A familiar person is heading down one of the nearby walkways in his direction.  Jiang Yanli sees him and smiles, then starts walking faster towards him.  

"Good morning A-Xian.  I was just coming to see if you were awake."

"Sh-shijie?" How is she alive?  She looks so happy, not even in mourning clothes as she had been last time he saw her, and more importantly, alive.  He runs towards her.

"Is everything alright, A-Xian?" 

He looks distressed.  Perhaps at the upcoming Wen Indoctrination?

He can't think of what to say for a moment, but he grabs her by the shoulders.  "Uh, just a bad dream.  You...you died.  In the dream."

This might even be true- he is even less sure what's going on now than he was before, but she's here, she's alive, things are just a little bit better than he thought they were.

Yanli will comfort him, pull him into a hug.  Of course she'll do anything to calm her little brother's worries.

He hugs her back.  He's crying a little bit.  He's so confused and doesn't know what's happening at all, he has no idea why he's back in Lotus Pier, no idea if what he remembers really happened at all.  Why is his shijie at Lotus Pier, for that matter? He doesn't even know where to begin asking questions.

"What...Why..." He gives up on phrasing his endless questions.

Jiang Yanli doesn't know what he means by those questions.  Perhaps he will tell her soon?

She will begin to gently direct her A-Xian towards her favorite sitting area.  "Come with me.  You'll feel better after you've had something to eat."

He follows after her.  Food sounds good, and perhaps it will help him figure out where to even begin with his questions.  Why Yanli doesn't seem to know what's confusing him is added to the growing list of questions.

She leads him to a covered balcony overlooking a wide garden of lotus blossoms, low square table set up for a meal that's just finished cooking and is waiting to be brought over and served.  He will be able to smell it, the familiar soup's scent mingling in the air with that of the flowers.

Jiang Cheng is peacefully sitting at the table, lounging unconcerned and looking off into the distance.  When he hears them approaching, he turns. 

"About time you woke up."

He seems surprisingly happy.  Perhaps slightly bothered by something, but not by Wei Wuxian.  

He stops dead in his tracks.  He almost starts backing away but... Jiang Cheng isn't angry at him, and he certainly isn't trying to kill him.  He's even more confused now.  The soup smells good, and it's been some time since he had it last-when he learned he was to have a nephew.  About a month ago, now.  He begins walking towards the table again, keeping an eye on Jiang Cheng.  He glances at Jiang Cheng's hand, and notices the absence of Zidian.

"What's...going on" He tries to disguise the utter confusion in his voice, to little effect.

Jiang Cheng thinks that's a very strange question.  Did Wei Wuxian sleepwalk over here?  "Uh, breakfast?"

Yanli goes to retrieve the soup and starts carrying it towards the table.  

"I know I don't normally prepare it so early in the morning, but since you'll be leaving later today I figured it would be worth an exception."

Neither of them seem to understand why he's confused.  Neither of them is a very good liar, and this would be a very strange prank.  Both of them are alive, and here, and happy, and Jiang Cheng isn't mad at him at all.  Suibian was in his room when he woke up.  He's apparently leaving later today, and this isn't news.  He definitely didn't dream everything after the last time he was safe and happy at Lotus Pier.  Is he...in the past?

"Sorry, I just had a rather disorienting dream."

He sits down at the table.

It hadn't sounded like a good dream, if she died in it.  

He can have some soup, and they can all sit together for a while.  

He takes a sip of the soup, and beams at her.

"Delicious!"

He is not lying, or even faking his smile- he has missed her soup.  But still, he needs to figure out- if he's in the past, when is he?

"When are we leaving?"  Perhaps one of them will mention where they are leaving to in the answering.

"The boats are leaving for Indoctrination in about two hours."

She doesn't seem to like the idea much, though is trying to stay hopeful.  Even if it is the Wen clan having political hostages, they wouldn't actually hurt them unless Lotus Pier did something first.  She also needs to stay calm, for their sakes.  

Indoctrination...the Wen clan indoctrination, of course.  He is in the past after all, then.  This is early enough, he supposes- he and Jiang Cheng both still have their golden core, and he will do his best to keep it that way.  He will need to come up with a plan. 

"Ah, Shijie, you worry to much.  We will be just fine.  What do the Wens have on the Twin Heroes of Yunmeng?"

"I know you can handle yourselves.  And I will make sure that everything is fine here in Lotus Pier when you return."

He finishes his soup enthusiastically.  Plan, plan...  Should he try to provoke the Wens less? No, not worth it.  Lan Zhan has been captured, at this point... he needs to keep the Wens attention on him and off of Lan Zhan, he tried last time but he needs to do better at it.  Maybe he could try and avoid the fight with the Tortoise of Slaughter?  He needs to think about that one more.  Probably for the indoctrination he doesn't need a plan... except that he needs to try and avoid that dog.  Being locked in a cell with a giant dog was bad and he doesn't want to do it again.  He's been thinking silently for too long, it's suspicious. 

He sets the bowl down and smiles at them.

He is being strangely quiet.

Yanli doesn't like the ill omen of a bad dream before this trip.  

Jiang Yanli wishes she could go in their place, or join them.  It's impossible, of course.  She's needed here.  She's also neither a good cultivator nor a sect heir, making her unacceptable as far as the Wens are concerned.  

For his part in the conversation, Jiang Cheng is staring off into the water.  

He doesn't like this show of force by the Wen sect.  Everyone being forced to bow to their whims.  Still, everyone is going.

Well.  Wei Wuxian, for one, does not intend to spend his second chance sitting around objecting to things.  He gets up.

"We should gather our things, before we go.  I doubt the Wens will have spare robes for us!" He laughs slightly as he says this.  It's a little forced. 

"That's a good idea," she says.  She notices the forced note to the laughter, but doesn't mention it.  

"I have some things to get ready for your trip, too.  I'll see you at the docks before you leave."

He gathers up his things, this time not leaving Suibian behind.  He's got his golden core back! This is great news!  He's...probably still gonna have to learn demonic cultivation, really, he's not sure how they would have won against the Wens without the stygian tiger seal, but he should be able to hide it better this time, since he is not letting Jiang Cheng lose his golden core again.  This second chance thing is really the best possible outcome.  By the time he leaves his room, his smile is genuine and not at all forced.

Jiang Cheng, unaware of potential futures or the plans Wei Wuxian is making based off of them, continues to be dutiful and resigned about the upcoming Indoctrination.  He can be found at the docks, along with the other young cultivators who have been selected as hostages students.

He goes and stands beside Jiang Cheng to wait for the others to see them off.

Jiang Yanli has food for them for the trip.  Enough for the whole journey, and more if they happen to get their boat stuck or get lost or the weather turns into a storm.

He will accept as much as he can hold.

"Alright, Shijie, I think this should do" he laughs once his arms are full.

It seems like such little help, but it's all she can offer.  

"Please do what you can to stay safe.  We'll be waiting for your return."

"Of course.  I promise we will return safely!"  He's gonna do better this time, he's not gonna let Lotus Pier be destroyed. 

Jiang Cheng will get onto the boat before he drops any of what he's carrying.

They and the other Jiang disciples set off. Those who gathered on the docks to see them off stand and watch them go, until the boat that carries away their heir and their brothers and their future shrinks to a speck in the distance. Yanli doesn't stop waving until the boat turns and her brothers are out of sight.

It is a peaceful journey. The river waters remain calm for all four days, though the skies bleed an ominous ashen grey as they approach Qishan. While nobody present is in high spirits, there's at least a reasonable sense of camaraderie among the disciples. And Yanli's food is quite tasty.

They arrive in Nevernight's nearest port right as the sun would be setting, were they able to see it. The sun is not itself visible, but red light bleeds through the clouds over the fortress. Red also bleeds from the surrounding mountains: thin veins that glow hot. The air here is bitter and dirty with ash.

Wen soldiers are stationed around the port. They don't seem to be expecting the Jiang Clan's arrival in particular, but two of them approach once the boat is docked and the young disciples begin to exit.

"You here for the Indoctrination? Which clan are you?"

"We're disciples of the Jiang Clan.  I am Jiang Cheng, heir of Jiang Fengmian." 

"I am Wei Wuxian, Jiang Clan disciple." 

The two soldiers confer very briefly, and then turn back to face the arrivals. Neither of them bow.

"Welcome to Nevernight. We will escort your party to the house for Jiang Clan. Violence or disorderly conduct on the walk will not be tolerated."

