A Ghost of Snow

42. The End and The Beginning

It had been quite a few months of peace in the cultivation world, but things were a little different in the Lan Sect. There was a man in the Cloud Recesses who loved to dress in dark colors and run around with two little kids in tow playing pranks on people every now and then. He was probably the only person who got away with it without being punished. For some reason, even the grandmaster seemed to turn a blind eye to all his antics, Lan Qiren caught himself smiling at the thought.

Today, however, was quiet, it was cold just like winters should be, but somehow the morning felt colder than usual, it reminded Lan Qiren of the place Cloud Recesses had once been, glacial and pacific. Although it was still too early for the chaos to be up, a feeling of unease settled in the pit of his stomach as a grievous notion made its way into his mind. He rushed towards the Jingshi, maybe he was getting agitated for nothing but he still wanted to check. His distress would go away only after he made sure everything was alright with his younger nephew and his husband.

On his way, he kept reminding himself that everything was probably fine and there was nothing to be worried about, Wei Wuxian had never really paid much attention to the wake up early rule. There was nothing unusual about this morning but there was a part of his brain that kept reminding him of the day his sister-in-law had left, it had been quieter than usual back then too. Nobody talked about it, but Lan Qiren remembered, he remembered every second of that day like the back of his hand. He stopped at the trail that led to the Jingshi.

About two decades ago, he had stood there too, he was going to tell his sister-in-law that her sons would visit her that day but he couldn't because she hadn't waited for him. Everyone assumed that Lan Qiren hated her, but he didn't, he respected her, she was the only one who had dared to question the sect elders about the hypocrisy that festered in the Cloud Recesses. He looked up to her because she was the only one who could stand up to his brother, and call him out on his weird ways. He had once stood there, wondering how he was going to tell his little nephews that their mother was dead, that she hadn't believed him and their father when they promised to find a way to set her free. Even after such a long time, he still hadn't told them that their mother had in fact killed herself. He remembered feeling lost when his brother had shut himself off and Lan Qiren had ended up with two little boys under his care. He didn't know whether he had done a good job at raising them, but his nephews had never complained. When he looked at A-Yuan and Lan Jingyi, he saw a glimpse of what the young masters of the Lan clan had once been. He shivered at the thought of having to tell those little kids that they would never see their Xian Gege anymore. He quickly brushed the thought away, and mustered up the courage to move forward reminding himself that it was all in his head and there was a high chance that Wei Wuxian had just slept in.

His body froze when he saw the silhouette of a man in white kneeling in front of Jingshi's doors. His heart sank as he was reminded of the little boy who he had first seen kneeling at the same spot over twenty years ago waiting for his mother to open the door. Suddenly, he couldn't breathe, he wasn't sure whether his guess was right but seeing the look on Wangji's face, who was kneeling in the snow, it probably was. When he managed to calm himself a bit, he noticed that there were also two smaller frames on either side of his nephew. A young lady stood at the door with her eyes downcast and his older nephew was also kneeling beside her wearing the stone-cold expression that was similar to what Lan Wangji looked like almost all the time.

The mere thought of Wei Wuxian's death sent a shiver down his spine, a cold feeling settled in the pit of his stomach as he hardened himself and moved forward.

Inside the Jingshi, a man lay motionless on the bed in the corner. From a distance, he seemed to be breathing steadily but on taking a closer look, the lack of life was evident. When Lan Qiren touched his forehead, his hand was engulfed in coldness of his lifeless body, his legs faltered and he almost fell to the ground before holding himself up.