On the eighth morning since their return to the Cloud Recesses Lan Xichen knocked on the Jingshi's doors bright and early to officially release them from their seclusion and escort them to the Cold Springs without delay.
The springs consisted of multiple connected pools of crystal-clear water, located in the back mountains. They constantly seemed to emit a subtle pale blue glow that hinted at the high concentration of natural energy in the area.
According to Lan Xichen, this would help ease the process of the spiritual seal on their golden cores breaking.
Wei Wuxian had bathed in the springs only once before, as part of his wedding preparations, and so foolishly thought he was prepared for the water's temperature.
Unlike that time however, his golden core could not protect him from it.
Standing in just his pants on the sandy bank of the Lan sect's treasured Cold Springs, Wei Wuxian couldn't help but sent an incredulous glare Lan Xichen's way the moment he had so much as dipped a careful toe into the water.
"It will become bearable once you are fully submerged, A-Xian," Lan Xichen promised him serenely.
"You can't be serious! This feels like my foot's about to fall off!" Wei Wuxian protested.
Lan Wangji, the madman, chose that moment to just wade into the spring, not showing a single sign of discomfort. Only as the hellish water was lapping at his chest did he turn around to hold out an encouraging hand in Wei Wuxian's direction.
Wei Wuxian stared at him in betrayal.
"Come here," Lan Wangji said.
"Lan Zhan, I can't believe you would stab me in the back like this! You're supposed to be on my side!"
"I am on the side of your recovery," Lan Wangji replied.
Wei Wuxian grumbled.
Unable to withstand Lan Wangji's sincere eyes or the siren-call of his outstretched hand though, he soon felt himself giving in. It would probably be best to simply throw himself into the water in one go, he supposed. Get it over with.
Not allowing himself time to hesitate, Wei Wuxian promptly threw himself forward.
He was forced to second-guess this decision immediately. Due to his rapid entry, icy water splashed up as far as his neck and shoulders before his belly was even fully underwater. "Ah, Fuck, fuck, fuck! Cold, cold, Lan Zhan, fuck this!" he yelped breathlessly, sucking in his stomach and drawing up his arms in a futile effort to escape the murderous cold.
Lan Wangji, the saint, quickly pulled him close, allowing him to press up against him and leech off his body heat.
A discreet cough came from where Lan Xichen remained on the bank.
Admittedly, after Wei Wuxian had spent a few moments adjusting and shivering, goosebumps pebbling every inch of his skin, the water did begin to feel weirdly good against his bruised back.
Probably because it was losing all sensation.
"It will get better," Lan Xichen repeated, seeing his chattering teeth. He even sounded slightly amused, the bastard.
Relief finally came after an incense stick's time, though ten years might as well have gone by in Wei Wuxian's estimation. Something suddenly felt tight below his solar plexus and his entire body tingled with a weird itch.
Then, all at once, there was an abrupt rush .
Only Lan Wangji's arms prevented Wei Wuxian from losing his balance as a sudden deluge of hot power burst through him, his golden core crashing to the forefront of his awareness, commanding his attention completely, burning like a furnace and lighting him up so much that he felt as though he should be glowing or taking instant flight.
It was incredible.
Lan Wangji, too, escaped a small sigh of evident relief, just a moment later.
The water was suddenly shockingly bearable.
Lan Xichen chuckled. "There. You should check whether everything feels as it should. Complications are very rare but not entirely unheard of in cases of prolonged spiritual sealing."
Both of them quickly did as he suggested, focusing inward and circulating their energy slowly, checking every meridian.
"I feel normal. Perfect," Wei Wuxian decided before long, relishing in how light he was feeling. "What about you, Lan Zhan?"
After slightly longer deliberation, Lan Wangji nodded in agreement.
"Wonderful," Lan Xichen said pleasantly. "I will leave you to meditate for a while longer and pick you up at the end of chenshi. If you are amenable, I would like to have you over for tea to discuss some things then. Try to heal your wounds and focus your mind."
"Mn."
"Alright!"
As Lan Xichen was actually going however, Wei Wuxian had a sudden thought. "Oh, Xichen-ge! I meant to ask... Lan-shushu, is he...?"
Lan Xichen sent him a small smile. "He is... still rather upset. Give it some time, A-Xian."
Wei Wuxian's shoulders sank.
Looking at him compassionately, Lan Xichen suddenly brightened. "Oh, that reminds me. A-Xian, won't you call me dabo, now that you and Wangji are married?"
Wei Wuxian blinked, then felt his face warm, despite the frigid water he was standing in. "That... er, if you want?"
Lan Xichen inclined his head. "It was actually shufu who mentioned it recently. In a family setting you should address him as shufu as well, just like Wangji and I. Remember it when he eventually calls on you."
