golden hour
Summary
Fives times Wei Ying tries to tempt Lan Zhan into traveling with him and the one time Lan Zhan finally catches on.
— 1 —
After parting ways with Lan Zhan, it had not taken long for Wei Ying to come to terms with the fact that, while he enjoyed his own company enough, having Lan Zhan there with him was one-hundred times better. Wei Ying missed Lan Zhan’s company a lot, needless to say.
Wei Ying wasn’t travelling to any specific destination in mind; he was just wandering the land like a free man does. His most recent stop had been in Qinghe, where he picked up some much needed essentials to keep him and Lil Apple going. Wei Ying sighed as he patted his almost empty pouch, a reminder that soon he would have to find some more night-hunt jobs — he was running low on money.
He was traversing through the woods with Lil Apple by his side when he spotted three rabbits. Two were white in colour while the third was black; they were nibbling on the grass. Automatically, Wei Ying thought of Lan Zhan and how his face would light up just so if he were to see the bunnies. His mood deflated, though, when reality hit him: Lan Zhan wasn’t there by his side. Wei Ying was about to carry on walking when an even smaller black rabbit emerged from behind a tree. It was tiny and adorable—it had to be a baby.
The sight of these bunnies was too good to not capture on paper for Lan Zhan. Feeling inspired, Wei Ying withdrew some paper and his ink brush and sat down quietly, as to not disturb the bunnies. He got to work on drawing all of them; it wasn’t all that difficult since Wei Ying had drawn plenty of bunnies before—something that may or may not have to do with trying to get a reaction out of Lan Zhan (but Wei Ying would never admit such). His strokes looked effortless yet anyone somewhat familiar with the art form would be able to see the steadiness of his hand and the confidence and intent behind every mark he made.
With a final flourish, Wei Ying assessed his work. He looked between his art and the real life bunnies sitting a few metres away and turned to show Lil Apple his work. Wei Ying was fairly happy with the final result.
“What do you think, Lil Apple? Will Lan Zhan like it?” Wei Ying said. Lil Apple, for his part, tried to reach for the paper with his mouth but was quickly denied a taste as Wei Ying pulled it out of reach. He shook his head. “Now, now. You can’t eat this! I’m gonna send it to Lan Zhan.”
Wei Ying let the work dry for a few minutes before rolling it up and placing it in a pouch that was secured to Lil Apple. He couldn’t wait to reach another city so he could get it delivered.
—
When Wei Ying arrived in Lanling he was pained to find out delivery of his illustration would cost more than he initially thought. It was okay, though, as he needed to take up some night-hunt work to earn more money anyway.
A few days (and a couple of grueling night hunts) later, Wei Ying had refilled his pouch with money. The last night-hunt he did had been rather messy as he had been fairly outnumbered by ghosts and struggled to distance himself from them before he could start playing his dizi. Nevertheless, he had managed to resolve the situation for the locals and had been compensated generously—he hadn’t realised just how generously until he had returned to his inn and looked at his earnings.
The following day, Wei Ying managed to track down a courier who was heading to Gusu. The fee had been expensive, but he knew it would be worth it. Before sending it off, Wei Ying had captioned the illustration with All these bunnies want to meet you, Lan Zhan! He had to physically restrain himself from writing more. He knew if he started he wouldn’t want to stop. After all, he had so much to talk about to Lan Zhan. Unfortunately, Lan Zhan was a busy man these days, so not writing him a lengthy letter was the responsible thing to do (or so Wei Ying convinced himself).
That night, Wei Ying fantasised about Lan Zhan receiving the illustration. Would Lan Zhan’s usually impassive expression break and turn into a smile? Wei Ying was sure it would. His biggest regret was that he couldn’t be there to see it.
In his fantasies, Wei Ying also saw Lan Zhan leaving all his work and coming to meet him. Their reunion would be amazing. There would be no need for words, a heated kiss would communicate everything that they had stumbled awkwardly around for so long.
Unfortunately, that was just a fantasy. And while the illustration of the bunnies was Wei Ying’s subtle way of trying to convince Lan Zhan to come journey with him, he knew it wouldn’t work. Lan Zhan’s position as Chief Cultivator was too important to the cultivation world at large; a replacement would have to be found. Wei Ying knew of a person, but it was just a matter of finding them.
