Chapter 3: Do You Become A Couple, If You Share A Room?

Jiang Yanli Does Care For Her brother

The night of the wedding had been eventful; his A'Xian was a vision to behold during the ceremony and beauty to mess with in the night. Though his then new husband liked decorating hair and occasionally put on kohl, lipstick was not something Wei Wuxian appreciated much. His usual complaint to Jiang Cheng was that all the colours were too pretty, and he was too manly. But everyone in Jiang Sect knew, red was his colour, yet it was shame on the wedding day Wei Wuxian was dressed in purple and gold, gorgeous but not in his element.

Hence, Jiang Cheng greatly appreciated the red lipstick Wei Wuxian had put on the wedding day. Unlike his usual gloss which made his lips look shiny, with red lipstick on his naturally full lips looked like a plucked hibiscus, tender and kissable.

Yes, his husband was tall and walked with a command; but there was always a sense of fluidity in his steps. Even if Wei Wuxian tripped on his elaborate robes, he would look great falling was a comment Nie Huaisang had made more than once. Beauty was aplenty in the world of cultivation. Grace was a practice, almost every sect partook in. A consort was meant to be graceful, but graceful was not the word for Wei Wuxian. He demanded attention of people with his mere presence and stirred up emotions in others. Graceful the state when water was still, and you felt calm looking at it, Wei Wuxian on other hand was the stone that skipped on this calm water and sent ripples around without worrying about consequences. And on the wedding day, he had stirred more than too many hearts.

Jiang Cheng had initiated the first kiss on wedding night after spending hours to free his husband of his traditional wedding costume. There was a thrill in his toes and itch in his fingertips, which burned inside him with every new layer gone. The purple and golden robes had hidden every curve and muscle on Wei Wuxian, the only exposed bit, that he could see was the long neck which was adorned in heirlooms.

Every part of his consort was decked in jewels and expensive silk. The hair was held up by the jade pin and flowers were decorating his braided bun. Jiang Cheng's itching fingers had cupped under his husband's chin and brought them to kiss. Though he commented that Wei Wuxian didn't need to dress up so much, he loved it. He loved undoing his generally shameless consort's robes, one piece of garment at a time.

This was not their first time, so they knew what they were doing. Yet the joy of being married finally after a decade's delay had made their minds wild. When Wei Wuxian was left trembling in the last cotton undergarment, with his hair decoration still intact, Jiang Cheng's hands had grabbed the man's slim waist and held him by the gait and ravished his mouth again and again until they were gapping for air.

They were drunk on expensive wine, when kissing Wei Wuxian was not enough, Jiang Cheng had wanted to mess his husband more. Pulling back from the kiss, he found, Wei Wuxian's eyes darker with desire and his plump red lip parted. Jiang Cheng took his sweet time as he brought his hand up the beautiful nape and then rubbed his thumb on the red lips. He smudged the red, his rough thumb spread and trailed the colour up to Wei Wuxian's cheeks.

"There goes three-hours of my make-up artist's labour!" Wei Wuxian had laughed, and the unintended tension between the newly-weds broke. Jiang Cheng's free hand, which had mischievously settled on the final knot of the robe for a while, had finally lost control. He pulled the belt, and Wei Wuxian in all his naked glory accepted him.

"You didn't even wear underpants?" Jiang Cheng had spoken in a scandalized manner.

"Why bother? When the end goal is to play naked anyway?" Wei Wuxian bent his head and kissed his husband back and rubbed his painted cheeks against his. "I love you." Wei Wuxian had whispered into his ears, "I love you so much. You are my light. I love you. You are my whole world."

Each word had sent a hot breath into Jiang Cheng's ear, which made the shorter lift his husband up and slam him against the wall with a more demanding kiss. The passionate action had been so strong that all the little purple flowers pinned in Wei Wuxian's hair; the lavender, the brachyscome and the cosmos all rained down on the floor and got crushed by their heavy footfall. By the time they reached bed, only the hairpin remained on the inky, messy black bun. And with each thrust, the bed creaked, and an escaped moan was accompanied by the jingle of the lone jade hairpin, which was almost as lovely as Wei Wuxian's laughter. But nothing was lovelier than Wei Wuxian's laughter. Nothing was ever going to be lovelier than Wei Wuxian's laughter when he was in Jiang Cheng's embrace.

"Snap out of it!" Jiang Yanli clicked her fingers.

"Wei Ying is not coming back—" Jiang Cheng mumbled. For a moment he was confused, but reality hit him. He was in a patient's green gown and there were a few needles stuck to his arms. And his bun was undone, his hair was let loose.

The clan students who were worried about Jiang Cheng for not showing up for morning practice had visited him in a group of eight, only to find him passed out on the bedroom floor. At the sight of a broken gold hairpin stuck to his thigh made them so worried that they took him to the hospital and called Jiang Yanli immediately.

"Are you self-harming now? Is that another headache I want now? Like your arrogance was not enough." Jiang Yanli had no sympathies to spare. "Do you want me to book an appointment with a therapist? This family needs lot of therapy. And your mind's care has been long overdue." She was swiftly skinning peaches, but the way her hands moved, made Jiang Cheng thankful his sister was not athletic, otherwise his head would be skinned like the peaches in her lap.

"Where did my soft-spoken, kind sister go?" Jiang Cheng grunt as he tried to sit up. His thigh, that was wrapped in bandages— ached, and his hand was injected with IV drops twitched at slight movement. "I don't need to stay in hospital."

"No, you don't, but this is damage control."

"What damage control?"

"After the stunt you pulled at the courthouse. You have been running wild, searching for A'Xian like a crazy person. Do you not realize you are spreading a bad reputation for the sect?"

"My husband of nine years has left me! Without a word of explanation, and you expect me to be calm? Calm? I will go to the depths of the underworld to reconcile and win him back."

"Hence, mom, dad and I have decided we are going to keep you in the hospital until your head is fixed."

"You are stopping me from finding my husband! I am the leader of the sect!"

"Ex-husband." Jiang Yanli offered a piece from the bowl of peaches to her brother, whose colour drained at the words ex-husband.

"Just tell me where he is! It has been a year! Does he know, I am hospitalized? If he finds out, he will come to me."

"That's the whole point; we don't want anyone to know you have been in hospital. Or that we are keeping you from running wild. We already have a problem of management. A'Xian had prepared everything in advance for us to not crumble down, but that doesn't mean the sect is running smoothly. You have been neglectful."

"I—was busy."

"Of course you were. Stay in the hospital, we will stabilize the mess you created."

"I created?" Jiang Cheng yelled.

"Yes. You. Maybe the hospital stay will refresh your memories." Jiang Yanli smiled and shoved peaches in her brother's gaping mouth. Her patience had run thin.

"But he always returned? Remember the year he took the teaching job in Lan Sect, because he was angry at everyone. He came back, he came back to me."

"He shouldn't have. I should've had stopped him. Instead, I was too selfish, fear of losing him made me guide him back to the golden cage."

"What do you mean?"

"You were his everything and you, didn't consider him to be part of your anything. His greatest love gave him no joy."

"For how long had he been unhappy?" Jiang Cheng had the urge to stab another hairpin into his thigh.

Wei Wuxian is great at choosing drinking friends

Twelve years ago

Years back, when Wei Wuxian had agreed to be a guest lecturer to Lan disciples, he had done so to teach a lesson to Jiang Sect and Jiang Cheng. His engagement had gone on forever, and the sect elders kept refusing to allot an auspicious date for the wedding. Sometimes it was the moon, sometimes it was the stars, sometimes the year was cursed, there was always something harming their union. Working in the role of consort with no official standing was becoming a consistent headache.

This delay in officiating the marriage had resulted in multiple awkward problems. His perfect plans were always being tinkered with, the sect funds were being misused, and anytime something drastic happened the blame fell on him. Though his then future mother-in-law was trying her best to help him, she too was treated like an outsider.

And Jiang Cheng had proven absolutely useless at diplomacy. And his future father-in-law didn't like conflicts in the families, so he remained indifferent to the mess! For a twenty-three-year-old Wei Wuxian it was too much, and he had just enough. He was exhausted with all these petty politics, which were harming his research work and future plans.

Unable to resolve anything, Wei Wuxian decided to go on a night hunt with his grandmother, Baosan Sanren. He didn't tell anyone for how long he was travelling, and two weeks after he left, he stopped updating about his whereabouts, sending the entire bureaucracy of Jiang Clan into frenzy. Together with his grandmother, he had travelled every nook and corner of Yiling for two months straight, and Wei Wuxian had fallen in love with the gloomy hilly province.

It was in Yiling, Wei Wuxian had met another kindred soul who was passing through the main city. Lan Xichen, was the unofficial sect leader of Lan Clan, who was suffering under his father's delusional policies. Tired with his father's orthodox behaviour, the young Lan master had packed his essentials and left for a night hunt. He, too, stopped updating his location a week after.

One alcoholic and one sugar addict hit it off with their shared love for flute and gossip. Lan Xichen looked like a pristine swan, but in reality he was a gossiping duck who found Wei Wuxian easy to talk. Lan Xichen had many complaints about the educational policies of Lan Sect, and many grudges against his clan. But most importantly, he was jealous of Jiang Clan's luck to have such an extraordinary cultivator for a consort.

"Why don't you come and teach my students for a year? Be a guest lecturer!" Lan Xichen had proposed.