An uncertain laugh escaped Wei Wuxian. He glanced at Lan Wangji, finding him already looking back, the affection in his eyes bolstering his courage. "...Okay then. I will try to remember, when he does call on us, Xi—ah, I mean." Wei Wuxian felt his face flush further. "Dabo."
Lan Xichen beamed at him.
-------
They stayed in the Cold Springs for an entire shichen, circulating their energy while meditating in Lan Wangji's case, and circulating their energy while idly floating around the spring in Wei Wuxian's.
By the end of it, the bruising on their backs had seen incredible improvement. Wei Wuxian inspected Lan Wangji's skin in amazement, certain that it had healed more in the short time they'd been in the water than during all seven days of their seclusion combined.
Lan Xichen arrived punctually to whisk them away, first to the Jingshi so that they could dress, then to his own quarters.
The Hanshi was still filled with a landscape of paperwork, just as the last time Wei Wuxian had been inside it, but he thought the piles of documents seemed a little neater and substantially smaller than they had then.
They sat down after Lan Xichen had called for fresh tea.
"Wangji wrote frequently, but I must still ask for clarification on some matters," he began their conversation. "I understand that, after finding the sect heirs absent within the Wen outpost, you proceeded to locate and liberate some of their confiscated swords. But how did you come to know that they had been taken in the first place, or where to go?"
"Oh." Wei Wuxian glanced at Lan Wangji—it seemed he had left out Wen Ning in his letters to his brother. Lan Wangji looked back at him steadily and gave a slight nod, clearly leaving the decision of how much to disclose up to him.
Not seeing any reason to omit the truth, Wei Wuxian explained, "Wen Chao had left Wen Qing in charge of the outpost. Her little brother told me of the swords. Wen Ning also revealed how to get past the array that was locking the room in which they were kept."
Lan Xichen's eyebrows rose in astonishment. "You are saying... Wen Ning, ah, Wen Qionglin, was it? He voluntarily aided you?"
"...Well." Wei Wuxian scratched his nose a little sheepishly, remembering clearly how he'd interrogated Wen Ning with a blade pressed to his throat. Still, he was confident that Wen Ning had not helped him solely out of fear.
Lan Xichen started frowning lightly as he told him so, a thoughtful hand on his chin. "Come to think of it, Wen Qionglin was also the one who came looking for you after Wen Xu's attack, wasn't he, A-Xian? I must wonder what motivates him to act so differently than his fellow clansmen. When I saw him at the archery tournament, I thought him rather meek and unassuming. Yet now this... perhaps his subdued manners deceived me? He must have a courageous disposition."
Wei Wuxian nodded in agreement.
"Wangji, what do you think of him?" Lan Xichen wanted to know, raising his head to regard his little brother.
"As for now Wen Qionglin's actions have not put his trustworthiness into question," Lan Wangji replied.
Lan Xichen hummed. Then a carefully optimistic expression settled on his face. "Well. Perhaps Qishan Wen does not stand as united as we have assumed thus far. Mingjue-xiong called me foolish for not ordering Wen Qionglin hunted and killed when he appeared at the Cloud Recesses that time, and as you know, shufu, too, had his doubts, but now I am glad I listened to you both."
Wei Wuxian smiled happily.
The conversation turned to other topics.
Lan Xichen wanted to know more about the sect seniors from the Bai, Huang and Rong sects, about Madam Yu's actions in Qishan, the days they had spent in the dilapidated temple near Xuchang City and the note Wei Wuxian had left for his uncle.
Finally, he told them everything they had missed while they'd been in seclusion.
"Shiyan Huang and a few other minor sects petitioned to join the Great Alliance just a few days after your return. And multiple sects sent gifts of gratitude for the safe delivery of their heirs," he said smilingly. "Apparently, the two of you left quite the impression on the junior disciples you rescued. Many parents wished to express their thanks particularly to you."
"That sounds like you're about to give us paperwork," Wei Wuxian guessed warily.
Lan Xichen laughed spiritedly. "Actually, I know neither of you are fond of handling intersect correspondence and so I happen to have already taken the liberty of replying on your behalf." His eyes crinkled in happiness. "Additionally, I don't think it was remiss of me to think that you both will approve of any sent gifts contributing to the financing of sect ground reconstruction."
Wei Wuxian nodded along in relief. "Definitely not. That's a good idea."
"Xiongzhang has our thanks," Lan Wangji added politely.
Lan Xichen let mirth play over his face for a while longer before he visibly turned more somber. "That aside. I fear there is bad news as well. He-zongzhu's body was discovered a few days ago. Since Tingshan He's territory is still occupied by Qishan Wen, I allowed He Su to bring his father's remains to the Cloud Recesses and hold a private wake and funeral here."
Wei Wuxian grimaced in sympathy. "Oh shit. That must have been hard on him."
"Indeed. I believe, to the very end, He-gongzi had still been entertaining hopes of his father's survival." Lan Xichen sighed. "He will need to take on the mantle of sect leader very young. He is not much older than seventeen."
