.
Wuxian can feel his heart flipping in his chest. It's an odd uncomfortable feeling that's causing him pain. When he felt Cheng carry him, he grabbed his robes to ground himself from the dizziness the running was causing him. Cheng suddenly stops and yells for everyone to fight, which causes Wuxian to open his eyes to see what's going on.
Cheng kneels on the ground, placing Wuxian partially down to free one of his hands to use Zidian. Wuxian speaks faintly: "What's going on?"
Cheng looks agitated : "Forest spirits are not allowing us to pass."
Wuxian looks around to see the young disciple struggling with the amount of spirits heading towards them. Wuxian tries to sit up properly: "Where is my Chenqing? I can help."
Cheng whips a close spirit then says forcefully: "Just sit still and let us handle it."
The spirits keep coming. The more they vanquish, the more forms anew. Cheng was getting extremely frustrated, especially when he saw Wuxian frown and grab his chest in pain. Suddenly, a wave of white energy is fired from behind them towards the spirits. Cheng sighs in relief and looks back, expecting to see Lan Wangji. Instead he sees Lan Clan disciples running at full speed with Taiho holding his guqin in hand. Bhao takes his position in front of Cheng and Wuxian while the other boys spread out to help the rest fight the onslaught of spirits.
Wuxian breaths hard: "Cheng.. something is.. wrong. Hurts."
Cheng grabs him again and carries him. He yells out: "FALL IN FORMATION! WE NEED TO FIGHT AS WE MOVE." They tried to move but every few paces, the ground would start to shake again and more spirits started to form. Cheng was getting fed up. He looks around and sees Jin Ling and Sizhui closest to him. He yells at Sizhui: "You! Come here and guard Wuxian." He places Wuxian on the ground and touches his cold forehead. When Wuxian opens pained eyes to look at him while he smiles down at him and says: "Take deep breaths and concentrate on regulating your energy. I will go clear the way so we can continue moving." Wuxian nods and closes his eyes again. Cheng grabs Sizhui's collar and yells: "Keep an eye on him! If he gets worse let me know!" He gets up and grabs his sword from Jin Ling and rushes to clear out the spirits.
The fight lasts longer than Cheng would've liked. If this continues then Wuxian will not survive. Cheng looks around desperately, trying to find a way out. All of a sudden they hear a zither being played from above. A figure in white lands and with a big wave of white energy wipes half of the spirits out. Hanguang Jun has finally arrived. Cheng lets out a sigh of relief and shouts: "HE'S BEEN POISONED! TAKE HIM AND GO NOW!" Wangji nods and runs towards his soul-bond, who's lying on the ground. Without hesitation, he scoops up Wuxian and jumps into Bichen, flying towards the city. Lijian jumps onto his sword to follow them.
Lijian debriefs Wangji about what happens on their way. Wangji looks at a bundled up, shivering Wuxian in his arms with worry. The smaller man opens his eyes and smiles in pain when he sees his soul-bond: ".. Zhan." Wangji nods: "Stay strong."
They arrived in a sea of commotion. Wuxian was rushed to see a healer who made many potions and stuck him with many needles. Wangji stayed with him the whole time, seething when the healer told him that the poison was administered days in advance. Someone will pay with their lives when Wangji finds his proof.
Cheng arrives with the disciples hours later. It took them forever to clear out the spirits. He found Wen Ning sitting outside the healer's chamber waiting for them to finish treating Wuxian. If the man can shed any tears, this would be the time. Cheng joined him, along with Ouyang and Lan disciples and Jin Ling. They waited until the sun had set. They waited until the moon had risen. Half way into the night, the healer steps out and addresses the cultivators surrounding his chamber: "Treasure Wei is no longer poisoned. You can rest assured that in time he will recover."
They all sighed in relief and left to wash up and sleep. Wen Ning and Cheng made their way in to see Wuxian laying in a bed, blinking drowsily at Wangji. Wangji was stroking Wuxian's hair and whispering things to calm him until he closed his eyes and drifted to sleep.
He then turns to look at the newcomers and nods towards the table on the other side.
The three men sat there and spoke in hushed voices so as to not disturb his slumber. Cheng demanded with a poorly concealed anger: "What took you so long?" Wangji glares at him: "We were ambushed with spirits just like you. I was on the furthest side of the mountain when I received the signal." Cheng scoffs: "He almost died because you were late." Wangji ignores his comment and says: "We need to find out who poisoned him." Wen Ning: "The healer confirmed Lijian's observations. The poison was administered five days ago and was originally used by my clan."
Wangji whispers: ".. five days."
Cheng looks shocked: "Could it be from the snake in his vision?"
Wangji shakes his head: "Dreams and visions do not manifest into reality."
Wen Ning frowns: "Could it be Jin Clan Leader Ziyang?"
Cheng and Wangji look at him seriously confirming their mutual suspicion.
Cheng: "We need evidence if we're going to accuse a Clan Leader."
Wangji nods then turns around to look at a sleeping Wuxian: "He will be ill for a while and cannot travel to Cloud Recesses."
