Flashback- LAN QIREN’S POV

It was a beautiful sunny morning during the autumn months, when Cloud Recess received a letter requesting their help to eliminate a yao that was destroying the fields and crops of the people in Ciayi Town

It seemed quite simple. It had been after A-Zhan's birth. It was deemed to be quite an easy one looking at the reports. But when our disciples came back, they were injured heavily. This set us in deep discussions. It had been a long time since I had been on a night hunt. So I decided to go and check what it was all about.

When I reached there, I saw something I hadn't expected to see. The yao wasn't normal, that much I had gathered with what our disciples had reported after their injuries. But this yao was much worse than predicted. It was like, if you successfully kill one yao, two more would stand at its place. And by now, they have already grown in numbers quite exponentially. I couldn't just go ahead and kill them. So I went back to plan a strategy to deal with those yaos.

But, even by nightfall, I couldn't figure out anything. So I went to rest. It had been just a sichen I had gone to sleep when I woke up with all the chaos around me. And I saw that the yaos had left the fields and entered the village to wreck havoc. So even if I had no plans in place, I had to do something to stop them. So I jumped into the fight.

But it was very much apparent that the spiritual energy of us cultivators was actually making the yaos more powerful. And soon, I was almost overpowered by 10 yaos. I had already accepted that I would die there. I was losing my consciousness when a sword glaze suddenly blinded me. But before I could make out anything, I was knocked about for a few moments by one of those yaos.

When I finally came to my senses, the first sight that welcomed me was that of an immortal fighting and ending those yaos gracefully. I was entranced by the sight. Once the fight was over and every yao ended, the immortal came and helped me to my feet, while her partner played Rest. And that's when I noticed it wasn't any immortal, but actually, Cangse Sanren and I looked at her in astonishment because she seemed to be heavily pregnant. The sight was so ethereal that for a moment, I even thought that I had already reached the heavens. I wish you could see that scene. I deem myself lucky to have witnessed it. Never, even in my imagination, had I ever pictured Cangse Sanren as an almost immortal. The picture she had always painted of herself was that of a skillful cultivator, yet a prankster at heart.

(Qiren paused and took a deep breath while focusing on the memories of that day. Wei Ying sat stunned, as did many others. This was the first time that the younger generations ever even heard of the sliver of talent that Cangse Sanren possessed. Wen Ruohan thought, 'What a gem both mother and son are. It would have been such a wonderful addition to the Wen Sect had I known about them before. I could have easily enticed this Wei Family and kept them much more happier than this idiot Jiang, who still can't see ahead of his own petty problems, wasting away all his charges, who possess immense talent. Huh.... what a waste.')

He continued, 'When she came closer, I thought she would ask me how I was, but... interestingly, she started berating me, saying, "What the hell were you thinking, you old goat? Was it fun to keep your life on line? Have you forgotten your two ducklings. You still have to take care of them, or else they are completely doomed in your absence. The elders who can separate a mother and her child are nothing but monsters. And that idiot good-for-nothing father of theirs who refuses to take responsibility and has forgotten about them too. So, Sect Leader, Lan Qiren, stop putting your life in danger, or I will gut you myself and run away with those two Radishes you call your sons." To say I was appalled would be an understatement. Because first of all it was Cangse Sanren, then the fact that she was pregnant and third that she was so damn angry.

She wasn't even this angry when on a nighthunt Wei Changze and Jiang-zongzhu were hurt because of my need to stick with the rules. It was truly a terrifyingly comfortable image. She looked every bit immortal as her master. I was still sitting on the ground unceremoniously and stunned. She said, "Are you even listening to me, Qiren? Look, if you..." But I didn't let her complete as the next words that came out subconsciously from my mouth stunned her.'

Flashback ends.

Wei Ying- What then Grandmaster? What did you say?

'Will you give me the honor, Cangse Sanren, disciple of Baoshan Sanren, of becoming my sworn sister?' Lan Qiren smiled, reminiscing the look that appeared on his sister's face that day.

He continued with the same small smile pasted on his face, leaving the audience gobsmacked, 'It was the first time in my life I had got The Cangse Sanren to be speechless. But soon, she came back to her senses when Wei Changze shook her shoulders. She literally stuttered, trying to make sense of my proposal, and asked me if what she had just heard was just her imagination. I just repeated my proposal with utmost conviction, and she screamed, in shock, but then smiled. She accepted when I asked her to come to Cloud Recess because, as a brother, it was my duty to take care of her when she was in such a delicate sitiation. Then we all came back to Cloud Recess to rest as she was pregnant.

'And what of the yaos? How did she eliminate them if our spiritual energy didn't work on them?' Song Lan asked.

'Well, she used a combination of Yin and Yang. As they both balanced each other out, those yaos couldn't use any of the energy as these both were complementing each other. Until it was our spiritual or Yang energy, they easily drew their powers from it. But they were also beings of resentful energy, so demonic cultivation also wouldn't have worked. Once Yin and Yang completed each other, there was no energy free for their use. So she easily subdued them after that.' Lan Qiren said with a smile on his face, as he remembered word to word of what she had spoken that day.

And for the next few moments, nobody spoke anything, trying to bend their thinking around the use of Yin and Yang. It was then that a timid voice asked, 'What happened after that?'

And Lan Qiren looked up to see Wei Ying expectant eyes looking at him. He smiled slightly, completely stunning the youngsters, for it was the first time that they had seen grandmaster Lan smiling so warmly. At that moment, they understood where Lan XiChen got his beautiful smile from, 'Hmm... well, she was already due in a few days. But because of all the stress of the fight, she had early contractions, and after a labor period of 3 hours, you were born. (Jiang Yanli smiled as did the other ladies, except obviously Madam Yu and WangJi too, though it was completely hidden). You were a smiling baby and rarely cried. But Cangse was very weak in those days, so I suggested that they stay in Cloud Recess for a few more months, at least until you all were completely healthy to travel.

During their stay, we also had our sworn siblings ceremony, but it was done privately as they were still unwell and she also wanted to have a laugh at the gentry by having a one up over them.

