Ch 18 – The intimacy of relations

Jiang Cheng had hardly left the room to go and get some sleep before their trip to LanLing the next morning, when Wei Ying was already spinning round to scramble into Lan Zhan's lap. Lan Zhan remained impassive as Wei Ying straddled his knee, getting comfortable wrapping his legs around his waist and sitting in the curve of his crossed legs. Sighing contentedly Wei Ying lent forwards and placed his ear over Lan Zhn's heart, listening to the rhythmic beating under the layers of clothing. Lan Zhan himself leant down a little allowing himself to inhale that scent….that scent that served to both calm and arouse him, gave him both the most joy he had ever had in his life and the most terror that the man it represented could be taken from him again. That scent next to him at night was the source of his most pleasurable, erotic dreams and his most horrible nightmares.

'Finally we are alone.' Wei Ying whispered into his chest.

'We need to sleep if we will have enough energy to travel tomorrow.' Lan Zhan replied , gently stroking the back of Wei Ying's neck and his thick, soft hair.

'Not yet!' Wei Ying spoke normally but his hips began moving slowly. Slowly but not gently, rubbing himself firmly against Lan Zhan, who had effectively tethered himself by sitting cross legged. As he felt the almost immediate response from below he smiled into his husbands chest and repeated 'Not yet!'

'Wei Ying!' Lan Zhan tried to warn.

But Wei Ying's hand had already slipped between the two and was massaging him through the folds of robes. Despite the many clothes he could feel the heat of that teasing hand and the skill of the man behind it. Wei Ying knew him better than anyone else in the world, he was the only person in the world who could drive him insane with need like this. Lan Zhan didn't say anything for a few moments. Enjoying, and if he was purely honest with himself needing, this intimate moment between the two of them after so long. Wei Ying's touch got more persistent as he leaned in to Lan Zhan's ear and whispered shamelessly.

'Don't try to pretend you don't want me Lan Er'gege, your hard I can tell. You have missed being inside me as much as I have missed you…..…' Wei Ying's breath was almost making Lan Zhan shiver he was that close. 'You want to make me beg'.

Lan Zhan's hands wrapped around Wei Ying's waist with a strength that even without his cultivation power behind it was much stronger than most men. Wei Ying instinctually paused, looking up. This gave Lan Zhan the opening he needed to stand, pulling them both up off the floor and moving them over to the rooms bed. Before he knew what was happening Wei Ying was already on his back on the bed, with his hands pined next to him by Lan Zhan.

'Behave!' Lan Zhan managed to grind out through gritted teeth.

If he was honest with himself Lan Zhan wanted the same as Wei Ying. He wanted to rip off Wei Ying's clothes and then his own, not bothering about things such as ties. He wanted to bury himself inside his husband and stay there until Wei Ying not only begged but yelled his name constantly as he reached the peak of pleasure they would both share. Wei Ying was right, it had been too long since they had last shared a night physically, they both wanted it, they both needed it. Cultivation partners always needed physical sex more than others did to reinforce that shared bond but what he and Wei Ying shared seemed to go even beyond that. But as much as he wanted, needed, Lan Zhan knew that neither of them was healthy enough for such things tonight. Especially with what would be to come in future days. Wei Ying of course seemed determined to make it as hard for him as possible, in every way.

'Me behave!. You are the one who said everyday means everyday' Wei Ying said with a cheeky smile as he wriggled underneath. 'You are the one who has me pinned to our bed!'

Lan Zhan's wrist tightened with the physical effort of holding himself back.

'Wei Ying!' he managed to growl between his teeth.

Wei Ying huffed and stopped wriggling, allowing Lan Zhan to take a slight breath of oxygen.

'Ok Lan Zhan. If I behave and go to sleep tonight. I want something for being good?'

Lan Zhan knew this was a trap but nodded anyway, Wei Ying's mind could always out think his when it came to scheming. Wei Ying smiled and leaned up slightly to kiss Lan Zhan's lips gently.

'When all this is over and we get home. I want to not get out of bed until neither of us can even think of walking for a long…' the smile got wider as Wei Ying elongated the last two words for emphasis.'loooong time'.

Later than planned the next day where already on their way to LanLing with Jiang Cheng purposefully ignoring the fact his brother had his arms wrapped around Lan Zhan as they flew beside. That morning He had been surprised when he had awoken to find no sign of either Lan Zhan or his brother. He remembered the months in the Cloud Recess, everyone in the GusuLan Clan woke up at a stupid time in the morning. Yet for some reason Lan Zhan still wasn't around. Jiang Cheng had made his way to the room both men shared and knocked on the door with no response. Silently cursing he knocked again a little louder, still nothing. Eventually he pushed open the door a little and shouted inside.

