Lan Zhan's POV
Lan Zhan could hear someone calling his name....but it was muffled. He remembered one time when he was a child, and a strange fog had descended onto Cloud Recesses.
It had been so thick the Elders had restricted the residents from going outside too much, so their only excursions were to the dining hall and back. He remembered holding his hand up and not being able to see it until it was close to his eyes. XiChen had been talking to him, and being taller than himself, Lan Zhan had thought it sounded as if someone had stopped his ears with cotton wool, so everything was muffled.
That voice sounded the same...it was Xiongzhang...but he sounded far away. And then another voice, this one even dearer to him...Wei Ying?
Lan Zhan struggled to open his eyes, his mind reluctant to leave the deep sleep of unconsciousness.
"My love...Lan Zhan... won't you please wake up?"
This voice sounded so sad...Wei Ying should never be sad.
He used all his strength to focus on his eyes, blinking hard. Two faces were blurry at first, but then they became clearer. His Xiongzhang and his Wei Ying....relief on both of their faces now.
He tried to smile.
Xiongzhang helped him to sit up, and Wei Ying was holding a cup to his parched lips. His throat felt too dry, like it was lined with sandpaper, and his tongue felt heavy. The tea was mixed with herbs and it immediately helped, clearing his thoughts. He looked into Wei Ying's face, searching for evidence that he was alright.
Wei Ying certainly looked much better. His silver starlight eyes were as bright as usual, a healthier glow upon his golden face, and his red lips turned up in a knowing smile were tantalisingly inviting.
Lan Zhan couldn't help but stare in fascination at them, wanting to feel them under his own.
"Later, my love." Wei Ying whispered closer to his ear.
He held cool fingers to Lan Zhan's forehead and it felt like heaven.
"How do you feel, Didi? We are going back to Cloud Recesses very soon, and-" XiChen was saying.
But Lan Zhan had to interrupt him.
"No... Xiongzhang! Have to show you something." His voice sounded hoarse as if he hadn't used it in a week.
"Both of you are dehydrated and need to eat something first." His tone was disapproving. "A-Xian wouldn't eat anything without you."
Lan Zhan recognised his impatience with them both and had to smile.
"This one is sorry. We will eat, then show?"
XiChen's face cleared immediately and he smiled too.
"Good boy. And you, A-Xian." He turned to give orders to the waiting healers.
"Wei Ying should have eaten something." Lan Zhan could not hold himself back now, and lifted Wei Ying closer to himself.
The tea was wonderful and he felt so much better, enough to kiss his Wei Ying. He wrapped his arms around Wei Ying, holding him fast, while his lips tasted the sweet nectar that was only found here with him. Wei Ying was kissing him back and suddenly, it felt like everything was fine, like the settling of dust after a storm.
Lan Zhan could feel his wrist getting warmer, and he deepened the kiss, utterly relieved that his Wei Ying was safe, and here. Their lips met again and again, a soft silky slide full of love and promises. Wei Ying was pressed up against his body and his fingers were tangled in Lan Zhan's hair. Lan Zhan felt the tug on his headband...he was losing control fast, Wei Ying too tempting, too much and he was bending him back and-
The clearing of another throat, polite but loud, had them separating like the clapping of hands.
Wei Ying's face was bright red, his lips now satisfyingly bruised and swollen...and Lan Zhan felt quite proud of himself. But he frowned when Wei Ying moved away, climbing off him.
"The food is here." He explained, grinning.
Lan Zhan folded his legs and made Wei Ying sit opposite him so they could share the food. Why did he get an amazing rush by just holding a vegetable to Wei Ying's lips and seeing them open? There was a burning need deep within him that needed to know Wei Ying was alright, that he was healthy. And he opened his own mouth dutifully for Wei Ying's chopsticks, seeing the same happy satisfaction mirrored on his face.
Once they had finished, Lan Zhan attempted to stand up. His body was sore but it was nothing he could not cope with. He tried to keep from wincing as the full weight of his body came to rest upon his feet.
"My love, wait." Wei Ying came to stand by him, supporting his waist with one arm and pulling Lan Zhan's arm over his shoulder so that Lan Zhan would have to lean on him.
Lan Zhan decided to do as he suggested; while it was not strictly necessary that he needed to lean, but this position let the wonderful scent of lotus flowers and wine be closer, and who was Lan Zhan to say no to that?
He would always want to be closer to Wei Ying.
"What is it you want to show me, Didi?" XiChen asked, worried for him. "Can't it wait? I think both of you need to rest more."
