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#bichen was disrespected
mamoonde · 8 months
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prompt: shizun wwx with pouty yet protective disciple lwj
Lan Zhan already has Bichen half-unsheathed before his shizun's familiar black robes billow in front of him; ahead, the disrespectful old man gets away.
"Zhanzhan aren't you old enough to know better by now? And what's with that pouting about, huh?"
Not even his shizun's warm hand ruffling his hair eases his pout frown.
"He was insulting shizun; that is unacceptable." Lan Zhan looks at his shizun right in the eyes; it pleases him that he no longer has to look up. "Shizun is good and deserves respect, always."
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gayandfullofdismay · 1 year
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MDZS soulmate AU where a cultivator’s spiritual weapon’s name is written on their soulmate’s skin.
Most people only have one primary spiritual weapon in their lives so most people are able to tell as soon as they meet them. This also affects the culture around spiritual weapons where they’re considered even more important and personal than canon (which is saying a lot), and people find Suibian even more ridiculous/disrespectful because of that.
This AU can go two ways though.
Option 1: LWJ never finds out that WWXs spiritual weapon is named Suibian. WWX doesn’t give the name out too much or LWJ just didn’t ask. Either way, in this AU the spiritual weapon that you have the name of is the other’s first spiritual weapon or current spiritual weapon. LWJ forms his golden core, looks for his soulmate mark and sees “whatever”. Everyone he knows has a beautiful name done in pretty, trained calligraphy (yeah let’s make this a handwriting soulmate AU too) while his is just “whatever” in chicken scratch like even the universe couldn’t care less about him.
He learns about Suibian in the Xuanwu of Slaughter cave at the Wen camp when WWX mentions that he “wishes he had Suibian with him” and by the time they’re both fully conscious again and in the same room, it’s in war meetings happening post-burial mounds and post-WC murder. Every time he gets him alone his first priority is his health and cultivation and there are less and less chances as the war goes on, and then, well, then WWX is dead and nothing matters for 13 years.
Meanwhile, Option 2: Soulmate spiritual weapon names can vary a lot, sometimes it’s the weapon they first use, sometimes it’s the weapon they last use, their most powerful one, their most true one, the one they’ll use the longest, etc. It can vary/no one knows the exact rule bc most ppl only keep one or two spiritual weapons throughout their entire lives and never lose/break them. WWX spends 3 months pestering his soulmate before he finds out that LWJ doesn’t have a “Suibian” on him (he doesn’t hear what name he does have but he knows it’s not his swords name) and was not in fact just shy, so his “Bichen” belongs to someone else and LWJ really just thought he was being annoying (he didn’t, he also had a huge gay crush for the first time in his life, he was just much worse about handling it as is canon lmao).
Either way, WWX is stuck with a crush on a guy who isn’t his soulmate and maybe his first baby broken heart too before it’s Wen indoctrination time and he has much bigger things to worry about, because the Jiang Sect is gone, JFM is dead, his brothers core is gone, and oh well now his core is gone while he’s stuck in the BM. Lovely.
Three months later he comes back with Chenqing on his hip and LWJ on his tail who’s suddenly desperate to speak to him and staring at him when he thinks WWX isn’t looking.
Good angst either way, maybe I’ll find a fic of it one day, if y’all do PLS drop the link lol
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jiangwanyinscatmom · 3 years
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Jin Guangyao isn't cruel because he is nice sometimes! No... no... just no. He pretends to be a nice, sweet person to get what he wants, it is exactly why he got away with the killings and plannings for the Yin Hu Fu, YEARS AFTER JIN GUANGSHAN IS OUT OF THE PICTURE. He's the only legitimate Jin left old enough to take over the Sect, who the hell was gonna argue that when all relevant Jins were dead and Nie Mingjue was killed by the happy smiling pretty boy?
First example, he was actively friends with Xue Yang, there is no saying he was coerced into that one since he recommended him as a guest disciple and made creepy little jokes with him.
Jin GuangYao sighed, “I only turned around for a second and you stirred up so much trouble for me. I only had to pay for a bowl of dumplings in the beginning, and now I have to pay for his table, chairs, pots and pans, and even bowls.”
Xue Yang, “You’ll miss the couple of coins?”
Jin GuangYao, “No.”
Xue Yang, “Then why are you sighing?”
Jin GuangYao, “I don’t think you’ll miss the couple of coins either. Why can’t you try being a normal customer once in a while?”
Xue Yang, “Back in Kuizhou I never paid for anything I wanted. Just like this.” As he spoke, he casually plucked off a stick of sugared haws off a vendor’s pole. It might be the first time the vendor saw such a shameless person. As he stared open-mouthed, Xue Yang took a bite, “Besides, you can deal with the trouble of me wrecking a tiny stall, can’t you?”
Jin GuangYao smiled, “You little delinquent. Wreck stalls however you want. I wouldn’t even care if you burned down the entire street. Just one thing—don’t wear the Stars Amidst Snow robes and cover up your face. Don’t let anyone know who did it, or it’d be trouble for me.”
He tossed the money to the vendor
A.K.A: haha you're funny and I don't care who you fuck over but be sly and
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Next example:
And so, Jin GuangShan sought after all those who imitated Wei WuXian in cultivating the ghostly path and gathered them under his rule. He spent a great amount of money and resources on these people, ordering them to study and analyze the structure of the Tiger Seal in secrecy so that they could replicate and restore it. Among them, not many achieved anything, while the one who walked the furthest was the youngest Xue Yang, recommended by Jin GuangYao alone.
Jin GuangYao was overjoyed. He accepted him as a guest cultivator and gave him high rights and freedom. The corpse training ground was an area of land Jin GuangYao specially requested for Xue Yang for him to research in secrecy, which meant for him to fool around however he wanted to.
He gave a whole torture playground for Xue Yang to use, he specifically asked for this from his own mouth, for Xue Yang to use and he would check in on progress. As for his morals:
Jin GuangYao’s tone was somewhat reproachful, “He Su gongzi is a respected cultivator, after all. How could you refer to him in such a disrespectful way?”
The cultivator laughed coldly, “I’ve already fallen in your hands. What are you keeping up the pretense for?”
Jin GuangYao responded with a kind expression, “You don’t have to look at me like that. I also had no choice. To elect a chief cultivator is an irresistible trend. What was the use of stirring up trouble and seeking arguments everywhere? I’ve already warned you again and again, yet you were determined not to listen to me. Under these circumstances, things are already beyond redemption. From the bottom of my heart, I, too, feel utmost pain and regret.”
He Su, “What was the irresistible trend? What was stirring up trouble? Jin GuangShan wanted to establish the position of chief cultivator only to imitate the QishanWen Sect in being the only one at the top. Do you think all the world is ignorant? You frame me like this only because I spoke the truth!”
Jin GuangYao smiled, saying nothing. He Su continued, “When you really succeed, all of the world of cultivation would see the true face of the LanlingJin Sect. Do you think killing me alone would put you eternally at ease? How wrong you are! We, the TingshanHe Sect, teem with talent. From now on, we’ll unite and never surrender to you Wen-dogs of another skin!”
Hearing this, Jin GuangYao squinted slightly, the corners of his lips curving up. It was the usual kind, gentle expression. Seeing this, He Su felt his heart skip a beat. At the same time, commotion sounded outside the corpse training ground, among it the cries of women and children.
He Su spun around, only to see a group of LanlingJin Sect cultivators drag inside sixty or seventy people all wearing the same uniform. There were men and women, old and young. Every one of them was a cross between shock and fear, while some were already crying. Both tied up, a girl and a boy kneeled on the ground as they wailed at He Su, “Ge!”
He Su was shocked speechless, his face instantly as white as paper, “Jin GuangYao! What are you doing?! It’s enough if you kill me—why drag my entire sect along?!”
Jin GuangYao looked down and fixed his sleeves, still grinning, “Weren’t you yourself the one who reminded me just now? Even if I killed you, I wouldn’t be put eternally at ease. The TingshanHe Sect teems with talent, and from now on, you’d unite and never surrender—I was quite frightened. After much thought, this was the only thing I could come up with.”
Among the group are children. That he did see and stare at gleefully as he lets Xue Yang decide to use all of them for corpse experiments. What does that mean??? Maybe that Jin Guangyao is also not in fact best uncle as he similarly was willing to kill Jin Ling who he "loved" as bait to try running away and is more than willing to use his "friends" for his own rise to power or to run away.
Examples of him enjoying emotionally torturing others as much as Xue Yang as a tactic:
Example 1:
“That’s not the way to go about things, is it? The TingshanHe Sect rebelled and schemed to assassinate Sect Leader Jin with all its forces before it was caught red-handed. How could that be called without a reason?”
The ones overhead cried, “Ge! He’s lying! We didn’t, we didn’t!”
He Su, “Utter nonsense! Open your eyes and fucking look! There are nine-year-old children here! Old men who can’t even walk! How could they rebel against anything?! Why would they assassinate your dad out of nowhere?!”
Jin GuangYao, “Because you made a mistake and committed murder, Young Master He Su, while they refused to accept Koi Tower’s conviction of you, of course.”
He Su finally remembered the accusation for which he was transferred to such a creepy place, “It’s all made up! I never killed a cultivator of the LanlingJin Sect! I’ve never even seen the person who died! I don’t even know if he was really a cultivator from your sect! I… I…”
He stammered for a while before eventually caving in, “I… I don’t even know what happened, I don’t even know!”
Yet, at such a place, nobody would listen to his protests.
Example 2:
Just as he was about to move, Jin GuangYao smiled, “HanGuang-Jun, it’s best if you take five steps back.”
Wei WuXian suddenly felt a small, sharp sting come from his neck. Lan XiChen lowered his voice, “Be careful. Do not move!”
Lan WangJi’s gaze landed on Wei WuXian’s neck. His face paled slightly.
An almost invisible guqin string, light and golden, was tied around Wei WuXian’s neck.
The guqin string was extremely thin. It was covered in special paint as well, making it almost invisible to the eye. Along with how disoriented Wei WuXian was, unable to pay attention to anything else, he didn’t notice it when it wrapped around his throat.
“Lan Zhan, don’t! Don’t back away!”
But Lan WangJi immediately walked five steps back without any hesitation.
Jin GuangYao, “Wonderful. Now, please sheathe Bichen.”
With a clank, Lan WangJi obeyed again. Wei WuXian raged, “Don’t ask for too much!”
Jin GuangYao quipped, “This is already asking for too much? Next, I’m even going to ask HanGuang-Jun to seal away his spiritual powers. What would that be called?”
Wei WuXian seethed, “You…”
Before he could finish, the sharp pain of flesh being lacerated came from his throat. Something dripped down his neck. Lan WangJi’s face was pale. Jin GuangYao said, “How could he not listen to me? Just think about it, Wei gongzi, his life is in my hands.”
Lan WangJi spoke one word at a time, “Do. Not. Touch. Him.”
“Then you know what to do, HanGuang-Jun.”
A moment later, Lan WangJi responded, “Yes.”
Lan XiChen sighed. Lan WangJi raised his hands. With two strong taps, he locked his own spiritual powers.
Jin GuangYao smiled, his voice soft, “This really is…”
Lan WangJi’s eyes were locked on them, “Let him go.”
Example 3:
Wei WuXian wouldn’t have had to be responsible for a life as heavy as Jin ZiXuan’s, and the things that happened later wouldn’t have had to happen.
Yet now, he finally realized even the reason behind culprit’s curse wasn’t to frame him. Even the cause didn’t have anything to do with him!
Such a fact was truly difficult to accept.
As he laughed, Wei WuXian’s eyes reddened. He mocked, whether at himself or otherwise, “I can’t believe it’s because of someone like you… because of such a ridiculous reason!”
But Jin GuangYao seemed like he knew what he thought, “Wei gongzi, you really shouldn’t think like this.”
Wei WuXian, “Oh? You know what I think?”
Jin GuangYao, “Of course. It’s quite easy. You’re definitely thinking about how unfortunate you are. In reality, you’re not. Even if Su She didn’t curse Jin ZiXun, Mr. Wei, you’d receive a siege sooner or later, because of some other reason.” He smiled, “Because that’s what kind of a person you are. At best, you’re the untamed hero; at worst, you offend people wherever you go. Unless all those whom you’ve offended lived their lives safely, as soon as something happened to them or someone did something to them, the first person they suspect would be you and the first person they seek revenge on would also you. And this is something you have no control over.”
Somehow, Wei WuXian smiled, “What should I do? For some reason, I think you make a lot of sense.”
Jin GuangYao, “And even if you didn’t lose control at the Qiongqi Path, could you guarantee you didn’t lose control sometime in the rest of your life? Thus, someone like you is destined to have a short life. You see? Doesn’t it feel a lot better if you think about it this way?”
He takes little time in using others hurt or their protective instincts against them, and is just as gleeful to see others in powerless situations in comparison to him as it still gives him a form of control to worm his way out of everything that has caught up to him.
Jin GuangYao, “Ge, every word of what I say is true.”
His tone was more than earnest. Ever since he captured Lan XiChen, he’d indeed been treating him with respect. At this point, Lan XiChen wasn’t able to turn against him yet. He could only sigh, “Sect Leader Jin, I have already said, when you went your own way to scheme such havoc at Burial Mound, that there was no longer any need to call me ‘Brother.’”
Jin GuangYao, “What happened at Burial Mound was an accident, a mistake. But, I can’t go back anymore.”
Lan XiChen, “What do you mean you cannot go back?”
Lan WangJi frowned slightly, his voice cold, “Xiongzhang, do not engage in excessive conversation with him.”
Wei WuXian reminded him as well, “Sect Leader Lan, do you remember what you said to Sect Leader Jiang? Don’t spend too long talking to him.”
Jin GuangYao, “Ge, listen to me. I don’t deny that I did those things…”
Lan XiChen, “How could you deny them? There are both witnesses and proof!”
Jin GuangYao, “And so I said I don’t deny them! But to have killed my father, my wife, my son, ge—if not because I had no other choice, why would I have done those things? Could it be that I’m really so out of my mind in your eyes?!”
"Your… wife…” As though he couldn’t say it, he immediately changed his phrasing, "Your sister, Qin Su, did you really marry her while knowing what blood relationship you had with her?”
Jin GuangYao stared blankly at him. Suddenly, tears rolled down his eyes. He answered with pain, “… Yes.” Lan XiChen took in a deep breath. His face was almost ashen. Jin GuangYao whispered, "But I really had no choice.”
With a sigh, Lan XiChen continued, “Third, do not try to avoid it and answer me—did you plan the death of Jin ZiXuan on purpose?!”
Hearing his father’s name, Jin Ling, who’d been holding Jiang Cheng, widened his eyes.
Lan WangJi raised his voice somewhat, “Xiongzhang, you believe him?”
Lan XiChen’s expression was complicated, “Of course I do not believe that Jin ZiXuan ran into the attack at Qiongqi Path by accident, but… let him speak first.”
Jin GuangYao knew he wouldn’t be believed if he denied it no matter what. He clenched his teeth, “… I indeed didn’t run into Jin ZiXuan by accident.”
Jin Ling immediately clenched his fists.
Jin GuangYao continued, “But I’ve never thought of planning everything that happened afterward either. You don’t have to think of me as so clever and faultless. Many things can’t be controlled at all. How could I have known that he’d definitely die by Wei WuXian’s hands together with Jin ZiXun? How could I have predicted that Wei WuXian would definitely lose control and the Ghost General would definitely run a riot?”
Wei WuXian’s voice was harsh, “And you said you didn’t run into him by accident? Isn’t that self-contradiction?!”
Jin GuangYao, “I don’t deny that I told him about the attack at Qiongqi Path on purpose, but I only thought that he’d encounter some difficulties if he ran into you when you were being troubled by his cousin since he’d never been on good terms with you. How could I have known that you would simply kill everyone present, Wei gongzi?”
“Why was a sect leader who spent money like water unwilling to do the smallest favor and buy my mother’s freedom? Simple—it was too much trouble. My mother waited for so many years, weaving together so many difficult circumstances when she talked to me, imagining for his sake so many hardships. And the real reason was only a single word: trouble.
“This is what he said, ‘It’s especially women who’ve read some books who think they’re a level higher than other women. They’re the most troublesome, with so many demands and unrealistic thoughts. If I bought her freedom and took her back to Lanling, who knows how much fuss she’d make. It was best that I let her stay where she was just like that. With her conditions, she’d probably be popular for a few more years. She wouldn’t have to worry about her spendings for the rest of her life.’
“‘Son? Oh, forget it.’”
Jin GuangYao’s memory was extraordinary. With such a word-by-word repetition, one could even imagine that drunk expression of Jin GuangShan’s when he said these words, “Ge, look, those three words were all that I was worth to my father, ‘Oh, forget it.’ Hahahaha…”
Pain flashed before Lan XiChen’s face, “Even if your father… you…” He still couldn’t find an appropriate comment and gave up, sighing instead, “What is the use of saying all this now?”
Jin GuangYao shrugged as he smiled, “I can’t help it. To seek pity even after doing all these terrible things—that’s the kind of person I am.”
At the word ‘pity’, he suddenly flipped his wrist. A red guqin string wrapped around Jin Ling’s neck.
Tears still hung at the corners of Jin GuangYao’s eyes as he spoke, voice low, “Don’t move!”
"I had no choice", "I couldn't predict anyone would be killed" "He mocked and forgot my mother and I". He uses all of this as a try to convince a kind Lan Xichen to let him go. However,he contradicts his own defenses as he had said Wei Wuxian was always fated to die for his actions and lack of being to keep things under control. This empathy is faked on his end while he makes excuses all while he never extended the same courtesy to those he killed, innocent or not, and underhandedly still tries to get those sympathetic under his manipulations. When they are not working he resorts again to threatening lives. He uses his mother also as a reason for revenge, however his grab for power alone after Jin Guangshan and Nie Mingjue are killed was solely based on his own obsession of status at that point. His mother was no longer a goal to accomplish anything and his continued lies dragged in more than one innocent party to get what he wanted.
He never saw Jin Ling, Lan Xichen, Lan Wangji, or Wei Wuxian as anything but pawns despite his soft words to them that are really just a mockery within Guanyin Temple at that point. He has placed none of them before himself in terms of what he cares for and never had.
TL:DR: Jin Guangyao's "kindness" was always a mask and Nie Mingjue was right that he was irredeemable, genuinely unkind and cruel as a person.
(Edit: Jin Guangyao stans don't even try, I will block you if you dare to reply to this)
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ouyangzizhensdad · 3 years
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Do you think LWJ took the advantage of being a Young Master of a prominent clan to publicly display the people he hates? (We know who that is) I saw someone claim about it and It's haunting my head.
Hi anon,
I’ll start first by saying that I think the novel does, to a degree, understand that there are people who have, to use Bourdieu’s terms, forms of ‘capitals’ that others do not and integrate that into the narrative and character dynamics. LWJ has not only capital due to his position as a gongzi and the son of a Leader (then later, as heir-in-line) to one of the prominent clans, but also due to his stellar reputation and fighting abilities (and to a degree, the fact he is a man). All this allows him to have a wider range of actions that are considered ‘acceptable/legitimate’ versus another person with different or lesser forms of capital--think for instance of the reaction and consequences when LWJ challenges what powerful men are saying (making up) about WWX versus when daughter-of-a-servant MianMian does the same. However, I find it weird to frame that as LWJ “getting away” with something--with his character, it’s more like he is able to have an opinion or stand up against injustices with less chances of getting punished and ridiculed for it.
Now, if it is about Jiang Cheng, it is kind of a myopic argument to be saying that LWJ “gets away” with “publicly hating JC”. First because by that point JC is technically even higher in the social hierarchy, being a literal Sect Leader. But it’s also weird to phrase this as “publicly hating JC”: LWJ is not running around badmouthing JC or the Jiang sect--the pettiest we see him is when he doesn’t silence LJY when he engages in gossip about JC. Instead we see LWJ standing up against JC when the situation calls for it, which is not the same. Of course, as JC does, it can be considered as an inherent ‘insult’ since it makes JC ‘lose face’ but I think there is a difference. And it’s not like JC does not get away with being impolite towards LWJ and the Lan sect, something we see at Dafan Mountain.
