Author Notes: Hello again, everyone! I've gotten pretty fond of Lan QiRen after writing Change of Heart so here he is again, playing a slightly bigger role this time than just 'Fine, WangJi and Wei WuXian have my blessings to marry'. Enjoy :)

Dec 15 2019: My daughter helped me with some much needed editing in the fight scene so LXC & LWJ now read better than the totally lame cultivators I'd portrayed them to be :p

Summary: Everyone knew that Lan QiRen was very proud of the two nephews he had single-handedly brought up. Fate decided to test whether or not he loved them enough to defy tradition and the prejudices of a lifetime.

Inspiration: This story was inspired by scifigeek14's The Massacre of The Yiling Burial Grounds.

Warnings: Spoilers for The Untamed. Angst. Fluff.

Rating: T

Disclaimer: The Untamed series is based on the Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation novel which belongs to Mo Xiang Tong Xiu.

- Story Start -

A week had passed since Lan WangJi's visit to Yiling where he met Wei WuXian and little A-Yuan, and enjoyed a meal with them.

The half moon was high in the sky by the time the two Jade Lans emerged from Lan QiRen's quarters in Cloud Recesses after a late night discussion with their uncle. The monochrome surroundings were peaceful and serene, the sea of white pebbles on the ground reflecting the soft glow of moonlight.

A slight movement caught WangJi's attention.

"Xiongzhang." He nodded at the Library Pavilion where a dark figure had just slipped inside the doors.

With no more than a glance, the two brothers followed. It would be too easy for either one of them to subdue a single intruder, but both were wary of damaging the newly restored and painted building, and the precious books and manuscripts stored within.

The intruder, holding up a burning talisman that shed a dim flickering light, swung around with a muttered curse when he realised he had been spotted. Unfortunately, he knew the two Jade Lans would be wary of destroying their surroundings and swung his sword in ever widening sweeps each time the brothers came within striking distance.

WangJi tried to attack him with a guzhin string but when the intruder ducked, he had to quickly yank it back. Even then, part of a bookshelf and half a book were pulverised.

"Surrender!" WangJi demanded, pointing the tip of Bichen at him.

The intruder uttered a whispery chuckle and kept close to the bookshelves, inching towards the entrance. His sword style wasn't familiar, but although he couldn't defeat his attackers, he could defend himself well enough. When he reached the end of the last bookshelf, both brothers felt their hearts plummet as the burning talisman in the intruder's hand drifted close to the polished wood. The dancing flames were inches away from precious manuscripts that had either escaped the fire or been painstakingly rewritten. The slightest breeze could set the first book alight, after which the rest of the library would undoubtedly follow suit.

"No!" Knowing firsthand of the sacrifices made to keep the manuscripts safe, and spurred on by hazy memories of roaring flames and white-clad cultivators falling to the ground with crimson splashed robes, XiChen lunged forward, Shuoyue aimed with the intent to kill.

A loud 'CLANG' echoed throughout the library as the intruder released the talisman to grip his sword with both hands, deflecting the killing blow with a grunt of effort. The burning paper drifted through the air before a second lash from Wangji's guzhin string sliced it neatly in half, dispersing the flame.

The two brothers' relief was cut short as the intruder whipped out a short black dagger and slashed a line across the back of XiChen's sword hand and up his arm. With a cry of pain, XiChen dropped Shuoyue and staggered backwards.

"Xiongzhang!" Stunned, Wangji rushed to his aid. As he blocked the follow-up sword strike with Bichen, he chanced a quick glance back to assess his brother's injury. His eyes widened at the wisps of black smoke escaping from the wound. Sensing his momentary distraction, the intruder attacked again, burying the dagger up to the hilt in WangJi's stomach before viciously yanking it out. Bichen clattered to the floor next to Shuoyue, its master collapsing beside it in a flurry of white robes with a rapidly growing crimson stain.

"WangJi!" XiChen cried in horror as the intruder escaped. A trail of fire burned up his hand and arm. The moonlight shining in from the window only served to highlight the tendrils of black smoke leaking from both of their wounds. The air was thick with the bitter, cloying tang of yin metal.

Fumbling for Liebing at his waist, XiChen raised it to his lips and blew a long sharp note.

- o -

Six hours later...

Two cups of tea sat untouched on the low table at the Jingshi, their contents long since grown cold. The persons they were meant for seemed lost in their respective thoughts.

Lan QiRen, in particular, was as still as a statue, his unblinking gaze fixed on the unconscious figure on the bed. WangJi's usual porcelain complexion was strangely flushed, jagged red lines crawling up his neck.

If this had happened to anyone other than his two nephews, that person might already be dead. Just like the one they had brought back on the eve of the three month lecture a few years ago.

"Uncle," XiChen's voice broke into his thoughts. "I'm going to fetch him."

