Chapter Text
He would find his answer half a day later.
With the sun high in the sky, the young boy stopped by a river and pulled out a steamed bun – part of his meal the night prior. It was as he was eating that he spotted a group of white clad youths. His eyes widened as they landed on the white ribbons crossing their foreheads. He sprung to his feet.
“Excuse me! Are you young masters Gusu Lan disciples?” he shouted across the riverbank, watching a few of them startle at the sudden noise.
Wei Ying watched the men – boys, not many years older than Wei Ying himself – look to who appeared to be the leader of the small group. Their eyes met.
“We are. May I ask why you are asking?” he spoke, a small smile on his face as he looked across the river at the twelve year old boy. Wei Ying smiled before grabbing his things and walking across the shallow river – using a pathway of stones to cross.
Now on the same side of the river, Wei Ying could see a small camp in the distance. A few tents and an extinguished fire sat in the center. The disciples themselves wore almost pristine white and blue robes, the occasional mud or grass stain across the bottom hem towards their feet. He bowed to the group.
“This one does not mean to cause panic and I apologize if any has happened.” He rose from his bow, turning to speak to the group’s leader. “I inquired what sect you belong to as I am seeking to meet with someone. I’ve been traveling for a while and seem to have lost my sense of direction.” He sheepishly smiled, rubbing a hand at the base of his neck.
“We are actually on our way back to Cloud Recesses. Whom are you needing to speak with gongzi?” Wei Ying waved his hand.
“None of the formality please – I’m Wei Ying. A pleasure to meet you.” He took in a breath, just about to speak when-
“Wei? Are you needing to speak with shufu?” Said boy looked at the older Lan and blinked.
“If your shufu is Lan Qiren, then yes. How did you know?”
Before the Lan spoke, he dropped into a bow, lifting his head up with a small smile.
“I have not introduced myself. I am Lan Huan, courtesy Xichen, these young masters behind me are younger members of my sect.” Lan Xichen explained, gesturing to the men who all gave their names before turning back to Wei Ying.
“If you are needing to speak with shufu, I would be glad to escort you.” Wei Ying smiled, relief flooding his veins.
“Thank you so much. This one would gladly receive an escort – after all, we are going in the same direction. However I-“ A disciple – Lan Shi – interrupted, rushing over to Wei Ying.
“Wei-gongzi! What happened to your back?” he spoke, eyes wide as he spotted the blood seeping through Wei Ying’s purple robes.
Normally, it was expected of him to wear his black robes around Lotus Pier – only wearing Jiang purple during formal events where other sects were present or if a sect leader was visiting. Madam Yu once told him that he did not belong in Jiang robes, that if she caught him wearing purple outside of a formal location that her words wouldn’t be what he would learn to fear.
Given that he now was acquainted with Zidian – he can assume what the punishment would’ve been.
He had forgotten he was wearing purple, using it as a disguise in case someone spotted him. While Wei Ying’s black robes would’ve blended in with the shadows, there was still a considerable amount of lighted areas he would’ve had to pass through before hitting the forest. Wearing Jiang purple seemed like an easy way to add another layer of protection – any other disciple who saw him would assume they were also patrolling, there would be no questioning a purple clad disciple compared to a black clad one.
Wei Ying froze, his eyes on Lan Shi as he watched the teen pull out medical supplies.
“I….um…”
“Wei Ying, anything you say here will remain between us. None of us present will share anything with anyone else unless you wish for us to.” Lan Xichen spoke, resting a hand on the younger boy’s shoulder. He nodded, swallowing before speaking, his eyes turned down towards his feet.
“I-I don’t know how much has been said about me. Sect Leader Jiang found me two years ago in Yiling and took me in – he claims he was close with my parents. There was always this…just this air around any interactions I had with the Jiang elders or older servants or just an overall feeling of I was not as welcomed as Sect Leader Jiang had told me.” Wei Ying paused, running his hands down his robes.
“Madam Yu especially seemed to hate me from the second I arrived – I know now that she’s likely hated me ever since she found out I existed.” He looked up at Xichen. “Yesterday, I was on the training field with Jiang Cheng – we’ve both just gotten our swords and were exited to train with them.” A small smile adorned his face for a brief second.
“I know I shouldn’t have beat him in every spar – especially when I knew Madam Yu was watching. And-and it wasn’t that I was winning after both of us giving a considerable effort, I was winning with ease – he was the one who was struggling.” He paused, taking in a deep breath, a tear falling down his face.
“Madam Yu stormed onto the training field, demanding that I stop showing off and if I thought I was so highly skilled that I should do the next spar with one hand behind my back.” Another tear fell, his shoulders started shaking.
“I didn’t think I was showing off. I was using all the sword skills I have been taught. The next spar went like all the others, I’ll admit I did feel a shift in my balance, but not much changed. With Madam Yu watching, Jiang Cheng started taking riskier moves, ones that would – if gone wrong – injure one or both of us. He…he tried swiping my feet out from under me, I had done that to him in a prior spar.” Wei Ying reached up, furiously wiping away another tear – before it was ultimately replaced by another.
“It wasn’t even my fault! He swiped at my legs and took both of us down! His sword was about to go straight through my shoulder so I removed my hand from behind my back and grabbed the blade.” He winced as he fisted his hands – having forgotten entirely about the sword wound on his hand. “I had to grab onto the blade itself and even then it was only a few inches away from breaking skin.” He took a harsh breath, furrowing his brows.
“Madam Yu was furious at me for breaking the one condition she set for the match and for spilling my ‘servant and son of a whore’s blood’ on her son’s blade. That sword was about to injure me! I was protecting myself!” More tears made their way down his face, the Lan disciples formed a circle around him, a sense of privacy from the world around them – despite the fact that they were in the middle of a forest and not likely to have anyone come across them.
“Wei-gongzi, may I take a look at your back?” Lan Shi asked, a tentative hand reaching for Wei Ying’s robes – he nodded, slowly taking his arms out of the outer robe and discarding it on the ground before opening up his inner robe and letting it fall down to his waist. He heard the Lans behind him gasp. Lan Xichen’s eyes widened as he took a step behind Wei Ying to look.
“I’m not sure if the other sects know about Madam Yu’s spiritual weapon, Zidian. It’s an almost electric whip – and her rage reflects on the severity of the whip marks.” Wei Ying whispered, wincing as he felt a cold rag dab across his back.
“She whipped you with such a high class spiritual weapon…because you protected yourself?” Xichen spoke, eyes wide as he looked at the child standing in front of him.
“Five times.” Wei Ying looked up at Xichen. “My mother and your uncle were once supposedly friends. Before my parents died, my mother gave me a letter saying if I should ever need help to find Lan Qiren – that he swore to her his home would be open to me.” He softly spoke, tears constantly flowing down his face.
“Shufu told me when I was first allowed to night hunt to look for anyone by the name of Wei asking for help, to allow any aid or support be given when asked.” Xichen softly spoke, dabbing Wei Ying’s tears with a handkerchief. “You will come with us. You do not need to tell us anymore. Let us treat your wounds so that infection will not occur, then we can rest for the night and start our journey in the morning.” Wei Ying nodded.
“Thank you.”