There were a few street vendors at the dock. Wei WuXian walked over, looked, and smiled, “Good thing we didn’t eat with them. Lan Zhan, come here, come here. The pie’s really good. It’s my treat! Can we have two please?”

"How can you treat him when you don't have any money?" Jiang Cheng asked.

"I have." said Wei Wuxian.

"No, you don't. You can't treat Lan Wangji with his own money." said Jiang Cheng.

"I can steal." Wei Wuxian grinned.

"Not when I'm the sect leader of the sect." Jiang Cheng glared.

"It's not like you haven't done it back then." Wei Wuxian mumbled.

Grinning, the vendor wrapped two pies in greaseproof paper. Just as Wei WuXian was about to take them, he suddenly remembered that he had no money on him. How could he treat him? However, Lan WangJi had already taken them over in place of him, paying with his other hand.

Wei WuXian, “Uh-oh, my apologies. Why is it always like this? Seems like every time I want to treat you to something, it doesn’t work out.”

Lan WangJi, “It is fine.”

"Because you don't have to." said Nie Huaisang..

"Wangji-xiong should be the one to do that since he's rich." he added.

"Yeah yeah, Lan Zhan should always treat me once we were out of here." Wei Wuxian grinned.

Wei WuXian took a bite, “Back then, I didn’t even have to pay when I ate at the dock. I grabbed whatever I wanted, ate whatever I wanted; ran after I grabbed, walked as I ate. A month later, the vendor would get the reimbursement from Uncle Jiang.”

"Really?" Jin Zixuan asked.

"I should try that." said Jingyi.

"If you still wants your leg." said Jiang Cheng.

"Besides, the vendors were already used to it. They knew that they will still get paid no matter what." he said.

"Why don't you just pay before taking it?" Jin Zixuan asked.

"Where's the fun in that?" Wei Wuxian asked.

"You joined him?" Nie Huaisang asked Jiang Cheng.

"What do you think?" Wei Wuxian asked.

"Even if he wanted to pay, I'll still drag him away." he grinned.

Lan WangJi left a moon-shaped opening on the round pie, “Now, you do not have to pay either.”

Wei WuXian, “Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!”

"Lan Zhan is spoiling me." said Wei Wuxian.

"Mn." Lan Wangji agrees.

He finished in a couple of bites and scrunched the paper into a ball, tossing it in his hand as he looked around, “There aren’t many vendors left. Back then, no matter how late it was, this place was crammed with vendors, selling all kinds of food, because many people in Lotus Pier came out for late night snacks. There were also many boats, maybe even more than your Caiyi Town.” He continued, “It’s much fewer now. Lan Zhan, you came here too late. You weren’t here when it was at it was at its liveliest.”

Lan WangJi, “It is not late.”

"We can still enjoy." said Wei Wuxian.

"Yeah yeah, a-xian should really enjoy their date." Jiang Yanli teased.

"Mn, we will." said Lan Wangji.

"That's great." said Jiang Yanli.

Wei WuXian grinned, “When we were studying at the Cloud Recesses, I asked you so many times to come play at Yunmeng, and you always ignored me. I should’ve been more forceful and dragged you over. Why are you so slow? It doesn’t taste good?”

Lan WangJi, “Speech is forbidden when dining.”

He’d always chewed slowly when he was eating. If he had to talk, he made sure that there was no food in his mouth. Wei WuXian, “Then I won’t talk with you. You can eat. I thought you didn’t like it and that you could give me whatever you didn’t finish.”

Lan WangJi turned to the vendor, “Another one please.”

"Lan Zhan, stop spoiling me or I'll get used to it." said Wei Wuxian.

"You like it though." said Jiang Cheng.

"Will alwaus spoil, Wei Ying. Give him what he wants." said Lan Wangji.

"You're the best, Lan Zhan." said Wei Wuxian as he pinched Lan Wangji's cheek before kissing it.

In the end, after Wei WuXian finished all three pies, Lan WangJi was still nibbling on his first one. Wei WuXian had already led him further and further away from Lotus Pier. On the way, he pointed at this and that for him to see.

He really wanted to show Lan WangJi all the places where he grew up at, played at, and fooled around at, tell him about the troubles he stirred up, the fights he fought, the pheasants he caught, and then examine the slight changes in Lan WangJi’s expression, eagerly expecting his every reaction.

"You're really in love with him now, Wei-xiong." said Nie Huaisang.

"Sadly, he didn't realized it." said Jiang Cheng.

"That's not true." said Wei Wuxian with a pout.

"Really?" asked Jiang Cheng.

