Watching the boys and his dearest walk away, adrenaline already pumping through their veins, Lan Wangji felt satisfied. And relieved. He knew his Wei Ying would never let them come across uncontrollable harm. Shaking his head at Wei Ying's strange behaviour after his even stranger disappearance, the Chief Cultivator strolled towards the library.

Meanwhile, having entered the forest beyond Caiyi Town, Wei Wuxian and the juniors stopped. Everyone turned to face the Yiling Patriarch, who then put his fingers to his lips and blew a sharp, two-beat whistle. Barely a second later, the tress ruffled around them and a silhouette dropped onto the forest floor a few feet away from the group.

"Ning Shushu!" screamed the youngsters, running towards their new friend. They had gotten used to calling him this thanks to Sizhui incessantly talking to his uncle. Why did they not get used to Jin Ling's 'Wei Shishu' then, you might ask? Simple: who would dare to address the partner of the possessive Chief Cultivator as all their uncle?

Tucking his mop of hair behind his ears, Wen Ning beamed at his friends and nephew surrounding him. The whole forest seemed to light up with his grin.

"Ning Shushu, I missed you," cried his nephew. A-Yuan hugged him tightly, and Wen Ning returned the embrace, as the rest watched, smiling. Nobody smirked at Lan Sizhui's behaviour because everyone knew him to be hug-loving and innocent — unlike his best friends.

Letting go of Sizhui, Wen Ning glanced around, saw his old brother-like friend, and bowed, "Young Master!"

Another smile blossomed elsewhere, turning the forest brighter than the heavens. "Wen Ning, were you waiting for us?"

"Yes, Young Master, A-Yuan told me earlier of your coming here today, so I stayed standby."

"Alright then, let's go, today's task will take longer... Where's Young Master Romantic?" Wei Wuxian asked, making everyone burst into laughter, wondering where Ouyang Zizhen, and the rest who were to join them on night hunts, were. As if on cue...

"Senior Wei! Ning Shushu!" Zizhen and his companions bowed to the Seniors. His face was flushed red, a sign that he had heard Wei Wuxian's words. His friends surrounded him, as Wei Wuxian announced, "everyone's here, let's go!"

On the way, questions bombarded him. "Senior Wei? Where are we going today?"

"To the forest beyond the hills."

"What are we tackling today, Young Master?"

"A beast." Here he stopped. Clearing his throat, and shifting into dramatic tone, he described, "today, it'll be a demonic beast with a tiger's body and the Devil's horns. It has a dragon's tail about two hundred meters long. Oh, and teeth? Yes, its teeth are the most amazing. Razor-sharp teeth and sabre-like canines. It lives in the remote regions in the west, but I heard at the wine store yesterday that it has paid a visit to the east."

Nobody dared breath, out of sheer fear. "Tiger's body? Two hundred metre-long dragon's tail? Devil's horns?" mumbled Zizhen. The others were just shaking.

"MO LONG HU [ 魔龙虎 ] !" Shouted someone. Everyone turned to look at this amazing, all-knowing person, only to hide the shock on their faces at the sight of the youngest sect leader ever.

"Well done, A-Ling! You've done your reading!" Wei Wuxian beamed proudly. Scowling mildly, he turned to his son and 'son'. "A-Yuan, Jingyi, you Lan people will forever read about etiquette and rules, at least learn from A-Ling! A-Ling, remind me to ask Jiang Cheng to send some more books."

"Sure, Shishu!" Jin Ling was glowing, while his friends had never been more ashamed of their Lan education.

Every single junior present was bewildered. Would they be able to handle such a monstrous... monster? What if they made a single mistake? What if they made a wrong judgement? A long list of 'what if's buzzed through their minds as amidst a lot of chatter, they headed towards the fierce Mo Long Hu.

Two hours later, a roar echoed across the woods. The Mo Long Hu had been lured to a clearing by Wei Wuxian, and he was now watching with Wen Ning, as the Juniors tackled the beast.

The ones who came with Zizhen — those from less prominent sects — and the Nie juniors were running in circles around the beast, confusing it, surrounding it, coming up with a plan to trap it as they did so.

The Jin disciples were shooting the beast from all directions, some on the ground, and some on the trees, in accordance with their sect leader's instructions.

The Jiang sect disciples were attacking with amazing sword skill, alongside the equally wonderful Lan juniors. Clash! The swords crashed in vain against the Mo Long Hu's invincible tail and muscular torso. Whizz! The arrows sped through the chaos, only to be counterattacked by the dragon's tail. Swords, arrows and their owners were being tossed around by that fierce tail, its scales piercing through clothes. The one thing restraining the fiend was Lan Sizhui's team's zither-playing.

