Jiang Cheng had been greatly annoyed when Wei Wuxian insisted on going back to Qinghe on horseback. Although Jiang Cheng had given his brother his sword last evening before they rented a room in the inn and went to rest, Wei Wuxian was saying now that he had used too much spiritual energy getting out of the Burial Mounds and he did not want to risk flying on a sword just yet. Jiang Cheng had even grumpily proposed he would take him on his own weapon, but the other only laughed it off. It was getting on Jiang Cheng's nerves.
But in the end, he agreed after Lan Wangji, who had still not left even after receiving a cold shoulder from Wei Wuxian last night, had also joined his brother's camp. He said that it would be safer to travel by land, flying could attract too much attention of the Wen sect soldiers. There was some logic behind that argument as the Wens started to be more active over the last few days and the whole area was now crawling with them.
He did not like this at all, their travels were so slow it was almost painful. He wanted to be back in the camp already to tell Jiang Yanli that he had found Wei Wuxian safe and sound. His sister must have been worried sick when they were both gone from her side. And the sooner the better.
They headed directly to the new camp site as Nie Mingjue had told them before their departure for Yiling that the move would be done by then. It took two days to go there and Jiang Cheng hated every second of it. But there was no way around it so he just swallowed all his anger deep down and focused on hurrying his horse to a higher speed.
At last, the camp was in front of them and he could let out his breath, he would be able to see Jiang Yanli again soon. He stormed the camp like a wild fire, not checking if the other two were following him.
It was small in size, actually a lot smaller than it should have been which worried Jiang Cheng a little bit. It seemed like the few tents which were there could not have housed all the cultivators and personnel Nie Mingjue had wanted to move here. Had they perhaps been late on the schedule?
He looked all around, trying to spot the medical tent, he knew his sister would most probably be there. And if not, someone would know where to find her. Lately, Jiang Yanli took it upon herself to help in the infirmary she had told him it was the only way she could participate in this war. That was not true at all but Jiang Cheng did not oppose her decision, he knew she wanted something to busy herself with while he was out there, searching for Wei Wuxian. And she would actually be safer here, with all the most powerful cultivators from the allied forces close to her.
Before he reached the medical tent, he was stopped by a bothered looking Nie Huisang. He wanted to go around the Qinghe Nie sect heir but he did not succeed as Nie Huisang took hold of his sleeve and would not let go even when Jiang Cheng tried to snatch it back. There was something really weird about the way the other was behaving. Jiang Cheng grew uneasy.
He turned around and looked at Wei Wuxian who was now standing behind him and lifted one of his eyebrows in a questioning motion. He only got a shrug of shoulders back, it was clear that his brother had no idea about what could Nie Huisang want with them either. He looked back at the Qinghe Nie disciple and all but growled, very displeased to be held back from seeing his sister: "What is the meaning of this, Brother Nie?"
Nie Huisang flinched a bit at his tone but did not let go. He looked apologetic all of a sudden and Jiang Cheng liked that expression even less.
"Brother Jiang, Brother Wei, it is good you are back. Please come with me, brother and Lan Xichen want to speak with you immediately."
Jiang Cheng scowled; there was definitely something going on at the moment with how urgently Nie Huisang wanted them to come. Still, it could surely wait until he and Wei Wuxian would get to see Jiang Yanli, it would not take long.
He looked Nie Huisang in the eyes and tried to reason with him: "Brother Nie, could this wait a bit? We need to first go see my sister."
The Qinghe Nie disciple seemed to have become smaller all of a sudden when he all but whispered, his voice quivering a bit and definitely very careful: "It is about Jiang Yanli that they want to speak to you about."
Before Jiang Cheng could even process the information, Wei Wuxian was already at his side, clutching at Nie Huisang's robes. He was visibly alarmed and just as worried as Jiang Cheng: "Has something happened to Shijie?"
Only then did it finally hit Jiang Cheng. Of course something must have happened, probably during the moving of the allied forces' headquarters. There were too few tents and too few people around. When the camp should have been bursting with energy, it was very quiet and nearly no one was in sight. And now that Nie Huisang would not let them see Jiang Yanli, something was just terribly wrong.
"Where is she?"
Now it was Jiang Cheng who was holding Nie Huisang in place, clutching the other's wrist in his hand so tight it must have been painful.
The Qinghe Nie sect heir looked down and would not meet Jiang Cheng's eyes when he replied: "She is missing."
Jiang Cheng suddenly found it hard to breathe. His chest was getting tighter and tighter by the second. His sister was missing? Was she not supposed to be together with the other medics? What nonsense was Nie Huisang spouting? There must have been some kind of mistake, Jiang Yanli could not be missing. She must be safe and the Qinghe Nie sect heir is just playing an extremely distasteful joke on them.
Wei Wuxian seemed just as disbelieving as Jiang Cheng because he opened and closed his mouth a few times before finally asking with a blank stare: "What?"
Nie Huisang looked at them again and his eyes were full of pity now: "Brother Jiang, Brother Wei, I am sorry. Brother and Lan Xichen wanted to tell you in a calmer manner but... Shortly after Brother Jiang and Brother Lan left, there was an attack on Unclean Realm. Since most of the forces and resources had already been moved to the new camp, leaving only a handful of disciples and the medical ward to follow, there was nearly no one who could defend the stronghold.
According to a few survivors, Wen Xu came leading a large number of soldiers and breached the gates. There was not much fighting, the disciples were quickly overpowered and the Wens started pillaging the city. After a while, they made it into the medical ward and confronted the medics. Your sister stood up to them and Wen Xu had taken her a prisoner. I am pretty sure that if he had wanted to have her dead, he would have killed her right there and then. She is probably alright."
Jiang Cheng was so stunned he found it hard to think straight after Nie Huisang's explanation. He felt as if someone had just snatched the very ground from under his feet and he was now not sure how he should continue standing when there was nothing to lean on. He was completely empty, only waiting for everything to sink in so he would feel at least something again.