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Jiang Cheng spent the rest of his visit with a Lan disciple stuck to him like glue. As soon as he left his room the disciple would fall into step behind him, only leaving his side when he either entered Lan XiChen's office or the private bathrooms. He hadn't even thought about approaching the private family area, reserved for Clan members, again. Even if he could shake the shadow he had acquired, he wasn't sure what his reception would be. When he returned to his room that night he had already made Lan XiChen aware that he would be leaving early in the morning for Lotus Cove, after all there was nothing keeping him here any more.

The next day Jiang Cheng got up and prepared to leave the Cloud Recess. Part of him wanted to say goodbye to his brother, but the other half of him knew deep down that approaching Wei Ying wouldn't be appreciated right now, by neither the Lan's or Wei Ying. Tying his clothes into his cloth carrier he could only sigh inwardly, feeling that it was his own fault for letting his temper getting the better of him. Even worse, Wei Ying did have a reason for not trusting him in the first place, after all he did try and kill his brother. What Lan XiChen had told him a few days ago had been running through his mind non stop ' Whatever Wei Ying told you in the past. It's impossible to FIX a golden core'. What did he mean by that? He had had his Golden Core fixed, that was a fact! Or was it? They had once thought Wei Ying being dead was a fact, it turned out to be wrong. Could he be wrong about this too? He shook his head not allowing his mind to go any further down that line of thought.

As he opened the door to his room he was shocked for a moment to see the Lan disciple that had seemed like a fixture for the last few days was missing. The Lan Sect was not one to change its mind, and the disciples didn't just walk off in the middle of a duty. Something must have been wrong for the disciple to have been called away. Throwing his packing back on the bed he shifted his sword back to his fighting hand and proceeded to walk towards the main area of the Cloud Reccess to see what was happening.

Wei Ying didn't know what was happening that morning. The day had begun as per usual and he was teaching a class of juniors archery when he noticed something wrong. The dress code in Gusu was simple and consisted of either white or blue clothing, depending on the level of the cultivator concerned. The only exceptions to this were any visitors that happened to be walking around at the moment, and they wouldn't be walking around in groups. The people Wei Ying could see out the corner of his eye where clearly trying not to be seen, and where dressed head to toe in black robes. They clearly did not belong in the Cloud Recess. Making his way over to one of the juniors and under the pretence of correcting his form, he sent a butterfly message to Lan Zhan about his observations.

Little did either Wei Ying or Jiang Cheng know that while they were noticing something was wrong, Lan Zhan and some of the other members of the Sect had already begun to figure out what the 'something' was. While Wei Ying's butterfly message was making its way to Lan Zhan, an equally urgent message was making its way back to him. Lan Zhan had spent the early morning in the Library pavilion researching something for his elder brother. As usual he had been so engrossed in what he was doing that he had completely missed the unusual occurrences outside, that is until the noise finally got too much for him to concentrate and he opened the door to step out. He had planned on scolding whoever it was making the racket outside the library, and reminding them of the rules they had just broken and punishments they could expect. What he saw though had silenced him before he even got any words out.

The shouts he had heard where not coming from any of the Lan Sect disciples, but rather from a group of men all dressed in black who were milling around the central square as if the owned it, and all armed. None of the men in black looked nervous or lost, which sent a chill up his spine. How had these men managed to get through the protections surrounding the Cloud Recces? Each man also had his face covered, making only his eyes and hands visible to an observer. The way they stood however, and the way they held their weapons, made it clear they they were experienced cultivators. Almost subconsciously he sent two butterfly messages off warning of the danger to his brother and Wei Ying. Stepping further into the main square and unsheathing Bichen, he focused on the first of the intruders, killing the man easily before the others became aware of his presence.

Wei Ying read the message that had just arrived for the third time. Lan Zhan wanted him to stay where he was. Well Lan Zhan wanted lots of things he had to learn he was never going to get, not off him anyway! But what to do about the juniors, they were too young to be left on their own. Turning to face full on to the confused group of youngsters he spoke as reassuringly as possible.

'Something has happened in the Cloud Reccess, I need you all to follow me. I fill find you a safe place to hide. You stay there until either I, HanGuang Jun or the Sect leader comes to fetch you.'

The boys looked at him, at first completely confused and then with a look as if they were going to argue. Wei Ying simply shook his head and gave them a look that made it clear any argument was not going to be accepted. Slowly the boys nodded and Wei Ying led the group away from the archery field towards the guest courtyard. After all they were not being used right now so the chances of the men searching them were low, and he could hide the children in one of the outbuildings that supported the guests. Once they were shut, or locked in there they should be safe enough, and even at their young ages they knew enough of the rules to not move until someone came to fetch them.