One day, during those days, when she got to know that WangJi was in the nursery rather than his own mother, (Lan Zhan perked up slightly at his mention) she immediately carried him back and kept both of you in the same cradle. And somehow, WangJi, who had only cried in his awake hours, smiled and giggled in your company. From then on, XiChen joined them too, and the three kids would happily be playing or giggling, crying, or eating. (The three mentioned boys looked at each other, and mischief shined in the eyes of eldest and youngest, but the mischief was very clearly hidden in middle one's eyes, too).

The days were good, but as it is said that every good thing has its end, soon it was time for Cangse and her family to leave. It was a teary farewell. But we had continued exchanging letters till the next four-five years. But then, all of a sudden, her letters stopped coming. I got worried and waited for a few more months to see if it may be an inconvenience on her side. But as time passed, I suspected that something might have happened. So I sent search parties for her. But there was no news. A few months later, we got the intel that they had been last seen in YiLing. When I went there, I got the news from the inn, they had last stayed that they had gone for a night hunt leaving their kid there, but then they never returned. It was truly shocking for me. Then I got desperate to find Wei Ying, but I didn't even know how he looked. And that search went almost fruitless.

But then, two-three years later, we got the news that Yunmeng Jiang had taken in Wei Ying, and I had finally taken a sigh of relief.'

'But Grandmaster, if you were his mother's sworn sibling and had been there when he was born, and were so worried after his parents' passing, so why did you seem to hate the very sight of him? Forgive me, that I am going out of the line, but none of us students missed out on the fact that you absolutely did not like him. So... why?' It was Jin ZiXuan who asked the question stuck in everyone’s mind.

Lan Qiren sighed yet again, afterall it was very tiring to reveal all your secrets. But he still continued, 'As I said before, I never hated Wei Ying. I had infact waited so many years for the day that he would come to Cloud Recess. It was his second home, after all. I had heard all the rumors about him, too, despite our rules saying otherwise. I tried being as unbiased as I could be. But then I got to know how he broke the rules on the first night itself and that too shamelessly. In an instant, I was reminded of my sister. After our first meeting, it was incredibly obvious, just how much he resembled his mother in his mannerisms and everything. The memories he triggered left a bad taste for the central person in it was no more, while he lived and kept maligning her memory. So, it slowly morphed into resentment. And I accept that it was one of my biggest mistakes.

Up till now, I only saw his mother in him. But only when we witnessed a slight bit of the future did I realize that he was so much like his father, too, be it his looks or his penchance for inventions.

But apart from all that, he is his own person, and that was something I completely forgot to see
So, Wei WuXian, I (standing up and cupping his hands in the front) apologize to you for all the pain I caused. I will definitely reflect on myself. (Bowing down deep)'

Wei Ying sqeaked and immediately raised Lan Qiren up, his own eyes filling with tears, 'Lan-xiansheng, please don't bow down. It will be completely shameless of me. I know you had your biases against me, but who doesn't have it? I mean, everyone has some shortcomings or the other. You have it too, just like any of us. No one is perfect, except may be Lan Zhan (sending a side glance to him). But then, you are the only one ever to speak so much about my parents, so fondly. This is the most I have ever heard about them. This one thanks Lan-xiansheng in gratitude. I would forever be grateful to you. And for that only, I swear to seize all of my shameless activities. Hearing about my parents is more than worth it.'

Even Wei Ying bowed before Lan Qiren caressed his back, and both of them returned to their seats. There was a pin drop silence in the room when the three kids rushed out of their playpen, giggling and running behind each other. Soon, the teenagers joined in their game too, just to amuse the kids. The kids had a lot of fun before Yang-er ran off to Lan Zhan, climbed up on him, and promptly fell asleep on his lap. And Lan Zhan stiffened at the sudden act. He had almost stopped breathing until his father whispered at him to relax. Mo-XuanYu did the same but with ZiXuan and A-Qing with Song Lan. All of them looked at each other and then at the three kids. The sight was so cute that they ended up laughing quietly so as not to disturb the kids.

Soon food appeared on a table in front of them, with a small placard at the center saying, 'ENJOY AND RELAX'.

They all had some food and light conversations flowed (obviously except the Lans) until the end of the meal. Song Lan and Xiao XingChen preferred to look at the back story from the beginning in short, while the others got up and went to their respective rooms and took a short nap.
                            ****************

A few hours later....

Everyone was already back into the room, completely refreshed. And even though Song Lan and XingChen had a much shorter rest, they somehow did not feel stressed or tired. Rather, they were as fresh as the others. They chalked it all up to the powers of this time bubble. Wei Ying was trying to make small conversations with his shishu and involved his martial siblings, too.

But what no one noticed was the weird expression on FengMian's face, except Jin Ling, who narrowed his eyes. But even before he could point it out to the others, it vanished as if it was never there. Soon, the screen flared once more, taking them through the events of the other timeline, one that could have been theirs.

Wei WuXian was someone who was skilled at finding fun for himself, especially talented in the area of seeking joy amid dull circumstances.

'So true', muttered Jiang Cheng, giving a side eye to Wei Ying, who only shrugged and grinned, 'Its a talent A-Cheng.'

Since there wasn’t anything else to play with, he could only play with Lan WangJi. He called, “WangJi-xiong.”

'And there he goes.' Jiang Cheng said. And though everyone except Lan and Jiang had heard about his penchant for teasing and playing around, they didn't know just what kind of a menace he was, when he wanted to be. So, the viewers were in for a treat.

Lan WangJi remained motionless. Wei WuXian, “WangJi.”

He appeared as if he didn’t heard anything. Wei WuXian, “Lan WangJi.”

Wei WuXian, “Lan Zhan!”

Lan WangJi finally stopped writing and looked up at him with a cold gaze.

The viewers snorted at the exchange. HuaiSang commented, 'So WangJi-xiong wanted to be called by his birth name.... hmmm. How romantic of you WangJi-xiong.'

HuaiSang was giggling at the prospect when Lan Zhan gave him a cold stare, immediately shutting him up. While on the screen he was playing, laughing and teasing, the Wei Ying in the room was absolutely not looking at anyone, thinking of Huaisang's words.

