The White Phoenix

Chapter 39 - Spar

Lan Wangji was standing ten paces away from Wei Ying, Bichen in hand and Wei Ying held Suibian. Lan Wangji was teaching him how to deal with one on one combat. So he wanted Wei Ying to spar with him. He wanted to see what Wei Ying could remember and do based on his skills. Lan Wangji took it somewhat easy, as Wei Ying's skills were very good, even if he is only fifteen. Wei Ying restrained from using his fire as a secondary weapon and only used his sword.

As they were doing quite well, Wangji decided to go a bit harder on him as Wei Ying was keeping up quite well. Wei Ying did well dodging and counterattacking. He did good on defense and he did good on keeping his feet steady. He kept his breathing steady and made sure he didn't let his emotions drive him too far into the fight.

Lan Wangji was even surprised when Wei Ying's counterattack came back to him so fast that he barely had time to dodge, cutting a piece of his robes, and even nicked Wangji's left hand by mistake. Wei Ying noticed that he had hurt Lan Wangji and he stopped midway through the spar and panicked. He panicked that he did more than hurt Wangji and that he shouldn't have done that.

Lan Wangji knelt down and pulled him into a hug, "A'Ying it is just a scratch, you did well today. You did not hurt me," Wangji told him.

"But you are bleeding," Wei Ying protested as he took Wangji's hand and looked at the cut.

"Just because I am bleeding, doesn't mean I am hurting. It was just a friendly spar. Practicing like this can cause minor injuries. It is normal and it doesn't take long for me to heal. Remember?" Wangji express to him.

Wei Ying shook his head, "if you want me to feel better, let me take care of your wound," he demanded.

Lan Wangji nodded and led Wei Ying inside. Wei Ying gathered some warm water and a cloth to clean his wound, ointment to put on it, and bandages to wraps the wound in. Lan Wangji let Wei Ying do what he needed to do in order to calm himself down. He let Wei Ying gently clean his wound and tend to it. Just as Wei Ying had finished, Lan Xichen had returned from Gusu.

"What happened?" Lan Xichen asked as he saw Wei Ying in distress.

"A'Zhan and I were sparring and I accidentally hurt him," Wei Ying answered as more tears fell.

"A'Ying, I told you it was just a cut on my hand, you did find," Wangji said, "no matter where I went or what kind of attack I made, you countered and dodged really well. I almost have nothing to fault you on. The injury, as I said, can happen during training. It's usually the best time to handle taking an injury compared to in a real fight. It lets you know if there is something that you need to adjust or improve on. The cut is nothing."

Wei Ying nodded, "fine," he said folding his arms and pouted.

"You are fifteen and you still pout when you lose in an argument," Wangji said with a smile on his face.

"I do not," Wei Ying protested.

"You are pouting right now," Xichen told him, "if you are not tired, I want to see if you can spar well with me."

Wei Ying looked at Xichen, "I don't want to hurt you either," he said.

"You won't but maybe you are not as good as Wangji says you are. Maybe you can't fight me," Xichen taunted.

"What!?" Wei Ying yelled, "even though I cut A'Zhan, I think I won that spar."

"If you want to really prove it, fight against GeGe," Wangji said standing.

"Okay, fine," Wei Ying said, "don't come crying to me if you get hurt."

"You are the one who is probably going to end up crying," Xichen said and he stepped outside to the training grounds.

"Hey!" Wei Ying said, "I am not going easy on you."

"Good, don't," Xichen said as he took out Shuoyue (his swords name).

Wei Ying actually sent out an attack first and Xichen dodged it easily. Lan Wangji and Wei Ying were pretty evenly matched against each other. Lan Xichen was also an excellent fighter, but it is hard to say how he will be against Wei Ying. Ranking just one about Lan Wangji, the two were also pretty close in combat power.

Lan Xichen could see why Wangji was in a tight spot when he almost was unable to dodge. Wei Ying was still quite small for being only fifteen. Also being small, he had a lot of energy, and has really good agility and control. Suibian was also a sword that was helpful on being quick and precise. Lan Xichen dodged just in time and decided to let Wei Ying take the win.

"He's good," Xichen told Wangji, "you are doing well."

"As I said, A'Ying is talented and he should always remember that. Being upset over injuries is something that you need to do better on. I am already doing better, thanks to your wonderful medical skills," Wangji said.

"Okay, as long as you are not mad at me," Wei Ying said.

"I could never," Wangji told him.