Taking roots after the misty rain

Ch-22

"Shijie! Look, I got us some fish!" 

Wei Wuxian shouted as he walked to the courtyard.

"We can have them for dinner tonight. I have checked, and Shufu isn't in the Sect premises today." Wei Chi said as she jumped onto Jiang Cheng's back and looped her arms around his neck. 

"Cheng-Ge, give me a ride to the gate, I am tired." She said in a childish voice. 

"Look at yourself, how old are you this year?" He grumbled as he bent a little and continued towards the courtyard with Wei Chi still on his back. "You are about to get married soon, is this how you will act later?" 

"Aiyah! Since you know that I won't stay with you guys for long, then just spoil me for a few days." She whined. 

"A-Jie is to be married soon too, do you see her acting so?" He asked. 

"Yanli-Jie is an angel, of course, she is different from others." 

"Exactly, A-Jie is an angel and you are a little gremlin." Jiang Cheng said and loosened her hands from around his neck. He playfully flicked her forehead. 

"Ow!" 

"A-Cheng, Xiao Chi, come over quickly." Wei Wuxian waved and beckoned them to come closer. 

"A-Jie, since we are having a feast for ourselves today, why don't we invite everyone else to join us too?" Jiang Cheng suggested. "We have a free day today, we can all relax together." 

"A gathering..." Jiang Yanli pondered, 'It could help us build trust and strengthen connections while giving off a generous impression of ourselves. Not a bad idea.' She thought.

"Alright then, invite everyone you want to. I'll take care of the food." She agreed. 

"Ge, I want to talk to you about something." Wei Chi tapped Wei Wuxian's shoulder. 

"Go ahead." He shrugged. 

"Let's step aside, shall we?" She said and pulled him towards the other end of the courtyard while Jiang Wanyin and Jiang Yanli discussed who to invite. 

"What is it?" Wei Wuxian felt the palpable seriousness of the matter. 

"Well, how was your relationship with Lan Wangji in your last life?" She asked. 

"Lan Zhan and I, our relationship cannot be encapsulated with a single word. Even I don't know what to call what we had." He said wistfully. "Lan Zhan was the Light Bearing Lord, Hanguang Jun. And, I was the biggest scum in this Jianghu, Yiling Laozu. I spent my days dabbling in the diabolical ways while he was the epitome of righteousness." 

"There's more to this than what is visible, isn't there?" 

"The world thought of us as enemies, but I wondered often if we really were. Lan Zhan visited me Yiling, he met the Wen remnants in Burial Mounds and even bought toys for A-Yuan. We searched for Yin iron together and slaughtered the Xuanwu. I even considered him my soulmate, maybe he reciprocated this sentiment. In the end, when I jumped off the cliff in Nightless City, he held my hand and tried to pull me up even though his arm was bleeding. I jerked my hand out of his, but then he jumped with me. He turned me so that he hit the flames before me. I never knew what to make of that situation. I just didn't understand why he did that." 

Wei Wuxian was slowly spiralling into a rant. 

"Lan Zhan, he could've shone atop the world like a bright pearl. Why did he give away his life for me? I tried to push him away so many times,  yet he insisted on entangling himself with a demon like me. Why did he not care about his reputation at all? Did he know that people called him a fool bewitched by the Yiling Patriarch behind his back? He was such a fuddy-duddy in the Cloud Recesses, why did his head become so muddled after the war?"