We know with the MXY altercation that JC was ready to kill him on sight for using modao (”Do you have any last words?”/“Break his legs? Haven’t I told you? If you see this sort of evil and crooked practice, kill the cultivator and feed him to your dogs!”). After LWJ intercepts, we have this exchange showing JC being impolite to a degree that prompts LJY to call him out for it, only bringing more disrespect for the Lans from JC:
He raised one brow and spoke, “Hanguang-Jun, you sure live up to your reputation of ‘being wherever the chaos is’. So, you had time to come to this remote area today?” [..] Right now, Jiang Cheng really didn’t seem too polite as he said the words in such a tone. Even the juniors who came following Lan Wangji did not seem comfortable hearing it.
Lan Jingyi spoke straightforwardly, “Isn’t Jiang-zongzhu here as well?”
Jiang Cheng replied grimly, “Tsk, do you really think that you should butt in when your seniors are conversing? The GusuLan Sect has always been known for its respectful conduct. Is this really how it teaches its disciples?”
It is imo more true to say that, due to LWJ’s higher and respected position in society, JC is not able to use his usual means of responding to someone challenging his decisions and thus making him lose face.This is again something we see during this altercation.
LWJ silences JL after he dismisses his mistreatment of other cultivators with the deity-binding nets. LWJ destroys the entirety of the diety-binding nets JC and JL were using to give JL an advantage over the other cultivators competing, something they were only able to do because of the Jiang and Jin sects considerable power and wealth. Is it daring of LWJ? Sure. Would he be able to do so without consequences if he was someone else? Probably unlikely, especially when we’re talking about JC. But is that ‘getting away’ with something? It’s literally the opposite scenario: LWJ is using his own status and capital to make it so that JL (and JC) are not getting away with what they are doing (although there are, in actuality, no consequences for their behaviours; they are just forced to give up on JL’s unfair advantages. Hell, LWJ even offers to pay for the nets he destroys, which I guess can also be taken as a baller move). What’s more, the novel even takes the time to point out that, if LWJ were not such a strong cultivator, JC might have pushed aside the risks of offending LXC and physically confronted him (let’s appreciate how this also serves as well-integrated exposition for their weapons).
Jin Ling’s grim expression was exactly the same as his uncle’s, “What can I do? It was their own fault for stepping into the traps. I’ll solve everything after I finish capturing the prey.”
Lan Wangji frowned. Jin Ling was about to speak again, but he suddenly realized that, shockingly, he could neither open his mouth nor make any sounds.
[...]
The man spoke in a low voice, “Not long ago, a blue sword flew over and destroyed the deity-binding nets that you had set up.”
Jiang Cheng glanced at Lan Wangji harshly, his displease plastered all over his face, “How many were broken?”
[...]
Although four hundred deity-binding nets were a whopping price, it wasn’t too much for the YunmengJiang Sect. Nonetheless, losing the nets were a small matter, but losing face was not. With Lan Wangji’s actions, Jiang Cheng felt a whirlpool of anger at the bottom of his heart, rising higher by every second. He narrowed his eyes, his left hand casually stroking the ring on his right hand’s index finger.
[...]
However, after stroking it for a while, Jiang Cheng compelled himself to restrain his hostility.
Although he was displeased, as the leader of a sect, he needed to take more things into consideration, which meant that he couldn’t be as impulsive as Jin Ling. After the fall of the QingheNie Sect, among the Three Great Sects, the LanlingJin Sect and the GusuLan Sect were quite close due to the personal relationship between the two leaders. By leading the YunmengJiang Sect alone, he was already in an isolated situation among the three. Hanguang-Jun, or Lan Wangji, was quite a prestigious cultivator, while his elder brother Zewu-Jun, or Lan Xichen, was the leader of the GusuLan Sect. The two brothers had always been on good terms with each other. It was best to not openly dispute with Lan Wangji.
Also, Jiang Cheng’s sword, “Sandu (三毒, Sāndú),” had never made actual contact with Lan Wangji’s sword, “Bichen,” and it was not yet decidable whose hands would the deer die on. Although he owned the powerful ring, “Zidian (紫电 Zǐdiàn),” a family heirloom of his, Lan Wangji’s guqin, “Wangji”, was also known for its abilities. The thing that Jiang Cheng hated the most was to be disadvantageous during a fight. Without complete confidence in his success, he would not consider fighting with Lan Wangji.
Now if it is about Su She, again what does LWJ truly do?
He silences him in the Demon-slaughtering cave? Although we’d be hard-pressed to believe LWJ respects Su She after what he’s seen him do in the Xuanwu Cave, the guy is literally trying to get everyone there killed and being a smartass to WWX while at it. And if it had been extremely disrespectful of him, LQR could have lifted the spell--something once again that the novel points out. When it dissolves into a game of calling out between the MolingSu sect and the GusuLan sect, LWJ does not say anything, even if, as LJY points out, Su She was imitating him. It’s only when WWX starts going that LWJ takes part by acquiescing to the truths WWX lays out (which are, yes, damning for the Su She and the MolingSu sect). But again, there are layers to what WWX is doing: he’s not only trying to expose what is going on, but anger Su She into revealing he still has his spiritual powers as proof of what he has worked out. So while WWX and LWJ are being by some measures disrespectful, there is a point to how they are going at it.
Touching his chin, he grinned, “Well I was worried that you’d get mad if I asked him too many things in front of you, wasn’t I? But since you’ve told me to ask him already, I’ll go ahead and ask. Lan Zhan?”
Lan Wangji, “Mn.”
Wei Wuxian, “The MolingSu Sect was a sect that branched off from the GusuLan Sect, right?”
Lan Wangji, “Mn.”
Wei Wuxian, “Although it branched off, the MolingSu Sect’s techniques still used the GusuLan Sect’s techniques ‘as reference’, right?”
Lan Wangji, “Yes.”
Wei Wuxian, “One of the GusuLan Sect’s techniques, the Sound of Vanquish, has the effect of exorcising evil. Amongst them, the seven-stringed guqin was the most powerful, and so there is the greatest number of people who cultivate through the guqin. The MolingSu Sect did the same, and the guqin is the most common in their sect as well, is that correct?”
Lan Wangji, “That is correct.”
Wei Wuxian, “Although the MolingSu Sect’s leader left the GusuLan Sect with knowledge of its techniques when he founded his own sect, is own guqin skills weren’t anything special, and the disciples he taught often make many mistakes too, right?”
Lan Wangji answered with honesty, “Yes.”
Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji went on back and forth, speaking as though nobody was around. More and more people realized that they weren’t only mocking Su She, but rather taking something apart. Thus, they began to listen more carefully.
Next, Wei Wuxian slowed down, “… And that means, even when a section of the battle melodies that the MolingSu Sect played when killing corpses on Mass Grave Hill was wrong, the GusuLan Sect wouldn’t find it unusual, and only think that they made a mistake because of their inferior techniques and remembered the sheet music wrong, not taking the time to notice whether it was an accidental mistake or a mistake on purpose. Is this the case?”
Hearing the last question, Su She’s pupils shrunk. The hand he placed on the hilt of his sword was suddenly lined with veins. The blade of the sword was already half-an-inch unsheathed. On the other hand, Lan Wangji lifted his eyes at the same time. Both Wei Wuxian and he saw the sense of understanding in each other’s eyes.
He stated one word at a time, “This is the case.”
Su She unsheathed his sword with a clang. Wei Wuxian moved the blade of the sword to the side with two fingers and smiled, “What are you doing? Don’t forget. You’ve lost all your spiritual powers. Would threatening me like this do anything?”
Sword raised in his hand, Su She could neither attack nor put it down. He clenched his teeth, “Aiming at me for so long—just what are you trying to imply?”
As much as we love to talk about LWJ’s hidden sass and pettiness, he does not seem to ever be disrespectful without a reason, and it’s usually in the process of standing up for others. Reading his character as an illustration of a man in a position of privilege and power getting away with things is a little bit of a reach--particularly when JC is literally right there. 
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robininthelabyrinth · 3 years
Text
Delight in Misery (ao3) - part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5
- Chapter 6 - 
It was strange, Lan Wangji reflected, to be in public again after so long an absence. Stranger still to be addressed by strangers, to be called the Second Jade of Lan, or Lan-er-gongzi –
He wished that they would use his personal title instead. It might reduce the awkwardness.
Though, he reflected, it was likely that nothing would really reduce the awkwardness inherent in the situation, for all its old nostalgic familiarity: his brother walking in the lead, he and his uncle one step behind him, the representatives of the Lan sect in all their glory, beauty, and righteousness.
Looking at their tranquil expressions and sedate pace, one would never know that Lan Qiren was still furiously angry at Lan Wangji for his decision to abandon his sect and family, now made several times over; that Lan Wangji had been shockingly disrespectful by Lan standards in his response; that Lan Xichen had ordered that neither of them were permitted to speak until they could behave civilly (he’d used the term “like human beings”) once again.
It had been a very quiet journey to Koi Tower.
Luckily, even once they arrived, their customary reserve meant that no one noticed the tensions between them – not even the normally astute Lianfeng-zun, who greeted them at the door, much less his father and brother, and certainly not Chifeng-zun, who was listening to another sect leader speak with the stiff and stern expression that, after several years of keeping company with Jiang Cheng, Lan Wangji now recognized as please stop talking to me.  
(Lan Wangji briefly considered that he ought to suggest that Jiang Cheng spend more time with Chifeng-zun. They shared a history as young men who assumed control over their sects too soon as a result of the same enemy, and he knew Jiang Cheng highly esteemed Chifeng-zun – but then he rejected the idea as unnecessary and likely full of potential political pitfalls, especially given the Jiang sect’s role in the Jin sect’s current one-sided rivalry with the Nie sect.
As the Second Jade of Lan, he didn’t need to worry about political concerns, or at least not those beyond the basic premise of ‘don’t lose face for the sect’. His uncle and brother handled everything of that nature, just as they always had, holding up the sky for him and allowing him to focus on cultivation and his own interests, only he had been Jiang Cheng’s secret sounding board for too long now to fail to think of the potential problems anyway.
He found to his surprise that he missed it.)
Jiang Cheng would have noticed the tension, but he had yet to arrive – they had agreed that it would make everything easier if he would arrive to the gathering a little late, minimizing the amount of chatter they would need to endure about the two of them before the formal events began.
This would be Lan Wangji’s first discussion conference after having “left seclusion”, as people were calling it – his uncle with notably more sarcasm than usual – and the first test of his new public relationship with Jiang Cheng. They’d settled the public fight aspect with some degree of enjoyment, having a spar that extended throughout the rooftops and alleyways of the Lotus Pier, matching Bichen again Sandu and Wangji against Zidian, and the rumors had run wild ever since then. Finally, Jin Guangyao had intervened in his father’s name to “force” the compromise they’d all agreed upon: that Lan Sizhui would fall under Lan Wangji’s personal supervision, as was his right as the (assumed) father, but that he would remain at the Lotus Pier for most of the year to avoid a sudden and traumatic readjustment.
That this coincidentally would result in Lan Wangji spending most of his time at the Lotus Pier had largely passed unnoticed. Most people were far, far too busy gossiping about Lan Wangji’s mysterious Jiang sect wife, each one adding new salacious details atop the other. Some of the nonsense he’d heard…!
At least, he comforted himself, none of them would be rude enough to actually ask him about it directly.
“Lan-er-gongzi!” a voice called, and Lan Wangji would have stiffened if his back hadn’t already been straighter than a board. His uncle coughed and stroked his beard to conceal his expression of amusement – he probably thought that having to deal with Nie Huaisang, inveterate gossip and useless person extraordinaire, was exactly what Lan Wangji deserved.
He was probably right, too. Lan Wangji had brought this on his own head.
“Nie-gongzi,” he said, very reluctantly, as the Second Young Master of Qinghe Nie showed up with a feckless smile, promptly clutching at his arm and insisting that they go catch up and indulge in nostalgia about their shared school days.
Which ones, Lan Wangji wasn’t sure – Nie Huaisang had attended his uncle’s classes three times over before passing, and whether or not that final pass had been fairly earned or whether his uncle had simply yielded to his desire never to see Nie Huaisang’s face in his classroom ever again, Lan Wangji remained unsure.
Still, it suited him not to be forced to make nice with all those sect leaders pretending that they weren’t gawking at him, and so he permitted Nie Huaisang to drag him off to some unoccupied garden he had somehow managed to uncover, the other man chattering in his ear like a magpie the entire time.
“ – supposed I really should call you Hanguang-jun now, but that just seems so formal, though at least I remember it. I barely remember anyone’s title. Though now that my big brother’s sworn brotherhood with your big brother, I could probably just get away with calling you Wangji-gege –”
“No.”
“You’re so mean!” Nie Huaisang wailed. “Aren’t we old friends?”
“No.”
“Well, we’re close enough to count, anyway,” Nie Huaisang said. “Jiang Cheng’s my friend as well, you know; you can’t keep him to yourself just because you’re angry at your family! That’s just selfish. Aren’t there Lan sect rules against being selfish? I assume so, though I admit I’ve forgotten more of them than I’ve learned…don’t tell your uncle that, I’m afraid he’ll revoke my sympathy pass.”
Lan Wangji reflected briefly that it was good that Nie Huaisang was self-aware enough to recognize that the pass mark had likely been given out of sympathy rather than for merit, but then returned to the more critical point of what Nie Huaisang had said.
“Why do you think I’m angry at my family?” he asked. And what was that about Jiang Cheng?
It was critical that Sect Leader Jin, among others, not suspect that Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng shared a closer relationship than apparent – even Jin Guangyao had agreed with that – and if they had been sussed out so quickly, and by Nie Huaisang…
Nie Huaisang rolled his eyes at him. “You may be an unreadable stone wall, my – er, acquaintance, but do you really think I can’t tell when your uncle is upset? Me, of all people?”
This was a good point.
“And if your uncle’s upset at you, again, of all people, and you haven’t apologized or made up to him yet, that means you’re the one that’s angry,” Nie Huaisang concluded. “And anyway, why else would you agree to stay for so long at the Lotus Pier if you weren’t angry? You and Jiang Cheng must drive each other up the walls.”
Lan Wangji relaxed minutely. That was a reasonable explanation.
A moment later, he tensed up again – he was abruptly convinced, albeit without any logical basis, that the explanation was too reasonable, meant to put him at ease, designed to allow him to move on with the conversation without thinking too much or questioning too deeply. No one else had put the facts together the way Nie Huaisang had, and, most notably, Nie Huaisang hadn’t yet asked a single question about Lan Sizhui, who was, without making an appearance, the main subject matter of the day.
But then, a moment after that, he relaxed again, somewhat unwillingly – this was Nie Huaisang, who’d been born useless, grown up useless, and remained useless. It was a little absurd to suspect him of having figured out something that had duped the entire rest of the cultivation world.  
As Nie Huaisang said – of all people…
“What do you want?” he asked, shaking his head a little to try to clear it. It must be the oppressive atmosphere of Koi Tower, gilded and rotten, that was affecting his thoughts.
“What do I always want?” Nie Huaisang asked philosophically, and then helpfully answered his own question: “Attention.”
Lan Wangji was starting to remember why he’d avoided Nie Huaisang so thoroughly in their youth.
“I’m not telling you anything about Sizhui,” he said.
Nie Huaisang pouted at him. He was still clinging to Lan Wangji’s arm, and Lan Wangji wondered whether it would count as ‘losing the sect face’ if he threw him out a window.
(He wished Jiang Cheng were around so that he could mention the thought to him - he suspected it would make the other man turn purple with suppressed laughter, and probably get some sort of comment about it being the only sort of flying Nie Huaisang could manage, with or without a blade.)
“Fine,” Nie Huaisang said sulkily. “Turns out you’re still no fun, even after all these years. I’ll have you know, Jiang Cheng’s a lot nicer than you. He appreciates all the things I bring to the table.”
Lan Wangji seriously doubted it – unless perhaps if Nie Huaisang was speaking literally, referring to fine foods and liquor – but his mood improved a bit nonetheless at the compliment. Given the Jiang sect’s relatively isolated political position, with all the smaller sects looking at it hungrily, just waiting for it to trip up and give them a chance to snatch away the title of being the fourth Great Sect, it was only good that the second young master of Qinghe Nie had a positive impression of the ever-prickly Jiang Cheng.
“Oh, that reminds me,” Nie Huaisang said, and dug something out of his sleeve. “Give this back to er-ge for me, will you?”
Lan Wangji stared blankly. “His passage token for Koi Tower?”
He had planned to ask his brother later if he could borrow it – perhaps not that night, since it was the first day of the discussion conference and he suspected his brother would want to visit with his sworn brothers, but in the next day or two. That was the only reason he had agreed to go to Koi Tower at all, agreed to visit Lanling at all: so that he might try to steal away at some opportune moment to visit Mo Xuanyu unattended, before anyone noticed where he’d gone, and talk to him about the request for safe harbor that he had made of Jiang Cheng.
Lan Wangji had still been thinking over how he would phrase the request for the token without giving away his suspicions of the boy’s mistreatment, which his brother would likely take as a slight against Jin Guangyao even though it was fairly obvious to everyone that Sect Leader Jin was keeping Mo Xuanyu as a weapon against Jin Guangyao. He hadn’t yet managed to think of a way to do it.
And now – how had the token ended up here, in Nie Huaisang’s hands?
“Well, yes,” Nie Huaisang said. “I wanted to talk to you privately, without everyone eavesdropping, so I asked him for it. Da-ge never lets me use his, he says I’m a menace to both people and property, and for some reason san-ge never lets me take his. Probably because he’s always so busy all the time.”
That sounded – very much like all three of them, in fact. Nie Mingjue, bluntly refusing; Jin Guangyao, politely eliding; his brother, yielding in utter capitulation to the first bit of begging, confident enough in his own righteous reputation to not worry about the consequences…
An idea appeared in Lan Wangji’s mind.
It was not the sort of idea that might naturally come to a member of the Lan sect. Perhaps his uncle was right in saying that he’d been lingering at the Lotus Pier for too long.
“Nie-gongzi,” Lan Wangji said, looking at the token. “You are right.”
“I…what?” Nie Huaisang frowned. “Are you getting sick, Lan-er-gongzi? I’m never right.”
“I am angry at my family,” Lan Wangji continued, deciding to ignore him. He did not specify why he was angry – let Nie Huaisang assume, as everyone else assumed, that it was because they had not retrieved Lan Sizhui earlier, and for sticking him with the ‘compromise’ of having to stay at the Lotus Pier, no matter how far that was from the truth. “I have not had the opportunity to vent my feelings.”
Nie Huaisang blinked at him. “You…vent feelings?” he said, sounding doubtful, but a moment later he brightened, as Lan Wangji had expected he would. “We could play a prank on somebody! That always makes me feel better – something petty and ridiculous, so that they won’t get really angry, but still know that you’re upset.”
Lan Wangji nodded.
Nie Huaisang appeared somewhat dazed by his agreement. “We could do so many things,” he marveled. “I mean, the possibilities are countless. We could throw paint at something, we could put water on top of a door, we could…”
“I do not want to be publicly associated with it,” Lan Wangji said.
Nie Huaisang pouted, but tapped his fan against his cheek, thinking. “That makes things harder, but not impossible, I suppose…oh, I know! Why don’t we pretend that you’re your brother? You two look like peas in a pod, but for the color of your eyes and your expressions – if I’m hanging around and calling you er-ge and no one looks too closely, they would have no idea it was you involved.”
That was precisely the idea Lan Wangji had hit upon, and the one that he had hoped to lead Nie Huaisang towards suggesting. He had gotten to the point much quicker than Lan Wangji had thought he would; it seemed, useless as he might be, Nie Huaisang was still apparently capable of accepting at least some guidance.
(Unless perhaps...but no. It was Nie Huaisang.)
“This evening?” he suggested, and Nie Huaisang nodded.
“That’ll give me time to think of a proper prank,” he said happily. It was as if he’d never encountered a care in his life, Sunshot Campaign or no. “Don’t you worry, Wangji-gege! Leave it all to me!”
Lan Wangji returned to the main hall, the token tucked into his sleeve, and said nothing when his older brother smiled at him, faintly apologetic, nor when his uncle turned his face away from him. By that point, Jiang Cheng had arrived, scowling as usual, and he was mingling, speaking with the smaller sect leaders with a stiff and stern expression that said please don’t talk to me – Lan Wangji really would have to see about convincing him to invite Chifeng-zun to the Lotus Pier, politics or no politics – and he and Lan Wangji stared at each other briefly before turning away from each other, whispers sprouting up around them like grass.
Why must we put up with people? Jiang Cheng’s expression eloquently conveyed, and Lan Wangji didn’t disagree in the slightest. Life was so much easier in his little room back at the Lotus Pier, where he could shut the door and not let in the world – sometimes he wondered if all of this was really worth it.