They can carry their things with them. They are not offered any horses for assistance with this. They are not allowed to fly their swords.

The walk lasts three hours at least, most of it uphill.

"That means you," he whispers, side-eyeing Wei Wuxian as the most likely source of trouble.

Wow he wasn't even going to cause trouble yet but now he wants to.  He will refrain for the sake of Jiang Cheng who doesn't hate him yet.  Look at all the trouble he isn't causing.

Jiang Cheng and the other disciples will walk in orderly lines up the unpleasant climb through the ashy air.

Eventually they reach some housing in the shadows of a tiered fortress, dirty white stone nestled among volcanic rock. The Jiang House is downhill and off to the side slightly, but one could assume that the proximity to the fortress was intentional. 

They are not in close proximity to Wen Ruohan's enormous palace, although they caught a glimpse. No one wants the hostage disciples within convenient assassination distance of His Excellency. 

The guards point out the door to the Jiang disciples' new residence and then stand there quietly to watch them.

Jiang Cheng will lead the disciples into the quarters.  He claims a bed, and his extra robes and things are stashed nearby.

Does it seem like they want them back out and continuing, or are they still waiting on other clans to arrive?

The guards do not want them back out and continuing. If approached about this, they can clarify that the Jiangs have the remainder of the night to rest. They are still waiting on one clan, although for now they're mostly lingering to make sure that the Jiangs settle in smoothly and don't start immediately setting buildings on fire or something.

Jiang Cheng certainly wouldn't mind resting.  As sect heir, he makes a check to ensure that everyone has a bed and no one is fighting over places.  Hopefully they can have a chance at a good night's rest.

Alright, they're settled in and nothing is needed of him.  Before he does anything, he's gonna send out a paperman and see what's around them.  What is in his immediate vicinity? Guards at the doors? Who's in the nearest quarters?

There are two guards at the doors, different ones than those who escorted them here. Every other house in the vicinity appears to also have two guards posted at the entrance.

A peak through the windows of the nearest house reveals it to contain the Lanling Jing sect. Most of them are asleep. The interior seems basically identical to the Jiang House, only with more luggage.

He's going to check all the other houses, suspecting that the missing clan is the Lan clan.  When he's done with that, he's going to bring the paperman back and check the house he's in for other exits.

The Lan Clan is indeed unaccounted for, leaving the furthest house from them empty.

The house Wei Wuxian is in has plenty of windows, though none of them are designed to be opened. There are no other doors. 

He's going to check if any of the windows can be made to open quietly even though they aren't designed to, and if not he's going to send a paperman out again to check if there is a second set of guards keeping them from leaving the area where the houses are, or just the guards on the doors.

A window can be made to open with some magical persuasion. With the right talisman he could melt the glass, or neatly carve the pane from the wooden frame so that it can swing open like a door.

If he checks, there does not appear to be a second set of guards.

He's going to carve the pane from the wooden frame and swing the window open.  He is going to head out of the window and behind the houses, keeping out of sight of the guards until he reaches the gate, which he will try to get open just enough for him to slip through before closing it again.

He can do that. It's pretty dark out already and the guards are not focused in that direction. The guards are also pretty sleepy.

Once he gets out the gate, he's gonna look around for more guards, and try to figure out where the castle is, and where the guardhouse is.

They briefly saw the palace on their way here; it's to the West, currently out of sight because it's on the other side of the nearest mountain ridge.

There are no signs of an obvious guardhouse nearby. Although, there sure are a lot of guards stationed on top of that white pyramid of a fortress.

He's going to look for an entrance into the pyramid.  Preferably a lightly guarded one.

There's what appears to be a door half way up the pyramid, with a guard on either side of it. More guards stand on the very top looking down. 

He's going to find a place to hide, and send a paperman to check through the door and see what's on the other side.  When it comes back, he's going to set off a glitter talisman just around the corner of the pyramid.

On the other side are some stone hallways lit with torches. A peek down the hall these two ways reveal some relatively friendly looking doors, none of them guarded, to what might be living quarters for the guardsmen. But down these stone steps over here his paperman can spy a more dimly lit and unfriendly looking hallway that boasts grates and cell bars instead of nice doors.

There is some confused shouting about the glitter talisman from the guards on top of the pyramid. They all scurry to the other side of the platform to get a better look.

The guards outside the door look at each other, confused, and then move away around the fortress tier to see what the commotion is about. More confused shouting between these guards on the middle tier and the guards on top.

He slips through the door while the guards are distracted, and peeks through the first of the doors that look like they might be living quarters.

It does indeed turn out to be modest living quarters. There are two beds and one occupant, seemingly asleep. One of the ridiculous pointy Wen soldier hats is resting on a table between the beds.

He's going to poke around some more.  He picks up any weapons or talismans he finds.

There's a sword also on the table and several spears propped up against the wall. No talismans. There is a pretty nice looking water canteen, though, if he's interested.

Water, huh.  He sniffs it to see if it's actually water.  And grabs all those spears, he doesn't need the guards to have spears.

It is not, in fact, actually water, though the alcohol content will be rather weak for Wei Wuxian's tastes.

He drinks it anyway.  He puts the container back where it was, and goes on to the next room, peering carefully in through the door before entering.

This one is much the same, sans sleeping occupants. No swords, a few extra spears again, and five flame talismans meant for lighting candles or torches.

He takes the spears and the five flame talismans, and moves on to the next room, still remembering to check through the door before entering.

The rooms are basically all the same in their selection of items. Some have more alcohol or talismans than others. A few have awake occupants.

He takes the spears and talismans, drinks the alcohol, and avoids the awake occupants.  When he's gotten through all the rooms without awake occupants, he moves heads down the stairs to the apparent dungeons.

Most of the cells on this first level are empty. There are a few exceptions. Mostly men, huddled against the wall or asleep on the floor, leashed by ugly iron chains.`Some of them look badly underfed; only one actually looks up and notices Wei Wuxian as he passes. He stares silently, eyes sunken and uncertain.

There are stairs down to a deeper level, underground where it is coldest. If Wei Wuxian stands at the top of the stairs, he will hear distant voices from somewhere below.

He begins to open the cells, once he figures out a way, and then uses a slicing talisman to cut the chains.  As they begin to wake up, he realizes he's carrying a bunch of spears he has no plans for, and hands them to the prisoners.

"Ah, just don't tell anyone who gave you these, alright?"

The prisoners are extremely confused and for the most part distrustful of this random kid handing them spears, but being unchained is definitely good. They agree not to tell anyone. Some of them congregate in the dungeon hall and start muttering to each other. Do they just... leave? Try stabbing guards with the spears while they do that? That sounds like it might get them extremely killed. But also, they are prisoners in Wen dungeons, so it's not like not getting killed is the most likely alternative.

Some of them decide to go for it and head up the stairs. Others are going to continue hiding out in their cells for now, keeping the weapons hidden and the broken chains disguised. Wei Wuxian is thanked uncertainly.

He doesn't much care what they do with the spears, really!

He heads down to the next level cautiously.  He stops and listens once he can hear the voices below clearly.

One of the voices belongs to Wen Chao.

"Even though you've been granted the privilege of taking lessons here, you're still refusing to give us this information?  I can't imagine how the Gusu Lan sect managed to get a reputation of respectability when you are so obviously lowly and rude."

He is currently pretending at poise, looking down his nose at the captive.  

"What, nothing to say?" 

Perhaps it will provoke a reaction if he kicks his wounded leg?  

That will get him a pained hiss and even a facial expression a few shades away from 'indifferent.'

Lan Wangji glares at Wen Chao once he has recaptured enough composure to do so, breathing unsteadily.

Oh how fun.  He laughs as he watches the reaction.  But it is Wen Chao who is capturing things today.  Including this uppity Lan who doesn't know his place.

"Where is the other Yin Iron piece?"

"I have never seen it."

"Well of course you wouldn't be competent enough to actually have it.  I just want to know where it is."

This is at least not the worst way Wen Chao could be using his time. It's preferable to him going out into the world and actually searching for the Yin Iron piece, or trying to extract this information from anyone else. Wangji is glad that Wei Ying has not yet arrived.

He thinks about all the different ways he would kill Wen Chao if he had his hands free and does his best to look bored.

Who does Lan Wangji think he is?  Lan Wangji can be kicked again. 

