted, didn't you? Nothing else mattered."

"There was no other way."

"Your lack of imagination isn't an excuse. Get out of here."

"If I would have told you," Huaisang said, gesticulating desperately, "if I would have worked with you directly, Jin Guangyao would have seen through whatever plan we had. We couldn't have defeated him."

"Tell yourself whatever you want, but don't you fucking lie to me," Wei Wuxian hissed. "I said get out."

"Wei Wu-"

"I SAID GET OUT OF HERE, HUAISANG!" Wei Wuxian screamed, thrusting the paper and brush into his fumbling hands. "DON'T YOU DARE COME BACK! I DON'T WANT YOU ANYWHERE NEAR MY FAMILY! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!"

Huaisang chuckled anxiously. "I'm a sect leader, Wei Wuxian. I'll have to interact with-"

"Not right now you don't!" he snapped. "Get out. GET THE FUCK OUT!"

"Okay. I'll go."

Huaisang dropped his gaze to the floor for a moment. Then, he bowed to them – first to Wei Wuxian and then to Wen Ning.

"I'm sorry for what I did to you," Huaisang said in Wen Ning's direction without taking his eyes off the ground.

Wen Ning, who had been kneeling very quietly off to the side, looked up and opened his mouth, presumably to forgive him. But Wei Wuxian wasn't about to let that happen.

"You're unworthy to speak to him," he cut in before Wen Ning could say a word.

"I'm sorry," Huaisang murmured.

"You're unworthy to speak to me too. Just go."

"Okay," Huaisang said, inclining his head. "But, any medicine I have… anything you need… I want to help Jiang Cheng. Tell him-"

"I'm not telling him anything from you," Wei Wuxian snarled. "You've helped enough."

"Please, Wei Wuxian. Don't let your pride get in the way. I might be able to do something."

"If we need supplies, we will send for them. But don't you dare preach to me. Get out. I won't say it again."

Huaisang nodded. He turned on his heel and let himself out of the storage room.

The door closed behind him with a soft thud and Wei Wuxian sank to the ground, burying his face in his hands.

"Wei Wuxian?" Wen Ning said quietly. "Did something happen to Sect Leader Jiang?"

"Nie Huaisang," he answered. "Nie Huaisang happened to him."

"Did he make me…? I mean, did I…?"

"You didn't touch him," Wei Wuxian said firmly. "You had nothing to do with it."

Perhaps sensing that he wasn't going to get any more of an answer than that, or maybe just satisfied that he wasn't the one at fault, Wen Ning went silent again.

Wei Wuxian didn't move. He barely breathed. It felt like any movement he would make was going to cause everything to spill.

Now was not the time for him to fall apart. He needed to leave that space for Jin Ling and Sizhui and Jingyi, if they needed it.

He could fall apart later. But not now.

The door to the storage room opened. Through the cracks of his fingers, Wei Wuxian could see the hem of a white robe. But the footsteps he'd heard outside weren't quite the cadence of Lan Zhan's.

"Zewu-jun?" he mumbled.

Lan Xichen knelt down. He smiled, though Wei Wuxian could tell by the red around his eyes that he wasn't happy at all. His smile barely touched his lips, let alone the rest of his face.

"Hello, Wei Wuxian," he said softly. "I ran into Huaisang in the hallway. He said he was leaving and told me I could find you here."

"I suppose he also told you that I hit him?" Wei Wuxian said from behind his fingers.

"Mm, no. The mark on his chin told me that."

"Heh."

Lan Xichen stood and offered Wei Wuxian his hand. He accepted gratefully now that the pain of his injuries was starting to occur to him again. He wasn't sure he could get up easily on his own.

Once he'd helped him, Lan Xichen moved to offer the same to Wen Ning, who looked surprised to be treated as an equal member of their group.

"Wangji is getting treatment for his arm and his side," Lan Xichen stated, gliding back toward the door. "He says the wound he received from Jin Guangyao's dagger still causes a peculiar discomfort and bleeds again if he moves wrong. How does yours feel?"

"Uh…"

Wei Wuxian felt his chest. Lan Zhan had used a combination of almost every medicine and cultivation technique available to stop the bleeding, but he hadn't managed to take away the pain completely. There was still a dull twisting sensation there, not unlike the stirring that Jiang Cheng had described earlier.

Peculiar, though, was a strange descriptor. It wasn't peculiar. It was simply a little less intense than before. Why would Lan Zhan have described it that way?

