A Ghost of Snow

25. A Solution

Wei Wuxian smiled, "Ok."

Lan Wangji had never thought that one word from someone could make him so happy. Wei Ying had agreed to let him help. It may only be because the younger was desperate to help his sister but anything was fine as long as he got to spend time with his "friend".

"Wangji, what do you know?", Lan Qiren wanted to know what knowledge his nephew had about spells and curses. He was pretty sure that they did not really teach such things in the Lan Sect.

"Uncle, I happened to have copied a text about it back when we were rebuilding the library. I thought it might be helpful to keep such things in mind."

Lan Qiren nodded but before he could say anything else, there was another person who was more eager, "Then Lan Zhan, tell me what did it say? You do remember, right?"

"Mn."

"Lan Zhan, you're going to have to explain that in a lot more words. If you keep using monosyllables, I might not get it. Or why don't you just let me borrow the book and I can read it myself. You must have other matters to tend to. I do not want to impose.", Wei Wuxian said in one go.

"Not imposing. I want to help Wei Ying.", Lan Zhan answered in a resolute manner.

"Well then, let us get to work.", Wei Wuxian smiled.

"Mn."

"Before that, Young Master Wei, please have lunch with us. A-Yuan must also be looking forward to seeing you and introducing you to his new friend.", Lan Xichen said a smile still etched on his face.

"Ok.", Wei Wuxian initially did not want to accept the invitation but getting to see his Little Radish was not something he would ever pass on. As he settled beside Lan Zhan in the dining hall, two small balls of white landed square on his lap and he smiled.

"A-Yuan, did you miss me?", he said in a teasing manner to indulge the toddlers. "Mn. A-Yuan missed Xian gege.", the little one with the shining grey eyes said with a toothy grin.

"And who do we have here?", Wei Wuxian asked picking up the other boy. When he finally looked at the toddler's face, his eyes softened, the boy had big brown eyes and his features were soft, but the grin on his face was a mischievous one, "My name is Lan Qi. I am A-Yuan's friend. Are you the Yiling Pastry?", the boy asked without hesitation. Lan Xichen huffed at that, even the Grandmaster and Lan Zhan wore amused expressions.

When the initial embarrassment had faded, Wei Wuxian laughed heartily and booped the boy's nose, "Why, yes I am the Yiling Pastry." Wei Wuxian was sure that he had heard a small laugh coming from Lan Zhan, he didn't think it would sound much funnier  coming out of his mouth. "Aren't you afraid that I am going to eat you?", he said making scary faces at the little boy.

Little Lan Qi responded by raising his hand and pulling the Yiling Pastry's hair, "No, A-Yuan said you are nice to him, and you don't eat children like other adults say. Why should I be afraid of you? When I gave him a straw doll, he said you were also like that doll, you let him hug you all the time and always smiled. Since nobody else lets me hug them, I am going to hug you from now on.", Wei Wuxian's heart melted, wasn't this little boy just like his Little Radish, he figured that this boy was most probably an orphan. He picked up the two toddlers, seating them one on each of his legs and smiled down at them, "Alright then, you can hug me all you want, whenever you want. I promise, I won't eat you, since you are A-Yuan's friend.", he teased.

Wei Wuxian knew from first-hand experience that it felt really depressing to not have any adults to turn to. Kids needed someone to depend on, someone they could talk to without fearing punishment. So as long as he was here, he would be that adult for the kids. Contrary to popular belief, he did not really confide in the Leader of the Jaing Sect because that would only further infuriate the Madam and seed doubt in his martial brother's mind. Though Jaing Fengmian treated him good, he did not see the elder as someone he could turn to for help, because he knew that Uncle Jaing had deliberately turned a blind eye to the verbal and mental abuse Madam Yu subjected him to. He respected both the Master and the Mistress of his previous sect as elders however, if someone asked him if he trusted them, he wasn't so sure.

When the lunch was served, surprisingly the two toddlers ate in silence still sitting on his lap. Lan Qiren couldn't help but notice that although Wei Wuxian constantly kept feeding the kids and filling their plates, he barely ate himself. He looked at his nephews and Baixue who seemed to have noticed it too. After they were done with the food, Lan Qiren asked his younger nephew to stay behind for a while to talk.

When everyone else had already left, he finally spoke his voice laced with something akin to concern, "Wangji, has he been eating this little ever since he came here?"

"Mn.", Lan Qiren's brows furrowed, wasn't this the same person who had complained about how three bowls of rice weren't enough for him? He was now sure that there was something that the young man wasn't telling them. He had previously thought that Wei Wuxian looked pale and weak because of practicing demonic cultivation but he hadn't really done that ever since he came to Gusu with them. There was another matter that when he had passed out on his first day there, no healer was able to tell what was wrong with him because he had blocked his vitals. If there wasn't anything wrong with him, why did he not agree to let the healers check on him even after he woke up.

"Alright, let's go solve the matter of this curse first. We'll figure this out later.", Lan Qiren dismissed the unsettling feeling in his gut and proceeded to walk to Lanshi with his younger nephew.

When they reached Lanshi, A-Yuan and Lan Qi had already been handed over to the governess and Lan Xichen along with the other set of siblings was having tea. Lan Wangji settled next to Wei Wuxian while Lan Qiren took his seat at the head of the table and gestured for his nephew to speak.

"A curse can be revoked the same way, it was cast. Since the caster in this case is already dead, it may get a little tricky. But there still is a way.", Lan Wangji said in the same manner as he used to answer questions in the classroom when all of them were still young.

"What is it?", Wei Wuxian asked impateintly.

Before Lan Wangji could answer his brother put forward another question, "But shouldn't the curse have lifted itself if the caster died?"

This question was answered by Wei Wuxian immediately, "No, Zewu-Jun I did think about it but the caster here literally used her life force to enforce the curse, so she would inevitably die when the contract is sealed, which makes it harder to break or even revoke."

Wei Wuxian's eyes lit up as he finished speaking and looked at Lan Zhan, "I get it now. Since the caster sealed the curse with her life, it could be considered as a blood curse which means it can also be revoked if we have something of her. Is that right Lan Zhan?"

"Mn. But it also means we will need a little of her blood or someone who is related to her which might be difficult."

"Oh.", Wei Wuxian said scratching his nose. "Since she just vanished, how are we going to get her blood then? I don't think she has any blood relatives. The old lady lived in seclusion for centuries.", he sighed.

"I have it.", Baixue spoke hesitantly.

"You have what?", Wei Wuxian asked tilting his head to the side, looking at her with furrowed brows.

"Blood. Her blood."