Later that evening, he was reminded that it was.
Mo Xuanyu had been invited to the opening ceremonies, sitting in the main row with the important people of the Jin sect – directly beside Jin Guangyao, as if everyone didn’t know his purpose already – but he hadn’t spoken at all, keeping his face down and demeanor as withdrawn as possible. Sect Leader Jin had found an opportunity to praise him for his humility and obedience, and even Lan Wangji, who did not like Jin Guangyao, was indignant on the man’s behalf in the face of such obvious humiliation.
Etiquette dictated that no one could intervene in another man’s family affairs, but Chifeng-zun had rather loudly remarked to Lan Xichen – as if only just remembering – that it must be good to have his brother (subtext: notable for being humble and obedient) out of seclusion at last, inquiring as to whether Lan Wangji was planning on attending any night-hunts in the near future and, if so, whether he would be bringing his son, for whom he cared so deeply, along.
Lan Wangji was accustomed to being the other person’s child, held up as a positive comparison to the annoyance of the person being compared, and it took Jiang Cheng’s eyes crinkling with barely concealed laughter for him to realize that the person he was being compared favorably against this time was Jin Guangshan, absent father extraordinaire, and not poor Mo Xuanyu.
Later, when his brother slipped away to meet with his sworn brothers, as Lan Wangji expected, and Jiang Cheng was gone reluctantly to take Jin Ling to visit with his grandfather, Lan Wangji headed out with Nie Huaisang, who had come up with some prank involving feathers and glue that Lan Wangji wanted nothing to do with.
“But it would be funny,” Nie Huaisang argued.
Lan Wangji blamed Jiang Cheng for the fact that he even considered it.
“We can simply walk around in the guise we agreed,” he finally said, banishing that unhelpful part of him that loved chaos a little too much – the Wei Wuxian part, perhaps. “That will be confusing enough.”
“Oh, all right,” Nie Huaisang said. “But the feathers are hidden in the linen closet off the main guest hallway if you change your mind.”
With Nie Huaisang complaisant, it was easy enough to gradually make their way through Koi Tower, seeming to stroll without any apparent goal but in fact edging closer to Lan Wangji’s destination: the Jin family quarters.
“Wangji-gege – oops, I mean, er-ge,” Nie Huaisang said after he had exhausted at least three other pointless topics. “Why don’t you trust me?”
Lan Wangji looked at him, surprised by the question.
Nie Huaisang was pouting. “You clearly have a goal,” he said. “I know I’m not much, you know, but I’m not nothing. I could still help. If you wanted.”
Lan Wangji opened his mouth to refuse on instinct – the idea that Nie Huaisang could be helpful to him in any way seemed utterly absurd, utterly impossible – but then he paused.
Attempt the impossible, he reminded himself. After all, was it really so long ago that he himself had done what he had never dreamt he could do and chosen to leave his sect behind?
For a life at the Lotus Pier with Jiang Cheng, no less?
Maybe even Nie Huaisang could overturn expectations.
“I want to speak with Mo Xuanyu,” he finally said. “And, if he is unhappy, remove him from Koi Tower. Is that something in which you think you can assist me?”
Nie Huaisang blinked at him, just once – he did not appear nearly as surprised by the request as Lan Wangji thought he probably should be – and then smiled.
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spaceskam · 3 years
Note
Hello! For Title Tuesday, how about 33 and wangxian, since I recently fell into this ship and am still swooning and desperate for more! Thank you, love everything you do!
thank you! and thank you for waiting a week too! I’ll add the ao3 link whenever I get the chance to post it over there, I hope you like it!
title tuesday instructions
tags: cql canon, post-canon, a bit of sad and lonely WWX 
33. an uncomfortable month [ao3]
When Wei Wuxian came back to Cloud Recesses, he’d been excited.
He missed Sizhui and Wen Ning and having a reliable place to sleep and bathe, but mainly he missed Lan Zhan. He’d been so excited to hang on him again, to trick him into staying up past curfew by talking for hours and it was simply rude to fall asleep while someone was talking, to catch those moments when he smiled. He missed them together, whatever that meant and in whatever capacity he was allowed to have it in.
However, he hadn’t expected it to be so… weird. Awkward, maybe, was a better word. Lan Zhan was, for the most part, the same, but he was always so busy and so Wei Wuxian had to entertain himself. To make matters worse, apparently, people thought he was the great Hanguang-Jun’s ward. At first it’d been funny, but now it was simply annoying.
“Lan Zhan,” he whined, pouting and squishing his face against Lan Zhan’s arm. He didn’t slow down his pace or even accommodate Wei Wuxian’s affections, so he took the hint and stood up straight. He rolled his shoulders, shaking away that little bud that was beginning to blossom inside him that did nothing but remind him that he was unwanted. He was hoping to get rid of it before he couldn’t ignore it. “Lan Zhan, what did you tell them? I’ve told three separate people that I’m not your ward and not a single one of them believed me.”
“Mn.”
“Mn,” Wei Wuxian mimicked, rolling his eyes, “What does that mean?”
“I have said nothing to anyone about my relationship to Wei Ying,” he said.
“Yeah, including me,” Wei Wuxian grumbled softly. Lan Wangji tilted his head slightly in his direction as if listening and Wei Wuxian managed a laugh, petting his arm. “I’m teasing, Lan Zhan. So, what, do I just let them think that? What if rumors start about my age, though? Aren’t wards much younger?”
“Let them come to their own conclusion,” Lan Zhan said firmly. Wei Wuxian’s face felt warm at the implication. Though, maybe there were no implications and his mind was just a bit naughty.
His mind had definitely been awfully naughty these days.
“So, you won’t mind what they say when I stay in the Jingshi long past curfew?” Wei Wuxian asked. Lan Zhan didn’t answer which meant he didn’t mind. Wei Wuxian leaned closer. “But what will they say if I don’t leave at all?”
Lan Zhan came to a halt, turning to him. Wei Wuxian’s eyes widened a bit, shocked he was getting that much of a reaction. Lan Zhan hadn’t really given him much of a reaction since he came back. It was all very cordial. Plain. Wei Wuxian never overstayed his welcome at the Jingshi because of it, regardless of how much he wanted to take a nap in his bed again. It was much warmer than the guest rooms.
“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan said, staring at him. His eyes slowly grazed over his face and then further down and Wei Wuxian felt a bit lightheaded. “Are your rooms not satisfactory?”
“No,” he said. Lan Zhan blinked and then nodded before Wei Wuxian’s brain processed anything at all. “No! I mean, yes, I mean, they’re fine. Fine.”
Lan Zhan took a slow, even breath. “Wei Ying.”
“I suppose I was under the impression that I would be staying in the Jingshi,” Wei Wuxian said slowly, stupidly, but it didn’t matter. He didn’t know how long Lan Zhan planned to let him stay here, but it couldn’t be too much longer. “You know, like we did last time.”
“Wei Ying was here under pressing circumstances last time,” Lan Zhan pointed out, his eyebrows pulled together just enough to show his confusion. It was such a small change from his normal expression that Wei Wuxian barely caught it. “Wei Ying deserves a space of his own for however long he will be here.”
And it was so sweet that Wei Wuxian didn’t have the heart to tell him that he didn’t really mind sharing if it meant sharing with Lan Zhan. In fact, he’d much rather that. If they were in the same room, then they would at least see each other every day without Wei Wuxian having to hunt him down.
But Lan Zhan had been very thoughtful and Wei Wuxian smiled.
“Oh. I suppose I misunderstood,” he said. Lan Zhan blinked slowly and he took a step forward.
“Wei Ying can stay as long as he desires. And he can have whatever he desires. If he wishes to stay in the Jingshi, he is welcome,” Lan Zhan said. Wei Wuxian nodded slowly in understanding, but his cheeks just started to grow warm and he found himself laughing for no reason. It wasn’t funny. He did it anyway.
“Silly Lan Zhan, you don’t want to give me your house! I am just a ward, don’t you remember?” Wei Wuxian laughed. Lan Zhan blinked, but then nodded his head once.
Lan Zhan continued to walk and Wei Wuxian followed as they made their way to the open courtyard where young disciples were practicing sword forms. They were all around 13 or 14 and greeted Lan Zhan with a warm ‘Hanguang-Jun’ and then quickly averted their eyes from Wei Wuxian. They hadn’t done that before he left, even when they knew he was the Yiling Laozu. He put a little more space between him and Lan Zhan, just to be safe.
The days continued on like this, Lan disciples averting their eyes and Lan Zhan just being eerily calm. Not to say he wasn’t always calm, but he seemed almost sedated. Wei Wuxian wasn’t sure how to handle that. He would press his luck and stay later in the Jingshi, but he was never told to leave even as Lan Wangji went about his business to prepare for bed. It was like he didn’t care about anything but work. Wei Wuxian felt like he’d missed a step.
“A-Yuan!” Wei Wuxian called, walking a bit faster than was Lan appropriate to catch up with him. He was the only one who’s behavior made sense. Sweet and righteous and adorable. 
“Wei-qianbei,” Lan Sizhui said warmly, bowing politely. Then he stood up, paused a moment, and went in for a short hug. That was another thing that made sense. He always gave him hugs when no one else was around. Wei Wuxian gave them freely right back.
“A-Yuan, could I ask you something? Between you and I, of course,” Wei Wuxian said, trying to keep his voice diplomatic as they continued to walk. It made him smile so big his eyes turned into little crescents. Adorable, truly.
“Yes, Wei-qianbei, anything.”
“Did something happen while I was gone? The Lans have never been exactly fond of me, but viewing me as Hanguang-Jun’s ward and being too awkward to even look my way is definitely new. Did a rumor about me spread? I haven’t heard any,” Wei Wuxian said, tapping his nose thoughtfully. He’d tried to come up with reasons and failed each time. “Even your Hanguang-Jun has been weird.”
“Ah,” Lan Sizhui said, giving a tense little smile and looking away quickly as his cheeks began to burn red. Wei Wuxian stopped walking, putting his hand on his arm.
“A-Yuan,” he said, using the same tone of voice he’d used when he would tell him to spit out whatever he’d shoved in his mouth 16 years ago now. It was enough to make him tilt his head back in Wei Wuxian’s direction.
“Hanguang-Jun just… made it very clear that you were not to be disrespected,” he said carefully. Wei Wuxian’s eyebrows furrowed.
“What does that mean?”
Lan Sizhui pushed his hair off his neck and looked around. Wei Wuxian put his hands on his hips and waited for an explanation. Hanguang-Jun had been acting strange as well. What the hell could he have possibly done?
“Have you been to the Jingshi?” Lan Sizhui asked quietly.
“Of course I have.”
“Then have you not… noticed?”
“Noticed what?” 
Lan Sizhui’s face flushed again and he shyly looked at Wei Wuxian which only furthered his confusion. He went to the Jingshi nearly every day. Had he missed something that obvious?
“Perhaps you should ask Hanguang-Jun. It doesn’t feel like my place to say,” Sizhui said. Wei Wuxian scrunched up his nose and sighed.
“Everything is so difficult around here,” he said, earning a small smile from Sizhui. Wei Wuxian reached out to smooth his forehead ribbon carefully. “Fine, I suppose I’ll ask.”
“Alright, Wei-qianbei.”
“Once I straighten that, we’ll address this Wei-qianbei nonsense. Am I not worthy enough to be your Xian-gege anymore?” Wei Wuxian asked, enjoying the sound of his laughter. That made sense. If A-Yuan was laughing and smiling with him, then things couldn’t be that bad. He was sure of it.
“Alright, Xian-gege.”
Wei Wuxian spent his day as normal as he could, though he was already prepared to pack up if need be. He would ask Lan Zhan what he’d missed and see what he said, but he didn’t want to be in a place where everyone wouldn’t even look his way anymore. It was too uncomfortable.
He didn’t want to leave Lan Zhan and he wouldn’t if he didn’t have to, but it was beginning to feel like he had to.
As the day began to wind to an end and it was around the time that Lan Wangji would be retiring to the Jingshi, Wei Wuxian made a point to beat him there. He let himself in and took a look around, trying to notice if there was anything amiss. Nothing stood out.
“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan said as he entered in complete silence. Wei Wuxian spun around to face him, smiling as innocent as he could. 
Lan Zhan eyed him skeptically, not buying it for a moment and yet not calling him out either. It was little things like that that reminded him that Lan Zhan was a grown man now and not a hot-headed teenager. Not that he’d ever admit he was hot-headed, but still.
“Lan Zhan! I was waiting for you, let’s eat,” Wei Wuxian said, coming close and plucking the tray of food out of Lan Zhan’s hands. He brought it to the table and knelt on one side. Lan Zhan was still watching him closely as he placed Bichen on its stand and came closer.
Lan Zhan knelt at the other side of the table and poured tea for the both of them. Wei Wuxian smiled in his gratitude and downed it. They ate in silence which seemed to be an immediate warning flag for Lan Zhan if the way he was staring said anything. Granted, Wei Wuxian never listened to that particular Lan rule before.
“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan said softly as their meal ended. It was around the time he usually started moving around the room to prepare for bed. And it was the night he usually took a bath, so typically he would go to the other side of the privacy screen and disrobe while Wei Wuxian talked through his body lighting on fire from the inside. “Is there something wrong?”
“Ah, why would something be wrong?” Wei Wuxian laughed. Really, he just wasn’t quite ready to ask what happened after he left to travel last time. What had made all the Lan disciples look away and spread rumors that he was a ward. He still couldn’t get over that. A ward! How could they possibly think he was a ward? 
“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan repeated.
Wei Wuxian sighed and let his shoulders sink a bit, his eyes going anywhere but in Lan Zhan’s direction as he fiddled with his robes. It shouldn’t be so hard to ask.
“Lan Zhan,” he said, “What changed while I was gone? I asked A-Yuan, but, you know, just like his Hanguang-Jun, he’s all too respectful to tell me what is yours to say. So all I ask is what happened to make everyone avoid me. More than they avoided me when they knew I was just the Yiling Laozu which, honestly, is impressive.”
Lan Zhan stared at him for a long moment and Wei Wuxian would’ve thought he was just annoyed by the question if not for the way his ears were slowly burning brighter and brighter with each breath. Wei Wuxian tilted his head.
“Lan-er-gege, what did you do?” Wei Wuxian asked, a bit of teasing in his voice if only to lighten the tension.
“My sect will be ordered to stop avoiding you. I apologize for their lack of respect,” Lan Zhan said. Wei Wuxian rolled his eyes.
“Aiya, Lan Zhan! You know that isn’t it! Now, tell me,” Wei Wuxian said. Lan Zhan took a deep breath and stared at him. Wei Wuxian pushed himself up on his knees and walked on them over to him. He sat down right beside him, their knees nearly touching. “Is it something bad? Would it be easier for me to leave?”
That got his attention and Lan Zhan looked at him quickly, his eyes sharp and determined. They both knew Lan Zhan wouldn’t keep him here if he didn’t want to, but Wei Wuxian felt a rush of warmth at the idea that Lan Zhan would still give a lot to make him want to be here. To feel welcome in his home. That was nice.
“Alright,” Lan Zhan said, his hands clutching his robes, “I had a larger bed constructed.”
“Ah?” Wei Wuxian breathed, eyebrows coming together in confusion. He looked over his shoulder to the bed and, yes, maybe it was a bit larger than when he slept in it last, but it wasn’t that much larger. Just… big enough for two. “You’re… getting married?” Wei Wuxian asked slowly, dread poking at his gut and against those quiet sounds of ‘you’re not welcome, no one wants you here’ pried into his mind.
“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan breathed, looking some mix of fond and exasperated. Wei Wuxian could hear his heart in his ears.
“What does a larger bed have to do with me?” he asked. Lan Zhan slowly closed his eyes. Wei Wuxian’s eyes widened when he realized what the Lans were thinking, what they must be assuming he and their brilliant Chief Cultivator were doing in that large bed. “Ah! And they’re calling me a ward? Is that to save their own thoughts? How shameless of them, Lan Zhan.”
“And not shameless of me?” he asked, tilting his head. Wei Wuxian blinked and then nearly melted.
“Oh. Lan Zhan,” he teased, gently pushing his shoulder. Wei Wuxian’s insides were similar to the way he felt when he knew he was naked behind a privacy screen‒entirely on fire to the point he was almost dizzy. “Were your disciples not just assuming, Lan Zhan? Well, that would explain why A-Yuan got so flustered when I asked. Ah! You are shameless. But, don’t worry, shamelessness looks very nice on you.”
Lan Zhan’s smile slowly appeared and that was nice. Similar to A-Yuan’s, if Lan Zhan was smiling then nothing could ever really be wrong.
“Then why would you give me my own quarters? And why would you act so scandalized when I asked why I wasn’t living in the Jingshi? Lan Zhan, you’re terrible at courting!” Wei Wuxian pointed out. However, saying the word courting out loud when he was speaking about the two of them made a little too obvious what was going on and he leaned closer to Lan Zhan to keep his mind busy. “And still your disciples were thinking things that hadn’t even happened yet.”
“Yet?” Lan Zhan asked, ignoring his questions that were honestly rather important. But, well, he could get those answers later he supposed.
“Yet,” Wei Wuxian repeated, eyes scanning his face. He was so handsome. All of those naughty thoughts that Wei Wuxian had shoved away out of respect came back to the surface very quickly. “Lan Zhan.”
When Wei Wuxian found himself sprawled half-naked on the bed within the Jingshi, he didn’t finally notice the size difference.
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nillegible · 4 years
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They only allow it because Lan Xichen begs, on his knees, uncaring that he's the Sect Leader and it is several degrees of improper.
"Please," he says. "Thirty-three lashes may cripple him or kill him. Spare him from having to accept them at once. One lash every month, for the next three years. So he may live. Please."
It's not a unanimous decision, but they accede to Lan Xichen's request. But they add more; Until the punishment is complete, Wangji will be exiled. He is not to use his name for any of the privileges that being a Lan affords him, and he is asked to leave the Cloud Recesses entirely, without their support.
Lan Xichen cannot talk them down further, just sparing his brother the lashes all at once had exhausted their patience. Wangji agrees before he can try any harder. "I will accept my punishment," he says quietly.
Lan Wangji is brought simple, plain robes, and he returns his money pouch, his clan supplied talismans and spirit capturing pouches. He lays down Bichen and Wangji as well, and Lan Xichen makes a strangled sound. "He will be allowed to keep his sword and guqin," says Uncle Qiren firmly, eyes sharp, daring anyone to complain. "If the point of this punishment is to remind my nephew of the importance of the clan he disrespected, we will not kill him to make that point." Lan Xichen breathes in shakily, in relief.
Wangji bows, and takes back the weapon and instrument. Then his hands raise to his ribbon. For the first time since his brother chose his path, his voice is unsteady. "Must I...?"
"No child," an elder says, before Lan Xichen can. He sounds weary. "You may keep it with you... if you want."
Wangji nods, and does not cast off his ribbon. Something settles within Lan Xichen; he'll get his brother back eventually.
Thirty-three months exiled from the clan. It would be not so different from being in seclusion for three years. Except the world outside is dangerous. Heaven knows what Wangji would face out there, without backup or aid. Better than bleeding out in seclusion, Lan Xichen tells himself, and prays that he’s choosing right.
The last of the terms are hammered out, and then Wangji kneels for the first lash. Thirty-two months, Lan Xichen mentally corrects himself. Not thirty-three. He bites through his lip as the lash tears into his brother's skin, as blood wells from the wound.
"Leave, and return the next month. Every day you are late will be an extra lash," Lan Anshu warns.
Wangji bows, ignoring the blood seeping down his back, then rises. Hos posture is as straight as ever, his eyes distant, as he takes his leave.
Without asking for permission, Lan Xichen walks alongside him all the way to the Cloud Recesses gates.
“See you next month, brother. I’m sorry I couldn’t do more,” he says, bowing. Wangji stops him quickly.
“Brother has already done too much for this one. I… apologize, sincerely, for putting you in this position,” he says. “Please… if Brother could…”
“I will take care of A-Yuan,” says Lan Xichen. “He will want for nothing, but your safe return.”
Bowing once again, Wangji steps out and walks away.
It’s strange to see him walk, rather than fly…but perhaps his brother needs time, to decide where to go.
Crushing his desperate desire to run after Wangji, to offer to hide him somewhere safe each month until it was time for him to return, Lan Xichen forces himself to return. There’s something he should do.
