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wangxianslillotus · 2 years

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I say... Wei WuXian started to use his black robes after he'd come back from Gusu, an au.

....

As a Jiang disciple he'd stuck with the uniform unless he had a day of, but he didn't have any black robes then. He used the comfortable dark purple ones from the sect that had taken him in as a ward. The place where he belonged to. This and his Clarity bell were a part of him, and he was happy and proud to show it.

Madam Yu had not have a real reason to prohibit him from his chooses in clothing, since even if the people spoke wide and at length of the boy the Jiang Sect Leader had taken in, and what his origins may be, she couldn't bring the matter to her husband without causing further harm in their already stumbling household. Wei WuXian was not worth the effort and the sacrifice, so she didn't complain. She still glared plenty, but never voiced her mind.

Of course, the perfect excuse arrived with her patience, to finally put an end and a division between the dirty ward and her children.

When Wei WuXian came back from Gusu, alone, she struck him with Zidian until he couldn't sit straight anymore. Jiang Fengmian allowed Jiang Cheng to stay in the Cloud recesses, as he allowed Jiang YanLi to stay too. He thought making friends was still necessary for his children, and so, he only picked up Wei WuXian to sent him back home to Lotus Pier.

"You filth! How dare you think yourself an equal to the Jin Heir!" She screamed, her voice bouncing to an stunning volume inside the discipline hall walls. Zidian sparked alive, the electric power in it showing the power and the bad humor of its wielder.

Wei WuXian remained in silence, head pressed down to the floorboards. He just hoped she would stop before whipping him to the next life.

"You just ruined my daughter's marriage arrangement! Don't even dream of getting out of here by feet! I should've dropped you to the streets right back the same day Fengmian brought you here! And yet, after I feed you, clothe you and raise you, you repay the kindness of my heart with..." She paused her wording, her arm raising in the air dangerously and then dropped down with a scalding aim, "this!"

Zidian found its target, making Wei WuXian's skin burn and bubble under the thunderous whip. The boy bit his lips until they bleed, but he was not going to make a sound of complain, were it to rise the woman's anger.

"A-Li's future has been compromised because of you! And I will not permit you to bring future harm to my home! You will learn, or you will die!" The marks in the back of the boy kept appearing as she spoke, Zidian making a quick work of him.

At the beginning, he restrained his voice from spilling, but as the punishment proceeded, he found he didn't have the strength to make a sound. His body was trembling in pain and exhaustion, eyes filled with unshed tears because his body didn't want to keep losing any more fluids. He was dangerously close to passing out now, but Zidian had never been kind to him. Or so he had thought.

Numbed, his mind compared the last times he'd been punished with the spiritual weapon, and he found it had never been to this point where his vision had started to fill with dark spots everywhere, and his back just ached as a whole. Each strike, he used to differentiate. Now, he couldn't tell how many had fallen upon his spine.

"You're nothing but a nuisance! You do not deserve to wear anything that relates to us! Since you only bring disasters to our home!" She spoke clearly, the purple, the feeling of home, the dread, the purple whip finally receded. She sent one of the maids to pick up his clothes from where he'd been made left them besides his now fallen body.

The girl gave him a pitifully glance, but did as she was told. No one, not even her husband or children would go against her word.

"Take those and the spares, burn them. He can wear whatever he wants, but nothing of mine." She stated dry. He stared from the small space that formed between his folded legs as the girl disappeared swiftly from the hall. He hoped she didn't find his father's clarity bell.

The Madam left him there, not even a candle was lit once everyone else poured out of the room.

The moon was full, high in the sky when he finally made it back to his quarters, after many falls and a lot of silent screams and pleas. No one had come for him, and with no purple left, he found himself wishing for the feeling of a long lost home, of his mother's laugh and his father's kind smile.

He passed out on the threshold.

....

When he woke up, he was still alone. Back hurting under the restless sunlight who beamed like no bad thing had ever happened in the world. Wei Ying crawled inside and closed the paper and wood doors with great difficulty.

Whatever small movement he made, his back complained with a thousands needles strength. He hissed and stumbled his way to the bed, and he fell asleep instantly after laying in his chest and stomach.

...

"Wei-gonzi?" A voice called from outside, making the boy startle awake with his heart stammering inside his ribs. Moments later, the person who was outside took the silence as an invitation to come in, probably aware of the state of the inhabitant of the room... maybe to check if he was still around. "Ah, Wei-gonzi. This one apologizes for the intrusion... but after your punishment, I was sent to clear your room... and I happened to notice gonzi wouldn't have much to wear with all the purple being taken. I do not wish to impose, but I have brought a set, so Wei-gonzi can wear until he can get more."

Wei WuXian stared at the girl, recognizing from her words that it was the one servant that had been sent to take his clothes away. He merely blinked as an answer, mildy reminding himself of the one Lan boy that used to give responses like that too. Maybe now, he could put his knowledge about non-verbal responses to use!

She smiled at him pitifully, knowing he probably wouldn't be able to do anything but rest for a while, and let herself walk further inside the chambers. The girl silently arranged the set of clothes in the correct place, and even served him a cup of water that he stared at helplessly.

She didn't ask. He didn't ask either.

She helped his head up until he sipped the water away, and then other cup, and one more.

As the days passed, she aided him the best she could, sneaking past midnight into his chambers and bringing him food, water and medicines for his injuries. He spoke softly when he opened his mouth, and she listened to anything he might be needing.

Jiang WanYin and Jiang YanLi arrived from Gusu three months after.

His back, thanks to the girl that had helped him, was far better than it would've been if not for her help. He still couldn't lean his entire weight into his muscles, nor sleep on his back, or make many movements with his arms over his head. The skin had torn one too many times by accident after the first two weeks he'd been told he had to get back on his feet and duties as a head disciple.

He didn't disobey his Madam's words.

At the end of the two week's time, he'd asked the girl to bring him more sets of robes, black outer robes and red inner ones to match his ribbon. He gave her money, and she came back with what he'd asked for.

Wei WuXian only started to use black robes after coming back from Gusu, and to his martial siblings puzzlement, he also has started to act too weirdly!

He wouldn't play around with Jiang Cheng anymore, nor look at any of them whenever their mother was around, which happened to be almost always.

Madam Yu started to give him more and more duties to do, such as training the younger disciples instead of the older ones, or even doing the transcript of the accountable books of the month. Many of the duties were not for him to do, most were from other sections of the sect, and even some of them were done by the house servants, but Wei WuXian didn't complain of this treatment. Even when Jiang Cheng did.

"How can a Head disciple do s servant's job, mother? This is nonsense. He's just losing time!" He stated a bit roughly, already worn out by the weirdness of the Lotus Pier he'd come back to. It was almost as if a ghost had taken upon the household and enchanted it to appear a different reality!

Madam Yu sneered at her son, "he ought to know his place! A-Cheng, you've got it wrong because of the negligence of your father towards this matter! It's not that he's a Head disciple doing a servant's job, but that he's a servant doing a Head disciples job!" His mother said as an ultimatum, not leaving space for any complaints.

Jiang WanYin was left speechless, regardless of the space his mother left for further discussion on the matter. He felt the coldness inside his body for the first time since he'd nursed a Golden core. He stared quietly the scene in front of him, and understanding sliced his throat, making it impossible for him to make any other sound, chocking him.

When he retired, he finally allowed himself to tremble, eyes wide and teary.

His brother's future in the Lotus Pier would never be what they had hoped for. His mother had called him a servant's son before, but never him. She had regarded Wei WuXian as if he'd been a mere servant receiving a prize and a recompense for being promising. She said he should be grateful for being given the chance to cultivate, to be an acting Head disciple when he could be as well, cleaning the kitchens.

His brother, his right hand, cleaning kitchens and attending the main family instead of standing beside him. His mother had stated clearly how Wei WuXian was bellow. And this had made Jiang WanYin feel angry, at first.

Then, he realized how his brother wouldn't complain, wouldn't look up, wouldn't say a thing and obeyed... he felt dread. And he needed to do anything, something, to prevent this situation from getting worse.

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wangxianficrecs · 3 months

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💙 Lay my body down by tawaen

💙 Lay my body down

by tawaen

M, 48k, Wangxian

Summary: One of the fragments of Wei Wuxian's soul, splintered during the first siege of the Burial Mounds, uses the energy released by the Yin Tiger Tally and flees backwards through time to another moment where Wei Wuxian was close to death – after the fall of Lotus Pier, at the hands of Jiang Wanyin. Knowing how his first life will end, Wei Wuxian decides to hide his survival, and leave the cultivation world behind. Kay's comments: This story left me absolutely speechless, it was just so perfect! As if someone magically knew all my favourite things and wrote them into a story. It's got genius inventor Wei Wuxian, who becomes a rogue cultivator of sorts and finds his family with the Wens! It's got actual consequences from grave injuries that aren't magically healed! It's got Wen Qing being a good leader and the best sister! It's got Lan Wangji suffering the pain of loss much sooner and therefore learning his lesson sooner and holding on tight to Wei Wuxian when they meet again! It's got the sects getting what they have coming! And it's also incredibly well-written and I literally couldn't stop myself from reading it in one sitting. Excerpt: Wei Ying is too exhausted and in too much pain to deal with the rage, fear and grief. He is already overwhelmed with those feelings from the fall of Lotus Pier. He cannot process the memory or any of his emotions now. Right now, he needs to focus on healing as much as he can. The Wen will come for them soon. His golden core opened his airways and protected them while he was unconscious. He focuses the remainder of his spiritual energy on his back; he needs to stop the bleeding. He can't stay here, but he needs to be sure he won't loose too much blood or get infected through the open, weeping gashes on his back. He meditates as Jiang Cheng's breathing evens out, having finally burned through his rage and cried himself to sleep beside the broken, bloody body of his childhood companion. Once he is sure all the bleeding stopped, he slowly rolls himself into the water of the river next to them. When Jiang Cheng wakes, it will look like Wei Wuxian moved in his sleep – drowned and carried away by the river.

pov wei wuxian, canon divergence, time travel, time travel fix-it, somebody lives/not everybody dies, rogue cultivator wei wuxian, butterfly effect, no golden core transfer, no jiang cheng & wei wuxian reconciliation, not jiang cheng friendly, cultivation sect politics, demonic cultivation, sunshot campaign, wen remnants live, eventual lan wangji/wei wuxian, time travelling wei wuxian

~*~

(Please REBLOG as a signal boost for this hard-working author if you like – or think others might like – this story.)

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add1ctedt0you · 4 months

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Four times Jiang Cheng protected someone

Bonus: Two times Jiang Cheng was protected by someone

Yet, at the same time, Wen Zhuliu was closing in on Madam Yu. He looked as if he was about to knock her down. Jiang Cheng hurried, "Mom!"

He immediately gave up on Wang Lingjiao and threw himself over.

The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation - Chapter 58 - Poisons - Part 3

That, at the town we passed on our way, when you were buying food, a group of Wen Sect cultivators caught up. That, I discovered them early and left where I sat, hiding at the corner of the street and didn't get caught, but they were patrolling the streets and would soon run into you outside.

That this was why I ran out and distracted them.

The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation - Chapter 110 - Concealment - Part 4

Jiang Cheng heard the voice as well. In an istant, his face had turned white, "Sis? Sis! Where are you? Where are you?"

The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation - Chapter 78 - Nightfall - part 3

With a roar, Nie Mingjue grabbed at Jin Ling. Both Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling had backed away to the corner of the wall, unable to retreat further. Jiang Cheng could only stuff Jin Ling behind him and unsheathe Sandu, which at the moment was unable to use spiritual energy, forcing himself to fend off the attack.

The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation - Chapter 107- Concealment - Part 1

Bonus:

Lan Wangji grabbed Wei Wuxian's shoulder with one hand, letting Wei Wuxian stand behind him, and with his other hand he forcefully pushed away Jiang Cheng's hand. Rage could be seen hidden within his eyes. Although his push held no spiritual energy, it was quite powerful in terms of strength. The wound at Jiang Cheng's chest ripped apart again. Blood surged.