"Perhaps you can at least tell me who does know?  Should I bring in some of the other students?  Or drag in a few more people from what remains of Cloud Recesses?  I don't think we've bothered to wipe them all out yet."

Another stifled sound of pain, an even less indifferent facial expression.

The fear hurts as much as the broken leg, panic crushing in on his rib cage until he worries he'll black out. Wangji is not accustomed to fear like this; he cannot remember ever being as afraid as he has been this entire week since his capture. It sharpens to the point of pain whenever he considers his clan, his clan's vulnerability.

"None of them know," he grits out. "Do not touch them."

"Do you or any of them know where Lan Xichen went?"

He has no idea if anyone knows where his brother went. He hopes someone from their clan does and will find him in time to help him if he's injured. Wangji certainly doesn't know himself. Brother could already be dead.

"No."

Wen Chao leans up close, examining the face of his captive for its elusive and subtle expressions.  He seems satisfied enough that it's the truth.  

"You can stay in here for tonight.  Tell the guards if you happen to think of anything you forgot to tell me earlier, and they can take you to the house set aside for you for some proper rest."  Wen Chao can't quite make his expression caring, though he seems to be trying.  It is too obviously false.  

"Either way, I'll be seeing you at Indoctrination tomorrow."

Oh no.  He knew that Lan Zhan had been taken captive, and that they interrogated him about the location of the Yin Iron, but this is different.  He needs to help Lan Zhan.  Does he still have any slicing talismans?  Yes, he's got two left.  He doesn't have his sword with him, he shouldn't get into a fight with Wen Chao even though he really wants to.  He runs back up the stairs and ducks into one of the cells in the hopes that this will keep Wen Chao from seeing him, since he left his sword behind and can't fight Wen Chao. 

Wen Chao exits the room.  His bodyguard follows behind him, barring the door behind them and then quickly catching up.  Neither seem concerned with the cells lining the hall.

As soon as they leave the hallway he's in, Wei Wuxian unbars the door and heads down towards the lower level.

There's a long row of cells much like the one above it, only colder and darker and altogether more miserable. Resentful energy lingering around the metal chains in each cell.

Lan Wangji is in a cell near the end of the hallway.

He hears the bar slide open, and then footsteps. Either Wen Chao forgot something or Wen Xu was outside waiting for him to finish.

It's only one set of footsteps, which suggests Wen Xu. Fear is an additional ache in Wangji's body moreso than it is any kind of emotion.

He doesn't look up.

He walks up to the cell Lan Zhan is locked in, and grabs the bars as he looks in.

"Lan Zhan..."

- fear turns out to still be an emotion after all.

what is he doing here how did he get here they're going to find him -

"Leave."

He starts working on getting the bars open.

"I'm getting you out."

He hasn't ever let his friends talk him out of saving them before and he doesn't plan to start now.

PANIC

"Wei Ying, no."

He manages to get the latch open at this point.

"I'm not going to be talked out of this."

He needs to go find Wen Qing, after this.  Lan Zhan probably already has a broken leg at this point.

When Wei Ying gets the door open and approaches, Wangji kicks him hard in the chest. Not hard enough to break anything, but hard enough to force him back. "Go away."

(Wangji can neither kick nor support his weight with the broken leg, so this maneuver requires hanging his weight from his battered wrists. Blood trickles sluggishly down his arms.)

He doesn't need to re-enter kicking range to do this.  He tries the first of his slicing talismans on the chains, though he doesn't expect it to work, when he hasn't even tried to do anything about the resentful energy yet.  Still, if he can avoid using demonic cultivation this early, that's better.

"Have I ever been that easy to talk out of something?"

Seriously, he's been pestering this man since the first evening of the Lan lecture, has Lan Zhan forgotten who he's dealing with.

Slicing talisman indeed does not work. The chains shiver and then burn colder as the magic dissipates. 

"Wei Ying, stop. My clan - they will kill the survivors you must stop."

"Fine."

It would hurt Lan Zhan too much to lose the rest of the Lan clan.  He should have fought Wen Chao instead. 

"The Wen clan will not get away with their crimes.". 

He says this with much certainty, even for Wei Wuxian.

Deep breath. "Wei Ying, how did you get here? You must leave."

"I walked in.  After making a diversion.  You're right, though, I should probably leave.  The situation up there is probably pretty interesting by now!"

Maybe even interesting enough for him to slip out unnoticed in the chaos.

He turns and begins to leave, taking a moment to put the bars back how they were.

C o n c e r n.

But relief, so much relief. This might be the first time Wei Ying has ever listened to him about not doing a thing. "Be careful."

He is being very careful, really!

"Don't worry about me."

He walks back up to the next level to see what's happening there.

There's some commotion, scuffling at the foot of the stairs and half inside one of the cells. Most of the noise seems to be coming from the floor above, though. There's a lot of yelling and banging coming from the floor above. It smells like smoke.

He finds an empty cell to hide in the back of and sends a paperman to check out the floor above.

There's a lot of fighting, and a lot of confused and/or drunk soldiers running around trying to figure out where the fighting is coming from, and also something in one of the rooms seems to be on fire. There are bodies on the ground, both guards and prisoners, some of them still breathing. Judging from the number of people visible, it looks like at half or more of the prisoners succeeded in at least making it out of the building

Wow he successfully caused them so much trouble.  Where's the nearest dead guard, can he get to them and steal some of their stuff so that he looks plausibly like another confused guard and leave?

He can! He will be noticed, but other guards are preoccupied with the prisoners that are actively attacking and will not waste time trying to stab him. He can slip out through the commotion.

He takes the guards armor and slips out.  He heads away from the visitors rooms, then removes everything he stole from the guard and begins making his way carefully back towards the house he's supposed to be in right now.

Everything is very peaceful over here. The guards outside his house are turned towards the white fortress, squinting up at it. They heard some of the commotion.

He sneaks around behind the houses like he did before, and slips in through the window.  Once inside, he heads to bed, hoping Jiang Cheng didn't wake up and notice his absence.

Jiang Cheng has definitely noticed his absence.  He is sitting on his own bed with his arms crossed, and immediately walks towards Wei Wuxian as soon as he's inside.  

"What were you doing?  We haven't even been here a full day yet and you're already getting into trouble!" He keeps his voice to a whisper, not wanting to attract attention.  

"I was just going for a walk! No one even noticed me!"

Neither of these things are true.  He's pretty sure he wasn't recognized though.

"Go to bed," he says flatly, arms still crossed.  It was one thing to get into mischief when they were in Cloud Recesses.  If he's caught here he's going to wind up hurt.

"I was already going to bed!"

He sleeps peacefully until awoken in the morning.

Morning arrives with some loud knocking!

The guards knock on the door until a Jiang disciple answers. They announce that all the disciples have half an hour to report to the plaza below the White Flame Fortress for Indoctrination. When asked, the guards clarify that the White Flame Fortress is the white pyramid building.

Jiang Cheng will make sure all of the other Jiang disciples are up and have plenty of time to get ready.  They can form into nice orderly rows that won't cause anyone to get into trouble with their Wen captors.

Wei Wuxian cooperates with the nice orderly rows.  He remembers to grab Suibian this time.

The guards will lead them to the White Flame Fortress plaza. The Jin Clan delegation is already assembled in neat rows behind Jin Zixuan. The Nie Clan have yet to arrive. There is no sign of Lan Wangji, of course.

Wen Chao stands far above them, looking over the assembling disciples from on top of the pyramid.  

Wei Wuxian looks around for Lan Zhan.  He hopes that the ruckus in the fortress last night didn't make them decide to keep him locked up.  He glares up at Wen Chao after a moment.

Lan Zhan isn't there, but Wei Wuxian will instead be able to see a group of approaching Nies. They shuffle into line beside the Jiang disciples, glancing nervously up at Wen Chao.

The class is nearly all there.  With a proper audience, he takes the time to slowly make his way down to the lowest tier before the ground floor as his presence is announced.  

"Look at yourselves - a bunch of sleepy, mangy dogs.  Is that really the best your clans could send?"  he scoffs, considering the ranks of guest disciples.

Someone is missing.  He calls out orders to a set of distant guards.  "What the hell are you waiting for.  Bring him over!  We're not going to let him miss Indoctrination."

They bring him.

He walks on his own two feet. The pain paired with the concentration necessary to keep his leg from shattering leaves him hardly able to pay attention to anything else in his surroundings. Wangji has had a bad morning; he thinks at least one of his ribs is broken. Fortunately, being functional around this injury does not require nearly as much concentration as the leg. 

