Dark Knight | WangXian Novel

25: You Better Do

"Nie Huai-SANG!"

"Oh dear..." Nie Huaisang rubbed the end of his paper fan on his forehead. "Here comes the angry brother..."

"Angry brother indeed you crazy fan-boy! JUST WHAT did you give to A-Cheng to drink last night?" Wei Wuxian stomped into the Main Hall of Lotus Pier.

Little did he care for the fact that both the Lan and Jiang sect leaders and Madam Yu were present.

Little did he care that his Shijie and Zixuan were also here, staring at him.

He wanted his brother back and that was it. End of story.

"Look here, Wei-xiong, Jiang-xiong only drank the supply of Emperor's Smile I got from Er-Ge. Emperor's Smile isn't strong enough to get him drunk so easily... but last night, even after five bowls or something... he still seemed so sober," Huaisang sulked. Jiang Cheng's tolerance being far lower than his shixiong's was a fact known all around.

"That isn't like Wanyin at all," Lan Xichen moped.

What Lan Wangji, following close at his husband's heels, noticed but Wei Wuxian didn't, was how Lan Xichen had flopped onto a chair near the grand Lotus seat, with Jiang Yanli giving him cups of water.

Wen Qing, having brought the husbands to the scene, went and checked on her own brother. Seeing Lan Xichen signalling to her, she walked over to him. All this Lan Wangji watched with a keen eye.

"A-Cheng's never the one to not get drunk... if he didn't get drunk then he'd never run off like this either... at least knowing Madam Yu will flog him?"

"Ahem!" Madam Yu cleared her throat loudly.

Wei Wuxian flinched as he recalled everyone else was here in the room. "A- apologies..."

"Not a lie though," Jiang Fengmian nodded calmly, firing his wife up further.

Yet again it was Lan Wangji who saw through Sect Leader Jiang's calm demeanour: nobody seemed to notice the faintly trembling sword in his hand.

Fear? Dread? ... more like anxiety, Lan Zhan frowned. These people know something.

"Wei Ying," Lan Zhan called.

Wei Wuxian rambled on. "He'll never just... right! Nie-xiong, exactly what did A-Cheng mumble last ni–"

"Wei Ying," Lan Zhan laid his hand on Wei Ying's shaking shoulder and squeezed lightly.

"Lan Zhan?"

"Wei Ying, calm down. Sect leaders are all here-"

Wei Wuxian turned his head around and whispered, "I don't care who's here I need to know where-"

"They seem to know something more."

"-Oh?" Wei Wuxian looked around. Magically soothed by Lan Wangji's touch, his head cleared up and foggy eyes focussed on the Main Hall properly. Sure enough, there sat Lan Xichen pinching his forehead, and there stood Wen Qing frowning terribly as she read some paper.

"Done panicking?" Wen Qing scowled at him.

Wei Wuxian gulped. "Oh please, don't tell me you'll be like a dove if Wen Ning goes missing."

"I wouldn't let him."

"Hey! This isn't my fault! You know I was all the way back in Cloud-"

"Calm down, both of you!" Jiang Yanli grabbed Wei Wuxian's arm.

"Sorry, Shijie."

"A-Xian, here," Yanli took the paper from Wen Qing. "Right before you guys came, Xichen-ge just told us that he found this left below his window."