Phoenix

Chapter 28*Revised*

                Lan Xichen was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. It had been more than three months since his brother and Wei Wuxian had gone missing near the Burial mounds. Their link wasn't working. None of them could teleport to where they were. 

             The war had started full force just that day, and they could already see the losses they would have would be great. The only reason he was still standing was because of the sweet Jiang Yanli. That woman was amazing. She had this ability to make people want to follow her words. His sect had cultivators who were more worried about disappointing her than dying. 

              It was all very strange to him since she never asked anything of them. She would cook for the frontlines, make candies to boost morale, even help in the healer's tent, and never ask for anything from anyone. It was safe to say she had most of the cultivation world in her hands, and the war had barely started. With so much on her plate, she still found time to be a good sister to him. 

               Out of their group of immortals, only Lan Xichen was on the front lines. Nie Mingue was not allowing Huasang to join the war front at all. As an older brother, he understood, but as a commander, knowing of the boy's hidden power, it was frustrating. Jiang Yanli had offered but he had swiftly shut that thought down. Still, it worked out that thanks to Nie Huasang's help, many Wen had switched sides to aid them.

             They were waiting to meet with Wei Wuxian, which was another stressful matter. He didn't want the people who joined them to think him a liar because Wei Wuxian wasn't there. Oh, and they wanted to place Wei Wuxian as their new leader, which would remove Lan Wangji from the Lan's. Lan Xichen placed his head on the papers on his desk inside his war tent with a tired sigh. 

                The door flap opened to show a smiling Jiang Yanli with a tray of food. He hastily got up to take the heavy tray from her and set it on the table while she giggled. They sat on opposite sides of the table as she served out the food. "Yanli-Jie, how can you smile so brightly with everything going on?" 

              The question left his mouth before he could help. His forwardness surprised both of them. She got herself under control quickly, giving him another small smile. " Xichen, I can only smile and wait. Letting others see how everything affects me will not change what is happening. Everyone here has lost someone. The least I can do is receive them with a smile and hope for the best. Besides, I have faith that our little brothers will come back soon. Now eat and focus on what we can do now. We want them to be proud of us when they get back." She began eating slowly letting Lan Xichen process her words before picking up his own utensil to eat.

             After the food was done, she started helping him to make battle plans along with Nie Huasang through their mind link. At this time, Nie Huasang disclosed some rumors he wanted to be checked out. Jiang Yanli volunteered to go and see what was really happening. 

            Apparently, some of the Wen watchtowers had been annihilated, but no corpse was killed the same way. The trail seemed to be heading in the direction that Huasang's spies had mentioned was Wen Chao's last known location.  They argued for a long time, not wanting Jiang Yanli to go off alone just in case it was dangerous, but she was stubborn. She won the argument.

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              Jiang Yanli rushed to the watchtower that Nie Huasang had suggested as the next foreseen attack location. She was hopeful that she might find a clue to what had really happened to her little brother. As she closed in on the place, she worried she may be too late.