Come Back to Gusu

3. Let me take him to Gusu

Lan WangJi watched as his nemesis was carried off the battlefield towards the Healers' tents. Wei Ying's 'Can I sleep now?' bothered him deeply. It didn't sound as if he had meant sleep. It sounded as if he had meant a more permanent version of sleep.... On good days, he and Wei Ying would merely quarrel about using yin energy, about wine. On bad days? They fought. Wei Ying was loudly adamant that he was in control, that he knew what he was doing, to stop treating him like a child.... Does he mean to die now? Is that the price he thinks he had to pay to use the yin energy? Lan WangJi twisted his dirty skirts almost straight. You're not going to die. I will bring you back to the proper path.

He didn't really understand Wei WuXian. Never had. So loud and cluttered. Messy. Completely unaware that there was this invisible circle that surrounded everyone, and no one was allowed inside without an explicit invitation. Or, if he was aware of it, he acted as if he had been invited in a long time ago.

It was infuriating.

He had little self-discipline. And what little discipline he had, he made sure was full of laughter and movement. No sense of stillness and peace.

It was infuriating.

What was even more infuriating was... when Wei Ying was gone from Cloud Recesses: his invisible circle was never breached again. There was no more laughter. Nothing to disturb his peace. And he'd dream....

Horrid dreams where he'd shut Wei Ying's laughing mouth up by kissing him. Kissing him? How can I dream of kissing someone when I have never kissed anyone before? How would I know what it feels like... tastes like... to suck on his tongue? How can I feel... hot and wet when I dream of shoving my cock in his mouth? What kind of monster am I for dreaming about raping him? The dream memories of seeing Wei Ying's backside red and swollen and seeping blood and semen should have been enough to send him into secluded meditation for months. Instead... It made him want to shove his cock into Wei Ying's tender hole even more.... To see if Wei Ying would be just as aroused by it in real life as he'd been in the dream.

The healer was still holding Wei WuXian's wrist when Lan WangJi strode into the tent. "Jiang Guniang, Jiang Gongzi... Wei Gongzi's meridians are highly unstable. His Core is not responding to my touch. I fear the use of the yin energy has done immense harm to his spiritual pathways.... My first priority is to let him rest and heal as much as he can over the next few days. Then we can start to work on getting him back to a healthy weight before I would suggest he even attempt to start meditation sessions. Let the physical body heal first and the spiritual body will heal as well."

"But... Xu Daifu... Shouldn't we heal his spiritual pathways first? So his Core can aid in healing his body?"

The healer stroked his long beard. "Normally, I would agree, Jiang Guniang. However, the body is... troubled. It is clear Wei Gongzi has not been eating properly, and his liver is rotting with liquor. If he doesn't fix those first, whether or not he has clean spiritual pathways will be irrelevant. To be perfectly honest? He's going to die from liquor poisoning long before he dies from yin energy attacking his Core."

"Let me take him to Gusu," Lan WangJi found himself begging.

Jiang WanYin puffed his chest out and stared daggers at the jade. "Gusu? You've been yelling at him to go with you to Gusu since the night we killed Wen Chao. He doesn't want to go. I think he's made himself very clear on the matter."

"A'Cheng..." Jiang YanLi laid a hand on her brother's arm. "This is different. The war is over, now."

"Of course it's different! We need him in Lotus Pier! I need him. We will have new disciples to train. Almost the whole place will need to be rebuilt. I can't have my right hand gallivanting off in Gusu when I need him with me."