Ch 26
(Welcome to the WangXian school of bad/Non communication!)
Wei Ying had not gone straight home to YiLing after his attack on the Cloud Recess, neither had he used his special transport talisman to get himself a safe distance away as everyone assumed. Rather he had used a normal teleportation talisman and taken himself only as far as Gusu town, a few miles away from where he had been. There were a few reasons for this, one of course was so that he could enjoy some of the world famous 'Emperor's Smile' that was only made in this territory, Wei Ying always found it amusing, and highly ironic, that a Sect well known for its ironclad rules and sobriety could make one of the most well-known alcohols in the cultivation world. By the time he had arrived in Gusu town though most people were asleep, and the houses locked up, those few that were awake were staring up the mountain at the fireball that had been the Cloud Reccess. Some people were astounded at what had just occurred, others knew a little about the war and assumed it was the Wen, some even guessed it was him taking his anger out on the Lan. Of those few who guessed it was him, some thought he was doing the right thing while others thought he was wrong.
Wei Ying really didn't care what the voices around him thought, after all everyone had their opinions about him based on nothing more than rumours. Slowly the orange glow that appeared from the top of the mountain, almost like the flame atop a massive torch, dimmed and vanished. It seemed the Lan had finally managed to put the fire out now that he wasn't infusing it with resentful energy. Turning away from the view, he walked slowly past the smattering of people still staring up at the, now darkened, peak and found his way to the inn he had reserved a room at earlier in the day. No one would think that a person who had appeared earlier that day, and remained for the night, could possibly be the one that caused the fire, and the cultivators would be too busy looking after themselves to bother about him. Right now, he needed peace, had needed peace for the past few weeks if he was honest with himself. Ever since that day he had seen Wen Chao's sword at Lan QiRen's throat and had said those words that nearly made the Lan Elder have a Qi deviation on the spot. Those words that made everyone present, Wen or alliance, believe he was actually putting Lan Zhan through the most horrifying and humiliating things on a daily basis simply because the other man had been forced to give him the promise to obey.
He had gone back to YiLing the first day and told Lan Zhan what had happened, expecting to see the look of disgust that he truly deserved. However, Lan Zhan had simply thanked him for protecting his uncle, and when Wei Ying had repeated what he had in fact said to Lan QiRen, Lan Zhan had spoken gently.
'Wei Ying you are not bound by the same rules as my uncle or I, and even if you were, you did not lie. I did give my word to you in exchange for their safety. You have kept your word in ensuring my uncle not only rescued but was sent home, so it is only right that I will also keep mine.'
Wei Ying had suddenly had a flashback of the night a drunken Lan Zhan climbed onto his bed, what Lan Zhan had looked like in the moonlight stripping off his sleeping robes revealing the pales skin underneath, what he had felt like in his hands, what his mouth had felt like around his hard length. He had remembered how he felt about Lan Zhan, and how hard he was trying to force those feelings down. Had all of that only been done because Lan Zhan had given his word and not because of any feelings? Did he actually want Lan Zhan to have feelings about him or not? If Wei Ying had not been so absorbed in his own flashback, he would have seen the look of almost desperate hope in the other's eyes as he spoke, or tried to speak, of his own feelings. Instead, though Wei Ying had locked an obedient Lan Zhan back in the cell and not only run from the man but from the place, the inner confusion turning to hurt and then to rage.
It was that rage that had fuelled him the past few weeks, that rage that had spurred him on. The rage at himself for being so weak and pathetic for falling for a Lan and failing his siblings, the rage at Lan Zhan for being a Lan at all, but mostly the rage at the cultivation world for forcing him into this predicament. Wei Ying had not even tried to stop himself when the other, more vicious, side of his personality had surfaced, locked Lan Zhan away and gone out on the hunt. The Wen had destroyed the people that made up the Sects but most of the buildings had been left standing during past battles, something the Wen could use at a later date once they took power. The YiLing Lazou however had destroyed every sect base he found, even down to the smallest hut or lean-to. The Nie citadel that had been the work of countless generations of the Sect had been left abandoned once the Wen destroyed them, however in just a few hours the YiLing Lazou and his resentful energy had left the whole thing a burned-out husk that could never be used again.
He had been even more vicious with the Jin, the ones who dared to try and harm his sister. Not only was the Lanling Sect home destroyed beyond any repair but the whole city that had grown up around it, that had relied on the wealth of that Sect for its prosperity, had been wiped off the map as well. Even when his temper had gone cold, had become the YiLing Lazou, Wei Ying still didn't kill people, so the entire population had been given time to escape, but all the buildings had been reduced to ash in the resentful fire. Wei Ying had even gone so far as to parch the earth within 20 miles of Lanling, and burn off any lakes or pools he found, scorching the earth and making it impossible for anyone to build another thriving home there ever again.