He walked the youngsters the long way to the destination, making sure to avoid all the heavily populated areas. Even so he did come across a few, obviously patrolling, men wearing the black outfit. Wei Ying simply whistled to attract the first man's attention, who turned his head and walked over towards the group. The children stayed silent at Wei Ying's command and as soon as the man walked past he was immediately knocked to the floor and dragged into the shadows. The other patrollers didn't last long either and where soon had unconscious and his group moved past. As he got closer to the destination he heard footsteps and held up his hand for the group to pause. Wei Ying then pressed himself against the wall of a building before peeking round the corner to see who, and how many many, he was up against. Jiang Cheng stood in front of a gate, obviously confused about which way to go, his sword firmly gripped in his palm. The last time he had seen his brother the conversation had nearly ended in disaster and his heartbeat was already racing at the memory, but now was not the time to let such things as family drama's get in the way of what needed to be done.

'Jiang Cheng!' He called softly, just in case anyone else was around.

Jiang Cheng seemed to hear something but wasn't able to locate its position, so he remained where he was.

'Jiang Cheng!' Wei Ying tried a little louder.

This time Jiang Cheng's head twisted round and saw him. Wei Ying waved his brother over with a frantic movement, causing the other to look confused but at least he obeyed.

'What's going on?' Jiang Cheng asked when he joined Wei Ying behind the building.

'I don't know, but someone has managed to get past the wards and into the Cloud Reccess. I got a message from Lan Zhan saying they are already in the central square.' When Jiang Cheng went to move Wei Ying grabbed his arm. 'I will sort it. I need you to protect the children. I was going to leave them here out the way but….'

'No!' Jiang Cheng growled.

'Take them to my and Lan Zhan's JingShi instead' Wei Ying continued as if the other hadn't spoken, and just as he saw his brother open his mouth to protest he finished. 'And find A-Yuan and take him with you!'

Those last words shut up any protests Jiang Cheng could offer. After the last disastrous meeting between the two brothers Wei Ying was not only offering to allow him access to his home but also trusting him with the protection of his son!. The two looked at each other for a moment before Jiang Cheng nodded firmly, Wei Ying nodded in response. Neither man trusting their voices at such a time.

'Boys listen to Sect Master Jiang and do everything he says. You also need to show him the way to my and HanGuang Jun's JingShi. Don't worry you wont get in trouble.'

The boys nodded and soon were leading Jiang Cheng away. Wei Ying himself turned and headed to the section he knew held the trouble, and the man he loved most.

Lan XiChen and Lan QiRen had been speaking in XiChen's office when noise first began outside. Both of the elder men were not sure what was happening at first as noise, especially loud noise, was prohibited in the Cloud Reccess. Every disciple knew this, it was one of the basic things they learned when joining. The noise however soon faded and, except for Lan QiRen's grumbling about the lack of manners every five minutes, things went back to normal. It seemed like the two had just begun to get back into the work when another noise began, this one louder than the previous one. This time Lan QiRen didn't even wait to see what was happening, he simply stood from where he was sat and strode for the door of the office with a commanding stride only he was capable of.

As soon as Lan QiRen swung open the door, to lecture whoever was making the noise, when the elder man paused. Lan XiChen walked over to see what was going on, and what could possibly make his uncle pause. Over a dozen men, dressed head to toe in black where either stood outside the door or still walking up the steps towards the office. Two of the unknown men already had their swords pointed at his uncles neck while two more pushed their way in to rest their blades to his own neck. All the men stared blankly at the two Lan's, totally emotionless as they pushed both men back into the office. Once both where inside at least ten other men followed in, some of which turned and locked the door, others moved over to the desk and began rifling through obviously looking for something.

Lan QiRen, in his normal prideful way, tried to push his way past the two men holding the swords at his neck.

'What do you think you are doing?' He demanded. 'You can not just walk into a Sect Leader's office, who do you think you are!'

A small laugh came from one of the men searching through the desk as he straightened up to face the famous Lan Elder. Walking over with a relaxed pace, almost as if he was walking through a field of flowers. Once the man approached Lan QiRen he gave a bow, so low and polite it was almost comical and farcical. As the unknown man straightened up he looked at the Elder with a grin on his face that didn't reach his hard eyes. His voice came out full of sarcasm and joy as he spoke.

'Elder Lan QiRen….I can do what I feel like doing….but for as who I am….I think its only fair to tell you who is going to destroy your Sect. My name is Xue Yang.'