This part, Wei Ying knows, is where everything took a nosedive into tragedy. So far, Lan Zhan and himself have described a rocky path with ups and downs, but this? This is a descent, albeit in stages. It's like throwing a huge rock down a mountainside. They just hadn't realised it, back then.

“The banquet in Koi tower had already begun and people were enjoying the freedom to drink as much as they liked. That Jin guy-”

“Jin ZiXun,” Lan Zhan helpfully supplies, hating that guy for lots of reasons, not just for picking on Wei Ying and for being an obnoxious rotting piece of corpse brain, but also for singling himself out on that day.

“Yeah, him, Jin ZiXun, was standing in front of Lan Zhan and trying to force him to drink a toast. Everyone knew the Lans did not drink, and that Lan XiChen only drank toasts because it was expected of him, but he used his golden core to burn away the effects of the alcohol.” Wei Ying glances at the little boy currently shielded by his uncle, sitting in his lap.

“That's despicable behaviour! Did no one stop him from doing that?” Lan Qiren demands, obviously shocked by the rampant bullying among the gentry disguised as polite behaviour.

“XiChen-Ge couldn't really say anything because he would be one voice, and it didn't help that he was holding his own cup at the time. Meng Yao, now known as Jin GuangYao, tried to intervene, but he was equally hated by Jin ZiXun and Jin-Furen, so him speaking out against it only made things worse.

“But it was convenient for me to step in, seeing as that was the very man I intended to speak to, the reason I had come back to Koi tower in the first place. I took the cup out of his hands and swallowed it down, tipping the cup upside down to prove it was empty. Jin ZiXun was still sore from losing the night hunt previously, and to me, who was in his eyes, so much lower born. Sorry, Baba, Mama.” Wei Ying looks down, hating that he has to tell them this part, that the Cultivation world was so deeply rooted in status and heritage that they scoffed at anyone not born of a noble house.

“A-Ying, I am only going to tell you this once,” Wei Changze tells him, sounding like he never has before. “You do not have to apologise for their derogatory behaviour. That's their prejudice, their vanity. For my part, I am proud that my own accomplishments led to my position of being Head Disciple in Yunmeng Jiang. I was a servant, but that is nothing to be ashamed of. People cannot make us feel less if we do not allow them to do it in the first place. When they begin to differentiate, that's only true in their small-minded logic, and because they feel threatened. It has nothing to do with us.” He smiles kindly after his bluntness. “The Cultivation world has always been riddled with snobbery, and that is another reason why your mother and I stepped back from joining a Sect altogether.”

“That's also why my Master won't have anything to do with them. They're just a bunch of hypocrites with too much money and too little skill.” Cangse Sanren glances at Lan Qiren and giggles. “Sorry, and no offence.”

“I can hardly take offence when we share the same opinion,” he replies back.

But Lan Qiren has been doing some thinking of his own. He suspects that there's still much these two children haven't told them, and it's another indicator of their maturity, shown just now with A-Ying not wanting to upset his parents by the slurs and name-calling that he was subjected to by people who obviously thought they were better than him, simply by birthright.

Worse than that is the suspicion that the Lan Clan is also at fault, though he has no idea why his instincts are telling him this. He must wait until the children finish telling them everything and then his questions will be more probing, especially when directed towards Lan WangJi. There, he knows he will get the truth, and if it is something terrible, something hard to bear, then it won't be too late to stop things from rushing towards self-implosion.

As Acting Sect Leader, it is his responsibility to save their Sect from stagnancy, from the mire of political confusion and to stand upright as a beacon of moral and righteous justice.

He can see that Cangse Sanren is holding herself back from teasing him right now, and that's good. He's just as eager as his friends to know what happened next.

“I bet he wasn't happy, in any case,” she remarks knowingly.

Lan Zhan remembers that moment even more clearly, for once, unable to hide his true feelings about Wei Ying. In that second, he had never been as turned on as that, since he was fully prepared to ignore that idiot. But the tension climbing in the room was only adding to him making a scene, and Wei Ying making his entrance so dramatically, made it impossible for Lan Zhan to stand up since the evidence of his poorly timed arousal would be visible to everyone.