'Wei Ying!, HanGuang Jun! Are you awake?'

When their was still silence from inside the room he began getting annoyed. All three of them where due to leave soon and if those two had stayed up all night doing….…..that!…...he was going to strangle his brother. Making his way to the privacy screen Jiang Cheng shouted again with the same response….nothing. Eventually gathering his courage he stepped round the screen, already cringing at the sight he expected to see, only to sigh loudly when he noticed both men where fully dressed even down to their boots. For a horrible moment he had thought something had happened as neither man seemed to be breathing but when he had approached closer he noticed the slight rise and fall of each man's chest was actually in perfect sync with the other.

Jiang Cheng had tried to wake Wei Ying but for some reason he had not woken. Wei Ying used to be a deep sleeper but not this deep, this was almost like a medicated sleep a healer would provide. He had no idea how these cultivation partner bonds worked when both partners where this injured, nor was he in the mood to find out. Right now whatever was happening it was stopping them getting to Jin Ling. Jiang Cheng had eventually already eaten and gone round the whole of Lotus Pier sealing anyone's energy points if they were in serious danger before the two actually woke up.

After a quick breakfast the three had taken to the sky to travel to LanLing a few hours later than planned. However the extra sleep seemed to have given Lan Zhan some energy and Jiang Cheng could barely keep up with Bichen, even though it held two people. The three men arrived quicker than they thought, hoping it was a good omen for the next stage of their rescue plan.

Upon landing in LanLing the whole area looked just as empty as Lotus Pier had been. No one arrived to welcome them, no one even arrived to challenge them. The silence was almost deafening as the three walked through the area on the way to the main hall, luckily all three of them knew LanLing extremely well so it was easy to navigate even without a guide. Upon entering the main hall they paused. Empty the huge hall looked even more massive, the atmosphere even more ominous. Wei Ying couldn't help but pause for a moment at the door, even though he had been here many times since he returned to life he couldn't help but feel that same deep seated feeling in his soul that screamed this place was not safe. A hand rested on his shoulder as Lan Zhan looked at him gently. Wei Ying returned the look with a small nod and walked in confidently side by side with the man who he could always trust to stand with him.

Jiang Cheng had already gone to the main dais and was looking down blankly at a table. Wei Ying and Lan Zhan joined him.

'Nothing' Jiang Cheng mumbled. 'There's nothing here for us to use'.

Wei Ying rested his hand on his brothers shoulder and spoke gently but loud enough for the other two men to hear.

'Maybe Jin Ling will have something to tell us brother'. He turned to Lan Zhan. 'Lan Zhan will you please go and find the disciples, seal off the cores of anyone who is in immediate danger. Jiang Cheng and I will go and find Jing Ling.'

'Wei Ying…'

Lan Zhan started to say….but Wei Ying just smiled reassuringly.

'I will be fine Lan Zhan, that's why we came here remember'

Lan Zhan just nodded and left the hall. Jiang Cheng and Wei Ying glanced at each other before moving to their own task.

As expected they found Jin Ling in his own room, of course the head of the Sect would have been put in his own room separate from others to be treated. No one would have expected the healer sent from Gusu to come down with the illness themselves, after all Gusu's healers were some of the best out there. Jin Ling looked asleep as the two approached. Wei Ying reached out slowly to check the boys pulse and found it slow but steady, then using his spiritual energy he delved down to see the extent of the damage on the golden core. Just like they thought the damage done by the darkness was far less than that done to either Lan Zhan or Jiang Cheng, it shouldn't take too much effort to get him to recover.

Withdrawing his consciousness back into himself Wei Ying looked back and was about to speak when he noticed the funny look on his brothers face.

'What's wrong?' he asked slightly confused.

'It stinks in here!' Jiang Cheng replied gruffly.

Wei Ying wasn't sure if he should laugh or yell. Instead he stuck a balanced tone that would have made Lan Zhan proud if he heard it.

'Do you mean it shouldn't stink in here because he's our nephew or a Clan Leader?' Jiang Cheng just glared at him so he continued. 'He's been unconscious for a while brother, and the stronger members of the clan have probably been unconscious longer than him. So who exactly do you think has been cleaning him up while he's been pissing himself in his sleep? Of course it smells in here!'

Jiang Cheng stood silently for a moment and then did a sharp double take staring towards Wei Ying who nearly winced in sympathy for his brother neck muscles.

