Wei Wuxian took a very quick step backward as Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen stepped out of the portal that appeared before Lan Zhan. For some reason, he had expected Jiang Cheng to loose Zidian on him even though he'd given him no reason to do so.

But the strike of the whip never arrived… and neither did the boys.

"So you finally regained your qi?" Wei Wuxian overheard Jiang Cheng ask Lan Xichen.

"Yes," Lan Xichen said. "After I rested midday yesterday, it was replenished."

Jiang Cheng's brow furrowed. Wei Wuxian didn't understand why he looked so confused. Obviously qi would return when the user had rested. Why was this so shocking?

He didn't question it. He didn't care.

"Where are the kids?" Wei Wuxian asked.

Jiang Cheng scowled as if Wei Wuxian had interrupted a very important conversation. Lan Xichen, however, answered him in his typical serene manner though it lacked the smile that usually accompanied his words.

"Jin Ling has matters of his own that require his attention," Lan Xichen said. "My juniors have elected to help him and Luo Qingyang."

"Is everyone all right?" Wen Ning asked. "We heard there was a battle."

"Yes," Lan Xichen said. "Everyone is fine. There were a few broken bones, but they've since mended. Nothing to worry about."

"Why were they attacked?" Wei Wuxian asked.

"That is unclear," Lan Xichen replied. "I saw a variety of smaller clans present. I presume that Jin Ling has been given more detailed information, but he didn't share it with us. He assured us that he would handle it and catch up with our group later."

With the mention of more detailed information, all eyes turned to Huaisang. They'd tried and failed to get him to tell them anything more about the Jinlintai incident.

"Why are you staring at me?!" Huaisang squeaked.

"You said we'd wait for Jiang Cheng and Zewu-jun to return and explain everything," Wei Wuxian said curtly. "Here they are. And they know nothing. Time to start talking."

"Wait, he's the one who found out who was behind this?" Jiang Cheng growled. "How exactly did he do that?"

"Well…" Huaisang started fanning himself more vigorously. Little beads of sweat shone on his forehead. "If Jiang Cheng and Zewu-jun weren't told anything, perhaps it's best that I don't say anything either. This is Jin Ling's business. If he doesn't want others involved then-"

Wei Wuxian laughed unpleasantly and took a step closer to him.

"He won't know we were involved," Wei Wuxian said in a falsely sweet tone. "You aren't going to tell him. He's still young and should be using the wisdom of the elders around him, but his pride is getting in the way. So you're going to tell us exactly what you told him."

"And I'm the one who doesn't let Jin Ling make his own decisions?" Jiang Cheng commented under his breath.

Wei Wuxian bristled. Now was not the time for this. But, of course, if anyone was going to miss the point, it would have been Jiang Cheng.

Huaisang perked up at this and looked to his savior to say something more in his defense.

"What are you staring at?" Jiang Cheng snapped. "We're all waiting for you to start talking."

And just as quickly as it had come, Wei Wuxian's annoyance with him evaporated. Jiang Cheng was still technically on his side, he was just going to be an ass about it (and honestly, Wei Wuxian was probably going to do the same).

"If I tell you," Huaisang said, "you might run off to find him."

"So what?" Wei Wuxian replied.

"And?" Jiang Cheng said at the same time.

The two of them glanced at each other – a look of mutual distaste over having a shared sentiment.

"Is no one here going to respect Jin Ling's privacy?"

Indeed, no one did speak up. Lan Xichen was fiddling with the end of his flute. He was the only one who seemed uncomfortable with what was happening.

So, Huaisang told them what more he knew about the reasoning behind the attack on Jinlintai.

Wei Wuxian couldn't figure out why he'd tried so hard to keep the information from them in the first place. But, he knew he'd told them the truth – not because he could read Huaisang that well (he was sure he couldn't) – but because it was too easy to verify by dropping in on Jin Ling via storm gate.

There was nothing incredibly surprising about the information Huaisang provided. So Xue Yang had been messing with surrounding clans and pinning the trouble on the Jins. What was the purpose?

He probably anticipated that Wei Wuxian would come to aid them. That would give Xue Yang an opportunity to apprehend him. Jin Ling could be walking into a trap designed for Wei Wuxian, which would be a problem.