Never had he wanted Wei Ying so badly before, not even at the height of Wei Ying’s teasing moments. This? To be defended so thoroughly and in such a winning move made him want to grab Wei Ying and claim that clever mouth, smash their lips together to show the entire world that they belonged together.

Just before the banquet, he had taken his trusted older brother aside to ask for his advice. He had confessed that he wanted to bring a man to Cloud Recesses, to bring him there and hide him away, but the man in question wasn't willing. He also knew that there wasn't a world in which that was possible. Wei Ying would never have agreed, even if Lan Zhan had explained why, that it wasn't to ‘cure’ him of his Cultivation, but expressly to keep him safe. But after knowing what his mother must have suffered in her own life, Lan Zhan had asked his questions knowing full well that he couldn't keep Wei Ying trapped in Cloud Recesses against his will. That he would do no such thing.

“No, he wasn't happy. He already hated my guts, and now that I was showing him up to be a petty bully, he wanted to lash out. But I needed him to cooperate and I knew straight away that he wasn't going to make it easy.” Wei Ying plays with the hem of Lan Zhan’s sleeve absentmindedly, thinking back to that day.

He hadn't wanted to cause a scene, but unfortunately with his reputation and the fact that he stood out among the rest of the cultivators by refusing to back down, he already had a target on his back.

The Cultivation world thrived on knocking back those they thought undeserving of fame, instead of encouragement and support, they felt they needed to stamp down on what they saw as a direct threat to their power, that by killing off any talent, by bullying those they saw as lesser than themselves, it meant their own status automatically became higher.

Added to this was the day's events, of clashing with practically everyone, since they were of the opinion that Wei Ying had intentionally made them lose face in the night hunt.

Sadly, when Wei Ying had marched up the steps of Koi tower, all he wanted to do was find out where Wen Ning was and go and find him. That was it.

He had absolutely no inkling whatsoever that it was going to turn into such a shitshow. But then, to be fair, there wasn't much else he could do. And no matter what he decided when faced with such a choice, of whether or not he would help Wen Qing because that part was easy, he knew that those opposing him would find some way to make this harder, to make the situation so much worse.

Instead of acknowledging their crimes, the criminals convoluted the problem by trying to cover it up, and there was no way Wei Ying was going to let that slide. But he should have known that he needed more support to bring justice to those that needed it. His was just one voice, in the end.

“He also hated that by me drinking the wine intended for Lan Zhan, I cheated him out of whatever perverse joy he was going to get out of it. I told him I had something important to talk to him about. Realising that he had me at a disadvantage, he decided to play games. He said it had to wait until after the banquet, and when I asked him how long that was going to take, he replied that it could be in a few hours or maybe seven, or even until tomorrow morning.

“But I didn't have that sort of time. He deliberately ignored me and Jin GuangYao tried to find out what I wanted. But I was done playing games. I told him that if he didn't want to go somewhere private, I didn't mind at all making my request public. I asked him if he knew Wen Ning, and he denied it. So I told him everything Wen Qing had told me about the situation. That he had gone on a night hunt and followed his prey to a Wen camp. Eager to win the hunt, he'd taken a few Wen people, of which Wen Ning was their leader. He replied that he was a busy man and didn't have time to remember some Wen bastard’s name.

“So I told him that I wouldn't mind explaining things to him, since he had such a poor memory. I reminded him that he had forced Wen Ning and other people of his Sect to wear spirit lure flags as live bait to attract his prey. They were afraid and refused to do it, but one of them especially stood up and stuttered his refusal. That was Wen Ning. During the argument, his prey escaped and Jin ZiXun beat the Wen disciples hard. Since then, they have disappeared.

“Jin ZiXun was hardheaded about the whole thing. He asked if I was demanding them from him, and if so, what did I want with some worthless Wen bastards?”

Wei Ying remembers every part of that conversation. So does Lan Zhan.

“Jin ZiXun accused Wei Ying of being conceited, of thinking himself invincible. How dare Wei Ying come to their banquet and be so rude. Jin GuangShan saw it as an opportunity to demand Wei Ying give up his Yin Hufu. Wei Ying explained how Wen Ning had saved his life, but no one there wanted to hear that. When Jin GuangShan repeated his fear that the Yin Hufu was too powerful a weapon for any single cultivator to handle, then Wei Ying asked him if he thought that, with the destruction of the Wen Sect, did he think the Jin Sect was going to take over the Cultivation world as natural successors?” Lan Zhan told them.

