Unruly (Between a rock and a hard place 4)

Chapter 10

Lan Qiren flew as quickly as he could, he really wanted to make it back before curfew. The Gusu Lan sect rules applied to him just as to any other disciple, he would not be able to enter the Cloud Recesses once the gate would close for the evening. And it would be extremely inconvenient to have to go down the mountain to Caiyi town and search for an inn.

Luckily, he made it back just as the disciples guarding the gates started closing them. They bowed to him and he responded by a nod of his head. They let him in.

To his immense surprise, he did not even make it back the last part of the stairs and he saw someone walking towards him. No, not walking, the person was running which irritated Lan, Qiren to no end because he had just gotten rid of the bad influence that had been Wei Wuxian and had hoped everything would be over. He had been certain that everything would go back to normal and all the disciples would start to behave as the Gusu Lan sect or guest disciples should. He had hoped that peace would once again reign in the Cloud Recesses.

However, it seemed like he had been mistaken. How else it could have happened that there was a disciple running down the stairs this close to the curfew? He should have known that he would not be able to make it back to their room in time like this.

Lan Qiren stopped in his tracks as the disciple came closer. He saw that it was not just some random junior who had been influenced by Wei Wuxian's wild behaviour. It was in reality Lan Xichen! What was his nephew doing running outside this late?

Before Lan Qiren could even ask, Lan Xichen was already standing in front of him, gasping for breath while trying to speak. Something, that Lan Qiren would never tolerate unless it was an emergency, and even then, he would frown at such behaviour. And frown he did, furiously at that when he heard his nephew's words which were not about an emergency but about the troublemaker who Lan Qiren had personally escorted to Lotus Pier just now.

"Uncle, do you know where Young Master Wei is? I cannot find him even after searching for several hours. I need to make sure he is safe."

Something in Lan Xichen's urgency made Lan Qiren stop before he started scolding him there and then. His nephew looked really distressed, something that occurred only rarely and what always made Lan Qiren wonder what was wrong. Had perhaps something happened to Lan Wangji? No, Lan Xichen had just said he had been looking for Wei Wuxian. What was going on?

Lan Qiren frowned even more, afraid he would never again be able to erase that expression from his face. So Wei Wuxian had bewitched both his nephews after all. That was so sad, and also very concerning. Now he would have to re-educate them both.

He decided that whatever had happened that concerned the Yunmeng Jiang sect head disciple, he did not want to hear about it now. It could surely wait until morning, until he would forget that Wei Wuxian had ever been in the Cloud Recesses. He pointedly ignored his nephew and continued up the stairs, determined to make it back to his quarters before the curfew.

Lan Xichen however did something he had never done before. He stopped Lan Qiren by grabbing his sleeve and looked at him as if it was the last thing he would ever do. His eyes were pleading and suddenly, Lan Qiren felt like the person in front of him was not almost an adult but instead a little child who had just lost his mother and was desperately clinging to him, asking for explanation why he was not allowed to see her anymore.

Despite himself, he stopped and turned back to face his nephew. It seemed to have calmed Lan Xichen a lot and he let go of his sleeve and looked somewhat ashamed. Yet, he still did not abandon his pleading: "Uncle, something horrible had happened. I really need to know where Young Master Wei is." When Lan Qiren did not look impressed, his nephew continued, his voice even more panicky and urgent now: "Uncle, I had spoken with Wangji, he informed me that Young Master Jiang had done something terrible to Young Master Wei and that had been why Wangji had to intervene."