A Ghost of Snow

23. I don't know that

" I figured it out. I figured it out. Lan Zhan, I finally figured it out.", Wei Wuxian collapsed on his knees, yelling.

Lan Qiren initially wanted to remind him of the many rules, he broke in a matter of seconds but decided against it looking at the joy on his face after making a breakthrough. But he will have to take his punishment for it later on.

"Sorry Grandmaster Lan, we tried to stop him but-", the disciples who had followed Wei Wuxian in a failed attempt to stop him from breaking the rules tried to defend themselves but could not come up with a genuine excuse for their non-performance.

"Ask the young lady to meet with us here and then you are dismissed", the command was clear as day, so they left bowing their heads and closing the doors behind them.

Once Baixue had arrived, Lan Qiren asked, "Then what to do next?"

Wei Wuxian looked at him with confused eyes, "I don't know." Lan Qiren's brow twitched, it had been doing that a lot lately. He stoked his beard, cleared his throat and elaborated, "You said you figured it out, what did you figure out?"

Wei Wuxian's lips formed an 'O' at that, as he scratched his nose, "It's a curse."

"What do you mean it's a curse? My master's letter clearly said it wasn't.", Baixue voiced her thoughts, this time a little less rigidly than he remembered. How long had it been since he last met her? As time passed, he couldn't bring himself to look at her, the guilt in his heart gnawing at him to do something, anything to set her free.

"Wei Ying, the immortal's letter did mention that it is supposed to be a nexus of sorts.", Lan Wangji said supporting Wei Wuxian to stand up. Wei Wuxian's breath hitched at the closeness, it was doing that a lot lately. Whenever Lan Zhan touched him, spoke to him, looked at him, just existed, he felt a warmth in his heart that he was unfamiliar with. It was partially the reason, he had become irritated with Lan Zhan in recent days. He looked at the perfectly sculpted jade face of Hanguang-Jun wondering what it was and why he was unable to put a name on it.

"Wei Ying", Lan Wangji shook him slightly when he didn't respond immediately.

Wei Wuxian turned his gaze towards Lan Qiren, still not looking at Baixue, "It sure did but, it is not. It's a curse. Like I've said before, without me being there, it is impossible to create such a strong nexus of souls, it has to be a curse. In fact, it is."

He finally looked at Baixue, moved to stand behind her and continued, "No matter how strong your master was, she couldn't possibly bend the physical laws right? A nexus can be created only when the two souls are within a certain boundary which we weren't. Artificially creating a bond this strong is not only difficult but also unfeasible. Besides if it was a bond, I would feel it too, the need to protect you and be close to you, but since that is not the case, we can safely say that it is not a bond. Casting a curse however, does not have any such requirements, it can be cast on anyone from anywhere as long as you have something of them. Grandmaster probably lied because, curses can be lifted much more easily than a bond is broken. It makes sense, she didn't know me, she wouldn't have expected anyone to figure it out."

"Am I a genius or what?"

"Do not be proud.", Lan Zhan reminded him.

"What kind of rule is that? Don't do this, don't do that. Is there something that I can do?", Wei Wuxian said in an exaggerated tone, which earned a snicker from Lan Xichen, a blank stare from Lan Zhan and Baixue, and annoyed huff from the Grandmaster of Lans.

"That's beside the point right now, do you have any evidence to prove what you are saying.", Lan Qiren said. Oh how he wanted to smack this young man's head.

"I do.", Wei Wuxian said as he gently lifted his hand in an attempt to gather Baixue's thick hair to one side of her shoulder, he could feel everyone in the room disapproving his actions and a toe-curling stare from a certain sect leader, it would be no surprise if Shuoyue slit his throat at that moment. "Zewu-Jun, I am technically her brother. Stop staring at me like that.", Lan Xichen didn't say anything and his stare wasn't averted either.

Lan Qiren could no longer control his temper as he practically screamed, "Wei Wuxian, did I fail to even teach you basic manners. No matter if it's your sister, inside the Cloud Recesses, you have to keep your distance."

Wei Wuxian only smiled unabashedly at him as he retracted his hand, "Fine. Do it yourself then."

"How old are you? Lacking such basic manners.", Lan Qiren was still annoyed by him.

Now, Wei Wuxian knew clearly well that Lan Qiren didn't want an answer to that but where would the fun be if he didn't rile up the old man a little more, "Well I am twenty three of course, Garndmaster Lan, you already know that."

When there was no response, he looked up from his hand where he was twirling Chenqing around, only to find three Lans looking at him. In surprise?

"You are what?", Lan Xichen said as he opened and closed his mouth like a fish, contemplating what to say next.

"I figure, you didn't know, how old did you think I was then.", he said scratching his nose.

"Then that means you were only thirteen when you came to study here.", Lan Xichen said and then looked at Lan Qiren, "Uncle, is that....is that even allowed?"

"No", Lan Qiren said immediately, his brows furrowed, "One should at least be sixteen."

"Wei Ying was thirteen?", Lan Wangji wondered out loud. He wanted to bury himself deep in the ground, he wanted to hit himself with the discipline whip, anything to punish himself, he was having unholy thoughts about a kid back then. No wonder he always thought Wei Ying looked really young for his age and then it struck him and clearly it had dawned on his brother too.

"You were having alcohol at thirteen?", Lan Xichen asked exasperated.

"About that, I-", Wei Wuxian had nothing to defend himself, so he just diverted the attention, "Anyways, look at this.", he said pointing at Baixue's neck where they could see a blue scar. Lan Xichen wondered how he had missed it all these days.

"So it is a curse.", Lan Qiren said stroking his beard. "How do you plan on lifting it then?"

"I don't know that.", Wei Wuxian said, showing his rabbit-like teeth.