Backlash Part 1

Chapter 172: Awkward Friends

Luo Qingyang found the villagers to be friendly and fearful. A few were braver than others. San-yi, whom Luo Qingyang had yet to learn the actual name of, was the boldest of those Luo Qingyang had met. Once Luo Qingyang spent the day helping them bury the dead they became a bit more at ease around her. Yet, no one was talking about the battle. Luo Qingyang had a much better idea now of the number of soldiers that had been here, and she did not understand how they were all defeated.

Additionally, when Luo Qingyang had inquired about Wen Qing, she had been met with pained expressions. Wen Qing apparently wasn't in Dafan, and they didn't know where she was. This was not what Luo Qingyang had been expecting. If Wen Qing helped Nie Mingjue escape, then Luo Qingyang had rather expected Wen Qing would have returned to Dafan with him.

Luo Qingyang ate with the Dafan Wen's during their evening meal. Luo Qingyang was struck by how few of them there were. The village was clearly large enough to support more than this, especially with the evidence of destroyed structures that must have been in use within the last few years.

The cultivators currently travelling for Dafan easily numbered three times as many people as the Dafan Wens she was eating beside. Luo Qingyang knew a few people were missing. San-yi was a notable absence, and when Luo Qingyang inquired a few more people were mentioned. Some of them were injured and some were away to tend to or monitor those who were injured.

Luo Qingyang cautiously made her way over to Wen Qionglin. He had spent more time talking than she had ever seen, granted it had been years since she last saw him. Years. Luo Qingyang still found it strange to realize that the war had been going on for years. Her time studying in Cloud Recesses seemed like it should have only been months ago, while at the same time it seemed to belong to another lifetime altogether.

"Wen Ning. How are your injuries?" Luo Qingyang inquired.

She and Wen Ning were not strangers. They had spoken enough at Cloud Recesses to be familiar with each other. They were closer to the acquaintance end of friendship, and it had been a while since they last saw each other. Luo Qingyang kept him firmly on the short list of men she considered decent. She believed they were probably still on good enough terms for her to continue to address him as he had requested when they had been students together.

"Ah, Luo-guniang. I'm alright. My injuries are actually quite superficial. The bandages make them look more worrying than they are." Wen Qionglin spoke nervously. Luo Qingyang gave him a teasing frown.

"Wen Ning, I thought we broke you of this habit years ago." Luo Qingyang stated with almost playful disapproval. "I'm Wen Qing's friend. Do you really call all of her friends 'guniang'?" Luo Qingyang inquired.

Luo Qingyang immediately realized her mistake and waved her hand to stop Wen Qionglin from talking. Wen Qionglin was almost painfully shy. It was entirely possible he might address all of his sister's friends with polite formality. Luo Qingyang was aware that she leaned naturally towards the casual end of addressing others, but certainly her own judgment of politeness wasn't so off that this level of formality was actually expected.

"Never mind. Don't answer that. Just call me Luo Qingyang." She said quickly before she could spend too much time thinking about that.

They lapsed into a slightly awkward silence that Luo Qingyang worked really hard to pretend didn't bother her while she searched for a topic to talk about. She's more used to scolding boys or snarking at them. The banter Luo Qingyang would fall into with Wei Wuxian was playful and comfortable. It might flare her temper, but with her friends it is all in good fun.

Wen Qionglin on the other hand is all shy and soft. There is nothing wrong with these things. Luo Qingyang has many shy and soft spoken friends. She even has one shy soft spoken friend that she very much wants to be more than friends with. The difference is all of them are girls and the social rules are different.

The way Luo Qingyang interacts with most of those friends is perfectly acceptable between girls, but if she treats a boy that way Luo Qingyang's going to be accused of flirting with him. She'll have disapproving old men commenting on her loose morals and lack of virtue while old women despair at her poor upbringing.

Luo Qingyang wished she could say that she did not have experience with this, but she had been less than understanding of social boundaries as a child. She didn't understand why she needed to act any differently with a boy than she did with a girl. As Luo Qingyang got older, and her romantic interest pointed firmly in the feminine direction, these rules made even less sense to her.