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rosethornewrites · 4 years
Text
Fic: the thread may stretch or tangle but it will never break
Relationship: Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī & Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn
Characters: Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī, Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Wēn Qíng, Wēn Níng | Wēn Qiónglín
Additional Tags: Pre-Slash, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Secrets, Crying, Masks, Soulmates, Truth
Summary: Following the return of Wen Ning's spiritual cognition, Wei WuXian doesn't pull away quickly enough to avoid Lan WangJi discovering his secret.
Notes: This isn’t connected to try to praise the mutilated world. I’m also not sure whether it’ll just be a one-shot or if it’ll insist on being more. This is more compliant with The Untamed series as opposed to the novel. The title is from a Chinese proverb.
AO3 link
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Wei Ying pulls away from him, but too late.
Lan WangJi had caught his wrist with the intent of giving him spiritual energy to help heal from the injury caused by Wen QiongLin’s unconscious fury.
He disregards Wei Ying’s protestations about not needing spiritual energy for such a small thing and turns toward him, feeling a growing sort of horror. He knows what he felt.
“Wei Ying.”
Lan WangJi lets his voice carry enough insistence that Wei Ying goes silent mid-sentence.
“What has happened to your golden core?”
He doesn’t expect the raw fear and grief and exhaustion in Wei Ying’s eyes, the way he stumbles back a few steps as though struck. His mouth opens, then shuts again, and he turns away.
Lan WangJi hears a sigh behind him, and turns to find Wen Qing, accompanied by Wen QiongLin. She advances and places a hand on Wei Ying’s arm.
“Wei WuXian, that no one realized before now is a miracle,” she tells him.
Which lets him know that somehow Wen Qing knew. He remembers, when Wei Ying interrupted the banquet at Koi Tower, his assertion that Wen Qing and Wen QiongLin helped him during the war, his absolute insistence that he owed them his protection… 
Wen Qing presses a finger to a meridian on Wei Ying’s back, and he coughs up bad blood from his injury, staggering.
Shockingly, she then turns to Lan WangJi and bows respectfully. “Hangaung-Jun, we have no tea to offer, only water. We will leave you to your conversation.”
Wen QiongLin sets down a tray with a teapot and two cups, and Wen Qing grabs him by the sleeve to yank him from the room.
This leaves them alone, Wei Ying still hunched from his position coughing up blood, as though frozen, his eyes distant. He looks vulnerable, more so than Lan WangJi has ever seen.
Lan WangJi had always had difficulty with words. He knows he has driven Wei Ying away through his words before, and does not want to do so again. So instead of speaking, he reaches out slowly, as though to one of his rabbits so as not to startle, and gently grasps Wei Ying’s elbow, leading him to a seat. He pours water into one of the small cups, presses it into Wei Ying’s hand when he doesn’t take it.
This is what finally snaps Wei Ying from his fugue, his eyes finally losing their distance as he eyes the cup, then looks up. He seems to be searching Lan WangJi’s face for something, wariness painted in his expression.
He stays still, letting him search; perhaps he will find what his words have failed to convey. Nearly a minute passes before Wei Ying looks away, curling in on himself just slightly. Lan WangJi sits across from him, pours his own cup of water as though it is tea.
Wei Ying’s entire posture is defensive, as though he expects to be attacked, and he can only feel regret that he has led him to believe he ever would. 
“Wei Ying, when did you lose your golden core?” he finally asks.
“I didn’t lose it,” Wei Ying mutters, almost petulant. “I know exactly where it is.”
It’s so cryptic, Lan WangJi can only stare at him, reminded of just a few hours ago when Wei Ying claimed to have given birth to Wen Yuan with such a deadpan expression and tone he had for a moment doubted reality. 
“Ah, your face.” A ghost of a smile flits over Wei Ying’s face, fleeting, but his tone is just tired.
“Wei Ying.”
Wei Ying seems to deflate, and sets down his untouched cup, running a finger around the rim. “I gave it to Jiang Cheng. He doesn’t know. Wen Zhuliu.”
Lan WangJi’s mind reels at the idea. Giving up one’s golden core—that it’s even possible. But he has no doubt that Wei Ying speaks the truth; he has always given so much of himself. The evidence of how much he would give, his lack of self-preservation, is both awe-inspiring and terrifying. 
“When? How?”
“After Lotus Pier…” he trails off as though finishing is too hard. “Wen Ning helped me get him back. Even managed to get Uncle Jiang and Madam Yu, their bodies, away so they could be put to rest.”
Wei Ying’s voice has grown detached and clinical, as though he’s emotionally disconnected himself from what occurred. 
“He took us to the Yiling Supervisory Office and hid us. Wen Qing let him. And when I found out she’d written a paper theorizing the possibility of core transfer, I insisted. Told Jiang Cheng I was taking him to BaoShan SanRen. He thinks it’s his own, restored. I won’t tell him otherwise.”
The last sentence is spoken more forcefully, as though he fears Lan WangJi will interfere with his wishes. But what Wei Ying decides to tell Jiang WanYin is not his business, though perhaps the latter would behave in a manner more befitting as a brother if he knew what Wei Ying had sacrificed on his behalf.
He falls silent for a while, and Lan WangJi waits, asking nothing, trusting Wei Ying will decide what he wishes to share. 
“Then Wen Chao caught me and threw me here.”
His throat tightens as he realizes just how helpless Wei Ying had been against Wen Chao, against the resentful energy of this place, how terrified and alone he must have been...
“I did what I had to, to survive.” 
It comes out a harsh whisper, and Lan WangJi realizes Wei Ying is shaking, sees the dark circles under his eyes that he suddenly realizes have been ever-present since the Sunshot Campaign, since he returned from being missing and presumed dead for three months.
Wei Ying smiles suddenly, but it’s a broken, self-loathing one. “And so I walk the crooked path. It’s the only path I can walk, to protect the weak and seek justice. Regardless of the weapon I was in wartime, I am reviled for it. Even you—”
“I do not revile Wei Ying,” he interrupts, ignoring the Lan rule against it, frustrated that Wei Ying has referred to himself as little more than a weapon, an object of power—further because that is exactly how he has been treated. “I have never reviled Wei Ying.”
“You wanted me to submit to punishment at the hands of your sect,” Wei Ying hisses.
Lan WangJi feels as though he has been slapped. Was that how Wei Ying had interpreted his request to come to Gusu? 
“No,” he whispers. “For protection. For healing. Never for punishment. Never.”
For a moment, Wei Ying looks flummoxed, more vulnerable than Lan WangJi has ever seen him. Then he hides it under derision.
“‘Reject the crooked path,’” Wei Ying recites. “‘Do not associate with evil.’ I copied the Lan principles enough to memorize them, you know. I recited them at Indoctrination, even, at least until Wen Chao interrupted me. So rude. Sometimes I wonder if I let him off too easy...”
Abruptly, Lan WangJi realizes he’s being pushed away, that this is how Wei Ying seeks to protect himself. But this time, he’s not willing to go.
“Wei Ying is not evil.”
The broken smile appears again. “Oh, didn’t you hear? I dig up graveyards and steal naughty children away in the night. Who knows, maybe I even sacrifice virgins. Honestly, I can’t be expected to remember these things; you know my memory.”
He’s heard those terrible rumors, most recently at a tea house in Yiling earlier today. He doesn’t wish to hear them again, particularly not from him as though he believes them. He knows Wei Ying is trying to derail away from the topic of his golden core, from anything serious, hiding behind flippancy, trying to draw him into a semantic argument.
“Wei Ying,” he pleads. 
Wei Ying’s face goes carefully blank. “Lan Zhan, I have no other path to walk. There is no righteous path for me, only the crooked one.”
“You do not walk it by choice.”
He laughs shortly, without humor. “Does that even matter?”
“Yes,” he answers without hesitation. 
Wei Ying looks away at that, and Lan WangJi can see the way the muscles in his throat work, as though he’s fighting tears. There’s a long stretch of silence.
“Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying finally says, very softly, his voice tight, almost regretful. “I can’t go to Gusu with you, Lan Zhan.”
Lan WangJi comes to a decision so quickly it almost leaves him reeling. ‘Do not act impulsively’ be damned; he’s caused enough pain to Wei Ying. It is easy to disregard that rule now. 
“Then I will stay here.”
The myriad of emotion that passed across Wei Ying’s face is astonishing and quick like his mind—alarm, fear, confusion, but more importantly a heartbreak mix of longing and vulnerable hope. 
Then it’s gone, replaced with a resolute set in his jaw, and Wei Ying stands. “No.”
Lan WangJi calmly finishes his cup of water and pours himself another before repeating. “I will stay here and help Wei Ying.”
“You can’t! You can’t stay. You have responsibilities—“
“Brother will understand.”
Wei Ying starts pacing, agitated. “No. Throwing in with the Yiling Patriarch will ruin your reputation.”
“I do not care about reputation.” He keeps his voice placid.
Wei Ying makes a frustrated sound and stops pacing in favor of glaring at him. “Why? Why would you throw it away?”
Lan WangJi stands, leaving Bichen leaning against the rickety table. In many cases this would be seen as disrespect of one’s cultivation levels, implying one sees them as no threat, but he means it as a sign of trust; he hopes Wei Ying understands that. He moves until he is within arm length. It takes him a moment to find the words. 
“Bi sheng zhi ji.” He frowns when Wei Ying flinches. “You once called me this. I should have come with you at Qiongpi Path. I failed you, then.”
“You didn’t,” Wei Ying insists. “I didn’t ask you to come, or expect you to. I knew how I’d be seen, how they’d talk. You deserve better.”
Lan WangJi remembers; Wei Ying had expected him to stop him, to fight against him; had asked that when it came to the fight he believed and probably still believes is inevitable, that Lan WangJi be the one to kill him. The memory still hurts. 
“As does Wei Ying,” he finally says, pushing the memory away. It won’t come to that; he won’t let it. 
He suddenly realizes that Wei Ying is shaking slightly, his posture deflated as though he knows he has lost the argument. His eyes are wet, his throat moving soundlessly again. 
“I can’t… I’ve already damned myself, Lan Zhan. I can’t damn you too.” Wei Ying grabs his arm. “Don’t you get it? I’ll just drag you down, too!”
For a moment, he’s speechless. This isn’t unusual, but rarely is it due to this much emotion. That Wei Ying thinks so poorly of himself shakes Lan WangJi to his core, and he can only wonder how long he has felt this way. 
But Wei Ying has never defended himself against jibes and insults, only ever stepping in to defend those he cares for—and sometimes even complete strangers. Does he truly believe he deserves to be treated poorly, to be reviled and left without protection or aid?
“No,” he says finally, when he finds the words. “Wei Ying could only ever lift me up.”
Lan WangJi isn’t prepared for Wei Ying’s tears; he’s brought back to Cloud Recesses, his concern that he was crying when he was really goofing off. He’s never seen him actually cry. 
He feels frozen, uncertain what to do, but when Wei Ying sways and his knees seem to buckle, he surges forward to draw him close, to ease him down to prevent injury.
Unlike everything else Wei Ying does, he cries silently, like he’s used to doing so alone and without burdening others, his face bowed against Lan WangJi’s chest, his breaths coming in short gasps, his shoulders shaking as they once had at Cloud Recesses—though not then from crying.
As the minutes pass, Lan WangJi wonders how much Wei Ying has kept hidden away, how much grief he has tamped down within himself and hidden under smiles and false cheer, whether his constant chatter is perhaps just a distraction from his pain.
Wei Ying eventually stills, his breathing deepening with only small hitches, and Lan WangJi realizes he’s fallen asleep—whether from the release of emotion, overall exhaustion, or a combination. For a moment, he’s at a loss on what to do, but during what he had dubbed ‘the grand tour,’ Wei Ying had shown him where he worked and slept in the cave.
What surprises Lan WangJi further is the ease he has in lifting him, even able to hook one arm at his knees; he knows he has not gained as much strength as that, leaving only the possibility that Wei Ying has lost weight—and not a little. Looking down at his face, smoothed now in sleep, he realizes just how gaunt Wei Ying looks, how haggard. How truly vulnerable.
Bi sheng zhi ji.
He will never leave Wei Ying again.
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onlyonewoman · 4 years
Text
Wei Ying: A-Yuan, you look sad? Did something happen at lessons today? Lan Sizhui: Just... Someone was mean to me, mom... Lan Wangji *starting to look for his sword because how dare*  Wei Ying: Uhm, how about we let him tell us what happened before you murder someone, Lan Zhan? Lan Wangji *reluctantly calming down, still murderuous* Wei Ying: Just tell mom and dad what happened, hm? Lan Sizhui: They said that uhm... you can’t be my mom since you’re a man. Jiang Cheng, from the other room: They have a point, kid! Wei Ying & Lan Wangji collectively: NO ONE ASKED YOU! Wei Ying, looking at his son again: What did you do when they said such rude things to you, A-Yuan? Lan Sizhui: Uhm, well... *looking rather nervously at dad* Lan Wangji: Sizhui? What did you do? Lan Sizhui: I... I... Please, promise you wont hate me!!! Wei Ying: Silly boy, mom and dad could never hate you. Lan Wangji: Hate is what we preserve for those outside family. Or not so close family... *glaring in Jiang Cheng’s direction* Wei Ying: Lan Zhan, we’re trying to be supportive parents here, please, stop looking for an excuse to kill my brother. You already have plenty of them. Lan Sizhui: Is it true that you aren’t really my mom because you’re a man? Wei Ying: Of course not. We’re cultivators, A-Yuan. You’re trying to say that a man who rose from the dead, forged a magical weapon deadly enough to threaten the very existance of mankind and is still looking this handsome after all that, can’t be a mother just because he has no womb?  Lan Wangji *just nodding like this is perfectly reasonable which, of course, it is* Lan Sizhui: But... If you don’t have a womb...? How did you birth me? Wei Ying *rolling his eyes fondly*: Well, I just picked you up, planted you in the soil and then you started to grow. And then, dad picked you up once you were done growing with me. Jiang Cheng, from the other room: It’s still not the same! Wei Ying *nodding at his fuming husband*: I can take it from here, love, you let Bichen loose on my brother and I’ll explain the birds and the bees to our son, okay? Lan Wangji *raises to defend husband’s honor* Jiang Cheng *starting to run* Wei Ying *kissing his son’s cheek*: Now, tell mom what you said. Lan Sizhui *nervously looking at mom while hearing dad running after a yelling Jiang Cheng*: I... I told them to... go fuck themselves... Lan Wangji *still chasing after rude brother-in-law*: Lan Sizhui! Wei Ying: THAT’S my boy! Mom is proud of you, A-Yuan! Jiang Cheng, now running on the roof top: I was wrong, I was wrong! You’re clearly your momma’s boy, Sizhui! Stop chasing me, Wangji, I admit I was wrong! Wei Ying: See? All you need to be a mother, is someone chasing after people who say you aren’t a mother with a sword. Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng collectively: HE’S NOT TAKING A SWORD TO CLASSES! Wei Ying, pleased with himself: And that, my son, is how you make your father and uncle forget about killing each other and remember their sacred bond. Lan Sizhui: You mean the bond of family? Wei Ying: No, no! The sacred bond of being two of the closest living relatives to the world’s most annoying man and still not loosing their minds. Lan Zichen *coming in to look at the disaster*: Wangji, please stop running after your brother in law for whatever your husband and mother of your child did this time. Jiang Cheng: Why are you encouraging this, Zichen?! Lan Sizhui: Because you’re being a stupid, mean... Lan Wangji: Don’t disrespect your uncle! Wei Ying: You’re the one chasing him, stupid! Lan Zichen: Stop being rude to your brother, Wei Ying! Lan Sizhui *having had so enough of this*: Like that’s gonna happen... Jiang Cheng: IS THAT HOW YOU TALK TO YOUR MOTHER, YOUNG MAN?! YOU COME BACK RIGHT NOW AND ASK HER FOR FORGIVENESS! Wei Ying: Uhm, I’m still a man, but thanks... I guess? Lan Sizhui: I’m going to live with Uncle Ning for a few days... At least he’s normal! Jiang Cheng: He’s a walking dead... Wei Ying *honestly confused*: So? Lan Zichen, also confused: That’s... pretty well-known... Lan Wangji *still murderous*: You have a problem with zombie uncles now too? Lan Sizhui *being so fucking DONE*: I DIDN’T ASK TO BE BORN IN THIS FUCKING FAMILY!!! *running off to his room to pack a bag* Wei Ying: Well... Jiang Cheng: I guess we can agree on that, at least. Lan Zichen, ever the one to avoid a conflict if possible: Good! Now that we’re all agreeing, how about we have tea? Jing Cheng: Still no womb... Lan Wangji *muttering while putting his sword away*: That’s it, we’re going off birth control tonight... Jiang Cheng: What? Lan Zichen: What? Wei Ying: What?! Lan Wangji: I have spoken. *dead silence for a whole thirty, awkward seconds* Lan Zichen: Tea? Wei Ying, to Wangji: Not tonight, love, my period just... Jiang Cheng: Someone, please, just fucking stab me... 
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i-like-plan-m · 4 years
Text
Rules and Regulations
Lan Qiren disapproves of Wei Wuxian, and makes sure everyone in Cloud Recesses knows it. 
Lan Wangji makes a stand.
[Also on Ao3] 
“Wei Wuxian!” 
The outraged cry was a familiar one by now, carrying across the peaceful grounds of the Cloud Recesses. Lan Wangji set his calligraphy brush down and slid cool golden eyes to the door, attention effectively drawn away from his Chief Cultivator duties. 
Wei Ying was teaching a class of juniors, he knew, after one of the Lan teachers fell ill last week. He’d seemed as enthusiastic as the children about it, all of them young enough to idolize the energetic Senior Wei. 
Lan Wangji heard his uncle sputtering angrily outside. He would ignore it, except he had no desire to abandon his husband to Lan Qiren’s ire. Rising smoothly from his desk, Lan Wangji exited the pavilion, Bichen in hand and expression wiped clean of any emotion. 
It wouldn’t do to let his own irritation show. 
He was growing tired of Lan Qiren’s constant scolding, though, always aimed at Wei Ying for one inconsequential reason or another. Wei Ying insisted he didn’t mind, was used to it, but-- that was unacceptable. 
Lan Wangji knew he was used to it after years spent under Madam Yu’s shadow. But that shadow could not touch Wei Ying when Lan Wangji was close, could not reach him through the clear, pure light of the Cloud Recesses… except when Lan Qiren was shouting him down, tempering Wei Ying’s cheerful brightness. 
As expected, Wei Ying had taken the class of little juniors, all young enough to have started forming their golden cores, and outside of the library where their class was normally held. He studied his husband’s casual stance, the deliberately unconcerned expression on his face when the juniors peered anxiously up at him, gathered behind him like ducklings. 
“-supposed to be in the library!” Lan Qiren lectured in a volume just shy of a yell. “Why are you out here?” 
“Practicing talismans, of course!” Wei Ying said, waving a stack in the air. “I thought we should take it outside, in case someone accidentally sets the library on fire.” Lan Wangji noted the singed targets behind the group, the used talismans on the ground. He approved. 
Lan Qiren did not. “They aren't supposed to be practicing,” he hissed. “They do not practice talismans for months!” 
“Months?” Wei Ying asked, astonished. “But how else will they learn before they’re tested?” 
“From thorough lectures by competent teachers. Since you obviously can’t be trusted-” 
Wei Ying’s face fell, just the slightest bit, unnoticeable to everyone but Lan Wangji. He continued down the path towards them, annoyance only shown through his tight grip on Bichen. 
“Wei Ying is capable,” he said evenly, interrupting his uncle. Lan Qiren spun around, scowling. 
His husband perked up. “Hi, Lan Zhan!” He said excitedly, though they’d seen each other at breakfast and before this class. Lan Wangji’s grip relaxed with the surge of fondness for him. 
He nodded in response, then returned the polite bow that the juniors offered, wanting to smile as Wei Ying suppressed a squeal. He’d informed Lan Wangji at length of how the Lan Sect children were incomparably adorable, in their “tiny little robes with their serious little faces.” 
“Wei Wuxian is not following the curriculum set forth,” Lan Qiren said heatedly. “He is disrupting their learning with- with... tricks! And distractions!”
Lan Wangji glanced at the talismans in Wei Ying’s hands. “Fire talismans are an established cultivation method, Uncle. Not tricks.” Lan Qiren’s eyes bulged at the correction, but Lan Wangji was already tired of the argument. 
He turned to the children. “Class is over for today. It is time for lunch.” They bowed again to him, then Lan Qiren, and finally Wei Ying before filing off in perfect formation to the dining hall. 