To the side of the battlefield, loud chewing and appreciative humming could be heard. Wei Wuxian was eagerly chomping on a peach, while commenting to Wen Ning on the juniors' performance. Wen Ning, trusting his nephew and friends to have handled this within the next few minutes, nodded to Wei Wuxian's words, smiling softly. 

Suddenly, Wei Wuxian noticed something. Jin Ling was not shooting arrows anymore. Sizhui had stopped playing 'Rest'  too. He grinned knowingly, and muttered to Wen Ning, "They've got it this time."

Up above, Jin Ling signalled to his colleagues to stop shooting. Sizhui put away his zither. Jingyi and Zizhen, running in circles, swords drawn, noticed them and stopped. The four gathered. A short exchange took place, and they split up, Jingyi, Zizhen and the Jin Sect Leader flying up onto three trees directly above the Mo Long Hu. Sizhui nodded to the three, and began sprinting around the Mo Long Hu. One, two, three. Wei Wuxian counted three circles. At the end of the circling, the other juniors stepped back, mouths gaping in awe. The Mo Long Hu, confused by the sudden change in battle strategy, let out a roar — but it choked. Its chest was held back, but by what? Looking down at its body, its eyes widened in horror. A pale blue thread glimmered, wrapped thrice around the powerful body — the Killer String. Sizhui smiled and gave a thumbs-up to the three above, who came roaring down. The other juniors and two seniors watched thrilled, as Jingyi and Zizhen struck their swords at its shoulder blades, rendering it immobile. Jin Ling, still floating in mid air, drew his bow.

'That's it! It has a soft spot! We just need to distract, bind and hit it!' was the realisation that had passed through both Jin Ling's and Sizhui's minds earlier, exactly at the same time.

Smirking to himself, Jin Ling shot three arrows straight at the Mo Long Hu's nape. The beast fell to the ground and the four cautiously walked forth.

"Is it dead?" Zizhen wondered.

"Just to make things sure..." mumbled Jin Ling, and with that, he drew Suihua. One slash — the Mo Long Hu's head rolled away, landing by Wei Wuxian's feet.

**********

Caiyi Town was busiest at night. Especially tonight, because several blooming cultivators were here. To celebrate, they said.

"And then, cultivators, what happened after he trapped it using the string?"

"And then we jumped! This guy, and I, we jumped down. We hit it with our swords, like this... and like this... and then that peacock in the Jin uniform? HE was great! He shot three arrows, THREE, you hear?! And then he slashed its head off!"

A horde of pretty young ladies were surrounding the juniors as Ouyang Zizhen animatedly narrated the night's events.

"WOAH! You're all so amazing, Young Master!"

"Oh, thank you, miss, we appreciate it, don't we, Jingyi? Sizhui? Young Mistress Jin?" At this, the girls giggled.

"Sure we do!" Jingyi smirked.

Sizhui knew he had to at least be polite. "Mn, thank you, ladies," he said, bowing to them, stepping away.

Jin Ling, having inherited his father's horrible incapability of talking to girls properly, mumbled, "Whatever," and marched away to his uncle, who was at a different table.

Watching all this with a grin, Wei Wuxian, inconspicuously seated at a corner with a disguised Wen Ning, wondered how alike everyone was to their past generation. Zizhen and Jingyi reminded him of himself and Huaisang, ever the flirts, while Jin Ling was precisely his uncle and father mixed together, and Sizhui, his adopted father. Peculiar, and yet, joyous. He welcomed Jin Ling's arrival with open arms. After a short hug, uncle and nephew had a long chat. Sizhui joined them, tired with the flirting. The three were having a cheerful discussion when suddenly Jin Ling stopped laughing.

"Shishu, did you pull me just now?"

"Huh, me? Why would I do that when you're sitting right here by my side?" Wei Wuxian's voice was full of pure disbelief.

"Exactly... I just... never mind," Jin Ling waved it off.

Wei Wuxian was just about to protest, when suddenly...

"A-Xian."

Wei Wuxian's ears perked up. Sizhui and Jin Ling watched, horrified, as Wei Wuxian began to tremble, clutched his head, and mumbled in his head, "Shijie?"

"A-Xian."

"Shijie? Shijie!" Yanli's beautiful soul emerged before Wei Wuxian's eyes. He knew he wasn't dreaming, because Shijie seemed to be saying something. "A-Xian..." she whispered, her eyes brimming with tears, like back when Jiang Cheng ran away to Lotus Pier. Her eyes... Those round, honey-dripping-from-a-pot-of-melted-gold eyes said it all. Wei Wuxian nodded, tears streaming down his cheeks. Yanli smiled. The most beautiful smile Wei Wuxian had seen in his life. And as suddenly as she appeared, she left.