“Woohoo! You told them, boy!” Cangse Sanren throws both her fists into the air.

“It was the truth,” Wei Ying adds, hiding a smile.

“He also asked Jin GuangShan that just because the Jin Sect saw themselves as leading the Cultivation world, did that mean everyone had to just hand over everything to them? He said that the way Jin GuangShan was acting made him think it was the heyday of the Wen Sect again. None of them liked that.” Lan Zhan informs them.

“But they were not going to play nice. And, they were wasting time. Time that I didn't have. So I gave them an ultimatum. I said I was going to count to three, and if he didn't give me what I wanted, well, I didn't have to elaborate. Chenqing already wanted blood, and suddenly, everyone in that room was scared of me. I wasn't going to do anything,” Wei Ying giggles, “but they didn't know that. In the end, I only got to two, and Jin ZiXun gave up the location of the Wen disciples. He said he didn't want to continue this meaningless conversation anymore, and that the camp was at Qiongqi way.”

“I have a question,” Wei Changze asks, looking between them. “What are spirit lure flags?”

“Wei Ying invented them,” Lan Zhan tells him, unable to keep the pride from his voice.

“Explain what they are?” Lan Qiren joins in.

“I kept thinking about how night hunting was so random. How cultivators had to go in blind, sometimes literally, in places where splitting up was easier than staying together to fight whatever was there. But what if we could call all the prey to a particular place, like a clearing in a forest, for example? So I experimented and the flags were the result. If placed correctly in the four cardinal points, the success rate of luring the prey was ninety percent accurate.” Wei Ying tells them excitedly, his round cheeks bright with enthusiasm.

“Wei Ying also invented the binding talisman, numerous silencing talismans, and the Compass of Evil, a device that pointed to wherever resentment energy lingered.” Lan Zhan carries on, ignoring Wei Ying’s gradually reddening face.

“Haizi, you truly are a blessing!” Cangse Sanren makes grabby hands at him, and Wei Ying happily moves into her arms. She kisses the top of his head, holding him tightly.

“Did you go to Qiongqi way?” Wei Changze asks them.

“Yes, I left immediately. Wen Qing was waiting for me and I brought her food because there was no way she was going to stay upright without some nourishment.” Wei Ying’s voice is muffled because his cheek is pressed to his mother's neck.

“I stayed at the banquet because I didn't know what to do. But when SnakeDimples opened his mouth and disparaged Wei Ying, saying he shouldn't have made such statements in front of the gentry like that, I had to speak up. I asked him if Wei Ying was wrong in making such accusations when it was obvious to everyone.”

“SnakeDimples?”

“Meng Yao.”

Cangse Sanren snickers. “He's still alive, right?”

“Unfortunately.” Lan Zhan’s hands are clutching his own robes in tight little fists.

Cangse Sanren takes his small chubby hand and holds it gently, stroking over his round knuckles. There's no need to say anything, just this touch is soothing over his frustrations.

It's Wei Ying who speaks up. “It started raining and by the time we got to Qiongqi Way, we were drenched. It was so hard to see, but we found Wen Popo. We asked her where Uncle Four was, and if she knew where Wen Ning was. She pointed to some dilapidated shacks and a few torches lighting up a labour campsite. But the guards, they immediately stopped Wen Qing from going in. When they saw me, they stepped aside and Wen Qing ran in, asking everyone she could see if they knew where Wen Ning was. But no one knew, or they were too terrified to say anything.

“The guards had to be interrogated, since the others wouldn't speak. But they tried fibbing their way out of the situation by saying that new cultivators arrived everyday, and they couldn't be expected to keep a track of who was who. Wen Ning explained that her brother had a stutter, but they refused to cooperate. So I asked them, were all the Wen cultivators there? When they looked at each other guiltily, we knew they weren't telling us the truth. Still, they were adamant in telling us that all the Wen cultivators were there. So I told them, I believed them. But then, what about the dead Wen cultivators? Where were they?

