Wei Ying's destroyed heart (Complete) Edited

4: Truth and lies

It was now about a month after acquiring the metal mask, which he now almost never removed unless it was to apply new material under the eye holes to stop it from rubbing his skin so badly. The tears caused the metal to rub the skin. Wei Ying came across a woman trying to fight off a few ghouls so he sighed before racing over and getting rid of them with a single movement.

'Thank you sir?'

'...'

'How much do I owe you for saving my life?' when the man looked at her from behind the mask, she had the strangest feeling she had just insulted him.

'....' Wei Ying just used his flute to point at her gloves in her belt.

'What?'

'...' again he pointed at the gloves.

'I can give you money for new ones.'

'...'

She removed her black gloves and handed them over. Even as he put them on his thin hands he started to walk away. 'Wait, I will give you some food also.'

Wei Ying took off without answering.

He hunted for food when he was hungry.

Slept only when his body made him.

He would now always go around anyone in his way unless it was like this.

The only time he interacted, was to fight off whatever was attacking them. He refused to step into a town or village anymore and now refused to talk even to those he helped. Instead, he would just point to what he would accept for payment. Once was a red undershirt that hung on the carriage to dry. Another was a red ribbon for his hair. Once there was a pair of trousers.

This was Wei Ying's new life ... silent and alone.

'It's better this way' he thought to himself. 'No one can betray me if I never talk to them. No one can damage me if I don't get close to them. I'm better off by myself.'

Back in the Cloud Recesses, just shy of six months after Wei WuXian was expelled and one of the first days Lan Zhan had left his room, Lan Xichen called Lan Zhan and their uncle to him and sat waiting as he looked at the cloth on the table. It was one of the sheerest materials he had ever seen ... it weighed almost nothing.

Just who put that there?

Why would they?

What were they up too?

It couldn't be him surely?

That person has not been back to Cloud Recesses or even the area since they threw him out.

They had watchers all over the land to send a message if he arrived and not once was he seen.

The barrier had been strengthened and it had not been triggered at all.

The guards would never allow him to enter.

'Brother.' Lan Zhan sat the other side of the desk even as their uncle arrived and took a cushion. This was only his third day since he started coming out of his room and it was not as bad as he thought it would be. However, wherever he looked, he would remember something that hurt. He looked at the talisman on the table with a frown.

XiChen placed a shield for privacy then started to talk. 'I called you both here because ... I felt my robes had been a little off for a while ...' no need to say since before that man left. 'And this morning I noted a few of the stitches were not like the others so when I unpicked them ... I found this hidden in the lining.' He pointed to the incredibly light material that held the faintest red inscriptions.