XiChen's injury was a mere scratch, but he was still poisoned by the yin metal. His right arm was bandaged, but although he was conscious and sitting up, his posture was more slumped than upright. His eyes were bright with fever and his pale skin as flushed as WangJi's. The early morning sun slanting in through the window played up the deep shadows under his eyes, the same shadows QiRen sported.

Neither of them had gotten any sleep.

"Him?" QiRen's tongue felt twice its usual size. "Who?"

"Who?" XiChen repeated in disbelief. "Wei WuXian, of course! Who else would I call? Who else could I call?"

QiRen glared at him; XiChen had never raised his voice to him. Not once.

"No. I forbid it."

XiChen stared at him in astonishment.

"We don't have a choice! He's the only one who knows anything about the Yin Metal! I will fly to Yiling."

Picking up Shuoyue with numb fingers, he winced and dropped it to stare at his bandaged arm as if it had betrayed him.

"You are not informing anyone, least of all that ingrate," QiRen insisted. "I forbid it!"

"Uncle, he's the only one who can help us now!" XiChen picked up Shuoyue with his other hand.

QiRen slammed both hands on the table, but while XiChen's head snapped up in shock, WangJi didn't even stir.

"What makes you think that he can? What if he can't?"

"WangJi could die," XiChen whispered.

QiRen uttered a harsh bark of laughter, pushing down his own fear with an effort.

"Don't be ridiculous!" He scolded. "WangJi is strong. He will survive this."

It was XiChen's turn to give a mirthless laugh.

"How?" He demanded. "You spent hours trying to extract the yin energy, but you couldn't!"

QiRen's jaw tightened.

"I will try it again." He stood up and grimaced, closing his eyes for a brief moment. It had been many years since he had pulled an all nighter.

"Uncle." XiChen shook his head in disbelief, at a loss for words. "Why are you taking such a risk?"

"It is not that big a risk," QiRen insisted. "WangJi is stronger than you think."

"I'm his brother," XiChen protested. "I know his strengths and he has many. I also know this is something he can't fight on his own. Not without help."

"No. He will fight this," QiRen insisted stubbornly. The Yiling Patriarch was the last person he would ask for aid.

"No, uncle. Look at him! He. Is. Dying!" XiChen's voice cracked at that last word.

Icy fear trickled down QiRen's spine and he had to clench his fists to ground himself.

"He is not dying!"

"He is and we're wasting time." XiChen jumped to his feet, swayed a bit.

"You can't fly in your condition." QiRen finally admitted to the fact that a mere scratch had robbed XiChen of his usual strength. "You could fall off your sword."

XiChen turned to him, face white under that feverish flush, eyes narrowed with determination.

"Then I will crawl to Yiling on my hands and knees."

QiRen opened his mouth and close it again.

"You are not fit to travel," he insisted.

"WangJi's life is at stake, I don't have a choice," XiChen insisted. "When have I ever put anything above his wellbeing?"

QiRen stared at him, his heart squeezing. XiChen glanced at WangJi and then back at him, eyes gleaming with determination.

"I am his older brother. I will do whatever it takes."

QiRen heard the implication in those words and closed his eyes in both pain and shame, feeling like he had failed his late older brother yet again.

The first was when he had failed to persuade him not to marry a rogue cultivator, one who had murdered his teacher.

The second when he had failed to prevent WangJi from befriending another, just as unsuitable person - Wei WuXian, the notorious Yiling Patriarch.

The third time was now, when WangJi and XiChen were attacked within the supposedly safe walls of Cloud Recesses.

He was a brother too. And an uncle.

Bowing his head in defeat, QiRen let out a sigh.

"I... I will go."

It was XiChen's turn to stare at him as if he had grown horns or worse, as if he just declared all the Gusu Lan three thousand plus rules null and void.

"You?" He whispered and then he laughed, a sound soft yet full of jagged edges. "Why? So you can kill Wei WuXian? Destroy the only means of saving WangJi?"

At any other time, QiRen would have XiChen whipped for such disrespect. But right now, all he felt was pain at having failed his nephews.

"No. I will bring him here. You are injured. I am not."

XiChen's expression didn't change.

"Forgive me, uncle. I fear I do not trust you, not in this matter."

"You have no choice." QiRen rose to his feet. "Stay here and guard WangJi. No one else can learn of this."

XiChen stared at him, unblinking.

"I will not harm Wei WuXian or the Wen survivors," Qiren promised. "I will bring him here, unharmed."

"And if he should refuse to come?" XiChen's voice was almost a whisper.

Pausing at the door, QiRen turned to look at him and then at the still figure on the bed.

"Then I will beg him if I must," he replied and left.

- Chapter End -

A/N: Thank you for reading! Fight scenes are so not my forte. Everyone and their grandmother know that either Jade Lan wouldn't have any trouble taking down a single intruder even blindfolded with one hand tied behind their backs, but we wouldn't have a story then, would we? Please leave a review if you enjoyed. More angst to come :)