Chapter 17
Lantern Festival I
Soon Lan Zhan came outside the inn and saw that all others had assembled outside...And Wei Ying was nowhere to be seen...
"Have you seen Wei Ying...?"
Lan Zhan asked Nei Huaisang...
Nei Huaisang froze...
"Errr....I...err..."
He mumbled incoherently...
Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes...
"Over there..."
Jiang Cheng said to Lan Zhan, while pointing towards the Tiānzǐ Xiào stall...
Lan Zhan turned towards Jiang Cheng and gave him a curt nod...
Lan Zhan hadn't particularly liked the man even before what happened at nevernight...
And as far as he was concerned this guy was nothing but a spineless majority pleaser who left his own sworn brother out in the clutches of hypocrites like Jin Guangshan, Jin Zixun and many others...
Even when Mianmian, a so called lowly disciple of Jin clan who didn't have any authority, stood up for Wei Ying, this man who was a sect leader played it safe and didn't even move a little finger for his shixiong...
And it was to this pile that the incidents of Nevernight got added...
He was afterall the one who had seen the faint trace of hope in Wei Ying's eyes die hearing the accusations in Jiang Wayin's words...
And Lan Zhan knew for sure that it was those words which made Wei Ying give up ultimately...
And so after this "rebirth", even the sight of at that man near Wei Ying was enraging for Lan Zhan...He had sworn to himself to always be on guard with him...
But off late he noticed that there was something about Jiang Wayin that was so different from how he was before...
Like how he seeked him out and informed him about Wei Ying's goodbye speech...
Maybe it was just because of the fact that the man was hoping that Lan Zhan would be able to convince Wei Ying to not leave...
But still the fact that he confided in him even in return for help was something the old Jiang Wayin wouldn't do...
Lan Zhan walked towards the other side of the street where Wei Ying was sitting drinking Tiānzǐ Xiào...
"Wei Ying..."
He called...
Wei Ying swallowed the alcohol abruptly choking on it immediately...
*COUGH*
"I'm good...no need to panic..."
Wei Ying said out aloud in his usual goofy demeanor with a nervous chuckle...
"Wei Ying listen to me..."
Lan Zhan said to him...
"I think I can hear Zewu-Jun calling for us..."
Wei Ying said to him looking at where everybody was standing...
The last thing he wanted was to be reprimanded by Lan Zhan for entertaining such lewd thoughts...
But for him...he knew he had to confess from the time he realized he was in love with the one he considered his soulmate...And he knew he had to confess before it was too late...
He knew that there was no future for this...after all he knew what was waiting for him at the end of this journey...
But he wanted to love Lan Zhan freely once...before everything...ended...
He would be content with loving him from distance...
"Wei Ying..."
"Gotta go..."
Wei Ying said and as he was about to escape when he ran right into a stall of vegetables and was about to fall when Lan Zhan on impulse grabbed his wrist to stop him...Both of them fell on the ground with one on top of other...And the force knocked the vegetables on top of both of them and into the ground...
"WEI WUXIAN...?"
"Wanji...?"
Wei Ying jumped up immediately hearing Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng and straightened his robes while Lan Zhan stood up after...
Jiang Cheng was looking at them with conflicted emotions while Lan Xichen looked on surprised...
"How embarrassing..."
Wei Ying muttered...
"I can explain...I lost my balance...so Lan Zhan..."
Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes...
"Oh no...The vegetables are all spoilt..."
The stall owner muttered as he kneeled down trying to pick them up...
"I'm sorry...I'll pay for it..."
Wei Ying said searching for his money pouch...He frowned seeing it gone...
"Wait a minute...where did my pouch go...?I just paid for Tiānzǐ Xiào..."
Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes again and was about to pay but Lan Zhan beat him to it and paid the vegetable cart owner...Which made Jiang Cheng roll his eyes again...
Silence ensued after everything was settled and Wei Ying found his money pouch which embarrassingly was with him all along...
Lan Zhan stared at Wei Ying...Wei Ying stared at everywhere else but at Lan Zhan...While Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng stared at the two of them...
"We should get going..."
Lan Xichen said breaking the ice...
"By the way Wei Gunzi...Drinking is not permitted during night hunts...I can overlook that considering how disturbing the encounter with the water born abyss was...but please don't bring alcohol inside Cloud recesses..."
He said looking at Wei Ying...
Wei Ying nodded...
Soon they walked back towards where everybody was...
"Congratulations...You just managed to make an utter fool of yourself...agaainnn..."