All three of them sat in silence for a moment.
Lan Xichen was himself not much older than He Su, Wei Wuxian thought, but didn't say. He at least had an experienced uncle and a large clan to fall back on. The He clan was a lot smaller and, without their sect grounds and with many of their disciples still strewn about the land, He Su would have a substantially harder time getting his feet on the ground as sect leader.
"Has Luo-guniang recovered?" Lan Wangji at last broke the silence.
"Oh! Yeah, is she alright?" Wei Wuxian followed up quickly, a little abashed. He had quite forgotten to wonder about Luo Qingyang.
"To my knowledge she is doing well," Lan Xichen replied, seeming relieved that they were moving onto other topics. "Luo-guniang was released from physician care four days ago and has been accommodated within the female junior dormitories. Headmistress Xi notified me that she has settled in. I have written to her sect about how to proceed but am still awaiting a response."
"Cool," Wei Wuxian said. Lan Wangji inclined his head too, satisfied.
Just then the midmorning bell rang outside. "Ah. I have a meeting with the elders' council shortly. Let's wrap things up here," Lan Xichen told them agreeably, standing from his seat.
Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji followed him to their feet as well and made their goodbyes. Just as they were about to leave the Hanshi they were stopped though.
"Oh, please wait, I almost forgot!" Lan Xichen called a tad sheepishly. "Wangji, I had hoped you might substitute for todays advanced cultivation theory class? Their lecturer has recently been injured on a nighthunt and will be indisposed for a while and there is no one else better qualified to take his place. You can do it even on such short notice, can't you? Shufu is already teaching a different class today..."
"Xiongzhang need not worry. Wangji will help," Lan Wangji said.
His older brother exhaled gratefully, then turned to Wei Wuxian. "And you should visit tanggu today, A-Xian. She has finished her work on the wards, you know? I imagine you would like to see the result."
Wei Wuxian perked up, instantly curious. "Oh really?! Yeah, I definitely do!"
-------
The murkiness of the past few days finally came to a head as Wei Wuxian passed the footbridge leading to the inner clan residences, a gentle rain that was more a mist-like drizzle than anything else beginning to fall out of the grey sky.
He ran the rest of the way to Lan Qingzhao's residence, annoyed by how the humidity made his hair stick to his forehead.
He found his teacher in the company of her father. The two Lans were returning from where they seemed to have been taking tea inside the snow-white pavilion that crowned the front yard.
The very moment Lan Xiaobo's old eyes landed on Wei Wuxian he promptly ordered him into the house and, before the doors had even properly closed behind them, went off on a tangent about not running in the Cloud Recesses, the cold Wei Wuxian would inevitably catch if he stayed wet, all the rules he had broken running away to Qishan, as well as all the terrible things that could have happened to him and Lan Wangji.
Once Wei Wuxian had been chewed out sufficiently, the old man huffed, accepted a large umbrella from his daughter, then left her house without another word, white beard flowing after him.
Wei Wuxian exhaled in relief.
"Let us sit down," Lan Qingzhao instructed serenely, unfazed by the long lecture her father had just given. "I imagine I know why you have come to see me?"
Wei Wuxian obediently followed her to her desk, settling only after she had. "Yeah, I heard the ward improvement was done?"
In place of an answer Lan Qingzhao simply retrieved a large pile of paper from her desk. Wei Wuxian received the pages carefully, excited to see that they were covered in tight script from top to bottom.
Lan Qingzhao prepared tea as he started to read and for long moments the only sounds filling her home were the clinking of ceramic and the occasional rustling of a page being turned.
Admiration and regret mingled in Wei Wuxian's stomach the further he got through the text—he almost wished he hadn't gone to Qishan solely so that he could have been present for the finalization of this project.
Lan Qingzhao had combined the functionality of one of the maze arrays they had been considering with the protective attributes of the ancient ward that was already installed around the wall of the Cloud Recesses.
It was an ambitious undertaking as the anchor stones that had formed the old array would need to be replaced entirely to implement the new, improved design.
Not only that—Lan Qingzhao appeared to have also worked on an update for the entrance tokens. Wei Wuxian curiously raised his eyes to look at his teacher as he reached that last part. "Why also the tokens?"
"Ah. Turn a page," Lan Qingzhao told him.
Wei Wuxian obediently did, finding multiple intricate diagrams depicting spell work that was mostly unfamiliar to him.
"As you know, maze arrays are based on the lock and key principle, in the sense that a key enables someone to overcome a lock," his teacher said.
Wei Wuxian nodded.
Lan Qingzhao smiled at him. "Our disciples are each and every one in possession of a jade token, and so it is most convenient for these tokens to be the key that allows passage through the maze array as well, just as they already allow entrance into the sect grounds."
