Lucidity

25

~*Wuxian's POV*~

Even as a paperman I was bored out of my mind. This meeting was just a typical meeting for sects to complain and bitch as per usual. The only difference, Chifeng Zun was the chief cultivator so he didn't allow for any mishaps. During the meeting, I was a paperman and my main person was hiding in our guest room. Aside from a few people, the world either believed I was dead or missing, so A'Zhan and I wanted to play into that.

As a paperman, I hid in A'Zhan's sleeve. He was in his old Lan Sect attire to blend in and played off as his old self pretty well. That was until a Jin disciple and sect leader Yao started to question him. They were suspicious of A'Zhan about something but he shoved them off pretty easily. Chifeng Zun did step in by saying that they are disrespectful to someone who has countless of merits compared to those who were complaining, which was true by the way.

I crawled up my husband's sleeve and was now just within his robes near his heart. Even as a paperman, I could hear it, and it was always the best sound in the world to me. I could listen to it all day if I could. I just hugged the little paperman close to his chest for the rest of the meeting. A'Zhan smiled when he noticed where I was. I felt him rub his finger in the back of my paperman. I love this man so much. If it were in the past I am sure he'd try to make sure I was not messing around but now he was okay with whatever I was doing. It was extreme progress on his part. Now that we are married, we have come to understand each other so much better.

When A'Zhan returned to our room, I spent a couple minutes just comforting him after such a hectic meeting. Many were already asking him questions, which means gossip was spreading across to the other sects, "Are you going to be okay?" I asked.

"Mnn," he replied hugging me back, "They are just being nosy as they always are."

"Sect Leader Yao is such a hypocrite," I said, "He over exaggerates every situation he encounters. It's extremely annoying to be honest," I pulled away from the hug and looked at his Lan robes. I smiled, "Unless you wish to stay in those robes, I have fresh robes set for you along with a warm bath prepared for you."

"Thank you, Love," he said, "Xiongzhang will return shortly."

I nodded, "Alright," I said. After a quick kiss on the lips, A'Zhan went to go bathe and change into fresh robes. Xichen-Ge had returned before A'Zhan finished his bath, "Hi, Xichen-Ge."

"Hello A'Xian," he greeted, "Where is that husband of yours?"

I giggled, "I had a bath prepared for him so he will be back out shortly...And it seems, even when many believe me to be dead or missing, there is still chaos everywhere."

"It goes prove that you are not the center of the bad things," he said, "it means that someone is just pulling the strings behind the scenes. Someone is playing the master and another is playing the puppet."

"I suspect Jin Guangyao is the puppet Master," A'Zhan said as he returned from his bath, "whoever is his puppet is doing a good job creating the mess."

"Well, we have to find Jin Guangyao first. It is still odd that he just disappeared after Xichen-Ge spoke to us about his situation," I said.

"Da-Ge and I are to sit down soon and discuss places he might go," Xichen-Ge said, "but you two do not have to stick around. You can head back to your home in Gusu and I can keep you informed about everything."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"If you want to continue to play off as being dead, you cannot risk being seen," Xichen-Ge said, "it only makes sense that you two go into hiding until you are needed indefinitely."

I nodded and looked at A'Zhan, "What do you think?"

"I agree with Xiongzhang...but I do not want to let him do this alone," he said.

"I am not alone, I have Da-Ge," Xichen-Ge said, "And Ren Guang has also been hanging around a lot. I think he is my spiritual companion at the point."

"We will be able to get to him quickly anyway," I said, "It is safe if I hide for now. If you wish to help your brother I understand."

"I am not leaving you alone," A'Zhan said, "Never again."

"You two," Xichen-Ge said, gaining our attention, "Go home. Everything will be alright."

A'Zhan sighed and nodded. He then took my hand and we teleported back to our house back in Gusu, "A'Zhan, I will have some of my bees around him, Okay," I assured him, "in the meantime, maybe we can investigate further on where Jin Guangyao might be hiding."

"That is probably a good idea," he said, "I am trying to think back on who I would see him around most often."

"I wish I could help you on that, but I was not around him much after the Sunshot Campaign. Is there a sect or group he would hang around?" I asked.

"I did see him talking to a sect leader from a newly formed sect back when you started living in the mounds," A'Zhan said.

"Newly formed sect?" I asked.

"It is the Moling Su Sect," A'Zhan explained, "the leader is a former member of the Lan Sect, Su She. He was expelled from the sect after giving away secrets to the Wen Sect during Sunshot."

"Su She...why does he sound familiar?" I asked.

"He was a disciple you saved when we were handling the water ghouls at Biling Lake, and he was also the disciple who shot you with an arrow in Xuanwu's cave," A'Zhan reminded me.

He then came to me, "Oh, that person," I said, "I remember others laughing at him and mocking him because he always tried to compare himself to you. I remember that he thought if you can do something, so can he...and clearly his skills were mediocre at best."

A'Zhan smiled, "The thing with his sect is that they have similar traits to the Lan Sect. They use music cultivation as well. Though, they are not good at teaching as they do not play well," he said.

"Hmm, if they do not learn properly, they cannot teach it right," I said, "and if he is copying the Lan Sect, it means that he is trying to be the same or better then the Lan Sect...which will never happen because your family's sect has been around for a very long time and has a long history. Even if you adjust the rules and stick to your methods, it is probably one of the best...if not the best sect, in terms of education there is. The proof is the number of successful students they produce." A'Zhan's smile grew further as he listened to me talk. I was a bit confused, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"For someone who has had so many issues with the sect, you know a lot about it," he said, "I am impressed."

I sighed and let out a chuckle, "I may have been playful and mischievous back then but I did know a lot about your family history. I did pay attention to most of the lessons...if that old man started talking about the rules again, I would stop paying attention."

He pulled me close to him and wrapped his arms around me, our bodies pressed together, "I am still impressed."

"Yeah, Yeah," I said and rolled my eyes. He laughed and kissed me. I am at least glad he is happy that he knows that I paid attention to his family history. It wouldn't be the Gusu Lan Sect otherwise if not for it's education and successful student production.