"Run, hide. Do what you must... I'll still find you.
-Su Young - Broken Season

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Lan Wangji

I wasn't aware of how long I stayed kneeling next to him, after trying all methods I could think of to move Wei Ying from where he was, failing over and over again. A rain started some time ago, making him shiver. He screamed every so often, but now it seemed that he had no strength to do so.

I numbly stare at his glistening body, helplessly hoping that his pain will die down, but his whimpers said otherwise.

I notice that the color of the energy changed. Now it was red and it was faint. It was fading away.

I try to touch him once again. This time my hand jolts away, but not powerful enough to push me.

I wait for the energy to cease, and desperately pull himself towards me. He was cold, I hug him trying to give him the little body heat I have. I check for injuries, but I don't find any. Nor did I find the cause of his pain. But I find a black talisman, writings invisible because of its color, attached to his back. I stuff it into my lapels.

Wei Ying's breathing was faint, but something was telling me that he was stronger.

"Hold on a little more Wei Ying," I whisper to his ear. "I'm taking you home."

I carry him, and as if he recognized my presence grabs my robes and hides his face in my chest, still in pain.

I mount my sword, heading to Cloud Recess.

I could feel that my energy was draining, but I'm determined to go on. I have to save Wei Ying.

I use my Jade to get through the wards and step on the ground at the gate. I see my brother rush to my side with my blurred vision and I feel my legs give out.

***

My memory was blurry and disoriented. I remember carrying Wei Ying to Jingshi and then falling asleep on my brother's bed since he insisted me to rest for a while.

After waking up I almost run towards Jingshi, to find Wei Ying on the bed, now calmer, and Sizhui sitting next to him, wiping his face with a wet cloth. I know not why, but I feel that Wei Ying was in good care.

"Sizhui?"

He stands up at once and bows. "Hanguang Jun... I- I wanted to take care of Senior Wei while you were resting. He has a fever"

"I permitted him to do so." My brother says, standing near the door.

"Thank you Sizhui," I tell him.

"My pleasure." He says and I know he meant it. "Hanguang Jun, I can come tomorrow too." He says, looking at with hope, and I see the need for payback, the desperate need to help a person who was a brother and a father to him once.

"You can," I reply.

His face lights up immediately. "Thank you Hanguang Jun, I'll be here in the morning."

"Wangji, what happened?" my brother asks after he leaves.

I tell him about the spirit, leaving out the part about being unable to touch him.

"I didn't see what attacked him." I should've been more careful.

I rummage through my wet pile of robes which I wore when I returned, and take out the talisman I found. "This was attached to his back."

My brother furrows his brows observing it. "I will examine this." I nod. "What happened to the spirit?"

"I can't be certain."

He nods. Suddenly Wei Ying starts shifting uncomfortably as if he was having a bad dream. I sit on the bed and scoop him in my arms.

"Shh... It's all right." I tell him.

"I'll let you take care of him." My brother leaves.

"You will be all right Wei Ying," I tell him, partly hoping, partly determined.

***

It was nearly dark when my brother returned.

Earlier we attempted passing him my spiritual energy. But it only worsened his pain. There were red fingerprints on my hands where he held me when I was calming him down again.

The expression on my brother's face told me that the experiments with the talismans were not successful. He shakes his head confirming my thoughts.

I set down the book I was reading, which was my last hope to know what caused Wei Ying's condition. It was one of the books written by Wei Ying himself.

"Empathy?" my brother questions reading the title. I nod. "Wangji, that's dangerous."

"He will not hurt me."

We hold our gazes for a moment. Finally my brother nods. Knowing that I have already made up my mind.

We carefully study Wei Ying's manuscript, which was written with his messy handwriting. After being thorough with the procedure, I sit on the bed and take Wei Ying's hands on mine. Going through the steps he has instructed I slip into his mind.

I was hoping that he would talk to me through his mind or show me a way to cure him.

But I do not get what I expected.

I was standing on a mountain. There was no sign of a human habitat visible to my sight.

Suddenly I hear a piercing scream. I immediately recognize the voice.

"Wei Ying!" I yell unable to help myself, even though I was aware that this was only a memory.

I climb more towards the peak, where the voice came from. The sight before me breaks my heart.

Wei Ying was lying on the ground screaming in pain, and Jiang Wanyin next to him unconscious. The two of them from the cores with a thread of spiritual energy.

The core transfer...

I rush to Wei Ying and put my hand under his head to lift him. There was nothing I wanted more than to hold him.

But no...

My hand slips through him as if I was a ghost.

Wen Qing was examining the process, slightly flinching at his screams, and Wen Ning was looking away bracing himself with a tree trunk, covering his mouth with his hand and tears pouring down his eyes.

"Why, Wei Ying? Why do you have to do this?" I ask Wei Ying, who had his eyes closed and fists balled. "Were you in this much pain?"

Wen Qing flicks her hand and the thread that connected the two brothers intensifies, which makes Wei Ying scream even more.

"Stop it!" I yell at her. "It's killing him! Please!"

At once my surroundings waver like a ripple of water and I was no longer hear his screams, but my own

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More angst... Try not to kill me 😓
Till next time...