Dance with you

Chapter 39

Liu Xin and Wei Wuxian shared brief surprised and confused eye contact before unanimously deciding to put aside the gossip for now. Although Liu Xin was sure that Wei Wuxian wouldn't just forget his unanswered question and she would have to recount the story to him another time.

Together they made their way towards the source of the noise. It wasn't a difficult task, given that the closer they got, the more disciples were murmuring and standing around in little groups. Rounding the final tent corner, they were greeted by a bigger group of disciples in vibrant golden robes. One disciple stood out from the rest, his face contorted into a scowl and one of his hands cradled against his chest. With the other one, he was pointing at a very smug looking boy. Said boy was none other than Xue Yang brandishing one of his many blades. The smirk on his face looked amused and vaguely threatening at the same time and his stance suggested a readiness to jump at the disciple in gold.

What was he doing here?

And more importantly, why was he alone?

No matter how thoroughly Liu Xin examined the people standing on the side-lines of the commotion, she couldn't find any of her other children or a familiar face that could have been supervising him. A voice deep in the recesses of her mind told her she should have expected something like this to happen. On the other hand, she could feel disappointment threatening to spread throughout her heart. She fought against her feelings and negative thoughts as best as she could. She wouldn't jump to conclusions. She had faith in them. Maybe there was another explanation to it, that she just couldn't immediately see?

Whatever the reason, her first priority was to get Xue Yang safe. She could recognize the brilliant robes of her birth Sect anywhere and she knew that their arrogance paired with Xue Yang's independence and 'I don't care'-attitude could lead to quite the nasty outcome. Just as both her and Wei Wuxian made to step in, someone else entered the space. It was Gao Fen and behind him, Jiang Yanli. He had dragged her by her sleeve, which he quickly let go of, in favor of joining his brother. Yanli looked rather confused and surprised as she tried to gather herself and brushed some dust from her robes. Once she had taken in the situation in front of her, she schooled her expression and gave all disciples present a calm smile.

"Now, what is going on here?"

There was a small pause in which Liu Xin could see many of the male Jin disciples look Yanli up and down. Recognition could be seen in some of their expressions. Wei Wuxian looked even more eager to step in, now that his Shijie had become a part of the conflict. Liu Xin laid a hand on his shoulder, whispering, "I believe in her. Let's see how they respond."
Wuxian looked very hesitant, his hand already resting on top of Chenqing, but he didn't move any further.

Yanli had just finished changing the bandage on a recently wounded disciple, when someone rushed into the medical tent. She looked up and was quite surprised to find Gao Fen and Li Yan hurrying towards her. Gao Fen looked panicked but also very determined and Li Yan...

Yanli couldn't suppress a gasp when she looked at the young girl. The expression on her face looked so out of place, a mixture of poorly disguised terror and fear. Her hands were shaking and Gao Fen wasted no time, pushing her onto an unoccupied cot and pulling Fang Lei out from the corner he had been meditating in. The latter's disgruntled pout from being disturbed vanished instantly as he noticed the state of their older sister, climbing into her lap and hugging her as close as possible. Making sure his sister was taken care of, Gao Fen turned to her, his eyes glowing with determination and something else Yanli couldn't quite make out. Not even a moment later he was by her side and pulling at one of her sleeves with a surprising amount of strength. Yanli was too perplexed by the whole situation to resist the boy's pull and so she just followed where he led her.