"And what will I teach? I just teach little children back in home." Wei Wuxian had snorted. He loved teaching, but his household duties, clan duties, personal research kept him so occupied that he barely got time to teach anyone, except for handful of students that were rejected by other clan teachers, but Wei Wuxian saw potential in these low spiritual power wielders because they had brains which compensated lack of magic.

"You don't realize it, do you?" Lan Xichen's eyes sparkled.

"What?" Wei Wuxian had tilted his head as he sipped his warm wine. "Did I miss something important?"

"Remember Nie Huaisang?"

"You know my best friend?"

"Your best friend's brother is my best friend." Lan Xichen smirked.

"Isn't brother Mingjue like a decade older than us?" Wei Wuxian had asked.

"Sixteen years older than me." Lan Xichen smiled.

"Am I missing subtext here?"

"No. No. I just happened to meet him pretty young, you know I have a younger brother too; brother Mingjue has a younger brother, so I wanted to seek advice. We mutually bonded. But of course my father thinks we should not befriend the Unclean realm!" Lan Xichen was smiling, but he was angry. And after being unable to control his anger, he rolled his eyes in despair.

Wei Wuxian frowned, "Your father is a prick!"

"He is! Anyway, Nie Huaisang told me you were a wonderful teacher. He was all praises. Now, I don't find him the most reliable, but brother Mingjue vouched for your skills. So I was thinking, since I can't teach our younger students the way of alternative methods, because I have no training and lack imagination. But you are brilliant, the non-cultivation world loves you. Since you are angry at your family and can't do anything because of your position as consort in waiting, you exhibit your brilliance in Lan Sect as a respected teacher with authority."

Lan Xichen and Wei Wuxian had travelled for couple weeks together, and Lan Xichen who had heard praises of Jiang Consort for years, had observed every quality of Wei Wuxian first hand, and he wanted him as a teacher. He had thought and planned it all thoroughly.

"And your father?"

"Well, he is going for his seclusion again! If he learns of my missing status, that will send him to seclusion sooner! My uncle will be in charge again, and my uncle loves me!"

"You are spoilt, Xichen!" Wei Wuxian clinked his wine bottle with Xichen's teapot.

At twenty-three, Wei Wuxian was not blind or ignorant, within the first week he knew he had gained the attention of repressed Lan teenagers. Boys and girls, everyone wanted to be in his class and everyone had doubts. He knew he was new and different in this place; it was natural for young impressionable minds to be curious about him. Ever since he was introduced to the world as consort in waiting, there had been plenty of incidents where young masters and ladies of other sects had asked for his hand in marriage; a fact that sent Jiang Cheng into furious rants. The new guest lecturer of Gusu Lan Sect knew his charms. Wei Wuxian was happy at the attention, but to him, they were all children. Among those children, he had gained a loyal pup.

Lan Wangji was always by his side, fending off juniors, scowling at his seniors, and almost hissing at his own brother. Wei Wuxian had understood, it was not a simple case of being teacher's pet, but Lan Wangji was having his first romantic awakening. He didn't want to hurt the boy or mislead him. Hence, he chose the best course of action, to treat the teen like a teen he was.

Lan Xichen had insisted that Wei Wuxian take his brother as his assistant, because Lan Xichen wanted to make sure the seeds of change he planted would be nursed into a garden by future Lan students. Despite Wei Wuxian being sceptical, after meeting the second young master outside his living quarter, Wei Wuxian was happy to have such an obedient naive boy.

Lan Wangji, was exemplary, anything Wei Wuxian explained to him, the boy understood at first attempt, but he never exhibited arrogance. After spending a week with his little assistant, Wei Wuxian was certain, the young master was crushing on his teacher. Lan Wangji was not the best at hiding his blushes and frowns, being raised in a polite world which valued honesty and proper etiquette, Wei Wuxian could see the teen somersault through emotions.

Hence, three weeks later, Wei Wuxian thought it was best to inform Lan Xichen about his little brother's situation. After dinner, the two suffering friends sat down to write down melodies that could cure spiritual fatigue and began chit-chatting.

"I think, little Wangji has a crush on me—" Wei Wuxian had smiled as he continued piecing together the spell.

"He is fourteen; I can offer his hand in marriage after he turns sixteen." Lan Xichen had not paused or laughed as he kept writing his lyrics and edited the meters.

"So you noticed his growing affections too."

"It is really hard to miss! I have never seen him hiss at me like an angry cat! He hissed at his only brother!" Lan Xichen was now laughing.

"Well, you did try to take my chilli oil."

"Fair enough."

"How do you want me to deal with it?" Wei Wuxian continued his spell stitching. "I don't want to hurt him, he is a child, and children crush on adults, because it is part of the growth. But I don't want him to nurture false hope, either."

"My offer to make you my brother-in-law stands."

"Xichen! I am betrothed!"

"Well, we are not that conservative! Engagements happen and break, my parents are divorced! I don't know how your position is in Jiang Clan, but if you marry Wangji, I will make sure, you are welcomed and respected like a family member."

"It is a very generous and tempting offer. Did Huaisang write it?"

"I may have heard the words from him." Lan Xichen smiled.

"When will Huaisang stop trying to break my engagement?" Wei Wuxian cried a fake lamentation and continued breaking and patching the spell, while Lan Xichen looked at him and sighed.

"I am guessing you do love Master Cheng a lot."

"I do. He is all I have known my entire life. He has been my first friend, my first brawl, my first kiss. I have never imagined a life without him. Weird, huh? But when you have so little in life, you love the few people you have in your life dearly."

"No. Not weird. I understand. My parents' marriage was arranged like yours, I know how childhood engagements are. So I wonder—" Lan Xichen mused. "I hope you are not making my mother's choices."

"Why do you say so?" Wei Wuxian stopped his spell craft and looked at the young master, barely twenty-one, but world wise about relationships. "You think I am making a mistake?"

"I didn't mean it that way."

"No, I am not offended. I always hear people's opinions. Tell me what mistakes did Madam Lan make?" Wei Wuxian rested his inky palms under his chin.

"My parents were betrothed like you. My mother came from a poorer part of the sister family. She was chosen because the elders thought; a socially inferior bride would not be an opposition to her husband's position or fame. But you know, my mother is extraordinary, my father is great, but he would never match up to my mom. My father was always jealous of her. Sadly, she always undervalued herself. It took her twenty-five years to divorce my father." Lan Xichen looked at Wei Wuxian and offered a sad smile. "I don't think it is lack of auspicious stars or petty politics that is delaying your official nuptial days. I think Jiang Clan is afraid, that you will outshine their heir. Actually not will, you have outshone him."

In twenty-three years of his life, Lan Xichen was the third person to have told Wei Wuxian, that he was better than his fiancé. And the words were stuck like cold ice cubes in his throat. The first two times he heard the words came from Jiang Yanli and Nie Huaisang, hence believing them was hard. Yet Lan Xichen's words were hurting and burning Wei Wuxian's chest and turning him cold inside with pain, unable to speak or express, the talkative cultivator had bitten the inside of his cheeks to suppress his cry.

"Thank you." Wei Wuxian had replied after a long pause. "I really don't know how to answer! We were talking about little A'Zhan and ended up discussing my matter."

"I didn't mean to pry. I apologize."

"I know. I know."

"As for marriage to Wangji, my offer will stand for as long as Wangji is crushing on you, hehehe!"

"I will be married one day! Do not encourage him to fall for a married man! You want him to grow into a functional adult." Wei Wuxian laughed.

"A Lan only falls in love once!" Lan Xichen giggled.

"Please tell A'Zhan to not lose his mind in love. He is still a boy. He has a lifetime of experience ahead."

"I could say the same to you too!"

"Lan Xichen! I am older than you!" Wei Wuxian scolded the future Lan Sect leader.

"I will make sure to accept you as my brother-in-law, even if you marry and divorce master Cheng later in life."

"Don't jinx my already delayed marriage, will you! Rule 2347: Words are magic, exercise caution when you speak of future!" Wei Wuxian turned his face away and began reattaching his spell.

"Ah, you learned all the 3000 rules."

"I did, otherwise Lan Zhan will keep parroting them in to my ears whenever I do something. I swear he is cute, but that little stubbornness in his eyes and passion for rules! I want to tease the hell out of me."

"Please don't tease my brother. He will really end up asking your hand in marriage!"

"No way, he is a child!"

"He will be a man in the future!"

"9 years! We have 9 years between us! Xichen, stop trying getting a permanent teacher under the guise of looking for a brother-in-law in me!"

"Ah, you caught me!"

"I did." Wei Wuxian had forgotten, Lan Xichen too was a young adult, asking him to resolve Lan Wangji's crush was too much.

One must nip the bud of fancy that blooms in a youthful heart

"Lan Zhan! You cannot tinker with the structure of a spell!" Wei Wuxian had found his guard pup scribbling his own spell ideas and breaking up charms in his workshop.

"You are late, Wei Ying!"

"You are awake, and way past your bedtime! Teenagers need to sleep on time, to grow healthy up to their full potential." Wei Wuxian slid beside the stuffy teen and took his brush.

"I go on night hunts alone! And I can defeat evil spirits."

"Of course you can. Being a reliable teen doesn't mean you are an adult! Why are you playing with spell repelling talismans?" Wei Wuxian asked the blushing lotus besides.

"I was trying to understand what you were making!" Lan Wangji never lied.

"Next time when you are playing with spells, use blank paper! Not cinnabar paper! And that spell order is wrong. If you reverse the characters, the curse repellent spell will backfire; instead of repelling the curse, it will make you a vessel of curse!" Wei Wuxian began breaking down the spell and marked the mistakes.

"How do you know all these? Talisman, ghost protection, charm making are womanly art."