Cheng: "Bring him to Lotus Pier. It's closer and we can protect him there until he recovers enough to travel."
Wen Ning nods his agreement. Wangji sighs irritably but nods his approval: "We leave once the culprit is dead."
The healer, an older man with black long beard, and two younger disciples and Lijian walked in carrying herbs and other medicinal things. The lead healer and Lijian bow before joining them. The healer looks seriously: "Your Excellency, Jiang Clan Leader, Master Wen, the poison has left Treasure Wei's body but not without leaving long lasting damage to the young man's body. I had a chance to speak with Young Master Lijian and he debriefed me about the status of Treasure Wei's health before this happened and the progress of this incident." He strokes his beard in thought: "Something is not adding up."
Wangji: "Explain."
The healer: "Constant low temperature and weak pulse is not normal but not unheard of for people who experienced traumatic physical trauma like the removal of the Golden Core. In Treasure Wei's case, these two symptoms should've helped slow the spread of the poison and prolong the time it took for it to be this harmful. Yet, when the poison started to manifest physically the deterioration rate escalated instead of slowing down like it should."
Lijian: "I think the poison has been altered. I noticed that every time Treasure Wei used Chenqing or assisted us in anyway, his health would visibly decline."
The healer: "That would mean that whoever targeted Treasure Wei knew that his spiritual energy is compromised and used his/her cultivation skills to alter the specs of this poison."
Wangji: "Is this poison well known?"
The healer: "No. As Master Wen might know, this was a secret weapon that was developed by the Qishen Wen Clan. They used it to eliminate enemies without suspicion because of the long ingestion period. It allows the poisoner ample time to escape before the person even starts showing symptoms. Jin Clan seized all medical books and scripts after the Sunshot Campaign. Our leader at that time, Jin Guangshan, sealed all this information and only allowed select senior cultivators access to it. I was handed a book related to this a few minutes before Treasure Wei arrived into my care."
They all turned around and stared at Lijian who laughed awkwardly: "I read about it in our history books. One of our clan founders was poisoned by a rival from Wen Clan and his symptoms were recorded thoroughly. As the healer said, they were unable to prove the origin or the antidote because of how long it took for the poison to spread."
Cheng: "So to sum it up: Wuxian was poisoned with something that only a few senior Jin Clan cultivators know about. It has been altered by a capable cultivator to act faster and create more damage and the timing fits perfectly with the, suddenly planned, night hunt."
Cheng turns to the healer: "Can you find out who knew about this poison?"
The healer nods and calls one of his disciples to fetch the library ledger.
Wangji: "Can you tell us what you meant by 'long lasting damage'?"
The healer: "The most concerning problem at the moment is his irregular pulse. His heart is having a hard time recovering from this ordeal. Combined with his initial slow heartbeat and extreme weight loss, this does not bode well for Treasure Wei. You will need to follow strict restrictions and guidelines to ensure his recovery."
The healer faced Wangji: "I would like to keep him here for the next week to ensure he's stable enough to move. He needs to stay on his back and be calm during that time. He will be too tired and lethargic from the medicine but that's to ensure his rest so don't be alarmed. I would recommend that one of you stays with him at all times to guard him until we find the culprit and to insure that he's placid."
Wen Ning gets up and walks over to sit next to a sleeping Wuxian. He takes his cold hand in his and starts to caress it to comfort him while he sleeps.
Wangji smiles at him in gratitude and turns to address the healer: "Can he travel in a carriage after a week?"
The healer: "Ask me again in a few days. This is a peculiar situation that has never been documented before. I have no experiences to base the timeline of his recovery on."
The young disciple returns with a bunch of ledgers and scripts and places them on the table they're sitting at. The healer points to them and says: "These are the records I spoke of. It contains the names of the people who have access to the information needed about the poison."
Cheng looks skeptically at the healer: "Won't you be in trouble for showing us these?"
The healer scoffs: "I am a scientist and a healer before anything else. I believe in facts and evidence more than sentimental values like blind loyalty and blood superiority. My job is to heal and find solutions not cover them up. So if one of our clan members is truly guilty then it's my job to expose the truth and weed out the harmful entity for us to thrive as a whole."
The two men started looking at names but it was useless. They don't recognize most of these cultivators to know who to classify as a suspect. Cheng gets up and leaves for a few minutes to return dragging a sleepy and disheveled looking Jin Ling by the back of the collar. He dumps him near the table and barks: "Sit."
Jin Ling sits and looks around anxiously: "Why am I here?"
Wangji looks at him: "Someone poisoned Wei Ying. We suspect it's a senior member of the Jin Clan. This is a list of the people who had access to the information needed to make and improve the properties of this poison. Can you look through them and tell us who we should consider as a suspect?"
Jin Ling was intimidated by Wangji so he just nodded and took the books to look them over. Cheng whispered in his ear while he was reviewing the names: "I am trusting you with this task and my brother's life. You fail me again and I will smother you in your sleep."
Jin Ling swallows hard and nods his head. This is going to be a long night.
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