A Phoenix Rising - An Untamed Story (Book 1 In Series)

Chapter 21

Lan WangJi looked over at his husband; the other man was practically dancing as he worked with the juniors. Wei WuXian was so involved in his work that he probably didn't even notice that there were more than twice as many juniors on the field for archery practice than there were for sword practice. But then again, while Wei WuXian was known for having been skilled in using a sword as a teenager, his archery feats were unparalleled. Even though the YunMengJiang Sect may have publicly and repeatedly rebuked him, there was still one of Wei WuXian's kites and string hanging on a wall in a place of honor: testimony of an archery record that remained unbroken by any cultivator from any clan. His blind-folded shooting spree at the start of the night hunt at Phoenix Mountain was still talked about in hushed voices by many cultivators from almost every Clan. Of course, everyone thought these feats were due to Wei WuXian's cultivation abilities. But everyone also knew that spiritual energy had a definite distance limit and those targets were very much out of its range.... If they bothered to put both pieces of information together, they'd realize that he accomplished these feats solely by skill.

The juniors were just as excited as his husband. They would probably brag to their grandchildren about how they were such good archers because of this morning's teachings.

A smaller man sidled up next to Lan WangJi. "Greeting's HanGuang-Jun," he offered. Lan WangJi nodded in acknowledgement, but didn't look over. Nie HuaiSang waved his fan languidly. "You still haven't thanked me." This made Lan WangJi's hand tighten on Bichen. "I gave you the gift of a lifetime.... I didn't expect you to get down on your knees, but a 'thank you' would have been nice."

"What gift?"

"Mo XuanYu wanted to bring back Wen RuoHan. I had to talk very fast to get him to agree on the Yiling Patriarch. It helped that I had found where Meng Yao was hiding the body. Speaking of hiding... where did you hide Wen Qing all these years? After I found Wen Ning, I assumed Meng Yao had kept her alive as well, but I couldn't find any news of her."

Lan WangJi looked down at Nie HuaiSang. "We found her in the city only a few days ago. Why did you bring him back?"

"He was my friend. He never looked down on me for not being a good cultivator or student. And the more I investigated my brother's disappearance and death, the more I became convinced that he wasn't guilty of the crimes he was killed for. I thought as long as we're going to be bringing back an evil cultivator to avenge Mo XuanYu, we might as well bring back one who wasn't going to continue on a murder spree or power struggle afterwards." Nie HuaiSang smiled slyly. "I put him right in your path." Then his smile turned wry. "I did not expect him to run from Mo Manor leaving you behind, though.... I honestly thought he'd choose to stay with the safety of the one friend he knew he had left."

"You planned everything." Lan WangJi looked back at his husband. One corner of his mouth twitched upwards in appreciation of the shear joy the other was exuding.

"I tried," Nie HuaiSang admitted. "Of course, it would have been helpful to know that he had given his Core to Jiang Cheng all those years ago. Speaking of which... if you only met up with Wen Qing a few days ago, who transferred a Core to Wei WuXian?" Lan WangJi remained silent and forced his hand to stay loose on Bichen's scabbard. "Was it Wen Ning?" Nie HuaiSang probed. When Lan WangJi still made no response, Nie HuaiSang sighed. "Keep your secrets, then. But a thank you would be appreciated."

"Thank you?" Lan WangJi looked down at the smaller man. "How many people did you have killed to return him to life? Those at Mo Manor may not have been the nicest people in the world; does that mean they deserved to die? I am exceedingly grateful that Wei Ying is alive; I will not agree with your methods. You said you found his body: why didn't you tell me or Jiang WanYin so we could have buried him properly?"