'Wait!…..you…..you didn't…..I….I mean…..no you….couldn't' Jiang Cheng stammered out a completely incoherent line of words. Fortunately Wei Ying knew what he was meaning and just looked back up at him, this time with a little sympathy in his eyes.

'Brother do you really want to have that conversation here and now? Or shall we do something a little more important…..like maybe waking up our nephew?'

For a moment he thought Jiang Cheng had maybe gone into shock at the thought of being tended to by his elder, and until a few weeks ago completely disavowed, brother. But Jiang Cheng eventually moved over and put a firm, if slightly trembling, hand on his shoulder. Wei Ying nodded and rested his hand back on Jin Ling's stomach. Delving deeply again he could feel the slight stream of power from Jiang Cheng's hand seeping into him. Concentrating on using his own energy to overwhelm the darkness surrounding the core wasn't the easiest thing to do anyway, his own dark cultivation would actually harm the core if it wasn't tightly controlled. But when he had to use someone else's cultivation energy, foreign to his own, and twist it to his command in order to make it useful. It just made the whole process ten times harder.

It didn't take too long before the core inside Jin Ling started glowing brightly again and Wei Ying once more withdrew. Jiang Cheng didn't look too worn out by the process and Wei Ying himself felt relatively fine, if you didn't count the pounding headache. Leaning on the bed slightly to stand up Wei Ying stood back and allowed his brother to seat himself beside their nephew.

'How long till he wakes up?' Jiang Cheng ask, his voice full of concern.

'I don't know' Wei Ying answered honestly. 'It took you and Lan Zhan a few hours, but he seemed to be a lot less affected, so I should think it would be less time.'

Jiang Cheng just nodded absently as he stroked Jin Ling's forehead. Wei Ying went to get a cloth and water, leaving his brother to stand watch. He wasn't sure of the reception he would get off his nephew when he woke up, or off the rest of the LanLing Jin Clan. Although they knew in their heads he wasn't responsible for the deaths he had been found guilty of years before, his name was still linked to them in people's hearts. You could find Wei WuXian not guilty of everything, you could tell people that Wei WuXian had been set up and was actually the victim of a tremendous injustice. But at the end of the day the names Wei WuXian and YiLing Patriarch where still interconnected, and YiLing Patriarch was the name still used to scare children.

Walking back into the room Wei Ying stopped at the threshold. Jiang Cheng was supporting a slightly groggy but conscious Jin Ling into a seating position on the bed. He had only been gone twenty minutes and the boy had awoken already. Silently walking into the room he put down the basin of water and turned to leave when a voice came from behind him.

'Why are you leaving?

'He has just woken up brother' Wei Ying tried to keep his voice balanced, not quite as successful as before. 'He will need to bathe and I need to go find Lan Zhan and see about the others.'

'That's crap!' came Jiang Cheng's snide remark as Wei Ying felt a hand on his shoulder again. 'Even if you don't want to be here as his uncle then you need to finish your job as his healer and make sure his core is clean'

'NOT WANT!' Wei Ying couldn't help but raise his voice as it filled the room. 'Of course I want to be here as his uncle! But the boy has just woken up! What makes you think I'm the first person he wants to see? The person he thought killed his parents for the first 15 years of his life!…...did you ever think of that!'

Jiang Cheng started to open his mouth but a voice came from the bed, cutting through Jiang Cheng's indignant huffs and Wei Ying's heavy breathing.

'Uncles, arguing around a patient is not good for healing!'

Jiang Cheng spun around, so astonished he could just open and close his mouth like a fish with no actual words coming out, just the occasional sound. Wei Ying tried very hard not to laugh but in his mind thought to himself 'The boy sounds very much like you sister' Looking over at his brother he just smiled before walking a few steps forward.

'You are right it isn't the place for an argument. If Sect Leader Jin would allow it I will double check your core while my brother finds a way to get his vocabulary back!'

Jin Ling nodded and laid back again on the pillows as Wei Ying approached, before saying.

'Uncle Wei. Thank you!'

Wei Ying had tears in his eyes as he checked the core only to find not a trace of the illness. Smiling he reported back that his nephew would only need rest before he was recovered. Jiang Cheng couldn't hide his relief and Jin Ling nodded. When Jiang Cheng sai he would help the boy clean up before he rested again, Wei Ying once again turned to leave the room. This time he got as far as the doorway before Jin Ling's voice called him back.

'Ohhh Uncle Wei! I meant to ask. What about SiZhui?'

Wei Ying smiled and tried to reassure the boy.

'He's probably being cared for in Gusu as we speak'

Jin Ling shook his head so hard he nearly fell off the bed.

'Noo he isn't…..he came here to help me….and he got sick!'