Always by your side

Ch 21. Out

Past

Wei Ying POV

"It could have been worst," I said. Jiang Cheng snorted, Lan Zhan held my hand, and Lan Xichen laughed. We look at each other, then at the rain pouring outside the porch and then back at the house and see the lights turned on and some adults moving their hands. They are pissed. We decided that the best date to come out was the birthday party of Jiang Yanli.

It was a good plan. We will talk and ask for our families' blessing. If things go badly, we are in an open area, so we will be able to run for our lives. We didn't count on the rain.

Jiang Yanli appears at the door with some sweets and chocolate, and we smile. She says, "I am proud of you four. Do not worry too much. They will calm down soon". She sits between my brother and me.

"Do you want to know too?" ask XiChen. She beams

"Yes, please!"

"I think it was always there. Whenever your brother came to our house, I was delighted to see him. However, I realized that he meant much more after your engagement party. Despite all his snarky comments, there is an undeniable sense of honour, courage and a heart ready to protect his loved ones. What can I say? I love him. Even if our families oppose, I won't stop seeing him"

I think the chocolate is taking some toll on me. I look at Lan Zhan and his red ears. Nah, it is not the chocolate. After half an hour, a cab approaches. Madam Sanren leaves the car and enters the house. She smiles and winks at us.

If we take the cab, we will be in the frontier tomorrow morning. We sigh and drink more chocolate. We wait for an hour until they call us inside.

"We can't deny you our blessings," says Madam Yu. "It was a promise held by our tradition," said Qiren. Then, Sanren spoke, "I told you about the haunting lovers. After they died and the funerals were held, a seer came and asked the families always to honour their love, even if it was between same-sex couples. She also requested that they should throw their swords into the lake so that they can accompany their masters, but that they can keep the instruments to protect the innocent from evil".

"A few days later, an errand couple came. Some said they were gods. Others said they were demons. However, after listening to the tale of these two sages, they bestowed a thousand blessings from heaven towards these clans so that they can keep fighting for the weak and bringing peace to the world," said Jiang Fengmian.

"The clans of the story are ours. The Lan family and Jiang family have been honouring these ancestors for a long time," Says Yu Ziyuan.

I kept quiet. This conversation is too much.

"However, we are very disappointed with you four. You, Xichen, are going out with a minor. He might be above the age of consent to have sex, but he still is far from reaching the age to marry or even have civil rights," said Fengmian.

"And you two," said Qiren ", Wei Ying, you are my adopted son, Lan Zhan is legally your cousin, you are supposed to love each other like brothers, like family, not like.." he sighs "a couple" He turns his back and looks at the ceiling "kissing your sibling or cousin is not ok. It is weird to have kissing cousins living under the same roof."

"You four are grounded," said Madam Yu, "and one of you two," said Sanren looking at Lan Zhan and me ", will have to come to live with me from now on."

"I will do it," said Lan Zhan

"No, I will do it. After all, I am not a real Lan," I said

"You are," said Qiren. "Even if you leave this house and never come back, you are still my son."

I reach the door. Without looking back at my family, I open the door and say, "Father, I am deeply sorry for the troubles that I have caused. Thank you for everything" I go out to the garden. It is downpouring too much this night.

Moving out took a few days, but now I live in a house with three siblings. I thought that fighting over the bathroom with two siblings was tricky, but with three?

I do not think I will survive these guys.

Present

Xue Yang POV

Starting over is usually a headache. However, I have planned everything to enjoy the life we deserve finally. Or so I thought. Everything started when I visited an old friend, and I saw him.

He is here. I cursed the heavens for my rotten luck, so I tried to escape. However, he saw me, and we started to fight. If it weren't for those idiots, I wouldn't have been able to run away, but I did it. After arriving home, I went directly to my studio. If we leave now, all my hard work will come to waste, and I still need to fix things for him.

Someone knocks at my door. I try to look dashing but fail when Xingchen enters with a cup of chocolate in one hand and a cane in the other. I don't deserve you.

Xiao Xingchen and A Qing enter and start chatting about the new house. We have been here two months, yet they barely go out. I am in charge of shopping, paying the bills and walking the dog. I do not want to expose them to any danger, and they are still freaking out once in a while-

A-qing says, "We need to fix the washing machine. Brother, can you call someone"

I sighed and drank my chocolate. "I went to visit a technician, but he wasn't at home. I will try tomorrow morning again".

They go to sleep, and I start working on my website of the best spiritual master of all China. My ad says something like:

"I am a trader of the secret pathways, a delver into the darker corners of the world, and I am Xue Yang, the great master. If you have run into a spirit causing you some disorders, a difficult curse to handle, call or send a message to this website. We will gladly help". In summary, we heal sick people exorcize spirits. If we can't, we at least give them a good session of therapy and massage.

I go to sleep but fail. The nightmare begins. Xingchen dies, and it is my fault, A Qing dies, and I am the one who took her life. Then he comes to avenge them. His face is the last thing I saw. I wake up sweating.

I know it is not a nightmare. It is a memory. I decided that it was better to work a little despite the hour. Getting a few appointments done will help to pay the bills. Then a message comes.

They are coming. Fuck.

----

First of all, Happy birthday Wei Ying!

Second, thanks for reading this story. I will try to update a couple of chapters next week. Bye, and please vote and comment if possible. 

Third, Lan Qiren adopted Wei Ying as his son (Get the guy and Welcome home). So technically speaking, Wei Ying is Lan Zhan's adopted cousin, and they were raised as brothers for the last three years and a half. They aren't blood-related. Lan Qiren is as confused as you, my dear readers and he isn't taking the news well. However, he still calls Wei Ying "son". Although I want to write differently going from the super strict and stern man from the book to a super supportive Qiren was too much. He will get better though to become the man depicted in present.