Neither of knew, or frankly cared, if anyone spotted them. For the next few minutes it was simply Wei Ying getting all the support Lan Zhan could give, and Lan Zhan getting the relief of finally managing to do something helpful. At some point Lan Zhan's hand gripped Wei Ying once again, but this time it wasn't possessiveness, it was simply to remind both of them the other was there. Eventually though the two men broke apart and looked at each other.

'Come back with me' Lan Zhan said, looking his partner right in the eye

'I can't, I promised Jiang Chang that I would help him rebuild Lotus Pier…and I promised…'Wei Ying paused…'I promised I would look after both him and YanLi'

Lan Zhan fought another internal battle not to clench his fist again round Wei Ying's wrist. Wei Ying had given his damn brother his core already, that was already beyond anything anyone could expect of him. What else did these people expect him to do! Of course he couldn't let his feelings show to Wei Ying so he had to think of a different way to get him home. Taking a deep breath to steady his fraying temper Lan Zhan interrupted.

'You said yourself you don't know what's going on. You are not much help at Lotus Pier until you work that out, and the best place to work things out is with me at the Cloud Recess.'

Lan Zhan waited for a response but all he got was a nod. That nod however was enough to make whatever had been tensed inside himself for the last hour or so finally relax.

'I need to go tell Jiang Chang' Wei Ying informed him, still not meeting his eyes.

Lan Zhan nodded and let go. His heart aching as Wei Ying walked away from him with his shoulders hunched over as if he had the weight of the world on them.

Jiang Chang as expected was not too happy with Wei Ying leaving him with all the rebuilding work while he went on a holiday with his new boyfriend, and he made no secret of the fact. YanLi however was always supportive of her 'A-Xian' and since Wei Ying showed no signs of backing down from his decision, in the end he could only reluctantly agree.

It was a few days after the conversation with Lan Zhan at the assembly that Wei Ying found himself once again at the one place he had promised himself he would never return to in this life…..the Cloud Recess. The place where the very idea of having three thousand plus rules to follow made any sane person shiver. Yet here he was, once again walking through the central gate and up the slope on his way to the central meeting area. Lan Zhan of course walked beside him, although Wei Ying wasn't sure if it was to keep him company and give him reassurance, or to simply grab him if he tried to run away.

Lan Zhan stopped at the top of the hill and Wei Ying automatically paused alongside.

'This way' Lan Zhan motioned with his head slighting to the right, his normal monotone voice and jade mask back in place.

'The visitors quarters are over there' Wei Ying replied looking rather confusedly to the left.

'You're not staying in the visitor's quarters…'Lan Zhan replied blandly, however before Wei Ying could raise any type of response to the cryptic comment Lan Zhan simply began walking away with a 'Come!'

Wei Ying followed, growing more and more confused as the two exited the main area and moved into the less populated area. Eventually they arrived at a small JingShi where Lan Zhan stopped…..opened the door…..and walked in. not knowing what else to do Wei Ying naturally followed. The room held a simple table and chairs, a weapons rack which currently held no sword, a table obviously for an Gungin which again was bare…..and two beds, one either side of the main area. He must have looked particularly confused as Lan Zhan pointed to one of the beds and stated.

'You will sleep there for your stay'

Wei Ying just nodded dumbly and moved over to the bed.

He found out a little later that this was Lan Zhan's private JingShi and he was counted as Lan Zhan's private guest for this trip rather a guest of the clan. The two men spent some days in the library pavilion looking through old books to see if they could find any hint of what was going on with Wei Ying. The search revealed nothing and each evening they would go back to their respective sides of the room. Neither felt like talking, and the bland food served in the Cloud Recess didn't do anything to help the mood in the room.

Both of them at one point had thought about seeing if there was someone to help them in their search, maybe ZuWu Jun, Lan Zhan's older brother. But separately both of them had decided that this was a bad idea as Wei Ying's lost core needed to be kept secret, and neither had spoken the thoughts aloud. Eventually after a week's fruitless searching Lan Zhan came up with the idea of using his Gungin to counteract the forces on Chenqing as Wei Ying practiced. The two were far enough away from the main part of the Cloud Recess for this to be effective. Together they practiced this way for a further few days with Wei Ying's mastery of his new art getting better by the hour.

The mood in the JingShi slowly moved from depression to a hope. Both men smiled more and even the bland food no longer dampened Wei Ying's laugher as his once irrepressible mood for tricks came back with a vengeance. The two men also began to share one bed within the JingShi from time to time, but always fully dressed and always at Lan Zhan's invitation. Things seemed to be going ahead well, both with the relationship and working out how Wei Ying was going to master his new abilities. However it was about this time that news came down from Zewu Jun that all sects had finally agreed on the final battle plan against the Wen's at nevernight city.