Neither Jiang Cheng nor Lan Xichen recalled seeing Xue Yang himself during the battle. So it was likely that he was hoping to have the gang catch Wei Wuxian on their own and deliver him to Nightless City.

Whatever had possessed Xue Yang to think Wei Wuxian would be so easy to capture was unclear. Wei Wuxian was offended by how considerably his rival had underestimated him.

Unless…

"I assume you two will be running off now?" Huaisang asked, looking between Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng.

"No," Wei Wuxian said matter-of-factly, even as Jiang Cheng very much looked like he wanted to run off. "You worried we would go because Jin Ling is walking into a trap designed for me. Am I right?"

Huaisang paused, then nodded.

"And knowing this, you do not intend to go?" Lan Zhan asked.

"Yes," Wei Wuxian said. "I intend not to go because I disagree."

Jiang Cheng crossed his arms and began tapping his index finger against his bicep impatiently. The Lan brothers, Huaisang, and Wen Ning were all much more polite as they waited for Wei Wuxian's explanation.

"This seems like a half-hearted effort to me," Wei Wuxian said. "I think it's meant to be a distraction to throw us off his trail momentarily. Xue Yang intends for us to come to Nightless City. The real trap is waiting for us there. We only had a lead to Qishan because he made it so. Trust me. But he's realized he needs to buy himself more time."

"So there's no trap waiting for Jin Ling, then?" Jiang Cheng asked sharply.

"There's a trap," Wei Wuxian said, "but it's going to be easy to take care of. Luo Qingyang is strong and they wouldn't have gone without some Jin disciples too. I'm not worried."

That was the wrong thing to say. He knew it even before he saw the violet sparks fly from Zidian.

Lan Zhan reached for Bichen, but Zidian remained in place. It crackled and popped on Jiang Cheng's finger.

"I distinctly recall your lack of concern leading up to a number of catastrophes," Jiang Cheng said. His voice trembled with a rage to match his stiffened shoulders and dark expression.

"I was younger then," Wei Wuxian retorted. "Jin Ling will be fine. I'm sure of it."

"Sure enough to stake his life on it?"

"If we abandon the mission and go after Jin Ling, Xue Yang is going to be stronger by the time we find him," Wei Wuxian said. "If we split our group too much to send some of us after Jin Ling, he may try to kill whoever stays on the path to Qishan."

"And so you want to leave him to walk into a trap, do you?" Jiang Cheng hissed.

"He's going to be fine! But if you want to run off after him, I won't stop you!"

"As if you'd be able to!"

Huaisang held up his hands in a desperate attempt to placate the two of them. Wen Ning and Lan Zhan, however, were both more than ready to tear Jiang Cheng apart if he tried anything.

"I'm going," Jiang Cheng said. "Lend me the supplies."

He held his hand out to Lan Xichen expectantly.

Lan Xichen, who until that moment had calmly observed the argument in front of him, now looked apprehensive. Jiang Cheng noticed his hesitation.

"You disagree with me as well?" he snapped at him.

Wei Wuxian was surprised. Sure, Jiang Cheng would pick a fight with Lan Zhan. But Lan Xichen? That was unheard of.

"It's not that," Lan Xichen assured him, appearing to take no offense at Jiang Cheng's tone. "I would worry too were I in your place."

"Then give me the paper."

"I cannot."

Jiang Cheng's expression darkened further. "Why?"

Lan Xichen's answer was hardly more than a whisper, but Wei Wuxian heard it anyway. "You made a promise."

Jiang Cheng pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled loudly. The fire had been taken right out of him.

Now Wei Wuxian was really confused.

"If Xue Yang wants to use Jin Ling as a lure," Lan Xichen went on, "it won't do to kill him. Wait a couple of days. Then I'll help you check on them."

His words did not seem to have the effect on Jiang Cheng that he'd intended. Rather than settle him, Jiang Cheng was riled up anew, even more so than last time.

"So we'll just let Xue Yang take him prisoner for a couple of days?" he asked. Zidian resumed its crackling. "Let him be tortured until we finally get around to checking in on him?"

"No, no, of course not."

Wei Wuxian grimaced. He didn't envy poor Lan Xichen for the hole he'd dug for himself.