He is vaguely aware of Wei Ying on his left as the guards bring him to a halt. Wangji does not look at him. Or at anyone. Or anywhere. He stands alone, because all of the Lan disciples are dead. The guards step away.

Oh good he didn't mess that up.  He waves at Lan Zhan, hoping to catch his attention and ask if he's alright.

He does not look at him or react in any way. Wen Chao is right there and will see it if they act like they care about each other, Wei Ying needs to stop.

He pouts a bit when Lan Zhan ignores him.  This is not suspicious because he did the exact same thing last time when he didn't know the future and wasn't trying to make the Wen's lives as hard as possible from the get-go. 

"Since you are all here in Qishan, you must follow our rules.  The first of these rules is: no carrying weapons during Indoctrination."

"You will each hand your swords over to our keeping."

Everyone processes this with Horror And Disgust. To have their spiritual swords stripped away is a violation beyond merely rendering them defenseless.

"A cultivator stands with his sword, always!" cries one of the disciples. "There's no way we would surrender our swords. I refuse!"

"Never before have we had to surrender our swords. Never before were we told that we would have to surrender our swords here. How can the Wen Clan be like this? We refuse!"

Mumbled agreement from the crowd.

He listens to their objections with a sneer.  

"This is the very reason you need to be unarmed," he mentions, tone shifting to one of haughty superiority.  "It is because you are disobedient and lack any etiquette.  You're rotten to the very core.  This is why you need Indoctrination - to correct your manners and keep you from making any... mistakes.  Mistakes like challenging the authority of the Wen Clan!"

He gestures to a set of guards who are already prepared with a tray for holding blades.  "Confiscate their swords!"

The guards step forwards and collect the swords from each disciple, in some cases needing to yank them free from fierce, reluctant grips.

He gives Bichen up without protest. That they even bothered giving her back to him is a sick joke, but it still burns to have the sword taken away. To watch the guard's grubby hands fondle it. He thinks he can feel Wen Chao sneering down at him without looking.

He does NOT give up his sword without protest! Who does Wen Chao think he is! He will protest and he will protest LOUDLY.

"We are here to be indoctrinated. Do not push it too far, Young Master Wen. The Jin Clan stands with our swords!"

"You dare to challenge our authority?"  Wen Chao asks.  He steps down closer to the assembled disciples, guards following behind him in a formation.  

"See what I was talking about?  Some of you already have bad intentions.  Some of you are trying to stage a coup!  We know how to deal with people like that, however.  Isn't that right, Lan-er gongzi?"  He focuses on Lan Wangji as he says this, smiling the same kind of smile Lan Wangji will recognize from his interrogation the night before.  

Raising a hand towards the guards, then pointing towards Jin Zixuan, "Take that one into custody, if he's so eager to be locked up."

He's half a second away from drawing his sword on the approaching guards, but one of the disciples behind him grabs his arm urgently.

"Please pardon him, Second Young Master Wen," she says quietly, bowing. "Our Young Master did not mean to offend you. We beg your forgiveness."

"Mianmian," Jin Zixuan mutters to her. "There's no need to beg forgiveness from these dogs. We have no cowards here!"

"Young Master, please, remember your father's wishes," Mianmian whispers. "Wen-er-gongzi, our Clan Leader ordered us not to neglect the Wen's commands. Our two clans have always had a good relationship. Of course we will comply with your decree."

Jin Zixuan scowls but doesn't contradict her.

Wen Chao approaches her, leering.  "What a charming young lady," he says.  "Properly obedient, and pretty even in those Jin rags.  For your sake, I will pardon your young master this time."  

He gestures to the guard to take the sword.  

He would like to instead let that guard have Jin Zixuan's FIST in his FACE -

But Mianmian is tugging his sleeve, so fine. The guards can have the swords.

The guards pile all the swords onto their tray and hastily tug it off out of sight. There are more muttered protests, but no one steps out of line.

"This brings me to my next point, before we can begin the Indoctrination.  A number of lowly worms in the prison decided to attempt a riot last night.  They have been dealt with, of course, but we're going to be keeping an especially strict eye on all of you.  This is just the sort of thing that you undisciplined louts might have had a part in.  Know that there will be no further mercy granted." 

He glares at each of them, walking in front of them before turning and climbing back to his preferred vantage point on the steps.  

Lowly worms, huh.  He does not say that he's confident they were all more interesting people then Wen Chao, but he does think it.

"Are you blaming us for your own prison riot? Wen Chao! How could it be our fault that you are so disorganized? We were all under guard in our quarters, do not insult us!"

"If you will not stay quiet, you will join them in their cells."

"These are your books," he says, summoning a number of guards on standby for that order.  "Tales of glory from the most esteemed Wen cultivators of the past.  You will be memorizing them until you can recite them on command.  This will be tested every day, at dawn, noon, and dusk.  Anyone who fails to remember every word will face punishment, in accordance with our clan rules."

The guards pass out the books: compact red scrolls. Some of the disciples hesitantly open their scrolls and begin to read, glancing nervously at each other and up at Wen Chao.

He opens his scroll, looks down at it for a minute, and then looks up at Wen Chao.

"I don't know how to read"

"Don't make trouble!" Jiang Cheng hisses under his breath.  

Jiang Cheng needs to keep the Lotus Pier disciples from getting hurt.  Especially Wei Wuxian.  Who is being an idiot and loudly announcing his insubordination.  

There's no way Wen Chao is going to buy that, no matter how high-and-mighty the Wen clan thinks they are compared to the rest of the clans.

"Then for your sake, you'd better memorize it quickly.  We'll be going over it aloud once."

It is hard to tell whether Wen Chao believes it or is merely humoring the idea.

They go over it aloud once. The disciples are instructed to follow along and read it out loud as they go. The guards are uncertain about whether they should be enforcing this for Wei Wuxian. They settle on just glaring at him a lot.

Lan Wangji does not follow along or read out loud. He does not open his book; the scroll remains clenched in his fist for the duration of his lesson. He does not give any indication that he is even paying attention.

There are fewer Wen rules than there are Lan; the recitation still takes an obnoxiously long time. Eventually, the lesson ends and they will be sent back to their houses. Lan Wangji is led away by the same two guards who brought him.

He is not happy about Lan Zhan probably being taken back to the cell, but there isn't anything he can do about it without upsetting Lan Zhan and endangering his clan.  He will stare concernedly at Lan Zhans back instead, and then head to the Jiang house to think of more ways to make the Wens lives difficult.

"The prison riot was you, wasn't it," Jiang Cheng whispers once he's sure the guards are all far enough away not to hear.

"Jiang Cheng! How could you think such a thing of me!" He tries to both exclaim and keep his voice down, and fortunately mostly succeeds at the latter.

"Are you trying to get yourself hurt?  If you keep doing things like this, you're going to get caught eventually.  Do you think the Wen clan are just going to assign you lines to copy when that happens?"

"I know they will not.  Perhaps I will get caught, but it will be worth it, and I am being cautious.  Trust me."

"What about this is worth you getting hurt over?"

"Do you think they will stop with taking us hostage? Do you think the cloud recesses are the only place they mean to burn?  I am doing what I can to strike first.  And I am doing what I can to not get caught."

"Cloud Recesses burned?"

Oh shit, they hadn't learned that yet.

"I talked to Lan Zhan when I snuck into the prison.  They burned the Cloud Recesses and took him prisoner.  And" and here he lowers his voice even more, "The took the piece of the Yin Iron"

"So you didn't learn this until after you were already in the prison," he glares.  

Other than that... Jiang Cheng agrees that the Wen clan isn't going to stop at hostage-taking and burning only a single one of their rival sects.  Lotus Pier is the next most likely target, even if they all keep their heads down.  It isn't a question of whether they'll attack or not, but a few months change in Wen Ruohan's plans.  Father would already be preparing, probably, but so would the Wen clan.  As hostages, they probably won't be killed or permanently maimed, but that only lasts as long as the Wen clan thinks hostages are useful.

"That's going to take more than a prison riot to fix."

"I know it will.  I have more plans."  He's just not gonna say anything about that first part, Jiang Cheng is judging him incorrectly but would he believe him about the truth? No.

He hadn't intended that as encouragement to do more illegal things. 

