Part 20 – The Great Escape

“Jiang Cheng, this is too cruel!!” Wei Wuxian cried.

Retreating to the far corner of the room, the Yiling Patriarch hunkered in shivering terror. Through the gaps in his fingers, he kept an anxious eye on the pair of spirit hounds who watched him calmly from their plush mats near the threshold. Already clothed in his sleeping robes, Jiang Cheng crossed his arms as he stood before his own bed and glared over at Wei Wuxian.

“Stop complaining! Do you think I want to share my room with you? No, but who else is going to keep you in line? It’s your own fault you can’t be trusted not to sneak off and cause some scandalous scene with that so-called husband of yours.”

Yet Wei Wuxian was undeterred. “Separating me from Hanguang-Jun is one thing,” he continued to complain, “but this?!” Shakily, he pointed at the drowsing dogs. “How do you expect me to sleep here with those beasts looming over me? There’s no way! If you don’t make them leave, you won’t get any rest either—because I’ll be crying and whimpering all night!”

Jiang Cheng ground his teeth. He knew well enough that this was no empty threat. His flashing eyes cut to Blossom and Cherry. Inwardly, Wei Wuxian smirked, congratulating himself. Two down, one to go.

“Out, girls,” Jiang Cheng snapped, though it seemed he didn’t need to say anything.

At their master’s sharp look the dogs had already started to slink away. Much as Wei Wuxian loathed their kind, he couldn’t help but appreciate their fine training. Next to these two, Jin Ling’s Fairy seemed like a wild beast. Truly, Jiang Cheng had a knack for dog husbandry—a passion, even.

Perhaps too much of one.

“The dogs have their own door!” Wei Wuxian exclaimed, as a hinged panel in the wall swung shut behind them. He’d been too terrified to notice this before. But seeing it now, he laughed loudly, slapping at his knees. “Is it just here in your room, or other places too? Hahaha! Tomorrow, I’ll have to go around and check!”

Jiang Cheng colored angrily. “The other doors are hard for them to open—they end up scratching the frames.”

“I think the better question is, why are you letting them roam about in the first place?”

“They don’t ‘roam about’,” Jiang Cheng shot back. “But they might need to go out in the night, or at other times.”

Wei Wuxian laughed again. “What pampered creatures! If you had a wife, Jiang Cheng, she’d be the most spoiled princess in the land.”

Jiang Cheng’s expression grew that much stormier. Through gritted teeth he said, “Go to bed. Now.”

Shucking off his day clothes in a messy heap, Wei Wuxian washed his face and went to bed. Warily, Jiang Cheng did the same. Hands folded neatly atop his chest, Wei Wuxian closed his eyes to the merest crack, his face the picture of calm innocence. Glaring sidelong at him a moment more, Jiang Cheng waved his hand, and the candles went out.

Their beds lay only a few feet apart. The slightest move toward a door or window, and Jiang Cheng would know it, even in the dark. His senses were keen, especially when he was on the alert. Under normal circumstances, there was no way Wei Wuxian would be able to slip past him.

Luckily, even before he’d learned the lengths Jiang Cheng would go to in order to thwart him, Wei Wuxian had already laid the groundwork for his escape. He’d had a feeling he’d need to incapacitate Jiang Cheng before the night was over. So hours earlier, while Jiang Cheng was distracted elsewhere, he’d snuck into this very room and set the trap.

Jiang Cheng had been on the lookout for tricks from Wei Wuxian—but not from his own pillow! Into it, Wei Wuxian had slipped a special feather, spelled to induce a deathlike sleep on contact with its victim.

The moment the exposed quill pricked Jiang Cheng’s neck, he’d be dead to the world. Wei Wuxian waited patiently. He listened to Jiang Cheng roll over—once, twice. No more after that.

Wei Wuxian propped himself up on an elbow. “…Jiang Cheng?” he whispered. No answer. “Jiaaaaang Cheng??” No answer again. “Jiang Wanyin, Lotus Pier is on fire!” He paused, before bellowing out, “HEY, SECT LEADER JIANG!! WAKE THE FUCK UP!”

Jiang Cheng didn’t so much as stir. Wei Wuxian laughed, jumping up out of bed. He toed Jiang Cheng in the ribs for good measure, but the sect leader slumbered on.

Pulling on his clothes as haphazardly as he’d shed them, Wei Wuxian waved back to him from the window. “See ya in the morning, Jiang Cheng!”

Mo Dao Zu Shi © Mo Xiang Tong Xiu