Soulmates are a thing?!

Part 17

                               The trip to the indoctrination was spent in silence. They were all too busy thinking of what they could encounter. Madam Yu had forced them to wear qiankun pouches full of emergency supplies in their boots. Even Lan Xichen got her scolding mothering as she said narcissistic assholes with dreams of grandeur would not starve her children. Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng had used all of their restraint not to laugh at her description of the Wen.

                              Lan Wangji had helped his husband pick out a name for his whip. It was now called Rìluò or sunset because of the colors of the whip. He, in turn, named Lan Wangji's whip, though he had a feeling that Lan Wangji regretted allowing it. His whip's name was now Dòngchuāng or Frostbite. Wei Wuxian thought he should be glad he didn't name it 'Ice Spikes' or something like 'Clearly' because the ice of it is clear. That would have been funny, though.

                         It was still a better name than what Jiang Cheng picked. His new whip was called Gǔwǔ, or spark that inspires growth. How unimaginative. Wei Wuxian had scoffed so loudly at the name that the two had ended up in a fistfight on the floor. Lan Wangji had to pull them apart, threatening to get Madam Yu to scold them.

                          A few li before reaching the indoctrination site, they met up with the Nie contingent. Nie Huasang was pretending to cry onto the robes of the poor Nie disciple, who was carrying his sword. It was obviously fake because as soon as he saw his sworn brothers, he was smiling brightly while waving to get their attention. " Hey guys, I have news for you." The group looked at him, amused, waiting for what he had to say.

                         "So you know how the attack on cloud recesses didn't work, right? Well, Wen Rouhan didn't know that Madam Yu was there. None of the people he sent returned alive, and the gossipy guest disciples were far away from the attack, so they saw nothing. In other words, the only ones we really need to watch out for are Xichen-ge and Wangji." He was waving his fan enthusiastically as he explained. The disciple got fed up and grabbed the fan, letting it fall to the ground behind them. Nie Huasang pouted but took out another fan from his sleeve to the disciple's irritation.

                        Seeing that his friend might get flung into a nearby body of water, Wei Wuxuan flew closer, helping Nie Huasang shift over. Lan Wangji glared for a few minutes before Lan Xichen chuckled, reassuring him that Wei Wuxian was only his. They laughed and joked the rest of the way, easing the tension they were all feeling.

                        The indoctrination itself was hell. As Madam Yu had predicted, they barely fed them anything at all. They had confiscated their swords on the first day, but no one fought them after Wen Zhoulu had melted the core of a protesting small sect disciple in front of them. Thankfully, they had their secondary weapons but could not use them in front of the Wens. They were being forced to night hunt without their swords for Wen Chao's amusement. The worst part, in Lan Wangji's opinion, was that he was not in the same room as his soulmate. They were each rooming with their brothers.

                          Throughout the week, they had been forced to learn the quintessence of Wen. It was not a coherent book but a book of phrases that old Wen leaders had spoken in no real order. They were clearly trying to mock the Lan for all their rules, but it only made them look bad. Wen Chao was getting angrier and angrier since Lan Xichen did nothing for which he could be punished. He had even managed to recite the book from memory the next day, to everyone's bewilderment.

                              A while ago, a disciple had come running to tell Wen Chao something that had him looking at them with an evil smile. Now, they were walking in a valley looking for some type of cave that had a monster Wen Chao wanted them to hunt—without swords again. They would be bait for him to kill the monster. It was getting harder and harder to keep Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji from killing the ugly toad.

                              After walking for a while, Wei Wuxian noticed Wen Chao harassing a girl from the Jin sect. He was going to walk over and intervene, but Lan Wangji glared at the girl for taking his husband's attention. Still wanting to save the girl but not wanting to upset his husband, he pulled out a talisman to reveal hidden things in the area. A dense fog lifted, showing the cave opening. The guards called to Wen Chao, effectively gaining his attention. With a sigh of relief, he smiled brightly at her, but she huffed and walked away, acting like he was going to hit on her, too. Lan Wangji walked off, witnessing the exchange.

                              Wei Wuxian was confused. He had done everything to ensure his husband was not upset, yet he had walked off looking angry. Lan Xichen patted his shoulder as they walked towards the cave. "A-Xian, my brother, thinks you wanted to save her and smiled at her so brightly because you are interested in her. They were pretty hidden, and we only noticed them because you focused on that area without moving. For a bit, it looked like you were staring at her a few times over the last few days." He sputtered in shock. His husband was jealous of that girl. Sure, he looked at her, but only because she was the only female disciple allowed near the peacock. He had been trying to see if they had a romantic relationship so he could make his A-Jie get over him.

                             Now, he was the one in trouble for looking at a woman. There was no reason in his mind to be jealous. No one's beauty could compare to his Lan Zhan, not even Lan Xichen's. Quickly, he caught up to Lan Wangji, discreetly grabbing his hand. Lan Wangji raised an eyebrow as if saying, 'Oh, now you remember me' before releasing his hand. They had reached an edge in the cave, and before he could try to clear things up, Wen Chao had pushed him down the cliff side. 

                          Panicking, Lan Wangji almost jumped in after him, but Jin Zixuan stopped him, offering a rope.  He quickly tied it and rushed down after his husband. Wei Wuxian was still groaning on the ground with a few scrapes on his hands and face when Lan Wangji reached his side. He could see how worried Lan Wangji was about him and tried to reassure him with a smile as he stood up. His whole boy hurt, but he was sure nothing was broken, at least.

                          The others made their way down while Lan Wangji fuzzed over him. Jiang Cheng was the next to rush over, looking him over to make sure he was safe before scoffing and walking away. Lan Wangji refused to move away from his husband. He glared at Wen Chao and paraded around, looking for whatever monster was supposed to be there.