The Child of Demonic Cultivation

Tree Part 2

WC: 1047

Lan Tian woke up in Jin Ling's arms as they hung in a makeshift hammock tied to their tree. A soft yell came from beside them.

"What the hell? Stop!" A small sharp object hit Lan Tian in the back.

"No, you have to get out now! Jiang-qianbei is not in a good mood. You're lucky I found you first."

Lan Tian tried to prop themselves up, "Lan Sizhui? What the hell are you doing here?"

Jin Ling helped support Lan Tian as they exited the hammock before following himself. "I'm trying to save your butts, so be a little more gratefully."

"Wait a minute... how did you find us?" Lan Tian said as they climbed down the tree.

Lan Sizhui rolled his eyes as Jin Ling and Lan Tian smiled sweetly at each other. "Could you love birds hurry up. Lan Wangji and Wei-gongzi have already left with Wen Ning. If you take any longer you'll never catch up."

Lan Tian glanced around before lowering his voice, "When did you find out about us? Who else knows?"

"Only me. You made it quite obvious ya know. It really wasn't a well kept secret." Lan Sizhui led Lan Tian and Jin Ling to the junior's common area to wash up. "You're lucky your uncle is as dumb as a rock when it come to love." Lan Sizhui quickly added, "Wei Wuxian's words not mine."

Lan Tian chuckled. "Ya know, doing this in secret is thrilling and all, but you know what would be even better? Seeing your uncle's face during our wedding ceremony and then kiss." A devilish smirk crept onto Lan Tian's face as the two boy's faces flushed red and they stared at them. "What? It's true." They shrugged.

"Remember when we used to dress up in women's clothes and scare the male juniors when they came to the Cloud Recesses that one time." Lan Tian did a small curtsy and fluttered his eyebrows.

Lan Tian held a couple of sticks and fanned their face bashfully. "Oh! What ever do you mean sir?"

"The look on your guy's uncle's face when he caught us was priceless!" Jin Ling added spinning Lan Tian before wrapping his arms around them. "I couldn't tell if we more impressed or confused."

"I'm just glad it wasn't my Dad who found us. Otherwise we'd still be kneeling while reciting the rules." Lan Tian gave Jin Ling a small squeeze before leaving his embrace.

"Are you gonna go? Follow your dad I mean?" Jin Ling asked.

Lan Tian shrugged. "What else could I do? I don't think your uncle's gonna let me stay any longer." They began wandering around their path touching every tree and looking at every flower.

"I'm sure he'd let you stay for at least a little longer, right?" Jin Ling watched Lan Tian's aimless, yet methodical walk around the path. "He wouldn't kick you out just because your dad's not here anymore. He's not that mean."

"Who's not that mean?" A booming voice came from behind the teens.

"Sect Leader Jiang." Both Lan Tian and Lan Suzhui automatically greeted Jiang Cheng the moment they recognized the voice.

Jiang Cheng looked down his nose at Lan Tian, "I expected you to follow those two as they left? Did they forget you, or leave you here on purpose to spite me?"

"Sorry, I'll leave as soon as possible. Thank you for your hospitality during my stay." Lan Tian glanced at the two boys beside him.

He knew that staying would only put more tension on Jin Ling and Jiang Cheng's relationship. It was better this way. That's what he had to tell himself to get his feet moving at least.

"Sizhui, I'll send for you when we I find them. Maybe you can join us later, just stay safe, okay?" Lan Sizhui nodded as Lan Tian moved to gather their things from the shared commons area. "Jin Ling, I hope we can do a night hunt again together sometime soon."

The two shared a final nod and smile before Lan Tian disappeared into the closest building.

"Are you sure they went this way?" Lan Tian clarified with a stall vendor in a nearby market.

The vendor passed Lan Tian a small book with writing material as he answered, "I assure you I would never lie to you Daozhang."

Lan Tian smiled at the man before setting off to find Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian. "I don't understand why they'd go to Yunping though."

They had quickly found a boat willing to give them passage but they knew they were about a half a day behind the others and had to make up time quickly. The boat was sturdy and run by a small group of fishermen going to the city for sale.

"Just relax kid. The more you worry and stress the longer the trip is going to be." the Captian passed Lan Tian some more writing supplies. "Why not try your hand at art, it's a great way to spend the voyage."

"Thank you." They said trying to figure out how to start.

The man chuckled, "Try drawing what you see if you're stuck. Or imagen someone you miss and try drawing them."

Lan Tian nodded as they slowly marked up the clean pages.

"What the hell?!" One of the fishermen yelled, "Someone stole all the lotus seeds."

It took a minute for Lan Tian to recognize their surrounds. Finally they were about half way to Yunping. The empty lotus lake make Lan Tian smile. He was certian that he could guess who did this. Of course it was probably the mischievous young man who'd been Lan Wangji's shadow for the past while.

"Time for you to get off kid." Lan Tian glanced up at the Captain as he helped them off the boat. "I see you've taken kindly to the arts."

"Thank you, for everything." Lan Tian held countless pages of trees, water, people and anything else that snagged their attention while on the ship. "I wish you the best in your future endeavors."

Lan Tian tried to pass the man a small bag of coins but he only shook his head, "Save the money for a room, nice meal, or for that boy you kept drawing. Why not buy him something nice?" he suggested as his crew unpacked their cargo.

With a small nod and brief farewell Lan Tian began again on their search for Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji and Wen Ning.