Severing Time & Space

Always Together

"Jian!! I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Hsss! Mei, that kinda hurts..."

"Oh! You're injured! I'm so sorry!"

It was a rare sight to see Wu Meiying so frazzled like this. Not only was she still wearing the black nightgown she had gone to bed in, but her hair stuck up in all directions, her eyes had bags under them, and her lips were a little bruised. She must have been biting them.

"It's okay. Just... be a bit more gentle, yeah?" Wu Jian said with a smile.

Wu Meiying nodded several times. She wasn't the only one present, however, as Hou Jingshu stood just a little behind her. Her appearance wasn't quite as discomfited as the other girl's. But it was also clear that she had just woken up and wasn't entirely sure what was going on. Wu Jian concluded that Wu Meiying must have woken her up.

Did she have a vision about what was going to happen? Maybe that's how Wu Taohua managed to find me...

"Come on. Let's hurry to the hospital wing," Wu Taohua said. "We need to heal your injuries, and you need some medicine to expel the foreign chi in your body. It could cause permanent damage to your meridians and dantian if you let it remain too long. The last thing we need is for our promising clan heir to become a cripple."

Wu Jian gulped and followed Wu Taohua as she hurried him into the hospital. Wu Meiying and Hou Jingshu followed slightly behind her. Wu Shaolin and Mother were already inside. The moment he appeared within the doorway, his mother stood up and began fretting over him.

"Are you okay, Little Jian? You're not hurt anywhere, are you? Quickly! Strip down and let me take a look at you. I may not look it, but your mother is quite adept at fixing injuries. Your father gets injured a lot when he trains and goes on expeditions, so I know all about dressing wounds and—"

"Wu Jian has several injuries and minor chi poisoning," Wu Taohua interrupted. If she hadn't, there was no telling when his mom would have stopped talking. "We first need to deal with the poisoning. Then we can dress his wounds."

"Mmm. I didn't realize that. You're right. Okay. I think we have some medicine for that. Just let me search for it..."

"Come sit over here, Wu Jian." Wu Shaolin directed him to a bed.

Wu Jian did as he was told. His feet didn't quite reach the floor as he sat with his legs over the side of the bed. Wu Meiying sat down beside him and grabbed his hand. It was like she needed to touch him to physically reassure herself that he was okay. Hou Jingshu did not sit down with them but stood off to the side. She still looked confused.

"I have no idea what's going on. Can someone tell me what exactly happened?" she finally asked.

"I would also like to know what happened," said a voice from the door.

Everyone turned to find Father standing in the doorway. Wu Shaolin immediately bowed to the man, but Father waved the courtesy away and asked him to get started on treating Wu Jian. Most of his attention was focused on Wu Jian, however, making it clear that he had come here to get some answers about what happened tonight.

"I came here because Wu Meiying arrived before us in a panic. Wu Jian, explain the situation to me," Father commanded.

"It's a bit of a long story, but here goes," Wu Jian said, taking a deep breath as he launched into his tale of what happened. He explained how, after the celebration, Wu Fei had asked to speak with him, how he was led to the forested area, and how he had been attacked by Wu Fei, Wu Ming, and Wu Lan. Throughout the telling, Wu Meiying gripped his hand tightly and Hou Jingshu's face became increasingly pale as the blood drained from it.