Everlasting Bond

Part V

"Wei... Ying?"

Wangji couldn't understand what was happening. Why was Wei Ying so pale? Why was there so much blood? His core should be able to reduce the impact of Wen Ning's blow. Why was his soulmate's body so lifeless?

"Wangji! Wangji!" Wen Qing kept yelling, shaking him. "We need to take him back! Wangji!"

He slowly turned and looked at her absentmindedly.

"Wangji, he needs help. I need you to take him and follow me, okay?"

"Why is he like this, Qing-Jie?" his voice was weak, void of life.

Wen Qing glanced at her youngest brother and motioned him to take Wei Ying and follow her as she led Wangji back to Demon Slauthering Cave. First, she pushed Lan Zhan onto the stool, gave him herbal tea, and examined her stubborn Didi. Several broken ribs and internal bleeding. It was bad, but nothing she couldn't fix. A few hours later, Wei Ying was in stable condition but remained unconscious for several days. Wangji looked like a ghost.

"What happened to him, Jiejie? Why didn't his core repair the damage?"

"A-Ying doesn't have one," she said slowly. She promised to keep it a secret but also gave him plenty of chances to come clean. Wen Qing could tell how much Wangji cared for him and firmly believed that Lan Wangji deserved to know the truth.

His eyes widened in shock. "What do you mean? What happened to him?!"

"Once he returned to Lotus Pier, that bitch whipped him with Zidian for betraying family and wishing to leave. She refused. But during the attack, she told him he would be free of debt if he ensured her children were safe. Wei Ying brought them all the way to Yiling, but that fucking idiot returned back to get revenge. Left with no choice, A-Ying saved him again with A-Ning's help, and they brought him to me. Wen Zhuliu crushed Jiang Cheng's core – like what he thought would happen?!" she huffed angrily. "Of course, he kept blaming A-Ying for everything and acting like his life was over. A-Ying spent days looking for a solution till he found my core transfer theory. I refused, but he told me he didn't care what happened to him if he could be free in return. A-Ying told me he would find a way to survive for you."

Wangji couldn't hold back tears. "Tell me you didn't do it, Jiejie...."

"I'm sorry... When I refused, A-Ying broke down and told me that no matter what he did, the shackles wouldn't disappear. That he was chained to that place. I can only assume she guilt-tripped him and made him believe that he wouldn't be a cultivator without them. We both know the extent of abuse he suffered... in a way, I understand his decision."

Lan Zhan slowly stood up, walked to the bed, sat on the edge and gently caressed his hand. Wei Ying's sleeping face looked so peaceful. "How?" he asked weakly.

"He convinced Jiang Cheng that he knew where his grandmother was and that she could give him a new core. Then he took him to the mountain in Yiling and blindfolded him. We knocked him unconscious, so that asshole doesn't even know."

"Can we take it back?"

Wen Qing shook his head. "He isn't strong enough to survive the surgery."

"What do you mean?"

"The donor must stay awake for two days and nights without anaesthetics, experiencing the most excruciating pain one can imagine, then multiply it by thousands. Jiang Cheng would pass out the moment I cut him open, and the core would dissipate."

"No... that's... he was awake?" Wangji mumbled in disbelief. His fingers grabbed red robes, and then he hid his face in Wei Ying's chest.

Wen Qing gently rubbed circles on his trembling with silent sobs back. "After we were done, A-Ying said that he was finally free. He left immediately to see you, but I assume Wen Chao captured him at the foot of the mountain."