Lan Xichen awaited his response with rapt attention. He had never seen him quite so enthralled, almost overbearing.

That was why.

Lan Zhan had described it that way for his brother. Maybe to spare him from worrying about him. Or, more likely, to keep him from making the connection to Jiang Cheng since he, too, had been wounded by the same instrument.

"Peculiar," Wei Wuxian said slowly. "That's a good word for it. Irksome would work too, I think."

"Ah," Lan Xichen said, the pinched look on his face fading. "I'm sorry to hear that you're still experiencing discomfort, even after medicine."

"I haven't seen a doctor yet. They might be able to do more."

Lan Xichen raised a skeptical eyebrow. "They've had difficulty with Wangji's. I assume yours will be similarly challenging."

"Shame."

Lan Xichen opened the door and motioned for them to follow him back out into the corridor outside.

It was much quieter than it had been before. There was no one around – no loitering officials or doctors or even curious passersby. Wei Wuxian wondered if Lan Xichen and Lan Zhan had requested that everyone clear out.

"I've told Sizhui that you're all right," Lan Xichen said as he led them back to where the others had been.

"How is he?" Wei Wuxian and Wen Ning asked in unison.

"He's well," Lan Xichen answered. "I imagine he'd like to see you both. Wangji asked me to bring you to him."

"Both?" Wen Ning repeated, a note of fear in his tone.

"Relax," Wei Wuxian said lightly. "Zewu-jun is aware of you two. He has been for a very long time."

"Oh."

They came to a halt outside a plain door. Wei Wuxian recognized it as the same one in front of which the storm gate had opened.

They were back where they'd started.

Against his will, Wei Wuxian's eyes drifted toward the room where they'd taken Jiang Cheng. He noticed now that a yellow paper was nailed to the outside.

"A silencing talisman?" Wei Wuxian said. "But why…?"

He trailed off as the realization hit him. He felt sick to his stomach.

"He must have regained some amount of strength," Lan Xichen whispered, staring at the door too. "That's what I keep telling myself… that it's a good thing…"

"Did you hear him?" Wei Wuxian asked.

"I did."

There was a brief pause between them. But, when he drew in a breath to speak again, Lan Xichen quickly cut him off.

"Please don't ask me anything more about it," he said in a strained voice. His eyes were still locked on the door. "No good will come of asking."

"I wasn't going to," Wei Wuxian said. "I was going to suggest that we step inside here since I assume this is where A-Yuan is?"

"Ah, yes. Please."

Lan Xichen opened the door, revealing a small room with one bed on the far wall and a couple of occupied wooden chairs that didn't stay occupied for long.

Jingyi leapt to his feet. Lan Zhan stood quite abruptly too.

"Where is Jin Ling?" Jingyi demanded. "No one else knows. You've got to know. I heard him outside but by the time I got out there, he was gone and now-"

Lan Xichen held up a hand. Jingyi bit his lip to silence himself.

"Yu Qingqi is with him," Wei Wuxian said. "I don't think they went far, but I don't know."

Jingyi looked unsatisfied by this answer as he lowered himself back into his chair. But he miraculously kept his mouth shut.

Lan Zhan meandered over and wrapped his arms around Wei Wuxian. After only a moment in his embrace, Wei Wuxian lightly tapped his shoulder to request release. The storm he was trying to tame inside himself threatened to overwhelm him.

"You seem hurt," Sizhui said.

He and Lan Zhan stepped away from one another, allowing Wei Wuxian to clearly see Sizhui lying on his stomach in the bed against the wall.

His robe had been cut from his back. The tatters lay spread like azalea petals. A green salve was smeared over his wounds and from the way he had propped himself up on his elbows, he was much more comfortable than before.

"You seem hurt too," Wei Wuxian said with a smirk, coming to sit on the edge of his bed.

Sizhui smiled at him. "I'll be all right."

"Me too."

He ruffled Sizhui's hair as Lan Zhan quietly excused himself, mentioning something about a doctor. Sizhui caught sight of Wen Ning lingering by the door and motioned for him to come sit with them too.

"Where have you been?" Sizhui asked him as he knelt down on the floor.

"I… I don't know," Wen Ning answered.

"Sect Leader Nie took it upon himself to use a skullpiercer to control him," Wei Wuxian explained when Sizhui gave a confused look. "He thought his plan was better than the rest of ours but didn't care to involve the rest of us in it."

