Puzzle Pieces

Lan Wangji

He had barely slept during the night, as Wei Ying was in pain for most of it. He hated to see him suffer, so he try his best to keep him comfortable, but Wei was in less pain only when he slept half laying over his chest, because his back was still very sore, so he restrained himself for hugging him and put his arms around his neck instead.

When morning came, he carefully slip away from his lover and have a check on Suibian, who was still laying over his bed, as he did last night. Normally he would not be able to stay away from his blade for long periods of time, but Wei Ying had grew in power since he came there and the islands themselves were overflowing with white energy, from which Suibian can take the needed energy to remain out for longer periods.

Bichen had remained by his side, although maybe too tired, because she had fall asleep at the border of the bed, while half grabbing Suibian. He slightly smiled at the sight, because despite them not been lovers, they kind of resemble Wei Ying and himself, caring for one another. After covering Bichen with a sheet, he went out to look for his brother, but halfway he found Wen Qing.

"Lan Wangji, good morning." She said, slightly bowing to him respectfully and he returned the courtesy.

"Wen Qing, good morning." He said.

"How is Wei Wuxian? I heard he was injured while hunting... I try to come last night, but we were restricted after the breach and I was wondering if I can have a look at him now. I assure you, I know his condition like the palm of my hand and will help him heal faster than anyone else." She said with confident in her abilities as a healer.

"Yes, of course. I was going to look for you." Wangji told her. He saw worry in her eyes that mirrored his own, so he guided her to their room and open the door for her. She gently sat by Wei, who was still sleeping and slightly hit him in his forehead, which make Wei Ying protest, opening his eyes.

"Ah, Wen Qing... that can kill a man, don't be cruel with me. I'm sick." Wei pouted, which make Wangji smirk.

"As if I hit you that hard, actually I had done it worse, want me to do something more painful?" Wei moved away by impulse, but with his back hurting like hell, he only manage to hurt himself, moaning in pain.

"Serves you right. Now, let me see how badly you were hurt." She said and the next few minute, Wangji observed as Wen Qing, check on him, his energy and the soreness of his back.

"You were lucky... it could had kill you. I will prepare you an ointment to ease the pain and help you heal faster. You most rest for the coming days and try to cultivate as much white energy as you can. You are still a bit unbalance." She said as she stood.

"What about Suibian?" Wei asked.

"Senlin..." Wen Qing whisper and her spirit came out of her sword, took out her hat and slightly tapped on Bichen's shoulder, waking her up. She blushed as she found herself hugging Suibian during the night.

"Bichen, you take good care of him. Go back to your blade and rest, I will check on him." Senlin said and Bichen assented, knowing Suibian was in good hands.

"Thank you. I leave him to you." Said Bichen, bowing to her, then disappearing inside her blade. Senlin, then check on him and smiled.

"Bichen did good, there is no trace of dark energy on Suibian, he is exhausted, as it's looked like his white energy was half drained, but he is steadily recovering it. He is in deep meditation right now and will be as good as new before the day ends." Senlin said before she went back to her blade.

"Well, that's more than I can said about you, Wuxian. Keep him in bed, Lan Wangji, he need to rest and make him meditate too." Wen Qing said, bowing to him before leaving the room.

"Lan Zhan..." Wei patted the empty side of the bed. "Come and join me, she said to keep me in bed..." Wangji smirked.

"She also said you should meditate." Wangji said, as he sat by him.

"Another trip to the lake will do... what about a morning kiss?" Wei asked and Wangji resigned, himself. He could no deny that young man anything he asked, so he bend down to kiss Wei Ying full in the mouth.

"Mmm, you are good at kissing..." Wangji's ears were on fire.

"You are good at teasing, now get back to sleep." But Wei Ying put his hand over his neck to hold him in place.

"Lan Zhan, tell me exactly what happen... I was hit with something unnatural, even worse than when I used Xuanyu's dark energy when I was a kid. Who did this to me and what happen when I pass out?" Wei asked and Wangji kiss him once more before sitting on their bed and have Wei Ying resting over his lap.

He explained in detail anything that happen since he felt his energy gone. Wei Ying was surprised to find out his mother was still alive and he had to held him and convince him not to go looking for her now, when he was still weak. He promise Wei to help him look for her later and assured him that his mother was fine and that she was still looking after him in her own way.

"I miss her..." Wei whisper as Wangji combed his hair lovingly.

