His Excellency: The Untamed

9. The Yang Energy

It had only been 24 tolls time when Lan Wangji felt Wei Ying stir. He sat at the end of Wei Ying's bed and waited. Another hour passed before Wei Ying opened his eyes. He smiled and Lan Wangji felt like he was cursed again.

"Don't do that ever again." He tried to control his emotions but he knew Wei Ying saw them. The upturn in Wei Ying's eyes turned sad.

"Sorry, Lan Zhan. That I can't promise." Lan Wangji knew Wei Ying wouldn't agree to it. The moment he realized that the curse had meant to kill his most beloved, he was enraged. It was the worst possible way for Wei Ying to acknowledge his feelings. He understood Wei Ying's kind heart and at this moment that heart was a curse on him. Would Wei Ying kill himself rather than return his feelings?

"Wei Ying promised not to leave." Lan Zhan tried to find some ground, some assurance but he was lost. After all, Wei Ying had always been more eloquent than him, "I wasn't going to break my promise, death was."

Lan Zhan glared at him but Wei Ying only laughed, "Lan Zhan, if I have to choose between myself and you again, I choose you. Past, present, or future, I will always choose you."

Unshed tears wheeled up in his eyes as he turned away from Wei Ying. He walked to the table to pick up bandages, taking the time to school his emotions. This, this kind heart of Wei Ying's was exactly why he felt like his love for Wei Ying was a curse on him. He had never forgotten the moment when Wei Ying jerked his hand away from his grasp, choosing to fall from the cliff than take him along. It was the one motivator in his life, the reason he had accepted the post of his Excellency. He wanted to make the world a place where Wei Ying never has to stand at the edge of a cliff again, never have to make that choice again.

When he turned around with the bandages, Wei Ying was trying to sit. He hurried over and helped. When Wei Ying was upright, the sheets pooling at his waist, bare-chested, Lan Wangji looked away. He heard Wei Ying pull a pair from the bedside and pulled them over himself with a small groan.

"Your Excellency, why won't you look this way?" His husky voice sent shivers down Lan Wangji's gut. He wanted Wei Ying, he wanted to be happy that Wei Ying felt what he felt but he didn't want to give in to Wei Ying's teasing right now.

"Wei Ying. Don't tease," he spoke sternly before he settled his mind on being a caretaker. He shifted the robes away from Wei Ying's chest, never meeting mischievous eyes, and inspected the wound, trying to calm the throb in his chest. Without a word, he changed the bandages while Wei Ying blabbered about Mo Xuanyu. It was basically a recollection of everything and Lan Wangji only half listened.

When he was done, Wei Ying caught his wrist, making him look up into Wei Ying's eyes. The eyes were always smiling even when Wei Ying wasn't. He looked away, trying to escape any teasing but Wei Ying didn't let go.

"Lan Zhan. How do you feel about me changing my body?"

Lan Wangji looked back at Wei Ying, puzzled.

"There have been a lot of cases of people coming to life and dying after a few days as their bodies burst with extra, overwhelming qi. Right?"

"Hm." Lan Wangji knew where Wei Ying was redirecting his attention to. He let himself be guided. The qi as Wei Ying mentioned had something in common with the valley.

"We just found the origin of this qi."

Lan Wangji said, "the energy is the same as in the valley. The creature is the source."

"It could be like the dancing fairy, granting wishes or it could be even simpler. The energy feels like that of Burial mounds, undiluted and naturally occurring, only just opposite to resentment."