Lan Wangji turned to Wei Ying, hoping he would join him for lunch in the jingshi. But Wei Ying was looking between Lan Wangji and Lan Qiren, inching away. “I need to clean up the library, Lan Zhan! I’ll meet you at home.” 
Lan Wangji watched him skip off, something nagging at him. He tried to follow, only to be stopped by his uncle’s voice. 
“I do not want him teaching the junior classes any longer,” Lan Qiren said tightly. 
Lan Wangji turned his head three degrees to the left, giving his uncle the absolute minimum of his attention. “Xichen and Lan-laoshi approved Wei Ying to teach,” he said simply, and went to fetch his husband. 
He paused just outside the door, preparing to call to Wei Ying, and then stopped at the sight of Wei Ying in the library, back to the door and half hidden behind one of the columns. He watched as Wei Ying took a shaky breath, heard his tired sigh. Watched his shoulders slump, and Lan Wangji ached at the exhaustion and defeat in every line of his husband’s body. 
These things that Wei Ying had hidden from him, no doubt wanting to prevent any further conflict between Lan Wangji and his uncle. 
Lan Wangji stepped away from the door, silent and careful even as fury sparked. The constant negativity, the beratement, the disapproval made abundantly clear-- these things would bring anyone down, no matter how bright their personality. 
His husband had been made to feel unwelcome in his home, scorned by the elders of the sect despite now being a member by marriage.
Wei Ying showed no signs of his weariness when he returned to the jingshi, all bright smiles and excitable chattering about the students’ success with the talisman practice. But now that he’d seen it once, Lan Wangji noticed the smiles that didn’t quite reach Wei Ying’s eyes, the subtle hunch to his shoulders like he expected Lan Qiren to appear and scold him again.
Lan Wangji would not stand for this. 
~*~ 
Lan Wangji waited patiently for the next opportunity to make his point. He did not have to wait long. 
He sat at a desk behind Wei Ying as his husband stood and patiently listened to Lan Qiren lecture him furiously on exhibiting appropriate behavior and an impressive list of other Lan Sect rules that Wei Ying apparently broke just by existing. 
Lan Wangji continued to write calmly, even as Wei Ying’s uncharacteristic silence grated on his nerves, made him want to stand and whisk him away to pile him with bunnies until he smiled again and meant it. 
He finished his work long before Lan Qiren’s criticism abated. Lan Wangji stood abruptly, took two long strides to stand before his uncle, and slapped the paper down on his desk, shocking him into silence. 
“Wangji, don’t interrupt!” Lan Qiren snapped, snatching up the paper. “What is this?” 
Lan Wangji stared his uncle down. “Sect rules Uncle has broken today.” 
Wei Ying choked. 
Lan Qiren stared at the list in absolute silence, not even appearing to breathe. Lan Wangji could see the rules written in his own flawless calligraphy, filling the page from top to bottom. 
Have courtesy and integrity.
Do not hold grudges.
Do not succumb to rage.
Do not disrespect the younger.
Do not take advantage of your position to oppress others.
Do not make assumptions about others.
Do not insult people.
Be careful with your words.
Be easy on others.
Be generous.
Appreciate the good people.
Talking behind other people's back is prohibited.
On and on the list went, just as extensive as the one Lan Qiren had for Wei Ying. 
Satisfied, Lan Wangji calmly took Wei Ying’s hand in his own. “We will leave you to reflect.” Without another word, he pulled Wei Ying out of the room. 
“Lan Zhan!” He squawked. “Are you crazy?!” 
Lan Wangji didn’t answer, just led his husband back to the jingshi. Only when the door was closed did he turn and look Wei Ying in the eye. 
“Are you possessed?” Wei Ying asked, patting Lan Wangji’s chest and shoulders like it would do anything but make him want to strip them both to bare skin and drag him to the floor. “You’ve been possessed, haven’t you?” 
Lan Wangji heroically did not roll his eyes. “Not possessed.” 
“Hm, sounds like something a possessed person would say,” Wei Ying said skeptically, poking at him. 
Lan Wangji caught his hand and held it. “Wei Ying.” 
Wei Ying avoided his eyes. “Ah, Lan Zhan. You shouldn’t have done that. I told you, I can handle it. It’s-” 
“Unacceptable,” Lan Wangji bit out. Wei Ying looked up, startled at the anger in his voice. 
“This is your home,” he said, only slightly calmer. “Uncle will treat you with respect.” This much was non-negotiable, and something he would make very clear in the future.
Wei Ying’s eyes were bright and adoring. “So fierce, Lan Zhan, coming to my rescue.” He trailed a finger down Lan Wangji’s chest, pausing at his belt and watching him from beneath his eyelashes. 
Lan Wangji hummed in response, pulled helplessly into Wei Ying’s orbit, following his husband all too willingly. Wei Ying backed slowly towards the bed, Lan Wangji in step with him, head ducked low so their foreheads touched and their breaths mingled. 
Their lips brushed as Wei Ying spoke. “How should I thank such a hero, hmm?” 
He spanned a hand across Wei Ying’s small waist, heat curling low in his belly when his husband shivered at the tight grip and yanked Lan Wangji’s outer robe off. 
“I have a few suggestions,” he said solemnly, and dragged Wei Ying into the bed. 
101 notes · View notes
gusu-emilu · 3 years
Text
Cantatio: Chapter Eleven
Ship: Lan Zhan / Wei Ying (POV Lan Zhan)
Summary: Jin Zixuan is missing, and Lan Zhan is growing suspicious of Wei Ying.
Cloud Recesses Academy AU, Rated T, No Warnings Apply - read on AO3
The coast was clear if they wanted to sneak away.
Bichen quivered in his grip.
“Do not disrespect the elder. Uphold the value of justice. Do not shirk your duty,” he told himself.
But before Lan Wangji finished the list of rules he’d be breaking, he had already slipped out the doorway and unsheathed Bichen, with Wen Qing at his heels and Wei Ying’s name on his lips.
< Ch. 10 | Ch. 12 > | chapter list
After hearing the news of Jin Zixuan’s capture, there was not much else to do but wait for his return. In the meantime, Lan Wangji tried to report his recent misconduct to his uncle, but the clan leaders already hurried away to organize more search parties.
Song Lan and Nie Mingjue were the only two authority figures left. They corralled everyone into the Main Hall to safely await results from the search parties.
Nie Mingjue stood in the front corner of the room scowling at the noisy disciples. After a few minutes, Song Lan began restlessly pacing along the wall. Then he strode to the front of the room as if about to make an announcement.
Like the beginning of Beings & Creatures the previous day, Song Lan stood as if frozen, that same subdued sorrow hovering around him in a haze, until every pair of eyes was fixed upon him. Then he said, “We will continue our lesson on animating guardian statues. It seems especially relevant today.”
Although the disciples were still intimidated by Song Lan, they had warmed up to him after an exciting class yesterday. It also helped that they had witnessed him tear down Wen Chao, the most hated disciple in the class. Now, instead of gaping up at Song Lan, they were bold enough to whisper to each other about the announcement once he finished speaking.
“Although taking immediate action is important when addressing a crisis—in this case, that immediate action is finding Young Master Jin—it is also essential to address the root of a problem. Someone please inform the class what the root of today’s problem is.”
The hall was silent except for a few disciples shifting their robes or murmuring to each other.
Nie Huaisang flapped open his fan, the whoosh echoing through the hall.
“HUAISANG!” Nie Mingjue bellowed. “You open that fan, you answer the question!”
The fan snapped closed and disappeared into juniper sleeves. Nie Huaisang waved his hands in front of himself as if fending off the dozens of eyes now fixed on him. “Oh, no, no, I don’t know! Don’t call on me!”
“If no one answers the daozhang’s question, that filthy pet bird of yours is getting released into the woods this afternoon!”
Nie Huaisang’s eyes darted around the room in panic, searching for a brave disciple to save him as if he were the sparrow about to be abandoned in the wilderness.
In the back of the hall, a hand slowly rose into the air. Upon seeing it, Nie Huaisang sighed with relief.
It was Wen Ning, his eyes wide but eager. Wei Wuxian sat beside him and patted him proudly on the back.
Nie Mingjue snorted.
“Young Master Wen?” Song Lan called.
“W-W-Well, Young Master Wei and I were just discussing that no one seems to know exactly how the lion was animated. S-So…maybe that’s the problem?”
Song Lan nodded slowly. “That is correct.”
Wen Ning beamed, and Wei Wuxian swatted at Wen Ning’s arm excitedly. Wen Qing turned around and smiled at them.
“But only partially correct.”
Wen Ning’s face fell.
Song Lan cocked an eyebrow and relaxed his shoulders, the silvery-gold hilt of his sword shifting behind him. “Thank you, Young Master Wen, for starting us off.” He turned to Nie Huaisang. “Perhaps Young Master Nie can complete the answer. Clan Leader Nie seems to deem you quite capable of it.”
Nie Huaisang scratched the back of his head. “Oh, no, no, I’m sorry, my brother expects too much of me, really…” His eyes wandered to the ceiling, circling around vacantly.
“But if I had to guess…like, if I was forced at sword point—wow, that would be scary!—ummm, I would say that the problem isn’t how the lion was animated. It’s by who.” He threw his hands in the air. “But I’m not sure! I don’t know anything! I really don’t. Please don’t call on me again, daozhang…”
A faint smile crossed Song Lan’s face. “This is the correct answer.”
Having saved himself and his pet bird, Nie Huaisang snapped open his fan once again, flapping it merrily in celebration. Nie Mingjue scowled even more, but his shoulders relaxed a bit.
“Does anyone know why we do not need to ask how the statue was animated?” Song Lan asked.
“Because we just learned how to do it yesterday,” Jin Zixun shouted, clearly pleased with his useless response.
Song Lan blinked for a few moments. “Anyone else?”
Lan Wangji lifted his chin. “Animation by humans is impossible," he said.
Every disciple in the room turned to stare at him. However, the only pair of eyes he felt was Wei Wuxian’s.
A pair of eyes that Lan Wangji was growing more and more suspicious of.
Despite answering the question, Lan Wangji did not fully believe his own words.
“Very good, Second Young Master Lan. To animate a guardian statue so powerful, a quarter of the Cloud Recesses’ population would need to lay hands on it and connect with its spirit. One or two people could have gone unnoticed, but such a commotion could not have, not even in the dead of the night.
“Furthermore, the guardian lion did not protect the Cloud Recesses upon coming to life, as was its duty. Instead, it attacked a disciple. Mere mortals are incapable of convincing a guardian lion to violate its duty. Their method of communication is ancient, cryptic, and spiritually demanding. They are not easily persuaded to stray from the prayer intentions that created them.
“Therefore, the question is not how. We would waste our time to focus on this. The question becomes whom, or—more precisely—what. That is our true adversary, not the lion.”
The hall hummed with speculation. Wei Wuxian crossed his arms and nodded approvingly.
But Lan Wangji still did not agree.
He was very, very suspicious.
Who had animated the pixiu yesterday with no sign of drained spiritual energy and then refused to explain how? Who had been outside the mingshi last night? Who hated Jin Zixuan for what he did to Jiang Yanli?
Wei Wuxian had the means, the evidence, the agenda. Slightly out of order, yet still compelling.
But would Wei Ying really do something so malicious?
How could he seem so calm this morning if he really was responsible?
Strange things had happened in the Cloud Recesses before, without any known human interference, such as the appearance of the monster beetle in Wen Qing’s room. This could be another case. Perhaps the guardian lion statue had even been animated by the melody of the haunted guqin.
And yet.
Wei Wuxian was a trickster, and sometimes his pranks went too far. What had happened to Jiang Cheng just last night after drinking a poorly-made sleeping potion?
Wei Wuxian might not have had a mean streak, but he did have one for recklessness.
Plagued by these thoughts, Lan Wangji struggled to focus on the rest of Song Lan’s improvised lesson, only catching bits and pieces, itching to simply stand up in the middle of class and march over to Wei Wuxian.
The lesson was so lively that Lan Wangji wished he could have paid more attention. Song Lan preferred to let the disciples do their own thinking, and let them speculate what might’ve animated the lion. Lan Wangji caught mentions of hungry ghosts, magical beasts possessing golden cores, demons, Heavenly Immortals, even dragons. Then Song Lan guided the class through the process for detecting traces of a creature’s visit. The disciples grew more and more enthusiastic as they exchanged ideas, their energy filling the room. The disciples were forbidden to go outside to search for the guardian lion, but Song Lan promised to speak to the clan leaders about letting a team pilot the detective work.
When the lesson finished and the hall plunged back into a mill of voices, Lan Wangji walked toward Wei Wuxian immediately. But after only a few steps, another thought seized him. He swerved and headed toward Wen Qing, who was in the midst of praising Wen Ning for speaking up during the lesson.
“Lady Wen.”
“Second Young Master Lan?” She lifted her hands to the top of her head to adjust her golden hair piece with an air of regality. “You look tired. Join the club.”
Unsure of what to say to that, Lan Wangji simply nodded and asked, “Did you observe Wei Ying during Beings & Creatures yesterday?”
She sighed. “No. I was busy focusing on my own pixiu. I don’t have much of a golden core, and Young Master Su is a very lackluster partner. We couldn’t even animate it.” She finally let go of her hair piece. “A-Ning, did you watch him at all?”
“Yes. He brought the pixiu to life without his partner’s help.” Wen Ning grinned. “He’s really awesome, Jie!”
Wen Qing’s eyes widened. “He did it by himself? Are you sure?”
He nodded.
Wen Qing turned to Lan Wangji. “That’s the reason you were hollering at him during class?”
I did not ‘holler’ at him, Lan Wangji thought, but his reply was, “Half the reason.”
“…We’re thinking the same thing right now, aren’t we?”
“Mn.”
“Have you talked to him?”
Lan Wangji shook his head.
Wen Qing gave him a look of disappointment. “You should talk to him.”
Lan Wangji turned away, intending to search the room for Wei Wuxian, but he was unable to focus on identifying any particular person. “…Come with me.”
Wen Qing rolled her eyes. “What, are you scared of him?”
“No. But he is scared of you.”
Wen Qing grinned for the first time he’d seen. “Still relying on me to do your dirty work for you? I’d say it’s almost like we’re becoming friends, Lan Wangji.”
Lan Wangji froze at these words.
Friends...
Finally, he managed to nod a goodbye to Wen Ning, then swiveled around and strode away before a small smile could cross his face in front of the Wen siblings.
Behind him, Wen Ning said, “Jie, is Young Master Wei in danger?”
“No, A-Ning. He’s fine. Stay here.”
A few moments later, he heard Wen Qing’s footsteps behind him.
They paced around the perimeter of the hall hunting for Wei Wuxian. When they didn’t find him the first time, they passed through the center of the hall, circled around one more time, studying every person in the room. A sinking feeling of dread grew inside Lan Wangji with each step.
Wei Wuxian was gone.
* * *
With Wei Wuxian nowhere in sight, the next best option was to confront his brother.
Jiang Cheng stood glaring out the doorway of the Main Hall, clutching his sword. His shoulders were tense and his legs were slightly spread apart, as if he were about to join the starting line of a race.
“Young Master Jiang, have you seen Wei Wuxian?” Wen Qing asked.
Jiang Cheng scowled at her, as if offended that she had spoken to him. Then he noticed Lan Wangji, and turned to stare out the doorway again.
“Him? Tch. That dumbass ran outside a minute ago. I was going to tell Clan Leader Nie, but I’m thinking I should just go after him myself before he gets killed.” He paused. “So I can kill him,” he added.
So it was confirmed. Wei Wuxian had left. Was he seeking Jin Zixuan and the guardian lion that captured him? Was he running away from suspicion? Was he just bored in the Main Hall and looking for fun?
“Why?” Lan Wangji asked.
Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes. He mimicked his brother’s overly-excited voice. “’I’m going to save Jin Zixuan so I can stand on his head while he apologizes to Shijie!’ The idiot. The clan leaders have been searching for ages. He’s deranged if he thinks he can find him.”
A wave of relief washed over Lan Wangji. Even if the guardian lion’s animation had really been Wei Wuxian’s doing, he could not have intended to seriously harm Jin Zixuan.
However, facing off with a guardian lion was not a feat that one could do alone. He needed help.
Jiang Cheng glanced around the hall, then tightened his grip on his sword. “Anyway. I’m hunting him down. If anyone asks, you didn’t see anything.” He sprinted outside, unsheathed Sandu from its dark purple scabbard, and jumped onto the blade, soaring into the clouds.
“Follow him,” Wen Qing said.
“I will tell the daozhang and Clan Leader Nie.”
“Didn’t you just hear Jiang Cheng? He doesn’t want anyone to know about this.”
“Authorities must be informed.”
Wen Qing crossed her arms. “Young Master Wei and Young Master Jiang just left. We can bring them back before anyone notices—that is, if you stop clenching your fists and get on your sword.”
Lan Wangji glanced down at his hands. Feeling a bit embarrassed, he relaxed them and placed them in their usual proper position—one holding Bichen at his side, one behind his back. Then scanned the interior of the Main Hall to check if anyone was watching them.
Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue were having a light-hearted discussion with Jin Guangyao. Song Lan was frozen in Lotus Position in a corner of the room, his eyes narrow and unfocused.
The coast was clear if they wanted to sneak away.
Bichen quivered in his grip.
Do not disrespect the elder. Uphold the value of justice. Do not shirk your duty.
But before Lan Wangji finished the list of rules he’d be breaking, he had already slipped out the doorway and unsheathed Bichen, with Wen Qing at his heels and Wei Ying’s name on his lips.
Holding his sword in front of him, he nodded toward Wen Qing.
She sucked in a breath and unsheathed her own blade. “Let’s go.”
Lan Wangji leapt onto Bichen and zipped into the sky beside Wen Qing. They soared through the clouds and mist with the speed of a dragon, cold air slicing at their cheeks.
They soon caught up to Jiang Cheng on Sandu.
“The hell are you doing?!” he snarled.
“Helping you get your shidi back!” Wen Qing shouted.
Jiang Cheng scoffed. “As if I want him back! Once we’re done, you can have him!”
As they flew over the green swath of forest, an uncomfortable thought entered Lan Wangji’s mind.
Since when had he stopped trying to discipline Wei Ying, and started trying to get him out of trouble instead? It had only taken a day at most. Was Lan Wangji really this soft?
A worse thought followed.
Was Lan Wangji fated to become another Jiang Cheng in Wei Ying’s life? A beloved brother, sure, but one who was always a sword’s length behind, chasing after an unbounded energy he could not hold?
That wouldn’t do.
Just as Wei Wuxian’s smirking face appeared in his mind’s eye, he spotted the real Wei Wuxian streaking through the air on his dark blade.
“WEI WUXIAN! GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW OR I’LL KNOCK YOU OFF YOUR UGLY SWORD!” Jiang Cheng shouted.
Wei Wuxian gleefully waved at them, nearly falling off the sword himself without any help from his brother. He shouted something back, but the words were drowned out by the howling wind. His red hair ribbon whipped behind him like the feathers of a phoenix as he sped away.
Wei Wuxian’s pace continued to increase. But Sandu and Bichen were closing the gap.
Suddenly, Wei Wuxian pointed at the forest to his left. He swerved and rocketed down in that direction, plummeting through the air like a torpedo.
What was he thinking? At this speed, he was going to crash!
Bichen and Sandu shot down after him. The swords buzzed in anticipation of the forest canopy that they were about to smash through. Wind battered Lan Wangji’s face.
At the last moment, Wei Wuxian’s sword leveled off just above the tree line. He swooped to the right and dove into a break in the treetops next to a mountain cliff.
He was headed straight for the ground, where a giant boulder met the grimy dirt.
Now he really was about to crash!
“Wei Ying!” Lan Wangji cried.
Whoosh!
Wei Wuxian charged at the foot of the boulder. But he didn’t smash into the ground like Lan Wangji had dreaded. Instead, he vanished.
Lan Wangji, Wen Qing, and Jiang Cheng dismounted their swords over a patch of grass beneath the boulder. Jiang Cheng marched toward the rock. Thin black strands of hair coiled over the top of his head where his sleek locks had been pulled back, now a mess from taking a vertical drop at such a high speed. Wen Qing and Lan Wangji looked just as windstruck.
Wen Qing rested a hand on Lan Wangji and gasped for breath as she clutched her stomach. “This is why…I prefer medicine…over the way of the sword.”
Lan Wangji gingerly removed her hand from his shoulder.
The moss-covered boulder towered over them, reaching the height of a pagoda. They approached the crack that Wei Wuxian had vanished into. As they angled closer, the crack expanded into a dark tunnel that burrowed beneath the boulder.
