untamedbox | A Wen in Hiding

She'd tried to get rid of the beasts herself, but couldn't risk drawing attention to herself. The subtle talismans and wards she'd tried had been noticed already and there were questions already floating around the village. Of course, those weren't the priority yet with the ghosts still plaguing this area. She knows when the ghosts are gone, if anyone here survives, there will be questions she won't be able to answer.

They only knew her as 'Qing' and that she was a doctor. She'd left and started anew several times in the last decade seeking a place she could live in peace, away from the eyes of the main clans. There had been times she'd thought about turning herself in just so her grief could finally end and the constant fear of being discovered over. However, she couldn't let her brother's sacrifice go to waste like that. She owed it to him and so much more.

Wen Qing mentally shakes herself out of her thoughts and puts another stalk of lavender in the basket next to her. There were a few townsfolk sitting nearby gossiping on this sunny hillside, but they'd long since gotten used to leaving the quiet doctor alone.

She sensed them before she saw him. It was a skilled she'd honed since being on the run. Looking up, her heart leaps into her throat as she recognizes a man in white. Well, not him specifically, but there's no missing what clan he's from based on the ribbon around his head. Drawing the hood of her cloak up over her head, she tries to look as unimportant as possible. She's just a woman in a dusty, gray wool robe picking herbs near the town well. No one worth noticing.

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Sizhui is using every inch of everything his father - fathers - had ever taught him, but mostly he's using it so he doesn't give away how nervous he is. He's faced so many terrifying things, but he's always had Hanguang Jun, or Wei-qianbei, or his friends, he's always had someone at his side.

This is an important part of becoming a fully fledged cultivator, he knows, the final step to becoming a senior, but that doesn't make it any less daunting. Hanguang Jun and Wei-qianbei had filled him with encouagement and advice - some of it even good - but they couldn't be with him now. He resists the urge to pull the little paper butterfly out from where he has it carefully tucked away - just knowing it's there is comforting, even if he can't hold it in his hands right now.

The ghosts plaguing this village had been just one of the options the graduating juniors had been offered for their solo night hunt, and Sizhui had jumped at the chance - not because he particularly wanted to deal with it, as such, but because he wanted to make sure Jingyi didn't end up with it. He knew how his dearest friend felt about ghosts.

He approaches the people gathered on the hillside and bows to them with a friendly, open smile.

"Good afternoon, I am Lan Sizhui. I have been sent here from Gusu to aid your village, I hear that you have been having issues with ghosts?" He explains. He's mostly talking to the group, but his eyes keep straying to the woman nearby picking herbs. He can't explain what it is about her that catches his attention, but it's something.

"Hello, Lan-gongzi, I'm Yuo Lijuan," a middle aged woman began. Her smile is bright despite missing a few teeth. The other three women with her seem to defer to her, though they all get up to bow in return to him. "My father is the village elder, but he isn't well. If you'll allow me to speak for him, I can tell you what we know so far."

Qing thinks the woman speaks for everyone and usually without any kind of pretense, so she might as well do so now. She may be a little sour toward the woman though because of her loose lips. Fortunately, she hadn't said anything incriminating but the village now knew she preferred women to men.

It really only added to the general opinion she was some kind of witch, which suited her just fine. They came when they needed something but otherwise left her alone.

Lijuan rattles off the names of the other women there and then steps a bit closer to the young man. "That's Qing. Please don't pay attention to her. She prefers the company of plants to people."

"And women to men," one of the others says with a snicker.

Qing sighs, but doesn't act like she hears. Instead, she plucks one more sprig of lavender and picks up her basket intent on going to the village well.

Sizhui inclines his head in agreement - with the others deferring to her it seems sensible to listen to what she has to say, hopefully she will have the information he needs. He nods politely to each woman as they are introduced, greeting them pleasantly - though he's secretly pleased when she does take a moment to introduce the woman who has caught his attention.

He's less pleased when they speak to unkindly about her. Lijuan's words could be gentle teasing, but they certainly don't come across that way, and the other woman... well. She has chosen the wrong person to make such comments to.