"Womanly art?"

"Yeah, men don't carry talisman!"

Listening to this proud declaration, Wei Wuxian's gentle expression changed into mild anger. He turned his head and stretched his back, deliberately and slowly, to tower his student. "Tell me something, 80% of the time during night hunts who dies?" Wei Wuxian smiled and cupped his student's face.

"Who?"

"Dumb young male cultivators."

"I am not dumb."

"But young male cultivator you are."

"What are you implying?"

Wei Wuxian was again possessed by his teacher persona. "Women are careful by nature. If they see a golden-shimmering trail, they will not immediately follow the path. They will examine their surrounding, study the area, arm themselves in charms and spells, and then follow the trail. But men, we will see golden light and run after the light and die! Like moths to fire."

"I do not understand."

"You will not remember, you must have been a baby then. I was fourteen or fifteen. There was a gold rush rumour going around. People were finding chunks of gold in a faraway mountain. The local population of non-cultivator women, were careful, they asked for help from cultivators, but men; cultivators and non-local non-cultivators didn't pay attention to women's warning. One after one, men kept disappearing.

Finally, Jiang Cheng, Nie Huaisang and I were sent to investigate. A'Cheng being impulsive wanted to follow the trail. But Huaisang and I went around asking womenfolk. Then we met a group of female cultivators who had returned with minimum injuries." Wei Wuxian stopped. Lan Wangji was frowning at his teacher.

"What?"

"Why is this A'Cheng in most of your stories?" There was venom in Lan Wangji's tongue.

"Because we were raised together and are inseparable."

"He is not here! You are separable!"

"Sshhh! Listen to the story. So from those women cultivators we found, the entire mountain had become a gold pit, because any man who followed the golden trail they got turned into statues!"

"It was a wishing demon!" Lan Wangji smiled.

"Not exactly."

"Then?"

"It was a young deity granting people wishes of infinite riches by turning them into infinite riches! The whole mountain was full of golden statues!"

"But deities are meant to protect us!"

"My little piece of moon! Deities are being born of human desires. They are not good or bad, they just are. We think they are good because we ask for personal gains. But if a deity was granting a bunch of bandits' wishes, you would brand that deity as demon."

"I didn't think like that!" Lan Wangji puffed his cheeks. Unable to resist, Wei Wuxian cupped his young student's face, who immediately blushed.

"And you know why none of the women cultivators or local non-cultivator women turned into gold statues?"

"Why?"

"They were carrying, charms, spell repellents', talismans and most importantly they were not foolish enough to chase gold or glory. Men will chase a wild boar for days to satiate their lust for blood and hunger, even if it means their community is starving. While women will hunt small games like rabbits or pheasants and feed everyone."

"No— not rabbits!" Lan Wangji cried.

"Ssh! Men are stupid! Calling charms and talismans and herb pouches womanly art is fine, but that tone of yours like women are inferior! Get rid of that! No student of mine disrespects women! A bowl of lotus rib soup with healing spell is better than a wound repairing spell!" Wei Wuxian dropped his hands from Lan Zhan's cheeks and flicked his forehead!

"Ouch!"

"Good."

"But how did you know all these things? Women barely share their knowledge, my father told me!"

"Lan Wangji!" Wei Wuxian narrowed his eyes. "Never ever say those words. Who said women don't share? Our mothers shared their bodies to give us birth! Men don't know how to ask! And I learned from my mother. She taught her students; women and men are equal in the art of protection. It is a shame she died because of other irresponsible cultivators. Fix that attitude of yours! From now, you will tell me every wrong lesson your father and elder Lan men have taught you! We need to uproot the wrong teachings."

"My father will never teach me wrong things." Lan Wangji was about to cry, so he averted his eyes.

"My piece moon, look at me." Wei Wuxian used a gentle voice. "I know your parents' divorce has hurt you. I don't know how badly you are shattered. But know this parent can make wrong decisions and teach wrong things, because they are humans. That's why you need teachers to correct your path. Now I understand why your brother insisted I visit Cloud Recess. All of you children have back dated notion of gender in cultivation. How will you react when you all learn the next Jiang Sect's male heir has a male Consort?"

"A man married to another man can be a consort?" Lan Wangji had blushed in happy excitement, because now he was assured he could not only marry Wei Wuxian but make him Lan consort too. Because of his limited exposure to cultivation gossip, he never bothered or gave thought who was the male consort in discussion.

"Yes, a male heir's husband can be a consort, so can a female heir's wife. Welcome to the modern world, little Lan!" Wei Wuxian patted his student's head.

"May I sleep in the cottage tonight?" Lan Wangji asked with trembling voice. "If senior sisters find me loitering after hours, they will send me to detention."

"Are you afraid of detention?" Wei Wuxian teased.

"I am not. But I don't want to miss your morning lecture tomorrow."

"Aiyo— my dedicated little snowball! Go ahead, sleep there. It is your mother's cottage. I am but a temporary visitor."

"You can be a permanent resident." Lan Wangji murmured.

"What did you say?" Wei Wuxian was distracted by his scattered notes, so he didn't pay attention to the teen's soft words.

"Nothing. I will prepare the beds."

"Okay go ahead."

"Wei Ying."

"Yes?"

"Will you go to Caiyai town with me next week?"

"Is something troubling people."

"The golden deity story got me thinking, there have been reports of a few missing fishermen. I think I would like to learn from Wei Ying how he investigates."

"Sure, we can have a class trip."

"No, just you and me."

"Are you sure? Your brother wants me to teach everyone."

"If I cannot follow your methods, none in Lan Sect can do it." Lan Wangji huffed like a young man with too much pride on the line.

"Okay, you and me." Wei Wuxian went back to his organizing. "Now go sleep. I will come later. Take the bigger bed. I sleep on the cot anyway."

"Wei Ying, come to sleep now. I will clean it in the morning."

"Lan Zhan."

"No let's go!" Lan Wangji latched on Wei Wuxian's arm and dragged him back to the cottage. Unable to resist the cuteness of the teen, the young guest lecturer caved in.

A week later to Lan Wangji's surprise, Wei Wuxian had discarded his usual black trousers and black shirt, black overall shirt-jacket-cloak-shawl; a design Lan Wangji could never understand, he knew it was same garment, but it always changed its shape, but what surprised the teen most was that his mentor had even removed his red ribbon!

The guest lecturer was dressed in comfortable blue pants wore by the non-cultivators who worked in fields or dock, and he paired it with a loose white shirt that had lost its brightness after ten washes. And the dark inky hair that Lan Wangji wanted to touch was tied in a low ponytail with a faded brown ribbon. This get-up made Wei Wuxian who already looked young, look much younger.

Wei Wuxian also made his student discard his expensive white silk trousers, shirt and sect robe.

Lan Wangji was wearing brown pants and blue shirt. In passing, he had mentioned he loved blue, so Wei Wuxian had bought him heaps of blue cotton shirts and comfortable trousers to wear with them. Not only that, Wei Wuxian tied his hair in a high ponytail! And made the young master take off his forehead ribbon, apparently it was part of his education! And to do so, the guest lecturer got written permission from his uncle!

A sulking Lan Wangji had handed the forehead ribbon into Wei Wuxian's hand after a lot of nagging.

Caiyai town was situated by the largest river of the land, import and export was part and parcel of the town life. Lan Wangji had passed this town multiple times ever since he was allowed to go on night hunts. His teachings told him not to indulge in useless talks or banter or waste time with people. Time and words were precious, and his task was to solve the problem and head back.

But his teacher, Wei Wuxian was opposite of everything. His pockets were filled with coins; his phone had the entire map of the city. Every few minutes there would be a turn, Wei Wuxian would drag his student into shady lanes. Sometimes he would buy sugar apples and drop them in his student's palms, other moment he would loiter around trinket shops and buy cheap metal hairpins and pin them to Lan Wangji's head.

Sometimes, Wei Wuxian would ask random things to shopkeepers,"When no—Where do we find seashell paint?" to an old man who sold flowers, "Eei little pumpkin where is the best marble shop?" to a random child running around the streets, "Where do I find fresh fiddle heads beautiful sister?" to a woman who was clearly exhausted and had bags under her eyes. Somehow he got them all to answer.

At times, Wei Wuxian would bend over the fruit stalls and grab the freshest grapefruit. Other time he would haggle from a price of rouge! Lan Wangji knew his teacher had a pocketful of coins, cash and cards in his pocket, so he did really not understand what this man was crying for! Two coins for a rouge was suddenly too expensive!

After walking around for hours, Lan Wangji who was forced to carry a non-magical satchel full of trinkets; scrolls, jars of colourful powders, brushes made of pig hair an existence Lan Wangji's uncle loathed, fake talismans, rouge! The teen had enough, in the end he was a young master who had never done these kinds of work ever. Lan Wangji stopped and, finding a presence missing, Wei Wuxian stopped and turned to look at his student.

At that moment, the sun had conspired with the wind to torture Lan Wangji's heart more. The morning sunlight had landed on Wei Wuxian's eyes, and a cold breeze had played with his dark hair. His eyes sparkled and stray strands of hair floated in the air; which made the man scrunch his nose and squint his eyes a little too adorably for Lan Wangji's eyes; who felt his heartbeat increase and his body go warm and a certain body part that had no business twitching in broad daylight; he was glad Wei Wuxian made him wear such loose trousers. Pulling his hair behind his hair and winking at his student already felt like a knife had been twisted in his young heart. But that was not enough torture, it seemed!

And then Wei Wuxian smiled.