"Whatever.  Lets go back and study their stupid rules.  Aloud, since you supposedly forgot how to read this morning.  Getting them wrong is definitely not going to stop the Wen clan, and at least pretending to be obedient might keep suspicion off of you for whatever reckless plan you come up with next."

He goes along with the reading through the rules, and heads to bed cooperatively when the time comes.

In the morning, the guards knock on the doors to make sure everyone is awake again. Today meager breakfast rations are provided, and are to be eaten within their quarters.

Once they are done with breakfast, the Jiangs can be led to their lesson. The guards wait for them outside.

Jiang Cheng once again ensures that everyone in his group gets their food and are as prepared for the day as he can get them.

Disciples are stood in the plaza in their same configurations as yesterday; this time the Jins are the last to arrive. Lan Wangji is already there, looking no visibly worse for wear. There are guards in front of the fortress, watching all the junior disciples carefully.

The Jins do arrive before they can be counted as late. Jin Zixuan looks visibly grumpy, but most of the others are meek in front of the guards.

He waves at Lan Zhan again, trying to get his attention.  He makes a slight effort at being subtle, but not much.  He doesn't expect it to get any response but it's worth trying.

He indeed receives no response.

He pouts slightly at Lan Zhan, but doesn't try any harder.

Wen Chao arrives right on time.  His terrace now has a proper chair, which he lounges on while everyone else is standing.  

"It is time for the first recitation of our rules.  Which of you wants to be the first to go?"

No one answers.

Wen Chao looks over the group.  The other sect students are both incompetent and afraid of punishment, clearly.  

"Well, I'll just have to start calling people out myself."  He looks down the rows, making a show of considering each.  "Lan Wangji.  Perhaps you would like to go first?"

"I cannot."

"You cannot?  Aren't you one of those 'Twin Jades of Lan'?  You claim such a title, but you can't even remember a few rules?  So much for the reputation of the Lan clan.

"Jin Zixuan.  Can you do better than," he gestures, face showing disgust, "that?"

Wen Chao probably isn't smart enough to rub salt in the wound of the missing First Jade on purpose, not so indirectly, but nonetheless -

Wangji refuses to read anything into it. If they had caught Brother or found him dead, Wen Chao would have boasted of it openly by now. Nothing has been discovered and nothing has changed. He burns silently, rage and anguish.

Okay well Zixuan was going to recite the rules and do what he was supposed to, for Mianmian's sake if nothing else - he had in fact learned them. But if Lan Wangji, the follower of every rule ever is going to misbehave then there's no way Zixuan won't also rebel. He'd bring shame to his clan, to roll over so easily!

"No, I cannot either," he says loudly.

"Wei Wuxian, then."  

Maybe he'll actually get to send in the guards with whips, if this keeps up.

He makes silent eye contact until it looks like Wen Chao is about to say something, and then begins to say completely random words.  He keeps this up until he gets interrupted.

"Wei Wuxian!  How dare you?  Stop that at once!

"Soldiers, strike that one.  And take all three of them to the vegetable garden to carry manure for the day."

Manure?!

Several soldiers move in towards the disciples. One of them raises his whip, a black, coiled thing, and cracks it down at Wei Wuxian.

No.

Lan Wangji catches it with his bare hand. He grips it and yanks and now this guard no longer has a whip.

"Lan Zhan! You really do care!"
He gets between Lan Zhan and the nearest guard, they're going to attack Lan Zhan after that and he doesn't want to let that happen.

Why is Wei Ying doing that, that is the wrong thing for Wei Ying to do. Wangji puts a hand tight on Wei Ying's shoulder, ideally to toss him backwards if they are attacked. He keeps his eyes fixed on the guards around them.

The guard without a whip sort of does not want to attack the angry cultivator who just stole his whip. He glances at the other guards, then up at Wen Chao.

"Don't just stand there.  If they both want to be insolent, then subdue them both," he shouts, seeming to forget Jin Zixuan.  More guards are called over to help, since this is apparently too much for the ones who had been sent already.  He joins them, standing up from his seat and beginning to walk down the stairs.  

The guards descend on them with more whips and sheathed swords as blunt instruments. Several weapons come speeding towards Wei Wuxian at once.

Wei Wuxian ducks out of Lan Zhan's hold and away from the incoming weapons, and attempts to grab one of the sheathed swords.

He succeeds in grabbing the sheath; it will be more difficult to wrestle the entire sword away from the guard, who is currently shouting in alarm.  

Another guard shoots rope from his sleeve, which lashes around Wei Wuxian's torso and coils tight until his arms are forced back.

Actually fighting back here is a lot more problematic than just getting in their way; that makes him dangerous instead of simply disobedient. The remnants of his clan could pay dearly for it.

He decides not to hit ropeguard across the throat with this whip, yet, and instead focuses on blocking another sheathed sword aimed for Wei Ying's ribs.

He decides to spin away from the guard with the rope in the hopes of getting loose.  He gets about two turns before he trips, falls, and continues away from the guard, rolling along the ground.

Wow What The Fuck

The guard lets go of the rope in astonishment at this absurd behavior! Another less befuddled guard kicks Wei Wuxian in the chest.

And now Lan Wangji is between that guard and Wei Wuxian.

He stands there with his arms out, whip in hand, as though he can afford to do anything - 

Wen Chao reaches the fight, flanked by his own squad of guards.  This was going to just be a few cuts and welts - superficial enough - and a day of unpleasant labor.  Now, he's going to need to up the punishment and make a proper example out of them for the others.  Not that he has a problem with that.

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are quite outnumbered now.  "Grab their arms and pin them already!" he shouts to the guards, waving his sword around menacingly.

This takes some effort. Lan Wangji is fast, but when someone strikes their whip over his broken leg he collapses.

Grabbing Wei Wuxian is a lot more difficult because he does not have any convenient broken limbs and he is also very... wiggly. One of the guards swears and tries to whack him over the head with his sheathed sword.

Have they forgotten his willingness to have absolutely no dignity? He throws himself on the ground and attempts to kick the striking guards legs out from under him.

There is a lot more cursing. Why is he like this!

He trips the one guard, but there are many more ready to try to stomp on him. He can dodge or trip some of these, but not all of them. Eventually someone aims another flying rope at his legs, yanking them tight, and several more jump on top of him.

They're probably going to throw him in a cell with a dog again.  Fuck.  He gives up on fighting and goes completely limp so that they have to work as hard as possible to carry him.

The guards find this highly obnoxious. They mutter angrily as they haul him up from the ground.

They hold both Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian with their arms pinned and look to Wen Chao for further orders.

Jiang Cheng stands back and watches.  He hates this.  His fists clench tight as he tries to avoid joining in.  That would only get three people punished instead of two.  Jiang Cheng needs to take care of the other Lotus Pier disciples.

None of the others are helping the two of them fight either.  This is probably a good thing - Nevernight has more than enough forces lying in wait to quell the entire group of captives.  Even if their swords were with them, not being held in some unknown and distant part of the fortress, there wouldn't be hope of winning against all of the guards Nevernight has surrounded them with.  Where would they even go, weaponless in the heart of enemy territory?

He was expecting Wei Wuxian to vanish again at night.  That would have been dangerous enough.

Wen Chao is an idiot.  Jiang Cheng hopes that Wen Chao isn't enough of an idiot to actually start executions.

His opponents fully held, Wen Chao finally closes the distance and demands a whip from one of the watching guards.  Both Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji receive a number of whip-strikes.  Blood is drawn.

Wen Chao shouts to the rest of the watching disciples, "Let this be a lesson to the rest of you as well.  The forces of Nevernight are superior to anything your undisciplined and savage sects can throw at us.  You have been brought here to learn how to be obedient.  I assure you that we have many different ways of teaching how to fall in line, for anyone else who is uninterested in the original lesson plan.

"Soldiers, take them to the dungeons."

The soldiers are relieved that they do not have to worry about keeping Wei Wuxian in line for the rest of the lesson; putting him in a dungeon is much better. 

Four guards split off to drag the troublemakers away. They will lead them out of sight around the pyramid, and then up to the dungeon entrance from there.

The whip hurt more than he expected. Wangji is disappointed that he was miscalibrated about that; it makes him wonder what else he underestimates. There’s blood on his lips and he feels like he might black out at any moment, but under the circumstances he is pretty composed. He didn’t scream or cry. Barely made any sound at all.

So. That’s good.

He focuses most of his attention on Wei Ying as they’re dragged off, trying to see whether he’s okay. The rest of his attention is on keeping his leg intact.