“All I had to do was raise Chenqing and they started talking. They said all the ones that had died were thrown in the valley. I made them take us there. So many bodies…it was awful. Just discarded like they meant nothing. Still, Wen Qing went to many, calling out for her brother. It was still raining, and her voice was drowned out by the thunder and lightning.” Wei Ying thinks he will never forget that night.

How everything was washed in shades of midnight blue, the darkness like a blanket shielding them from the actual number of how many people had passed away, and not just in one night. The bodies were just shapes on the ground, dark lumps that could be mistaken for strewn wet boulders cast aside. Only the occasional flash of lightning illuminated the true horror of what had happened to all these people just lying there, not even given a proper burial.

“Did you find him?” Cangse Sanren is rocking him back and forth gently, a soothing motion that helps him gather his thoughts.

“Yeah,” he replies shakily.

“At the banquet, Xiongzhang gave me permission to follow Wei Ying. I had to stop flying because of the rain, and the threat of lightning striking Bichen, therefore, my arrival was much later.” Lan Zhan tells them, thinking back to that night.

“Wen Ning seemed dead, but there was a flicker of his conscious energy. He had been stabbed by one of the flags, pierced right through. All I could see was the little teenager practising his archery back then, and being better than the hundreds of cultivators gathered at the Wen tournament. That cute little kid, so pure and so innocent, reduced to this? I was so angry, I didn't know what to do. But Chenqing showed me.

“She began playing a haunting melody, almost as if I wasn't needed, only the air I could blow through her. And he began to stir. Chenqing roused all the anger inside him, everything he held back while he was alive, all his hopes that could no longer be realised anymore, while his sister held him weeping. She had tried to resuscitate him, but nothing except Chenqing could help him now.

“She kept playing, picking up a rhythm that brought all the resentment together, not just Wen Ning's, but gathering it from all those that had died. She directed the ghosts to attack the soldiers, who were guarding the labour camps, and they already had their swords drawn. From their appearance  it looked like they were going to flee.”

“But their swords were drawn?” Cangse Sanren asks him, picking out a pivotal point.

“That means, if they were getting ready to leave, then-”

“They were going to kill off any witnesses.” Cangse Sanren lets out a string of curses, interrupting Lan Qiren's words.

“Wen Ning went on a rampage and killed whoever stood in his way. I soon realised that I couldn't control him. Then Wen Qing told me that he wasn't dead, just that his spiritual cognition had gone. I had to pull back on all the resentment energy, draw it into myself to stop him from killing indiscriminately. Then he screamed, so long, so deeply, a cry from his soul.

“The guards ran away, and so we searched for survivors and unlocked their cages. There was a little boy…A-Yuan.” Wei Ying can't continue, remembering his pride and joy.

That small child was his sunshine of hope, of wanting things to be better. And what had he done? Hidden him in a hollowed out tree trunk, telling him to stay hidden. Leaving him all alone there, afraid. No Wen Popo to pinch his cheeks, no Uncle Four to play with him, no Xian-Gege to bury him with the radishes.

“Oh…oh, my poor babies…” Cangse Sanren can't stop the dampness on her cheeks as she rocks them back and forth. It's for herself as much as for her baby.

Wei Changze stands up shakily to brew more tea.

How could a labour camp hold children? And someone called Wen Popo? Clearly an elderly person. What kind of a universe allowed those in power to mistreat lay people like that? Since it was clear that none of the prisoners were cultivators, otherwise they'd have fought their way out of such dismal conditions.

Corrupt power and irrational hatred were to blame, that was obvious.

“Here, let me.” Lan Qiren's quiet, trembling voice brings him to attention, and Wei Changze puts the teapot down. He couldn't hold it steady anyway.

This break is sorely needed and as the hot, fresh tea is shared, it rejuvenates everyone, bringing back a sense of calm.

“I got there late,” Lan Zhan confesses. “I met the guards as they were running away. When I asked them what was going on, he told me that someone had come to their rescue. That someone was resurrecting the dead. I hurried forward, barely able to see in the drenching rain. And then I saw Wei Ying as they were trying to leave on horseback. Things were bad enough between us, the misunderstandings so deep that they created a chasm dividing us. I didn't know what to say.

