Dinner is a simple affair, and once it is over, the Lan members and their group are given a single room to sleep in. Bedrolls are laid out, and Xue Yang joins them. Xiao XingChen leaves them to join Song Zichen, but A-Qing stays with the rest of the children.
Wei Ying keeps an eye on Xue Yang, noting that he's purposefully picked the spot closest to the door, so he and Lan Zhan lie down next to him. Pretty soon, everyone is asleep after a long day of travelling.
Neither Wei Ying nor Lan Zhan are asleep, and they communicate through signing on each other's palms. It's nice and peaceful until Xue Yang suddenly sits up, taps Wei Ying's leg, and then leaves.
Wei Ying and Lan Zhan follow him as quietly as they can so no one wakes up to miss them.
Outside, the stars are bright circling the moon, casting enough light to guide them. Xue Yang takes a short path outside and finds a bench to sit upon under a fragrant wisteria tree with purple flowers scattering its petals. Wei Ying sits down next to him, keeping his left hand in Lan Zhan's care.
"What's troubling you, Xue Yang?"
"I don't know...maybe it's this place. I thought things would be different here." Xue Yang pulls his knees up to hug them to his chest. "A-Qing seems to be fine, but I feel like there are ants crawling up my ass."
"Is it because of what happened this morning?"
"Partly. But the thing is, no matter where I am or what I do, something like this always happens. At the end of the day, I'm just an unimportant street kid that nobody cares about."
"We care." Lan Zhan tells him.
It's so unexpected that Xue Yang turns to look at him.
"That's the truth," Wei Ying recovers quickly to tell him.
"Sometimes, I don't know what comes over me, but I feel violent. Like I want to wash the world in blood. Every single person that ever kicked me or thought I was useless, I want to teach them a lesson. I want people to see me, not look past me, or ignore me unless I'm a convenient person to blame. And you are the only ones I feel safe telling that to."
Wei Ying shivers, and Lan Zhan pulls him closer.
"Nothing wrong with that," he forces himself to say. "Someone always needs to be killed, and someone has to do it. That's the truth. In fact, I remember one time in the Burial Mounds, we were infested with cockroaches. So many, big, small, different shades of brown, and their feelers?" He shudders. "But then, there were these white cockroaches that feasted on the dark ones, like cannibals. It was so bizarre, like nature's way of keeping their numbers down. My point is, there's always a reason why we're here, even if we don't know what it is yet. Besides, there's another reason why we came to see you."
Lan Zhan squeezes his hand, encouraging him to continue.
"The truth is, we need your help. But before I tell you what that is, I want to make something else absolutely clear. If you don't like staying here, what about coming to stay with us?" Wei Ying can feel Lan Zhan squeezing his hand harder in alarm, probably not at all on board with this sudden change in their plans, since inviting Xue Yang to Cloud Recesses wasn't on ANY agenda. But he ploughs on, regardless. "You can think about it, and the offer is independent of whether or not you decide to help us, okay?"
Xue Yang thinks about it. "You've never lied to me. I appreciate that. What's Gusu like, then? And is the offer open to A-Qing as well?"
"Yeah, if she wants to come, she's more than welcome. But over there, girls are taught separately from the boys, if she doesn't mind that." Wei Ying offers.
