Backlash Part 1

Chapter 51: The Jingshi

Lan Wangji awoke to the sounds of soft whimpers. Wei Wuxian's sleep had sadly been getting steadily worse. They had all hoped once Madam Yu and Sect Leader Jiang left things would improve. Unfortunately this had not been the case. Even with the meeting over, and empathy done with, Wei Wuxian was still waking up in the middle of the night. Sometimes it was only for a short amount of time and Lan Wangji would be able to get him back to sleep. Sometimes he could manage to soothe Wei Wuxian without waking him up at all. Lan Xichen had been politely ignoring the fact that they had been sleeping in the same bed. Not that Lan Wangji would have been deterred if he was told not to, but he was glad for Lan Xichen's support.

Tonight Wen Qing had given Wei Wuxian a stronger medicine to try, and Lan Wangji had been hopeful Wei Wuxian would be able to sleep through the night without any nightmares. She had held off on trying a stronger one until after the meeting. Again with the hope that once that was over there would be an ease in Wei Wuxian's anxiety.

"Wei Ying." He whispered gently. He was hoping he could wake Wei Wuxian up just a little. Just enough so he could calm him down. Then Wei Wuxian could fall back asleep quickly. Wei Wuxian began trembling and Lan Wangji gently gripped his shoulder and shook lightly.

"Wei Ying." Lan Wangji prompted again. Wei Wuxian began to trash violently on the bed. The soft whimpers became open cries of pain.

"Stop! Please stop! It hurts!" Wei Wuxian shouted.

"Wei Ying!" Lan Wangji tried desperately to wake Wei Wuxian up.

"Wei Ying. You are dreaming. Wei Ying. Wake up." Lan Wangji tried to soothe Wei Wuxian, but verbal soothing had no effect. He wanted to take Wei Wuxian into his arms, but the trashing was violent and chaotic. Lan Wangji certainly had the strength to suppress Wei Wuxian's movements. However, Wei Wuxian's violent struggles meant that in order to suppress him, Lan Wangji would likely injure Wei Wuxian in the process. Lan Wangji couldn't bear that.

"Stop! Make it stop!" Wei Wuxian screamed.

"Wei Ying." Lan Wangji spoke louder and louder. He repeated Wei Wuxian's name dozens of times hoping to calm him at least a little. Instead things kept getting worse. Lan Wangji had begun to panic. Normally Wei Wuxian would have woken himself up by now. If the nightmare was this violent then even if Lan Wangji couldn't soothe him back to sleep, Wei Wuxian would have definitely woken up.

Lan Xichen was asleep when he was suddenly awoken by pain. He grabbed his stomach and coughed. It was like he had been punched in the gut. He searched his room immediately but found no sign of anyone. Without delay, Lan Xichen left the Hanshi and began checking if anything was amiss. The wind had nearly been knocked out of him. It was impossible for such a thing to happen while he was laying in bed with no one in the room.

He checked the main entrance into Cloud Recesses, the wards, and the main courtyard. Nothing was out of place. He checked with one of the night patrols. Again they had not observed any disturbances. A strange feeling of distress and panic was filling Lan Xichen. It was strange. It was not the anxiety and concern over the source of the mysterious pain that had roused him from his sleep. Lan Xichen was concerned about what had happened, but the distress he was experiencing didn't fit. This horror, panic, pain, desperation... was more like how he might feel if his didi were seriously injured.

Lan Xichen began to make his way to the Jingshi. Even if nothing was out of sorts, he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep without checking. As he approached the Jingshi he could hear distant screaming. Lan Xichen became filled with dread. Something happening to Wei Wuxian had recently become one of his greatest fears. Something bad happening to Wei Wuxian meant something bad happening to Lan Wangji. Lan Xichen's pace quickened immediately.