Fluffy WangXian Oneshots Book Two

The Favour Of Heaven Part 8

Lan Zhan opens his eyes, and the gasp that leaves his lips is a gut reaction.

Everything is green. Lush verdant shining leaves, so many varieties of plants and foliage that Lan Zhan is amazed. For the first few moments, he stands in awe just looking around. Right above them is a glass roof, and he notices straight away that the temperature in this room is much higher than even outside. Some of the trees have grown so tall that the top of them are touching the glass roof. He hears Wei Ying closing the door behind them, needing to keep the heat inside. It's also humid, and he can hear the pitter-patter of sprinkling rain.

"What's that noise?" He whispers reverently, glancing at Wei Ying's excited face.

"Come, I'll show you." Wei Ying takes his hand and clasps their fingers together as he leads Lan Zhan over a stone-paved path.

"Tell me what I'm looking at." Lan Zhan commands, thinking that the Yiling Laozu is a man of great talent and foresight. To create this tropical paradise in a place thought to be uninhabitable is nothing short of a miracle. He should have been gifted the prize of immortality based on this gigantic greenhouse alone.

With his free hand, Wei Ying rubs the back of his neck out of embarrassment, his lovely face pinking under his eyes. "We found lots of unusual plants on our travels and brought them back here to study them. Many have unique medicinal properties and are invaluable aids to curing countless health issues. You've seen coconuts, right? Well, this one is a pygmy palm tree, that one's a banana tree, and over there..."

Wei Ying talks and talks, never tiring of explaining about what they're seeing. There are so many curious plants around them, some with the strangest looking flowers, some spiky, some split open to reveal hidden surprises, others carnivorous and genius in how they trapped their prey. Some gave off foul odours, others possessing the most mouthwatering scents of sweetness. The variety of life existing in this glass bubble is just awesome. The greenhouse wraps around half of the back of the castle, and Lan Zhan can see how proud Wei Ying is of this achievement.

They come to a stop at the beginning of the orchid garden. Lan Zhan is familiar with these flowers, although he has seen only a few different types growing wild up in the high altitude of the Cloud Recesses; here, though, this greenhouse is home to hundreds of varieties. In front of him, there are climbing orchids, trees of orchids and stand-alone plants, a veritable sea of colour before them. Purples and magenta, orange, pink and yellow, reds and even a very dark brown, dangerous-looking orchid plant.

Wei Ying points to a strange contraption sticking out of the ground. As they watch, water shoots out periodically at intervals, carefully irrigating the healthy, thriving, exotic plant life. It's similar to the way the fields outside are watered regularly, except this is far more advanced, creating misty and moist air to constantly hydrate these plants.

So far, they've met a few workers who nod at them as they pass by, pruning the plants that need it, weeding the soil, and generally maintaining this green oasis treasure.

Lan Zhan murmurs, "I could spend hours here."

Wei Ying shyly leans into his shoulder, hiding his face. "Good."

They end up staying there until the sun disappears and lamps are lit along the path.

Wei Ying hasn't let go of his hand once.

"You said there were two surprises," Lan Zhan says, barely stifling his yawn.

"So I did...but we've missed the evening meal already, and you're tired. Let's go eat, and then we can go to bed. We can explore more tomorrow." Wei Ying beams at him, his sparkling silver eyes reminding Lan Zhan of star-filled midnight skies.