Jiang Cheng whispered to Wei Ying...
"Do you think I'm doing this by choice...?"
Wei Ying whispered back exasperated...
"I dont know about that....but even with all these people between us, I can still feel your man's glare...What sort of shameless debauchery DID you attempt to DO to him Wei Wuxian...?"
Jiang Cheng leaned towards Wei Ying and asked him in a condescending tone...
"I did nothingggg..."
Wei Ying replied indignantly...
"Honestly I'm offended you would think of me like that..."
He added frowning at him...
"Please...Do i look like a fool...?damn it...I have lost track of the times I heard about the gossips of your conquests while we train with other disciples.."
Jiang Cheng said looking visibly sick...
And if Wei Ying wasn't a bit distracted he would definitely have laughed at the look on his face...
"Ah...that's offensive...What conquests are you talking about..?I have never even been in a relationship..."
"You know what...?this entire convo is taking a disturbing route...umm...let's just drop it...alright...?"
Jiang Cheng replied...
"You can't drop a bomb like that and then ask me to drop it..."
Wei Ying said to him annoyed...
"Wait...wait...Are you sure Lan Zhan is glaring at us...?"
He asked Jiang Cheng who rolled his eyes again....
"Are you kidding me...?"
Jiang Cheng asked him...
"Never mind replying...Of course he is glaring...gosh what was I thinking...?Lan Zhan will surely have my head..."
Wei Ying muttered slapping himself...
"What.was.I.even.thinking...?"
Jiang Cheng shook his head...
Their conversation was cut short by their arrival at Cloud recesses...
Wei Ying fled from there immediately towards their cottage with Jiang Cheng trailing after...
Lan Zhan and Lan Xichen left to report about the incident to Lan Qiren...
"Are you ok Wanji...?"
Lan Xichen asked him...
"Hmm..."
Lan Zhan said with a sigh...
He was far from ok...Last few hours had been a rollercoaster of emotions for him...
Wei Ying confessing...And the happiness, ecstaty and various other feelings he couldn't even put his finger on that came associated with it...
Hearing Wei Ying confess, all the dreams about a future with Wei Ying that Lan Zhan had kept buried deep in heart came rushing to the forefront...
But then the possibility that what Wei Ying was feeling could as well be a passing fancy, a fleeting crush...Afterall Wei Ying had been in a lot of relationships...Lan Zhan had grown used to it in the past and was content with loving Wei Ying from a distance...
But a possibility of a relationship, albeit a temporary one, as he knew Wei Ying would move on eventually, was making him greedy...greedy enough to want more...even after knowing it wouldn't happen...
"Wanji...you go and rest...I'll go brief Uncle about everything...Tonight we will be celebrating the lantern festival with the disciples..."
"No brother...I'm fine..."
Silence ensued as they walked towards their uncle's abode...
"Are you ok Wangji...?"
Lan Xichen asked him again...
"Hmm..."
"Wanji..."
"Brother please..."
"Fine..."
Lan Xichen said making a mental note to have a word with Wei Wuxian...
"Xichen...Wanji..."
Their uncle greeted them as they walked inside...
"Uncle..."
They greeted him...
They filled him in about the Waterborne Abyss and discussed about what to do with it until they purge it completely as the entire process would take almost 2 years...
"They are getting bolder and bolder everyday..."
Lan Qiren said with a sigh...
Silence ensued...
"Uncle...How did the Discussion Conference go...?"
Lan Xichen asked him...
Lan Qiren informed them about what they discussed in the discussion conference...He told them that Wen Xu had come representing the Wens in the conference...
There was a knock in the door and Lan Qiren, Lan Xichen and Lan Zhan straightened up...
"Come in..."
Lan Xichen said out loud and Sushe and another disciple walked inside...
"Master Lan, Clan Leader, Hanguang Jun..."
They greeted them...
"Wen Gunzi came here some time after Zewu-Jun and Hanguang Jun left for the exorcism...and then he left for somewhere..."
Sushe informed him...
Lan Xichen nodded...
He had assumed Wen Chao would return as he hadn't gone with them to the Biling Lake...
The thing that was worrying him was what he was upto now...
***************
Wen Chao made his way towards his father's throne room and saw that Xue Yang was standing there for meeting his father as well...
As they waited for an audience with his father's, Wen Chao observed Xue Yang...
He never trusted the man and could never understand what his father saw in him...This guy was deranged, crazy and didn't have a single cell worth of loyalty...And it was obvious that he was in this for something...