Wei WuXian shifted backward, raising his hands as if he was defending himself, “Don’t look at me like this. I only called your name because you didn’t answer when I called you WangJi. If you’re upset, you can also call me back with my name.”

Lan WangJi spoke, “Put your legs down.”

Wei WuXian’s sitting posture was extremely improper, with a slanted body and legs propped up. Seeing that he finally teased Lan WangJi to the point that he started to talk, the former silently chuckled to himself, as if he finally saw the clouds disperse and the moon appear.

'Don't know why I feel the words are written by someone like ZiZhen who just romanticizes anything and everything.' JingYi commented, receiving a smack from his friend with an indignant, 'I Don't.'

Listening to Lan WangJi’s words, he put his legs down, but his upper body inched unnoticeably closer, and he pressed his arms onto the desk. It was still an unacceptable sitting posture. He asked in a serious tone, “Lan Zhan. Let me ask you a question. Do you… really hate me that much?”

And though, he had already lived the moment, his ears had turned red with his thoughts which seemed to scream at him to go and tell Wei Ying that he didn't hate him. That he can never hate Wei Ying.

Lan WangJi looked down, his lashes casting light shadows onto his jade-like cheeks. Wei WuXian hurriedly added, “Hey, don’t be like this, ignoring me again after saying so few words. I want to admit my fault and apologize to you. Look at me.”

'Never knew you could be so obvious in wanting his attention. You really are obsessed with Lan-er-gongzi. Are you sure you haven't developed a crush on him?' Wen Qing commented from her seat with a smirk on her face intact.

'Qing-jie!!' Wei Ying’s face had turned red with his eyes widening, and he sputtered without actually being able to say anything. And that caused everyone to laugh. It wasn’t easy to get Wei Ying to be speechless, after all.

After a pause, he spoke again, “You don’t want to look at me? Sure, then. I’ll just start talking. It was my fault during that night. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have climbed the wall, I shouldn’t have drunk alcohol, and I shouldn’t have fought with you. But I swear! It wasn’t that I provoked you on purpose—I really didn’t look at the sect rules. The sect rules in the Jiang Sect are all told verbally; none of them are written down. Or else, I definitely wouldn’t have done that.”

Everyone nodded as it was a perfect apology deemed from a head disciple of another great sect.

I definitely wouldn’t have finished the jar of Emperor’s Smile in front of you. I would have tucked it away and carried it back into my room, secretly drinking it every day and sharing it with everyone until we all had enough.

Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling snorted, while JingYi spoke, 'Oh, I knew it perfectly well that Wei-qianbei couldn't be so perfect. He is as perfect as a gremlin, after all.'

And then he felt Lan Zhan's stare on him and squeaked, 'Ha-ha-HanguangJun, these are not my words. Jiang-zongzhu says that (squeaked yet again at the raised eyebrow of FengMian)... I mean the Jiang-zongzhu of our timeline. Hehehe...'

Wei WuXian continued, “And, let’s be reasonable—which of us attacked first? It was you. If you didn’t attack, we could’ve communicated nicely and cleared everything up. However, if someone hits me, I’d have to hit them back. This isn’t all my fault. Lan Zhan, are you listening? Look at me. Young Master Lan?”

He snapped his fingers, “Second Brother Lan, why don’t you do me a favor and look at me?”

'Wei WuXian, are you sure you aren't flirting with Lan-er-gongzi because it really seems so. You are so desperate for his attention.' Asked Wen Qing yet again.

'Qing-jie, it seems as if you are on a teasing Wei WuXian day. Of course, I am not flirting with him. I was just teasing him.' Wei Ying whined.

'What for?' Asked Jiang Cheng.

'Uhh... ummm... I... i-its just that he was so stone like that I wanted a reaction out of him. That's it', Wei Ying stuttered out.

'Are you sure A-Xian?' Jiang Yanli asked conspiratorially. And Wei Ying was forced to think about it, for he had no answer. He wasn't sure of it much. Lan Zhan, too, was staring at him with an expression that just sent a shiver down his spine, yet not a single word came out of his mouth.

Lan WangJi didn’t even lift his eyes, “Copy it one additional time.”

Wei WuXian’s body immediately slanted, “Don’t be like this. It’s my fault, alright?”

Lan WangJi exposed his lie mercilessly, “You do not feel any remorse.”

Wei WuXian spoke as if he didn’t have any dignity, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I can repeat it however many times you want me to. I can even say it while kneeling down.”

Lan WangJi put his brush down. Wei WuXian thought that the other couldn’t endure it any longer and finally wanted to beat him up. Just as he got ready to put on a goofy grin, he discovered that his upper and lower lips seemed like they were glued together, so he couldn’t laugh.

His face quickly changed. He struggled to talk, “Mmph? Mmph mmph mmph!”

Everyone burst out laughing. XingChen giggled too while giving words to almost everyone's thoughts, 'It's really funny seeing A-Xian (they both were already on nicknames basis after just a few minutes of interactions. Well, that's to no surprise considering it'ss Wei WuXian in question who had always missed the warmth of a close kin, even with the Jiangs) and Lan-er-gongzi.'

'Yeah, it's s good reprieve from the emotional overload of all the shitty things that happen in the future.'Huaisang chirped out.

'So true, Nie-er gongzi', Wen Ruohan spoke contemplatively, causing Nie MingJue to flare, because how dare the bastard even mention his brother's name. But before he could lash out in anger, XiChen placed his hand on his bac,  and he calmed down a bit as he remembered that there was no spiritual energy in them right now.

Ruohan continued, without showing, if he witnessed MingJue or not, 'But, as much as we enjoy this, we need to know what happened in the future that the Clutivation World thought it was okay to villify one single man, who is as genius as it comes. We have to prevent that, so it could always remain as we see in the present.'

Though what he said  actually made sense  something like this coming from Wen Ruohan was weird, for he was only known as a tyrannt. Nobody knew the youth Wen Ruohan, except those from his own generation. But it seemed like that had forgotten about it in all these years just like they had forgotten many other things of their youth. The very first example is Lan Qiren and Cangse Sanren's sworn siblinghood.