"Ji-guniang," he says with deceptively gentle politeness "though I thank you for attempting to provide information, I don't think it's appropriate to discuss such preferences, and I doubt they are relevant to the matter I have come here to deal with. It would help me greatly if you could only provide information that would be useful to my task here."

It's much more of a rebuke that he might normally use, though he's made it as diplomatic as he can, and tried to frame it in a way that comes across as a serious Lan cultivator not wanting to indulge in gossip, but truthfully she's irked him.

"Yuo-furen," he turns back to the first woman "please, tell me what you know of these ghosts. Might I also know where in the village I could find a bed for the night?"

The woman who was chastised looks a little miffed that someone so clearly her junior would say something like that. However, Lijuan gives her a look and that keeps her from saying more. Don't you dare ruin our chances of getting rid of these ghosts!

"Please pardon us, Lan-gongzi. The ghosts began a couple weeks ago. The Kang family was the first to be affected. The whole family was found dead in their beds, even their cows and chickens. They don't live far from the village but no one heard a thing. A few nights later, another couple was found dead in their house as well. We don't know why this is happening, but everyone is afraid they'll go to sleep and never wake up."

One of the other women look in the direction Qing went and speaks up. Her tone is quiet and not the 'gossipy' feel from Ji-guniang. "There's some who are afraid it's that woman, Qing. Some think she's a witch and her presence has brought the ghosts or a curse with her. I don't know that I believe it myself. She's always been kind and her knowledge of medicine has helped the village in a lot of ways."

Ji-guniang speaks up again. "You only think her kind after what she did for your daughter! You'll forgive her for everything because of that."

"Of course I do! Ju would've died during labor if it hadn't been for her. She had nothing to gain from it, but she came in middle of the night anyway."

"Quiet, both of you," Lijuan interrupts. "Lan-gongzi already said he isn't interested in that woman. Let's respect his wishes. He's here to help us all."

Lijuan is wrong, of course, Sizhui is terribly interested in that woman. He can't quite put his finger on why, but these particular rumours definitely pique his interest - he can look past simple superstition, of course, and he puts far more stock int he words of the woman who said Qing came to her aid... he wondered if she was perhaps a rogue cultivator, but she certainly didn't dress like one, and these women didn't seem to think that was the case. He didn't know of any rogue cultivators who wouldn't tell people.

"Thank you for all your help" he tells the women pleasantly "would you please be able to spread the word that I would like everyone to stay inside tonight? I understand I have no authority here, but if you could find a way to ensure that happened, it will allow me to work without fear of anyone getting hurt. I think I will be able to lure the ghost and put them to rest."

Once he has their agreement, and directions to an inn, he goes to get himself a room and prepare for the evening's hunt. Wei-qianbei piled half a dozen new inventions on him with varying levels of usefulness, so he sorts through everything to find what he'll actually need. Given that he suspects this is just a resentful spirit, he doesn't imagine it's going to take too much - unless, of course, the souls of those killed by it are also not at rest.

In the end, he keeps the assorted talismans he needs close, but leaves the inn with only a lure flag and his qin, not wanting to overcomplicate things. He finds a space just outside of the village to activate the lure, settles comfortably on the ground with his qin and waits.

And waits.

It starts to rain. Heavily.

By the time the ghosts emerge and are drawn to his lure instead of the sleeping villagers, Sizhui is soaked through to the skin and shivering slightly, not wanting to use his spiritual energy to keep warm when he doesn't know how much he'll need for the battle. It turns out to be the correct choice - the battle is short, but tiring, and Sizhui uses almost all of his energy to finally banish the ghosts. He is content that he has done his duty, saved the remaining villagers and protected the town, and earned his right to become a senior disciple in the process - but mostly he is tired, and cold, and absolutely ready for his bed. It is only a few hours until dawn, and Sizhui stumbles back to his room at the inn with the chill seeping into his bones.