Wei Wuxian pouted more.

Wei WuXian, “Lan Zhan! Look at me, look at the tree.”

Lan WangJi finished his pie as well. He folded the paper into a neat little square and held it in his hand as he looked toward Wei WuXian’s direction. It was only the average tree. The trunk stood straight and the branches fanned out. It should be a few decades old. Wei WuXian stood below the tree and walked around it a couple of times, slapping the trunk, “I’ve climbed this tree before.”

"Oh this is where you ran up to when Jiang-xiong threatened you." said Nie Huaisang.

"Right, a-xian is showing his childhood to his lover." said Jiang Yanli.

"Well, that tree gives a great significance in our life. The first I trusted shijie and after that, my relationship with Jiang Cheng became good." said Wei Wuxian.

"I want Lan Zhan to know all of that." he grinned.

Lan WangJi, “You have climbed every single tree on our way here.”

Wei WuXian, “But this one’s different! This was the first one I climbed after I came to Lotus Pier. I climbed it in the middle of the night. My shijie came out to search for me, holding a lantern. She was scared I’d fall down the tree, so she prepared to catch me on the ground. But what could she catch with her thin little arms? And so I still broke one of my legs.”

"It's one of the best memory." said Wei Wuxian.

"Especially when I saw Jiang Cheng's muddy face after that. " he laughed.

"You can shut up." Jiang Cheng glared at him.

Looking at his legs, Lan WangJi asked, “Why did you climb the tree at night?”

Wei WuXian bent down in laughter, “There’s no why. You know. I love fooling around outside at night. Haha.”

"You didn't told him?" Jiang Yanli asked.

"If I told him, wouldn't he get mad at his sister-in-law?" Wei Wuxian asked.

"I didn't told you to climb the tree." said Jisng Cheng.

"Besides, didn't he pushed you away once?" he asked.

"I have reasons why I did what I did that time, I don't excuse that." he added.

"He have no right to get mad at me for what my childhood self did." he added.

"Yeah, you're just a kid who loves throwing tantrum." Wei Wuxian grinned.

As Wei WuXian spoke, he grabbed two branches and started to climb up the trunk of the tree. With great ease, he leaped up until he reached an area near the top. Wei WuXian finally stopped, “Hm, it should be about here.”

He buried his face inside a cluster of thick leaves and only looked down after a long while. His voice was high, tinged with laughter, “Back then, it felt so scarily high, but looking at it now, it really wasn’t that high.”

"Because you grew up already." said Jiang Yanli.

"And the tree is still there." said Wei Wuxian.

"We'll visit that place when we're out of here, Lan Zhan." he said.

"Whatever Wei Ying wants." said Lan Wangji.

The instant he wrapped his arms around the tree, Wei WuXian’s eyes had warmed. When he looked down, his sight was already blurred.

Lan WangJi was standing right beneath the tree, looking at him with his chin raised. He was clothed in white as well. He didn’t hold a lantern, but moonlight glided down his body, almost enveloping him in a soft halo, making him seem so bright. He looked up at the top of the tree with a dedicated expression. He seemed to have walked a few steps closer, almost as if to stretch his arms out.

"Lan Zhan is ready to catch me as if I'll fall." Wei Wuxian teased the man.

"Mn, always." said Lan Wangji.

"Will be always there for you." he added.

"So sweet, my Lan Zhan." Wei Wuxian smiled.

All of a sudden, an abnormally strong impulse surged into Wei WuXian’s mind.

He wanted to fall down again, just like back then.

A voice inside of him said, If he catches me, I’ll…

At this point where he thought ‘I’ll’, Wei WuXian let go. Seeing that he fell out of the tree without any warning, Lan WangJi’s eyes immediately widened. He shot forward just in time to catch Wei WuXian, or one might say, be caught by Wei WuXian.

"Wei Ying!" Lan Wangji exclaimed while Wei Wuxian laughed at loud.

"You gave him a heart attack, Wuxian." said Lan Xichen.

"You're right, brother-in-law." Wei Wuxian said.

"He still caught me though." he said.

"Ahh that's sweet." said a female cultivator.

Lan WangJi’s figure was slender. He seemed to be quite the scholarly young master, but his power wasn’t to be disregarded. Not only was his arm strength shocking, his lower body was steady too. But, after all, it was a grown man who jumped from the tree, so although he caught Wei WuXian, he staggered slightly, walking a step backward. Immediately, however, he steadied himself. Just as he was about to let go of Wei WuXian, he realized that Wei WuXian’s arms were tightly wrapped around his neck, preventing him from moving in the slightest.

