Chapter 2
"A-Xian...A-Xian..."
Jiang Yanli called her brother who had fallen asleep on the boat on their way here...
"If you don't come out of the boat soon...I'll let the dog loose..."
Jiang Cheng threatened as usual...
On hearing his Shiji's voice, Wei Ying sat up abruptly shouting "Shiji"...
"A-ji...See...it works all the time..."
Jiang Cheng said to his sister proudly....
"Shiji..."
Wei Ying called out again panicking while looking around...
"A-Xian...we are here...on the shore..."
Jiang Yanli said waving at him worried...
Wei Ying sighed in relief seeing his sister whom he had missed earlier because of the crowd...
"Shiji..."
He said relieved...
"A-Xian...Come out..."
She said to him with a soft smile...
"I told you not to scare A-Xian..."
She scolded Jiang Cheng lightly slapping on his arms...
Wei Ying sighed...
He had been so exhausted that he didn't know when he fell asleep...
"I didn't realize that we had reached..."
Wei Ying said to them...
"Of course you didn't...with how you were sleeping I don't think you would wake up even If the world was to end..."
Jiang Cheng said making faces at Wei Ying...
"Wait for me...I'm coming...I'm coming..."
Wei Ying said hoping through the boats and jumping to the pier...
"We haven't reached Cloud Recesses yet...this is Caiyi town..."
Jiang Yanli explained to him...
Caiyi...Wei Ying remembered visiting here when the waterborn abyss had attacked...
That day Lan Zhan had saved him...
Lan Zhan...
His thoughts went to what happened in the Nevernight City...
How funny was it that when everybody was praising him and encouraging him to use crafty arts during the sunshot campaign Lan Zhan was the only one who was against it saying it would affect his temperament...
And when the everybody wanted him dead...Lan Zhan was there with him inspite of his injuries...trying to save him...
You are an enigma Lan Wanji...
Wei Ying thought to himself...
He had misunderstood Lan Zhan and his intentions in his past life....and he promised himself to not do it again..
"Being outside is totally different from being at home...you have to be very mindful about your actions..."
Jiang Yanli said to them...
"Exactly...Wei Wuxian...we will be reaching Cloud Recesses soon...disciples from all major sects are going to attend the lectures...let's not have all of them judge us by your actions alone...ok.."
Jiang Cheng said to him...
Rest assured Jiang Cheng...This time along...I won't do anything to bring attention to myself and cause trouble to the Lotus Cove...
"A-ji...it was a really tiring journey from Yunmeng...why don't we first find an inn to rest and then go to Cloud Recesses later...?"
Jiang Cheng said to Jiang Yanli
"Why would we do that...?i think it would be better if we can go directly without stopping here...we can rest all we want after reaching Cloud Recesses...What do you say Shiji...?"
Wei Ying asked her...
That way we don't have to have that awkward meeting with Jin Zixuan...
Knowing that Shiji and Jin Zixuan are going to fall in love and get married he didn't want to cause any trouble to the both of them...
He was still reeling because of the damage that he had done in the past life...
He had already decided that he wouldn't be at logger heads with Jin Zixuan this time...
"Wei Wuxian...Why...?do you want us all to reach Cloud Recesses looking like wet chickens...?we can't compromise the Yunmeng style..."
Jiang Cheng said to him bringing Wei Ying's attention back to the conversation...
"Jiang Cheng..."
Wei Ying was going to reason with him when Jiang Yanli interrupted him...
"That is a good idea especially since there are still days before the starting of the lectures...the trip was tiring...let's rest for sometime...and then continue..."
She said...
Wei Ying sighed...
Well nothing problematic was going to happen today as far as he remembered... which meant they would be ok with it...
They weren't going to get rooms anyway since it would all be booked by the Jin sect...
Wei Ying thought to himself...
"Didn't you say that you wanted to drink Gusu's famous Emperor's Smile..."
Jiang Cheng asked him...