— 2 —
Wei Ying had remained in Lanling and was sitting in the inn he had stayed in the night previous. He was having his breakfast—some congee (spiced per his request)—and was surprised to find the inn was empty save for himself and the owner. Normally, Wei Ying would be disappointed that there were no conversations around him to eavesdrop on but today was different. He had woken up with a serious headache and was unsure of what caused it. He figured it was probably a lack of water. In any case, every bit of noise was adding to his headache so he was grateful for the calm. It also led him into assessing the inn, deciding if it was good enough to bring Lan Zhan to.
Recently, one of Wei Ying’s favourite things to do was to scope out inns and food vendors in each city he passed and decide whether or not he would bring Lan Zhan to them. He had a fairly simple criteria the establishments had to meet: decent spicy food (for himself); decent bland food (for Lan Zhan); inexpensive (so he could afford to treat Lan Zhan. After all, Lan Zhan had been the one paying all the times before); and finally, a peaceful atmosphere (while Wei Ying didn’t mind chaos, he knew Lan Zhan preferred for life to be on the calmer side). So far Wei Ying had come across a handful of places that met his criteria; it wasn’t difficult, after all.
As for his current inn, it seemed to be fairly calm—though that could’ve just been because it was the morning—and the cost to stay and dine there had been reasonably priced compared to some of the places Wei Ying had stayed. His spicy congee tasted fine too, but Wei Ying made a mental note to ask the owner later for something bland to taste.
Wei Ying pulled out a roll of paper from his robes as well as his ink and brush. He unrolled the paper revealing a list of other establishments he had visited over the course of his travels as well as a title that read ‘For Lan Zhan’. Next to the name of each establishment was either a little smiley face, a neutral face, or an upset face; these served to help his memory recall his opinions on each place. Beneath the last line of writing, Wei Ying added the current establishment he was in. He drew a smiley face next to it because, although he hadn’t tried the bland food, his intuition told him that it would be fine (and his intuition was never wrong… most of the time).
As Wei Ying rolled up the paper and put away his things, he waved the owner over. “Some tea, please.” His headache had not eased up any, so he was hoping the tea might help.
The owner of the inn was quick to fetch Wei Ying some tea. Wei Ying thanked him.
“Well, well, well. What a rare sight. Wei Wuxian drinking something other than Emperor’s Smile.”
Wei Ying turned to the familiar voice. “Jiang Cheng,” Wei Ying said in way of hello and grinned. “While Emperor’s Smile is my preference, you’d be wrong to think it’s the only thing I drink. I enjoy many liquors.”
Jiang Cheng huffed. “I believe it.”
This wasn’t Wei Ying’s first encounter with Jiang Cheng since the events at Guanyin Temple—they had run into one another in Yunmeng a couple of months after. It had been an awkward encounter but both of them had come out unscathed, so Wei Ying had considered it a success.
“What brings you here?” Wei Ying asked and went to take a sip of his tea but burnt his tongue instead. It was still too hot. Jiang Cheng didn’t laugh, but not even he could disguise his amusement.
“Lan Wangji called for a sect meeting to be held here. What about you?”
“Ah, Lan Zhan is here!?” he said, tuning out the rest of what Jiang Cheng said.
Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes. “Don’t get your hopes up. He’s a busy man.”
Wei Ying pouted. “You’re right.” But he didn’t dwell on it long before he had an epiphany. His eyes lit up. “This is great, actually.” From his robes he withdrew the rolled up paper that contained his ratings of the inns and food vendors. He handed it to Jiang Cheng. “You can give this to him for me!”
Jiang Cheng’s eyes narrowed in on the paper. “What is it?”
Wei Ying smirked. “Private business between me and Lan Zhan,” he said.
Jiang Cheng’s face morphed into one of disgust. “Like hell am I helping! I don’t want anything to do with that.”
Wei Ying laughed. “You’re still the same as ever. But I was joking. It’s just a list of ratings of food vendors and inns that I have come across in my travels.”
With one eyebrow quirked, Jiang Cheng folded his arms. “And why would Lan Wangji want that?”