It's only the Lan traditions absolutely ingrained in him that get him to change into proper sleeping robes when he gets to his room, but he still falls into the bed with wet hair - and a wet ribbon around his forehead - so he really, really shouldn't be surprised that he develops a fever during the night.

Not that he's really all that awake to actually notice it when the morning comes, instead it is the maid who realises, coming in with his breakfast and noticing how flushed the young master looks, how his sleeping robes are soaked with sweat.

It's only a matter of time after that before Qing is called to the inn.

She tends to wake early anyway, but this morning she'd been up just a bit before that. She'd noticed a drip coming from the roof of her small hut and had to get a bucket to put underneath it. By the time someone came to her door, she was already dressed and enjoying some hot tea.

There's a part of her that actually considers ignoring this particular boy's ailment. It's wrong and she feels horrible after she thinks it, but the less anyone from a major clan interacts with her the better. It doesn't matter how long it has been. She knows it wouldn't be that hard for someone to put the pieces together. Why hadn't she used a different name?

In the end, she gets her bag of supplies, wraps herself in her cloak, and hurries to the inn. She's let into the room by the maid and approaches the boy with her heart in her throat.

"Lan-gongzi, are you awake?" She asks gently, cautiously moving closer. She doesn't touch him nor sit on the edge of his bed yet. It's not a good idea to scare a cultivator, after all, especially a potentially delirious one.

Sizhui does manage to flutter his eyes open, but it's clear he can't quite focus on her and 'awake' is probably a strong word for his somewhat delirious state.

"...gūgu...." he murmurs dazedly, clearly thinking about someone else... right? Luckily for the young cultivator's dignity he probably won't remember making such an error. He mumbles some other words, but none of them particularly legible. He seems like he's at least vaguely aware there's another person in the room, but that's about as far as his consciousness goes right now.

In his own mind, everything feels heavy and fuzzy, it's a familiar feeling and he hates that fact, fevers scare him ever since the one that nearly killed him as a child - the one that, he now knows, robbed him of happy memories for so many years. Robbed him of the knowledge of who he was. He has that back now, but he's scared of losing that again. There's someone else here, he knows that, and there's something comforting about her voice, but every time he tries to put his finger on it, it flits away... like a butterfly...

Gūgu? The word brings back memories and emotions, but she is quick to push all of those away. They belonged to another life and she has no one left who would refer to her in such a way.

Still, what this tells her is that the young man isn't completely coherent but he's not likely to react too negatively to her treatment. "Just rest, Lan-gongzi," she says gently. She drapes her cloak over a hook by the door and opens her bag. She pours out some herbs into the censor and brings it closer. Glancing toward the door, she make certain no one is listening or watching. Carefully, she slips a talisman from within her bag and slips it beneath the Lan's pillow. It should keep fevered nightmares at bay. Wrapping some more herbs inside a cloth, she dips it into the water basin and brings it over to lay across the young Lan's forehead.

She sits down on the edge of the bed now and takes his hand to check his energies. He needs to drink and eat, but she'll allow him to sleep for a while.

Both the name and the voice are familiar, but not together, and his brow furrows with confusion - but he doesn't otherwise react to her words. Something in his face soothes when she slips the the talisman beneath his pillow, so clearly whatever fevered imaginings his half-waking mind had conjured were not all pleasant.

(Sizhui finds the more painful memories of his childhood fever ebbing slightly, the feeling of being lost and alone, the growing fear of losing everybody, they ease away and his mind instead shifts to the comforting thoughts of a clean, light room, the soft sound of a qin playing...)

He barely reacts to her taking his hand, though somewhere in his mind there's something odd he can't place. The hands are smaller than what he remembers.... wait, this isn't his a-die checking his energy, a-die isn't here.... He's too caught up in the fever to really understand the implication, to realise that she does have at least some knowledge of cultivation, but later, when he thinks back...

His spiritual energy is a little better after having slept, but between the fight and the fever it's low, and the illness has interrupted his ability to build it back up again - at least for a little while. He's going to have to fight that off first.

