Way too untamed, way too wild

What are you doing here?

Without any introductions or pleasantries, Wen Qing directly confronted Lan Wangji, her eyes and lips squinted into narrow lines, making her look both stricter and older. Her voice is sharp and ice cold. "Hanguang-Jun, why are you here?"

When Lan Wangji did not respond right away since he had been considering how he should explain his reasons, she continued, her voice gaining a suspicious undertone: "Are you here to finish what you have started at the Nightless City? Are you going to finally exterminate the hated Wens once and for all? Me, Wen Ning and A-Yuan are the only ones who had managed to run away from the Lanling Jin sect work camps. Have you tracked us here to kills us? Or bring us back to that hell? It is a death penalty all the same so you can just save yourself some trouble by running your sword through our hearts instead of dragging us all the way back there!"

Wen Qin was now panting and shouting, but underneath all her anger he could hear raw fear. Lan Wangji stood speechless on the spot, he did not even dare to breathe loudly. He was trying to process what he had just heard. How could it be that she was suspecting him for coming after them? He did not even know anything about the Wen work camps aside for the fact that they had all been closed a few months ago because all the prisoners apparently caught some kind of a plague and died despite the Lanling Jin sect's best efforts at healing them. After her words however, he suspected that this was far from the truth and that the Lanling Jin sect had done something unspeakable.

He would have to report his suspicion to his brother, he would surely know what to do and would be able to investigate in secret if such an investigation was called for.

Now however, he had something more important to deal with. He had to convince Wen Qing that he did not come because of her family, that he did not want to do them any harm. If anything, he wanted to help them after seeing what kind of conditions they were living in. Only after her angry outburst did he realize that what he has suspected about this settlement being here for a while already had been spot on. It must have been at least those several months since the work camps closure, if not longer.

It seemed like Wen Qing was looking out for his every move, probably trying to judge his intentions since he had still not said a simple word. Lan Wangji was sure she wondered if he would truly run his sword through her heart right here and now. That was such a ridiculous thought! As if he could actually kill another human being. No, not anymore, not after having to kill during the war to protect himself. It was still haunting him until today, even after the war had long ended.

He had always considered life of any living being as precious this never changed and never would. But he guessed that Wen Qing had no way of knowing this. If she knew his title, she had probably only heard about his reputation during the war and that left nothing to wonder; he had after all been present in most of the battles and had been known far and wide for his exploits.

All the while he was thinking, Wen Qing looked more and more on edge by the second. Finally, she could not bear the silence and inactivity anymore and she snapped at him: "Well, what are you doing here, Hanguang-Jun?"

Lan Wangji finally found his voice again and he tried to reassure her in his own way: "I did not come for you."

Wen Qing's expression was one of suspicion and disbelief, she rose her eyebrows: "So you did not come for us? Not to take us back and imprison us once again in that hellhole of a work camp?"

"Mn, not for you," reassured Lan Wangji again. And then, to finally explain himself properly he added for good measure: "I came for Wei Ying"

Wen Qing looked relieved for a brief moment, only until he had said the second sentence. Then she scowled at him even harder, looking like some goddess of vengeance and protection. It became clear from her next words that she cared deeply for the boy: "Wei Ying? Why? What do you want to do with him?"

It looked like she cared about the boy and Lan Wangji had to wonder what their relationship was. Was she, Wen Ning and A-Yuan taken in by Wei Ying just like the other children? Or did they specifically come to seek refuge here because they knew no one would look for them in the dreaded Burial Mounds and they just so happened to meet the boy and the other children he had been taking care of?

Or, and Lan Wangji did not even want to think about this possibility but have to because of its possible consequences, did Wei Ying had something to do with Wen Ruohan after all and that was why he knew demonic cultivation and was now harbouring the rest of the Wen refugees? Lan Wangji though it almost impossible, such a sweet and innocent boy as Wei Ying could have nothing to do with a monster that the former Qishan Wen sect leader had been. Almost impossible, but still worth checking and making sure those two had nothing in common.

And Wen Qing could probably shed some light into this whole mess. Lan Wangji decided to first check with her before he would start questioning Wei Ying himself.

"I came to investigate. There were complaints about a fierce corpse running loose in Yiling. It turns out it was a demonic cultivator instead. I want to know what is happening here."

Lan Wangji knew he was daring the situation perhaps a little more than he should but he had a strong urge to find out the truth. Not solely for the sake of the investigation as such – of course he would have to report what he had found out sooner or later, the other sects were waiting for it – but he genuinely wanted to know who Wei Ying was and why he was living here in the Burial Mounds, trying to survive in this hostile place while taking care of street children and refugees.

He was looking intently at Wen Qing who in turn was never breaking the eyes contact. The emotions in her eyes were changing too quickly for Lan Wangji to read but he could see she was considering thoroughly what she would or could tell him. In the end, her look stabilized on determination and she took a big sigh. The Second Jade knew she was ready to tell him, possibly all she knew about the boy.