A Ghost of Snow

12. Realisation

The next morning everyone woke up at five . Everyone except one, Lan Wangji stared at Wei Ying who lay sprawled on the roof. He couldn't understand why Wei Ying would choose to sleep in the open when there was a room especially booked for him. He had even kept A-Yuan with himself so Wei Ying could have a relaxing night. He looked so peaceful and pretty while sleeping, he wondered if they could wait for him to wake up by himself.

"If you don't wake him up, he'll be sleeping all day.", Lan Wangji looked at Baixue in surprise, her face did not look that emotionless now, her voice still sounded colder than her snow though. "How do you know?", he countered in an equally if not colder voice. "I just do.", she jumped down without another word. Hanguang-Jun pondered for a while and came to the conclusion that the young lady was in fact right.

Lan Wangji was sure that by now, he had called Wei Ying's name at least twenty times and he was yet to wake up. He had even tried shaking Wei Ying to wake him up but to no avail. Lan Wangji bellowed in frustration, which seemed to have done the trick, "Eh, Lan Zhan, what's wrong? You look annoyed, what was that sound just now? Why are you up so late? Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

Lan Wangji's face twitched, how was it that the sound of his own name could not wake him but a little frustrated sigh had. He wondered what other weird things he did not know about this young man. His lips curled a little in amusement,"It's already past five, it is time to leave for Cloud Recesses. A-Yuan is awake and is playing with brother. You should freshen up, everyone's waiting for you. My uncle's patience is wearing thin too."

"Lan Zhan", Wei Ying gasped, "This is more words than you have ever spoken to me. Are you alright? Are you sick?"

Lan Zhan turned around to leave and mumbled,"Boring" before jumping down the roof. "That's more like it.", Wei Ying laughed.

As soon as Wei Wuxian joined the others, he was greeted with a warm hug from A-Yuan. "Xian ge, Older Rich Brother said, we are going to go to Rich Brother's home and it's really beautiful. Xian ge, he also told me that there are little rabbits I can play with. Xian gege, will you be sad if I play with the rabbits and don't spend the whole day with you? Sister Wen Qing told me back home that I should stay with you otherwise you will be sad....", A-Yuan tattled in his baby voice. Wei Wuxian stroked his hair and said with a smile, "My little radish, I'll be happy as long as you are happy. Rich Brother's home is indeed a beautiful place. You'll like it there. There are many rules there though, make sure to follow them. It will also be your home from now on. Be a good child. OK. Even if I am not around you must listen to your Rich Brothers and their Uncle."

A-Yuan nodded. "That's like my boy.", Wei Wuxian said while still stroking his hair.

Lan Qiren looked at Wei Wuxian intently wondering how ironic all of it sounded coming from his mouth. This was the same boy who had managed to break every single one of the 3000 rules on their wall. "Preaching and not following', his brain supplied, though he could not deny, that Wei Wuxian would probably raise this kid better than anyone else could.

Wei Wuxian picked up A-Yuan and looked expectently at the others. Lan Qiren figured that he was probably waiting for them to take the lead so he announced to the owner that they will take their leave and moved as the others followed. He couldn't help but think that when had Wei Wuxian become so docile? Wasn't he always the one to be on the frontline and make others follow him? Why was he acting as if, he was being held prisoner? Or was it that he really believed so? Did he think that they would take A-Yuan away from him? Did he really think that they were so cruel? His eyes widened as the weight of this realisation hit him, Wei Wuxian must have felt that the reason Wangji and Lan Qiren wanted him to follow them to Gusu was to punish him for his unconventional way of cultivation. It wasn't totally false, Lan Qiren did wish to punish him but he absolutely did not want to separate him from this child. Lan Qiren sighed, he would think about it later, first he had to handle the matter with Baixue and the letter that she carried.