It was only natural that Jiang Cheng would be sensitive to the idea of Jin Ling being held hostage. Wei Wuxian still remembered well how badly Jiang Cheng had been wounded spending a little under a day as prisoner to the Wens. The mere memory of it still made him sick with guilt for having not kept a closer eye on him. He could only imagine how Jiang Cheng felt about it.

The idea of Jin Ling spending days as a prisoner was unthinkable to Wei Wuxian. If he had believed that Xue Yang would capture him for that purpose, Wei Wuxian would have gone to him in a heartbeat.

But it didn't make sense that Xue Yang would have dropped leads for them pointing to Qishan, specifically Nightless City, just to turn around and make them all head the opposite direction.

He was buying himself time. He had to be.

Still, Wei Wuxian couldn't be one hundred percent sure. And if he couldn't be sure...

"How are you going to keep that from happening if none of us go to him?" Jiang Cheng was saying as Wei Wuxian resurfaced from his thoughts. "I'm not going to sit-"

"I agree," Wei Wuxian cut in. "I think we should send more help to him."

Lan Zhan cocked his head to one side. "I thought you said the trap should be easy to deal with?"

"I know," Wei Wuxian said.

"And you said splitting our group would endanger the ones left behind," Huaisang said, visibly scared.

"Right. So we won't split our group much."

"What do you propose?" Lan Zhan asked.

"One of us should go," Wei Wuxian said. "No more. No less."

"Great," said Jiang Cheng. "I'm-"

"Pardon my interruption, Sect Leader," Wen Ning piped up. Wei Wuxian and everyone else looked to him in surprise. "I would like to volunteer for this task, if I may?"

"What do you-?!"

"Wen Ning has grown close with those three," Wei Wuxian said quickly. "We can trust him to do whatever is necessary to keep Jin Ling and the others safe."

He knew Jiang Cheng was going to question Wen Ning's dedication. Wei Wuxian didn't want him to be put in the position to defend himself while trying to keep Sizhui's identity a secret. Wen Ning wasn't particularly good at speaking off the cuff.

Jiang Cheng narrowed his eyes at both of them.

"It may be best if someone other than you goes to them," Lan Xichen said quietly. "Jin Ling may be less likely to interpret that as your doing."

"Are we seriously going to send a fierce corpse to protect those three from a demonic cultivator?" Jiang Cheng asked incredulously.

"Wen Ning is conscious," Wei Wuxian said. "Xue Yang would not be able to control him without the use of skullpiercers, and he'd have to get pretty close to do that."

He hated the idea. Wei Wuxian could see it. Jiang Cheng's need for control was making it nigh on impossible for him to accept that Wen Ning was probably the better choice.

However, when Jiang Cheng caught sight of the imploring look that Lan Xichen had given him, he seemed to settle down a little.

After a few excruciating seconds, he finally said, "Fine. If Xue Yang really is buying himself more time to set up something in Nightless City, we'd better get moving."

Jiang Cheng opened a storm gate for Wen Ning. It must have taken an extraordinary amount of effort from him not to follow Wen Ning through. But miraculously, he managed it.

Then, they were back to travelling like normal, though all of them were a little more anxious than before.

"Why did our juniors go with Jin Ling?" Lan Zhan asked, looking to his brother.

He sounded worried, but there was an unmistakable note of pride there too.

"I asked them to look after him," Lan Xichen explained. Jiang Cheng's attention snapped to him so quickly that Wei Wuxian was surprised he hadn't broken his neck. Oblivious to this, Lan Xichen went on, "I think it was an unnecessary request. They would have gone with him of their accord, I'm sure."

Lan Zhan simply nodded. Jiang Cheng, however, was staring at Lan Xichen as if he'd never seen him before.

Slowly, his expression shifted to one that Wei Wuxian was very familiar with. He'd seen Jiang Cheng look at Lan Xichen that same way a number of times in their youth.

Not that it mattered. Nothing would ever come of it.

Huaisang flicked his fan open, his eyes shifting between the other two sect leaders.

"Thank you for looking after Jin Ling, Zewu-jun," Wei Wuxian said, voicing the words he figured Jiang Cheng would be too proud to say.

"Yes," Jiang Cheng said in a daze, "thank you."

