Chapter Text
The first thing Wei Ying thought when he saw the bedridden woman was that she was very beautiful.
"Mother?" Meng Yao whispered as they entered the room, "I've brought people that can help."
"A-Yao…" Came the exhausted voice.
Meng Yao rushed over to the bed and grasped his mother's hand, "I'm here."
"My A-Yao…" The woman whispered, "There is so much I must tell you."
"Save your energy." Meng Yao urged her, "My new friends have come to help."
Wen Qing stepped forward and began her examination, "Ma'am how long have you been feeling tired?"
"Months."
"It's been close to a year but it wasn't this bad until recently." Meng Yao told her.
Wen Qing nodded and grabbed paper and a brush from a nearby table, "This is what I need." She handed the list to Wei Ying who hesitantly took it.
"A-Qing…"
"What?" Wen Qing demanded as she frowned at him, "Oh right. You two knuckleheads can't read. Fine. I'll go with you." She turned to Meng Yao, "Where is the healers building?"
He told her and then the three were gone.
Wei Ying watched as the man closed the door and locked from the window. It was obvious that the man lived there in case anyone needed healing at night. He jumped back down to the ground and hurried back to where the other's were waiting, "He's closing up for the night but he lives there."
"Then we wait for him to go to sleep." Wen Qing said, "After that we enter as quickly and quietly as we can."
"What if he wakes up and sees us?" Xue Yang asked, "Can I kill him?"
"No." Wei Ying and Wen Qing said together, "We don't want to draw attention to ourselves." Wen Qing continued.
Xue Yang pouted and glared at Wei Ying when he patted his head.
"So cute!" Wei Ying teased him.
Xue Yang lunged at him and Wei Ying laughed as he dodged.
"Enough." Wen Qing snapped as she grabbed them both by the ears, "I said we don't want to draw attention to ourselves!"
"Sorry." The boys apologized.
A few hours later they snuck in through an open window that the healer had left open for the breeze. They moved as quietly as they cold as they kept an eye out for the man.
"Over here." Wen Qing whispered as she found the medicine they were looking for, "Put everything in this bag."
As they began their work something nearby caught Xue Yang's eye. He glanced at the others but they were so focused on their work that they didn't notice when he snuck away. He began to shove the sweets in his bag and had most of them in there when his arm bumped into something and knocked it to the floor where it landed with a loud crash as it shattered.
"Fuck!" Wei Ying whispered loudly, "A-Yang!"
"Who's there!?"
"Run!" Wen Qing ordered.
They ran for the window, escaping into the night. They hid as they waited to see if the man would come after them, when he didn't they made their way back to the brothel.
"You're back!" Meng Yao whispered as he let them in.
"Did you think we wouldn't come back?" Wei Ying asked as he sat the bag on the bed so Wen Qing could begin her work.
"I…"
"It's okay." Wei Ying told him.
"It will take a while for the medicine to work." Wen Qing said from beside the bed, "She must take them everyday even after she feels better. I'll come check on her twice a day but there isn't much to do other than wait."
Meng Yao nodded, "Thank you. Really. I don't know what I would have done."
"You would have found a way." Wei Ying told him, "We uhh… we don't stay in one place for too long. It's not safe but since Wen Qing needs to check on your mother everyday I guess we'll be around…"
"Why?" Meng Yao asked, "Why do you constantly go from village to village?"
"We're searching for a place where we can all live safely." Wei Ying answered, "A place we can call our own."
Meng Yao frowned as he thought, "I've heard stories about an abandoned compound in the forest. A clan once lived there but they left, claiming ghosts chased them out."
"Ghosts?" Wei Ying looked thoughtful, "I've heard you can get rid of ghosts."
"You'd have to be a cultivator." Wen Qing said, "We should get back. I want to check on A-Ning."
Wei Ying nodded and grabbed Xue Yang by the wrist and pulled him along, "See you later A-Yao!"
They came back the next day and the day after that and the day after that. They kept coming back and Meng Yao had really begun to think everything was going to be okay.
Then the local law enforcement barged into the room and saw the medicine on the table.
"Looks like we have our thief!"
"It wasn't me!" Meng Yao cried as they grabbed him, "It wasn't me!"
"A-Yao!" His mother struggled to sit up in bed as he was pulled from the room.
He was thrown in a cell where he curled up in a corner and wrapped his arms around his legs as he cried.
It was hours later that he heard a voice call his name. He looked up, confused.
"A-Yao!"
He turned and looked up at the small window where he saw Wei Ying, "Wei Ying? What are you doing here?"
"Helping you escape!" The boy exclaimed, "Be prepared to run!" He said before disappearing.
Meng Yao was confused. What was Wei Ying going to do?
The answer came in the form of the guards yelling and chasing after something or someone as Wei Ying skidded around the corner and beelined towards the cell. He unlocked it easily.
"Come on!" The boy yelled, "We've got to go!"
Meng Yao hurried forward and Wei Ying grabbed his hand, pulling him, guiding him, "Where are we going?"
"Some place safe!" Wei Ying answered as they headed towards the forest.
"But my mother!" Meng Yao cried as he tried to turn towards the brothel.
"She's safe!" Wei Ying said as he tugged his hand and his and forced him to keep running, "Come on! A-Yu can only keep them distracted for so long!"
He didn't know who A-Yu was and he didn't have time to ask as they approached the forest. He saw a crowd of children waiting at the edge of it along with his mother, "Mother!" He cried and launched himself at her.
"A-Yao!" She wrapped her arms around him and held him tight, "I was so worried!"
He clung to her and cried into her neck. He had been so scared.
The group of children watched them awkwardly as A-Yu, the eldest among them, arrived.
"Okay let's go." Wei Ying said.
"Go where?" Meng Yao asked as he pulled away from his mother and wiped away his tears.
"To that abandoned compound you told us about." Wei Ying smiled, "Come on!"
"But-"
"No buts!" Wei Ying interrupted, "We've been looking for it since you mentioned it and now we've found it!"
They entered the forest with two of the children helping the only adult among them to stand and walk.
By the time they reached the abandoned compound it was early evening and they were all tired and hungry.
The compound itself was large and mostly intact. There was even a garden not too far away that while overgrown with weeds had fruits that were perfect for staving off hunger.
That night they huddled into one of the rooms and curled around each other with the promise of looking around their new home the next day.