Chapter Text
”A-Ying.”
Wei Wuxian froze, rooted to his spot facing the window. Was that… Anger in his voice? Disappointment? Or something else?
’Wait... He didn’t see me come through the window... Right? Maybe he didn’t notice. Maybe I can play this off.’ Wei Wuxian steeled his resolve and thought of what to say, but when his Shishu spoke again, any hope of getting out of this unscathed flew from his mind.
“Turn around.”
Ah. That was lower than usual.
Wei Wuxian sucked in a breath. He wanted to. He didn't want to disobey his Shishu, especially after he came back with the appearance he was sporting.
He wanted to turn around; to explain himself. But he couldn't. He was physically unable to move his legs. He felt as though a gust of wind would knock him to the ground.
The only time Wei Wuxian had ever been this exhausted from training was when he would train all day until he passed out. But he was only gone for a max of four hours at least. He chalked it up to his core being new, but this still felt... Different.
Maybe it was Suibian that was different?
"A-Ying, please."
Wei Wuxian curled into himself slightly, ‘Why was I so stupid? He’s gonna find out that I don't belong here. He'll know. Then he'll kick me out because—’ Wei Wuxian brought his hand up to his collar. ’I'll have to leave Yiling sooner than I thought. The amount I have right now isn't ideal, but I could make it work. I'll just have to work a lot harder.’
He took deep breaths, trying to calm himself down when Xiao Xingchen spoke again.
“A-Ying, Look at me.”
His face screwed up in discomfort. “I'm sorry. I didn't—” Xiao Xingchen put a hand on his shoulder, in which Wei Wuxian instinctively moved his foot forward to try and step away. Except the minute his foot hit the ground, his knees buckled and the floor rushed into his vision faster than he could grasp what was happening.
Xiao Xingchen's eyes widened and he quickly lunged forward to grab Wei Wuxian before he could hit the floor.
“A-Ying!" Xiao Xingchen lowered him to the ground and was about to demand for what was going on when he noticed the many cuts and bruises that covered Wei Wuxians body.
He was about to speak but was silenced by Wei Wuxians voice.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I really just—I'm sorry."
Xiao Xingchen snapped out of his shock and softened his voice, "Shhh It's okay, just—what happened? You need to tell me." Xiao Xingchen scanned the injuries on Wei Wuxians body, his brows furrowed. Why weren't they healing? He picked up Wei Wuxians arm and felt his wrist.
His eyes widened once again, "A-Ying your—what happened to your spiritual energy?!" He spoke close to a yell, or, as loud as a yell would be for him.
Wei Wuxian had never heard his Shishu sound panicked before. That was a first.
Come to think of it, that's what felt off. His spiritual energy. It wasn't like in the past, where his spiritual energy would replenish itself after a few hours of rest even after he pushed his core past its limits. Now, it was almost like his core was... Draining itself. Like his energy was being sapped away along with his strength.
That would explain why his wounds were still fresh, because his core was using what little energy it had left to keep his body from crumbling completely.
"I just wanted to practice the sword before today. I swear I didn't—I didn't mean to cause trouble I—" His voice trailed off when he was hit with a sudden wave of dizziness.
Xiao Xingchen noticed this and put a hand to Wei Wuxians forehead. He was burning up.
He turned around and was about to shout for a servant when he caught a red glow at the edge of his vision, so faint that he wouldn't have noticed it if not for it staring him in the face. However, the light was accompanied by an object, and Xiao Xingchen felt as though he'd been slapped in the face.
Suibian!
Leaning against the wall a mere foot away, was Wei Wuxians newly forged sword, Suibian. It was slightly buzzing with what looked like black smoke curling around the sword, twisting and snaking around the sheath as it seemed to grow. Xiao Xingchen looked back at Wei Wuxian—whose condition continued to worsen—and then to the sword, and in a split second reached out and touched it. The minute his fingers grabbed the hilt, he hissed and immediately recoiled his hand. The weapon was simmering to the touch.
He looked up from his hand and back at the sword, the smoke was growing in size and was trailing forward towards Wei Wuxian, trying to reach him. Xiao Xingchen's brows knit even further, if that was even possible for someone with features not made for frequent anger.
He summoned a small amount of spiritual energy around his hand and shot it towards the smoke, vaporizing it in an instant. Then he didn't hesitate to fish a talisman out from his sleeve while keeping Wei Wuxians small body supported with his other arm.
He threw it forward and, after some resistance, it slapped onto the sword. The effect was immediate—Suibian stopped glowing and the vibrations ceased as it fell to the ground with a loud clatter.
Xiao Xingchen let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding and scooped Wei Wuxian up with both arms. He made his way over to the small bed and laid him down. The color was slowly returning to his face and his labored breathing was evening out. He took that moment to step into the hall and called for a servant to fetch a doctor.
Once the doctor arrived, the next 20 minutes were spent with Xiao Xingchen staying out of his way as he worked. When he finished up, He waited for the man to approach him until he finally broke the silence, “How is he?”
The doctor sighed and looked at the sleeping figure on the bed behind him. “I bandaged the cuts and applied a balm to the bruises, which should have healed over an hour ago. There seems to be a...” He paused as he looked for the right word in his head, “A conflict of sorts within his body. I felt traces of resentful energy coinciding with his spiritual energy, and I’m guessing after his core bottomed out, this energy somehow managed to take advantage of that moment of weakness and began feeding on it.”
Xiao Xingchen's face turned serious for a moment as he took in this information. Resentful energy. Suibian. He had found it strange that Suibian was pure black, but not one individual is alike, so he thought maybe Wei Wuxian was just different, had a different kind of power or something similar. The more he thought about it however, the easier it was to draw a conclusion.
But if Suibian harbored resentful energy inside it, then that means that it was inside of Wei Wuxian as well. But how? Why?
He regained his composure and thanked the doctor, deciding he wouldn't jump to conclusions until he could ask Wei Wuxian himself.
After the doctor left, Xiao Xingchen lingered for a moment longer before walking to the door. He spared one last glance behind him before letting out a sigh and closing the door firmly behind him.