A Life with You

12. Seclusion

Previously...

Lan wangji went to Jingshi with a twisted expression. He never thought about this and now he was confused.

Third Person POV

Lan Wangji opened the door and was welcomed with a beautiful view of Wei wuxian trying to hang a painting he just made. He was so into it that he failed to realize his husband entered and was standing behind him. When he tried to reach a little bit further above, warm hands covered his and took the painting, hanging it where he wanted it to be.

Wei wuxian, "Lan zhan, when did you come in?" he asked enthusiastically, wrapping his husband in his embrace. Lan wangji took a deep breath in, taking all of his husband's scent. "Just now." Wei wuxian held the jade's face and brought his forehead together with his husband, "Did the old man shout at you? my poor er-gege." After kissing Wangji's entire face he looked into his eyes trying to figure out his mood.

Lan Wangji, "No, uncle made me realize my mistake. I should have asked you before banning sect leader Jiang." Now Wei wuxian was confused, "What mistake?" Lan wangji kissed his husband before confessing, "I banned sect leader Jiang from entering Cloud Recess... and Gusu."

Wei wuxian was quite shocked, he thought his husband was trying to find jiang cheng to beat him up or something, "What?"  "I-"  "Lan zhan, you don't have to go to such lengths to protect me. And as I said I don't remember what happened. What if it wasn't his fault?"

Lan wangji, "When I came, you were trying to get away from him and he was trying to get a hold of you, he even got a hold of his sword which was on your shoulder. He definitely tried to kill you." Wei wuxian gave him a peck to calm him down, "I... have been having dreams about going to a night hunt similar to the recent one and I remember something bad happened. I think maybe, that is not a dream... do you remember that monster I told you about?" the jade nodded, "Mn, I sent a few disciples to investigate." 

*Knock knock*

The jade opened the door and saw a disciple sweating heavily, he wore a really happy face. Before he could ask anything, the disciple spoke, "Hanguang-jun! Sec-sect leader L-lan, he- he ended his seclusion!" The poor disciple was breathing so heavily he couldn't even say a sentence without stuttering. "He is c-currently in the main hall."

"Brother!" Lan wangji and his husband went towards the main hall, wangji was more than delighted to have his brother back. When they reached, he couldn't say a word as there were too many emotions going through him. His brother was sitting with his uncle and sipping tea.

The sect leader turned around, "Wangji, how have you been... it's been a while..." The younger jade bowed to his uncle who then gestured him to sit with them around the table. Wei wuxian was about to leave when Lan qiren called for him, "Young master Wei, do take a seat." At first, he thought he was hearing things but when his name was called again, he sat down with them staring at the grandmaster as if he was an imposter.

Lan qiren, "Ahem! Xichen, it's good to have you back but are you really sure. You don't have to force yourself." Lan xichen smiled and nodded, "I am sure, after all I am the sect leader. I can't be in seclusion forever." Lan qiren was quite impressed with his reply and mumbled, "If only your father was like that." all three looked at him, expecting him to repeat himself louder but they got no response. "Anyways, it's about time I take rest as well. You should get married soon." 

Lan xichen, "Uncle isn't it too soon for a marriage?" Lan qiren placed his tea down before looking at him. "The next time you go into seclusion, I should have someone to take your place as the sect leader, don't you think? And you're not getting any younger." he sneered. Wei wuxian tried his best to stop himself from laughing, keyword tried. Wei wuxian started laughing so hard that even falling on the ground did not stop him. The jades were shocked when they heard their uncle's mockery. 

Lan qiren, "Ahem! wangji, you should go to Yunmeng." When the jade processed what his uncle said, his face grew dark. He looked at his uncle expecting an explanation. "You sent a rude letter without a proper reason. Shouldn't you take responsibility for your actions?"

Lan xichen, "Uncle, how about I go instead." All three looked at him confused. He was in seclusion just a while ago, denying everyone's entry and now he wants to go to Yunmeng?

Lan qiren, "Aren't you going too fast, you just came out of seclusion. And it's not you who did it." The jade just smiled at them, "No matter what, as the sect leader and as an older brother, I should take responsibility for my family."

Lan qiren was very skeptical about everything but he had nothing against that idea so he kept quite, 'If only he had this thought before going into seclusion, I would have one less white hair.' the elder sighed and nodded his head, "Fine, then the both of you can go there."

Wei wuxian, "It's been a really long time since I last visited Lotus Pier, I wonder how it is now." The second jade held his husband's hand, "No, you should not come with us, what if he-"

Lan Qiren, "You can ask him what exactly happened that night as well, rather than assuming the worst." Just then, a disciple knocked on the door. "Come in!" the oldest of them said. 

Disciple, "Grand master Lan, Zewu-jun, Hanguang-jun, Young master Wei." The disciple bowed to all of them before turning towards the second jade. "We went to check for the monster just like you said but we found nothing, even master Wei's blood was not found. Everything was well cleaned; I suppose someone must have cleaned it."

Lan xichen, "Monster?" the first jade was confused, "Yes, when jiang cheng and I were going after the kids we faced a weird monster. It had the head of a snake and the body of a dragon." After hearing his words, the grandmaster looked like color was drained from his face. The jades noticed it, "Uncle, are you alright?" The said person turned towards the first jade, "That is impossible, that kind of monster does not belong here. It can only be found in the depth of the dark cave in the north most region." The jades understood what their uncle was saying but Wei wuxian could only look at them seeking an explanation.

Lan xichen, "That kind of monster can only be summoned here, does that mean there is going to be a rebellion soon?" Wei wuxian finally understood something, which is better than nothing. "Then we can ask Jiang cheng, I'm pretty sure he remembers what happened."

Lan xichen, "Then, prepare the horses. We will be leaving to Yunmeng tomorrow morning." The jade said to the disciple.

In Yunmeng, Lotus Pier,

After flying from Gusu, Jiang cheng was very tired. He landed in Lotus Peir before the Sunset and went for his room, but as he was walking towards his room he was pushed down by a 185cm man, though he was just 2cm shorter it still felt like a bear crushing him. Being hardly able to breathe he creaked out a tiny, "hu-ui zhoNg... g-get...off of m-e!"

Hui Zhong, "Sect leader JIANG! I thought something bad happened to you. Everyone was so worried about you." Just then the head maid Jing Yan came towards their direction to check on the loud noise. When she saw her sect leader she became the loud noise, "Sect leader JIANG!" she ran towards them and immediately fell on top of them. "We were all so worried sick, I even thought of coming to Gusu myself!"

Usually, Jiang cheng would not let anyone touch him or even talk to him casually, but this time he couldn't say anything because, well, he kind of liked it. Maybe he was destined to feel love from his clan rather than an actual family.

Jiang cheng, "If you don't get off of me now, I won't think twice to unleash Zidian." In a split second they were all maintaining 5m distance. Jiang cheng sighed before standing up and walking towards his room.

Jiang cheng, "Prepare a bath and get the horses ready tomorrow, we will go to the south."

*BTW, the image on top is Hui zhong.*