Wei Ying tutted. “Ever the cynic, Jiang Cheng. But to answer your question, Lan Zhan appreciates my insight on these matters.” And while it wasn’t exactly a lie, Lan Zhan did appreciate his thoughts, it wasn’t exactly the whole truth either. Locked away somewhere safe in Wei Ying’s mind was a fantasy of Lan Zhan seeing the paper list and immediately dropping everything he was doing to come to Wei Ying. It wasn’t realistic—Lan Zhan was a responsible person, after all—but fantasies were fantasies for a reason; they didn’t care for what was realistic.
Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes. As the rays of the sun grew stronger, Wei Ying noticed more people started to fill the inn. Jiang Cheng must have noticed too, if his sigh was anything to go by. He grabbed the paper. “Fine. I’ll pass on your list, but you owe me one.”
Wei Ying grinned. “Thank you!”
“See you around, Wei Wuxian,” Jiang Cheng said and left the inn. Wei Ying watched him walk away until he was out of sight. He felt giddy knowing Lan Zhan would soon see the list. Maybe his fantasy would come true.
— 3 —
His fantasy didn’t come true. Lan Zhan did not drop everything and come to him—not then, anyway. But Wei Ying was not deterred, rather, he was determined as ever to double his efforts. And he had a plan up his sleeve that couldn’t possibly fail.
That plan? One only needed to look at Lil Apple to figure out what it was.
A donkey! Lan Zhan’s very own traveling animal companion. Wei Ying knew Lan Zhan was a bunny man, but for obvious reasons he couldn’t travel with one of them. So, clearly a donkey was the next best thing.
He had arrived in Gusu a few nights ago with the intention of getting Lan Zhan a donkey and taking it directly to him. Only, a donkey wasn’t as easy to find as he thought. By the time he reached Caiyi town, which was not too far from the Cloud Recesses, Wei Ying was tempted to give up. The owners of the few donkeys he had seen were not willing to sell, except one man. But the price that man had wanted was more than Wei Ying even had in his pouch and no amount of haggling helped.
As Wei Ying walked through the town, he was reminded of how lovely it was; he hadn’t taken much time to look around during the waterborne abyss incident so long ago, so he made up for that now. The water was calm, with plenty of boats drifting on its surface. There were many vendors on the banks selling all sorts of items, from silk and tea to fruits and steamed buns. But as good as it all smelled, Wei Ying vividly remembered an inn with amazing spicy food.
Naturally, Wei Ying sought out the inn. It was a small establishment tucked away in an alleyway. It was easy to miss but many years ago, Wei Ying had been lucky enough to walk by two people exiting and complaining the food was too spicy. Too spicy? Such a thing didn’t exist, not for Wei YIng anyway. Long story short, Wei Ying found the food was delicious and the perfect level of spice for his palate.
As he turned down the alleyway, his eyes lit up. There, right in front of his very eyes was a donkey stationed outside of the inn. Wei Ying grinned and stationed Lil Apple next to the other donkey before entering the inn. His determination to get Lan Zhan a donkey was renewed.
Inside the inn was rather calm, catering to only a few people. A group of three were chatting quietly over their drinks while the only other patron was seated by themself, drinking some tea.
Wei Ying took a seat by himself and the employee of the establishment greeted him. “What can I get you, young master?”
“Some Emperor’s Smile, please,” Wei Ying said. He gestured for the inn worker to come closer. “Also could you point me to the sir who owns the donkey outside?”
The inn worker frowned, the wrinkles in their forehead more visible as he scrunched their face in thought. They opened their mouth to respond when another voice chimed in.
“The donkey’s mine,” the unaccompanied patron said while pouring their tea. The material of their robes looked expensive; the sort only wealthy men could wear.
Wei Ying got up from his spot. “Do you mind if I join you, sir?”
The man gestured for Wei Ying to take a seat.
After getting comfortable, the inn worker brought out the Emperor’s Smile for Wei Ying before proceeding to take hot bowls to the group sitting nearby. Wei Ying was impressed by the steadiness of the inn worker’s hands.
Wei Ying poured himself a drink. “How much for your donkey?”
The donkey owner sat back. “He’s not for sale,” he said and Wei Ying immediately deflated. “But I can be swayed otherwise should you have something interesting to offer.”
Wei Ying perked up at that. Something interesting? Wei Ying had no idea what the other man had in mind but there was still hope. “Such as?”