Wei Ying continues to be completely limp.  He doesn't seem to be reacting to anything in any way.  He's bleeding a little bit where one of them kicked him in the face while he was on the ground.

That is very alarming he is terrified. 

They are dragged into the dungeon and then down to the lower, more miserable level. They bring them to a pair of cells with bars in between them, so that one can see the other.

Wei Wuxian is tossed in the first one. They continue his lack of response to be a great sign and a considerable improvement, but they're not stupid enough to not still chain him up. Chains go around his wrists and neck and link him to the wall; the metal is resentful and unpleasant and stings at his spiritual energy. It's very cold.

Rope guard unties Wei Wuxian's legs to get his rope back.

Lan Wangji is staring fixedly at Wei Wuxian; the guards shove him backwards into the second cell and his leg buckles. His back smacks the stone floor.

That actually gets him to make a noise - not even especially quiet.

He drags in breath and focuses away from the pain, focuses on stay conscious. If he passes out, he won't be able to see what happens to Wei Ying. He has to keep track of Wei Ying.

The chains are quite familiar, at this point. He is grateful that this time they anchor him lower down so that he is not forced to stand.

The guards are relieved that this went so smoothly! One of them makes a rude gesture in Wei Wuxian's direction and then they all turn to go.

He remains completely limp until the guards are out of sight.  Once they're gone, he sits up and looks around.  He whispers, just loud enough that Lan Zhan can hear, "I'm fine."

He begins whistling quietly.

The whistling is a strange and pretty annoying choice, but it's not like he has any better suggestions for ways Wei Ying should spend his time.

(Silence. Silence would be better. But Wei Ying was just tortured so Wangji will be patient about this.)

He keeps whistling, focused on controlling the resentful energy the chains are covered in.

Chains: fairly resentful. They're designed for keeping cultivators tired and suppressed, not for being weapons, but enough resentful energy whispers through all the bitter metal on this floor of the dungeon that he could probably do some damage with it.

He wants the chains to detach from the walls so he can use them to attack the guards when they come down. 

The hook on the wall splinters. His chains land on the floor with a loud clank.

Concern??? "Wei Ying -"

He stops whistling.

"Lan Zhan? What's wrong?"

Possibly he should not have just started attempting demonic cultivation with Lan Zhan right there, but he doesn't want to stay in a dungeon.  Lan Zhan should understand this.

"What are you doing? Was that you?"

"Yeah? I'm breaking us out."

Maybe if he doesn't say it's demonic cultivation Lan Zhan won't guess.

He doesn't ask again, but he is now watching Wei Ying very closely.

He resumes the whistling.  His chains should be let him move freely, so that he can easily attack the guards with them.  Lan Zhan's chains should also detach from the wall. 

"Wei Ying."

He stops whistling again.  Maybe if Lan Zhan has a problem he should express it.

"Lan Zhan?"

"That is not proper cultivation. Where did you learn..."

"Ah, don't worry about it, huh? I'm getting us out of here, why does it matter where I learned it?"

He does support Wei Ying not being in a dungeon anymore, but his own chains breaking will be a problem, and also -

"Wei Ying. Using dark cultivation will bring more harm than these chains."

Why does he have to go through this again.  He's heard this lecture so many times already.  How does he convince Lan Zhan to let this go without revealing the time travel.

"I know, Lan Zhan, but I can't let us stay in this dungeon!"

On the other hand, once he breaks out of this dungeon he'll have to leave Nevernight for good, so he won't be able to pull off any other plans.  Maybe he should pretend to let Lan Zhan talk him into giving this up...

If you think leaving this dungeon is worth demonic cultivation then you don't actually appear to know.

"If you rely on this path now, you will only find more reasons. You will damage yourself and others. It is not worth it."

Okay, yeah, pretending to let Lan Zhan win it is.

"Fine, Lan Zhan.  I will let us sit here in this horrible dungeon while we wait for Wen Chao to come punish us."

Wangji is being completely reasonable and does not appreciate the implication otherwise. He has come to find out that being punished by Wen Chao is actually preferable to lots of things.

He sits there and watches Lan Zhan.  It is deeply unreasonable of Lan Zhan to prevent Wei Ying from rescuing him, actually.

He stares back at Wei Ying. 

He wouldn’t even object for spending a few hours this way under normal circumstances. The dungeon and the pain and the blood on both of them make it less romantic.

And also maybe they’re fighting. He isn’t sure.

It is several hours before the lecture is over and Wen Chao gets around to seeing his prisoners.

As he goes to open Wei Wuxian's cell, he notices that the chains aren't attached to the wall properly.  Had his guards done that for some reason?  He can hardly ask them in front of the prisoners.  "Guards!  Chain him up properly.  He needs to be questioned."

The guards with him are confused, but - yeah, those chains are indeed not attached to the wall. They hurriedly shuffle over to fix that.

Wei Wuxian’s chains are anchored to a different hook, further up on the wall this time so that he is dragged up to his knees.

He goes limp again as soon as Wen Chao walks in.  This becomes really uncomfortable when they re-attach the chains but he stays limp.

Wen Chao waits impatiently on the guards, then enters the cell as soon as Wei Wuxian is back on the wall.  

"Wake up."  This is accompanied by a hard prodding to the shoulder with the end of a sword hilt.

The convenient thing about faking unconsciousness is that you don't have to wake up when prodded.  Staying limp while prodded isn't much harder than staying limp while being yanked on to his knees was.

Curious.  He leans in closer.  His guest is definitely alive. 

"Is the training at Lotus Pier really so sub-standard?  I've seen people beaten far more severely and still been conscious.  Fainting like this is pathetic of you."

Since he's already here, he'll try a few more jabs in increasingly uncomfortable places.

Wen Chao is the worst. This is the worst.

“He needs a doctor.”

"What do you know about medicine anyway?" he snaps.

He could probably wake him up with more force.  On the other hand, he does want him alive for longer than a day or two.  Father would not be happy if he killed off one of the hostages so quickly.  

Harrumph.  "He's useless like this, and I'm far too busy to waste time on him."  Wen Chao walks out of the cell.  He does have other things to do for the day - there are quite a few prisoners who still need to be questioned about the riot.  He leaves the cell and lets the guard re-lock it.  "Send Wen Qing to look over him, since he's supposedly so frail," he says to the guard as he leaves for another part of the dungeons.

Once Wen Chao and the guards leave, he sits up again and rearranges himself to be more comfortable.  He tries to smile reassuringly at Lan Zhan, and settles in to wait for Wen Qing.

He is Not Reassured At All. 

About half an hour later, the doors to the dungeon groan open and closed. 

It is, in fact, a doctor. She stops in front of Wei Wuxian's cell and looks inside, her lips pressed tight.

He's obviously only minorly injured, and not unconscious. 

"Ah, don't tell Wen Chao I'm faking, huh?"

"Wei Wuxian," she sighs by way of greeting.

Wen Qing unlocks his cell and steps inside. She's holding her medical kit. "You are injured, though? I was told..." She looks down.

"It's not that bad, I just got kicked around a little.  You're welcome to take a look yourself, though"

"Wei Wuxian you don't spare anyone the slightest bit of trouble when you lie like that, least of all me. Turn around and let me see your back."

Here's his back.  He's definitely been kicked, and also has definitely been rolling around on the ground like some sort of hooligan.

Yes and also the open whipmarks. Wen Qing has never seen whipping wounds that looked as likely to get infected as these ones do now. She makes a noise of Disapproval. (Which is better than a noise of guilt, although that's - somewhere. She pushes it aside; she has to.)

"I am going to clean this and then apply some ointments. The cleaning will hurt, but I have to be very thorough because you have been rolling around on the ground."

"It was strategic rolling around on the ground!" He can handle pain, it's fine. 

"Mhm."

She cuts away the back of his shredded robes and gets to work. First she uses water, washing the grime from his skin and clearing out his wounds. This is pretty painful.

"Ah! It hurts! It hurts! Why are you doing this to me! I am already injured!"

"Does this feel strategic to you, Wei-gongzi?" She finishes with the water.

Then it is time for alcohol, which hurts a lot more. 

"AH! AH!! It hurts! Ah!"  He didn't complain anywhere near this much when he was being kicked and whipped.

Wen Qing moves her cloth a little more gently, but she looks more exasperated than concerned. "Halfway done."