"It's rich and mellow...just one sip can wipe away all your worries..."
He continued out aloud in a weak imitation of Wei Ying's voice...
"You can strike out theatre from your prospective career choices...you stink at acting..."
Wei Ying said sticking out his tongue at Jiang Cheng earning a punch on his shoulder...
"Well...Since you have been waiting eagerly to taste Emperor's smile...have some now..."
Jiang Cheng said poking Wei Ying lightly on his shoulder...
"Oh and let me remind you...alcohol is prohibited in Cloud Recesses....so don't even think about sneaking out to get some once we reach there..."
He added with a smirk...
Don't I know that...
Wei Ying thought to himself...
Afterall there is no count to how many times I have transcribed those rules as punishment...
Lan Zhan...Lan Zhan...show mercy on me this time around...ok...
"I'm surprised that you are taking all this pretty well..."
Jiang Cheng said to Wei Ying looking suspiciously at him...
You have no idea...
~~~~~~~~~~~
"What do you mean no rooms are vacant...?"
Jiang Cheng asked the inn keeper...
"One of the prominent sects have booked all the rooms for its disciples who will be arriving soon..."
Inn keeper said to them appologetically...
Wei Ying was standing next to shiji and had let Jiang Cheng take over with this business...
"We just need a room or two...just to freshen up and..."
Jiang Cheng said to the inn keeper..
"Sir..Please understand our situation...I'm helpless...why don't you go check with other inns in the town...they might be having rooms..."
The inn keeper said appologetically...
At that point two disciples of the Jin sect one of them whom Wei Ying recognized as Mian Mian walked in and the innkeeper rushed towards them to inform them that all arrangements are made...
"Let's go to Cloud Recesses..."
Wei Ying said to Jiang Cheng and Shiji...
"We have traveled so long to reach here...a couple more won't hurt..."
He added...
"A-Xian is right...A-Cheng...let's go..."
Jiang Yanli said...
Jiang Cheng sighed...
As they walked out they saw Jin Zixuan and his large group of Jin sect disciples coming towards them from the other side...
Wei Ying sighed seeing Jin Zixuan look towards them as if seeking somebody...He didn't need an elaborate explanation as to whom he was looking for...Shiji was in the back talking to one of the shidis...
As she joined them in the front Wei Ying who was still keeping his eye on Jin Zixuan noticed the brightening in the eyes of the flower peacock as soon as he saw shiji...WHICH was gone when shiji saw them and looked at him..
Wei Ying sighed...
Maybe his short tempered chaotic self had failed to notice the undercurrents between these two before...
"Maybe if I talk to him..."
Jiang Cheng whispered to them...
Wei Ying sighed knowing that it's not going to work...
Jiang Yanli however nodded encouragingly...
They watched as Jiang Cheng walked towards Jin Zixuan and greeted him and explained the situation...
"Our young master doesn't want to cram in together with other people..."
One of the disciples said in a pompous tone...
"A-Xian...A-Cheng...let's go to another inn..."
Jiang Yanli said to them...
Nodding at her they were about to leave when they heard Jin Zixuan...
"Wait..."
Jin Zixuan said to them...
"There aren't many good inns around here...you can stay in this one itself...it is only a matter of a couple of hours right...we can manage that..."
He added...
Wait a minute...was he hearing what he think he was hearing...?
Wei Ying thought surprised...
Did Jin Zixuan agree to put himself in discomfort for them...?
What was happening...?
Wei Ying thought as they walked back to the inn with Jin Zixuan and the Jin disciples...
Once they reached the inn Jin Zixuan said to the inn keeper that he was ok with giving a couple of rooms booked by his sect, to the Jiang sect disciples...
"But Master Jin...we won't have enough rooms if..."
One disciple said...
"Then they can have my room...Jiang Gunzi tells me that he needs the room only for sometime...I'll adjust somewhere else until they are done..."
Jin Zixuan said to the disciple...
