Way too untamed, way too wild

Happy ending

Lan Wangji saw from the corner of his eye how Wen Qing passed A-Yuan to Wen Ning and then run to him and Wei Ying, immediately checking his condition. The Second Jade could not even look at her properly as he was not able to tear his gaze away from the body laying still in his arms. Wei Ying looked so frail and vulnerable right now that he wanted to cry. The boy had singlehandedly taken out the biggest threat to the cultivation world to safe people he did not even know and now he was in danger himself.

Lan Wangji did not know what he was supposed to do now, how he could help Wei Ying, if the boy would even live with how faint his pulse and breathing were. He only managed to come out of his daze when Wen Ning tapped his shoulder lightly and he lifted his head to look at him.

The boy was smiling at him, still holding A-Yuan in his arms, Wen Qing was a bit farther away, currently taking with Lan Qiren and a few other cultivators. Lan Wangji gave Wen Ning his whole attention when he spoke gently and reassuringly: "Hanguang-Jun, please do not worry. Sister examined Wei Ying and said he will be fine in a couple of days, he is just exhausted."

An immense weight fell from Lan Wangji's shoulders and his heart immediately felt lighter. "Thank you, Wen Ning," he only managed to say with gratitude as he turned his gaze back to the boy laying in his lap.

He reached out his hand and pushed a strand of hair away from Wei Ying's face. He would have liked to help him a bit more; if it had been any other cultivator, he would have just fed them spiritual energy but he did not know if he would not harm Wei Ying instead. He was not used to handling spiritual energy, nor did he have a golden core after all. He was most probably harbouring resentful energy and Lan Wangji did not want the two opposites to come to fight inside the boy's already exhausted body.

So the only thing he could do was to gently cradle the boy closer to himself and let him rest. He was running his fingers through Wei Ying's hair and humming WangXian, trying to at least provide the tiniest bit of comfort. He did not want him to have any nightmares, Wen Qing had mentioned that he often got them when he was tired or distressed. Which he must have been both now, assumed Lan Wangji.

He only lifted his head again when there was another touch on his shoulder. It was his brother this time. Lan Wangji looked around at last and saw that all the cultivators were gathered around them, looking somewhat warily at the boy in his arms. He tugged Wei Ying a little closer to himself, determined to protect him if the cultivation world decided that he was dangerous because of being a demonic cultivator.

Before his brother could say anything, Lan Wangji interrupted him, his voice urgent and pleading: "Brother, Wei Ying is good."

His heartbeat and racing mind calmed only when Lan Xichen smiled at him and reassured: "We know, Wangji, Miss Wen told us about everything. We want to help, just like you. We have all seen that despite Young Master Wei here being a demonic cultivator, he used his powers to protect all of us. We are grateful for that. As you have promised, we are now ready to take all the children back to the Cloud Recesses."

Lan Wangji only nodded, too relieved and emotional to be able to reply in another manner. Lan Xichen tapped his shoulder again. As always, his brother understood him the best.

"Do you want to carry Young Master Wei yourself or should I call someone to help?"

Well that was a dumb question. Of course he would carry Wei Ying himself, he would not entrust his protection and well-being to anyone else. He stood up, the boy cradles safely against his chest. He was light, too light for his assumed age in fact, but Lan Wangji would make sure to change this as soon as they got back to the Cloud Recesses. He would make sure Wei Ying got to eat his fill every day and would teach him more about the world outside of the Burial Mounds once he woke up.

Lan Xichen smiled at him and nodded seeing his determined expression: "I see; I will leave Young Master Wei to you then. We will now go back to the town of Yiling to rest a bit and get some supplies. We cannot very well fly back with all the children, it would be too hard on them. We will rent a few carriages for them to travel comfortably. Miss Wen explained us their situation as well, they need a good meal and a warm bath before anything else.

Uncle already agreed to take them in. Once they will be older, they can join the Gusu Lan sect as disciples or may leave if they will wish so, but for now, we need to take care of them, they are too young to be fending for themselves. I still cannot believe they managed to survive inside the Burial Mounds all this time, and no one knew anything about them..."

Lan Xichen shook his head and looked towards the barrier separating them from the harsh and hostile living conditions in the Burial Mounds. Lan Wangji would make sure to tell him all about the children later, now he had to make sure Wei Ying would get to bed safely. Who knew if he had ever slept in a proper bed? There was just so much the boy did not know and did not experience, there was a whole world waiting for him to discover.

Lan Wangji looked around and saw that most of the children were now being carried in the arms of the Gusu Lan sect cultivators. The only ones still standing on their own were Wen Qing and Wen Ning who was still carrying A-Yuan in his arms. The children looked bewildered but were not protesting. They must have been shocked by the change of situation. Some of them had puffy red eyes, they must have been crying.

But now, they were all only looking at Wei Ying in his arms. One small girl, the closest one from the group asked with a voice so full of worry that no child of her age should have had: "Is Big Brother alright?"

Lan Wangji nodded and smiled back at her, reassuring: "Yes, Wei Ying was just tired, he is sleeping now. You can play with him again once he wakes up."

The girl immediately seemed to have cheered up, just as all the other children, they cared so much about Wei Ying it was moving. The small procession of cultivators and children headed towards the town, Lan Wangji, Lan Xichen and Lan Qiren in the back.

Lan Xichen smiled mysteriously at Lan Wangji and commented: "Brother, you have changed."

Lan Wangji was stunned for a second, then he looked with seriousness at his brother, agreeing: "Mn."

He looked down at the boy in his arms, his lips parting in a small smile. Yes, he supposed he had changed, all because of Wei Ying. The boy's unrestrained and free spirit helped him to loosen up as well. And the children helped too. Before coming to the Burial Mounds, he had never interacted with a child, but now, he felt a strong urge to get closer to them, they always had something to surprise him with and their curiosity was making him smile. He would perhaps not be against the idea of teaching some of the beginner classes once they got back to Cloud Recesses.

Yes, he had changed and things were about to change as well. He was only hoping that once Lan Qiren would get to know who he had taken in and how wild the children could be, he would not go through a qi deviation.