Lotus position came easily. Calming his mind did not. Lan QiRen could not settle his thoughts. Was he right to leave Cloud Recesses? No, that no longer mattered. Everyone knew he'd decided to leave. If he changed his mind now, he'd look the fool.
The tapping at his door was both unexpected and unusual. Everyone knew he meditated before retiring for the night. Opening the door revealed Wei WuXian, and Lan WiRen wished he'd ignored the tapping. "What do you want?"
"To talk."
Lan QiRen turned his back on Wei WuXian but called out "Enter" as he returned to his cushion. He could have pulled out another but did not. Wei WuXian dropped to the floor as if oblivious to the insult. Neither of them spoke. It was almost refreshing. Lan QiRen hadn't been aware that Wei WuXian knew how to be silent.
"So, I hear you're going to the Burial Mounds with Wen Ning and Lan TeeGan."
"Yes."
Wei WuXian mumbled something under his breath. It sounded like "not giving me anything." And why should he help Wei WuXian? The man had stolen his nephew from him. Both nephews if you counted that his discoveries had sent Lan Huan in to seclusion.
"I was wondering if you're leaving because I'm here, because I'm in Gusu."
And if I said yes, would you leave Gusu? No, he could not say that. If Wei WuXian left, WangJi would follow and the Sect needed him to stay. "No, it has nothing to do with you." And that was true, in a way. He was leaving because WangJi loved Wei WuXian, because WangJi called Wei WuXian husband, and because Lan QiRen had no illusions as to which of them – himself or Wei WuXian – WangJi would choose if forced to decide between them.