Gold Blood Eyes ||Mo Dao Zu Shi||

Chapter 3: Back Outside

"Mhm," Wei WuXian smiled but it faded as he added quietly for only him and the wens to hear, "I have to find him,"

Multiple smiles bloomed, all with a small hint of teasing. Wei WuXian took this as a signal to leave and pressed a kiss to his son's head, before backing away and towards the males in white and violet. They had been watching the entire encounter, different feelings swarming in their chests. Wei WuXian paused when he stood in front of the two Sect Leader's, glancing back at the group that gave him bright smiles and waves.

"We'll be okay, A-Ying!"

Wei WuXian grinned and nodded, "Take care of yourselves- and my Lotus pods!"

He then waved and followed the disciples down the mountain, falling in step with Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen. When they could no longer hear the bustle and life of the camp, Wei WuXian's anxiety spiked. It hit him suddenly what he was doing, what he was risking. He clenched and unclenched his fists, exhaling worriedly and glancing back with hesitance. Jiang Cheng placed a firm arm around Wei WuXian's shoulder's, "They'll be fine,"

"I didn't know you cared," Wei WuXian both as a joke and as a statement, "Last time you came here was when we decided it was best for me to defect,"

Jiang Cheng took his arm away. There was a pause before Jiang Cheng forced himself to speak, his voice coming out weak in a way so unlike Sandu Shengshou. It was the voice only his siblings had ever heard. The one of their youngest brother, "We talked with A-Jie when you came to Koi Tower during A-Ling's one month celebration...you know why I was upset,"

Wei WuXian nodded. He did know. He remembered clearly the tears all three of them had ended up shedding just before Wei WuXian had left. The conversation was serious about their current lives. Somehow, Jiang Cheng and him had gotten into an argument about Wei WuXian's life choices and Jiang Yanli had snapped at both of them, making the two shut up in an instant. Jiang Yanli was staring at both her brother's tears in her beautiful eyes.

"What are you doing?!" Jiang Yanli demanded looking between Wei WuXian and Jiang Cheng, "Why are you arguing about this? Arguing never fixes anything!! A-Cheng you're a Sect Leader, A-Xian you're a rogue cultivator taking care of a group of injured. Is it necessary for you both to squabble and only make things worse instead of just talking?!"

"S-shijie..." Wei WuXian stuttered as Jiang Cheng also choked out, "J-jie..."

Jiang Yanli inhaled deeply, closing her eyes and gathering herself. She then took both of her brother's hands. She looked at the both of them, "We're separated by our choices and roles. But even if we're physically apart, we can never lose faith and break from one another. We're the closest three. You're my didis,"

Jiang Cheng and Wei WuXian looked at one another. There was a silence thick with emotions that they both desperately wanted to leave unspoken. But Jiang Yanli was right, she always was. They weren't the same as they were before, but they were still brothers.

Wei WuXian looked down first, "I'm sorry, I left you both..."

"I don't understand why you want to protect them? Why did you turn away and deem yourself an enemy?" Jiang Cheng complained, pain and hurt leaking into his tone.

Wei WuXian looked at Jiang Cheng, speaking clearly and firmly, "Without them, we would've been caught. Without Wen Qing and Wen Ning you...Jiang Cheng, you would've died! I didn't have the means to try and help you recover from your injuries. They risked everything to protect us from Wen Ruohan! Everyone at the burial mounds are medics, the elderly, and a small child the age of three....I won't just let them get slaughtered because of a surname,"