"But that shouldn't be too difficult, right?" Wei Wuxian mused, looking back at the spell work with furrowed brows, trying to identify a particularly complicated section. "Isn't it fairly easy to appoint an object as a maze array's key item?"
Lan Qingzhao hummed, gracefully placing a cup of steaming tea in front of him. "You are correct. But you are not accounting for the fact that Wen Xu gained entry into the Cloud Recesses by means of murder and thievery."
"Ah? Oh, yeah... So then... this reads... preeminence, retraction and severance?" Wei Wuxian deduced, having finally deciphered the combination of radicals on the paper. "So, if that's the case... I think this would allow the holder of the highest-ranking token to turn all others dysfunctional, wouldn't it?"
"Indeed," his teacher agreed approvingly. "If a sect token falls into the wrong hands again, Xichen will be able to shut off all tokens' functionality remotely."
Wei Wuxian nodded along.
He definitely saw the wisdom in taking that extra step—in case another siege happened and given they knew a token had been stolen in time, they could all hole up inside the sect grounds, disconnect the tokens from the barrier and trust that, even if an enemy had gotten their hands on an entrance token somehow, they would have a hard time finding their way through the maze array or through the ward without a functional key.
It wasn't a perfect solution of course; any Lan disciples who happened to incidentally be outside of the Cloud Recesses in that scenario would be left stranded with no way to return home, and those inside could not leave until the threat was over, which would be hard to determine if one could not go and check. But it was still a definite security improvement.
"Updating every single token will be quite the hassle though, won't it?" Wei Wuxian chuckled. "Should I leave mine here now? I could get Lan Zhan's too?"
Peering past the rim of her teacup, Lan Qingzhao studied him with a satisfied expression. "No need. The new anchor stones are still in production and must be our priority for now. Until we are sure that the maze array will function as intended, there is no use to being hasty."
With that she sipped her tea.
Almost a little disappointed, Wei Wuxian dropped his hand from where he'd been about to eagerly untie his jade token from his belt. "Yeah... I guess that's true."
-------
The rain let up sometime after lunch.
Lan Wangji had evidently spent the morning toiling away in the kitchens as he came to meet Wei Wuxian in the Jingshi bearing perfectly seasoned, chili-drenched bell pepper and mushroom stir-fry on a bed of rice—a recipe that, to Wei Wuxian's utter delight, had come straight out of the recipe book Jiang Yanli had gifted them.
And so, Wei Wuxian spent a glorious shichen being hand-fed by his favorite person and kissing his soft lips until they had turned red from the spice leftover on his own.
Once Lan Wangji had to leave to teach his class however, Wei Wuxian found himself facing the challenge of finding something to do with his free time. He himself had no fixed engagements for the rest of the day—apart from forlornly waiting for his husband to return home, that was—and so he ended up simply meandering through the freshly rained-on Cloud Recesses for a while.
At last, he decided to see how Lan Chuanli and Yuan Xiang were doing.
Few disciples were out and about at this time of the day since most were either being taught, teaching themselves, studying, meditating or engaging with other duties. Wei Wuxian was happy to find that Lan Chuanli was home. His friend was busy in front of his house, sweeping wet leaves off his porch.
"Chuanli-xiong! I'm back!" Wei Wuxian bellowed in excitement, beginning to run.
Lan Chuanli whipped around at the sound of his voice and promptly broke out into a delighted grin.
"Wuxian!" he called, abandoning his broom to come down the porch towards him.
Grinning from ear to ear as they met halfway, Wei Wuxian was about to ask his friend how he was doing, as Lan Chuanli raised his hand and, without so much as a warning, rather gently smacked him upside the head.
"Awk—Ouch! Hey, what was that for?" Wei Wuxian yelped in shocked betrayal, gawking at him.
"Sorry. Wife's orders," Lan Chuanli explained, shrugging apologetically.
"Huh?!"
"That's right!" Yuan Xiang's voice came from the door.
With incredulous eyes and protectively holding the back of his head, Wei Wuxian turned to see her coming out of the house, arms ominously crossed.
"Yuan-jiejie, why did you tell him to hit me?! I couldn't even say hello properly!" he cried out, feeling a little as though he should make a break for it as she strutted straight over to him.
He wasn't fast enough to escape. With the familiarity of someone who had a younger sibling, Yuan Xiang reached up, unerringly found his cheek and immediately pulled. Hard. "What were you thinking , running away?! Do you know how worried everyone was!"
" Ah —ah, ouch, ouch, ouch, you're gonna wear out my handsome face, Yuan-jiejie! Chuanli-xiong, do something!"
Lan Chuanli just held up his hands in a clear I'm-not-going-to-interfere-with-my-wife's-wishes-gesture, smiling next to them.
