"Do you remember, when you were around twelve, and you came running to me with your first dream about the school, with you as a teenager and the beautiful stranger you saw?"

"The one in white and light blue."

" You were not frightened at all, and you asked me, 'Is it possible to fall in love with a dream?'

"You smiled a bit sadly and said, "I believe so. Do not worry about it, anything is possible. Lan Xi Chen, what weren't you telling me?"

"Your parents were adamant that I stay silent. But you were young then. You're now nearly 24. An adult. I am no longer constrained. Do you wish for platitudes or truth?"

"Will it help or hurt?"

"Both. You may even think that I am the mad one."

"Let me decide, please."

"Alright...

Once, a thousand lifetimes ago, fate brought young cultivators together for a series of lectures, aimed at strengthening their intellectual gifts and fighting powers, sharpening their magical abilities, and enhancing their inner cores. We, in our Sect, took this task to heart and strove to share our cultivation techniques with all considered worthy."

"You decided? You were one of that sect?"

"It was my first Lectures, as an instructor."

"Wait. Are you telling me I went to one of those?"

"For a while."

"A while? Didn't I like it?"

"You hated the Sect's 2000 rules. You were expelled. Well, it was gently suggested to your Sect Leader that we were not the best fit for you and visa-versa. He chose to take you back home."

"Me!? I have never broken a rule in my life!"

"This is not that lifetime."

"Oh! That's very true"

Lan XiChen could not smother the chuckle brought out by the memory. "Back then, you were a thorn in Uncle Qiren's side and a major one in Lan Zhan's ass."

"Are you telling me that MY Lan Zhan was that beautiful student in my dream?"

"Yes, and beautiful is too trivial a word to describe him. His beauty was unparalleled. Others thought I was more handsome, but they did not know him as you and I knew him. He maintained a very cold and distant persona to all but me, and his bunnies of course."

Wei Ying's face lit up at the thought of Lan Zhan liking rabbits. "He sounds nice. "

"If you got to know him, he truly was. But you were his polar opposite, and he did not know how to accept things beyond the scope of the 2000 rules at Cloud Recesses. You, on the other hand, were wild, impulsive, and uninhibited."

"Oil and water..."

"And no way to mix. Tragedy struck, and you were killed during an ugly struggle for ultimate power. Lan Zhan tried to save you. I am not sure when his feelings turned into love, making him resolved to protect you at all costs. But by then the whole world had turned against you. He failed in his attempt to rescue you from that destruction, and he was left behind, heartbroken, wracked by the guilt of too little, too late.  Lan Zhan nearly died when punished by the elders for trying to save you. He took all of our collective blame on his shoulders, including my own, which was enormous."

Lan XiChen suddenly noticed how pale Wei Ying had become, and he rushed to his young friend's side. "Sit. I think this was a mistake. Please, sip some tea, quickly."

Ying shook his head. "No!..I...I...Lan XiChen...I feel very funny right now," He stood on shaking legs, staring vaguely at the man in front of him. Then he crumpled to the floor, an open hand flat on the floor as he strove to remain conscious. Everything had turned bright, as bright as the sunlight on a good, clear Cloud Recesses day; so bright his eyes hurt from it. But there was something else. 

He could hear the crystal note from a qin in the far distance. He knew that melody, Soft, searching, inquiring...

Inquiry?

And more. Something much more. The silent weeping of a heart rendered with remorse and desperate longing. A heart begging for lost love.

He felt Lan XiChen's hands frantically shaking him, trying to jolt him back.

"What the hell are you...? Get your hands off of me. I hear him, and you will not keep me from him again."

"What do you hear? Tell me!"

Wei Ying raised his normally calm gray eyes to meet Lan XiChen's They were as hard and unbreakable as black diamonds and his soft voice was a deep growl.

"Lan Zhan is playing Inquiry once more. And this time, I will answer. I will not allow him to play until his fingertips split, and he spills his precious blood, Lan XiChen. He will never feel the sting of a whip again, nor the cancerous gnawing of useless self-blame. He is close. He has returned and I remember it all now. I will find him this time, and he will never have to die in my place again. Do not challenge me on this."

Lan XiChen dropped his hands, smiling a bit sadly at the bitter-sweet relinquishment of life-long stewardship. 

"I would never dream of it. 

If you hear it, follow it, no matter the time it takes. He has always sought you out, Little Brother. It is time to return the favor."