And Lan Wangji forgot that he was capable of speaking words.

Getting no words from, Wei Wuxian turned around and waved his hand for Lan Wangji to follow him. In no time, the tall man vanished into an alley, which was barely visible from Lan Wangji's position. Unable to complain about his job as a carrier or express his love, the teen followed behind his teacher with a heavy bag and a heavier heart!

"Wei Ying, why are we walking in circles?"

"The natural and supernatural coexist. Understanding one's immediate geography is a key factor to successful night hunts. Caiyai town is built on water elements, certain creatures thrive on water while others not. You have to study every fungus, stone, leaf to look for abnormality." Saying this, Wei Wuixan, rubbed his thumb on the freshly painted wall of a building they were standing outside, then to the teen's horror, Wei Wuxian licked his thumb.

"WEI YING!"

"Mercury!" Wei Wuxian's grey eyes twinkled.

"What—"

"The houses are painted in mercury. We are lucky to found a freshly painted house!" The madness that possessed Wei Wuxian late in the night had now appeared again. The man was grinning like a fool whose luck had brought him gold.

"Is that a problem?" Lan Wangji had to tame the mad beast.

"They have cinnabar in them. Cinnabar attracts powers, both good and bad." Wei Wuxian then took a U-turn and rested his hands on Lan Wangji's shoulder and pushed him out of the lane.

"Where are we going now?"

"Learn about missing fishermen. And eat! Are you allowed to drink? No! You are 14 and a Lan."

"Wei Ying alcohol is bad."

"You are allowed to lecture me about drinking when you are older than twenty-five. Let's go."

"Where too?"

"Madam Lin's Eatery. Your brother told me I will get the best wine there."

"Wei Ying must stop drinking?"

"Aye-aye A'Zhan"

"I do not jest Wei Ying!"

"Auntie la here, here! Lotus crisps, emperor's smile for me la, tea, pancakes and carrot cakes for my little brother. We are very hungry!" Wei Wuxian waved his prettiest smile at the plump old woman, who was Madam Lin, the old woman smiled at him and nodded back to assure that she heard his order.

Madam Lin's Eatery was like any other establishment. It had two stories; the top floor was for guests who wanted privacy and had more money could get secluded rooms. While the ground floor was cramped with as many table and chair was possible to have the maximum number of people fed. The kitchen was behind the back door and it smelled truly heavenly. Wei Wuxian didn't doubt Lan Xichen's suggestions.

Lan Wangji, started hard at his teacher and frowned. "I am not your brother! Wei Ying! And what is this accent? You were doing it in the market too!"

"Okay, my little student. Better? Is that better. But right now, play along okay? Rule of investigation—don't blow your cover!" Wei Wuxian had giggled, his new accent was still intact.

"I don't want to be your brother!"

"What do you want me to be? If my parents were alive, I am sure I would've a cute sibling like you, maybe less grumpy but cute."

"I am not your sibling! And I am not cute!"

"Aiyoooo— Fine, I will not call you a sibling. Cute, I can't stop. Look at your cheeks, aa-bo, puffing up like pancakes! What else you can be, huh?"

"My friend." Lan Wangji mumbled.

"What la?"

"I want to be your friend!"

"Lan Zhan! I am too old to be your friend."

"My brother is friends with Sect leader Nie Mingjue. They are decades apart."

"They are both adults."

"I will be adult too."

"Okay fine. Let's be friends. Hmm? Happy?"

"Stop treating me like a kid!"

"But A'Zhan you are a kid!" Wei Wuxian was enjoying his moment. Lan Wangji had puffed his cheeks and turned his face away. "Come on, look at me! Come on, la la la!" But Lan Wangji's golden eyes were tearing up in pride, yet he refused to look.

"Do you hate me now?" Wei Wuxian began folding the napkin meant for wiping hands. "You know, when you are fourteen you think you are an adult. But when you will turn sixteen, then seventeen, and one day twenty-three, you will look at your fourteen-year-old self and call him a child. I am not mocking you. It is good to be young. Because the older you grow, the more the world will expect you to be prim and proper. Eh? Come on, look at me. I am your friend, right?" After contemplating further, Lan Wangji looked a back.

"Here a paper lotus for you. When you come to Lotus Pier, I will give you real lotus, I will feed you fresh lotus seeds, make lotus rib soup, I will take you boating, swimming, and other fun places."

"Your food will be spicy."

"I will not give any chilli in it. I promise." Wei Wuxian pouted and folded his hands.

"How did you do that? And what is this accent." Lan Wangji held the paper lotus in his hand like it was the most precious thing in the world.

"One of many womanly crafts, I learned from my sister. My sister Jiang Yanli can stitch, sew, design, create, cook, and craft magical potions! I have learned it all from her." What Wei Wuxian had forgotten to mention was, learning all the virtues of a consort included learning the womanly arts as well. Wei Wuxian never differentiated much between genders, he took the crafts happily and began utilizing them in his practice and research, and this blend of masculine and feminine practices made him the most beloved cultivator in the non-cultivation world.

He invented compasses, curtains, magical anklets, waist bands for pregnant people, pieces of foldable weapons women could hide in their sleeves, hollowed hairpin filled with emergency medicines— each of which Nie Huaisang tried and tested in their research lab, and then they sold it for a few copper coins to the masses. Since the age of seventeen, Wei Wuxian had begun working in the lab and, now that he took one year sabbatical; he was proud to find people using his inventions in different part of the cultivation world.

"Can I make paper lotus too?"

"Of course! I will teach you. Here take the paper, fold it in half—"

Lan Wangji kept following his teacher's instructions with dedication. Wei Wuxian didn't stop at lotus; he taught him how to make swan, cranes, and butterflies. And his student had plunged into paper craft like a fish in a river.

"Oh my! What we have here?" The owner of the establishment, Madam Lin, returned with the food and drinks. The table where a handsome man and pretty boy sat was covered in napkins folded into various forms. "They are so pretty! But where do I keep your order?" The old woman smiled as she looked at the beautiful-mess.

"Abbo! I am so sorry, aunty. Sorry, we will clean it up. My A'Zhan, help me. I just got lost in teaching him paper craft. Silly, very silly of me." Wei Wuxian carefully moved them to a side to make space. "Ah, aunty, we are new to this place. Is it true fishermen here went missing, is it true? Can't believe no? Such huge town, how can men go missing-sissing?" Wei Wuxian rolled his words so casually that Lan Wangji was surprised. The words flowed like it was something his teacher suddenly remembered.

"Ah ra! It is true. But they didn't go missing, you know. They vanished! You boys are not from here, so you don't know! These kinds of news don't travel into villages. It is cultivation scandals they love! And you know how cultivation world is! There is always something happening. I heard the betrothed of Jiang Sect's future leader is a man! I hope it is true, men will taste what it feels like to be trapped as women in arranged marriage." Madam Lin scoffed, she definitely had anger against arrange marriage. Wei Wuxian pretended to be shocked, despite the topic being him and Lan Wangji, still didn't connect the dots that the betrothed was sitting right by his side.

"I don't mean ill of the poor consort. But I have heard enough gossip over the years when the sect leaders marry out of compulsion and are unfaithful to their wives. They don't have to deal with the stigma of cheating husband, and they couldn't divorce long time! But times have changed, our Gusu's Lan Sect had its first divorce! I hope the boys of sect leader are doing well. But I am glad former Madam Lan decided to end her marriage. Sometimes you have to let useless husbands go!"

"I totally agree! If people are unhappy together, they must leave." Wei Wuxian nodded! And Lan Wangji who was reminded of his parents messy controlled his best to not break the table.

"Right? Now it is so great that anyone can marry anyone now, but you know prejudice and gossip is bad. They keep twisting facts about the Future Jiang Consort! You know he has helped us cultivator so much! He created the pregnancy belt, which decreased the pain and stabilized the energy of the mother and unborn! My daughter was able to have hassle-free labour after the first one, her second and third labour were smoother! And all the nausea and hunger pangs were so much in control. I do not believe in any gossip the cultivation world spread. But I do worry that the Future Jiang Consort is stuck in a bad marriage deal."

The old woman loved talking, and Wei Wuxian being a talkative himself let her continue, he also observed, every time she thought of arranged marriage her eyes became sad. She was clearly nearing her seventies, her face didn't reflect it, but her hands after years of hard work had wrinkled and nails had yellowed and flaked.

"I hope the Jiang Consort comes and solves the vanishing cases." The old hands had placed the bowls and the cups, and served both of her customers equal portions, and they definitely were mouth watering portions.

"Vanished? I thought they were lost into the sea, auntie! How did you know we are from out of town? Was it our clothes?" Wei Wuxian scratched his forehead—he looked vulnerable, like he was a sheltered young child from a small village who had stepped out of home for the first time. Now Lan Wangji understood why the man had worn commoners' clothes and tied his hair like non-cultivators and was talking with an accent.

"Nooooo." Madam Lin shook her head. "They, the men, left home, but they never reached the docks! And your accent is very cute; my daughter-in-law had a similar accent like yours when she came to this town."

"Aiyoo! How strange!" Wei Wuxian's face colour drained. "Is it safe for us to travel? I don't want anything to happen to my little piece of moon."

"The washerwoman told me, it is the fishermen that went missing! Nothing strange has happened to travellers."

"I see…" Lan Wangji murmured.

"Don't worry, little boy. Nothing will happen." The woman assured as she pushed the pancakes towards Lan Wangji. "I hope you love the food." Her smile was so sweet that Lan Wangji wanted to reply her back. But he nodded.