The man was about to respond when a loud shriek echoed through the inn. Everyone looked in the direction of the group. “Ah! My mouth–my mouth is on fire!” one of the trio said, trying to fan his mouth with his hand.
“You’re exaggerating. Surely it’s not that hot,” the person to his left said.
“Try it if you don’t believe me!”
“I will.” And the man proceeded to use his chopsticks to pick out some food from the large bowl they shared. He chewed slowly. “This isn’t so bad. Quite nice, actually.”
But then, mere moments after he’d swallowed, the man’s eyes widened like Lan Qiren’s did when Wei Ying had said something out of line.
“Hot! Hot! Hot!” The man flailed about, fanning his mouth, and looking for something to ease the spice. He reached for a cup and downed its contents. Wei Ying didn’t know what was in it but it appeared to only make things worse.
The third person who had yet to try the hot pot grabbed their chopsticks and tried some themself. As expected, their reaction was along the same lines as their companions’.
The donkey owner reached out and tapped the closest of the three on the shoulder. “Let me try.” It came out as more of a demand than a request. Nevertheless, the person must have detected the donkey owner was someone important if their shaky hands while handing over a small bowl were anything to go by.
The donkey owner nodded his thanks and tried some of the hot pot they had transferred to the small bowl for him. He chewed on it thoughtfully, as if he was some food critic. When he finally swallowed, he appeared on the surface unfazed by the level of spice, however Wei Ying was well-versed in detecting when things were amiss. The man was definitely not fine. He had broken out into a sweat and had to wipe his nose many times.
The other three patrons had calmed down a bit and switched their focus to eating the side dishes they had ordered.
“What a waste. Can’t even handle a bit of spice,” Wei Ying said. He turned back to the donkey owner who was watching him with a hint of challenge in his eyes.
“How about this: I will give the donkey to you if you finish the spicy hot pot by yourself.”
Had Wei Ying heard correctly? Was this man really going to give him the donkey as a reward for Wei Ying eating his favourite kind of food? He couldn’t believe his luck. An easier challenge didn’t exist.
Wei Ying tried to reel in his excitement. “Deal,” he said with a nod.
The group of three who had overheard the exchange were looking at Wei Ying in disbelief. “You’ll never manage!” one of them said.
Wei Ying shrugged, amused by their lack of faith in him.
“Here, take ours then. We’ve barely touched it.”
Wei Ying looked to the donkey owner who nodded his approval. The inn worker moved the hot pot to Wei Ying’s table and handed him some chopsticks.
Everyone, including the inn worker, watched closely as Wei Ying took his first bite. And then his second. And third. “Wow. This is really delicious,” Wei Ying said to the inn worker. He looked around at the other patrons who looked skeptical still, as if Wei Ying was just good at pretending he was fine.
The hot pot was spicy indeed, but Wei Ying was not your average customer. He had tried the hottest of hot foods and thoroughly enjoyed them. His only problem with this challenge was the quantity. This hot pot was made with three people in mind. Fortunately, he was hungry.
After another ten minutes of the group gawking at Wei Ying’s lack of negative reactions to the food, the donkey owner sighed. “I’ve seen enough. The donkey’s yours.”
Wei Ying paused his eating and looked up at him, eyes wide. “Really!? Are you sure you don’t want any money for him? I don’t have much but— ”
The man in his fancy robes just shook his head. “I’m a man of my word. Besides, money is not a problem for me. In case you couldn’t tell,” he said with amusement in his eyes.
Wei Ying grinned. He couldn’t wait to bring the donkey to Lan Zhan. “Thank you!”
Sometimes there really were benefits of wealthy people’s wastefulness.
—
And that’s how a few days later, with the two donkeys in tow, Wei Ying made his way to the Cloud Recesses.
Lan Jingyi escorted Wei Ying to Lan Zhan’s jingshi with a goofy grin on his face.
“I can’t wait to see Hanguang-Jun’s reaction,” Lan Jingyi said as they stopped at the jingshi.
Wei Ying knuckled the top of Lan Jingyi’s head playfully. “Don’t you have duties to attend to?”
“Aww, don’t be like that, Senior Wei!” Lan Jingyi said with a pout.
