Way too untamed, way too wild

"Goodbye, Burial Mounds"

"Wei Ying, we have to go," urged Lan Wangji again, fairly sure that if Xue Yang was anywhere in the Burial Mounds, it was no good for them. With the sheer amount of resentment, he would surely be even more powerful than during the war and Lan Wangji would not stand a chance against him. Wei Ying would probably neither since he was not fully trained in demonic cultivation. The children were in danger.

The boy however did not seem to be too keen on the urgency in Lan Wangji's voice. "Lan Zhan, what is happening? Big Sister did not finish yet explaining to me how you do that thing with the music. I really want to try it. Or is it that you want to teach me instead?"

If that was what it would take for Wei Ying to come with him, of course he would teach him the secrets of musical cultivation. Even though they would probably not really apply to cultivation of resentful energy.

Lan Wangji tried to explain: "There is a bad person inside the Burial Mounds. They could hurt you or the children, we have to go. Your Big Sister just told me that he is coming."

Wei Ying's head snapped in the direction of the woman and there was a short silence, apparently the Burial Mounds had been speaking to him. Lan Wangji did not know what they were talking about, but he hoped that the woman was trying to persuade the boy to come with him to the Cloud Recesses, it seemed like Wei Ying would listen to her.

After a few seconds, the boy looked at him again, his eyes wide: "Lan Zhan; we have to get the children to safety. If Big Sister says she cannot protect them from this man, I believe that we have no other option but to run. But where should we go? I do not think the people in the town would be too happy to have us, and I still have nothing I could pay with for food... They would not let us stay just like that. And I do not know any other place..."

Wei Ying looked positively devastated right now, fear shining through his eyes. Lan Wangji knew that he was not afraid for himself but instead, he cared about the children and did not want any harm to come to them. Since the Burial Mounds have already convinced the boy to come out of this place, he could as well use this opportunity to offer him to come back to the Cloud Recesses with him.

Xue Yang would have to be dealt with, but not by them. It would require all the cultivation sects to come together once again and exterminate the demonic cultivator before he would become a new Wen Ruohan. After all, one piece of the Yin iron was still missing and Lan Wangji was more than sure that he knew who was in its possession.

"Come back to Gusu with me," he immediately offered, hoping the boy would agree without much convincing.

From Wei Ying's confused face, he understood that the boy did not know what he was talking about, so he elaborated: "Come to my home, to where my sect and family live. We can protect you and give you and the children a new home."

Understanding bloomed in the boy's eyes and he gave Lan Wangji a sweet smile. A second later however, his serious face was back as he tried to dissuade the Second Jade from his offer: "Lan Zhan, that is no good. There are too many of us, it would bother you. You are not obliged to take care of us. I should find another place, I do not want to trouble you and your family."

Without a second of hesitation, Lan Wangji assured him: "No trouble. I want to help. We will be happy to take you and the children in."

Once again, the boy's head turned towards the woman as he was listening to her. Slowly, he turned back to look at Lan Wangji and he nodded his head. Whatever the Burial Mounds had said had finally convinced him: "Alright Lan Zhan, we will come with you. But you have to tell me if we cause you any trouble. We will immediately move out and find another secluded area to live in."

Lan Wangji knew that it would never happen that the children would cause any trouble to the Gusu Lan sect but he did not want to continue this pointless argument any longer. And even if this somewhat rowdy and wild group of children were not to the elders' liking, they would still take them in on principle, the children could not live in a place like this. The children just did not know any better; they only lacked proper education and guidance, something which the Gusu Lan sect could provide.

Now, they had to depart as soon as possible, they had no time to waste here. In order to not prolong the wait anymore, Lan Wangji simply agreed: "Mn."

Then he started tugging at Wei Ying's hand, trying to get him to move. The boy however looked back at the manifestation of the Burial Mounds, his eyes somewhat sad. There was another silent communication between them before Wei Ying nodded and spoke, his voice full of emotions: "Big Sister, thank you for everything. I would not have been able to survive without you. I hope that you will not be too lonely here, I will come to visit if I can. Good bye for now, Big Sister."

Upon saying those words, Wei Ying turned away and practically dragged Lan Wangji with him. He did not say anything else, just storming out of the small clearing, almost running. At first, Lan Wangji thought that the boy just wanted to get the children away as soon as possible but he understood that there was more to his haste than that when he heard a quiet sniffle.

At once, he realized that for Wei Ying, leaving the Burial Mounds must have been a tough decision. The boy probably did not know anything and anywhere else for years now, if ever. To him, it must have surely felt as if he was told to leave his home and, as strange as it sounded, his Big Sister, his family. Wei Ying's words were now making so much more sense; he had promised to come visit, and of course he would, Lan Wangji would have done the same if he was moving out from the Cloud Recesses for one reason or another.

He stood in place and tugged gently at Wei Ying's hand, making the boy turn to face him. He could see tears glistening in the other's eyes and the sight made him do something which he had not done in years, not since he had been a small child and his mother had been still alive.

He scooped the boy in his arms, hugging him tightly and letting his weep into his robes while patting his head soothingly.

"Wei Ying, it will be fine. I will take care of you. And will can come visit your Big Sister as soon as Xue Yang is dealt with."

He felt the boy nod into his shoulder. They have stayed like that for the few minutes it took Wei Ying to calm down. Then the boy wriggled out of Lan Wangji's hands and grinned at him while wiping his tears away.

"Let us go, we need to take everyone away from here."