The meaning of protecting you with my life

Find them!

The fight was already long over when Wen Chao with Wang Lingjiao hanging on his elbow made their entrance onto the main courtyard of Lotus Pier. He was walking as if everything there belonged to him, as if the true masters of this place were already dead.

They were not however. Jiang Fengmian was suspended between two guards who were forcing him to remain on his knees. His sword had been long taken from him and the sheer amount of injuries he had sustained while valiantly defending his home and his wife was making him unable to put up a fight anymore.

He glanced to the side. Yu Ziyuan had found herself in a similar predicament but at least she was alright, as much as she could be given the circumstances, that was. Jiang Fengmian was watching her with love in his eyes. Just earlier today, she had said she loved him for the first time ever and he had thought he would die satisfied with that. Now, when he actually found himself still alive, he was surprised that he wanted more, more of those sweet moments in the future.

His wife was struggling a bit between the guards and it warmed his heart that apparently she had not been injured too badly. Her hair and robes were in a complete disarray, her headpiece was hanging limply on the side of her head and she was covered in blood, but Jiang Fengmian had never found her more beautiful. There was a stray strand of hair dancing in front of her face and he wanted dearly to tug it behind her ear to see her face better.

His longing thoughts were interrupted by Wen Chao coming closer with a mocking smirk. He recognized Wen Zhuliu at his side and it made him shiver a bit. He did not fear the brat, but the Core Melting Hand, that was another story entirely. He wondered what would happen to them now that they had been captured. He supposed that since they had not been killed until now, they were to remain alive and probably taken prisoners. He could however not be sure.

He would not give Wen Chao the satisfaction of seeing his fear so he willed his face to remain stoic as one other Wen soldier yanked at his hair, obliging him to lift up his head and look at the second heir of the Qishan Wen sect and his woman. Or perhaps more like his concubine from the way she was sticking to him by her whole body, her too revealing clothes not letting anything to imagination. He felt sick to see her walking in his home as if it belonged to her.

He still kept his expression completely neutral and stared at Wen Chao, waiting for him to say or do what he came for. He was looking at them with open disrespect, all smug about it.

He looked around as if searching for something and then asked, no one in particular and everyone at the same time: "Where are the others? Where is Wei Wuxian?"

Jiang Fengmian's heart lightened in relief. They did not capture the children; they have managed to escape! No matter what happened to him and his wife, the children would be safe and would be able to rebuilt the sect from scratch if needed. After all, he had not seen too many disciples' corpses on his way here and he had assumed that most of them managed to evacuate. Even if Wen Chao killed both of them now, the Yunmeng Jiang sect would survive under the children's leadership.

One soldier came to Wen Chao and whispered something into the second heir's ear. Jiang Fengmian observed with satisfaction how Wen Chao's face became displeased, something must have happened and he liked it because the previous smirk was nowhere to be seen, it was good knowing that not everything had apparently happened to the brat's satisfaction.

"What!?" he shouted the next moment, his voice angry and a lot higher than a man's voice should be, he must have been beside himself with fury. "What do you mean they escaped? Go after them, immediately! I want that brat Wei Wuxian brought to me alive, I do not care about the lives of the other two."

When the unfortunate soldier did not retreat fast enough, Wen Chao kicked him down. "What are you still doing here! Go, now!" The soldier scrambled away on his knees, bowing nonstop.

Jiang Fengmian's breath was caught in his chest. Although they had not captured the children yet, they surely would in the near future. A whole battalion of soldiers had just left upon hearing their master's command. There were so many of them, he was afraid the children would not be able to escape for long.

The only thing which reassured him at least the tiniest bit was that the children were smart. Surely once they hear that Lotus Pier had fallen, they would change their destination and not go to Meishan. If they would, they would be found sooner rather than later, it was no secret that the children's grandmother resided there and in case of any danger, they would have gone to her first.

Jiang Fengmian would have liked to somehow lead the Wens off the children's tracks but Wen Chao did not ask him for any directions. If he had, Jiang Fengmian could have lied and told him the children went somewhere downstream, perhaps to some great sect, perhaps he would have then stopped looking for them altogether. However, Wen Chao did not ask, and it would be suspicious if Jiang Fengmian was to say anything, seemingly voluntarily revealing his children's location.

It was too bad really, now he could only pray that the children would be smart enough to escape. And strong enough to defend themselves if the Qishan Wen soldiers had discovered them. He knew that Wei Wuxian was able to take care of himself but he somewhat doubted the same applied to his two other children. Jiang Cheng had never been as good as his brother and Jiang Yanli's cultivation was weak. They needed protection from their brother.

A kick to his chest surprised him and he could not hold back a short groan. He looked up at Wen Chao again, quickly schooling his expression so he would not see him in pain or distress. All it did was to anger Wen Chao even more, not that he had been actually aiming for that, but well. The soldier who was still holding his hair yanked at it again.

"You pathetic fool," laughed Wen Chao like crazy, "do you know that I could kill you with just one command? Both of you. There would be no Yunmeng Jiang sect after that. You have lost everything; do you hear me? Everything. But..." Wen Chao's smirk became even more insufferable now: "I think you can still be useful. I want to get my hands on that brat Wei Wuxian, he had humiliated me and he needs to pay for that. As I know him, he would not hesitate to come rescue you once he knows you are held prisoners. He will come to Qishan willingly, no need for me to chase him all around. And perhaps he would take with him also the other two. Would not that be the perfect family reunion?"

Wen Chao's laughter was cold and merciless and it felt like a sword through Jiang Fengmian's guts. Cold sweat covered his back and chills were running incessantly up and down his spine. He was now actually thinking that it would be better if Wen Chao just killed both him and his wife. What the brat had said seemed unfortunately true. Once Wei Wuxian would learn about them being captured alive, he would probably try to save them.

Jiang Fengmian could only pray for his adoptive son's sound mind, that he would recognize the trap and would not walk right into it, much less drag his siblings together with him.

"Take them away!" was Wen Chao's next order and he could barely feel being forced onto his feet and led away through his worries. One glance at his wife and he could tell that she was feeling the same dread when it came to their children's future.