Chapter Text
It is dusk when Lan Wangji arrives. Wei Wuxian is still incapacitated in the cave, and has been fighting a breathless and futile battle against Wen Qing’s bonds for nearly a day, judging by the meager light that fades in and out from the cave opening. It feels like it has been much longer. It has surely been weeks since Jin Zixuan collapsed to the ground unseeing, longer yet since he read the invitation delivered by Lan Wangji. A lifetime since the first time he saw Lan Wangji make his pristine gliding entrance, on the steps to Cloud Recesses, with his siblings by his side and no invitation in hand.
Perhaps it has been a lifetime for both of them. The Lan Wangji who pauses overcome in the cave entrance before running to Wei Wuxian's bed is a different man than the one who had refused entry to the Jiang disciples. Wei Wuxian chokes on a geyser of grief, despair, and burning hope at the sight of him.
"Wei Ying."
When was the last time someone had spoken his name with such worry? Always in Lan Zhan's voice. Lan Zhan, who shouldn't have been by his side when Wen Ruohan's hands were around his throat, shouldn't have seen him cloaked in resentful energy as he toyed with Wen Chao, shouldn't be here to see him like this now.
"Lan Zhan." It takes him three tries to force the words out of his parched throat. "What are you doing here? Wen Qing and the others..." His arms give out from where he has been straining up from the bed, and Lan Wangji immediately catches his shoulders to ease him back down.
"Wei Ying, drink something." Lan Wangji reaches over for the clay cup on his cluttered work bench, and brings the gritty water up to Wei Wuxian's mouth, supporting his neck so that he can sip it.
"There's a needle, in my shoulder. Wen Qing's work. Can you pull it out?"
Lan Wangji sets down the cup and reaches carefully around his shoulders, his long fingers quickly finding the needle.
"Your body is weak. You need to rest." Even as he says it, he is bracing Wei Wuxian's shoulderblade to pull the needle out in a smooth motion, and his urgency kicks Wei Wuxian's thoughts into a faster whirlpool. Sensation is returning to his limbs in shuddering fits and starts, and Wei Wuxian does not register Lan Wangji's intent until a cool stream of spiritual energy flows into his wrist. Even then, it is not until Lan Wangji's gaze flashes up to his face that he remembers something is wrong.
"Wei Ying. I cannot feel your core. What happened?"
"Lan Zhan, there is no time. Where are the Wens? Wen Qing, Wen Ning? Where is A-Yuan?" Lan Wangji blinks incredulously at him for moment, but doesn't dwell on the point.
"Wen Qing and Wen Qionglin are at Koi Tower. Wen-guniang said they were turning themselves over in recompense for Jin Zixuan's death. Jin-zongzhu and Jin Zixun made a great commotion. Then there was the sound of a flute. Wen Qionglin lost control of his mind, as with when he first woke up." Lan Zhan pauses his astonishing report to break away from Wei Ying's gaze. "I did not think you had sent them. When the flute sounded, I knew you would never endanger them like that, and I feared that I would not find you."
Black spots buzz across Wei Wuxian's vision as he tries to breathe through his panic. "We have to go there immediately. The other Wens, are they safe?"
"Mn. They are hiding. Wen Qing's instructions. I asked the elderly gentleman, who stopped me when I came up."
"Then we have to go right away. The other sects will come and hurt them! And whoever is at Koi Tower will kill Wen Ning, and Wen Qing. Fuck, Jin Guangshan will do that anyway. Lan Zhan, help me up." Warm hands settle across his back, buoying him forward. It's more surety than he's had in months, but the gulf between the impossible gift of Lan Wangji's assistance and the endless miracles he needs to bring everyone safely through the next day makes him ache, deep, where his core once thrummed.
"What is your plan?" Lan Wangji's eyes are intent, his brow as furrowed as Wei Wuxian has ever seen it. "The sects are opposed to you, and Wen Qionglin is being controlled." What is his plan? The plan is the same as it has been since Qiongqi Dao, except that now he knows the world is not wide enough to hide them after all, and the miracle he worked to bring Wen Ning back is not enough to keep him safe, or save any of them.
"Go to Koi Tower, restore Wen Ning's consciousness, and bring them back here. The wards are strong, Lan Zhan. We can hold them off for a while." He cannot keep the bleakness from his voice. "Wen Qing and Wen Ning have done nothing wrong, and I cannot let them be punished for my crimes. I owe them a life debt." Lotus Pier drenched in blood; Wen Qing and Wen Ning walking to a bonfire of bones. Everything he touches. Has breathing always been this difficult?
"Wei Ying, the risk is too high. You can barely sit up."
This, Wei Wuxian notes, is true. Lan Wangji has kept a steadying hand on his shoulder, which is structurally necessary, but at least he is now able to flex his fingers with some degree of control. He concentrates and pulls hard to swing his legs to the side of the bed. He has to fling out his arm to catch himself from toppling over.
"Wei Ying!"
