The most precious medicine

Chapter 7

Wen Ning found himself face to face with three bowing cultivator who were begging him to ruin life of one among them. He had been hoping that the members of the Gusu Lan sect would come to his aid and persuade Wei Wuxian not to give up his golden core for a second time. How he had been mistaken! It seemed like Lan Xichen and Lan Qiren were on the side of his master.

What was even stranger was the fact that both Gusu Lan sect members had tried to reason at first, but now they agreed with Wei Wuxian's plan. As if there had been some silent communication between them. Surely they could not have changed their minds this quickly?

The only one to whom Wen Ning could turn for help now was the healer. The man was standing on the side, looking down at the hands joined in front of his stomach and clearly trying to pretend he was not there in the first place. He seemed so out of place that Wen Ning actually pitied him. But it did not stop him from seeking support wherever he could.

"Master healer, please, you can surely imagine how dangerous this kind of operation would be, for both Young Master Wei and for your patient. As a doctor, should you not try to stop this?"

The man lifted his head after wat seemed like an eternity. There was a haunted expression in his eyes and he was so pale Wen Ning would not be surprised if he fell unconscious on the spot. He was clearly terrified. However, there was also something in his desperate gaze which talked about immeasurable hope.

He opened his mouth, as if to say something. No words came out though and when he seemed to have realized this, he quickly averted his eyes and closed his mouth back up. So much for any help from him, Wen Ning thought.

Suddenly, there was a loud thud from the direction where Wei Wuxian had been bowing to him. Wen Ning quickly forgot all about the healer and spun around to look over there. Now his mouth came open, but not because he wanted to say something. No, it was out of shock. Wei Wuxian had fallen to his knees and was now kowtowing to him.

"Wen Ning, please, I beg you. I need to do this, I would never forgive myself if I did not at least try. Lan Zhan is dying... I do not even know if it will work or if we will be in time, but please, I need to do this. Wen Ning, if you have even wanted to do something for me, this is the only thing I ask of you... You are the only one who can help me save my husband now..."

Wen Ning threw himself onto his knees right in front of Wei Wuxian and immediately tried to pull him up from his kneeling position. His heart was aching seeing his friend in such a state. Wei Wuxian had completely broken down; he was begging as desperately as if his own life have been on the line.

And perhaps that was not such a far-fetched comparison, for him, Lan Wangji's life was just as precious as his own. No, actually, even more precious if he was willing to sacrifice his golden core – and perhaps his life as well but the Dafan Wen doctor did not want to even think about such possibility – in order to save him. And he was even mentioning Wen Ning's debt to him, something he would never do unless he was truly at the end of his rope.

At once Wen Ning had a vivid flashback of the day Wei Wuxian had been begging Wen Qing in the same way. Only this time, he looked even more desperate. He had not cried for Jiang Cheng.

"Young Master Wei," Wen Ning tried to counter his words while both of them remained kneeling. At least he had managed to lift Wei Wuxian from his kowtowing posture. "Do not ask this of me... I have seen you struggling day after day without your golden core. I cannot send you back to that hell again..."

Hearing him saying this, Wei Wuxian actually smiled at him. A small, sad and broken thing, but his eyes were clear and full of softness. "Do not worry Wen Ning, it will not be the same as back then. I know now what I am getting myself into, you do not have to feel responsible, it is all purely my choice. It will be different too, Lan Zhan will be by my side no matter what, I know it. I will not be fighting against the whole cultivation world all alone. I have found my soulmate, Wen Ning, I cannot live without him. If I lose Lan Zhan..."

Wei Wuxian's voice cracked and disappeared into something less than a whisper. But Wen Ning did not have to hear him to understand what he wanted to say. He had seen how close the two cultivators had been, be it in Wei Wuxian's first or second life.

They had been inseparable, until now. And if the former master of the demonic cultivation was saying that he could not live without his soulmate, then Wen Ning believed him. He knew fully well what his friend was capable of when he was driven into a corner and desperate enough to be losing his sanity. This was not something he would be joking about; he was hundred percent serious and would never go back on what he had determined as his last possible resort.

If Wen Ning's dead body could cry, he would have been shedding waterfalls of tears. The world and the gods if they ever existed were too cruel to Wei Wuxian. Had always been in fact. How else would it happed that he had already known the pain of losing his golden core once and was still driven into sacrificing it for the second time? Did he not deserve better? Should he not have only the brightest and happiest future ahead of him after everything he had suffered in his last life for committing only good deeds?

However, it seemed that if there was any good karma, or any gods watching over Wei Wuxian, they were not merciful. Not back then and not now. It was just too sad really to see his friend in the position of having to make this terrible choice yet again.

And there was nothing Wen Ning could do to help him alleviate that burden. He could not even offer him a fifty percent chance as his sister had done. He could not even guarantee that the operation would be done in time to actually save Lan Wangji. If there were only two days left, there was truly nothing he could promise. And still, Wei Wuxian was putting all of his hopes into him. It was excruciating.

"Young Master Wei..." he whispered brokenly after a long stretch of heavy silence.