"Hah! Serves you right!" Yuan Xiang exclaimed triumphantly. With one last cruel pinch she finally released Wei Wuxian's poor cheek. He immediately jumped away and began rubbing it with his palm, making injured eyes at her that had always made his shijie melt and want to feed him.
Yuan Xiang was entirely unmoved by the tactic. "Didn't those Wen people try to kidnap you?! Why the hell did you run towards them!"
"Yuan-jiejie, I went to save Jiang Cheng! He'd still be trapped in a dank cave if Lan Zhan and I hadn't gone to find him!"
"And to do so you had to sneak away in the middle of the night like a criminal? And throw your whole sect into chaos?" Yuan Xiang asked, lifting a highly skeptical eyebrow.
Wei Wuxian opened his mouth to agree then halted and scratched his nose. "Well. Maybe not?"
"What do you mean, maybe not?!" Yuan Xiang repeated incredulously, threateningly raising a hand.
"Okay, okay, maybe definitely not!" Wei Wuxian assented hurriedly, protectively shielding his cheeks with his hands. "I've already taken a beating for this, Yuan-jiejie—even Xichen-ge was cross with me!"
"Oh yeah. I've never seen Xichen-xiong so worried before in my life. I heard people say he almost fainted from shock when he found the letter you'd left behind in the Jingshi. And Chifeng-zun offered to come multiple times because his best friend was in such hysterics," Lan Chuanli chimed in innocently.
Wei Wuxian winced with guilt.
"Oh! And the head physician had to give Lan-xiansheng acupuncture treatment multiple times for dangerously high blood pressure."
"I get it, I get it already, Chuanli-xiong, Yuan-jiejie, have mercy, both of you!" Wei Wuxian pleaded. He bowed multiple times. "This Wei Ying was foolish and worried his family and friends unnecessarily! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
Lan Chuanli burst out laughing and threw an arm over his shoulders, forcing Wei Wuxian to stoop a bit to accommodate his height, all the while jostling him amicably. "As long as you understand, A-Xiang and I will somehow find it within ourselves to forgive you!"
Yuan Xiang sighed and shook her head, but there was a smile on her lips. "Now that you're here, Wuxian, come inside and eat with us. My father sent an entire crate full of lychees up the mountain, we need at least four people to finish them all." She affectionately patted her middle.
Attention caught by the motion, Wei Wuxian's eyes grew as wide as saucers as he noticed the clear little bump that was visible there. "Yuan-jiejie! The baby !"
"Huh? Oh, oh yeah, that's right, you haven't seen it yet," Yuan Xiang realized, hands on her hips and a proud grin on her face. "I popped a week ago. This kid is growing fatter every day! And I haven't felt like throwing up in ages!"
"The physicians said the baby is about this big now," Lan Chuanli emotionally disclosed to Wei Wuxian, indicating about the width of a palm between his forefinger and thumb. His eyes were a little misty. "And apparently they'll be able to hear soon."
"Well, in that case I'd better help you eat those lychees," Wei Wuxian laughed. "If the little one can almost listen in on us it won't do to disobey their mother's orders."
Evidently in agreement, Yuan Xiang wasted no further time to herd all of them into the house.
Wei Wuxian was very pleased to see both his friends so full of energy.
-------
Over the next week or so, Wei Wuxian's life steadily resumed its ordinary rhythm.
Lan Fang wanted to see him a few evenings to listen to his progress on the dizi, Lan Qingzhao offered valuable advice on his compass project that made him decide to restrict his ambitions to making the thing only point out resentful energy after all—anything further would overcomplicate the design, his teacher had warned—Lan Chuanli and Yuan Xiang often had him over for snacks and conversation and every night he went to bed with Lan Wangji, finding easy pleasure in his arms.
Since he no longer had to assist Lan Qingzhao with her work, Lan Xichen had quite gratefully redesignated him as an instructor for the junior disciples, promptly assigning him four slots of martial classes and archery training.
Soon, Wei Wuxian almost felt as though Qishan had all been some kind of strange dream.
The only new development in his life was that every evening, he returned to the Jingshi to find that his parents' shrine had taken further shape.
And that Lan Qiren had yet to speak with him and Lan Wangji.
Wei Wuxian only caught occasional glimpses of the old man coming or going from his office when he went to pick up Lan Wangji from the classes that he was teaching himself, but if Lan Qiren noticed them in return, he had yet to show any indication of it, let alone approach them.
Truthfully, being on the receiving end of Lan Qiren's cold shoulder unnerved Wei Wuxian more than he'd like to admit. If there was one thing he had always had difficulty handling it was being ignored by someone whose attention he craved.
He knew that Lan Wangji was worried as well, though they had not yet spoken about it.
Lan Xichen especially seemed to feel sorry for them as he frequently invited them over for tea to reassure them that Lan Qiren would definitely approach them when he was ready, then dependably set about engaging them in pleasant conversation for as long as it took him to assure himself that they were not too sad.