Jin Ling cried, "Uncle, your wound! Hanguang-jun, spare some mercy!"

The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation - Chapter 102- Hatred - Part 5

Nie Mingjue's heavy fist punched through a body.

But the body was neither Jiang Cheng's nor Jin Ling's.

Wen Ning blocked himself before the wall, in front of the two of them. With both his hands, he grabbed Nie Mingjue's iron arm and slowly pulled it out of his chest, leaving behind a large, hollow hole. There was no bleeding. Only a couple of black organ crumbs fell out.

The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation - Chapter 107- Concealment - Part 1

#This gifset had been something #On one hand I adore wzc and his expressions (bless him)#On the other hand I noticed how much cql committed to yunmeng bros and zhancheng agenda!#Also there are other moments where jc flings himself into danger to protect someone that I didn't include there #Also. It's my unpopular (?) opinion that jc tries to save his sister at nightless city. I like it so it's in the gifset lol #But. For the life of me. I couldn't find a moment where jc tries to protect jfm lol #I suppose jc's 'dad. let's go back to Lotus pier and die all together' kinda is jc protecting his dad but uh. I suppose they don't have #enough moments together *shrugs*#jiang cheng #*mgifs #uh. should I like put before the novel quotes and then the bonus gifs + the quotes?? uhhhh #Anyway I made the gifset only for the bonus lol. Tbh I find it hilarious #cw blood

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carrotcouple · 6 days

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“We found him!”

Jiang Cheng pressed his lips together to not cry out in pain as he was pushed roughly to the ground. The holes in his trousers made the stone cut harshly into his knees. He tried to raised himself up on his hands but a Wen soldier kicked his head and down he went again, stars in his vision. He was scared. He was angry. Had Wei Wuxian gotten away alright?

If he had then thank God.

“Oh?”

Wen Chao’s voice.

Jiang Cheng grit his teeth, tears stinging his eyes and anger boiling under his skin.

“What happened to the other one?”

“We couldn’t find the other one, only him.”

“Well, this one is good enough. He is just as guilty of his shixiong’s crime,” Wen Chao snickered.

Bastard. The one with crimes was him, how dare he pretend that Jiang Cheng’s family and Sect had committed sins?

“Oi, Jiang Cheng,” Wen Chao’s boot settled down on top of his head, pushing his face into the blood stained stone under him. Jiang Cheng growled. “Where’s your shixiong?”

“Fuck you,” Jiang Cheng snarls.

Wen Chao raises his foot and then slams it down. Jiang Cheng feels like he hears his nose crack. Warm blood fills his mouth. It hurts, he’s scared, he’s furious. He wants to grind Wen Chao to dust and feed his ashes to maggots.

“Listen to this dog bark!” Wen Chao cackles.

Wei Ying please be safe.

“Someone get him up, he’ll be a good exam-” Wen Chao removes his foot, sounding dismissive and uninterested. Jiang Cheng lunges forward, leaping up and smashing his knee into Wen Chao’s face. If he’s going to die he might as well die fighting like his mother did. He’s the son of the Violet Spider! Wen Chao shrieks, stumbling backwards, hands going up to his nose which is now bleeding like Jiang Cheng’s. Jiang Cheng aims his fist towards Wen Chao’s throat.

“Wen Zhuliu!” a shrill female voice screeches.

Molten fire collides into Jiang Cheng’s shoulder and he hits the ground. He rolls to the side, attempting to shoot back up to his feet, but then he’s kicked in the side. He curls up momentarily, but that’s all that’s needed. Blows rain down on him. He grunts in pain and then bites down on his lips, desperate not to give them the satisfaction of crying out.

He’s in so much pain.

It hurts.

A-Niang.

“Take him inside! I’ll make him scream!” he hears Wen Chao shout.

He’d rather die than do something Wen Chao wants of him. Someone grabs him by the hair and pulls him up, dragging him backward. He whimpers, scrambling furiously, trying to get away. He grabs at the hands in his hair, scratching at it to get free. He scratches at arm guards. They continue to drag him, hair coming out of his scalp and then he’s thrown onto a slightly elevated platform of stone.

Before he can orient himself, he’s being pulled to his feet and his hands are being chained to hold him up. The top of his robes are pulled away and his eyes widen.

“What are yo-”

Wen Chao is cackling in front of him, still bleeding from his nose, an ugly purple bruise on his face. He’s holding a discipline whip. One of Yunmeng Jiang’s discipline whips. Disgust, fury and fear wells up inside of Jiang Cheng. The audacity of the man to hold something only a Jiang elder is allowed to hold. But he is also horrified. He knows what Wen Chao is going to do.

Jiang Cheng is the heir of Yunmeng Jiang. A model student. To be hit by the discipline whip is the greatest shame.

Wen Chao raises the whip.

“Wait! Sto-” Jiang Cheng cries out.

Ice and fire across his chest.

A wail bursts from his lips. He kicks his legs out, arms yanking at the chains, desperate to curl up. Tears streak down his cheeks as agonized screams leave his mouth. He can feel nothing, only flames on his chest, burning a path across his skin. Blood seeps into his brown-gray robes. There is blood dripping down his wrists from how hard he is trying to pull his hands free.

Distantly he hears laughter.

A hand grabs his chin and he’s forced to look at Wen Chao’s face through his tears.

“Let’s hear you apologize for your actions, dog,” Wen Chao says.

“I...hope you rot in hell…” Jiang Cheng grits out.

He is his mother’s son. He will not die begging. He will not beg for a life that he has given up to save one of his loved ones. His sacrifice has been made. There is no point to-

Wen Chao strikes him across the face.

“Wen Zhuliu, teach him what it’s like when people don’t revere me,” Wen Chao spits out.

Jiang Cheng blinks furiously, trying to clear his head. His chest hurts so much. He slowly looks up and sees Wen Zhuliu standing over him.

A-Niang, A-Die…

Wen Zhuliu’s arm lights up with spiritual energy and then before Jiang Cheng can even flinch or close his eyes, it makes contact with his stomach.

Silence.

Jiang Cheng hears something like a deranged wail and then sobbing and it takes him a moment to realize it’s him. His body is cold, like Wen Zhuliu has carved out his heart while he is still alive. An integral part of him has been taken from him. He feels violated and robbed. He wheezes for breath, unable to process what’s going on around him, crying hysterically.

He’s truly lost the only thing that had given him value.

He doesn’t hear Wen Chao and then Wen soldiers laughing at him. He doesn’t feel Wen Zhuliu undo his bonds. He falls into a heap on the floor.

Without his core there is nothing to him.

He’s as good as dead now.

I hope...Wei Ying is safe.

#sunny writes #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #the untamed #jiang cheng #jiang wanyin #wen chao #wen zhuliu #angst #tw: torture #tw: violence #aka i decided to write the scene where jc gets #his core taken #wait more like destroyed #but yeah you know #this is technically part of the #flower soulmates au

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mdzs-owns-my-ass-i-guess · 7 months

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Soul-bound

Based off this post!

Warnings: angst, canon-typical violence, implied major character death, ending is not what you expect

Enjoy <3

They say time doesn't ever stop. It moves forward, always ahead, never to return, never to break, at the same speed, mindless of the world it governs.

It is people's perceptions that make it appear as though time moves faster or not at all, their feelings and experiences shaping the way they feel its passing. In reality, time keeps its usual pace, the pace it has kept from the beginning of life, and the one it will keep until the abyss of death.

There is no moment where time has ever stopped, where the world has slowed its ceaseless murmur.

And yet, in that one split second, in the split second where the blade - the beautiful, ornate, shining blade of a sword whose wielder Wei Wuxian used to admire - pierced through Jiang Yanli's neck, it felt as though the world came at a standstill.

The swords never reached to tear into flesh, arrows remained hung into the air never to hit their targets. War cries quieted down, and the fierce corpses did not wail anymore.

For a moment, everything stopped.

The moment Jiang Yanli's heart stopped beating, everything stopped with it.

Wei Wuxian screamed, loud and boundless. Lan Wangji fell to his knees, eyes wild with both confusion and realization.

Bichen slipped out of the woman's body and laid bloody next to her, thrumming as if the spirit it bore was disbelieving too.

Jiang Wanyin was left cradling his sister's dead body and the knowledge that he had lost her too.

And then time picked up its pace again.

"Lan...Wangji..." Wei Wuxian started, his voice low, guttural, tears falling endlessly down his cheeks as his fists clenched tightly enough for his palms to bleed. "You...of all people..."

Resentful energy gathered around him in a flurry, as if to soothe his pain or fuel his anger or feast on his emotions for its own gain - regardless, Wei Wuxian let it.

"I know you hate me. So hate me. Hurt me. Kill me. Do whatever." His eyes gleamed red, hate and sorrow shining in them like the very depths of hell had lit up in his skull. "But why would you kill somebody innocent?! Why would you kill her?!"

Lan Wangji stares - at Wei Wuxian, feral with anger and despair, at Jiang Yanli, dead in her brother's hold, at Bichen, bloodied, discarded on the ground, at his hands, stained with blood.

He cannot speak.

All he can do is stare.

He cannot think, he cannot understand. There is nothing to understand. He made a grave, irrepairable mistake, a fatal error.

He committed a crime, a sin.

He killed an innocent person.

He killed an innocent person Wei Wuxian loves.

And he loves Wei Wuxian.

So what does that make of him then?

Do not kill recklessly.

Do not kill innocents.

Do not kill unless in self defense.

"Answer me!" Wei Wuxian nearly roars, and resentment roars with him, and he's terrifying, the incarnation of the Burial Mounds, the fearsome Yiling Patriarch...

But Lan Wangji cannot react.

He thinks over Wei Wuxian gushing about his sister in the Cloud Recesses, thinks of how he punched Jin Zixuan for her, thinks how excited he was to find out of her wedding.

Thinks of how he must have grown up with her, of how she was his family.

And Lan Wangji killed her.

He killed her.

He-

"Lan Wangji!" Wei Wuxian screams again, hoarse, tearful, "Of all these people, you're the only one I would have willingly let kill me. I would have not fought back and I would not have hurt you! You know this! And yet-"

Lan Wangji is quick to pick up his sword, holding its handle towards Wei Wuxian, his own hand bitten into by the blade.

Wei Wuxian's eyes clear for a moment, resentment calming around him slightly. "What are you doing?!"

Lan Wangji says nothing, holding his sword still.

That angers Wei Wuxian again, even more so, dark tendrils swirling powerfully around them like hurricanes.

"Lan Wangji! Don't be a fucking coward! Don't-"

He never gets to finish his sentence. In a flash of purple robes, the sword disappears. Lan Wangji closes his eyes.

I'm sorry, Wei Ying. I have committed an unforgivable error. I had not meant to kill anybody, neither you, nor your sister. There was somebody going to attack you, I was trying to protect you.

I love you, Wei Ying, I've never hated you. I never could. I simply never knew what it was or how to express it to you. I wish I had. I wish I wasn't the person you hate most in the world right now. I wish the last thing I see wasn't your anguished face, the anguished face that I caused...

I'm sorry I'm a coward, like you said. If I wasn't, I would've taken my own life and not burden anybody else with it. I don't deserve to ever reincarnate, return to this world with you.

I'm sorry. And I love you. Even if you'll always hate me.

Wei Wuxian screams.

---

He's going to be late to his new job interview - he knows it, but he does not want to accept it. So he's rushing towards the bus station, hair wild behind him, and he swears he's going to catch that bus even if it's the last thing he does.

He's always been an athletic guy, and that seems to be paying off still, although his sports days are long gone - because he leaps into the bus right as the doors close, and lands precisely into the arms of somebody tall, strong and smelling of sandalwood.

He looks up at the man, apologetic, and cannot help but be fascinated with the golden eyes that look at him with admiration, surprise and something he cannot quite place.

"Uhh, sorry about that, I was in a real hurry to catch this bus, I have an interview for a new job and I really can't be late at all, you see.. the man that's interviewing me is said to be a stickler for rules!" he laughs sheepishly. "Thanks for catching me, by the way! I'm Wei Ying!"

