Wuji: A Promise Kept

2

Lan Wangji grabbed the reins of the little spotted donkey that was beside Wei Wuxian and then reached out and grabbed Wuxian's hand with his other hand, "ready to go?" He asked.

"As ready as I can be," Wei Wuxian replied and looked over at Lan Wangji, "I see Wangji (his Zither) on your back but where is Bichen?"

Lan Wangji turned to show that Bichen was at his waist, "here," he said.

"Oh," Wuxian said and looked away.

The two started walking. Wuxian talked about his journey a little bit. Telling Wangji how he traveled to a couple different villages and got rid of any leftover fierce corpses that were still lingering around from Jin Guangyao's mess. Wei Wuxian stopped at Lanling a couple times to visit Jin Ling and continued to make amends with him.

"He didn't stab you again did he?" Wangji asked.

Wuxian giggled, "no," he replied and then let out a sigh, "he asked me about his parents. I told him everything he wanted about his mother. He asked about his father a few times but I couldn't answer them all. I am not that knowledgeable in Jin Zixuan. He was at least happy to hear about his mother and what she was like...you know how I am a terrible cook?"

"Mnn, very terrible," Wangji nodded.

Wuxian huffed out a chuckle, "You are not supposed to agree!"

"I cannot lie," Wangji said.

"You're lucky you are cute," Wuxian said.

"What?" Lan Wangji asked and stopped in his tracks. He stared at Wei Wuxian for him to clarify what he just said.

"You heard me, you are cute, handsome, ethereal, beautiful, gorgeous, sexy, all of the above," Wei Wuxian flirted.

Lan Wangji's ears started to turn red, "Wei Ying...can you just say what you were going to say...something about cooking?"

Wuxian laughed, "You still get so worked up over my teasing," Wuxian said as the two started walking again, "as I was saying, even though I am not a good cook, Shijie's soup is actually the only thing I can cook that I can't ruin. So I guess it's something. Jin Ling tried it and he now understands why I love it so much. He just didn't like the spice so I just toned down the heat the next time I made it."

"Will Wei Ying make it for me?" Wangji asked.

"Would you like me to?" Wuxian asked.

"Mnn, I want to see if you can actually cook it well," Wangji replied with a grin on his face.

"Are you trying to make fun of me?" Wuxian asked.

"I would never," Wangji said.

"You said you don't lie," Wuxian said.

"Lan Wangji does not lie," he said.

Wei Wuxian shook his head. The two continued their journey together back to Cloud Recesses. They weren't far from Caiyi Town. Wei Wuxian grew quieter the closer they got to town. He was a bit nervous about seeing that old man Qiren again. He was also starving. He had not actually eaten anything in a few days as he had used up the last of his savings. He hasn't come across any good game or even any wild fruits or vegetables. So he was just working on fumes. Lan Wangji noticed the sudden change in the mood. He glanced at his partner and saw that he was very thin.

Has he always been that thin? He thought.

Lan Wangji began to wonder when his partner had last eaten. It was nearly lunch hours anyway, so once the two reached town, Wangji took Wuxian to the Hunan Restaurant that he liked so much, "Order whatever you want. I am paying," Wangji said.