They trekked for days, through forests, rivers and mountains, frequently stopping because Yingyue demanded Wangji need rest.

Wangji constantly threw up every morning, with his moods getting more aggressive.

Due to that, Yingyue became very protective and made sure to look after him.

They only stopped for mealtimes and a rest at night, each of them taking turns of night watch.

Their friendship got stronger bit by bit everyday since they had to trust each other.

On the fifth day they took a rest in a cave at the bottom of a mountain.

Yingyue pulled out a blanket from her pouch and securely wrapped a protesting Wangji in it.

Xue Yang then quietly disappeared outside in search for some kind of food, his bright white hair whipping around the corner.

Yingyue slid down beside Wangji with a thump.

"A-niang," she said cautiously, "I know this is very bad to be thinking this now, but do you think we can still trust Xue Yang? I know I'm the one who is pretty sure that he never meant to do anything bad, but I still have my doubts."

Wangji just looked at her and slowly said, "we can't, the only thing we can do now is just to trust him, and that he told us the truth."

"I have a talisman on me that makes people tell the truth," Yingyue suggested.

"I don't think that he would even let you try that on him" Wangji said, giving Yingyue an exasperated look.

Yingyue just giggled gently and snuggled into Wangji.

Xue Yang however, had heard every single part of that conversation.

He had come back to get his dagger that he had left there, but decided to listen to what they were talking about.

He stood there now with his fists clenched, breathing heavily.

He turned the corner and glared at them.

"Is that what you think of me?" He hissed accusingly.

He had already been in a bad mood since that morning, since lack of sleep was making him sensitive and easily annoyed.

And combined with the stress of his amnesia, and the weight of the guilt of what his hands had done just made his day have a turn for the worse.

Yingyue had the decency to look guilty, and Wangji just refused to say anything and kept his head down.

Xue Yang felt his anger rise at their reactions.

"You have no idea what I'm going through! You can't just assume that I won't be truthful, because of the crimes I've committed, and believe me I KNOW!" He yelled, his anger rising rapidly.

"I-"

"Just don't!" Xue Yang cut Yingyue off.

He turned on his heel, scooped up his dagger, and stormed out of the cave, hair flying, and he disappeared.

Yingyue went to go after him, but Wangji grabbed her wrist and shook his head.

"He needs time to calm down," he said softly.

"I'm going out to look for some food," Yingyue said stiffly.

He wrapped himself tighter in the blanket as he watched her flee out of the cave.

He berated himself for breaking one of the rules, for making an assumption about Xue Yang.

Wangji felt very disappointed in himself, and he knew that Yingyue was too.

He closed his eyes, and tried to banish the urge to start weeping.

He fell into an uneasy and uncomfortable sleep.

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

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