The man finds his words at last. "Lan Zhan."

"Nice to meet you, Lan Zhan." Wei Ying smiles. "Um, you can let go of me now."

But for some reason, neither he, nor Lan Zhan really seem to want that to happen.

They hold one another tightly until they arrive at their stop.

It's the same one.

"Wouldn't it be funny if you were the guy interviewing me?" Wei Ying laughs as the two coincidentally enter the same building. "Say, would you give me some bonus points since we technically know each other already?"

"Favoritism is not acceptable."

"It's not favoritism! It's... networking!"

(Unfortunately, Wei Ying holds the interview with somebody else.

He gets the job anyway - and it just so happens that Lan Zhan is one of his colleagues.

And they cannot help but be drawn to one another, like they've known each other a lifetime already...)

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #wangxian #writing attempts

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kachawo · 2 years

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Have you heard? There's a ghost in the forests of Cloud Recesses.

He's been there since the siege of the Burial Mounds.

A beautiful man with long white hair, tied up in a ponytail with a bright red ribbon, wearing pristine white robes that looked unfit on him.

"How do you know so much? That sounds awfully detailed!"

"That's because I've seen him before!"

He wasn't harmful. If he was, the ghost would have been eliminated a long time ago. Unwelcome in the realm of the clouds.

Rather, he was quite.... gentle.

The ghost was quiet, it was already rare to catch a glimpse of him. Maybe it was shy?

Despite all the rumors within the Cloud Recesses, this ghost was actually very kind.

He wasn't evil like the Grandmaster had said. Not dangerous like the sect leader has heeded.

In fact, he was just like Hanguang-jun had described him as.

The first time a-yuan came in contact with the ghost, he was in the bamboo forest crying.

He scored the lowest in his swordsmanship class, he struggled to hold his wooden sword that he caught splinters.

Instead of getting it treated by the healers he left and hid in the back hills. He sat in front of a river, dipped his wounded hands in the colt water and hissed.

It wasn't a big wound, so a-yuan thinks it'll heal easily.

But it doesn't stop the warm droplets that fall from his eyes.

He stays like that, hugging his knees with hurt hands and sniffing his sobs, when suddenly he hears a rustle of the leaves.

The ghost watched him with unfocused eyes, it felt a bit eerie, he stared at a-yuan silently that the child almost forgot abot his own tears because of fear.

A few minutes later, the ghost continues forward, away and out of the child's sight.

A-yuan sighs in relief, but then winces when he moves his hands, he grasped them too tight, now they're bleeding a bit more.

Suddenly he finds himself a bunny dropped into his wounded hands.

Surprised, he almost flinches, but afraid of frightening the young animal, A-yuan forces himself not too.

Ghostly hands take the bunny into their arms and move them to a-yuan's lap, then they find themselves softly hovering over the child's hands.

When A-yuan looks up, he finds the same ghost from earlier, kneeling on the grass and looking at his wounds with faceless concern.

His finger, the child thinks, are cold. Just like Hanguang-jun's.

But at the same time it felt the warmest a-yuan has ever felt, it was soft, gentle. It was comforting.

A-yuan finds that his lap was now two bunnies full, then three, then four. Then as he looks at the ghost again, a fifth. It seems the ghost had come back with company, maybe to comfort the crying child.

The bunnies seem to agree with this plan, happily sitting in his lap and staying still as the child stroked their white fur.

With his lap and hands occupied, the ghost seems to decide that he should place a bunny on his head, and does exactly so.

A-yuan laughs into his now drying tears.

He could get used to this.

There's a ghost in the back hills. He's kind and harmless.

The ghost helps guide children back to their homes.

When they don't have one, he makes one for them.

There's a ghost in the back hills of Cloud Recesses, he accompanies the bunnies so they aren't alone.

He makes the birds sing for someone who cries.

He gives homes to those who don't have them.

There's a ghost.

[Inspired by @yinyuexielie 's ghost wei wuxian au]

#mdzs #wwx #mdzs au #ghost wei wuxian #he's like.....the guardian protector of cloud recesses' backyard

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rosethornewrites · 3 months

Text

T & G reading since 2/26

Finished

Teen:

The Twin Blades of Yunmeng, by GhostySword, ofmindelans (18 chapters)

Then Jiang Cheng brings both blades around, two sword glares flashing, and—oh. Wei Wuxian knows the second sword’s red and silver glare better than any other. His brother is wielding Suibian, the first and last sword that had ever belonged to Wei Wuxian.

Jiang Cheng and the Jin sect took away different treasures after Wei Wuxian's death. When Wei Wuxian comes back from the dead, his brother has some theories, some feelings, and two swords strapped across his back. Now Wei Wuxian must solve a Chenqing-charged mystery while surviving a passive-aggressive custody battle between Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji.

you'd get your knuckles bloody for me, by Cataclysmic_Calamity

For once, someone says something that Wei Wuxian can’t laugh off when he’s at a party. Upon seeing this, Lan Wangji, who has never broken a rule in his life—or even raised his voice—does something about it.

to heal with the sunrise, by justdoityoufucker (orphan_account)

It’s almost eleven years after his death when the Yiling Laozu is revived.

Jin Ling does not hear of it until news comes from Lotus Pier—or, more accurately, news comes about Lotus Pier. In the midst of his shushu being exposed as the mastermind behind many recent horrors of the cultivation world, his jiujiu has met a horrific and unexplained end.

And Jin Ling cries—not for his jiujiu, no.

He cries for his best and only friend, who is now free of Jiang Wanyin.

Or, the one where Jiang Wanyin suffers as he deserves.

Retracing my steps (I found you), by Asphodel_Meadow (reread)

When Wei Wuxian activates the travel array, he doesn’t expect to be sent back in time, and certainly not to the lectures in Cloud Recesses.

General:

The White Jade Hairpin, by YilingSani

Happy Birthday, dear Hanguang-Jun!

Mulberry seeds, by OurLadyoftheRain (5 chapters)

Is there anything more bothersome than a little brother hellbent on not being the youngest of the family anymore?

Yes. A little brother being smug about having gotten exactly what he wanted.

Into the murk, by MissCellophane

Wei Wuxian is dead.

Lan Wangji wouldn't believe those words until he sees it for himself.

Unfinished

Teen:

What Remains After the War, by Swan_Song

There is a child in the burial mounds.

Looking at the face of a sobbing toddler, crying for the man he once called brother, Jiang Wanyin he can’t find it in him to care that the boy has Wen blood.

He takes the boy home

Something Warm and Safe, by Winxhelina

"Rich-gege!" A-Yuan exclaims happily.

"You can't call him that," Wei Wuxian admonishes gently. He puts an arm around Lan Wangji just as his knees give out, "Hey! I'm holding a child, you can't pass out on me like that. Oh. Oh, your back is covered in blood. Is that - is that your blood, Lan Zhan?!"

"Mn."

"Oh. Oh, you're bleeding a lot! Hold on! I'm putting A-Yuan down. A-Yuan, walk on your own for a bit. Can you also hold the basket for me? You're so mature and responsible! Okay, Lan Zhan, stay with me. I've got you."

"Is Rich-gege hurt?"

Lan Wangji doesn't hear the rest of that conversation.

In which Granny Wen manages to convince Wei Wuxian to take A-Yuan and hide away from the world. Lan Wangji manages to find them.

General:

Once upon a lifetime, by HuaisangsIntellect

The second he awakens, Wei Wuxian realises that he has been sent to the past, but at what cost? How will he prevent the Sunshot Campaign and make sure none of his loved ones die? And... why is Lan Wangji so different than what he remembered?

(Or: Wei Wuxian somehow finds himself back in the past and causes trouble along the way.)

Lies and Truth, by parodismal (🔒)

What happen if Lan Wangji decided to actually check Qiongqi Path after Wei Wuxian leave?

....

It leads to a domino effect towards a new Chief Cultivator

Is it a better?

Or worse?

#the untamed #mo dao zu shi #mdzs #untamed fanfiction #cql #chen qing ling

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ghcstchild-a · 8 months

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rumor has it hanguang-jun was manipulated by the yiling laozu... that somehow he was swayed by the music of the yiling laozu's dizi and decided to support him instead of standing firm with the cultivation world... i also heard that the yiling laozu brutally murdered his shijie and jin zixuan... leaving young master jin ling without much of a family...? how horrifying! the yunmeng jiang sect was right to banish him entirely!

RUMORS — always accepting.

DARKNESS SWIRLS WITHIN, a landslide long forgotten amidst the shallow tranquility this new life offered. He's used to this by now, allowing the rumors to run their course, paint him as a villain again and again, until the very idea of him was reduced to this — a tale to scare the children with, a faceless monster so despicable, he deserved it, every last bit of it, torn flesh and broken bones, the Yiling Laozu had it coming.

( but he did, he did, they are dead because of him, shijie's broken smile would haunt him to his last and final grave — didn't she know he loved her the most? )

Oh, but where was their righteousness and pious words when his throat bled from all that screaming? When he crawled out of hell all alone, knuckles bruised and ribs broken, when he shattered, when he lost his mind? They only came to set his world on fire, until the pain of the most horrid death felt better than the cries of those they didn't spare, and he couldn't even scream anymore.

❝ Aren't you forgetting something? ❞ a hollow laugh that comes out of him is a hoarse bark, half-petrified, half-amused, eyes an open wound that never really stopped bleeding — he relishes in the blessing of forgetfulness sometimes, but the horrors, the faces come back to haunt him every night, soothed with an embrace that grounds him in this joke of a reality. Heart aching for the one swayed by the diabolic waltz of Chenqing, ready to tear itself open once more rather than stain his good name with the BLACKNESS of his own — Wei Wuxian wouldn't even dare bleed on the pristine whites of those robes, exhausted from talking to the void again, screaming into it as if it could finally learn how to listen. It wears him out. The memories of home he'll never find his way back to. The raw stench of blood and rotten flesh. It's easy to forget how feeble this body can be sometimes, how fragile. Fingers rub the bridge of his nose, weary and mindless, pointless, as he forgets the name of his accuser, indifferent as he speaks. ❝ The Yiling Laozu also bathed in virgin blood and put horrifying curses on honorable cultivators, summoned demons from beyond the grave and abducted little children. Maybe I put a spell on Hanguang-jun, bound him to my will because I liked him. Do you wish to know what happens to those I do not like? ❞

#well fuck #i said send a rumor not roast him till he breaks #love this sm tho like WOW that's raw #a bit of #gore tw #if you squint #anon.#── * HC : a ghost behind the mask.

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stiltonbasket · 3 years

Note

for the qin su!wwx verse: i would love to the either the conversation where wangxian decide to have a biological kid, or the conversation where they find out they’re Having xiao-yu, whoops 😄😄😄

After Lan Xichen gives them the news, Wei Wuxian sits mutely on the sofa and tries to wrap his head around the three words that just left his would-be dabaizi’s lips. Next to him, Lan Zhan looks like a stunned fish, gaping at Zewu-jun like a trout out of water, and even Nie Mingjue blinks in astonishment before glancing back at his husband.

“Xichen, you’re absolutely sure he’s--?”

“We have five children,” Lan Xichen says in a strangled voice, sounding as if he would dearly like to scream. “Trust me, I can recognize the symptoms better than most. Wei-gongzi, do you remember when you last had your monthly courses?”

Wei Wuxian jerks back to life and shakes his head. “I’ve never had them,” he says faintly. “Qin Su never needed to keep track of her cycles, so she took thistle tea to stop them from happening, and I kept on drinking it after she summoned me. I thought--Zewu-jun, don’t women need their monthly courses to conceive? How could I have possibly...”

“It only stops the bleeding,” Lan Xichen corrects him. “That particular medicine is usually prescribed to young girls, not married women, lest a pregnancy go unnoticed for longer than normal. It’s not a contraceptive.”