Lan WangJi closed his eyes and let out a faint breath of air. When he opened his eyes, the calm expression returned again. He picked up the brush again, as if nothing had happened.

Wei WuXian had been aware of the hated silencing spell of the Lan Sect since long ago, and he refused to believe it. Yet, after making every effort, scratching the corners of his lips red, he still couldn’t open his mouth no matter what. And so, he grabbed a piece of paper, wrote as if his brush was flying, and threw the paper over. Lan WangJi glanced at it. “Pathetic,” he responded, crumpling it into a ball and tossing it away.

Wei WuXian was so angry that he rolled around on the mat, climbed up, and wrote another one, slamming it in front of Lan WangJi. Again, it was crumpled into a ball and tossed away.

The viewers kept laughing at the back and forth between the two. Yanl,  who was giggling behind her sleeve,  spoke through the giggles, 'Well, Lan-er-gongzi, congratulations, you are the first person who has got A-Xian speechless and silent for so long. That's a feat to be achieved in itself.'

'Shijieeeee, not you too', Wei Ying whined,  'and he had an undue advantage of that damn silencing spell, huh', throwing an accusing glare towards the Lan heir, who merely gave him a challenging look, with a subtle look of smirk. And that had successfully got Wei Ying speechless again, for he was stupefied with the smirk on his face, instead of being blank. Or was it that he hadbegunn reading Lan WangJi better, for no one else reacted like him. It was only him.

He thought  it was a hallucination  for a moment. Thus,  he rubbed his eyes, but the expression was still there. In fact,  with an added hint of amusement. He was really stumped. But then he blinked,  and the expression was gone as if it never had been thereint the first place. He felt his head reeling with confusion and decided to look ahead at the simulatio,  which seemed to have been the end of that bedamned silencing spell.

The silencing spell was only removed after he finished copying. The second day, when he came to the Library Pavilion again, the balls of paper that landed everywhere were all taken out.

Wei WuXian had always forgotten about the pain after the cut healed. Although, on the first day, he suffered greatly from the silencing spell. After a few moments, his mouth started to itch again. After recklessly speaking a few times, he was silenced once more. He couldn’t open his mouth, so he scribbled on paper and pushed them to Lan WangJi, who crumpled it and threw it onto the ground. The same thing happened on the third day.

'Wei-xiong, do you never lear,  or was it fun being silenced again and again?' Asked an exasperated Nie HuaiSang.

'Nie-er gongzi, you claim to read romantic genre so thoroughly. Didn't you realize  what exactly is going on?' Wen Ruohan quipped from his place good naturedly.

At his comment, HuaiSang looked at the scene carefully and then grinned, 'Oh..oh...oh... I get it. It's more like a mating dance like their sword fight. Isn't it?'

'Right on point you are. You really are smart.' Ruohan commented before both of them concentrated on the screen once again, leaving behind two blushing teens and the gaggle of viewers who were stunned at the easy camaraderie between the Chief Cultivator and Nie Huaisan

But the juniors didn't even bat an eyelash. Zizhen commented under his breath, only for his friends, 'Well, if anyone could get along with Wen Ruohan or maybe even get him to the right track, it can only be Nie-zonghz He is amazing like that, isn't he?'

'Yeah, that's true. May be he is already using his skills to get the future in this timeline right on track.' JingYi suggested.

Jin Ling frowned, 'But, wouldn't it be harmful. He still doesn't know the entire future. What if he takesthea wrong step. You know tha  this is the only chance to get a better future, right?'

'Relax, A-Ling. (Running his thumb under Jin Ling's palm, hidden by his sleeves) If anyone knows what to do, it would be Nie-zonghzu. And if there is a problem, then we are still here, right? We are technically still older than them. So we will handle what they can't.' SiZhui spoke lightly,  holding his gaze and calming him down.

They thought that they were discreet  but completely forgot that MingJue's ears always turned up when Huaisang was mentioned. So when he heard the juniors' discussions, he was worried for his brother. Only one thought roaming in his mind, 'What exactly have you done in the future A-Sang? I hope you are okay.'

He was silenced time after time. However, on the last day of him having to “face the wall and reflect,” Lan WangJi noticed that Wei WuXian seemed somewhat different.

And so did everyone. They all moved slightly ahead to see what was different. Even Yu ZiYuan,  too, although she would never accept such "baseless rumor.".

During his stay at Gusu, he left his sword all around the place  and was never seen carrying it properly. Yet, he took it with him today, loudly slamming it onto the desk. He even went as far as to start writing without a word, contrasting his usual behavior of relentlessly harassing Lan WangJi in every way possible. He was so obedient that it was strange.

'Nothing good is going to come out of this.' Both Jin Ling and Jiang Cheng said at the same time and looked at each other  before sighing and'"accepting the fat.'.

'Ahhh... ChengCheng, Little Radish, I am hurt. You don't trust me?' Wei Ying batted his eye lashes innocently.

Both the uncle and nephew gagged at the display, while Jin Ling scoffed, 'Huh... the day you are actually as innocent as the expression you are making, it would be the end of the world.'

Jiang Cheng snickered at the comment and hi-fied with A-Ling while Wei Ying sat there pouting.

Lan WangJi didn’t have a reason to silence him, so he took a few more glances at him, as if he didn’t believe that Wei WuXian was finally willing to behave himself. As he had expected, after a short while of sitting down, Wei WuXian repeated his past conduct again, giving Lan WangJi a piece of paper for him to see.

Lan Zhan,  sitting in that room, clearly remembered what that sheet of paper had. And ignore a slight flutter in his chest as he was reminded of the contents of the paper. And if a small smile had graced his lips at the memory, then it was no one's business, but his.

Though he hadn't told Wei Ying, it was one of his most favorite gifts he had ever received. Anyways, he hadn't received many gifts to begin with, so he didn't have much to compare with. But still, Wei Ying’s gift was "his favourite.".