"When did the last person go missing?" Wei Wuxian asked, his trembling voice made Madam Lin pity him.

"Ah ra— ah ra— I think it was last tues— not it was Wednesday! In the market day, Wednesday is the day, the fishermen rotate their shifts."

"Are you staying in the town tonight?" Madam Lin asked.

"Yes. We are. We are going to Lanlin from here, my sister has asked for us. Our ship sails at 8 am."

"It is better. Don't wander into the night. It is better to travel tomorrow. Thursdays are better days." Madam Lin sighed in relief.

"I see. Thank you, auntie." Wei Wuxian took the old woman's hands and thanked her.

"Any time, my child. Remember, the world can be unkind to your kind, but there are people who love you." The old woman patted the Wei Wuxian and left to attend other customers.

Wei Wuxian felt a tiny lump form in his throat. All the praises about his deeds never got to his head, but when someone showed him a little bit of kindness, his heart ached for more. Unable to share his craving for love, Wei Wuxian poured his first cup of the Emperor's smile. It was supposed to be sweet, but the first sip was bitter.

When Lan Wangji was assured the owner was in distance, and they had eaten at least a quarter of their food, he asked, "Wei Ying where did you learn to change your voice and expressions? And have you met this Future Jiang Consort, they do sound amazing?"

"Jiang Clan has many skills. And yes I have met, he is not that amazing, smart yes, but he bit of an idiot, he loves his betrothed too much." Wei Wuxian had smirked. "Eat now. We have to solve this case."

It was truth, he had been changing his expressions and voices and behaviour ever since he remembered so that it didn't bring any shame to his future-mother-in-law. Now it was his second nature to read situations and arrange hi expressions. He found it very handy and useful skill for investigation too.

Upon further discussion with Nei Huasiang, they had created a manual of guidelines on how to conduct an investigation without revealing your identity. Surprisingly, the handbook failed miserably in the cultivation world, but the non-cultivation lapped it up!

Non-cultivators were using his methods to solve petty crimes and petty situations.

But Wei Wuxian never liked talking about himself, so he didn't explain anything about his upbringing to Lan Wangji or the fact that he was the Future Jiang Consort. He was glad to have the company of a naïve young master who cared for him a little too deeply, he didn't want to draw formal lines between them as a young master and consort.

And Lan Wangji besides him was drowning in love with every passing moment, because now he was determined that Wei Wuxian could be his consort too, if Jiang Sect can do marry their son to another guy, so could the Lans.

End of flashback

Do you become a couple, if you share a room?

"Are we going to share the same room?" Lan Wangji blushed.

"Technically yes, but no!"

"What?"

"We will book a room, but we will be doing investigation in the night."

"Madam Lin, was mistaken."

"What?" Lan Wangji was frowning as they entered the room. He checked every corner of the room. His heart was relived to have found two single beds on two opposite sides of the room. After placing his bag of trinkets on the side table, he found himself relaxing.

"Wednesday is the market day and shift change, which means the vanishing, is happening during Thursday midnight, people always see an 'entire-day' from the perspective of day and night. But it is night and day. Night comes first and night comes last, a daytime is what happens in-between two nights"

"I do not understand Wei Ying." Lan Wangji stopped in steps as he found Wei Wuxian had already untied his hair and removed the shirt, and was wiping his arms and torso with the towel provided by the inn they were staying at.

"Of course you do. When does a new day begin? And why are you standing? Go change your clothes. You need to rest before we began investigating."

"12am. The day starts at 12 am." Lan Wangji decided to answer first.

"And what time of the day is 12 am?"

"Midnight."

"She asked us when were we leaving, when we told her Thursday, she was relieved. The first ships leave at 5 am, which means the fishermen who leave their work or are going to join their shifts have to be at docks by 3 am for reporting."

"The hour of the ghost!" Lan Wangji muttered, still stuck to his spot.

"None of the fishermen reached the docks, they vanished around 3pm, which is a Thursday. Not a Wednesday. She called Thursday a good day. The day of Jupiter, hahaha! The mercury paint was a red herring!" Wei Wuxian slapped his thigh and stood up.

"Go have a bath, we will have dinner, then you will go to sleep like a good boy, and I will wake you up at 2pm."

"And when will Wei Ying sleep?"

"9 am."

"Wei Ying no!"

"Wei Ying yes!" Wei Wuxian pushed his student into the bathroom and shut the door.

Before Lan Wangji could protest, the midnight madness of Wei Wuxian had already possessed him. There was no way he could make his teacher sleep now.

!

After dinner, Lan Wangji, found himself being dragged by his teacher back to their room. He was still not used to the idea of sharing his room with his crush. Lans respected privacy, and since the age of three each Lan child was allotted their own room, which they had to maintain and clean. Even when his parents had not divorced, Lan Wangji had never lived under the same roof with his parents. His elder brother, and him, were sent to the students wing – after dinner every night. Suddenly finding that Wei Wuxian indeed wished to share the same room, was churning the insides of the teen.

"Wei Ying, this is inappropriate."

"What is?"

Wei Wuxian didn't even look at his students, as he sat on the floor surrounded by his loot from the market. The rouge, the compass, the colourful jars and papers were more interesting than Lan Wangji at that moment.

"Us, sharing room."

"Why?"

"It just is."

"A'Zhan. You know one thing I dislike most?"

"What?"

"Blind faith in words without introspection." Wei Wuxian still didn't look up, from his socks he pulled a thin screwdriver and began dismantling the compass. "Until and unless you explain to me what is inappropriate about us sharing a room for half a night, I will not listen to your wishes of living in a separate room."

There was a distance of hand between the student sitting twitchingly on the bed and the neurotic teacher on the floor. Wei Wuxian was not teasing, he knew very well why Lan Wangji was being shy and awkward. But as a teacher, he didn't want his student to grow up into a misfit young master who was unable to help the masses because he was raised to be a little prince.

Wei Wuxian had beat the shit out of Jiang Cheng when he showed his aristocratic ways, Wei Wuxian had chewed Nie Huaisang's rich brat tastes and was going to sternly winnow out Lan Wangji's sheltered and warped upbringing. Wei Wuxian's mother had written in her diary that change only began when individuals gave up on personal desires and worked for community.

And she was critical of how the Cultivation world was so out of sync with the non-cultivation world. People were living and operating in two parallel timelines in the same universe. Common masses no longer cared about Cultivation world because of their rigidity and Cultivation, the world didn't even attempt to understand the problem of the people who paid taxes every year for protection from the supernatural.

"You are man." Lan Wangji spoke.

"And?"

At this remark, Lan Wangji's cheeks turned pink; as if a drop of vermilion had fallen into a pot of milk. A bit by bit, his entire milky face was as pink as the rouge Wei Wuxian had bought.

"You are a man. And I like men. And—and, only fated mates live under a roof together. And I like you. I adore you and I love you." Lan Wangji's voice was trembling. The boy was angry and ashamed and relieved to have finally let out his secret.

"Are you worried, I will dishonour your virtue? Lan Zhan, I am an adult and you are a child. Adult and child don't do romantic relationship." Wei Wuxian looked up and was met with watery, angry golden eyes of Lan Wangji. He had concluded the boy was worried about his chastity! Wei Wuxian immediately dropped his tools and took a deep breath.

"Why can't Wei Ying look at me like as a potential life partner? You have no right to dismiss my feelings. Why can't I be your fated mate? Why can't I offer my virtue to you? Why can't Wei Ying love me back?"

Despite having grown up as consort-in-training, Wei Wuxian had never had a room to himself. Most of the time he shared his room with Jiang Cheng or sect members or colleagues — which had in return conditioned him to not care about who he was sharing his room with one night hunts or work trips. If there was a mat, Wei Wuxian would sleep on it.

He had never even considered that Lan Wangji was thinking about this matter of shared room from a very different and romantic angle. Especially a fourteen-year-old offering his virginity to him because he was so madly in love with his teacher, had never crossed Wei Wuxian's mind.

"Because, I am 23, and you are 14, and I am not dismissing your feelings." Wei Wuxian stood up from his mat and walked towards Lan Wangji who was on the brink of crying.

After staring down hard at the child, Wei Wuxian knelt on the floor and took Lan Wangji's not so soft hands in his. Years of practising strings and sword fighting had toughened the teenager's hands. "Your feelings for me are valid, but between the two of us, I am the adult one and I should not mislead you. You will grow up, and you will realize there are many kinds of love in this world. The one you feel for me right now will change with time, too. You and I were fated to meet, but I am not your fated mate. And as for your chastity, I do not want it, hmmm. You are still too young to think about sex."

"I was not thinking about se—" The corner of Lan Wangji's eyes were red and full of thick droplets ready to fall at any point.

"Then sharing a room with me made you think about it?" Wei Wuxian smiled, and his student blushed a few more shades of vermilion. "I will book another room for myself. You can sleep in peace." Saying this, Wei Wuxian flicked his student's forehead and spelled the child to sleep.

Once he was assured, Lan Wangji was deep in sleep. He tucked the teen into his bed, collected his trinkets from the market and walked out of the room and cast a few more spell to keep noise and nightmares away from Lan Wangji.

Inside his new room, Wei Wuxian tossed his shoes and pulled out his phone and dialled his fiancé's number.

"So now he remembers me?" Jiang Cheng had picked up the call immediately after one ring.

"I always remember you. I love you." Wei Wuxian fell on his bed and let go a deep breath. "I miss you, A'Çheng."

"The why did you runaway?"

