CH 46
Wei Ying yawned, stretched, and then settled back in place in bed. He was always too comfortable in the mornings to even bother to think about getting up. He dared anyone else to be eager to get out of bed when they had a naked Lan Zhan pillow, not that anyone else got to see his husband naked, that was a vison reserved only for him, and what a vision it was! But anyway, he still didn't want to get out of bed! As soon as he did his brother would want help with the paperwork that came with running the Sect or some complaint sent in by one of the other Sect leaders that they wanted Jiang Cheng to preside over. Jiang Cheng of course would grumble at him that it was HIS idea to make him the leader of the alliance, so he needed to help him govern the whole damn thing. Something Wei Ying couldn't really argue with, but it still didn't make any of the mind-numbing paperwork any more appealing. Luckily for both brothers Lan Zhan was both good at paperwork and actually enjoyed it for some strange reason, so a lot of the paperwork not specifically requiring the alliance leader's attention was given to him. If it wasn't his brother who would be annoying him for his attention as soon as he left the rooms, it would be his sister.
It had been 5 years since Jiang Cheng had become the head of the alliance and a few things had changed. One of those was that his sister had become engaged to be married and was currently driving everyone in Lotus Cove insane with her worrying about every aspect of her wedding needing to be perfect. As if that wasn't bad enough himself and Lan Zhan had recently adopted two orphans of the, now extinct Wen Sect, which they had named Lan Yuan and Wei Ling, the two boys kept both fathers and 'aunts' and 'uncles' seriously busy running around wanting to play, learning to shoot arrows, make talismans and just basically get into trouble. Wei Ying remembered how close she had been to sending most of the Sect mad when she had been organising his and Lan Zhan's wedding 3 years ago. Despite himself and Lan Zhan saying they wanted a small and private affair with only family in attendance, his sister had had other plans. The small service had turned into something larger than anyone imagined and even Wei Ying's eyes hurt at the number of red decorations everywhere, never mind Lan Zhan's. The day itself had gone quite well, especially as Lan XiChen had informed then that Lan QiRen was in 'indefinite seclusion' and wouldn't be able to attend, not that he was ever invited anyway. All Lan's, except XiChen had been banned from Lotus Cove ever since Jiang Cheng took office. They ended up the day married anyway which was all he really cared about. Everyone had been surprised at the time when Lan Zhan had made it clear that he wasn't going to be returning to Gusu as expected, but remaining in Lotus Pier with his new husband and his family.
Thanks to his brothers help the other Sects had been rebuilt quite quickly. Now all the Sects were running smoothly, and the cultivation world was back to its old strength, with two main differences. One was that each Sect leader now had to have a core talisman in place and controlled by Jiang Cheng, until the Jiang Sect decided they would no longer be harmful. The Sects had finally realised just how much they damaged not only the Jiang but also contributed to the whole Wen uprising through their actions and had embraced the talismans as a kind of penance. The second thing was that there was no longer a Jin Sect. After Jin Guangshan had left the hall that day, he had tried to rebuild his struggling Sect on his own, but slowly the other Sects had overtaken it and the few disciples it did have had left to join other, now much larger, Sects. The once mighty Jin, took less than 2 years to fade into obscurity, soon become no more than Jin Guangshan and his two sons. None of them had been seen in years. The one worry that still surrounded the Sects though was that Xue Yang hadn't been seen since the fall of the Wen's either and unless the Wen had killed him before the nightless city incident then he was obviously out there somewhere. No one was too concerned about it though as Lan Zhan and Wei Ying were more than a match for the madman.
A warm arm wrapped around Wei Ying's bare waist, pulling him out of his thoughts and unto the strong embrace.
'Wei Ying' Lan Zhan half whispered into his ear. 'It's early what are you doing awake?'
Indeed, it was early. Although Lan Zhan no longer awoke stupidly early like he did when he lived in Gusu, he was still an early riser, but for some reason Wei Ying had woken before him this morning. Nuzzling a bit closer, enjoying that smell of sandalwood which permeated their rooms, and even more so the man next to him, Wei Ying grumbled.
'I have to help Jiang Cheng out today, and you need to drop the children off with sister, if we are going to be able to return to YiLing as planned.'
Lan Zhan simply nodded and started to release his grip on his husband, who childishly snuggled closer.
'I thought you needed to help out your brother?' Lan Zhan said with an obvious hint of amusement.
I do…. but not yet' Wei Ying murmured before turning to whisper...'and the kids are still asleep!'
The two were soon embracing, kissing and enjoying each others warmth too much to remember the time.