Lan WangJi originally thought that it was going to be a mess of lame phrases again, but after a coincidental glimpse, he was surprised to find the drawing of a person, sitting upright and reading by the window, with a vividly realistic expression on his face. It was himself.

'Aiya, Wei-xiong, why didn't you tell me that you were such an awesome artist too. I always thought you just like to appreciate art much like me. Never knew, your hands were able to create such masterpieces,  too.' Huaisang gushed out.

'Ah... Nie-xiong, you exaggerate too much. I was just trying to get Lan Zhan's beauty on the paper, but... (sighing) as you can see, it's impossible  and kept looking at Lan Zhan, with a hand under his chin and a pout on his lips, as if someone snatched away his favorite lollipop

Lan Zhan felt his gaze and heard his words and literally blushed. The tips of his ears turning red. XiChen was having a lot of fun at his brother's expense, but being someone who belonged to Lan Sect, he clearly appreciated Wei WuXian’s art and gave words to his thoughts,  too.

Not only him, the others also appreciated the beautiful and delicate art, even if Wei Ying didn't feel much accomplished in that aspect, for Lan WangJi’s beauty was something, that he had ardently wanted to put down on a paper and admire in secrecy. But then suddenly jolted at the thought that suddenly came to his mind. Why would he want to admire Lan Zhan's beauty in secrecy? It's not like he had a crush on him or something like that. Though, he wasn't biased towards men or woman, because 'beauty was beauty', gender did not matter, but he had never realized that he could ever even have such thoughts regarding the Second Jade of Lan.

Jiang Fengmian,  on the other han,  had a very weird expression on his face. Something that was completely unusual of him. And Jin GuangShan, the slimy bastard that he was, couldn't let this chance go. So he prodded, 'Jiang-zongzhu,  why do you have such a troubled expression on your face?'. Don't you think your "ward" has an awesome talent? I am sure you appreciate it much, in fact, more than any of us.'

The smirk he had on his face  could clearly tell that he was looking for trouble. He thought, now that it was very clear that the two boys were in love, this sect leader wouldn't be able to accept it and thus drive out Wei Ying. That's when he could swoop in and take the brilliant tool under his wing.

But he hadn't expected the words that left Jiang FengMian's mouth at that moment, completely crushing all his daydreams, 'Changze was an artist too. He loved painting anything and everything.

Seeing that he didn’t avert his gaze at once, Wei WuXian curled his lip  and raised his eyebrow with a wink. No words were needed  since the meaning was plain to see—Does it look like you? Is it good?

Lan WangJi slowly spoke, “You have spare time, yet you scribble instead of copy the text. In my opinion, the day of your release from this punishment will never come.”

'Aw... you are no fun, WangJi-xiong,' Huaisang pouted, but then a conspiratorial glint entered in his eyes, 'Or is it that you really wish what came out of your mouth? (Looking at everyone's confused face) I mean,  does WangJi-xiong really want that Wei-xiong’s punishment never comes to an end so that you both could spend much more time together?'

Lan Zhan looked like a deer caught in headlights, which only XiChen could decipher from his bland expres, ion, and he was laughing behind his sleeves. Wei Ying’s eyes had widened too, while Huaisang received a smack on his head from his brother.

'Da-ge.'HuaiSang whined, 'I was just having fun'.

'Nie-xiong, ahh...hh...', Wei Ying stuttered slightly, 'um... don't you t nk, you are assuming too much? I mean, look at Lan . Why why would he be even slightly interested in someone like me. He might even be uncomfortable. Look at his unimpressed glare...'

'Wei-xiong, I think you look more uncomfortable compared to WangJi-xiong. In fact, you look flustered rather than uncomfortable. Say Wei-xiong, do you find the idea appealing?' HuaiSang smirked at the progress his ship was taking.

Wei Ying shut up, seeing as there was no way out of this awkward conversation. He looked at Lan Zhan once more and then averted his eyes as redness creeped on his cheeks.

Wen Qing, too, was laughing and giggling all through the ordeal of the two awkward teenagers. But then her sight fell on Wen Ruohan, who was in a contemplative silence. It didn't bode well with her, for whenever her uncle was like this, someone or the other surely got on a flight straight to Hell.

But what she didn't know was Wen Ruohan was actually worried thinking about the mentality of the prodigy. Wei Ying's comment that he didn't deserve someone of Lan WangJi’s stature was disturbing even for him. I mean, he was almost like the immortal Baoshan Sanren's grandson, and himself was no less of a cultivator along with a genius mind. So why did he have such low self-esteem? His gaze landed on the Jiang couple, and his eyes hardened a bit. It seems someone might actually get that ticket.

Wei WuXian blew on the ink, which hadn’t dried yet and spoke nonchalantly, “I already finished copying, so I won’t be coming tomorrow!”

Lan WangJi’s slender fingers seemed to have paused before flipping over the next yellow-tinted page. Surprisingly, Wei WuXian wasn’t silenced. As he didn’t provoke any reaction, Wei WuXian lightly threw the drawing, “It’s yours.”

Huaisang let out an anguished sigh, 'Ah- such a beautiful painting went to waste...'

The drawing was thrown onto the mat, but Lan WangJi didn’t have any intention of picking it up. During these days, the paper which Wei WuXian wrote on to curse him, cajole him, apologize to him, beg him, and other messy scribbles all ended up this way. He was used to it and didn’t mind. He suddenly added, “I forgot. I need to add something else.”

After his words, he picked up the paper and his brush and added a few strokes. He glanced at the drawing, then, the actual person, and fell toward the ground in laughter. Lan WangJi put down the book and saw that Wei WuXian added a flower onto the drawing, where the side of his head was.

The corners of his lip seemed to have twitched. Wei WuXian crawled up and spoke before him, “‘Pathetic’, right? I just know that you’re gonna say pathetic. Can’t you switch to something else? Or add another word to it?”

Lan WangJi replied coldly, “Extremely pathetic.”

The teenagers all burst out laughing. JingYi was still laughing when he said, 'HanGuang-Jun actually added another word. Hilarious...'

