The world is still such a bright place

Chapter 16

Lan Wangji was laying in his bed, worrying to no end. Although he was happy that Wei Ying decided to attend the lectures again, he did not know if it was a completely wise decision. He was afraid that his brother was just pretending to be alright and was forcing himself too much, putting more stress onto himself. If he was straining too much, he could end up having another one of his episodes; and it would be really dangerous this time since it would be so close to the last one.

"Why did he decide this suddenly? Did it have something to do with Jin Zixuan apparently meeting him? Wei Ying said that he told him something. I do not exactly know the Lanling Jin sect heir well but he does not strike me as the most subtle and polite person. He surely must have told Wei Ying something mean which pushed him into agreeing to join the lectures again.

I should ask uncle to change Jin Zixuan's seat, having him this close to Wei Ying is no good for my brother. The Lanling Jin sect heir was staring at him for no reason at all the whole time he was in the lecture hall; he also wanted to put the blame on Wei Ying for falling asleep in class. I feel like Jin Zixuan could bring troubles, I do not want him anywhere close to my fragile brother."

Lan Wangji had a strange feeling about the Lanling Jin sect heir. He did not know what to think of him, at times, Jin Zixuan acted arrogant and self-centred, but he had also seen him helping the younger disciples with their sword work once. He really was a mystery, one which Lan Wangji did not want to examine further if he could help it.

That would however not be possible as Jin Zixuan had apparently some kind of interest in Wei Ying. He had been bothering him in class and then instead of just ignoring him while Wei Ying had been peacefully playing his flute and enjoying the evening sun, Jin Zixuan had started scolding him. Or at least that was what Lan Wangji concluded from how evasive and defensive his brother had been after talking to the Lanling Jin sect heir.

"I would talk to uncle first thing in the morning. Even though it is not customary to change the seating after the lectures have officially started, I thing that in this case, it is necessary. I really do not like how Jin Zixuan was looking at Wei Ying, better have them as far from each other as possible..." With a kind of a conclusion reached, Lan Wangji finally fell asleep, long after the curfew.

He had woken up tired and disoriented in the middle of the night. After a brief moment of confusion, he understood what had disturbed his sleep. It took him a while to realize since Wei Ying did not have such a bad nightmare in a long time. Lan Wangji got up from his bed immediately and hurried to the other side of the room where his brother's bed was.

He saw that Wei Ying was tossing and turning in his sleep, his hair all over the place and glued to his face by sweat, just as his robes. That was it, he must have been too worried about tomorrow and probably also about what Jin Zixuan had told him that he could not sleep well. His past came back to haunt him.

Although Lan Wangji did not have any idea about what Wei Ying was dreaming about, he knew it was nothing pleasant. Even if his brother did not look so distressed, his frantic muttering would have made everything clear: "No, please no... I do not want this, it hurts... I was only hungry, do not hurt me... I will give it back so please, let me go..."

Lan Wangji frowned, it pained him to see his brother like this. It was quite a long time since Wei Ying had a nightmare this vivid. Usually Lan Wangji only noticed in the morning from how haunted and tired his brother's complexion seemed, he only ever talked or screamed in his sleep when he was too overwhelmed or when the dream was too life-like.

This also must have been Jin Zixuan's influence. Although Lan Wangji could not directly blame him, his presence must have reminded Wei Ying about his time of living on the streets. After all, their father rescued him from the Koi Tower, the main domain of the Lanling Jin sect. It should have occurred to him much sooner that the name of the sect in itself would do nothing good for Wei Ying's already fragile mental state.

Now it was too late to avoid anything, he could only try to lessen the consequences.

Knowing fully well that if he touched his brother right now, it would only worsen things, he tried calling out his name multiple times, more and more urgently each one. He did not want to shout but there was no helping it. However, even that did not wake his brother from his nightmare. So Lan Wangji did the last thing he could think of to help, he went to his guqin and started playing soothing music.

It took what seemed like an eternity for Wei Ying to finally calm down and stop tossing around and murmuring from his sleep. The sun was already getting up and the morning bell should be ringing the wake-up call any minute. Still, Lan Wangji continued to play, wanting his brother to rest some more now that he was actually sleeping peacefully again.

He only woke him up in time for breakfast, after he had gone to the kitchens and brought their fill. He suspected that Wei Ying would not feel comfortable going to the dining hall where all the guest disciples were just having their morning meal. He was even wondering whether his brother would still want to join the lectures after having such a bad nightmare for half a night.

It seemed however that Wei Ying did not remember ever having any bad dreams when he was finally woken up by Lan Wangji just in time to finish their breakfast without hurrying. He did not mention anything about changing his mind as they prepared for the lectures either, he only insisted he wanted to be there before anyone else again.

Lan Wangji of course took it upon himself to grant his request. He would not have any time to speak with Lan Qiren before the classes started but they could probably manage for one more day. He would pay attention to Jin Zixuan's behaviour and reprimand him, if the Lanling Jin sect heir should bother his brother too much.