All things considered, Wei Wuxian was glad that he had juniors to teach.
Since he'd scrapped his loftier ambitions regarding his compass project it had found a conclusion sooner than he'd liked and he had thus been left with more time on his hands than he cared for, so it was a blessing that he could focus it on getting Gusu Lan's progeny into shape.
The archery class Lan Xichen had assigned him introduced additional diversity into his schedule.
Gusu Lan's younger junior disciples were mostly on par with the boys Wei Wuxian had been teaching in Lotus Pier back when he'd been Yunmeng Jiang's head disciple. As he spent his morning correcting slightly slanted elbows and minutely crooked stances, he really felt quite pleased with the boys overall, so much so that he was even thinking about not assigning any penalty laps for today's training session.
For once the end of class was something he could look forward to as well since Lan Chuanli and Yuan Xiang would be coming to see him afterwards. The other day Lan Chuanli had mentioned how it had been ages since he'd had the opportunity to spar properly, and Wei Wuxian had immediately offered himself up as a training partner, eager to fill an afternoon or two.
Just as he was about to wrap up the class for lunchtime there was a sudden commotion among some of his students. Well, as much as the polite whispers and quiet murmuring of Lan juniors could be called a commotion.
"Wei-gongzi, there are two ladies watching us!" Ming Zheng told him, even daring to carefully tug at his sleeve. Wei Wuxian shed a tear in his head, quite proud how far these kids had come out of their shells ever since he'd met them.
The heads of those who hadn't yet been whispering swiveled around.
Wei Wuxian, too, turned his head and, much to his amazement, spotted none other than Luo Qingyang by the edge of the training field.
A young female Lan disciple was standing next to her.
What a rare sight, indeed!
"Luo-guniang!" Wei Wuxian called out in surprise, raising his hand to wave.
Luo Qingyang seemed to have waited for him to notice her as she politely saluted him.
"What are girls doing on this side of the wall?" Lan Peizhi murmured, quietly scandalized.
"Wei-gongzi knows her, it's probably fine," Ming Zheng muttered back.
"Is that a scar on her face? Do you see that?" Lan Zhiqiang whispered to Xie Peng next to him.
"Hey, no gossiping!" Wei Wuxian snapped, quieting all whispers immediately. "If I hear one more person talk like this, I'll change my mind about those penalty laps!"
"Sorry, Wei-gongzi," everyone chorused in immediate regret.
With a wave of his hand, Wei Wuxian instructed, "We're done for today. I'll see you tomorrow for the early morning drills. And, again, if it's raining, we'll meet up inside the hall, there's no need to wait for me outside, okay? I can't overstate how much I don't want you dripping wet when we're about to practice rolling, guys, the people on laundry duty will really kill me if your uniforms end up as dirty as they were yesterday again. Got it?"
"Yes, Wei-gongzi!"
"Alright, then, glad to hear I will live to see another day. Remember to clean up the field before you go eat."
After once more calling out in compliance, the boys scurried off to retrieve arrows and put away their practice bows. Released from being teacher, Wei Wuxian curiously jogged over to where their two female observers were waiting.
The young female Lan disciple had turned her head towards Luo Qingyang and was saying something to her with quiet insistence while Luo Qingyang looked... annoyed? Before Wei Wuxian could begin to wonder about that, the Lan disciple noticed him approaching.
Her eyebrows furrowed seeing him run, but she did not comment, just took a stiff step forward to give a respectful bow. "Wei-gongzi. Apologies for disturbing you without priorly requesting an audience," she said, young voice high and very proper.
Wei Wuxian's eyebrows shot to his hairline. "An—an audience? Ahahaha, who am I, the emperor?"
The girl looked quite put out by his flippancy, so he quickly cleared his throat and added more formally, "Shimei need not worry. Since the juniors' training has just concluded, this humble Wei-gongzi is quite at leisure." He looked over to Luo Qingyang with curious eyes, observing with satisfaction that the brand on her cheek, though still a little pink, seemed fully healed. "Hey, how are you doing? I'm guessing you want to speak to me about something?"
"Yes," Luo Qingyang agreed, seeming relieved to be addressed directly. "Wei-gongzi, I want to thank you and Lan-er-gongzi for the actions you took in Qishan. I... do not know what I did to earn your notice, but I am in your debt regardless."
She bowed deeply.
"Ah, please, there's no need for this!" Wei Wuxian exclaimed, flustered by her sincerity.
Luo Qingyang raised herself from her bow with a nod of acceptance. Glancing around the field she asked, "I had hoped... is Lan-er-gongzi not here? I had hoped to thank him as well."
"Luo-guniang, as I informed you already, Lan-er-gongzi is generally very busy. We cannot intrude upon his time without prior notice. It would be entirely improper," the female Lan disciple said with some urgency.