"Shijie!" Wei Wuxian cried. His shout came out as an inaudible whisper. His heart was throbbing, his chest was constricted. He could hardly breathe for a few moments; the sorrow and guilt was suffocating. Remembering, he looked at Jin Ling. Sizhui and Jin Ling were staring at him, terror written all over their faces. Clearly they had seen his expressions, but heard nothing. Glad he hadn't upset Jin Ling, he quickly put on his smile. "Sizhui, Jin Ling, take the others and go back to Cloud Recesses, right now. I will come in a while."

The two were shocked by the sudden change in behaviour. One minute, he was on the verge of collapsing, the next, he's smiling? They glanced at each other, and back at him. 

"Senior Wei, where are you going?" 

"Shishu?"

Wei Wuxian gave them his Yiling Patriarch smile and said, "I have a task to complete in Yunmeng. Will be back shortly. No need to panic, just to meet someone."

"Shishu, I'm coming—"

"NO! It's exotic, erotic, not a place for children," Wei Wuxian winked.

"Oh..." the two boys blushed furiously, and stared at their feet for a few seconds, unable to bring themselves to look up at the Senior smiling mischievously. 

"Then we'll get going, Senior Wei. Everyone, let's go!" Despite much whining and complaining, Sizhui led everyone else back onto the road to Cloud Recesses.

"Young Master Wei?" Wen Ning looked at him with round, questioning eyes.

Wei Wuxian's plastered smile wilted. Wen Ning watched as Wei Wuxian clutched Chenqing and his eyes shone bloodshot-red. 

"Wen Ning, let's go." 

"Sure!" 

With that, the Yiling Patriarch and his sidekick sprinted away into the distance. 

**********

It was close to midnight. The waxing moon would have been bright but was hidden behind ominous, black clouds. Back at the Cloud Recesses, Jiang Cheng and Huaisang had returned to bring news to the Chief Cultivator.

"Lan Wangji, I've dispatched all my best senior disciples to guard the tomb for the moment."

"Jiang-xiong, wouldn't Lotus Pier be unsafe with no seniors to protect it?" 

The Sandu Shengshou smirked. "I'm still here, that's more than enough." Lan Wangji merely nodded in agreement, while Huaisang stared, his open mouth hidden behind his fan, but the teasing in his eyes obvious.

Minding his speech with Hanguang-Jun here, Huaisang turned to the latter. "Chief Cultivator, where's Er-Ge?"

"I'm here!" A tall, smiling man walked into the Hall, his pale jade-like skin and jade flute, Liebing, shimmering in the moonlight. Nobody seemed to notice a pair of ashen eyes widen, nor did they hear the minute gasp of fascination that escaped a pair of thin lips. Xichen nodded his acknowledgement to the two sect leaders and smiled at his brother. "Wangji? Have the juniors arrived yet?"

"Xiongzhang, they should be here by now."

"Till then, why don't you have some tea with us, Zewu-Jun?" Jiang Cheng invited, with smiling eyes that contradicted his constantly frowning face.

A few moments later, Sizhui came into the Hall, flanked by all the other juniors that took part in the night hunt. "Hanguang-Jun, Zewu-Jun, Jiang Sect Leader, Nie Sect Leader," the group bowed to each noble elder in the room. Each one was a legend in their times, and now; the juniors felt honoured to even be standing here before them. Looking up, Sizhui began, "Hanguang-Jun, we did it alone tonight. We killed the Mo Long Hu."

The four pairs of eyes widened in surprise. "Mo Long Hu?" Xichen asked.

"Yes, Zewu-Jun, we even have it's horns in here." Jingyi showed a Qiankun pouch — which all four seniors recognised immediately as being the fifth, even more famous senior's, Wei Wuxian's treasure purse. 

"All of you took part, so all of you can receive the reward. Which of you killed it?" Lan Wangji asked, already glancing at the four standing together at the front. He knew the answer. He had asked only out of habit.

The four humbly remained silent, but their friends at the back pushed them forth, saying "it was them!"

The four leaders smiled, each of the three with pride, and Huaisang with amusement, remembering.

"Good" was all Lan Wangji said as he conjured a jade token. Using his spiritual energy, his long, slender fingers flew over the token, inscribing a few phrases onto its back, before handing it to Sizhui. "Sizhui, take this, you will all receive the reward, but the four of you will receive 10% more. Good job."

The juniors beamed, bowed and turned, when Lan Wangji suddenly stopped them. 

"Wait— Where's Wei Ying?"