"She is protecting you from the unknown forces trying to take you away." Wangji said.

"But why they even want me for? Lan Zhan... they are using some kind of black magic and I'm certain they use a black talisman on me... did you find it?" Wangji shake his head in negativity.

"No. I was focus in protecting you." Wei smiled.

"You fought, right?" Wei asked.

"I did." Wangji answer. To keep him safe he would do anything.

"Was he strong?" Wei asked curiously.

"Yes. He fight your mother and me at the same time." Wangji told him, as he softly combed Wei's hair with his fingers some more.

"Did he used any kind of talismans with you?" Wei asked next.

"No, we didn't give him room for that." Wangji said, getting a bit angry.

"Did he said something that can point as to what his goal was?" Wei keep it up.

"He wanted you and he cowardly hit you in the back." Wei smiled, sensing Wangji's rage.

"You were mad, right?" Wangji stopped the heavenly combing on his hair.

"I still am." Wei move to sit over the bed by Wangji's side and kiss him.

"You save me twice..." Wei whisper.

"Only death will keep me from saving you..." Wangji said as he show his Wei Ying how deeply he loved him. After a few hot kisses, Wei Ying parted from him.

"Help me out..."

"What for? You need to rest."

"I need to find that talisman."

"You are forbidden to leave the islands."

"This is important."

"So is your safety."

"Lan Zhan, please..."

"Wei Ying, don't ask me to risk your life." Wei sighed.

"Finding the talisman can make a big difference, if the barrier were to be breached again." Wei insisted.

"Lord Yang himself strengthened, it will not be breached a second time." Wangji assured him.

"If I study it, I can learn how to nullify the effects. They can turn normal people into fierce corpses with it. If they are already infiltrated, the attacks can come from the inside. Thinking back, wasn't the south attacked like that years ago?"

"..." Wangji remained silent.

"I'm sure they had acted before... but why they wanted to take down the Nie Clan? Or was that another distraction?"

"To infiltrate here while most leaved to help?" Wangji asked.

"To find Yang?" Wei asked back as the two looked at each other.

"To repeat the age of darkness?" Wangji theorized.

"I'm not sure... maybe... but then why they need me? I had no direct connection with Yang." Wei said and Wangji widen his eyes.

"Not with Yang, but what about Yin?" Wei kissed his lover.

"My beautify Jade, that must be it. They want to find Yin."

"I must tell my brother about this." Wangji said as he got out of their bed.

"Ask him to let me go down." Wei try again.

"You are not going out." Wangji insisted.

"Pardon my intrusion, but maybe I can help you with that Wei Ying..." Suibian said as he came closer.

"What do you mean?" he asked, while sitting at the border of the bed.

"I agree with Lan Wangji, letting you out of the islands is risky, as they had make clear they want you, but I can go in your place." Suibian offered.

"How so? A sword spirit can't get too far from his blade and the border is miles away." Wangji said and both Wei Ying and Suibian smiled.

"Sure he can, I am a master at talisman, after all." Wei said, as he went out of the bed and almost fall, if Wangji didn't hold him in place.

"Don't be reckless, you are low in spiritual energy." Wangji said as he help Wei walk toward the table in the middle of the room.

"The islands are full of white energy, remember? Are you fully recover, Suibian?" Wei asked to his sword.

"Yes, thanks to Lady Bichen..." Wei laughed, seen Suibian blushed.

"Be sure to thank her properly next time you see her." Wei Ying said and Suibian assented.

"Of course." Suibian said happily.

"There is no need for that. Can I help?" Bichen asked as she came out of her blade.

"If Lan Zhan doesn't mind, sure you can." Wangji resigned himself to what came next. Wei Ying make two special talismans that will enhance their link with their sword, but before he can use them on Suibian and Bichen, there was a soft call from the door. Wen Qing was back and apparently not alone either.

Wangji open the door and greeted Wen Qing, Jiang Cheng, Wen Ning, Huaisang, Mainmian and Yanli, who greet him back. They came inside and ask Wei how he felt.

"Here, this is the ointment I promise. Make sure he use it, Lan Wangji, he can be such a brat when it comes to healing." Qing said, as she gave Wangji the bottle.

"That thing stink." Wei protested.

"Better to stink that stay in pain and bedridden for weeks." She refuted.

"I can handle it, there is no need for that." Wei insisted.