"No, Xiongzhang. This is urgent." Lan Zhan was determined. "If we need proof, more people should know about the cave. Only our Clan, nobody else."
XiChen looked intrigued enough not to ask any more questions.
They walked slowly back to the cave. The opening was still smaller than when they had first entered, but they managed to squeeze through. A few more disciples followed them in with torches and now their shadows flew across the cave walls like mad dancers.
Whispers echoed in the large empty space as they went further in.
XiChen spotted the first drawings.
When Wei Ying went to explain, Lan Zhan shook his head.
"Let us see if Xiongzhang makes the same conclusions." He explained.
"Didi... didn't you study something like this? An old history book?"
He wandered further in and they shuffled after him.
"Mn. Xiongzhang is correct. But book was incomplete."
"Incomplete? What do you mean?" XiChen turned back to the drawings. "These are telling the story of two cultivators, Lan Xin Yi and...and Wei Jun Min..." he turned back to them. "Lan and Wei? That can't be a coincidence."
"Mn. There's more further in."
The torch bearers went ahead and they heard gasps.
XiChen hurried after them to see what had caused their reactions.
Now he was looking at the pictures with the artifact and the cores.
"Does this mean these two cultivators had different coloured cores and they did what? Why is the artifact in two pieces? What do you think happened?" He looked really worried now.
"There is something more. Read on." Lan Zhan told him.
"This is...Lan Xin Yi's mother?" XiChen looked back at them. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but did she summon a demon?" He was horrified. "Why?"
"She bought a curse." Wei Ying supplied.
"Cursed the clans. We had a dream." Lan Zhan admitted.
"Both of us, it was the same dream, but much more real? If that makes sense? We were both there and we met those two cultivators." Wei Ying cleared his throat.
Lan Zhan knew he was still feeling upset over what they both had witnessed. He squeezed his shoulder. Wei Ying smiled up at him, not a full one but he was trying.
"In the dream, I was Lan Xin Yi." He explained. "The lady." Although Lan Zhan didn't care that in the past his body had been a female one, he felt the pangs of regret and now he wasn't sure if these feelings were his own or himself as his past person. This regret was to do with needing a stronger body...and when he had lived in Lan Xin Yi's body. He could feel himself as a woman desperately wanting a stronger body, so she could defend her husband.
In fact, all she had wanted was to save her husband and protect him.
Lan Zhan agreed.
Was that why, in this life, his shoulders were broader, his arms so much stronger and his body as a whole, was in such good condition? Had he wished for it so hard, the universe had granted it?
And was this why he felt such a compelling need to protect Wei Ying?
Right from the get go, he had had that overwhelming response, stronger than need, to protect this man dressed in black, even before he had fallen in love with the silver-eyed beauty.
"And I was the past Wei Jun Min. They said they defected. They were the heirs and they left their clans because they wanted to help people." Wei said.
Lan Zhan thought back to his promise to Wei Ying. He had told him that if his Clan did not accept their marriage, he would leave with Wei Ying ... .but was that not repeating the past? Were they making the same mistakes as their counterparts from the past had done? And if so, was there another way to solve this problem? Since it was now not just about their marriage, but about the war between their clans.
Running away was no longer an option.
No. This time they would have to stay and fix the problems properly.
"But they had the artifact." XiChen was saying, turning back to the wall. "So what happened?"
"We are not sure, XiChen-ge."
"In the dream, their solution was to kill each other. They thought by removing themselves from the clans, would end problem." Lan Zhan nodded towards the old lady drawn on the wall. "She blamed the clans for losing her daughter. Put curse on both clans."
XiChen kept looking from the pictures on the cave walls to them, trying to reconcile what they were saying and what he was seeing. There was no point in asking them if they were sure, because that line had been crossed ages ago. Even he was willing to believe this story now.
"The key lies with this artifact." He tapped the picture on the wall. "What happened to it? A-Xian, you must know, the Lan Clan has forever believed that the Wei Clan had it, and all this time, they've used it to control resentment energy. But here, if we are to believe this scene, then they somehow managed to split it in two."
"Xiongzhang is correct." Lan Zhan couldn't help feeling a little bit smug. His brother was a clever man, and Lan Zhan was happy that he was on their side for one thing, and that he had been able to arrive at the same reasoning they had.
"But what happened after that?" He asked.
"That is the question." Wei Ying replied. "I think...I think, you know where it said they had gone to meet an immortal? That was my grandmother. And I think we should visit her again."
"Mn. We need answers." Lan Zhan added.