Wei Ying spent the day locked up in the Sect leader's office trying not to go insane at the amount of paperwork the two of them had to go through. The fact that one of the largest piles concerned their sisters wedding wasn't helping matters but neither of them wanted to ignore it or put it aside. Their sister was the most important person to both of them, well most important alongside Lan Zhan in Wei Ying's case. Lan Zhan in the meantime had some free time, after taking the kids to class, and had invited his brother for a visit. Lan XiChen rarely came to Lotus Pier unless invited, although he was allowed and was no longer threatened with disembowelment, poison, or other excruciating deaths by Jiang Yanli. The two brothers spent the day talking in a secluded spot by the lake. Lan XiChen bringing his younger brother up to date on what was going on in the Cloud Recess and their uncle. Lan QiRen had been banned from ever setting foot in Lotus Pier and as Wei Ying no longer felt secure in Gusu, Wanji hadn't been back to see his uncle in 5 years. Despite both Lan XiChen and Wei Ying trying to convince Lan Zhan to visit his uncle, the man himself had been set against the idea.
Lan XiChen was happy that his younger brother had found a person he loved and who loved him back in equal measure. Of course, he was sad that his prediction seemed to have comes true and Wanji seemed to have less and less to do with the Lan Sect with each passing year. If Xichen himself didn't come to Lotus Pier to see his brother, then he was sure they would only see each other in official meetings or family gatherings. XiChen wasn't sure if anything would change when their uncle eventually passed away, but he found he couldn't blame either his brother or Wei Ying for their actions, considering what had been done to them in the past. The Lan had broken their own rules both concerning the other Sects and one of their own Clan, what was happening to his family now was just their penance for those mistakes.
As soon as Wei Ying had finished going through the paperwork with his younger brother and Lan Zhan had seen his elder brother off at the landing site, both men were back in their room packing the necessities into their quinkin bags before jumping onto Bichen to travel to YiLing. It was a trip the two made every year. Even though YiLing was a place for the dead and a place, Wei Ying in particular, had bad memories of, it had still been a place of refuge for them both throughout those harsh years. YiLing had been the one place where Wei Ying could still be himself, could still be safe and secure while the outside world ganged up on him, persecuted and hounded him. YiLing was also the place where, while forced to rely on each other as the only source of comfort and human contact, the two had realised their feelings for one another and their relationship had blossomed.
The trip back to YiLing was obviously very different to both of their original trips to the burial mounds. Wei Ying's had been full of despair and hatred, driven there only after months of being hunted down by an animal by any cultivator trying to make a name for themselves. Lan Zhan had been driven there by concern for Wei Ying and his brother, as well as confusion from not having all of his memories. Lan Zhan still didn't have 100% of his memories, mostly of his time growing up in Gusu, but he didn't care anymore. He had his memories of himself and Wei Ying, and he had their family and future together, and that's all he cared about. This time landing in YiLing was a much different experience to the time they had been forced to live here. The clearing looked the same although the food hut was filled with all the meat, vegetables, and alcohol they could want in their stay. The cave looked the same, although 2 years ago Lan Zhan had steadfastly refused to sleep on the old, straw mattress anymore, saying it smelled, and instead bought a new one from Lotus Cove.
Caught in his memories Wei Ying stepped off Bichen and meandered through the clearing, looking at things, recalling what he had done when he lived here. Suddenly strong arms caught him from behind and he was turned round and pulled close to the hard chest before him. Lan Zhan's hand wrapped round his head and the other settled in the small of his back. Lips crashed against his own in a fierce which Wei Ying happily responded to. Lan Zhan was always like this when they arrived at YiLing, he became almost like an animal in rut, and the two would spend the first few days of their visit in bed, testing both of their stamina's, with Lan Zhan not allowing him to leave his sight. This side of Lan Zhan only seemed to appear here, but Wei Ying liked it, the side of his husband that was completely out of control, completely animalistic and completely dominant over him. This is where the two of them had first had sex with each other, where Lan Zhan had gotten drunk that night and taken him in his mouth for the first time. This was where Lan Zhan had risked his life to make the YiLing Lazou side of him sleep, and that side of him had never woken up again as long as this man remained by his side.
Wei Ying moaned as Lan Zhan's hand tugged hard at his hair, obviously wanting more response than he was getting. Their breaths were coming quick as both needed oxygen but neither wanted to part their mouths for even a split second to gasp for air. Eventually though, neither had a choice and they were forced, by burning lungs, to break apart. Lan Zhan's hand slipped to squeeze Wei Ying's ass over his robes, as the smaller man rubbed closer in response.
'Fuck me, Lan Zhan' Wei Ying almost gasped between breaths.
'Who?' Lan Zhan asked, equally out of breath but obviously better at controlling it.
Wei Ying smiled knowing exactly what the other wanted, this was a game they played often since their wedding.
'I want my powerful, strong and handsome husband to fuck me!' Wei Ying said seductively, rubbing closer to Lan Zhan to emphasise his words.
'Happily,' Lan Zhan grinned.
Both men looked at each other, the granite eyes of one staring into the almost fathomless depths of the other, then without a word Lan Zhan picked Wei Ying up, who simultaneously swung his legs around the others waist, and carried him through the entrance of the cave that had once been their sanctuary.
An echo of a laugh echoed through YiLing as they passed.
The two men where two preoccupied with each other to notice, but soon the chirp of a tiny bird could be heard answering the echo.
Laughter and life were finally beginning to return to YiLing.