I want to protect you.

Chapter fifteen

It would take a few days still before the time came for Wei Ying to finally be able to exact justice against Jin Zixun. By the time he was called to Nie Mingjue's chamber's seeing as it had been decided that there would only be a few witnesses to him removing his core but he found himself frozen just outside the door.

Several times he had raised his hand to knock only for panic to suddenly seize him and he clenched his fist to keep the trembling at bay, 'What am I doing?' he wondered as he tried to convince his body to move which apparently was not happening any time soon.

The only time he could convince his body to do anything was when he thought he should just leave and claim being too ill to complete the task. He had just turned around when he came face to face with a familiar strong chest covered by pristine white robes, "Lan Zhan." He seemed to whimper as he leaned forward and rested his forehead against his chest not knowing what had gotten into him.

"You do not have to do this Wei Ying." Lan Zhan sighed as if he had known the struggle he had been going through, 'How long has he been standing there?' Wei Ying wondered as he tried to calm himself by breathing deeply Lan Zhan's ever-present scent of sandalwood...Another odd thought wormed its way into his mind as he stood there allowing Lan Zhan's presenced to calm him but he didn't realize he had voiced the thought out loud the panic evident in his voice, "We could run away hide somewhere they can't reach us so they can't tell us to do something like this."

Lan Zhan remained silent for a moment before he gently carded his finger's through his hair, "We already agreed to being here Wei Ying...we now represent our Sect's so we cannot do that." Wei Ying looked up at him with a pout knowing with the look on Lan Zhan's face that he was aware of the fact that his words were only a result of the panic that was rushing through his vein's.

This, however, was all taken out of his hands when a familiar voice exclaimed, "If you didn't wish to do it all you had to do was say so...you are lucky that Lan Wangji thought ahead and sent for me knowing that I was more skilled than you in this matter."

Wei Ying pulled away from Lan Zhan sharply and he looked towards the voice in shock surprised to see Wen Qing standing there with Wen Ning trailing behind her carrying something in his arms and seeming to want nothing more than to disappear but he found himself questioning even though he already knew the answer, "Why are you here your supposed to be in Lotus Pier?"

"As I already said Lan Wangji sent for me telling me what you were tasked with doing. The last time you did it you had vengeance in your heart for those who you lost but this time no one was hurt it will feel different...I have done it without vengeance and can keep a clear head while doing it." Wen Qing answered her voice gruff with annoyance.

"And how exactly am I supposed to explain why I am not doing it?" Wei Ying inquired curious as to how he would get out of it.

An odd sort of smirk appeared on Wen Qing's lips as she suddenly pulled out several very long needles holding them skillfully between two fingers, "I could always knock you unconscious that will give a valid reason for you being unable to do it."

"Or you could just explain why you can't do it Wei Wuxian." Another voice boomed behind him and he spun around and came face to face with Nie Mingjue who looked like he was either going to start laughing or yelling he didn't know which one was more frightening to think about.

Wei Ying opened his mouth several times to explain only to close it a moment later as his words failed him. Finally, Wen Qing took pity on him as she explained with an exasperated sigh, "He knows very well the techniques used in the removal of the core but he does not have the skills necessary not to make it painful. From what I have been told he already hurt the one who put his son in danger so the vengeance that was in his heart is no longer there...Wei Wuxian is not the type of person to hurt another for the sake of hurting them so his reluctance to cause more pain is understandable."