Wei Wuxian fights the urge to claw at his robes and shriek. Of course he always knew that Qin Su had no need for contraceptive teas, since Jin Guangyao never came to her bed, but surely it was reasonable to think that preventing the monthly blood would also prevent a--

A baby, he thinks dumbly. Lan Zhan and I aren’t even married, since the year of mourning for Qin-guniang isn’t up yet, and I’m expecting a child in her body.

“You must go to the healers as soon as you can,” Lan Xichen urges, while Wei Wuxian has a miniature breakdown on the sofa before putting himself back together again. “There are certain foods that must be consumed while with child, and some things that you must not touch at all, like alcohol and raw meat. Young Master Wei, are you listening to me?”

“Hah,” he croaks. “Lan Zhan, I need--some fresh air, I--”

Hardly a split second later, Lan Zhan picks him up and whisks him out of the hanshi, carrying him down the hill towards the jingshi so he can catastrophize in peace and quiet. Or at least quiet, since Wei Wuxian supposes he won’t be getting any peace for the next twenty-odd years, now.

“Why do you think so?” Lan Zhan frowns, bringing a basin of cold water for his feet. “Wei Ying, talk to me. Are you well?”

Wei Wuxian tries to wrestle his tongue into something resembling coherent speech, and fails. Beside him, Lan Zhan’s cheeks go a chalky white, and he suddenly looks as if someone had slapped him across the face--and then Wei Wuxian hears him take a great gulp, as if to strengthen his will for the conversation ahead.

“If you do not want this child,” he whispers, “I know you are not--this is a difficult thing for women, let alone men in bodies unsuited for their souls. It cannot be too far along yet, since we--I mean, it can only be three months at the very latest, so perhaps--”

The very idea of it is enough to stop Wei Wuxian’s breath. “Are you mad, Lan Zhan?” he demands, in a near-shout. “How could you say such a thing? I would never--Lan Zhan, that’s your child! Our child! Say you’re sorry, right now!”

Lan Zhan frowns. “You want the baby?”

“Yes! Yes, of course I do!” Wei Wuxian cries, valiantly trying to blink back a tear as Lan Zhan takes his hand. “Haven’t you heard me talking about adopting more brothers and sisters for Sizhui? I’ve certainly been thinking about it ever since you told me he was still alive! How could you think I’d ever want to get rid of--do you not want our little one, Lan Zhan?”

“I loved this child the moment Xiongzhang told us of its existence,” Lan Zhan says, his voice breaking like a piece of sugar candy snapping in half. “But I had to tell you, Wei Ying, even if it killed me to do so. I can bear anything but the thought of you suffering, now.”

“Well, I’m not suffering,” Wei Ying chuckles wetly. “We’re going to have this little cabbage, and A-Yuan will have a didi or a meimei, and Lan-xiansheng will have another niece or nephew to try to shave his beard off. All right?”

(As it turns out, it is very much all right, and the look Lan Zhan gives him is full of such radiant happiness that Wei Wuxian falls head over heels in love, all over again.

Half of that love is for the new tiny person sleeping under his heart, and Wei Wuxian suddenly wants more than anything to hold his child in his arms.)

___

Cloud Recesses, Gusu Lan to the Jinlintai, Lanling Jin

Peacock,

I know for a fact that Shijie didn’t choose Ling for A-Ling’s birth name, so you must be pretty good at picking names for babies. What would you name a child that was half of Yunmeng Jiang and half of Gusu Lan, and due around the middle of this fall?

Your best brother-in-law,

Wei Wuxian.

___

Jinlintai, Lanling Jin to Cloud Recesses, Gusu Lan

Wei Wuxian, you utter menace--

Please tell me this isn’t for your child. If it is, Jiang Wanyin will hunt me down and beat me to death with Zidian for failing in my duties as a chaperone, and then I’ll have been killed by both of A-Li’s brothers.

Yours in great distress,

Jin Zixuan.

___

Cloud Recesses, Gusu Lan to the Jinlintai, Lanling Jin

Sect Leader Jin:

My husband spent the whole morning crying after receiving your letter. Count yourself lucky that he did not let me read it, or I would have been making you a visit later today.

Regards,

Lan Wangji.

___

The Hanshi, Cloud Recesses, to the Jingshi, Cloud Recesses

(delivered by Young Master Nie Yunhai, minus the rice-paper envelope--which was probably eaten on the way, according to Lan Jueying. No one knows what happened to the enclosed sweet buns, and Lan Jingyi and company cannot be reached for further comment.)

A-Xian,

Will you come up and have tea with me? The little ones miss their Xian-shushu, and all of us are worried for you.

All my love,

Xichen-ge.

___

“Lan Zhan?”

“Yes?”

“Are you going to tell your brother that you haven’t let me out of bed for the past three days? He probably thinks I’m still crying over that letter from Jin Zixuan.”

“Mm, if he asks. But Wei Ying needs to rest and eat nourishing foods, and remain still until the dizziness passes, so Xiongzhang will understand. Go back to sleep, my love.”

#wangxian #mo dao zu shi #the untamed #qin su!wwx #my fic #warning for mentions of periods I guess?#nothing is described in any detail though #jzx upon receiving that letter: blocked. BLOCKED. none of you are free from sin

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wangxianficrecs · 1 year

Text

The Boy with the Sunshine Smile by Witch_Nova221

The Boy with the Sunshine Smile

by Witch_Nova221

T, 153k, Wangxian

Summary: Lan Sizhui knew his father carried a sadness within him, a sadness related to a picture he had once glimpsed hidden beneath his father's bed. The picture was of a boy, a boy with a smile like sunshine. Lan Sizhui felt as though he knew him but he never saw his face in Cloud Recesses and his name was never spoken.

Kay's comments: Ah. This story. It's very dear to my heart. I still remember when Nova first published it and I was patiently waiting for each new chapter, absolutely hooked and needing to see what happens next. At first, the story focusses on Lan Sizhui growing up in the Cloud Recesses, on him learning about the man his father mourns. Later, Wei Wuxian returns of course and Wangxian get married and there's also some heavy angst there. The story follows Wangxian until the very end of their lives and I still remember how much I cried during the last few chapters when I first read them. No worries though, Wangxian's story doesn't end with death ;) This story features lots of warm family feelings, growing up and growing old, coming of age and lots of other goodness. Honestly, it's so long and covers such a long stretch of time that it's really hard to give a proper summary of! It's just lovely.

Excerpt: Sizhui pressed his face into the soft fur, tears wetting it down in places. Lan Wangji laid a hand on his head, giving him the moment he needed before he gently removed the rabbit from his grip, soothing it as it fretted in his hands. Sizhui hiccuped around a sob. 'A-Xian.' Lan Wangji froze, eyes wide as he regarded the boy before him though Sizhui's gaze had not left the rabbit in his hands. 'What did you say?' 'A-Xian,' he said, rubbing his sleeve against his tears, 'It's what I called him.' Lan Wangji swallowed around the lump in his throat. 'Why...why that name?' Sizhui shrugged. 'Just a name,' he sniffled. Tears threatened, caught only by years of restraint. Just a name. If only the child before him knew. When he thought no more of their past would be revealed, Sizhui always surprised him and he knew the day would come when the memories would finally win out, so many cracks letting them bleed through. He sat back on his heels, fingers moving gently over the rabbit's soft fur as he fought to rein in his thoughts. Sizhui was not nearly so well trained, turning himself into his pillow and shaking with silent sobs.

pov alternating, the untamed compliant, chief cultivator lan wangji, canon compliant, post-canon, growing up, jiang cheng & wei wuxian reconciliation, family feels, romance, hurt/comfort, creator chose not to use archive warnings, established relationship, growing old together, grief/mourning, angst, jin ling/lan sizhui, cultivation sect politics, happy ending, @witchnova221

~*~

(Please REBLOG as a signal boost for this hard-working author if you like – or think others might like – this story.)

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sincerelystranger · 3 years

Text

read on AO3

---

Nie Huaisang fans his face nervously as Xichen watches quietly from across the room.

He’s not quite turned away from Xichen, but he doesn’t seem to be able to look at Xichen either. His eyes keep flickering back and forth from the wall behind Xichen to the floor.

Every single one of Huaisang’s actions seems to scream discomfort, maybe even fear. It occurs to Xichen that it’s strange behavior for someone who invited themselves over. It also occurs to him that at one point in his life, he wouldn’t even have noticed the behavior as strange.

At one point in Xichen’s life, he would have readily believed Huaisang’s act.

He doesn’t now.

He doesn’t know what to believe anymore.

And he thinks maybe that’s what hurts the most.

He thinks that maybe that inability to trust his own judgement is what keeps him locked in seclusion, torturing himself over the things he missed and the things he once believed.

Maybe.

He sits in silence, just watching Nie Huaisang. He’s not sure if he’s surprised by Nie Huaisang’s visit, or if a part of him expected him all this time. The only thing he knows is this:

Nie Huaisang somehow looks altogether too much and not enough like da-ge and Xichen can’t tell whether he hates him for that or not.

Nie Huaisang clears his throat suddenly, the sound is almost deafening in the heavy silence of Xichen’s room.

“Ah… You look… well, er-ge,” he says weakly, still not meeting Xichen’s eyes, “Wei-Xiong made it seem as if… well…” He trails off, briefly making eye contact with Xichen before dropping his gaze back to the floor.

Xichen isn’t surprised by the mention of Wei Wuxian.

Of course Wei Wuxian would have something to do with this. Of course.

“Wei-Xiong said that you weren’t well – that you didn’t want visitors… I mean… of course… you’re still in seclusion…” Nie Huaisang stumbles over his words. Xichen can see his hand shaking slightly as he continues to fan his face.

That does surprise him though – the fact that Wei Wuxian advised against Nie Huaisang visiting Xichen.

With how nosy Wei Wuxian has been throughout Xichen’s time in seclusion, he would have thought that Wei Wuxian had had a hand in Nie Huaisang’s visit.

“Wei Wuxian advised against your visit?” Xichen asks, curiosity opening his mouth.

Nie Huaisang seems surprised by Xichen’s voice. The fan goes still in his hands. “He… did,” he nods, “Wei-Xiong… He… Well I don’t think he trusts me… anymore.” There’s a small self-deprecating smile on his face as he admits this. He looks to the ground again before slowly bringing his gaze up to meet Xichen’s eyes. He gives Xichen a weak smile. “I guess you don’t either, do you, er-ge?”

Xichen guesses he should have expected it, but it still catches him off-guard to be confronted so openly.

Somehow it seems… out of character for Huaisang.

But then…

What does Xichen know of Huaisang’s character anyway?

“I… I just don’t know why you did what you did,” Xichen admits. And it’s the closest thing to the truth that he can stomach to say. Because… because even after everything. Even after the manipulation and betrayal and years of being lied to. He still…

Well he’s still Nie Huaisang’s er-ge, isn’t he?

It’s one of the only things he’s been able to come to terms with in his time in seclusion: The people Xichen loves may do monstrous things, but Xichen will love them anyway. He can’t help himself. Once he loves, he doesn’t know how to stop.

Nie Huaisang is quiet for a while. He slowly lowers his fan to his lap. He looks more vulnerable, sat there without the fan covering part of his face.

Even after everything, it makes Xichen’s heart ache for him. Even after everything, Xichen wants to call him close, ask him how he can help wipe that sadness from his face.

He doesn’t though.

He stays quiet.

“It’s already been eight years since da-ge died,” Huaisang says slowly, “Next year, I’ll be older than he ever got to be.”

Logically it’s something Xichen has known for a while. He’s been older than da-ge for years now. But it still churns his stomach to hear those words come out of Huaisang’s lips. To be hit with the realization that da-ge has truly been dead for so long. It seems… so impossible. Da-ge is still so fresh in Xichen’s memory.

“It’s strange,” Huaisang continues quietly, “In my memory da-ge is always so much older than me. Always such an… adult. When father died and da-ge became the sect leader, I remember thinking, ‘of course.’ Because da-ge already seemed so grown up at the time. So sure of himself.” Huaisang wipes absently at the floor and huffs a small laugh. “Now I wonder how the elders could have been so cruel as to put all that responsibility onto such a young boy.”