Lan Zhan and Wei Ying whipped their heads to look at him in such a way that his laughter immediately seized and his eyes widened. But before he could apologize, he heard Wei Ying’s reply...

Wei WuXian clapped his hands, “So you really added another word to it. Thank you!”

And this time, he actually fell into a boisterous laugh in a completely un-Lan way. But the situations these two were creating in their teenage self were truly hilarious for the juniors. SiZhui, though trying hard, was still unable to stop the smile from spilling on this face, except that his friends were so not conspicuous about their amusement. This way, they might oust his parents' nature of relationship in the future sooner or later. He would need to warn them about it. Especially ZiZhen and JingYi, for he could control A-Ling what with all the shameles activities they is up to in their rooms at night. 😈😈😈

Lan WangJi turned his gaze away, picked up the book, which he put on the desk, and opened it again. He only took one look at before he hurled the book away, as if he was burnt by fire.

Everyone was still laughing and weren't so invested in what happened next, so they were all startled when Lan Zhan threw away a book... a "book" precisely. Wei Ying gulped, remembering what exactly it was, and gave an apologetic look to Huaisang, who looked at him in confusion.

'WangJi, what happened?' QiRen asked worriedly. This was so unlike Lan Zhan. But his nephew didn't say a single word, except the tips of his ears had turned flaming red.

'Hmmm.... interesting.' Though XiChen excitedly, now that he knew it wasn't something dangerous, rather something very embarrassing in WangJi’s book.

He was initially reading a Buddhist text, but when he had looked at the page flipped open, he was presented with naked, intertwining figures, intolerable to his eye. The book that he was reading was substituted with a pornographic book, its cover disguised as a Buddhist text.

And everyone was speechless yet again. Even the juniors were looking at the screens wide-eyed.

'Wei WuXiaaaaa....nnnnn', Jiang Cheng, Lan Qiren, and Yu ZiYuan groaned/bit out together.

'Xianxian, this was so bad. Did you even ask for Lan-er-gongzi's forgiveness?' YanLi chided him.

But he just pouted while muttering under his breath, 'Damn the simulation, why did it have to show just about every thing. I only wanted him to react and prove that he is no stone, and I just wanted so humane reactions out of him. Huh....'

Lan Zhan heard him though and sat there in contemplative silence, thinking back to all of Wei Ying’s mischief and thought, 'What exactly was his intention and motivation behind them?'

Huaisang, though, commented under his breath, only for Wei Ying’s ears, 'Such a fine trick Wei-xiong. Kudos to you.'

Jin Ling, who was silent for so long, couldn't help but open his mouth, 'Dajiu, you are so brave. To do something like this, when HanGuang-Jun is still stricter than the future, I guess that's the reason he lets you get away with everything. After all, he knows you are a lost case.'

'On point, Young Mistress', JingYi snorted and hi-fied with his friend.

Wei Ying was looking at them in wonder though, and a strangled sound came out of his throat, for even the imagination of it, seemed blasphemous, 'Lan Zhan really let's me get away with everything? But why? What exactly is our relationship? Are we like best of friends in the future? Lan Zhan....(Giving him an evil grin)'.

The juniors were stunned at the question and gulped visibly before looking at each other and ZiZhen gave both JingYi and A-Ling a smack on their heads, but not without a complain from JingYi, 'It was the Young Mistress's fault. He opened his mouth. Why am I being punished? Huh...'

ZiZhen and SiZhui looked at each other and sighed at their friends' stupidity, before the Baling Ouyang heir answered, 'Well, your relationship is something we can't comment upon, for it is not in our scope to even understand it. And that's one of the reasons we are here. And I believe we will understand it as your life goes. Rather than hearing from us and making assumptions, I would prefer that all of you could learn the truth from the simulation. That way, you won't have any biases.'

Wei Ying nodded, and they continued with the simulation but not before giving another apologetic glance towards Huaisang, who was confused yet again. But then he looked at the book in the screen, and horror spread in his veins as realization dawned upon him.

Even someone without a brain would have guessed who had done the deed. It must have been done when when somebody took the opportunity that opened up when his attention turned to the drawing, let alone the fact that Wei WuXian didn’t even bother to cover it up, slapping the table as he laughed hysterically, “Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!”

'Shameless', Wen Chao and Jin Zixun sneered, for they were completely disgusted as they saw two naked men going at it. The two of them looked at each and nodded in such a dignified way as if that was the most important mission of theirs, to eradicate those dirt.

Wen Ruohan clearly understood everything from his son's body language and glared at him so hard that Wen Chao curled in his seat in a moment. Here he was trying to figure out, just how fast Wei Ying exchanged the books and nobody even noticed. Not even the viewers. He was just getting more impressed with each passing segment. As much as it was completely bore as it "didn't give them any knowledge for the future," but these idiots didn't know, there were clues always hidden in plain sight. And that's what he was doing. Trying to find something or the other to figure out some solutions later so that his sect was never affected.

As the book was thrown on the ground, Lan WangJi seemed as if he was escaping from snakes or scorpions, falling back to the corner of the Library Pavilion in less than a second.
He roared with rage, “Wei Ying——!”

Wei WuXian almost rolled under the desk from laughter, raising a hand with much difficulty, “Here! I’m here!”

Lan Qiren sighed but couldn't say much more. To be honest, deep down, somewhere in his heart, where a voice like Cangse Sanren lived, he was enjoying this childish banter too. At least it was better than looking at the destruction of the future. This was a reprieve to that torture.

Lan WangJi swiftly drew his sword, Bichen. Ever since they had met, Wei WuXian had never seen him appear so discomposed. He hastily grabbed his own sword. Drawing his sword so that a third of the blade was out, he reminded Lan WangJi, “Manners! Second Young Master Lan! Watch your manners! I brought my sword today as well. If we start fighting, would your Library Pavilion be fine?”

Everyone who knew WangJi was shocked, looking at his reaction, for it had never been that severe to anybody, not even when the elders didn't let him meet his mother. His reaction truly stumped Lan QiRen, but not QinghengJun, for he knew that WangJi was a perfect mix of the dangerous sides of him and his wife. WangJi had many undiscovered sides, which he was sure only WuXian would be able to unlock.