Lan Wangj is Looking Away.

Because he does not like seeing Wei Ying in pain, obviously, and not because he wants to be gently tending to Wei Ying's wounds instead.

He stops fussing about it after a moment.

Good.

She finishes quickly and moves on to applying bandages, reaching through the front of his robes to wind them around his torso. "I wasn't expecting even you to get in this much trouble so quickly, Wei Wuxian. Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"Of course not! He would have attacked us eventually anyway, you know.  He was just looking for an excuse!"

Well he's not wrong. (The guilt isn't useful and isn't going to help her brother survive and she will not entertain it.)

She finishes with the ointment and bandages. "Are you hurt anywhere else?"

"I'm not sure, why don't you check?" Maybe if he tries to flirt Lan Zhan will make eye contact again, in order to glare at him about it. 

Oh good. Another opportunity for him to Watch Wei Ying Interact With A Girl.

Watching Wei Ying interact with a girl might be Lan Wangji's least favorite activity, and he has recently spent a lot of time getting tortured.

"Don't waste my time, Wei Wuxian. There are a lot of injured people in this city. Are you hurt anywhere else or not?"

"I'm fine."  Oh good, Lan Zhan is looking at him again.  He winks at Lan Zhan.

"Alright. I'll leave you some water."

She does, in a little brass cup, and then packs up her medical case to leave. She locks Wei Wuxian's door (without feeling guilty about it, At All), and moves to Lan Wangji's. "Lan-er gongzi. Are you hurt in the same way?"

"Mn."

Wow she's so glad she has the two most infuriating patients possible. 

She starts the same process for Lan Wangji, cleaning and then bandaging.

It's good she's cleaning him up.  This is probably the best opportunity he has to try and convince her to leave the Nightless City when the war begins, and maybe keep Wen Ning from dying in the first place. 

"Wen Qing? When we go to war... please go to Carp Tower with your brother and tell them everything you know about the plans Wen Ruohan has.  They'll spare you, if you've proven your loyalty."

"What war are you talking about, Young Master Wei."

She's not this fucking dense.

"The war that is coming."

"You assume that I could just take my brother away from here at will. That neither of us would be imprisoned or killed."

"You are very competent, Lady Wen.  But if there is anything I could do that would make that easier, tell me."

She keeps working.

When Lan Wangji's back is all bandaged, she asks if he needs attention anywhere else.

He ignores her in favor of wondering what the hell Wei Ying is up to.

"Lan-er gongzi. I know you are in pain, but it's very difficult for me to help you if I have to play guessing games."

"If you want to help me, Wen-guniang, send medical supplies to Gusu."

She doesn't have the power to do that. Least of all without Wen Chao or Wen Xu noticing, which will only make things worse for everyone.

She flinches anyway.

Wen Qing collects herself and turns to give Wei Wuxian a look. A do-you-know-where-he's-injured type look.

"He caught a whip with his bare hand and they kicked his broken leg."  Lan Zhan has decided to place Wei Ying's health over Wei Ying's right to make decisions, so he can live with Wei Ying doing the same to him, can't he.

Betrayal.

Of course he did.

She will look at his leg, splint it, put in some needles. Lan Wangji is glaring at Wei Wuxian and intently ignoring her, but he shakes, unpleasant and involuntary, when she touches his leg. She puts in some needles for that, too.

His hand is a mess, but Lan Wangji's cultivation is very strong; she is pretty sure there won't be lasting damage. More bandages, a brush of her own magic.

Anything else, Second Young Master Lan?

Sigh. Alright. She'll come and check on them again tonight, if they're still here.

"Please.  I don't want Wen Ning to get hurt." This is way more honest about his emotions then he wants to be! Why does changing the future involve things other than getting in to fights and deflecting questions!

She doesn't know what to make of this. She feels inclined to believe him, although she should not. What does it change, if she believes him? That doesn't make him right about what is best for her brother. She has no idea why he considers himself so well informed.

Wen Qing hesitates. Then she leaves.

"Ah, Lan Zhan, do not glare at me so much.  What would you have done if I had been the one refusing to tell her about my injuries?"

"You were."

"And if I had continued to not cooperate, would you not have told her?"

That doesn't seem relevant.

"It is so cruel of you to glare at me when I was only caring for your health, Lan Zhan."  He's not letting this go.

"It is cruel of you to get yourself hurt in front of people who care about you."

"Lan Zhan! You care about me? I'm so touched!" Why does Lan Zhan care this much about Jiang Chengs feelings.  That's so weird. 

"So it is fine that you got yourself hurt, since your brother is not here?  Do your friends not count?"

He says that so casually. As though Brother isn't hurt worse, or dead for all that Wangji knows. As though most of his Clan are still alive to care if anything happens to Wangji, as though getting hurt this badly has been his choice - as though it matters at all -

"You didn't need to grab the whip to protect me."  Maybe he should just shut up.  He talked and now Lan Zhan is making a sad face, which is terrible, and is not what he wanted.  Why didn't he think about his words, he knows Lan Xichen is fine but Lan Zhan doesn't yet. 

"Don't be stupid."

What, was he supposed to just let the whip hit Wei Ying? When he could instead... prevent the whip from hitting Wei Ying? Absurd. 

"How am I the stupid one? You're the one who grabbed the whip! You got injured for no reason, and now you lecture me on getting injured!"

Apparently they're doing sitting in silence again.  He shifts around some more, trying to make himself less uncomfortable.  It doesn't really work.

Wen Chao eventually makes his way back to their section of the dungeons.  Wen Qing had reminded him not to kill his prisoners.  Like he needed reminding.  Besides, it's hardly his fault if they're too weak to be questioned.

He strolls into the cell with a pompous flourish.  "It's time to answer my questions."

Wei Wuxian is no longer pretending to be unconscious.  He stares at Wen Chao and doesn't say anything, for now.  He's capable of shutting up sometimes.

"As I'm sure you know, we currently have three pieces of Yin Iron.  There is also a fourth - one that has been hidden from us.  Now, Lan-er gongzi here claims that the remains of his sect know nothing about the location.  That leaves you as the most likely person hiding it."

Telling Wen Chao it's inside the Xuanwu might get him taken there faster, but he doesn't want to bet on Wen Chao being that stupid, so he's gonna sit here silently some more.

After a brief pause, he continues as if he wasn't expecting a reply at all.  "You, or perhaps one of the others from Lotus Pier.  I've been told by Wen Qing that you are too pathetic and frail to risk questioning.  You and Jiang gongzi are close, however - perhaps he knows something?  I could bring him in."

"I do not know where it is.  If Jiang Cheng knows where it is, that is certainly news to me." The second half of that is true.

This is not a very useful answer.  Unfortunately, even he can't get away with dragging students to the dungeons until they've actually done something wrong.  He'll just have to wait for Jiang Wanyin to slip up.

He stands up fully, looming over Wei Wuxian.  "I shouldn't be surprised at how little you know.  Your own sects can't even educate their children without sending them begging to Cloud Recesses for lessons.  Or, used to - The Gusu Lan sect had displeased us with their treachery and disloyalty.  Now they won't be spreading their pitiful excuse for teachings again any time soon."

"No one owes loyalty to a Wen dog." Whelp there goes keeping his mouth shut.

Part of him regrets not letting Wei Ying break his chains. He wants to be attacking Wen Chao very badly.

Instead he just has to glare and think about killing Wen Chao as loudly as possible.

Wen Chao considers himself above the opinions of the lesser sects.  If they aren't going to be useful, he has more interesting things to do.  He only turns back to look at them as he exits the cell and locks it.  

"You can consider your poor attitude in here for the time being."

He hasn't been beaten again and there's no giant dog in the cell, he counts this as a win.

"Did you ever find it?"

"I know where it is, and no one else does.  I won't let the Wens find it." Notice how he isn't promising he won't get it.  Not that he's sure what he wants to do with the Stygian Tiger Amulet this time, it was nessecary to win the war but he's not actually convinced that it would be worth it to keep it around afterwards, especially since he'll still have his golden core.  Speaking of still having his golden core, he needs to kill Wen Zhuliu before the attack on Lotus Pier.

Concern.

Wangji lets it be for now. He sits and meditates. Focuses on healing his leg and his hand. Practices inedia; he has been practicing inedia since his capture. This makes the healing go slower.

