The Last Phoenix

Chapter Five

He understood why Wei Wuxian bragged about her so much. She truly was a wonderful and pure-hearted woman.

But this surprised him.

He kept his lips firmly pressed together. Since she said that, there must've been a good reason for it. He said nothing, though.

Lan Wangji definitely did something wrong, and he was desperate to know what scandal he had suddenly caused within the Jiang household.

Lan Wangji had to admit, he felt quite offended by the sudden statement, but the Princess could not be blamed for her sudden resentment.

He knew that his time there would go completely downhill and that he'd have to leave, whether he wanted to or not.

Jiang Yanli saw his puzzled expression and lifted her hands in front of her, waving them and slightly panicking. She knew what he was thinking. She didn't realize that what she had said gave him the wrong idea.

"Hanguang-Jun, I meant no disrespect!"

Lan Wangji wasn't quite sure if he could believe that.

She added, "It's just..." she slowly trailed off. He remained silent, patiently waiting for her to continue if she wished.

The Princess was nervous, Lan Wangji could tell at least that. She avoided eye-contact with the Second Jade and set her hands back down onto her lap, curling her thin fingers.

She was hesitant to say anything to him, as if it were something he wasn't supposed to know.

What she said next shocked Lan Wangji to the core.

Tears glazed her eyes and she looked down. "A-Xian ran off," she whispered, "and I don't know where he went."

A long silence stretched out between them.

Lan Wangji's blood ran cold. He was frozen, and he didn't know what to think of it.

She said that he himself had happened, but what on earth could he have done that would make the Prince run away from his own family?

Lan Wangji couldn't possibly understand what he had suddenly done wrong. Wei Wuxian's actions toward him had been getting complicated, but all of a sudden running off had him lost.

"What?" Lan Wangji nearly gasped. The words she had said distracted him from the aching in his back.

He knew that his wounds were of course not healed at all, and he would risk it getting worse if it meant that he could walk out of there and find the Prince all by himself.

He also knew that Wen Qing would likely paralyze him to the bed if he ever told anyone that he planned to get out of it and do such a thing.

Lan Wangji had never made a careless decision. He had never been rash nor made a choice he knew would affect himself or others in a bad way.

But he would rather leave to search for Wei Wuxian with a bloody back than lay in the bedroom and let him stay missing while he slowly healed.

He would rather walk across a trail of hot coal barefoot, than let Wei Wuxian run and possibly get hurt out there without doing a single thing to stop it.

His golden eyes were wide, and his lips were sealed shut.

He suddenly thought about what would happen if he really did walk across a trail of fiery coal with his own bare feet. He wondered if it would really burn him later on.

The Phoenix is a creature of fire.

And Lan Wangji was not afraid to be burned by its flames.

"He told me that he'd go on a walk for a while," she whispered, "and he asked me why I helped you lie to him. He asked why you didn't tell him sooner."