.
Wuxian woke up to Wangji's tender touch. A simple stroke of his thumb on Wuxian's cheek made the sleepy man smile. Wangji whispered softly: "Wei Ying, we have to get ready for the clan meeting."
Wuxian opened his eyes to gaze at his soul-bond's face: "I miss this."
Wangji: "Miss what?"
Wuxian grabs Wangji's hand and kisses it: "I miss seeing your face every morning."
Wangji leans down and kisses the corner of his lips: "We have the rest of our lives to make up for the days I've been tardy."
Wuxian hums enjoying this tender moment before the clan verbal wars begin.
They made it on time and sat at the head of the room like last time. Da Ziran chose to transform into a Lion and roared when they entered the room. The look of fear and the shaking of a few clan leaders almost made Wuxian burst into laughter. Hweiru, who was once again sitting in his lap, whispered: "Why are they afraid? Da Ziran is just a cute big cat."
Wuxian rubs his daughter's back: "Not a cat. A lion."
Hweiru cocks her head in confusion then leans over to pet the lion happily: "I guess I like lions too."
Unlike last time, Shenhua Clan was present among the other clans. Wangji addressed the room: "Clan Leaders, we are here today to consider Shenhua Clan as part of our treaty. We will open this meeting for any Clan leader to speak. If you have any inquiry, voice them now before we cast our vote."
Yao Clan Leader stood up and turned to address Qi: "How come we never heard of you before Lan Clan brought you to our attention? People who hide always have something to fear or protect."
Leader Qi stood up and replied: "Yao Sect Leader, you are correct. We have something to protect. Our clan has been established with the sole purpose of protecting the Divine Oracle and the future of humanity. As ushers of time, our existence would disturb the flow of events if we appeared before the Divine Oracle was blessed. We kept a quiet existence and honed our skills to serve as his guardians."
Ouyang Clan Leader spoke up: "You are aware that this affiliation includes sharing your knowledge, teachings and assisting other clans in time of need?"
Leader Qi nods: "We read the terms of agreement sent by Zewu Jun."
Ouyang Clan Leader: "Then please, share with us what you bring to the table."
Leader Qi: "We might not be as big as most of the other clans involved in this treaty, but we have more people under our command. We will happily share our spear fighting skills, rare book collections and some of our emotional control techniques."
Jin Clan leader: "Do you agree with our petition to share the blessing of the Divine Oracle?"
Wuxian intervenes: "Jin Clan Leader! I thought we settled this matter last time it was brought up!"
Leader Qi looks between the two: "May I ask what this is about?"
Zewu Jun stood up: "Some of the clan leaders sent a petition to ask Treasure Wei to visit each sect respectively and share his blessing instead of staying solely in Cloud Recesses. Your son, Shenhua Kai, brought a similar document with him in his last visit."
Leader Qi nods: "I am aware."
He looks at Wuxian and says: "Divine Oracle, you claimed that our current course of action will yield an undesirable outcome to my clan. If I may dare to ask, what did your vision of the future reveal?"
Wuxian watches all the other clan leaders lean a little bit closer, excited to hear his predictions: "I saw the future multiple times. I have tried to change a few key factors to alter the outcome but it seems the events will still happen as is."
Leader Qi: "Is that why you asked us to join the treaty?"
Wuxian looks sharply at the older man before him: "Your clan is planning to take drastic measures to get what you want. You will hurt a lot of people in the process and fail anyways. I cannot control your actions but I can give you better options."
Jin Clan Leader says defensively: "If you know that they will commit crimes in the future, then why should we consider them as allies?"
Zewu Jun glares at Jin Clan Leader: "If you're planning to take a tally of crimes committed, then the past holds a richer archive than the unknown future. Jin Clan has made many mistakes and we all chose to forgive and forget. Don't judge others' crimes before they are set in stone."
Jin Clan leader huffs, sitting down while glaring back at Zewu Jun.
Leader Qi calmly asks: "Divine Oracle, give us your options."
Wuxian leans close while holding his daughter tighter: "Join us, and I will serve you like I serve the rest of the clans, as the Treasure of Gusu Lan Clan, as the soul-bond of his Excellency and as the Divine Oracle. Together, we can be stronger."
Leader Qi strokes his chin then asks: "What's the other option?"
