"A-Ning. This isn't about what you can do. Okay? You're a very strong cultivator. You've come so far this year. That's why I'm trusting you to defend the people here, A-Ning, I wouldn't tell you to do this if I didn't think it was important."

"Helping you is important, too, though, and you''ll, you'll be somewhere more dangerous..."

"A-Ning. Do you not listen to your older sister anymore?"

"Nn. No."

"You must listen to me. I'm sorry, didi."

Wen Ning wants to remind her that she'd said they weren't going to split up, she'd said that they wouldn't leave him behind somewhere. It feels like that would be a mean thing to bring up. He doesn't want Jiejie to feel bad, he just really wants her to change her mind. 

"Jiejie if it's, because I d- don't keep my feet parallel enough, I, - "

"No, A-Ning, it isn't like that. I promise. It's only that I need someone to stay behind and look after our family and I trust you to listen to me when I tell you to do that more than A-Ying."

"I don't want you to leave."

She hugs him, before she can start crying where he can see it.

OH NO. 

HUGS. 

"A-Ning, this really is because you're good at things, not because you're bad at things," she says quietly. "If Wen Ruohan manages to start a war we want this place to not be completely undefended. A-Ning, you're going to be the only fighting cultivator here. If we didn't trust you, we would absolutely want you with us where we can keep me and Lan Zhan between you and any danger." She bites her lip. "I mean. We want that anyway. But we also want that for Granny and A-Yuan and everyone and we can't do that." 

Hugs. Er-jie is very good at hugs.

"When will you come back?"

"As soon as we can," she promises him. "I don't know how long that will be. But soon." 

"...okay.

Can, will you... please be safe too?"

"Yes. I promise I'll come back safe to you, A-Ning." 

"Okay."

Wen Ning needs a lot of hugging about it, but he'll let them go without further arguments.

Okay. Hopefully that didn't take long enough that Lan Zhan will have left already. Where's Nie-gongxi?

Nie-gongzi is flopped over here on a rock. When he sees Wen Ying approach he scrambles half-heartedly to look like he might've been just about to do something productive. "Wen-guniang! Are we leaving already?"

"We are. I'm not your big brother, you don't have to pay futile lip service to the concept of work to me, you know." 

"Ahhh, Wen-guniang, you know me too well."

Lan Zhan was waiting patiently for sibling hugs, but she is not going to wait patiently for Wen Ying and Nie Huaisang to """know""" each other. She turns away and hops on her sword.

"Nie-gongxi, if you object to people knowing you well enough to make that observation, you're going to need to stop going out in public. Ah, Lan Zhan, wait for me!" she calls, mounting her own sword. 

No.

Wen Qing hugs A-Ning a last quick goodbye and then hurries onto her sword to zoom off with the rest of them.

Wen Ying manages to catch up to Lan Zhan even if she doesn't slow down. 

"Aiyah, aiyah, be just a little more patient, okay? I don't think Chifeng-zun will give me any of the benefit of the doubt if I leave his baby brother behind." 

Eyeroll.