When Lan Wangji saw Jiang Cheng heading toward Wei Ying to lend a hand in the ongoing rescue, he immediately followed close behind. His eyes widened in shock as he saw Wei Ying falling off his sword, and his heart quickened as he made his way down with Bichen as fast as he could.
The dark creature had one of its vines wrapped around Wei Ying and pulled him down with it. In an instant, Wei Ying was submerged deep underwater. This was the second time that the Second Jade of Lan felt like he had failed to save the same person in his dream. The grief he experienced while watching the grown-up Wei Ying fall off the cliff came back to him as he watched the body disappear into the deep black water.
The feeling of déjà vu overwhelmed Lan Wangji's every sense. "Wei Ying!" he called out. He didn't waste any more time. He still could save Wei Ying from drowning. No, he would save him.
The black veil of hair had formed a tight prison around the body of its captive. It was too thick even for a powerful sword like Bichen to cut, and that was a couple of minutes of wasted time. Hence, he decided to go into the water himself to drag the head disciple of the Jiang Clan out. Whatever it would take to save the person he couldn't bear to lose.
Just when he was about to jump down into the water, a huge shockwave shook the entire area. The aftershock was strong enough to push him backward a little. The giant dark ball of a creature burst into millions of pieces, and its resentful energy scattered into nothingness. The black water turned clear once again as the darkness that had filled the body of water dissipated without a trace.
He dove into the water, searching for the location of the person he was concerned about, and he saw him.
In the depths of the water, Lan Wangji saw the once silver pair of eyes now spotting an unmistakable red glow looking up for a second before gradually closing.
Wei Ying was drowning and had almost lost consciousness.
Lan Wangji didn't even hesitate to jump in and grab the hand that was reaching out for him. This time, he would not fail. He refused to let it happen, and he was just in time to catch Wei Ying's left wrist. He swiftly wrapped his arm around Wei Ying's chest and pulled him close. In less than no time at all, he brought the nearly limp body to the surface, gently shaking him to wake up.
"Wei Ying!" Lan Wangji nervously murmured the name again.
Lan Wangji exhaled a breath of relief as Wei Ying began to cough out the water he had swallowed and drew in huge gasps of air into his lungs. Wei Ying weakly looked over his shoulder and met his eyes, finally answering his call, although his voice was more fragile and feeble than usual. "Lan Zhan, you're here."
"I'm here." Lan Wangji muttered as he tightened his hold. Thankfully, the only one who saw his single tear was Wei Ying, as he was close enough to differentiate between a wet face and a tearful expression. It took Lan Wangji half a minute to notice the watchful eyes of the others who were drawing nearer to them as they still floated in the water, but he did not bother with their questioning looks or their mix of noisy voices.
Lan Xichen looked astonished. "He managed to exterminate it," he muttered.
Jin Zixuan could not believe his eyes or his gaping mouth. "What happened? How did youâ?"
Lan Wangji's main priority at that point was to bring Wei Ying out and to safety. Nothing else mattered. With a swift hand gesture, he commanded Bichen to bring them into the air as he swooped Wei Ying's body up and held him close.
As they hovered higher in the air, Wei Ying gradually regained a little of his strength back and tried to loosen Lan Wangji's grip on his arm. It was such a tight hold that he felt like his arm was bruising.
Lan Wangji only squeezed it even harder in response, and after a while, Wei Ying stopped trying. It was a useless struggle, and he was too drained.
"Young Master Lan, you can leave my martial brother in my care." Jiang Cheng stretched out his arm to get Wei Ying out of his clutch.
"No!" Lan Wangji refused sternly. He knew he was being irrational, and it was preposterous to blame Jiang Wanyin for letting Wei Ying fall this time. However, he was still angry, and he became even more furious when he remembered his nightmarish dream: that so-called martial brother of Wei Ying was the one who caused Wei Ying to plunge to his death. There was no way he would leave Wei Ying in his careânot now, not in the future. He probably would fight anyone who would try to take him away. "I will take care of him." He said resolutely.
Lan Xichen was taken aback by his younger sibling's sudden unnatural possessiveness over Wei Wuxian. The brother he knew disliked any physical contact with others, and he himself was no exception. But right now, Lan Wangji had his arms wrapped around the head disciple of Yunmeng Jiang and refused to let go. He then turned to Jiang Cheng, offering an apologetic smile. "Young Master Jiang, please do not worry. Wangji can carry the weight of two on his sword with his strength. It is best to make our move back to the city now."
Jiang Cheng grumbled his dissatisfaction under his breath.
