.
Wuxian was drinking his evening potions when Hweiru came back, followed by an amused Yuxio. She ran into the room, aiming to hug Wuxian, but one look at her muddy face and clothes had Wuxian held his hand up to stop her: "HECK NO! What is this?"
He gestures with his hand at Hweiru from top to bottom. She grins at him: "I had so much fun with Guang! We played warriors and angels and then Teacher Yuxio bought us snakes and then.." The little girl continues to babble on while Wuxian turns to glare at Yuxio. The senior disciple shrugs.
When his daughter takes a deep breath between sentences, Wuxian asks Yuxio: "I gave her to you in pristine condition. What happened? It's snowing outside, how did you even find mud?"
Yuxio shrugs again: "Where there is a will there's a way."
Wuxian grits his teeth in frustration: "Leave before I do something I will regret!"
Yuxio winks at him and Hweiru then bows before leaving.
Hweiru continues talking a mile a minute while Wuxian stares at her disheveled robes and hair. He groans internally over how long it will take him to wash the dirt out of her hair. Wangji steps into the room and freezes when he sees his dirty daughter. He raises an eyebrow at Wuxian and the smaller man shakes his head: "She made a new friend today."
Wangji: "She made friends with mud?"
Wuxian chuckles: "No. A cute boy we met in the city that thought I was an angel."
Hweiru told Wangji all about it as he walked around her, careful not to touch her at all. He whispers to Wuxian: "She smells bad."
Wuxian puts his head on the table and groans: "I just finished taking a bath myself. I'm too tired!"
Wangji pats his back and whispers: "I'll handle it."
He walks close to his still blabbering daughter and with his pointy finger and thumb, pinches the top of her robes and drags her out towards the washing tub.
Wuxian laughs over Wangji's scrunched face as the girl seems oblivious to his discomfort or the fact that he's guiding her like a dirty rag. He shakes his head at his weird family. At least his baby girl finally has a friend close to her age.
So many people flooded the city to compete in the Archery Competition. That kept Zewu Jun super busy with coordinating participants with Leader Ziyang. Wuxian was given a list of names to look over before the event starts tomorrow but his mind was somewhere else. Today was the last day he had to come up with a more secure plan to guarantee that Liwei doesn't get hurt as a decoy. He had an idea in mind, but he wasn't so happy with it. It's a 'lesser of two evils' situation.
Healer Shi was helping him go through the names. When she saw that he was absentminded, she placed a gentle hand on his arm: "What's on your mind?"
Wuxian sighs: "So many things, I wonder sometimes what it might feel like to be bored."
Shi chuckles: "Try playing Go with Zewu Jun. That man is a total over-thinker."
Wuxian chuckles back: "Believe me, I know how you feel. Your future husband and my soul-bond are cut from the same cloth. The only difference is that my Lan talks less."
Shi smirks: "It's because you talk more. He balances you out."
Wuxian looks offended: "I do not! You talk as much as I do!"
Shi shrugs: "My words have weight."
Wuxian huffs: "Don't bully me. I have minions who will gladly do my bidding."
Shi puts her hands up in surrender: "One civil war per clan is enough. I just saw Jingyi stealing hot peppers from the kitchen."
Wuxian sighs loudly: "That boy never learns."
On cue, Hweiru storms into the room with tears in her eyes and jumps on Wuxian: "Mama! My tongue is burning!"
Wuxian holds a laugh in and pats her back: "Let me see."
She leans back and sticks her tongue out for him to see. Wuxian pretends to examine it and says: "Good thing that I'm an expert in spicy food."
He nods to Wen Ning and he goes to get the girl some milk.
Wuxian: one, Hweiru: two, Jingyi: one.
Wuxian pats his teary girl's hair while they wait. He shares an amused look with Healer Shi who's also trying to smother a laugh. Something catches Wuxian's eyes. There was a red ribbon braided into Hweiru's hair just like the one braided in his. He felt his heart swell while he examines it: "Hweiru, where did you get this?"
Hweiru: "Father got it for me and put it on after my bath yesterday."
Wuxian's face broke into a wide smile and he tenderly stroked the red ribbon on his daughter's hair. Shi smiles at him: "Now she's a Lan and a Wei."
Wuxian nods, feeling happiness enveloped every fiber of his being.. before the world around him starts to blend together..
'Wuxian saw himself in an open snow covered area. The Slayer was kneeling, leaning heavily on his spear, bloody and breathing hard. He was glaring at a man who was also suffering wounds before him. It took a second for Wuxian to recognize the faceless man since he changed his appearance. Jinhai sneered at him: "Why won't you just DIE?" Biming sneered back: "I didn't do anything to you! Why do you want me dead?" Jinhai takes a deep breath and stands up: "I'm the Slayer. That's what I do." Biming inches a few steps back and looks behind Jinhai. Wuxian turns to look at the same direction he's staring at to see a bunch of boys bloody on the ground. They look dead and Wuxian's heart starts to beat a mile a minute. One person in particular was wearing Lan Clan clothing similar to the one worn by the junior disciples. Wuxian was too scared to get close and see who it is. Jinhai screams and tackles the faceless man and they exchange blows. Wuxian spared them a glance before moving close to kneel before the bodies on the ground. He starts to shiver when he's met with the lifeless eyes of the young finders and one of his disciples. He falls back when a great wave of energy passes through him, coming from the two men at war. He numbly turns to look at them and sees Jinhai attack with his spear, gets blocked by Biming's char black sword. Jinhai smirks when he frees one of his hands, grabs a hidden dagger from his robes and stabs Biming on the side. The faceless man howls in pain and pushes Jinhai away. Instead of red blood, something blue oozes out of Biming and he runs away, disappearing into the other dimension. Jinhai throws the dagger that's covered in a blue substance on the ground and huffs: "Coward! If you want to play God then come after someone at your level!" He waits for a few more minutes to see if the man will return and when he doesn't, he walks towards the bloody bodies on the ground and turns one of them over. He shakes his head and whispers: "You all lived honorably. Your death will not be in vain." Wuxian was frozen in place. His eyes locked on the boys lying in front of him. One thought kept replying in his head: My Kaoji is too young to die.'
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