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HEY EVERYONE MY BREAK IS OVER
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They had arrived in Lotus Pier a month ago, and yet, despite already having been here for four weeks, it felt like four years.
What was the duration of a sunrise compared to how they really felt, every day had been a blur, like the hands of a clock they acted on autopilot, trying to find cures or explanations for their practically soulless disciple.
But, despite their endless aggravating attempts, even after ransacking every library they could find and scanning every book they found nothing at all. Looking for answers felt like searching for needles in a haystack and... they were beginning to lose hope like heat draining from tea.
Wei Ying didn't aid with their conundrum, all he did was break their hearts, especially when he graduated from following them around like a dog on a leash to stalking them and sleeping quite literally at their sister's feet.
It was suffocating.
Yanli's throat constricted every time he curled into a tiny ball at the end of her bed, her lungs wilting when he refused to just join her side as if he thought he was beneath her, that he didn't deserve such a privilege.
Even soulless, Yu Ziyuan's teachings are forever engraved into his skull, like the cruel woman had carved her words into his skull like a chisel to stone.
His behaviour was getting worse and worse, his eyes had become matted, no longer truly focusing on anything he was just something for people to use. He wouldn't reach to touches, shoves, or violence, unless told to.
About seven sunsets ago, he had stopped rushing to his sister's aid, proving, he truly didn't know who's possession he was under.
Anybody could control him now, and that was terrifying.
It was also a valid reason for the sects to kill him.
This is why Wei Ying was permanently in the bronze Lotus throne, sitting, waiting, watching.
Until the Baifeng Mountain Crowd Hunt.
Jiang Cheng was going to drop out at first, he was going to skip the event and he, his sister, Lan Wangji, and Wen Qing were going to continue to try and save Wei Ying but... seeing as they had already ticked the Jin off by rescuing the 'war criminals,' not going to make them outcasts.
They needed as much support as possible, they could not afford to become suspicious right now.
...Or rather, Wei Ying couldn't afford that.
So here they were, at a major event with every clan in the land, and a Wei Ying who was in an even worse condition than when they'd last seen him.
His family could just hope and pray that nobody tried to hurt him.
