Backlash Part 2

Chapter 230: Baifeng Mountain - Neglected Courtyard

The talisman led Lan Wangji away from the banquet halls and main residences of Koi Tower. Away from the main gardens and well appointed guest rooms assigned to visiting sect cultivators. Lan Wangji followed the fluctuating heat and pulsing glow. Pulsing faster and growing warmed when he grew closer, colder and slower if he made a wrong turn. With walls and hallways between Lan Wangji and his destination, it took some trial and error.

Near the kitchens Lan Wangji was forced to step behind a large ornate statue. The kitchens were buzzing with activity. Servants fluttered in and out, entering with empty trays and leaving with trays heavily laden with steaming bowls. Some trays were stacked with towers of clean dishes, xing ware with colourful sancai glazing. Those would be the dishes used during the banquet no doubt. Excessively decorative for tableware in Lan Wangji's opinion, but consistent with Lan Wangji's expectations for the Jins.

The servants bustled in and out of the kitchen. Lan Wangji knew it was too early for them to be serving the banquet. His absence would be noted if he didn't return before the hunt ended. Not that Lan Wangji cared about that when compared to freeing Nuan-er and Wei Wuxian. Lan Wangji's new understanding of the layout of Koi Tower allowed him to assume that the dishes and food were likely being moved to a staging area connected to the banquet hall in some fashion. Keeping things close so that it could be served efficiently.

The rapid footsteps and fluttering robes of the servants slowly cleared. He could still hear people talking inside the kitchen. The sounds of the kitchen fire lost beneath the dull thunks of pans and the sharp sizzling of oil. Lan Wangji proceeded, at as calm a pace as he could manage, down the small path that would take him behind the kitchen. He was grateful he had waited for activity in the kitchen to settle. The courtyard behind the kitchen seemed to have been taken over as additional prep space. Had Lan Wangji rushed the issue he may have encountered more people going in and out of the courtyard as well.

Fruits soak in large buckets of water, either to clean them or perhaps to chill them. Sturdy tables look to have been used for chopping ingredients. Many of the tables were covered in scraps of vegetables. The smell of fish was particularly strong near the far table. Lan Wangji assumes fresh fish was cleaned there before cooking. Lan Wangji cautiously checks the buildings around the courtyard. He finds a smoke house and granary in addition to a store room filled with large cabinets and dusty farming implements.

The storeroom made more sense once Lan Wangji followed the secluded path behind it into a smaller courtyard. Lan Wangji thinks it was probably a kitchen garden at one point. There were still clusters of mustard growing between the large ornate peonies. The LanlingJin sect's gardens were always filled with immaculately cultivated blossoms, grown with the precision of a flower arrangement. No one has bothered to clear the last of the mustard plants in this courtyard, nor have they cut back the peonies that hang low over the pathway.

A tree has grown large enough for its roots to have raised part of the stone pathway up at an odd angle. Probably an apricot tree, although it is too late in the year for blossoms or fruit. The talisman brought Lan Wangji to stand right in front of it where he looked in the underbrush at its base and behind the surprisingly thick trunk. Lan Wangji catalogued meaningless details about plants and the nature of the courtyard he was in. Anything to try and keep himself moving calmly. Anything to make sure he doesn't spiral from desperation straight into panic.

"A-Die!" A young voice shouted above Lan Wangji. For one terrified moment he thought it must be wishful thinking to believe he recognized that voice. He was half convinced he would look up and find an unfamiliar child that has mistaken him for someone else.

Nuan-er flung herself from the tree branches before Lan Wangji's gaze had even settled on her. Only his quick reflexes from years of training and war allow him to catch her safely in his arms... and then she is there. Nuan-er is there. In his arms. Cradled against his chest where she sobs into his robes. It's been more than two months since he held her in his arms and Lan Wangji is overwhelmed.