"Wei-gongzi is here, surely he knows best whether or not the person he is married to can spare some time. I merely wish to express my gratitude. How is that improper?" Luo Qingyang argued.
"Luo-guniang, excepting matrimony, retirement and advanced study the two genders are to remain strictly separated in the Cloud Recesses," the other young woman recited snidely. "Rules must not be broken for mere whimsy."
Luo Qingyang's eyebrow twitched in clear irritation.
"Ah, Lan Zhan's still teaching a class right now," Wei Wuxian quickly chimed in, trying a deescalating smile. "But he'll come to meet me in the evening. I'll be training here until then. If you want to you could remain here too and wait for him, Luo-guniang."
"Wei-gongzi is very gracious. But I have been instructed to escort Luo-guniang back into the women's grounds as soon as possible," the female Lan disciple interposed primly, once again saluting him. "I must attend afternoon meditation soon, and under no circumstances could I neglect my duty and leave Luo-guniang unchaperoned. Wei-gongzi, please relay to your husband that he is to expect a request for an audience."
Wei Wuxian suddenly realized that he had never stopped to wonder whether the women's side of the Cloud Recesses was as pedantically strait-laced as the men's was. By the looks of it, maybe it was even worse over there?
"Actually, how about this? A friend of mine, Lan Chuanli, promised to train with me, and his wife will come watch. They should be here any moment now," he said, smiling brightly. "Shimei, why don't you go attend afternoon meditation by yourself and leave Luo-guniang in our care? I'm sure my friend's wife would be happy to keep her company while she waits."
Evidently caught off guard, the female Lan disciple visibly hesitated and Wei Wuxian could have sworn he saw her mentally recite the sect precepts to check whether his suggestion clashed with any of them.
Seeing the clear hope in Luo Qingyang's expression, he added, "We'll make sure to escort Luo-guniang back to the women's grounds before curfew. Of course."
"...In that case," the female Lan disciple assented cautiously. She turned to her charge. "Luo-guniang, I hope you will forgive this one her negligence."
Wei Wuxian was pretty sure Luo Qingyang was more than happy to forgive anything if it meant she would be rid of her surveillance as soon as possible. "Please be at ease," she answered with obvious relief. "I promise not to cause trouble for Wei-gongzi and his friends."
The two went to sit down by the weapon racks to wait, a polite distance removed from the middle of the training field.
Wei Wuxian was eager to get some genuine sweat going after a whole morning of just teaching others and so began to warm up, relishing in properly stretching his muscles. Suibian sang in his hand, answering his eagerness with her own.
Halfway through his second set of basic Lan forms, a bright voice happily called his name, alerting him to his friends' arrival.
Lan Chuanli quickly joined him on the field, while Yuan Xiang, delighted to discover that she had someone to chat with, pulled Luo Qingyang to sit with her on a big blanket that she had brought.
Since the promised friends had indeed arrived, the female Lan disciple excused herself, hurrying away to her meditation.
"Is that the girl you and Wangji brought from Qishan?" Lan Chuanli asked curiously.
"Yeah, her name's Luo Qingyang. She wanted to say thank you to Lan Zhan too so she's going to wait here," Wei Wuxian explained.
His friend just hummed curiously. "Well, I'm glad A-Xiang will not have to sit alone." Rolling his shoulders, he pulled his sword with a grin. "Just give me a few moments to warm up too, Wuxian, then I'll be ready to go."
"Sure!"
Lan Chuanli was a worthy opponent in a spar.
Though not exceptional, his skill with the sword was more than solid and the handful of years he was ahead of Wei Wuxian in training served to assure that they were more or less evenly matched.
Their fights generally lasted long, the blows they traded evenly divided between them in offense and defense, but when it came to actually winning, Wei Wuxian retained the upper hand as his friend lacked the bite to press for the figurative kill.
"Laogong, don't let that punk push you around!" Yuan Xiang cheered from the sidelines after Wei Wuxian had once again sent Lan Chuanli to the ground. "Next time you'll get him for sure, make him eat dirt!"
"Yuan-jiejie!" Wei Wuxian squawked, clutching his chest. "You're breaking my fragile maiden heart!"
Luo Qingyang giggled behind a sleeve at their antics, seeming much more relaxed now than she had earlier.
"Wuxian, if you keep beating me up in front of A-Xiang, she'll start to think she married a weakling," Lan Chuanli laughed, smiling his wife's way with red cheeks.
"I guess you have no choice but to do as she says and make me eat dirt, then," Wei Wuxian quipped with a grin, offering a hand to pull his friend back to his feet.
They fought again.
As before, Wei Wuxian gained the upper hand during the end of their spar, managing to claim victory for himself.
Lan Chuanli stretched out his back with a groan once he had been released from sword point. "So merciless. You must be almost as good as Wangji and Xichen by now. How dare you execute the Lan moves better than I!"
