The meaning of protecting you with my life

Goose chase

Jiang Cheng had had a terrible morning today as he had not slept a wink during the night, thinking about how to tell his brother that everyone knew about his missing golden core and that Jin Guangyao and Jin Guangshan were after him. It had been a lot for him to digest and he had not even been the victim in question. He was afraid of how would his brother react.

And now this happened. He had run to Wei Wuxian's room as quickly as he could only to find it empty just as the disciple had told him. His brother was nowhere to be seen and so was Lan Wangji who was supposedly chasing the intruder. Jiang Cheng could not believe that anyone had gotten inside his brother's room and taken him away.

They had made everything they could have thought of to secure the place and Nie Huisang's spies were keeping an eye on it as well. How was it possible that some assassin or a kidnapper had gotten their hands on Wei Wuxian? And what was even more stunning, why did his brother not resist or alert anyone? It was a mystery they would have to solve later, the most important thing now was to find the Yunmeng Jiang sect head disciple safe and sound.

When he saw Lan Wangji walking – or more like running if running had not been forbidden to him – into the room, he turned to him and started questioning: "Second Young Master Lan, what had happened? I have been informed that my brother is missing and that you are chasing the intruder. Did you catch him? Where is Wei Wuxian?"

After all, Lan Wangji had been the first one in the room, he must have seen something. Or at least heard how Wei Wuxian had been spirited away. As far as Jiang Cheng could tell, there was no disruption in the arrays they had set up so the intruder must have come in through the open window.

The Yunmeng Jiang sect leader's heart fell through the floor when Lan Wangji only shook his head but remained silent otherwise. Even without any words spoken between them, Jiang Cheng knew that the Second Jade would have made everything possible and impossible to get Wei Wuxian back if there had been any clues left behind. Which meant, there were none and his brother was missing just like that.

His eyes hardened when he turned towards the disciples who were standing by the door with guilty expressions. He knew that they would not have been able to do anything when Lan Wangji could not. He was not angry at them, they only had to find his brother as soon as possible.

"Go tell everyone else that Wei Wuxian is missing. I want search parties to be send out immediately! We have to find my brother no matter what."

The disciples only nodded their heads and took off running. That left only Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji inside the room. Even though the Yunmeng Jiang sect leader knew that the Second Jade must have already searched for clues, he still wanted to see for himself. He also needed something to distract him from the ice cold fear in his guts, fear that he would never see his brother again.

It was at that exact moment that Jiang Yanli came inside the room and stopped in the centre of it, looking around. She seemed more confused than anything and Jiang Cheng wondered if she had perhaps not heard about Wei Wuxian being kidnapped yet. She certainly did not look like she was beside herself with fear or worry.

"What happened, A-Cheng, Lan Wangji?" she asked in a soft tone, only a little nervousness and uncertainty in her voice.

Surprisingly, it was the Second Jade who spoke first: "Wei Ying is missing."

Something about that statement did not sit quite well with Jiang Cheng. The disciple who had come to inform him clearly said that Wei Wuxian had been kidnapped but now it seemed more like Lan Wangji thought he may have been taken away but he was not completely sure.

Jiang Yanli must have picked up on this subtle tell and she asked another question which the Yunmeng Jiang sect leader should have probably given before starting to be beside himself with worry: "Do you know what happened?"

Lan Wangji shook his head. Jiang Yanli nodded and looked around: "It does not seem like anyone was here, could it be possible that A-Xian left on his own? He had been wanting to get out of his room for some time now. Perhaps he had just gone on a stroll or something?"

Jiang Yanli's voice sounded pleasant, not too worried. Now that Jiang Cheng looked around carefully, he could not see anything out of the ordinary. There was a mess, but that was quite normal for his brother, especially if he had been looking for something. But there were no signs of fighting, no torn or destroyed things, not upturned furniture. It seemed improbable to him that his brother would not have defended himself in case of an attack. Jiang Cheng had probably overreacted.

Jiang Yanli seemed to have come to the same conclusion as him: "Did he take his flute with him?"

Jiang Cheng immediately went to the small cabinet where he himself had put Wei Wuxian's spiritual weapons, both of them. He had not been sure if he should put Suibian there as well, he did not want to hurt his brother while reminding him of the fact that he could not wield it anymore. But in the end, he decided to store them together. He knew that Wei Wuxian had had quite a bond with his sword and would probably be unhappy that Suibian got lost during the war.

And sure enough, when he opened the cabinet, he immediately noticed that one of the weapons was missing. However, it was not Chenqing as he and his sister had assumed. The sword was gone.

"That idiot," muttered Jiang Cheng under his breath so no one else would hear, "worry about yourself for once, would you!"

It was clear to him why his brother would take his sword instead of the flute. He was apparently still under the impression that he needed to save the Yunmeng Jiang sect's face. Was it possible that he even knew about the ultimatum that had been given by the rest of the cultivation world about him being forbidden to use demonic cultivation? Or was he simply not wanting to use it anymore when it had almost cost him his life?

Either way, Wei Wuxian was now walking around Lotus Pier, unnoticed and without a weapon to protect himself, a perfectly defenceless target for a kidnapping or assassination.

Jiang Cheng stormed out, looking for the closest disciple. When he found one, he stopped her and ordered: "Stop looking for Wei Wuxian outside of Lotus Pier, he is somewhere here. Tell everyone to find him and keep him company while they would inform me of his location. Quickly!"

The Yunmeng Jiang sect leader could not have been entirely sure that his brother had not left the gates of Lotus Pier but he had a hunch. He suspected that if Wei Wuxian wanted to leave altogether, he would have also taken his flute with him. Just as a cultivator's sword was his best defence and a source of his strength and peace of mind, so was Chenqing for Wei Wuxian.

He just must have been somewhere around and they had to find him quickly. Before Jin Guangshan's or Jin Guangyao's spies would.