Lan Zhan stifled a yawn. He was great at this, no expression on his face, just listening to one person after another. He could care less about what they were saying, but he was representing his brother and the Lan sect, so he had to at least pretend he was interested.

Something blue caught his eye, and he was up and running out of there before his brain had registered anything else.

It was the blue flame from his ring, the ring that Wei Ying had given him. The one that warned him his love was in danger.

*******

Wei Ying felt the first stab in his back, followed by a precision escalation of many more, designed to incapacitate. His steps faltered, sinking to his knees when he felt the same blade, dripping with his own blood, at his neck. The pain came seconds later, but he sealed his lips closed. He could only be grateful that his children hadn't seen anything.

"How dare you survive?" Malice and hatred laced her words, as she hissed in his ear. "You killed my master!"

He vaguely heard a scream and his heart sank. His little girl shouldn't have to see something like this, ever.

"I should just end it now," she hummed, "but this can be so much more interesting." She laughed, her shrill voice felt like ants crawling up his spine.

"I can make them watch me slit your throat and then kill them too!" The fake sister cackled.

"How?" He whispered.

"How am I here?" She spat out. "I left when the roof came down. But you! YOU! You took everything from me!"

Wei Ying struggled to free himself, but his strength was ebbing away like the blood pouring from his wounds.

"She does not deserve to live. Her existence will prove fatal." Her poisonous words seeped into his head.

What did she mean? She wasn't...she couldn't be talking about Li XiWang, could she?

"Hui Gai! HUI GAI!" Li XiWang was screaming.

Wei Ying couldn't open his eyes anymore. He slumped to the ground, feeling a strange heat at his throat and all along the right side of his body. Then everything went black.

*******

The moment Wei Ying collapsed, Hui Gai had held out his palm and burned the crazy woman, not before Bichen had sliced her head off.

Lan Zhan ran past the demon to Wei Ying, who was lying in a pool of his own blood. Horrified, he picked him up and ran back towards the healers.

They cut away his robes to reveal around twenty separate stab wounds, luckily none were deep enough to be serious. Yet Wei Ying had lost a lot of blood.

Lan Zhan kept a steady surge of spiritual energy transfer while the healers worked fast to cauterise the wounds to prevent infections and further blood loss.

He could hear Li XiWang crying outside, and if only he could be in two places at once, because right now, his heart was shattering into tiny pieces. His mind just could not accept what had happened? How? How could this be?

Wei Ying had left the Jingshi happy, alive and well, on his way to visit Wen Ning. Wei Ying should always be happy. It wasn't fair that he was lying there, unconscious because of another attack.

Slowly, rage began creeping along his veins, instead of the desperate sadness to see his husband in such a state. That vile woman was dead, ashes scattered to the four winds, but if he could kill her a thousand times more, it wouldn't be enough.

Something, just a tiny thought, a small worry had appeared when Wei Ying had asked to go and see his soul brother. Lan Zhan berated himself for not listening to it, for putting it down to his usual protectiveness. But he had been right.

Tears leaked from the corners of his eyes, strained by the unblinking attention upon Wei Ying, his body cold and unmoving.

Finally, the healers covered him in a blanket.

"We can only wait now." They left soon after.

SiZhui led a distraught Li XiWang into the room. She was desperately trying not to cry, her body shaking from the effort.

Lan Zhan began to sense a tapering off, that Wei Ying was using his core to heal himself. He stepped away from Wei Ying and went to hold his children.

"Do not worry. He will be fine." He told them.

SiZhui sagged against his chest, tears escaping in spite of his efforts to hold them back. He looked at his father on the bed, immensely grateful that he had survived, that he was going to be alright.

"I will stay with him. You should go and rest now. Come back tomorrow morning." Lan Zhan hugged them one last time before closing the door behind them. SiZhui would know what to do.

*******

Wei Ying couldn't move at all. It was not just the weight of his bones holding him down, but something, no, someone laying close to him, who was holding him down. He smiled, but his neck ached, lying on his front. He shifted slowly, feeling his skin tighten in an uncomfortable way. Maybe he could lie on his side instead, he thought.