He doesn't manage to sleep, hanging from the wall as he is, and so when Wen Chao returns several hours later, he is simply standing and watching Lan Zhan meditate.  He takes the beating silently, since it frustrates Wen Chao more than any response he could give, and eventually gets hit hard with Wen Chao's sheathed sword, before Wen Chao storms out in a huff.  It takes him a while to manage to stand again, but by morning he is standing, more because it's the least uncomfortable position with the way the chains are then out of any pride.

Lan Wangji is not standing. He is sitting on the dungeon floor feeling anguished about Wei Ying getting beaten. He would really like for Wei Ying to not get beaten anymore, please.

While he waits for Wen Chao to show up and - beat Wei Ying, probably - he continues gradually convincing his leg to heal. It is extremely slow going.

Wen Chao does not show up. Some apprehensive guards show up instead to drag them to their lesson.

They are both dragged upright and, as long as they are cooperating, led from the dungeons.

He cooperates.  He waves to Jiang Cheng as soon as they get to the lessons.

Jiang Cheng is concerned. 

"Don't cause any trouble today," he orders, after making sure that Wen Chao isn't there yet.  "What happened?  How are you?"

"I'm fine.  Wen Qing patched us up and then Wen Chao came by to ask us some questions, and they left us there overnight."  Here's his best effort at a reassuring smile.

Why does he always do this?  

"Fine," he repeats, clearly not buying it.  Jiang Cheng has a small cloth bundle hidden in the crook of his arm next to the scroll for class.  He hands it to Wei Wuxian before turning to face forward.  It contains some bread.

He eats the bread way too fast.

This lets him finish by the time Wen Chao makes it down from the top of the pyramid.

"Before we begin, I have a few announcements.  The Cloud Recesses are now under Qishan Wen control.  The Unclean Realm, given their disobedience in refusing to return an ally of ours who had been taken hostage, is currently under a crackdown for their insubordination and lack of discipline.  The Lanling Jin sect has been cooperative thus far - provided that there are no disciplinary issues, Carp Tower will continue to remain safe.  As for Lotus Pier... Jiang Fengmian has so far proven to be a coward and refuse to speak with our representatives."

"Filthy Wen dog" He says it quietly, under his breath, but loud enough for Jiang Cheng and Lan Zhan, on either side of him, to hear.

Jiang Cheng is physically shaking with suppressed rage.  He glances over at Wei Wuxian, but that only makes him angrier.  Instead, he focuses on the ground, thinking about the disciples from Lotus Pier who are standing behind him.  Wei Wuxian is clearly not going to look after them if he gets dragged away to a dungeon.

Wei Wuxian is very obviously pissed, but he's not actually doing anything other than glaring at Wen Chao.

Wen Chao does not care about their emotions.  It is now time for their lessons!  

They will all be reading and reciting their assigned memorization aloud.  It was clearly too much to ask for them to memorize the book so quickly, apparently.  No worries, though!  The benevolent Qishan Wen sect will have them stand up and repeat it all day, so that even the un-scholarly among them will be able to learn about their glory.

He co-operates as best he can while still pretending he doesn't know how to read.

He does not open his book. He does not read or recite anything. He stares straight ahead and ignores Wen Chao.

The guards do not actually want to get in another fight with these violent angry teenagers, so they do not take initiative to punish anyone for lack of participation or reading ability.

The lesson lasts almost the entire day, which no one enjoys, but the ordeal comparatively uneventful. 

Wei Wuxian gets to go back to the Jiang house afterward.

Wei Wuxian did not sleep last night, and the lesson was not structured in a way that allowed him to sleep through it.  He goes to sleep immediately and does not wake up in the morning until Jiang Cheng shakes him awake to make him eat something before the next days lesson.

Next day's lesson is much of the same. Lan Wangji gets brought an hour late after the lecture starts, but none of the presiding Wens seem to find this remarkable. He looks as angry and visibly uninjured as he did yesterday. It's possible that the guards just forgot to pick him up on time.

Today the Wen doctrine they are reciting covers some governing principles for smaller branches of the Sect, a long list of things that constitute treason, and some helpful elaboration on the proper construction and maintenance of severed heads on sticks.

They are fed, as sparsely as they always are, and sent back to their quarters for the night.

Wei Wuxian spends the time until the others go to bed writing ideas for new talismans on whatever paper he has available.  If the Wens have not provided them with paper other than their study material then the Wens will have to deal with him writing over the study material. 

Its not like any of them can go out.

"What are those?" Jiang Cheng asks, curious, well away from the other Lotus Pier disciples.

"Ideas! For talismans.  It's better than any other way I can come up with to spend my time." He reshuffles them to ensure that the ones that look the least like demonic cultivation are near the top.

Jiang Cheng is still not sure about Wei Wuxian's plan to start trouble.  It is true that war is inevitable.  It's also true that Wei Wuxian is going to leap straight at danger and there's nothing he can do about it.

"Tell me that you at least have a plan.  How do you intend to not get caught?  Remember that this whole cabin are also going to get punished if you're so much as identified as the culprit.  Not to mention Lotus Pier."  Can Wei Wuxian have a sense of responsibility to others, if not self-preservation?

"I have put a lot of thought into preventing anyone else from being harmed.  I do not intend to do anything else that will draw attention to me or incriminate our sect.  You don't have to worry about me!" Why does he keep having to have conversations with people that he can't deflect with a joke.  He does not want to end up having to explain why what he's about to do minimizes harm to Lotus Pier or how he knows.

Jiang Cheng is going to keep worrying about Wei Wuxian.

"You'd better."

Jiang Cheng supplements Wei Wuxian's portion of the food with part of his own, to help make up for the portion size.  He can practice inedia - Wei Wuxian is going to need to conserve his spiritual energy more than Jiang Cheng is.

"Thanks." He says it as he takes the extra food, but mostly he's just grateful for how Jiang Cheng doesn't want to murder him yet.  Maybe he can even avoid that altogether. 

He scribbles something on his paper about finding a way to make one end of a rope fly.

Night falls; it gets dark quickly. The Jiang disciples all go to bed. If anyone checks, two guards are posted outside the doors the same as always.

He promised he would be careful, and so he will.  Time to make another paperman, and send it out.  Where is Wen Zhuliu? He'll start by heading towards the castle.

The palace is massive and grand, with quite a lot of rooms in quite a lot of places.

After an hour and a half of searching, he will find Wen Zhuliu’s room right beside Wen Chao’s. Wen Zhuliu’s room is small and dark and has almost nothing in it beside Wen Zhuliu himself.

Time to locate the guards.  Is there any way to get to Wen Zhuliu's room without passing any guards?

No. The best route involves passing only two, in their current positions.

Are those two directly at the palace, or elsewhere in the city?

They are in a slightly smaller wing to the side of the main palace.

How weaponizable are their surroundings? Any convenient hanging objects? How far are they from the nearest other guards?

There are some torches bracketed to the wall with steel, nothing else weaponizable nearby - except for the guards' weapons, theoretically. There is one guard stationed at the entrance to their wing and another pacing a corridor away from their doors.

He looks around for anything that could be knocked over to make a loud noise, and when he's finished searching the area he returns to his body.

There are some statues in a few of the hallways that could be noisily knocked over, probably. It's hard for the paperman to tell how securely they've been installed.

Good enough.  He makes some wind talismans, and a few more firestarting talismans, and a couple slicing talismans before he sneaks out of the house, through the same window he cut open last time.  He follows the route he found with only two guards, keeping an eye out for other people that weren't there when he looked with the paperman.

There's one extra guard who seems to have been roving around on some sort of patrol! He's approaching down the corridor around the corner from Wei Wuxian.

Is there a convenient corner or door for Wei Wuxian to hide behind.

There's one of those ugly stone statues he had noticed earlier, he could try that? He could also.... run all the way back down the hall in search of more corners? The only door on this hallway is locked.

He's going to try and hide behind the stone statue.

The guard is not paying very close attention; he passes him by without incident.

He continues walking towards Wen Zhuliu's room, continuing to keep an eye out for unexpected guards, stopping when he's just out of sight of the two guards he knew about.

No more unexpected guards appear. The two expected guards are chatting together in low voices.

He uses a wind talisman to knock over a statue and make noise down the hall away from him.

The guards make alarmed noises! They put their hands on their swords and hustle in the direction of the commotion. 

He slips through the door while their backs are towards him, and continues towards Wen Zhuliu's room.

He doesn't encounter further obstacles before he reaches Wen Zhuliu's door.