A few months later Lan Zhan thought it might actually be possible to pace a hole in the floor of his JingShi. Wei Ying had been gone for 3 months now and although he had looked everywhere for him, no one seemed to have a clue where he was. For the past few months Wei Ying and himself had been spending more and more time together, night hunting, talking and even spending the occasional night in an inn. Their relationship had grown to the stage where they had even begun to share the same spaces, the same tables, the same cups, even the same bed. Although actually sleeping together was something that hadn't been attempted yet.
Now Wei Ying had vanished with no word from or about him for months, and Lan Zhan couldn't take the not knowing much longer. The other clans had asked him to join the fight against the Wen's but he couldn't concentrate enough to leave the Cloud Recess so his elder brother had gone in his place. Lan Xichen could tell something was wrong with his little brother but hadn't been able to work out exactly what until the day Wei WuXian vanished. Then Lan Zhan was that worried he couldn't keep the secret in anymore and told everything to his brother whilst making every effort not to break down. Surprisingly Lan Xichen had been very supportive and let Lan Zhan deal with the problem in his own way.
Lan Zhan didn't know if the disappearance had anything to do with that horrible day at Lotus Pier.
Wei Ying had invited him to go back with him and at first Lan Zhan had refused, but after a little cajoling, and a few pecks on the cheek, he had agreed. Wei Ying had gone ahead to tell his brother Jiang Chang and Madam and Master Jiang that he would be arriving in a few days. The day Lan Zhan had arrived however was either the best or worst time possible, depending on who you were.
He had arrived at the gates of Lotus Pier expecting to see the warm smile of Wei Ying, but only saw the gates wide open and smelling the stench of blood coming from inside. To somone with Lan Zhan's experience of the battlefield he knew insintcivley that something had gone horribly wrong. Walking slowly and carefully around the numerous bodies of the Yunmeng disciples had done nothing to lessen his gut feeling of apprehension. Somthing seriously bad had happened in this place…...but he couldn't any of the Jaing family…...and he couldn't see Wei Ying.
A noise arrose from the main hall which had caught his attention, but no matter how worried he was Lan Zhan knew not to just run into an unknown situation, he might become more of a liability than a help that way. Instead he sneaked round the large hall until he found one of the few windows and for once silently cursed the Gusu robes which weren't exactly designed for sneaking around in the dark. He had no further time to think about this though as the view in the hall was worse than he could have thought. Madam Jiang was stood in the centre of the room with two body guards behind her….but the one sat on the lotus shaped seat on the dais wasnt Master Jiang…..it was Wen Chao's latest girlfriend!…...the Wen's had somehow taken over Lotus Pier.
The two women where staring at each other with a hatred he had learned only women where capable of, but that gave him the opportunity to look a little closer at the room. He found Jiang Chang kneeling on the floor to one side but….there he was…...Wei Ying was laid on the ground obviously injured by something. Lan Zhan had almost decided to go in and help, after all he had Bichen and the element of surprise, when Wei Ying raised his head slightly and the two locked eyes. Wei Ying managed to slight shake his head before lowering it again to the ground, a simple gesture but one Lan Zhan understood well…...he was to stay where he was and not interfere.
Madam Jiang had eventually managed to get the injured Wei Ying and Jiang Chang out of the hall and into a boat but not without heavy pursuit. This had been something Lan Zhan had helped with, covering the retreat of the boat with Bichen. He had been determined no one was going to get close to Wei Ying, even as people approached with flaming arrows he cut them down without mercy.
That was months ago though and Wei Ying and the others had disappeared to greave since then, and now he found out the Wei Ying had vanished completely!/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.28cm; line-height: 108%;"After one particularly bad night of pacing and no sleep Lan Zhan felt as if he might climb out of his skin if no news came soon. Fortunately it wasn't long before a fire message arrived from Xichen simply stating 'Wei Ying's back, come here'. On the third reading of the message Lan Zhan's heart finally resumed a normal rhythm and he immediately grabbed Bichen and almost ran out the Jingshi on his way to his brother's location.
Wei Ying was there….he was actually there…..and he looked alive and well…although somehow different. Wanji had only just landed at a small inn in the middle of nowhere when his gaze had landed on the black and red clad figure sitting on the steps outside. To one side of him stood Lan Xichun and a man Lan Zhan could only remember as Wei Ying's brother. Both where speaking in hushed voices, looking worried, but Lan Zhan couldn't care less about them right now. His attention was focused completely on Wei Ying. Wei Ying looked tired and worn out but he was clean and tidy, wherever he had been the last few months obviously had not been too hard on him. Lan Zhan wasn't sure if he should be happy about that realisation or more annoyed about the lack of communication over the last months.
As if he knew he had arrived Wei Ying raised his head and their eyes locked for a moment. Months of worry unknowingly drained away from both their faces as each man refused to look away from the other as if scared he would disappear once again. Both seemed to move at the same time, Lan Zhan moved forwards with more speed than grace just as Wei Ying shot to his feet. Neither of them cared about the other men around them as they embraced for the first time in months. Lan Zhan's hands exploring Wei Ying's back looking for any hidden injuries while Wei Ying hugged him just as hard as if for the reassurance he was actually there. Both men seemed to suddenly speak over each other.
'Wei Ying your actually back'
'Lan Zhan…'
'Where have you been?'
'I didn't know if I would actually get to see you again'
'I….'
'I know'
Lan Zhan withdrew a little until he could see the entirety of the face in front of him, the face he had feared he wouldn't see again.
'Come home with me…..' He blurted out without thinking
Wei Ying appeared shocked and stood still for a moment still staring at him. It was only when a voice appeared from the side of them that both men remembered they had an audience.
'Why would my brother go to the Cloud Reccess? He's coming back to Lotus Pier with his family' The voice was from Wei Ying's brother who had a grimace on his face as he spoke.
'Jiang Chang' Wei Ying moaned 'be nice, Lan Zhan is just worried about me'
'And I wasn't worried about you!' Jiang Chang glowered harder and reached out to pull Wei Ying away from Lan Zhan. An action that might well have earned him a broken arm if he had succeeded, luckily though Wei Ying sidestepped the move and Jiang Chang carried on speaking 'You made everyone worried these past few months. Yanli has been in tears thinking you were dead, so you are going to come home and explain exactly what happened to you.'
Lan Zhan didn't care for Jiang Chang's tone but as he looked once again at Wei Ying he knew he would return to Lotus Cove, just as he knew he was not going let him out of his sight again. Lan Zhan nodded slightly and a large smile crossed Wei Ying's face before they both turned towards the others. 'Fine' Lan Zhan stated in his normal flat, cold tone 'then I will join you'
'Second Master Lan, with all respects this is a family problem and I haven't invited you' came Jiang Chang's sarcastic reply
'But I have' Wei Ying piped up 'and he's agreed so he's coming with us'