The most precious medicine

Chapter 12

Wen Ning was in the part of the infirmary which had been assigned to him by Lan Qiren and was studying medical books. Although he was told not to wander around too much, he was still surprised that the people in the Gusu Lan sect would let him inside the barrier at all, not even talking about not being too bothered by having him stay for a long stretch of time.

He was grateful as well. After the operation – only thinking about it would have brought tears to his eyes and made him shiver, if only his body was still capable of such actions, being dead had its downsides as well – he had been almost overcome by grief. Not only had it been dangerous for both cultivators involved, but everything had been done in such a hurry that Wen Ning had not had time to properly examine Wei Wuxian. His assumption that his body would fare just fine afterwards, just like the first time, could not have been more wrong.

Although both Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, and actually everyone else in the Cloud Recesses, did not blame him, he was beating himself up for this mistake. He should have expected some kind of complications. After all, the body in which Wei Wuxian currently resided was not his old one. This one was weak and frail and sick.

Not that Wei Wuxian would die immediately, Wen Ning was making sure of it. But seeing him in pain and having to tell him it would be better for him to stay in bed all the time, it was breaking Wen Ning's non-beating heart.

Moreover, Wei Wuxian had insisted that the true extend of his condition was kept secret from everyone. That was making Wen Ning feel even guiltier; the former demonic cultivator was doing the same thing as in the past. Luckily though, Lan Wangji was there this time so hopefully, it would not end up in Wei Wuxian suffering through this ordeal all alone and without any support.

Still, the situation was not good and Wen Ning could not find any cure or medicine which would be able to help. He dearly wanted for his sister to be alive so he could ask her, to his knowledge, there had never been a better doctor in their generation. He just wanted to repay Wei Wuxian for all his kindness and for how he had saved him and his family in the past.

Some good work he was doing! He was the one who had taken Wei Wuxian's golden core from him and thus aggravated his previously dormant chronical illness. There was now nothing which would keep the symptoms at bay, after all, it was not like Wei Wuxian would ever be able to get a new golden core to help him recover. Even with all the gods and good fortune on his side – which was definitely not the case, because if the gods loved Wei Wuxian, they would have never let him suffer so much pain and injustice Wen Ning believed – there was just no way he would be able to cultivate himself a new one ever again.

Wen Ning had been fighting against his desire to heed to Lan Wangji's pleas and put the transferred golden core back into Wei Wuxian. He would have already done it, without any hesitation, if he did not remember clearly Wen Qing's warnings. She had been very clear on this point: the golden core would not be accepted back by the donor's body and would harm him, perhaps even slowly killing him.

Wen Ning had had enough of experimentations on his friend. He would not do anything which could, even potentially, hurt him anymore. There had to be another way, they have just not looked carefully enough.

He picked up another book, grateful this time that his body could not get tired and he did not feel the need to sleep. This way, he could read all the books in the Cloud Recesses faster, and then go to those that Lan Qiren had requested to be brought from other sects and medical experts as well. Resources were not something which Wen Ning was missing.

He had even, gotten unlimited access to the Gusu Lan sect's secret library. Lan Qiren was clearly going all out in this. It really seemed like a miracle how much he had changed and cared about Wei Wuxian now. It was making Wen Ning feel at least a little better; he and Lan Wangji were not the only ones to be dying with worry and trying to figure out how to help day and night.

Suddenly, there was knocking at the door and when Wen Ning invited the visitor inside, he was not surprised to discover it was Lan Qiren. Despite his initial dislike of Wen Ning, the elder started coming regularly to discuss with him Wei Wuxian's case and possibilities for a cure.

What was more surprising through was Lan Qiren's expression and body language. Today, he looked more serious and determined than ever. Wen Ning had to ask himself what had changed compared to their multiple previous interactions. Could something had possibly happened to worsen Wei Wuxian's condition?

His worries spiked and he asked immediately after giving his greeting: "Master Lan, had something happened to Young Master Wei?"

Somewhat distractedly, Lan Qiren shook his head and replied: "No, no, everything is fine." Wen Ning blinked, to his standards, nothing was fine. Lan Qiren must have realized what he had said and corrected himself, straightening his back and finally starting to behave like his usual self: "Let me rephrase this. Everything is as fine as it could be under the current conditions. Do not worry, Young Master Wen, Wei Wuxian is not doing any worse than before."

Hearing Lan Qiren say this, a great weight was lifted from Wen Ning's shoulders. These were the first good news of the day. But why was the elder looking different then? There must have been a reason.

Wen Ning was not left in the dark for long. Without much ceremony, Lan Qiren headed towards the table where he was sitting and reading and took a seat on the other side. He did not pick up any books though, he only joined his hands in front of himself a looked down at the table with a pensive and somewhat tired expression. He suddenly seemed a lot older than he had been the last time they had seen each other.

Wen Ning put down his book and observed the elder more closely. He was seriously starting to be worried, there was definitely something wrong here, something he had no idea about was going on. Though, he knew better than to ask about Lan Qiren's personal matters or whether anything had happened in the Gusu Lan sect. It was not his place to pry into any of that.

"Would you like some tea, Master Lan?" he asked instead, hoping to distract the elder from his apparently unpleasant thoughts. It was enough that he was worrying about Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji.

At this, Lan Qiren lifted his gaze for a second and flashed a small smile in Wen Ning's direction. This surprised the Dafan Wen sect doctor as until now, whenever the elder came to find him, he had been all about business. He had never come to quite like him, and Wen Ning would not blame him.

He was a Wen and a fierce corpse which Lan Qiren was obliged to let into the Cloud Recesses and tolerate his presence so he could try to search for a possible cure for Wei Wuxian. The elder had somewhat warmed to him after the successful golden core transfer, he was grateful to him for saving Lan Wangji's life. But they were not exactly on friendly terms, at least Wen Ning did not have the courage to call it that, it was more of a transaction really. He would be allowed to stay so he could hopefully help saving Wei Wuxian.

There was no doubt in his mind that as soon as this was done or it was proven that there was not cure – Wen Ning did not even want to think about this possibility – he would once again be regarded as an evil abomination by the Gusu Lan sect members. He would be denied access to the Cloud Recesses again.

Not that any of this worried him right now, there were more important duties to focus on. Wei Wuxian was first and foremost his friend and someone to whom he owed for saving his and his family members' lives. He could not with clear conscience watch him fade away. He wanted dearly to find a way to save him.

Well, there was one of course, the most obvious cure that they already knew of, the most precious medicine they would need. But it was impossible to get Wei Wuxian a new golden core. The golden core transfer was from the very beginning just a hypothesis, only a subject or theoretical research that Wen Qing had never believed could even be attempted in the real life. Who would be foolish and kind enough to willingly give up years of their hard work and their possibility to cultivate to immortality to save someone by their sacrifice? No cultivator should have been willing to go this way.

Except for Wei Wuxian.

And now that the only foolish enough person did not have a golden core anymore, Wen Ning doubted there would be anyone else who could willingly want to go through with the operation. The only other possible donor was currently hosting the former demonic cultivator's own golden core and could not be of any help. Not that Wei Wuxian would even accept if Lan Wangji offered to give up his cultivation and the post of the Chief Cultivator for him. They had to find another way.