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Yanli thought her chest was caving in, there was this understanding amongst all three of them. A knowing, an acknowledgment that they weren't going to see Jiang Fengmian again.
Lotus Pier would not be what it once was, even if they hurried back, even if they reached their home right this moment. Their home wouldn't be home any longer.
Yanli's realization came with fresh tears and sobs, all their voices were mixed together in their grief. Uncontrolled sobs fell from all three of their mouths.
She was so lost in grief, the sobs of her brothers a cacophony in her ears that she was rocked off her feet when Wei Wuxian collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.
She gasped as her side collided with the ground, she could see Jiang Cheng had fallen down too.
She looked frantically sideways to see Wei Wuxian motionless on his side. He was gray in the face, mouth leaking a stream of blood.
"A-Cheng, what's wrong with A-Xian?"
Yanli looked over and could see the devastation on her youngest brother's face.
"Mother hit him, sh- she hit him with Zidian"
"What?"
She started gasping as she also noticed the growing wetness beneath her. It couldn't be water and the only alternative was her little brother's blood.
"LET US GO," she screamed desperately but didn't yank on Zidian anymore because Wei Wuxian didn't look like he could take a single harsh tug without dying.
All at once, Zidian receded as if forced into the movement by her angry demand, because though she may have been a gentle soul, her blood surged with anger brighter and hotter than the lightning the weapon wielded. Jiang Cheng looked down alongside Yanli as Zidian receded quickly until it sat neatly as a bracelet at Jiang Cheng's wrist. Jiang Cheng was a new master to an old tool.
Yanli instantly turned around, Wei Wuxian laid quiet and still, so unlike himself.
"A-Cheng, help me turn him over, gently," she reminded. Jiang Cheng couldn't be rough with their brother, couldn't allow his emotions to make him aggressive. Not when it looked like Wei Ying was knocking on death's door.
They carefully turned him over to check his breathing and pulse but stopped short when they saw the amount of blood that stained their fingers and the boat beneath them.
There was too much blood. Yanli felt sick with the realization. How had she failed to notice this sooner? She who claimed to love Wei Wuxian the most. She hadn't noticed his pain, his injuries, his agony. Not once beyond her own torment, she felt heavy with grief.
"Jie .. we need to, we need to stop the bleeding," Jiang Cheng was frantic, his hands were hovering over Wei Wuxian without ever touching him. He realized grimly that perhaps he had made Wei Wuxian's injuries worse. He flashed back to how desperately and how extensively he had yanked at Zidian as Wei Wuxian had tried to get him to stop when they were both bound together.
Yanli said nothing as she slowly took Wei Wuxian's pulse and checked his breathing.
"His pulse is weak, and his breathing is faint. A-Cheng, listen to me. We need to get him out of his robes so we can fix this as much as we're capable."
Jiang Cheng nodded eagerly. Because while he was still thinking about Lotus Pier, he couldn't make it there in time. But he could make sure his brother lived to see another day. Lived to fight by his side when they returned to claim Lotus Pier as their own once again.
Wei Wuxian made a distressed noise when they sat him up. Yanli gently shushed him and murmured comforting words in his ear even as she loosened the belt around his waist and took it off.
Jiang Cheng felt like he was choking on his tears and guilt as he watched Yanli take off Wei Wuxian's outer robes. Jiang Cheng only continued to hold his brother carefully so that he wouldn't slip out of his grasp.
They both silently stared in horror at how much those black robes could hide. Wei Wixuan's inner robes were drenched in blood and torn to shreds, in some places the cloth was firmly stuck to the wounds beneath.
Yanli had tears streaming down her cheeks as she looked up at Jiang Cheng and saw her grief reflected twice-fold. This wasn't something that would heal quickly, no matter how strong the golden core or the cultivator.
They were going to need medicine and a healer, at the very least.
They didn't try to fight off his inner robes, they would only cause Wei Ying unnecessary pain when they couldn't help beyond covering his wounds with cloth.
They gently tore the black robes into long thick stripes and worked in tandem to secure them around all the bleeding wounds.
Wei Wuxian made some noises of pain but did not rouse. Not even when they called his name and shook his shoulders.
Yanli was about to lay Wei Wuxian down on his side to think upon where to take him when she saw the side of his neck.
It was bleeding too, the lash from Zidian having reached his neck. A sick feeling rose in her stomach because her mother had never been kind but she couldn't believe she'd be so cruel.
The wound was gruesome and ended on the side of Wei Wuxian's jaw. Yanli cried anew, at their situation, at Wei Wuxian's injuries, at the scars inflicted upon her younger brother.
"A-Cheng, let's head to grandmother. She'll know of a healer. A-Xian won't survive without a healer or medicine." She had decided resolutely not to turn back to Lotus Pier when Wei Wuxian was pale and unmoving in her arms.
Jiang Cheng only nodded and moved quickly to find the oars. He was quick to realize that there were none. Looking around he decided that the seats on the boat were unnecessary.
"jie-jie, you're gonna have to help me row, or we might be too lat- slow."
"Of course A-Cheng." Yanli gently lowered Wei Wuxian down onto his side. He made another distressed sound and she realized that he was probably very cold.
"A-Cheng how about giving me your outer robes so I can cover A-Xian, he's cold." The only answer she received was a handful of robes.
She smiled as she first placed her own then Jiang Cheng's bigger robes over her little XianXian.
Then she stood, fierce and protective. Grabbed the make-shift oar and started rowing.
They needed to make it to her grandmother and to the protection of Mei Mountain.
Yanli had a brother to save and God help any power that stood in her way.