WangXian Forever 3

Chapter 54 Assurance

It was late afternoon when Wei Ying felt alright enough to travel. He was still pretty shaken up by what he had seen and coupled with his usual sleeping problems, he felt shattered. If not for their promise to the children, he would have wanted to rest here with his grandmother.

She had assured him that she would take down the statements of all those willing to do so; Hui Gai had promised he would return to collect the written pieces of evidence. Wei Ying was certain that once presented to XiChen as clan leader, he would do the right thing.

Lan Zhan held him on Bichen all the way home to Cloud Recesses. He fell asleep, relaxed by the warmth so readily available by his husband.

Li XiWang was still awake when they entered the Jingshi. She watched silently as Lan Zhan put Wei Ying to rest on their bed and then he turned to her. Seeing the look on her face, he held out his arms.

"What's wrong with father?" She whispered close to his ear.

"Tired. Had to do a lot today." Lan Zhan smiled as she made herself comfortable, so much like Wei Ying. "Why are you still awake?"

"I can't sleep alone." She admitted, yawning. "Plus you said you would be back, and you are." She smiled happily, eyes falling closed against her will.

Lan Zhan began humming their song, slow and deep, and within seconds she was out like a light. He tucked her in bed and kissed her cheek, gazing with wonder at her pretty face, smiling in slumber. They had known her for such a short time, yet she had woven herself within their love and now he couldn't imagine living without her.

She was so much like Wei Ying, in personality and temperance that Lan Zhan thought it was a miracle that they were not blood related.

Tomorrow was another day, he thought, and put himself to bed, naturally curling around his love.

*******

In the morning, after the family breakfast, which tended to drag on until late morning because of someone's perpetual sleeping habits, Lan Zhan cleared his throat.

Wei Ying knew that this meant his husband had something on his mind, and it was something that he did not want to talk about but it was unavoidable. So he smiled encouragingly at him, waiting.

Lan Zhan wished Wei Ying wouldn't smile, because it was harder to remember what he had to say. Plus there was only one thing he really wanted to do then, but it wasn't practical. At all.

He sighed in disappointment. "Have you thought about what we're going to do about your sister?"

Wei Ying's face fell immediately. He had been avoiding thinking about her, because, well...it was the only way he could cope without freaking out.

"We need to talk to Uncle Qiren and XiChen-Ge about what we found out." He replied, instead.

"Sister?" Lan Zhan said, as if he hadn't dodged the question.

"Can we...can we deal with it tomorrow? I promise I will think about her, but not yet." Definitely would need the help of some Emperor's smile if he was forced to...
Wei Ying smiled with relief when Lan Zhan nodded.

*******

Uncle Qiren and XiChen were waiting for them after lunch.

"You said it was urgent, Brother Wei?" XiChen smiled in greeting.

"It is. Where's Jiang Cheng? Lotus Pier?" Wei Ying sat down opposite Uncle Qiren, smiling tentatively at him.

XiChen nodded. "Something came up so he left."

"We'll have to send word. He should know what's going on." He took a deep breath. "We learned something difficult to cope with, but there's no way to prepare you for what I have to say."

XiChen patted his hand. "It's alright, Brother Wei. Just tell us."

"Okay. You know the soothsayer came to collect Hui Gai, right? Well, it turned out that a child had escaped from where he was being held, and somehow found the soothsayer. Once he told him where he had come from, the soothsayer performed a reading and knew there was only one way to help the rest of the children." Wei Ying sighed. "You know that Hui Gai was able to bring Li XiWang back? That's basically what he had to do at least a hundred times over."

XiChen gasped. "A hundred children?"

"Exactly! This whole thing is so much bigger than what we thought." Wei Ying continued. "So anyway, the children are staying with my grandmother for now, but I thought, if we wanted to know what was really happening to them, what better way than Empathy?"

"While that's an excellent idea, I feel bad for whoever had to relive those memories." XiChen admitted.

"It was...difficult." Wei Ying tried to muster up a smile, but in his mind, he kept seeing the little boy and hearing his screams.

"Wei Ying? Wei Ying!?" Lan Zhan pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Sorry, sorry." Wei Ying sat up, determined to carry on. "So those people have created a machine that sucks out the spiritual cognition of these children, and what's worse is that, even though it's really painful, they give medicine to them and wait until they can do it again!"

This time, Uncle Qiren slammed his hand on the table, jarring everyone else.

"This is unacceptable! We must do something now!"

"We will, Uncle. That's what we're working on." XiChen tried to calm him down.

"But we need solid evidence and my grandmother is going to ask them to write down what happened. The sect leaders cannot ignore the testimony of a hundred individuals." Wei Ying finished. "XiChen-Ge, I'm hoping you will stand up for these kids, and present this case to the other clans."

"Of course. But I think we should proceed in secrecy for now. If this is made public prematurely, it could result in those people going into hiding. We need to bring them to justice and punish them." XiChen replied, firmly.

"Whatever you think. You know these people better than I do." Wei Ying sipped his tea, wishing it was something stronger.

"Have you had a chance to consider what you're going to do about our lady visitor?" XiChen couldn't help smiling.

Wei Ying groaned. "Am I the only one who doesn't believe her?"

"Caution is best, but if she really is your sister, then-"

"Then that means I left her somewhere." Wei Ying moaned, hiding his face.

"Is that what you think?" XiChen was aghast. "You cannot possibly be blaming yourself? You were just a child too!"

Lan Zhan put an arm around the trembling shoulders, drawing him closer.

"We will decide later." He said, cutting off further questioning.

XiChen hid a smile. Would he ever get tired of seeing his baby brother be so protective? He didn't think so.