Lotus Flower

Frost over lotus pond

It had been already a week since the Wen remnants and Wei Wuxian came to live in the Cloud Recesses under Lan Qiren's and the whole Gusu Lan sect's protection. Lan Qiren had feared that they would be unruly, after all, they did not know about the sect's rules and they had spent too much time with the mischievous demonic cultivator. However, nothing like that happened.

The Wen remnants, including A-Yuan as Lan Qiren came to learn the little child was called, were laying low and if anything, they adjusted perfectly to their new life style. They had been fearful and wary on the first day but they had already known about all the rules on their second one and were now following them to the letter, perhaps even better than some of the Gusu Lan sect disciples.

By all means, Lan Qiren should be satisfied. Yet, he was not.

The Wen remnants stayed in their designated part of the Cloud Recesses, a little further away from the main residential areas so they would have some privacy and peace after what they had all went through. They needed time to recover, both physically and mentally.

They had all had a physical exam the moment they stepped in the Cloud Recesses and the healers had been saddened to see such a poor health in the elderlies. Their life of starvation, fear, hard labour and resentful energy in the Burial Mounds had greatly affected them. Some of them had even been bedridden as soon as they left the damned place. Perhaps the change was too much for them or their body simply shut down when they did not have to think about and strive for survival every second of each day.

The accommodations they had been showed into were as comfortable as Lan Qiren could find this quickly. There were not many buildings suitable to their needs in the Cloud Recesses so they were provided with one of the old store houses which had been cleaned and the space had been divided by privacy screens. A new building was under construction but it would still take at least a week for it to be finished. The only ones who got a proper room in the area above the storehouse part were Wei Wuxian and A-Yuan with his grandmother.

Nevertheless, Lan Qiren made sure the elderlies would have everything they needed. They each got their own bed and warm blankets since they were so emaciated they could hardly keep from shivering in the cold air of the early spring here in the mountains. They have also been provided with several sets of new clothing in the Gusu Lan sect colours. And of course as much food and other necessities as they could desire.

Healers were also at their disposal all days long and even in that short week, the overall health of the group improved drastically. Now the elderlies were starting to be less scared of them and were opening up little by little. They finally believed that no one wanted them any harm here and that the Cloud Recesses was indeed their new home.

Lan Qiren had given them a small piece of land for them to start farming as per their request. He had been reluctant to let them do any physical labour, they were now nearly all at an age where they should just sit back and relax, enjoy a peaceful life and sip tea all day long. Yet, the grandmother of the child insisted. She said that they had been used to taking care of themselves for the longest time and they could just not get used to doing nothing.

Lan Qiren suspected that there had been a different reason to all of this. He was afraid that they did not want to be a burden to their hosts. Hence their request to be also provided utensils to sew clothes, cook, make furniture and basically be completely independent – or at least as much as they could given that the materials for crafting had to still be provided to them – of the Gusu Lan sect or anyone else really.

Lan Qiren did not mind though. He had gotten quite attached to the Wen remnants in this short time as he would go to see how they were adjusting every day. After all, they were all his age or even older and they could find common ground in understanding. Though, since they were not cultivators and had lived through harsh condition for years now, they had way more experience than him who had been sheltered in the Cloud Recesses, only submerging himself in the theoretical studies and books.