The spiritual energy is at least where she predicted it. It isn't completely depleted for just appropriately low for this kind of fever. She nods satisfied, though not completely at ease. After letting him sleep a little longer, she gets up and brews some medicinal tea with a generous amount of honey. It'll keep his strength up while also making the herbs she has to use palatable.

"Lan-gongzi," she says softly as she sets the tea down nearby. She's let it cool down to a little above room temperature. "Lan-gongzi, I need you to drink this." Gently, she lifts his head and puts the bowl to his mouth. "It's medicine. I need you to drink it." She reiterates a bit toward the firm side since she knows he won't want to after tasting it.

With the censor burning and a little more sleep, when Sizhui next weeks he isn't quite so delirious. He's still a little dazed and out of it, but he's at least slightly more aware of his surroundings when he wakes.

He realises, now, that the woman speaking is the one from earlier - Qing, he thinks - and that he's being offered some kind of drink. Some part of him thinks he should probably resist, should try and ascertain what it is and who she is and what's going on, but everything hurts and he's burning up and he's too weak to really vocalise any of that.

And he trusts her. He doesn't know why, but he does. The way he trusted Wei-qianbei. The way he trusted Wen Ning. He'd examine that more closely if he was less out of it, but as it is he's just content to trust his instincts.

He mumbles something like an agreement, trying to lift himself up to help her but finding he's too weak and apologizing dazedly instead. Dutifully, he takes a sip of the tea, unable to stop himself pulling a face at the taste of it.

Qing makes a soft sympathetic sound as he reacts to the flavor. Still, she keeps the bowl near his lips pressuring him to keep drinking it. Fortunately, it'll only take a few more sips to get it down. Since he's such a good patient about it- which she begrudgingly credits his Lan upbringing for- she takes a spoon and gives him more honey to suck on. "Here, this will help get the flavor out of your mouth."

She picks up the empty bowl and carries it over to a small table. "You were careless, Lan-gongzi. You could've been alone in a village far from your home without anyone who could help you. If you aren't concerned about your own safety, just imagine how heartbroken Lan-zongzhu and his brother would've been to lose you?" The tone isn't unkind, but it's firm.

He wouldn't have complained, of course, he's far too polite for that, but he wildly appreciates being given the honey - it makes him think of the way his father would look after him when he was younger, and that's comforting. It also soothes the roughness in his throat. He settles back against the pillow with a soft sigh, slowly starting to feel a little more awake.

The rebuke stings worse than she knows, of course, because it's not just his leader she is talking about, it's his family. He's still a little too out of it to have quite his usual level of filter, so as well as looking appropriately chastised he also finds himself sharing more than he probably should with a stranger - a stranger who may or may not be a cultivator, and who at least knows enough about the Lan clan to know who is in charge.

(Which isn't too odd, but they're far enough away from Cloud Recesses that it's at least interesting to note when combined with other information)

"You're right..." he mumbles awkwardly "I'll probably be punished when I get home if they find out. Especially a-die, he worries so much when I get a fever..."

She sighs, feeling bad for the young man. He shouldn't be worried about facing a punishment after enduring something like this. "You succeeded in saving our village. There's no reason to tell them anything else."

Thinking through his words again, she asks, "You're prone to fevers?" That proved the decision to stay in the run last night was an even dumber idea, but she doesn't voice this.

"I'll have to tell them why I took so long," He admits softly "and I'd never lie."

His father is going to find out, one way or another (the other, of course, being if he shows up here himself - he hopes Wei-qianbei and bofu can convince him not to do that), he just hopes that he's healthy and able to reassure him when it does happen.

He looks sheepish at the question - she doesn't need to voice it, he knows.

"Yes..." he admits "I had a really bad one when I was very small, and ever since then..."

She frowns and glances toward the door. Apparently she was going to need to move on.

"What would you do if omitting details would spare someone?" She asks. She hadn't taken care of him planning on demanding a favor in return, but she would need to. She has no doubt eventually the young Lan will break his word and tell his clan about her, but if he could simply be delayed for a while she could get far enough away it wouldn't matter- she hopes.

