Lotus Flower

Blooming lotus flower

Lan Qiren was on his way to the Wen remnants' settlement. He was walking the now well maintained and broad path which was lid by lampions every few steps.

He had to smile a little. This was something that the Gusu Lan sect would normally not do but the Wen remnants were allowed to build a place for themselves in the back mountains and not be completely bound by the rules. Moreover, today was a special day so Lan Qiren would surely not be the one to make a fuss about this. He actually liked it.

He was glad that the elderlies had now completely settled in and were prospering. Every single time he went to their settlement to visit, he was treated with kindness, respect and gratitude. And every single time, it was making him just a little bit uneasy deep down. He did not feel like he deserved the Wen remnants' gratitude for offering them a place to stay after the failed second siege of the Burial Mounds.

They always said that they were in his debt for stopping the siege and not letting the rest of the cultivation world massacre them, but Lan Qiren still did not think he should be the one they were thanking. Wei Wuxian had done more for them than he ever would be able to.

Lan Qiren had been more than prepared to slay down any presumed demonic cultivators and it had been only because of A-Yuan that he had been able to open his eyes and stop the siege just in time. He had little merit in that. If anything, he should be apologizing to them for being blind to their suffering before. He was just making up for his own mistakes, nothing more.

Still, despite everything, the Wen remnants insisted that it had been his doing and continued showing him their gratitude every time. He had somehow gotten used to it by now and was not arguing with them over this matter anymore. Not when they have accepted him as part of their family and always invited him for all the events they were hosting.

Just like this time. Today marked the exact day three years after Lan Qiren had brought the Wen remnants and Wei Wuxian to the Cloud Recesses. Each year this day without a fail, the Wen remnants got all together for a dinner party and they always invited him to join them. When he looked back, so many things had changed in the short span of three years.

The back mountains now became a cultivated piece of land where laughter and happiness reigned. It was so different from the rest of the Cloud Recesses that when Lan Qiren came there, he felt like in another place entirely. He loved the convivial attitude of the elderlies and the way they thought of him as if he was their nephew or son. And he had no problems overlooking a few broken rules about noise or excessive emotions, after all they had been through, they deserved to be cut some slack. The Wen remnants had also never abused his good will so he did not see any need to reprimand them.

Just as Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, Lan Qiren had to admit. After his nephew had recovered from his punishment, he and Wei Wuxian continued living in the Jingshi together with A-Yuan. The former demonic cultivator had slowly regained his younger self's attitude and he was smiling and causing trouble all around, in moderation though. Lan Qiren did not have the heart to even scold him at this point; he was just happy that he was allowed to be part of his younger nephew's small family and he did not want to sour his relationship with them.

For there was only a fragile balance still. He could tell when he and Lan Xichen went to visit, he was treated completely differently. There was always a polite distance between him and the young couple. The only one who did not approach him with any hidden fear or uneasiness was A-Yuan. The child had grown well during the years and Lan Qiren just knew he would be an outstanding cultivator in the future, surely one of the best of his generation.

Even now, when he just started his cultivation training, he was already excelling in everything. Since Lan Xichen had not taken any spouse yet and did not have any heirs, the adopted A-Yuan was Lan Qiren's only grandnephew. He was his pride and joy and he could not afford to have tense relationship with his adoptive parents.