Never Let You Go, Again

3: Drawn to Doom

Wei Wuxian lay in the backyard of the Jingshi, hands crossed beneath his head, one leg over the other, mumbling to himself. "Just what is Lan Zhan up to now? Why is he meeting with Jiang Cheng? What is he hiding from me?" Frowning, he tried to come up with all kinds of conspiracies the two must be discussing.

Suddenly, his contemplations were interrupted by a strong pull on his chest. He coughed out a few drops of blood and immediately sat up in the lotus position, and focussed his mind and spiritual energy on the overwhelming tug. Brows knit in concentration, Wei Wuxian sat there for three minutes. All of a sudden, his eyelids shot up. Rising hastily, he tied his hair, grabbed Chenqing, and sprinted into the woods.

**********

Back in the Hall, four anxious sect leaders rose from their seats. The youngest bowed to the rest, vowed to not speak of their discussion to anyone else, and left first.

"Jin Ling!" Lan Sizhui waved. Beaming, Jin Ling marched up to where his friends were and continued the game they had been engaged in earlier before his Jiujiu had interrupted. The three older sect leaders, now exiting the Hall, watched their nephew for a while, before turning to each other.

"Nie xiong, how will you be going back?" Jiang Cheng asked.

"The same way I came, Jiang xiong, by sword."

At this, Jiang Cheng burst out laughing, "Ah! So, Nie xiong, have you finally started using your sabre?"

Blushing with embarrassment, Nie Huaisang replied, "Cultivated it just enough to fly it! I prefer poetry, the landscape and my fan collection, Jiang xiong, and you know it."

"Would you like to stay for a while?" Lan Wangji asked, turning to Sect Leader Nie. Not that he was in the least interested to chat with the infamous Huaisang, but because he was more than aware of his husband's need for companionship.

Nie Huaisang shook his head furiously, arousing memories of his former self in the minds of his two friends. "Oh no, I have to go back. I still have some issues to solve: some demons in the outskirts of Qinghe," he quickly added in reply to Sect Leader Jiang's raised eyebrows. "Hanguang-Jun, please send Wei xiong my good wishes! I shall see him the next time we convene." With that, he bowed to the two old friends, summoned his sabre, and vanished into the azure sky.

Jiang Cheng also bowed to Lan Wangji, explaining that he needed to take care of a few 'unruly disciples' at Lotus Pier. Shouting 'goodbye' to his not less unruly nephew, he stomped out of the Cloud Recesses to return to his home by boat, stopping on the dock only to sadly look back at where he could see the forest around the Jingshi.

Both guests having exited Gusu, Lan Wangji was left alone. Glancing towards the Jingshi, he thought of his sleeping husband and his face blossomed into a smile, which faded as soon as it appeared. He recalled in pain how he had to hide the present incidents from his soulmate, prayed that he could be forgiven, and walked solemnly back to his study.

Lunchtime arrived. The young disciples of the Lan, Jiang, Nie and Jin sects were called to dine together. Upon arrival, seeing that the Lan Sect Leader and Chief Cultivator, Lan WangJi, was present, the young ones were relieved. They had heard that Shifu had left on an unknown mission, with some senior Lan disciples: what concerned the youngsters was not what Shifu went for, but how long he would be gone for – how long would their joy last?

Jin Ling moved away from Jin Chan and the rest to sit with his best friends. Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi gladly showed him an adjacent seat. Comfortable with the seating, and accustomed to the dreary meals, the budding cultivators took up their chopsticks to eat with the Chief Cultivator, when their senior spoke.

"Where's Wei Ying?"

All at once, every single junior's eyes widened as it dawned upon them that they had been missing one thing – the rule-breaking epitome of laughter. Where was Wei Wuxian? Why was he not here for lunch? Why was he not here with Hanguang-Jun?

"Hanguang-Jun, we haven't seen Senior Wei since morning," Lan SiZhui replied, worry as obvious in his tone as it was ubiquitous on everyone's faces.

Lan Wangji, believing his lazy partner to still be asleep, brought the panicked juniors into order. "Never mind. He must have gone to Caiyi Town," he lied.

All seemed convinced – all but Lan Sizhui. "Hanguang-Jun..."

"Sizhui, eat."

The firmness in Lan Wangji's voice was enough to reassure Lan Sizhui. Hanguang-Jun would not be so unaffected if Xian-ge really was missing. Calming himself down, he began to eat.

**********

The sun was about to set. Wei Wuxian had still not arrived. Lan Wangji was assembling the young cultivators to send them off on their night-hunt – or at least, he was trying to. Wei Wuxian was not in the Jingshi; in fact, he was nowhere in Cloud Recesses. He had made up his mind to search for him once he sent away the young ones. On the contrary, the juniors were excited, and busily challenging each other, while Lan Jingyi and Jin Ling talked of meeting with Wen Shushu and Ouyang Zizhen. Lan Sizhui walked silently towards Lan Wangji, worried.

"Hanguang-Jun?"

"Sizhui?" Lan Wangji asked, brought to the present by his son's voice.

"Hanguang-Jun, everyone's here. I think we can leave..." his voice trailed off.

Lan Wangji noticed the anxiety in his tone. "Sizhui, what's wrong?"

"Hanguang-Jun, Senior Wei...?"

Lan Wangji did not know how to respond. Lan Sizhui immediately sensed the intensity of the silence that ensued, and frowned. Father and son, both frowning, forgot their surroundings, and contemplated on what to do. Having overheard the conversation, all the juniors quietened, and stared at the ground with sullen faces, pondering.

"My God, did you guys think I'm dead? Look at your faces. At least there are no funeral arrangements – oh, I forgot your Lan uniform, ha ha ha! White as mourning clothes!"

The juniors, the anxious son and the panic-stricken father all looked up to see the black and red bundle of joy approaching them. Wei Wuxian walked towards his son, all smiles. Nobody but Lan Wangji noticed a minute limp. Pretending otherwise, Wei Wuxian stood before Lan Sizhui, laughing at his earlier facial expression, and the younger suddenly wrapped his arms around him. The others smiled as they watched, knowing Sizhui to be extremely close to Senior Wei.

"A-Yuan, when worried, your face is no different from your father's! Smile more, you'll resemble me more often that way!" Wei Wuxian laughed into Lan Sizhui's ear.

"Xian-gege, please don't disappear again, I almost thought you left... Again..." Lan Sizhui whispered just loud enough for Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, standing beside them, to hear. Both fathers' hearts stopped for a moment as their son's words echoed in their heads. Forcing his tears back, Wei Wuxian produced his unique sad smile, hugged Lan Sizhui longer than the latter could bear, before letting go.

He turned to Lan Wangji, beaming. "Lan Zhan, I'm sorry, I just went to Caiyi Town to pay a visit to the wine shop there. All the Emperor's Smile made me lose track of time! I really am sorry," he confidently lied. But only Lan Wangji could have noticed the untruth in what he said, the rest believed anything that came out of the Yiling Patriarch's mouth.

Ignoring Lan Wangji's narrowed, suspecting eyes, Wei Wuxian turned to the rest. "Well, what are you guys waiting for? Let's go!" And with that, the juniors, occupied by the Yiling Patriarch, stumbled out of Gusu, laughing at the string of jokes their senior was entertaining them with – which mainly comprised of adventures with the now Nie and Jiang sect leaders. His adventures with the Lan Sect's Leader were mostly painful, so he artfully avoided them.