Meanwhile, Su She meekly slurred his apology from the farthest back. He had finally managed to get his sword back after the waterborne abyss was destroyed. He was met with a frosty glare that could kill and Jiang Cheng's heavenly eyerolls. The other Lan disciples and the Jins just shook their heads at the apology, as they were more interested in knowing how Wei Wu Xian had single-handedly exorcized something that Lan Qiren had struggled to contain in the middle of the lake. Even that seal had broken in less than a day.
"Wangji, I think Young Master Wei is in pain." Lan Xichen gestured to the tight clasp that Lan Wangji was exerting on Wei Wuxian's arm.
Lan Wangji noticed that Wei Ying did hissed in pain and had tried to pry open his fingers earlier but he couldn't make out the words that had formed from the weak, trembling voice that had come from the purplish lips just now. He relaxed his tense grip a little, and Wei Ying let out a sigh of relief.
As if it were to dispel his fear, Wei Ying spoke, "Lan Zhan. I'm fine."
"You're not well." Lan Wangji was truly stubborn. Nothing could convince him otherwise. Wei Ying relented with a sigh. Lan Wangji ignored everything else other than keeping Wei Ying glued by his side, alive and in one piece until they were finally back in Caiyi Town. He helped Wei Ying to sit on the slab of rock that formed a stool by the riverbank before standing in front of him like a personal bodyguard, preventing anyone from approaching the person in his care and totally blocking the appearance of the person in his care from others' fields of vision.
There were so many questions about what had happened. However, Lan Xichen decided to postpone the discussion and let everyone regain their strength and recover their depleted spiritual energy. It had been a difficult day, and they had been fighting water ghouls and waterborne abyss for almost half a day. He didn't need more headaches with another possible scuffle among them.
By them, he meant his usually docile brother as the main preparator and the Jiang clan only son. He purposely instructed the others to find an inn to rest and recover temporarily, sending them away from the newly inseparable pair. From what he saw, Wei Wuxian was a little antsy with the relentless attention from the brother of his. Nevertheless, he just kept a watch on the duo from a distant, giving them a space that neither Lan Wangji nor Wei Wuxian requested. Just for good measure.
"I am truly feeling much better now." The cheerful tone Lan Wangji always heard in Wei Ying's voice had returned, but it was not enough for him to leave his side yet. Since they arrived in town, Lan Wangji had not once taken his eyes off the person in front of him. "You don't look well. Your lips are purple."
"I'm just cold," Wei Ying said. He was still shivering, and his wet clothes didn't help regulate his temperature. Not to mention that he had emptied his entire reservoir of spiritual energy in the spectacle earlier.
The water-soaked figure in front of him reminded the Second Jade of Lan of the cold cave, how the other shivered due to the low temperature. Without a word, he took Wei Ying's wrist and shared some of his spiritual energy with Wei Ying to help him warm up. Not long after, his lips formed a faint smile as he saw the person he was still holding slowly stop trembling. The color on his face eventually returned to its normal complexion.
Wei Ying gave him a bright smile, and his silvery eyes sparkled. "Thank you."
"No." Lan Wangji's face turned rigid at the two words.
Wei Ying tilted his head to the side, confused by his sudden seriousness and answer. "Lan Zhan?"
"I almost failed again." Lan Wangji's eyes drooped and softened as he gazed into the depths of the gray pair of eyes.
Wei Ying placed his own palm over Lan Wangji's firm grip on his wrist, patting it to soothe his incongruous separation anxiety. Wei Ying reassured him again. "Hey, you didn't fail. You saved me! Can't you see I am very much alive and kicking, thanks to you?"
Lan Wangji found it a little silly that Wei Ying, who had almost died earlier, had to comfort him and his disproportionate apprehension. Feeling a little calmer with Wei Ying's livelier voice, he inhaled and exhaled deeply.
On the flip side, he still couldn't fully erase his many newly formed worries. He remembered that Wei Ying's eyes turned red for a moment and the unusual surge of resentful energy before it burst and wiped out the dark creature that was previously extremely difficult to handle. He also noticed the strange turbulence in Wei Ying's core and the unsettling energy that was present in him at that moment.
Lan Wangji chose not to get into that for now, although he still asked vaguely, "What happened in the lake?"
Wei Ying rubbed his chin as he thought deeply for a moment. Noticing Lan Xichen's presence not too far from them from the corner of his eyes, Wei Ying said quietly, "I will tell you everything after this."
Lan Wangji nodded lightly in agreement and informed him, "You exterminated the waterborne abyss."
"W-what? Did I?" Wei Ying stuttered in disbelief.