The sound of a door opening interrupted their banter. Wei Ying looked at the jingshi only to see none other than Lan Zhan himself. Dressed immaculately in his Gusu Lan robes and with not a single strand of hair on his head out of place. Wei Ying had forgotten just how handsome he was.
“Wei Ying?” Lan Zhan said. And Wei Ying had enough experience with Lan Zhan now to know when he was surprised. The most subtle change of tone in his voice as well as the very slight widening of his eyes. The signs weren’t obvious, but they were there—you just had to know where to look.
“Lan Zhan!” Wei Ying said, grinning. “It’s been too long. But I brought you a gift!”
Lan Jingyi stepped to the side while Wei Ying thrust forward the reins attached to the recently acquired donkey. “Meet Lil Bunny! Your new donkey-slash-travelling companion.”
Lil Bunny brayed while Lan Zhan took a few moments to respond.
“Wei Ying, you… got me a donkey?” he eventually said and approached Lil Bunny.
“Yep!”
Lan Zhan patted the donkey’s head very cautiously, like the donkey would bite at any moment. “And his name is Lil Bunny?”
Wei Ying nodded.
Lan Zhan looked at Wei Ying and his lips were quirked ever so slightly. A smile, if Wei Ying did say so. Wei Ying couldn’t hide his joy.
“I—” Lan Zhan said but was interrupted by a new voice. Wei Ying turned around to see Lan Sizhui. Just when had he arrived? Wei Ying hadn’t noticed him, being too focused on Lan Zhan.
Lan Sizhui bowed. “There is a sect leader waiting to meet with Hanguang-Jun and Lan Qiren.”
Lan Zhan gave a nod of acknowledgement and turned his attention to Wei Ying. “Are you staying long?”
“I’ll still be here once you’re done, unless Lan Qiren throws me out,” Wei Ying said with a wink.
“That will not happen,” Lan Zhan assured.
Wei Ying smiled as he watched Lan Zhan head off to his meeting.
Well. That had been brief. Wei Ying was sure Lan Zhan was confused about the donkey, but they’d have time to figure things out soon. Or so Wei Ying hoped.
— 4 —
That time didn’t come. Not straight away, anyway. Being Chief Cultivator as well as a member of Gusu Lan meant Lan Zhan rarely had a spare moment. That’s why when Wei Ying overheard some Gusu Lan juniors talking about a night-hunt that required Lan Zhan’s help, Wei Ying took it upon himself to join in.
That evening, the group of juniors gathered at the entrance of the Cloud Recesses. Wei Ying had followed behind, but far enough back that they had yet to notice him.
He twirled Chenqing in one hand as he approached the group. Lan Sizhui was the first to spot him.
“Senior Wei! Are you accompanying us to the night-hunt?” Lan Sizhui said. The other students turned around to look.
“Sure am,” Wei Ying said.
“But you don’t have a sword with you,” said one of the juniors who Wei Ying wasn’t familiar with.
“He uses his dizi,” Lan Jingyi said, like it was obvious.
“What about flying?” the junior asked.
“He will fly with me,” came a familiar voice. Wei Ying turned to see Lan Zhan standing next to him, his hand on the small of Wei Ying’s back. Lan Zhan looked back at him and Wei Ying smiled, a small private smile just intended for Lan Zhan.
As they set off into the sky, Wei Ying held on tightly to Lan Zhan. The evening air was cold, but at least Lan Zhan was warm. “I’ve missed night-hunts with you,” Wei Ying said. But what went unsaid was I’ve missed you.
Lan Zhan was quiet a few moments, until finally he said, “I have missed night-hunts with Wei Ying, too.”
Wei Ying smiled into Lan Zhan’s shoulder, happiness practically radiating off of him.
They soon arrived at the location of the night-hunt. It was in a rural village on the outskirts of Gusu. The village was fairly small in size and quiet. Wei Ying could not see anybody outside of their homes.
Or couldn’t until there was a scream. The group of cultivators rushed to the noise.
It turned out to be a handful of fae crowding around a single villager. The cultivators were quick to react. Lan Zhan summoned his guqin and Wei Ying lifted his dizi to his lips. Wei Ying didn’t know if there was anymore resentful energy nearby, but started to play anyway. While the fae turned their attention to Lan Zhan and Wei Ying, the juniors took the opportunity to rescue the villager.