He couldn’t see Wei WuXian’s face. Wei WuXian couldn’t see his face either, but he didn’t need to. When he closed his eyes, all he breathed in was the cold sandalwood on Lan WangJi’s body.

His voice was hoarse, “Thank you.”

"There's no need to thank me, Wei Ying." said Lan Wangji.

"He'll just have your gratitude in different ways." Nie Huaisang whispered to Wei Wuxian making the man blush.

"How?" Jiang Cheng asked when he heard it.

"Nothing, Jiang-xiong. You'll know it on your own." Nie Huaisang grinned as Jiang Cheng frowned.

He wasn’t scared of falling. All these years, he’d fallen many times. But falling on the ground still hurt, after all. If someone was there to catch him, it’d be more than wonderful.

"Will always be there for you, Wei Ying." said Lan Wangji.

"I know." said Wei Wuxian.

"That's why I love you, Lan Zhan." Wei Wuxian hugged him.

Hearing Wei WuXian thank him, Lan WangJi’s body seemed to freeze for a second. The hand that was about to be laid on Wei WuXian’s back paused before it returned.

After a moment of silence, Lan WangJi responded, “You are welcome.”

"Thank you, Lam Zhan." said Wei Wuxian.

"Mn." said Lan Wangji.

"Are we just going to watch them hugging?" Jiang Cheng asked.

"Don't be jealous. You hugged brother-in-law a lot of times already. It's time for us." said Wei Wuxian.

With a long time of hugging, Wei WuXian finally parted with him. Standing with his back straight as ever, he spoke as though nothing happened, “Let’s go back!”

Lan WangJi, “No more reminiscing?”

"No more hugging?" Nie Huaisang.

"You'll see a lot of it from now on." said Jiang Cheng.

"Or even worse." said Jin Zixuan.

"Right." the juniors agreed.

Wei WuXian, “Yes, more reminiscing! But there’s nothing to see if we walk farther out. It’d be the wilderness there, and we’ve seen enough of that in the past few days. Let’s go back to Lotus Pier. I’ll take you to see the last place.”

The two returned to the dock and entered the gates of Lotus Pier once again. They walked across the training field. As they passed by an ornate little building, Wei WuXian stopped and took a few more looks. His expression seemed different. Lan WangJi asked, “What is wrong?”

Wei WuXian shook his head, “Nothing. The place I lived in used to be here. Now it’s gone. It really was torn down. All of these are new.”

"What?" Wei Wuxian asked as he looked at Jiang Cheng.

"What are you looking at?" Jiang Cheng asked.

"A-niang might have torned your room down." said Jingyi.

"Why?" Jiang Yanli asked.

"He couldn't have hated a-xian so much that he torned it down." she said.

"He transferred it." said Jin Ling.

"A-niang build another room for the sect leader because he doesn't want to use his father's resident. He made another to rooms next to it and we only find out that it was for you and Wei-jiujiu." said Jingyi.

"And here I thought he doesn't want me back to Lotus Pier anymore." said Wei Wuxian.

"He wants you back but he didn't forced you. He let you go at the end, be with the person you love." said Jingyi.

They passed by the layers of buildings and arrived at a quiet place in the depths of Lotus Pier, in front of a black eight-cornered palace. As if scared that he’d startle someone, Wei WuXian gently pushed the doors open and walked inside. Before the palace neatly lay rows and rows of tablets.

It was the YunmengJiang Sect’s ancestral hall.

"What are you doing there?" Jin Zixuan asked.

"To pay a visit." said Wei Wuxian.

"Isn't it rude to just enter the ancestral hall without the permission of the master?" Jin Zixuan asked.

"Jiang Cheng wouldn't mind." said Wei Wuxian.

"I think not." said Jin Zixuan.

He found a hassock and kneeled down. Taking three of the incense sticks in the container, he ignited them with the candlelight and stuck them into the bronze tripod in front of the tablets. He prostrated three times to two of the tablets, and turned to Lan WangJi, “I used to come here a lot.”

Lan WangJi had on an expression of understanding, “Kneeling as punishment?”

Wei WuXian mused, “How did you know? That’s right. Madam Yu punished me almost every day.”

Everyone turned to look at the said woman.

"Ziyuan." Wen Rouhan called.

"It's not as if you haven't seen me whipping him." said Madam Yu.

"If you do that again, I'm going to kill you." said Wen Rouhan.

"Haven't I already accepted that?" Madam Yu asked.

"I'll take the punishment you'll give for what I did to him before going back to Meishan." she said.