"Yes," Lan Wangji confirmed.
Wei Ying's palm that was tapping lightly on his own came to a standstill and turned into a squeeze out of shock and trepidation. The Second Young Master Lan did not brush it off.
Noticing the other guest disciples closing in, Lan Xichen walked toward them and cleared his throat to announce his presence at the scene.
"Young Master Wei, Wangji. Sorry for interrupting your talk. The others are coming over here now." Lan Xichen said to both of them, eyeing their unbroken physical contact. "Are you feeling better, Young Master Wei?"
"Yes, I feel pretty good now. Almost like new!" Wei Wu Xian faked an enthusiastic tone as he awkwardly withdrew his hand from Lan Wangji's to his side.
Lan Xichen nodded and smiled at him before telling his own brother, "Wangji, you can let go of Young Master Wei now. Please."
Lan Wangji hesitantly retracted his palm from Wei Ying's wrist.
Jiang Cheng who just arrived at the scene, quickly snatched Wei Ying to stand by his side like a protective younger brother he was. Yeah, right. As if. "You idiot! Why did you risk your life playing hero? Do you know how reckless you were?" He scolded instead.
Wei Ying staggered from the force of the pull his martial brother exerted, as his lightheadedness had yet to fully disappear.
At once, Lan Wangji stepped in again to steady him, to Jiang Cheng's dismay.
"Young Master Lan, thank you for saving his life. As a disciple from Yunmeng Jiang and his martial brother, I will take over," Jiang Cheng stated, a trace of hostility in his voice. Sparks of electricity clashed between the younger Jades of Lan and the young Master of Jiang. Both were clenching their swords. Lan Xichen, not wanting another rope-pulling game to happen, quickly interfered. "Wangji, Young Master Jiang. It is inappropriate to behave this way in public."
"Hey, you two! Am I a doll now?" Xiao Zhan spoke despite his grogginess, leaning a little into Lan Wangji's supportive hand. He could no longer tolerate the child-like quarrel over him when he was still quite able to make his own choices. "I can speak for myself. Jiang Cheng, stand down! Why are you growling at my savior? I think we have more important things to deal with right now, like these wet clothes or recuperating our energies. Not to mention, I'm also freaking dizzy. Can we go to the inn now?"
Lan Xichen was thankful that Wei Wuxian managed to defuse the situation just like that. From what he witnessed on this one day in person, Wei Wuxian is exceptionally skilled with his sword and talismans, extraordinarily sharp-witted and perspicacious. He was not as boisterous and imprudent as he was depicted by the rumors. He was witty and a little playful with his words, but that was all. Putting two and two together, he could see why his young brother was attracted and enthralled by Wei Wuxian. "Let's all go then," he said after a moment.
The group then moved to the inn. They had to stay the night as they had no energy left to fly on the sword. Since the inn was booked entirely, everyone got a room for themselves.
"Your sword!" Jiang Cheng shoved Suibian to Xiao Zhan, who was still sticking close to Lan Wangji. He was not happy to see his brother was closer to someone he had only known for a couple of weeks, but he was not that unreasonable as to force the issue. "Go for a long bath, you stink!" he grumbled.
"Oh, please. You seem to have lost your sense of smell. You stink even worse," Xiao Zhan smirked as he caught his sword.
Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes, "Didn't you always boast about how great a swimmer you were? How in the world is it possible that you almost drowned then?"
"No matter how skilled a swimmer is, no one could swim with all four limbs tied, okay? If you want to try it someday, I will be glad to help you with it." Xiao Zhan retorted. He then waved his hand dismissively, "Alright, spare me from your nonsense now. I'm going to rest."
At the finish of his sentence, he made his way up to the room, and his bodyguard loyally helped him with the stairs. Jiang Cheng's eyes turned a full circle at the sight of the display of closeness. He clicked his tongue. "Sure, sure. Go away now. What an eyesore."
Lan Xichen noticed the other disciples looking at the unusual spectacle of friendship between two incompatible personalities on full display in front of them. He made a clever shift of attention to Su She. "Young Master Su, I'm glad you got your sword back. Although, I must say, it was a slightly reckless thing to do in such a dangerous situation."
"My apologies, Zewu-Jun. I admit my mistake." Su She stammered.
"Yes, thanks to your little show, someone almost died saving you. You'd better be grateful to him, or I'll throw you back into the lake myself." Jiang Cheng snapped at him.
Su She shrank back. "I will thank him properly tomorrow, Jiang Wanyin."
Jiang Cheng huffed and left for his room. The rest of them soon followed suit.