"Master Jin..you don't have to bother...we will..."
Mian Mian said to him...
Jin Zixuan stopped her and turned to leave...
"Thank you so much for your help Jin Gunzi..."
Jiang Cheng said to him gratefully to which Jin Zixuan nodded before walking off with his people...
"Everybody listen up...We will freshen up, rest for a while and leave .."
Jiang Cheng said gathering up all the Jiang sect disciples...
"We don't want to cause any inconvenience to them...after all they are short of rooms considering their numbers..."
He added...
~~~~~~~~~~
Wei Ying stood by the window staring blankly at the bustling town...
He was scared...he was very scared...
Will he able to save all of them this time around...?
Uncle Jiang, Madam Yu, Jin Zixuan, Shiji, Wen Qing, Wen Ning, A-Yuan, other Wen Clan people he had rescued who ended up dying for him later..?
Or will he lose them again...?
What will happen if he doesn't cultivate and ran away from all this...?away from all he knew and cared about...?
Will that prevent the inevitable from happening...?
"A-Xian...what are you thinking...?"
Jiang Yanli asked him...
Wei Ying shook his head with a sad smile...
"Since morning i'm noticing this...you seem very quiet...are you ok A-Xian...?"
She asked him warmly...
"I'm fine Shiji..."
He said to her smiling...
"I know all these rules and restrictions are too much for you...especially as Mom lectured you about not letting Yunmeng down... and Jiang Cheng keeps yammering about it regularly..."
"But A-Xian...a little fun won't hurt..."
She whispered to him smiling...
Wei Ying's eyes teared up...
Shiji..If only you know how I wrecked everything and quite possibly, will wreck everything again...
He thought to himself...
"A-Xian..."
Shiji called him worried cupping his cheeks as she wiped off the lone tear that rolled down his cheek...
"Does this have anything to do with the nightmare you had in the morning...?"
She asked him...
Wei Ying shook his head...
"Shiji...I'm fine..."
He said smiling at her...
"A-Xian...no matter what happens...know that your shiji will ALWAYS be there for you...ok.."
She said to him holding his hand in hers...
Wei Ying nodded...
Jiang Yanli patted him on his head...
"Shiji...The fragrance in this room is so good right...?"
He said to Jiang Yanli wanting to change the topic...
"It would be because of the fragrant sachets that those two Jin disciples left in the room..."
Jiang Yanli said to him...
"I can't believe that the flower peacock Jin Zixuan would give his own room to us...I wonder why he had such a change of heart...?"
Wei Ying said out aloud, looking at his shiji who blushed...
"Enough with the teasing A-Xian..."
Jiang Yanli said to him poking his arms...
"Now come...let's go paint Cloud Recesses violet..."
She added dramatically and burst out laughing...
"Shiji...I can't believe you said that.."
Wei Ying called her laughing...
"Why...?That seemed like the perfect thing to say..."
She said to him smiling...
*******************
As he walked closer to Cloud Recesses Wei Ying felt excited...
An excitement he didn't have when he was here the last time...
That time the mere thought of 3000+ rules had stopped him from coming here ever again after his education was over...
More like...After he was kicked out for fighting with Jin Zixuan...
He corrected himself...
But today he felt very excited...
In fact he was anticipating the meeting with the most beautiful person in Gusu...the younger one of the Twin Jades...the famous Hanguang Jun...
Lan Zhan...
He had failed to understand the man before...
It took him a lifetime and a death...an almost death...to realize that Lan Zhan always cared about him...
About him...
Not about what he can do...or his talents or his Tiger Seal or anything else...
Yes...Lan Zhan cared about him...
"Am I really seeing what I'm seeing...?is Wei Wuxian being excited about going to Cloud Recesses with 3000+ rules...?"
Jiang Cheng asked out loud...
Wei Ying sighed...
At that time the mere thought of being restrained by 3000+ rules was inconceivable for him...