Wei Ying remembered fighting Lan Zhan as a junior and how thrilling that had been for him at the time. But it didn’t compare to fighting alongside him. That was even better than thrilling. Exhilarating even.
Needless to say, it didn’t take long for them to take control of the situation.
Once all was resolved and they had ensured the village was safe, the group mounted their swords and headed back home. Wei Ying wrapped himself tightly to Lan Zhan, partly because of how cold it was but mostly because it just felt good being so close to him. Lan Zhan stiffened for a moment and Wei Ying immediately loosened his grip.
“Sorry, Lan Zhan. I forgot you don’t like being touched,” Wei Ying said, feeling a bit guilty.
Lan Zhan took Wei Ying by surprise though when he pulled Wei Ying back so he was firmly against him.
“If it is Wei Ying… I do not mind,” Lan Zhan said.
Wei Ying grinned, sure a blush had spread on his cheeks, and wrapped his arms back around Lan Zhan.
“Wei Ying… I understand the bunny illustration you sent was a gift but I do not understand the recommendation list Sect Leader Jiang handed me nor Lil Bunny. Can you explain?”
Wei Ying hummed. “I’ve decided to let you figure that out on your own,” he said.
“Ridiculous,” Lan Zhan said. But it lacked the disapproval it once had, many years ago as teenagers.
“But Lan Zhan? We should do this all the time.” Wei Ying did not elaborate on what he meant by that. He wanted Lan Zhan to figure it out for himself.
But if someone else were to ask Wei Ying, he would tell them it was his way of suggesting that he and Lan Zhan spend their lives together. An invitation to do so, even.
Lan Zhan hummed in acknowledgment but didn’t comment further. Wei Ying didn’t know what that meant. He just had to hope it was Lan Zhan being oblivious and not Lan Zhan trying to politely reject him.
Only time would tell.
— 5 —
While Lan Zhan hadn’t appeared to pick up on any of the hints he had dropped (some hints less subtle than others), Wei Ying had spent enough time at the Cloud Recesses and figured it was time to continue his travels and meet up with a certain someone. That someone being Nie Huaisang.
But first, he had one last task for Lan Zhan to complete. Wei Ying had composed a melody with his dizi. Not intentionally—he had just been trying to remember a piece of music he had heard someone performing in Caiyi town. But Lan Zhan’s face flashed in his mind and Wei Ying had a sudden burst of inspiration and a desire to translate the new tune in his head into a tangible piece of music.
Wei Ying had gotten the melody down but it was still lacking something—and that’s where Lan Zhan’s input was needed. Wei Ying was sure the addition of Lan Zhan’s guqin would create the harmony the song currently lacked. It also was his latest attempt at letting Lan Zhan know he wanted him to accompany him.
As Wei Ying finished jotting down the musical notation, the door to the library pavilion opened. He looked up to see who had joined him—it was Lan Jingyi. He didn’t spot Wei Ying at first so Wei Ying called out to him.
“Lan Jingyi!”
That got Lan Jingyi’s attention. His eyes lit up when he saw Wei Ying. He turned and headed in Wei Ying’s direction.
“Senior Wei! What are you doing here?” Lan Jingyi asked, observing the mess of paper and ink on the table. Normally a question phrased like that would come across as somewhat rude, but Wei Ying knew Lan Jingyi didn’t mean it in that way.
“Just finished writing my part for this song. It’s Lan Zhan’s job to finish it though,” Wei Ying said with a conspiring wink. He started to clean up the mess he had made on the table and put away the stationery he had borrowed.
“Can I hear it?” Lan Jingyi asked.
“Sure. But only once Lan Zhan is finished,” Wei Ying said as he stored the pot of ink on the shelf where he found it. “Can I ask a favour of you, Lan Jingyi?”
“Of course, Senior Wei!”
Wei Ying double-checked the note at the top of the musical notation. It read: I’ll be in Caiyi town for the next week. Come find me when you’ve figured it out, Lan Zhan. He knew it was somewhat audacious of him to expect Lan Zhan to drop his responsibilities and cater to his request, but if he had learnt anything since coming back to life it was that life should be enjoyed with the people you love. And, well, Wei Ying loved Lan Zhan, he had long since come to terms with that. And he had a hunch the feeling was mutual; he didn’t dare to contemplate if it wasn’t.