"Am I not allowed to be tired?" Wei Wuxian huffed. He was tired of his many roles, he was exhausted of the expectations, and he was tired of being treated as an outsider. "I am on holiday! I am taking a break from my role as phantom consort!"

"You have to do this job until your dying day, being leader and consort is hard." Jiang Cheng replied with a groan.

"Do you ever wish you were not a leader? Just been an ordinary man, farming or working in a factory?"

"No! What has got into you?"

"Nothing, the young master of Lan Sect, Lan Wangji seems to have fallen for your fiancé's charm. He wanted me to be his fated mate. Poor child, I hope he finds his one true mate in-future." Wei Wuxian indeed wished for Lan Wangji's happiness that night.

"Fate what? If I am not wrong, isn't their father already looking for alliances for the elder boy and the younger boy will come of age next year? Cultivation world has no place for fated one." Jiang Cheng laughed. "It is all politics and resource allotment! Only a child will believe in fated mate nonsense!"

"Hey! You are my fated one." Wei Wuxian scolded.

"Yeah, our fates were mated by our parents. There was no meant to be together about us. We both were at the right place at the right time." Jiang Cheng's words and giggle should've bothered Wei Wuxian then, but he had laughed along. Like Lan Wangji was drowning is love, Wei Wuxian lived in the bottom of the ocean called love with his feet tied by the ropes called duty attached to boulders called gratitude.

"So when are you coming back? You have left a mess behind, you know?"

"They were asking for it."

"Mom is scolding me!"

"What did Madame Yu say?" Wei Wuxian was worried about his future mother-in-law, when he was not working, his duties by default felt on her shoulders, she hated doing consort duties, she never wanted to be a sect leader's wife hence he was guilty. It was not his intention to drag her into his mess; but this was a tit-for-tat decision on his part, she was going to pay the price, sadly.

"That, I am a spineless man, just like my father! I can't control my future spouse!"

Wei Wuxian buried his face in the pillow, "Oh! Come on! You and I have much better marriage than her and uncle." He was not bragging, Wei Wuixan loved Jiang Cheng as deeply as Madame Yu loved her husband, but Wei Wuxian was certain, Jiang Cheng loved him more than Jiang Fengmian loved his wife.

"Are you competing against mom?"

"How dare I? But you love me, right?"

"Yeah, of course I love you, hence I haven't gone to Gusu and dragged you back home! Wei Ying! What's got into you? You are being emotional today! Like a lot, do you miss me?"

"I miss you! But— Lan Zhan's words today made me think, we were fourteen once too! Remember how we used to hold hands and kiss under the jasmine trees!"

"Yeah, I guess. I like it better now, we can have sex and not care about being caught! Speaking of sex, come back! We haven't done anything for months!"

Wei Wuxian snorted, "Wasn't it you who said, sex was not that important and A'Xian normal people don't have sex thrice a week! Now you are pent-up I see?"

"You are not?"

"No."

"Are you cheating on me?"

"What? Who will I cheat on with? Lan Zhan? He is a child! And you know it, that sex is out of sight out of mind thing for me."

"Is it, when I am home, you can't seem to stop touching my thighs and arms. You are always clinging to me! You always want me to have sex with you."

"Of course, I love touching you! Have you seen your thighs! Since you are not here, I don't crave sex. And I don't have sex because I am addicted to it, I love having sex because I am doing it with you. I love being held by you, moron! Physical intimacy makes relationship comfortable!"

"Is this part of consort training too?"

"Consort training said, a consort should be modest and let their spouse into the bedchamber twice a month, and a consort should never initiate sex— only the husband is allowed! And no consort is allowed to overindulge in sex; it is only permitted when a couple is trying for a child."

"You do not follow any of the advices! We have sex thrice a week! Sometimes five times! If you were a woman, we would've had ten children by now!"

"If Madame Yu had not followed these misguided bed advices, I bet you would've had ten siblings too!"

"Wei Wuxian!"

"Jiang Wanyin!"

"Don't talk about my parents' sex life!"

Like Wei Wuxian had promised, he woke up his student, Lan Wangji was groggy, but felt both drained and refreshed. As if all the tension and pain and anger from his body had been sucked out. But his energy was eroded too. Wei Wuxian helped him stand up from the bed

"What was that spell?"

"Ah. It is a sleep smell, I haven't perfected the rhythm of it yet." Wei Wuxian gently held his student's chin in his palm and wiped his face, with a wet warm towel. "It was slightly stronger for you. I developed it for new-mothers. In general, I put it on talismans and sell them. New-parents generally put it under their pillows. But since you were so excited, I applied the spell directly, so the impact was slightly stronger. Sorry!" Wei Wuxian was really sorry. He didn't want to hurt Lan Wangji.

"Is the talisman legal?"

Wei Wuxian looked at his student with disbelief! "Absolutely, we tried and tested it, then got it approved by medical boards in different universities and then submitted it to the government. It is patented!"

"Wei Ying is very through with his research."

"We have to be responsible for what we start."

"What?"

"Nothing! Hurry, we have a case to solve!

In no time, they were dressed an out into the walking the roads. As the teen found his mind clear he followed his teacher like a duckling, he couldn't help notice, there were little jolts of spring in Wei Wuxian's feet.

"Wei Ying, did something happen?"

Wei Wuxian turned around and looked Lan Wangji with pink cheeks and dazed eyes, "Hmm? Sorry, Lan Zhan what?"

"Did something happen while I was sleeping? You look happy?"

"I spoke with A'Cheng, talking with him gave me perspective on my future in Jiang Clan."

"What future?"

"Well, you see, I like teaching, but I didn't think I could be good at it. Once I return to Lotus Pier, I will start teaching more children. Everyone deserves a chance to be a cultivator"

"You will leave Cloud Recess?"

"Yes, not now. After another 9 months. I am here for a year."

"Why?"

"Lotus Pier is my home."

"Cloud Recess can be your home too."

"It can be, but I like my Yunmeng, the lotus, the market, the people and the food! And A'Cheng and Huaisang is near me and my grandmother lives in Yiling, which is two days from Yunmeng. Since A'Cheng hates travelling, living in Yunmeng is strategically most ideal."

Unable to hide his anger, with a frown knotted between his beautiful brows Lan Wangji took a deep breath and asked, "Do you like this A'Cheng very much?"

"I do. I do."

"But he is mean, from all your stories he sounds horrible."

Wei Wuxian couldn't stop chuckling, he gently raised his hands and patted, Lan Wangji, "Aigoo! He is mean, but he is kind, once he got me the freshest water chestnuts of the season! He went out at break of dawn with a boat to get me the juiciest one. It was almost roma— ahhh, Lan Zhan hide." Wei Wuxian pulled the younger and took him to behind the wall of a damply building.

"Why are we hiding?"

"I smell blood."

"Wei Ying can smell blood?"

Again, Wei Wuxian failed to inform that he had been trained to smell poison, food, blood, magic as part of consort training. Sometimes he just assumed it was given people would know, "I can, I trained. Why were you kids not trained! I will teach this to your class tomorrow!"

"It might be fish blood?" Lan Wangji spoke after five minutes of hiding and staring into the void. "Don't they bring in fresh fish and clean them here?"

"It is human blood. It smells like rusted iron. Fish blood smells like rotten jute bag."

"How do you know?"

"When you walk both cultivation and non-cultivation world, you pick up all these. Once I saw a body where the blood had turned into water! People thought he was drowned. But no, he was cursed by a water deity. It was hard to explain the authorities that the body was cursed, but non-cultivators are smart. I told them how blood had become water, but the smell was intact."

"So you remember every smell?"

"NO! If I have seen or tasted something I remember, smells are just easiest to remember. I generally don't remember people's faces well!"

"Will you forget my face?"

"What? Why Will I? No?"

"But there is a chance of you forgetting, right?"

"I will remember your face, and your smell."

Lan Wangji couldn't help but pull his collar up to smell his own odour, "Do I smell bad?"

"The opposite, you smell of sandalwood and jasmine. It is calming. Now we follow those bunch of lunatics!" With those words being said, Wei Wuxian again was pulling his student behind him.

Lan Wangji Believes In Taking Things Slow

"I am here now, Wei Ying. I am here."

These were going around in Wei Wuxian's brain in circles. His student Lan Wangji had dropped in front of his eyes again after twelve years. And to his astonishment, he was taller than Wei Wuxian. For years now, Wei Wuxian was the taller guy everywhere he went. Except for Nie Mingjue no one was taller than he.

Being engulfed by a tall and buff Lan Wangji was both comforting and awkward. There was the smell of sandalwood and jasmine all around him suddenly. Before he realized, his tears had broken the flood gates, and he was sobbing like a sick toddler.

Gentle hands patted Wei Wuxian's head, and a soft voice kept muttering, "I am here now, Wei Ying. I am here." Like a prayer, the soothing voice vibrated into his ears. Each word spelled with sincerity and devotion. "No one can hurt Wei Ying any more. Wei Ying is free. And Wei Ying is loved."

Lan Wangji was not going to let Wei Wuxian run away. This was definitely not the union he had in mind, but he was not complaining. Twelve years back, he wouldn't dare to make any gestures, let alone touch Wei Wuxian's hand. But right now he was hugging him! This was progress. This was actually a huge leap of progress. The realization made his heart flutter in happiness, and he squeezed Wei Wuxian harder.

If he could, he would gobble his teacher whole.

Controlling his urges, he carried on patting the tall, skinny man in his embrace. The black layers were doing a wonderful job of hiding Wei Wuxian's physical condition. Nie Huaisang was right about his best-friend's situation, the former consort of Jiang Cheng was physically suffering. His fingers could feel the sharp edges of Wei Wuixan's spine and shoulder blades.

