Chapter Text
The Wen’s were rising again. Lan Wangji had not been more than a baby when they did so for the first time and only heard rumors about the time from his older brother and the older disciples. Apparently, it had stopped as soon as it had started, the forces of darkness and death from the Burial Mounds rising and tearing apart the sons of the Wen sect leader, leaving him despondent for years as a result. Now he had started to rise again, seeking the purpose he had sought before.
„We can’t let this go on! Something had to be done!“, one of the cultivators shouted through their conference hall. It made the Lan sigh with exasperation. He preferred to not be in such situations, but his brother had told him in clear words and short clipped sentences that he was expected to be part of this conference. He is his brother's heir after all, it would stand him and the clans good to remember that.
„But what? The Wens are too strong. Wen Ruohan's cultivation alone is strong enough to overcome the adversity of our strongest water monsters“, Jiang Wanyin, sect leader of the Jiangs since his clan had been burned shortly before the first downfall of the sun cultivator, said.
„Then we need to be stronger and better than his fire!“, Nie Mingjue roared. Nie Huaisang at his side was ducking his head, throwing a glance his way. They had a kind of friendship nobody would have seen happening in other circumstances. But they had the same age gap between themselves and their brothers, with their brothers being such close friends as well.
„When your steel and rock monsters are stronger than his flames, can we talk again. I will not risk our water monsters and rebuild Lotus Pier -again- for your worry about a broken man!“, the Jiang Sect Leader shouted back, the chain with six jade pearls wrapped around his right hand sparking with his agitation. His sister put her hand on top of his, not heading the warning display.
„Sect Leader Nie. Lotus Pier already suffered and would have not been able to rebuild so soon and with such good fortune, if it hadn’t been for the help of the Yilling Laozu’s aid“, Jiang Yanli said diplomatically with a bow. „I fear without his help we will suffer great losses if we try to follow your proposal of a Sunshot Campaign.“
„Jin-furen“, Nie Huaisang piped up, fanning himself with more vigor as he drew the attention of everyone in the banquet hall. „With all due respect, but we never got an answer to the question, why he was willing to help you back then.“
„That is no matter of your sect and you would do good on remembering that!“, the Jiang head roared.
„We could ask for his aid.“ Lan Wangji found himself saying. He drew all the attention now, his uncle furiously whispering his name at his back. „We could ask if he would be willing to help, as he did last time.“
„It’s too dangerous!“, Jin Guanshan, the oldest sect leader of the great sects, protested heatedly. Lan Wangji’s own uncle agreed.
„Wangji, that Yilling Laozu is a heretic, who works with and invites the monsters touched by darkness and death. You should know better than to propose we associate with evil“, his uncle lectured.
„I know the rules, uncle“, Lan Wangji said, feeling his ears heat up with his embarrassment of being lectured like a little child in front of so many esteemed cultivators. „I was just thinking that he helped the first time and never did anything evil after that, why could we not ask him and give him what he got the first time for his help?“
„It is an option“, Lan Xichen agreed carefully, eyeing their uncle with trepidation. „But we do not know the price his help would cost and his cultivation -and the monsters he controls with it- are known to pollute the land they go through.“
„Then we need to ask to know the price, don‘t we?“, Nie Huisang chimed up again. „And the Lans are good at cleansing the land from lingering energies of darkness and death. Cleansing would be needed for the land anyway if we fight a drawn-out war. Not that I know anything about it. I really don’t know!“
„The last time the Yilling Laozu was seen outside Yilling, was a few years after Wen Chao and Wen Xu were killed by him. He took every living being from a whole mountain and nobody knows what happened with them“, Jin Guanyao, a recognized bastard son of Jin Guanshan, said, sitting between his legitimate brother and Jiang Yanli, separating the married couple for the sake of distance to his father.
„He took the whole life out of a mountain and we only hear from this now? A-Yao, why did nobody hear about this sooner?“, Xichen asked, piercing his sworn brother with a pointed look.
„Because it was the Dafan Mountain and only Wens lived there. Nobody was interested in the whereabouts of a bunch of Wens at the time“, Jiang Wanyin groused, defending his brother-in-law with it. „It doesn‘t matter anyway. For all we know he could have died in the last years, killed by his very own monsters.“
„We should send somebody to at least confirm his continued existence or his death if nothing else“, Nie Huaisang chimed up again, shrinking back against the glare of his brother. „So we won’t have to worry about him helping the Wens in the end and being our enemy.“
„I go“, Lan Wangji volunteered, before he even registered he stood up. He ignored the shocked calls from his brother and uncle, fixing the rest of the gathered cultivators with his gaze. „I go and confirm his death or his continued living and make sure he will not side with the Wens.“
„Young Master Lan, would you accompany me?“, Lady Jiang asked, already having her arm wound into his and dragging him along with insistency if not strength. Panicked he looked out for her husband, not sure about the implication this could have. He only saw a bemused man shaking his head fondly, a smile and a soft nod for him and his wife. He got dragged along to a little pond overgrown by lotus flowers and settled down on the bench there, forced to comply with the whims of the Jiang.
„Lotus flowers are not seen often here. My husband dug the lake himself and asked my brothers to help with selecting the right lotus seeds. Those are hardy things, blooming in the greatest adversary, beautiful despite the mud and sludge they have to endure“, she finally said, a wistful note to her contemplating.
„They are beautiful, Lady Jiang, but I fail to understand how this is related“, Lan Wangji confessed, feeling young in the most terrible sort of way. As much as he was technically speaking to a peer regarding their parent's age, he was always reminded of the age gap and how young he was compared to his brother and his peers. He wouldn’t be surprised to be regarded as an infant in their eyes.
„They are stubborn blooms once they take root, too stubborn to stop until made to do so“, she replied with a chuckle, melancholy taking over her mirthful spark. He had never seen how old she was, how the last conflict with the Wens had aged her more than anybody else. Completed with her weak cultivation, it was a wonder how anybody could forget it, seeing her age now. „The Patriarch had been a disciple of the Jiangs, once a long time ago. Nobody speaks about it. I think most have forgotten about it, about who he had been before. I saw your look. Full of determination and the want to stop this war as soon as possible. You won’t just confirm his neutrality or his death. You will ask him about his help.“
„Lady Jiang“, he complained, not unlike the kids in his age group who had been caught smuggling erotica or alcohol into the Cloud Recessess and tried to hide it. She chuckled, but he did not feel patronized by it as he so often did. It felt warm and accepting of him.
„Don’t deny it young Master Lan. I am the older sister of two of the most stubborn cultivators and the wife of another walking disaster “, she chuckled, mirth returning with a wistful gleam in her eyes. „I encourage you to try, if that is what you want to do. I just want you to consider: He has little to gain and much to lose by meddling with us. Especially with us all rejecting his chosen monsters.“
„Thank you for your advice“, Lan Wangji said, bowing deeply. „I now take my leave and rest before my departure tomorrow.“
„Don’t let me keep you, Young Master Lan. I will sit here and enjoy the lovely piece of home my husband gave me.“