"They can be dangerous," she agrees regarding fevers. "You'll be fine now as long as you don't push yourself again. I'll leave the honey and the rest of the medicine with you. The innkeeper will let you stay as long as you need to."

Even through the fog of his fever, Sizhui realises something has spooked her and he frowns uncertainly. The question is... complicated...

".... I have learned that sometimes the truly righteous thing to do.... is not to follow the rules..."

It's a lesson he has taken to heart thanks to his parents, but he also... well, he isn't as good at not following the rules for the greater good as certain other people he might mention, mostly because he so far hasn't really had to, he's been able to find the appropriate loopholes to still follow the rules.

He feels the panic rising when it seems like she's trying to leave, though, there's some... feeling that he can't let her walk out the door. He doesn't understand where it's coming from, but he can't push it down.

"Please... don't.... Could you stay? Until I'm better?"

Maybe it's just how much fevers scare him, but he feels like it's something else, too.

It's a very good answer. It reminds her of another Lan who had come so close to standing up when they needed him to. However, he hadn't done enough- none of them had. It cost her her brother's life and almost her own.

Either way, she can't trust it. As much as she wants to, it's too dangerous. She needs to leave even if this boy claims he'll break a rule to save her. However, she appreciates the boy for trying. It's sweet and speaks to his upbringing in the best ways. His parents must be very proud or if not, then they are fools.

Her back is to him by now, bag in hand and she's set another bottle of medicine on the table. She looks at the door, where she would have gone through in moments if he had not spoken. She was so close.. a piece of her heart sinks as she's certain this action will forfeit her life eventually. But really, what could she do? She'd never be able to live with herself if she left with his plea ringing in her ears.

Setting her belongings down, she turns and looks at the young man. He's scared, she can tell easily enough, and vulnerable. "Will you tell your clan an old woman with different features and a different name than I was the one who helped you?"

Even if he said no, she wasn't going to leave him.

His brow furrows in confusion, obviously curious - who was she? Why was she so concerned about the Lan clan finding out where she was?

Still, he nods - he'll do as she asks, or not tell them anything at all about who helped him, if he didn't have to. He wants her to stay, but he's also agreeing because he can see the fear in her eyes and... well, there's a part of him that can understand that fear. The part of him that had that fear colouring his earliest memories (now that he had them back, anyway), the part of him that still felt it when he wondered what would happen if certain people found out where he came from...

"I will." He says - too polite to actually ask the question, of course.

"Thank you."

Good boy.

She lets out a breath of relief and finally releases the last remaining thought of leaving. Sitting down on the edge of the bed again, she reaches up and touches his forehead. It's damp from the cloth but she can tell the fever is slightly improving.

"I promise, I won't leave until you're well," she says again just to help him relax more. "Do you feel like you can talk more or do you feel like you can sleep again?" She knows which she would prefer, but that's for purely selfish reasons. "You can tell me more about your a-die, if you'd like."

He watches her face carefully as she touches his forehead - watching for that tell-tale frown that might indicate he's not getting better as quickly as he should. When he doesn't get it - and when she reassures him she isn't going anywhere - he lets himself relax again. He can just focus on getting better and everything will be fine, he'll deal with everything else later.

The question makes him pause - he's tired, yes, but he feels like he might be in that horrible in between stage where he isn't so bad that his body just gives up and lets him pass out, but he feels too hot and miserable to sleep comfortably. He'd rather press on a little, keep talking until he feels tired enough to sleep regardless of the discomfort.

That, and he can't deny he's curious about her and wants to know more.

"I'd like to talk more, but I'm thirsty... would it be alright if I had a drink?" Water, or tea, whatever she decides to give him, he just feels like he needs the fluids.

