Wei Changze opens the door of the guest house, and even before he crosses the threshold, he knows his wife isn't inside. He enters anyway and rushes to put the shopping down on the table that has been used to share many a meal.
If she's not here, and given her ridiculous list of foods to buy, she probably walked out as soon as he left, and he was fast, zipping from one vendor to another using his sword for this very reason. He's not an idiot but he likes to indulge his Xingan, and that is the only reason why he left when she asked him to.
So...where could she have wanted to go?
That's the easy part - since she has been worried about Lan Qiren these past few days, and Lan Qiren has been worried about his brother for even longer, she's probably gone to meddle between the two brothers. But what Wei Changze is concerned about is the hot summer sun outside. He's sweating like a pig outside a butcher's shop, and that's with going around at full speed. If Cangse Sanren had to leave the shelter of their home and given her adorable waddling, plus the added weight of two unborn children, her speed would be nonexistent. It already takes her a good five minutes to walk to the chamberpot behind the privacy screen, and yet she's so determined to keep it there, wrinkling her cute button nose whenever he suggests they could keep it closer, if lidded, just to prevent her from exhausting herself.
He hurries out and asks for directions towards the seclusion part of Cloud Recesses. He meets a group of young female disciples who know who he is based off of his description of Cangse Sanren and her condition, and he's relieved when they tell him that they escorted her to Qingheng-Jun's home. Wei Changze hurries as fast as he can, hoping Cangse Sanren is alright.
At this time of year, the sun is relentless in sending down its rays, and on clear days like this, the midday temperatures tend to remain constant for up to four hours after the fact.
No doubt his Xingan was counting on Wei Changze taking the full hour to acquire the list of craving foods, and he felt quite proud of himself that he had managed to do it in half that time.
There's a commotion up ahead, and his stomach plummets to his feet when Wei Changze realises that the house where all the action is at belongs to Qingheng-Jun. There are several healers milling about outside, and when they part to allow the stretcher-carriers to walk out, Wei Changze fully expects his wife to be occupying it. But it's an older version of Lan Qiren lying on it, clearly unconscious. He doesn't look as healthy as Lan Qiren either, with sunken cheeks and grey-looking skin with deep, dark circles under his eyes, and bony arms and fingers resting on the white blanket covering him.
"Cangse Sanren?" He tells the first person to look at him, and then he's quickly ushered inside the room.
Wei Changze takes a moment to categorise the carnage.
Lan Qiren looks highly uncomfortable standing next to Cangse Sanren, who is lying in a puddle of blood and other body fluids on the bed. A near constant stream of swearing leaves his Xingan's lips as she tries to breathe as requested by the Healer. One white-robed Healer (a highly impractical colour!) is holding a towel, and just as Cangse Sanren screams, curdling his blood, the towel bearer leans in and takes away the child newly born from his wife. Another one jumps forward to clean the child up, and then suddenly, his arms are full of baby.
The child is quiet in the most peaceful way, their skin as pale as jade, reminding Wei Changze of the snows that still remained up on the highest peaks, even at the height of summer, hidden over the stubborn clouds of this place.
"It's a boy," the same Healer says, wincing when Cangse Sanren screams loud enough to shatter eardrums. "It's unusual that he's so quiet, though," she adds.