"I see," Sizhui said coolly. "Hanguang-jun told us that Jin Guangyao was definitely dead, though?"

"Best as I could tell," Wei Wuxian said. "I placed some strong restraint talismans on his body before we left. I'll go back to collect him sometime soon."

"Maybe I-" Lan Xichen started to say.

"For the last time, Zewu-jun," Wei Wuxian cut him off, "he's not your responsibility. No one holds you accountable for anything that happened."

"I know."

"So, unless you actually want to be the one to collect him, I will be dealing with it."

"You don't mind?"

Wei Wuxian laughed. "My whole reputation is built around the dead!"

"That doesn't mean that you like it."

"I wouldn't say that I like it," Wei Wuxian said. "I think it'd be weird if I liked it. But I really don't mind doing it, especially for family."

Lan Xichen beamed at him. Even though his smile was riddled with sorrow, this one felt genuine.

"Thank you, Wei Wuxian."

"Don't mention it, Zewu-jun."

"Lan Xichen," he corrected.

"Lan Xichen," Wei Wuxian repeated with a grin of his own.

"Would you tell us what happened?" Sizhui asked politely.

Wei Wuxian frowned. "Lan Zhan didn't tell you anything?"

"He told us that Jin Guangyao was dead and that Sect Leader Jiang is badly hurt, but we don't know anything else," Jingyi said.

"Of course," Wei Wuxian said with an exasperated sigh. "Why would he ever bother saying anything more than the bare minimum? All right. What are you most interested in hearing?"

"All of it," Jingyi said.

"Careful what you wish for."

"All of it, please Wei-qianbei," Sizhui said.

"All of it, then."

Wei Wuxian proceeded to tell them about their confrontation with Jin Guangyao. Both of them were impressed by Jin Ling's ability to control both sword and arrow simultaneously. And Wei Wuxian learned from Jingyi that Jin Ling had managed to do that once before in Lanling.

They then had trouble reconciling whether to be angry on his behalf or amused that Jin Ling had gone on to spend the rest of the fight asleep in the Scorching Sun Palace.

He told them about the water-like stone and Jin Guangyao's control over the weather. He described the golden daggers and how they worked. He revealed Huaisang's plan and laid out everything that Fairy and Wen Ning had done during the end of the fight, mostly for Wen Ning's benefit.

At last, he told them that Jiang Cheng had been injured trying to protect Luo Qingyang and that the power of the daggers had faded when they needed it most. But he was less forthcoming on the details of what happened after the fight.

Jingyi noticed and, of course, wasn't willing to let it slide. "Well come on! This is mostly what I wanted to know! Did Jin Ling get to speak with him or was he asleep in the palace through it all? What did you do to try to help him? Is he going to make it?"

Wei Wuxian raised an eyebrow. "I thought you had no love for Sect Leader Jiang. Why the concern?"

Jingyi shrugged. "I just want to know."

Wei Wuxian looked to Lan Xichen for support but found none. He was seated in the far corner of the room, eyes closed and head back like he was trying hard not to be a part of their conversation.

"If you must know," Wei Wuxian said mischievously, "he kissed your Zewu-jun."

"What?!" Sizhui and Jingyi said in unison.

There was no reaction from Lan Xichen. He was a lot harder to provoke than Wei Wuxian had anticipated.

"He didn't!" Jingyi insisted.

"Well, yes, I suppose you're right," Wei Wuxian said, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "I suppose Zewu-jun kissed him."

"You're a liar!" Jingyi cried. "Tell him he's a liar, Zewu-jun! It's not true!"

"He's not lying," Lan Xichen said placidly without opening his eyes or moving at all. "I kissed him, at his request, in front of Jin Ling."

"What?!" Sizhui and Jingyi shouted again.

Wei Wuxian laughed at the horror on their faces. "And everyone says I'm dramatic! Doesn't get more dramatic than that! Right boys?"

Lan Xichen opened his eyes then. "I distinctly recall your confession to Wangji in Guanyin Temple."

Wei Wuxian's laughter died to a nervous chuckle. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"I'd say you're still in the running for the title of most dramatic," Lan Xichen finished.

"Heh. I didn't mean to offend."

"You haven't offended me," Lan Xichen assured him as he closed his eyes again.

The kids weren't done asking their questions.

"But, Zewu-jun, why would you-?"

"Why did Sect Leader Jiang ask you to do that in front of Jin Ling?" Sizhui asked, interrupting Jingyi, possibly to prevent him from saying something rude.