"I'm fine. The effects of the acupuncture needle will wear off soon, and I can't afford to wait." Every second is precious, a second too slow and too late and too gone. The thing is, Wei Wuxian knew the Wen settlement has always been in danger. It was only ever going to be a matter of time until something gave. But he thought they were safe enough in the recent lull among the exploratory Jin cultivators, that they would have a little more time in their farm houses, and that there was a chance - just a fool's chance, but that's all he's ever needed, he's done more with less - that the world would slowly forget about them, and they could slip into the quiet oblivion that graces a thousand rural hamlets.
But now it's too late. The two closest friends he has - and he cannot afford to think about who the silent man bracing him up is to him - are marching to their deaths, may already be dead, and the rest of his people may as well be marked for death. Wen Qing and Wen Ning, their leader and their sword, are away at Koi Tower. Wei Wuxian cannot leave the remaining Wens unprotected. He wants to keep Lan Wangji far away from all this, wants it more than anything except A-Yuan's safety. Wei Wuxian lifts his eyes to meet Lan Wangji's unwavering gaze, and feels his lungs relax into the first full breath he's taken since hearing the name 'Koi Tower.'
"Lan Zhan. Can you look after the Wens here? There aren't many people here, and they have nothing but pitchforks to defend themselves." Wei Wuxian hesitates, but continues when the fortifying hand on his shoulder - on both shoulders, now - doesn't move. "You remember Qiongqi Dao, right? If the sects come, it could be like that again, and they will hurt A-Yuan. I can reinforce the wards on my way out, but can you stay with them until there's news?"
This is ludicrous. There is no guarantee he or anyone will come back, or that anyone will bring news until Jin Guangshan barges up to the wards with a mob of cultivators in front of him. Who knows where any of them will be by sunrise? Wei Wuxian can't actually believe how quickly everything has fallen apart. How can he ever face his shijie again? He doesn't have time for the gut-deep shiver that jerks him further into Lan Wangji's steadying hands and disbelieving stare. He can't ask this of Lan Zhan.
"Wei Ying. I will go with you. You cannot go there alone."
Wei Wuxian stares back at him before breaking into a shattering laugh.
"Ah, Lan Zhan, it is too late to save my reputation! What is the Yiling Laozu good for if not protecting my people however I can? No matter what happens, I can't let the Wens pay for my crimes. You keep A-Yuan safe, Lan Zhan. There isn't anyone except you who I trust to protect him."
That last sentence hovers like a confession of crime, a last truth. Lan Wangji's amber eyes widen faintly before returning to their burning focus.
"Go together on Bichen. Reinforce the wards. I will send a message to xiongzhang that there are children here." A hesitant, tentative pause, when Lan Wangji so rarely hesitates. "You do not have your golden core. I will help you." Wei Wuxian flinches, but before his indignant hiss can gain words, Lan Wangji cuts him off. "Should have helped sooner."
When was the last time someone said that to him? It takes Wei Wuxian's anger out at the knees.
"Qiongqi Dao. Should have stood by you."
Wei Wuxian knows the feeling of a nightmare intimately. Even so, he would be trying to pinch himself awake right now, were it not for the trembling aches already running through his body. He is running on pure fear and no sleep, with no reserves to process Lan Wangji's delusions, and he flicks his head to refocus.
"We have to go now. You trust your brother to keep A-Yuan from getting hurt?"
"Mn."
Wei Wuxian doesn't like it, but beggars can't be choosers. Even so, though.
"Lan Zhan, are you sure? Your family will be so angry. Hanguang-Jun cannot go back from this."
"Certain."
He doesn't have time to talk Lan Wangji out of something he's put his mind to. The man is almost as stubborn as he is. And, for all that his soul cries out against any possibility of dragging his former friend down with him, a trembling part of him lifts at the prospect of having Lan Wangi at his side. Perhaps, perhaps the renowned Hanguang-Jun can keep Wen Qing and Wen Ning alive.
"Let's go."
Lan Wangji slides an arm under his shoulders to support him, and Wei Wuxian manages to mostly get his stumbling legs in order by the time the make their way out of the cave.
"Fourth Uncle!" Wei Wuxian calls. The grizzled man in question immediately steps out from behind one of the nearby buildings, where he has clearly been keeping watch. "Hanguang-Jun and I are going to Koi Tower to rescue Wen Qing and Wen Ning. We're going to reinforce the wards. Don't trust anyone except us or Zewu-Jun, okay?"
Fourth Uncle looks deeply troubled at this.
"Be careful, Wei-gongzi. Wen-guniang did not want you to be hurt. None of us do."
"It'll be fine." It could be his last time seeing these people. Another blood-drenched goodbye for the list. "Just keep everyone out of sight, and make sure that A-Yuan gets to safety, okay? Hanguang-Jun or Zewu-Jun can look out for him." He briefly considers adding Jiang Cheng to the list, but he can't claim A-Yuan as his son in circumstances like this, and so he brushes the question aside.
The mention of options for A-Yuan's safety seems to ease something in Fourth Uncle's shoulders, but he doesn't really look any happier as he bows and steps back. Wei Wuxian meets Lan Wangji's nod with his own, and the two of them step onto Bichen together.