Backlash Part 1

Chapter 45: The Jingshi

Wen Qing's expression became enraged. The angry exhalation of her breath came out in the sound of a low growl. It actually sent shivers down Wei Wuxian's spine. He couldn't help but shrink back slightly. Even if he knew there was no dog here, the sound was entirely too similar. Wei Wuxian saw the concerned faces of the other people in the room and he immediately took a few deep breaths to calm himself.

"A-Ning, give Jiejie a single dose of the calming medicine." Wei Wuxian ordered. Wen Qionglin looked deeply confused, but still proceeded to follow through with the order. Wei Wuxian understood the confusion. It was usually only the person performing empathy that needed to maintain a calm state. Unfortunately things had become dramatically more complicated than usual.

'Who could have possibly expected this?' Wei Wuxian thought for the umpteenth time. For once Wei Wuxian's mind wasn't filled with thoughts of guilt and blame. It was a weirdly novel experience to not feel guilty over something going wrong around him. Yet this time he truly didn't feel at fault.

"Xian-ge?" Wen Qionglin said hesitantly. "What has happened? Why are we not pulling them out?" Wei Wuxian knew it was very hard for his didi to ask those questions. Wei Wuxian could hear the fear in his voice. Fear for Wen Qing's safety.

"Their souls have become entangled. If they end the empathy without first untangling it could do permanent damage. So we aren't trying to pull them out right now." Wei Wuxian explained calmly. He saw the worried looks from both Wen Qionglin and Lan Wangji. Wei Wuxian immediately decided not to tell them that even untangling the two first might still result in side effects.

"What do we do?" Wen Qionglin asked again. Wei Wuxian worked very hard to keep his expression encouraging. He had just finished drawing an array around the two people in question. An array that really wasn't going to do much of anything except hopefully help keep the two people in the room with him calm. This was Lan Xichen and Wen Qing after all. They were family of those in this room. Of course everyone was worried. So the array was mostly there for the sake of helping Lan Wangji and Wen Qionglin feel like something was being done.

A happy side effect would also mean keeping all of them far enough away from Lan Xichen to not result in other accidents. Two entangled souls was problem enough, but with Lan Xichen's current state it was possible he could inadvertently suck another person in if they weren't cautious. Wei Wuxian had not been expecting it which is why he had felt the tug on his soul, like a current trying to drag him toward Lan Xichen. Fortunately it wasn't too powerful of a pull and no additional accidents had occurred.

"I'll tell you what to do and when to do it. Some of this is going to be a matter of timing dependant upon the fluctuating state they are in." Wei Wuxian said firmly. Wen Qionglin stopped asking questions and Wei Wuxian was incredibly grateful. There were some things he really didn't want to say out loud about this. It wasn't that they were bad, but... it just felt kind of wrong to say it out loud.

"Lan Zhan." Wei Wuxian saw Lan Wangji's dazed and distressed expression. Wei Wuxian pulled Lan Wangji into an embrace and began gently stroking his back. "Lan Zhan. It's okay. I won't let anything happen to Zewu-Jun." Wei Wuxian whispered soothingly. He felt Lan Wangji take a few deep shuddering breaths before he nodded his head. Wei Wuxian could feel the movement against the crook of his neck, where Lan Wangji had tucked his head.

"Can you play some soul calming music?" Wei Wuxian asked gently. He felt Lan Wangji squeeze him a little tighter, and this time Wei Wuxian knew the gesture was entirely for Lan Wangji to try and soothe himself. After a few more deep breaths Lan Wangji pulled back and nodded his head. Wei Wuxian lead Lan Wangji by the hand to his guqin and Lan Wangji immediately began to play. Wei Wuxian smiled. The music was more for the bystanders than the two in empathy, but it might provide some benefits to the two currently in danger.