Chapter Text
The next day, everyone looked at Hua Ying in a way that made him feel uncomfortable. Word had gotten around that his parents were two deities, and though Hua Ying thought he saw a Do Not Gossip rule on their obnoxiously large wall of rules, it obviously didn’t stop the people of the Gusu Lan Sect from gossiping.
Xie Lian was given a room to stay in overnight, and the Lans were all giddy with excitement at the idea of having a literal god staying with their sect, and it sickened Hua Ying. They treated Hua Cheng like a monster when he wasn’t one. The next morning, Xie Lian took his leave early, sparing just a moment to give Hua Ying a tight hug saying, “I should get back or San Lang will worry. Behave yourself and have fun. Send us letters!”
With that, he was off, taking Ningjing and flying out the gates back to Paradise Manor.
The dorms were three to a room, so Hua Ying was put up with two boys named Nie Huaisang and Jiang Wanyin. The first night went something like this:
It was Lan Zhan, Lan Wangji, Second Young Master Lan who showed him to his room. The truly beautiful human being Hua Ying had met earlier while helping that little boy. The first thing he asked Lan Wangji was, “Did that boy get home safely?”
Lan Wangji nodded with a, “Mn.” Not much of a conversationalist, huh?
Hua Ying scrambled for something to say, anything, because this was the first person he’d ever met his age and the whole point of his presence at the Cloud Recesses was for him to make friends! His mouth betrayed him and spat out, “Sooooo… what do you like to do for fun, Lan Zhan ?”
Lan Wangji stopped, ears flushed red but his face as impassive as ever. “Read.” With that, he began walking a little faster. Not a running speed, but something close to a light jog. As Hua Ying sped to catch up with him, Lan Wangji muttered, “No running in the Cloud Recesses.”
“What??” Hua Ying cried, “But you’re walking too fast! I won’t be able to keep up! It’s almost like you’re also running!”
Lan Wangji stopped again, looked at him for a fraction of a second, then said, “Hua Xianwei is correct. I will copy the rules tomorrow.”
With a groan from Hua Ying, they continued forward into the student dorms. There were many students all around getting ready for dinner, and the two boys in the room Hua Ying was led to were in wildly different states of preparation. One boy was dressed in white robes with a purple lotus on the shoulders, his hair pulled up into a top knot. The other boy was lying on his bed dressed in white robes with grey stitching of a monster on his shoulders. The student with the purple embroidery noticed them, bowed, and then kicked the other boy, hissing, “ Nie Huaisang , get up.”
The other boy, Nie Huaisang, fumbled out of bed and took one look at them before shouting, “Ah! Lan Wangji! I wasn’t sleeping!”
Lan Wangji blinked once, turned to Hua Ying, and gave him a single nod. “You will be staying here with these two. Jiang Wanyin, Nie Huaisang, this is Hua Xianwei.” And with that, he left.
Hua Ying slumped his shoulders. The first person his age he met hated him. All because of his father, no doubt. Well that would be no one’s fault but Lan Wangji’s! Hua Ying wouldn’t ever apologize for having a father who loved him, regardless of how he existed. Still, it hurt.
Jiang Wanyin and Nie Huaisang were both staring at him, so to break the ice, Hua Ying said, “Hehe… he hates me.”
Jiang Wanyin shrugged his shoulders. “He hates everyone.”
Nie Huaisang jumped forward and grabbed Hua Ying’s hands, shaking them up and down. “You’re famous! You took down that demon wolf today, that was so cool!”
Dizzy from all the shaking, Hua Ying asked, “Wait? Were you watching?”
“No!” he beamed. “I heard it from my brother who heard it from Lan Wangji’s brother, Lan Xichen.” He was smiling at Hua Ying, but the other boy was scowling, and for a fraction of a second, Hua Ying wonders if he hates him too.
“Nice to meet you,” Jiang Wanyin says, still scowling, but calmly. “Your strength is admirable and I am excited to learn from you.” He bows and Hua Ying returns it. Maybe he would make a few friends.
As they prepared for sleep, Nie Huaisang asked, “So your dad is Crimson Rain Sought Flower? Have you ever seen his silver wraith butterflies?”
Hua Ying nodded, glancing over at Jiang Wanyin who was on the other side of the room readying his bed. “I’ve seen them plenty of times. Today too, in fact.”