"I expect he had his reasons," Lan Xichen said. "And I expect that you've begun to piece them together."

Sizhui's eyes widened. Jingyi looked back and forth between him and Lan Xichen for a moment before his expression also turned to one of shock.

"Where is Jin Ling, Zewu-jun?" Jingyi said urgently as he took a few steps toward the door already.

Wei Wuxian watched them all in vague amusement. He wasn't certain what their reactions were about, but he had a pretty good hunch.

Wen Ning, however, seemed completely lost.

"As much as I know you care about him and only want to help," Lan Xichen said, "I don't think it's wise for you to seek him out right now."

"Why not?"

"He lost a member of his family for the second time and he may yet lose another today. He has someone with him already. Maybe the best thing you can do right now is to give him space. If he wants your company, perhaps he will seek you out."

"Jin Guangyao can hardly be counted as family anymore," Jingyi scoffed.

"That is not for you to decide," Lan Xichen said. "I think you've illustrated my point. You mean well, but you tend to speak your mind. It's not a bad thing, but it's not ideal for this. Please sit down."

Jingyi reluctantly did as he was told.

"Do you know where he is, Lan Xichen?" Wei Wuxian asked him once the boys had settled down.

Lan Xichen nodded. "I heard him while I was looking for you."

Heard him?

Was he still sobbing like before? Or had he possibly taken a leaf from Jiang Cheng's book and turned to violence instead?

Wei Wuxian didn't bother asking. It would only spark another argument from Jingyi and he felt Lan Xichen was unlikely to answer him anyhow.

"I see," was all he said.

Just then, the door opened and in stepped Lan Zhan and a woman dressed in doctor's garb.

"I only have a moment to spare," she said, meandering over to Wei Wuxian as Lan Zhan had indicated. "They need help with your friend next door."

"How is he?" Lan Xichen asked, daring to speak the question that Wei Wuxian was too afraid to utter.

"Not well," the doctor said, gesturing for Wei Wuxian to loosen his robe so she could inspect his chest. "They're maintaining him on qi alone and have depleted a few people already. It's been impossible to stem the loss of blood. If he loses much more, I'm not sure what hope we'll have left. We can't keep buying him time forever. He may have already lost too much blood as it is."

Wei Wuxian bit the inside of his cheek as she pressed her fingers against the edges of his stab wound. After a moment or two, she simply shook her head, abandoning it as a lost cause and moved on to his neck and legs instead. She seemed to be ignoring his burns too for the moment.

"It doesn't help that Advisor Luo keeps interfering," the doctor went on. "Make no mistake, I appreciate the work she's done on the council in helping to remind them to think of the common folk during decision making, but that's where her opinions belong. I don't think she has much right in telling me how to do my job."

"Jin Ling expects that you'll listen to her," Wei Wuxian said. "He'll be upset to learn that you've ignored his orders."

The doctor scowled at him. "I never said we disobeyed his orders," she said flatly. "I merely stated that I don't believe an advisor has any place in medicine. We don't know why he keeps bleeding despite our best efforts, but she won't let us check his meridians to see if we're missing anything."

"You aren't missing anything," Wei Wuxian said. "Well, you aren't missing anything there. Maybe this will help."

He pulled the golden dagger from his belt and held it out to her. The doctor wiped the herbs from her hands with a towel before taking it from him.

"Is this the weapon that stabbed him?" she asked, turning it over in her fingers.

"Yes."

"Doesn't seem extraordinary to me. I don't think it answers our question."

"Its power has worn off since its user was killed," Wei Wuxian explained. "But it was this same weapon that stabbed me here-" he pointed at his chest, "-and wounded Hanguang-jun too."

"You've stopped the bleeding though," the doctor said, examining the blade with more intrigue.

"Not without a great deal of effort," Wei Wuxian said. "That weapon was designed to draw blood from one person to give to another. Figure out how to reverse the effects, and you may save him."

The doctor shrugged. "It couldn't hurt to give this to the alchemist. I'll be sure it gets to him."

"Please do."

"Anyway," she said, pocketing the dagger and wiping her hands clean the rest of the way. "I've done what I can for you. Don't turn your head too fast and please rest for the next few days. I don't know how long it'll take for that to heal-" she pointed at his chest, "-but the rest will scab over better in the next couple days or so. You will need treatment for your burns. I can't do that for you right now, but I'll try to remember to send someone to you."

"Thank you."