It was the opening to an underground cave.
“The hell is he thinking!” Jiang Cheng stuck an arm out toward the tunnel. He looked like he wanted to strangle the entire boulder above it. “Don’t tell me he actually found the lion and followed it into this cave! He hadn’t even been in the air for five minutes!”
Lan Wangji and Wen Qing exchanged hesitant glances.
If this was true, and Wei Wuxian had entered the cave after the guardian lion, then he would need all the help he could get.
“Well? Who’s going in first?” Jiang Cheng said.
After a few moments, Lan Wangji stepped inside.
The mouth of the tunnel was coated with mud, descending to murky black depths that glared up at him hungrily.
He slipped.
Slammed on his back.
Clenched his eyes shut and slid down the tunnel, accelerating faster and faster as the slope tilted steeper and steeper, until the darkness swallowed him whole.
* * *
Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this chapter, you can be a supportive sibling like Jiang Yanli by liking, reblogging, and visiting me on AO3! New chapters posted every Monday on AO3 and Tuesday on Tumblr.
Ch. 12 > | chapter list
12 notes · View notes
trensu · 4 years
Text
Episode 34: The One where Detective Wangxian is on the Case!
WWX IS RUNNING FOR HIS LIFE!!
From Fairy the wonder dog, lol. The pupper just looks so pleased to be chasing after wwx.
Poor wwx gets himself cornered tho and jin ling looks all smug about it, the little brat
OMG I AM D Y I N G
Wwx: LAN ZHAN HELP MEEEEE
Lwj: *backflips into the scene with his scabbard held high totally ready to throw down with a kid*
Chill out, lwj, the kid’s like twelve
And as soon as lwj places himself in front of wwx to protect him from the big bad kid, wwx LATCHES ON TO HIM, 
GRIPPING LWJ’S SHOULDERS WITH ALL HIS MIGHT
AND HE’S ALL PRESSED UP AGAINST HIS BACK 
AHHHHHHHH
But lol, jin ling seems to seriously be weighing his options here?
Like, hmm, this is the great hanguang-jun so my odds aren’t the best but i got fairy the wonder dog and also my dad’s awesome Magic Ghost-Busting sword so…
Wwx: i’m so glad you’re here!
This is when lwj notices that wwx is actually cowering from the dog, not the child, and lwj levels a glare at the dog. Like, he really Glares at fairy.
Fairy NOPES right out of there bc animals have better self-preservation instincts than humans
Jin ling lets out this cute little gasp when fairy ditches him and then he glares at lwj
(pretty ballsy move coming from a kid, tbh)
Lwj, obvs, is completely unfazed and just gives him a cold stare in return
THEN JIN LING POUTS LIKE THE ADORABLE BRAT HE IS AND KICKS AT SOME BASKETS BEFORE STORMING OFF
LOVE THAT KID
(i mean, if i met a kid like that irl i’d probably hate his spoiled little guts, BUT BC THIS IS MAKE-BELIEVE I CAN ENJOY HIS BRATTY BEHAVIOR LOLOLOL)
Once the dog is gone, wwx makes this nervous little giggle (SO FREAKING CUTE) and peels himself off of lwj
Pretty sure lwj is like wait no come back, but like internally bc god forbid he express himself verbally
Wwx goes back to the mountebank and starts interrogating him about Plot Things
We’re gonna ignore all that chitchat and just watch his pretty face get all animated in detective mode
*dreamy sigh* wwx, so pretty so pretty
Lwj hasn’t stopped staring at him this whole time either! I FEEL YOU BRO
AHHHH WE SEE NHS BEING ALL MR. KNOW-NOTHING
“I DON’T KNOW, I DON’T KNOW, I REALLY DON’T KNOW. PLEASE DON’T ASK ME ME. I REALLY DON’T KNOW ANYTHING.”
LOVE THAT GUY
GIVE HIM AN ANCIENT FANTASY CHINA OSCAR.
Now we’re in a forest! This is MUCH better than the last time we were in a forest!!
OUR BOYS ARE WALKING SIDE BY SIDE TOGETHER LIKE THEY’RE SUPPOSED TO BE AND I AM OVERJOYED
They’re chatting about the nie bros, like omg can’t believe nhs is sect leader and his big brother dropped dead???
SUDDENLY THERE’S BARKING!
Wwx: DOG!!
AND IMMEDIATELY DUCKS BEHIND LWJ, GRIPPING HIS UPPER ARMS LIKE HIS LIFE DEPENDS ON IT
HE’S MAKING HIMSELF ALL SMALL BEHIND HIS HANDSOME HEROIC SOULMATE WHO WILL DEF PROTECT HIM FROM ALL THE BIG MEAN DOGS IN THE WORLD
Lwj: wei ying, there’s no dogs here
Omg wwx is clinging so close that his chin brushes up against lwj’s shoulder aND I AM SWOONING
Oh, but he lets go, all embarrassed and awkward
Lwj gives him a Look
Wwx: don’t look at me like that
Lwj: why are you afraid of dogs?
Wwx: don’t ask me why either
HE SOUNDS SO CUTE AND SULKY SAYING THAT AND HE’S GOT A LITTLE POUT
AND I’M JUST LIKE AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH SO CUTE I’M GONNA DIE
Lwj is a perfect gentleman tho bc he just accepts that wwx doesn’t want to talk about the dog thing and goes on ahead
But before lwj can get even 3 steps away, wws LUNGES for him and grabs his arm
Wwx: lan zhan! Alright, i’ll tell you, i’ll say it
He says this like lwj twisted his arm and forced him to or smth lol
Wwx: i was a street kid when i was little and often had to fight stray dogs for food
POOR BB!WWX :( :( :(
Wwx: thankfully jfm took me to lotus pier but he also made jc send away his puppers, just like i made jin ling do…
Wwx: they really live up to their blood; he hates me so much. Just like jc.
HE SOUNDS SO SADDDD
And then he sighs like resigned to the fact that his brother will hate him forever??? WHICH HURTS ME SO MUCH, LET MY YUNMENG BROS RECONCILE AND BE HAPPY, DAMN IT
Wwx: lan zhan, let’s go
2 seconds later he hears barking again
Wwx freAKING YANKS LWJ IN FRONT OF HIM AND THEN COWERS BEHIND HIM IN THE MOST ADORABLE WAY
Wwx: that really is a dog, right??
HE CLINGS SO TIGHTLY TO LWJ’S ARMS, I CAN’T
Lwj: it’s still far. Why are you hiding?
He asks like he's not absolutely LOVING having wwx cling to him
We get a wonderful close up shot of wwx’s face here, so please take a moment to admire it (so pretty, so pretty, i love him!!)
Wwx: just let me hide!!
Lwj: *lets him hide* it sounds like jin ling’s wonder dog. It’s barking, something must’ve happened
Wwx: let’s...let’s take a look?
Awww, wwx stutters that out and he’s all pale with fear but he’s still willing to go investigate BC HE WANTS TO MAKE SURE HIS NEPHEW IS SAFE DESPITE THE BIG SCARY DOG
I LOVE HIM SO MUCH
Wwx: h-hanguang jun, move. How can i move if you don’t move?
BC HE’S STILL ALL CROUCHED BEHIND HIM, SO CUTE SO CUTE
Lwj purses his lips here and looks back at wwx
Lwj: let go of me first
It comes off as kind of annoyed BUT WE ALL KNOW HE’S JUST UPSET THAT WWX IS GONNA HAVE TO UN-CLING FROM HIM
And now we get beautiful close up shots of wwx’s hands gripped ever so tightly on lwj’s fancy white outer robes and watch as they very reluctantly loosen and let go
He’s laughing all nervously aND CRINKLES HIS NOSE WITH A BASHFUL SMILE AND I’M GONNA DIE FROM THE CUTE OMG
I LOVE HIM SO MUCH
HAVE I MENTIONED?? BC I DO. SO VERY MUCH.
As soon as lwj forges ahead, wwx grabs him by the shoulders again and follows close behind lol
Oh great, more fog in a forest
Wwx: this is a disorientation trap! It must’ve been set by a human
Lwj: looks like the legends of walker ridge are not unfounded
(oh yeah, plot thing about a man-eating ridge which is why we’re in the forest)
Wwx: lan zhan look!
AND NOW WE GET TO WATCH THEM WORK TOGETHER
I LOVE WATCHING THEM WORK TOGETHER
LOOK AT THEM BEING BEAUTIFUL AND IN LOVE AND DETECTIVE-ING ALL OVER THE PLACE
And now we’re at a mysterious creepy bunker in the middle of the forest!
Fairy barks again and wwx hides behind lwj AGAIN and everything IS GREAT
Wwx: why can i hear the dog but not see it???
Lwj: the disorientation trap must be keeping it out
Wwx: would jin ling be kept out by the trap too??
Lwj: nah, if jin ling were out, the dog wouldn’t be freaking out
Wwx: makes sense *does that nose tap thing THAT I LOVE* sooo how do we get in?
Lwj goes to investigate and wwx lunges for him again
Wwx: ah! Lan zhan, wait for me!!
I AM LOVING EVERY SECOND OF THIS
Our boys find that the bunker’s been busted open and figure that jin ling must’ve done it so they go inside to look for him
We hear screechy noises of resentful energy
Oh no! Wwx gets all woozy from it!
Lwj: how is it?
Wwx: noisy
HE KEEPS HAVING TO PAUSE TO CATCH HIMSELF, MY POOR SUNSHINE BOY
Oh, he pulls out the evil-detecting compass to help guide them through the bunker
Following the compass, following the compass, compass tick tick ticks away
BLADES SHRINE
WE’VE ARRIVED AT THE BLADES SHRINE
Wwx starts calling out for his nephew and he and lwj start cracking open caskets like graverobbers, shame on them!
Wwx: weird. Why are they all blades?
GUQIN TIME
I LOVE GUQIN TIME
IT’S INQUIRY GUQIN TIME!! EVEN MORE FUN!!!
Wwx gets all excited: you’re associating with the spirit?
Lwj: *nods* he’s here
Wwx: ask him for me - what is this place, what is it for, built by whom?
Omg wwx take it easy, one question at a time plz
Ofc lwj just goes ahead and does exactly as his wei ying asks him
The guqin lets out a couple of notes from the spirit (FOREVER THE COOLEST WAY TO COMMUNE WITH SPIRITS)
Wwx: what did he say?
Lwj: idk
Wwx: ??????
Lwj: the spirit said ‘i don’t know’
Wwx: good for you lan zhan, you even know how to make me speechless now
Lwj keeps playing his guqin for answers
EEEEEEEEEE WWX JUST CLIMBS UP AND PLOPS HIMSELF ON TOP OF THE COFFIN THAT’S HOLDING LWJ’S GUQIN AND JUST SCOOTS HIMSELF CLOSER TO LWJ
I LOVE MY SUNSHINE BOY
So they keep interrogating the spirit and find out that the spirit knows nothing
Wwx: a spirit confined here and he knows nothing? It’s the first time i’ve ever seen a spirit like that
Wwx: lan zhan, could the spirit be...nhs?
HE SAYS WITH A HUGE SUNNY SMILE ON HIS FACE AAAAAAHHHHHH I LOVE HIM SO MUCH
Wwx: lol jk, don’t mind me. Lan zhan, how about asking it’s gender. He should know this
Lwj: male
Wwx: FINALLY a decent answer
They keep asking questions and determine that jin ling is in fact in the room even tho they haven’t seen him anywhere!
Wwx: could the spirit be lying??
Lwj: i’m here. He can’t lie.
Look, i know he means it bc spirits can’t lie through inquiry or whatever but i LOVE the implication that people simply cannot lie in the presences of the great hanguang jun
Lwj starts guqin’ing again while wwx searches the blades shrine again
We get a shot from outside the bunker and see the robes of a ~mysterious figure~
Ooooh, and we get an absolutely GORGEOUS close up shot of lwj’s eye (lovin that eyebrow, man) as he listens to the spirit’s response
Wwx: what did you ask him?
Lwj: his age and where he’s from
Wwx: what did he say?
Lwj: 16, lanling
WORRIED UNCLE!WWX (also, i guess jl is not twelve, but whatever)
Aaaanndd we find out jin ling is inside the wall of the blades shrine!
Lwj goes and cuts the wall to pieces with bichen like a badass
And wwx immediately starts digging his little nephew out
HE’S SO WORRIED FOR HIM
He’s calling his name out and lwj goes and gives the boy some spiritual energy since he’s all unconscious from being stuck in a wall
Lol while lwj is doing that, wwx grabs bichen and starts poking it into the dirt
Seems kinda disrespectful to bichen, if you ask me...but lwj and bichen don’t seem to mind so whatever
Wwx gets all woozy from the resentful spiritual energy again
He’s starting to piece things together when jin ling suddenly wakes up (kinda)
Jin ling like, zombie-walks himself back into the wall
Lwj and wwx look at each other like what the heck??
They decide they probably shouldn’t stick around so get out of the bunker
They spot someone running away from the area and wwx is like go catch them, lan zhan!
Lwj: i’ll go. You and jin ling…
And wwx is all, i’ll get him out of here and we can meet up at the tavern after
Lwj stares at him BC HE DOESN’T WANT TO LEAVE HIS SIDE, HE JUST GOT HIM BACK LAST EPISODE!!
But wwx is like, lan zhan go catch the bad guy before he gets away!
Wwx: i’ll be there. Lan zhan, take care
Chase scene!
Huh, nhs is pretty nimble on his feet, isn’t he?
Lwj chucks bichen at him but only manages to slice off a piece of his robes
THAT’S SOME NICE LOOKING FABRIC THO
I’D BE MAD AS HELL IF SOMEONE CARELESSLY SLICED UP MY GOOD FABRIC LIKE THAT OMG
Oooh, wwx got jin ling back to his room and noticed a curse mark on jin ling’s leg
He pulls open jl’s robes to see if the mark spread to his chest (it hasn’t)
Ofc jin ling wakes up just as wwx finishes doing that
Jl: whAT ARE YOU DOING WHY ARE YOU TAKING OFF MY CLOTHES
Good boy, jl, that is exactly how you should react if some strange guy tries to undress you when you’re unconscious
Wwx: why are you freaking out bro, i just saved you from that man-eating wall
And jl is all IMMA KILL YOU!!
And wwx is like been there done that, don’t really want a repeat…
Wwx sees jl’s jade lotus pendant and asks him about it
Jl: my mother left me this! Don’t touch it!!
See, jl is such a brat but then these little moments happen and i just want to hug him and bundle him up in blankets and make him hot chocolate…
HE’S SO STARVED FOR LOVING FAMILY AND AFFECTION, THAT POOR KID ;_;
We get a flashback to jyl giving wwx a similar pendant and wwx clutches at his robes in AGONY at the memory
Lol
Jl uses this moment to put on his boots and FUCKING BOOK IT RIGHT OUTTA THERE
GOOD FOR YOU KID, GOOD FOR YOU
DEF THE RIGHT RESPONSE AFTER ALMOST GETTING UNDRESSED BY SOME STRANGE MASKED DUDE
Cut to street view, wwx is wandering around trying to find jin ling but instead he hears jc’s voice and dives for the first hiding place he can find
LOL I LOVE LISTENING TO JC AND JL INTERACT
Jc is scolding jl ofc
Jl: don’t grab me like that, i’m not a 3yo!!
Jc: you think i can’t discipline you now?? EVEN IF YOU’RE 30, I CAN STILL DISCIPLINE YOU
Omg this is freaking hilarious, i love these two
Then jc asks him where Fairy is
Wwx is all smug thinking to himself: lan zhan must have driven it away
And the world is like, PSYCH FAIRY’S ACTUALLY RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF YOU
Wwx almost avoided a jc encounter
He would’ve gotten away with it too if it weren’t for that meddling dog
At least we get to see jc use zidian. I love zidian.
We get a big reveal scene and jc finds out that mo xuanyu is Wei Wuxian, surprise!!
Oh no, sad/angry yunmeng bro time (I MISS MY HAPPY YUNMENG BRO TIMES, GIVE THOSE BACK)
They’re back at an inn or whatever and jc is really just tearing into wwx
We’re not gonna go into detail except for this bit - 
Jc: 16 years...and lan wangji STILL wants to protect you
He’s so mad
It’s giving me Emotions™
Jc: maybe he’s not doing this to protect you. Someone with such integrity couldn’t possibly tolerate you. Maybe he had a deal with the guy who saved you.
Wwx: JC! Watch your language!
LOOK AT HIM DEFEND HIS SOULMATE FROM SLANDER
Yikes, they keep arguing and jfc they really know how to hit where it hurts, don’t they?
A wild Jin Ling appears!!
He lies through his teeth to JC. like yeah, i totally saw wen ning in an abandoned shack really really far away from here, for real :D
Now jin ling is in charge of guarding wwx after jc ties him up with zidian (seriously the COOLEST spiritual tool)
Jin ling takes it right off 
I LOVE THAT THE ZIDIAN LISTENS TO JIN LING OMG
We get a lot of fun uncle wwx and nephew jin ling interaction here bc jin ling helps wwx escape into the forest
Oh look, another moment that makes me like jin ling
He helps wwx escape since wwx saved him from the killer wall
He has honor!
Also wwx apologizes to jl here for that time he stuck his foot in his mouth way back at the start of the series
Wwx demonstrates his A+ acting skills by pretending to have been caught by jc and jl whirls around in a panic and wwx knocks him out
He inspects the curse mark on jl and is all, hmmm, can’t undo that curse rn but i can totally transfer it onto myself to save my nephew
And that’s the end of the episode!
LOOK AT ALL THE QUALITY WANGXIANTICS WE GOT!!!
THANK GOD, WE DEF DESERVE IT AFTER ALL THAT PSYCHOLOGICAL TORTURE WE ENDURED IN THE LAST FEW EPISODES
*hugs episode to their chest, sobbing* I’VE MISSED YOU SO MUCH, DON’T EVER LEAVE ME AGAIN
Return to Masterpost
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eyeslikefoxglove · 4 years
Text
Episode 21 - The PTSD is strong with this one & we need more braincells
Hello hello! Welcome to the commentary. How’s everyone? I’m frozen solid because it’s mid-June in Spain and yet we had 11°C yesterday. Fucking awesome!
I AM NOT WEARING MASCARA SO I CAN CRY ALL I WANT. I DONT KNOW IF THATS GOOD OR BAD THO.
Can I just take a second to appreciate how much this big strong powerful men emote? I mean, I know this isn’t western media where the tough guy can’t show emotions, and I don’t know that eastern media has the same hangups about men emoting but just... it’s so refreshing.
Huaisang bb you’re so sweet.
Oh, oh the PTSD is strong with this one.
Also, bless both JC and NHS, they absolutely noticed WWX flinch and, in their own ways, went and steamrolled over it so WWX wouldn’t feel scrutinised.
WE INTERRUPT THIS BROADCAST TO INFORM YALL THAT I GOT A KITTEN ON MY LAP. (She’s kneading my boob, which, ow, but...)
*BICHEN GRIIIIIIIP*
How do y’all think the guards go deliver bad news to WRH? Like do they paper-rock-scissor it? Draw straws?
NMJ did you have to?
And once again I wonder what would’ve happened if JFM had let sect leader Yao kick it.
Ughvhfnevus it’s this clown. Same as with Su She, if you see a bunch of screaming it’s just me not wanting to listen to Jin ZiXun.
The Nies: let’s throw a banquet to honour WWX’s return
Every asshole there: *gossips about WWX while in the room with him*
Once again I wish I could transmigrate (and speak mandarin lol) and just start delivering tongue lashings.
Listen, I have no idea how to play Guqin, but I did play the guitar for years and even from here I can see how much YiBo’s hands don’t match the melody. Nothing against him but why does this always happen? I know they got classes, so was the music not written by that time or something? Because one thing is not hitting the correct notes, another is plucking slow notes when the tempo is much faster.
JC: Since yours and LWJ’s unhappy separation...
My dumbass: do you mean breakup? *eyebrow waggle*
You will pry my “JC knows his brother is pinning after LWJ, he probably doesn’t want to know anything else” hc out of my cold dead hands thankyouverymuch.
WWX: *spouts a bunch of misdirection to avoid giving JC a straight answer*
JC: Bull-fucking-shit.
Should I count how many times WWX PTSDs all over the place or would you like me to leave your hearts intact? That’s two so far.