"You almost had me a few times there, Chuanli-xiong—if you had been more aggressive, I would have definitely landed on my ass as well," Wei Wuxian replied honestly, wiping sweat off his forehead.
"Are you taking a break?" Yuan Xiang called, walking into the field with happy steps. "It's so hot, make sure not to overdo it, you two. Here, eat this, you need sugar when exercising." She pushed freshly cut apple slices into their hands.
"Wow, thanks!" Wei Wuxian exclaimed, immediately shoving one into his mouth.
"A-Xiang, are you still alright just waiting?" Lan Chuanli asked his wife worriedly. "The sun really is quite strong today. And it must be boring."
Yuan Xiang affectionately nudged her finger against his cheek. "I'm fine, you worrywart. Watching you two is entertaining enough, and Luo-guniang is a good conversationalist. Although..." She threw a glance at where Luo Qingyang had politely remained on the blanket. "I think that poor girl would really rather join you out here. She's been intensely following your every move and fiddling with her sword whenever she thinks I won't notice."
"Has she?" Lan Chuanli wondered, looking over too. "Why hasn't she come over, then?"
"She probably thinks she's not supposed to," Wei Wuxian mused in light of what he had witnessed earlier with that snotty female Lan disciple. He happily started a second apple slice. "Oh, but she was recently injured right? Should she be fighting?"
"That brand on her face won't get much better than it is. At this point she gains nothing from remaining idle. It should be fine," Yuan Xiang said approvingly.
Wei Wuxian nodded with a hum, then raised his hand and called, "Hey, Luo-guniang!"
Luo Qingyang jolted, then sprung to her feet, looking a little confused at being waved over.
"Do you want to join us?" Wei Wuxian asked her with a smile. "The general consensus among my friends seems to be that I deserve a proper thrashing—why don't you and Chuanli-xiong team up against me?"
Luo Qingyang's eyes grew wide in surprise.
Yuan Xiang snorted while Lan Chuanli saluted with a grin. "If Luo-guniang is not opposed, I would indeed be honored to cooperate."
"I... are you sure?" Luo Qingyang wondered, clutching her sword in front of her. It was quite plain, its wooden sheath unremarkable and worn with age.
"I know you are bored just watching from the sidelines," Yuan Xiang urged her with a kind smile.
"What? No, it's not like that," Luo Qingyang quickly protested. "I enjoyed our conversation. You know so much more about pharmacy than I do!"
"I am a pharmacist's daughter after all," Yuan Xiang laughed. "But Luo-guniang, while it's been fun talking with someone who knows her way around medicinal herbs herself you are a cultivator first and foremost, right? Of course you'd want to fight!"
Luo Qingyang seemed speechless, then looked back and forth between all three of them.
At last, a small smile appeared on her face. "Well... if you really don't mind? I would be happy to."
"Awesome!" Wei Wuxian exclaimed.
"I'll leave you to it," Yuan Xiang decided, squeezing Lan Chuanli's arm. "Treat her well, you hear?"
Lan Chuanli nodded obediently, finally eating his own apple slice as he lovingly watched his wife return to her blanket.
"Luo-guniang, have you ever fought two on one before?" Wei Wuxian asked curiously.
Luo Qingyang shook her head. "I have not. Unless you count cooperating with others on nighthunts. Is there anything I should keep in mind?"
"Ah, well, if you have experience teaming up with people on nighthunts I suppose you know the drill. It's the same stuff—coordinating, not getting in each other's way and the like. You'll naturally get the hang of it the more you do it, in any case."
She inclined her head in understanding.
"Come, Wuxian, let Luo-guniang warm up," Lan Chuanli said. "In the meantime, you've got to show me that disarming move you used to finish me off earlier."
Agreeing, Wei Wuxian followed his friend to make some space.
In truth, he was a little worried—though Luo Qingyang seemed fairly confident, his personal experience with female disciples had taught him that their strength and speed could not measure up to that of their sect brothers' abilities most of the time.
Like many young women her age, Luo Qingyang, too, looked slight and delicate. And he hadn't ever heard her name before. The sect she came from was very small and not at all renown. It was more than likely that there would be a great disparity in skill between the three of them.
As soon as he and Lan Chuanli were out of earshot, Wei Wuxian leaned over to his friend, planning to whisper that they should make sure to go easy on her.
The sharp metal sound of a sword being unsheathed distracted him.
Unspoken words still on his tongue, Wei Wuxian watched Luo Qingyang gracefully fall into a perfect stance, then begin to lead her blade through a simple sword form, movements quick, precise and easy. Her clear skill wasn't even the most surprising thing though.
"Oh, wow. She's left-handed," Lan Chuanli observed next to him. A slow smirk spread over his face. "Still sure about fighting both of us at once, oh great sword master Wei? I think you actually might be in a little bit of trouble for once, my friend."
Wei Wuxian laughed. "It sure looks like I might be."