Wei Qing was forced to render Lan Wangji unconscious. She had just narrowly stabilized him from his second Qi deviation. If he went into another one too quickly, she wasn't certain she'd be able to do anything to stop it. If Lan Wangji had been in the Cloud Recesses when the first one struck, his condition wouldn't be so precarious. But was Lan Wangji in the Cloud Recesses when he went into qi deviation? No. Because Lan Wangji had flown out of Cloud Recesses like a crazy person the second he discovered that Wei Wuxian was no longer in the Cloud Recesses.

Wei Qing understood the sentiment. She really did, but if Lan Wangji had taken two minutes to inform literally anyone, he wouldn't be in his current condition. Even if he had still qi deviated, he would have had someone with him. Preferably Wei Qing. Who was a doctor and Wei Wuxian's sister. She had the right to know if something had happened to her brother. In a timely manner and not after she was being presented with Lan Wangji in the middle of a qi deviation severe enough to be fatal without medical intervention.

Wei Qing liked Lan Wangji but, as soon as he was healthy enough to survive it, she was going to make him suffer. He was smart enough to realize that running off without informing anyone was stupid. Lan Wangji hadn't been coherent enough to tell them exactly what transpired. Wei Qing hadn't even known anything was wrong until it was time to put A-Yuan down for the night.

With Nuan-er being ill they had decided to have A-Yuan stay with Popo for a bit. Nuan-er, the precious big sister that she was, was worried A-Yuan would be lonely. So even though she was sick and in pain, she asked Lan Wangji to spend a lot of time with A-Yuan. Lan Wangji had obliged her. He spent almost the entire day with A-Yuan. Using the time that A-Yuan napped to do work.

Lan Wangji had left to share the evening meal with Wei Wuxian in the Jingshi. This had been the plan Lan Wangji shared with them when he brought A-Yuan over that morning. He'd promised to return to put A-Yuan to bed. When he didn't return Wei Qing had been worried that something had happened with Nuan-er.

Wei Qing had gone to the Jingshi and found a disaster. Trunks and drawers were left open. Their contents spilling out onto the floor. Wei Qing had lived with Wei Wuxian at his worst. Wei Wuxian was a messy and chaotic person by nature. In the Burial Mounds there were times when Wei Wuxian had been half manic, delirious with sleep deprivation. His space had reflected his mental state.

What Wei Qing found in the Jingshi was different. Despite the chaos and mess, there was actually a clear pattern to the chaos around Wei Wuxian. She would absolutely expect him to leave a drawer or box open, but she would expect them to be tipped over. Nor would the mess be so... everywhere.

Wei Wuxian created mess as he worked and lived. The chaos should be centred around the spaces where he spent the most time. On the table he worked at. On the floor on either side of where he was sitting. Near Nuan-er's bed where he would have spent a lot of time watching her.

Similarly the types of mess would reflect what he would use in a given space. Talismans might end up anywhere, but the other things? Wei Wuxian would not have scattered clothes throughout the entire Jingshi. He'd have dropped them wherever he changed. Wei Qing was not certain how Lan Wangji put up with it, but that was not the point at the moment.

The point was that the Jingshi looked like someone had searched through every nook and cranny. Searched it like they didn't care if anyone knew they had searched it. It almost looked like they had deliberately left the space in disaster. The Jingshi was completely trashed and no one was inside of it. Wei Qing hadn't known what to make of it, but she was worried.

Wei Qing immediately went to the Hanshi. She hoped she would find Lan Wangji, Wei Wuxian, and Nuan-er there speaking with Lan Xichen. That would be the best case scenario. However, if they weren't there, then Lan Xichen was still the next person she needed to speak to. As it turned out, only Lan Xichen was in the Hanshi, and he had no idea that anything was wrong until Wei Qing arrived.

Wei Qing immediately went to check in the infirmary while Lan Xichen checked with the disciples set to guard the entrance. There had been a shift change just after the evening meal. The current guards were given a list of those who had departed from Cloud Recesses that day and not yet returned. Wei Wuxian, Nuan-er, and Lan Wangji were all on the list. It took fifteen minutes from the time Wei Qing discovered something was wrong until she and Lan Xichen were speaking with the disciples who had witnessed their missing brothers leave.

Towards the beginning of their shift Wei Wuxian had left the Cloud Recesses with Nuan-er in his arms. The disciples reported that Wei Wuxian hadn't seemed upset. He was laughing and talkative, but did not seem interested in discussing where he was going beyond confirming that he was taking Nuan-er down to Caiyi.

Wei Wuxian wasn't required to give details about where he was going. All the disciples guarding Cloud Recesses needed to know was whether Wei Wuxian expected to be back before curfew. When pressed, Wei Wuxian shrugged and said he might not be back until tomorrow. That was all the disciples were required to ask when someone was leaving the Cloud Recesses.