A lump forms in Xichen’s throat.

“Da-ge was always… good,” Xichen says stupidly, “He never shied from responsibility… he always gave everything his… best.”

Nie Huaisang huffs another small laugh. “Da-ge was always good,” he agrees. “If the world could have been as good as he was – if I could have been as good as he was – everything might be different now.”

The room goes quiet again at Huaisang’s small confession.

Xichen can’t find it in himself to disagree or to comfort, because he thinks the same. Maybe if he could have been as good as da-ge, everything might’ve ended differently. Maybe if Xichen hadn’t questioned da-ge’s judgement… Maybe if Xichen had just trusted da-ge…

Maybe…

“He… loved you er-ge. Did you know?”

“Of course,” Xichen answers, a little taken aback by Huaisang’s question.

“No,” Huaisang says with a shake of his head. “He loved you… as a man. Did you know?”

The center of gravity seems to have changed in the room. Xichen feels… tilted. Unmoored.

“He – da-ge… he didn’t,” Xichen tries to explain slowly, a slow panic crawling up his spine. Da-ge didn’t – he couldn’t. Da-ge never saw Xichen like that…

Never…

“He did,” Huaisang says, something stubborn bleeding into his voice.

Xichen shakes his head. He doesn’t know where Huaisang got this idea but…

“He didn’t, Huaisang,” Xichen says, “I… I…” It’s humiliating to have to own to it. How does Huaisang always manage to put him into this situations? Situations where he has to cut his heart open with his own hand. “I confessed to him when we were… younger.”

Da-ge had been kind when he refused Xichen.

His hand had been gentle and warm on Xichen’s shoulder and his eyes had been deep and kind. “I can’t be that for you. I’m sorry.”

But he still stayed Xichen’s friend.

Still stayed Xichen’s… da-ge.

“He refused you because he thought….” Huaisang stammers, “He… he said…”

Xichen’s heart drops to his stomach. Something cold makes its way towards his chest. He said? Da-ge had… He had talked about Xichen’s confession to Huaisang?

“What,” Xichen asks, a nervous hunger gnawing at his throat. “What did da-ge say?”

“He said you deserved better than a man destined for madness,” Huaisang says finally.

It feels like a cruel joke.

Another manufactured cruelty from Huaisang. Another upturned grave that Xichen will have to cover with his hands.

“You… Don’t lie to me, Huaisang,” Xichen says, and he’s ashamed by the way his voice trembles. “Da-ge… He never…”

“He was always doing these foolish things,” Huaisang says, his voice cracking, as tears spill from his eyes. “Always giving up parts of his happiness for the people he loved.”

A sob escapes from Xichen’s lips. He hurries to cover his mouth so more don’t shamefully spill out but it’s no use. Da-ge couldn’t… He…

But of course he would.

“He did it for me too,” Huaisang continues, his lips trembling, his whole body taut as he tries to control his sobs. “And I didn’t know either, er-ge. I never realized until it was too late. All the things—“ Huaisang folds in on himself, his hand coming up to cover his eyes as he cries. “—All the things he gave up for me. All the things he turned a blind eye to because he knew I loved them.”

The room dissolves into quiet sobs.

And it’s a little funny, Xichen thinks, even though Huaisang is tearing out the seams in Xichen’s heart that Xichen just barely put in. Even though Huaisang has brought with him so much hurt and anger and confusion. It’s still… comforting to cry with someone who Xichen knows misses da-ge as much as Xichen does. There’s still a twisted sense of camaraderie there.

When the wave passes and the sobs quiet, Huaisang straightens back up. He wipes gingerly at his face with his sleeve. Xichen is reminded of all the times he watched Huaisang do the same action when he was just a child. Da-ge would have reprimanded him, Xichen thinks. Da-ge would have tossed Huaisang his handkerchief.

Because as wild and brutish as da-ge was reputed to be… he was… proper like that. Gentler than anyone imagined he could ever be.

That was one of the things Xichen had loved about him.

Huaisang lets out a shaky exhale. He’s twisting his sleeves between his fingers nervously. Even now, it seems impossible to Xichen that Huaisang – sweet and spoiled Huaisang – could have lied to him for so long. It seems impossible that the Huaisang he knows – the Huaisang sitting in front of him – could have orchestrated the downfall of Mengyao.

It seems impossible, and yet…

“You say that you don’t know why I did the things I did,” Huaisang says, his voice soft and scratchy from his tears, “And if I’m honest, I didn’t understand myself either.” He looks up and Xichen then and gives a helpless shrug. “It’s so unlike me. Right, er-ge? All this planning and scheming and… and just all this work to destroy someone I love. It was torturous for me – it really was, er-ge. But...”

Xichen doesn’t move. He doesn’t make a sound. It feels like he’s at the edge of a cliff. What Huaisang says next will most certainly push him over but he’s still waiting… He doesn’t know how to do anything else.

“I think… I think I was punishing myself,” Huaisang says, “I think I was punishing myself for loving san-ge – for letting my love blind me to his evil deeds.”

Xichen’s heart drops to the bottom of his stomach. He feels slightly nauseous.

Huaisang drops his gaze from Xichen’s eyes to the ground just in front of Xichen. “And for what I did to you at Guanyin Temple… I… I think in a way… I wanted to punish you too.”

He’s falling. He’s been pushed off the cliff and he’s falling.

It’s a lot more freeing than he thought it would be. It almost feels like flying.

Punishment.

Was that all it was?

All this confusion and loss and pain and confusion and loss and loss and pain…

Just punishment?

A strange laughter bubbles from Xichen’s lips before he can even control it.

“Sorry,” he says, quickly bringing his hand to cover his mouth. Shamefully enough, the laughter spills over again. “Sorry.” But it’s not enough. The laughter forces itself out of his body. He can’t help himself. He feels insane, but he’s laughing and it won’t stop. “Sorry, I’m so sorry. I’m so—”

Xichen can almost feel Huaisang’s surprise but he can’t help himself. The laughter won’t stop. And strangely, after a few moments of his unhinged laughter, he hears…

He looks up, his vision clouded slightly by the strange tears his strange laughter has created and to his surprise… Huaisang is laughing too.

Seeing Huaisang laugh plants more seeds of laughter in Xichen. He can’t stop now – even if he tried. The laughter bubbles over. Huaisang’s laughter waters Xichen’s laughter and it grows and grows and…

Punishment.

That was all it was.

All this pain and loss and confusion and it was just… punishment.

How ridiculous.

---

The night of Huaisang’s visit, Xichen steps outside for the first time since he started his seclusion.

In the dark of night, the world seems all at once strange and inviting.

Cloud Recesses, of course, is quiet. All the disciples having gone to sleep long ago.

Xichen feels safer, with that knowledge that he’s alone. That he won’t run into anyone who—

“Xichen-ge!” a voice surprises him from his thoughts. He turns towards the voice and sees Wei Wuxian and…. Wangji.

Wei Wuxian visits him often enough that it shouldn’t be such a surprise to see him, but it feels different seeing him outside the confines of his room. Xichen feels self-conscious suddenly. Like his arms are too long and maybe his hair is untidy.

“Wei… gongzi,” he nods after a shocked moment, “Wangji.”

Wei Wuxian waves him over as Wangji nods back. “We’re taking a walk,” Wei Wuxian exclaims, “The night is cool and the stars are bright. Come join us, Xichen-ge!”

It’s all so ridiculous, Xichen thinks as he takes a heavy step forward, out of the gate and towards the path.

How ridiculously easy it is to leave the jail he created for himself. How ridiculously normal it feels for Wei Wuxian to ask him to join him on a night walk – as if Xichen hasn’t trapped himself between four walls for years.

Wei Wuxian and Wangji separate to make room for him. It’s a small act of kindness, Xichen realizes, and he takes it because it does feel a little safer to walk between them.

Such a childishness, he thinks, still too bare to the world to feel any embarrassment from it. But he does feel safe. Wangji feels… taller… and sturdier than Xichen remembers him being. And Wei Wuxian… Well is there anyone more reliable to walk the dark night with than Wei Wuxian?

“Look!” Wei Wuxian says, pointing up at the sky. “Isn’t the moon beautiful tonight?”

Xichen follows Wei Wuxian’s finger up.

The moon is round and heavy. It looks so close that it feels like Xichen might be able to touch it if he just reaches up.

“It’s beautiful,” he agrees softly.

“It’s like it knew you would come out to see it today, Xichen-ge,” Wei Wuxian nods happily. “Don’t you think so, Lan Zhan?”

Wangji hums his agreement as they keep walking.

Happiness sits hot and heavy in Xichen’s chest. He feels safe and free and…

“I think we’ve had enough punishment,” Huaisang had said before he left. “You and… me too, er-ge.” He had looked at Xichen then and had given him a smile – a real smile. No hint of sadness in his face at all. “Da-ge always wanted the people he loved to be happy… so I think it’s time to do that. Don’t you think so, er-ge?”

He hadn’t answered Huaisang as he left but he agrees quietly in his heart now.

He’s lost and lost and lost and he’s sat in that loss for years. Yearning and searching and looking for an answer that wasn’t there – ignoring the world outside his room for years and choosing punishment day after day because… because maybe he thought he deserved it.

And still…

The moon is beautiful.

And still, his family welcomes him back.

#mdzs #the untamed #Xichen in seclusion #This time Huaisang comes to visit #just so many things I jam packed into this #honestly I should just write a paper on the stages of grief and what I find so interesting about it #instead of writing these long basically plotless stories lol #lan xichen #nie huaisang

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taizi · 3 years

Text

out past the shallow breakers

the untamed pairing: jiang cheng & wei ying, jiang cheng & lan sizhui word count: 3148 read on ao3

“He died!”

The words ring loud, sharp—in the pavilion where they’re taking their evening meal, surrounded on all sides by untroubled water, the words seem to carry for miles.

It’s unlike Lan Sizhui to raise his voice at all, much less to raise it toward a senior. His hands, resting politely on his knees under the table, have curled into fists.

“Everyone goes on and on as though baba has so much to atone for,” Lan Sizhui says, each word lurching from his throat like a line of fierce corpses shambling through brush. “What more is there for him to give? What more do you want? He died.”

Jin Ling is staring at his friend as though he’s never seen him fully before. On Lan Sizhui’s other side, Wei Wuxian’s expression is shifting rapidly from alarm to comprehension. His gray eyes are full of a painful understanding.

“Sizhui ah,” Wei Wuxian says, touching the boy’s shoulder. “Come take a walk with me.”

Jerking his head in a nod, Lan Sizhui pushes to his feet and then pauses there. His Gusu Lan whites, those extra lines and layers that denote him a member of the main family, ghost elegantly around him when he lowers himself in a bow that is every inch deep that it needs to be and not one inch deeper.

“Sect Leader Jiang, this disciple apologizes,” he says. The cheerful ‘shushu’ of earlier that morning might as well be a memory of another life. “My behavior was unworthy.”

He doesn’t grit it out, the way Jin Ling would probably have had to. It doesn’t even seem to cost him any pride.

For one, single, impossible moment, it’s as though Jiang Yanli is standing there, making her apologies to their mother for her brothers’ sake, to spare them any pain she could. It didn’t matter that the blame wasn’t hers. It didn’t cost her any pride, either.

But Jiang Yanli didn’t have a chance to be a part of her nephew’s life, as much as she would have wanted to be. This likeness isn’t hers, not truly. Wei Wuxian was always more like his sister than he or Jiang Cheng were ready to admit.

“Forget it,” Jiang Cheng says. His voice is hoarse, but in the stillness of the water and the silence of the pavilion, it carries, too. “Go on.”

Wei Wuxian shepherds his son from the table. He glances back at Jiang Cheng once, a grimace of apology on his face, but then Lan Sizhui’s hand finds the trailing black hem of Wei Wuxian’s sleeve and clutches to it, and that steals all of Wei Wuxian’s attention as easily as a slap or a shout might have.

