Rebound

40

Zewu Jun had woken up. He remembered how he ended in such a predicament. He was having tea one evening with Jin Guangyao when he began feeling sick. He passed out and that's all he remembered, then a massive headache. His mind was lost and he had no control over himself anymore. He no longer felt air passing through his lungs. Somewhere deep down he knew he was dead, but he was alive again. Baoshan brought him back.

"Xiongzhang, why did you hide this from me?" Lan Zhan asked, "Why did you suffer from Jin Guangyao so much?"

"I did not realize it at first what I was doing. I blindly trusted him. Just like any good friend would do. I began to notice something off about him but he assured me he was fine," Zewu Jun explained.

"Jin Guangyao won't be a problem anymore," I said, "you have a chance to heal and move forward."

"Wei Gongzi, I owe you an apology," Zewu Jun said, "for trying to draw you away from Wangji instead of allowing you two to be together peacefully. I was naive to trust others and I am sorry."

I shook my head, "it's in the past now. I am not going to hold it against you. Lan Zhan is my husband and that makes you my brother-in-law. As far as I know, families have drama all the time."

Baoshan couldn't help but laugh at my comment, "I'd say so, but let's not forget you had to hide away for so long."

"It was fine, I got to spend that time together with Lan Zhan. Do you know how grateful I am to have that time alone with him? He helped me more than anyone could ever imagine," I explained.

I could feel Lan Zhan staring me down even without looking back at him. I smiled and I could feel my face getting hot.

"Are you blushing?" Lan Zhan asked.

"No, it's just warm in here," I lied.

"How is it warm in my cultivation rooms? They are meant to me cold as ice," Baoshan pointed out, "last time I checked, you do not do well in the cold."

"Well, maybe I am catching a cold," I argued.

"Since when do cultivators get a common cold?" Zewu Jun asked.

I was ganged up on, "okay fine, I was blushing, so what!" I growled and turned away from them.

"Wei Ying, no need to be upset. It's cute," Lan Zhan pointed out, "it is not every day that I see you blushing over me."

I huffed, "I am going to go back to my workspace," I said and left the cultivation room.

I didn't noticed Lan Zhan following me out until I felt his arms around my waist once we were inside my work space, "why so shy?" He asked.

I looked away from him, "I am not," I said with a pouting lip.

Lan Zhan turned me to face him and his arms still remained around me, "are you just shy because we were in front of my brother?" He asked.

I kept my gaze off him, "maybe."

"Normally you do not get this shy, why so sudden?" He asked.

"I do not know," I replied.

"I should punish you for lying earlier," he said, "it took a couple attempts for you to tell the truth, do you enjoy being punished?"

"They do not seem like punishments to me if you are pleasuring me," I told him.

"The punishment is not being able to walk the following day," he said.

"It seems more likely you get a bit of a punishment because you tend to me for that," I told him.

"Tending to you is not a punishment for me, I enjoy it. You do not like when others do things for you. You are learning to accept my help rather well though," he said.

He had a point. I did like being more independent and not having to rely on others to help me. Since being married, that all changed, and quite a lot too.

"Do you have to punish me tonight?" I asked, "I like have we have been going."

Lan Zhan frowned, "is something wrong?"

I shook my head, "no, I am okay."

"Normally you are okay with me being like this, what happened?" He asked. He stared at me for a moment as I remained quiet, "You are still pointing fingers at yourself?"

"Zewu Jun has struggled a lot. I don't blame myself but I feel bad for not knowing," I said.

"It is hard to know what he pushed us away first," Lan Zhan pointed out, "Jin Guangyao wanted to go after you from the beginning, and he just so happened to target my brother in the process."

I pulled out of Lan Zhan's hold and sat down at the nearby table, "if there was ever anything I could regret was making that amulet. I probably could have done without it."

"Because of that amulet, we won the war over Wen Ruohan," Lan Zhan pointed out.

"Everyone wanted to make me feel like I was the bad guy after it was all over just so they could try to get their hands on it. I destroyed it but Jin Guangyao still managed to make one similar to it. It wasn't quite as good but it was enough to screw me over in the end and cause my Shijie and her husband to die," I explained.

"It was never your fault though," he reassured me, "blame the sects for not following the proper protocols."

"Was it wrong to want to save innocent people?" I asked, "was it wrong of me at the time to give up my cultivation for Jiang Cheng because I believed it was my duty to do so? Was it wrong of me to survive the burial mounds in the first place?"

"No," Lan Zhan said, "you survived, and you tried. That matters most of all. You should at least be proud of that. A'Yuan is still alive too."

"The only living relative he will have left is Wen Ning, and he hasn't woken yet," I said.

"Baoshan said he'd take longer to resurrect," Lan Zhan pointed out, "he was like that for a longer time."

I nodded, "I never wanted to have him come back like that," I said, "Wen Qing was grateful though. She helped me so I felt I had to help her. She was like a sister to me. Wen Ning like a little brother."

"He still can be," Lan Zhan said, "I will not mind him being in your life still."

"You get jealous easily though," I told him.

"I have no reason to be with Wen Ning. You two don't like each other like that," Lan Zhan said, "and you said he was more of a brother to you. I trust you."

"Thank you," I said, "I am trying."

"I know," he said, "let's just take things a day at a time."

"Alright," I agreed.