He was full of surprises today.

Lan Xichen smiled, perhaps a bit bashfully, and waved their thanks away.

"No need for that," he insisted. "We need to be looking out for one another anyway."

Instantly, Jiang Cheng jolted back into his normal self.

"Speaking of looking out for one another," he said, rounding on Huaisang.

Wei Wuxian furrowed his brow.

"What is this about?" Huaisang asked.

Jiang Cheng stepped closer to him. His aura was vaguely threatening.

"Playing defense for each other on occasion is one thing," Jiang Cheng said. "But keeping you alive during a battle would be a never-ending task. You are a liability. It would be best that you return to the Unclean Realm. None of this involves you anyway."

"I've tried to tell Wei Wuxian the same thing, but he never listens!"

Though he'd agreed with Jiang Cheng, there was definite hurt in how Huaisang spoke.

Wei Wuxian walked over to them and threw his arm around Huaisang's shoulders. He gave a lighthearted laugh as well for good measure.

"You don't want to look after him, Jiang Cheng?" he asked. "That's fine! I'll look after him! It's not like I have any children to watch over right now."

Jiang Cheng opened his mouth to argue, but Huaisang beat him to it.

"I'm not a child, Wei Wuxian."

"Of course you're not a child!" Wei Wuxian said, drowning each syllable in forced cheeriness. "You're my friend! Come now! Won't you spend time with me like you used to?"

Huaisang frowned. Jiang Cheng looked angry.

"This is serious what we're dealing with!" Jiang Cheng said. "We aren't here to relive your embarrassing school stories! Would it kill you to pretend to care about the murderer that's running loose?!"

"I care!"

And he was pretending but not about that.

He couldn't afford to have Huaisang run off to handle things the way he normally did. But the best way to convince him to stay was to convince him that he was interested in maintaining their old friendship, even if he wasn't.

It wasn't an ideal situation, but Wei Wuxian would work with what he was given.

"Hmm," Huaisang said, visibly warming to the idea. "I guess if someone will definitely be able to help protect me, I can help with the strategy side of things."

"Excellent!" Wei Wuxian said. "Lan Qiren might not have seen it, but I always knew you were a bright one! I look forward to working with you again!"

"You can't be serious," Jiang Cheng breathed.

Lan Zhan seemed annoyed by Wei Wuxian's performance.

Wei Wuxian ignored them both.

"I'll have to go back to the Unclean Realm, though," Huaisang said. "I never formally left someone in charge."

"Do you have someone to link to there?" Wei Wuxian asked.

"I should by now. She was meant to arrive today."

"She?"

Huaisang flushed red. "Mind yourself, Wei Ying," he said.

"Fine… for now."

Wei Wuxian shot him a grin. Huaisang practically cowered.

There was a pause, a brief moment where Wei Wuxian could reminisce on simpler times… a time when he had no responsibilities… a time when they were friends…

And then Huaisang whipped out some paper and started tracing his wandering mandala pattern. With a crack like thunder, Wei Wuxian was pulled from his reverie.

"I'll see you soon!" Huaisang shouted over the whirlwind.

"I'm counting on it!" Wei Wuxian yelled back.

Huaisang stared at the gate for a little while, the color slowly draining from his face. Then he took a deep breath, shook out his hands, and walked toward that strange two-dimensional opening.

He was gone in an instant. And just as quickly, the forest relaxed and the blossoms that had been caught in the storm fluttered to the ground.

"He may not return," Lan Zhan said softly, such that only Wei Wuxian would hear it.

Wei Wuxian sighed. "I know."

He stared at the last place he'd seen Huaisang, as if expecting him to return just as quickly as he'd left.

He had to come back. They couldn't be controlled from the shadows again.

"Let's get moving," Jiang Cheng said. "If he doesn't come back, at least we don't have to waste our energy protecting him."

Not wanting to get into another argument, Wei Wuxian said nothing.

Together, the four of them wordlessly continued on their journey to Qishan.

When it came down to it, Wei Wuxian would much prefer to spend energy protecting Huaisang from danger. If it wasn't that, they were likely to find themselves dedicating their efforts to protecting themselves from Huaisang.

He had to come back. He'd said that he would.