Ok ok, I feel that, if someone with a bit less trauma and a bit of insight (NHS maybe?) had seen the bit where ChenQing fucking hurts Shijie thing would’ve gone differently. I mean, yes, LWJ keeps warning WWX that this shit is gonna fuck him up, but as I said in my previous commentary LWJ also has the communication skills of a hermit crab so that wouldn’t work, and JC would be too wound up and WWX too busy trying to conceal his lack of golden core for that conversation to go anywhere. But if someone who WWX knows is a good egg (I’m not gonna say trusts bc paranoia) had sat him down and told him “your new instrument that you use for your new form of cultivation just hurt the person you love most please be careful when you use it.” I think it would’ve worked wonders towards his health overall.
I know Shijie says it’s like Zidian, but she’s not working with the fact that this thing is made for and by the Dark Side of the Force and I’m sorry but I can’t help but see ChenQing as a bit of a horrocrux almost. Or like, if you like me think the Burial Mounds is an Entity, something that’s a bit more sentient that it lets on.
Speaking of reputations and NHS being a good egg, I have oh-so-many ideas (I won’t say plot bunnies because I can’t write for shit) in which NHS for Reasons (time-travel? Letter from the future? His massive brain?) realises just how much damage WWX is doing to his public image. And he might be a sheltered dandy, but he saw what being the son of a sex worker did to Meng Yao despite how hard he worked (I’m assuming he doesn’t know about the whole betrayal business). This is way fucking worse, like hell is he going to let one of his best friends paint a target on his back. So he pulls back his sleeves, engages his slytherin brain and proceeds to lay down a plan to throughly destroy WWX’s reputation as a powerful genius.
I’m guessing LWJ and JC protest, and maybe WWX, and NHS just hits them with “do you want him respected or alive?” And they shut tf up. He glues himself to WWX, and brings up as many instances in which their behaviour can be compared as he can (we got drunk and punished at cloud recesses, we slept in class, we skipped to go fishing, I don’t carry my sword either). And, because assholes be assholes, people like Sect Leader Yao or Clown Cousin are quick to start spouting their own derogatory bullshit and thus WWX the untamed powerful prodigy dies a fiery death. Now he’s just a mouthy kid with a quick mind that “does tricks instead of battle” (I’ll never get bored of using that Thor quote). I also like to think that people who personally know WWX and are not pieces of shit go give NHS a tongue lashing for messing with what they thought was his friend, NHS takes that as a test of good eggness and bring them into the plan. Soon the whole Cloud Recesses class is swearing up, down, left, right and centre that all the shit WWX has ever successfully pulled is just an insane amount of luck and quick thinking.
I don’t know how would they work him into the battlefield (disguise? Mask?) to unleash his demonic cultivation but that’s Plot and I don’t do that.
Also, because I’m a terrible human being I want to say that people assume LWJ is on “pretty but useless” WWX like white on rice because *insert derogatory comment about being good in bed and sexual favours*. Because y’all know the assholes here are Like That. And WWX is horrified because holy fucking shit he’s gonna drag LWJ’s reputation down, he can’t have people thinking HGJ is ok with having him as a concubine pretty much. But before he can act LWJ politely all but confirms that yeah, he’s tapping that, y’all wish you were but he doesn’t share and none of y’all are good enough for his Wei Ying anyway. CUE FAKE/PRETEND RELATIONSHIP BECAUSE I AM INDEED TRASH FOR THAT TROPE.
Muahahahaha y’all thought I was gonna devolve into my personal hcs and not include my fave trope? Shouldn’t y’all know me better by now?
(Btw I like this bit ^ so I might polish it a little and post it separately as well, just a warning if you find yourself reading an eerily similar post by me)
WuJi is playing and LWJ is pining so much. Also, if LWJ did not just realise that, just like Yu the Great, WWX had no other option but tame resentful energy I’ll eat my blanket.
I refuse to believe Jiang Yanli didn’t become the unofficial war camp therapist/sounding board/only sane person/everyone’s mum/I just need a hug and a corner to cry in peace. There are not enough fics about Shijie being her gentle BAMF self while in the camp and it’s a pity. My crops are dying y’all!
Also, I will fight anyone who scoffs at Shijie being the epitome of the “gentle woman who cooks and waits for the men to come back from war”. Look at her mum, do you think it is easy for a kid (she was a kid in the flashback when WWX ran away) to see that day in and day out, to have that as a “role model” and decide that she was not going to be like her mum? That she didn’t like what she saw in her so she was going to be kind and gentle? And do you think it is easy for a person barely in their twenties to deal with years of verbal and psychological abuse for again, being gentle and kind, and not grow a hard shell of bitterness to protect themselves? And to keep being gentle and kind while at war, with your parents dead and your siblings unraveling before your very eyes? Shijie is so fucking strong and I love her.
Hey look, the White Walkers!
“Resentful energy is just energy” ok, valid. But my dude, you’ve got black ghost smoke coming out of you and can hear people screaming in your head. I’m not saying it is evil, like someone’s uptight set in his ways arrogant uncle; but it sure as shit ain’t healthy.
AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH (that’s a Clown Cousin scream btw)
Ok ok, just one little thing: IF SOMEONE ELSE CALLS WWX WEI YING AS A SHOW OF DISRESPECT IMMA SCALP THEM.
...are those crows eating that man alive? Yikes on bikes.
(Assume my comment about YiBo’s Guqin playing also goes for Xiao Zhan and his flute. I can’t play the flute but the tempo doesn’t match his fingers)
I’m just gonna say it, I think 3zun (well, 2zun as of now) suspect shit went down badly for WWX, that’s two questions by both of them in a very soft conciliatory tone. They are genuinely interested/worried about the topic, and don’t seem to come off as chiding or judgemental. I mean WWX is a weirdo irreverent kid and they’re sect leaders, they outrank him so much it’s ridiculous. I’m also counting the fact that both their baby brothers like him towards them being so kind. But I also think WWX just triggers all their big brother instincts the second he walks in.
Oh there’s a thought, Shijie, Wen Qing, NMJ and LXC take a look at everyone’s shitty parents and just decide to adopt everyone.
What happened at Yiling was a traumatised teenager (is WWX even 20?) PTSDing all over the place with the Dark Side of the Force whispering in his ear and an all powerful trinket at his disposal. Not saying I approve of all the torture and murder but he clearly isn’t revelling in them.
That is some outstanding bit of big-brothering on LXC’s side and I love it. Also, my dumbass just realised LWJ probably wasn’t quoting WWX when he was being punished (what is white what is black?) I think he was quoting his big brother. Which is magnitudes deep too, but in a different direction and I might love that scene even more.
Ok fuck it, I’m gonna tangent. So I had a terrible boyfriend when I was 15-18. He alienated me from my friends, sunk my self-esteem to the molten core of the earth, tried to convince me my parents were abusive and encouraged (aka threatened manipulated and cajoled) the slow tanking of my high school marks. I have A Problem when I see media where someone latches onto their significant other and everything they are shifts towards that person. Now, love, true genuine love, is powerful, and I believe it can be the catalyst for shifting your world-view for the better. I don’t have a problem with that. I don’t have a problem with people sticking with their romantic partner if it is clear their previous “family” is so much shit. I don’t have a problem with LWJ coming out of his shell and defying corrupt precepts because his love for WWX made them see they were wrong, or getting sassy and unrepentant during his punishment (I have a problem with the punishment bc that’s abuse but...). But I do side-eye WangXian being the only thing in their orbit. People need people, and WangXian have other good people around them. So I kind of love that yes, WWX showed him the system was corrupt, but it is the words of his brother he is sticking by to the defy said system.
Let’s go back to our scheduled slew of held pinning glances shall we?
LXC after That awkward run-in: WangJi I wasn’t gone that long, what the fuck did you two oblivious pining idiots do?
(LXC has “bitching” tea sessions with Shijie and you can’t convince me otherwise)
LWJ: *is being dramatic and not knocking on WWX’s door*
Me: oh my god you fucking idiot
Shijie: *walks in*
Me: oh thank god someone with a braincell.
Ah yes, there we go triggering WWX’s paranoia again. Why would he get a break.
OH MY GOD YOU PAIR OF FUCKING IDIOTS. THATS IT, FUCK THIS SHIT IM OUT.
@ LWJ: bitch wtf was that? I know you’re shit at talking but have you thought about writing it down? Letters anyone? It worked for mr. Darcy.
(Yes LWJ is mr darcy and now I want an au where LWJ writes WWX letters and just pours everything in them, WWX finds them, any everything is sunshine and rainbows)
While this bullshit fight/misunderstanding is all on LWJ’s shoulders, I’m also going to scream at WWX. Because yes, he is in PTSD hell, but he trusted LWJ before, and yet he can’t get past his perceived notion of LWJ’s character (and his own inadequacies) to trust him again and ask for help. Plus, you know, he thinks he doesn’t deserve he’ll bc *waves hand at WWX’s trauma conga line*
These episodes can’t be good for my BP.
Thanks for reading!
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ibijau · 4 years
Text
Burn it down AU // on AO3 // extras on AO3
Things do not go as planned in Nightless City. Lan Wangji worries. Nie Huaisang plots.
warning for some violence (canon typical levels I’d say?)
Nightless City had never been Lan Wangji’s favourite place to travel to, but after years of abandonment, it had become truly ghoulish. In certain places, the lingering resentment was so strong it became nearly impossible to breathe. In the bitter wind, Lan Wangji thought he could still hear the shrill notes of Chenqing playing a deadly melody. In every shadow, he half saw the shape of Wei Wuxian, fractured by too many losses, on the verge of shattering beyond repair, taking hundreds down with him.
Lan Wangji could have happily lived to immortality and never set foot again in this cursed city. It must have shown. Several times, Nie Huaisang tried to order him away, saying he was perfectly capable of handling his brother’s body, even if Nie Mingjue really had turned into a fierce corpse and needed to be subdued.
“I’m not much of a cultivator, but even I can take care of a fierce corpse,” he boasted again and again with an empty smile. “Go wait for me in the nearest town, Wangji. It’s a family problem anyway, and I’ve made you help enough already.”
“We’re family,” Lan Wangji said at last, when he grew tired of his husband trying to send him away.
After this, Nie Huaisang grew quiet and stopped insisting that he could do this alone. 
It wasn’t until they arrived to the spot marked on the map that Lan Wangji understood where, exactly, his brother-in-law’s remains had been hidden. He felt nauseous at being once more in front of Wen Ruohan’s palace, where the remains of the Wen siblings had been scattered to the winds, Wei Wuxian’s last friends, the last people he had cared about.
The place where the entire cultivation had united together, just as tightly as they had during the Sunshot Campaign, and announced that they had decided who their next enemy would be. The place where Wei Wuxian’s death had been decided, where he had lost what little he still had and snapped over the bloodied corpse of his sister. The place where…
“Hey, stay with me,” Nie Huaisang called to him, grabbing his sleeve and pulling lightly, the way A-Yuan did sometimes. “So, this is the right place, uh? Heavens, it looks even worse than in my memories. Remember that archery contest, at that last conference the Wens held? Damn, I remember the party after, it was so awful. The alcohol was so cheap. Talk about disrespecting your guests! Ah, not that it’d matter to you, of course. I wonder how the tea was?”
“Bad,” Lan Wangji managed to answer, taking one shaky breath after another. “Cheap.”
“I knew it! And the food was awful as well. There was that weird dessert… did you have any of the desserts?”
Lan Wangji dived under more recents memories and tried to remember that conference. It felt a lifetime ago. It was, in a way. They had all been different before the war. Sometimes, it all felt like a dream. And in that dream, he could not remember whether he’d eaten the dreadful desserts Nie Huaisang apparently recalled with such clarity. Thinking about it helped a little, though, forcing him to focus on something other than his last visit to Nightless City.
“No desserts,” he still said, since that seemed likely. He took a deep breath. Now was not the moment to break. He could do that later, when they had recovered Nie Mingue’s body and Nie Huaisang no longer needed his help. “Give me a moment. Then I will see if his soul can be reached.”
“Should I be silent, or keep talking?”
“Hm. Tell me more about the desserts,” Lan Wangji ordered, looking around for a place where he might sit without covering himself in filth.
With Nie Huaisang still clinging to his sleeve, he found a spot at last, not far from where his brother and the other sect leaders had stood to… but no. Lan Wangji pushed away that memory, and forced himself to listen to Nie Huaisang’s graphic description of what he claimed were the worst tanghulu he’d ever eaten in his life. The mindless chatter only stopped when he took out his guqin and played a few notes, bringing him if not peace, then at least clarity. 
"I will try Inquiry," he announced. 
"You think it will work on Da-ge?" 
"No," Lan Wangji admitted, and immediately something crumbled in Nie Huaisang. "There are other spirits lingering here. One might help." 
Lan Wangji played the notes that commanded souls to come talk to him. In an instant he found himself surrounded with the screams and rage of all those who had perished in this cursed city. Several ceremonies had been performed to put them to rest, but with so many having died, and in such a violent manner, it had not yet been enough to calm them. 
In vain, Lan Wangji tried to call forth the soul of Nie Mingjue. All that brought him was a dissonant mass of spirits trying to seize his guqin, either praising or cursing his brother-in-law for his actions in Nightless City. Lan Wangji played a few more notes to calm them before trying a different question. Had they seen Jin Guangyao come to this place in the past year? 
Less spirits rushed to him this time, and Lan Wangji was able to select the strongest one among them to answer, one single word. 
Yes. 
The spirit, a fallen Nie disciple, had trained alongside Jin Guangyao during his time in Qinghe Nie and thus knew him very well. He had no doubt that it was him, having caught a glimpse of his face. After further interrogation, it revealed that Jin Guangyao had come there to bury something, and it was able to give the precise location, hidden under a large paving stone. Lan Wangji thanked the spirit, promised to see what could be done about another calming ceremony, and turned to his husband to share the news. 
"Let me guess, he hid Da-ge's body under the spot where they took the oath, didn't he?" 
"Hm." 
"Theatrical bastard," Nie Huaisang hissed. "Wangji, if you want, I'll handle the rest alone. I can manage." 
Lan Wangji shook his head. 
"A fierce corpse is not a person. What we find might attack you."
"But still…" 
"I won't let A-Yuan be orphaned again." 
That cut short to all of Nie Huaisang’s protests, as Lan Wangji expected it would. 
Together, and with both of them equally uneasy though for different reasons, they went to the spot indicated by the spirit. It was barely visible if one did not look for it, but among the paving stones there was one that appeared to have been unsealed. 
Without saying it, Lan Wangji knew that Nie Huaisang and him were thinking the same thing: that stone did not look large enough to cover a body, let alone that of a man as tall as Nie Mingjue. Still they knelt on the ground and got to work, carefully lifting the stone, then digging the soil under until they found a box. 
That box itself was nothing special. It was made of black wood and carried no particular mark. And yet powerful dark energies surrounded it, barely contained by a great number of peculiar talismans drawn in blood. 
"I've never seen those talismans before," Nie Huaisang commented in a weak voice, clearly trying to ignore the more glaring issue. That box that was little more than the length of Lan Wangji's arm. 
"I have," Lan Wangji announced, though he could not quite remember where he might have seen them. "It will come to me." 
Nie Huaisang nodded weakly. He brought one hand toward the box, as if to brush his fingers against the wood, but stopped short of touching it. 
"Wangji… That box… It's really too small, isn't it?" he whispered. “Do you think… do you think he cremated him?”
“Hm.”
It was a likely possibility. It would have eliminated any traces of the crime, and made it far more difficult to summon Nie Mingjue’s soul to testify regarding his own death. 
It would definitely have required an accomplice though, because the fierce corpse of such a man would not have allowed itself to be destroyed so easily, and Jin Guangyao’s cultivation was what it was. Besides, the talismans on the box did not look like ordinary ones. There were few methods that called for the characters to be drawn in blood, and currently the most famous one was Wei Wuxian’s demonic path. Considering that Lanling Jin had been the one to get its hands on most of Wei Wuxian’s notes, that they had infamously hired a person such as Xue Yang to make sense of those…
“That talisman, isn’t it different from the others?” Nie Huaisang suddenly pointed out. “Look, it has one stroke less than the others.”
Before Lan Wangji could stop him, Nie Huaisang reached for the faulty talisman. As soon as he touched the paper it consumed itself, allowing an intense burst of resentful energy to be released from the box. Nie Huaisang cried out in surprise or pain, while Lan Wangji, acting on sheer instinct, jumped to his feet and drew his sword. Before Bichen was fully out of its sheath, the box’s lid was shattered as a lone arm burst out of its confinement.
In the split second it took Lan Wangji to comprehend what was happening, the arm launched itself at Nie Huaisang’s throat since he was closest, and alternated between trying to strangle him and clawing at his skin. It did not stop its assault until Lan Wangji slashed at it with his sword, distracting it from its victim. For a moment the arm, as if enraged, tried to attack Lan Wangji, blindly clawing in his direction and narrowly avoiding being cut to pieces by Bichen. Quickly though, it lost interest in that fight. Twice Lan Wangji managed to stop it, but in the end the arm avoided his attacks and returned to assault Nie Huaisang who was still kneeling on the ground, trying to stop the gashes on his throat from bleeding out.
Nie Huaisang screamed in terror and pain when that ghoulish arm seized his own, digging its claws into his flesh. 
The arm was not merely tearing at him now, but instead dug its fingers into the skin of Nie Huaisang as if it sought to get under it. With each passing second, the poor man fought a little more weakly, his skin growing paler until Lan Wangji took his guqin again and hurriedly played a song to calm the arm. It took effort, and a few tries, but after a few minutes he managed to pacify the arm. It fell to the ground, as did Nie Huaisang, pale and whimpering in pain but still alive.
Keeping an eye on the now immobile arm, Lan Wangji hurried to Nie Huaisang’s side and used every bit of spiritual energy he could spare to stop the bleeding. Even when he was done, Nie Huaisang would not stop trembling and crying.
When his eyes fell on the arm, he screamed in rage and horror, the noises resonating in those vast, empty spaces. 
“I have to get him back,” Nie Huaisang hissed in a broken voice when he calmed down. “And then I’m killing every single Jin in Lanling.”
“You won’t.”
“I certainly want to! They butchered him! No, not even butchered,” He corrected with a hysterical laugh. “Butchering, that calls for skill. I could cut a body better than that and I will when I get my hands on Guangyao! I’ll dig up his mother and father and show him how it’s done, I will...”
“Huaisang, calm down.”
“My brother! They took my brother and did this to him, and you want me to calm down? If it were Xichen, if it were A-Yuan, would you be calm? I’ll make them pay! Every single one of them, I’ll make them pay!”
Unsure what to do when faced with such desperate rage, Lan Wangji forced himself to put a hand on his husband’s shoulder, hoping to provide some comfort. His hand was slapped away. Nie Huaisang had too little strength left at the moment for it to sting, but the message was clear. Comfort, for now, was not welcome.
Instead, Lan Wangji turned his attention back to the box and, having seen its content, he realised where he had seen those talismans before. They were eerily similar to those Wei Wuxian had used to contain Wen Ning before his conscience was returned to him. They were not quite as neat as the ones he had seen during his brief visit to the Burial Mounds, and if anything, they seemed to have been traced by someone who had only the vaguest idea of the proper way to write characters, but they were still the same ones.
“Demonic cultivation,” he announced to Nie Huaisang, hoping to distract him from his rage. “To contain and conceal.”
Nie Huaisang did not answer, his eyes fixed on the arm. He reached out for it and, with some hesitation, picked it up to hold it against his chest, cradling it as if it were a child.
“We can try the spell again,” Lan Wangji offered. “We might find the rest of him. Even if we do not, this is proof something evil was done to him.”
“He got rid of Xue Yang,” Nie Huaisang mumbled, tightening his hold on his brother’s arm.
“Hm?”
“Guangyao. He got rid of Xue Yang. You say this is demonic cultivation, and Xue Yang was the only person they’d found who was able to make sense of Wei Wuxian’s work. He wasn’t purging his sect and starting anew, he was getting rid of witnesses.”
“It is still proof.”
Nie Huaisang laughed. “Proof of what? The spell we used to find it is a secret Nie technique, it’d be easy to say we lied about its effects, or that I tricked you and used you for my nefarious plans. This arm could be anyone’s. I know it is my brother’s, I know it, but it’ll be my word against Guangyao’s. People don’t like him, but I think they like me even less.”
An unfair statement, in Lan Wangji’s opinion. Lan Xichen believed and trusted them. Jiang Wanying probably had more sympathy for and trust in Nie Huaisang than in his brother-in-law’s half brother who had just usurped his nephew’s inheritance. The older Madam Jin might share that sentiment.