Wen Chao's trail of thought was disrupted when the entire place lit up...His father had granted him audience...
Wen Chao bowed before the screen behind which he knew his father was...
A part of his mind wondered about the fact that Xue Yang hadn't bothered to even turn...
"Father....You were right...Somebody has stolen Yin Metal from Cloud recesses as well...All the traces of it has disappeared..."
"Are you here to tell me this...?"
There was an edge in Wen Ruohan's that sent a shiver through Wen Chao's spine...And he knew that his father wasn't pleased...
"Of course not father...There is something off about the Yiling Burial since the past few days..."
Wen Chao reported...
"We are looking out for red flags...just in case..."
"Did we get the Yin Metal yet...?"
Wen Ruohan asked uninterested in what he said making it clear that he didn't want to know about anything less than that they got the Yin Metal...
Meanwhile Xue Yang chuckled hearing that and Wen Chao glared at him...
"Xue Yang..."
"Immortal master..."
"Go to Yueyang..."
Wen Ruohan said making Wen Chao stared at him shocked...
He looked to his side and realized that he wasn't the only one who looked shocked...
It seemed like Xue Yang was taken aback as well...
"What about Yueyang Chang sect...?"
"You can do whatever you want to...I just want the Stygian Metal..."
"Thank you immortal master..."
Xue Yang said bowing before him...
"Xue Yang, there are some words I wouldn't be saying here..."
"Don't worry immortal master...I don't have any interest in Stygian Metal...plus I'm just a lowly cultivator...How can I escape from your control...?"
"Father...How could you let that scoundrel go to Yueyang...?"
"Should I have let you go instead...?"
Wen Ruohan asked his son in a mocking tone...
"But father...what if Xue Yang has ulterior motives...?Then.."
"Which is why your mission is to bring reinforments...if Xue Yang tries anything you will know what you will need to do..."
"Then what about the missing Yin Metal of Cloud Recesses...?Is father just going to let it be...?"
"There is nowhere Cloud recesses can hide...Mantis stalks cicada without knowing that canary is behind it..."
"But..."
Suddenly the lights went off indicating that his father wouldn't entertain any more of the conversation...
"Just because you won't let me go doesn't mean I don't have a way to do so..."
Wen Chao said to himself...
"But first I have some things to take care of myself..."
***********
That night all the disciples who had come to cloud recesses were going to launch lanterns in the sky as it was the lantern festival...
The spirits were high all around after hearing that Wen Chao had left...
There were cheer and chatter as everybody was enjoying the festival...
Wei Ying sighed remembering how things had gone after the previous one...
All he wanted to do was to protect the weak and oppressed with good conscience...
He smiled sadly remembering how that had ended...
He felt sorry for that carefree, charming, cheerful, happy-go-lucky Wei Ying who sat somewhere there painting a bunny on the lantern...Would he have been like that if he had known what was going to happen in his future...
"A-Xian...."
Wei Ying saw Jiang Yanli wave at him happily...
He raised his eyebrows teasingly seeing her making lantern with Jin Zixuan who was painting something on the lantern and Jiang Yanli blushed...
Jin Zixuan asked something to Jiang Yanli and it was then Wei Ying saw that Jin Zixuan was painting Jiang sects 9 petal lotus on one side of the lantern and the White peony (Sparks Amidst Snow) on the other side...Unlike the last time when both he and shiji had flown the lantern with a white peony in it...
Jin Zixuan had let go of all his inhibitions when it came to Jiang Yanli...
Wei Ying decided that he liked this change in Jin Zixuan and was pleased by how happy the man made Shiji...
He winked at his shiji gesturing towards the both of them which made her throw some paper at him which fell right infront of her which made him and Jin Zixuan burst out laughing...
Wei Ying's goofy smile was replaced by a sad one when he remembered what had happened to them...
He had a lot of things to do...
This was around the time YueYang clan got annihilated...
And also he had to give a heads up to Uncle Jiang about what was going to happen...
He was going to prevent the inevitable from happening at all costs...
Seeing that something was bothering her brother, Jiang Yanli warmly gestured Wei Ying to come fly lanterns but Wei Ying shook his head and mouthed her to carry on...
He was about to turn and leave when Nei Huaisang called him...
"Wei Xiong....Where are you going..?come it's time for launching lanterns...you don't want to miss this..."
Nie Huaisang said and grabbing Wei Ying's arms took him to where everybody was working on their lanterns...