Lan Wangji knew how much Wei Wuixan appreciated food, years back it was hard to stop his mentor from gobbling anything and everything his eyes laid on. So why was he so thin? "Wei Ying, are you not eating?" But no reply came. But the sobs de-escalated.

"Wei Ying."

"Wei Ying."

"Wei Ying. Answer me!"

Wei Wuxian was still not ready to look up and face his now very adult and mature student. The image of the fifteen-year old child, who was forced to leave the country because of him, was gone. Right now, he was in the arms of a man; a man madly in love with him.

Wei Wuxian was not blind, he was an extremely observant person when he wanted to be, one look was all it took— the golden eyes still looked at him with the same fondness it held twelve years back. The difference this time was, they were no longer naive and innocent. They were mature and burning— possibly for him— not possibly, but for him.

But even before his brain could process the information, Wei Wuixan had already run to hug Lan Wangji. He had missed this boy so much that his feet grew wings on their own and his arms rose to touch him. And now he was in this awkward, comfortable, scary embrace.

"Wei Ying, if you don't reply. I will carry you like a princess."

"Wei Ying I am not joking." Wei Wuxian was regretting, giving Lan Wangji the permission to call him by his birth name. His voice was huskier than before and deeper, it had a command to it. And it took everything in Wei Wuxian to not look up. He knew the boy would grow up to be a tall handsome man, he had his father and uncle, Wei Wuixan had joked to his ex-husband, that none could beat Lan gene pool when it came to height and voice. Now he wanted to slap his ominous blabbering mouth, this man was the best of everything his clan had to offer— height, looks, voice and stre—

"Wei Ying!"

"Whaaat?" A reply came, it was small and trembling, almost like a wimpier from an injured scared dog.

"Are you not eating?"

"I am."

"Then why are you so skinny?"

"I am not."

"Wei Ying, is something going?"

"My very public divorce."

"I am aware."

"Wei Ying, should we go inside?"

"I would like that."

"But first you have to let me go, or if you want, I will carry you inside."

"I can walk."

Once inside, Lan Wangji could see the man he had fallen in love with twelve years ago was still the same. Though he just arrived to the sect quarters— he had already established his work station!

The portable wooden mahogany table, which also functioned as a chest, was a wedding gift from his former sister-in-law, which had received way before the actual wedding. He carried it everywhere, even back in Cloud Recess he had carried it.

The table was already set in a corner, on top of it his research papers and talismans were spread open, a black notebook was upturned, and his phone was dangerously sitting on the edge of the table.

His bag of clothes were thrown in the opposite corner, out which shades of black attire were spilling out! Everything was black! Lan Wangji who had grown up appreciating white all his life couldn't understand why Wei Wuxian was obsessed with black, when he was raised by Jiang clan who were known for their gold and purple. He should have loved those colours.

The bed was messed up, Wei Wuxian had spent less than fifteen minutes in the room before he had come out for dinner, but he had marked it with his mess. Of all the consort training, two task he never succeeded at mastering were, maintaining a beautiful bedroom and cooking heavenly food. He found cleaning or making up the bed extremely time-consuming and cooking was the form of chemistry which he didn't understand, no matter how many times he tried, no same dish tasted similar! It frustrated him! Hence, over the years he gave up, now he saw bed as a place to dump his things and just sleep in it.

When he was married to Jiang Cheng, his ex-husband, had taken the reins of these two chores grudgingly. Jiang Cheng didn't want maids and care takers from the clan to touch their private home, and Wei Wuxian had announced very early in the marriage he was too busy and wouldn't cook and clean the house, so his ex-husband had to do the tasks if he didn't want help.

Jiang Cheng had often commented how, the one place they had to themselves, Wei Wuxian chose to be careless about. Wei Wuxian didn't care about mess or less salty food, but it did hurt his pride that he couldn't be a competent consort in the most ordinary moments of their marriage.

Ignoring the mess he had conjured up in fifteen minutes, Wei Wuxian had walked into the bathroom to wipe his face of the tears. To say he was vulnerable would've been an understatement. Wei Wuxian was throbbing like a half-healed sword injury. A part of him wanted to cry in pain, another part wanted to scratch his wounds and bleed more out, another part wanted to forget he was ever injured.

After wiping his face, Wei Wuxian stared at the reflection in the mirror hard! Lan Wangji was correct, he had lost a tremendous amount of weight! He was never a bulky or buff person, but he had never been this thin. His face was pale like a hanged ghost and his lips chapped and flaked like a three-day-old corpse, his cheeks had sunken making his cheekbones unnaturally prominent, and his collarbone were sticking out. His gray eyes were drained of any life! And his short hair that cupped his jaw— he looked starving! He looked like a ghost, proper! This was not the beautiful Jiang Consort everyone knew! This was the ghost of divorced Wei Wuxian the homeless!

Unable to move forward or take a step behind, his arms that were holding him above the sink finally collapsed, and his head hit the mirror with a thud! He didn't like the person he had become! How was he so hurt? Why did he allow the sword to keep cutting him?

"Wei Ying!"

The strong arms of Lan Wangji grabbed him from behind. "You are unwell!"

Lying always seemed a natural recourse to him when people were concerned about him, so he decided to lie, again, with a chuckle he shook his head "No! It was fatigue from flying. I had no idea how far my lab was from this place! The wind was too strong, and I had to carry a good deal of luggage with me. I drained my spiritual energy. Nothing meditation can cure!"

"Wei Ying, you know, when you lie, you always laugh first. This was the first observation I made when I met you twelve years back."

"I— I"

"Wei Ying doesn't have to lie to me. If Wei Ying is unwell he can say so, if Wei Ying wants me to give him space, I will. But Wei Ying, you have to be honest with me."

"Lan Zhan—"

"If it is too hard, we can wait. But first, let's take you to bed."

Lan Wangji didn't wait, he didn't have to bend much, Wei Wuxian was already wobbly in his arms, he scooped his strong left arm under Wei Wuxian's knees and wrapped his right arm around his shoulder and carried him out of the bathroom. Wei Wuxian was too tired to complain, he let the younger man do whatever he felt like. For a change, it felt great to not have carried the weight of his own body. He closed his eyes and let his head fall on the sturdy chest. The ride to the now clean and properly laid bed was short, but it was full of care.

Lan Wangji gently laid Wei Wuxian on bed, and placed a pillow under his head and sat beside him and took his long legs into his palm. Soon he freed the feet of the chilly socks and gestured his hand, a bottle of mustard oil flew inside from the window and landed into Lan Wangji's hand.

Without saying a word, the taller of the two, poured the earthy smelling oil* into his palms and rubbed them to become warm and finally massaged Wei Ying's cold feet. Slowly and softly, he ran his palm on the swollen and cold feet.

The gentle touch on his aching soles and the warm oil between his toes made Wei Wuxian twist and curl.

"Wei Ying relax!"

"I am."

"You are not."

Instead of arguing, Wei Wuxian decided to change the topic. "You never stop cleaning people's bed, do you?"

"I don't clean everyone's bed."

"So you only clean mine! I am special." Wei Wuxian bit his cheek! He shouldn't have blabbered! But it was his nature to talk things without thinking!

"But you are special."

"Lan Zhan."

"I was married."

"I am aware."

"I am not even young any more."

"I would love Wei Ying even if he was bald and wrinkled." Hearing this, Wei Wuxian wanted to sit up and hit his student with the pillow. But the massage was too good for him to move.

"How can you speak so easily of loving me?"

"How can I not love you?"

"Did you try dating others?"

"No."

"Lan Zhan, how can you know I am the one? Look at what happened to me! I thought I was with the one I loved! Now look at me! You are an idiot for wasting your time on me!"

"Wei Ying, you don't have to think of my heart, I know you are the one for me. And I know you are heartbroken, I don't want to take advantage of you. But I think you are a bigger idiot than me!"

"I am your teacher!"

"And I learned from you!"

"I never taught you this! I clearly asked you to try moving on, you silly child!"

"I am not a child."

"Then why are you behaving like one! Chasing a divorcee!" Listening to these words, Lan Wangji dropped the feet he was massaging and scooted near Wei Wuxian, in a swift moment he was on top of Wei Wuxian, he was not touching the unwell man, but his four limbs were caging the sickly beauty beneath him and finally Lan Wangji hovered over him. He locked his gaze on the man below him, who was finally looking at him. His tall stature expanded by my thousands folds. There was passion brewing in those golden eyes.

"I am not a child, I am a grown man."

Wei Wuxian was not afraid, but his heart skipped a beat. He had never been this close to a man other than his ex-husband. Lan Wangji's face was a few inches above him. If he wanted, he could have done things to him, but he smelled no desire for action or control from the taller, "I know you won't take advantage of me, stop trying to intimidate me."

"I don't want to do anything to Wei Ying until he feels he can trust me and see me as his equal."

And at last, Wei Wuxian cracked, his grey eyes turned darker and a hiss escaped his lips, "What if I have spent all my love on one person! Would you be happy loving a ghost of my former self? Will you be happy with a paper cutout of me? And what of your family, you think they will let you be with me? An orphan with no benefits! Do you not see? Why Jiang Clan let me go so easily? I was not the first Consort in history to ask for divorce! But I was the first consort who was granted a divorce! Why? Because me being on the seat next to the most powerful man brought him or the clan no advantage! I have nothing to give you."

