Uncle Qiren still scoops up both WangJi and Wei Ying at the top of the stairs leading down the mountain from Cloud Recesses.
"It will be faster," he says, excusing his behaviour upon seeing Lan Zhan's mutinous glare at the indignity of being carried like a child.
His expression makes Wei Ying giggle, and it is turned down a notch or two. Lan Huan is right next to them, hiding a smile as they descend. His attention is split between carefully navigating the sometimes steep steps, and talking to the Lan Clan Head Disciple, Lan Jingshu. They are only a few years apart and the older boy has attended many more conferences than Lan Huan, making him an expert that must be milked of his experience until Lan Huan is satisfied that all of his requests for information have been met with detail.
Everyone in Caiyi Town is entranced by their arrival and immediately stop whatever they're doing to watch as the White robed group of powerful cultivators walk by, emanating peace and confidence with a celestial air. It helps that they have descended from a high place, cementing their hierarchy in this society.
Caiyi Town falls under the guardianship of the Lan Clan, and they uphold their duty of making sure the townsfolk are happy and safe. It is because of this symbiotic relationship that many people come forward and present Lan Qiren with gifts. These range from presents to the Lan Clan as a whole, and individual gifts for the two heirs.
Wei Ying is genuinely happy to see that Lan Zhan and XiChen-Ge are being recognised for their heritage, but also celebrated for their sense of duty and filial piety. Wei Ying appreciates every acknowledgement because he knows what they went through in that past life, especially throughout the Sunshot Campaign. Not one person was left unaffected in that Great War.
"Does it feel strange to you, knowing what you know is to come?" Wei Ying whispers to Lan Zhan as they follow Lan Qiren through the people-lined streets. "That they're being so kind?"
"Mn. It is becoming difficult to differentiate between the two lifetimes. The one we know, and this one. Already things are different." Lan Zhan whispers back.
"What's different?" Wei Ying wants to know.
"I do not remember attending a conference, much less one held at Nightless City. But perhaps our arrival in this timeline is akin to casting a different stone into calm waters. There will still be ripples from the initial event, but there may be more than before, affecting a larger group of people. It still remains to be seen what we shall find in Yiling." Lan Zhan purses his lips, looking far older than his mere six years of age.
Wei Ying squeezes their hands together, giving him quiet support and encouragement.
"I'm just glad you wrote everything down," he whispers back. "Otherwise we could have forgotten important events or people, and that would have been just tragic!"
"Mn."
The crowds of people wave and cheer as they leave Caiyi Town, almost an hour later.
"I know you said not to say thank you, but I'm still grateful about you suggesting to Old Man Lan that I don't like travelling by sword any more. You were right, the nightmares have been so vivid that I would have been terrified of flying." Wei Ying tells him quietly.
They have to be careful now in what they discuss, having lost the buffer of external noises from the people urging them on from Caiyi Town. It's so much quieter now, with only the swaying trees for company, with their newly formed buds and the rustling grasses at their feet as their robes make swishing sounds while they walk through them.
Spring is truly in the air, warmer down here than up in the cooler mountains from where they've come, and it's not long before a plethora of white handkerchiefs come out to wipe sweaty foreheads.