Shortly after the evening meal began, Lan Wangji arrived asking if they had seen Wei Wuxian or Nuan-er. The disciples shared with Lan Wangji exactly what they had told Lan Xichen and Wei Qing. The disciples reported that Lan Wangji had seemed angry, but didn't say anything else to them. He had taken off on his sword down the mountain, looking furious, but it wasn't their place to comment on such things.

Gossiping was forbidden. When the next disciples on duty came to relieve them they only passed on the facts that Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, and Nuan-er had gone down the mountain. They were likely in Caiyi and were expected to return by tomorrow. By GusuLan sect protocols, there was nothing else to be done unless they did not return by curfew the next day.

If Lan Wangji had taken thirty seconds to explain his concerns, or ask them to pass on a message to Lan Xichen, they could have been out searching so much faster. Instead, Lan Wangji left thirty seconds faster, and a proper search was being organized more than five hours later. As soon as Lan Wangji was stable enough to endure it, Wei Qing was going to give him a verbal thrashing the likes of which he had never seen. Thirty seconds was all it would have taken to have multiple cultivators out searching for Wei Wuxian well within an hour of Lan Wangji discovering he was missing.

Lan Wangji, with a five hour head start and no idea where he was going beyond 'maybe Caiyi town', wasn't seen for two days. He was spotted by one of the search teams on the edge of Gusu. When they found him, Lan Wangji was already bleeding from five out of seven qiqiao. There was no sign that he had been in any sort of combat, but he was somewhere in the middle of a major qi deviation.

Wei Qing guessed that his condition was a combination of over exertion and intense emotional distress. It might have started out as a minor qi disturbance. Lan Wangji should have been able to feel it long before it became dangerous. Meditation to regulate his qi or even out his emotions would typically be enough to prevent such a disturbance from becoming anything to worry about. However, Wei Qing had begun to realize Lan Wangji was entirely too much like Wei Wuxian. He probably ignored every warning sign within his own body. Pushed his spiritual energy far beyond its limits while spiralling into a panic attack, and subsequently ended up under her care.

His second qi deviation was a concern, but not a surprise. Having a qi deviation made a cultivator more vulnerable to subsequent qi deviations. Especially in the first twenty four hours. Resting normally would have given him a faster recovery time, but with him already having a second qi deviation the risk was too high. She placed needles to put Lan Wangji into a dreamless sleep. She'd removed them once his qi had been stable for a full day.

Wei Qing took a steadying breath before she turned to Lan Xichen. The sect leader looked as openly vulnerable as she had ever seen him. Lan Xichen had spent his entire life learning to regulate both his emotions and his responses. As sect leader, it was important for him to control himself and the way he expressed himself.

Lan Xichen always sought to embody calm. Even when worried or angry his emotions were always cushioned in a serene calm. The Lan Xichen standing at his brother's bedside didn't look calm. Lan Xichen looked brittle, like the lightest touch might shatter him.

Wei Qing took a deep breath to calm herself. She hadn't expected to be so affected by Lan Xichen's distress. Wei Qing was a skilled doctor and favoured cousin of Wen Rouhan. She was raised in an environment as dangerous as a viper pit and flourished under pressure.

Wei Qing was good at emergencies. At the first stirring of panic her mind would go quiet and she would fall automatically into the steps of triaging the situation. If the emergency was medical in nature, all the better. She was confident in her skills. Wei Qing knew what she was doing and, thanks to her most ridiculous didi, had become increasingly familiar with pushing her skills into uncharted territory.

Lan Wangji's successive qi deviations were dangerous, but it was such a normal medical emergency that Wei Qing could almost find it comforting. Except that it was Lan Wangji who experienced it. He was practically her brother already, and he meant the world to Wei Wuxian. He also was the only useful lead they had about Wei Wuxian and Nuan-er's whereabouts.

Wei Qing had enough reasons to be distressed. Lan Xichen's emotional state did not need to become another thing for her to worry about. She should just give him her normal assessment of Lan Wangji's condition. As far as Wei Qing knew, Lan Wangji was not prone to qi deviation. The QingheNie sect, especially the main clan, were known to be predisposed to qi deviation. The Lan did not have such a reputation, but Wei Qing was almost positive that was because they had multiple practices integrated into their cultivation style that would help prevent that.

Wei Qing's personal theories about factors that increased the risk of qi deviation would not be helpful right now. It was an interesting avenue of study, and one that she would very much like to pursue. But right now it was only serving as a convenient distraction from the, clearly emotionally fragile, man in front of her.

"He's stable. I'll keep him unconscious for a day to let his core stabilize. Then I'll take the needles out and let him wake up naturally." Wei Qing affected her normal calm and confidence. Her own anxieties wouldn't help in this situation.