"Didi...I've been meaning to ask you about your bracelet... yours and A-Xian's. When we found you, your wrists were connected through your bracelets. They fit together." XiChen came up to them then. "Did Baoshan Sanren give them to you?"
Lan Zhan wondered what he meant by that. XiChen knew that both Wei Ying and he had gone in without the bracelets, and when they had come out, both were wearing them...
"I mean, did she give you them herself?" He clarified.
"Sort of?" Wei Ying hedged.
Lan Zhan understood his need not to explain everything just yet. That cave, that fountain...it was theirs and not for outsiders, no matter how close they were.
"For now, we should return to Cloud Recesses. We all have to give evidence." XiChen was grimacing.
"Evidence?" Both Wei Ying and Lan Zhan spoke together.
"We found the Scorpion. It has obviously been tampered with." He sighed. "Somehow, it was modified to be bigger, stronger, and grow three tails instead of one. And from what you said before, after hearing those two seniors conspire about A-Xian...I can not help but think they have something to do with it." XiChen sighed again, heavier. "I have sent Lan Shen ahead of us, but we must call the perpetrators out, bring them to justice."
"So, after that...can we go?" Lan Zhan asked.
He also had many more questions for Baoshan Sanren, and only she had the answers.
"Let's be clever about this. Sort through one problem at a time, alright?" XiChen had a commanding tone now.
Lan Zhan was glad about this; there was something comforting in the person he trusted taking control, making decisions for him. Not all the time, but there were certainly instances when it made him feel better, like now.
"Have all of you seen these drawings?" XiChen called out, addressing everyone.
There were murmurs of affirmation as the torches came closer to the walls.
"When you're ready, we will head back to Cloud Recesses. There are issues which must be sorted out as soon as possible. Then we will tackle this puzzle."
"Mn."
"Lan Zhan...? Will you be alright travelling back to Cloud Recesses by sword?" Wei Ying asked, looking worried as they made their way out of the cave.
Lan Zhan tested his energy levels and spread his awareness through his meridians.
"Mn. Will be fine."
Wei Ying giggled, then.
"Mn?"
"Well, it seems to me, if you're okay to fly back, then you don't really need to lean on me right now...do you?"
Lan Zhan could feel his ears getting redder.
"I am much better now." He announced, avoiding eye contact.
Wei Ying's peals of laughter echoed behind them as they left the darkness of the cave.
**********************************
Cloud Recesses looked deceptively just as it did when they had left it, almost three nights ago.
In the morning sunshine, yellow rays fell in slanting beams across the golden leaves soon to be leaving their perches. The sky was incredibly blue with not a puff of clouds to enhance its beauty, and it was ironic given the name of this place.
"Is it always this beautiful?" Wei Ying said out loud.
They were walking up the incline towards the ivory gates.
Lan Zhan looked at his blushing face and realised that he had not meant to voice his thoughts. But ones exposed without thinking were often the mirrors to one's soul, and such was the case with Wei Ying.
"Mn. Cloud Recesses is always beautiful." He replied, smiling.
"But it isn't always so clear. Most mornings, there's a mist which hangs in the air obscuring the mountains and beyond." XiChen pointed to the East, correctly guessing what Wei Ying had asked.
Wei Ying squeezed Lan Zhan's hand, smiling back.
Lan Zhan felt...happy...and peaceful. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and he was holding the hand of the man he loved, and what could be better than that?
Plus they were returning home, and that was always a delight.
The guards by the gates stood to attention when they came into view, relief clear on their faces. XiChen chatted to them briefly about the night hunt, explaining that no one was unduly hurt, though he glanced at both Wei Ying and Lan Zhan.
Once again, Lan Zhan was happy that it was his brother who was older than himself and also was the Clan Leader. His job was difficult anyway but he always made time to include everybody, no matter their status. Being part of the Lan Clan was inclusive to every single member and Lan Zhan was beginning to realise how important it was for morale.
He knew from the rapt attention on the guard's faces that if XiChen asked them to lay down their lives for either him or the clan, they would do so without question. Not that he would, rather the opposite was true that in such a situation, it would be XiChen who would stand in front of them in the face of danger, but that kind of loyalty was hard to come by, and it was earned well by him.
It also brought to light his own position. Lan Zhan was incredibly glad that he himself did not have to do that job. In this life, he was incredibly lucky not to be the heir. Which then took his thoughts back to Lan Xin Yi.
If she was the only heir to their clan all those years ago, how did she feel about it? About taking over leadership and all the responsibility that came with it? If she had been anything like he was now, the decision to step away from the clan would not have been easy, but absolutely necessary to her.