But all that, of course, was on a personal level. Lan Wangji was starting to accept that natural inclination, and things as unquantifiable as honesty and truth, did not matter as much as his sect’s rules had led him to believe.
“We find the rest of his body,” Lan Wangji insisted. “When we are away from this place, I will try Inquiry again. We will find proof.”
Nie Huaisang appeared unconvinced by that promise, for which Lan Wangji could not blame him. After a shock such as this, hope would have been difficult to muster even for a man not already as close to despair as Nie Huaisang was.
--
They left Nightless City after carefully replacing the paving stone where it belonged and taking great pains to hide that it had been moved. The box they took with them, so they could inspect it later at their leisure to look for clues. The arm, of course, came as well. 
It took Lan Wangji great efforts to persuade Nie Huaisang to put the arm back in its box, and to put that box in a qiankun bag so it would be easier to transport. Even then, Nie Huaisang insisted to be the one to carry it, clinging to it as tightly as he had done with the arm itself.
Nie Huaisang did not speak on their way out of the city. He did not speak when they stopped for the night at a small, struggling inn that still survived on the outskirts of Nightless City. He did not speak when Lan Wangji used the different Nie spells he had been taught in a fruitless attempt to locate the rest of the body. The rest of Nie Mingjue must have been better sealed. If not for that mistake with one of the talismans, it was likely that they would never have found even this much.
As promised, Lan Wangji attempted to play Inquiry for the arm. It was all in vain, and Nie Huaisang remained eerily silent. The only sound he made all evening happened when the arm, which had stood perfectly still so far, started moving its fingers of its own accord and appeared to point in his direction. Nie Huaisang cried out and nearly fell down in fear, but before anything could happen Lan Wangji quickly calmed the arm once more, this time putting more power into it so that hopefully it would not trouble them again until the next evening.
When Nie Huaisang went to bed, he took with him the qiankun bag, as if scared that someone might take his brother from him again. In the morning, he looked somehow more tired than when he had gone to sleep, and remained uncharacteristically quiet.
That silence remained as they made their way to the Cloud Recesses where they needed to see Lan Xichen and announce that their plan was not going quite as smoothly as they had all expected. It was unsettling to see Nie Huaisang so quiet when Lan Wangji had never known him as anything but loud and animated both at the heights of his joy and in the depths of his pain. And yet, Lan Wangji did not know how to comfort his friend. All he could do was offer his presence, and be ready to help, should it be asked.
--
When they arrived in the Cloud Recesses, their first stop was to pick up their son. There was no shyness this time, but a lot of tears as A-Yuan left Hou Tianjian's side and ran into his father’s arms. He wrapped his arms around Lan Wangji’s neck nearly tight enough to choke him. It was good, after those difficult weeks, to be home and have his son with him again. Nightless City had reminded him bitterly of his errors, but at least A-Yuan was proof that he had not entirely failed Wei Wuxian.
When A-Yuan noticed that Nie Huaisang was there as well, he made it clear that he wanted to be in the other man’s arms now. Nie Huaisang indulged him but made a great show of complaining and lamenting that the little boy was starting to get too heavy for him. A-Yuan appeared very amused by those protests, but grew serious when his eyes fell on Nie Huaisang’s neck where he still bore marks of the arm's attack.
“Nie-ge is hurt?”
Nie Huaisang laughed awkwardly, and balanced A-Yuan against his hip so he could free one hand and pull his collar tighter against his skin.
“That's nothing,” he said with a too wide smile. “Your Nie-ge is clumsy and fell into some bushes. Let's not talk about it, right? It's very embarrassing for poor Nie-ge.”
“Does it hurt?” A-Yuan insisted, reaching out towards some of the scabs that couldn't quite be covered by the fabric. Nie Huaisang grasped his wrist and stopped him before he could touch.
“The worst wound is to my pride,” he replied with false assurance. “A-Yuan, I love you but you're too heavy. Go back with your dad now.”
“Nie-ge looks tired,” A-Yuan commented as he was handed back to Lan Wangji. “Did Nie-ge and Father work a lot?”
What little cheerfulness Nie Huaisang had managed to muster thus far appeared on the verge of collapsing, and so Lan Wangji took it upon himself to come to his rescue.
“We were busy,” he explained. “We flew from very far and for many days. It can be tiring.”
None of it was a lie, even if it was far from the entire truth. It seemed to satisfy A-Yuan who even took it as his chance to ask whether he too would soon learn to fly on his sword. Lan Wangji thanked Hou Tianjian for her help, gave in to her request that Lan Jingyi come play in the Jingshi someday, and then the three of them left together. The rest of the day passed not unpleasantly, with A-Yuan detailing everything he had done since Lan Wangji had last seen him. It was painful to know that he had missed several weeks of his son's life, but A-Yuan did not appear to resent his absence too much this time. Somehow, that made it worse, as if the child had just grown to accept that it was normal for him to be left behind.
As the bell of curfew rang, there was a knock on the Jingshi's door. Lan Wangji, after checking that A-Yuan had truly fallen asleep, went to welcome his visitor. It was no surprise to find his brother on his doorstep. In truth, they probably should have gone to see him as soon as they had arrived in Cloud Recesses, but without ever saying it, Nie Huaisang and Lan Wangji had agreed that being with A-Yuan was more important. Their quest had met little success, but their son needed to know they hadn't abandoned him.
Lan Xichen took one look at the both of them, and his face hardened.
“I gather that things did not go as we had hoped?”
Nie Huaisang, who had been sitting at the table, a fan in one hand and a book in the other, flinched at the question. He dropped the book and immediately grasped to the qiakun bag that he still refused to be parted from, except for when Lan Wangji was forced to calm the resentful arm it contained.
“The situation is more complicated than expected,” Lan Wangji stated, inviting his brother to sit before launching himself into a short explanation of what had happened, wanting to spare Nie Huaisang from having to recount those events. Even just hearing an account of what had happened seemed nearly too much for his husband who grew paler and more closed off as the explanation reached its end.
Lan Xichen hardly fared any better.
“I cannot believe Jin Guangyao would go so far,” he whispered in a trembling voice. “Doing something so horrific to a man he once called his brother...”
Sitting next to him, Lan Wangji patted his brother's shoulder. After days of dealing with Nie Huaisang's worsening mood, it was almost shocking when the comforting gesture was not rejected.
“Maybe we can act even with this alone,” Lan Xichen suggested with a sigh. “It is not the strongest case we could be making, but...”
“I am not taking risks,” Nie Huaisang hissed, grasping his fan tightly. “This isn't enough proof. I cannot... I will not take the risk of accusing him now. He'll just find some new lies to throw around and look for ways to destroy the rest of Da-ge's body and then he'll have won. I can let him gloat a little longer with his perfect sect, his perfect wife and his perfect son. I'm patient. I'll find my brother's body, and that will be proof, and then nothing will stop me from avenging Da-ge.”
“Huaisang, it might take a long time,” Lan Xichen objected. “And you will have to interact with him frequently. Can you manage that?”
“Of course. Er-ge should know better than anyone that I'm quite good at not showing when things affect me.”
There was something nearly cruel to Nie Huaisang's smile as he said that, and he appeared to enjoy the way Lan Xichen tensed at the veiled accusation.
“We must use that other corpse finding spell,” Lan Wangji intervened to ease the tension and get them back on track. “If Huaisang is willing to teach me, I will go to Qinghe with A-Yuan and...”
“That won't be necessary,” Nie Huaisang cut him. “Not yet, anyway. That last spell is... cumbersome, it requires a lot of preparation and certain... elements to be gathered.” He snickered. “Actually, that spell is almost outright demonic cultivation, if I'm honest. I'd rather you not be there as I get it started, although I will need your high cultivation to really get it going when the time comes. But until then, I'd prefer if you stayed in the Cloud Recesses. It's A-Yuan's home, and yours as well.”
“You should not be left alone,” Lan Wangji objected.
Nie Huaisang shrugged, but did not try to deny that statement. That only served to worry Lan Wangji even further and judging by the look on his face, Lan Xichen felt similarly.
“Huaisang, we are on your side,” he said softly, reaching out to take his brother-in-law's hand. “Let us help you.”
Lan Xichen's hand was slapped away.
“This isn't your problem. Da-ge was my brother, my family, my responsibility,” Nie Huaisang snapped, before taking a deep breath and forcing himself to smile as he fanned himself. “I hope that didn't sound ungrateful. I am so, so thankful for your help, especially Wangji. But I have asked so much already, and this spell... it really is too much, considering Lan rules. I'd rather not bother you with the details, since they would displease you. Honestly, they displease me as well, and I know Da-ge disliked this spell, as did our father. But sometimes, there is no choice, is there?” Nie Huaisang chuckled lightly, his smile turning vicious again. “It's not like I can grab San-ge or Xue Yang and shake them until they tell me what they did to my brother.”
“Some of the purged demonic cultivators have been exiled, not killed,” Lan Xichen remarked. “Perhaps one of them might know something. Mo Xuanyu lives not far from Gusu, I could visit him.”
Nie Huaisang appeared to give that idea some thought, his fan stilling in his hand.
“Anyone who knew anything useful will have been killed,” he eventually remarked, hiding behind his fan. “And San-ge always said Mo Xuanyu was an idiot, so I'd be surprised if he had really dealt with any demonic cultivation. More likely, it's just a convenient excuse to get rid of another candidate to leadership of Lanling Jin. I'm ready to bet that stupid kid has been accused of every crime under the sun in Carp Tower. It is useless for Er-ge to go meet him, he will not have anything interesting to tell us. No, the spell is our only chance. It will find Da-ge... in time.”
Lan Xichen nodded, but appeared disappointed that his attempt to help had been so quickly rejected. Considering how little else he could do due to his position and the guilt he held regarding his part in the murder, Lan Wangji imagined his brother would have been glad to do anything to help in any way. Ultimately though, Nie Huaisang was right: Nie Mingjue had been his brother, and it was his duty to avenge him. They could offer their help, but he had to accept it.
Besides, although Lan Wangji was asked to continue living in the Cloud Recesses, so far Nie Huaisang had said nothing against visiting Qinghe. Even if he later objected to the idea, Lan Wangji would simply ignore him and go anyway. A-Yuan would surely start missing his Nie-ge too much otherwise, and Nie Huaisang loved the boy so much that he would not be able to protest once they were there.
Lan Wangji had made mistakes in the past, but he would not allow another friend of his to self destroy in the name of righteousness.
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jadedbirch · 4 years
Note
26 - forehead kiss 😌
Maria, I’m embarrassed for both of us, but well, here we are! <3  In this ficlet, I’ve chosen for WWX to still have Mo Xuanyu’s golden core (like in the book), because I do whatever I want.  Ha!  Take THAT, China and your oppressive reincarnation bans!
*************
Lan Wangji’s eyes narrow in concentration as Bichen leaps forth to be clumsily parried by Suibian.  “Again,” he says.
“Lan Zhan!” Wei Ying’s eyebrows are furrowed, his lips pouted like ripened berries that Lan Wangji wants to taste.  Distracting.  “Take it easy on me, I’m not a skylark to be hopping around so vigorously this early in the morning.”
“How many stars were up when you finally went to sleep last night?”
Wei Ying makes a noise that reminds Lan Wangji of a thumping rabbit.  “I wasn’t watching the sky last night, was I?” He grins.  Distracting and unhelpful.  “How am I supposed to sleep with my gorgeous Hanguang-Jun lying in bed next to me?”
Lan Wangji shakes his head.  “And how do you expect to grow Mo Xuanyu’s golden core if you don’t practice?”  Before Wei Ying can reply, he presses onwards, “Again!”
This time Bichen is parried with a tad more alacrity.  There was a time when their swordsmanship was a measure of their equality.  Now it’s their hearts that have been weighed by the stars and found equal.  He doesn’t need to fix Wei Ying because, golden core or not, to him, Wei Ying is already perfect.  His facets all aligned in pristine symmetry like the leaves of a lotus flower, or the stellar dendrites of a snowflake. He only pushes him to train because he doesn’t know how many more times he can cradle his chosen one’s bleeding body in his arms and not be destroyed himself.
Bichen’s last two thrusts are parried with so much skill and strength that it almost takes Lan Wangji back to that rooftop, so many years ago.
“You’re improving,” he says, lowering his sword.
“You’re a taskmaster,” Wei Ying sighs, as he bends over and plants his hands into his own knees.  “If you want to wear me out, I can think of much more pleasant ways of going about it.”
Bichen sheathed, Lan Wangji can’t help but take a step forward.  He pulls Wei Ying up to his full height with his fingers tangled in his hair bun.  He has already memorized every curve and line of this face, but he will never grow tired of looking at it.
“Lan Zhan?”
With his hand cupping the back of Wei Ying’s head, Lan Wangji pulls him gently into his arms, and as he sees his beloved’s eyes close and lips part on an involuntary sigh, he presses his own lips to Wei Ying’s forehead in a soft benediction.  Suibian falls to the grass and Wei Ying sways into his arms like stalks of yarrow in the wind.  With his arms wrapped around Lan Wangji’s neck, he rubs his forehead against Lan Wangji’s cheek like a domestic cat.  Lan Wangji should really scold him for disrespecting the most loyal sword in the world like that, but instead, he wraps his arms around Wei Ying and begins to hum a familiar melody as the larks circle above their heads.
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starshipcaptainjojo · 4 years
Note
Oh my god what if zidian could talk?
Lan Rei wondered, briefly, how old the rest of the world thought the heroes of the Sunshot Campaign were. She tilted her chin up a little as she looked down her nose at the Jiang Clan Leader sitting with his hands folded next to Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji in front of her. They all looked so young.
“We have the mineral oil from Lotus Pier, but-” Wei Wuxian wouldn’t make eye contact with a kind of timidness Lan Rei had never seen in him, a strange and unsettling expression on a face that was usually so exuberant.
“They don’t want to say goodbye to me a second time.” A woman’s voice snapped from the ring in the tray, her tone like the crack of a whip, “after everything that happened,” her voice was sharp and firm, “they don’t want to let go.”
“I-!” Jiang Cheng’s hands were tight on his thighs and he swallowed hard. “Lifting this curse...” He shook his head. “I never thought I’d hear my mother’s voice again and-”
“Jiang Cheng. I am no more your mother than Wei Ying isn’t your brother.” Zidian was scolding and Lan Rei’s eyebrows rose at how both young men- leaders in their own rights- bent immediately to her will.
A powerful woman’s voice indeed.
For a moment even Lan Rei had misheard Zidian. They all had. When she realized the harsh voice had- although indirectly- called Wei Wuxian the Jiang Clan Leader’s brother, she was the last one to realize it.
Wei Wuxian’s eyes were squeezed shut, and the Jiang Clan Leader’s shoulders were slumped as he stared blankly at his spiritual tool.
“Guess she really isn’t Madame Yu,” Suibian commented abruptly into the silence and both men jumped in surprise, having forgotten their problems were shared.
“Suibian.” Bichen’s soft tone was a warning.
“And you!” Zidian snapped, “I suppose you’re expecting praise?”
“I’m not-” Wei Wuxian began.
“Be quiet Wei Ying! I’m not talking to you! You, Bichen, you have been protecting Wei Ying for these years?”
“I have.” Bichen’s voice was straightforward with no inflection.
“You have a good reputation. I approve of you for Wei Ying and Suibian. You’re a good influence.”
“Honored Zidian flatters this one,” Bichen replied politely, though Wei Wuxian’s head had practically wrenched his neck out of alignment to exchange a look with the Jiang Clan leader before going back to the ring.
“Don’t push it. Suibian may have finally done well by sealing itself for Wei Ying and Jiang Cheng, but you’re both still disrespectful. Do you hear me Wei Ying?”
“Maybe it really is Madame Yu,” Wei Wuxian mumbled, and the Jiang Clan Leader elbowed him like a small child.
“As much as it would please me if that was the case, I am not my Lady. I am-” There was a pause, as though she simply ran out of words. “I am not Yu Ziyuan,” Zidian sounded quieter all of a sudden. “However Wei Ying and Jiang Cheng are both my charges, and Jiang Cheng is the rightful heir to his mother’s ownership of this power.” 
The Jiang Clan Leader’s robes were creased where he held them tightly. Lan Rei dared not interrupt a conversation that seemed years overdue.
“She left me to look after you,” Zidian continued. “And I have done that to the best of my ability. I have no regrets. I have no need to continue to speak. I have said what needed to be said.”
“That’s my mother’s voice,” The Jiang Clan Leader squared his shoulders. “I’m not breaking the curse that lets me hear her again.”
“Jiang Cheng.” Zidian was angry, simply speaking the name made both young men flinch. “You are how Suibian was,” and that disappointed her, apparently. “You are still sealed by the past. My voice will not bring them back. I will always protect you-” Lan Rei didn’t watch the Jiang Clan Leader cry- “but you must fight again. I will always be with you, Jiang Cheng, and Suibian is also at your side. It unsealed for you because that was Wei Ying’s will, the way you would allow him to wield me, if necessary.”
Now Wei Wuxian was crying too. Lan Rei made eye contact with Lan Wangji and smiled warmly. He was going to have a difficult time with these gentlemen.
“Suibian. Bichen. The curse will be lifted by Elder Lan. Say your final words, and then allow your service to say the rest for the remainder of Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji’s lives and beyond.”
“Yes Zidian,” Suibian sounded the way Wei Wuxian looked, a mixture of gobsmacked and sad. 
“Agreed,” Bichen confirmed, voice even and clear.
“I will begin.” Zidian paused as if to think on her words. “Jiang Cheng. You have mastered my power and become a sect leader I am proud to serve. Your mother- my lady- would approve.” Jiang Cheng choked, “and Wei Ying. Stand by Jiang Cheng’s side as you always have. And take your duties to Yunmeng Jiang seriously. Jiang Cheng, I am always with you.”
The boys managed to nod. 
“Wangji.” Bichen’s voice slipped into the empty space between the sobs easily, taking advantage of the fact that Zidian had the power to silence anyone from Yunmeng. “I will protect Wei Ying, and I will serve you. My guidance has been part of you all along.”
“I am in your care,” Lan Wangji half bowed to his sword and Lan Rei was proud of him. He was always such a serious child, but she could see the way his hands rested loosely together.
“Whew. I don’t really want to say everything I want to say now that Zidian is here,” Suibian began, “but eh, why not. She can’t yell at me much longer anyway. Bichen gets too much attention, I want more! And stop slacking on your golden core or I’m gonna have to seal again until you reincarnate and Jiang Cheng has Sandu so he doesn’t need me. Let’s fight Lan Zhan again, ha? When you get your spiritual power built back up. Let’s kick his ass, Bichen and I can flirt the whole time. We’ll love it. You want to do something for me? Use me, heh, you know ‘everyday’ alright?”
Lan Rei was proud of Lan Clan facial control at the sudden reddening of Lan Wangji’s ears and Wei Wuxian’s face.
“I really don’t want to know,” Jiang Cheng grumbled, wiping his face.
“Awww, Jiang Cheng, you’re more a whips kinda guy don’t worry about it!” Suibian laughed and there was a small flicker of power on the table by Zidian and everyone went silent.
“Shameless,” Bichen murmured, and Lan Rei didn’t recognize the emotional undercurrent there. 
“Enough. Elder Lan. If you please.” Zidian was being polite. Lan Rei reached forward and moistened a cloth with the mineral oil from Lotus Pier. She unrolled her cleansing array and nodded to Lan Wangji, who summoned his guqin and began the first bars of Cleansing, then made eye contact with the Jiang Clan Leader, who nodded sharply once.
She swiped the oil over the ring that was called Zidian and watched chains of purple lightning scatter over its surface. Next she lifted Suibian, the blade sliding free easily in her hand. She looked to Wei Wuxian, who nodded once as well, a little more ruefully, but accepting. She swept oil down the blade and watched the edges shine with spiritual light.
She reached for Bichen, and the cloth soaked in Gusu mineral oil, making eye contact with Lan Wangji as he continued to play. He bowed his head and offered nothing more. It was as good as acceptance, and as the notes of Cleansing became more melancholy, she delicately brushed Bichen’s blade until small skittering white lights covered the flat and the hilt. She replaced the sword on the stand.
“It is done,” she said softly when the last notes of Cleansing faded from the air.
No one spoke for a few minutes.
“So did it work?” Suibian asked, and Bichen shushed him.
“Of course,” Zidian murmured irritably, and Lan Rei finally couldn’t help but laugh.
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