"Nie Xiong...I have a couple of things to do..."
"Oh come on Wei Xiong...do you really want to miss this...?"
"Here..."
Nie Huaisang said giving him the paper he was using to make the lanterns...
"Wow...this is paper seems to be of high grade...thin as cicadas wings, fine as jade...it must be worth thousands of gold..."
Wei Ying commented...
"Yeah...it was produced from the Cheyun hall of Qinghe sect..."
Nie Huaisang said proudly...
As they were talking about this Wei Ying saw Lan Zhan walk in...His eyes briefly lingered on him and the lantern he was working on...Wei Ying winced seeing anger in Lan Zhan's eyes and then the man walking to the other side away from him as if wanting to put maximum distance between him and Wei Ying...
Wei Ying felt disheartened realizing that he had messed everything up by confessing...He had lost the only person on whom he could count on when things went south...
Wei Ying started shivering...All the burden of fears about what future holds that he was carrying in his heart became too heavy for him...It started to overwhelm him and became too suffocating for him to even manage...
"Nie Xiong...I...I need fresh air..."
Wei Ying said jumping up abruptly...
"But..."
Nie Huaisang started to say but stopped seeing the devastated look on Wei Ying's face...
He nodded...
Wei Ying walked out of the place...
As he reached the foot of the hills he saw Lan Xichen...
"What did you do...?"
Lan Xichen asked him angrily...
"What did I do...?"
Wei Ying asked him shocked seeing the anger on Lan Xichen's face...
"If your intention is to just get a kick out of this...then stop leading my brother on...stop acting so frivolously...for you it may be nothing...but for him...it is breaking his heart..."
Lan Xichen had always been an extremely patient person, but now that his brother was involved, he was truly angry...
"What do you mean...?"
Wei Ying asked him confused...
Lan Xichen looked at him thoughtfully...
"Young Master Wei, could it be that even after you have been with Wangji so much, you still do not know of his feelings..?"
"What feelings...?Did Lan Zhan tell you that I...?"
Wei Ying trailed off suddenly feeling vulnerable, cold and exposed...
If Lan Zhan had to say something about it to Lan Xichen then he must have been so disgusted...
"You what...?"
Lan Xichen asked confused by the words and the expression in the face of the man infront of him was like he was so devastated...
Suddenly Lan Xichen felt like he didn't know anything anymore...
"I am sorry..."
Wei Ying said sadly before walking off leaving Lan Xichen behind staring open mouthed...
Wei Ying walked towards the cold pond...
Taking off his shoes he sat on the rock dipping his legs in the cold water...
He didn't know how long he sat like that but slowly tears started rolling down his eyes involuntarily...
"Make this pain stop..."
He thought gripping hard on his chest...
He heard the footsteps of somebody walk towards the pond and quickly and discretely wiped off his tears and put on a goofy smile on his face...
"Wei Ying..."
"Lan Zhan...I was just..."
Wei Ying trailed off and stood up seeing him...
"Wei Ying...Please don't go away...I just want to talk to you...please..."
Lan Zhan said to him softly almost pleadingly...
"I don't know what came over me at that time...I..."
"I know you are disgusted by me and hate me...I can live with that but I didn't want to hear it from you Lan Zhan...I don't think I can survive that..."
Wei Ying replied...
"I can never hate you Wei Ying...I never have...I never will..."
Lan Zhan confessed...
Lan Zhan took off his shoes and sat on the rock that Wei Ying had sat...
Wei Ying sat next to him...
"I have always loved you..."
Lan Zhan said to him...
"Huh...?"
"I have always loved you...right from the time Wei Ying came to Cloud recesses for studies..."
"This time...?"
Wei Ying asked confused...
Lan Zhan shook his head...
"Oh..."
Wei Ying mouthed in shock...
"It broke my heart everytime Wei Ying pushed me away...I tried hard...I tried really hard to get through but...I failed...i failed because Wei Ying thought that I was doing all that because I didn't trust you...I have never felt so helpless..."
"I trusted Wei Ying with everything I had...I have always trusted you...I just wanted to protect you...To stand by your side...not against you..."
Silence ensued...
"I want to be there for Wei Ying..."
Hearing the words, something that Wei WuXian had never felt before sprouted within his heart....There was sadness and his chest hurt a bit, but he also felt a warmth spread in his heart...This was a poignant moment with an overshadowing of a horrific future...
Wei Ying stared straight ahead smiling sadly...
***********