The meaning of protecting you with my life

Moment of horror

Note: This chapter contains description of brief temporary character death, please be warned and proceed at your own discretion

Jiang Cheng was holding his brother's wrist as Wei Wuxian was being carried away in Lan Wangji's arms. He could not understand why the unapproachable Second Jade did suddenly not mind touching someone, Jiang Cheng clearly remembered that he used to glare at anyone who so much as came too close to him. Yet here he was, hugging Wei Wuxian close to his chest even thought that should have been Jiang Cheng's duty and privilege.

He was doing his best to not feel offended. It helped that he was still holding his brother's wrist, continuously passing spiritual energy. He was not sure that it could help when Wei Wuxian had no golden core to accept it but he was not about to give up so easily. Perhaps it would actually help heal his wounds or at least take some of the pain which his brother surely must have been in away.

He could not tell how bad Wei Wuxian's condition really was. There had been no time to examine him closely so he could only guess. However, he was pretty certain that it had been bad even before he had come to Nightless City to save them; with the war going on and him fighting in nearly every battle, he must have been exhausted at best. Wei Wuxian also never went to the infirmary which now worried Jiang Cheng to no end. They needed to get him to his sister as soon as possible.

Suddenly, three things happened simultaneously that stopped Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji in place.

There was a very loud sound and a wind blew past them, carrying with it some resentful energy. It came from behind them and Jiang Cheng turned around more on instinct than by his own will. He was ready to fight if there was any danger. He never let go of Wei Wuxian's wrist however and the flow of his spiritual energy did not falter.

Jiang Cheng watched in awe and fear how resentful energy gathered and swirled around the altar where the Yin iron was. Or had been. Because the three pieces were now levitating as if in slow motion further and further away from it, each in a different direction. It looked very eerie. And then, Jiang Cheng realized that they had in fact been blown and teared away, most probably by Wei Wuxian when they landed on the ground, far away from each other, each in one corner of the room.

He took all of that in in just a fraction of a second and he was already turning around again because there was a voice coming from behind him. It was Lan Xichen who was standing in-between the door, right next to a distressed and scared looking Wen Ning. He was however not looking at Lan Wangji with Wei Wuxian in his arms or at Jiang Cheng. Lan Xichen's eyes were fixed on the altar, or more precisely on the person who was still standing next to it with a bloodied sword in his hand.

"Meng Yao?" Lan Xichen asked, shocked.

Jiang Cheng had no patience to deal with this, they had to get Wei Wuxian to Jiang Yanli immediately. He wanted to prompt Lan Wangji to start moving again but then he noticed that the wrist he had been holding all this while had no pulse anymore. For a heartbeat, he stilled, his breath held in in order to not miss any trepidation under his fingers. It could not be, it just could not! He must have been mistaken, his brother could not be without a pulse. Wei Wuxian had been just fine a second ago; well, perhaps not fine but definitely alive!

Jiang Cheng shifted his hand a little bit, his fingers frantically searching. But he came out empty handed, there was nothing, not even the smallest flutter. Nothing at all. His eyes darted towards Wei Wuxian's chest and a wave of dread had completely overcome him. His brother was not breathing either!

No, it could not be! Wei Wuxian could not die, not now when they were so close to finally saving him and getting him to safety!

"Wei Wuxian!" Jiang Cheng roared, his voice more a raw scream than true words. But he continued his scolding in more articulate words, desperate, angry, pleading: "Do not date to die on us! You cannot die, do you hear me?"

He could not say anything more because he choked on a sob and realized that he was wailing just as he started pushing more and more of his spiritual energy into the lifeless body of his brother. He hoped to somehow kick start Wei Wuxian's heart again or convince him to start breathing by whatever means necessary.

Lan Wangji seemed to have finally realized that there was something wrong and looked down. Jiang Cheng saw horror bloom in his eyes as he presumably noticed that Wei Wuxian was not breathing anymore. An inarticulate sound of pure agony – which could have perhaps been interpreted as 'Wei Ying!' if Jiang Cheng had the mind to actually try to understand it – teared itself from his throat and a tears started running down his cheeks; he was crying, the same as Jiang Cheng, only silently.

Then, Jiang Cheng almost let go of his brother's wrist when he felt an incredibly strong burst of spiritual energy from Lan Wangji which came with another agonized scream. He was transferring all that to Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng was actually afraid that the Second Jade had just given away everything he had. He doubled his own efforts, begging Wei Wuxian and praying to all the known and unknown gods there were that his brother's heart would start beating again and his lungs would gasp for breath.

Something must have worked, either the extra spiritual energy, or his prayers, or his scolding, or his and Lan Wangji's desperate calls of Wei Wuxian's name, or anything else really. Either way, Jiang Cheng almost melted with relief as he felt an almost unnoticeable twitch under his fingers. And then, there was a second one, and a third. With impossibly big hope, he looked carefully and saw that his brother's chest was now raising and falling, more and more steadily with each intake of breath. Wei Wuxian was alive again.

If Lan Wangji had not started walking away, almost running really, Jiang Cheng would have crumbled to the ground where he stood. He could not believe how close he had been to losing his brother, again, for good this time.

Only the strong grip he still had on Wei Wuxian's wrist and the fact that Lan Wangji was taking his brother away, dragging him behind them at the same time, made Jiang Cheng move forward.

From behind them, he could hear Lan Xichen calling after them but he did not mind it and neither Lan Wangji seemed to have noticed. They were both of the same mind, nothing was more important than taking Wei Wuxian somewhere safe and having a doctor tend to him. Everything else could wait, the war could wait; hell, the whole world could wait for all that Jiang Cheng cared. He only had one brother after all.