“All I could see was around forty to fifty old people, just men and women barely able to cling to their horses, they were so exhausted. They had doubled up, two to each horse. Wen Qionglin was barely conscious, Wen Qing was not, and there was a child clinging to Uncle Four. None of them, including Wei Ying, were in great shape. And the first thing he asked me was if I was there to stop him.” Lan Zhan takes a heavy breath.

This is so painful for him to remember. He looks up with shiny eyes at Wei Ying, who isn't faring much better.

“Mama, let me go to him,” Wei Ying whispers.

When she nods, he wipes away the tears drying on her face and crawls over to Lan Zhan, scooting into his lap and holding him close.

“He asked me where I was going.” Wei Ying continues. “I told him that I didn't know but that the world was big and wide, and that there must be a place for us. He warned me that if I went ahead with this, that I would be rebelling against the Cultivation world for real. That I should think again. That there was no way back from this. I-I told him that this kind of orthodoxy, what was it that allowed for people to be treated in this way? I reminded him of our promise, the one we made together back in Cloud Recesses-”

“Where we promised to eliminate evil and help the poor, to live without regrets.” Lan Zhan fills in for him. That moment is seared into his heart, the promise they both made on top of that mountainside. That's when he knew there would never be another for him, that Wei Ying was his Soul mate.

“I asked him to tell me who was weak and who was strong.” Wei Ying adds. “Who was right and who was wrong. I had to ask him if this was how we were going to uphold that promise we made? By letting those with louder voices dictate how we should behave, when it was clear that this was so wrong!

“When he looked down, I knew he had no answer for me. I told him that I regretted not stopping the Jins when they paraded the Wens as live bait in the pre-tournament show. Otherwise, Wen Ning would never have come to such an end. I told him that I missed my chance to save him, and then I swore not to give up, that I had to save him. Then I pulled out Chenqing and held her between us.”

Lan Zhan tightens his hold over Wei Ying’s body, burying his face in his neck. He remembers word for word, Wei Ying’s devastating response. It's so hard to hear the words again, from his beloved.

“I told him that if it came to it, if I had to fight the whole of the Cultivation world, that I would prefer to fight with just Lan Zhan. If I was doomed to die, then at least, I could be killed by Hanguang-Jun. That would be worth it.”

“Who?” Lan Qiren speaks up.

“Yeah, who's Hanguang-Jun?” Wei Changze and Cangse Sanren are both staring at them.

Wei Ying smiles through his tears, knowing that Lan Zhan would be too embarrassed to explain.

“During the Sunshot Campaign, Lan Zhan was a blur of white, impossibly appearing wherever the chaos was, so they gave him that title, Hanguang-Jun. Lan Huan already had his: Zewu-Jun.”

“I stepped back when I should have gone with him,” Lan Zhan says, shocking everyone.

“Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan! No! I completely understand why you didn't!” Wei Ying draws back from him, wiping away the hot tears on his face, even as they continue falling. “None of that was your responsibility!”

“But if I had come with you, it would have forced the others to come and investigate. Then they would have seen for themselves who had survived, that the Wen Remnants were simply a collective of seniors, Non-cultivators and a small child.” This is one of Lan Zhan’s greatest regrets.

“That's what we would have wanted to happen, but you know as well as I do that they would have invented some lies about how the Yiling Laozu had kidnapped the Second Jade of Gusu and was holding him hostage.” Wei Ying whispers back, both of them ignoring everyone else in the room.

“Yiling Laozu?” Lan Qiren asks them.

“Yep, that's me! They gave me a title too, only it was used to scare kids into behaving, and warning people away from the Burial Mounds.” Wei Ying tries to laugh it off, but the truth is, that name always hurts him.

“Burial Mounds?” Cangse Sanren’s voice gradually rises in sharpness. “Don't tell me you went back there?”

“I had no other choice. That was the one place that was familiar to me, and not only that, no one would come there. They were too afraid, I mean, we had to put up wards still, but yeah, that place became our home.” Wei Ying admits. “I had to protect the Wens.”

“But what about all the resentment energy? The fierce corpses? The yaoi?” she demands, feeling angry again on his behalf.

