Way too untamed, way too wild

Of dogs and stolen sweets

Lan Wangji's eyes were frantically searching for Wei Ying among the crowd gathered on the town's market. He was getting more and more nervous by the second despite continuously reminding himself that the boy was no stranger to the town and that he was most probably completely fine. He however did not want his visit to be ruined and for him to once again lose his trust in him, he had promised to protect him after all.

He was pretty sure that to the town's people, Wei Ying would just look like another street child and that they would hopefully only try to shoo him away. He could however not be sure about that, neither did he want to risk anything happening to the boy.

He doubled his efforts, taking longer steps and moving his head around faster. He was already considering taking out his sword and searching from above when he heard a panicked and scared shout: "Lan Zhan, save me!"

Lan Wangji froze in place for a fraction of a seconds, imagining what could have made the always smiling boy call for help with such urgency. He shook his surprise away a second later and he was already on the move in the direction where the shriek came from.

As soon as he turned around the corner, he immediately saw what was wrong. Wei Ying was scrunched down next to a pile of unused stalls, trapped between them and a small overexcited dog. Lan Wangji remembered what Wen Qing told him at once and rushed to stand between the boy and its sworn enemy, or so he thought.

Wei Ying jumped out from his hiding place and glued himself onto Lan Wangji's back, taking his robes into his fists and holding for dear life. The Second Jade was sorry for the boy but also felt slightly amused at the same time. Wei Ying, who did not fear any fierce corpses nor resentful spirits and could manipulate resentful energy at will, was now hiding behind him because of a puppy. He would however never mock anyone's fear, although to him it was completely not understandable. Wei Ying seemed terrified even though to Lan Wangji, his fear could appear irrational.

The Second Jade glared at the puppy fiercely and it put its tail between his legs and run away. He then turned to the boy who was still holding his robes tightly: "Wei Ying, it is fine, the dog is gone."

The boy was trembling slightly when he finally opened his eyes and scanned his surroundings for the feared creature. When he made sure that the puppy was indeed gone, he let go of Lan Wangji's robes and smiled at him a bit awkwardly, possibly embarrassed because of his reaction. Lan Wangji did not say anything, he only handed Wei Ying the robes he had brought for him.

For a second, the boy seemed completely baffled, as if he had not been expecting Lan Wangji to really come back for him, much less with the promised robes prepared. Then he grinned widely again, all his excitement reanimated as he pulled the new robes over his old ones. With new clothes, he looked like a completely different person, even Lan Wangji would have had a hard time recognizing him if he just saw him from afar. Now their visit of the town could finally start.

Lan Wangji had to smile for himself at how quickly Wei Ying bounced back after being scared seemingly out of his mind. He could now understand his reluctance to go into town, there were many street dogs and even more dogs next to the stalls, keeping any potential robbers away. It seemed however that his prompt assistance had calmed the boy down and reassured him that he did not have to be afraid, that Lan Wangji would chase any dogs away for him.

Wei Ying did not wait for any cue and he went running back to the crowd as soon as he had his new robes on. Lan Wangji immediately went after him, he did not want to lose him from his sight again.

The boy was like a walking and talking natural disaster: running all around from one stall to another, leaving chaos in his wake and calling Lan Wangji to have a look at something which picked his interest every now and then. He was touching the merchandise instead of just watching it and then suddenly running away, not listening to the stall owners at all.

But he looked so happy and excited that Lan Wangji did not have the heart to stop him, so he only continued going around behind him and apologizing to all the stall owners who looked angry. Most of them were watching the excited child-sized Wei Ying with amusement in their eyes and just straightened their goods after the boy have rummaged through them.

He finally caught up to Wei Ying when the boy stopped at one stall for longer than at any other. Lan Wangji immediately knew why; it was a stall selling sweets, the same ones he had seen him stealing a few days back. Either he or the children must have liked those very much.

Suddenly, before he could stop him, Wei Ying reached out for one of the sweets and took it. The seller was watching him closely and when Wei Ying had presented the small cake to Lan Wangji with a bright smile, asking if he had ever tasted it and prompting him to do so upon receiving a negative response, she grabbed the boy's hand in a tight grip.

"Young man, you have to pay before taking anything, do you not know that?" her voice was dripping with anger and Wei Ying immediately turned towards her and hunched into himself. It was probably evoking some painful memories for him.

He tried to yank his hand free but was not successful. Then he turned towards Lan Wangji and asked, his voice trembling only the tiniest bit: "Lan Zhan, what is paying?"

His eyes were confused and pleading for the Second Jade's help. Lan Wangji could see that the seller was gripping the boy's hand so tightly that it had become completely white, all blood drained away from it. He was silently cursing the woman for treating a child in such a brutal manner just as he got out his money pouch and paid for the food which had ended up on the ground after all the struggle.

Only after she had received the payment, the woman shook Wei Ying for a good measure one last time, let go of his hand and returned behind the stall. She looked at them with a very displeased look and made a gesture to shoo them away. Wei Ying seemed to not have been waiting for anything else but that and he quickly left, Lan Wangji following him closely.

He looked at the boy's hand and saw that it was still completely white, however red was returning to it as they walked away. It would most probably bruise later; he should buy some medicine for that.