"A-die is... he's righteous, and skilled, and intelligent. He is a good man." He says firmly - both talking up his father because he loves him, and an attempt at a subtle reassurance. His father is a good man, whatever she's afraid of, she shouldn't fear it from him. He will still keep his promise, of course, but he wants to allay her fears that even if he were to trip up, she wouldn't have a problem.

"He loves me very much. I am forever grateful to him for taking me in when I was small."

The request makes her smile and she immediately gets a bowl of tea for him. She still puts a generous amount of honey in it, but there's no medicine in it this time. The fact the boy has an appetite at all is a good sign (even just one for drink vs food). She quietly helps again if he needs it to sip the small bowl, but otherwise she sits back and listens.

She knows from experience some 'good' men do terrible things sometimes. It's curious the boy is so adamant about saying only compliments toward his father. She wonders if that's all he feels he's allowed to say. The last part has her curious though.

"He took you in? Were you not born into the Lan clan or was it just his household?"

He sips carefully at the tea, enjoying the way it soothes his throat as well as quenches the thirst - he's deeply glad she agreed to stay. Even with the medicine, he likely would have taken even longer to recover if he didn't have somebody there to look after him; he would have either had to stay thirsty or try and get up and fetch his own tea, and that wouldn't have ended well.

He blushes faintly at the question - though it's hard to tell when his cheeks are already flushed from the fever - and ducks his head sheepishly. Yet another reason he hates being sick, it makes him more loose-lipped than he probably should be.

"No, I was not born into the Lan clan," he admits carefully "but I have grown up as part of it, and they are my family just as much as the clan I was born into."

The name of which, of course, he is not mentioning.

A thought starts growing in the back of her mind. She's trying desperately to shove it down. Good fate like this didn't happen to people like her. She shouldn't- couldn't- get her hopes up when it would break her heart all over again.

"Lan-gongzi, I would never assume otherwise. Family doesn't always mean by blood." Wei Wuxian had been a brother in every way but that one and she loved him completely. "who is your a-die?"

"Hanguang Jun," He answers, smiling softly at her response "Lan Wangji."

He assumes she will know the name - after all, she mentioned Lan'zongzhu 'and his brother' earlier - but he still watches her with some interest for her reaction, wondering if it might help shed some light on who she is and what, exactly, she's running from.

There's something so familiar about her, as well, that's starting to bug him - the feeling just won't go away.

Her heart nearly stops and she stares at the boy. Her skin pales ever so slightly and it takes literally everything in her being to keep from running straight out the door. She's not really afraid now so much as the shock is just that great.

"Lan-gongzi, you said you don't lie. Tell me, is your name really Wen Yuan?" She demands. It might not be quite as soft sounding as she would've liked. Her mind is reeling and making the world take a dangerous spin around her.

His eyes widen in panic and it feels like the world has flipped upside down - suddenly he is the one who can't wait to leave. He looks for a moment like a frightened rabbit about to bolt and then... something stops him.... something about the look in her eyes.

"...have we met before...?" He asks quietly, in lieu of answering the question - he suspects she'll understand that means the answer is yes.

He looks closer at her, the memories slotting into place even through the fuzz of his illness, and when he speaks again his voice is barely a whisper.

"...gūgu?"

"A-Yuan!" Her baby! A-Yuan! The one who she believed had died with all the others. The child the Jin clan had wickedly murdered right along with all the other helpless Wens. A-Yuan..

A sob escapes her throat and she puts both hands over her mouth in a futile attempt to stop it. She shakes her head.. it just can't be! It can't be!

"I thought you'd died!" She croaks softly. "I thought.." She'd almost left him defenseless here! She'd almost missed this chance. That horrible, wonderful Lan stole/ saved her baby! She wants to slap him and then kiss him she's so relieved. "I don't understand.."

Sizhui feels the tears well up in his own eyes, unable to quite believe this is happening - is it some hallucination brought on by the fever? To be so lucky to have so many of the loved ones he thought he'd lost returned to him, it seems impossible.

"I thought you'd died!" He almost laughs helplessly, the words devolving into a cough. Once he recovers, his look is more serious, knowing that she'll want answers.

