Finally it came time for Wei Ying, Jiang Cheng and Jiang YanLi to go for their training in the Cloud Recesses.

The truth of it was, Wei Ying had become increasingly nervous about seeing Lan Zhan again ... would he mess it all up and separate them forever or could he get that man to fall in love with him again?

Would there be some kind of backlash for his meddling in people's fate. Would his love life be the thing the gods took from him?

Just before he left Lotus Pier, he and Wen Ning had discussed what was said after he was sent away, leaving Wen Ning, Lan Zhan and this godling, and Wei Ying still had no specific dead line of when he had to win Lan Zhan's heart ... though he was sure it needed to be done before he left the Cloud Recesses the first time but since he had won his heart earlier than that the first time ... surely he could easily do it again.

Can he make his Lan Zhan love him one more time?

Last time he didn't even realise Lan Zhan had fallen in love with him until he was brought back .... This time he was aiming specifically for him to fall in love with him.

He never honestly asked Lan Zhan what it was about him and their first meeting that made him fall in love with him. Sure he said it was his smile, cheeky words and everything but ... was it something more specific ... was it certain words he said? A certain look ... what if he didn't say or give what it was ...

He can not actually remember the exact words he spoke to Lan Zhan during that first meeting or any other time .... But he knew the essence of it.

Wei Ying walked behind Jiang Cheng and Jiang YanLi and listened to them chatter back and forth about what they hoped to learn while here. However, even though he kept an ear on them in case he was spoken to, at the same time he opened his heart and ears to the land around him. The lack of loud noises, the gentle scents of the foods and flowers, however, he could not wait to hear the morning crickets start even before he woke. The birds calling out in the evening and morning, and the one thing he yearned for most of all ... those quiet gentle words of that man in his seductive deep voice calling to him in the morning.

It has now been almost four years since he woke up back in his young body after living his life with Lan Zhan in the Cloud Recesses and he was only days from turning seventeen.

For the first few months after waking up in this body he tried to live like he used to, but soon he found he just couldn't. He really did try staying up until the early hours of the morning but never lasted past eight because of tiredness, waking late the next day but he woke at five in the morning. Drinking liquor, all the time, one mouthful had made him feel ill. Running round noisily, laughing at anything and everything, it was just too noisy. Playing pranks on Jiang Cheng ... somehow the memories of the years when his sect brother hated him with a passion seemed so fresh at times they occasionally kept him away form Jiang Cheng for days at a time with one excuse or another.

Maybe his heart was dreading not being able to change those deepest pains of his heart?

Those times he looked at his sect sister and his heart would hurt to the point he needed to race away to wipe the tears away before they fell.

Watching his Uncle FengMian and Auntie Yu ...

.......

He forced his mind from that track as he had no spare time to be alone to gather himself.

...........................

..................

Since that first morning, how many mornings had he reached out his hand to his right expecting to touch that man?

How many times had he woken to find himself alone in bed?

How many times had he cried himself to sleep without his favourite pillow?

How many times had he stopped everything he was doing as his heart trembled at the thought of not being with his Lan Zhan ever again?

Without his man at his side......

He just felt so .......

Alone ..................

.....................

After walking for a while in silence, Wei Ying finally managed to turn his mind towards a happier memory.

He chuckled happily when he remembered three years ago, the first morning he woke from a dream of his Lan Zhan, which was three months after he woke the first time, he raced through his morning activities then all but ran down to the docks and stopped now and then at stalls when people were standing around chatting. He just happened to mention that he had just heard that someone was calling HanGuang-Jun the Jade Beauty and wondered if any of them knew what they were talking about. This brought about a number of people, male and female all agreeing he was defiantly worthy of the title of Jade Beauty. Time and again Wei Ying passed this title on and all but fell into his bed that night laughing happily at the thought of his Lan Zhan hearing that title for the first time.

Would his ears become tinged with pink?

Would he roll his eyes?

Would he grip his Bichen then turn and walk away.

Oh how he wished he could see his reaction to his new title.

But yes, he also really dreaded his memories of his previous life just being ... just, dreams. Just little sweet delusions of his mind.

And that fear was growing with every step up the mountain.

Even with Wen Ning knowing everything that fear had never truly disappeared.

He wanted to see his Lan Zhan's face ... that beautiful jade face to be sure his memories were real.

For there was no way he could know a man before they actually met.

Right?

The gods would not be that sick as to plant all of that life and death in his mind when he was a kid only for fun .....

Right?

I want him to be mine ... for our lives to be as wonderful as it was. I will tease the heck out of him and see if he reacts the same way. See if Master Lan is as deplorably displeased with me and if the same things happen. He looked up at the mountain with a half smile. I can warn them of my arrival with a laugh or two I know will reverberate all the way up the mountain from this spot.

'YanLi, I think this next six months will be interesting to say the least.' Cheng said as they walked along the path.

'Yes. I want to see the pair of you sit for hours at a time and not say a word. No bickering, no fighting, no mucking around, no fidgeting .... Just studying.' Okay, before the change, that would have been impossible for Wei Ying, but even now he seemed to need to move all the time. The only time Wei Ying could be still was during his meditation sessions and meals when he didn't utter a single word and waited for everyone to finish eating before he would ask to be excused.

Wei Ying did not miss that the pair turned their heads and glance back at him with half smiles that showed they were indeed brother and sister.

He stuck out his bottom lip and pouted. 'You two stop picking on me. I will do what I can to be good.' Wei Ying grinned at the pair only to receive two pairs of eyes rolling before returning to their conversation. Neither of you are the one I want to see roll your eyes at me. He thought to himself a little sadly. I wanted to see those sexy warm golden eyes rolling at me.

'I hear that Master Lan has become even stricter over the last three years. Giving no pass to those he thinks is even thinking of messing around in his class and if you break the smallest rule, you better pray it's not him carrying out the punishment.'

'No, I hear the one to really watch out for is this HanGuang-Jun, apparently some of the guest disciples from past years were punished by him and ... they only ever broke a rule once.' YanLi whispered worried that the man himself would step out of the shadows at any moment.

'Yes. I heard he has no emotions at all ... some whisper that he went so far as to have his heart removed.' Cheng said in an almost whisper.

Wei Ying couldn't help but laugh heartily at those words.

In the distance, an expressionless eighteen year old boy in white robes and a twitching eyebrow stopped at the sound of loud laughter drifting up the mountain. If they had been inside the Cloud Recesses boundary, HanGuang-Jun otherwise know as Lan WangJi or Lan Zhan, would have sought the person out and reminded him of the rules. However, the laughing male was obviously not in the recesses yet, so he had no choice but to try his best to ignore it. His left hand gripped Bichen, his spirit sword, tightly to calm himself down then walked towards where his brother and uncle waited for him.