Mission: Protect Xiao Zhan (Completed)

ARC 6: Cultivation 3

Lan Xichen sent Wei Ying over by himself and left immediately, he figured he had to give them some time alone. Also, he had to make sure Lan Qiren didn't wander towards that area.

"Lan Zhan, it's freezing. How come you can sit still?"

"Stay still, sit. Close your eyes and meditate".

Wei Ying did as he was told but the cold was piercing through his body, he involuntarily started to shiver.

Lan Zhan pulled him over, making him sit on his thighs facing him. Wei Ying started to feel warm. As for how Wangji did it, he had no idea. The Lan inner sect disciples could influence the effect the water had on them to suit their cultivation or healing needs. The freezing water was better for healing but since Wei Ying was cold, they had to make do with the warmth.

Hours later, Wei Ying finally woke up from his dwam, feeling a lot better. The pain was no longer negligible.

"I must admit this cold pond of yours is indeed effective".

"Hmm. Try cultivating in it, your strength would go up leaps and bounds but there is a limit".

Wei Ying who just recovered from a serious injury suddenly felt the need to tease.

"How about dual cultivation? Does it help?", he had a smug look on his face. He seemed to have forgotten Lan Zhan wasn't so easy to tease anymore.

Lan Zhan intended to ignore him but an idea soon struck him. "Hmm, let's try".

Without waiting for Wei Ying to say a word, he hit him with the silence spell. Wei Ying could only 'hmmmmm' in protest but that didn't stop Lan Zhan's hands from moving all over his body.

He could have moved freely, he wanted to move but his body refused to heed his command. He had noticed that as soon as Lan Zhan touched him, he melted completely.

This time, Lan Zhan went straight for the back. He pressed a finger in and Wei Ying's insides clenched around the foreign invader. He was more than ready to be with Lan Zhan in this way but he didn't want it outside, definitely not in the sacred pond.

He shook his head forcefully, Lan Zhan could tell Wei Ying wanted him to stop.

"What's the matter?", Lan Zhan lifted the silence spell.

"Not here Lan Zhan". Not here, but it could happen somewhere else, he wanted it to happen somewhere else.

......

A few days later, Lan Zhan was in the infirmary, cooking up medicine for Wei Ying let again. He had gotten into a fight with another student and he was injured. The other student was no better. What worried Lan Zhan the most was that Wei Ying had gotten into a whole lot of trouble, breaking the clan's strict rules again and again. This time, he just had to fight with the young master of a very troublesome clan.

He knew Lan Qiren would not go easy on him this time around but he didn't expect Wei Ying to be expelled. Just like that, their time together was brought to an abrupt end. He had been calm because they were close together but lotus pier was 3 whole days away if one went by sword, without stopping. If Wei Ying ran into trouble, there was no way he would know. Lan Zhan's resources and authority were limited, he was still a teenager. There was nothing he could do.

The next day, Jiang Fengmian, the Jiang sect leader arrived personally to take Wei Ying. He was around Gusu when he heard of Wei Ying's expulsion so he decided to show up and personally apologise to Lan Qiren.

He arrived back in Lotus pier down in spirits but he had already made up his mind to sneak all the way to Gusu whenever he got the chance. Little did he know that his whole life was about to take a different turn.

.......

Wei Ying was 18 when he got thrown out of the sect. After his expulsion, Madam Yu; Jiang Fengmian's wife admonished him and punished him extensively. Her husband was silent but at a time he felt she went overboard. They both got into a fight because of Wei Ying and Fengmian left the clan under the guise of taking the younger disciples on a hunt. In reality, he just needed more time away from all the nagging.

Wei Ying was getting older and as such, was starting to develop a sense of what was proper and not. He had indeed caused a lot of trouble for the Jiang clan. Madam Yu always corrected him but uncle Jiang took his side no matter what. He felt the need to apologise and he did just that.

Who knew his apology was only going to end up annoying her the more. This time, using her Zidian, she beat him to a pulp. It should be known that the zidian is a powerful spiritual weapon; a ring that transforms into a whip. It should not be drawn except in a life and death situation but Madam Yu decided to unleash her more than 10 years of pent-up anger.

Wei Ying was wise and powerful for his age but he was no match for her. He was beaten almost to the point of death and thrown out with a fractured golden core.

The golden core forms in a cultivators body after cultivating to a certain point. The core stores and control spiritual energy and without one, a cultivator was no better than an ordinary human.

A fractured core was a useless core. She had reduced Wei Ying to an ordinary human.

When he was thrown out, he slept in the street for days. This brought back memories of his childhood after the passing of his parents. He lived on the streets, surviving on thrown out food. He had to struggle with stray animals for food. Luckily, he was found by Uncle Jiang and brought back to lotus pier.

He was back to that point. When he was able to move his body again, he decided to go over to cloud recesses, Lan Zhan was his only hope. He started his journey but two days later, due to his speed and lack of money, he hadn't even left Yunmeng. Besides, he doubted Lan Zhan would take him, a broken person as a partner.

Apart from that, if Lan Zhan didn't turn him away, he would still end up causing him trouble. Lan Zhan was just a sect member, not a leader. He didn't have a say, he couldn't decide whether or not to keep him in cloud recesses. He was certain Lan Qiren would turn him away. He started to regret his past stubbornness.

He gave up on the idea of going to Lan Zhan. He thought to make himself stronger once more. In his heart, he hoped his golden core would get fixed but the more he tried to cultivate, the more the fracture increased, just like adding more load on a broken table.

Just like this, Wei Ying wandered for close to a year. He was injured and could hardly work hence earning money was a challenge, still he did his best. None of his jobs ever lasted for more than a week before his services were no longer required. One time, he was unfortunate to come across a group of young cultivators he had met in cloud recesses. They recognized him as the arrogant senior disciple of the Jiang clan but seeing his state, they knew something must have happened.

They not only made fun of him, they surrounded him and beat him up, further aggravating his injuries. He had nothing to lose so he fought back with all his might and in the process, one of the disciples of the other clan was killed.

Wei Ying was dragged back to their sect. Based on the one-sided story that was told, the sect decided to eliminate him, a life for a life, without any proper trial, without informing his original sect. He was thrown into the burial mounds.

Burial mounds was a place full of resentful energy. No one made it out of that place alive, no one was going to look for a person in the burial mounds so the sect thought they did a clean job. Wei Ying was gone from the face of the planet.

While this was going on, classes came to an end in cloud recesses. Lan Zhan couldn't contain his anxiety not hearing from Wei Ying in such a long time. With his brother's permission, he visited lotus pier. Then he was told that Wei Ying ran away almost a year ago and no one had heard from him.

Lan Zhan knew Wei Ying wouldn't casually run away. It had been almost a year. He hadn't been pulled out of this world which meant Wei Ying was still alive but where could he be? With his limited resources, Lan Zhan launched an investigation on his whereabouts.