Solstice Souls

Mist Covered Paths

Lan Zhan POV

They had dragged him away.

Lan Zhan remembered Wei WuXian falling, his face flushed with sweat beading along his forehead. Had he called out to him? Lan Zhan couldn't remember anything much after that. Just strong arms holding him back as he reached the young man, somehow missing those silver starlight eyes when they closed.

He stirred, and a voice spoke. It was his brother.

"WangJi, you don't have to get up. Just please listen to me. And rest well afterwards because we will be leaving first thing in the morning. Madam Yu is relentless..." He sighed. "You have a deep fever. So does Young Master Wei, but it looks like he's still going to come with us. However his father is not fit to travel. So we will be travelling to the residence of Baoshen Sanren...with Madam Yu and Jiang Fengmian, and their son. Jiang Cheng will also be accompanying us."

Lan Zhan couldn't open his eyes. It felt as if someone had poured wet sand over his eyelids, for they were itchy and grainy. But he heard everything clearly.

"Uncle Qiren?" He mumbled.

"Uncle will travel back to Cloud Recesses tomorrow, and report back to the Elders and our father on what has happened here." XiChen patted his hands folded over his chest, as was his habit when sleeping.

"I'm sorry." Lan Zhan whispered, barely getting out the words.

Xichen gasped.

"Didi, you have nothing to apologise for! You did nothing wrong. It is our misfortune to be surrounded by vipers, out for blood." He lowered his voice. "I don't trust Madam Yu at all, I can't help thinking she's planning something. But you, you made me so proud today."

Lan Zhan felt warm lips upon his forehead.

"Rest well, my dear brother. I am right here, if you need anything. Madam Yu has placed guards outside our door, because she seems to be convinced of our absconding in the middle of the night. I do not know what kind of stick she has up her backside, but it certainly is not of the thin variety."

Xichen sounded exhausted.

"Bamboo." Lan Zhan muttered.

"Huh?" The presence returned to his side.

"Unbreakable. Bamboo. The stick. Up her..." He couldn't finish the sentence.

But the warm laughter, a soft chuckle came, dissipating their tension slightly.

Lan Zhan was glad for the small moments like this, when they could make each other feel better, if only a little bit. His Xiongzhang was the best.

He heard the soft whisper of breath blowing out candles, and then the hush of clothes settling on bedding.

It wasn't too long before the measured breaths reached his ears, even and calm. XiChen was asleep now.

Finally, Lan Zhan allowed himself to think about the night hunt. He went over all his steps from the beginning of the hunt. It had been so dark...everything was a shadow that moved by itself then, it was hard to see anyway, and then it had rained.

Two questions stood out in his mind: why had Wei WuXian not defended himself against the Douji? And why was he so scared? Obviously something nefarious was going on, because the biggest issue was who had attacked Lady Sanren? What was she doing out there anyway?

Lan Zhan had last seen her waiting with the others at the beginning of the night hunt, standing next to Madam Yu. So how and why had she reached that place, deep in the woods? Had something, no, someone, lured her there? For what purpose?

And why was Madam Yu trying to hang the blame around his neck? Suddenly, it seemed as if no-one was interested in the truth, not any more. She wanted evidence that he had not done it, well, Lan Zhan wanted evidence that proved he did do it!

Evidence and proof worked both ways, much like his beloved rules. So he didn't mind going to see Baoshen Sanren, the famous Immortal. She was highly respected for more than just her achievements among all the clans, even by the Lan Sect of Gusu. And in that, she was technically a neutral party, if she wasn't the direct grandmother of Wei WuXian. Nobody could accuse her of having a bias because she was Immortal; it didn't matter to her what happened outside of her mountain homeland. People lived and died by the sword, but she remained unaffected, watching events happen like ebb and flow of waves, time slithering through her fingertips like dry sand.

He didn't mind seeking justice with her.

But why couldn't he rest?

He was bone tired. The hunt and ensuing battle against the elements, followed by being in the same room as Madam Yu, had all taken their toll on his body. He shivered, feeling hot and cold at once. His fingers reached to pull the blanket closer up to his neck.

His mind kept wandering to the silver-eyed prodigy. How was it Wei WuXian had seemingly effortlessly killed off a level ten beast, unfair of Madam Yu to include such an animal in the first place, but even after such a wonderful feat of bravery, why was he so afraid of the wolf?

It was just a lowly level five at that.

Lan Zhan was sure, wasn't he, that he had heard a scream? How else had he known which direction to run in?

And then, to find the usually brave and cocky fighter cowering? Afraid and panicking, those were two words that shouldn't be used in the same sentence as Wei WuXian.

There was definitely more to this than appeared, of that he was sure.

Here, alone in the dark, Lan Zhan allowed himself to examine what his mind shrank back from looking at too closely. Why was he so attracted to Wei WuXian?

Certainly a far cry from his elegant and graceful dancer, perfect in every way. Wei WuXian was as uncouth as they came, a terrible flirt, and...and...the thief who stole his first kiss. That was something Lan Zhan could not forgive him for. How would he be able to explain it to his dancer? To have to admit that he had already kissed someone other than the object of his dreams? It was unthinkable! And worse, what if his dancer didn't believe him? What if it drove a wedge between them? What if his dancer decided Lan Zhan was of a promiscuous nature? That alone would ruin everything.

The only similarity between them was the way they both smelled, the fragrance of lotus flowers clearly hovering around both, but perfume was easy to get hold of, especially in Lotus Cove, where the flowers were the source of many livelihoods. And watching the way Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli draped themselves over the young man, suggested that Wei WuXian was no stranger here.

Was there something going on between the Jiang and Wei heirs? Lan Zhan couldn't tell, at least not clearly. Did people normally touch each other so much? What did it mean?

He wasn't sure what the stance was in Lotus Cove about same-sex marriages, but in Gusu, Cloud Recesses was happily accepting. Some of their past ancestors had openly cultivated together with their husbands, and no-one had batted an eyelid. It was not even an issue, something Lan Zhan was proud of.

Some of the other sects did not have such open minds though, a fact that Lan Zhan was too aware of these days. The Nies were one such Sect, where Nie MingJue had gone as far as outlawing cut sleeves. The move was unpopular and had resulted in bolstering other sects filled with those leaving Qinghe altogether. Wen Rouhan was another leader with a similar mindset, and Lan Zhan thought it was a result of a bad diet, as much as anything else. Otherwise how else did one explain such backward thinking?

Love was love, and it did not matter what the outer shell looked like, as long as the two souls had achieved a oneness of being.

Somehow, watching the Jiang heir be so...so...familiar with Wei WuXian...it bothered him on another level, one he didn't want to face right now. To try and understand what he was feeling, it bordered on being unfaithful to his dancer, and Lan Zhan didn't want to accept that.

Not at all.

None of this sat well with him.

There were too many questions and not enough answers. But of this, he was sure: the truth always found a way, and he had no doubts his innocence would be proven sooner or later.