Letting go of self-restraint 5 - Great happiness in a small package

Chapter 20

Nie Huisang was walking down the pathways of the Cloud Recesses towards the quarters of the Gusu Lan sect leader, it was still quite early in the morning and he was yawning discreetly. Or more precisely, it was early for him, not so much for the rest of the Gusu Lan sect as they had been up and about for hours by now. It was just that during his visits, he never got the chance to get used to Lan Xichen's schedule, they were always regrettably way too short. Perhaps this time though, he would be able to have some more luck since his stay had been prolonged and allowed by his brother.

"It has been a week since I arrived and I have still not gotten to have much private time with Lan Xichen. I have been hoping for something more when he had asked me to stay in the Cloud Recesses, but I understand. First, we need to help Brother Wei, only then we can think about having some fun ourselves.

Truth to be told, I have not expected the situation to be this out of hand. Although I have noticed that Brother Wei and Lan Wangji only scarcely left the Jingshi, I had just thought that perhaps A-Yuan was still too young to come outside or that he had been sick. They have always behaved normally and there has been no signs of unsatisfaction or unhappiness. They always looked like a perfect happy family..."

Nie Huisang knew by now that it had only been a pretence for him and that Wei Wuxian had been hiding himself and A-Yuan in the Jingshi ever since he had given birth. The Qinghe Nie sect heir was silently berating himself: "I should have noticed way sooner really. It was not that hard either... It was just me being overly happy to be able to spend some time with Lan Xichen that I have not been paying much attention to anything else. Poor Brother Wei, he has been struggling with his fears for such a long time. What kind of friend am I when I did not even inquire about his strange behaviour?"

Despite his remorseful thoughts, Nie Huisang was quite proud of himself today. He had been shutting himself in his room for the last two days, and working on a solution. It had taken quite a lot of experimentation and trial and fails but he had come up with a new talisman that he was certain Wei Wuxian would enjoy very much.

"Or at least I hope Brother Wei will be happy. As far as I could tell, he is afraid of leaving A-Yuan out of his sight but he does not have much problems letting trusted people watch him when he is nearby. That is why I have designed this talisman especially from him, hoping that he would be able to relax, if even a little bit, and stop worrying about A-Yuan unnecessarily. I really wish for him to put his mind at ease, this is no way to be living, especially for someone like him who has a whole world to discover in front of him. Now it is just the matter of testing my theory out."

Suddenly, just as Nie Huisang circled another narrow corner on the path he was taking, he heard a somewhat familiar voice coming from a short distance away. It was still too far to distinguish the exact words but the tone was unmistakeable, Jiang Cheng must have arrived to the Cloud Recesses while Nie Huisang had been working on his new talisman. The Yunmeng Jiang sect leader must have come to visit his brother.

"I could have not asked for a better opportunity," Nie Huisang cheered internally and change the direction of his steps so he would be able to meet his old friend. "If Brother Jiang is here, I am sure we could convince Brother Wei to spend some time with him and let A-Yuan be watched by Lan Wangji or me and Lan Xichen in the meantime. It is possible that his brother will even be able to lure him out of the Cloud Recesses for a short stroll in the Caiyi town. Although that would probably be too much for Brother Wei still. If we go too quickly and try to push his boundaries too much, I am afraid it would hurt him and he could retract back into his protective shell of the Jingshi. Better to start slow and give him enough time to get used to not having A-Yuan with him all the time."

Nie Huisang was now sure he going in the right direction as Jiang Cheng's words were becoming more distinct: "...all the time. He barely looked at us and only watched A-Yuan. As if we have not come from Yunmeng and Lanling to especially see him. Cannot he spare us a few words at least?"

Even with this little, the Qinghe Nie sect heir understood that the cause of Jiang Cheng's anger must have been Wei Wuxian. "Then again," he though, amused, "what else could Brother Jiang be dissatisfied with in the Cloud Recesses? It is not as if he was not given nice rooms or all the respect a sect leader could ask for. Of course it has to be his brother he is worried about, in his special angry way. I wonder if he is complaining to Wen Ning who have come with him or if he is simply venting on some poor rock or something."

He hastened his steps, overcome by excitement to possibly be able to see a fellow Omega whom he had taken a great liking to. They still kept in touch even until this day with Wen Ning asking him from time to time for advice how to improve the living conditions of Omegas in the Lotus Pier. Through their correspondence and shared adventures while helping Wei Wuxian recover from his trauma, they had become quite close friends, he would say.

However, as soon as he entered the courtyard from which Jing Cheng's rumbling could be heard, he realized that it was not only Wen Ning who had come to pay visit to the Cloud Recesses and was now trying to reason with the Yunmeng Jiang sect leader.