"A-die found me in the burial mounds, I was very sick with a fever, I nearly..." he trails off, shakes his head "but a-die saved me. For a long time I couldn't remember anything from before, but then when baba- Wei-qianbei, when he came back, he and Ning-shushu helped bring back those memories without even realising." He stops, biting his lip - does she even know what happened to Wei Wuxian? To her brother?

She does not. She stares at him again in disbelief. Although.. she really didn't believe it. Her brother had been killed and so had Wuxian. People had always had ridiculous stories involving the Yiling Patriarch but they often turned out completely made up.

"A-Yuan, I think you're not thinking straight," she says sadly. She dips the wet cloth in the water again and dabs it on his face again gently. "Your Wei-gege and Wen-shushu died a long time ago. My didi died the same time I was supposed to. He died saving me."

She thinks that's what happened. In all honesty, it had been chaotic and she'd been under someone's care for a while. She didn't remember the details of how exactly she escaped, but she assumed.

"No," he shakes his head urgently, eyes a little wide - it's important to him that she knows he means it, he's telling the truth and she still has family out there too, other than him.

"Well, yes- sort of. Baba did die, but there was... there was a young master, Mo Xuanyu, who did a ritual, he sacrificed himself to bring Wei-qianbei back." He explains "He's really back, gugu, I promise. And Ning-shushu..."

This part is more difficult to explain, he bites his lip uncertainly for a moment, but she should know...

"Jin Guangyao made sure they didn't kill him... he... he took him prisoner instead, used him as a puppet. When Wei-qianbei came back, he broke Jin Guangyao's control and brought Ning-shushu's consciousness back."

Her frown deepens as she listens to him. As promising as the words are, there's a part of her that's afraid of all this news. What did it mean that her brother and Wei Wuxian were alive? She knows her heart has never left them, but it's been so dangerous and she knows she's been pursued a number of times by people who got suspicious of her. The threat against her wasn't gone just because they were back. Wouldn't the Jins require the blood debt be paid regardless of the time it's been?

"Wei Wuxian has been taking care of him? And you?" She asks. That's the important thing. If she can know for sure all the men in her life that need it are being taken care of, she didn't need to be emerge in the world. She could continue living as a ghost, eluding all those who wish to kill her or remind her of the rest of her family who she witnessed died.

Sizhui understands that the news might be difficult for her to process, that it might take some time - though, of course, he's still very much assuming they can bring her out of hiding, that she can reunite with the others as well. He doesn't realise she still intends to stay in hiding.

"He has," Sizhui nods firmly. Wei-Qianbei hasn't been back all that long, of course, and he knows the years that Wen Ning was a puppet were probably difficult for him - they don't speak about it much, because Sizhui doesn't want to push him - but they are well taken care of now, and that's the important part.

"Has... has anybody been taking care of you?" He asks softly - he knows the answer though, he can tell. It's not that she needs someone, obviously, but he remembers her always doing things for others, she deserves somebody to look after her.

She smiles and his answer is all that she needs. "Good."

The next part though is a bit surprising and it wars with her desire to keep her distance- maybe not physically now but whenever her sweet baby A-Yuan has to go back to his life again. "I don't need anyone taking care of me. I'm safer and others are safer while I'm on my own."

Otherwise, she has the gods and their ancestors watching out for her. That's enough.

"Now you should sleep. I am going to step out of the room briefly, but I'll return shortly. I won't break my promise to you." She did, however, need a few minutes to herself.

Sizhui doesn't believe that for a moment - especially the part about others being safer. Okay, yes, if he showed up with another Wen in tow that he appeared to be close enough with to seem like family, people were going to start raising their eyebrows, and that is a bit intimidating - but he's always, always been taught to stand up for what's right, and he'd never dream of denying his family just to avoid some unpleasantness.

(Of course, that's exactly what she's talking about, but he doesn't see it that way. Besides, the main problem would be the Jin, and Sizhui isn't so worried about them anymore)

He nods at the instruction - both aware he does actually need to get some more sleep and understanding she might want some time to process all this news.

