Chapter Twenty-Three

Wei Yingyue was silent as she stood in her position, a mass of string wrapped around her hand as she and Lan Zhan waited. Lan Wangji stood parallel to Wei Yue, string wrapped around his hand as well. The pair were waiting for Wei Wuxian to gain the attention of the beast, they would then attack it when it was finally outside of its shell. A few moments after her brother had gone into the shell a bad feeling seeped into Wei Yue's heart, making her shiver as she watched the shell tremble ever so slightly. She clenched her fist as a roar pierced through the air, looking at Lan Zhan with a nod as they readied themselves.

The pair had begun to position themselves; Lan Wangji positioned himself in front of the shell where the head would emerge, setting up his bowstring as Wei Yue climbed above the shell so she could drop down onto the beast. As soon as it had exposed itself to Lan Zhan he had begun his attack, strumming the Chord Assassination before shooting it. As the skin on the beast was sliced open Wei Yue jumped down, she wrapped her string around its neck, strangling the Tortoise of Slaughter. With the monster rampaging under her Wei Yue tried to hold on, the string cutting into her hands as she pulled tighter. Lan Wangji jumped up with her, grabbing onto the string before they strangled the thrashing Tortoise.

When they finally released the chord it had been six hours, which seemed to last forever as Wei Yue felt as though her hands were going to fall off. Not caring about their injuries, both of the cultivators jumped into the water and swam to either side of the beast's head. Wei Yue ignored the eyes looking at her, reaching for the fangs as she tried to free her brother.

"Wei Wuxian!" She yelled, trying to pry the mouth open as Lan Zhan pushed it open from the other side as well. As soon as it was open Wei Ying was pulled out by his lapel by Lan Wangji. "Is he breathing?" Wei Yue made her way over to the men, helping them as they just floated there.

"Wei Ying!" Lan Wangji exclaimed, holding Wei Wuxian's waist as Wei Yue felt for his pulse while Wangji cupped Wei Ying's cheek. As their fingers made contact with his skin Wei Ying shivered and began to flop around.

"What happened? Is it dead?" He gasped, looking between his sister and the man holding him.

"It is." Lan Wangji answered, watching as Wei Ying went silent. He seemed to be thinking to himself before he started babbling.

"It's dead? It's dead, great. Earlier on it kept screaming, screaming as it rolled around, snd then I fainted. Oh right, the hole! The hole underwater. Quick, let's go. Let's get out through the hole." Wei Ying looked at his sister and she nodded, looking at Lan Zhan as he watched her brother.

"What's wrong?" Lan Zhan asked.

"Nothing, let's get out as soon as possible. There's no time to lose." He rushed, looking at the man in front of him.

"I'll go look, wait here." Wei Yue said, looking at them. Both of them nodded, watching as she dove down. She swam to where she and Jiang Cheng had seen the hole before, frowning when she saw that it had disappeared. After looking around a little more she resurfaced, gasping for air as she looked at her two companions with wide eyes.

"What is it?" Lan Zhan asked, looking at her as she swam over to them.

"The hole is gone!" She exclaimed, causing her brother to look at her in shock. "It isn't there anymore." She murmured, frowning as she shook her head. Wei Ying pulled himself out of Lan Zhan's grasp and dove down, disappearing as Wei Yue finally reached them.

"He's acting strange." Wei Yue turned to Lan Zhan as he spoke, giving a soft nod as she moved towards the shore. She pulled herself up and placed her hands on her hips, standing there until Wei Ying resurfaced.

"What do we do now?" Wei Wuxian asked, looking between the two people looking at him.

"Come up first." Wei Yue instructed, waving them towards shore. She grabbed both of their arms as they pulled themselves out of the water, Lan Wangji leaning on her heavily as they moved away from the water. The robes on their body were stained purple with the blood of the beast, causing Wei Yue to shake her head in disgust.

Wei Yue was awake when the people from the YunmengJiang sect arrived, having watched over her brother due to his fever. Lan Wangji meditated and tried to sustain his energy, only moving when Wei Yue tended to his wounds. She was aware that he would need to leave as soon as they were rescued, which is why she was focusing on healing him as much as she could. It had taken seven days for the three to be rescued, meaning their energy was low and it was hard to do much of anything. When her sect finally arrived she was wrapping Lan Zhan's leg, her arms tired as she wrapped the cloth around the brace on his leg. When Jiang Cheng and her Uncle Fengmian walked into the cave she let out a gasp, shocked to see her dede rushing to her as she stood.

The departure from the cave was easy enough, leaning on some disciples as she walked behind her Uncle. The only trouble came when she needed to explain her injuries to Jiang Yanli, who had taken care of her as soon as the boat docked. Yanli was there when a physician examined her meimei, her heart breaking as she looked over the bruised skin on Wei Yue's body. The wound on her shoulder from the Tortoise was going to scar, as would the cuts on her palms. Two ribs were fractured, one was broken, and she had a broken ring and pinky finger. The worst of it was when the physician set the bones, causing cries of pain to leave the girl's mouth until he was finished. Once she was finished with the physician Yanli had a bath drawn for her, insisting that she needed to soak and clean herself off.

"I was right, Jiejie." Wei Yue whispered when they were finally alone, the hairpin from Lan Xichen in her hand as she frowned. "The Wen Clan attacked and burned down the Cloud Recesses. Lan Xichen is missing." Wei Yue muttered, shaking her head lightly.

"Ah-Yue, there is nothing you could have done to have stopped it." Jiang Yanli whispered, running a comb through Wei Yue's long black hair. The younger girl sighed as she set down the pin, leaning back as she stared at the wall.

"I just hope Lan Huan is safe." After these words left her lips, Wei Yue's mind flashed back to Lan Zhan and Wei Ying. She was silent as she thought to herself, her brows furrowing lightly. "I think Lan Wangji likes Wei Ying." She murmured, tapping her finger on the side of the tub she was in. Jiang Yanli paused and was silent, waiting for Wei Yingyue to continue. "I don't know why, but I just have a feeling. It's hard to explain." Yanli chuckled and patted Wei Yue's head, standing as she set down the comb.

"Only time will tell, little Yingyue." Wei Yingyue smiled at her Shijie, grabbing the robe from her as she stood. "Let's get you dressed and in bed. You need your rest." Jiang Yanli placed her hand on Wei Yue's cheek before she turned, grabbing all of Wei Yue's clothes before helping her meimei.