He knew that Lan WangJi would be shamed into anger, so he went out of his way to carry his sword for self-defence so that he wouldn’t be accidentally stabbed to death. The blade of Lan WangJi’s sword pointed at him. Fire could almost be seen sprouting from his pair of light-colored eyes, “What sort of person are you?!”

Wei WuXian responded, “What sort of person could I be? A man!”

Lan WangJi lashed out “You have no shame!”

Wei WuXian, “Do I need to be ashamed about this? Don’t tell me you’ve never seen something like this before. I don’t believe you.”

The juniors were looking from Lan WangJi to Wei WuXian like a tennis match was going on. But none could complain, for the match seemed to be quite interesting.

'Wow,'  ZiZhen gasped,' We had never seen HanGuang-Jun and Wei Qianbei of our time like this. To think that there existed such a day, it truly is like a miracle for us.'

Wei Ying heard and felt his skin slightly warm, which was weird because as far as he knew, no external factors could affect this time bubble. He looked at others and, seeing the reactions from them, knew it was only him. So he stole a gaze from Lan Zhan and immediately looked away because Lan Zhan was already looking at him intensely. It unnerved him as much as the juniors' declaration that Lan Zhan indulged him so much in the future.

Lan Zhan, on the other hand, was only thankful that no one questioned him on his lack of composure. But he also knew his Xiongzhang would not leave any chance to tease him about it.

Lan WangJi’s weak point was that he didn’t know how to argue. After a moment of silently holding back, he pointed his sword at Wei WuXian. He spoke with a frigid face, “You, go outside. We have fought before.”

Wei WuXian shook his head a couple of times, pretending to be docile, “Nope, nope. Didn’t you know, Young Master Lan? Fighting without permission is prohibited in the Cloud Recesses.”

Everyone burst out laughing, and MingJue quipped, 'As witty as ever, Wei-gongzi. You surely try your best to get on WangJi’s nerves.'

'Haha.. Thank you, Nie-zonghzu. I just live for the day to see some expressions on Lan Zhan's face. I can imagine him looking so much more pretty. Huh... you should actually try Lan Zhan.' Wei Ying said without thinking much. But surely gave so much to think about, for others.

They all had no idea how to tell this oblivious idiot to think before speaking. Feeling resigned, they all sighed and continued looking at the simulation, confusing Wei Ying all the more.

He proceeded to pick up the book, which was thrown away, but Lan WangJi went before him, snatching it in his hand. Wei WuXian quickly guessed that he was going to use this as evidence to report him. He deliberately spoke, “Why are you grabbing it? I thought that you didn’t want to read it. Now you do? Actually, even if you want to read it, you don’t have to fight for it. I borrowed it exclusively for you, anyway. Now that you’ve seen my porn, you’ve become my friend. We can continue to exchange opinions, and…”

'What kind of a twisted logic is that, to become friends', Jin Ling said, his face turning green at the prospect.

'Aww... but it's perfect. Don't tell me, ChengCheng didn't even secretly let you take a peek at the books.' Wei Ying teased his nephew and brother in a single sentence, only to earn a punch on his shoulder from a very red-faced Jiang Cheng and an indignant screech from Jin Ling But he only burst out laughing at both the uncle-nephew duo.

Everyone else had a good laugh too, for they didn't know what to even tell Wei Ying off with. But they missed out on the deep, lustful eyes SiZhui was making at Jin Ling. They also missed out on the blush that spread on A-Ling's cheeks when SiZhui murmured in his ears, 'Off course my A-Ling has seen his share of porn, otherwise he wouldn't have been such a good boy for me, right?'

ZiZhen, on the other hand, had always suspected the relationship between his two friends and looking at their expressions now, seemed that his predictions were very much true.

XiChen, though, was busy watching the play of expressions on his beloved's face, imagining his looks when he was reading those spring books. Oh! How he wished he could have seen A-Cheng like that, blushing and stammering, a cute mess. But it was a thought for later. He would have to win over his heart first.

Lan WangJi’s whole face turned white. He spoke one word at a time, “I. Will. Not. Read. It.”

Wei WuXian continued to distort the facts, “If you won’t read it, why did you grab it? Secretly keeping it? You can’t do that. I borrowed this from someone else, so I’d have to return it after you read it… Hey, hey, hey, don’t come here. You’re too close; I feel nervous. Let’s talk nicely. You’re not gonna hand this in, are you? Hand it in to whom? Old… Your uncle? Second Young Master Lan, do you think that you can let the elders see this? He’d definitely think that you already read it. With a face as thin as yours, you’d be so ashamed that you’d die...”

'Wei-gongzi, stop goading him.' Lan XiChen said painfully.

Wei Ying looked at him confused, and so did MingJue and ZiXuan, who were sitting in his hearing range. And though, WangJi’s ears had turned red, his face gave away nothing. His Xiongzhang only sighed, 'You are not going to like the consequences.'

He winced right after finishing his speech, for he saw what his brother did to the poor book.

Lan WangJi filled his right hand with spiritual energy, and the book broke into thousands of millions of pieces, fluttering downward. As Wei WuXian saw that he successfully provoked Lan WangJi to the point that the evidence was destroyed, he finally felt relieved and spoke with fake regret, “What a waste!”

'Why... you little devil...' MingJue gasped as he realized what had been going on. He truly had to give it to Wei WuXian. No one had ever read WangJi and predicted his actions so thoroughly. Sometimes, even XiChen stumbles a far few times. But this boy was something else. He was always challenging and stretching WangJi’s boundaries. He surely deserved a clap for it.

Then, he picked up a piece of paper which had fallen on his hair, raising it up to show the fuming, pale-faced Lan WangJi, “Lan Zhan, everything about you is great, except that you like to throw things everywhere. Tell me, how many wads of paper have you thrown onto the ground in these past few days? Today, you aren’t even satisfied with throwing paper wads anymore and instead ripped paper. You ripped it, so you clean it up yourself. I’m not gonna help.”