Lan Wangji reaches over and holds Wuxian's hand. He looks stoically at Qi and says: "We have seen your plan. We know that you want to take my soul-bond and force him to do your bidding. As Wei Ying mentioned before, your plan will fail sooner or later. By inviting our brothers and sisters here, we ensure the safety of my mate. Join us and live. Rebel against us and die fighting the strongest cultivators in the continent."
Leader Qi stares at Wangji: "I can't tell if this is an ultimatum, an invitation or a challenge."
Nie Sect Leader speaks up behind his fan: "All of the above. We always protect our own."
Jiang Cheng glares at Leader Qi: "You have stood on the sidelines for too long. Now that we know you exist, we will not tolerate any kind of aggression. If Gusu Lan Clan fails to protect my brother then know this: Jiang Clan has no problem wiping your name from existence."
Wuxian can feel the room heat up with aggression. He passes his daughter to Wangji and makes his way towards Leader Qi. He smiles at the old man and says gently: "I want to live and thrive under the care of Gusu Lan Clan. That doesn't mean that I am unwilling to serve and help all those who need my blessings. Shenhua Clan, you may not be my sole guardians, but if you join our treaty, I will accept you as my brothers and heed your advice as I do with all the other Clan Leaders."
Leader Qi: "We don't seek power or help from the other clans. We only agreed to join this treaty to gain your favor."
Zewu Jun moves to stand next to Wuxian: "We are aware of your intentions and this is our best offer."
He turns to address the rest of the room: "Does anyone wish to ask Leader Qi any more questions?"
When he was greeted with silence, he turned to ask Qi: "Do you have anything else to add?"
Qi shakes his head.
Wangji spoke up: "We shall meet again in two days to reveal the outcome of this matter. Each clan leader must agree to Shenhua Clan's admission and Leader Qi must sign the treaty on behalf of his clan."
Wuxian left with his daughter while Zewu Jun and Wangji stayed to mingle with the guests. The smaller man hated these kinds of events and had an unfinished business to attend to. Wuxian made his way into the Treasure room and found his disciples waiting for him.
Yuxio bounced in her spot excitedly: "GRANDMASTER! I MISSED YOU!"
Wuxian glares at her: "You will regret saying that after a few minutes."
He turns to address the young boys before him: "Who found the stones?"
Yuxio and Taiho raised their hands, Hweiru pulled Wuxian's robes to get his attention: "I gave you mine, Mama."
Wuxian pats his daughter's head and smiles: "You did so well. I'm proud of you."
She beams under his praise and turns to stick her tongue out at Jingyi.
Jingyi screams back: "It's not fair! I saved your life! That should count for something!"
Wuxian points at the boy: "I saved your life, you ungrateful brat!"
Jingyi bites his lip and holds his comments at bay.
Bhao glares at Yuxio: "Master Wei, senior disciple Yuxio stole my stone."
Wuxian blinks at him: "And you let her?"
Bhao: "She ran away!"
Wuxian: "So.. you let a woman, half your size, take a stone from you and now you're complaining about it to me? She's standing right next to you!"
Yuxio smirks at the tall boy and says: "Finders keepers."
Bhao: "You didn't find it! You snatched it from my hand!"
Yuxio shrugs: "Semantics."
Wuxian turns to glare at his son: "What's your excuse?"
Sizhui looks at his feet in shame: "I didn't find any stones but my robes were clean."
Wuxian shakes his head. He nods to one of the men guarding the door and he fetches two piles of robes. Wuxian says: "The ones with clean robes are: Jingyi, Sizhui and Hweiru. The ones with ink marks are: Taiho, Yuxio and Bhao. Technically, the only one who completed the lesson successfully is my toddler daughter. Congratulations, you all suck!"
Jingyi: "We should get a redo! I was going to find the last stone before I found the intruder."
Wuxian puts his hand on his hip: "Ok, genius. I will give you all a second chance. There is one more stone left. Find it and bring it to me by tomorrow morning and I will consider not exchanging you all for better students."
Sizhui looks desperately at his father: "There are five of us and one stone."
Wuxian glares at him: "Then I suggest you try harder this time."
They all stood silent for a second until Yuxio made a break for it. The rest scrambled after her to find the remaining stone. Wuxian shook his head watching them scatter across Cloud Recesses while whispering: "Infants.. They're all infants."
Hweiru imitates him, shaking her head: "Except me. I'm the favorite."
.