Soul bonds

White lotus and gentle joy

Lan Zhan looked around the Wei Ying's room. It was so different from his room. It was square, spacious, elegant, luxurious, filled with a thousand things yet it did not feel cluttered. Eight large panes serving as doors and windows were open and the curtains flowed freely, like large petals of a lotus. The outer terrace gave onto a deck leading to a private pavilion overseeing the lakes.

It was beautiful and so different from the Cloud Recesses. Lotus Pier was filled with sunshine even in autumn. It was cool without being cold. The land remained verdant. It was in its own way serene; man and nature had found a harmonious way to coexist.

There was no barrier in Lotus Pier and its people lived freely. Many times, children staying in nearby villages would just pop in to play with the disciples; merchants would come in to sell their products on the dockyard; travellers would simply come on the deck to admire the beauty of the lakes and peep into the training hall to watch the martial display of the disciples. Everyone was given a warm welcome.

Lan Zhan was concerned when he saw the easy-going life of the Jiangs. He knew that war was brewing and could not understand why the Jiangs did not reinforce the security of the place. He would talk to Wei Ying about it later.

He knew that Wei Ying wanted to spend time with his fellow disciples but was quite reluctant to leave him. Once Lan Zhan was comfortably settled, he asked Wei Ying to go meet his friends. Actually, he wanted to spend some time alone in Wei Ying's room; it was like a treasure trove and there were so many things to discover.

He smiled when he saw the sketches near Wei Ying's bed. He sat on the bed, running his finger on his pillow and his quilt. So this was the famous quilt that his ShiJie made for him. It was indeed very beautiful; he moved to the reading area and found several books and scrolls; the vast range of subjects that interested Wei Ying surprised him; he found rare scripts on cultivation practices, theoretical medicine, astronomy, advanced physics, history, arts and strategic warfare. He quickly flipped through a few books and saw the annotations in Wei Ying's handwriting in them. He wondered how he got the time to study all these. Everyone knew that Wei Ying spent most of his time goofing around, flirting or kneeling in punishment!

He found another shelf with an impressive collection of erotic literature and cheap porn. He glanced through quickly, smiling and blushing as he read the notes in some of the books. He smirked, and thought that he would definitely be asking Wei Ying about these, especially about those pages marked "To do with Lan Zhan".

On his table, he found a white scroll, tied with a magenta ribbon. He eyed it curiously before giving in and untying the knot to unroll the scroll. It was addressed to Wei WuXian, the White Lotus of the Yunmeng Jiang Sect, the highest recognition that the Jiang Sect could bestow on a disciple in a generation for outstanding cultivation capabilities.

Lan Zhan's heart swelled with pride; and at the same time, a sharp pain pierced his heart when he remembered the price Wei Ying paid to uphold his values. He was grateful for the gifts of love, bliss and happiness that Wei Ying brought into his life. Being with him was fulfilment in itself. He knew that Wei Ying felt the same way and he laughed quietly.

He could not stop a few tears from rolling down his cheeks. He felt soft fingers wiping the tears away.

"Missed me so much baby?"

"Hmm... Look what I found!"

Wei Ying looked at the scroll and smiled smugly.

"You found my scroll... I still remember that day. I received the scroll in an official ceremony. But you know the best thing that happened on that day? Later, Uncle gifted me with a painting... a painting of my mother. Wait, I will show you..."