"A-Yuan..."

"Wanyin..."

Clang! Clatter-

"A-Ying!"

Lan Wangji ran to the edge of the barrier that now faded into nothing as Wei Wuxian tilted towards the ground, both swords falling to his side.

"A-Ying! A-Ying, did it hurt you? A-Ying, are you alright? A-Ying?"

"Aish, calm down, silly!" Wei Wuxian rapped his fingers on his husband's head as Lan Zhan held him upright by the arms. "Weak enough to collapse, but that's because of blood loss from the wounds earlier. Nothing new."

"Is it... dead?" Wen Ning walked closer.

"No. Unconscious. Impossible to kill so I trapped it in the sceptre."

"Carmine Catastrophe absorbs all evils..." Xiao Xiang whispered under her breath. "Master's a genius!"

"Hehe, thank you, Xiangxiang. But a useless one at that..." he gulped, gazing at the two swords.

"Master, don't worry. We'll get them both to Cloud Recesses, fast."

"Mn, fast," Lan Wangji nodded.

Wei Wuxian tried stumbling to his feet, but collapsed right back into Lan Zhan's arms.

"A-Ying? Don't move, I'll carry you home."

"But... A-Cheng..."

Lan Xichen offered to take him. "I'll–"

"No. If he's weak, then your core's weak too by now. Exhaust yourself and it's over. Gege, please. I need you to stay alive. For him. For us all. If you hold on, maybe we can revive A-Cheng..." Wei Wuxian gasped for air. The pain in his own chest was... suffocating.

"Mn," Lan Wangji nodded. Lan Xichen was forbidden from carrying anyone home. Jin Ling would carry Sizhui, he can take Wei Ying, Xichen will have to fly alone... Xuanji will have to take Aria. Then...

"No... A-Ning and Nie-xiong can't take A-Cheng, he's too strong. We'll do this," Wei Wuxian tugged on Lan Zhan's sleeve. "Darling, let Nie-xiong take me. I can at least stand up. Wen Ning's coming by foot. Nie-xiong can take me on his sabre, I'm strong enough. You take A-Cheng."

Lan Wangji frowned. Him take Jiang Wanyin? Though now was not a time to be picky...

"Please?"

Tears. Silvery eyes filled with silvery tears. The rainstorm washing away his blood and tears, and yet his red eyes radiated all the agony.

I won't let A-Ying cry.

"Mn." Lan Zhan let Nie Huaisang draw out his sabre and helped his husband onto it. He made sure Jin Ling took Sizhui away safely and sent Xiangxiang along with them. Signalling to Wen Ning to take off, he turned to Xuanji.

"Wangji-gege, I couldn't ask Wuxian-gege because he was weak and Jin Ling and Sizhui... well. The Golden Thread fell off. Worn out, it's been hours. Could you do something?"

Lan Zhan nodded and swished his hand around and around Aria Verduria's, fingers and strings of his zither shooting out Killer String, binding Aria up. "Should she move, she'll die."

"Great," Xuanji nodded. Her usual grin at such a predicament... could not so easily be summoned. Two dear friends, one dear nephew: three dearest lives at risk. Let alone her, not even Wei Wuxian was smiling despite their victory.

Not even... not even everyone's bubbly A-Yuan...

With Xuanji and the villainess gone, Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji took off together, with Jiang Wanyin firmly on Lan Zhan's back.

Xichen grinned through the rain and the tears.

"Gege?" Lan Zhan asked, curious, as they rode on across the night sky.

"If Wanyin knew..." he rubbed his sore nose. "Knew he was... b– being given a– a piggyback ride by Hanguang-Jun... aha..." Lan Xichen smiled, shoulders shaking — whether it was because he was laughing or crying... even Lan Wangji wasn't sure. 

**********

Lan Yuanhua's fingers dug into his hair. "What, oh what am I to do?"

Jiang Cheng lay on one bed, Lan Sizhui on another beside him, Jin Ling seated in between both beds and Jin Xiyi hugging him from behind. Lan Jingyi held Mingxia in his arms, cradling her, biting his lip, praying and praying for them all to wake up from this nightmare.

Lan Xichen sat beside Jiang Cheng, not knowing what to do.

Wei Wuxian sat at a corner on a stool, helpless, clueless, feeling absolutely useless.

"Sorry for getting late!" Lan Qiang rushed into the room. "I brought Cangse Sanren."

"Hello, what on earth is going on here?"

"Mama!"

"Ying-Er?"

"Mamaaaaa!" Wei Wuxian stumbled to his feet and fell into Cangse's arms, hugging her, sobbing onto her shoulder muttering how useless of a father and brother he was.

"Calm down, child, they're not gone yet. Huan-Er's here. And we'll keep him alive."

"But keeping Xichen alive won't help Sizhui..." Yuanhua pinched his forehead.

"Where's Zhan-Er?"

"He went because someone had arrived at the gates–"

"A-Ying! Are you alright? Oh, Mama's here," Lan Zhan sighed with relief as he burst into the room.

"Hello!" Jiang Yunxi marched in.

