The tale of the fox and the dragon egg

Chapter 21 - The Trial

Lan Xichen was the one in the front, his back straight and his eyes serious. Old man Lan Qiren was sat to his left behind him and Wei Ying remembered that hateful gaze very clearly from his teenage years. But the one person that he found himself staring at was Lan Zhan. Whose gaze was drawn to the ground.

Wei Ying would have never thought to see him like this. He couldn't help but stare. Couldn't help but beg in his head.

Begging was much too late, he thought. 

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Wei Ying waited. And waited.

And waited.

The room was dark. Almost no light passed inside.

He was alone.

Not even A-Yuan was here right now.

The day prior, after the banket, he had been watched by every eye. More sect leaders arrived at Koi Tower, keen to see the Yiling Patriarch that tormented the cultivational world once more. Wei Wuxian was met with almost every face that went against him so many years ago and he had hidden more behind Lan Zhan, who said nothing on the matter.

The fox ached to stay with the Lan, because he wasn't sure what everyone else would do when he was alone. But with every clan leader gathered here, it was only a hopeless dream.

"You surely don't want to let him roam free here!"

"We will hold a trial tomorrow and you want him to sleep in one of the rooms here, right next to ours?"

"Just imagine what he could do. In the night, when everyone is sleeping."

"Hanguang-jun must be under a curse! Not even he can hold the Yiling Patriarch!"

Wei Ying didn't know if he should feel flattered by their imagination of how huge his powers were or if he should cry. His brain instantly settled on none of them. Instead, he only sat next to Lan Zhan, who was looking at the gathered guests with a mental frown.

Lan Xichen was next to Jin Guangyao, trying to settle down the other clan leaders. He didn't have much success, as much was apparent on the energy that drowned them. Lan Zhan was tensed up beside the fox, his golden eyes firm and gazing at those that dared to stare into their direction.

"Clan leader Yao, please settle down. I assure you, brother Lan assured me that Hanguang-jun is very capable", Jin Guangyao said, trying to defuse the situation. It only fuelled the other more.

"Clan leader Jin, not to disrespect. But Hanguang-jun didn't participate in the war so many years ago. Only in the recent years did he become the well-known character that we know now, so how can he keep him at bay without knowing his powers?"

Lan Zhans glare moved towards him, but in the presence of so many other clan leaders that shared the same opinion as the loudmouth, he didn't take it seriously.

"Right, right! He is the evillest person in this world! Just remember what he did to Jin Zixuan."

"Yes, yes, I was there!"

"Murdered in cold blood, I tell you. And with that Yin Tiger Tally, he turned against all of us. And now he came back for us!"

The room exploded in voices and Wei Ying closed his eyes. He desperately wanted to speak up, but right now it would do more damage than everything else. If he wanted to kill everyone in this room, he would have done so a long time ago.

To get some calmness back and to keep everyone from exploding, Jin Guangyao was forced to bring him into the dungeons down beneath. Not even Lan Xichen was able to settle them down, his face sour as he listened to them already shouting accusations.