Second Time Around

27. Guilt and Healing, Part I

Nie MingJue figuratively stomped his feet when Wen Qing pulled back his curtains to examine him. "I refuse to allow a Wen dog to treat me!" he roared.

"Stop calling me a dog," she retorted.

"Don't touch me, Wen dog!"

"Lan WangJi? Mute him." For the rest of the examination, all Wei WuXian could hear was muffled grunts and screams. "Every time you call me a dog, I'll have HanGuang-Jun mute you."

She was gone before the silencing spell wore off. "Bitch!" Nie MingJue yelled.

"I don't think Wen Qing would appreciate being called that, either," Wei WuXian mused.

"I refuse to be treated by a dog!"

A few hours later, she stopped by to change their bandages again. "Are you still going to call me a dog?" she asked Nie MingJue, her voice icily pleasant.

"Wen dog, stay away from me!"

She nodded at Lan WangJi, and proceeded to do her job even as the Nie sect leader screamed himself hoarse behind the silencing spell. "We both have younger brothers," she stated idly. "So we both should have learned how to be patient in the midst of idiocy. The difference between you and I, though, is that I have the needles and the knowledge to keep you paralyzed for as long as I deem necessary. Are you willing to test who can be patient longer? I guarantee you.... I'll win."

Wei WuXian giggled for four days while the two of them argued. Well, one argued, was silenced, and the other smugly did her job with the occasional taunt thrown in for additional comedy.

Wen Qing was vastly hilarious when her mind was focused on torturing anyone else but him.

On the fifth day, Nie MingJue simply demanded to know when he'd be allowed to get up and resume his normal activities. "You'll need at least five more days of bed-rest to make sure your intestines won't pop open again and your stomach contents stay in place. I've almost got the rest of the damage healed. Once you're off bed-rest, you may walk slowly and meditate. You may not be active or practice with your saber for another full month. I'd prefer two months of inactivity, but I'm sure you're an idiot and won't stay idle for even two weeks."

"I am not an idiot," Nie MingJue protested.

"Of course you are," Wei WuXian could envision her patting the sect leader's head like a child. "You'd be walking around already if I hadn't used my needles on you." She said that so sweetly, he was sure he could feel his teeth ache from the sugar.

It wasn't until the sixth day that Wei WuXian realized that someone was missing. He'd had visits from all of his co-conspirators except for Nie HuaiSang.

"Nie HuaiSang stayed back in Koi Tower," Lan WangJi explained. "He's playing a very dangerous game."

"If I could get up, I'd fly there and beat him to death!" Nie MingJue interjected.

"It's good that we have someone on the inside we trust," Jin ZiXuan added. "I have my people sending me reports, and we compare them to Nie HuaiSang's to make sure my people haven't been corrupted."

The reports from Lanling indicated Jin GuangShan was cleaning house. Every disciple, every employee in Koi Tower was interrogated by Lan QiRen. They were asked one question: Were you at Qiongqi Path with Jin ZiXun? Those who said 'no' were asked an additional question: Did you participate in the attacks against specifically named sect leaders in Koi Tower? Anyone who answered 'yes' was immediately executed.

Nie HuaiSang reported that he found it interesting that certain names were left out of the questioning. Lan QiRen was asked why he didn't follow up and ask those who said 'no' if they had attacked Jin ZiXuan, Jiang YanLi, or Wei WuXian. He retorted that it was out of the scope of what he was hired to ask. The last time he'd gone beyond the specified scope, he'd been reprimanded for it. Which did people want him to do? Do what he was asked to do? Or do as he wished?

Nie HuaiSang also found interesting the type of injuries Jin GuangYao and Jin GuangShan received. Those two were among the last to be attacked, and they had already been notified of other attempted assassinations, so they were prepared. Jin GuangYao received a dagger through his left palm before he was able to kill his assailant. Jin GuangShan was stabbed in the left shoulder.

Neither injury was serious.

Even more interesting was that the man who stabbed Jin GuangShan escaped from Koi Tower.

Wei WuXian, finally allowed to sit up, groused, "I'll bet the one who stabbed Jin GuangYao also thought he was going to escape Koi Tower."

Lan XiChen sighed. "Wei WuXian... you can't still think this mess was spearheaded by A'Yao. Not only was he injured, too, he has no reason to want any of us dead!"

Jin ZiXuan held his wife's hand to calm her down. "ZeWu-Jun. My half brother has plenty of reasons to want us dead. Of the next six heirs to LanlingJin, three are now dead, two are wounded, and one is an infant. If my cousin succumbs to his wounds, Jin Ling and I are the only people standing in A'Yao's way to be heir."

"Why would A'Yao want me dead? Or DaGe? Or Wei WuXian? It makes no sense!"

"You were injured because you threw me aside," Jin ZiXuan reminded him. "I was the target. We all know A'Yao was furious when Nie MingJue ordered him to leave the QingheNie. Almost every single sect leader who was severely injured or killed that day is someone who publicly humiliated my half-brother because of what his mother was. And Wei WuXian has something my father wants."

Wei WuXian sighed. "Lan XiChen... you don't have to believe our theories. I highly suggest that when you next meet with Jin GuangYao that you use your Truth spell on him, though."

Hello dear readers.

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Happy Sunday,
- Aitch.