“How does he do it?”
Jiang Wanyin stopped his preparations and joined the two of them by Hua Ying’s bed. “I’m curious too.”
Hua Ying glanced around before whispering, “He taught me how to make them. It requires a lot of resentful energy, but I use spiritual energy which makes them a bit different.” He held his hands out, cupping them, and pulling his energy through his palms. A cluster of golden butterflies with pointed wings formed, slowly moving their wings, resting. He tossed them up, they fluttered around for a few seconds, and then dissipated into the air.
Both boys could only stare in awe.
Xie Lian left in the morning, booking it to Paradise Manor. Hua Ying didn’t mind, he’d rather his father get back soon so to prevent Hua Cheng from coming and burning down the Cloud Recesses.
Day one of classes had started by the time Hua Ying got into trouble. It involved Lan Qiren pulling him aside before class and reminding him that improper cultivation practices would not be tolerated while in the Cloud Recesses, which was an obvious dig at his father.
Hua Ying took a step back and said, “Sir, it is those very cultivation practices that assisted me in taking down the demon wolf from yesterday. Please refrain from besmirching my family.” He turned and walked back into the classroom, unable to control his glower. Lan Wangji was staring right at him.
When he looked back at Lan Qiren, who was stalking inside, he was fuming . The man took a deep breath and started the class.
Time passed rather slowly for Hua Ying and his classmates. He quickly became fast friends with Jiang Wanyin and Nie Huaisang, and he wrote letters once a week to his parents who were always happy to hear how he was doing. A month into his studies, however, the underlying tension between him and Lan Qiren came to a boiling point.
They were deep into an argument about the proper uses of cultivation and whether demonic cultivation could be a viable source of power when Hua Ying lost his temper and said with a controlled voice, “You fear what you cannot control so you fear me and my upbringing. My father has taught me all manner of cultivation techniques that you wouldn’t use on principle and I will be a better cultivator for it!”
Lan Qiren was red in the face as he screamed back, “Demonic cultivation is a sin condemnable by death and if anyone should suffer that fate, it should be Crimson Rain Sought Flower and his cursed, illegitimate progeny !”
Hua Ying was too shocked to respond, and Lan Wangji hissed, “Uncle!”
Instead of crying like he wanted to, Hua Ying laughed. He laughed and fell to his knees, gripping his desk. “Of course you say that. Of course you think I’m somehow related to him. The truth is far sadder, I’m just an orphaned son of two rogue cultivators who was lucky enough to be saved by two beings far greater than myself.”
Lan Qiren was still increasingly mad and he was only getting worse the longer Hua Ying spoke. “You will copy the rules! Multiple times! Until I deem it has finally sunk into your thick skull! Wangji, you will supervise him.”
Lan Wangji nodded with a soft, “Mn,” and Hua Ying groaned, pulling his knees to his chest. Already in trouble. What would his parents say?
Class ended early that day, Lan Qiren too flustered to continue teaching. Lan Wangji approached Hua Ying after class and said, “I will show you to where you will be copying the rules.”
Hua Ying followed him to the library pavilion, arms crossed the whole way. How ridiculous! Being given a punishment when all he did was tell the truth? Outrageous! Hua Ying wanted to kick something. If he didn’t think he’d get in trouble, he’d kick the nearest tree until he felt better. “What exactly am I being punished for?” he asked Lan Wangji.
The boy stopped. “I… I am not sure.” He stared at him with those beautiful golden eyes for a minute before he continued, “Hua Ying did not break any rules. Uncle broke several rules.” He took a deep breath and said, “I will speak to Uncle regarding your punishment, maybe I can get it reduced.”
Oh? Maybe Lan Wangji didn’t hate him? Or was it his rightousness acting in Hua Ying’s favor?
“That would be wonderful, thank you,” Hua Ying said as they made it to the library pavilion. They stepped inside and walked over to two free desks. When Lan Wangji sat down at one of them, Hua Ying asked, “What do you think of me, Lan Zhan ?”
“Hua Ying is… very skilled.”
He sighed. “But you also think I’m a monster, don’t you? You think I shouldn’t be here because of my father.”
Lan Wangji snapped his head around, and hurried to say, “No! I do not think you are a monster.” He opened his mouth, closed it, and turned his head back to look away. “Demonic cultivation harms the soul, but I do not think you are a monster.”