Lucidity

5 ⚠️

⚠️Sensitive material in this chapter. Contains topics of child abuse and neglect⚠️

It will be in Lan Wangji's POV throughout Wuxian's subconscious.
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Wei Ying told me it has been four months since I left him. Just recently his parents died. It was hard on him but he bravely brought me to where his parents' corpses were. Since it has been some time, resentment was building up around their corpses. I took out my guqin and played Cleansing before I played Rest to allow Wei Ying's parents to rest in peace. I then helped them by burying them in a respectable place, which was near the hut Wei Ying grew up. The house was still there so we stayed there for a couple days.

"Do you have any relatives I could help you find?" I asked.

Wuxian shook his head, "my mother spoke of her master often but I do not know where she lives."

"Who is her master?" I knew who but I wondered if he knew.

"She said her name was Baoshan Sanren."

I nodded, "would you like my help finding her? Or did your father say anything about family?"

"He heard him tell my mom one night that he was adopted by Sect Leader Jiang (Jiang Fengmian's father). He said he has a sworn brother Ugh....fen..feng...ugh?"

I smiled, "Jiang Fengmian?" I asked, "would you like to go see him?"

"I do not know. I heard Baba talk about the woman the man married and how she is not very kind," Wuxian said. I did not want to sway the memory too much unless it does not matter. I decided to try to bring him to the Jiang Sect first and if I feel like he is unsafe, maybe I can try Gusu for a couple days.

"Why don't we pay Jiang a visit? If you feel uncomfortable, then I will take you to my home for a while until we find someone for you," I said, "I would love to help you, but I am not old enough to properly care for a child."

"I understand Gege," he said, "I trust you, just as long as I know I can always find you somehow or maybe stay in contact with you."

"We can work this out, okay," I said.

After a couple of days, I gathered some supplies from Wei Ying's house before we set out of Lotus Pier in Yunmeng. I wanted to try to talk to Jiang Fengmian. I want to know if Wei Ying will be safe with him. It took another two days to get to Lotus Pier and it was very lively. I could already see some Jiang Sect disciples walking around. With Wei Ying being held in my arms, he was small for being about six or seven years old. He was also very light, so I did not mind carrying him. It made him feel safe too. I then took him to the Jiang Sect Gates.

"Who are you and who do you wish to speak with?" A guard asked.

"I am Lan Wangji, Second Master Lan of the Gusu Lan Sect. I am here to speak with Sect Leader Jiang," I said.

"Please follow me," said the guard. I followed him to the main hall and was left alone as he went to fetch the sect leader. It took about five minutes before he had time to see me.

"Lan Er Gongzi, what brings you here to Yunmeng?" Sect Leader Jiang asked.

"Sect Leader," I bowed, "this little boy here is Wei Ying. His parents recently passed away a few weeks ago and Wei Ying told me that you were close with his father? Is that true?"

"Wei Changze and Cangse Sanren are both dead?" He asked and looked at Wei Ying in my arms, "I heard they had a child."

I sat him down, "want to say hello?"

"Hello, my name is Wei Ying, my courtesy name is Wuxian. It's a pleasure to meet you, Sect Leader Jiang."

Jiang Fengmian knelt down and looked at him closer, "you look just like both of your parents. No matter where they are, you will always carry them with you. Your appearance is an example of that."

"Thank you," Wei Ying said.

From what it seems, he stayed, as the memories went dark again. I was now standing by the room of doors again. The second door was already opened slightly. I then decided to keep moving forward. I appeared in the world again and I was standing in a room. It was fairly plain but it also had some books and scripts on the bookshelves.

I suddenly heard someone crying. I turned and saw that there was a screen that covered two thirds of a bath. I realized that this was Wei Ying's room.

Why was he crying?

I knocked on the screen, "Wei Ying, it is Ji-Gege. Do you remember me?" I asked.

"Ji-Gege!" He called out, "if you come in, please do not judge me."

"I would never judge you, Wei Ying," I said.

"Then you can come in...could you help me?" He asked.

When I stepped around the screen, Wei Ying looked to be about eleven to thirteen. He was only in a pair of black trousers as he faced a mirror. His back faced towards me and that was when I saw blood. His back was covered in whip lash marks and they looked fresh. Some of them even look like they left burns behind.

"Who did this to you? What happened?" I asked as I knelt down beside him.

"I gained my golden core, Madam Yu was unhappy about it and she brought me to her discipline room. She has a weapon called Zidian, she hit me with it nine times...she said nine whips for being nine years old and already having a golden core. She did not like I gained it before her son...Ji-Gege, it really hurts."

I let him hug me, "do you have medicine?" I asked.

"Shijie gave me something to put in the bath but I am afraid to get it. I'm afraid of the pain," he told me.

I stood up and saw the herbs sitting beside the tub. They were herbs used for medical baths to help treat severe wounds, "has it been added to the water?"

He nodded, "will you help me, please?" He asked.

I nodded and took a cloth, "I will dab it gently on your back first. If it stings, tell me and I can find something else to help you," I said.

He nodded and turned so his back was facing me again. I stuck it in the hot water and then lightly dabbed it on Wei Ying's back. He sucked in breath from his clenched teeth.

"Does it hurt?" I asked.

"It only hurts when you touch it. It does not sting," he said.

I then tried something else. I let some water drip down his back and he still seemed okay. That was when I helped him in the tub and carefully tended to his back. He looked miserable here. As I was tending to his back, I sent some energy through to him to check if this was his subconscious being. It was not.

How am I going to find him?

After I helped him, I was back in the room of doors. I then decided to take a break and wake from this subconscious traveling for a bit. I wanted to ask Baoshan some questions about this journey if she was around.