The moment they’re gone, Jin Ling lets out a breath he must have been holding, and rounds on his other uncle with wide eyes.

“What did you say?” Jin Ling blurts. “I wasn’t really paying attention, but it didn’t sound like—I mean, it sounded normal.”

Jiang Cheng is still staring at the place Lan Sizhui had stood.

The last living remnant of a persecuted clan, so much an amalgamation of his two fathers that it didn’t make sense that one of them had been dead for most of his young life—holding a grudge and bowing his head at the same time. Lan Wangji, in Jiang Cheng’s experience, has never once let something go that he could nurse icy resentment for instead. Wei Wuxian has always choked down hurt like it was second nature, no matter that it must feel like swallowing nails every time.

It was a normal conversation, but perhaps that’s exactly why Lan Sizhui couldn’t bear another second of it.

“He died,” Lan Sizhui had said, as raw as a fresh wound, or one that kept getting torn open again before it could heal. “What more do you want?”

“Ah, Jiang Cheng,” Wei Wuxian says the next morning, meeting him in the courtyard. “Did you sleep well?”

He’s smiling with a certain nervous energy that Jiang Cheng can only pick out because he spent the formative years of his life raising and being raised by his siblings. To an outsider, there probably wouldn’t be a single visible chink in that cheerful armor.

Jiang Cheng, for all his failings, isn’t an outsider. Not quite. The door between them is closed—has been closed for years, almost decades—but Wei Wuxian isn’t the one who closed it. There almost certainly isn’t a lock or talisman keeping Jiang Cheng from forcing it open again.

It won’t come open again easily. There is so much stacked in the way. Hurt and betrayal and grief throw their weight into keeping it shut, weighing it down on either side.

But—

“What more do you want?” Lan Sizhui had asked.

“Fine,” Jiang Cheng forces out. Wei Wuxian blinks, as if he didn’t expect a forthright answer, or any answer at all. Something about his open surprise at the barest scrap of civility makes Jiang Cheng add, “If you’re awake this early, you didn’t sleep at all.”

His brother takes the opening for what it is, and bends into character. “Oh! You know me so well!”

Mo Xuanyu’s body is smaller, slighter, than the body that Wei Wuxian was born into, and his face is not quite the same, but Wei Wuxian’s mannerisms shine through so clearly that it’s easy to look past everything else. Even the way he stands still is entirely his own, his whole body vibrating with the necessary focus it takes to keep from bursting into movement again.

He is so familiar. The most familiar thing in Jiang Cheng’s entire, almost-empty life.

“I’m sorry about last night,” Wei Wuxian says. The words spill from his mouth like river pebbles, scattering around their feet. There’s that echo of their jiejie again, smiling around I’m sorry. “Don’t hold it against him, please. He’s so young, and he’s struggling to make sense of some things. He was happy that you invited him to Lotus Pier.”

The past-tense makes Jiang Cheng want to flinch, but he doesn’t. He just stands there in the peach pink morning and absorbs the beginning of a goodbye.

“So you’re leaving, then?” he mutters.

“I think we’ve definitely worn out our welcome this time,” Wei Wuxian says, easily shouldering the blame for everyone else’s bad behavior. They might as well be twelve years old again, kneeling here in the courtyard under Madam Yu’s furious eyes. “But it’s alright! Wen Ning sent word that he’s waiting for us outside of Yunmeng and Sizhui is eager to see him. We’ll go find some trouble to get into before we head back home.”

He won’t say a word about this change of plans to his husband, but Lan Wangji will still find out—whether Lan Sizhui tells him, or Wen Ning, or he just picks up something from Wei Wuxian through osmosis—and the next cultivator conference will be excruciating. And if the Jiang clan gets anything out of it, it won’t be anything good. And Jiang Cheng will feel slighted and angry for months, until the next time Wei Wuxian swings by for a visit. And having his brother nearby will soothe an ache in the pit of Jiang Cheng’s chest that he’s able to ignore all the rest of the time. And then, inevitably, Wei Wuxian will look wistfully at the water, or linger for too long by the flowers their sister liked best, or bring some other manner of ghost to the dinner table, and Jiang Cheng will lash out because it’s the only way he knows how to handle hurt. And then Wei Wuxian will extract himself and go home to Cloud Recesses early, and Lan Wangji will rightly guess why. And it just never fucking ends, does it?

The grief he carries around with him—he’s not wrong to carry it. It’s his. He was hurt, time and again, by a person he used to count on not to hurt him. He’s two times an orphan; once when his parents died, and again when his siblings did. He had to rebuild his home from the ground up, by himself, with his own two hands. Everything he has is what he was able to dig out of the dirt and ashes.

It isn’t Wei Wuxian’s fault that Lotus Pier fell. It isn’t his fault that the Wens were persecuted, that they had nowhere else to turn for protection. And it isn’t—

This one hurts; this one comes away bleeding. Jiang Cheng forces himself through it anyway.

It isn’t Wei Wuxian’s fault that Yanli died.

She died for him, but he didn’t ask her to.

Jiang Cheng feels his brother’s golden core thrumming inside his chest, hyper-aware of it now in a way he rarely was before—how it feels the way the sun looks in the morning, warm and brilliant and spilling color across the dull gray of dawn.

He didn’t ask Wei Wuxian to cut himself open for Jiang Cheng’s sake. He can’t be blamed for his brother’s choices. And if that’s true (and it has to be true or Jiang Cheng will go insane) then Wei Wuxian can’t be blamed for their sister’s choice, either. Yanli died for Wei Wuxian because she loved him, and Wei Wuxian gave Jiang Cheng his golden core because he loved him, and Jiang Cheng never moved on and never let go because he loved them, too.

They weren’t raised to love softly or quietly. Love between the three of them was always fierce, like a wild animal baring its teeth. Clinging to each other in a world that wanted to rip them apart. Even Yanli, who smiled and spoke with such sweetness, went to war because her brothers were there.

“What more do you want?” Lan Sizhui had asked.

Jiang Cheng lifts his head. Wei Wuxian is already looking at him, poised, as ever, to leave the moment Jiang Cheng gives him any indication that he should, like a bird ready to fling itself into flight. His brother, dead for thirteen years and back again, and only sometimes-welcome in the place he used to call home. Only sometimes-wanted by the person who used to be his family.

In a world full of people missing people they’ll never see again, Wei Wuxian is a miracle that Jiang Cheng is entirely unworthy of.

He’s right to carry his grief, because it’s his. But he wouldn’t be wrong—it wouldn’t be a betrayal—if he chose to set it down.

“You find trouble as easy as breathing,” he says, speaking through his heart, where it’s lodged in his throat, “so that shouldn’t be too hard.”

“Maligned!” Wei Wuxian cries with an air of great sorrow. “Blatantly maligned, by my own flesh and blood!”

Jiang Cheng can’t say what he wants to say. He can’t find the words. There’s only so much of himself he can dig up and expose like raw nerves before the pain of it becomes overwhelming, and he reacts to the hurt the way he always does, and shoves Wei Wuxian away.

“Don’t forget to say goodbye to Jin Ling, or he’ll never forgive you,” Jiang Cheng settles for. “And I’ll be the one stuck hearing about it.”

“I would never forget my favorite nephew,” Wei Wuxian says easily.

“And if you fuck up, and get yourself into a stupid mess,” Jiang Cheng adds, before he loses his nerve, “don’t let me hear about it from someone else.”

For a moment, Wei Wuxian doesn’t seem to know what to say.

“What if it’s very stupid?” he finally asks, his voice at once both faint and painfully fond.

“What else is new?” Jiang Cheng snaps. “Just send for me, and I’ll come.”

Above them, the pink and orange of fresh dawn make way for vivid blue. As Jiang Cheng stands in his childhood home with his only brother, while the market comes to life outside the walls and the breeze sweeps the smell of lotus flowers and scallion pancakes through the courtyard, the years seem to fall away. For a brief, uninterrupted moment, they’re both back where they belong.

“Aiyah, shidi,” Wei Wuxian says. “Of course you will.”

The next time Jiang Cheng sees Lan Sizhui is at the cultivation conference in Gusu, two months later.

The boy smiles politely but greets him as ‘Sect Leader Jiang’ again, and next to him, Jiang Cheng can feel Jin Ling wince. Lan Sizhui’s counterpart, the wildly opinionated and deeply un-Lan-like Lan Jingyi is giving him a frank, up-and-down appraisal.

“I mean, I’ll give it to you,” he says baldly. “You’re brave. Like, if Hanguang-jun hated me as much as he hated you, I just wouldn’t show up. You couldn’t pay me to show up.”

“Jingyi,” Lan Sizhui says at length.

“No, I know. I’m just saying. Young Mistress,” he adds, sweeping into a deep, performative bow in front of Jin Ling, “if you’ll come with me, your presence is earnestly awaited by Young Master Ouyang in the library pavilion.”

“Shut up, Jingyi, I swear,” Jin Ling snaps, but he lets himself be herded away with only a single worried glance back at his uncle.

Lan Sizhui is gazing up at Jiang Cheng with a complicated expression. Even though the explosive anger of that disastrous dinner doesn’t seem likely to make a reappearance, there is still something troubled in his eyes.

“I wanted to apologize, shushu,” the boy says slowly. “Properly, that is. For the way I spoke to you last time.”

Ah. So the stiffness isn’t born of lingering irritation, but worry. These Lans, Jiang Cheng thinks, with significantly less venom than he’s used to thinking of the Lan sect with.

He has a well of patience for his nephews that has never run dry. Jin Ling has stretched it nearly to the limit, more than once, but it will take Lan Sizhui more than one emotional outburst to come even close. Given that they’ve only been family (for given value of the word) for a short while, it makes sense that Lan Sizhui wouldn’t know that.

“It wasn’t you that I was angry with, not really,” Lan Sizhui says, explaining when Jiang Cheng has already largely guessed. “I know that you care about baba in your own way, even if a-die doesn’t think so. But—there are—”

His young face folds in frustration, less remarkably than Jin Ling’s does when he’s having a snit, but just a creased forehead speaks volumes in this repressed sect.

“There are other people. Who say similar things. And they don’t mean it the way you mean it.”

Jiang Cheng knows that. He attended those meetings, too.

“And let me guess,” he says, “my idiot brother doesn’t want you speaking up for him.”

Lan Sizhui’s mouth twists. “He says that he did horrible things, and those people are well within their rights to feel about him however they want to feel about him. But—he did good, too. He protected my clan, even though he had to do it alone. I don’t remember very much,” he goes on, slightly quieter, “but I know that he made the Burial Mounds a warm and safe place for me. I know that I never felt scared or cold or hungry when I was there with him. And I don’t think most people could have done that.”

Jiang Cheng boxes up the involuntary pain that swells into place at the poking of this half-healed wound, and gives himself a moment to organize a reply. Talking to the mind-healer his chief physician recommended to him has helped a lot, not that he’ll give that smug witch the satisfaction of admitting it.

“Wei Wuxian hurt a lot of people, but so did everyone else,” he says when he’s certain he can say it without losing his composure. “We were at war. None of us are blameless. He was just the most convenient scapegoat. He still is.”

Lan Sizhui’s eyes are bright with vindication. He was born a Wen and raised a Lan, but there’s a streak of Jiang in there, too, Jiang Cheng thinks with pride. It’s that love that Jiang Cheng recognizes, the same kind of love that he and jiejie and Wei Wuxian had cultivated between them since they were children—the vicious, untamed kind of love that marches to war and claws its way up from hell and clings too hard to things it rightly should let go of.

“It isn’t fair,” Lan Sizhui says.

“No,” Jiang Cheng allows. “It isn’t.”

Wei Wuxian waves animatedly at Jiang Cheng from across the room, even though it makes Lan Qiren scowl at him. It’s reminiscent of every single stuffy banquet they had to sit through as kids, making faces at one another when Madam Yu’s eyes were turned away.

