Rebound

38

Baoshan spent several days hidden away in the secluded cave with Zewu Jun's body. Lan Zhan has been doing okay, but he was good at hiding his emotions. I only know he is okay due to our soul bond. I can't say the same about Lan Qiren. He has been running the sect as best as he could given the circumstances.

Jin Guangyao made a big mess of things. Baoshan had taken care of him and anyone else who was involved in his schemes. Baoshan had a place called Hell's hole, and she would place criminals within it. They will be tortured until death and then their souls get eaten by the spirits below. It's quite gruesome but it's only for those who really deserve such a punishment. Jin Guangyao has put himself in that situation.

As for Wen Ning, Baoshan was doing something similar to him as she is doing to Zewu Jun. she can bring life back to them, as they still have a conscious in some way. She has methods but I don't know them. I don't know if I wish to know them. I only know my way and it was very difficult to be done. It's also not guaranteed to work if you used my method. Wen Ning was just lucky.

For now, Lan Zhan and I spent time with A'Yuan, training him and teaching him. A'Yuan was actually at Cloud Recesses today as Lan Qiren let him join some lectures. Lan Qiren would make sure that A'Yuan was under his supervision at all times for the time being.

I was sitting with Lan Zhan in the Jingshi. We were waiting for A'Yuan to return from classes to head back to the mountain for the night. We had wards over the place for privacy. Plus, I could tell Lan Zhan needed it.

"Are you sure you are okay?" I asked.

Lan Zhan looked at me. He sat at his desk with his guqin in front of him. I was sitting at the table with a pot of tea being brewed, "I do not know what to feel."

I nodded, "you are allowed to be upset Lan Zhan. He is your brother. We didn't know he was this far into trouble. If he didn't say anything or didn't give any signals, how are we to know? Don't blame yourself for not knowing....if anything, blame me. This all happened because of a choice I made."

"No!" Lan Zhan said angrily, "not your fault. You always do that. You gave up everything and took a path that no one dared to take. People took advantage of you for that. That isn't on you."

I sighed, "it's true though, there are times where I wish I could go back and change things. The first thing I would change is going with Uncle Jiang when he took me in. If not that then maybe I could have tried something different when it came to cultivating or something. All I have ever done was try to do what I felt others wanted from me."

"What others wanted from you," he repeated, "not what you wanted for yourself. The only say you had in anything was your sword, your core, and marrying me. Perhaps helping the Wens. You never did anything for yourself. You payed the price for it."

I sighed and went to sit beside him, "so you see what I mean, you blame yourself and I blame myself, but who is really at fault here?" I asked.

"Neither of you are at fault," Baoshan said as she entered the room.

"Wai Po?" I questioned.

"All we can do now is wait," she said and sat with us, "it will be fine...now, I couldn't help but catch your conversation. Neither of you are at fault for the events that took place. The war started with Wen Ruohan and it escalated with the Jin's wanting more. They became what Wen Ruohan failed to become. You have to understand that one simple thing can cause someone to take advantage of you. Jin Guangyao was cunning and he knew how to play with people. Do not ever take his actions and put them on yourselves."

"Thank you," I said and looked at Lan Zhan, "are you feeling better?"

"I do not know, I still feel like I should have known," Lan Zhan said.

"How could we have? Jin Guangyao picked a time where trust was difficult to get and easy to break. He knew how Zewu Jun was. He might have had an interest in your brother but he still did all those things," I told him.

He sighed, "how long do you think it will be?"

"It could be a couple days to a few months. It depends on him," Baoshan answered, "if you really want to, you can always try to contact his spirit through inquiry."

"I will wait a few days first," Lan Zhan said.

"Why don't you two go on a little vacation somewhere for a week or two? I can write to you when I have news," Baoshan suggested.

"That sounds like a nice idea," I said, "what about A'Yuan?"

"I can watch him, he is a sweet boy," Baoshan said.

"You did promise me something not long ago," I told Lan Zhan.

A small smile teased his lips, "did I?" He asked and took a sip of tea, "you might have to remind me."

"I will tonight," I replied.

"See, you two need some time away," she said, "go, I can handle everything here."

With that, we did say a quick goodbye to Lan Qiren and A'Yuan before heading out. We actually had a very nice and cleansed area within the burial mounds. No resentment touched the area and it was safely warded. We had a nice little cabin there and a fresh well put in. It was a clean area we could go to.

Being hidden away, it gave us time to ourselves. Lan Zhan really became unrestrained. I didn't mind though, I loved him in every sense of the word.