In the dream, she had mentioned that she and Wei Jun Min had only thought about being together and helping people. But life was never that simple, and maybe they had been too innocently naive.
And, of course, her decision took not only herself away from the politics of clan life, but also that of her husband, who was also a prominent Clan's heir. Of course the clans would have been upset.
"What are you thinking about?" Wei Ying whispered in his ear.
Lan Zhan had difficulty suppressing his shiver as he looked into the beautiful face of Wei Ying. His silver eyes were shining brightly, a healthy pink tinge glowing on his face through the mild exertions of climbing up the mountain. Sunlight on his face made him look golden.
He raised a brow, mischief brewing in his gaze.
Lan Zhan tried to remember what he had asked. Then he gave up.
"Wei Ying is too beautiful. I have forgotten."
Wei Ying groaned and hid his face in Lan Zhan's white robes.
"You mustn't say things like that!"
"Lans do not lie." Lan Zhan folded his arms around Wei Ying's sinewy frame, content.
"It's just that you looked so serious...I mean, you always do, but this was different, you know?" Wei Ying peeked up at him.
"Was thinking about Lan Xin Yi and Wei Jun Min." He admitted. "Both clan heirs."
"Yeah...them wanting to leave would have pissed off a lot of people." Wei Ying mused. "Do you think that's why the old lady blamed our clans?"
"Mn. Probably. But grief is blind."
"That's the truth. I bet, once she found out her kid had died, she didn't care if it was right or wrong, she just needed some kind of justice, something to ease her pain."
"But revenge is not the way. Do not cause harm to innocents." Lan Zhan quoted. "And she was a Lan. It was not right."
"If she wasn't thinking straight, she probably didn't care about that, my love." Wei Ying pressed a light kiss to the underside of his jaw.
XiChen was walking towards them now, and so he reluctantly let go of Wei Ying, but held onto his hand.
"Let us call a meeting if Lan Shen hasn't already." He said, smiling briefly at their joined hands before looking serious.
They followed him through the narrow path with stone steps hewn from the mountain itself.
"These steps must be very old, huh?" Wei Ying asked, avoiding the little insects that were crawling around on the cold stone.
"Since Lan An's time. The founder of our Clan." XiChen told him proudly.
Lan Zhan watched Wei Ying take everything in again, as if seeing it all for the first time. He wondered what Wei Ying's thoughts were. So he squeezed their joined hands.
"Mn?"
Wei Ying rewarded him with a breathtaking smile. Lan Zhan had to rub his chest at the stuttering of his heart. He was too beautiful...
"I was thinking how wonderful it is to be able to trace your ancestors back to the beginning, to walk in their steps, sort of, at least the same places they must have walked, to see the same things, the same mountains as they must have seen, when they were alive. It's the connection between the past and the present." He blushed when both Jades stared in wonder at him.
"What?"
"We did not expect you to be so thoughtful. I, at least, did not." XiChen changed his words with a smile, at the glare he received from his baby brother.
Lan Zhan thought Wei Ying's blush was adorable. But then, everything about Wei Ying was adorable...
As they neared the Great Hall, a disciple hurried towards them.
"Sect Leader, you are needed there." He pointed towards the single storey building.
"Why? What's going on?" Lan XiChen asked, not waiting for an answer.
He threw open the great double doors of the Hall to open chaos.
Lan Zhan heard shouting first.
Lans did not shout.
"I ask you, WHAT PROOF DO YOU HAVE?"
That was definitely Lan Lao.
"I am getting to that, if you sit down. And I do not appreciate your tone."
That was Lan Shen.
Calm and dependable, that's how Lan Zhan thought of him.
"Seniors and Elders!" XiChen appealed for calm.
The Great Hall was at once as silent as an empty room.
"Charges of treason and corruption are to be brought forth, to Lan Lao and Lan Feng." He announced, going to stand next to Lan Shen.
Lan Zhan pulled Wei Ying to stand with him right next to his brother.
"What is he doing here?" Lan Feng exclaimed, pointing a finger at Wei Ying.
"You mean, why is he alive?" Lan Shen asked, dryly, rolling his eyes.
But both Lan Feng and Lan Lao had paled considerably.
"This is Clan business." He tried to defend himself.
"Wei Ying is my husband-to-be." Lan Zhan said firmly, loud enough to silence everyone. "That means he is part of my Lan family. He has every right to be here. Especially because you and he plotted to have him killed." Lan Zhan felt so angry now.
Not just at the sheer injustice of this, but that these lowlifes were part of the Lan Clan.
He said with a twisted, cruel smile, "And I say to you, where's your proof?"