Dust & Gold

48

~*Wei Wuxian's POV*~

It hurts to breathe. The burning sensation I felt was from being trapped in a fire within my own house. Lan Zhan saved me. I could feel his inner turmoil. He was worried about me, wanting me to wake up. Everything hurts...this is the first time I have ever felt my own pain since the curse was removed. I felt myself beginning to cry as I did not realize just how much pain I was in. It was something I never felt before.

"L-Lan Zhan?" I whispered as I slowly opened my eyes.

"I am here," I heard him say.

I turned my head to look at him, "it hurts," I told him.

He gently started to try and soothe me by petting my head and running his fingers through my hair, it was nice, "I know, Baoshan is brewing up some medicine for you," he said.

"Wai Po?" I asked, "Does she know what happened?"

He nodded, "I warned Shufu and Xiongzhang too. They set up emergency procedures."

"Did they need anything?" I asked.

He shook his head, "I am not going anywhere without you," he said, "you will heal faster with me beside you."

"But, your brother and uncle could be in danger," I told him.

"They know what to expect," he said, "they have more security up right now. They are also informing Wen Ruohan."

I closed my eyes for a moment to calm myself down, "our house, the animals, everything we worked for."

"We can rebuild," he said, "or relocate. But we need to know who did this specifically."

"I have an idea," I said and looked at him again, "they probably have more of a grudge against me since I caused their madam to become impaired."

"She did that to herself due to her actions," Lan Zhan said, "and if they retaliated due to that, they are going to be punished for it."

"Wangji is right, A'Ying," I heard Baoshan say. I looked at her as she entered the room. She had a small bowl in her hand with medicine in it, "can you sit up?"

Lan Zhan helped me and did that hurt to move, "how long will this take to heal?" I asked as she handed me the bowl.

"You will need a couple days to rest for the pain to reduce, but then Wangji can help with the rest," Baoshan said.

"Huh?" I asked her with a questionable look.

"Soul Bonds can heal each other, but you need to be comfortable enough to go through the process," Baoshan explained.

I looked at Lan Zhan. He had a smirk on his face. My eyes widened at his expression, "am I missing something?" I asked.

"Do we have to spell it out for you?" She asked.

I looked at her even more confused.

"Dual cultivation, Wei Ying," Lan Zhan told me, "it involves exchanging energy which can also help you heal in the process...you know what that is at least?"

I felt my face flush red, "I never expected someone to recommend sex as a way to heal," I said.

The two laughed, "how did you not know this? Wangji knew this...did you not learn anything on dual cultivation or soulmates?" Baoshan asked.

"I was lucky to have been able to attend regular classes growing up in Lotus Pier. I got to go only because Jiang Fengmian insisted and Madam Yu thought it would keep me out of trouble. I was not given such a thorough classroom experience," I explained, "but I am smart where it counts."

Baoshan frowned, "why did that family take you in only to abuse you in the end?" She asked.

I could not answer that question. Lan Zhan and her were the only two people who have ever properly accepted me and my flaws. Lan Zhan and I may have had a little bit of a misunderstanding in the beginning but he was the first person I could ever truly trust and feel safe and protected. Being taken care of like this now, was still a new experience for me.

"I wish I knew," I said quietly. I felt Lan Zhan take my hand which got me to look at him, "what?"

"I am here," he reminded me.

I smiled at him, "I am glad."

Baoshan sighed, "I will look into what happened," she said, "I want you to continue to rest for now. Wangji, stay with him and make sure he does not overdo anything."

Lan Zhan nodded, "he will be on bed rest for a while," he said.

"Good boy," she said before taking the empty medicine bowl and leaving the room.

"You two are ganging up on me," I said and pouted.

Lan Zhan helped me lay back down and moved to lay beside me, "we only have your best interest at heart," he said, "we care about you."

I looked at him, "all this attention and personal care is still so foreign to me. I am not used to it," I told him, "I do not know if it will be something I will ever get used to."

"I will be here, to remind you every day, if I have to, that you are important to me," he said, "it will have to be something you should try to get used to."

I sighed, "I am."

He smiled at me and placed a kiss on my forehead, "get some more rest, the medicine will probably make you tired."

"I am not tired though," I told him.

"You will," he said, and gently held me close to him, "you need the rest."

"What will we do now that our place is gone?" I asked.

"Like I said, we can rebuild or relocate," he said, "we have a home here and at Gusu too...but I know how you feel when it comes to living within a sect."

"If it makes you happy, I am willing to try," I told him.

"No," he said, "I do not want to live in the sect anymore. I do not want to go back to seeing you isolating yourself. I know you are only saying that for my sake when I know you do not like living in the sect."

"But it's where your family is," I said. I kept my gaze away from him.

He forced me to look at him, "you are my family now," he said, "I will always love my Shufu and Xiongzhang, but you come first before anyone else now. You became first the moment our bond started."

"Are you sure you are okay outside of Cloud Recesses though?" I asked.

"I am, and I have been," he said, "we can find a new place."

I nodded, "there is something I do not understand though."

"What is it?" He asked.

"How did those people break our wards? Did we forget to activate them or did they break?" I asked.

He seemed to be thinking about that now that I brought it up, "I will investigate it later while you sleep or I can have some people look into it. It will have to be investigated."

I nodded, "if they were activated, someone around our cultivation lever could only break it. If we forgot to activate them, then it was partly our fault."

"Not our fault even if we forgot," he said, "we were attacked. Even if the wards were down, it does not give anyone the right to attack us or our house."

I guess he had a point, "we'd have to check the activation points to know for sure," I said.

"We will look into it soon, just rest for now," he insisted.

I nodded and tried to get comfortable. Laying down with him was as comfortable as I could get for now.