WangXian Forever Book 9: The Flower Demon

Chapter 76 Questions

XiChen tries to plead with Jiang Cheng, through staring intensely back at him, but Jiang Cheng looks formidable, and in a non-budging kind of way.

"WanYin…I thought we could talk about it." He says, desperately.

"Isn't that what we're doing now, my dear?" Jiang Cheng sounds friendly, but XiChen knows better.

Both the boys from Yunmeng have teamed up against him, and he's in a tight spot.

"Unless…" Wei Ying taps his nose, thoughtfully. "There's a reason you don't want us to know? What are you hiding, XiChen-Ge?"

Oh…God's! This is escalating!

"No! I'm not hiding anything!" He whisper-yells. Lans do NOT raise their voices.

Jiang Cheng narrows his eyes at his husband.

"If that's the case, why isn't he telling us who it was?" Jiang Cheng totally ignores XiChen now, and turns to face Wei Ying. It is a bodily snub, too.

"I know, right?" Wei Ying agrees, also turning his body to face Jiang Cheng, and effectively shut XiChen out. "You would only refuse if one," he holds up a finger, "you had something to hide, and two," he holds up a second finger, "you didn't value the promises made when getting married in the first place."

Jiang Cheng's face pales dramatically.

That's it!

XiChen stamps his foot angrily. "Now, wait a minute, both of you!"

"Did you hear something?" Wei Ying asks Jiang Cheng, still ignoring the third person.

"Only me. It seems I'm the only one in this marriage, and -"

"Oh, for God's sake, stop it already! I'll tell you!" XiChen shouts it out, now.

They could be twins with the way both Jiang Cheng and Wei Ying turn around to face him, with identical triumphant grins.

"You better start talking, otherwise find another bed for tonight." Jiang Cheng tells him in a strong, confident voice.

"Okay! It was the Ouyang Sect, and the Jins. They were the most vocal, but the Yao sect were the most rude. In fact, the more I recall, I actually would not mind seeing them taken down a few pegs." XiChen feels as if a weight has been taken off his shoulders.

"I've always thought we should take the little Lans on a teaching excursion soon." Wei Ying says, conspiratorially.

Jiang Cheng brightens, and joins in. "What about the little Lotuses back in Yunmeng? I'm sure we can teach them plenty about what belongs to whom, and ideas above stations…what do you say?"

They high five each other.

************

When XiChen finally gets them walking again, he takes them to an open field where several white tents have been set up.

They remind Wei Ying of the marquee that Baoshan Sanren had set up in the Cherry Grove up in her mountain, where the insides were much larger, and he's proven right when they enter the first one.

Lots of Lan workers are busy.

Handling…hair?

Uncle Qiren's hair, to be exact.

This first tent houses massive weaving looms from which the finest cloth is being made, from Lan Qiren's hair.

It is a surreal moment.

XiChen lets them get used to what they're seeing.

There are at least fifty disciples running around here. Several are supervising the actual weaving of the hair, moving the dart from one end to the other, while others are setting up another loom, some disciples are feeding more hair into the contraptions, and then, their eyes drift over to the far end of the tent, where something even more interesting is taking place.

Some disciples are holding up what looks like a sheet woven out of hair, and they're testing it for strength.

And as XiChen follows the Yunmeng boys towards the experimenting area, he adds, "the fabric is quite durable. They've already tested against the elements and it is significantly resistant to water, fire and wind. We are thinking of making a type of inner armour out of it, since it's lightweight and so effective."

They watch as disciples take turns to fire arrows at the wall of hair. The weave is so tight, that the arrows deflect off the shiny surface.

"This is simply amazing." Wei Ying says, looking around at the industrious workers.

"I have to say, I was inspired by you, A-Xian. I wondered what such vast quantities of hair could be used for, and set up a brainstorming team early this morning. I didn't invite you…because, well, I thought you'd be busy interrog- I mean, talking with WangJi. But if you do have suggestions, I'm sure they'll be happy to test out mostly any ideas." XiChen gestures towards the latest test, a flaming arrow.

It zings off the hair sheet and accidentally sets someone's robes on fire, but luckily, precautions have been taken and someone else pours a bucket of water over them.

"There's more." XiChen sounds smug.

He figures he's allowed that, after what both brothers put him through, just minutes ago. He takes them to the next tent.

Here, disciples are knitting and crocheting. Ponchos, tablecloths and other such items are being woven, the skills passed on from aged practitioners to the younger generation eager to learn. They take a few moments to inspect the wide range of products that have been made, and both Wei Ying and Jiang Cheng pass out sincere compliments to the hard working crew.

Then they enter the third and final tent.

"This is what would usually be called wastage, and thrown out, but some clever individuals decided to make rope and wigs out of the leftovers. The rope is as you can imagine, of the strongest quality, and can be used in several fields. They're even thinking of making fishing nets out of them. And the wigs are simply an act of kindness." XiChen tells them proudly.

"All this in just a few hours?" Jiang Cheng comes up to him with shining purple eyes. "No wonder you left me early this morning. And look at what you managed to achieve. I'm so proud of you, Huan!" He kisses him enthusiastically.

Wei Ying decides to go and give suggestions to the person making wigs; it's a far more interesting sight.