'You really have a very thick face.' ZiXuan commented, looking at the entire scene that had been going on in the background when he was studying at Cloud Recess.

And though he did nothing except shrugging, a reply was sitting on his tongue, 'Happens to you, when you are a resident of Lotus Pier and the most hated member of the sect in Madam Yu's eyes.'

One could still pick up the sadness in his eyes, and XingChen, who was observing all of his actions, was confused at the look.

Of course, he had never helped anyway. Lan WangJi tried again and again to put up with him, but he couldn’t do it anymore. He thundered, “Get lost!”

Wei WuXian spoke, “Well, well, look at you, Lan Zhan. Everyone says that you’re a gentleman of excellence, a bright pearl in the world, carrying yourself with incomparable courtesy, so it seems that this is all there is. Didn’t you know that causing noise is prohibited in the Cloud Recesses? And, you actually told me to “get lost.” Is this the first time that you used this phrase on somebody…”

Lan WangJi drew his sword and went at him. Wei WuXian hurriedly hopped onto the windowsill, “Get lost it is, then. Getting lost is my best skill. It’s not necessary for you to see me out!”

He jumped down the Library Pavilion, laughing like a maniac as he barged into the forest.

And though everybody was at least smiling or laughing at his antics, the elders noticed his use of the phrase, "Getting lost is my best skill." Somehow, that didn't sit well with them. Looking at Wei WuXian’s antics, one shouldn't even think that it's impossible for him to learn that skill, what with all the mischief he caused. The undertone in that one sentence, along with the slight introduction they had of the future Wei WuXian, it was impossible not to notice it.

Something was not right, and the fears in their heart increased. They all had side eyed Madam Yu at least once. The rumors didn't paint her in a better light. So they were all still rather confused.

There was already a group of people waiting for him. Nie HuaiSang asked, “How did it go?
Did he read it? What was he like?”

Wei WuXian replied, “What was he like? Ha! Didn’t you guys hear that loud shout he gave?”

Nie HuaiSang was full of admiration, “I heard it—he told you to get lost! Wei-xiong, it was my first time hearing Lan WangJi tell someone to ‘get lost’! How did you do it?”

Lan Zhan was literally red-faced now, thinking about how he behaved. The students who were involved in the conversation there hid so as to escape WangJi’s wrath, especially Huaisang, when he remembered that it was his spring book that was in question. His Da-ge would surely murder him today, Qi-deviation or not.

Satisfaction was plastered all over Wei WuXian’s face, “Good thing that I helped him achieve this ‘first’. You all saw it, didn’t you? The self-restraint and etiquette that Second Young Master Lan was praised so strongly for were all weak and useless against me.”

Jiang Cheng scolded with a darkened expression, “What are you proud of?! What is there to be proud of with this?! Do you think that it’s a glorious thing to be told by someone to get lost? You bring so much shame upon our sect!”

'Right. Only my son is the sensible one amongst all those dunderheads. Didn't I tell you FengMian, you should keep that street rat away from my son, look at what all he is doing to distract my son and also all the shame he is bringing upon the sect. Huh... but why would you care, afterall it's 'her' son in question.' Madam Yu was continuously spilling all her hate in her husband’s ears, who didn't even bat an eye and just sighed disappointedly, 'San-niang....'

Wei WuXian spoke, “I really wanted to apologize to him, but he never paid attention to me.
He silenced me for so many days, so what’s wrong with me having a little fun with him? I presented him the book with a nice intention. HuaiSang-xiong, what happened to your treasured porn was really a pity. I didn’t even get to finish it; it was so good! Lan Zhan definitely doesn’t understand proper relationships. I gave it to him, yet he was still unhappy. It’s such a waste of that face of his.”

Nie HuaiSang blurted, “It’s not a pity at all! You can have as many as you want.”

'Huaaaiisaaaannnngggg.... just you wait. I'll take your class later.' MingJue screamed in frustration, which only ended up in Huaisang taking a shelter behind Wei Ying, who was laughing at the scene.

'Wei-xiong, you can't laugh at me. You have to help me.' Huaisang whined, and Wei Ying placated him by hugging him sideways. WangJi only seemed to get angry by the second, looking at the closeness between Wei Ying and Huaisang. He so wanted to get in between them and snatched Wei Ying for himself and hid him away from the world. But he wouldn't do that. Never. He peeked at his father once and then looked away.

Jiang Cheng sneered, “You’ve seriously offended both Lan WangJi and Lan QiRen. Just wait for your death tomorrow! Nobody’s gonna bury your corpse.”

Wei WuXian waved his hands, putting his arm around Jiang Cheng’s shoulders, “Who cares, as long as I tease him first? You’ve already buried my corpse so many times, so what’s wrong with once more?”

At that point in time, it had been said in jest, and Jiang Cheng had laughed it off. But after coming coming to this Time Bubble, things spoken in jest somehow had turned real in the future, and thus, he had flinched upon hearing the phrase, coming out of his mouth again. He had tightened his fist on Wei Ying’s sleeve, unknowingly. But Wei Ying had noticed it, so he just covertly pressed his hand on Jiang Cheng’s to calm him down.

Anything regarding Jiang Cheng never was lost to XiChen's eyes, so when he noticed his beloved in stress, he wanted to pull him into his arms and kiss his stress away. And the cold shiver that passed down his spine pulled Jiang Cheng out of his overthinking mind. Giving a side glance to XiChen, he turned back to the screen, but a small upturn of his lips was enough for XiChen to know that his beloved was okay.

Jiang Cheng responded with a kick, “Shoo, shoo, shoo! Next time, if you do such a thing, don’t let me know! Don’t ask me to watch, either!”

The simulation ended but left them with a light heart. It wasn't something very heavy with emotions so they all kept chatting amongst themselves trying to know each other more, especially XingCheng who wanted to tell his Master as much as he could about his Shijie's son.

Jin Guangshan had nothing better to do except sucking it up to Wen Ruohan, who tuned him out and only focused on how to gain Wei Ying as an ally. While the lovers sitting there were making duck eyes at each other, though some of them were done unknowingly.
               *******************
Hi friends,

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