The power it had taken to destroy the Jin so completely had drained him so much that it had taken over a week to recover. All that time he had been tended to by Lan Zhan, who never, even then, said a bad word to him. Wei Ying had wanted to scream, take hold of Lan Zhan's robes, and shake some sense into the man, shout at him that things were not alright, this level of anger was not alright! He wanted Lan Zhan to leave, he wanted Lan Zhan shout at him, he wanted Lan Zhan to use his natural strength and choke some sense into him! He wanted Lan Zhan to pin him down and be as he had been that night, only this time above him, inside him, and because he wanted to not because he had given his damn word to do so!
This time after setting fire to the Lan compound Wei Ying just needed some rest. He didn't want to go back to Lotus Pier in his current state, nor did he feel up to seeing Lan Zhan in YiLing. Walking into his inn he found a table and ordered a few jars of Emperor's Smile, it wouldn't be enough to get him blind drunk, but it could at least take the edge off his feelings. As with most inn's there were groups huddled around the tables talking, even at this late hour, most of which seemed to belong to the 'Wei Ying destroyed Cloud Reccess and he was wrong to do so' group. He finished the first jar almost in two mouthfuls and opened the second as he put his hand up to order a third. No one paid him any attention as he sat in the corner drinking by himself, but he was listening to the many rumours and arguments going on from the other tables.
'Of course, he has a reason for hating the Lan. Did you not hear what they did to him and his siblings?'
'The Jiang are not his blood siblings; he's adopted so they don't count'
Of course, they count he was raised with them'
'Even if the Lan did do something wrong Lan Wanji was innocent in this whole thing and now, he can't go home either!'
Wei Ying's attention rose at the last comment, unsure why anyone would say Lan Zhan would be unable to return to the Cloud Reccess, or why he was innocent. Pulling his trademark red ribbon out of his hair and letting it dangle around his face, he lifted a jar of Emperor's Smile as he stood up. Pretending to be much drunker than he actually was, and looking a lot like a vagabond in his patchwork clothes, he stumbled across to the table where the men were arguing. He put a drunken smile of his face and spoke up.
'What did the famous Lan Wanji do to make him not able to go home?' He asked, dribbling a little of the alcohol down the front of his robes for effect.
The man who had just been speaking looked up at him with barely concealed disgust.
'Lan Wanji is a gentleman. He did nothing wrong!'
'Then why can he not go home…he must have done something, or Sect Leader Lan wouldn't have…' Wei Ying pushed
'I said he did nothing! And Sect Leader Lan didn't, Elder Lan…Oh why am I even talking to you…. now go away you stink!' The man interrupted, obviously fed up with speaking to someone who he saw as little more than a drunken beggar.
'Ohh I see…' Wei Ying winked with obvious double meaning.
'You see nothing!'…. The man exclaimed, obviously annoyed. 'The YiLing Lazou forced himself on Lan Wanji, who agreed not to fight back in exchange for the safety of his Sect. Lan Wanji put the safety of his Sect and Clan above himself, and allowed himself to be violated by both a another man and demonic cultivator, and such is unable to return home. Yet Wei WuXian has still destroyed the Cloud Reccess. As if we needed more proof that such a man is not trustworthy at all…'
As the other men at the table asked how it was the man talking knew his information and the conversation went back and forth, Wei Ying subtly removed himself from the group and slipped up to his room. A bath had already been made ready for him, a luxury he rarely had in the burial mounds unless you counted a freezing cold stream, and another two bottles of Emperor's smile were resting on the table in the middle of the room. He took a sip of the wine before walking around the privacy screen and starting to strip his clothes off to step into the wooden tub, the man downstairs hadn't been wrong, he did smell awful. Part of him wondered what the innkeeper had thought when a filthy, smelly man, who looked like a beggar, had walked into his inn this morning, and asked for one of his best rooms! No wonder he had been asked to pay upfront. He guessed he couldn't blame the man.
Sighing contentedly as he sunk into the bath, he thought back over what he had heard downstairs. Everyone thought he was the one forcing himself on Lan Zhan, what would they think if they found out that the one time the pair had actually been in bed together it had been Lan Zhan climbing onto his bed, Lan Zhan initiating what happened, Lan Zhan not taking no for an answer. Of course, at the time Lan Zhan had been completely drunk, but fact that it was the utter reverse of what everyone assumed was still amusing. All mirth faded though, and the smile on his face disappeared, when he remembered those words 'unable to return home' which had been said a few times during the short conversation. Wei Ying himself knew how painful it was to be ostracised from your community and forced to live alone and isolated from your family. At least in his case his family were still supportive of him, he could go home whenever he could and know there would be a bowl of his sister's soup waiting for him and a friendly argument with Jiang Cheng, they would never treat him any differently because he was the 'Yiling Lazou'. From what he had heard though it sounded as though the Lan themselves had given up on Lan Zhan, they themselves had decided he could no longer go home./
Growling to himself in annoyance and no longer able to relax in the bath, Wei Ying got out and wrapped one of the new robes his sister had made for him around himself, before flopping back on the soft bed. He wasn't sure who he was most annoyed with at the moment, himself for keeping Lan Zhan at YiLing, or at the Lan for giving up on a family member. He did know two things though, one was that he wasn't going to get any peace from the Lan's here tonight, especially Lan Zhan. The second was that Lan Zhan himself deserved to know what had been decided about his future.