"Yes, gugu." He says, a soft smile at being able to say it, and settles back down on the bed. Sleep feels like it might come a little easier now, and he hopes he's feeling better when he wakes.

Wen Qing goes outside to get some fresh air and try to sort through her feeling. She couldn't believe she had found A-Yuan! It is so dangerous for her to be connected to him now though and that was complicating things. She would forever be grateful to the Lan clan for saving A-Yuan, but she remembers Lan Xichen among the others watching on as she was set to burn. Sure, he looked distressed and unhappy about it, but he kept his mouth shut just like Jiang Cheng and the rest of the self-righteous bastards.

She sighs and goes to buy a few steamed buns for when A-Yuan wakes. She also talks to the innkeeper to make certain the Lan-gongzi isn't disturbed after he'd rescued them. She gets no arguments from him both because of who she is and who Sizhui is.

Whenever Sizhui wakes again, she'll be meditating nearby with fresh herbs in the incense burner for him and food on the table next to his bed.

Sizhui stirs, lured awake by the mingled scent of the fresh herbs and the buns - he still feels awful, his throat is sore and he's sweaty and miserable - but he does feel more coherent, and he knows that the buns making him feel hungry is a good sign as well.

His gaze goes to her first, though, as soon as he opens his eyes - a reassurance to himself that she's really real, and that she's still there.

"What time is it?" he asks groggily, wondering how much of the day he's slept away. It's hard to fight those feelings of doing something wrong when he's sick, even though he knows the best thing to do is to look after himself.

Wen Qing slowly opens her eyes and looks over to the boy. She's given some of her energy to him while he slept but hopefully not enough for him to notice. Knowing how he used to be, he'd likely feel guilty for it and she didn't want that.

"It's afternoon." She gets up and crosses over to his bed. Briefly, she checks his forehead again and makes a point not to react to what she felt so he wouldn't worry. In truth, she's concerned that he still feels warm.

Picking up a new bowl of water with one hand, she slips her other behind his shoulders. "You need to drink again."

He frowns a little at having slept so late, reminding himself again that it can't be helped and that he needs the time to recover.

He has a tiny bit more strength this time, thanks to the energy she gave him (though he doesn't realise it), but he still mostly has to rely on her to help him up so he can drink.

"Thank you," he says, soft and polite and just a little bit ashamed that he needs so much help, but he dutifully sips the water, appreciating how refreshed it makes him feel.

"How long do you think it will be before I can travel?" He asks hesitantly after he's drunk "It's just... I may need to send a letter home if it's going to be a while, so that they don't start to worry..."

She frowns unhappily at the question and reasoning, though she understands it. This is even more complications she doesn't need. Whether she likes it or not, if a letter isn't sent the boy's parents were likely to show up. Hell, they might still do that even if he urges them not to.

"It would be the right thing to do," she concludes with a sigh. "I can't predict just yet how long this will take you to recover from." She doesn't say it, but this is already a slower recovery than she'd hoped it would.

"If I get you ink and paper can you write the letter yourself or will you need me to do it?" Could she mask her calligraphy somehow? Sadly there were few in town who knew how to write.

"I think I can write," Sizhui says after a moment of thought. He'll at least try, he's not thinking about them recognising her calligraphy, but he is thinking that seeing a letter written by somebody else would make them suspicious and bring them here all the faster.

He just hopes his hand is steady enough for it.

And that he can phrase what's going on in a way that doesn't make them immediately worry anyway...

In the end, when she does bring him the ink and paper he manages to compose something reasonable - he explains that the trip is taking longer than expected and that he will be a few more days in town, but that he will write again in a couple of days with an update. He's deliberately vague about why it's taking longer, and hopes they'll interpret that as the night hunt itself taking the time, since they'll be less likely to come rushing into town if they think he still needs to complete his task so he can graduate. It feels a little too much like subterfuge for his liking, but at least it buys him some time.

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An Untamed Musebox

December 2023

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