Under the cover of night, Wen Qing ducks through the doorway of Xichen's study room, pulling down the hood of her cloak once she's safely inside. Xichen and Gu Meiyou are sitting in front of the untouched Xiangqi game board. They have been waiting for the little witch for hours.
"Is it done?" demands Xichen.
Wen Qing bows, "Yes. Wei Wuxian will remain comatose for another eight hours. He should regain consciousness by dawn."
"Is it permanent?" asks Meiyou, nervously.
"Unless I reverse it."
"Then how much will he remember?" Xichen cuts in.
"Only what you've instructed me to leave untouched," Wen Qing clarifies.
"Good... Now... tell me why it took so long for you to perform the ritual."
"There were some... unforeseen circumstances. But I've taken care of them."
"I trust that you have. Make sure nothing else goes wrong..." Xichen's voice quiets suddenly, eyes darkening dangerously. "...or I will have no choice but to reconsider our arrangement."
Wen Qing drops into another low bow. She mumbles through clenched teeth, "Yes, Zewu Jun."
•••
Ah Yuan and Jingyi sit in a gilded gazebo just outside of Carp Tower, staring idly down at their meals brought to them by Jin Clan servants: Greasy chunks of meat swimming in a cream sauce. Jingyi pushes the food around in his plate. Ah Yuan doesn't eat, either. The third seat in front of them remains unoccupied.
"Where is he?" inquires Ah Yuan, hands folded on the table in front of him. "I wonder what's taking him so long."
Fortunately, the Lan Clan juniors wouldn't need to wait any longer, for a familiar 18 year old soon emerges from a bejeweled carriage parked at the bottom of the steps leading up to Carp Tower.
"Jin Ling! Where have you been?" hisses Ah Yuan, as Jin Ling clambers up the last flight of stairs, panting.
"Sorry, but you won't believe what I just had to go through!" Jin Ling rants. He sits with an undignified plop. "My uncle made me muck out the stables and clean his bedchambers for taking Fairy out! It's taken me eight hours in total!"
"Oh my, that does sound like a handful," Ah Yuan emphasises. "But then it might've been prevented if you watched Fairy more closely."
"Well how was I supposed to know Fairy would take a dump in his room?!" Jin Ling snaps. He stabs a chunk of meat with his chopsticks and shoves it into his mouth indignantly. While he continues to ramble about the endless list of chores the Jiang Clan Leader made him do, between bites, Ah Yuan leans over to Jingyi, who has been strangely silent for the whole day and the meal.
"Jingyi, you're so quiet. What are you thinking about?"
"Ah—Sizhui! Be quiet! Why would you say such a thing?" demands Jin Ling. "This is great. Usually he doesn't shut up."
"Says the fool who spews 400 words in five minutes," barks Jingyi: the first words he has said since morning. His eyes wander to Ah Yuan's increasingly suspicious gaze. Ah Yuan swears—he prepares to speak. But then he just hangs his head again, sighing. He grumbles. "Nothing. It's nothing."
"Something is clearly bothering you," Ah Yuan says. "Tell us."
"Yeah! I wanna know what's making you clam up!"
"I can't. I can't talk about it."
"How odd, coming from you. I tell you things you aren't supposed to talk about, and what do you do? Blab about it to the entire cultivation world!" spouts Jin Ling. "I tell you 'Don't say anything about my courtesy name' and you do the exact opposite. I say 'Don't tell Lan Ying I cheated off of him' and then you rat me out the next day. Honestly, it's this ongoing battle I have to fight to get you to shut up. I can't imagine what's managed to keep you silent—"
"Alright fine! I'll tell you!" exclaims Jingyi, eyes popping with exasperation. "If you just shut your trap this instant, I'll tell you! Okay?"
The table falls silent. Jin Ling smirks triumphantly.
Ah Yuan leans forward ever-so-slightly in his seat.
After heaving a sigh of relief, Jingyi's expression appears to mix with concussion once more, and wariness. Ah Yuan studies his friend, increasingly suspicious. Jingyi begins slowly, "The truth is, yesterday I was heading back to my dorm quite late, and... well... I saw Sister Wen."
Ah Yuan's eyes widen to the size of saucers.
"What...? Sister Wen?"
"Yes. And she was in Cloud Recesses."
"What was she doing there? Are you sure it's her?"
"I'm positive. She was standing outside of the Library Pavilion and... well, she was speaking to Zewu Jun."
"Lan Clan Advisor?!" sputters Jin Ling. "But what could they be talking about together?"
"I don't know; I couldn't hear what they were saying, so I followed her to this old shack on the outskirts of the city of Gusu. She caught me and threatened me—it was one of the scariest moments of my life!—I thought I was going to die right then. But that was when Ghost General appeared. They were pretty mad at me for spying on them; I was so sure they were gonna turn me in or kill me. But they let me go and told me not to come back or... or people will get hurt."
The two juniors exchange bewildered glances with each other.
"This doesn't make sense," Ah Yuan murmurs, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "Brother Wen is in Cloud Recesses and Sister Wen was with Zewu Jun? But why??... Jingyi! When you were with Brother Wen and Sister Wen, did you notice anything suspicious?"
Jingyi crinkles his forehead, thinking deeply. "Not particularly. I mean, there were old antiques and broken furniture... no. Wait!" his eyes light up in alarm. "I did see some acupuncture needles... and some talismans I've never seen before. I think I got a good enough look to read the symbols."
"Draw everything you remember about them," Jin Ling requests.
Jingyi dips his finger into a nearby bowl of soy sauce and begins to draw peculiar symbols on the marble table, scrawling characters of dark condiment curling upwards like raging monsters. When he finishes, Ah Yuan and Jin Ling crowd around him to look at the runes.
Ah Yuan examines the symbols.
His eyes widen.
"We have to go back."