He rolled up the piece of paper. “Could you pass this onto Lan Zhan?” he said, extending the rolled up paper to Lan Jingyi. Lan Jingyi nodded and accepted the notation. “Tell him he has to return it to me personally once he’s finished.”
“Sure thing. Are you leaving now?”
“Yep. If I stay any longer Lan Qiren might implode,” Wei Ying joked.
A laugh escaped Lan Jingyi but he was quick to cover his mouth with his hand, eyes darting around the room to see if anyone overheard. He clearly had gotten into trouble for it before. The action made Wei Ying laugh even more. Gusu Lan juniors were so amusing.
Once his laughter settled, Wei Ying patted Lan Jingyi on the shoulder. “Thank you, Lan Jingyi,” he said.
Lan Jingyi smiled. “It’s no problem. I hope to see you again soon!”
Wei Ying grinned. “Don’t worry, you will!” he said and then took his leave, exiting the library pavilion and giving Lan Jingyi a small wave as he did so. He headed straight for Lil Apple.
He wondered how long it would take Lan Zhan to get back to him. What if he didn’t figure the hints out? Wei Ying shook his head, as if that would dispel the negative thoughts. He had to be optimistic about it. He had faith in Lan Zhan, after all.
— +1 —
It was just a stroke of good luck that Wei Ying ran into Nie Huaisang at Caiyi town, a few days after leaving the Cloud Recesses.
He wasn’t sure how trusting to be of Nie Huaisang. He had questioned everything he thought he knew about the man since the incident at the Guanyin Temple. For this reason, Wei Ying tried to remain somewhat impersonal when talking with him.
The inn they were sitting in looked out onto the river. It was about midday; the sun was shining down brightly, its reflection floating in the water. The inn wasn’t as busy as Wei Ying had seen it in the past, but then again he was with the leader of the Qinghe Nie sect. That alone may have deterred visitors because despite Nie Huaisang’s reputation as a head-shaker, he was still the leader of a powerful sect.
It hadn’t taken much coaxing on Wei Ying’s part to get Nie Huaisang to agree to have a drink with him and it wouldn’t have surprised Wei Ying if Nie Huaisang already knew what this meeting was about.
But the man in question merely waved his decorative fan in front of his face. “So, Wei Wuxian. What brings you here today?” Nie Huaisang said.
Wei Ying leaned on the table with his chin on his hand. “I think we both know the answer to that.”
Nie Huaisang’s eyes widened. “I—”
“Let’s cut the act and get straight to the point,” Wei Ying said.
Nie Huaisang sighed, more interested in spinning his empty cup on the table. “I won’t pretend not to know,” he said without looking up even once. “But don’t you think the Chief Cultivator should be here himself to discuss this?” And chose that moment to look right at Wei Ying.
As if on cue, a figure emerged from the hustle and bustle of people passing by the inn and sat in the adjacent spot to Nie Huaisang, movements as graceful as ever. Wei Ying’s eyes lit up. “Lan Zhan! You made it!”
Lan Zhan nodded. He pulled out a rolled up piece of paper from his robes and handed it to Wei Ying. “It is complete.”
Wei Ying grabbed hold of the paper but didn’t remove it from Lan Zhan’s hand. He looked Lan Zhan in the eyes. “And you are aware of my intentions?”
“Yes,” Lan Zhan said, firm with his answer. Wei Ying grinned and accepted the paper. “Okay, looks like my work here is done. I’ll let you two work out Chief Cultivator business.”
Nie Huaisang stared at him in disbelief. “How has all this conveniently worked out in your favour? How did you know we’d both be here at the same time?”
“Well, you could say I’ve learnt from the best,” Wei Ying said with a knowing wink at Nie Huaisang and placed a room key in Lan Zhan’s hand before getting up to leave. He was bluffing, of course. It had been sheer luck. In all honesty he had expected that he and Lan Zhan would have to travel to Qinghe for the discussion to take place. But this made things easier. A lot easier.
“Wei Wuxian! You sly dog, you!” Nie Huaisang called out as Wei Ying walked away, but there was amusement in his tone.
—
Later that evening there was a soft knock on the door.