Eventually her mother sat down and explained that sometimes you don't follow a rule because it is right. You follow it because following it is easier than dealing with the consequences you would receive for defying an unjust rule. Luo Qingyang really hated that her mother was right about that.

"How come you're not catching up with Wei Wuxian? You two are still close aren't you?" Luo Qingyang inquired.

Luo Qingyang immediately regretted her phrasing. Clearly there had to be a gentler way to inquire about Wei Wuxian's well being and whereabouts. Pointing out that Wen Qionglin was obviously not sitting with his friend was practically bad manners number one when approaching a shy friend who was sitting somewhere alone. Wen Qionglin was clearly uncomfortable and struggling with his words.

"Xian-ge, needs some space right now." Wen Qionglin managed, the words came almost painfully slow. "The battle took a lot out of him, and then..."

Luo Qingyang waited for him to continue. Surprisingly the awkwardness was lessening. In place it seemed more like Wen Qionglin was struggling with how to explain what transpired as opposed to not knowing what to talk about.

"Xian-ge was exhausted after the fight, but one of my little cousins came up to him immediately after and demanded help. Her didi is a little over a year old and apparently he was trapped under a cart. San-yi says he was lucky. The soil was soft. The cart mostly kept him from being able to get out, but there wasn't any actual weight pressing on him. Xian-ge was so exhausted that he looked like he was ready to collapse, but he still carried A-Yuan to a doctor. He sat with Nuan-er while her didi was being examined. Nuan-er has really attached herself to him. Xian-ge didn't let himself pass out until Nuan-er and A-Yuan were both asleep. He really pushed himself too far." Wen Qionglin explained, his voice sad and worried.

"Is he still unconscious?" Luo Qingyang questioned with concern.

"He sort of half wakes up? He'll respond to Nuan-er, and if you feed him he'll be able to chew and swallow properly, but he isn't really fully conscious. Like when you wake someone up and talk to them, and they answer the question but roll over and fall right back to sleep?" Wen Qionglin tried to explain. Luo Qingyang bit her lip in concern.

"Are you okay? Do you want to go check on him?" Luo Qingyang asked.

Wen Qionglin and Wei Wuxian had gotten really close in Cloud Recesses. Luo Qingyang had never heard Wen Qionglin refer to anyone else in such a familiar way. That closeness clearly hadn't gone anywhere. It couldn't be easy for him to see Wei Wuxian unwell.

"I..." Wen Qionglin began, then let out a deep sigh. "Nuan-er has been getting stressed by having other people around. Our cousin, who had been taking care of her, died during the battle. We think Nuan-er is probably afraid that someone will try to take her away, but we're not sure. She is staying with A-Yuan, Xian-ge, and Lan Wangji. She refused to have Xian-ge or A-Yuan out of her sight, but Nuan-er is barely tolerating having San-yi in the room in her capacity as a healer. I've visited a couple of times, but it visibly distresses Nuan-er to have too many people around. It's best if it is just one other person at a time, but San-yi is the better healer. She is needed more."

Luo Qingyang felt like she could feel the pain in Wen Qionglin's words. Wen Qing was not here. So she was probably in danger. Wei Wuxian, who seemed to be Wen Qionglin's closest friend, was apparently injured in some fashion and Wen Qionglin couldn't even do more than poke his head in now and then to see if he had woken up.

"Normally I'd offer this for friends I was a little closer with, but do you want a hug?" Luo Qingyang asked.

Wen Qionglin blinked in shock. A sheen of tears gathered in his eyes. Finally Wen Qionglin nodded his head shyly. Luo Qingyang sighed in relief, then leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his back gently. Wen Qionglin was initially rigid. Slowly he brought his arms around Luo Qingyang to reciprocate the hug. Luo Qingyang didn't say anything when she felt her shoulder grow damp with tears. She gently rubbed circles into Wen Qionglin's back and let him cry.