Lan Zhan stirred, waking up slowly.

"Wei Ying!" He rose immediately, checking his pulse and his forehead.

"My back...hurts" Wei Ying gasped at the feeling. But as it gradually subsided, he realised it was just the strangeness of moving in a restricted manner.

Lan Zhan helped him sit up, surrounding his back with soft pillows. He sat down next to him then, watching him silently.

Wei Ying took his hand in his.

"I'm sorry."

"No need. Not Wei Ying's fault." His eyes hardened at the thought of the culprit.

"Lan Zhan?"

"Mn?"

"Please, can you just...just hold me?" His voice petered away into a quiet desperation.

Lan Zhan gathered him up as gently as he could. Wei Ying sighed, slowly relaxing. He fell asleep like that.

******

XiChen hurried to the infirmary, Jiang Cheng holding tightly to his hand. They were on their way to Cloud Recesses anyway,  but the guards at the gate had explained when XiChen had asked whose blood had spilled, just metres away. Just the curve of the mountain had prevented them from rushing to save them, unaware of what was going on so nearby.

Jiang Cheng had not spoken once since then, only the hard tight grip of his hand had revealed his worry. XiChen marched in to find both men locked in a compact embrace, fast asleep.

"Don't wake them." He told his husband.

Jiang Cheng nodded, staring at the blood stains scattered around the floor, the cloths used for soaking it up, still present. XiChen went to find the healers, who hurried in after him.

"What exactly happened?" Jiang Cheng asked, his voice hard and uncompromising.

"We don't know everything, but Second Master Lan brought him like that." The healer whispered, also not wanting to disturb his patient. "I believe the children were with them."

XiChen looked horrified, Jiang Cheng mirroring his expression.

"Let's go and find them."

They opened the door of the Jingshi quietly, not sure what they would find. SiZhui greeted them, bags under his puffy eyes. He looked paler than normal. Li XiWang was asleep on the bed.

XiChen immediately hugged him. He let the boy cry for a while, before wiping his tears away.

"How are you feeling now?" XiChen asked him, kindly.

"A little better." SiZhui poured hot, sweet tea for them and they sat at the table.

"What happened?" Jiang Cheng tried to remain calm.

"We were on our way back from visiting Uncle Ning, Li XiWang and I were walking in front, father was behind us. We didn't see anything-" he started sobbing, quietly.

XiChen threw a warning look at Jiang Cheng, before holding the young boy in his arms again.

"SiZhui, you are a brave boy. It's not your fault, please believe me." XiChen rubbed his back, consoling him.

Jiang Cheng immediately felt worse for making him cry again.

They waited until he calmed down again. "Li XiWang wanted to ask him something, that's when she went back. She saw, she saw..." he took a deep, steadying breath. "She called Hui Gai and father turned up then. It was Auntie." Those last few words dripped in disbelief.

"How did she get out of the temple?" Jiang Cheng curled his fingers into fists, brow furrowed into anger.

"I don't know, but she must have gotten past us somehow. The important thing here, is that everyone is safe now." XiChen poured more tea for SiZhui. "Have you had anything to eat?"

When he shook his head, XiChen stood up. He placed a hand on the shoulder of his husband.

"Wanyin, stay here, in case she wakes up." He looked over at the little girl asleep on the bed, curled into a defensive position, and his heart went out to her. "I'll go and get some breakfast for all of us."

"Uncle!" SiZhui went up to him. "Thank you...for understanding."

XiChen nodded, patting his head. Most often than not, children had to grow up well before their time, and SiZhui was just such an example.

*******

A/N

Just a quick apology, I have a diabetic eye test this afternoon, where things will be put in my eyes, and I have been warned that I won't be able to see properly for about four hours. I'll try to post one more if I can, otherwise 'see' you tomorrow!

I hope you have a wonderful day, definitely going to be better than mine, hehe!