Unruly (Between a rock and a hard place 4)

Chapter 7

It took Lan Qiren just a little less than two hours to write the letter. Of course, he would normally not need so much time but there was the matter of first calming himself down so he would be able to fully concentrate. Perhaps because he was older now, or maybe exactly because he was older, he did not know how to manage his most intimate needs, he no longer remembered how bothersome it had been during his youth.

And so the only thing he could do was to subdue his bodily desires with meditation, which was quite time consuming unfortunately. Luckily, he would get Wei Wuxian back to Lotus Pier today and he would not have to see him ever again, at least he hoped he would not. He would ban the boy from the Cloud Recesses and he would be extra careful from now on whenever he would have leave his home.

He closed his eyes for several second, recollecting himself once again. The letter for Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan was nearly folded on the table in front of him. Now, he had to get We Wuxian's sword from his quarters and then leave for Lotus Pier. The boy had not moved the whole time he had been writing and Lan Qiren assumed he was finally sober enough to actually be able to fly.

He stood up and opened the door of his room. He called a servant who was just passing by and ordered him to go fetch the Yunmeng Jiang sect head disciple's sword for him. He was not about to allow Wei Wuxian to roam freely around the Cloud Recesses and cause more trouble if Lan Qiren would have sent him to collect his weapon.

The servant came after several minutes of tense silence when Lan Qiren was sitting behind his desk and looking off to nowhere, only too aware of Wei Wuxian's presence in his study. It had been nerve wracking and he had to do his best to avoid thinking about the boy's mother in order for his body not to react in any shameful way again.

The servant came inside and presented him the requested sword. Lan Qiren waved him off with a single gesture of his hand and turned to Wei Wuxian: "Stand up, we are going to Lotus Pier."

The boy flinched when Lan Qiren spoke to him after such a long while but rose obediently. He looked at him with an expression that Lan Qiren would not have been able to interpret even if he tried really hard. Not that he had tried at all though, he had no intention of understanding the other's state of mind; he already knew that the boy was not thinking anything good. When Wei Wuxian opened his mouth to protest, he gave him a strict glare which caused the other to shiver and forget what he had wanted to say.

They left Lan Qiren's quarters in a heavy silence. The boy was dragging his feet, probably already fearing how his adoptive parents would welcome him back when he had caused so much trouble. But he remained silent and subdued which Lan Qiren considered his victory.

They made their way to the gates of the Cloud Recesses and Lan Qiren stopped just outside. He turned around and gave Wei Wuxian a withering look which kept him in line.

"Mount your sword," he ordered sternly, no room for arguments was left due to the tone of his voice, "I am taking you back to Lotus Pier. I will let your sect leader to decide your punishment."

It seemed to him that Wei Wuxian had shuddered from head to toe. Good, at last he was gaining understanding of the situation he was in, he had much to look forward, Lan Qiren made sure of that. He had detailed everything in his letter, including a request that Jiang Fengmian would make sure Wei Wuxian understood that unions between two men were not something he should be publically leaning towards. Especially not when it involved disciples from other sects or even seducing and thus ruining the future of the Gusu Lan sect heirs.

Lan Qiren was still bitter about both his nephews being tainted. He would have to remind them of their discipline as well. If something like this happened in the future, if someone would try to trick them and seduce them, they had to be able to detect such behaviour and defend themselves. Had it been Lan Qiren's fault for sheltering them too much and not instructing them enough? No matter, he would make sure they understood their errors and never repeated them.

He had been so lost in his thoughts that he almost forgot to pay attention to the troublemaker in front of him. His head snapped to look back at Wei Wuxian when the boy spoke hastily, a little tint of panic in his voice: "But Jiang Cheng..."

Lan Qiren scowled and interrupted: "Jiang Wanyin will remain here for the time being. Let us see what your sect leader has to say about your behaviour first."

He could not say if the expression which flashed over Wei Wuxian's face was relief, panic or perhaps shock. He did not care anyway; he did not have to be considerate when it came to someone as troublesome as the Yunmeng Jiang sect disciple. Since he was evicting him from the Cloud Recesses, it was now up to Jiang Fengmian to handle him. He just wanted the boy to be out of his sight already.

"Do not stall, mount your sword!"

Finally, it seemed like Wei Wuxian had understood that Lan Qiren was out of patience and would not listen to him anymore. Slowly, he mounted his sword, waiting for the elder to join him in the air. Satisfied, Lan Qiren got onto his own weapon and led the way to Lotus Pier. It was not all that far, if he would hurry, he could still make it back before sunset.

But, once again, it seemed like Wei Wuxian wanted to cause as much trouble as he could even now. He was flying deliberately slowly, often swaying and seemingly losing his balance. Lan Qiren had to turn around all the time and slow down in his flight so he would not lose him. It was truly infuriating.

"Wei Wuxian, pick up the pace," he barked when he could not bear their slow progress forward anymore.

For a second, he was afraid that he had made a mistake when the boy faltered on his sword dangerously and looked like he would fall down for real this time. Luckily, he regained his balance immediately after that and finally kept a proper pace, flying just behind Lan Qiren. It did not take long and Lotus Pier was already in sight.