The aftermath of the day of the greetings ceremony is a bit of an anticlimax. No one wants to admit to or address the fact that Wen Ruohan now has his own personal bodyguard, a shadow that lurks just behind him wherever he goes, ominous and silent, and yet deadly to all. Wen Zhuliu watches everyone with a keen eye, ever ready to do the bidding of his new master.
No cultivator is safe.
Each person is totally aware that they could meet the same unfortunate end as the Yao Sect disciple who had his core crushed on the first day, for no more reason than to have looked at the Chief Cultivator wrong. There's an air of fear present where there had not been before, and everyone's on their best behaviour.
But their best behaviour means the two days of meetings addressing the problems of the Cultivation world are very boring indeed. Wei Ying makes the most of it by catching up on his sleep, and Lan Zhan indulges him by letting him rest his head in his lap as he rests, wishing the interminable meetings could end that much faster.
He doesn't really mind though, because he gets the chance to watch Wei Ying sleep, and that to him is a priceless gift indeed. They both are twenty years old on the inside, but their bodies are only five and six respectively, and he's never seen Wei Ying look so cute before.
The best thing about it is how safe Wei Ying must feel to fall asleep so readily, trusting himself fully to Lan Zhan's care. He often smiles in his sleep, and Lan Zhan knows that he will treasure these memories long into the future.
In the evenings, there are the compulsory banquets that must be attended by everyone, and the main children from all the sects are forced to eat together. This is both a good thing because Wei Ying and Lan Zhan can catch up with the progress of Wen Qing's poison-making schedule, and report anything that seems strange, and a bad thing because it allows others to behave badly.
Wen Xu and Wen Chao have already made up their minds about the rest of them; no one is important enough to them so they don't bother interacting, only saying the odd insult here and there, hoping to provoke a fight.
Jin ZiXuan seems to follow this same line of thinking except when it comes to Jiang YanLi, then he turns into a blubbering mess of wrong words and red-faced embarrassment while his cousin shoots his mouth off about the other Sect Leaders and any scandals they might have had in their lives.
When this happens, Wei Ying looks around, bored out of his skull, and there have been moments when he's thought he's seen a familiar face among the people serving food to Wen Ruohan's guests, and he wonders if Xue Yang has been busy on the sidelines. Using Wen Qing's method of communication, he asks her about their ongoing progress.
Wen Qing assures them that the poisons are being dried and will be ready to grind and add to the wine that Wen Ruohan drinks every night in a days, ensuring his death. She's not taking any chances either, with the dosage.
"Enough to take down an elephant," she guarantees.
At least that is one less thing to worry about.
Tomorrow is the last day of the actual meetings between the sects, and then there will certainly be more in the way of entertainment.
But in the end, no one is ready for what happens.
***************
On the third day of the meetings, each hour passes by much the same as the previous days have gone; someone puts forth an idea and everyone else shoots it down. The ideas are not themselves the problem. Some of them are good, some are even great, but the real issue is to do with everyone's egos. Each person loves the sound of their own voices and so nobody can agree to anything not proposed by themselves.