She bowed to him and then the rest of the room. He bowed in return. Wordlessly, she excused herself, leaving the six of them in awkward silence.

"Maybe they would let you see him, Wei Wuxian," Wen Ning said tentatively. "If you wanted to see him."

His throat constricted. Wei Wuxian simply shook his head.

Another moment or two passed.

Eventually, once he'd regained the ability to speak, Wei Wuxian said, "It's getting crowded in here. I'll talk to the rest of you later."

He slipped past Lan Zhan and out into the hall. As soon as he'd closed the door behind himself, he put his back against the wall and slid down to the ground.

"Breathe. Just breathe," he muttered to himself.

Almost soundlessly, the door opened and closed again. Lan Zhan sat down beside him without a word.

There weren't many people in the hall, but those who did pass them didn't ask any questions. They would look curiously in their direction before scurrying off or saying something under their breath and turning away.

It took Wei Wuxian longer than it should have to notice that Lan Zhan was glaring at them. He appreciated it but didn't say anything. He knew he didn't have to.

As time slipped by and the lowered voices in the room behind them finally quieted, Wei Wuxian leaned against Lan Zhan's shoulder. Lan Zhan pressed his cheek to the top of his head. Still, they didn't exchange a single word.

The door opened and closed yet again. This time, Lan Xichen stepped out into the hall with them.

He stood there for a moment, thinking or unsure, Wei Wuxian didn't know. He didn't bother to look up at him.

It didn't matter. Lan Xichen didn't stay.

He headed down the corridor, away from everyone else. Wei Wuxian never would have guessed that a man as bright and cheerful as Lan Xichen would have ended up in seclusion like he had. And it seemed that solitude called for him again.

It was amazing, in a terrible way, how quickly things could change.

He hadn't gone far before a door opened. Not the door to Sizhui's room. It was the one to Jiang Cheng's room.

Wei Wuxian braced himself for screaming that didn't come. Instead, all he heard were the barking orders of several different doctors.

Luo Qingyang emerged, her face sallow and drawn. She looked to have aged by several years.

"What are you doing?!" Wei Wuxian exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "You're supposed to be in there! Why are you-?"

"He's asking for you," Luo Qingyang said tiredly.

"What?"

"You heard me."

"You misunderstood him then," Wei Wuxian said. "You must have."

"I didn't."

"No, that doesn't make any sense."

Luo Qingyang sighed. "He's asking for you and Miss Jiang. I can only give him one of those things."

Wei Wuxian's skepticism grew stronger. "He's asking for A-Li?"

She nodded.

"He's delirious then," Wei Wuxian said definitively. "He doesn't know where he is. He doesn't know that she's dead. He doesn't actually want me-"

"Wei Wuxian," Luo Qingyang said, looking at him with pleading eyes, "I can't comfort him. I don't know how. Delirious or lucid, hatred or love, I don't really care. Will you come or not?"

"I-"

"He'll come," Lan Xichen said. Wei Wuxian spun to find that he was still standing where he'd last been in the hallway.

"Xiongzhang," Lan Zhan said testily, stepping forward to put himself partway between Wei Wuxian and his brother, "you cannot force-"

"I won't force him to do anything," Lan Xichen said, "but I have a feeling that Wei Wuxian will go."

"He's not… I mean, it's been a long time since… I don't think it's a good idea," Wei Wuxian mumbled.

Luo Qingyang started to tap her foot. "Those doctors are ready to jump down my throat for standing in their way. I can't be out here forever. Is he coming or not?"

Lan Xichen held up a hand calmly. "Please return to your duties. I will send him in once I've finished speaking to him."

"Make it quick."

She ducked back inside, leaving the three of them to face one another in the hallway.

"Very well. I'll make it quick, as Advisor Luo requested," Lan Xichen said once she'd gone. "Jiang Cheng doesn't hate you."

"He's said that to you?" Wei Wuxian asked, not daring to believe it. "Because he told me quite the opposite back in Nightless City."

"He's said it plenty of times, just not in those words."

"Ha, sure."

"He's said it to you, Wei Wuxian," Lan Xichen said. "But I think you're too cautious to accept what you hear. And I can't blame you. He still lashes out at you plenty. I think you should be cautious. But it may help to understand."

"And just what do you understand about Jiang Cheng, hm?" Wei Wuxian asked, starting to feel annoyed. "You've barely known him."