But now though he was a little bit worried about how he was going to follow all the rules, he had promised himself that he wouldn't mess it up this time...
Which meant he would follow even the littlest of the rules without fail...
Lan Zhan you are going to have hard time finding faults out of me this time...
Wei Ying thought smirking...
Little did he know what was going to happen...
~~~~~
"What do you mean you don't have the invitations...?"
Wei Ying asked Jiang Cheng...
"I mean...I can't find it anywhere..."
Jiang Cheng replied to him...
"Jiang Cheng...I asked you as we left the inn if you had it and you said that you did..."
Wei Ying said to him in an exasperated tone...
"I didn't remember taking it out of my bag..so obviously I would say that it is there with me right..."
Jiang Cheng replied annoyed...
Wei Ying rolled his eyes...
"Would it have hurt if you checked...?"
Wei Ying asked Jiang Cheng in an irritated tone...
"It's Gusu Lan Sect's rule...students coming to study without their invitations cannot enter..."
The Lan disciple who was in shift at the gates said to them...
"Of course it is..."
Wei Ying muttered to himself...
So much for not causing any trouble...
Now Lan Zhan will come...We will exchange a few words...He will silence me...
I'll have to leave to get the invitations...
I'll be tempted to buy Emperor's Smile...
and will try to break into Cloud Recesses after the curfew...
Lan Zhan will find me...We will fight...And he will break my Emperor's Smile bottle...
Take me to Old Lan...And I'll be in the old man's bad book once again...
Just great...
He thought sighing...
"Look...we told you so many times...we lost our invitation...it wasn't intentional...further more look at us standing here...could all this be fake...?"
Wei Ying asked him...
Besides...Who in their right mind would come here to be restrained by 3000+ rules if they didn't have to...?
"I'm sorry...there is no way I'll be able to verify your identity without an invitation..."
The disciple said to them...
"Brother...The sun is about to set...are you going to watch us stay out on the streets all night...?"
Wei Ying asked him...
"Why don't you do this...?please ask your clan leader to meet our Shiji...He will know that we are telling the truth..."
He said to the Lan disciple...
"Then...everyone please stay here...wait till 5:45 pm when I switch stations..."
The disciple said to them...
Wei Ying sighed...
Of course...
"Let's leave the mountain first and deal with this later..."
Jiang Yanli said to them...
Wei Ying glared at Jiang Cheng for putting them all in this situation...
They were about to leave when HE walked in gracefully...
Though he looked like he was in mourning with his white robes, Wei Ying couldn't deny that the man looked like an Immortal God...
Wei Ying couldn't help but smile...
Lan Zhan...
He mouthed even before he could stop himself...
Lan Zhan's eyes met his...
"Second master...you are back..."
The Lan Disciple said to Lan Zhan...
"This is Second master Lan...?I guess he is Lan Wanji from the Twin Jades of Lan sect...Lan sect leader Lan Xichen's younger brother..."
Jiang Cheng said to him...
"Of course he is..."
Wei Ying replied...
"He might be able to let us in..."
Jiang Cheng said to him...
But even before he could understand what was happening Wei Ying started to hear disturbing screams...and the aura of resentment passed right through him...
Like he did in the past after coming in contact with the yin metal...
"No...please...I don't want this..."
Wei Ying whispered...
"Spare me atleast this time..."
"Wei Wuxian...?"
Jiang Cheng called seeing him shivering...
Lan Zhan turned abruptly to see Wei Ying holding his hand against his head completely disturbed...
"A-Xian...?what is wrong...?"
Jiang Yanli asked Wei Ying worried...
But at that time few Lan disciples carried a person who was attacked using Yin Metal...
Wei Ying stepped back like he had seen a ghost...The extent of resentment became too much for him to handle and he fell backwards...
Lan Zhan rushed towards him and caught him as he fell...
"Wei Ying..."
That was the last thing he heard before he lost consciousness...
*****************