WangXian Forever Book 10

Chapter 3: Party

Tables are laid out and laden with all of Li XiWang's favourite foods, and everyone sits down to eat. There's stinky tofu, fried tofu, marinated tofu, dumplings, noodles and bao buns, plain rice and vegetable soup.

Lan Zhan whips out the chilli oil for Wei Ying as soon as they sit down, earning a grateful smile as he dumps more than half of it into his plate. Lan Zhan looks around at everyone gathered here today, and his heart feels so full that it's overflowing with a gentle happiness.

Wei Ying takes hold of his hand under the table, watching him with a tender smile on his face. They don't need to say anything, not out loud, and not through their mental connection, simply because words aren't necessary right now.

All around them, just for this meal, the rules about no talking whilst eating is lax, given the number of guests present. There's laughter and chatting, friendly whispers and catching up with the news of so much happening in so many lives. It's a steady hum broken up with the sounds of porcelain and chopsticks clinking together as everyone eats their fill.

Today is a day for enjoying precious time with friends and family, and for once, not worrying about anything else.

It is much later that Daden Yaonu tells Li XiWang and Wei Ying that Shui had also accompanied them, and that he's swimming in the Cold Pond. Then of course, the party splits up as a handful of them go to meet.

"We haven't seen him in so long, do you think he's grown?" Wei Ying asks Lan Zhan, not really expecting an answer.

He's already stripping off his robes and diving into the freezing water, relying on his super white core to keep him warm now. As soon as he hits the water, two bodies flank him, eager to hug and play.

"Shui! Kedou! You came as well!" Wei Ying grabs both of them to his chest as Shui purrs and Kedou just laughs.

"Our King says he will be less lonely if I am with him," he explains enthusiastically.

Wei Ying brings them up to greet Lan Zhan and Li XiWang and then it turns into a game of tag between the disciples who want to swim and play, and those content to watch.

**************

The day passes with much fun and laughter. After the Cold Pond visit, they go to meet Suanni who prefers the training grounds whenever he visits Cloud Recesses.

Young disciples and children all climb over him, and he's constantly purring, a sound loud enough to echo off the mountains.

"Happy?" Lan Zhan asks Wei Ying as they quietly watch it all from a few feet away.

"Yeah..." he sounds wistful. "Was it only three years ago that she came to live with us? It feels as if that should be such a long time, but it's passed by like this," he snaps his fingers.

"Mn."

"Children grow up so fast, and sometimes I just wish I could keep them little and safe, only in my arms."

Lan Zhan pulls him closer, keeping his arm tight around Wei Ying's waist. He thinks about SiZhui, when the young boy had just recovered from his fever. Only three years old and yet so compassionate, so trusting, while Lan Zhan was terrified of being a parent to him, but nonetheless, equally determined to do it.

Yes, A-Yuan was a whole person, just himself, but he felt like a gift from Wei Ying, entrusted to Lan Zhan to keep him safe.

There were good days and bad days, days of silent crying because A-Yuan didn't understand where he was, or where his family had gone, memories obliterated by his illness, and yet the presence of those that had left a void in his life was a tangible aftereffect, and one that Lan Zhan had to learn how to navigate. There were days of laughter that came afterwards though, and he still remembers what the child's face looked like when presented with a field full of fluffy white bunnies.

"One learns how to be a parent."

Wei Ying looks up at his lovely face, his beautiful golden eyes shining with how much he felt. Those that ever accused Lan Zhan of being unfeeling were so wrong. They simply weren't looking close enough.

Wei Ying wraps his arm around Lan Zhan's waist too, giving him a warm squeeze.

"True. And at some point, they fly away and leave the nest, and we have to hope that they'll be okay. Though I have to say, Little Rabbit sure picked a terrifying name for her sword. I was so proud of her for telling Grandmother why." He shivers, remembering her words.

"She's not wrong. We have encouraged her to explore her gifts and she is confident of herself, and her powers. She knows that even without her sword, she is never defenceless." Lan Zhan feels proud of Li XiWang's progress on that front.

"I think she takes after you, more than me," Wei Ying beams up at him.

That smile.

Lan Zhan would flatten the world for that smile.

He settles for kissing the top of Wei Ying's head, and says, "No. I do not think so."

"Why? What makes you think so?"

"Taking into account that our daughter is very much her own person, even without the influence of Bai Hua, she looks up to you. And she should, because I have never met a person so strongly able to hold onto his beliefs."

"You...you are such a menace!" Wei Ying hides his red face with his hands.

Lan Zhan gives up and holds him close anyway, a full embrace uncaring who sees them like this. There will never be a time when he doesn't want Wei Ying in his arms.

And he's tired of pretending otherwise.

*************

It's harder to escort Li XiWang back to the dormitories where she will stay from now on.

"Rest well, Little Rabbit. Tomorrow will be your first day of training with your sword." Lan Zhan tells her warmly.

She beams back from the circle of Wei Ying's arms as he hugs her tightly.

"Sweet dreams, bunny. I love you." He whispers close to her ear.

"I'm going to be fine," she insists, not rolling her eyes.

"Yeah."

"Nothing to worry about," she reassures him.

"Okay." Wei Ying sniffs, nodding along.

"I love you both! Bye, Rumi!" She kisses the top of his head, smiling when he sucks on his thumb. "I'll see you all tomorrow."

They watch her go inside the student quarters where her friends are waiting for her, and then they turn around to go back to the Jingshi.

All of their guests have left and now, with just the three of them walking back alone, the air feels heavy with melancholy.

It's too early to go to sleep yet, and Wei Ying plants Rumi on their bed while he takes a firm look around the room.

The Jingshi looks different to what it used to be like before, when Lan Zhan lived here alone. Now, there are flashes of red and black scattered around in places, talisman papers on the floor and a general messiness that follows Wei Ying around like a shadow, no matter where he goes.

"Maybe I can tidy up a bit," he grins, looking back at Lan Zhan, who has settled on their bed with Rumi now situated on his lap.

"You can leave it. I like the room as it is," Lan Zhan insists.

"Well, I can still put away my summer robes, right? I don't know why I haven't, anyway. I think I wore these last in Yunmeng," Wei Ying says, picking up the deep blue set of robes.

There's something odd about them, a weight on one side that Wei Ying wasn't prepared for, and he shakes them out to see what it could be.

There's a loud thud and the sound of metal hitting the floor.

"What's that?" He says, running to pick it up from the floor.