Backlash Part 1

Chapter 104: The Conversation No One Wanted

Wei Wuxian was sitting on a sunny patch of grass near the children's dormitory. He was sitting in a cluster of dozens of small children. Young adolescent disciples were kneeling or standing around the outer edge of the group interspersed with adult caretakers looking after infants and young toddlers. You would think from the setting that Wei Wuxian was telling a story to an attentive audience. This was hardly what Lan Wangji had imagined when Wei Wuxian offered to explain what was going on to the children and young disciples.

Lan Wangji had expected Wei Wuxian was only volunteering in order to help Lan Wangji. It was painfully obvious that no one wanted the responsibility of explaining what had happened, especially not to the young children. Several elders had suggested not saying anything. Lan Wangji had seen the deep frown settle on Wei Wuxian's face when he heard that. It was clear Wei Wuxian had an opinion about how to handle this, so Lan Wangji agreed when Wei Wuxian volunteered.

Now Lan Wangji was watching with something akin to awe as Wei Wuxian explained that bad people had attacked. In simple terms Wei Wuxian explained that Cloud Recesses was attacked. Wei Wuxian told the story, with complete honesty, but not gruesome details. He talked about the cultivators and disciples who fought to defend their home and their people. He talked about how much it helped those cultivators be brave, knowing that the young disciples and children had followed directions and gone to safety.

Wei Wuxian talked about how scary it was that people broke into their home to attack. Lan Wangji could not believe Wei Wuxian was inviting these young children to think about how their home was violated. Then the children started talking. They started asking questions about why they were attacked. How the bad people broke in. Some of them talked about how scared they were having to run from their beds into the back hills.

Wei Wuxian listened attentively and answered questions honestly. He explained all of the things involved in keeping Cloud Recesses safe. He talked about barriers and wards like invisible walls to stop intruders. He talked about how powerful the ones around Cloud Recesses were, because of how long they held up when attacked. He made it sound like Cloud Recesses had the best barriers in the world, because they could withstand such a strong attack long enough for the children to get to safety and the older disciples to get ready to fight.

Wei Wuxian talked about the scorch marks the kids had seen on a lot of the buildings. He told them that the bad guys had tried to burn down their homes, but they couldn't do it. He talked about the talismans and wards that helped protect their buildings. Lan Wangji saw more than one child smirking smugly as Wei Wuxian described the bad guys getting frustrated and giving up. Wei Wuxian did not shy away from explaining that many people did get hurt. Wei Wuxian talked about how hard the healers worked to help people get better.

When Wei Wuxian explained that people had died, Lan Wangji felt his breath catch in his throat. Wei Wuxian explained that the defenders of the GusuLan sect had killed the enemies that came to hurt them, the same way they would kill a monster on a nighthunt that was hurting people. He explained that some of the GusuLan sect cultivators had also died. Wei Wuxian didn't vaguely talk about them being 'gone' or 'asleep' or 'far away'. He used examples like flowers and animals that the younger children might be more familiar with. Wei Wuxian talked about reincarnation.

Wei Wuxian responded to young disciples blaming themselves for not helping, with calm explanations of what they did that was helpful. He explained that the fault lies solely with those who chose to attack. Some of the words sounded a lot like things Wen Qing had said to Wei Wuxian. Lan Wangji supposed it was sometimes easier to say it to someone else than believe it yourself.

Soon the questions of who had died came and Lan Wangji understood why Wei Wuxian had asked for a list of the dead before he went and spoke with the kids. Lan Wangji found it strange thinking of it as speaking to kids. While some of them were only two or three years old, some of those young disciples were thirteen. Wei Wuxian was only four years older than them, but Lan Wangji supposed neither he nor Wei Wuxian had the luxury of being considered children.

Lan Wangji had not followed immediately when Wei Wuxian went over to gather his audience, but Lan Wangji suspected Wie Wuxian had had a few small conversations with someone beforehand. The most tearful children were all in seats suspiciously close to Wei Wuxian. It took only seconds for a few of the little ones to climb into Wei Wuxian's lap. Lan Wangji noticed that several of these children had looked significantly sadder from the start of this conversation, even if they were only now shifting closer to Wei Wuxian. Lan Wangji wondered if Wei Wuxian had perhaps talked to a few of the children first, ones who had lost family members.

"Did... Did he just tell them who died? Those kids are too young..." Wei Wuxian turned towards the voice softly complaining on the side. A middle aged man was whispering disapprovingly. Lan Wangji took a step towards the senior.

"If you dislike his explanations, do it yourself." Lan Wangji stated calmly. The man looked taken aback. He grumbled something unintelligible before walking away. Lan Wangji returned his gaze to Wei Wuxian. He had never seen Wei Wuxian like this. Surrounded by children, speaking to them in a tone sometimes bright and warm, sometimes calm and soothing. He seemed comfortable and happy, even with the grave content of their discussion and small tearful faces buried in his robes.

'Would Wei Ying want children?' As soon as the thought entered Lan Wangji's mind it would not leave. Lan Wangji was now imagining Wei Wuxian playfully running through the Cloud Recesses with a young toddler. He imagined having to wrangle an overexcited Wei Wuxian into a bathtub with their child because both would be covered in dirt and grass. Lan Wangji felt his ears heating up as he quickly made his retreat before Wei Wuxian could spot him and question what he had been thinking about.

It didn't take long for Lan Wangji to calm down. There were plenty of things to dampen his mood and Lan Wangji needed to deal with many of them. Lan Wangji's first stop had been to the infirmary and orchid room. The infirmary was still housing the most severely injured, but there were too many in need of close care to house them only in the infirmary. As such the orchid room was still serving as an impromptu infirmary instead of a lecture hall. It didn't exactly seem to be the time to resume lectures anyway.

The healers were exhausted, but they assured Lan Wangji that they were putting a rotation in place to make sure they had proper rest. Lan Qiren was expected to wake up tomorrow or the day after. Depending on his condition when he awoke he may be able to move back to his own rooms by the end of the week. The same could not be said of Qingheng-Jun. Sect Leader Lan was stable for the time being but the healers were unsure if he'd ever regain consciousness. Let alone survive his injuries. Seeing Qingheng-Jun was strange. This was his father, although Lan Wangji could only take the words of others on that. Lan Wangji had never met his father. He had never heard his voice, or seen his face. This man was a stranger to him.

Lan Wangji thanked the healers for their hard work before allowing himself to look around and soak in what was happening around him. Young disciples were carrying arm loads of fabric and containers of grain. It was like watching a line of ants marching in single file to and from their home. A small group of younger children were helping to move and count items in the kitchen. Distantly Lan Wangji could see a similar group doing much the same thing with a storehouse.

A boy of twelve was sanding a scorched wooden beam to remove the blackened marks. The QishanWen sect had tried very hard to burn the buildings down, but Wei Wuxian's talismans had been resilient. Much like the membrane that had doused the flames from incoming arrows, the talismans had doused the flames on the buildings as quickly as they started. Most structures were completely untouched aside from a few blackened marks, and it seemed someone had already decided this was a perfect task for young disciples.

A few structures would need more proper repairs. Buildings that had been sliced by swords or kicked with frustration. Broken tables and shattered pottery from when the QishanWen sect soldiers vented their frustration. It was nothing that couldn't be repaired, but some of it required more skill than simply sanding off the discoloration. Unfortunately the library was not so lucky.