Jiang Cheng rolls his eyes in return, and Wei Wuxian lights up like he’s been handed a pile of gold. Lan Wangji gazes at him with a tenderness that would be absolutely absurd if Wei Wuxian didn’t actually deserve every scant inch of it that got sent his way, and even though the entire cultivation world is waiting, he spares a moment to tuck a stray piece of hair behind Wei Wuxian’s ear.

Sect Leader Yao scoffs, a bit too loudly. “Shameless upstart.”

Lan Wangji’s eyes turn so sharp so fast that it promises violence.

Before he can say anything that starts another war, Jiang Cheng turns fully around in his seat.

“Problem?” he asks shortly.

Baffled, Sect Leader Yao’s gaze skates around the room for a moment before landing back on Jiang Cheng.

“If you have something to say about my brother,” Jiang Cheng says, his voice a snarl, zidian sparking on his arm, “say it so that I can hear you.”

“Ah, this meeting is off to such a lively start,” Wei Wuxian says into the ominous stillness of the room. “Shidi, you’re so energetic, why don’t you kick things off?”

It would be the first time in his career that he’s the first to speak at a conference. Openly disbelieving, Jiang Cheng looks from his brother to Lan Wangji. Lan Wangji’s eyes are narrowed, but not as though he’s sizing Jiang Cheng up for a coffin, which is how he usually sizes him up. All he does is tip his head incrementally, conceding the floor to him.

Gods. It’s that simple.

“You are really not a difficult person, are you?” Jiang Cheng says aloud.

“No,” Lan Wangji agrees, this force of nature who turned the world upside down and challenged every single person in it, who would do so again and again and again, just to be able to sit there and hold Wei Wuxian’s hand.

And then, in the closest the two of them have ever come to an understanding, Lan Wangji adds, “Neither are you.”

#mo dao zu shi #the untamed #yunmeng shuangjie #jiang cheng #wei ying #lan sizhui #mdzs #wangxian #my writing #mdzs fic

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inessencedevided · 3 years

Note

Wei Wuxian enters the Underworld Chamber with several scrolls clutched in his arms, struggling to keep them all together but he is able to settle them down on a table next to the one that is holding his client with a great clatter. For a moment he entertains himself with thinking what the Second Jade who was known to be very rule abiding would say to his general … everything. He would probably have those straight, black eyebrows furrowed and reprimand him with a single word.

“Let’s see what we’ve got here, hm?”, he offers and sifts through his collection of scrolls from the library of the Lan sect. “Your older brother gave me access to some very interesting scrolls, you know?! Your sect is famous for musical cultivation, he told me that you were on your way to become the best guqin player, close to Lan Yi. Fascinating stuff, this. Inquiry. Talking to the dead through the means of music. Maybe this will help me before I use Empathy. Which is a method I invented.”

He does this a lot, chattering away at people to break the ice. There is not a lot of ice to break because the person he is talking to is dead but it still feels nicer than to be completely quiet. And according to ZewuJun, his brother is still here, so maybe he will feel less alone like this. So he shuffles over to the guqin that seems to have been repaired. There is still some brownish-red residue on the wood and he knows that it only can be one thing. Blood. “Alright. Let’s do this,” he says softly. Carefully, he follows the movements that are described on the page, lets the notes ring out, waits for an answer in the dark.

There is silence for a moment and he is afraid he played so badly that the ghost is somehow offended and doesn’t want to come. But then, suddenly, there is an answer. No unnecessary embellishments, played slowly so he can understand but still so beautiful that he knows who it is. Who it only can be.

Who are you sings the instrument and he makes an excited sound, shuffling even closer. Wei Wuxian he answers, carefully playing out the notes. Your brother. Asked for help. he answers haltingly. It is almost like learning a new language. I go through memories. Am I allowed? There is another moment of silence, then he swears the answer sounds almost surprised. Yes. You may, Wei Wuxian. He giggles and bites his lip. “Call me Wei Ying,” he tells the room before remembering that he should have used the guqin. The instruments sings out, completely unprompted. Wei Ying.

His grin threatens to split his face and he gets up, walking towards the body, taking in the serene face, the inky hair, the creamy skin. He really is a beauty. “Just a moment,” he tells him and pats his hand, walking to the door and calling Lan Xichen in, who comes without any further prompting. “He gave me permission,” Wei Wuxian explains and then hands the sect leader a Clarity Bell, a thank you from Jiang Yanli for helping her sect when it called for it. “Ring this when things get sticky or I do not wake up. It will call me back.”

ZewuJun nods, taking the Bell, settling in, watching them both with a worried expression but Wei Wuxian just smiles and kneels next to the body, taking his hands, noticing how cold and yet soft they are, callouses at their fingertips from playing the guqin. “Lan Wangji,” he whispers. “Show me. Show me what is keeping you here.”

The memories feel like the first snow beneath naked feet, dropping into a body of cold water but also like standing on a mountain and letting the winds rush by. They start with a little boy kneeling in front of a house surrounded by gentians, clad in the same white the whole sect wears. He is six at most and why this memory is shown, Wei Wuxian doesn’t know but he keeps concentrating, diving deeper. He sees a strikingly handsome teenager studying in the library, copying old scrolls, playing quin and sneaking vegetables to the back hills where white bunnies roam. The images flash by, a lecture with disciples from other sects, Wen Chao and his entourage arriving and making a scene.

One moment stands out. The same teenager who must be Lan Wangji catches a young female disciple roaming the back hills, a Wen from the red of her robes. He walks away with her and the scenery shifts. They are in a building that is most likely the home of the sect leader, ZewuJun and his brother who stands next to him, straight-backed and breathtaking. He can hear voices, hears them talking of something Wen Ruohan wants, that he will raze the Cloud Recesses to the ground for it. The Yin Iron. Part of it is hidden away here. They will need to prepare for the worst.

The scene shifts again, to Caiyi and Lan Wangji walking through the busy market, holding his sword in his hand, one hand in a fist behind his back like a proper gentleman. He can hear crying and both of them look for the source of it, Wei Wuxian constricted by the limited sight he has. It is little girl with braided buns, crying heartbreakingly next to a stall with animals made from colourful cloth.

The cultivator with the severe face and the countenance of a remote, snow-capped mountain, kneels next to her and hands her a bunny rabbit made from colourful cloth, just purchased apparently, waiting for her to talk. “I lost my gege,” she sobs and shuffles closer, hugging him, getting his white robes dirty. He does not seem to care, instead looks at her and gently lays a hand on her shoulder. “I have a gege as well. I would be scared if I lost him in the crowd,” he says and oh, his voice. It’s calm and deep, trying to settle the little girl. “Shall we look for him together?”

She sniffles and nods, taking his hand in hers, looking up at him in awe and Wei Wuxian can relate. After just a moment, they have found her big brother and the little girl runs to hug him with a shriek of delight. He can see the corners of Lan Wangji’s mouth tilt up into a soft smile, barely noticeable but it is there. He seems to be content with a job well done.

Another shift. They seem to come quicker now, more talk of the Yin Iron, someone he recognises as Lan Qiren taking stock of their most valuable scriptures, letting it be taken away. It is terribly busy but Lan Wangji is a mountain in a rushing stream, carrying what he can with his impressive arm strength.

Yet another and the Cloud Recesses are burning. The disciples are running, many of them armed, some carrying instruments. Caiyi is in disarray as well, people barricading their homes, locking up their animals. Lan Wangji is making a sweep through town, his immaculate robes already stained with soot. The little girl from before runs towards him and hugs his leg, tearful and scared but she knows she is safe with the young cultivator. He gently pats her head and does the same to her rabbit doll.

Then, his face grows serious and he kneels down to look at her, reaching up and undoing his ribbon that falls into his hands, carefully tying it around her wrist. “Keep this safe. Go and take your brother, your parents and look for a grey mountain with yellow veins. This will give you free passage through the secret entrance. You will be safe,” he tells her gently and gets up. “Look for a man who looks like me but older. Lan Xichen.”

Another shift. This one seems to be the last. Lan Wangji is riddled with arrows, bleeding profusely, staggering but still standing upright. His forehead is bare, his hands around the hilt of his sword are bloodied but he carries himself with grace and sheer bullheaded stubbornness. What was that saying again? No matter how the wind howls, the mountain cannot bow to it. He is so very brave. Wei Wuxian can feel his need to protect the ones who are hidden in the cave behind him even at the cost of his own life.

He seems to have set his mind on something, following Wen Xu, even as another arrow buries itself in his back and a voice cries out “A-Zhan! No!”. A sharp crack, bones crunching. His leg is broken but Wen Xu is dead, staring into nothingness. Lan Wangji does not cry out, instead uses his sword to get up again, breathing hard, spitting blood but still, there is a defiant light in his eyes. Someone trips him up and he falls to his knees, his head held high, his guqin on the ground next to him, strings bloodied. As the sword finds its mark, Wei Wuxian does not look away. Dares not look away. Lan Wangji stays proud and brave until he crumples to the ground and stops breathing.

Ringing, silvery and gentle, pulls him out of the cold waters, guides him back into his own body. As he comes to with a gasp, he notices that he has been crying. He wipes his eyes and looks at the body in front of him, at this brave and stubborn man who died defending those he cared about. “You were so good. So good, Lan Zhan,” he whispers, the personal name slipping out as he squeezes the cold hands, looks into his serene face. “The best.”

He turns to Lan Xichen who looks like he has been crying as well. “He died with the deep wish to protect still ingrained into him. He wants to make sure you are alright. And… he is guarding something. I… you spoke of the Yin Iron.”

The way Lan Xichen pales is answer enough.

- 🍄 anon

(Part one for all who didn't read it)

Omg!!! You sent me through every feeling IMAGINABLE 🍄 anon 😭😭😭

That line about there being a lot of ice to crack made me laugh and then you just came at me like that with feelings about lwj dieing! Not. Fair. 🥺

And lwj + little kids = love :D

#🍄 anon #ask #undead lwj fic #that's going to be the tag now #because he's not a fierce corpse not really a ghost either so ... generally undead it is ^^#the untamed #lan wangji #wei wuxian #wangxian #wangxian fic #cql #mdzs

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kachawo · 2 years

Text

Random Things I’ve Done as MDZS Characters:

Lan Wangji: Almost started a fight because a random student mistook my silence for insult, gratefully saved by a classmate that knew I wasn’t a good talker. Later that day, she said I had a really mean expression on my face and it might’ve been the reason why the person got pissed.

Wei Wuxian: Thought I woke up late, forgot my I.D, my transportation fare, and left the house with missed-matched socks. It turns out I indeed, was not late—in fact, literally earlier than half my classmates.

Lan Sizhui: Repeatedly apologized for an accident I didn’t start, and even though I was the one who got hit. (It really hurt)

Lan Jingyi: Confidently telling my group mate the answer to our quiz’s question that was actually very very wrong. (It was so embarrassing)

Jin Ling: Got upset that no one listened to my advise on how to treat a nosebleed, accidentally punched the person who had the nosebleed and they still didn’t listen to my advise.

Ouyang Zizhen: Got caught writing fan fiction during my AP tests and had to listen to my teacher read out the shit I wrote. Safe to say that after I graduated I made sure to never show my face to that teacher again.

Wen Ning: Was given the wrong order in a milk tea shop and instead if telling the barista, I left the milk tea on a table and left the shop with out anything. Ended up wasting money.

Wen Qing: I went to the hospital thinking I might have skin asthma but was diagnosed with a heart problem. I kept going back for check ups because I was sure they misdiagnosed me, they did misdiagnose me. I had skin asthma.

Mo Xuanyu: Got misgendered the very first day of class, even though I wore a skirt. (Unknowingly triggers the genderfluid in me)

Jiang Cheng: Barked back at a dog because it annoyed me.

Nie Huaisang: During the Christmas Exchange Event I got a request that said they wanted a specific brand of wallet. I bought them a wallet. That was different from the brand they wanted. And put candy inside as compensation.

Jin Guangyao: Convinced a teacher I belonged to his class (I was in fact, not from his class) after I accidentally entered during a lecture, was too embarrassed to leave, so I took a seat and answered his questions when he wanted me to.