"All these years, you were the one who was giving to everyone. All these years, you never expected anything in return! Now it is my turn to give you. Let me in your life, Wei Ying. "

"What are you planning?"

"I will fill you with so much love that, you will never ever call yourself a ghost. If I had known this marriage was hurting you so much, I would've returned the year I turned adult. Sorry, I am late."

"Lan Zhan, you returned for me?" Lan Wangji refused to answer further. He was enjoying the confused look on Wei Wuxian's face. Though it pained him to see Wei Wuxian be so frail. He was glad, he returned immediately. They had reunited only an hour back, but he was already in Wei Wuxian's bed. His heart was calling it progress.

"Lan Wangji! Answer me."

Lan Wangji smiled mischievously at Wei Wuxian! The glow in golden eyes shifted, suddenly he looked much younger than the adult face he was offering Wei Wuxian, who looked at him like a confused kitten trapped in a cardboard box! "Go to sleep, Wei Ying!" Lan Wangji softly removed the strands of inky hair from Wei Wuxian's face. He gently ran his thumb on the sharp cheekbones and closed his eyes. Then he dragged his fingers up Wei Ying's face and flicked Wei Wuxian's forehead softly and cast a spell on his teacher. He had spent twelve years perfecting the spell his teacher had taught him!

"You litt—"

"I love you."

Wei Wuxian woke up the next day, the pain from his shoulder was gone, the ache from his soles were gone, the feeling of fatigue was gone too. But before all these realizations hit him, he had a shudder run down his spine! His face was buried in a warm embrace of sandalwood and jasmine.

To be precise, he was hugging a warm, solid body and his head was resting on equally solid chests and his right leg was settled between two thick thighs, and he could feel the organ that rested between the thick thighs.

Wei Wuxian didn't want to face reality. His instant reasoning was that he was overcome with grief that he slept with Lan Wangji. Unable to open his eyes, Wei Wuxian took a deep breath.

"We didn't have sex. I am not a rapist."

"I didn't say anything."

"You curled up the moment you woke up, you regretted it. And I assure you, despite my love for you and intense desire to make love with you, I will wait for your approval. Please open your eyes."

"I am embarrassed!"

"Oh, Wei Ying is capable of embarrassment!"

"Lan Zhan"

"Yes Wei Ying?"

"Why are you in my bed?"

"After I put you to sleep, I cleaned your room. Then I saw you quivering in your sleep. I covered you up with more layers, but you didn't stop. So I decided to keep you warm and then hugged me and didn't let me go!" Wei Wuxian finally opened his eyes, Lan Wangji was dressed in new white shirt and a baby blue half-sweater and reading a book with one hand and other hand had engulfed Wei Wuixan. The older man finally sat up and looked at the younger, everything about him was beautiful.

"And this boy was worried, about sharing room with me before marriage years back!"

"Well, as Wei Wuxian had taught me, love is love. Marriage is just a deed on paper. If you want, we can sign a marriage certificate right away."

"Hold your thought, dear Stallion of mine." Wei Wuxian was now properly facing his former student. "Were you always this talkative?" Lan Wangji didn't reply, but offered a small smile.

"I enjoy talking with Wei Ying."

"You do?"

"Yes."

"Then tell me, why did you return to my bed then? I can clearly see you had bath, and are done with morning classes!"

"I wanted to hug you more. Wei Ying smells great."

"What do I smell like?"

"Me."

The reply left Wei Wuxian speechless. All these years he was under the impression his student was stoic and serious. What happened in last twelve years that he was talking more and had developed a sense of sarcasm.

"Who are you? Where is my baby boy?"

Lan Wangji chose to ignore Wei Wuxian and helped him out of bed. Once he stood up, he figured all his pains and aches were gone. "You perfected the healing sleep spell!" Wei Wuixan twisted and turned his body and grinned his best and went to the washroom to clean his face and brush.

"Don't follow me! I have to pee!"

"Understood," Lan Wangji stood outside. After a couple of minutes he called for his teacher, "Wei Ying, you are okay, right."

"Yes la! Let me clean, okay?"

Another ten minutes later, Wei Wuxian returned, his face had recovered some colour and his short hair was tied into half-a-bun and his black shirt from the previous night was replaced with another black shirt. Once he was out, he stood in front of Lan Wangji. Who was like an exoskeleton to Wei Wuxian's presence. He was few inches taller than Wei Wuxian, he was few inches broader than Wei Wuxian, as if he grew up to gobble him and hide him within himself. The thought of Wei Wuxian hiding inside Lan Wangji's body both made him laugh and shudder at the gory image.

Lan Wangji checked him from top to bottom and released a deep breath. "Would like to go to town for dinner tonight? I will pick you up from lab."

"Of course. But first, can I have some breakfast? Or did grandma's gremlins finish it all?"

"It's lunchtime. The kids will return soon, if you want, we can have it now before the bell rigns."

"What time is it?"

"It will be 1 pm soon."

"The fuck!"

"Why didn't you wake up? And did no one call for me from lab?"

"Your assistant called to check up on, I answered your call. She said it's better if you took the whole day off, she was worried. Grandma told me to let you rest, and I agreed."

"You all are going to treat me like a sick person, ain't you?"

"But Wei Ying only told me, that heartbreak can literally kill a person! We have to take care of you."

"I said that?"

"Yes, you did! Remember our first hunt together in Caiyi Town!"

"I remember it, but I don't remember saying these kinds of words! You are lying, Lan Zhan."

"Lying is forbidden!"

Wei Wuxian didn't pay any more attention to the man besides him, who had grown some serious, thick face and great capacity for sarcasm. "Yeah, yeah, law-abiding student, you just shared a room with a divorced man."

"We can, officiate our marriage."

Wei Wuxian was feeling light-hearted, so he gently nudged Lan Wangji in the belly, "Did you propose?" Hearing this, Lan Wangji quickly turned and rushed to Wei Wuixan's study table and grabbed a red paper. Paying him no attention Wei Wuixan stood on the porch to appreciate the whole place. It was a sect, it was an orphanage, and it was his mother's home.

"Wei Ying wait." Lan Wangji called from inside. "Please don't leave."

"What? I am here, just basking under the sun." Under the afternoon, the place looked serene. Wei Wuxian was still uncertain if he belonged to this place or not. He could see the care takers placing tables and bringing in lunch for the kids. He could see hungry children eagerly waiting for the bell, so that they could stuff his mouth. This brought back long-forgotten memories.

When he was a child, after he was taken out of the kindergarten because of consort training time kept clashing with his formal education! He had gone a few years craving lunches.

Wei Wuxian deliberately used to have lunch with the sect disciples who were older than he. During his early days of training, he was constantly asked to control his appetite and not show greed, the Jiang trainers were all ladies of affluent family who didn't like him. And he was only a child of eight who didn't understand the politics of marriage, he was just always hungry! And the only way he could have full lunch was when he would sneak in the queue to get his desired meal. The older disciples turned a blind eye, and sometimes he would stuff the fritters and rice-balls in his sleeves because he feared of not having food the next day.

The whole ruse became exposed when he happily ran to Jiang Yanli to offer her stale fritters and sweets, because he assumed she too was skipping lunches because of her consort training! After that he never saw his trainers, he was back to regular school, but the children of the trainers studied with him and would often pass snide comments about his heritage and how he ruined other people's life because he couldn't control his hunger all because he was a greedy orphan, though Jiang Cheng would beat them up anytime he found out about these bullies— Wei Wuxian's relationship with food was altered.

A caretaker waved at Wei Wuxian and asked from a distance, "Are you hungry?" Jiang Yanli used to ask him the same question every day after the incident with the lunch. And he would always say yes.

Wei Wuxian nodded, "Yes!" Lan Wangji stepped out of the quarter and kneeled in front of Wei Wuxian who was engrossed in the memory menu, turned to face Lan Wangji who despite kneeling was occupying a lot of space.

The caretaker, who was an old man, grinned and asked, "Do you love fish?"

And Lang Wangji who was a young man, took a deep breath and raised his hands holding a red paper ring like an offering to a god, "Wei Wuxian will you marry me?"

* TRAAAAAANG TRAAAAAANG TRAAAAAANG *

All the children spilled out of their classroom like rice from a torn sack and scattered into the eating area. There was laughter, there was smell of warm rice, there was hunger, there was aroma of fired fish and there was a marriage proposal!

And an absent-minded, confused and distracted Wei Wuxian blurted out, "Yes," to one of the two who asked him questions.

The old caretaker nodded and announced, "I will fry two pieces for you A'Xian!"

Lan Wangji's golden eyes glowed up, and he stood up, "Really Wei Ying! You will? Thank you." Lan Wangji, slipped the red paper ring on Wei Wuxian's finger. "Thank you, Wei Ying, I know how hard it is for you! I promise I will make you the happiest man," The warmth of sandalwood and jasmine engulfed Wei Wuxian again. Wei Wuxian was still processing his thought process.

Wei Wuxian stood in his embrace, dumbstruck, wondering why he trusted Nie Huaisang!

TBC

Notes: I don't own Mo Dao Zu Shi

Without saying a word, the taller of the two, poured the earthy smelling oil into his palms and rubbed them to become warm and finally massaged Wei Ying's cold feet***: I don't know if people in China use mustard oil like we do in India. I know they must use it in food. But in the part of India I live in, mustard oil is often used as massage oil and body oil during harsh winters. And often when we have a cold or fever, especially toddlers, we massage their feet with warm mustard oil. And the oil smells earthy and sometimes the fresher it is the more heat it generates making you cry just like after cutting onions!