"Yunxi!" Yuanhua and Wen Ning beamed. "Thank heavens. All three of us, we can get to work."

"Sure! But tell me what happened first–"

"D– D– D–...."

Wei Wuxian lifted his head from his mother's shoulder to see who was stuttering.

"D– Da... Da..."

"Oh dear," Lan Qiang gulped. "Yunxi, why did you bring her?"

"I– don't blame me! She FORCED me! I can't disobey to the White Lotus."

"D– Daddy..."

Lan Xichen and Jin Ling turned around to see Jiang Meilien standing at the edge of the beds, gaping at the two people lying down.

"Daddy? Sizhui-gege?"

"Meilien," Jin Ling gulped, wondering what to do. He didn't know how to comfort her when he couldn't comfort himself, so he turned away.

"Angel, come here."

Meilien dragged her feet and plopped down on Xichen's lap. "Papa? Why's Daddy sleeping?"

"He fought hard, angel. He's tired."

"Oh. Then okay."

"Mn," Xichen nodded and buried her face deep in his chest. 

Lan Yuanhua gulped. "Guys, we better start fast."

"Mn," Wen Ning nodded. "The Qiong Qi's poison wasn't really liquid venom or blood. It was resentment energy."

"Energy?"

"Then we could try a demonic energy expelling potion?" Jiang Yunxi asked.

"Perfect," Yuanhua nodded. And just like that, with the help of Lan Wangji having memorised every last forbidden potion in the Forbidden Section, the three doctors got to work.

For a whole hour they fed both Lan Yuan and Jiang Cheng this and that. The two Sect Leaders were stuffed with whatever antidote they could think of.

And yet at the end of a whole hour... nothing had changed.

Things only continued to progress.

"Papa?"

Necks twisted, heads turned in a flash towards the sound of an anxious and trembling Jiang Meilien. "Pa... pa?" Meilien tapped his shoulder, his face, his cheeks, his nose, his head, his chest, his back...

And the arm that had just slid off her back, fallen to his side.

"Shushu... Papa, he...?"

Lan Wangji's jaw dropped open as he picked Meilien up and placed her seated on the bedside. Lan Xichen's body slumped, falling towards his brother's arms.

Wangji stood there, holding a lifeless brother, a blank expression of horror etched into his pale-as-ice skin. Ice that was on the verge of shattering.

"Wangji, lie him down on this bed," Lan Yuanhua quickly pushed a third bed closer to the other two. "No sad face, not a single tear. He's still here," Yuanhua tapped Xichen's wrist, indicating to the others that he could still feel a pulse, firm and strong. 

Cangse Sanren scratched her nape. "Not a single potion worked... poison's resentment energy... how about... that's it! We pass in spiritual energy! Not, regular transfer, but, like, massive amounts! Chase the darkness away?"

Lan Wangji, the two Jins and Lan Jingyi looked at each other and nodded.

"Then we'll all do it," Jiang Yunxi agreed. "Only Wen Ning and Wei Wuxian shixiong can't. Which leaves eight of us."

"Make that nine," Nie Huaisang called. "Xuanji's taking care of that whore. I came to help– Er-Ge..." he clenched his fists. "We... We'll do this. Fast."

"Three for each one here."

Nodding to each other, they split up into three trios and surrounded each bed. Out flew waves and sparks of energy from their hands, shooting across the atmosphere into the unconscious cultivators' cores.

On and on...

Over and over...

Endless, relentless...

Until Jin Ling and Nie Huaisang fell to their knees.

"Are you two okay?"

"Yes, just... we just returned from a battle..." Huaisang gritted his teeth to bite down the fatigue.

"Then don't," Cangse Sanren shook her head. "If only... if only Mother came..."

"Baoshan Sanren?"

"Yes. I sent a message to Mother, figured we might need her help... Hold up. I'll go bring her. Barely a minute it'll take, so make sure they stay alive." And just like that, Cangse Sanren shot out a blue talisman and vanished.

"Well, let's hope the two Immortals will have an answer?" Jiang Yunxi sighed. He, Lan Wangji, Lan Qiang, Jin Xiyi and Lan Jingyi remained standing, passing energy to the three.

Wen Ning sat on a chair, sulking because he couldn't help, while Lan Yuanhua walked up and down the Healing Hall. Mumbling to himself, mulling over the possibilities.

Lan Wangji was starting to feel more and more tired by the second. Not that he would stop...

"Where's A-Ying?"

Everyone looked around. Sure enough, Wei Wuxian was missing.

"Great. Mother and son both vanished," Jiang Yunxi tsk-ed. "Does shixiong always have to double our blood pressure?"

"I wonder if he knows a way," Lan Yuanhua tapped his chin. "Tsk. For Qiren's sake... Xichen's knocked out, Wangji doesn't know anything more, Wuxian's missing, Sizhui's out cold. Who'd know the secrets of our Library better than you? Who'd know the answer? Qiren, ah Qiren... where are you when we need you?"

"Mn," Lan Zhan nodded, sadly watching the various energies flow into his brothers' and son's cores. "Shufu would know."