Lan Xichen: Commuted by myself for the first time and ended up lost, 7 divisions away from home.

Xiao Xingchen: Fell in love with a boy and finding out years later that boy was now in rehabilitation for handling dangerous weapons.

(also) Nie Huaisang: Had an attack before passing out even though I ran no longer than 50 meters.

(also) Wei Wuxian: Stared at a dog for so long that it got jittery and attacked me, my sister cried the whole car drive to the hospital because I was bleeding from my forehead.

(also) Lan Jingyi: Got admitted to the hospital because I hit my head on a sharp rock. Cause of injury: my butt missed the seat of a swing and sent me tumbling backwards.

(also) Lan Sizhui: Didn’t understand the concept of a class donation and gave all my cash because I thought they asked for it. I didn’t eat lunch that day.

__________

After compiling this I just realized that I’m not a very interesting person.

#mo dao zu shi #mdzs #wei wuxian and lan jingyi are literally the same people #would you believe me if i said i was a lan wangji kinnie?#anyways live laugh love wei wuxian

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rosethornewrites · 6 months

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From the next chapter of “the thread may stretch or tangle but it will never break.”

——————

“Jiang Wanyin, can you handle updating Jin-gongzi while we handle this?” Wen Qing asks over A-Yuan’s crying, her exhaustion bleeding through into her tone. “Popo and our other guests will be able to help you, particularly Nie Huaisang with the yuefu. I doubt Wei Wuxian wants to be present for most of it, anyway.”

Fortunately, this is readily agreed to by all parties, aside from A-Yuan, who has broken into a coughing fit. By the time the others have left, he’s lost part of his lunch and is a whimpering limpet in Wei Ying’s arms.

“Diedie and baba won’t let anything bad happen,” Wei Ying tells the boy, even though he’s beyond hearing, having cried himself most of the way to sleep, “and Ning-shushu won’t either.”

#the untamed #mo dao zu shi #wei wuxian #wei ying #lan wangji #lan zhan #wen qing #a yuan #mdzs #untamed fanfiction #my fanfiction #wip wednesday

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lansyuan · 4 years

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do you love fics where wei wuxian and lan wangji parent the crap out of lan sizhui? do you want to read accidental baby acquisition fics until your eyes bleed? would you die as your heart slowly turns to mush from the softness of this family? bitch the fuck, me too. here are some of my personal favourite fics of wangxian ft their turnip son a-yuan. its a range of canon divergence, post canon, thirteen years of inquiry, raising a-yuan at the burial mounds au etc - there’ll be something for literally everyone. enjoy!

the kite string and the anchor rope by fleurdeliser (38k+)

When A-Yuan gets sick and Wen Qing doesn't have the supplies she needs to properly treat him, Wei Wuxian can only think of one place to go for help.

a crying shame by thunderwear (16k+)

Lan Wangji gets emotionally blackmailed by a toddler. It somehow fixes everything.

to recollect and long for by wonderlands (22k+) *2/3 works posted at time of posting this rec list.

a 3-part series about best boy lan sizhui and his wonderful dads who love him and each other very much.

forgetting envies, remembering your loving hold by cosmicfuss (3k+)

The first time Zewu-jun plays for him he is five and the man is trying to comfort him, playing soft songs good for soothing children. It works to a degree but he wants his gege, he wants his gege to play his lullaby. Zewu-jun apologizes and tells him that his gege is hurting right now, and needs to be alone to get better.

When he plays the xiao, A-Yuan says, "you're holding it wrong!" When he turns fourteen, he learns to play guqin, and is many years ahead of his classmates in that regard. A large factor in that is how much he has practiced Inquiry. He has grown up hearing snippets from the jingshi, of Wangji attempting to reach a spirit that never answers.

When he's sixteen, he hears a familiar tune played in the forest, he and his fellow juniors battling a stone god. It's been years since he's heard it, and he wonders why this man, Mo Xuanyu, knows it so well.

Or, Lan Sizhui grows up and learns, and remembers.

five times wei wuxian tried to embarrass lan sizhui by blackelement7 (6k+)

(and one time he realized just how badly he'd played himself)

or: In which Wei Wuxian starts a fight but Lan Sizhui (with some meddling from Lan Jingyi) ends it.

inquiry by incendir (10k+)

Sizhui cannot fall asleep for a long, long time that night. He hears the ever-familiar melody again. He thinks perhaps he has memorized it by now.

storge by respira (9k+)

Lan Sizhui is a lake.

as the warren grows in number by kore_fics (3k+)

Before Sizhui could take another step he was surrounded by black and red, loud laughter in his ears and warm fingers running through his hair, messing it up. Palms squished both his cheeks together and Lan Sizhui let out a laugh.

Lan Sizhui was home.

tell some storm* by qurbat (31k+) *the moments with Sizhui are in chapter 2, however I highly recommend reading the whole fic, it’s adorable.

"We were raised as a generation of war, A-Yuan," Xian-gege said to him. "If your generation choses to be one of love - well, I don't think any of us would be opposed to that."

In the aftermath of the events at the Guanyin temple, the cultivation world scrambles to understand their current reality. A man roams the countryside with a string of white in his hair. Another sits on the highest seat of power with a ribbon of red around his forehead. The younger generation turns out to be full of romantics. Nie Huaisang is to blame for everything, always. Jiang Cheng realizes that happiness has been more that 16 years overdue.

Wei Wuxian declares that it's time that bitch pays up.

After a generation of war - much to the consternation of the elders, much to the delight of the young, much to the pleased shock of the subjects of the tale - the world welcomes a love story with open arms.

guess we're not eating leaves today by missingnarwhal (2k+)

Baby A-Yuan has cooked up a feast, but only one lucky gege will actually get to taste it!

Set in an alternate timeline where everything is okay after Wei Ying + Wens started living in the Burial Mounds.

response by aki_no_hikari (12k+)

What if Wei Wuxian hadn't been silent to Lan Wangji's Inquiry?

love, in all its small pieces by ynvel (4k+)

Ah Yuan is brought to the Cloud Recesses and exchanges the sun and its ashes for the clouds. Lan Wangji brings a boy home, calls him his son, and renews the promises he made.

Or: Lan Sizhui is adopted by Lan Wangji and learns about his new life. Lan Wangji in turn learns about hope and living again.

child surprise by ariaste (4k+)

He huffs a sigh. “Fine. Just - let’s just make it the law of surprise, shall we? That’s nice and simple, eh? Leave it up to destiny what will bring us back in balance. Let it drop something of yours into my lap, something small, and we’ll call the debt paid.”

Three debts, three repayments.

there's a lunatic in mo village by bastetcg (11k+)

There's a lunatic in Mo Village! And to Lan Sizhui's surprise, Hanguang-Jun has decided to bring the madman back to the Cloud Recesses! How embarrassing!

A mostly canon-compliant look into Lan Sizhui's thoughts and childhood.

on being a big boy by emberloey (1k+)

“My little A-Yuan,” Dad had said the next morning, kneeling down to A-Yuan’s height with a smile, “all grown up now. Soon you’ll be hunting without your poor old dads.”

“Never!” A-Yuan shook his head and latched onto Father’s leg. He smiled up at Father, who smiled back and nodded his head. “A-Yuan always needs Dad and Father!”

in all these shades of blue (i think we found you) by fleetling (5k+)

5 times Sizhui thought about his father's white robes, and 1 time Lan Wangji wore blue.

(Or: Lan Sizhui had never seen his father in anything other than white robes.)

this is when the feeling sinks in, i don't want to miss you like this (come back, be here) by mischievousmurmurs (6k+)

Just now… the butterflies’ conversation. Where did you learn that from, Ah-Yuan?

Ah-Yuan pats his chest. In here, shushu. I feel it in here. And in here, too, he adds, pointing to his head.

Sizhui has never quite been able to remember nor forget the memory of seeing people who he knows loved each other, loved him, and whom he loved in return.

or - a wangxian story, as told by their adopted son.

yours, mine, and ours by casecous (2k+)

When they have both mostly recovered, and A-Yuan is back to his smiling, playful self, Lan Wangji presents him with a forehead ribbon. A-Yuan’s little fingers bump into Lan Wangji’s thumbs as he traces the cloud motif along it.

“You are Lan now. This is very important,” Lan Wangji tells him and A-Yuan looks away from the ribbon to meet his eyes. “You must not take it off as you please. Only family may touch it.”

A series of wangxian family moments.

innocence by snowberryrose (8k+)

In which Wei WuXian gets to raise A-Yuan.

Canon divergence from episode 31.

to recollect and long for by mme_anxious (4k+)

Lan Xichen is there when his brother becomes a father. Lan Sizhui is there when his father's heart breaks, again. Wei Wuxian is there when his son gets drunk for the first time.

Or, the GusuLan forehead ribbon, in three parts.

our little one by writedeku (6k+)

A-Yuan is here. A-Yuan, who Wei Ying loved so much. A-Yuan, who was taught to laugh just like him. Wangji hugs him to his chest and curls over him, ignoring the way the wounds on his back pull and tear. “I have to take care of you,” he says. “I will not leave you.”

(Or: Lan Wangji comes back from Yiling with a child he does not know how to care for and a black hole in his chest. Somehow, he makes it work.)

gathered herbs & sweet grasses by hansbekhart (19k+)

Later, when he’s older, it’s this that A-Yuan will remember most: the stretch of silence, the two of them both dirty and shaking with fever, as he looked at Brother Rich, and Brother Rich looked back at him.

the sacred homeland by particulate (8k+)

He has many names, and some are mouthfuls of blood.

[Or; a chronology of Sizhui, in which he does not forget.]

to the act of making noise by words-writ-in-starlight (19k+)

His father in white plays the song late into the night, and when A-Yuan wakes up confused and afraid, the guqin lulls him back to sleep.

Lan Sizhui hears his father play the same song every night for his whole life, and never, ever get an answer.

when he comes home to you by kika988 (2k+)

Home is Cloud Recesses now, and that's a thing Wei Wuxian is still getting used to. He still feels like a guest here, most days, though Lan Wangji has done everything to make him feel at home. He stands out like a sore thumb amongst the serene disciples and flowing white fabric.

Cloud Recesses has been home to Lan Wangji and Sizhui for years. It is their home, where they've built their family.

The thought warms Wei Wuxian even as it sits a little ill with him. He's an intruder here, in their homes, in their lives, the same way he had been in Lotus Pier.

five times people didn’t know sizhui is lan zhan’s son and one time they did by trilliastra (3k+)

“A-Yuan.” He repeats, reaching out for the boy, growing restless when he can’t touch him. “A-Yuan.”

Oh. Lan Xichen closes his eyes as the tears start to fall. Oh, Wangji.

Carefully, Lan Xichen takes the boy and lays him next to his brother on the bed, Wangji holds him protectively against his chest and A-Yuan stops his little cries immediately.

“Wangji,” Lan Xichen tries again, running a hand through his brother’s hair softly, “who is he?”

“He’s my son.”

5 times the lan head disciple broke the rules by liji (6k+)

“I am not aware of any rule forbidding falling in love,” Hanguang-Jun said at last. There was a quiet sadness in his eye, like he was watching a scene from far away. The novelty of it gave Sizhui the courage to ask his next question.

“Have you ever been in love, Father?” he asked.

(or, five times that Sizhui broke the Lan sect's rules growing up)

the seasons change (but i love you the same) by kdkdkd (7k+)

"Hanguang-jun!"

When did you stop calling me Bàba, A-Yuan?

Lan Wangji had always promised himself that he would never become a poor father like his own had been.

Unfortunately, it feels like he has failed to keep that promise.

✨ bonus round ✨ uncle jiang cheng and nephew lan sizhui

tintinnabulum by respira (8k+)

A small bell chimes, the sound soft and pleasant like the water crashing against a pier, like low whistles in an empty cave, like a guqin playing a lullaby.

#the untamed #wangxian #lan wangji #wei wuxian #lan sizhui #lan yuan #wen yuan #wangxian family #wangxian fic rec #myficrecs #creations #listen i just really love this family #1k

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