"Madam Yu, you don't have to do that." said Wei Wuxian.

"It's for the better. I should also repent for my mistake that if I died, Cangse Sanren wouldn't welcome me with a slap in the Underworld." said Madam Yu.

"She would still forgive you. Didn't she wants to be one of your friends?" Wen Rouhan asked.

"Best friend to be exact." said Madam Jin.

"But I didn't let her. I will be the only best friend Ziyuan would ever have." she added.

"No wonder you hated her." said Wen Rouhan.

Lan WangJi nodded, “I have heard of a few things.”

Wei WuXian, “It’s so famous that even people outside Yunmeng, even you Gusu people know—how could it be ‘a few things’? But, to be honest, in all these years, I’ve never seen a second woman whose temper was as bad as Madam Yu’s. She told me to go to the ancestral hall and kneel no matter how small the matter was. Hahaha…”

But, apart from this, Madam Yu had never really done anything to harm him.

(Can we just ignored the part where I made Madam Yu bad, especially to young Wei Wuxian? I have forgetten about this part that Wei Wuxian said Madam Yu never really did so bad to him when he was young, what I did made her character bad and abusive. Thank you!)

"Right, Ziyuan is the only woman who have terrible attitude." said Wen Rouhan.

"And he passed it down to his son." said a sect leader.

"At least the son is more better than you." said Jingyi.

"A-niang might have a terrible attitude but he's so good at leading his sect." he added.

"Of course, the son won't repeat their mother's mistake." said the sect leader.

"Watch your mouth or I'll make you have none." Jingyi glared at him.

He suddenly remembered that this was the ancestral hall and that Madam Yu’s tablet was right in front of him. He immediately apologized, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

To make up for his thoughtless words, he lit up three more sticks of incense. Just as he raised them above his head, still apologizing in his mind, it suddenly got darker beside him. He turned to find that Lan WangJi had also kneeled down beside him.

Now that they were in the ancestral hall, for the sake of courtesy, of course he had to show his respect as well. Lan WangJi also took three sticks of incense and, sweeping his sleeve to the side, and ignited them using one of the red candles. His movements were proper, and his expression was grave. Wei WuXian tilted his head to look at him, his lips curving upward almost uncontrollably. Lan WangJi glanced at him and reminded, “The ashes.”

"You did it out of respect, Wangji." said Lan Qiren.

"But, you knew that one shouldn't enter the ancestral hall without the permission of the master." he added.

"As I said, it's not like Jiang Cheng would mind it." said Wei Wuxian.

"He would very much mind it." said Jin Zixuan.

"It wouldn't be a big issue." said Jiang Cheng.

"For you, but the other you, it's impossible." said Jin Zixuan.

The three sticks of incense that Wei WuXian held had been burning for quite a while. A bit of ashes had already accumulated at the top, close to falling off. However, he still refused to insert them into the tripod, instead saying, “Let’s do it together.”

Lan WangJi didn’t object. And so, each with three sticks of incense, the two of them kneeled among rows of tablets and bowed down to Jiang FengMian and Yu ZiYuan’s names together.

Once. Twice. The movements were exactly the same. Wei WuXian, “That’s it.” He finally placed the incense into the tripod.

"Why did you stop?" asked Nie Huaisang.

"Why?" asked Wei Wuxian.

"You could've make it thrice so that you're officially married." said Nie Huaisang.

"They're not even lovers yet." said Jiang Cheng.

"They need to be in a relationship first before I let them have my parents' blessing." he added.

In the end. Wei WuXian glanced at Lan WangJi, who’s kneeling as properly as ever beside him. He put his hands together and uttered in his heart, ‘Uncle Jiang, Madam Yu, it’s me again. I’m here to disturb you two again. But I really did want to bring him here and show him to you. Let the two prostrates we just did count as prostrating to the Heavens and the Earth, and to the Father and the Mother. Please help me reserve the person beside me for now. I’ll owe you the last prostrate for now, and find some chance to make up for it in the future…’

"You really said that?" Nie Huaisang laughed.

"Will you two could even come back for the last prostrate?" he added.

"Of course, we will." said Wei Wuxian.

"Mn. Wei Ying and I will be officially married then." said Lan Wangji.

"Jiang Cheng you'll let us, right?" Wei Wuxian asked.

"Depends on my mood." said Jiang Cheng msking Wei Wuxian pout.

At this point, a cold laugh suddenly came from behind the two.

"Here he comes." said Nie Huaisang.

"It's not gonna be good." said Wen Qing.

"How do you know that?" MianMian asked.

"Based on his laughed, it will not end up