The four elders, suddenly all too aware of their brother's absence, received a response that was completely unexpected: the juniors stared at the ground, apparently discovering a newfound interest in each others' shoes, desperately hiding their reddening faces. How could they bring themselves to say Senior Wei went to see someone in Yunmeng close to midnight? In some erotic, exotic place? Which was what they thought...

The stammering group was saved from answering by a man barging into the hall, shouting "Sect Leader!" His purple robes were messy and his hair disheveled, clearly from travelling by sword on such a cloudy night.

"Silence! Do you not know the 'no shouting' rule in the Cloud Recesses? Are you trying to shame my sect?" Jiang Cheng's voice boomed through the hall.

"I am truly sorry, Chief Cultivator, Sect Leader Nie, Zewu-Jun, but... Sect Leader... we have a problem! Lotus Pier. It's under attack!"

"What?" Clang! Zidian crashed into a porcelain pot of tea.

"Sect Leader!" A female disciple came running in, also from the YunmengJiang sect.

"Now what?"

"Sect Leader, it's fine, please calm down, everything's under control," she said with a tired smile of confidence.

Jiang Cheng was losing his nerves. "First, you come in screaming we are under attack; hardly a minute later, you say we're fine? What are you taking me for?" He roared with frustration. Zidian was on the verge of crashing the hall down.

"Believe me, Sect Leader! It wasn't people, they were about ten newly aroused fierce corpses. We thought we were done for. But Yil— er... Young Master Wei came and stopped the corpses from wrecking any damage, and with that Ghost Gen— Young Master Wen, he destroyed them all!" The lady was now beaming with awe. Her voice was laced with pure reverence for the Yiling Patriarch and Ghost General.

"Haha! Young Mistress, thank you very much for your praise! Much appreciated, I assure you," said a voice that was more than welcomed by the admiring disciples and smiling seniors. Wei Wuxian came strolling into the hall, stopping right next to his husband, twirling Chenqing in his fingers. "Lan Zhan, here I am!"

The Chief Cultivator grabbed his arm and asked, worry shaking his tone, "Are you alright, Wei Ying?"

"Mn! Better than ever!" He smiled, making Lan Zhan's heart flutter. He was more than pleased to hear that. 

"Wei Wuxian, who's the Sect Leader here? Me? Or you?"

"Oh, Jiang Cheng, sorry to put down your offer, but I really am not bothered, you can keep it. Besides, I'm one of the GusuLan now, right, Lan Zhan? Xichen-ge?"

'Xichen-ge' laughed heartily at their trivial fighting and his brother's strawberry-pink ears.

"Fine, fine, but how did you know about this anyway?" 

At this, Wei Wuxian's flower of a smile withered for the second time that night. He looked at Jiang Cheng, then Jin Ling, then down at the floor, saying one word. "Shijie."

"What?" It was Huaisang who asked. The rest were shocked to silence.

"Shijie told me," was all Wei Wuxian could bring himself to say through the suffocation he was feeling.

The juniors all looked at Jin Ling, who stared, speechless, while Jiang Cheng's eyes shone with unshed tears. Xichen walked over and laid a hand on his shoulder, saying, "Wanyin." The latter shook his head, letting the tears sink back in, and smiled at Xichen, assuring he was alright. Realising the sentimentality of the moment, the juniors bowed silently and left, Sizhui having hugged 'Xian-gege' and 'A-Ling'. Feeling out of place, Huaisang hid his face behind his fan and stumbled out of the hall. Stepping out, he looked up at the moon, now glowing bright and clear. "Yanli-Jie... may your soul rest in peace," he whispered, before smiling sadly and leaving for Qinghe. 

Lan Wangji had enwrapped a shaking Wei Ying in his arms long ago. Lan Xichen was softly smiling and patting Jiang Cheng's shoulder. Jin Ling just stood there, clutching onto Suihua like his life depended on it. He felt lonely. 

All of a sudden, Wei Wuxian jumped out of Lan Zhan's arms and dragged Jin Ling into his own chest, burying him there, muttering "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Over and over again. Jiang Cheng also excused himself from Xichen and walked over, putting his arms around them both, saying, "Stop saying such stupid things, you idiot, you did nothing wrong."

Jin Ling smiled through it all. He wasn't alone. He'd lost one uncle, in exchange for another one, far more loving and incredible in every way. He wasn't alone. He had neither father nor mother, but he had his Leg-breaking uncle and Yiling Patriarch-uncle! He had Jingyi and Zizhen. He had his Sizhui. He was no longer alone. And judging by what just passed, his mother was still in this world, probably looking over him. He held onto his uncles tightly as the two Jades of Lan looked on, both smiling, their perfect faces brighter than the moonlight.