“I gave you a key so you could use it, Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying said but opened the door anyway, smiling when Lan Zhan’s handsome face greeted him. Wei Ying’s eyes lit up even more when he spotted what was in Lan Zhan’s hand: a bottle of Emperor’s Smile. He pulled Lan Zhan inside and quickly closed the door.
Wei Ying made himself comfortable sitting at the small table in the middle of their private inn room. “How did your talk with Nie Huaisang go?” he asked.
“It went well. Your speculations were correct. He agreed to share the Chief Cultivator duties and eventually take over the role completely. Though I imagine we will need to get the other sects’ approval first,” Lan Zhan said, joining Wei Ying at the table. He pushed the Emperor’s Smile across to Wei Ying.
Wei Ying smiled as he poured himself a drink. “There was just no way he wasn’t interested in the position. He puts on a good act though, I’ll give him that.” He took a sip from his cup, watching Lan Zhan. The man’s face was unreadable and as much as Wei Ying was able to decipher him, he still wanted to make sure of one thing. “Are you sure you’re okay with giving up the position?”
Lan Zhan nodded. “I have… other priorities. Priorities I didn’t think I was allowed until recently.” And as he said it the tip of his ears reddened and his eyes were momentarily downcast.
It was amazing being able to see Lan Zhan get flustered. To the average onlooker there wasn’t much difference from Lan Zhan’s usual self, but Wei Ying knew. And he wanted to see it some more. Besides, they needed to have that talk anyway.
“I like you, Lan Zhan. A lot. In case that wasn’t clear,” Wei Ying said.
Lan Zhan’s ears reddened, the most subtle hint of a smile on his lips. “The feeling is mutual,” he said, gazing at Wei Ying.
Wei Ying, feeling emboldened, sat up on his knees and reached across to Lan Zhan, grabbing his robe near his chest and pulling him in close. “Can I kiss you?” Wei Ying said.
Lan Zhan’s eyes darted down to Wei Ying’s lips. “Yes,” he said and that’s all it took for them to smash their lips together. It was clumsy and a bit awkward given their positions, but Wei Ying couldn’t deny how right it felt.
When they both pulled back, Lan Zhan hauled Wei Ying around the table and onto his lap so Wei Ying was straddling him. Wei Ying was more than happy to oblige. He placed his arms over Lan Zhan’s shoulders and gazed down at him. The man really was a sight to behold. Lan Zhan, for his part, started to trail kisses down Wei Ying’s neck.
“When did you finally realise my plan?” Wei Ying asked.
Lan Zhan stopped and looked up at Wei Ying. “I had a feeling after the night-hunt. Lan Jingyi confirmed it.”
Wei Ying tilted his head. “Wait up. Lan Jingyi confirmed it? Do you mean by the music task I asked him to pass onto you?”
Lan Zhan chuckled lightly. Wei Ying’s eyes widened. He needed to preserve this moment forever—a Lan Zhan chuckle was a big deal! However, he had more pressing matters on his mind. “Not exactly,” Lan Zhan said.
“What did he say then?”
“He said that we are lovesick fools who are fated to be together but are kept apart because of our different paths. Said it was a pity I could not travel with you. Among other rambles.”
Wei Ying laughed. That definitely sounded like Lan Jingyi. No filter, even when it came to Lan Zhan.
“What matters is we got the result we wanted,” Wei Ying said and then leaned down and pressed a kiss to Lan Zhan’s lips. When he pulled back, Wei Ying smiled. “I know we won’t be able to travel until all the political matters and the transfer of the Chief Cultivator position are dealt with, but I’m so excited just to be with you. You wouldn’t believe how much!”
“I think I know,” was all Lan Zhan said before he tilted Wei Ying’s chin down and proceeded to kiss him.
Wei Ying smiled into the kiss. Despite the hints not working in the way he intended them to, he was relieved to have the same result. He loved Lan Zhan a whole lot and the feeling was mutual. Now they had their futures together to look forward to. They would travel the world accompanied by their donkey companions. They would no doubt run into all walks of wildlife, bunnies included. They would visit all the inns and food vendors and taste the finest foods thanks to the recommendations list Wei Ying had made. They would even perform night-hunts together and then wind down by playing their songs.
There was a lot to look forward to and Wei Ying couldn’t wait.