Dust & Gold

54

~*Wei Wuxian's POV*~

Lan Zhan and I met with his brother at a restaurant within Caiyu town. It was a way for us to talk but also get some information. We had a private room, so once our food was delivered, we placed a silence charm on the walls to keep others from listening in.

"Xiongzhang," Lan Zhan said, "any news?"

"I have had some people keep watch on the Jin Sect. I have had Da-Ge's help of course. He has good people who are best at spying," Xichen said and looked at me, "How are you feeling?"

"I am doing a lot better," I said, "but that is all due to my grandmother and Lan Zhan's efforts."

Xichen smiled, "that is good to hear," he said, "now, I am still acting as if I know nothing of what happened to your house...well, not knowing who may have caused it. It helps me see if I can get anything out of Jin Guangyao."

"Has he said anything?" I asked.

"He did not say anything about who did it, but he heard about it. We have not disclosed anything about what happened to your property. You know we do not share anything about issues outside of the sect unless it's something extremely serious. It was odd how he knew of it. He told me he hoped no one was hurt," Xichen explained.

I glanced at Lan Zhan who seemed to have a similar thought to me, we were being watched, or something else was going on, "is he trying to get information out of you?" Lan Zhan asked.

"No," Xichen replied, "this is troubling though. I think you two really need to be careful for the time being."

"Unless we plan anything, Lan Zhan and I are hidden at my grandmother's mountain," I told him, "we can honestly set up some sort of trap."

"That might now be a bad idea," Xichen said, "are you going to try and get the Jiangs too?"

"Wai Po is already working on something for them specifically," I said, "we...found out some information after she ran empathy on me."

"May I ask what?" Xichen asked.

"Sect Leader Jiang was the one who gave me the curse all those years ago. He acted as if he never knew a thing," I explained. Lan Zhan then told him what he witnessed in Empathy with Wai Po. Lan Xichen's face paled from the information he received. We then proceeded to tell him about the Jin Lan Zhan spotted in Empathy too. Lan Xichen was white as a ghost by the time we finished explaining.

"I take it Baoshan is not going to let them down easy," Xichen said, "Does Sect Leader Jiang even realize the misfortune he brought upon his sect?"

"I do not think so, otherwise he wouldn't have done what he did," I said, "Wai Po already sent a copy of empathy to Wen Ruohan and we asked him for another trial to increase Sect Leader Jiang's charges."

"I would say so," Xichen said, "As for the fire, that one will be more difficult."

"Lan Zhan and I will be going to see the place later today. We want to scope it out once more to see if anything was missed," I said.

"Can you two handle it?" He asked.

I let out a sigh, "It will be a bit difficult but we need to do this. I have some charms I could use to look further into the matter."

"Mind if I come? I would feel better knowing you have another person with you. Someone may have that place being watched," Xichen asked.

"If you wish," Lan Zhan said, "do you know anyone else who would meet up? More people might be better."

"We can stop back at Cloud Recesses momentarily to speak with Shufu," Xichen said, "get some juniors to tag along who need the hunting hours."

"We do not mind juniors coming, but they should be a bit more experienced. We would hate for anyone to get hurt," I said.

"Of course," Xichen said.

After eating, we paid for our meal and went to Cloud Recesses momentarily to get some juniors who are close to ranking up. Once we gathered about four people, we flew to our Yiling home and got to investigating the area once more.

Lan Zhan and I stuck close together as we searched. I had talismans being used that could pick up things that may not be able to be seen by the naked eye. If it spots something, the area will glow a bright blue color showing that something was there. It could be dried fluids or even help define a footprint a bit better.

As we searched we were near the burnt rabbit hutch. I saw some movement under a small pile of wood, "Lan Zhan?" He looked and two little white rabbits crawled out. They were little ones. Almost like they were the last two who lived. They were burrowed underground which saved their lives, "we should take them back to Wai Po's. They need extra care. They are too young to be without parents."

He nodded, "they survived," he said, "that matters."

"Both being girls, I think they should be called Xiwang (Hope) and Yuanfen (Fate/Destiny/Predestined)," I said hold them carefully.

"Hmm, good names," Lan Zhan said.

We carried them with us as we looked around a bit more. Aside from the little bunnies, we didn't find anything useful. Baoshan was a bit surprised to see us holding a couple rabbits upon returning. She was perfectly happy with having them here. There was a place where she has orphaned bunnies and when she places new ones in, one of the elders takes them as their own to care for them. Upon seeing it for ourselves, it was very sweet.

"How did the meeting with Zewu Jun go?" She asked us as we watched the rabbits.

"He didn't have much, but I guess Jin Guangyao knows of what happened to our place. It was never disclosed to the outside of Cloud Recesses about our house burning. So it shows that someone is watching or even knows more than they should," I told her.

"Hmm, that may be true," she said, "I did hear from Sect Leader Wen, and he agreed to hold a new trial for you."

"When?" I asked.

"In about a Month," she said.

"A month, that is fine, if we have anything else to charge them for, we have some time to get evidence," I told her.

"I thought that same thing," She said, "come, let us go make plans then."

I nodded and took Lan Zhan's hand as we went to go to her office. It was a good place to make plans for what was to come.