"I know that he wouldn't have carried someone he hated through the palace to return you to the rest of us. I know that he wouldn't have given a clarity bell – a cherished token of his clan – to someone he hated."

"Those were strategic moves more than anything," Wei Wuxian said. "He knew I'd be able to help more if he helped me. Plain and simple."

"Where is Zidian?" Lan Xichen asked abruptly.

"What? I put it on my jade talisman. Why?"

"Take it out."

Wei Wuxian exchanged a perplexed look with Lan Zhan before doing as Lan Xichen had ordered. He pulled the jade out from under his clothes. The ring clinked against it as he lifted the cord over his head to untie it.

Zidian slid out into his palm, where it glittered menacingly up at him.

"Put it on."

"What?! Have you lost your mind?!" Wei Wuxian yelled. "He gave it to me to give to Jin Ling. He wouldn't have given me permission to use it!"

"Then it probably won't let you put it on," Lan Xichen said. "So prove it."

"No, you do it first!"

"Very well."

Lan Xichen crossed the distance. He plucked the ring from Wei Wuxian's offered hand and, ignoring Lan Zhan's plea not to do it, he tried to put it on his own finger.

Violet arcs of lightning crisscrossed the diameter, forming an 'X' through the middle. He withdrew his hand quickly but didn't seem injured. He simply couldn't put the ring on.

"Now you," Lan Xichen said.

"This is stupid."

Wei Wuxian took it back from him and did the same thing, bracing for the quick zap of electricity to shoot up his hand. But it never did.

Zidian slid on effortlessly and even adjusted its size to fit his finger. It was responding to him.

"Huh. That's weird," Wei Wuxian remarked, turning his hand over as if expecting the other side would be different somehow. "It doesn't prove anything though. He might have given me permission so that I could protect Jin Ling with it in the interim until he decided to take it for himself. That's all."

"What would you need to protect Jin Ling from? Jin Guangyao is gone."

"I don't know. There are still corpses and things."

Lan Xichen sighed. "He does have hatred in his heart, but it isn't for you as he claims it is. He forgave you a long time ago."

"If that were the case, he wouldn't act the way he does," Wei Wuxian insisted. "The past doesn't have to matter. We could move forward if he wanted to, but he doesn't want to."

"He doesn't seem to want to," Lan Xichen agreed. "The way he's been acting lately though has made me wonder. But then again, like you said, I barely know him. I think you are better equipped to know his heart than I am. Have you really not seen any indication that his hatred for you may be fading?"

Wei Wuxian frowned.

Hands that pulled him from death's grasp… cool water to chase away the flame… Jiang Cheng's horrified face as he realized he'd opened a storm gate to his sworn enemy.

I don't know how to stop hating you.

Those words seemed to mean something very different now.

"What am I supposed to do?" Wei Wuxian asked quietly. "Whether he really hates me or only wants to, what's the difference? What am I supposed to do in there?"

"I don't know," Lan Xichen said. "I won't force you to go. If you refuse, I'll go tell Advisor Luo now. She'll have me to blame, not you."

Wei Wuxian looked at the silencing talisman on the door again. Tears pricked at his eyes. The storm inside him was threatening to spill over.

"I don't know if I'm ready for this," he whispered.

"Whatever you want to do," Lan Zhan said, "it's okay."

"He could be dying. I have to go."

"You don't owe him that," Lan Xichen said quickly. "I don't intend to guilt you. I'm sorry it came across that way. You should only go if you want to."

He was right. He didn't owe him anything. He didn't have to go. He didn't have to go unless he wanted to.

'Wanted to' was a strange choice of words. But he supposed when he thought about it, he didn't want Jiang Cheng to die like that, screaming for someone who would never come for him. It was less about what he wanted and more about what he didn't want.

Wei Wuxian couldn't do anything about Yanli's absence, but he could control his own.

He took a deep shaky breath and plucked Zidian from his finger, putting it back on his necklace.

"I'll do it," he said. "But I'm not wearing that horrible ring in there. Then he'll really kill me."

"I doubt he's in any condition to cause you physical harm," Lan Xichen said.

"Right. Probably not."

He walked to the door. Each step he took was less confident than the last. He could barely move once he stood directly in front of it.

"I will be right here," Lan Zhan said. "If you need anything or change your mind, I'll be out here, all right?"

"Promise?"

"I promise."

He gritted his teeth and pulled open the door.

Jiang Cheng's raspy voice greeted him before he'd had time to take in anything around him.

"Wei Ying?"

"I'm here."