“We worked out a way to contain it, or at least subdue it so that it couldn't cross our wards.” Wei Ying laughs suddenly. “In that terrible place, we learned how to make it safe. Uncle Four used to find wild fruit, berries and peaches, and such and he surprised everyone one night by presenting us with wine. Wen Popo used to sleep with A-Yuan but the kid liked to be picked up, and her back wasn't as strong as it used to be. Plus I used to tell him stories and we'd make up a shit ton of stuff about the crows. One time, A-Yuan complained about not having any brothers and sisters, and I told him that we could grow them, the same as radishes. That was another point of contention, let me tell you. Wen Qing wouldn't let us grow potatoes, because she said radishes lasted longer.

“We’d go into Yiling to sell the extra crop, so we could buy other essentials such as rice and lentils, blankets for the old ones. Medicine was expensive and we all tried our best not to get hurt because things were already tight. We made frequent trips into Yiling, though.”

“I met Wei Ying there, and A-Yuan,” Lan Zhan tells them eagerly, sharing another of his priceless happier memories with them.

“Oh, that was so funny,” Wei Ying agrees, releasing a peal of laughter. “I looked away for one second, one second, Mama, and my little radish had disappeared. And the next thing you know, there's a commotion not far away with town folk giving Lan Zhan parenting advice on how to make a kid stop crying. The kid in question, A-Yuan, was hugging his legs like a barnacle! And Lan Zhan had no idea what to do!

“We ended up going for dinner, and I said I was going to pay, and he'd already bought a load of toys for A-Yuan. But then, one of my talismans burned, warning me of a breach up in the Burial Mounds, and I had to go. Luckily, Lan Zhan flew us back in record time, and we were both able to subdue Wen Ning.”

“Ah, yes, please explain more about him. You said before that his spiritual cognition had gone. How was his condition?” Lan Qiren inquires. This is such a bizarre situation. He's learning from people who are easily a seventh of his age, and yet their experience far exceeded his own.

“When we first came to live in the Burial Mounds, Wen Ning was unconscious and he remained that way. There were a few outbursts of his angry self and so I had to keep him suppressed because even normally, Wen Ning was a big guy. Naturally strong, and now he was mostly dead, his strength had gone through the roof. Plus, we didn't know what he was going to be like, but I rashly promised Wen Qing that I would bring him back. I didn't know how, but I hoped it would be possible. We all took turns talking with him even when it felt like he couldn't hear us. If he was making any progress, it was hard to see, but I wanted that for my friend. His loyalty was unmatched, and I had started seeing him as my younger brother, and Qing-Jie as my older sister.

“That day, Lan Zhan had just told me about the betrothal of my ShiJie to the Peacock, sorry, of Jiang YanLi to Jin ZiXuan, and at the time, it had made me feel depressed that I would not get the chance to be there, to see her getting married. You see, Jiang Cheng and I, we used to plan her wedding whenever the nights got too long with all of the arguing, as a way to distract ourselves. We wanted her wedding to be so lavish, so well-organised and her robes to be exquisite. I remember painting a design on parchment for her to pass onto the seamstresses when the time came, an elaborate sketch of a Peacock entwined by lotus flowers. Jiang Cheng and I liked it because if you looked closely, you could pretend that the Peacock was being choked by an eager vine, but that's neither here nor there,” he ends with a cheeky smile.

“At the Burial Mounds, I pulled out WangJi ready to suppress Wen Ning, but Wei Ying told me to be gentle. We had to restrain him, but not hurt him. We couldn't risk letting him go down the mountain.” Lan Zhan remembers.

“We managed to gain control over him, and restore his consciousness. That's what was important. He looked different but at least he was back to being the gentle giant he's always been. Then, for a time, everything was peaceful.” Wei Ying shivers, climbing into Lan Zhan’s lap again.

And just like that, everyone senses that things are going to get a lot worse.

***********

A/N

Dear Beautiful (and Patient) Readers,

Sorry for the delay in updating. As I explained before, it's a combination of things. I hoped this might be the last recollection chapter but I didn't want to leave you guys without an update, and also, it's one of the longer ones at just over 5K. Hopefully, they'll bring everyone up to speed by the end of the next chapter and then we can go on a road trip.

Anyway, thanks for waiting and giving me so much support, I really appreciate it.

All my love,

Charlie

🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