"He will use it. I will make sure of it." Wangji said as he seriously looked at Wei Ying.

"Ah, come on, Lan Zhan... you want me to stink all night?" Wei asked.

"I don't mind." Wangji assured him.

"You sound like lovers." Jiang Cheng said as he look at them.

"Didn't I said that we are lovers last night?" Wei asked.

"Wasn't that a joke?" Jiang asked back.

"Who said I was joking? Certainly it wasn't me." Wei said, as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Never mind that, what are those for? Never seen talismans like that before." Huaisang asked as he glanced at the talismans over the table.

"Ah, that... we are sending Suibian and Bichen out." Wei said.

"What for?" Wen Qing asked, not surprised Wuxian had come to make said talismans. He was a genius in that aspect.

"To look for the talisman that hit me." The others looked at each other.

"That was wicked... the way that Xue Yang hit you from your back." Huaisang said.

"Damn coward he is." Jiang added.

"Can we help?" Yanli offered.

"None of us can go down, Jiejie." Jiang said.

"As if that could hold the troublemaker." Qing said and Jiang smiled.

"Talking about that, there is a rumor that Su She will not join us for training anymore." Huaisang said.

"Was he involved in the breach?" Yanli asked.

"Who knows? He was never worth trusting." Jiang told her.

"Nasty fellow." Mianmian said.

"Then who will you be pared with?" Wen Ning asked.

"I... don't know." Huaisang admitted.

"Does that even matter? Even if he wasn't involved, he was not too willing to train with us in the first place. You are better without him anyway. Good thing we got rid of him." Mianmian said and the others agree.

"Maybe you will be paired with a pretty girl next, Huaisang." Wei suggested and Wangji looked at him while he cleared his throat to be notice.

"Wei Wuxian, don't make your lover jealous." Wen Qing warned him and Wei smiled.

"I said Huaisang, not myself. Lan Zhan knows he had no competition, I love him best." Wangji's ear went deep red, yet he looked so pleased that even Jiang Cheng take it seriously now. Wen Ning's face was on fire while the girls giggled.

"Both of you look lovely." Yanli said.

"Right... now back to the main topic. How can Suibian go out that far? Isn't that impossible?" Cheng asked.

"There is no such thing as impossible." Wei Ying assured him and Jiang sighed.

"You should come to our Clan and said that to my father. He will immediately adopt you and make you the heir of the Clan. Our motto is to attain the impossible." Jiang said with a hint of sadness. He was not up to his father expectations, he knew that much.

"Don't said that, father will never disown you, although I would like to have another little brother." Yanli said with a smile and Wei smiled back.

"For some reason that sounds nostalgic. Maybe in another life we were siblings... call me brother anytime." Wei whisper.

"I'm not calling you Gege anytime soon, thought." Cheng said to Wei and Yanli smiled again, quite happy with her 'two' brothers.

"That sounds like a long lost family reunion and all, but please can we focus back? Senlin will also be of help to you. She needs to keep an eye on Suibian, in case he feels weak again." Wen Qing said.

"Ah, Wen Qing, Bichen is taking good care of him already." Wei said, while Bichen blushed.

After Wei explained the process, the rest of the spirits also offer to look for the missing talisman, with more eyes looking around, their chances to find it will also increase. At the end Wei make a few more talismans and all the presents joined in the search of the first piece of the bigger puzzle.

Suibian guided the group around the place they were knockout last night and they looked around the area very thoroughly, turning even every fallen leaf in the ground, until finally Subian saw the red thing under a bunch of them.

"Got it." Subian said as he was going to pick it, but Senlin stop him.

"That thing is dangerous, let's use the sealing pouch." Senlin suggested and carefully used the magic of the pouch to seal it, then they went back to the room and give Wei the pouch.

"Sorry guys, but I need to study this thing very carefully. Lan Zhan, take me to your library Pavilion, I will need to take notes and look for references, if you had them." Wangji wasted no time to help Wei Ying up, then keep him steady.

"If you need more help, just said the word." Sandu told Wei Ying, before he bowed and went back to his blade.

"Thanks." Wei said, the with Wangji's help, they leaved their room, after the rest of the group and headed for the library, to try to unlock one mystery out of the many awaiting them.

AN: Thank you. Hope you like this one, because I wanted to integrate the group a bit more and give Yanli her dear Ah Xian back. Until next time, take care. 😄💖💖💖