Backlash Part 1

Chapter 52: Wen Qing's Hypothesis

"A-Jie. Xian-ge... is he okay?" Wen Qionglin had asked the question before Wen Qing had even fully entered the room. Wen Qing looked at her didi and gave him a sad smile.

"Not really A-Ning, but right now he is safe with Lan Wangji. Unfortunately that is the best we can do at the moment." Wen Qing said, her tone filled with exhaustion. She walked into the room the rest of the way with Lan Xichen entering behind her. Wen Qionglin was surprised but quickly bowed in greeting.

"Zewu-Jun, what brings you here so late?" Wen Qionglin asked politely. His voice shook slightly, but he didn't stumble over his words.

"I was woken by pain in my abdomen. It felt like I had been struck. When I was searching for who or what might have caused it I heard screams coming from the Jingshi." Lan Xichen recounted calmly. This reminded Wen Qing that Wei Wuxian was still suffering in the Jingshi right now. She would never give him this medicine again. She wanted to help him rest, not make him unable to awaken from a nightmare.

Wen Qing knew it wasn't really her fault. She was trying her best to treat a symptom that was causing Wei Wuxian a lot of distress. The other medicines hadn't made much of a difference at all. The next logical step was to try a stronger medicine. Only now was she realizing Wei Wuxian's nightmares were probably not entirely natural. She had always assumed they were the result of the horrors he had seen and experienced. However the medication she gave Wei Wuxian should not have resulted in trapping him in his nightmares. It should have calmed his sleep, allowing him to sleep through the entire night. It would make him more tired, that was the point, but if he had a terrible nightmare like this he should have still been able to wake up.

This left her with the hypothesis that the resentment in his body might have some impact on his nightmares. She couldn't say for sure if it strengthened the nightmares, or perhaps made him more likely to experience them? Wei Wuxian had never explained in depth the effects of demonic cultivation. She could only guess at the side effects from what she observed. Tonight gave her the idea that the severity and frequency of his nightmares might be one of those side effects.

"A-Jie?" Wen Qionglin noticed her zoning out. Wen Qing smiled, exhaustion clear on her face.

"Sorry. I was thinking about A-Ying. I wasn't expecting the medication to keep him asleep while he was having a violent nightmare." Wen Qing said quietly. Wen Qionglin's expression looked pained.

'So that's why A-Jie never ended up asking me to bring anything over. She wanted me to wait here so I could bring anything she might need, but hours later she never asked for anything.' Wen Qionglin commented silently.

"Anyway... A-Ying's restrained for now and Lan Wangji is with him. Either the nightmare will end or the medicine will wear off and A-Ying will wake up. Whoever happens first... I just hope it doesn't take too long." Wen Qing continued quietly. She turned to Lan Xichen, gathering her calm and confidence around her once more. "Let me examine the injury." Wen Qing commanded calmly. Lan Xichen suddenly felt very awkward.

"There wasn't any injury to the area when I checked," Lan Xichen explained. Wen Qing raised an eyebrow at him. She was completely unimpressed with this assertion.

"Are you a healer Zewu-Jun?" Wen Qing asked.

Lan Xichen felt ridiculous. In Cloud Recesses usually a healer of the same gender would do the examining. It wasn't a rule, but usually if you needed to examine any areas that were usually covered by clothing a same gender healer would treat you. Obviously in an emergency or visiting elsewhere Lan Xichen would never insist on such a thing. Yet right now he found himself very uncomfortable with the idea of exposing his upper body to Wen Qing. Wen Qing was an excellent healer, quite possibly one of the best healers in the entire cultivation world.