OUR HAPPILY EVER AFTER (A WANGXIAN STORY)

Extra 12: A Family Affair (I)

Some Years Pass...

Gusu Lan, Jingshi

Tonight Lan Xing's room was packed with his inner circle, celebrating three important milestones in their lives. Lan YongMing's new book sold like hotcakes thanks to their hard work and links. By links; there was the local market, his loyal disciples, and the chief of cultivators himself, Clan Leader Nie.

 The secret was well hidden from his parents, Uncles, and Grandfather Qiren. Everyone talked about the insightful writer Guang Xian, oblivious that he was a fifteen-year-old who just completed his junior class. 

That was the second item on the celebration list. 

When it came to academic brilliance and skill on the training grounds, the twins were almost neck in neck with one other student. But Lan Xing crushed the competition by following his rules-which was also inspired by his mother's rules.  

The third item felt like a gift. The twins were turning sixteen in a few months.

"Congratulations to  Lan YongMing and Lan YongZheng!" the secret society disciples lifted cups filled with a drink invented by Bolin. It tasted almost like rice wine but without alcohol. It was to save their leader from embarrassing moments. Lan Xing was bad at drinking.

"Three cheers for Master Guang Xian!" Another round of merry-making vibrated in the room. Xiang would smile faintly each time his brother sat upright with his head high, boasting and attributing his talent to his wonderful team. 

When the first few series on 'Cultivation Is Not A Death Sentence' was written, Xiang blankly called it dumb. Xing did not let that stop him, he just made a few changes here and there and got Mr Chang to pull strings so they could make fifty copies. 

He went on to produce 'Hidden Tales Of A GrandMaster,' which caught a lot of attention because it gave almost sculpted tales of things the Yiling Louzu did right and wrong. He even added candies by quoting some of his mother's frequently used phrases and ridiculous adages. It was dark, educative, fun and oddly humorous. 

The chances of their mother reading the book was close to zero but it was still risky. What truly sealed YongMing's fame was his book, 'Basic Tricks To Cultivation.' The book shook the masses because it gave ways the ordinary person can protect themselves from paranormals, with or without a core. 

The first drafts were reckless but he put a lot of research into them and asked questions. 

"I'm not saying people do not need cultivators, Im saying we have to teach them how to save themselves the first few hours when disaster strikes," Xing said. Before any of his books went out, Xing made sure his brother agreed with most of the contents. 

"A household in the outskirts of town was attacked by fierce corpses in the dead of the night. The Master of the house did not see the need to flee because he had personal relationships with some powerful cultivators, to the extent that he had special signals to summon them...But that day was not his lucky day as most of them had travelled and could not reach him.  

He had household items that could have been turned into spirit repellents. Or he could have confused the corpses with attraction flags and fled with his family. But instead, he sat in his room, waiting for cultivators to rescue him. Unfortunately, that never happened and he perished with his entire family."

It was a compelling argument but Xiang did not pass it so easily, "Confronting corpses is dangerous, Lan Xing."

"Yes, but isn't fighting to stay alive better than sitting with folded arms, blindly waiting for some hero who may never make it? Cultivators cannot be everywhere at all times YongZheng, we have to equip the people. And about staying out of danger, I am preparing another book I call 'How To Not Be The Victim."