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“And who may you be, guniang?” Wei Ying tilts his head to the side, curious as he stares at another disciple.
He’s never seen her before, if he’s being honest, but she’s wearing the robes of the Qinghe Nie and her braids are intricate. He doesn’t understand the language of the Nie Sect braids well, but he knows they hold significance since Nie Huaisang had mentioned it before. She seems younger than most of them here, of their generation but still below 18 from his understanding.
“This one is Meng Qing, gongzi,” she introduces herself with a bow.
“Nice to meet you, Qing-er,” he bows as well. “This one is Wei Wuxian,” he introduces himself in return, the polite thing to do.
Beside him his brother rolls his eyes, but he ignores that, noticing when Meng Qing’s lips twitch, as if to smile, while her eyes narrow.
“It’s quite hard to not know who you are, Wei-xiong ,” she counters. “A-Sang talks about you a lot,” she adds, a smile finding its way onto her face.
A-Sang…? His eyes widen at a realization, but before he can say anything, they’re interrupted.
“A-Qing!!” Nie Huaisang drapes himself over the girls shoulders with a pout, his fan clutched in his hands. “I can’t walk another step!” He bemoans.
Meng Qing simply rolls her eyes, turning her head to acknowledge him. “You’ll be fine, we’re almost there, calm down,” she replies, her face unimpressed.
“But A-Qing!” He whines, frowning.
Wei Ying want’s to interrupt, delighted at the new information presented to him, but a Wen disciple starts yelling at them to keep walking. His eye twitches at this, but he starts walking, the others following along.
“Is this your sister, Nie-xiong?” Jiang Cheng asks when they’re relatively alone, curious. He had heard a while ago from his father that Sect Leader Nie had adopted a younger sister, one in line to inherit the sect after the brothers if they had no offspring. It was widely accepted despite the fact she was female, or else you’d end up on the other side of Baxia.
Nie Huaisang brightens and nods. “Yes! This is A-Qing! Da-ge picked her up a few years ago with Yao-ge!” He explains brightly, his previous bemoaning forgotten.
“Yao-ge?” Wei Ying asks curiously.
They’d talked about a plethora of things at the lectures, but he never realized how little they’d talk about their families outside of shijie.
“My brother, Meng Yao,” Meng Qing explains.
“The future Madam Nie!?” Wei Ying squawk, surprised.
A-Qing snorts, clearly amused. “Yao-ge hates that title, but yes, he’s engaged to Da-ge.”
“Huaisang!” Wei Ying complains, pouting at his friend good naturedly. “You didn’t give me any good gossip at the lectures!”
Nie Huaisang covers his smile with his fan, eyes shining with mirth.
-
“I’ll help,” Meng Qing is quick to offer, shedding her first layer of robes.
“Wei Wuxian and I are the best swimmers here. There’s no need for the help, Meng-guniang,” Jiang Wanyin insists, eyebrows furrowed.
“I grew up in Yunping, I can help,” she replies, taking a moment to stretch.
Her brother was going to kill her once he found out she did this on top of putting herself in danger so that she could stay with A-Sang. Yes, she knew he could take care of himself, but she still didn’t want to leave him alone in Nightless City. His skills lied more in deception and subverting, very different from her with her saber.
Both brothers are slightly shocked, but she can see as their shoulders loosen slightly.
“Nie-xiong?” Wanyin asks after a second, turning to her brother.
“If she says she can do it, then A-Qing can do it,” he reaches over, giving Wanyin’s arm a reassuring squeeze.
The young master nods and then the three of them set off into the water, searching for a way out.
-
Nie Huaisang dispatches another Wen disciple as they run, making sure to make it seem more accidental than on purpose. A-Qing takes out most of them that they run into while they rush to Qinghe, searching for help. Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji had gotten stuck in the cave and while Jiang Cheng had also gone for help, they couldn’t just stand by.
War had been on the horizon for a while now. The Wen were getting bold, pushing for too much and expecting the rest of the world to bend. They needed to be dealt with quickly, but first came Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, his friends. Even if he himself wasn’t as close to Lan Wangji, Wei Wuxian adored the man (despite what he said aloud) and he’d do anything for his friends.
Plus, he knows his Da-ge would enjoy beating up a few Wen.
He’s a bit apprehensive though, since he’s not sure if Meng Yao was home yet. On one hand, he’d give anything to have a hug from Yao-ge right now and he knows that A-Qing probably feels the same. A hug from him just made the whole world feel right . On the other hand… Da-ge had promised to keep A-Qing safe and then she had talked her way into getting into this huge mess with the Wen. He knew she would’ve gone whether Da-ge approved it or not, so she got her way, but that’s why he and a few others were there as well.
He would be livid in some sort, even if he tried to hide it, because A-Qing would always hold the biggest part of his heart. Nie Huaisang didn’t understand it fully, since A-Qing was adopted when she was young but still old, but he knew he’d burn the whole cultivation world down if it meant that Da-ge was forever safe.
He huffs, forcing the bad thoughts and memories away. They had a job: get help.